Markus Andrews

In an attempt to inject a dose of the modern era into the monarchy, Buckingham Palace is said to be appointing a “diversity tsar” who will be tasked with examining how the firm can improve representation and better reflect the country at large. Critics might suggest they should start with elections, rather than having a right to the throne by virtue of being born in a particular family. Too radical? OK. Perhaps the government could be persuaded of reform elsewhere: a new analysis over the weekend showed that all 85 of the hereditary peers in the House of Lords are male while nearly half of them attended Eton.Inside the bubbleInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayPolicy correspondent Jon Stone on what to look out for today: More

A government minister has repeatedly declined to say whether Britain will respond to a possible EU export ban on vaccines with retaliatory measures, as she urged against “vaccine protectionism”.The comments from Helen Whately come as member states prepare to debate a ban later this week amid a surge of infections in some continental European countries and a vaccination programme that has been criticised as sluggish.Seeking to defuse the row, Boris Johnson is expected to contact his European counterparts throughout the week as the prime minister urges them to dismiss any proposals from Brussels that may seek to block Covid vaccines to Britain.Pressed on whether the UK government would retaliate if an export ban is imposed, Ms Whately told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well I don’t think it’s very helpful to speculate at the moment.“The prime minister has made it clear is that we expect the EU to stand by their commitments and the commitment that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen made, which is that the EU wouldn’t stop companies fulfilling their contractual obligations. That is what should happen.”Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayQuizzed again, the health minister went on: “What we’re hearing at the moment is some speculation, conjecture and an element of rhetoric.“What is actually important is that the EU and no country should follow vaccine nationalism or vaccine protectionism. We’d all do better by collaborating and supporting the vaccine manufacturers.”According to an analysis published by The Guardian, a ban on vaccine exports from facilities in Europe to the UK could result in a two-month delay to the prime minister’s target of offering a jab to the entire adult population by July.Ms Whately said in a separate interview she hadn’t seen the analysis, but stressed the government was “absolutely on track” to meet its targets, as she praised the “tremendous job” of the rollout as the NHS inoculated a record number over the weekend.“What I can say is that we are absolutely on track to vaccinate those in cohorts 1-9, so those who are most at risk of death or hospitalisation from Covid, by April 15,” she said. “And then we can move on to vaccinating other adults and, as we just mentioned, we will vaccinate all adults by July, so we are on track with doing that.”Addressing the possible vaccine export ban on LBC radio, Sir Keir Starmer added: “I don’t think the EU is helping itself here. I don’t think it’s helped itself much in the last few weeks and months on the whole.“I don’t think they should go down this road of banning exports. What we want is this resolved as quickly as possible because we don’t want a shortage of vaccines to interrupt the rollout in this country. “Where contracts have been signed they need to be honoured. What I would say it is a reminder we’re not going to be through this until we see the whole word vaccinated. You can see the numbers in Europe, you can see them across the rest of the world.” More

The European Union is set to block exports of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to the UK, according to reports.Senior officials told Bloomberg news agency that any requests for doses produced in Europe would be reviewed “very severely” until the British-based company fulfilled its contract with the bloc.Any vaccines and ingredients produced in European factories “will for now be reserved for local deliveries,” the source added.The comments were made ahead of a meeting of EU leaders to discuss a possible export ban on Thursday.It comes after defence minister Ben Wallace said any attempt to block Covid-19 vaccine exports to the UK would be “counterproductive”.Mr Wallace added: “The grown-up thing would be for the European Commission and some of the European leaders to not indulge in rhetoric but to recognise the obligations that we all have.”Read more:An EU export ban could delay the UK’s vaccination programme by two months, according to analysis carried out for the Guardian . However the same analysis found the EU programme would only be sped up by a week if it kept the supplies meant for the UK.Reuters reported the vaccine row is focused on a factory in the Netherlands which features in AstraZeneca contracts signed with both Britain and the EU.An EU official claimed that whatever was produced in the plant, run by the subcontractor Halix in Leiden, had to go to Europe.“The Brits are insisting that the Halix plant in the Netherlands must deliver the drug substance produced there to them. That doesn’t work,” the official added.Downing Street declined to comment specifically on the reports.Boris Johnson is expected phone EU leaders early this week to urge them ot to blockade vaccines manufactured in Europe.The EU has complained that AstraZeneca is not respecting its contract to supply vaccines to member countries, while apparently fulfilling its obligations under its contract with the UK.European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this week that “we didn’t get anything from the Brits while we are delivering vaccines to them”.It follows a diplomatic row earlier this month after European Council president Charles Michel claimed the UK had imposed an “outright ban” on the export of Covid vaccines.Foreign secretary Dominic Raab rejected the suggestion as “completely false”.EU officials say that the UK is using a clause in its supply contract with AstraZeneca that prevents export of vaccines produced in Britain. More

Labour has backed the government in a row with the EU over vaccines and told Brussels to “calm down” its rhetoric over a potential blockade.Asked how the UK should respond to the bloc’s warnings, shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy branded comments by Ursula von der Leyen “deeply, deeply unhelpful”.”I would urge the European Commission to calm down the language, cool the rhetoric, and let’s try and work together to get through this crisis,” she said, in comments directed at the president of the EU’s executive.It comes as Conservative defence secretary Ben Wallace said any attempt to block covid-19 vaccine exports to the UK would be “counterproductive” with the EU.Ms von der Leyen ramped up the rhetoric at the weekend, saying she was sending a “message to AstraZeneca” that the EU had the power to “forbid” exports.Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayCountries on the other side of the channel are increasingly frustrated that the the British-Swedish manufacturer is not delivering the vaccines it promised them, while furnishing the UK with apparently ample supplies.The situation has undermined the EU’s vaccine programme, which has also been set back by caution, uncertainty, and misinformation about the vaccines, sometimes at an official level.Speaking on Sunday Ireland’s commissioner Mairead McGuinness said no decision had been taken around the possibility of a blockade and that EU leaders would consider the matter at a summit on Thursday.”European citizens are growing angry and upset at the fact that the vaccine rollout has not happened as rapidly as we had anticipated,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.”Both the EU and the UK have contracts with AstraZeneca and my understanding is the company is supplying the UK but the European Union.”We are supplying the UK with other vaccines, so I think this is just about openness and transparency.”But the UK minister Mr Wallace said: “The grown-up thing would be for the European Commission and some of the European leaders to not indulge in rhetoric but to recognise the obligations that we all have.”We will all hold each other to our contracts. Making a vaccine is like baking a cake. We all have different ingredients and the European Commission will know that.”You pointed out the point about Pfizer. They will know you wouldn’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face.”Speaking separately on Sky News, Mr Wallace argued that the EU would suffer “severe reputational” damage if it imposed export bans.”If contracts and undertakings get broken that is a very damaging thing to happen for a trading bloc which prides itself on the rule of law,” he said.”It would be counterproductive because the one thing we know about vaccine production and manufacturing is that it is collaborative.”If we start to unpick that, if the commission were to start to do that, I think they would undermine not only their citizens’ chances of having a proper vaccine programme, but also many other countries around the world with the reputational damage to the EU, I think, they would find very hard to change over the short-term.” More

It would be “premature” to book an overseas summer holiday now, a government minister has said, as he warns gains from the vaccine programme need to be preserved “at all costs”.Defence secretary Ben Wallace told the BBC he had not booked his summer holiday and warned of the danger of holidaymakers importing new coronavirus variants from abroad.”If we were to be reckless in any way, and import new variants that put out risks, what would people say about that?” Mr Wallace told Sky News on Sunday.”We’ve got good direction of travel, we’re getting there, and I think we need to make sure we preserve that at all costs.”In a separate interview with the BBC, he added: “I haven’t booked my holiday. It would be premature to do that.”It is currently against the law to take a foreign holiday. The government’s roadmap for lifting restrictions say they could be allowed from May 17 at the earliest.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayRead more:But the date could be shifted back further if the situation changes abroad, ministers have said.”We can’t be deaf and blind to what’s going on outside the United Kingdom. If you look in Europe, increases in infections,” Mr Wallace said.The government confirmed on Saturday that half of all UK adults have received at least one dose of their Covid-19 vaccine.The milestone puts Britain well ahead of all other major economies and neighbouring European countries, which have run into difficulties deploying their vaccines.A taskforce led by Michael Gove is set to report next month on the question of foreign travel, notably whether vaccine passports will be used. Mr Wallace suggested people should wait for the review to be published. Some travel companies and airlines have continued to push people to book holidays in a bid to stay afloat. Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy backed the government’s approach, telling BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I think the Government is right to say we should be guided by the science.”I’ve been troubled by the fact the Prime Minister privately seems to be saying to some of his rebels he’s keen to get this done quickly.”We do need to be careful, we do need to be cautious and, frankly, I’ve not booked a foreign holiday for this summer and I won’t be doing so because I don’t think we’re there yet.” More

David Cameron sent several text messages to Rishi Sunak in the course of lobbying for a bank, it has been reported.The Sunday Times says the former prime minister messaged the chancellor’s private phone about allowing Greensill Capital into a state-backed loan scheme.The bank has since collapsed and potentially left taxpayers on the hook for millions in underwritten loans.There is no suggestion that Mr Cameron acted unlawfully and most of his texts reportedly went unanswered.Labour last night called on Mr Sunak to “set the record straight” amid questions about how he responded to lobbying for Greensill by his Tory colleague.In a letter to the chancellor, Mr Sunak’s Labour counterpart Anneliese Dodds asked Mr Sunak to explain whether he had personally spoken with the former Tory prime minister during the course of the lobbying.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayRead more:Ms Dodds said the revelations raised “urgent questions about the Chancellor’s priorities and decision-making during a pandemic” and demanded the government launch “a full and thorough investigation”.An investigation by the Financial Times this week revealed that Mr Sunak had stepped in to give Greensill Capital another hearing after Treasury officials decided not to include it in the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).“We need to understand why it appears a bank advised by a former Conservative prime minister was given so much access to the Treasury compared to other Covid loan lenders. These questions are even more serious and urgent given Greensill’s later collapse,” Ms Dodds said.“The chancellor has a duty to protect the public finances. Taxpayers will rightly want to know if David Cameron played any role in the Treasury’s decision to open government-backed loan schemes to Greensill Capital, putting hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money at risk.“The chancellor must urgently set the record straight by answering the questions I’ve posed today.”Mr Cameron’s lobbying efforts have raised further questions about the revolving door between government and the private sector.As well as clarifying whether he had spoken to his former Tory colleague, Mr Sunak is being asked by Labour to explain the Treasury’s decision-making process, and what steps he had taken in relation to documented concerns about Greensill’s stability.Ultimately, Greensill was not allowed access to the CCFF, but was, after persistent requests, permitted to issue state-backed loans under the separate Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme.The loans contributed to taxpayers’ exposure to debts linked to the collapsed banks.An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “Treasury officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss our economic response to Covid.“The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which – following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector – we decided against and informed the businesses concerned.” More

The government’s decision to cut the international aid budget below its legal target was unlawful, a former director of public prosecutions has said.Lord Macdonald of River Glaven said new legislation would have been required to ditch the target of spending 0.7 per cent of international income on aid.He made the claim in a formal legal opinion commissioned by Conservative MPs campaigning to reverse the cut.Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, one of the MPs in question, said the finding was “not unexpected”.”The foreign secretary told the Commons that his own legal advice required a change in the legislation, in order to change the 0.7 per cent target. That’s why I have been urging ministers to address this in parliament,” Mr Mitchell said.”I still believe that it is not too late to change course, before the start of the new financial year in April.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayRead more:The government says it needed to reduce the aid budget because of the impact of coronavirus, but campaigners say it will hit the world’s poorest hardest during a pandemic and undermine Britain’s standing in the world.Cuts rolled out on the ground so far include a dramatic reduction in assistance to people in Yemen, where the UN says a humanitarian catastrophe is taking place. More than 100 UK charities have condemned the decision; £164m was budgeted to the Middle Eastern country in 2019-2020, but this has now been cut to £87 million.Now the legal opinion says the government lacked the power to change the overall target.”The Secretary of State’s decision is unlawful, not because of a (mere) failure to meet the 0.7% GNI target, but because the Secretary of State has proceeded on the erroneous assumption that he has some power to alter the target itself,” it says.”The illegality of the decision is clear: the Secretary of State proceeded on the erroneous assumption that he was free to establish a ‘target’ for official development assistance which is below 0.7% GNI. In truth, no such discretion was open to him. For that reason, his decision is arguably ultra vires the 2015 Act.”Baroness Sugg, also a former international development minister, said: “Britain, as a force for good, sets global standards and defends the rules based international system.”Legal opinion like this risks undermining our credibility on the world stage at the very moment we need to strike trade deals, negotiate communiqués and agree ambitious legally binding climate targets.”Cutting our aid and overseas investments sends a message that Britain is withdrawing from the world at the very moment we should be showing strong leadership.”A Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: “The seismic impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take tough but necessary decisions, including temporarily reducing the overall amount we spend on aid. “The UK government has acted in accordance with the International Development Act 2015 throughout this process.” More

Labour has called on Rishi Sunak to “set the record straight” after it emerged that David Cameron lobbied his department to give a failing bank access to state-backed Covid-19 loan schemes. In a letter to the chancellor, Mr Sunak’s Labour counterpart Anneliese Dodds asked Mr Sunak to explain whether he had personally spoken with the former Tory prime minister during the course of the lobbying.Ms Dodds said the revelations raised “urgent questions about the Chancellor’s priorities and decision-making during a pandemic” and demanded the governemnt launch “a full and thorough investigation”.An investigation by the Financial Times this week revealed that Mr Sunak had stepped in to give Greensill Capital another hearing after Treasury officials decided not to include it in the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).The newspaper says Mr Cameron, who has been advising the bank since 2018, was personally involved. The bank later collapsed. Read more:Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“We need to understand why it appears a bank advised by a former Conservative prime minister was given so much access to the Treasury compared to other Covid loan lenders. These questions are even more serious and urgent given Greensill’s later collapse,” Ms Dodds said. “The chancellor has a duty to protect the public finances. Taxpayers will rightly want to know if David Cameron played any role in the Treasury’s decision to open government-backed loan schemes to Greensill Capital, putting hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money at risk.“The chancellor must urgently set the record straight by answering the questions I’ve posed today.”Mr Cameron’s lobbying efforts have raised further questions about the revolving door between government and the private sector. As well as clarifying whether he had spoken to his former Tory colleague, Mr Sunak is being asked by Labour to explain the Treasury’s decision-making process, and what steps he had taken in relation to documented concerns about Greensill’s stability. Ultimately, Greensill was not allowed access to the CCFF, but was, after persistent requests, permitted to issue state-backed loans under the separate Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. The loans contributed to taxpayers’ exposure to debts linked to the collapsed banks.An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “Treasury officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss our economic response to Covid.“The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which – following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector – we decided against and informed the businesses concerned.” More