Markus Andrews

It has been heavily briefed out to the media that the chancellor is planning to raise corporation tax rates in next week’s Budget as a way of helping to restore stability to the public finances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and reversing some of the deep cuts in the levy imposed by Conservatives over the past decade.But Labour has signalled that it would oppose such a move.“This is not the time to do that,” said the party’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, on the BBC this week. More

The first minister spoke out as the row surrounding her government’s bungled handling of sexual harassment allegations against Mr Salmond grew – with her political opponents claiming the Scottish parliament itself was being damaged by fallout from the fiasco.Mr Salmond was awarded more than £500,000 after the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest civil court, ruled the way the complaints were handled by the Scottish government was “unlawful”.He was due to give evidence to MSPs seeking to discover what went wrong with that process on Thursday.But, ahead of that, his successor, who will herself address the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints next week, was challenged on the issue during first minister’s questions today. More

The European Research Group is a body of around 70 to 80 Conservative backbench MPs with a wider penumbra of sympathisers in government, including the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Suella Braverman and Michael Gove. It is chaired by Mark Francois, and Steve Baker is another prominent spokesperson for it. They regard themselves as the Spartan warriors of the Eurosceptic movement. On a good day and on the right issue it could wipe out the government’s present majority, and frequently did so when Theresa May and Boris Johnson were running minority governments and trying to get their various Brexit deals through the Commons before the December 2019 election. Since then, the opportunities for Brexit mischief have subsided, but the operation of the Northern Ireland protocol has opened up a new front. The ERG want it scrapped, and, superficially, they have some strong arguments. More

The former prime minister dismissed the government’s claims of merely “teething problems”, warning the “bureaucracy” was the inevitable result of leaving the EU single market.“I hope they can tackle as many of these problems as possible but, ultimately, some of them are because we chose to leave the single market and become a third country,” he said.In an interview with CNN, Mr Cameron also warned that tax rises “wouldn’t make any sense at all”, ahead of expectations that Rishi Sunak will announce some in next week’s Budget.And he backed the introduction of so-called “vaccine passports” to enter venues – after Mr Johnson set up an inquiry – saying the idea is “coming”.“If we want to open up our economy as rapidly as possible, I think there’ll be a number of different ways and places where people will want to know ‘have you been vaccinated’ before you join this event, this party, this whatever,” he argued.Exports have been hit by a blizzard of bureaucracy, with new requirements for health checks and customs documents – while a ban on shellfish trade is “indefinite”, the EU is warning.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 weekdayThe Independent revealed fears that the appointment of arch-Brexiteer David Frost to lead future talks with the EU will slam the brakes on a possible deal to lift some food checks. In the interview, Mr Cameron was asked about the “unbelievable problems” Brexit had created, with the economy taking a “massive hit” and the vital services sector excluded altogether.“I hope the government can address as many of the problems and issues as possible, whether that’s problems faced by British fishermen, whether it’s small businesses finding it more difficult to export to EU countries because of the additional bureaucracy,” he replied.Next Wednesday, the Chancellor is expected to put the UK on the path to increasing the corporation tax rate from 19 per cent to 23 per cent by 2024, or even as high as 25 per cent.A windfall tax on the supermarkets, to fund the Covid-19 recovery, is also being considered, it is thought.But Mr Cameron pointed to the economic situation, saying: “Piling, say, tax increases on top of that before you’ve even opened up the economy wouldn’t make any sense at all.“I think it’s been right for the government here in the UK and governments around the world to recognise this is more like a sort of wartime situation.”The intervention came as Philip Hammond, Theresa May’s chancellor, urged Mr Sunak to tell the public “some difficult home truths”.He called on the government to abandon “extravagant” promises from its election-winning 2019 manifesto, in order to rebalance the nation’s finances. More

Today’s daily politics briefingThe former prime minister told CNN that the issues seen in recent months are not merely “teething problems”, warning that “bureaucracy” was the inevitable result of leaving the EU’s single market. “I hope they [the government] can tackle as many of these problems as possible but, ultimately, some of them are because we chose to leave the single market and become a third country,” he said.Mr Cameron also weighed in on the subject of corporation tax, ahead of next week’s Budget. The former prime minister said it “wouldn’t make any sense at all” to raise this rate, given the current state of the economy. Elsewhere, Boris Johnson has been branded an “unrepentant and inveterate liar” by a former French ambassador to the UK.In her new book, Sylvie Bermann, France’s top representative in London during the EU referendum, said the prime minister uses “lies to embellish reality, as a game and as instrument of power”.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 weekdayShow latest update
1614264508Cat brings Mr Pidgeon a pigeon during Stormont Zoom call Feathers flew in a Stormont committee meeting this week, but not because of any hard-fought political dispute or personal falling-out, Jon Sharman reports. A moment of levity came when a man called Colin Pidgeon was brought a live pigeon by his cat, which he managed to rescue and return to safety.“You kept your composure the whole way through that – amazing,” said deputy committee chair Paul Frew. Rory Sullivan25 February 2021 14:481614263300House of Lords Speaker to step down early to campaign on HIV/Aids and LGBT+ rightsLord Fowler, the Speaker of the House of Lords, will step down early in order to campaign on HIV/Aids and LGBT+ rights.The peer, 83, who served in Thatcher’s cabinet as health secretary, was due to leave his post in September. However, he will now return to the backbenches in April. Rory Sullivan25 February 2021 14:281614262166Scottish government accused of ‘cover up’ by Tory MSPRuth Davidson, the Conservative leader at Holyrood, has accused the Scottish government of being involved in a “cover up” over the censoring of Alex Salmond’s evidence in an ongoing inquiry.The politician claimed the parts which were redacted “are exactly the parts that expose the first minister” in her government’s mishandling of sexual harrassment complaints made against Mr Salmond. “To the public this looks like a cover up, when the exact evidence that’s being redacted is the most damaging to her personally,” the Tory MSP said.Ms Sturgeon has denied that politics was behind the Crown Office’s decision to censor part of Mr Salmond’s evidence, adding that anyone who thought otherwise was “signing up to a dangerous and quite deluded conspiracy theory”. More

Feathers flew in a Stormont committee meeting this week, but not because of any hard-fought political dispute or personal falling-out.Instead, a man named Colin Pidgeon provided the Northern Ireland Assembly’s finance committee a moment of levity when his cat brought a still-live pigeon into his home.The Research and Information Service officer was appearing remotely when the unexpected delivery took place.But he handled the interruption with calm assurance, swiftly capturing the apparently unscathed bird and returning it out of the window to safety.”I have literally just caught a pigeon, I’m really sorry about this,” he told committee members watching from Parliament Buildings in Belfast.Hoping for a better view of proceedings, deputy committee chair Paul Frew petitioned Assembly broadcasters to expand his section of the television to full-screen mode.
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The damaging economic fallout from Boris Johnson’s EU divorce deal has provoked unrest in the Leave camp, with hardline Tory Brexiteers calling on the prime minister to tear up arrangements for Northern Ireland which he negotiated and they backed in parliament.In a report today, the European Research Group called on the prime minister to activate Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which allows him to suspend the agreement if it causes “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties” or diversion of trade.The move came as Mr Johnson’s government appeared to be backing away from confrontation with Brussels on the issue. After a letter earlier this month threatening to invoke Article 16 if the EU did not deliver “rapid action” to revise the arrangements, Michael Gove last night concluded a meeting with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic with a joint agreement to ensure the “proper implementation” of the existing Protocol.The ERG, believed to number around 50 Tory MPs, is proposing a “mutual enforcement” regime which they insist would get rid of the customs border in the Irish Sea created by the Protocol without requiring the creation of a hard border in contravention of the Good Friday Agreement.The move comes as a leading member of the group acknowledged that the measures imposed as a result of the UK transitioning out of the EU on 1 January have led to empty shelves in Northern Ireland supermarkets, increased costs and bureaucracy for hauliers supplying the province and disruption to the day-to-day life of its residents.But ERG deputy chair David Jones rejected suggestions that the Brexiteer group was turning its back on an arrangement which it had itself brought into effect by voting for Mr Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement in 2019.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“I wouldn’t say we were overjoyed to be supporting the contents of the of the Northern Ireland Protocol, but we took comfort from the fact that both sides were obliged under its terms to look for alternative arrangements,” Mr Jones told The Independent. “Unfortunately, since the end of the transition, the EU has shown no sign of looking for alternative arrangements.“That is a breach of an obligation on the part of the EU.”Mr Jones said that the shortcomings of the Protocol had become apparent over the past two months in the shape of disruption to supermarket supply chains, with stores having to restock with items from EU-based companies, trucks returning empty to Northern Ireland from mainland Britain and difficulties for ordinary residents wanting to take pets over the border.He said that the current disruption was coming during a “grace period” before controls are imposed in full in areas like supermarket supplies.“If these difficulties are experienced now, what is likely to be the impact once the grace periods finish?” he asked. “It is arguable that diversion of trade is already happening, with Sainsburys’ shelves having to be stocked with goods from EU suppliers”The mutual enforcement regime proposed by the ERG report would require Northern Ireland and the Republic each to take responsibility to ensure that their exporters abide by agreed rules, which the report claims would do away with the need for onerous checks at Northern Irish ports.Downing Street insisted that it stands by the demands set out in Mr Gove’s 2 February letter to Mr Sefcovic, which called for an extension of grace periods to January 2023.Mr Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said that Gove and Sefcovic were working through “outstanding problems” with the Protocol “They are very clear-eyed about what the problems are,” she said. “The two parties are on the case. The letter still stands.” More

The Speaker of the House of Lords has announced he will be stepping down early to campaign on HIV/Aids and LGBT rights internationally.Lord Fowler was due to end his five-year term as Lord Speaker in September, but has brought his return to the backbenches forward to April.As health secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s government from 1981-87, Norman Fowler headed the government’s response to the Aids epidemic and oversaw the implementation of the ground-breaking “Don’t Die of Ignorance” awareness campaign.Documents released by the National Archives showed how he had to overcome the reluctance of Mrs Thatcher to allow any mention of risky sexual practices in campaign material. Memories of the 1980s campaign, and the LGBT community’s struggle for recognition of the scale of the epidemic, have been revived in the Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin. Lord Fowler, now 83, said: “In those days an HIV positive diagnosis was a virtual death sentence. The drama showed the cruel consequences on the victims and their families.“We need to remember that these are the very consequences being faced today in many countries overseas and we have an important duty to ensure their suffering is never forgotten.”He said: “As an independent backbencher, I now want devote my energies to continue campaigning on HIV/Aids.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“Around the world we have lost the lives of around 35 million men, women and children since the onset of that pandemic.“Moreover, there are examples beyond count of the persecution of LGBT people worldwide.“Even now, in 2021, there are some 70 nations where homosexuality is illegal and where there are obvious barriers against people coming forward for HIV/Aids-related treatment.“So, I want to spend the next years campaigning against these modern evils and trying to support the many individuals and organisations in the field who are working to turn the tide.”Since being elected as Lord Speaker in 2016, Lord Fowler has led a series of changes in the running of the upper chamber, including steps to tackle bullying and harassment, and efforts to reduce the size of the House.He has been publicly critical of fresh appointments to the upper house made by Boris Johnson, which have increased the number of members on the red benches.Lord Fowler also oversaw the introduction of a fully virtual chamber and then hybrid working during the Covid-19 pandemic.Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle paid tribute to Lord Fowler for 50 years of continuous service in politics.“His decision to step down as Lord Speaker to continue his relentless campaign for awareness of HIV and Aids is commendable,” said Sir Lindsay.“I am in no doubt that his ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ awareness campaign when he was health secretary was a life-saver, in that it showed his grasp of the enormity of the Aids epidemic at a time when gay sex was a taboo topic.”The timetable for an election for the new Lord Speaker will now be decided by the Upper House’s Procedure Committee.Additional reporting by Press Association More