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Prime Minister refuses to extend the evictions banThe government has received backlash from both Conservative and Labour MPs for its refusal to pay for cladding removal from shorter buildings (below 18m), forcing many leaseholders to take out loans to cover the costs. Communities secretary Robert Jenrick made the announcement in the Commons today following Boris Johnson’s weekly PMQs session, sparking Tory MP Stephen McPartland to call it a “betrayal of millions of leaseholders”. Shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire responded by blaming “government choices” for “repeated undelivered promises”. “As a result of government choices, three-and-a-half years on from the Grenfell tragedy in which 72 people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped in unsafe homes, many more unable to move,” she told MPs. Earlier on Wednesday, president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen said she “deeply” regrets the EU’s threat to override the Northern Ireland protocol during a row over coronavirus vaccines. The bloc had considered triggering article 16 of the protocol to allow vaccine checks at the NI border, before hastily retracting the threat.Speaking about the fiasco, Ms Von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “Allow me a word on the island of Ireland. The bottom line is mistakes were made and the process leading up to the decision and I deeply regret that.”Her words come the day after Boris Johnson’s top Brexit negotiator, David Frost, described recent relations between the UK and the EU as “more than bumpy”.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
1612968459‘Look closely at cladding package’, No 10 tells Tory MPDowning Street has urged Tory MP Stephen McPartland to “look closely” at the latest cladding package after he branded the announcement a “betrayal of millions of leaseholders”.Boris Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton told reporters on Wednesday: “Clearly we will encourage McPartland to look closely at the package that’s been drawn up.”Before it was a £1.6bn package, now it is £5bn. It is detailed, it is looking at the awful situation many people find themselves in and we think it will go a very long way towards addressing the insecurity and distress that people find themselves in when they are in flats that they worry about.”It comes after Mr McPartland appeared on BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme to defend “innocent” leaseholders in the structural crisis. “The taxpayer is going to have to pay up-front to resolve a lot of these issues and then try to claw the money back from developers, building owners and insurance companies,” he told the BBC. “Leaseholders are the innocent parties in this. Many of these people were in primary school when these buildings were being constructed and they are now being hit with bills that will be bankrupting them.”I noticed he said something around it would be £50 a month, that would be just for cladding. But if that was £50,000, that £50 a month would take somebody 83 years to pay the bill off.”And if it was a £50,000 bill, that’s just on cladding, never mind anything else.”Sam Hancock10 February 2021 14:471612967351Leaseholders can take ‘comfort’ knowing loans are available, Jenrick urgesRobert Jenrick, still chairing the Commons at the time, responded to criticism of his announcement, saying leaseholders could take “great comfort” from knowing loans are available to them.”The funding that we have made available today will provide leaseholders with the certainty and confidence that they need,” the communities secretary said in response to a question from Conservative former minister Sir Peter Bottomley.”That any leaseholder in a building over 18 metres will now know that they will not have to pay for the removal of cladding and those leaseholders in the buildings that are lower rise, those of 11 to 18 metres, can have great comfort from the fact that this new financing arrangement will be in place.”Greater Macnhester’s mayor Andy Burnahm swiftly took to Twitter to ask how the government could “justify this unfair and divisive move”.”The campaign goes on,” he added, suggesting local leaders from across the country are unlikely to accept Mr Jenrick’s decision as final. Sam Hancock10 February 2021 14:291612966866‘Shameful proposals fall short,’ Sadiq Khan says on claddingMayor of London Sadiq Khan has added his voice to the debate, calling the government “shameful” for failing to do “what is needed” in the bid to rid all buildings of dangerous cladding.Sam Hancock10 February 2021 14:211612966084Grenfell United: ‘Heartbreaking’ announcement ‘too little too late’Grenfell United, which represents the bereaved families and survivors of the London tower block disaster, said new government cladding pledges announced by Robert Jenrick were “still a long way from what is needed to fix this scandal”.In a statement, the campaign group said: “For over three-and-a-half years we’ve been raising the alarm that thousands of people are living in unsafe homes and another Grenfell could happen at any time.”It’s heartbreaking to say but once again today’s announcement is too little, too late.”It does not address the various fire safety issues that are surfacing in many unsafe buildings. We needed something to deal with this mess once and for all – we didn’t get that today.”The group added that residents should not be “forced into loans and new debt just because of the height of their building”.It called for the development and construction industry to be “held fully responsible for what they have done”, adding that a “small levy” simply “doesn’t cut it”.Sam Hancock10 February 2021 14:081612963404Labour MPs weigh in on cladding loan announcementShadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire has called the announcement by Robert Jenrick, that the government will only strip dangerous cladding from buildings over a certain height, a “repeat of undelivered promises”.She told the Commons on Wednesday: “As a result of government choices, three-and-a-half years on from the Grenfell tragedy in which 72 people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped in unsafe homes, many more unable to move.”And today’s announcement is too late for too many. It’s a repeat of undelivered promises and backtracks on the key one that leaseholders should have no costs to pay.”The Chancellor said last March all unsafe combustible cladding will be removed from every private and social residential building above 18 metres high, but that has not happened. Buildings haven’t been able to access the fund and £9 out of £10 is still sitting where it was.”At every stage, the government underestimated the problem and delays caused it to grow. They still don’t know how many buildings are unsafe, where they are or what danger they pose.”And until we have answers to those basic questions Government will continue to make mistakes, offering piece-meal solutions that then have to be updated when they don’t deliver.Meanwhile, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner and MP Margaret Hodge also weighed in on the issue:Sam Hancock10 February 2021 13:231612962860Cladding decision ‘betrayal of millions of leaseholders,’ Tory MP saysConservative MP Stephen McPartland, a vocal critic of the government’s handling of the cladding crisis, has tweeted:Sam Hancock10 February 2021 13:141612962148Leaseholders in shorter buildings must take out loans to remove cladding The government will not pay to remove cladding from shorter buildings, leaving many leaseholders to take out loans to meet their huge costs.Although housing secretary Robert Jenrick said no-one “will pay more than £50 a month, the announcement risked a backlash from Conservative MPs. Rory Sullivan10 February 2021 13:021612961848Leaseholders in high-rise residential blocks will not face cost for cladding removal, says Jenrick Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that leaseholders in high-rise blocks of more than 18 metres will not face costs for the removal of unsafe cladding. Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon, the minister announced what he described as an “unprecedented intervention”, which will provide £3.5 billion in funds for the removal of cladding. He added that leaseholders in medium-sized blocks would not have to pay more than £50 per month for remedial work. Thangam Debbonaire , the shadow housing secretary, said hundreds of thousands of people still live in unsafe housing. She called the proposals “too late for too many” and a “repeat of undelivered promises”. The government’s announcement comes three and a half years after the Grenfell fire tragedy. More

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has admitted that “mistakes were made” after an explosive threat to put controls on the Irish border to limit the export of vaccines to the UK. Following condemnation from the Republic of Ireland, Downing Street and some EU figures, the decision to override of the Northern Ireland Protocol— a key part of the Brexit agreement — was withdrawn just hours later.Addressing the U-turn, Ms Von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday: “Allow me a word on the island of Ireland. The bottom line is mistakes were made and the process leading up to the decision and I deeply regret that. “But in the end we got it right and I can reassure you that my Commission will do its utmost to protect the peace of Northern Ireland, just as it has done throughout the entire Brexit process.”At the same time the EU took on powers requiring companies to seek approval of European authorities before shipping vaccines out of the 27-nation bloc. It emerged at the time the mechanism would also apply to Northern Ireland, even though the region is treated as part of the customs union under the Brexit agreement.After provoking a backlash, the EU had said it had acted in “error” and reversed the decision that could have established border controls on the vital supply of vaccines from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland.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 weekdayMichael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, welcomed the decision of the EU to step back from the threat, saying in January: “I think the European Union recognises that they made a mistake in triggering Article 16, which would have meant the reimposition of a border on the island of Ireland.”In her speech, Ms von der Leyen stressed the bloc did not intend to “restrict companies honouring their contracts”, adding: “We fully understand that difficulties will arise in the mass production of vaccines. But Europe has invested billions of Euros in capacities in advance and we urge the member states to plan their vaccine rollout.”“We do not intend to restrict companies that are honouring their contracts with the European Union.”She also acknowledged that the EU was not where it wanted to be in the “marathon” battle against coronavirus, stressing: “We were late with the approval. We were too optimistic on mass production. And perhaps we were also too certain that the orders would be delivered on time.” More

Lord James Wharton – a campaign manager during Boris Johnson’s 2019 leadership bid – was confirmed to lead the independent regulator of the higher education sector earlier this week despite concerns raised by MPs.Following confirmation of his appointment to the role, which comes with an annual salary of £59,000, Labour’s shadow education secretary said she had written to the cabinet secretary Simon Case demanding a probe.Describing the appointment as “alarming” in her letter, Kate Green argued that Lord Wharton has admitted “he has no direct experience in higher education” and urged Mr Johnson and the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, to “be up front about how this role was appointed”.She said: “It seems to me that Baron Wharton has none of the statutory qualifications for the post, and both the higher education sector and the wider public will be deeply concerned that this is simply another example of cronyism, which undermines trust in public life at a time when it is needed worst.”“This will only be made worse by Baron Wharton’s decision to keep the Conservative whip, bringing into question his ability to make independent decisions.” 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 weekdayMs Green added: “At a time when it is vitally important for the public to have confidence in government appointments, it is extremely disappointing that they continue to appoint those with close ties to the Conservative party to public jobs without the necessary experience or credentials.”Ms Green submitted half a dozen questions to Mr Case, the most senior civil servant, including whether it would be appropriate for Lord Wharton to resign the whip with immediate effect, and whether he had any experience in promoting the interest of students.Last week, Lord Wharton told the education select committee that he recognised the “crucial importance” of the universities’ watchdog being independent and added he would “uphold that”.When asked whether he would retain the Conservative whip, Lord Wharton said he has had a discussion with the whips in the Lords and they said they would give him “more latitude” and they would understand that he may need to vote against some of the government’s proposals.Lord Wharton was interviewed for the role by a panel that included Tory peer Baroness Wyld, former Conservative MP Eric Ollerenshaw and Nick Timothy, who advised Theresa May as prime minister.The Cabinet Office said they would respond to Ms Green’s letter in “due course”.A government spokesperson added: “The chair of the OfS is a public appointment, made by ministers in line with the governance code on public appointments, which sets out the principles of public appointments.“The appointment has been regulated by the Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments who plays a vital role in ensuring the process is open and fair.” More

Ministers have refused to pay to remove cladding from shorter buildings, leaving many leaseholders to take out loans to meet their huge costs.No-one “will pay more than £50 a month” under a low-interest scheme, said Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary – triggering a backlash from Conservative MPs.It was immediately attacked by Thangam Debbonaire, his Labour shadow, as “too late for too many”, three-and-a half-years after the Grenfell tragedy.“It’s a repeat of undelivered promises and a backtrack on the key one – that leaseholders should have no costs to pay,” she protested.Stephen McPartland, a Conservative MP, said he was “listening to the announcement with my head in my hands wondering how he can have got this so wrong”.“It is a betrayal of millions of leaseholders. It is not good enough. It is shocking incompetence. It is clear the PM has to step in now,” he tweeted.And Paul Afshar, campaigner for the group End Our Cladding Scandal: “The government promised us no leaseholder would have to pay to make their homes safe. Today we feel betrayed.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“Many people living in buildings under 18 metres will still have to bear the cost – saddled with debt around their necks for 30 years.”But Mr Jenrick defended the loan scheme as “reasonable”, telling MPs: “It’s about the equivalent of the average service charge for a purpose-built block of flats.”The announcement – brought forward to try to head off a growing Tory revolt – will create a £3.5bn fund to remove and replace cladding on all buildings above 18 metres.But Mr Jenrick said there would be “a long-term low-interest scheme” for buildings between four and six storeys.“No leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding, many far less,” he told the Commons.But Mr McPartland accused him of “smoke and mirrors”, adding: “No mention of fire safety defects, waking watches or excessive insurance premiums which are often the main costs for millions of leaseholders.”Around 274,000 high-rise flats are estimated to have dangerous cladding, with more than 650,000 people believed to live in them.But that figure is thought to reach into the millions when those living in buildings of under 18 metres are included – where residents also face problems protecting and selling their homes.Mr Jenrick also announced a “developer levy” to be paid when companies seek permission to develop certain high-rise buildings in England.And a new tax, from next year, would “raise at least £2bn for a decade to help pay for cladding remediation costs”.“The tax will ensure the largest property developers make a fair contribution to the remediation programme in relation to the money they make from residential property,” he argued.But there was no mention of how building safety defects other than the removal of cladding will be paid for. More

Independent media outlets in Poland suspended news coverage and other programming Wednesday to protest a planned new advertising tax that they view as an attempt by the country s right-wing government to undermine press freedoms The government says the “solidarity” tax would raise money to bolster state finances badly strained by the coronavirus pandemic. But 45 media companies signed a letter that said they already pay many taxes and that the advertising tax could push some to collapse.“We strongly oppose the use of the epidemic as an excuse to introduce another new, exceptionally heavy burden on the media,” they wrote as websites and TV screens in Poland went dark for 24 hours.Gazeta Wyborcza, the country’s leading newspaper and a liberal critic of the populist government, called the advertising tax “a powerful blow to free media.” In place of the usual news items on its webpage was a black screen and a warning that if the tax is passed, the publication’s readers could one day lose access to independent news.Broadcaster TVN, which is owned by the U.S. company Discovery Inc., also joined the protest. Viewers who turned to all-news station TVN24 and other channels only saw a black screen and the words “Your favorite programming was supposed to be here.”The United States and the European Union stressed their support for media diversity on Wednesday.The chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Bix Aliu, called free media “a cornerstone of democracy,” and said “the United States will always defend media independence.”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 weekdayIn Brussels, a spokesman for the EU’s executive arm acknowledged the media protest, saying “We have seen the black screens.” Poland belongs to the 27-nation bloc.“We expect member states to ensure that their fiscal or other policies will not affect the duty of ensuring a free, independent and diverse media ecosystem,” European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said. “This is, of course, all the more important in times of the pandemic, which has hit the media sector hard.”Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki cast the planned tax an effort to level out the playing field between small and big companies and to force technology giants like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon to contribute their fair share.The tax is still being worked on in parliament, but Morawiecki’s ruling conservative party, Law and Justice, has the majority needed to pass it.“This is a fair step towards leveling the playing field for domestic players in various industries compared to big foreign players,” Morawiecki said.Polish newspapers have experienced massive financial pressure in past years amid the digital revolution and faced new setbacks due to the pandemic.Boguslaw Chrabota, editor of the daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, wondered in an editorial if the tax is “systemic revenge” against the media for acting as a watchdog of government authorities. Unlike many other outlets, Rzeczpospolita made some news coverage available Wednesday.The tax proposal comes amid an erosion of media independence in Poland, which has been following a path taken by Hungary under autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban.The EU has for years expressed concerns about what it views as an erosion of democracy in Poland and Hungary, two countries once admired as models of democratic transition from communism.On Tuesday, a Hungarian court issued a ruling that will force one of Hungary’s last remaining independent radio stations, Klubradio, off the airwaves and limited to online broadcasts. In December, Poland’s state-run oil company, PKN Orlen, announced it was buying Polska Press, a formerly German-owned private media group that controls a wide swath of daily and weekly newspapers in Poland. Government critics called it a huge setback for media freedom since it effectively meant the government took control of an important publisher of independent news.Meanwhile, the Polish government generously funds public media, which act as a government mouthpiece, even increasing their budget to over $500 million ahead of a presidential election last year that the ruling party-backed incumbent ended up winning.AP writer Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed. More

Boris Johnson’s government is seeking staff for a “union unit” aimed at countering support for Scottish independence – but knowledge of Scotland is not deemed essential for the job. The Cabinet Office has begun advertising for four roles in policy and strategy, as it seeks to bolster its union-saving efforts ahead of Scottish parliamentary elections this spring.The job ad at Michael Gove’s department demands candidates “demonstrate good political judgement” and have the “credibility to build a strong network of relationships across Whitehall”. However, it states that “understanding of policy issues relevant to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland” is only “desirable” – rather than essential.A separate job ad has revealed the Cabinet Office is also searching for a data specialist to develop a “Live Union Dashboard” – an online platform used to present the latest data on the health of the union.The number-cruncher will not be required to know issues relevant to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to the recruitment notice on the civil service website.The SNP’s deputy leader Keith Brown said the job ads “reeked of arrogance” and showed why the union unit was “doomed to fail” at keeping the UK intact.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“It reeks of Westminster arrogance that the Tories are willing to hire a senior staff member who lacks a basic understanding of issues relevant to Scotland,” said Mr Brown. “The taxpayer shouldn’t be paying through the nose for this Tory flag waving exercise.”The new policy roles in the Cabinet Office unit aiming to maintain “the integrity of the United Kingdom” are available in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. The pay will be between £60,000 to £70,000, according to the listing on ZipRecruiter.The ad states: “The Union Directorate is a small, focused team of policy professionals, analysts, comms experts … with a focus on making the benefits of the union clear, visible and understood.” More

England’s deputy chief medical officer has effectively ruled out safety issues with the coronavirus vaccines being used in the UK, saying so many people have now had the jab that it would be “pretty obvious” if it caused adverse reactions.Prof Jonathan Van-Tam also played down the threat from the South African variant of the disease in the UK, saying that 90 per cent of cases now involve the strain first identified in Kent.Comparing the two variants to hot and cold water taps on a bath, he said that as long as one was flowing hard, the other would have little impact.Answering questions from viewers on the BBC News Channel and Asian Channel, Prof Van-Tam sought to reassure people from black and minority ethnic (Name)backgrounds that they were at no risk from taking the vaccine, declaring that coronavirus “does not discriminate”.And he dismissed rumours that the vaccine could affect fertility as “a nasty, pernicious scare story” which was “completely, utterly groundless”.Prof Van-Tam urged Britons to trust reliable medical sources and not social media for information about the pandemic.“We’re always concerned when we get disinformation and things that are just patently wrong and patently misleading and designed to frighten people and damage their confidence in what we are doing,” he said.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“If my central heating system breaks down, I’m going to call the heating engineer to explain to me what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed… I’m not going to ask a brain surgeon. “Why would you go to those kinds of sources of information, when you have really very readily accessible good sources from trusted voices in the NHS?”Challenged over whether there could be any threat to health from taking the Covid-19 vaccine, particularly among BAME people, he replied: “If you have a vaccine … and you think you’ve had some kind of reaction to it or a side effect, you can report that on the yellow card system. That’s being done every single day spontaneously by the public in relation to the Covid-19 vaccines that we’ve deployed.“We are well over the 12 million mark now in terms of vaccines we’ve deployed. We’re getting to a point where, if we were going to see any kind of safety signal, it would be pretty obvious by now.”Prof Van-Tam said that studies which have raised questions over the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in South Africa related only to mild cases of Covid among younger people and had little bearing on the key issue of serious illness and deaths.The South African variant remains “far from dominant” in the UK, with fewer than 200 cases discovered, he said.Comparing it to the Kent variant, he said: “If you are running a bath and you have got the hot water tap on and you add in a very small amount of cold water, so the cold tap is running as well but at really a very low volume, your bath water is basically going to remain hot,.“It’s only if that cold tap was gushing much more than the hot tap, the cold water would take over.“That’s probably the best analogy I can give you at the moment. There are no signs that South African variant is running at that speed at the moment and therefore I don’t frame it as something that is going to be a dominant issue in the next few months.” More

Boris Johnson today rejected Labour demands for an immediate extension to furlough, business rate relief and eviction ban schemes due to expire in the coming weeks.And he said that residential renters face an even more urgent cliff-edge, urging the PM to immediately extend an evictions ban which is due to run out in just 11 days’ time on 21 February.“Businesses don’t work as slowly as the prime minister,” said Sir Keir. “They need an answer now.”Mr Johnson hinted that announcements on furlough may come in the “roadmap for the way out of this pandemic” which he has promised for 22 February.But he said that MPs and businesses should “wait until the Budget” for chancellor Rishi Sunak to explain exactly what support would be made available.The 100 per cent business rate relief scheme for retail, hospitality and leisure companies is currently due to expire on 31 March.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 weekdayAnd Mr Sunak’s job retention scheme, which pays up to 80 per cent of wages of staff furloughed because they are unable to work, is guaranteed only until the end of April.With full vaccination of the population against Covid-19 not expected until the autumn, and business activity likely to be curtailed for months to come, Labour calculates that these and other changes will deliver a £50bn “bombshell” to business.Sir Keir told PMQs: “Hundreds of thousands of businesses are affected by this.“Let me take the prime minister into a secret – He can take decisions for himself, and he doesn’t need to leave everything to the eleventh (hour). “If I were prime minister, I’d say to businesses ‘We’ll support you now. We’ll protect jobs now’.“Because the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors and the British Chambers of Commerce have all said the same thing. “They all say they can’t wait until the Budget. “The prime minister may disagree with me, but he’s actually disagreeing with businesses. Why does the prime minister think he knows better than British business?”Mr Johnson responded: “I think that most business people that I’ve talked to – and I’ve talked to a great many in the last 12 months – will agree that there is no government around the world that has done more to support business, wrapping our arms around business.”Pressed on the imminent end of the eviction ban, he insisted: “What we will do in this government and throughout this pandemic is put our arms around the British people, support them throughout the pandemic, and make sure that people are not unfairly evicted during the pandemic.“That is what we will we will do.”Mr Johnson urged Starmer to “repudiate” the policies of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which he said included destroying capitalism and breaking up the pharmaceutical industry. And he said that the Labour leader should “support all the government’s policies”.But Sir Keir retorted with a reference to Mr Johnson’s reported “f*** business” comment during the Brexit referendum campaign.“We all know what the prime minister once said he wanted to do to business,” said the Labour leader. “We on these benches would rather listen to business.” More