Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour’s shadow transport secretary has failed to rule out that fares could become more expensive under Labour’s plans to nationalise the railways within five years.Louise Haigh repeatedly dodged questions on whether ticket prices could rise, saying there were no “plans” for increases.In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme Ms Haigh said she could not promise to lower fares. Asked if fares could go up, Ms Haigh said they would be “simpler”, and she could not say which journeys would be cheaper. Pressed again, she said: “We have absolutely no plans to make them more expensive”. Her plans would allow ministers to make “significant savings” which would allow them to make fares “more affordable” she said. Under Labour’s plans for the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation” it would transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term in office. This would see existing private contracts taken into a new body, Great British Railways, as they expire. Labour says the plans would nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”. Under the reforms Great British Railways would be responsible for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to operate trains.But the body would be led by rail experts rather than ministers and civil servants in Whitehall. Labour also plans to establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold GBR to account. Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSuspended MP Kate Osamor is being given the Labour whip back within days, The Independent has been told.Three months after being suspended over a Holocaust Memorial Day post suggesting the Israeli action in Gaza is genocide, the Edmonton MP will be welcomed back into the Labour fold.Ms Osamor, who was a shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, was placed under investigation over the post, which likened Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust, as well as genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia.Kate Osamor likened Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust, as well as genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour will pledge to renationalise the railways if elected, in what the party will call the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.”A Labour government would expect to transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into a new body as they expire, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will say at a launch event on Thursday.The plan will nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”, the party will say.The Government’s own proposals for rail reform, published in a draft Bill in February, include the creation of a new public sector body named Great British Railways (GBR) to hold responsibility for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to operate trains.But a Labour government would create a “unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length” version of GBR led by rail experts rather than Whitehall, Ms Haigh will say.Labour also plans to establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold GBR to account.(left to right) Richard Parker, Labour’s West Midlands mayoral candidate, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, and deputy party leader Angela Rayner More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe spaceport at the northern-most tip of the UK has received its range control licence from the regulator as it prepares for its first launch this year.SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst has been given permission by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to clear and control the “downrange” zone during launches.It means the CAA is confident the spaceport can keep maritime and aviation traffic secure when rockets blast off from the site on the Shetland Islands.The granting of the range licence comes after SaxaVord was granted its spaceport licence in December, which verified the privately-owned site meets the safety and environmental requirements for vertical space launches.The next part of the regulatory process will be a launch operator licence for the companies wishing to use the spaceport.Colin Macleod, head of space regulation at the CAA, said: “SaxaVord’s range licence is vital to protecting public safety during launches.“Our work is enabling the UK’s expanding space sector and encouraging safety, sustainability and security of space activity.”German company Rocket Factory Augsburg hopes to be the first to launch satellites into space from Unst later this year, though a number of organisations have expressed interest in using the site.Ultimately, they wish to build up the frequency of their launches to around one per month.Frank Strang, chief executive of SaxaVord Spaceport, said: “We are delighted to have been granted our range licence by the Civil Aviation Authority and had it approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, following on from our spaceport licence in December last year.“Both awards are historic milestones for ourselves in Shetland and the development of the UK space sector in its entirety.“This is a vital component in our preparations for launch. Satisfying such a crucial piece of the regulatory process affords everyone the comfort that we will always operate in a safe and proper manner under the watchful eye of the regulator.“As Western Europe’s only fully licensed vertical launch spaceport, we are now preparing to make more space history with the beginning of orbital launch operations well under way and first launch expected to be in Q3 of this year.”The CAA says the size of the clearance zones will depend on the type of rocket being used, with larger areas being needed for early launches due to the higher risk of failure.Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Today’s announcement is an important next step for SaxaVord as it prepares for the first commercial vertical space launch in the United Kingdom.“It is vital that launches are safe for everyone involved, which is what this range licence will ensure – enabling SaxaVord to continue supporting skilled UK jobs and help grow the economy.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has challenged Britain’s European allies to meet his £75bn pledge to increase defence spending as US president Joe Biden signed a $61bn package of aid for Ukraine. The prime minister warned the world is “more dangerous now than at any moment since the Cold War” and faces “an axis of authoritarian states”. He also defended what he called “entirely reasonable” calls from US counterparts for greater European defence spending. His words will be seen as a message to Donald Trump not to quit Nato should he win the US election later this year. Mr Trump has previously said the US would remain in the defence alliance as long as European countries “play fair” and do not “take advantage” of support from America, which spends more on defence. But UK defence secretary Grant Shapps risked a diplomatic incident over the months of political wrangling in Congress that delayed Mr Biden’s aid package for Ukraine. He said it reminded him of “the old maxim of Winston Churchill, that the United States can always be relied on to do the right thing, once they have exhausted all other options”.Prime minister Rishi Sunak and Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz More