Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBarack Obama has visited Downing Street for a surprise meeting at No 10 with Rishi Sunak. The former US president – who served in the White House between 2009 and 2017 – waved at reporters outside before he entered the prime minister’s residence for a previously undisclosed private meeting at 3pm. A Downing Street spokesperson insisted the visit was an “informal courtesy drop in” as part of the former president’s visit to London.They added: “President Obama’s team made contact and obviously the prime minister was very happy to to meet with him and discuss the work of the Obama Foundation.”Mr Obama left No 10 after around an hour following a meeting with Mr Sunak.The former US president said “I’m tempted” when asked questions by the media as he re-emerged and got into a Range Rover car with Jane D Hartley, the US ambassador to the UK, just after 4pm.Former US president Barack Obama leaves following a meeting at 10 Downing Street, LondonThe Barack Obama Foundation is a nonprofit organisation focused on social mobility that was founded by the former president back in 2014.The last time Mr Obama visited Downing Street was eight years ago in 2016.The former president met with then prime minister David Cameron at Number 10 for talks ahead of the Brexit vote.He warned the UK would be at the “back of the queue” for US trade deals if it left the European Union.The two leaders also held a joint news conference at the Foreign Office. Mr Obama said the US “wants Britain’s influence to grow – including within Europe”.The talks come as Mr Sunak said he has “confidence for the future: as he battles to shore up his position as prime minister following rumours that his party is looking to replace him ahead of a general election.Mr Sunak’s failure to turn around the Tories’ opinion poll deficit has fuelled speculation about Conservative MPs considering replacing him with Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt in an attempt to avoid a general election disaster.Business secretary Kemi Badenoch told plotters seeking to oust the prime minister to “stop messing around” and end the “Westminster psychodrama”.Ms Badenoch suggested “one or two MPs” are behind the Westminster rumours and they should not be allowed to “dominate the news narrative”.She told BBC Breakfast: “I’m sure if Penny was here, she would be distancing herself from those comments.”Ms Mordaunt has not publicly commented on reports about a bid to elevate her to the Tory leadership, but a source close to her rejected them as “nonsense”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Rishi Sunak set out the Conservatives’ pledge to create up to 20,000 more apprenticeships in a speech on Monday, 18 March.The prime minister detailed plans the government says will fully fund training for young people and cut red tape for small businesses.Mr Sunak’s reforms “will unlock a tidal wave of opportunity”, he said.The announcement was made at a conference for small firms in Warwickshire.Under the plans, the government will pay the full cost of apprenticeships for under-21-year-olds in small businesses from 1 April in a move aimed at reducing burdens for employers and providing more professional training places for young people.It comes as Mr Sunak’s premiership faces a threat from a chaotic plot of backbench Tory MPs who want to replace him with Penny Mordaunt before the general election.Politicians from across the party are said to have met and held talks about “coronating” the leader of the House of Commons as prime minister in what would be the Tories’ sixth PM since the 2010 general election. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKemi Badenoch has dismissed the row over Tory donor Frank Hester’s alleged comments about Diane Abbott as “trivia” and insisted the Conservative Party should not return the businessman’s £10m donation. The business secretary, who last week described Mr Hester’s reported remarks as racist, said the country needed to “move away” from the row, claiming it did not matter to the general public and that it was “pure media bubble speculation”.It was reported last week that Mr Hester said Ms Abbott – the longest-serving Black MP – made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.Downing Street originally refused to condem the comments as racist but Ms Badenoch defied the official line and did so. Rishi Sunak later said the remarks were “racist and wrong”.Speaking to LBC, she said “we need to get to a place where we stop chasing people around and looking everywhere for the racism”. Business secretary Kemi Badenoch will host a conference for small businesses “Everybody is accusing, and counter-accusing around racism,” she continued. “We need to move away from these things and actually focus on what matters to people.”She added: “Now, this is trivia. I’m sorry, but I really do believe it is.“I am afraid is not really in the high priorities of how we deal with racism in this country.”On BBC Breakfast, she added: “You are interested in the story from last week, which has been apologised for and everyone has moved on… This is something that is pure media bubble speculation. It is not what the country cares about.”The minister said she had condemned the alleged comments “in a personal capacity as the only black woman in the cabinet” as she defended the prime minister’s response. She said: “I don’t want a prime minister who is just going to be lurching out, making comments every five minutes in response to the media.“What he is not doing is following the media’s lead, and I’m very pleased that he agreed with me, but I was making my comments in a personal capacity as the only black woman in the Cabinet.”Tory donor Frank Hester gave the Conservative party £10m in 2023 Ms Badenoch also said the Conservatives should not have to return the money and that the comments made by Mr Hester weren’t “even really about” Ms Abbott.Asked about returning the donation, she said: “I’m actually quite surprised that people suggest this. This was something that happened five years ago. He wasn’t talking to Diane Abbott. It wasn’t even really about Diane Abbott. He used her in a reference that was completely unacceptable. He’s apologised for it.“I think that it is far more important that we accept the apology and not moving on is taking too much attention away from what is actually meaningful to the people around the country.”Asked whether she was suggesting the Tories were happy to take money from people who make racist remarks, Ms Badenoch replied: “The point I’m making is that when people apologise, they should be forgiven.“And these comments were in no way reflective of the work that he has been doing while we have taken his money.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer defence secretary Ben Wallace has warned that there is “no other alternative” to Rishi Sunak amidst reports of a plot amongst backbench Conservative MPs to depose the prime minister.Mr Wallace – who has announced his intention to step down as an MP at the next election – called on his colleagues to “march towards the sound of the guns” and put an end to the speculation that they might force a leadership contest.Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “There comes a moment in time in the electoral cycle where you effectively put on your best suit, you stand up and you march towards the sound of the guns and you get on with it.“There is no other alternative. And that’s just the reality of it. And some of those people missed the boat. Maybe it’s what they wanted, something different. But ultimately the only victor of this type of shenanigans is the Labour Party. But actually, look we are 14 years into a government, time to put our best case forward, whenever that may be.”Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged colleagues to ‘stick to the plan’ Mr Wallace’s warning comes after a challenging week for Mr Sunak which saw the defection of former Conservative MP Lee Anderson to the Reform UK party, a public row over alleged “racist” comments made by a major Tory donor and disastrous polling results.The prime minister has had to ward off challenges to his leadership on a number of occasions, but grumblings amongst colleagues last week have fuelled more speculation than ever about his fate. Business secretary Kemi Badenoch dismissed suggestions of a brewing coup and insisted that the party “works very well together”.Ms Badenoch said that infighting was “just part and parcel of politics” and that we “need to move away from disagreements being portrayed as plots or rows”.“The facts are that the party works very well together,” she told LBC. “Yes of course, there will be some people who are unhappy, I’m not going to deny that.”Mr Wallace also acknowledged unhappiness against Conservative colleagues but called on them to acknowledge Mr Sunak’s successes:“Rishi Sunak is the prime minister. He set out his plan. He set out his idea and vision, which I think is to effectively, quite rightly, fix the economy, get inflation down. If we get inflation down, we can see interest rates drop. “Whether colleagues are happy with him or not, it’s too late, right? Get on with it. Stand up. And, you know, at some stage this year, commit to engage in the general election and put our best case forward.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe first piloted flying taxi could take to the UK skies in two years under Government plans which could also see regular drone deliveries by 2027.The Department of Transport (DoT) has released its Future of Flight Action Plan which also proposes flying taxis without pilots on board by 2030.It also foresees regular use of crime-fighting drones and critical 999 care deliveries by the end of the decade.The “roadmap” – or more precisely flight plan – would mean the adoption of technology “once confined to the realm of sci-fi”, according to the DoT, with drone technology boosting the country’s economy by £45 billion by 2030.Aviation and technology minister Anthony Browne said: “Cutting-edge battery technology will revolutionise transport as we know it – this plan will make sure we have the infrastructure and regulation in place to make it a reality.Aviation stands on the cusp of its next, potentially biggest, revolution since the invention of the jet engineSophie O’Sullivan, Civil Aviation Authority“From flying taxis to emergency service drones, we’re making sure the UK is at the forefront of this dramatic shift in transportation, improving people’s lives and boosting the economy.”The proposals would also allow drones to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) so the sector can grow without limiting the skies for other aircraft.They also aim to reinvigorate smaller aerodromes by setting out how they can operate as vertiports for electric aircraft that take off vertically (known as electric vertical take-off and landing or eVTOL aircraft).The plans develop standards to improve security for drones to boost public safety and look at ways of involving communities and local authorities so they can benefit from the potential economic and social benefits.The action plan was announced as Mr Browne was set to visit Vertical Aerospace in Bristol – one of the UK companies making flying taxis which are currently undergoing the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) authorisation process.Stephen Fitzpatrick, founder and chief executive of Vertical Aerospace, said: “With Government and business working together, we can unleash the huge economic, environmental and social benefits of zero emissions flight globally.”Sophie O’Sullivan, CAA head of future safety and innovation, said: “Aviation stands on the cusp of its next, potentially biggest, revolution since the invention of the jet engine.“Drones, eVTOL, and other different vehicles have the potential to change transportation options forever.“Our role in this bright future of aviation will be enabling technological advances and providing regulatory support, while ensuring that all forms of new aviation technology enjoy the same high safety standards as traditional aviation.”The plans aim to build on current uses of drone technology, such as the use by West Midlands Police to tackle violent crime and anti-social behaviour.In July 2023, a drone team successfully identified two offenders and another suspect at a speed and distance that would have taken ground officers hours to track down.In the NHS, drone service provider Skyfarer has partnered with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and Medical Logistics UK to test drones to deliver surgical implants and pathology samples between sites, cutting delivery times by up to 70%. More