Markus Andrews

Rishi Sunak mentioned how his party’s “plan” is working six times in just a 40-second interview.The prime minister appeared on Sky News on Wednesday (17 April) after it was announced inflation in the UK had fallen to 3.2 percent, down from 3.4 percent in March.Mr Sunak said: “Our plan is working and our simple message would be if we stick to that plan, people can have confidence there’s a brighter future.”He later said inflation has fallen “because we have a plan, and that plan is working”.Before adding: “We have to stick to that plan if we all want the brighter future we want to see and that’s why our plan is so important.” More

Treasury minister Laura Trott has revealed she will not be reading former prime minister Liz Truss’s new book.The Tory minister said she had previously read a book Harry Cole and Ed James produced about Ms Truss, but confirmed she will not be reading Ten Years to Save the West.She told Kay Burley on Sky News today (17 April) : “That’s probably enough Liz Truss books for me.”When asked why, she replied: “I am not interested in revisiting that period if I am honest, Kay.”The book is said to feature several bizarre revelations from Ms Truss’s short time in No 10. 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 faces Sir Keir Starmer in Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 17 April.The House of Commons returned from Easter recess this week, with the government’s flagship Rwanda policy, smoking ban and Iran’s attack on Israel high on the agenda.Mr Sunak’s proposal to ban young people from ever being able to legally smoke tobacco cleared its first Commons hurdle yesterday, despite a swathe of Conservatives objecting to it in a blow to his authority.MPs voted 383 to 67, majority 316, to give the Tobacco and Vapes Bill a second reading.Meanwhile, ministers are confident deportation flights to Rwanda will take off this spring, despite the legislation underpinning the plan remaining in parliamentary deadlock.Treasury minister Laura Trott said there were “many definitions of spring” when pressed about a timeline for getting planes off the runway.The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill returns to the Commons on Wednesday, after the House of Lords again pressed demands for revisions, prolonging the parliamentary wrangling.MPs are likely to reject these changes, meaning the legislation will be sent back to the Lords again.The legislation seeks to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Kigali, but it will only receive royal assent and become law once agreement between parliament’s two houses is reached. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIsrael is “making the decision to act” in response to Saturday’s attack by Iran, the Foreign Secretary has said on a visit to the country for talks with its leaders.Lord Cameron called on Tel Avivto respond in a way that will do ‘as little to escalate this” as possible. He travelled to Israel late on Tuesday to discuss its response to the barrage of drones and missiles. The UK and other countries have led calls for restraint in retaliation. Rishi Sunak delivered a similar message to Mr Netanyahu in a phone call on Tuesday, saying it was “time for calm heads to prevail”.However, speaking to broadcasters in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the Foreign Secretary said Israel appeared to be preparing to act.He said: “It is right to have made our views clear about what should happen next, but it is clear the Israelis are making the decision to act.”We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible and in a way that, as I said yesterday, is smart as well as tough.”Lord Cameron is expected to hold meetings with senior Israeli figures, including Mr Netanayahu and visit the West Bank. He will then head to a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy.Lord Cameron said he hoped the meeting would result in more “co-ordinated sanctions” against Iran, saying a ” clear and unequivocal message” had to be sent to Tehran. The UK has already sanctioned several Iranians along with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).But ministers have rejected calls from MPs to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, warning it jeopardise Britain’s ability to engage diplomatically with Iran.The UK helped defend Israel when Iran launched around 350 drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday. British jets shot down a number of the drones.The attack came after Iran blamed Israel for the targeting of a diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month.Israel’s government has said the attack “will be met with a response”. Separately, foreign office minister David Rutley said the government was “pushing as hard as it can” to get more aid into Gaza.He told the Commons the humanitarian situation was “dire”. The Iran attack had not changed “our focus on ensuring Israel meets its commitments to enable at least 500 aid trucks a day to enter Gaza,” he said. “We are pushing as hard as we can to get aid to Palestinian civilians and as this House knows we have been urging Israel at the highest levels to take immediate action on the bottlenecks holding up humanitarian relief.” More

Rishi Sunak took a jibe at Angela Rayner’s tax affairs during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 17 April.Sir Keir Starmer opened the session by joking that he was “privileged to be the proud owner” of Liz Truss’s new book and took issue with her claim that 2022’s disastrous Budget was “the happiest moment of her premiership”.“Has the prime minister met anyone with a mortgage who agrees?” he asked, drawing laughter from the Commons.“All I’d say is, he’d ought to spend a bit less time reading that book and a bit more time reading the deputy leader’s tax advice,” Mr Sunak said, hitting back.He was referencing the row over Ms Rayer’s previous living arrangements. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain is set to ban the next generation from ever being able to smoke after Rishi Sunak proposal cleared its first House of Commons hurdle. The legislation would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1 2009, with the aim of creating a “smoke-free” generation.MPs voted 383 to 67, majority 316, to give the Tobacco and Vapes Bill a second reading.The prime minister relied on Labour votes to see off opponents on his own benches, led by the former PM Liz Truss. Conservative MPs were given a free vote on the Bill, meaning those who voted against the Government’s position will not face punishment.This allowed serving ministers, including Business Secretary and future Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch, to publicly reveal they would vote to reject the Bill. She said it undermines the principle of equality under the law by treating adults differently even if they were born just a day apart.MPs tipped as future Tory leadership candidates, including former immigration minister Robert Jenrick and former home secretary Suella Braverman, also voted against the ban, alongside several serving ministers, while leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt abstained.Use the searchable table below to see how you local MP voted on the historic bill. In the end, 57 Tory MPs defied Mr Sunak’s call and voted against the ban, while more than 100 did not vote.Tory MPs voting against the bill were joined by 7 DUP MPs, Reform Party MP Lee Anderson, and Workers Party of Britain MP George Galloway.Some 178 Conservatives supported the bill, according to the division list, alongside 160 Labour MPs, 31 SNP MPs, 5 Liberal Democrats, 3 Plaid Cymru MPs, 2 independents, and the Alliance Party’s Stephen Farry.Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting confirmed Labour’s “wholehearted” support to the Bill, and added his party is “only too happy to defend the Health Secretary against the siren voices of big tobacco” gathered on the Tory benches.Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said she understood colleagues’ concerns about freedom of choice, and conceded Conservatives were “not in the habit of banning things”, but warned the Commons there was “no liberty in addiction”.“Nicotine robs people of their freedom to choose. The vast majority of smokers start when they are young, and three-quarters say that if they could turn back the clock they would not have started,” she added. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is at the forefront of European Union citizens’ minds, with defense and security seen as key campaign issues ahead of the June elections, according to a study published Wednesday. At national level, the EU’s defense and security is mentioned first in nine countries, in contrast with sentiments five years ago when the last EU Parliament elections were held.“The EU’s defense and security was far from a prominent topic in 2019, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,,” the latest edition of the EU Parliament’s Eurobarometer said.The report, a collection of opinion surveys across the 27 EU nations, showed that defense and security — alongside the economy and jobs — now come in third place (31%) behind poverty and social exclusion (33%) and public health (32%). Climate change and the future of Europe follow closely.The Eurobarometer also noted that EU citizens put defense and security as first priorities in reinforcing the EU’s global position, ahead of food security and agriculture.Looking at the next legislative mandate, peace and democracy are considered the main values to defend in the coming years, ahead of the protection of human rights, freedom of speech and thought and the rule of law. Peace is the most valued goal in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. In the Baltic states, Russia’s belligerence toward Ukraine has led some tp worry that they could be the next target, while Finland’s relationship with Russia has significantly deteriorated due to the Nordic country’s membership in NATO and over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions. The report also highlighted a surge of interest in the June 6-9 elections.Some 60% of Europeans said they are interested in the next European elections, an 11-point increase since 2019, and 71% said they are likely to cast a ballot.The majority of respondents said voting is even more important considering the global situation.The survey was carried out between Feb. 7 and March 3 in all 27 EU countries. In total, 26,411 interviews were made. More

Nigel Farage said he is going to make a big political decision within the “next few weeks” after he was quizzed on whether he would join the Conservative Party.Mr Farage was quizzed on his political future after Liz Truss said she would like to see him “join the party”.Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday (17 April), Ed Balls quizzed Mr Farage about his future plans.He said: “In terms of what i may or may not do, I simply haven’t decided, but I notice Reform is getting stronger. “I’m going to make a big decision about this within the next few weeks.” More