Markus Andrews

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsIt was Winston Churchill who remarked, according to legend, that: “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” And so he did, at some length, and with his customary eloquence (six substantial volumes to be exact). His monumental achievements in power helped the process along, it’s fair to say. In the case of Liz Truss, there is little she can do to change the verdict of history on her nasty, brutish and freakishly short time in office. Her ludicrous memoir merely confirms that fact.She was, is, and will forever be a national embarrassment, her only exceptional talent being an astonishing lack of self-awareness. It’s not a useful trait in a politician, and it’s a highly unattractive one in an author. She is just as much hard work on the printed page as she is off it.Liz Truss recounts her brief time in office in her new book More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak will give Rwanda £50m as soon as his flagship deportation bill becomes law, the Home Office has admitted.With the bill expected to gain royal assent this week, the UK will send Kigali the latest payment of cash despite no migrants having been sent to the east African nation.The policy is designed to let the government deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda, by deeming the country “safe” in British law, with the government expecting initial flights to take off in the coming months.But just a handful of migrants are expected to be sent to Rwanda before the general election, expected this autumn.Appearing before the House of Commons public accounts committee, Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft said Britain would hand Rwanda the £50m sum “as soon as we have royal assent”.Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda scheme will head back to the Lords on Tuesday (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s plans to stop young people from ever smoking risk making smoking cooler, a Tory MP has warned.If passed, the tobacco and vapes bill would prevent anyone who turns 15 this year, or younger, from ever being able to legally buy tobacco products in England. It will be debated in parliament for the first time on Tuesday.But Conservative MP Simon Clarke said he is “both sceptical and downright opposed” to the plans, claiming they could help create a black market. He said: “There are good ways to tackle a problem like this and then there are bad ways, and I think that an outright ban risks being counterproductive.“I think it actually risks making smoking cooler, it certainly risks creating a black market, and it also risks creating a unmanageable challenge for the authorities.”Sir Simon said education and the tax system should be used as tools to deter people from smoking.Sir Simon has previously called for Mr Sunak to go before the election (Danny Lawson/PA) More

Lizz Truss squirmed as she was questioned over a lettuce lasting longer than her time as prime minister.Ms Truss. who lasted just 49 days as prime minister, claimed the lettuce reference was “just pathetic point scoring” when she was questioned by BBC News political editor Chris Mason on Monday (15 April).Mr Mason said: “Your time as prime minister left the UK an international laughing stock.”Ms Truss responded: “I don’t think that’s true.”“But, all the stuff about lasting less than the lettuce?”, Mr Mason asked.“This is just pathetic point scoring,” Ms Truss replied. “This is the kind of thing that obsesses the London elite.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer prime minister Liz Truss has endorsed Donald Trump to win this year’s US presidential election. Ms Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, said the “world was safer” under Trump’s presidency as she criticised incumbent Joe Biden. The former PM, who was in office for 49 days, suggested it “has to be” Trump following the US presidential election due to take place in November.“I don’t think (President Joe) Biden has been particularly supportive to the United Kingdom. I think he’s often on the side of the EU. And I certainly think I would like to see a new president in the White House,” she told LBC. Read the latest updates on Truss’s new book hereMs Truss claimed the former president’s economic policies “were actually very effective”, adding: “He cut regulation, he cut taxes, he liberated the US energy supply. And this is why the US has had significantly higher economic growth than Britain.. In foreign affairs, he was more effective at preventing aggressive regimes expanding and I think we’d be in a different position if he got re-elected in 2020.”She doubled-down on these comments, telling the BBC: “I do agree that under Donald Trump when he was president of the United States, the world was safer.“I want to work with fellow conservatives to take on what I believe is a real threat of Western society and civilization being undermined by left-wing extreme ideas.”However, Ms Truss added she doesn’t agree with “absolutely everything he’s ever said”. Liz Truss speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February More

Peers were urged to “calm down” and allow the government’s Rwanda deportation legislation to progress, as MPs voted to overturn amendments made by the House of Lords on Monday 15 April.The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill will not receive royal assent until both the House of Commons and the Lords agree its final wording, a process known as parliamentary ping-pong.MPs returned from the Easter recess on Monday to discuss six further changes made by peers, with the government tabling motions to disagree with them – while also moving its own proposal in a bid to ease concerns over how the bill operates in relation to modern slavery victims. More

A Labour peer was scolded in the House of Lords after she shouted at a health minister during a debate on Monday, 15 April.Baroness Shami Chakrabarti shouted “Why did we block the Trips waiver?” twice after health minister Lord Markham said he was proud of the UK’s record on distributing the Covid vaccine globally.The former shadow attorney general was reprimanded by Lords leader Lord Nicholas True, who told her: “The noble lady knows better than to shout at another member when other members before her are also trying to get in to ask a question.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailCreating a sexually explicit “deepfake” image is to be made an offence under new legislation, the Ministry of Justice has announced.Under the new legislation, anyone who creates a sexually explicit deepfake without consent will face a criminal record and an unlimited fine.They could even face jail, if the image is shared more widely.The creation of a deepfake will be an offence irrespective of whether the creator intended to share it or not, the department added.The new offence will be introduced through an amendment to the controversial Criminal Justice Bill, which is still making its way through Parliament.Minister for Victims and Safeguarding Laura Farris said the creation of deepfake sexual images is “unacceptable irrespective of whether the image is shared”.“It is another example of ways in which certain people seek to degrade and dehumanise others – especially women,” she said.“And it has the capacity to cause catastrophic consequences if the material is shared more widely. This Government will not tolerate it.“This new offence sends a crystal clear message that making this material is immoral, often misogynistic, and a crime.”Deborah Joseph, European editorial director of Glamour welcomed the planned amendment.“In a recent Glamour survey, we found 91% of our readers believe deepfake technology poses a threat to the safety of women, and from hearing personal stories from victims, we also know how serious the impact can be,” she said.“While this is an important first step, there is still a long way to go before women will truly feel safe from this horrendous activity.”Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, welcomed the announcement too.“Superimposing somebody’s image onto sexually explicit photos and videos is a gross violation of their autonomy and privacy, which can cause enormous harm, and it must not be tolerated,” she said.Ms Cooper said it was “vital” the Government gets ahead of “fast-changing threats”.She added: “It’s essential that the police and prosecutors are equipped with the training and tools required to rigorously enforce these laws in order to stop perpetrators from acting with impunity”. More