Markus Andrews

Labour’s Wes Streeting accused the government of prioritising tax dodgers over doctors as he hit out at Rishi Sunak for “failed” NHS waiting list promises.The shadow health secretary said the healthcare system is facing “the worst crisis in its history” and that it is “crucial” a general election brings change.“We have a plan to cut NHS waiting lists, delivering two million more appointments a year through extra evening and weekend working funded by closing tax loopholes and clamping down on tax avoidance,” Mr Streeting said.“We prioritise doctors, not tax dodgers.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA former Post Office boss has apologised for saying that a pregnant subpostmistress being wrongly jailed for 15 months was “brilliant news”.David Smith, a former managing director at the government-owned firm, emailed colleagues to congratulate them on successfully prosecuting Seema Misra, who was accused of stealing £74,000 from her branch in West Byfleet.He told the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal that “with a 2024 lens” the email about her case was “poorly thought through”.Ms Misra, whose conviction was quashed in 2021 but has not yet received compensation, told Sky News she did not accept his apology and said he was only saying sorry because he was at a public inquiry.David Smith giving evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry More

Boris Johnson has hit out at Rishi Sunak’s smoking policy, branding his plan to phase out the sale of tobacco products ‘nuts’.Speaking at a gathering of conservatives in Ottawa on Thursday (11 April), the former prime minister said: “When I look at some of the things we’re doing now, I think they are absolutely nuts.”Mr Johnson added: “We are banning cigars, what is the point of that? The party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars, how mad is that? More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Sir Michael Hodgkinson – former chair of Post Office Ltd and former senior non-executive director of Royal Mail Holdings plc – gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry on Thursday 11 April.He will be speaking after the inquiry was shown yesterday letters from former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells defending the Horizon system.Ms Vennells suggested “temptation” for subpostmasters to borrow money from tills was a problem and not the Horizon system.The probe into the scandal was told how she made a “false statement” in a letter to former Conservative MP Oliver Letwin by saying that courts found in favour of the Post Office “in every instance” when prosecuting subpostmasters for theft or false accounting.The inquiry was shown minutes of a meeting between Ms Vennells, former chair Alice Perkins and MPs such as Lord Arbuthnot – who testified yesterday – in which she claimed a small number of subpostmasters had been “borrowing” money from the tills.Lord Arbuthnot also said he was not satisfied with the “brush-off” response he received from Ms Vennells after he raised concerns over subpostmaster complaints about the Horizon system. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailThe Reform UK Party has said it is “mortified” after sacking an election candidate – who had died after being selected.Officials dropped Tommy Cawkwell for being “inactive” when he failed to respond to phone calls and emails.The right-wing party, founded by Nigel Farage as the Brexit Party, said it had dropped the York Central candidate, alongside about 50 others who had planned to stand at the next general election.When Reform UK first sacked him, a spokesman said: “We need candidates who are active to give people the candidates they deserve”, adding: “We can’t afford to have people doing nothing in an election year.”The reason given was that incorrect reports had emerged that his candidacy had been withdrawn for “inappropriate” social media messages.In fact, Mr Cawkwell, who was a former RNLI volunteer, had died after being selected.Party chiefs said they were “mortified” for not knowing he had died.A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The simple fact is that we have removed upwards of 50 candidates for complete inactivity, and I know those who had been removed for disciplinary measures.“Mr Cawkwell was clearly not one of those.“Sadly I was unaware that he had died and I made an assumption based on the knowledge I possessed.“I am mortified that my lack of care has caused his family pain, and I can only apologise profusely for my mistake.“I do not know how to get hold of the family. If I did, I would apologise in person.”The party has ditched seven candidates for the forthcoming election following complaints about their social media posts.Leader Richard Tice has warned his candidates not to use social media after drinking alcohol, to avoid posting “inappropriate” comments.The party has also drawn criticism over some of its other candidates, including a convicted animal abuser and a fortune-teller who sold spells for £200 online.Mr Tice has previously said the party wanted to stand against every Conservative MP at the next election.A poll six months ago suggested Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives were losing more of their 2019 voters to Reform UK than to Labour.The Reform spokesman told The Mirror: “The process, if we have not heard from a candidate in a while, we try and get in touch, a number of phone calls and emails are made, then if no response a final email is sent suggesting that the candidate does not respond then they will be removed.“Reform was not aware that Mr Cawkwell had passed away, as this happened in an interregnum between Yorkshire area managers. So with no response being made he was removed.” More

Listen as Victoria Atkins clashes with Nick Robinson over NHS spending during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday 11 April.The health secretary was challenged on the Conservative Party’s promise of “unfunded tax cuts at a time that there is a crisis in the NHS”.Host Robinson took issue with chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to cut 4p off national insurance at the same time that Rishi Sunak is failing to meet his promise to cut hospital waiting lists.Ms Atkins responded by suggesting that the government is “spending record amounts on the NHS”, which Mr Robinson described as a “meaningless statistic”. More

The shadow transport secretary has confirmed Labour has “no plans to resurrect HS2”.Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Thursday 11 April, Louise Haigh disputed an “unsourced and inaccurate brief” suggesting the opposition wants to keep parts of the project between Birmingham and Crewe.“We’ve got no plans to take HS2 back off the shelf,” Ms Haigh said.“There will – as a result of the government’s completely ill-thought-through plans – always be an issue with capacity north of Birmingham and we will have to address that in the future.“But we have no plans to resurrect HS2 as it stands.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is facing calls to expel a Conservative MP after he suggested voters back Nigel Farage’s Reform party at the next election so Lee Anderson is returned to Westminster. Nick Fletcher, the MP for Don Valley, said the former Tory deputy chairman, who defected after being suspended earlier this year, was his seat’s “greatest champion”. He added that he hoped locals “appreciate what he has done for his home town and the country at the next election” adding “we both need to be back in Westminster”. The Liberal Democrats condemned what they said was further Tory infighting and said Rishi Sunak had to “find his backbone and kick Nick Fletcher out of the Conservative Party”.His extraordinary comments came after Mr Anderson declared he would not campaign in some Tory constituencies, including Mr Fletcher’s, because of his friendships with the sitting MPs.A series of shock polls suggest the Tory face a pasting at the election due to be held later this year. Recent polls have also put Reform just several points behind the Conservatives, amid fears right-wing populist party could make further gains if Mr Farage takes a more prominent role.While the party is unlikely to win any seats, it could take enough votes in certain areas to hand victory to Labour. Announcing his non-aggression pact, Mr Anerson said he would not campaign against four Tory MPs because “friendship means more”.They include Ben Bradley, the MP for Mansfield, Brendan Clarke-Smith, who represents Bassetlaw and Marco Longhi, the Dudley North MP. In a post he said: “These people are my friends and the ones that reached out to me last month.”They will always be my friends and because of this I will not campaign against them in their Parliamentary seats.”Friendship means more to me. Every other seat is fair game.”Lee Anderson More