Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailScotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, is expected to urge Scotland to vote for the Scottish National Party in order to “kick the Tories out”, as his party prepares to launch its 2024 general election campaign.In a speech on Friday, Mr Yousaf will say that Rishi Sunak is “finished” and will implore voters across Scotland to “take the opportunity to kick them out of Scotland completely” as “the damage they have caused to Scotland is unforgiveable”.He will call upon the Scottish electorate to vote for the SNP, explaining that his party is “best placed” to remove the Conservatives as the SNP is currently second in every Tory-held seat across Scotland.Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said that voting Labour offers the best chance of a Conservative wipeout Mr Yousaf’s speech comes just days after a rival speech from the leader of Scottish Labour, Anas Sarwar, who opted for a similar message and urged supporters of Scottish independence to defect from the SNP and lend their vote to Labour in order to vote the Conservatives out, exhorting them to “unite to change the country”.The last time Scotland saw a Conservative wipeout was during the 1997 election, when all of the Scottish Conservative MPs lost their seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.In 2005, the Conservatives managed to claw back one Scottish constituency when David Mundell won the seat of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and was made shadow secretary of state for Scotland by the then Conservative leader, David Cameron.So low was the number of Scottish Conservatives in the early 2000s that in 2010, Mr Mundell became the butt of the infamous joke that there are “more pandas in Scotland than Scottish MPs” after Edinburgh Zoo gained two giant pandas.Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will leave Westminster at the next election Now, some are predicting that the Conservatives could suffer a similar defeat in Scotland, following their poor performance in opinion polls and the resignation of both the leader of the Scottish Tories, Douglas Ross, and the current Scottish secretary Alister Jack, both of whom are set to stand down at the end of the current parliament.Mr Sunak has, however, strongly rebuffed the suggestion that his party will see enormous losses in Scotland, and told journalists in December that he was “very confident” about his party’s prospects north of the Scottish border.Meanwhile, the Labour Party may be quietly confident about its chances in Scotland, following the Labour gain of an SNP seat at the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election in October last year.Labour saw a seismic 20 per cent swing in its vote share, which led polling guru Michael Thrasher to suggest that if the result were replicated in a 2024 general election, it could equate to a 42-seat gain by Labour in Scotland.Scotland is expected to be a key battleground at the next election, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer having remarked that “the route to a Labour election win at the next general election runs through Scotland”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is holding a full Cabinet call on Thursday evening amid mounting speculation that UK and Western allies could take action against Houthi rebels following attacks in the Red Sea.The meeting was set to begin at around 7.45pm after defence secretary Grant Shapps had warned the Iranian-backed group to “watch this space” if disruption continues in the key global shipping route. Foreignsecretary Lord David Cameron was seen entering No 10 shortly before 8pm.Sir Keir Starmer and shadow defence secretary John Healey will be briefed after the call, it is understood, while Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was seen arriving at the Cabinet Office.The prime minister used a conversation with the Egyptian president earlier on Thursday to discuss the disruption and emphasise that Britain would continue to “take action to defend freedom of navigation and protect lives at sea”, No 10 said.It comes after UK and US naval forces destroyed “multiple attack drones” deployed by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea on Wednesday, believed to be the largest attack yet from the Yemen-based militants.Rishi Sunak will reportedly hold a full Cabinet call on Thursday evening (Jordan Pettitt/PA)Mr Shapps has warned further action would be taken if attacks persist, amid growing global concern about the disruption in the key global shipping route.He also said he believed the Houthis, a Shia group which has held Yemen’s capital since 2014, were acting with the support of Iran.“Be in no doubt at all, Iran is guiding what is happening there in the Red Sea, providing them not just with equipment to carry out those attacks but also often with the eyes and ears to allow those attacks to happen,” Mr Shapps told Sky News.“We must be clear with the Houthis that this has to stop and that is my simple message to them today, and watch this space.”The Royal Navy air defence destroyer HMS Diamond was involved in the response to the latest in a series of attacks, which the Houthis have claimed are a response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.Mr Shapps also posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Overnight, HMS Diamond, along with US warships, successfully repelled the largest attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date.“Deploying Sea Viper missiles and guns, Diamond destroyed multiple attack drones heading for her and commercial shipping in the area, with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew.“The UK alongside allies have previously made clear that these illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and if continued the Houthis will bear the consequences.“We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy.”The Royal Navy air defence destroyer HMS Diamond has destroyed “multiple attack drones” deployed by Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red SeaIt remains to be seen what form any further action might take from the US, the UK and other allies.There has been speculation that a response could involve strikes on the Houthi command centres.The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters on Wednesday: “I am not going to speculate about how we will or will not respond to continued attacks.“We do reserve the right to take further steps to protect commercial shipping and avoid the risk of further destabilising the region. That is something we will keep under review.”US secretary of state Antony Blinken, speaking in Bahrain, renewed warnings of a response.He said: “I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen.“All I can tell you again, we’ve made clear – we’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries – that if this continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I’m going to leave it at that.”Houthi supporters shout slogans as they attend a ceremony at the end of the training of newly recruited fighters in SanaaSome major shipping lines and oil giant BP have already diverted vessels around southern Africa, adding time and costs to journeys, rather than risk the Red Sea.If the crisis continues, the increased costs could be passed on to consumers, hampering efforts to curb inflation and reduce interest rates.Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said he was monitoring the situation closely when he appeared before MPs.US Central Command said the Houthis had launched a “complex attack” and a total of 18 attack drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile were shot down in the operation which involved Diamond, US warships and F/A-18 fighter jets.It said the attack was the 26th Houthi attack on the Red Sea shipping lanes since November 19.Lord Cameron told MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea which had come in the wake of the Gaza conflict were “unacceptable” in one of the “most important sea lanes”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe government used 1,433 bottles of wine and spirits from its wine cellar during the Covid pandemic, the Foreign Office has admitted. The stated purpose of the government wine cellar is to “provide guests of the government, from home and overseas, with wines of appropriate quality at reasonable cost”. Between 2020 and 2022, 20 bottles of Champagne, 27 bottles of gin, and 1,376 bottles of red and white wine were used. That was despite Covid restrictions limiting in-person contact being in place for much of that time.The government’s net spend on additions to the wine cellar over this period has also been revealed as more than £100,000, with nearly £27,000 of taxpayers’ money blown. The figures are included in the delayed bi-annual report on the government’s wine cellar for 2020 -2022, published by the Foreign Office on Thursday. The government has already faced considerable criticism for its consumption of alcohol during the pandemic, due to illegal social gatherings exposed during the partygate scandal. Boris Johnson was forced to resign as prime minister following his role in the scandal and his subsequent denials in parliament. Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell has said all events during this period were Covid-19 compliant The newly-released figures revealed that in 2020/21, at the height of the Covid crisis, £14,621 was splashed out on 516 bottles of red Bordeaux wines, costing around £28 each. In 2021/22, a thirst for English and Welsh sparkling wines saw the government spend £12,356 on topping up its cellar with 636 bottles, including 180 magnums, at an average cost of £19. It also bought 18 bottles of gin, and four bottles each of whisky and liqueurs.The report did show the government’s consumption of wine dropped by some 96% in 2020/21, compared to before the pandemic. It rose the following year, but still remained nearly 61% lower than pre-pandemic levels.Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said in a written statement: “All events organised by Government Hospitality during this period were done so in strict accordance with Covid-19 restrictions.”Labour has critcised the government for the latest figures, as Shadow Attorney General, Emily Thornberry, said:“For months, we have asked why the government was suppressing the publication of this report, and now we know the answer. “While the rest of the country was facing Covid restrictions and a cost of living crisis, the government was getting through 1,433 bottles from its wine cellar, and replenishing the stocks with a net spend of more than £100,000 over the three years from 2019-22. “They lived the high life at taxpayers’ expense while the rest of the country struggled, and it will never be forgotten.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has been told his government may have to stump up more than the £1bn already set aside to address the Post Office scandal, amid warnings that hundreds more victims may have fallen through the cracks.Lawyers told The Independent that hundreds of subpostmasters who have yet to make claims may be too “traumatised” to come forward because of mistrust in the government and Post Office.It came as No 10 admitted that only around one-third of the postmasters forced to shell out huge sums over the Horizon IT debacle will accept the £75,000 payment now offered by the government.Campaigners insist that it is not nearly enough for the thousands of Post Office branch managers who lost out financially by repaying fake shortfalls, even if they were not among the victims given criminal convictions during the saga.Terry Wilcox of the Hudgells Solicitors firm representing former subpostmasters said around 2,700 had made compensation claims, but many more victims were yet to come forward.He told The Independent: “We’ve been approached by more than 150 new clients since the ITV drama aired. There could well be hundreds more. There are people who paid the shortfall and disappeared. We just have no idea where the bottom line is.”Rishi Sunak gives an update on the Post Office scandal at PMQs on Wednesday Mr Wilcox said the government needed to provide “adequate compensation”, whatever the cost.The law firm is pushing for a new, independent figurehead to deal with compensation claims – someone able to demand that the Post Office contacts all former sub-postmasters to say they may be eligible.“People are traumatised and cynical. We need someone independent of government to reach out to people and help them find the inner-strength,” said Mr Wilcox.The Post Office has already conceded it owes compensation to thousands of subpostmasters who were not convicted but were forced to pay back these incorrect shortfalls – with 2,700 people so far offered an average of around £44,000 in compensation.Campaigning Tory peer James Arbuthnot said there was “no doubt about it at all” that there were more victims. He added: “I would expect it will be hundreds, but I would be surprised if it was thousands.”Asked if the £1bn Downing Street confirmed on Thursday it had set aside to pay compensation was enough, Lord Arbuthnot said: “It may be or it may not be. But this will cost what it will cost. It is a British debt to the subpostmasters and the UK must pay. And the extent to which it gets it back from Fujitsu is a secondary matter.”Labour MP Kevan Jones said: “It is quite clear in the last week that more people are coming forward. I would urge anyone who has been affected by Horizon, or indeed the pre-Horizon [pilot] scheme, to come forward.”Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more. There will also be a new upfront payment of £75,000 to those not convicted but affected by the scandal.Alan Bates, the campaigning subpostmaster who inspired the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, has warned that those with larger claims – above the £75,000 on offer – still had to have their case resolved.One former subpostmistress in Newcastle, who lost her life savings when she repaid a fake shortfall, gave an emotional interview on Thursday warning that the government’s new offer of £75,000 “just doesn’t cut it”.Sarah Burgess-Boyd, who was acquitted of theft at a trial in 2011, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I have lost everything. I’ve lost my business, all my savings.“I haven’t got a penny to my name,” she said, her voice strained with emotion as she fought back tears. “I’m not future-proofed. I’m nearly 60, I have no pension provision. I’ve lost my reputation – l lost everything.”No 10 admitted on Thursday that a “significant number” of the subpostmasters involved in legal action against the Post Office will not accept the £75,000 offered by the government.The prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters: “We would estimate that around a third of individuals would take that … We recognise that there will be a significant number for whom £75,000 is not sufficient. That’s entirely understandable.”Asked about the process for seeking a higher figure, the No 10 spokesperson said an independent panel would review the claim with no involvement by the Post Office. More