Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt has sought to give Tory MPs an early Christmas present with another hint he could cut taxes ahead of a general election next year.The chancellor suggested he could have more money to play with as the government pays less interest on its debt. Mr Hunt said ministers would “cut the tax burden if we are able to” in an interview with Bloomberg Television. However, he cautioned he would not do anything that risked fuelling inflation again. Mr Hunt is under intense pressure from MPs in his own party to cut taxes as they scramble to try to save their jobs. With Labour around 20 points ahead in the polls, some Conservatives feel the move is one of the few ways they can avoid wipeout at the election. Mr Hunt said: “If debt interest payments go down then potentially that gives me more headroom and I could use that in lots of different ways but I would never use it in a way that would compromise the battle against inflation.” “We would like to bring down the tax burden in a way that is responsible.”Mr Hunt announced what he said was the largest series of tax cutting measures since the 1980s in the autumn statement. But he came under fire when it emerged the overall tax burden was still on course to hit a post-war high. His latest comments on tax come a day after the government received an end of year boost as official figures showed the rate of inflation has fallen further than expected. But there was also bad news, as statistics revealed government borrowing was higher than forecast in November. Mr Hunt gave the interview as he struck a post-Brexit banking deal with Switzerland aimed at easing UK finance firms’ access to the country’s market and vice versa.It come as the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) urged Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt to consider a range of side and supplementary deals with the EU to ease ongoing trade friction.Almost two-thirds of UK exporters say selling to the EU has become even harder in the past year, according to the BCC’s latest Brexit report.The leading business group called for a series of agreements with Brussels – on carbon taxes, VAT arrangements and food checks – to soften the impact of Boris Johnson’s trade deal. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer has not ruled out using nuclear weapons if he becomes Prime Minister next year as he visited British troops near the border with Russia.The Labour leader also appeared to suggest he could look at offshore processing to deal with migrants coming to the UK on small boats, saying he would “look at any credible option”. In a wide-ranging interview, he expressed concern for his family if he did move into No 10 but said he was ready for a spring election. And he said that he did know the meaning of ‘rizz’ – the newly crowned ‘word of the year’ denoting style or charm – but had forgotten. In 2015 the then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would never use nuclear weapons as prime minister. At the time he was accused of putting at risk the UK’s relationship with Nato, which is a nuclear alliance. But visiting a Nato base in Estonia, Sir Keir did not rule out using nuclear weapons if he wins the keys to Downing Street. Asked during an interview with GB news if he would fire nuclear weapons to protect the UK, Sir Keir said: “The nuclear deterrent is very important to us. Obviously, I’m not going to discuss with you the circumstance in which they may or may not be used, but it is a very important part of the defence of our country that we are strongly committed to, along with our commitment to Nato and to the security of our nation, which is paramount.”He said: “There’s been an unshakable commitment to Nato ever since Nato was first created, which of course was under a Labour government. …There’s a real driving sense of purpose here with the troops that are here on the frontline.”Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to meet British troops at Tapa forward operating Nato base, near the Russian border in Estonia (PA)Sir Keir said his “ambition” was to increase defence spending, adding “when the last Labour government was in power, it was 2.5 per cent”. He also said he had a a manifesto ready “when we need it” even if the election is just 19 weeks away, to coincide with May’s local elections.Days after the prime minister said the election would be in 2024, he added: “We are ready for a general election. I’ve had my whole team on a general election footing for some time now.”But he admitted he was concerned about the possible impact on his family, including his two teenage children. “I do worry about my family. If I’m honest, I’m very protective of my wife and our children,” he said.”We don’t name our children publicly. We don’t have photo shoots with them. And so I am very mindful of the impact it could have on them.”Our boy is 15, our girl is 13. These are, you know, ages where they’re going through huge change. But my aim is to keep protecting them in every way that I can.”He did not rule out looking at offshore processing to deal with asylum seekers coming to UK shores on small boats, saying he would “look at any credible option, but I think that at the moment, the single most important thing is to take out the gangs that are taking money to put people in those boats.”On taxation he said he would “go for growth rather than pulling the tax lever” and seek “to reduce the tax burden”. He also said Sunak’s government had “got this one wrong” after Ireland announced it plans to take the UK to court over plans to offer immunity to UK soldiers, among others, who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.Sir Keir expressed concern the plans had “no political support in Northern Ireland from any political party and most importantly when the victims and their families in Northern Ireland are not supportive”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailVictoria Atkins was accused of insulting junior doctors after the health secretary said she liked to call them “doctors in training”.The Tory cabinet minister dangled the prospected of an improved offer on pay and conditions on the second day of junior doctors’ 72-hour strike.But Ms Atkins sparked outrage by using a different term for the group while speaking about pay deals agreed with other health service workers.“The last cohort is junior doctors – or doctors in training, as I prefer to call them – and they, sadly to my great disappointment, walked out of our negotiations and then called these strikes.”Senior Labour MP Chris Bryant immediately fired back at the health secretary on X: “They’re doctors. Doctors. Not doctors in training.”Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting tweeted: “I prefer to call them doctors.” And shadow care minister Andrew Gwynne added: “How insulting … They are doctors, they save lives every day.”Several commentators on social media also referred to Ms Atkins’ remarks as “insulting”. But Ms Atkins responded to the criticism by pointing to the fact that it was a term the British Medical Association (BMA) has used.While junior doctors do receive some clinical training while in the job, they are qualified doctors and Ms Atkins’ term “doctors in training” is not one used in the NHS.Health secretary Victoria Atkins hinted an improved offer on pay and conditions could be on the tableMs Atkins also sought to highlight splits between junior doctors’ leaders in the British Medical Association (BMA) and other NHS staff – claiming some were “deeply uncomfortable” with the industrial action over Christmas.But the health secretary hinted that an improved offer on pay and conditions could be on the table if the junior doctors called off the industrial action.She told BBC Breakfast that health department ministers and officials would be “back round the table in 20 minutes” for talks if the strikes are called off “and then we can see how much further we can go”.A 72-hour England-wide walkout, which began at 7am on 20 December and will run until Saturday, comes as the NHS grapples with one of its toughest winters on record. It will be followed by a six-day walkout from 3 January.The NHS has said emergency and urgent care will be prioritised during the strikes over Christmas and New Year and that “almost all” routine care will be affected.More than 300,000 operations and appointments are reportedly set to be cancelled during the strikes. It could push NHS waiting lists, currently at 7.7 million, above eight million for the first time ever, according to analysis by The Times.Hospital leaders have described the walkouts as their “worst fears realised” as they grapple with a rising number of people needing help with winter viruses, particularly norovirus.Ms Atkins told BBC Radio 4’s Today there will be “many, many doctors listening to this who feel deeply uncomfortable that their committee has called these strikes at this time”.Junior doctors who are members of the British Medical Association on the picket line in LondonShe said consultants, nurses and other doctors would be coming in to do extra shifts. “They are being expected by the junior doctors’ committee to pick up the slack of their strikes,” she added.“After the three Christmases that our medical profession has seen with Covid, I think we all wanted this Christmas to be as calm and settled as possible. Instead, this strike action is just striking through that.”The BMA’s junior doctors’ committee has challenged the government to make an offer first, so strikes could be cancelled.It said the offer from the government, an average 3 per cent rise from January – on top of the average of nearly 9 per cent recommended by the independent pay review body in April – was not enough to make up for below-inflation pay rises since 2008.It has asked for a full pay restoration that the government said would amount to a 35 per cent pay rise, which ministers have said is unaffordable. Conciliation service Acas said it is “ready to help” resolve the dispute.Elsewhere, Ms Atkins has written to the bodies which recommend salary uplifts for NHS staff to ask them to begin looking at the pay round for 2024/25 – but unions warned she had left it too late. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has backed calls to legalise assisted dying – signalling that a Labour government could support a new vote in parliament.The Labour leader said there were “grounds for changing the law” to let people who want to end their lives be given help under clinical controls.Dame Esther Rantzen has called for a Commons vote on assisted dying, after revealing that she has registered with the Dignitas clinic.The Childline founder and broadcaster, 83, has stage four lung cancer and earlier this week said she has joined the assisted dying facility in Switzerland.Sir Keir – who backed a change in the law when ending the ban was defeated in the Commons in 2015 – said on Thursday it deserved careful attention.“On the question of assisted dying, there are obviously strong views both ways on this, which I respect,” Sir Keir told reporters during his pre-Christmas visit to British troops in Estonia.“And that’s why traditionally, this has always been dealt with a private member’s bill and a free vote and that seems appropriate to me,” he said.He added: “I personally do think there are grounds for changing the law, we have to be careful – but it would have to be, I think, a free vote on an issue where there are such divided and strong views.”Keir Starmer is in Estonia to visit British troops Cabinet minister Mel Stride this week suggested he would support another free vote in parliament on legalising assisted dying.A bill to legalise assisted dying in the UK under strict controls was defeated, 330 votes to 118, in 2015. It is still banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.Mr Stride said he “wouldn’t be adverse” to a fresh debate and vote in the Commons. The work and pensions secretary said he would want to take a “fresh look at it and come to a decision”.But he made clear that Rishi Sunak’s government was not bringing forward a fresh bill.Fellow cabinet minister Michael Gove, when asked about Dame Esther’s case, told reporters: “I’m not yet persuaded of the case for assisted dying – but I do think that it’s appropriate for the Commons to revisit this.”Asked about the issue on Thursday, health secretary Victoria Atkins said the issue was always treated as a “matter of conscience”, with MPs given a free vote.She initially declined to say whether she thought it was time for another, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today: “As health secretary, I think actually, it’s right that I don’t express an opinion on this.” But she added: “I think that if there was a will in parliament, it will happen.”Esther Rantzen has revealed she is considering assisted dying in Switzerland Dame Esther told BBC Radio 4 that she believed more people would want to choose the manner of their death if they were allowed – saying she would organise a free vote if she were PM.She also told the PA news agency: “I would say to parliamentarians: ‘Think of the people you love in your own life, maybe who are older, maybe who are unwell, and think how you would wish them to spend their last days and weeks’.“It is agonising to watch someone you love suffer. Nobody wants that for their family. And we live in a day and age when it’s perfectly possible to offer people a gentle, peaceful death.”Senior Tory Kit Malthouse, former minister at the Home Office, said he had been “working the tea rooms” in favour of a new vote.The co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on end-of-life choice said that “the sentiment in parliament has moved significantly since 2015”.In Scotland, it is not a specific criminal offence but assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to murder or other charges. Legislation is being put forward by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, with the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill due to come before Holyrood next year.The health and social care committee is due to publish its report into assisted dying and assisted suicide in England and Wales, having launched an inquiry in December 2022 to examine different perspectives in the debate. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDavid Cameron has called for a pause in the Gaza conflict “today” to get hostages out of the arms of Hamas. The Foreign Secretary also said “everything that can be done must be done” to get aid into the besieged enclave, including possibly using British ships to bring supplies by sea.The former prime minister, who made a surprise return to the cabinet last month, made the comments on an official visit to Egypt, a key player in the region. At the weekend the UK shifted its stance to back calls for a “sustained ceasefire” in the conflict, which ministers made clear cannot see Hamas remain in place. Previously Rishi Sunak had supported only “humanitarian pauses” and No 10 warned a ceasefire would aide only Hamas, who killed 1200 people on October 7. Lord Cameron said the UK was ‘pushing very hard’ to ensure aid supplies reach Gaza (Desouki Ismail/Egyptian Foreign Ministry Media Office/AP)“We want to see action,” he said during a joint press conference with the country’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. “We want to see aid come from Jordan, we want to see aid come across maritime routes.”“In the meantime, I’m all in favour of pauses in the fighting so we can get hostages out and if we can have a pause today to start making that happen no one would be more delighted to me,” he added. “I want to see all the hostages released”.Lord Cameron also said the UK was “pushing very hard” to ensure aid supplies reach Gaza, both through the reopened Kerem Shalom border crossing and potentially by sea.”Are there opportunities for aid to come from Cyprus in British ships to be delivered to Gaza? We’re working on that.”Everything that can be done, must be done to get aid into Gaza to help people in the desperate situation they are in,” he said. Sir Keir Starmer said he backed Lord Cameron’s calls for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza. The Labour leader also said he wanted a short-term pause in hostilities aimed at allowing more aid in and the release of hostages by Hamas.“I do support a sustainable ceasefire,” he told reporters on a trip to Estonia to visit British troops. “What we’re arguing for a return to the position that we were in just a few weeks ago where hostilities did cease.”Sir Keir added that his party is strongly in favour of a two-state solution to set up a Palestinian state – saying it should not be left “in the gift” of Israel.He said the last ceasefire “provided a foothold for a political process to actually resolve this in favour of a two-state solution … That has to be something which international partners are very, very clear about, and is not in the gift of Israel.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Albania’s parliament voted Thursday to lift the legal immunity of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is accused of corruption. Opposition lawmakers inside the hall boycotted the vote and tried to disrupt the session by collecting chairs and flares, but security guards stopped them. Berisha declined to take the floor to speak against the motion. The ruling Socialist Party holds 74 of the 140 seats in Albania’s national legislature, and 75 lawmakers agreed to grant a request from prosecutors to strip Berisha of his parliamentary immunity. Thursday’s vote clears prosecutors to seek a court’s permission to put Berisha under arrest or house arrest. With the opposition refusing the participate, there were no votes against the move or any abstentions.Berisha, 79, was charged with corruption in October for allegedly abusing his post to help his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, buy land in Tirana owned by both private citizens and defense ministry, and to build 17 apartment buildings on the property. Berisha and Malltezi both have proclaimed their innocence, alleging the case was a political move by the ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Prosecutors have said that if Berisha is convicted, he faces a prison sentence of up to 12 years.Democratic Party supporters protested outside the parliament building Thursday with anti-government banners and “Down with dictatorship” chants. Berisha called on his supporters join “a no-return battle” against the “authoritarian regime” of the Socialists.“That decision won’t destroy the opposition but will mobilize it, and under the motto ‘Today or never,’ it will respond to that regime,” Berisha told reporters after the vote. Berisha served as Albania’s prime minister from 2005-2013, and as president from 1992-1997. He was reelected as a lawmaker for the Democratic Party in the 2021 parliamentary elections.The United States government in May 2021 and the United Kingdom in July 2022 barred Berisha and close family members from entering their countries because of alleged involvement in corruption.Since Berisha was charged in October, opposition lawmakers have regularly disrupted sessions of parliament to protest the Socialists’ refusal to create commissions to investigate alleged cases of corruption involving Rama and other top government officials. The disruptions are an obstacle to much-needed reforms at a time when the European Union has agreed to start the process of harmonizing Albanian laws with those of the EU as part of the Balkan country’s path toward full membership in the bloc.___Follow Llazar Semini at https://twitter.com/lsemini More