UK Politics

Ministers should swiftly pause automatic deductions in benefits to give struggling families “breathing space” during the cost-of-living crisis, cross-party MPs have urged.With inflation predicted to reach 11 per cent in October — a 40-year high — the Commons Work and Pensions Committee said more must be done to help claimants facing “huge financial pressures”.Highlighting evidence sessions with charities, the MPs added that deductions from benefits are pushing some households into “destitution” and “leading them to depend on foodbanks”.Deductions are taken by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from people’s benefits to pay off debts incurred through advance payments of benefits or previous errors or overpayments by the government.But MPs on the committee warned that repaying advances granted to claimants, who have to wait weeks before a first payment when switching to universal credit, “left many people struggling”.Recommended“Repayments to the DWP are not subject to the same affordability assessments expected in consumer credit markets, and many families simply cannot afford these deductions from social security payments, which are already behind inflation,” they said.“We recommend that, as during the pandemic, repayments should be paused and only restored as the rate of inflation reduces, or when benefits have been uprated to reflect the current rate of inflation”.MPs on the committee also urged the government to review and increase the benefit cap — frozen since 2016 — “to ensure it is in line with average household incomes” and increasing rent, energy and food costs.Chair of the committee and Labour MP Stephen Timms said: “Inflation is at a 40 year high, with spiralling energy, food and fuel prices adding to a cost-of-living crisis not seen for a generation and a bleak outlook for many families.“Deductions by DWP from benefits are contributing to the hardship and the government should give those struggling some much needed breathing space by following its own advice to other creditors and pausing repayments until the threat of inflation recedes.”He added: “A properly functioning social security safety net should be agile enough to respond to worsening economic conditions, but the high levels of inflation have laid bare the dysfunctional nature of parts of the system — not least that any increase in benefits is already seven months out of date when it takes effect.”A DWP spokesman said: “We’ve reduced the amount that can be taken through benefit deductions twice in recent years to no more than 25 per cent. We’ve also doubled the time period over which they can be repaid and claimants can contact DWP to discuss deductions if they are experiencing financial hardship.Recommended“We recognise people are worried about the impact of rising prices, that’s why we’re providing £37 billion of additional cost of living support. This includes £1,200 in direct payments for eight million low-income households, most of whom received an initial £326 earlier this month.“As part of our support package, we’ve also frozen energy deductions on universal credit, meaning any new request from energy suppliers for bills to be paid directly from benefits, or for an existing payment to rise, is denied unless the claimant also requests it.” More

Democracy campaigner Gina Miller is launching a drive to make the next general election a watershed moment for pushing through reform of the UK’s “broken” political system.Ms Miller’s True and Fair Party aims to recruit up to 30 candidates to fight incumbent Conservative MPs who have failed to “live up to basic standards of integrity or competence”.She believes that the wave of public distrust in politicians could deliver the party enough MPs to hold the balance of power in a hung parliament and drive through fundamental reforms.In return for propping up a minority Labour government on a “confidence and supply” basis, TFP MPs would demand changes to the political system, including proportional representation and legislation to put ministerial standards on a legal footing.Ms Miller told The Independent that she has identified about 30 seats in three “blue corridors”, where a loss of trust in Tory MPs and a “politically homeless” electorate create fertile ground for her party.RecommendedThe party is not naming its target list at this point, but an insider said they were looking at seats “from Devizes to Daventry” – the seats of Boris Johnson loyalist Danny Kruger and chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris – though not at the prime minister’s Uxbridge, which he is thought unlikely to contest in the election expected in 2024.Ms Miller acknowledged that hers is the latest of a line of new parties attempting to break the mould of British politics, after the failure of Change UK and Renew, among others.But she insisted that the events of the Covid pandemic, Partygate and the cost of living crisis have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for change.“The existing crop of politicians have created a situation where people are now so angry, and so upset about the behaviour in parliament, they want to see something different,” she said.“I’m not sure that opportunity will come again. I do think there’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity at the moment, in this malaise, to stand as a new party on an issue that people feel very passionately about.”The businesswoman is best known for two successful court challenges against government efforts to force Brexit through without parliamentary approval and to prorogue the Commons to prevent scrutiny of its deal. But she said the TFP was not campaigning to reverse Brexit, describing it as “a battle of the past”.Instead, the party’s pitch will be focused on electoral reform, cleaning up the machinery of government and corruption.Key policies will include putting the ministerial code, Nolan Principles on standards in public life and prerogative powers on a statutory footing, as well as an oath of office applicable to all MPs and public servants.“I’ve gone around the country on 23 tours now, and I keep thinking we literally are living in a broken Britain,” she said.“All that’s gone on within the Conservative Party has actually dented trust in everyone. All politicians are being seen on the doorstep as being untrustworthy. People are saying, ‘What have they done for us? It’s time for something completely new.’“Our pitch is about saying we need to look at the machinery of government, put in checks and balances, make sure that whoever is in power actually has to obey rules and regulations and there is some redress when things go wrong, to clean up this chumocracy and corruption.”Polling for the TFP, seen by The Independent, suggests that 60 per cent of Labour voters and 50 per cent of Liberal Democrats – as well as 11 per cent of those who voted Tory in 2019 – think that opposition parties should step aside in seats where they stand no chance to help the candidate most likely to defeat the Conservatives. The strategy is particularly popular among younger voters, with 37 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds backing it, against 15 per cent opposed.Ms Miller said she has had no formal talks with other parties about co-operation, but has shared polling with them and expects Labour and the Lib Dems – as happened in the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections – to target campaign resources at seats they have most chance of winning.She expects to be on her party’s slate of candidates for the election herself, and says some big names – who she would not identify – have been in touch about standing.“I told them ‘Find a seat’,” she said, adding that, like other candidates, they would be expected to have personal ties to the seat they want to fight, either by living, working or growing up in the area, or having supported local communities in their working lives.Ms Miller acknowledged that for her plan to work, the TFP will have to target Tory strongholds where neither Labour nor Lib Dems think it worth devoting resources.But she said: “I don’t think there’s such a thing as a safe seat any more.Recommended“TFP is a start-up, essentially a network of independents who adhere to core values and policies that expose and overturn corruption and failure.“We’re not going to fight every seat, but we can make a real difference in 20-30 constituencies that have, for too long, been let down by their MPs and a lack of unified opposition to challenge them. Our applicants will offer voters a natural choice of candidates to rally around, presenting real challengers in seats where Labour and the Lib Dems have little realistic prospect of winning.” More

Rishi Sunak has promised to temporarily scrap VAT on domestic fuel bills if he becomes prime minister, despite opposing the move for months while chancellor.Labour has long called for the levy to be lifted as the cost of living crisis bites millions of families. But Mr Sunak voted against the move in January, and in February told the House of Commons it would “disproportionately benefit wealthier households”.He later said it would be “silly” to offer additional help with bills ahead of an Ofgem decision on the energy price cap in October.Mr Sunak’s U-turn – worth £160 a year to the average household at a cost of £4.3bn to the Treasury – is a bid to counter the appeal of Tory leadership rival Liz Truss, whose £30bn package of tax cuts promises has helped her build a commanding lead in polls of party members.She denounced Mr Sunak’s national insurance rise as “morally wrong” last night in the early moments of the abandoned TalkTV debate.RecommendedLabour Treasury spokesperson Pat McFadden said Mr Sunak, who also adopted Labour’s windfall tax on energy companies after months of opposing it, seemed once again to be “acting as his own personal rebuttal unit”.Meanwhile, a second element of the former chancellor’s “winter plan” came under fire from work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey.Mr Sunak said he would encourage more people off benefits by doubling from 9 to 18 the number of hours claimants must work to avoid the requirement to look for a full-time job.But Ms Coffey, a supporter of the Truss leadership bid, said her department had hoped to increase the threshold to 12 hours earlier this year, but “unfortunately was blocked by the chancellor”.The former chancellor earlier this year announced a £400 grant for all households – and up to £1,200 for the most vulnerable – to help with energy bills, after regulator Ofgem increased the price cap on an average home by £700 to around £2,200.Now there are fears that the cap will soar to as much as £3,250 when it is recalculated by the regulator this autumn.The chief executive of energy giant E.ON, Michael Lewis, called on whoever becomes prime minister to intervene to help poorer households with their bills, warning that cash would be better targeted at welfare claimants than through general taxation.“We expect bills to be above £3,000, up to £3,200 come the next price cap in October,” Mr Lewis told Channel 4 News. “What we need to see is more government intervention to compensate for that increase in wholesale prices.“The kind of increases we’re seeing now are unprecedented in my 30 years in the energy industry, I’ve never seen anything like it. And I think we’re going to have to see more government intervention to help customers ride through this extraordinary peak in wholesale prices“What we need to see is help for the poorest people in our society. That means it needs to be focused on people who are struggling to pay. The intervention they announced earlier, namely a payment for people on universal credit, is probably a better way of doing it.”Mr Sunak said that his 12-month VAT holiday would be dependent on Ofgem lifting the price cap above £3,000 a year, and would come into effect from 1 October in that case.“Tackling inflation and getting people the support they need to help with the cost of living is critical,” said the former chancellor. “That’s why, with the price cap expected to rise above £3,000 in October, I will move immediately to scrap VAT on everyone’s domestic energy bills for the next year, saving the average household £160. “This temporary and targeted tax cut will get people the support they need whilst also – critically – bearing down on price pressures.“As chancellor, I knocked £400 off everyone’s energy bill and provided support of £1,200 for the most vulnerable households. This additional VAT cut will help deal with the current emergency.”But Mr McFadden said: “Will the real Rishi Sunak please stand up? Once again he’s acting as his own personal rebuttal unit – attacking a policy for months then adopting it.“Not content with playing hokey cokey with our taxes as chancellor, he’s devised a poor imitation of the windfall tax Labour called for, and now he wants to cut VAT on energy bills.“It’s like he’s forcing himself to do dodgy cover versions of a band he insists he always hated.“This is just another example of the Tory party trying to cling on despite 12 years of continuous failure, when the truth is they are out of time and out of ideas.”Mr Sunak said he would also look at new incentives to support older workers to return to the labour market, to counter the so-called “great resignation” following the Covid pandemic.And he said he would seek to reduce the traffic chaos seen at Dover in recent weeks by working with the UK’s biggest importers to build up trade with Dutch and Danish ports.RecommendedLiberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said: “This sounds like another Sunak swindle. His tax hikes alone have cost families four times as much as this measly plan would ever save them.“It is proof that both Sunak and Truss are out of touch and out of ideas. All they can offer is half-baked policies which won’t save people from the frankly frightening rise in energy bills this winter.” More

Liz Truss wants to impose targets on police to cut murders by one fifth if she becomes prime minister under a policy lambasted as “incoherent”.The Tory leadership candidate told forces she would expect them to cut homicide, serious violence and “neighbourhood crime” by 20 per cent before the next general election.Ms Truss said her government would publish “league tables” to show how each of the 43 forces in England and Wales are performing against national trends, and that the chief constables of those deemed to be underperforming would have to explain themselves to ministers.Her campaign team also took a swipe at chief constables, sending reporters a quote claiming that they were “not cracking down as hard as they should be”, threatening to deepen a rift that has grown during Priti Patel’s time as home secretary.Policing sources said officers were sick of being used as a “political football” at a time when recorded crime stands at a record high, and prosecutions at a record low.RecommendedSimon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, told The Independent: “Instead of attacking chief constables they should be given the resources they need.”He said the Conservatives’ decade in government has had “catastrophic and devastating consequences”, adding: “Central government recklessly defunded our police, preventative public services and criminal justice system. That has undoubtedly contributed to the rise in crime.”Several senior police sources questioned how murder and serious violence, which have complex and wide-ranging causes, could be reduced by 20 per cent by the 2024 election.A long-serving senior officer noted that Ms Truss made no mention of how her government would fund dedicated work to address underlying issues, such as with domestic abuse and gang culture. “If you set a target for policing you run the risk of skewing behaviour, whether that’s in practice or recording,” he warned, saying an official review had already “smashed to bits” the idea that targets prevent crime or improve victims’ experiences.Truss ‘delighted’ by Tory leadership result while Sunak says he’s the man to lead partyAnother senior policing source said that past targets had caused police to neglect vital areas of crime, such as child abuse and sexual offences.“Targets can really send things the wrong way,” he warned. “This is a throwback to the incoherent ignorance of past politicians.”A 2015 report found that previous crime targets created “perverse incentives to mis-record crime” and caused police to respond to some offences selectively, “to the detriment of other calls”.The report was commissioned by then-home secretary Theresa May, who said at the time that “narrow target-chasing and bureaucracy” had hampered police.“Targets don’t fight crime, they hinder the fight against crime,” she added. “They distort operational reality and reduce police officer discretion, while undue focus on one target can lead to some other crimes being neglected altogether.”Ms Truss also wants chief constables deemed to be underperforming through the proposed league tables to attend a “special meeting” of the National Policing Board to explain their plans to ministers and senior officers. More

A live debate featuring Conservative leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss on news channel TalkTV was abruptly taken off air after the show’s moderator collapsed.Viewers heard a loud crash and saw a visibly concerned Ms Truss mouth the words “Oh my God” before stepping away from the podium where she had been speaking. Just seconds later, the show disappeared from screens.TalkTV owners News UK later confirmed that presenter Kate McCann, the station’s political editor, had fainted.In a statement, the company added: “Although she is fine, the medical advice was that we shouldn’t continue with the debate. We apologise to our viewers and listeners.”The break in transmission came just over half an hour into the hour-long grilling of Mr Sunak and Ms Truss by Ms McCann and readers of The Sun newspaper.Recommended More

Black Labour MPs have attacked their party’s response to a damning report finding “overt and underlying racism” in its ranks, one calling it “a kick in the teeth”. Sir Keir Starmer is accused of claiming the problems had been overcome with the departure of Jeremy Corbyn and the “unacceptable culture” the former party leader fostered.In fact, the Forde report found that factional infighting predated Mr Corbyn’s election in 2015 – and pointed to “continuing concerns” about Labour processes, Dawn Butler argued.The former shadow minister condemned the “triumphalist ‘it was all the last lot’” stance, saying: “Racism isn’t ended by a change of leader, and neither is factionalism.“It requires hard, pain-staking cultural challenge – an acknowledgement of the problem and an open mind committed to real and lasting cultural change.”RecommendedKate Osamor, a former shadow cabinet member, echoed the criticism, saying: “As a Black Labour MP, the response from this party’s leadership to the Forde report feels like a kick in the teeth.“The report concluded that the party has failed to tackle anti-Black racism and Islamophobia. The leadership of this party needs to respond to that now.”The long-awaited 138-page report finally released last week, painted a devastating picture of a bitter party power struggle between two rival camps, one in Mr Corbyn’s office and the other at Labour headquarters.Both sides were found to have used antisemitism as a weapon, with some denying its existence while others used it primarily as a means to attack the then-leader.Martin Forde, a QC, found “undoubted overt and underlying racism” in WhatsApp messages exchanged and that “less progress” had been made than in tackling sexism.His report concluded: “Racism in the party is not experienced by individuals solely through acts of aggression or microaggression towards them personally.“It is experienced through seeing colleagues being passed over for promotion; being the only person from an ethnic minority background around a meeting table; being managed by a near-exclusively white senior team; and hearing the particular disdain reserved for [eg] ethnic minority MPs, councillors and CLP [constituency Labour party] members.”In an article for The Voice magazine, Ms Butler added that she was “disgusted” by a quote attributed to a Labour party spokesperson, in response to the report.It stated: “The Forde report details a party that was out of control. Keir Starmer is now in control and has made real progress in ridding the party of the destructive factionalism and unacceptable culture that did so much damage.”Ms Butler wrote: “This is a completely nose-blind statement and it is disappointing to all of us who want to make the party a safe space for all.”She added: “In true Labour party fashion, the leadership has made it a factional issue and sidelined the racism in all levels of the party structure that the report uncovered. It is just not good enough.”A Labour Party spokesperson said: “We’re proud of the changes that have been made under Keir Starmer and David Evans’s leadership but there is no room for complacency so we will always look at ways to improve our culture and practice to support all protected characteristics. “In April 2022, we launched our new independent complaints process which will ensure that complaints involving all protected characteristics will be decided impartially, fairly and rationally. This is a critical step on the Labour Party’s journey to build confidence in our commitment to tackle all forms of discrimination, as well as to tackle sexual harassment.”RecommendedThey added: “This sits alongside other work within the party to tackle discrimination and improve our culture and practice, including the implementation of a new code of conduct on Islamophobia in July 2021 and a new code of conduct on Afrophobia and Anti-Black Racism in November 2021. “The party has also established a diversity and inclusive board with its union and staff networks, chaired by the general secretary, which has a work plan in place and appointed an external expert to support the board.” More

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended meeting a Russian oligarch with a KGB past, saying “as far as I am aware” no government business was discussed at the 2018 get-together.Johnson, who quit as Conservative Party leader July 7 after months of ethics scandals, is facing questions about his relationship with Russia-born newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev and his father, Alexander. The older man is a businessman and Cold War-era was a KGB officer who has been sanctioned by Canada for his alleged role in enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.In April 2018, Johnson went to a party at Evgeny Lebedev’s Italian mansion that was also attended by Alexander Lebedev. Johnson, who was British foreign secretary at the time, was not accompanied by any officials. The event was held as Johnson returned from a NATO meeting, and weeks after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury. A police officer and two local people were also sickened, one of whom, Dawn Sturgess, died.Britain blames Russia’s GRU security service for the Salisbury attack, a charge Moscow denies.RecommendedJohnson told a committee of senior lawmakers that his meeting with Alexander Lebedev “was not a formal meeting, nor something that was pre-arranged.” He said it was normal for Britain’s top diplomat to attend a “private, social occasion” without officials or security staff.He said in a letter published Tuesday by Parliament’s Liaison Committee that “as far as I am aware, no government business was discussed” at the party.Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, said Johnson’s “mealy-mouthed statement raises more questions than it answers.”She said Johnson “apparently still cannot recall whether he discussed government business or not. This letter suggests the Prime Minister has something to hide.”Evgeny Lebedev owns Britain’s Evening Standard and Independent newspapers. In 2020 was given a noble title – Lord Lebedev of Siberia — and a seat in Parliament’s House of Lords by Johnson’s government. British media have reported that U.K. intelligence agencies had expressed concerns about the appointment.Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Johnson’s government has sanctioned hundreds of wealthy Russians and moved to clamp down on money laundering through London’s property and financial markets. Opposition politicians and anti-corruption campaigners say Johnson’s Conservatives have allowed ill-gotten money to slosh into U.K. properties, banks and businesses for years, turning London into a “laundromat” for dirty cash. More

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal is set to create a shortage of veterinary medicines for sick animals in Northern Ireland, a parliamentary committee has warned.Over half of veterinary medicines used in the territory are expected to be become unavailable when the Northern Ireland protocol agreed by the UK and EU comes into full force at the end of the year. The EU has so far extended grace periods on the medicines to allow them to be used in Northern Ireland until the end of 2022 – but supply chains are yet to adjust and MPs and ministers say they are extremely concerned.Drugs affected are expected to include those for cardiovascular conditions, anaesthetics and vaccines, including those that prevent salmonella and E. coli.An official report released by the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee this weeks says MPs have written to the Government “expressing our profound concerns about the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol on the availability of veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland”.Recommended”While grace periods are currently in place, the full application of the new rules to NI would leave potentially half of all veterinary medicines for a variety of animals and livestock facing discontinuation in NI,” the MPs say.Talks to find a long-term solution to the problem have stalled amid a breakdown in relations between London and Brussels.The European Commission has seven legal cases open against the UK government for breaking the NI protocol, while Mr Johnson has upped tensions by trying to unilaterally change the deal.The EU has already amended its rules on human medicines to ensure that shortages do not emerged, but a similar change has not come into force for veterinary medicines.The situation has occurred because Northern Ireland is effectively treated as part of the EU for most trade purposes, and EU regulations are set to restrict the import of animal medicines produced in Great Britain because it is no longer a member state.MPs on the scrutiny committee said: “The EU’s readiness to amend its rules on human medicines to take into account supply chains between GB and Northern Ireland—as well as Cyprus, Ireland and Malta— but not to amend its rules on veterinary medicines is frustrating. “This is particularly so given the relatively small and fragmented nature of the veterinary medicines market, leaving Northern Ireland highly vulnerable to a significant reduction in the availability of veterinary medicines, with consequent implications for animal health and welfare.”Earlier the month Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister Edwin Poots said the situation was “most disconcerting”.”The discontinuation of vaccines in NI would have severe repercussions for animal health and welfare here and give rise to unnecessary animal suffering, not to mention the risk it would present to human health and trade,” he said. “I have stated on many occasions that it is completely unacceptable that the Protocol would prevent NI from having access to the same veterinary medicines as other parts of the UK. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that all possible steps are taken to prevent suppliers from withdrawing or reducing the range of products available in NI and protect the availability of medicines here.”Mr Poots said the extension of grace periods to the end of the year was “simply not enough”.Recommended“I note that talks between the UK and EU on this matter have stalled. I, therefore, recently wrote to both the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the European Commission calling for urgent action to find a sensible, permanent and pragmatic solution to the matter,” he said.”If an agreed solution is not possible, I have also urged the Secretary of State to take any measures at his disposal, including the exercise of any powers that may be available to him under the NI Protocol Bill, to ensure that the disturbing picture painted by industry does not become a reality and that the welfare of animals here is not needlessly but at risk.” More