UK Politics

Boris Johnson’s new food strategy has been denounced as “bordering on the preposterous” after a leaked draft suggested it will reject key recommendations from an independent review but will urge people to eat more venison.Calls to expand the provision of free school meals and for a sugar and salt tax appear to have been ignored, the draft paper suggests.Instead there will be a consultation on how to help cows produce less methane and a suggested rise in the use of “responsibly sourced wild venison”.Leon restaurant co-founder Henry Dimbleby was asked by the government in 2019 to lead a review into England’s food system to ensure it was “safe, healthy and affordable” for all.His final report, published in 2021, called for a sugar and salt reformulation levy as a key way to transform the diets of millions and help protect the environment.But this appears to have been rejected by ministers, according to a leaked draft of the government’s new food strategy white paper, expected to be published on Monday.In his report Mr Dimbleby also called for some of the money raised by the levy to be used to expand free school meals, as well as funding holiday food clubs and giving food to families in poverty.But despite a call from teachers and unions to extend free school meals to an extra one million children in poverty, it says the idea will be “kept under review”.Ministers do appear to be moving on some of Mr Dimbleby’s proposals, including a consultation on the possibility of mandatory food waste reporting for businesses over a certain size.After the review urged the government to “nudge” consumers into changing their habits on meat, the paper also said ministers would “support progress on a wide range of issues, including alternative proteins”.Controversially, because of their environmental impact, it also suggests a potential increase in fish farming.Mr Johnson has recently come under fire, including from former Tory ministers, for a decision to delay measures to tackle obesity, a move that was blamed on the cost of living crisis.At the same time, critics argue he has done little to help families facing what even the Bank of England governor has suggested could become “apocalyptic” food price rises.The paper says that it looks at “longer-term measures” rather than “duplicating work on the cost of living”.Instead of accepting Dimbleby’s warning that “our current appetite for meat is unsustainable” the government will open a consultation into new technologies to help cattle produce less methane.However, ministers will make it easier for countries to trade with the UK if they have strong animal welfare legislation.Labour said the document was “nothing more than a statement of vague intentions”.Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “A food strategy is of vital importance, but the government has dithered, delayed and now failed to deliver.“This is nothing more than a statement of vague intentions, not the concrete proposals to tackle the major issues facing our country. To call it a ‘food strategy’ is bordering on the preposterous.”Greenpeace described the plan as “worse than half-baked”.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it did not comment on leaked documents.A spokesperson added: “We will be setting out the contents of our ambitious new food strategy in due course.” More

A furious war of words has erupted after allies of Boris Johnson accused Tory rebels of almost certainly guaranteeing defeat in two crucial by-elections by “poisoning the well”. In comments that will risk alienating Tory MPs further they also insisted that the results would make no difference to Mr Johnson’s position as Conservative leader, because they were now “priced in”.Opponents of the prime minister hit back denouncing what they said was a “desperate attempt at deflection”.Within hours of Mr Johnson’s narrow victory in a confidence vote this week his critics warned the prime minister he was on borrowed time and faced a key electoral test on June 23.Earlier, in an eleventh hour effort to save his job, Mr Johnson had promised Tory MPs that if they stuck with him he would win again for the party.But many MPs fear the public backlash over the partygate scandal means Mr Johnson is now an electoral liability who will lose them their seats at the next election.They expect that will be made clear when the party loses two key elections at opposite ends of England this month.Just 24 hours before it was confirmed Mr Johnson would face a vote of no confidence last week a damning poll suggested the Tories are on course for a crushing defeat in the Wakefield by-election, trailing Labour by 20 points.The latest row erupted following Mr Johnson’s campaign visit to Devon, ahead of a by-election in Tiverton and Honiton, which was triggered by ex-Tory MP Neil Parish’s admission he watched porn in the Commons. The Liberal Democrats are hoping for a major upset in the seat, that would see them overturn the current 24,000 Tory majority. During the same visit Mr Johnson campaigned in Cornwall, where he again tried to draw a line under the most tumultuous week of his premiership by emphasising his desire to increase home ownership.But even as he appeared at the Royal Cornwall Show in Wadebridge, a Conservative MP warned the party was suffering from “complacency” and “exhaustion”.A day after a set-piece speech by Mr Johnson designed to outline policy ideas to steady his premiership, Andrew Bowie, the Tory MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, wrote on the ConservativeHome website: “Where’s the big idea?… What’s the offer to the country?”One minister and ally of Mr Johnson said the result of the by-elections was now “priced in”. They would not be a chance for the prime minister to prove that he can still win elections because rebels have “poisoned the well”, he said.“They held a confidence vote in the prime minister basically two weeks before the vote and then they expect people to go out and vote Conservative?“As if they have not seen all the attacks on the leader of the Conservatives from his own MPs? They have absolutely poisoned the well.”He added: “He (Boris) will win again. But this is not it. What did they think they were doing holding a vote of no confidence at this stage in two election campaigns?”One leading rebel accused allies of Mr Johnson of “most blatant and desperate attempt at deflection”.Another critic of Mr Johnson, Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said: “They would say that wouldn’t they? The polls in the by-election seats were appalling before the vote of no confidence in the prime minister. And they were appalling because of the prime minister’s behaviour. Yes of course they will try and blame absolutely anybody other than themselves. This is an administration that is in denial”. More

A British newspaper says Prince Charles has criticized the government’s plan to start deporting some asylum-seekers to Rwanda, calling it “appalling.” Citing unnamed sources, the Times newspaper reported late Friday that the heir to the British throne is privately opposed to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s policy to send people to the East African country. A court ruling has paved the way for the first flight under the controversial deal to leave Tuesday with more than 30 people. Britain plans to send some migrants who arrive in the U.K. as stowaways or in small boats to Rwanda, where their asylum claims will be processed. If successful, they will stay in the African country. Human rights groups have called the idea unworkable and inhumane.The prince’s office neither confirmed nor denied the report. “We would not comment on supposed anonymous private conversations with the Prince of Wales, except to restate that he remains politically neutral,” Clarence House said in a statement. “Matters of policy are decisions for government.”The new policy threatens to overshadow the upcoming visit by Charles and his wife Camilla to Rwanda later this month to attend a meeting of Commonwealth leaders. The Times said a source had heard Charles express opposition to the policy several times in private, and that he was “more than disappointed” by it.Traditionally, British royals don’t get involved in political matters.As head of state, Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has to remain strictly neutral on political matters and doesn’t vote or stand for election, according to the royal family’s official website.However, the 73-year-old prince, who is first in line to the throne, has been an outspoken supporter of various causes, such as campaigning against climate change and plastic pollution in oceans. He has also been accused of meddling in politics by speaking up about property developments he opposed and other issues. More

A government minister has apologised after receiving backlash for describing Birmingham and Blackpool as “godawful” places.Heather Wheeler, the Tory MP for South Derbyshire, said she made an “inappropriate remark that does not reflect my actual view” at a conference on Thursday, and that she “apologise[s] for any offence caused.”The junior Cabinet Office minister had reportedly said at the event to launch the government’s new digital strategy: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, first reported her remarks.The comment came on the same day that Boris Johnson visited Blackpool in a bid to bolster his tarnished reputation after rebel Tory MPs held a vote of no confidence in his leadership in the wake of Partygate.In Blackpool, in a bid to woo voters, Mr Johnson pledged a review of the mortgage market under plans to help low-income housing association tenants and people on benefits buy their homes.His attempt to woo voters in the coastal city – the most deprived local authority area in England – could be overshadowed by Ms Wheeler’s remark.The comment was also criticised by Labour, with deputy leader Angela Rayner saying: “It’s frankly embarrassing that she’s still in her position as a minister.”She also said: “The mask has slipped. This minister has blurted out what Boris Johnson’s Conservatives really think about our communities behind closed doors. The disrespect is off the scale.”Heather Wheeler has put her utter contempt for voters on show.”Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy tweeted: “What an absolute shower. They tell us they’re levelling up the country but this is what they truly think. “They can’t even tell the difference between ‘Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful’. Clueless and offensive.” More

Priti Patel is deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda without a promised watchdog intended to oversee the process and protect their rights, The Independent has learned.Earlier this year the government committed to setting up a monitoring committee for the controversial removal programme – which would report back on conditions and raise the alarm over any problems.But ministers have now quietly admitted that the watchdog, as well as a separate joint committee, have still not been set up despite the Home Office pressing ahead with the first flights next week.It comes as the UN’s refugee agency said the entire programme was in breach of Britain’s commitments under the 1951 UN refugee convention and the High Court considers whether to grant an injunction to stop flights.Immigration minister Tom Pursglove last month told a parliamentary evidence session that the monitoring committee was about “providing proper oversight” of the scheme – which human rights groups warn risks the safety of asylum seekers and breaches the UK’s legal obligations. But the Home Office now admits the monitoring board will not be set up for “months”, with no timescale at all for the separate “joint committee” that would also oversee the programme.The delay means the government is pressing ahead with the removals without even the basic oversight it promised. Amnesty International’s country profile says people in Rwanda are subject to “violations of the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression and privacy”, alongside “enforced disappearances, allegations of torture and excessive use of force”.Formal removal direction letters have already been sent to 130 asylum seekers by the Home Office in preparation for planned flights next week.The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, on Friday threw its weigh behind a possible High Court injunction, arguing that the UK-Rwanda deal overall was “incompatible with the letter and spirit of the 1951 convention”.In a written parliamentary answer to a question from the Bishop of Durham, Home Office minister Baroness Williams said both the monitoring committee’s membership and even its terms of reference were still “in the process of being developed” by the Home Office and said it would start work “in the coming months”.But despite the safeguards not being ready, home secretary Ms Patel announced last week that the first flight to the African country would be on Tuesday 14 June.The headline-grabbing announcement that the removals would go ahead immediately came as Boris Johnson sought to move the news agenda on from the backlash over his lockdown lawbreaking in Downing Street.“The Rwanda plan is abhorrent, and we believe it will be rightly struck down by the courts,” said Fizza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants’ Rights Network.“But what makes this plan even more appalling is that there is no appropriate monitoring in place to ensure that human rights are not further violated. “With the threats of flights as early as next week, this government clearly does not care how this awful plan will impact those they remove to Rwanda, nor are they willing to allow those in opposition to this plan to have the opportunity to scrutinise it.”The Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, who tabled the written questions about the oversight boards, told The Independent: “It is deeply disturbing that the government is pushing ahead with this policy when they promised safeguards through a monitoring board would be in place. “Further, the stories of some of those who are to be deported suggests very clearly that they have completely legitimate asylum claims that are being ignored.“It is an inhumane policy that will not achieve what it purports to do. Please, home secretary, think again.”Mary Atkinson, campaigns officer at the Joint Committee for the Welfare of Immigrants, said the government’s “treatment of people seeking safety here flies in the face of these basic human values”.She added: “This government likely knows their plan to deport people seeking safety here 4,000 miles away is inhumane, racist and potentially unlawful, so it’s understandable that they would want to avoid scrutiny on it.“By pushing ahead with this ugly plan under cover of darkness, this government is sending a clear message: it thinks it can make its own rules and mark its own homework. A growing number of people won’t stand for it – that’s why we’re seeing more and more people speak out against the Rwanda deal, and demand compassion and welcome instead.”In her answer to the bishop, Home Office minister Baroness Williams said: “The terms of reference and membership of the monitoring committee for the Migration and Economic Development Partnership are in the process of being developed. “The monitoring committee is due to become operational in the coming months. More details on this will be set out in due course.”Referring to the second watchdog, she said: “The co-chairs for the joint committee will be decided upon in due course.”The Home Office internally refers to people included in the programme as “removals” rather than “deportations”. A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our world-leading partnership with Rwanda is a key part of our strategy to overhaul the broken asylum system. We have been clear from the start that we expected legal challenges. However, we are determined to deliver this new partnership. “We have now issued formal directions to the first group of people due to be relocated to Rwanda later this month. This marks a critical step towards operationalising the policy, which fully complies with international and national law.” More

Boris Johnson has been accused of “hiding away from people” during a brief visit to Tiverton and Honiton, as the Conservatives fight to hold on to the seat at the upcoming by-election.The Liberal Democrats criticised the prime minister’s low-key visit to the Devon constituency after he was spotted meeting party candidate Helen Hurford and a small group of farmers for tea.Tory officials shared a photo of Mr Johnson at Ditchetts Farm in Tiverton, and the National Farming Union (NFU) said the PM had discussed food security with local officials.Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The fact is he’s not talking to ordinary people. No one seems to know where he is. He’s hiding away from people and I think that says it all. He’s taking this constituency for granted.”Earlier on Friday, Mr Johnson received a mixture of cheers and boos during a surprise visit to the Royal Cornwall Show near Wadebridge in Cornwall.One member of the show staff said Mr Johnson had received a “mixed reception”, but added: “I think on balance there was still more cheering than booing… I don’t think he minded; he’s got a hide like a rhinoceros.”Mr Johnson was pictured at the show alongside the environment secretary George Eustice, just hours before the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were due to arrive.Tory MPs and No 10 officials have shared concerns that the seat could fall to the Lib Dems when voters head to the polls on 23 June, despite posting a huge majority at the 2019 general election.The by-election was triggered after the resignation of the former Conservative MP Neil Parish, who became the focus of a political storm after admitting watching pornography on his phone in the Commons chamber.Despite the largely rural seat voting overwhelmingly for the Tories at the 2019 election – the party’s majority was over 24,000 – officials are concerned the seat could fall to Davey’s party in a fortnight.The Lib Dems are seeking to capitalise on the ongoing concern over the prime minister’s precarious position and deep anger over the Partygate scandal, which resulted in Mr Johnson being fined by the Metropolitan Police.With Mr Johnson’s position in No 10 under the spotlight after Monday’s confidence vote, a defeat in Tiverton and Honiton in 13 days’ time could reignite calls for his resignation.Earlier this week the Tory candidate for Tiverton and Honiton refused to say how she would have voted in the no-confidence ballot on Mr Johnson’s leadership had she been an MP.Ms Hurford, a former headteacher, described the question as “irrelevant”, saying she was not “in Westminster” and adding that it was time to “move forward” after the prime minister narrowly survived the vote on Monday.On the same day, another by-election will be held in Wakefield – triggered after the resignation of a Tory MP found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old. The former Labour stronghold voted for the Conservatives at the 2019 general election, but is widely expected to be regained by Sir Keir Starmer’s party on 23 June. More