UK Politics

Cabinet minister Sajid Javid has repeatedly dodged questions of whether Boris Johnson presided over “widespread criminality” in No 10 as the Metropolitan Police continue their partygate probe.It comes after a former government ethics chief admitted she was among the first batch of people to receive a fixed-penalty notice from the force, which is investigating 12 separate events held during Covid restrictions.Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, suggested earlier this week that the prime minister had misled the public over the scandal, and claimed he had presided over “widespread criminality” in No 10.Pressed on the comment, Mr Javid, the health secretary, said there were events that took place during the height of the Covid pandemic that “are being properly investigated” by Scotland Yard.“They should be investigated by the proper authorities and that’s exactly what’s happening,” he said.“This is really a matter for the police. I don’t think it’s appropriate for any minister, including myself, to talk about what the police may, or may not do.”Asked a second time whether Mr Johnson presided “over widespread criminality”, he replied: “When you ask me about matters of the law this is rightly in a democracy… it is a matter for the independent police.”Despite Helen McNamara, a former deputy cabinet secretary, publicly apologising and admitting she had paid a fine, Mr Javid added: “I know what the police have published, I know nothing more or less then that.“I have no idea who has received those fines, or not. I hesitate to comment on this further.”Quizzed a third time on Sir Keir’s comment, the cabinet minister said the public will learn more from the police and a final report from Sue Gray — the Whitehall mandarin responsible for investigating events before the Metropolitan Police launched their investigation two months ago.Mr Javid’s remarks come after both Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, and Anne Marie-Trevelyan, accepted the law was broken after the Metropolitan Police said it would be issuing an initial batch of 20 fines.However, despite repeated questioning, No 10 has refused to endorse the view, insisting it was for the Met police to “make that judgement” and said the prime minister would comment when the probe concludes.The identities of people issued with fixed-penatly notices will not be disclosed by the Metropolitan Police, although No 10 has said it will confirm if either Mr Johnson or cabinet secretary Simon Case are handed a fine.According to The Guardian, the government, however, is refusing to disclose any photographs taken by the prime minister’s taxpayer-funded photographers of the events under question.The newspaper said the Cabinet Office had refused to confirm or deny the existence of any photographs of parties after a request made under freedom of information laws.Labour’s Angela Rayner has responded, saying: “The Downing Street photographer is funded by the taxpayer. The public have every right to see the photos that their hard-earned money has paid for.” More

Labour shortages largely caused by Brexit are set to make Britain more dependent on food imports, MPs have warned.A new report by the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said UK food production industry would “permanently” shrink unless the problems were deal with.It comes despite some Brexiteers saying leaving the EU could make Britain more self-sufficient in food.MPs say vacancies in the food production sector are estimated to be 500,000 out of 4.1 million roles in August 2021. These labour shortages “due principally to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic”, the MPs said, citing evidence from industry leaders.Seasonal agricultural labourers from the EU who previously helped with the harvest each year now need to apply for a work scheme – and many are staying away.As a result MPs and industry figures have said crops are going unharvested and rotting in the fields.“We found clear evidence that labour shortages have badly affected the food and farming industry — threatening food security, the welfare of animals and the mental health of those working in the sector,” the inquiry report said.“The food sector is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector but faces permanent shrinkage if a failure to address its acute labour shortages leads to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported and increased imports”.The same committee also found in January that “blind optimism” shown by ministers about their plan for post-Brexit farming subsidies could drive UK farms out of business and also increase reliance on food imports.The UK currently imports 48 per cent of the total food it consumes, a proportion which has been rising consistently.Some Tories have previously suggested that Brexit could make Britain more self-sufficient and grow more of its own food.In 2017 during Brexit talks then Cabinet member Chris Grayling said a hard Brexit could “mean that producers, supermarkets, bought more at home, that British farmers produced more, that they bought more from around the world”.Ahead of the Brexit vote Liz Truss, who is now foreign secretary, said it was a “disgrace” that Britain imported so much of the fruit and cheese it consumed.MPs on the Environment Committee said they were “struck by government’s failure to grasp the labour issues” now facing the food sector.Calling on ministers to “radically shift” their attitudes, they claimed the government had failed to demonstrate a “strong understanding” of the issues and had even sought in some instances “pass the blame onto the sector on the basis of incorrect information about its own immigration system”.“The government must radically shift its attitude and work together with the sector to devise solutions that speedily help address the problems it faces, in the short, medium and long-term to help the UK’s food industry and enable it to thrive,” they added.Neil Parish, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said: “In 2021 farmers faced an extraordinary situation — crops were being left to rot in the fields and healthy pigs were culled due to a lack of workers.“This has serious implications for the well-being of the people who put food on our tables today and in the future. The government’s attitude to the plight of food and farming workers was particularly disappointing.”He added: “While some of the reforms put forward by government have helped in the short term, and we agreed that we must look to expand the domestic workforce – this won’t happen overnight.“In the meantime, it must use the powers available – including over immigration policy — to support the sector. Otherwise we will export our food production and import more of our food.“Even more importantly, government must change its attitude to the food and farming sector – trusting them and acting promptly when they raise concerns. Our food and farmers depend on it.” More

Ministers’ failure to tackle acute labour shortages caused by Brexit and the Covid pandemic will “permanently” shrink the UK’s food sector, MPs have warned.In an alarming report, the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said shortages were causing crops to go unharvested in fields and left to rot, while healthy pigs were being culled, as they demanded urgent action from the government.Citing figures from industry officials, the MPs said vacancies in the sector were estimated to be 500,000 out of 4.1 million roles in August 2021, with labour shortages “due principally to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic”.While shortages were the “single biggest factor” affecting the industry, the report recognised the “unprecedented challenges” of 2021, as the food and farming sector adapted to the circumstances of Covid and Brexit-related export controls.“We found clear evidence that labour shortages have badly affected the food and farming industry — threatening food security, the welfare of animals and the mental health of those working in the sector,” the report added.“The food sector is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector but faces permanent shrinkage if a failure to address its acute labour shortages leads to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported and increased imports”.They said the situation for the pig sector has been “particularly severe”, with 35,000 animals culled “due to the lack of butchers to process them”.MPs on the Environment Committee, who launched their inquiry after a shortage of HGV drivers hit supplies, also made clear they were “struck by government’s failure to grasp the labour issues”.Calling on ministers to “radically shift” their attitudes, they claimed the government had failed to demonstrate a “strong understanding” of the issues and had even sought in some instances “pass the blame onto the sector on the basis of incorrect information about its own immigration system”.“The government must radically shift its attitude and work together with the sector to devise solutions that speedily help address the problems it faces, in the short, medium and long-term to help the UK’s food industry and enable it to thrive,” they added.Neil Parish, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said: “In 2021 farmers faced an extraordinary situation — crops were being left to rot in the fields and healthy pigs were culled due to a lack of workers.“This has serious implications for the well-being of the people who put food on our tables today and in the future. The government’s attitude to the plight of food and farming workers was particularly disappointing.”He added: “While some of the reforms put forward by government have helped in the short term, and we agreed that we must look to expand the domestic workforce – this won’t happen overnight.“In the meantime, it must use the powers available – including over immigration policy — to support the sector. Otherwise we will export our food production and import more of our food.“Even more importantly, government must change its attitude to the food and farming sector – trusting them and acting promptly when they raise concerns. Our food and farmers depend on it.”Defra was contacted for comment. More

The Treasury has reportedly blocked plans for hundreds of millions of pounds to be spent on making homes more energy efficient, which would in turn reduce bills amid the cost of living crisis. Downing Street and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s team were hoping for an expansion of the Energy Company Obligation (Eco) scheme to be included in this week’s energy security strategy, The Telegraph has reported. The scheme works by using money raised from a levy on energy bills and pays for home energy efficiency improvements for the poorest households. According to the newspaper, the proposal included the Treasury contributing about £200m a year extra from the taxpayer, meaning the scheme could be expanded beyond only those receiving benefits to thousands more people. However,The Telegraph reported the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, rejected the proposals as he is sticking closely to pledges outlined in autumn 2021. The newspaper quoted a senior government figure as saying: “It would have been something that we could say to households ‘We’re on your side, we want you to reduce your bills’. But the Treasury doesn’t believe in it.” A Treasury spokesperson told The Independent: “We are investing over £3bn over this Parliament to help improve energy efficiency in almost 500,000 low income households, delivering an average saving of £300 a year on bills.“Our plans for greater British energy security, due to be published later this week, will supercharge our renewable and nuclear capacity while supporting the North Sea oil and gas industry.”It comes after the transport secretary this week said Mr Sunak will always be looking at what else he can do to support people as he faced questions over the government’s handling of the cost of living crisis.Grant Shapps insisted the chancellor has “already provided billions and billions of pounds to try to relieve the pressure”.Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has recently lambasted the government for what he claims are “pathetic” attempts to ease the burden on people struggling with rising bills.That sentiment was echoed by shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who said on Sunday he is “angry” at the scale of the crisis, arguing that ministers have not done enough to tackle the problem.Asked about the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Shapps told Sky News: “We’re trying to do what we can – you’re asking if we’ll do more – I want to absolutely be clear, given the chancellor’s record, I’m sure he’ll always be looking what else he can do.“He’s already provided billions and billions of pounds to try to relieve the pressure.”He went on to tell the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “I don’t rule out the fact that we may need to do more still.” More

The UK government’s scheme to house refugees fleeing war in Ukraine has taken longer than it should, the refugees minister has admitted. Lord Richard Harrington, who was recently appointed the role, said it is “embarrassing” the Homes For Ukraine scheme “is taking so long”. Speaking to LBC, Lord Harrington admitted the government was “not geared up” for the volume of Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK.Asked why he thought this was the case, he replied: “Because it was a slow and bureaucratic process, with sending information to different places, waiting for an answer, sending it, waiting for an answer.”The Home Office and the British government generally, was not geared up to this kind of volume.”He added: “It is embarrassing to me that the system is taking too long.”However, Lord Harrington said that more recently the system has been finessed, including cutting the application form down “quite a lot,” with the help of home secretary Priti Patel. More

The government’s long-touted global LGBT+ conference has been cancelled after an intense backlash over Boris Johnson’s U-turn on banning conversion therapy for trans people.It comes just 24 hours after 100 organisations pulled out of the event, and the resignation of the government’s LGBT+ business adviser on Tuesday, accusing ministers of waging a “woke war” on the community.Several hours of crunch talks had taken place to try and salvage the event, but the boycott has left organisers unable to continue as planned, according to the BBC.The conference — Safe To Be Me — was due to take place in London this summer, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the first official Pride marches in the capital, and has been long championed by Liz Truss.Ms Truss, who holds the equalities brief alongside her role as foreign secretary, said last year the event “will take aim at the prejudices LGBT people still face” and bring together members of the community.Last week officials and ministers, including Ms Truss, were blindsided by Mr Johnson’s plan — leaked last week — to U-turn on a pledge to introduce a legislative ban on so-called conversion therapy.After promoting outrage, No 10 partially backtracked, insisting legislation would be introduced, but only for gay conversion therapy — a discredited practice that seeks to change or suppress an individual’s sexual identity.But with anger escalating, organisations representing LGBT+ charities and HIV organisations last night pulled out of the equalities conference.The LGBT+ Consortium, an umbrella body for charities working in the UK, said the government’s plans to scrap planned legislation to outlaw conversion practices was “abhorrent”.In a further move on Tuesday, Iain Anderson, who was appointed last year to be the government’s LGBT+ champion for business and play a key role in the conference, announced his resignation.“I was LGBT business champion not LGB or T, and that’s why I’m walking away,” he told ITV News, suggesting ministers were trying to “drive a wedge” among trans and lesbian, gay and bisexual people.He said the decision not to legislation for a ban on conversion therapy for trans people — leaked on the International Transgender Visibility day — came as a “bolt out of the blue”.In his resignation letter, he added: “The recent leaking of a plan to drop the government’s flagship legislation protecting LGBT+ people from conversion therapy was devastating. conversion therapy is abhorrent.“Only hours later to see this plan retracted but briefing take place that trans people would be excluded from the legislation and therefore not have the same immediate protections from this practice was deeply damaging to my work.”Downing Street has been approached for comment. More

The UK and EU are on a collision course over the lucrative gas exports funding Russia’s assault on Ukraine, after Brussels ignored a plea to set a “clear timetable” to eliminate supplies.The clash will come to a head at this week’s G7 meeting, when Liz Truss will confront fellow foreign ministers with a demand for much tougher sanctions that would send Moscow’s economy “back into the Soviet era”.Speaking in Poland, the foreign secretary said she would be urging western allies to join the UK in banning Russian ships from ports, sanctioning more Russian banks, and targeting the country’s gold.A new package should also involve “agreeing a clear timetable to eliminate imports of Russian oil, coal and gas”, she argued.But speaking soon afterwards, the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, did not mention Russian gas, even as she unveiled a fifth package of sanctions against Vladimir Putin.The EU will ban imports of coal, wood, cement, liquors and seafood worth €9.5bn (£7.9bn) a year, while considering an embargo on oil as well.However, while the coal imports are worth an annual €4bn to Russia, that is dwarfed by the €100bn paid to Russia by EU countries last year for its oil and gas.The announcement came as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took his campaign for Russia to be punished more harshly to the United Nations, demanding that those in the Kremlin should face Nuremberg-style war crimes trials.Setting out the brutality of the Russian forces in harrowing evidence, Mr Zelensky said: “They cut off limbs, slashed their throats, women were raped and killed in front of their children.“Their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear.”It is much easier for the UK to wean itself off Russian gas than it is for the EU, which depends on Moscow for 40 per cent of its supply compared with just 4 per cent for the UK.One online tracker estimates that the EU has paid Russia almost €20bn for its energy since the invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, of which around €9.7bn was for gas.Germany is seen as the main obstacle to a boycott, arguing that the economic hit would weaken it and the EU at the very time it needs to be strong enough to confront Russia’s aggression.Indeed, there have been fears that Russia might turn off the supply itself, in retaliation for western sanctions and the weapons sent by Nato allies to stiffen Ukraine’s resistance.But Timothy Ash, a senior strategist at asset management company BlueBay, told The Independent that the EU’s actions were useless “unless you impose a total energy boycott”.“The EU is funding Russia’s genocide in Ukraine as a result. Germany has learned nothing from the Second World War unless it does this,” he said, while arguing that Germany is “increasingly isolated” on the issue.In her speech, Ms Truss revealed that the west had frozen more than $350bn (£266bn) of Russia’s $604bn foreign currency reserves – 60 per cent of the total.“Our coordinated sanctions are pushing the Russian economy back into the Soviet era,” she said, but added: “We can and must step up.”The UK government has said it will ban Russian gas imports, but it has not set a date, despite committing to “phasing out” the 16 per cent of its diesel imports it receives from Russia by the end of the year.It argues that deliveries are “dropping off naturally” with the sanctioning of Russian liquid natural gas and alternative supplies being available from the Middle East.Both G7 and Nato foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday – one day before Boris Johnson hosts Olaf Scholz, the new German chancellor, in Downing Street. More

The Green Party has put its plans to insulate homes at the centre of its local election campaign, touting the policy as a response to the cost of living crisis.Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay on Tuesday said Greens in local government had been leading on insulation and that their approach would keep people warm and cut bills.The party points to the work of Green-led Lewes District Council, which is working with six other local authorities to retrofit 40,000 council homes and cut energy bills.Those councils have pooled their housing maintenance accounts today in order to give them more “financial firepower”, the party says.And Greens on Stroud District Council have also set out plans to invest £180 million to retrofit, insulate and decarbonise its 5,000-strong housing stock.“In the middle of this cost of living crisis, we know what needs to be done and yet the government is falling so chronically short,” said Ms Denyer at the party’s local election campaign launch in Lambeth. “On top of that, Labour and Conservative-run councils up and down the country are not listening to what residents want.”She added: “Greens have another plan. Not to discard these homes, but to upgrade them. Insulation programmes don’t sound very glamorous but what they can deliver is nothing short of incredible. “Imagine – a warm, snug home even on the coldest days. Little to no heating bill at all. A neighbourhood that has almost zero emissions.”Mr Ramsay said the Green Party was “all about, fairness and community, sensible, practical solutions and protecting the places we live and the people we care about”.The Greens are hoping to make gains at the forthcoming local elections, which are set to be held on 5 May 2022. The Green Party of England and Wales has one MP, Caroline Lucas, and two peers in the House of Lords. But ithas a small but growing presence in local government, with 461 out of England and Wales’ 18,000 councillors affiliated with the party. It also holds three of the 25 seats in the London Assembly.The Scottish Greens, a separate party, have seven seats in the 129 member Scottish Parliament, holding the balance of power and supporting the SNP-led government. The party has 16 of Scotland’s roughly 1,200 councillors. More