UK Politics

Rishi Sunak’s spring statement has been labelled “cloud cuckoo land” by the former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine.Lord Heseltine also predicted a “very difficult period” over the next 12 months for Boris Johnson’s govenrment amid the ongoing police probe over parties in No 10 and the worsening cost-of-living crisis.The peer’s remarks comes amid intense criticism of the chancellor’s help to the most vulnerable at the spring statement last week, with surging energy costs and inflation diminishing people’s spending power.According to the latest analysis, five million households will be forced to spend at least 10 per cent of their budget on energy bills after Friday’s price cap — even after Mr Sunak’s recent interventions are taken into account.Lord Heseltine, who said there were “no plans” for more productive investment, also said talk of tax cuts and cutting public spending was “simply not real”.But asked on LBC radio by presenter Andrew Marr for his thoughts on the chancellor’s spring statement, which did not land with “universal enthusiasm”, Lord Heseltine replied: “No and nor can it, it’s cloud cuckoo land.“As the chancellor has said that public finances are in a difficult situation, the debt is rising and inflation is likely to force up interests are so, all this talk about tax cuts and cutting public expenditure and all this sort of thing is simply not real in the present circumstances.He added: “What is needed is a strategic plan to battle our way through by increasing the scale of the economy and economic activity and more productive investment. But there are no plans expect in a limited number of places.”During the spring statement, Mr Sunak vowed to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20 to 19 pence in the pound before the end of the current Parliament, in 2024.“It would clearly be irresponsible to meet this ambition this year — and yet I refuse to let that ambition wither and drift,” he told MPs at the time.“By 2024, the OBR currently expects inflation to be back under control, debt falling sustainably, and the economy growing. Our fiscal rules are met with a clear safety margin. More

The first Partygate fines handed out by police relate to a leaving do for a Cabinet Office official in June 2020, according to reports.Staff who attended the bash are understood to have received £50 fixed penalty notices by email.The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Tuesday that they have referred an initial tranche of 20 Partygate cases for fixed penalties.But police refused to reveal who was being fined or give details of the breaches of coronavirus laws involved.But ITV political editor Robert Peston today said that at least some of the fines stem from an event at the Cabinet Office on 18 June 2020, believed to have been held to mark the departure of Downing Street official Hannah Young to take up the role of deputy consul general in New York.There was no immediate response from Downing Street, which has said it will not confirm the identity of anyone fined as a result of the Operation Hillman inquiry, with the exception of Boris Johnson or civil service head Simon Case.The Metropolitan Police are investigating 12 events in Downing Street and Whitehall in which laws imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are alleged to have been breached in 2020 and 2021. Fines issued so far are thought to relate to cases where the breach was not disputed. Having taken evidence in questionnaires from more than 100 ministers, officials and advisers – including Mr Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak – officers are now conducting interviews with some of those involved.The prime minister himself has not yet been called for interview. He has refused to acknowledge that the fines already issued constitute proof of law-breaking at No 10 under his watch, insisting that he will not comment until the inquiry concludes. More

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to “come clean” over whether his household benefits from any Russia-related interests.The chancellor has faced questions over his wife, Akshata Murthy, 0.91 per cent stake in the IT and services giant Infosys — a company founded by her father, Narayana, and which continues to operate in Russia.Mr Sunak yesterday hit out at the scrutiny, saying it was wrong and “very upsetting” for people “to try and come at my wife” and the “attempted smearing” of his father-in-law.But in a series of interviews on Friday, Sir Keir insisted that the chancellor, who has told British businesses to “think carefully” about making investments that would benefit Russia, had questions to answer.Speaking on Sky News he said: “So far as the chancellor’s wife is concerned, there’s just a fundamental question of principle, is their household benefitting from money made in Russia when the government has put in place sanctions?“That is in the public interest for us to have an answer to — I’m not attacking their family I don’t agree with that way of politics.“But I do want to know if the chancellor’s household is benefiting from money from a company that’s investing in Russia when the government is saying quite rightly that nobody should be doing that”.He added: “I would have thought the chancellor would actually want to come clean on this and say ‘actually I can be very, very clear that my household doesn’t benefit from any money that’s come in any way from Russia during this invasion of Ukraine.“It’s a simple question, I think he should just answer it. It would actually help his wife if he just answered the question”.A spokesperson for the chancellor told The Independent: “Ms Murthy is one of thousands of minority shareholders in the company. “It is a public company and neither her nor any member of her family have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company.”Asked about Infosys – which has four offices in the UK but has reportedly kept offices in Moscow – Mr Sunak told Sky News earlier this month: “I have absolutely no idea because I have nothing to do with that company.”Pressed on whether his family was “potentially benefiting from Putin’s regime”, he added: “I don’t think that’s the case. I’m an elected politician and I’m here to talk to you about what I’m responsible for. My wife is not.”Addressing the situation again last night on BBC Newscast, the chancellor also attempted to compare attacks on his wife to the Will Smith Oscar’s slap scandal. More

Boris Johnson has reversed a plan to keep so-called gay conversion therapy legal after fierce backlash from campaigners and MPs, according to reports.The U-turn comes just hours after it emerged the prime minister had decided against making it a crime to seek to change someone’s sexual orientation.Though the government will now outlaw the gay “therapy”, No 10 said the equivalent practice for trans people will remain legal, reports from ITV News and Sky News said.The Conservative Party pledged in 2018 to end “conversion” therapies which seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.The government had sought to justify Thursday’s short-lived departure from the pledge by saying it had decided to review “how existing law can be deployed more effectively” to stop the practice.The spokesperson said the government would also “explore the use of other non-legislative measures” to stop abusive practices.A Downing Street briefing document leaked to the press earlier on Thursday suggested that the U-turn could be blamed on the need to prioritise government legislation from May, given the Ukraine war and cost of living crisis.It reportedly warned officials there would be a “noisy backlash from LGBT groups and some parliamentarians when we announce we do not intend to proceed”.The warning proved prescient. Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland, said: “We’ve had time to vote that lobsters have sentience – tell me how that is more important than telling gay and trans people that they deserve to be loved.”Dehenna Davison, an LGBT Tory MP, said the decision to drop the ban was “fundamentally wrong” and needed “to be reversed immediately”.Labour said the “outrageous decision” shows the prime minister could not be taken at his word on LGBT+ rights.ITV News journalist Paul Brand, who first reported the dropping of the ban, said sources suggested that 60 MPs lobbied Mr Johnson to change course. More

A Tory MP has been called an “anti-science extremist” and accused of trumpeting a “discredited conspiracy theory” over claims on Covid vaccines made to parliament. Sir Christopher Chope has been shut down by MPs, campaigners and experts over comments made on Thursday, which were branded “ridiculous” and “offensive”. The Convervative veteran said in parliament: “Does my Right Honourable Gentleman accept there is another NHS treatment disaster in the making in the fact there may be 10,000 or more people who have suffered serious injury or even death as a result of adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccinations?”He called for “justice for these people immediately”. The House of Commons speaker responded by saying Sir Christopher was “normally better than than” and calling it a “poor effort”.Martin McKee from Independent Sage group of experts told The Independent: “The speaker’s response said it all. This comment is so ridiculous that it doesn’t justify a comment.”Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats health spokesperson, said there was “absolutely no reliable evidence” backing up claims tens of thousands have suffered damage or died from the Covid jab. “This is dangerous misinformation based on the Yellow Card Scheme of self-reported symptoms that is often used by anti-vaxxers to discredit the Covid-19 vaccine,” she said. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, also dismissed the claims. “This is baseless offensive and wrong. Why do the Conservatives tolerate these anti-science extremists in their party?”A spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group told The Independent: “Every loss from either Covid-19 or the vaccine is a complete tragedy, however the ‘10,000’ figure Mr Chope cites is a discredited conspiracy theory.”“Vaccines have moved us out of the worst of the pandemic and saved countless lives, so to make these comments when cases are rising and vaccine take up is falling is extremely irresponsible. Frankly, it’s terrifying to hear in the House of Commons, where life and death public health decisions are being made.”More than 52 million people in the UK have received one vaccine dose for Covid, while 49 million have received a second and 38.8 million a booster. The British government says vaccination is the “single most effective way to reduce deaths and severe illness” from Covid.In the first two years of the pandemic, around 187,000 people in the UK have Covid on their death certificate. Sir Christopher has been approached for comment by The Independent. More

Boris Johnson is ditching a plan to ban so-called gay conversion therapy despite his previous promises to end the “abhorrent” practice.The Conservative Party pledged in 2018 to end “conversion” therapies which seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.But a Downing Street briefing document leaked to the press states: “The PM has agreed we should not move forward with legislation to ban LGBT conversion therapy.”The briefing warned officials that there would be a “noisy backlash from LGBT groups and some parliamentarians when we announce we do not intend to proceed”.The Conversion Therapy Handling Plan document also says “the LGBT sector will read this decision as a signal the government is uninterested in LGBT issues”.A government spokesperson confirmed the U-turn, telling The Independent: “Having explored this sensitive issue in great depth the government has decided to proceed by reviewing how existing law can be deployed more effectively to prevent this in the quickest way possible.”The spokesperson said the government would also “explore the use of other non-legislative measures” to stop abusive practices.Jayne Ozanne, a former government adviser who quit last year, said she was “livid” with Mr Johnson and his “betrayal” of the LGBT+ community – arguing that it would put lives at risk.“The prime minister has shown scant regard for the lives of LGBT+ people in this callous decision, which leaves us with little option but to conclude that his word cannot be trusted,” said the Ozanne Foundation director.Ozanne also warned: “This decision will leave countless LGBT+ people completely undefended from degrading abuse … and will embolden perpetrators to continue their horrific acts with impunity.”Labour said the “outrageous decision” shows the prime minister could not be taken at his word on LGBT+ rights.“A government that believes conversion therapy is acceptable in 21st-century Britain is no friend of the LGBT+ community,” said party chair Anneliese Dodds. “Labour will never abandon the fight to ban this insidious practice forever.”Lib Dems equalities spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP added: “This is not just yet another U-turn from the Tories, but giving the green light to a form of torture in the UK. This is an utter betrayal of the LGBT+ community.”Legislation aimed at banning conversion therapy was announced in last year’s Queen’s Speech. Senior cabinet minister Liz Truss had vowed: “There should be no place for the abhorrent practice.”In October, Ms Truss, minister for women and equalities, launched a consultation process on the plan to make “coercive” conversion therapies illegal in England and Wales.But the leaked document reportedly warned that some involved in the legislation had not yet been told about No 10’s change of policy – including Ms Truss.“While Liz is not ideologically committed to the legislation, she is likely to be concerned about owning the new position, having personally committed to delivering the bill”, the briefing stated, according to reports. More

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of “abandoning” its own workforce after the announcement of an average pay rise for civil servants of less than a third of inflation.The civil service pay remit guidance released by Cabinet Office minister Heather Wheeler authorises annual increases averaging up to 2 per cent, with departments able to make the case for an additional 1 per cent on top in exceptional cases.The guidance comes on the eve of massive hikes in energy prices and council tax, at a time when CPI inflation stands at 6.2 per cent and is forecast to peak at 8.7 per cent later in the year.The general secretary of senior civil service union the FDA, Dave Penman, said ministers had taken a decision to “ignore the unprecedented cost of living crisis that is already eroding civil servants’ spending power”.After a decade of pay restraint following the 2008 financial crash and two years of emergency conditions during the Covid pandemic, the below-inflation rise will hit morale and make it more difficult for the civil service to recruit and retain talented people, he warned.”On Monday, the governor of the Bank of England predicted that we will see a ‘historic shock’ to incomes in the UK this year, unprecedented since the 1970s,” said Mr Penman. “The Office for Budget Responsibility last week suggested that UK household real income this year would contract at the sharpest rate since records began in the 1950s.”Against this backdrop, the government has decided to abandon its own workforce and make no attempt to soften the blow to civil servants, who have spent the last two years helping the country through the health and economic emergencies. “Ministers are running around with their fingers in their ears trying to pretend it’s business as usual.”The new guidance will see civil service salary levels fall even further behind the private sector, he warned.And he added: “Unfortunately, ministers have completely failed to see the damage this will do to morale and the civil service’s ability to attract new talent required to deliver high quality public services.”In a statement to the Commons, Ms Wheeler insisted that the government wanted to “reward hard-working staff fairly”.But she added: “We must also balance pay settlements with our macroeconomic objectives and the need to invest in high quality public services.”She said that civil servants enjoy access to a generous pension scheme and said the rise would ensure “broad parity” with the private sector.Departments and quangos are to be allowed to go beyond the 3 per cent limit in order to fulfil legal requirements to pay at least the national living wage, which increases by 6.6 per cent to £9.50 per hour from April. More