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      Rishi Sunak ‘blocked PM’s attempt to tackle energy bills in spring statement’

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      Rishi Sunak kiboshed an attempt by Boris Johnson to use the spring statement to unveil measures aimed at lowering energy bills, the prime minister has reportedly told allies.Mr Johnson wanted to use this week’s fiscal announcement to set out a plan to limit the rise in gas and electricity costs for millions, according to unnamed “friends” quoted by The Daily Telegraph.Under the prime minister’s supposed energy plan, ministers would have guaranteed prices beyond October, when the next energy price cap is set. The proposal would have been universal, meaning all households would have benefited regardless of their financial situation.However the chancellor reportedly blocked the plan and it did not feature in Wednesday’s statement.The claims were denied by both No 10 and No 11 on Friday.A spokesman told the Telegraph: “We recognise the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why we announced last month £9.1bn to support the majority of households with their energy bills.“The energy price cap continues to insulate millions from volatile global gas prices.” More

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      Grant Shapps was warned 4 months before P&O sackings that it planned cost-cutting changes, minutes show

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      Grant Shapps was warned four months before P&O Ferries sacked 800 staff that the firm planned cost-cutting changes on its UK operations, it has emerged.Minutes from a meeting with its parent company DP World reveal the transport secretary knew “commercial decisions” were looming and asked to be kept “informed”.Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the company’s chairman, told him it was threatened by “a new low-cost competitor from Irish Ferries”, saying: “This poses challenges in respect of P&O’s operations.”In response, Mr Shapps said: “I’m aware of the issues relating to P&O. I recognise you will need to make commercial decisions, but please do keep us informed,” the minutes show.Immediately before the statement, the pair discussed what the transport secretary called the “exciting” decision to create a tax-cutting freeport at the London Gateway port run by DP World.Mr Shapps added “I appreciate everything you’ve done to support P&O. I see a tremendous future for ports in the UK.”The meeting has only been revealed after it was disclosed by P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite, at the Commons committee hearing where he admitted knowingly breaking the law.There is also controversy over how much ministers were told the night before the firm provoked fury by making 786 workers redundant without notice, many over a Zoom call.The department for transport has insisted Mr Shapps was only told in general terms, in the meeting on 22 November, of the challenges P&O faced.But Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “Despite the clear warning signs, Grant Shapps didn’t appear to raise a single word of concern for the workforce when he had the chance.“Throughout this scandal, every window of opportunity to save jobs had been missed and hundreds of British workers are paying the price.”Mr Shapps has demanded the resignation of Mr Hebblethwaite for his “brazen and breathtaking” admission that he intentionally broke the law – and would do so again, in the same circumstances,He has also vowed to change the law to “undo” the mass sackings, saying the under-fire ferry firm had “exploited a loophole” that would now be closed off by legislation.“Next week, we’ll be returning to parliament with a package of measures to make sure that situation is undone,” he pledged on Thursday.However, a No 10 spokesman refused to guarantee that the overhaul would see P&O prosecuted – despite Boris Johnson making that promise in the Commons.Asked if the firm will end up in court, he replied: “All I can do is point to the changes that we will set out next week, which will ensure this can’t happen again.” More

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      Boris Johnson urges China’s president to help ensure ‘Putin fails’ in ‘candid’ call on Ukraine

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      Boris Johnson has urged China’s president to join world efforts to ensure “Putin fails”, in the first conversation between the two leaders about the Ukraine crisis.The prime minister spoke with Xi Jinping for 50 minutes, as part of Western efforts to heap pressure on Beijing to toughen up its stance on the month-long war Russia launched.China’s position has been described as neutral by some observers – but Vladimir Putin’s key ally has failed to criticise the war and is believed to have been asked, privately, to help Russia.In a terse readout, a No 10 spokesman said only that they had discussed “a range of issues of mutual interest”, including the situation in Ukraine.“It was a frank and candid conversation lasting almost an hour. They agreed to speak again soon,” the spokesman said.A government source told The Independent the call had been an attempt by Mr Johnson to “put pressure on the Putin regime to withdraw troops”.“Of course, he would have set out that we have called on all world leaders. in all countries. to do everything they can to ensure what happens in Ukraine can’t continue and that Putin fails in what he’s trying to do,” the source said.However, it is understood that the issue of possibly extending sanctions to China – if it agrees to help Russia’s war effort – was not discussed.The US has raised fears that Beijing will provide Moscow with economic and financial support and is also contemplating sending military supplies such as armed drones.Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK trade secretary, appeared to say London would follow Washington in imposing sanctions if that happened, although No 10 distanced itself from the comment.Suspicions were raised that China had advance warning of the invasion after it began one day after the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics – and after a visit by the Russian president.A joint statement from Putin and Mr Xi said the bonds between the two countries had “no limits” and there were “no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation”.However, when China abstained from voting on a UN security council resolution which would have condemned the invasion – rather than use its veto – the West saw that as a positive sign.China has expressed support for both Russia’s “security concerns” and Ukraine’s sovereignty – as it seeks to build trade ties with the invaded country.Joe Biden, when he spoke to Mr Xi last week, said he had pointed out that US and other foreign corporations were already pulling out of Russia because of President Putin’s “barbaric” behaviour.“I made no threats, but I made sure he understood the consequences of him helping Russia,” the US president told a news conference on Thursday in Brussels.“I think that China understands that its economic future is much more closely tied to the West than it is to Russia.” More

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      Priti Patel breached human rights with unlawful policy of seizing asylum seekers’ phones, court rules

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      The High Court has ruled home secretary Priti Patel’s secret policy of confiscating asylum seekers’ mobile phones as unlawful.The Home Office has had a secret blanket policy of seizing phones belonging to asylum seekers who had arrived in the UK via clandestine routes, such as in small boats. The phones’ data was then extracted.Three asylum seekers – known only as HM, KA, and MH – one of whom has been recognised as a potential victim of trafficking, filed a judicial review of Ms Patel’s policy at the High Court.All three had their phones seized between April and September 2020, without them being able to tell their families they had arrived in the UK or having enough time to note down important phone numbers.Officials had threatened them with criminal penalties unless they provided the codes to unlock their phones, lawyers for the claimaints said.The data stored in their phones was later extracted. Their lawyers claim that thousands of others arriving to the UK in small boats had their phones confiscated, and hundreds of others had their data cloned.The phones of the three claimaints were only returned months later after the legal action had started, the lawyers said.The asylum seekers were unable to contact their families to say that they were safe, and neither did they have time to note down their important numbers, they added.But the court has ruled that the policy was unlawful and breached human rights and data protection laws.Privacy International, a leading human rights NGO, intervened in the case. It said that Ms Patel had denied the existence of the phone policy but admitted to the confiscation of phones, and cloning of data still retained by the Home Office.It has also been revealed that Ms Patel has self-referred herself to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for breaching data protection law. But she decided not to inform the many hundreds of asylum seekers that were affected by the breach.The home secretary that immigration officials had the right – under section 48 of the Immigration Act 2016 – to search the arrivals by small boat, take their phones, and extract data from the devices.But the High Court ruled that the law could not be used to carry out personal searches and, as a result, the searches of the claimants and the subsequent seizures of their phones was unlawful for this reason too.The policy also infringed their right to family and private life under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), the court ruled.The Home Office’s demand for the phones’ unlocking codes under the threat of criminal penalties was also found to be unlawful and in breach of human rights.Clare Jennings of Gold Jennings – a solicitor firm that represented claimant HM – said: “Such systematic extraction of personal data from vulnerable asylum seekers, who were not suspects in any crime, was an astonishing and unparalleled assault on fundamental privacy rights. “Today’s judgment provided much needed clarification as to the extent of immigration officers powers of search and seizure and confirmed beyond doubt that the home secretary’s policy of seizing all mobile phones from small boat arrivals was unlawful.”Daniel Carey of Deighton Pierce Glynn – the solicitors that represented KH and MA – said: “All of this had real impacts on very vulnerable people, who lost touch with their families and couldn’t get their asylum documentation, while the phones languished on a shelf for many months, many which now cannot be returned. “I am pleased that today’s judgment vindicates our clients and all those affected. It is another example of how the Home Office’s hostile environment policy disregards basic human rights and dignity.”Lucie Audibert of Privacy International said: “It’s quite clear that the Home Office considered that asylum seekers arriving on UK shores did not have the same privacy rights as other people – it unashamedly granted itself unlawful powers to systematically seize and search their phones, even when they weren’t suspected of any crime. “This is in line with this government’s (and many others’) efforts to criminalise migration and rob migrants of their basic human rights. We welcome today’s judgment and hope the claimants will obtain due redress for these unacceptable violations of their rights.” More

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      Kosovo Serbs protest to get votes in Serbia's April election

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      Hundreds of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo protested Friday to pressure the government into allowing them to vote in neighboring Serbia’s April 3 general election.Demonstrators gathered in Mitrovica, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Pristina, with banners reading “We want our human rights” and “Kurti won’t drive us away from Kosovo,” and marched to a bridge that divides the city. Most of Kosovo’s ethnic Serb population lives north of Mitrovica, close to Serbia’s border.Hundreds of people also protested in Gracanica, a commune located 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Kosovo’s capital where ethnic Serbs residents are concentrated.Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said Kosovo and Serbia need to have a preliminary agreement on holding the election to permit the voting.In a letter to the European Union office in Pristina, Kurti wrote that “Serbia’s illegal structures are trying to hold an election in our territory as if our government did not exist,” the Kosovapress news agency reported. In previous Serbian elections, ethnic Serbs in Kosovo voted there under monitoring by international observers. That did not happen when Serbia held a referendum earlier this year.The United States, France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. expressed “concern at the risk of escalation or violence” Friday and urged demonstrators to protest peacefully. They also called on Kosovo and Serbia “to act with restraint and refrain from any rhetoric or action that could increase tensions.” On Wednesday, the U.S. and the four European countries – collectively known as the Quint – criticized Kosovo’s rejection of what they called their “constructive proposal” for allowing the Balkan nation’s ethnic Serb minority to vote in Serbia’s election. They did not say what the rejected proposal entailed.A bloody 1998-1999 bloody conflict between Serbia and Albanian separatists in Kosovo, then a Serbian province, left more than 12,000 people dead and about 1,600 still missing. NATO’s intervention in the form of a bombing campaign on Serbia ended the war. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move recognized by the United States and most EU nations. Serbia has refused to recognize Kosovo as separate nation after 11 years of EU-brokered negotiations. More

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      Downing Street calls for P&O Ferries chief executive to quit after ‘brazen’ comments

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      No 10 has backed calls for the chief executive of P&O Ferries to quit his post, but refused to guarantee the company would be prosecuted under planned changes to the law.It comes after Peter Hebblethwaite admitted the company broke employment law by failing to consult with the unions before the mass sacking of 800 workers over a Zoom call last week.In an extraordinary committee session in Parliament on Thursday, the chief executive also told MPs he would “make this decision again” when asked if he would change anything in hindsight.Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said the admission about breaking the law was “brazen and breathtaking, and showed incredible arrogance”, as he called on Mr Hebblethwaite to quit.“I cannot believe that he can stay in that role having admitted to deliberately go out and use a loophole — well, break the law, but also use a loophole,” the cabinet minister told Sky News.Mr Shapps insisted he would announce a “package of measures” in the Commons next week, “which will both close every possible loophole that exists and force them to U-turn on this”.Asked if the prime minister supported Mr Shapps’s call for the P&O chief executive to quit, a No 10 spokesperson told reporters on Friday: “Yes”.The spokesman, however, refused to guarantee that the planned law changes would see P&O prosecuted — despite Mr Johnson making that promise in the Commons.On Wednesday, the prime minister told MPs: “We will therefore be taking action. If the company is found guilty, it will face fines running into millions of pounds.“We will take them to court, we will defend the rights of British workers.”The spokesman said changes would be made to maritime law, to employment law and to ensure minimum wage legislation is complied with, with the details to be published next week.But he declined to confirm P&O will end up in court, saying: “All I can do is point to the changes that we will set out next week, which will ensure this can’t happen again.”After Mr Hebblethwaite’s appearance on Thursday, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Frances O’Grady, stressed: “Ministers can’t wash their hands of responsibility. Employment law in the UK is too weak.“Ministers must immediately take steps to prosecute the company and its directors, and to suspend DP World’s lucrative freeports and other public contracts until the workers are reinstated. “And they must bring forward the long-promised employment bill so other companies don’t follow P&O’s appalling example.”But despite calls from unions to designate P&O Ferries with “pariah status” and terminate its government shipping and freeport contracts until workers are reinstate, Mr Shapps added on Friday that he “can’t directly” revoke P&O’s licence, when asked why the company is still operating after breaking the law. More

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      Disabled pupils could have free school transport taken away as fuel costs spiral

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      Thousands of disabled pupils and those with special needs could have their school transport taken away because of the spiralling cost of fuel, council chiefs are warning.Coach and minibus companies and taxi firms are demanding higher fees to cover their higher petrol and diesel bills.In some cases, transport providers are demanding an extra 20 per cent when their contracts are up for renewal.But county councils, which coordinate the services, say the budgets of hard-pressed local authorities, which have already been set for the coming year, will not extend any further.Without extra funding, the councils may be forced to cut other services or cancel the transport, they say.The chancellor’s 5p cut in fuel duty is unlikely to make much difference because the Ukraine war, wider fears over energy supplies and inflation have all pushed up prices at the pumps.In a survey for the County Councils Network, almost two-thirds of councils said their expenditure on school transport for disabled and special needs pupils was “unsustainable”, and 34 per cent said it was “difficult”.Even before fuel prices started soaring, these costs increased from £175m in 2016 to £244m last year.At least 51,550 disabled and special needs pupils need free school transport – up from 41,185  in 2016-17, according to data from nearly 30 county authorities.The network said some transport providers were activating “break” clauses in their contracts, giving councils 28 days’ notice of handing back routes.“The local authority then has to retender for the route, but new bids are coming back at up to 20 per cent more because of the fuel crisis,” a spokesman said.“So those councils will either be left having to pay more – or seeing loads of young people not have access to school transport.”A report by the network also found that councils have had to cut back on eligibility for mainstream free school transport, with almost 20,000 fewer pupils qualifying than five years earlier.Many special educational needs and disabilities pupils require coach and minibuses or taxis – transport offered by the very companies that are worst hit by record fuel hikes, the organisation says.Keith Glazier, children’s services spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said: “Free school transport is a lifeline for many pupils, but local authorities have been placed in a difficult position owing fuel prices reaching record highs.“Transport providers are understandably concerned they are paying much more than a year ago, but it means councils either pay the higher rates they are requesting or potentially see thousands of pupils unable to access free school transport, which is a statutory responsibility for local authorities.“With our budgets set for the coming year, there is little wriggle room for local authorities, except to reduce other vital services.”The report calls for more government support.County authorities across England spent a total of £555.6m on free school transport last year, up from £472.6m in 2016-17. The increase is largely down to a 33 per cent rise in expenditure for disabled and special needs pupils, figures show.Over the past three years, the average cost of transport per pupil has risen by £206 to £6,099 a year, due to rising costs, such as fuel.All children under eight qualify for free transport if their school is more than two miles away, and over-eights qualify if their school is more than three miles away.The Independent has asked the government to respond. More

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      Boris Johnson says Ukraine ‘can certainly win’ war as Russian offensive stalls

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      Boris Johnson has said Ukraine could win the war against Russia after the advance of Vladimir Putin’s troops stalled in recent days.In an interview with BBC’s Newsnight programme aired on Thursday night, he said: “I think Ukraine can certainly win. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, I think that the situation for the Ukrainians is grim, miserable.”The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine has not gone the way Mr Putin expected, with Russian troops quickly becoming bogged down in the suburbs around Kyiv and in other parts of the country.A month on from the first attacks, Russia has failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city. Ukrainian troops have fought back fiercely, and Russia has failed to win full control of the skies, helped in large part by supplies of weapons from Nato countries. Western officials say Russian troops have been hampered by supply shortages, including food and fuel, and troops fighting in freezing temperatures still lack proper cold weather gear. More