UK Politics

Rishi Sunak has announced a 5p cut per litre to fuel duty until March 2023, saying it represents the “biggest cut to fuel duty rates ever”.After pressure to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis, the chancellor said the government would for the second time in 20 years cut fuel duty.“Not by one, not even by two, but by 5p per litre. The biggest cut to all fuel duty rates – ever,” he told MPs during the spring statement.The chancellor added: “While some have called for the cut to last until August, I have decided it will be in place until March next year – a full 12 months. “Together with the freeze, it’s a tax cut this year for hard-working families and businesses worth over £5 billion, and it will take effect from 6pm tonight.”Figures from data firm Experian Catalist show the average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts on Tuesday was 167.3p, while diesel was 179.7p. This is an increase of 18.0p per litre for petrol and 27.0p for diesel over the past month.The chancellor also told MPs that VAT would be reduced from five per cent to zero on materials such as solar panels and heat pumps, saying: “A family having a solar panel installed will see tax savings worth over £1,000. And savings on their energy bill of over £300 per year”.His announcements came after he said the Russian invasion of Ukraine – alongside UK government sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime – are not “cost-free for us at home” and present a “risk” to the recovery.He said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has recognised there is an “unusually high uncertainty around the outlook”, adding: “It is too early to know the full impact of the Ukraine war on the UK economy.“But their initial view, combined with high global inflation and continuing supply chain pressures, means the OBR now forecast growth this year of 3.8%.“The OBR then expect the economy to grow by 1.8% in 2023, and 2.1%, 1.8% and 1.7% in the following three years.” More

Dublin has issued a protest at the UK government’s insistence on imposing controls on non-Irish EU citizens crossing the border into Northern Ireland.Conservatives last night voted to reinstate for a US-style visa waiver requiring EU citizens who are not Irish to apply online for pre-travel clearance –known as Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) –before entering the UK at the Irish border.Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney denounced the decision as “regrettable” and said that Dublin’s concerns over disruption to free movement on the island of Ireland had been “ignored” by London.But Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis insisted that it would not result in the imposition of controls on the border with the Republic.And he said the UK’s commitment to the common travel area permitting free movement between the two countries remains “absolute”.The row is the latest spat between London and Dublin over the fallout from Brexit, and comes against the backdrop of continuing divisions over Boris Johnson’s Northern Ireland Protocol which has disrupted trade on the island.MPs voted by a majority of 298 to 216 on Tuesday to overturn an amendment introduced in the House of Lords, which would have exempted Northern Ireland from the ETA legislation.The human rights group the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) condemned the move, which it said was “unworkable and risks a hard border for many non-British and non-Irish citizens in Border communities who have been able to freely cross the Border to date”.And Mr Coveney said: “This decision is regrettable and contrary to the approach that UK and Irish governments have supported for many years to protect free movement on the island of Ireland for everyone.“Our concern on this has been communicated clearly but has been ignored.”Mr Lewis responded in a tweet: “There will be no controls on the border. UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel freely.“This new ETA requirement is about protecting the Common Travel Area from abuse. Our commitment to the Common Travel Area is absolute, as seen throughout the pandemic.” More

P&O was able to legally sack 800 staff without informing the government because of a law change brought in by Chris Grayling, it has emerged.The gaffe-prone former transport secretary quietly amended legislation meant to protect workers to create an exemption where there are mass redundancies on ships registered overseas.As a result, the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is “incorrect” to threaten the ferry company with an unlimited fine if it breached notification rules, a leading maritime lawyer says.Labour seized on the revelation as proof that the P&O workers are paying the price for the government giving “the green light to rogue employers to act with impunity”.“This scandal is the consequence of a decade in which the Tories have taken an axe to workers’ rights,” said Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary. “Ministers must act now and stand up for these loyal British workers.”The 2018 law change came to light as P&O’s chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, insisted the firm had acted legally in a letter to Mr Kwarteng.“The very clear statutory obligation in the particular circumstances that applied was for each company to notify the competent authority of the state where the vessel is registered,” he wrote.“All relevant vessels are registered outside the UK. Notification was made to the relevant authorities on March 17.”Mr Kwarteng had demanded answers by a deadline of 5pm on Tuesday, telling P&O that “clear rules” include “notifying, in advance … the Secretary of State”.“Failure to meet the notification obligation is a criminal offence and can lead to an unlimited fine,” he wrote, last Friday.But Kevin Barnett, head of employment at marine law specialists Lester Aldridge LLP, told Sky News that Mr Grayling’s amendment meant that was wrong.“The amendment states the notification must be made to the competent authority of the state where the ship is registered, instead of the secretary of state,” he said.The company – owned by the Dubai-based shipping empire DP World – sparked fury by sacking the 786 staff by video-link and without notice last Thursday.It replaced them immediately with agency workers – apparently being paid just £1.80 and hour – and is seeking to avoid fines and sanctions.P&O has also defended its move by arguing it is now paying the largest-ever compensation package in the maritime sector, more than £36m.It said workers will receive 13 weeks’ salary in lieu of notice and a further 13 weeks’ salary in the absence of a consultation period. More

A majority of voters still believe that Boris Johnson should resign if fined by police over lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street, according to a new poll.Johnson loyalist Jacob Rees-Mogg last week said that war in Ukraine had exposed the Partygate row as trivial “fluff” which should now be dismissed as a distraction.But almost two-thirds of voters (64 per cent) quizzed for The Independent by pollsters Savanta ComRes said the prime minister should go if issued with a fixed penalty notice by the Metropolitan Police – including 45 per cent who said he should quit whether or not he got a fine. Just 23 per cent said he should stay PM regardless of the outcome of the inquiry.Some 40 per cent of those who voted Conservative in 2019 said Mr Johnson should resign if fined, compared to 47 per cent who said he should stay on.The poll showed signs of an improvement in the standing of Mr Johnson and the Conservative Party in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.Those rating Johnson’s performance as prime minister as “good” rose seven points to 38 per cent, from 31 per cent in a similar poll conducted in February. Numbers saying he was doing a bad job fell from 63 to 57 per cent over the same period.Meanwhile, Conservatives narrowed Labour’s lead in general election voting intentions by three points over the month.Sir Keir Starmer’s party led the field with 39 per cent in the poll conducted last weekend (19-20 March), down one point since the previous poll on 19-20 February.Labour were four points ahead of Tories on 35 per cent, up two points over the month.Starmer’s personal ratings continued to improve, with 43 per cent saying he was doing a good job as leader of the opposition, compared to 38 per cent in February.The proportion saying the Labour leader was doing badly fell from 45 to 40 per cent over the same period, meaning that his overall rating is now in positive territory.On the day he unveils his spring statement mini-budget, chancellor Rishi Sunak saw his personal ratings improve, with 48 per cent saying he is doing a good job and 36 per cent a bad one, compared to a 46-39 split in February.Scotland Yard announced on Monday that officers in the Operation Hillman inquiry are now interviewing witnesses to the string of parties in No 10 and other Whitehall offices in 2020-21, after collecting more than 100 questionnaires from ministers and officials including Mr Johnson. The prime minister has not yet been interviewed.Speaking at last week’s Conservative conference in Blackpool, Mr Rees-Mogg said that the Ukraine war had exposed Partygate as “the disproportionate fluff of politics that it was, rather than something of fundamental seriousness about the safety of the world and about the established global order”.But he was slapped down by party chair Oliver Dowden, who said the allegations “should be taken seriously” and not dismissed.At least two of the Tory MPs who submitted letters declaring no confidence in the prime minister have withdrawn them, saying that it would be wrong to change leader during wartime.- Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,203 UK adults on 19-20 March. More

The UK government consistently ignored warnings that Vladimir Putin could wage war in favour of welcoming Russian money into London, Britain’s former defence attache to Moscow has claimed.Retired air commodore Carl Scott said he and others warned of the “inevitability of conflict in detail, regularly” during his period in Russia between 2011 to 2016.The former defence official said Putin’s “long, dark march to war was obvious”, having pointed out many pronouncements from the Kremlin about conflict ahead.In scathing remarks, Mr Scott said the warnings were “subjugated” to the City of London – and making sure financial capital remained a “safe haven for corrupt wealth”.In a letter to the Financial Times, he said the Russian president’s aims were “never concealed”, having instigated “colossal” militarisation, control over the media and clampdowns on dissent.The former attache stated: “The list is remorseless, the consequences could not be ignored. But they were … We reported the inevitability of conflict in detail, regularly and with the despair of Cassandra.”Mr Scott also said Brexit “emboldened” Putin’s regime. “It was not until I returned to the UK on the eve of our withdrawal from the EU, a manoeuvre which greatly emboldened those in Moscow, that I understood how our society had changed in the years I was serving overseas.”The retired defence official added: “All was subjugated to the City, all served the interests of our lucrative status as a safe haven for corrupt, and corrupting, wealth. The values we were demanding of other nations had long since faded from our own actions.“I despair at the decisions Putin has taken, but even more at the prospect of finding credible leadership at home in the UK among those who have compromised so long with his regime and the wealth it offered.”Boris Johnson’s government has joined allies in imposing punishing economic sanctions on Russian banks and other crucial parts of the economy. But MPs have urged ministers to go further on individual sanctions aimed at targeting Putin’s cronies.Doubts have been raised about the effectiveness of sanctions after a billionaire hit by an asset freeze earlier this month said he had already handed ownership of UK mansions over to trusts.A spokesperson for Alisher Usmanov told the BBC and The Guardian that most of the businessman’s British properties and his yacht were “transferred into irrevocable trusts”.Rachel Davies, Transparency International’s head of advocacy, recently told The Independent that oligarchs were using shell companies registered in Britain’s crown dependencies and overseas territories to hide their wealth in London.MPs and campaigners are worried that the Economic Crime Bill rushed through parliament last week could still allow some wealthy property owners using overseas companies to hide behind trusts.It comes as MPs warned that sanctions against Russia will come at a cost to the UK and the poorest households will be hit hardest.A report by the Treasury select committee revealed the UK is not protected against the economic impact of unprecedented sanctions on Russian oil and gas and that soaring prices will intensify the cost-of-living crisis.The cross-party group of MPs said the impact on the UK is a “cost worth bearing” to help Ukraine in fighting for its freedom and to damage Russia’s ability to fund the war. More

Some foodbank users are declining potatoes and root vegetables because they cannot afford the energy to boil them, the managing director of the Iceland supermarket chain has claimed.The comments from Richard Walker come amid increasing concern over the imminent hike to the energy price cap on 1 April by more than 50 per cent — from £1,277 to £1,971.The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is facing intense pressure ahead of the spring statement to increase government support, after an already announced £350 package of measures was labelled inadequate.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme — just hours before the chancellor addresses MPs — Mr Walker said the government would be right to focus on the consumer on Wednesday.“I think the cost-of-living crisis is the single most important domestic issue that we’re facing as a country and it is incredibly concerning,” he insisted.“You know, we’re hearing about some food bank users declining potatoes and root veg because they can’t afford the energy to boil them. Rightly focus on the consumer”.He later added on Talk Radio: “The situation is that severe. Phrases like a choice between heating and eating sound overly dramatic, but it is a reality when you’ve got no money to spare in the first place”.But he added that business was “not an endless sponge that can soak it all up”, suggesting the energy price cap for individuals could be extended to businesses, potentially paid for by a windfall tax.Mr Walker claimed Iceland was “doing everything we can” to support customers at its 1,000 stores in the “poorest communities around the UK” as food prices also rise.“But of course the pressure is relentless and it’s coming at us from all angles at the moment,” he stressed, saying that prices had increased in the supply chain, with shortages of workers and higher transportation costs to blame.He added: “And then finally we have operational cost pressures as well in the running of our shops. National minimum wage will increase our cost base by 20 million quid.“We have green taxation of £16 million next year, and we have, of course, electricity bills which are going to rise many times over, and that will disproportionately affect bricks and mortar retailers, such as ourselves.”His remarks also come as a poll for The Independent shows voters overwhelmingly support a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies to support families with unprecedented hikes in energy bills.The Savanta ComRes survey also found majority support – including among Conservative voters – for Mr Sunak to scrap next month’s 1.25 percentage point rise in national insurance contributions (NICs), cut fuel duty, and introduce a £10-an-hour minimum wage. More