UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailConservative MP Lee Anderson has been accused of racism and Islamophobia after claiming that “Islamists have control” of London’s mayor Sadiq Khan. Speaking on GB News, the Tory MP for Ashfield said that Mr Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates”. In a rant on Friday evening, he said: “I don’t actually believe that these Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London. Again, this stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.“If you let Labour in through the back door, expect more of this and expect our cities to be taken over by these lunatics.”Anderson accused Sadiq Khan of giving ‘our capital city away to his mates’ Mr Khan, who has been in his position since May 2016, is London’s first Muslim mayor. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said Mr Anderson’s comments were “divisive and dangerous”.Mr Streeting said on X: “The Conservatives have gone beyond the dogwhistle playbook of previous mayoral elections to outright racism and Islamophobia. Enough is enough. Is this really what your Party stands for @RishiSunak @RicHolden?”Mr Anderson is even facing criticism from his own party, with Sajid Javid tweeting: “A ridiculous thing to say” in response to a clip of the programme. And former Tory MP and Theresa May’s former chief of staff Gavin Barwell added: “A despicable slur on @SadiqKhan and Londoners. “In his first speech as PM, @RishiSunak said he would “unite our country”. If he allows the likes of Anderson to spread hate and division like this, those words will be revealed as a sham.” The Liberal Democrat’s mayoral candidate Rob Backie called for him to lose the Tory whip, and accused Mr Anderson of “spreading dangerous conspiracy theories”. Tan Dhesi, the shadow exports minister, said: “Given the recent spike in Islamophobia and antisemitism, and the febrile atmosphere in our country, it’s deplorable that an elected MP can openly make such incendiary and divisive statements; especially against Sadiq Khan, who has done so much to foster community cohesion and tackle hate crime.”Mr Anderson was deputy chair of the Conservative party until January, when he resigned over the vote on the government’s Rwanda deportation policy.In response to his comments, a Tory source said: “Lee was simply making the point that the mayor, in his capacity as PCC [police crime commissioner] for London, has abjectly failed to get a grip on the appalling examples of extremism we have seen in London recently.”Also adding to the criticism, Labour’s shadow women and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds said: “Lee Anderson’s comments are unambiguously racist and Islamophobic. “Rishi Sunak needs to immediately remove the whip. If he is too weak, then people will take their own view of the modern Conservative Party.”Labour Brent Central MP Dawn Butler added: “This divisive rubbish is straight from the right wing racist rule book. Inciting racial hatred is a criminal offence. @RishiSunak there’s been an 335% increase in Islamaphobia why is your party encouraging hate & lies? Islamophobia encouraged by Tories.”A London Labour source told The Independent: “This sort of vile Islamophobia is exactly how the Tories campaigned against Sadiq Khan in 2016. Surely they will not tolerate it this time round?”In the same GB News appearance with political reporter Chris Hope, Mr Anderson engaged in a heated debate over police intervention on pro-Palestinian protesters.“Ultimately we run the country, and if the police aren’t doing their job – and they’re not doing their job … we need to step in and take over,” he said. Mr Anderson, Mr Khan and the Conservative Party have been contacted for comment. More

SNP and Conservative MPs walk out of the Commons over the speaker’s handling of the Gaza voteSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has said it is “unacceptable” for protesters to demonstrate outside MPs’ homes as Downing Street said protest must not “turn into abuse”. Speaking during a tour of North Wales on Friday, the prime minister said: “It’s simply unacceptable for intimidation or aggressive behaviour to threaten our parliamentary democracy and our freedom of expression.”He added that he is giving police more power to clamp down on “intimidation and aggressive behaviour”. A No 10 spokesperson said: “We will continue to keep MPs’ security under review to ensure that they have the protections that they need. We’re also both clear that we won’t allow democracy to be silenced or stifled.“And intimidation against MPs is an attack on democracy and we won’t allow that to win.”James Cleverly also vowed to be vigilant against threats and pressure on MPs after Sir Lindsay Hoyle argued his actions in the Gaza ceasefire vote were motivated by concern about security. More than 70 Conservative and SNP MPs signed a no-confidence motion in Sir Lindsay in the aftermath. Show latest update 1708728878We’re pausing our live coverage of the fallout from the Commons chaos this week, but keep checking independent.co.uk for the latest updates. Sam Rkaina23 February 2024 22:541708714815Is the integrity of parliament being destroyed by the Commons speaker – and will he have to go?Lindsay Hoyle must know that he cannot afford to alienate the party that is likely to form a government by the end of the year, writes John Rentoul. That may be disgraceful – but it is politics:Lindsay Hoyle bungled it, as he admitted in a near-tearful statement from the speaker’s chair last night. “It ended up in the wrong place,” he said.He can say that again. He changed the rules yesterday to allow a vote on Labour’s “immediate ceasefire with conditions” amendment, which meant Keir Starmer avoided a rebellion by his more pro-Palestinian MPs.The speaker might have got away with it. He argued that he was trying to allow each of the three main parties a chance to vote on their own policy, which would have been perfectly reasonable had it not been for two things.Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 19:001708713015Police ‘need powers to disperse threatening protests outside Parliament’Police should have the powers to “disperse” protests around Parliament, MPs’ offices and council chambers that they deem to be threatening, the Government’s political violence tsar has said.Baron Walney, the UK Government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, said the “aggressive intimidation of MPs” by “mobs” was being “mistaken” for an “expression of democracy”.The comments by Lord Walney come as the issue of MP safety has once again reared its head this week following a chaotic debate on the Israel-Hamas war.Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 18:301708711215Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 18:001708709415Who is Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker embroiled in the Gaza ceasefire vote row?Hoyle claims he made his decision to allow the “widest possible range of options” to be considered. In an unlikely union, many SNP and Conservative MPs have called for his resignation, lodging accusations of bias towards his former party.Here’s everything you need to know about the Commons speaker, his life and political career:Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 17:301708707615‘A race to the bottom for politics’: British Muslim and Palestinian groups criticise Commons chaosThe controversy was sparked when Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle broke convention to allow MPs to vote on a Labour amendment to the SNP’s Gaza ceasefire motion, sparking anger which has resulted in more than 70 MPs voting a no-confidence motion against him.As the uproar in Westminster continues, organisations pushing for an immediate ceasefire have accused parliament of losing sight of the war through political games, as Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry estimates more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed during the conflict.Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 17:001708706499More than 70 MPs sign no confidence motion in SpeakerMore than 70 MPs have now signed a motion expressing no confidence in the Speaker after angry scenes in the Commons on Wednesday.Senior Conservatives and Scottish National Party MPs have put their names to the “early day motion” proposed by senior Tory William Wragg in a move intended to pressure the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to step down.On Friday afternoon, the total number of signatures stood at 71, including Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, former Tory deputy chairmen Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and his deputy Mhairi Black.More than half of the SNP’s Westminster contingent have signed the motion, reflecting anger in the party at the Speaker’s handling of its opposition day motion on Wednesday, while 40 Conservatives and one Independent, former Tory Rob Roberts, have joined them.Environmental Audit Committee chairman Philip Dunne appeared to have signed the motion but then withdrew his signature shortly afterwards.The total means that more than 10% of the Commons has backed the call for Sir Lindsay to step down, but the momentum behind Mr Wragg’s motion appears to have slowed with only four names being added to the list on Friday.Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 16:411708704077Cleverly backs Hoyle as almost 70 MPs sign call for Speaker to quitHome Secretary James Cleverly gave his personal backing to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle despite criticism of his handling of a Gaza ceasefire debate.The Speaker gained the support of the senior Cabinet minister even as he faced continued pressure to step down.Nearly 70 MPs, more than a tenth of the Commons, have signed a motion proposed by senior Conservative William Wragg expressing no confidence in him after Wednesday’s SNP Opposition Day vote descended into chaos.Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 16:011708702317Welsh Conservative leader pledges to stop 20mph speed limits The Welsh Conservative leader has pledged to scrap 20mph default speed limits if they got into power. Speaking at the Welsh Conservative Conference in Llandudno, Andrew RT Davies said: “We’ll scrap Labour and Plaid’s barmy 20mph speed limits – to get Wales moving and stop the Welsh economy suffering a £9 billion hit.”He added: “Labour wants to make Wales the place where common sense goes to die. And that is most clear when we look at Labour and Plaid’s barmy 20mph speed limits.“This idea, dreamed up by lycra-clad lobbyists, has now become law in Wales. It’s common sense that outside schools and hospitals – 20mph should be the speed limit.“But Labour and Plaid’s policy is extreme.“They’ve admitted it’ll hit the Welsh economy by up to £9 billion. They’ve imposed it on Wales regardless.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 15:311708700130No 10 brands threats towards MPs an ‘attack on democracy’ Downing Street declined to say whether Rishi Sunak supports protest exclusion zones around MPs’ offices. A No 10 spokeswoman told reporters on Friday: “I’m just not going to get into specifics around protective security and arrangements…“We will continue to keep MPs’ security under review to ensure that they have the protections that they need. We’re also both clear that we won’t allow democracy to be silenced or stifled.“And intimidation against MPs is an attack on democracy and we won’t allow that to win.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain23 February 2024 14:55 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHousehold energy bills are set to fall to their lowest point in two years, with Ofgem announcing this week it will lower its price cap by 12.3 per cent.The regulator’s new price cap, which will come into effect in April, will see the average household gas and electricity bill fall from the current £1,928 in England, Scotland and Wales to £1,690 – a drop of around £20 a month, or £238 a year.Ofgem said the drop would see energy prices reach their lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which caused a spike in an already turbulent wholesale energy market, driving up costs for suppliers and customers.The typical household’s energy bill is forecast to fall from £1,928 per year to £1,690 from AprilWhile this is considerably lower than the record high of £4,059 for an average bill in early 2023, prices still remain well above the average of £993 which households were paying two years prior.So with bills still nearly double what they were three years ago, and turbulence in Ukraine and the Middle East liable to keep wholesale prices high, what are the major parties proposing to help households with the cost of energy?The ConservativesThe government has sought to shield households from some of the most severe price rises with its Energy Bills Support scheme, which provided a £400 discount, but that came to an end last June.To help fund this, ministers had implemented a windfall tax on the profits of fossil fuel companies, after facing mounting pressure to do so. Ministers said last June the tax had raised more than £2.8bn, and saved a typical household nearly £1,500 on energy bills.But experts warn that the government’s tax relief loophole for new North Sea projects has made it cheaper for companies to extract harmful fossil fuels.The government is offering fossil fuel giants tax relief on new North Sea projects In October, the government’s Energy Act also received royal assent, which the government says incentivises the energy industry to invest in low-carbon heat pumps, and includes powers to deliver a planned smart meter rollout by 2028, which ministers claim could save households £5.6bn.The new legislation also expands Ofgem’s remit, allowing the regulator to set rules on excessive energy pricing and adds a specific mandate for it to support the government meet its legal obligation to get to net zero by 2050.But it was also reported by Politico this week that the government is considering plans to raise household energy bills to help pay for a new £20bn nuclear energy plant in Suffolk, Sizewell C.While energy policy has been a key plank of Labour’s offering in recent years, Sir Keir Starmer has drastically scaled down his party’s plans by ditching a policy of spending £28bn a year on environmental projects.The party’s plans to cut energy bills by giving 19 million people warmer homes in a decade could now take up to 14 years to achieve, Sir Keir said earlier this month – with Labour now promising to insulate only 5 million properties by 2030. Sir Keir Starmer’s party claims its plans will create 500,000 jobs The party is now set to spend £23.7bn over the course of the next five-year parliament, on top of the £10bn a year it says the government has already committed to.Labour has also pledged to enforce a “proper” windfall tax on energy companies, matching the rate imposed by Norway, which it claims would raise £10.8bn over five years, earmarked for green investment.Sir Keir has previously pledged to create a new publicly owned body called Great British Energy, which would invest in clean energy, including “by making the UK a world leader in floating offshore wind”.Labour claims its plans would take hundreds of pounds off annual household energy bills, and would “rebuild Britain’s industrial strength by creating half a million new jobs. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s hopes of enticing voters with a tax giveaway have been dealt a major blow as new polling by the Fairness Foundation revealed that Britons are not supportive of tax cuts if they mean cuts to public spending. In the survey, 64 per cent of voters support keeping taxes as they are or increasing them, while just 16 per cent say they want tax cuts if it means cutting public services.The poll comes just as chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepares the ground for the government’s spring Budget.Even among Conservatives, the proportion of voters who back tax cuts, 17 per cent, is vastly outweighed by those who want to see public spending maintained (50 per cent) or even increased (23 per cent).The prime minister is under pressure from Tory colleagues to slash taxes Over the past few weeks, speculation has been rampant regarding the chancellor’s plans, with suggestions that Mr Hunt may drastically reduce public spending by billions of pounds to facilitate pre-election tax cuts in next month’s Budget. This proposed action has been met with a stern warning from the International Monetary Fund, which deemed the planned spending cuts as unrealistic following a downgrade in its growth forecasts.Adding to the chancellor’s challenges is the sobering revelation that Britain entered a technical recession last week after the economy contracted for the fourth quarter in a row. Regardless, Mr Hunt and Mr Sunak find themselves under mounting pressure from Tory backbenchers to commit to tax cuts in a bid to reverse their electoral fortunes, as they currently lag behind Labour in the polls.The Fairness Foundation poll also showed that there is public appetite for tax reform, as just over half of those polled also support a high-earners minimum tax rate, which would bring in at least a 35 per cent tax rate for anyone earning over £100,000.These proposals come as it was revealed that the prime minister paid the same tax rate as a teacher on his total income last year due to lower rates of tax on income earned from wealth.Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has signalled that tax cuts should be expected in the Spring statement Two in three people also think income from wealth should be taxed at the same rate or a higher rate than income from work, while twice as many people support proposals to reform inheritance tax reliefs as oppose them, showing there is public support for ending unfair exemptions.Fifty-four per cent of Conservative voters support proposals to invest more public money in HMRC compliance, with only 17 per cent opposed.Will Snell, chief executive of the Fairness Foundation, said: “These findings make it very clear that the British public want to see well-funded schools and hospitals, not the unpopular and harmful tax cuts that the government is considering.“With NHS waiting times at astronomical highs, it’s no surprise that people don’t want even more austerity-era slashes to the services they rely on daily, while wealthy individuals like Rishi Sunak pay tax at the same rates as a teacher.“This polling shows that British people support making tax fairer. Even Conservative voters believe in a high-earners minimum tax rate that would level the playing field and see everyone earning over £100,000 annually pay a higher-than-average rate of tax, no matter how they make their money.”The polling company Opinium questioned 2,134 adults. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSuburban women aged over 60 who voted for the Conservative Party in 2019 will be decisive for Rishi Sunak at the next general election, according to a poll.Undecided older-than-average females were part of the coalition of voters that gave Boris Johnson a majority in 2019, but that has now fragmented, leaving the Conservatives struggling to improve their support in the country, polling published on Friday by the think tank More In Common suggests. While several voting groups appear to have switched directly from the Conservatives to Labour, others have opted for Reform UK.But a larger proportion currently say they do not know how they will vote. Of this group, which makes up around 6 per cent of voters, most are female, older than average and likely to live in towns or suburbs, said Luke Tryl, More In Common’s UK director.Mr Tryl said: “Whilst winning back this group won’t be enough to keep the Conservatives in power… they will determine the size of any likely Labour victory, from a hung parliament to a landslide.”More In Common’s analysis, based on polling of more than 3,000 British adults in the last week of January, also suggests that the next election will be based on policy rather than personality, with neither of the two main party leaders proving a draw for voters.Older female voters are the key for Sunak, says think tank Mr Tryl said: “As this in-depth analysis suggests, the parties’ fortunes are likely to be shaped by a series of factors that sit underneath headline voting intention.“That includes the dominance of the cost of living, the rising salience of crime, what the unusually large number of undecided female voters who voted Tory in 2019, ultimately decide to do and to what extent third-party voters for the Greens, Liberal Democrats or Reform UK decide to vote tactically.”The cost of living remains a key concern, listed as the number one issue by every voter group despite the fall in inflation over the past year, while concerns about crime and the NHS were particularly prevalent with swing voters.Mr Tryl also warned that the Conservatives were unlikely to win back swing voters with a platform of tax cuts and “culture war issues”.He said those who had switched to supporting Labour were more likely to want investment in public services rather than tax cuts, while subjects such as gender identity and leaving the European Convention on Human Rights were of only “minority appeal”.The PM should concentrate on policy rather than personalities, says study One possible tax cut that did prove popular, however, was a reduction in council tax, with 43 per cent of undecided former Conservative voters supporting a reduction in the levy, compared to 29 per cent saying the same about income tax.Mr Tryl also suggested it was unlikely that the Conservatives would be able to peel large numbers of supporters away from Reform UK, with only a quarter saying they would consider backing the government if Reform stood down and many “anti-system” voters saying they would either stay at home or cast another protest vote if Richard Tice’s party were not an option.But the analysis was not universally positive for Labour, either, with Mr Tryl noting that the party’s pledge to invest £28bn a year in green projects had been its second most popular proposal behind scrapping tax breaks for non-doms.He said: “Labour risks reinforcing the charge they are more of the same by having ditched one of their most popular policies with their likely voters.”Polling suggested that while a quarter of those switching from the Conservatives to Labour said they had no hesitation about voting for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, some 20 per cent said they were still concerned Labour would be no better at handling the cost of living crisis.Mr Tryl also warned that the main “glue” holding the coalition of potential Labour voters together was a desire to get the Conservatives out of office, which could cause problems for any future Labour government.He said: “Given the breadth of the Labour coalition, I struggle to see the glue that keeps them together [holding] when things get hard in government.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNearly 18 months ago, Liz Truss was the UK Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, with the authority to direct the actions of Her Majesty’s Government and even to unleash the United Kingdom’s store of nuclear-tipped Trident missiles.But on Thursday, standing before a half-empty ballroom at a Washington DC-area hotel and convention centre, she cut a far less impressive figure.Ms Truss is appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual right-wing confab once home to conservative and libertarian stalwarts such as Ronald Reagan and Mitt Romney but which, in recent years, has morphed into a Trumpian pep rally.To that end, she made her CPAC debut at a hastily-arranged “international summit” alongside Nigel Farage, the ex-UKIP MEP and former Brexit Party leader who has spent more and more of his time since Brexit focused on boosting Donald Trump’s effort to return to the White House.Mr Farage has long been a darling of the American far-right and a CPAC regular. But Ms Truss’ appearance at the gathering appears part of a new offensive meant to give her a base of support in the US and new allies in the populist, antidemocratic milieu inhabited by Mr Trump, Mr Farage, and other authoritarian-friendly gadflies such as ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon.To that end, she peppered her remarks on Wednesday — and a second speech in the main CPAC ballroom on Thursday — with attacks on unelected civil servants and non-governmental agencies who she blamed for her time in Number 10 coming to a disastrous end after just 49 days. (She was infamously outlasted by a lettuce.)She told attendees that the “most almighty backlash” she faced after the catastrophic reaction to her 2022 mini-budget – which sent the pound into a nose dive and sparked a crash in the markets – came both from the “usual suspects” in both media and the corporate world, as well as government, the Office of Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England.Ms Truss also levelled partisan attacks on the sitting American president, accusing Mr Biden of being “asleep at the wheel” and “projecting weakness” from the White House, while also accusing him of playing a part in her ouster and having “intervened to have a go at my policies”.“Can you imagine being attacked on your economic policies by the inventor of Bidenomics? Talk about offensive,” she said.Her comments about Mr Bide, which parroted the right-wing talking points of the string of MAGA speakers at the event, drew some applause – while her diatribes about the British civil service fell flat.Whether Ms Truss’ attempts to remake herself as a right-wing celebrity will succeed is anyone’s guess.When The Independent sought to survey CPAC attendees on their reactions to her remarks, Americans appeared negative – or worse, indifferent – towards the former PM.One MAGA hat-wearing attendee — who declined to give his name — called her a “secret globalist” and “bad news,” citing her prior opposition to Brexit.“She was against it and she flipped,” he said, before walking quickly away.Another Mr Trump fan wearing a student ticket to the conference and the obligatory red hat told The Independent Ms Truss was “a loser” and said he wasn’t sure why she was there.But Jamile Davies, an international attendee who had travelled all the way from Wales, thought the former prime minister had made a good impression on the American crowd.“I do believe that she has all the right words and the good intentions. And she was not given the opportunity to act on them or … much support from the Conservative Party,” she said, adding that Ms Truss most likely came to the US because “the British public’s just fed up of good words and very little actions”.Ms Truss’ attacks on the president even drew some praise from the conference’s lead organiser, American Conservative Union chair Matt Schlapp.Mr Schlapp told The Independent he saw nothing untoward in the former prime minister’s behaviour, calling it “standard procedure” when pressed on whether he’d object to attacks on a Republican president by Sir Keir Starmer or another high-profile Labour MP. He also implied the criticism was justified because President Biden had not had an in-person meeting with Ms Truss during her short time in Number 10.“A lot of these politicians, they come here and they get featured on places like CNN, when they’re negative, so no, I’m not clutching my pearls over the fact that we have a former Prime Minister of Great Britain who comes to CPAC, shows these people great respect, and yes, has criticisms of the current president United States, who by the way she worked with, and I don’t think ever had a meeting with her,” he said. “So if she has some criticisms of Joe Biden, I think it’s warranted — I’m okay with it”. More