UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSilicon Valley tech giants’ actions could “severely disable” UK spooks from preventing harm caused by online paedophiles and fraudsters, Suella Braverman has suggested.The Conservative former home secretary named Facebook owner Meta, and Apple, and their use of technologies such as end-to-end encryption as a threat to attempts to tackle digital crimes.She claimed the choice to back these technologies without “safeguards” could “enable and indeed facilitate some of the worst atrocities that our brave men and women in law enforcement agencies deal with every day”, as MPs began considering changes to investigatory powers laws.The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill includes measures to make it easier for agencies to examine and retain bulk datasets, such as publicly available online telephone records, and would allow intelligence agencies to use internet connection records to aid detection of their targets.We know that the terrorists, the serious organised criminals, and fraudsters, and the online paedophiles, all take advantage of the dark web and encrypted spacesSuella BravermanAs the Commons started scrutinising the changes, Ms Braverman said: “We know that the terrorists, the serious organised criminals, and fraudsters, and the online paedophiles, all take advantage of the dark web and encrypted spaces to plan their terror, to carry out their fraudulent activity, and to cause devastating harm to some innocent people such as children in the field of online paedophilia.”In a question to Home Secretary James Cleverly, she asked: “Does he share my concern and indeed frustration with certain companies like Meta and Apple?“The former that has chosen to roll out end-to-end encryption without safeguards, the latter which has rolled out advanced data protection, which will allow these bad actors to go dark, which will severely disable agencies and law enforcement from identifying them and taking action, and which will enable and indeed facilitate some of the worst atrocities that our brave men and women in law enforcement agencies deal with every day?”Mr Cleverly replied that the Government took harm done to children “incredibly seriously”, and valued the “important role” that investigatory powers have.He added: “We will continue to work with technology companies, both those well established at the moment, and those of the future, to ensure that we maintain the balance between privacy and security as we have always done, but ensure that these technology platforms do not provide a hiding place for terrorists or serious criminals and those people taking part in child sexual exploitation.”Labour former minister Kevan Jones urged the Government to ensure that there was “judicial oversight” of new powers to snoop on bulk datasets.Mr Jones, a member of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, added: “Isn’t it the fact that if we are going to give these powers to the security services – which I approve of – that to ensure that we can say to the public that these are proportionate and also that there is an independent process in ensuring that these can’t be abused, surely judicial oversight throughout this should be an important thing?”Mr Cleverly insisted there was oversight, including through the Intelligence and Security Committee.When the Bill was considered by the House of Lords, ministers agreed to tighten new rules on the interception of MPs’ communications.But SNP MP Joanna Cherry suggested it could still “open the door even further than its parent Bill on the surveillance of trade unions”.The Edinburgh South West MP asked: “I wonder whether he will agree with me that there should be no place for the surveillance of trade unions in a democracy, and if he agrees with that, will he consider amendment to the Bill to make sure it doesn’t happen?”Security minister Tom Tugendhat addressed concerns about trade unions, telling the Commons that rules around MPs’ communications had only been placed in the Bill because of the “particular” nature of their roles.Mr Tugendhat added: “That doesn’t mean that any attitude against any other individual should be used cavalierly. It is not a question of the role or the post that a person holds, but their rights as a British citizen, and those rights as a British citizen should be absolutely guarded from intrusion or aggression from the state without exceptionally good reason.”Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said her party would support the Bill and would “work with the Government to get the details of it right”.Apple and Meta were contacted for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s appearance on GB News has been put under investigation by the broadcast watchdog after receiving hundreds of complaints. Ofcom said the so-called People’s Forum garnered around 500 complaints and it was investigating the show under its impartiality rules. The rules state that broadcasters must present news shows with due accuracy and impartiality. Ofcom pointed to provisions in the broadcasting code requiring outlets to ensure an “appropriately wide range of significant views must be included and given due weight in such programmes”. Rishi Sunak during GB News’s People’s Forum earlier this month The show, People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, was broadcast on GB News last Monday and saw Mr Sunak quizzed over the NHS, his Rwanda asylum plan and why right-wing voters should back the Tories. Facing a cross-section of voters in County Durham, one audience member pressed him on why traditional Tory voters should back his party over the Nigel Farage-founded Reform UK.The 60-minute question and answer session took a similar format to the PM Connect events Mr Sunak has held around the country.The SNP’s John Nicolson, a member of parliament’s culture committee, said he was “glad” to see Ofcom investigating the event. He said: “I’m glad to see Ofcom investigate GB News again for another flagrant breach of the Ofcom impartiality rules. However I’m not at all convinced that GB News cares much about Ofcom or takes the regulator seriously.” GB News is currently being investigated by Ofcom for a number of other shows, including many over impartiality issues.The issue of political figures such as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and current Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson presenting topical programmes has also been contentious.Former pensions minister Esther McVey and backbencher Philip Davies are also presenters on GB News, and former culture secretary Nadine Dorries began hosting a programme on TalkTV before she quit as an MP.Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy also hosts a show on LBC.Mr Sunak’s official spokesperson said the PM did not regret taking part in the programme and said it is “a matter for Ofcom, which is rightly an independent regulator”.“The prime minister undertakes interviews from a range of broadcasters, outlets and other media,” the spokesperson said.He added: “Media appearances such as the one he conducted last week are an important part of the democratic process.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBoris Johnson would win back voters lost under Rishi Sunak and is still the preferred choice to replace him as leader, a new poll suggests.The survey of 13,534 Conservative voters found that the former prime minister remains the most popular candidate to succeed Mr Sunak – beating ten senior Tories including Lord Cameron, Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch.The study, which was commissioned by long-standing party supporter Lady McAlpine, found that just over half of those who voted Conservative in 2019 – but who now intend to vote for a different party – would vote for Mr Johnson again. In comparison, just 39 per cent of those polled said they would vote for Mr Sunak over Labour leader Keir Starmer. The latest study comes just weeks after a Tory bust-up over secretive polls, including the bombshell “Labour landslide” poll that warned of a Tory wipeout unless Mr Sunak was removed as leader. The research was commissioned by an anonymous group linked to Lord Frost and was widely seen as an attempt to oust the PM. It prompted calls from Tory grandee Lord Hayward for tighter rules on polling ahead of a general election.Speaking to the Independent, Lord Hayward warned that the newest polling may also have backfired: “The plotting right may be disappointed by the results, because they might have wanted more people to come out ahead of Rishi Sunak – the only person who’s come out ahead of Sunak is someone who’s not an MP”.He also highlighted Mr Johnson’s divisiveness as another reason why his return to Cabinet was unlikely, adding: “You don’t only judge a party leader on the basis of what leader you want, but you also need to know how ‘anti’ people are.“There is no doubt Boris engenders support amongst people – but he also engenders an enormous amount of opposition”.The result also follow a difficult week for the PM as the Conservatives faced a double by-election drubbing and the country entered a technical recession.On Friday, Labour snapped up two new seats in Wellingborough and Kingswood, achieving the second largest swing from Tory to Labour at any by-election since the Second World War.The defeat has triggered calls from those within the party for the prime minister to “change course” and adopt more Conservative values, such as lower taxation, harsher immigration quotas and to rollback net zero targets.The poll also asked voters about other Conservative figures, including Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, and Penny Mordaunt, the Commons Leader, who both received 23 per cent versus Sir Keir, with Priti Patel polling at 22 per cent and Ms Badenoch 19 per cent. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing calls from colleagues within his party to change direction Some 45 per cent of 2019 Conservatives said that they could be persuaded to vote for the Tories again if Mr Sunak were not leader, while eighty per cent of “one-time Conservatives” agreed that the party would have a higher chance of winning if they had a leader who embraces “traditional Conservative values”.According to the poll, Labour current has a 22-point lead to the Tories, who are on 20 per cent, 13 per cent for Reform and 10 per cent for the Liberal Democrats.The latest poll has given Keir Starmer a 22-point over the Conservatives Whitestone Insight, who ran the poll, said that “replacing Rishi Sunak” could mean “the difference between wipeout, noble defeat, or possibly even somehow clinging on to power.”Lady McAlpine said that she believed that a Tory victory would be possible should Boris Johnson lead a “new squeaky clean Conservative Party”. She told the Telegraph: “If we have the brains, they’re not evident and that’s because the personality is not there, the charisma is not there. To be a leader, you have to have enormous charisma to be a good leader.”Mr Johnson left parliament last year after he was found to have wilfully misled MPs about his role in the partygate scandal. The former prime minister had been forced to resign over his handling of the scandal and was then forced out following an excoriating parliamentary report into his conduct. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has remained positive in spite of the difficult by-election results, having admitted the results were “particularly challenging” but has insisted “our plan is working” and he can “give everyone the piece of mind that there is a better future for them and their families”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as left-wing organisation Momentum relaunches a mass email campaign targeting MPs ahead of a crunch Commons vote this week.The grassroots group is planning a ‘lobbying blitz’, encouraging people to call upon Labour MPs to back the SNP’s amendment, demanding an immediate ceasefire.This issue, to be debated on Wednesday, has become one of the greatest challenges for the Labour leader and comes three months after a third of his MPs rebelled against the party whip over a similar call.Momentum supporters flooded Labour MPs with more than 5,000 emails in November and the group is urging people to do the same this week.The campaign comes just days after Scottish Labour’s conference unanimously backed an immediate ceasefire, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar declaring himself proud of the vote and calling the SNP’s amendment “perfectly reasonable”.Scottish Labour MPs have been warned to back a Westminster ceasefire vote after conference backed a motion on ending the conflict. (Jane Barlow/PA)Speaking at the conference, Sir Keir endorsed a permanent ending of hostilities in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Labour was considering whether to back the SNP amendment. Speaking to Talk TV, he said Labour would see what the final motion looked like but added the party would not be pushed around by protesters or political opponents.In November, when the party resisted calls for a permanent ceasefire, ten frontbenchers resigned their roles and 56 Labour MPs – around a third of the party – voted against the whip.Jess Phillips resigned her shadow cabinet position to back the amendment, stating: “I am taking a position with my heart, my head,and my constituents.”Since then, the Palestinian death toll has risen to nearly 30,000, including more than 10,000 children, according to official figures from Palestine’s Hamas-run health ministry.Last month the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s war on Gaza could plausibly constitute a genocide and ordered the country to take necessary precautionary action. The Israel/Palestine conflict has spilled over into the UK’s domestic politics as protestors demand the government back an immediate ceasefire in the region The UN special rapporteur on the occupied territories Francesca Albanese has said that Israel appears to be in breach of the orders issued by the ICJ and requires it to take immediate steps to protect Palestinians’ rights. The conflict in Gaza has split the Labour party and caused some Muslim voters to withdraw their support. More than 50 Labour councillors have resigned from the party over Mr Starmer’s stance on Gaza with the party losing its majority on four councils.A YouGov poll has shown that two thirds (66 per cent) of the public back an immediate ceasefire, including more than 80 per cent of Labour voters. Prominent Labour figures including Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham and Anas Sarwar have all backed an immediate ceasefire, alongside Labour’s affiliated trade unions, the TUC and numerous Labour councils.Momentum is encouraging its members to pressure these MPs to “vote with their conscience” and back the SNP amendment.Some Labour MPs have already come out in support of the amendment. Beth Winter, MP for Cynon Valley, said on social media site X that the party “must support an immediate ceasefire”.”I agree with Anas Sarwar,” she said. “The ceasefire motion before parliament is positive. We can’t afford two political parties having a go at each other when in what matters is the lives of people in Israel and Palestine. We must support an immediate ceasefire. “Mary Foy, MP for Durham has also called for a ceasefire. Posting on X, she announced that she won’t be able to vote for the amendment on Wednesday because she has suffered a bereavement, but she had “every intention of participating in the opposition day debate on Wednesday and voting for an immediate ceasefire”.Hilary Schan, co-chair of Momentum, said it was “vital that every Labour MP votes for an immediate end of the bloodshed” on Wednesday.“Every day we witness more horrific atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza – and it has to stop. Simply put, that means an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s brutal war. With the Government continuing to give cover to Israel, it’s vital that every Labour MP votes for an immediate end to the bloodshed when given a choice on Wednesday.”He added: “We must use every avenue to exert pressure for peace. History will not look kindly on those who fail to do the right thing.”Labour has been approached for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSchools in England have been told they should ban pupils from using mobile phones and start searching students for the devices. Ministers want children to be barred from using devices on breaks as well as in class.In new guidance, they say headteachers “can and should identify mobile phones … as something that may be searched for” as part of their school behaviour policy. However, the guidance is non-statutory, meaning it is up to individual heads to decide their own policies and whether or not phones should be banned.One union branded the move a “non-policy for a non-problem”, arguing that most schools already ban phones during school hours.Unveiling the guidance, education secretary Gillian Keegan said schools were “places for children to learn and mobile phones are, at a minimum, an unwanted distraction in the classroom”. She said she was giving teachers the tools to improve behaviour and to “do what they do best – teach.” The guidance warns that, in some schools, the use of mobile phones remains a “daily battle”.It tells teachers that ministers believe “all schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the school day – not only during lessons but break and lunchtimes as well”.New government guidance says headteachers ‘can and should identify mobile phones … as something that may be searched for’ as part of their school behaviour policy The government argues that removing mobile phones can help children and young people spend more time being active and socialising face to face with their peers, which will help their mental health. In a foreword to the document, Ms Keegan said it would provide “clarity and consistency” for teachers and that there is currently “a large variation in how different schools are managing the use of mobile phones”.It suggests four ways school can ban mobiles. These include a rule of no mobiles on the school premises; that phones must be handed in on arrival; that they must be kept in a secure location, which the pupil does not access to, or that pupils can keep possession of their devices as long as they are “never used, seen or heard” – with strict consequences for breaches.However, it also notes some circumstances where pupils with medical conditions should use a phone, including those with diabetes who might use an app to monitor their glucose. The new guidance was hailed as a significant step by Ms Keegan, who originally pledged to bring forward reforms banning mobile phone use in schools at last October’s Tory conference.Tom Bennett, who advises the Department for Education on behaviour, said: “Many schools already have some kind of policy on phones, but this guidance provides a clear steer for everyone, including parents, about what’s right and what’s not for the wellbeing of the child.”The government pointed to recent official data that showed that nearly one in three – 29 per cent – secondary school pupils said mobile phones had been used when they were not supposed to be.But the Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton said that the “compulsive use” of devices was not happening in schools but “while children are out of school”.He said: “Most schools already forbid the use of mobile phones during the school day or allow their use only in limited and stipulated circumstances.“We have lost count of the number of times that ministers have now announced a crackdown on mobile phones in schools. It is a non-policy for a non-problem.“The government would be far better off putting its energies into bringing to heel the online platforms via which children are able to access disturbing and extreme content.” More