UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe government has been warned the UK risks becoming a “back door” to cyber and other national security threats as foreign companies snap up British firms. Checks are “not keeping pace” with growing threats from countries like Russia, a powerful group of MPs says. They call for ministers to be notified of proposed investments which would affect media freedom, access to the sensitive data of individual, cybersecurity and critical supply chains. MPs have attacked the proposed UAE-backed takeover of the Telegraph newspaper group, expressing concerns about foreign state ownership and warning that it is impossible to “separate sheikh and state”. Liam Byrne, the chair of the Commons Business and Trade sub-committee, said it was “vital that we do not let our country become a “back door” through which our adversaries acquire capabilities that imperil the collective security of either us or our NATO Allies.”The report is published as Rishi Sunak branded “clearly ridiculous” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that his invasion of Ukraine was a result of Nato expansion.The warning comes in the committee’s submission to the government ahead of reforms to the UK’s investment-screening regime.Under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, this allows ministers to block purchases of or investment in firms in strategic industries on national security grounds.The submission warns the UK is facing a “surge” of investment from countries classed as dictatorships as well as new threats from China and Russia. With so many transactions ministers risk “losing sight of the wood for the trees” and missing key transactions with security implications, they say.Both the US and the EU have recently announced tougher investment checks. MPs also warned the lack of an explicit definition of “national security” was creating confusion. MPs also condemn part of the Act as a “fundamental roadblock to scrutiny” because it prohibits telling Parliament how government decisions are made. Mr Byrne said: “It is vital that Parliament is given proper oversight of the decisions made by ministers, so we can assure the House of Commons that the decisions made on investment screening are sound decisions. “Right now, the truth is we cannot give that assurance, because ministers do not have the legal power to share the information we need to check decisions. That risks making a nonsense of parliamentary oversight of our economic security. That is something we simply cannot afford to go on.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRachel Reeves has come under fire over Labour’s £28bn green spending u-turn, with a BBC presenter asking: “Don’t you want to think big any more?”The shadow chancellor was taken to task after she and Sir Keir Starmer finally confirmed the spending pledge had been “stood down”.Instead, Ms Reeves and the Labour leader unveiled a much less ambitious set of measures, which will cost £23.7bn over the party’s first five years in power if it wins the next election.After weeks of flip-flopping, with Sir Keir backing the original £28bn a year figure as recently as Tuesday, the party blamed the Conservatives for “crashing the economy” as it downsized its plans.Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have scaled back their original green spending plans BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter Mishal Husain grilled Ms Reeves on Friday morning, asking her: “Don’t you want to think big any more?“Imagine if Labour in 1945 had thought about health and rolled back from founding the NHS in the way that you have diluted your single biggest policy pledge.”But Ms Reeves insisted that, despite scaling back the funding, Labour’s so-called green prosperity plan will be “transformational for our economy, for jobs and for bills”.And she insisted that Labour is “determined” to deliver the plan.Ms Reeves said: “People can see that since the Conservatives crashed the economy, things have changed. That means we’ve had to update our plans.“What we’ve got now is an ambitious plan for decarbonizing the economy which are all affordable within our fiscal rules.”But her clash with Ms Husain came just moments after she was grilled by BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt over the policy.“Why should anyone believe the things you say about your plans, when you are prepared, if the circumstances require it, to just do other things?” he asked.He added: “It is very hard to know what we can believe.”The exchanges followed a Thursday press conference in which Labour drastically scaled back its flagship economic policy ahead of this year’s election.The Conservatives had seized on the original £28bn a year figure as a key attack line, claiming Labour would ultimately have to raise taxes to meet the “unfunded spending spree”.The party’s Warm Homes Plan, a £6bn package of measures to improve energy efficiency, is set to be one of the casualties of the climbdown with Labour confirming that it will now take longer than originally estimated, with five million homes now set to be upgraded during the first five years.But it comes alongside plans to extend the windfall tax on oil and gas companies to the end of the next parliament, with the energy profits levy rising to 78%.The Labour leader insisted the party in power would still retain its mission to achieve clean power by 2030, stressing that it could still be achieved.Ms Reeves denied she had bullied her party leader into the climbdown and reiterated her vow to become the UK’s first “green” chancellor.She again denied a behind-the-scenes rift with Sir Keir on Friday, saying they “work together every single day” and she has “a strong relationship with Keir”.The scaling back of the pledge has drawn condemnation from unions, environmental groups, Labour grandees and MPs.Former Labour minister Lord Blunkett said “the PR, the timing” of the U-turn “couldn’t have been worse” and he hoped “lessons have been learned”.And ex-shadow minister Barry Gardiner warned Labour now risked “being so bland that you stand for nothing”.Rishi Sunak said Labour’s flagship economic policy was now ‘in tatters’ Science minister Andrew Griffith said Labour has “got a lot of explaining to do” for u-turning on the £28bn a year green investment pledge, but added that the plan would have been “foolish”.He told Times Radio: “Rachel Reeves ran off to the US, was impressed by the idea of spending lots of public money, taxpayers’ money, on plans that they hadn’t costed, hadn’t put together properly.“And the fact that those plans are now unravelling, just shows how foolish it would be and how expensive for taxpayers, were they to get into power.”Rishi Sunak attacked the party as well, with the prime minister saying Labour’s flagship economic policy was now “in tatters”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has yet again refused to apologise to the family of Brianna Ghey after making a trans joke while the murdered transgender teenager’s mother was visiting parliament.The prime minister said it is “wrong” to suggest he joked about trans people when he made a “how to define a woman” jibe at Sir Keir Starmer this week.And he said it is “sad” to drag Brianna’s family into a debate which he said was intended to be about the Labour leader’s u-turns.But, in an interview with BBC Radio Somerset, the PM was once again confronted with calls from Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner, to apologise.Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the jibe, made while Esther Ghey, Brianna’s mother, visited ParliamentMr Spooner has said he was disgusted with Mr Sunak and branded his comments “degrading” and “absolutely dehumanising”.In a tense exchange, presenter Charlie Taylor said: “Will you apologise now to Brianna’s father, who has said it was degrading and dehumanising? How much more do you need before you can apologise?”Mr Sunak said: “I’ve got nothing but heartfelt sympathy for all of Brianna’s family and friends… but as we saw yesterday it is yet another u-turn from Keir Starmer, that was the point I was making.”The PM was then challenged over whether he would continue making jokes about trans issues in parliament.But he said: “That is not what I was doing. I was pointing out a very clear track record of u-turns from Keir Starmer on many important matters of policy.”The row erupted on Wednesday when Mr Sunak accused Sir Keir in the Commons of being incapable of “defining a woman” and said it was one of many issues on which he had changed his mind.An angry Labour leader immediately admonished the Tory leader. He said: “Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame.”The PM has been condemned for the jibe across the political spectrum, with Tory former minister Dehenna Davison said it was “disappointing to hear jokes being made at the trans community’s expense”. And minister Penny Mordaunt urged the PM to “reflect” on his remarks. Labour’s Jess Phillips called the prime minister “an absolute disgrace”.Even former prime minister Gordon Brown weighed in, saying he had acted when he once referred to a voter as a bigot, adding: “I made mistakes… but I apologised and I think that’s a lesson that all prime ministers should follow”Sir Keir on Thursday night said Mr Sunak should “do the right thing” and apologise as “swiftly as possible”.The Labour leader said: “This is nothing to do with me. This is Brianna’s father. They’ve had their child murdered and he has put his words out about what the prime minister said and it’s not good enough for the prime minister’s team to go out today and effectively say to Brianna’s father ‘you didn’t understand what Rishi was saying’.“He did understand. He’s given his reaction. The right thing to do is to apologise as swiftly as possible – not just reflect but apologise. This is a grieving father.”But the PM has steadfastly refused to backtrack on the remarks, and on Friday accused critics of dragging Brianna’s family in the face of a tragedy into politics. “I don’t think that’s right, I think it’s sad and it’s wrong,” he added. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA millionaire Conservative donor has said it is “probably time for a change” as he hailed Labour leader Keir Starmer as “a decent man with good values and good morals”.In a blow for Rishi Sunak’s government, property tycoon Nick Candy slated infighting in the Tory party, which he said has been going on “for the last few years”.Mr Candy, who donated more than £270,000 to the Conservatives between 2020 and 2022, according to the Electoral Commission, also attacked the power and influence of party advisers such as Dominic Cummings.The Tories have been facing struggles on several fronts, including an attempted coup, reports of a plan to oust the prime minister by a group called “evil plotters”, setbacks in Mr Sunak’s flagship Rwanda deportation plan and low poll ratings.Mr Candy said: “I think it’s probably time for a change. I think all this infighting in the Tories even now with talk of Kemi Badenoch replacing Rishi by mid-May with people that have nothing to do with…“The British people should know what’s going on. And the likes of [Tory adviser] Dougie Smith and Dominic Cummings, who I’ve never met, so they think they can just pick and choose who’s going to be the leader of the Conservative Party under their remit.“I think it’s wrong, and based on that maybe it’s time for some change.”Nick Candy, left, with wife Holly ValanceJust days ago, the 51-year-old businessman attended the launch of the new ‘Popular Conservatism’ group with his wife, former Neighbours star Holly Valance, where they heard speeches by ex-prime minister Liz Truss, ex-minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and outspoken MP Lee Anderson.After the Westminster event, Ms Valance backed Sir Jacob to succeed Mr Sunak as Tory leader and praised Mr Anderson and Ms Truss.Speaking to Bloomberg’s In the City podcast, Mr Candy said that we “still don’t know the Labour policies”, but added: “Do I think Keir Starmer’s a decent man with good values and good morals? One hundred per cent.”Although he admitted voting for Tony Blair in 1997, Mr Candy said he was naturally a Tory. He backed Conservative Shaun Bailey’s unsuccessful campaign to be mayor of London in 2021 and was spotted at Mr Bailey’s lockdown party in December 2020, when indoor household mixing was banned.Later in the podcast, when discussing property markets here and abroad, he praised the government of Dubai, adding: “I would love to have leadership like that in this country where politics aren’t in the way and they actually make really good decisions, smart decisions fast.“The problem is here it takes for ever. Democracies are great when you’ve got visionary leadership and you’ve got people working together to get things done. It seems like for the last few years we’ve been infighting.”Last October, Larry Fink, one of the world’s leading financiers, gave his backing to Sir Keir Starmer, saying the Labour leader offered a “measurement of hope” for British politics.Mr Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, told the Wall Street Journal that Sir Keir had shown “real strength” in bringing Labour back to the centre ground of British. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour is to radically scale down plans to insulate millions of homes as it ditches its policy to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects. Amid mounting criticism of the U-turn, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the figure had been “stood down”. Labour blamed the change on “the Conservatives’ crashing the economy” and announced plans to raise money by extending the energy windfall tax.But in a major climbdown, Sir Keir said plans to cut energy bills by giving 19 million people warmer homes in a decade could now take up to 14 years to achieve. Labour will now promise only to kit out 5 million properties by 2030. Other major projects, as yet unannounced, will also not get the green light. 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.Sir Keir and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have come under fire for the climbdown, which a former adviser to Tony Blair, John McTernan, said was “probably the most stupid decision the Labour Party’s made”. A member of Sir Keir’s shadow cabinet also told The Independent the U-turn had been “handled dreadfully” and now risked distracting from two potentially disastrous by-elections for Rishi Sunak next week. Former Labour minister, Lord Blunkett, said “the PR, the timing” of the U-turn “couldn’t have been worse” and he hoped “lessons have been learned”.The Labour leader sought to play down the U-turn, insisting the party would keep its mission to achieve clean power by 2030.He added: “I don’t want to have a row about the size of a cheque – I want to have a row about the outcomes.”Ms Reeves also denied she had bullied her party leader into the climbdown and reiterated her vow to become the UK’s first “green” chancellor. Even before it was confirmed the decision had come under fire from environmentalists and voices within the left of the party.Former shadow minister, Barry Gardiner, called the decision “economically illiterate, environmentally irresponsible and politically jejune”.News of the announcement came just after the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and the Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram warned the party to “stick to the pledge” around green transition. Last year, Labour adjusted its original plan by saying the £28bn spending target would likely be met in the second half of a first parliament, rather than immediately, if the party wins the next election.The party has since insisted the pledge is subject to its fiscal rules, which include getting debt falling as a percentage of GDP, as it seeks to reassure voters it would handle the economy responsibly in government.Confusion over the future of the policy has grown in recent weeks as some senior figures refused to refer to the £28bn figure, while party leader Sir Keir continued to do so as recently as Tuesday.However, Labour has come under pressure as the Conservatives increasingly seized on the figure as a key attack line, claiming Labour would have to raise taxes to meet the “unfunded spending spree”.Mr Gardiner warned Labour now risked “being so bland that you stand for nothing”. He said: “The government will then write your policies for you, and will say, ‘you see Labour’s not telling you what they what they’re going to do. It’s going to be this it’s going to be that’.“They can paint their own picture, so I think politically, it’s strategically incompetent.”Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer referred to the £28 billion-a-year figure as recently as this week (PA)Other MPs on the left of the party also criticised the plan. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Streatham in London, said that “now is not the time to scale back our green industrial strategy”. The Unite union, a major donor to Labour, said the “retreat” would “confirm workers’ scepticism of the endless promises of jam tomorrow and it will be ‘alright on the night’ rhetoric on the green transition”.But Labour received surprising support from David Cameron’s former spin doctor, Craig Oliver, who said the move would leave “glum faces” inside No10 and CCHQ, following the loss of what “was going to be a major Conservatives attack line for months” in the run-up to the general election. For his part, Mr Sunak accused Labour of “trying to wriggle out” of the £28bn green pledge and said the move demonstrated his argument that Sir Keir “U-turns on major things, he can’t say what he would do differently because he doesn’t have a plan.” Greenpeace criticised Sir Keir’s decision as showing “weak” political, economic and climate leadership while the Green Party described the U-turn as a “massive backwards step for the climate, for the economy and for good quality jobs”.The U-turn comes after the Tories claimed an official Treasury costing suggested part of the plan – to upgrade insulation for 19 million homes – would cost more than double the party’s estimate of £6bn. More