UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer is to insist that his overhaul of the Labour Party is “not just a paint job” but a total revamp of the party in a bid to win over disaffected Tory voters.The Labour leader will deliver a speech on Tuesday to mark the four-year anniversary of the 2019 general election – when Jeremy Corbyn led the party to its worst defeat since 1935.Sir Keir will aim a barb at Mr Corbyn as well as former Labour leader Ed Miliband, still a shadow minister, acknowledging the public has had problems with the party “for a while”. And he will promise to end the Tory “psychodrama” and give Britain hope.”Working people up and down our country looked at my party, looked at the journey we’d been on – not just under Jeremy Corbyn, but for a while. And they said ‘no’,” he is expected to say. “We’d taken a leave of absence from our job description. Reneged on an old partnership – the Labour bargain that we serve working people – as they drive our country forward.”Everything I’ve done as leader, every fight I’ve had, has been to reconnect us to that purpose. If you want a government committed to economic stability, the rule of law, good public services, restoring Britain’s standing, making family life more secure and putting the country first, this is what a changed Labour Party will deliver.”Sir Keir Starmer will say he has made Labour the ‘party of service’ again (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)Sir Keir will also seize on the threat to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s authority posed this week by a Tory Party bitterly divided over his Rwanda Bill, a piece of emergency legislation aimed at reviving the Government’s flagship asylum policy.”We’re all stuck in their psychodrama, all being dragged down to their level,” he is expected to say.”While they’re all swanning around self-importantly with their factions and their ‘star chambers’, fighting like rats in a sack, there’s a country out here that isn’t being governed.”He will urge parts of the electorate who have previously voted Conservative that the change they hope for “will not (come) from a Tory fifth term”.”It’s about doing the basics better. The mundane stuff. The bureaucratic stuff. Busting the backlogs, rebuilding a functioning asylum system, removing people more quickly so you don’t have to run up hotel bills, and cross-border police force that can smash the smuggler gangs at source.”Sir Keir’s leadership has seen Labour shift away from the left-leaning Opposition headed by Mr Corbyn after the party suffered a landslide defeat in 2019.He recently appeared to attempt to court traditionally Tory voters by writing for the Conservative-supporting Telegraph newspaper that Margaret Thatcher had sought to “drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism”.Sir Keir later sought to calm criticism of the move by telling a Scottish Labour gala dinner that she did “terrible things” and he “profoundly disagrees” with some of her actions.Tory chairman Richard Holden said: “The truth is Labour hasn’t changed. It’s the same old ideas of more borrowing, more debt and more taxes.“Sir Keir Starmer will never take the difficult decisions to deliver the long-term change this country needs.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak mounted a fierce defence of his controversial Eat Out to Help Out scheme and said it was unfair to call the Treasury a “pro-death squad” during the pandemic.The prime minister used an eight-hour evidence session to brush off accusations that he launched the controversial scheme without proper scientific advice. He praised the “incredibly hardworking people” working in the Treasury while he was chancellor, hitting back at Boris Johnson’s suggestion they were happy to oversee an increase in deaths in order to lift lockdown restrictions.The now-PM also said he “consistently” warned his predecessor Mr Johnson about the wider impacts of lockdown, blaming the “economic scarring” it left for the nation’s parlous finances today.Mr Sunak opened his evidence hearing with an apology to families bereaved during the pandemic. He proceeded to make the extraordinary claim that he had not been able to hand over his WhatsApp messages from the pandemic because he “had changed phones multiple times and the messages did not come across”.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 InquiryBut despite coming under intense pressure from inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC, Mr Sunak came off largely unscathed from the hearing. He also pointedly refused to criticise his former boss.As the PM’s flagship Rwanda policy was under intense scrutiny, the Covid inquiry heard:Mr Sunak denied having called parents who cannot afford food for their children “freeloaders”The former chancellor said it was unfair to describe the Treasury during the pandemic as the “pro-death squad”He fiercely defended the controversial  Eat Out to Help Out policy, insisting it was the “right thing to do”Mr Sunak blamed “economic scarring” from lockdown for the “historically high” tax burden facing households todayAnd former PM Mr Johnson became “agitated” that he did not have a plan for easing lockdown, believing the “sooner we get [the economy] open the better”Mr Sunak said on Monday morning he was “deeply sorry to all of those who lost loved ones”.“It’s important that we learn the lessons so that we can be better prepared in the future,” Mr Sunak said. He promised to give evidence “in the spirit of constructive candour”.After Mr Sunak was asked about his WhatsApp messages, a disappointed Mr Keith pressed the PM on whether he was warned by officials that he would need to keep access to the messages for use in a future inquiry.But the PM insisted he is “not a prolific user of WhatsApp” and “anything of significance”.The PM went on to say it was unfair to describe the Treasury under his leadership during the pandemic as a “pro-death squad”.The former chancellor was asked by Mr Keith whether he was aware of the description which Sir Patrick Vallance recalled Mr Johnson used to refer to the department being opposed to the strongest public health interventions.Jean Adamson, who lost her father Aldrick Adamson to Covid, outside the Covid inquiry The prime minister said: “I wasn’t and I do not think it is a fair characterisation on the incredibly hardworking people that I was lucky to be supported by at the Treasury.”He was quizzed by Mr Keith on the litany of claims heard by the inquiry so far that Mr Johnson himself presided over a toxic and chaotic working environment in No 10.Despite tensions between the pair, Mr Sunak declined to criticise his predecessor and said he was not aware of the concerns people had raised.Mr Keith said: “The administration was described privately as brutal and useless, or criminally incompetent or operationally chaotic? Was any of that known to you?”“I don’t think any of those comments were shared with me at the time,” Mr Sunak said.In a revealing slip of the tongue, Mr Sunak accepted at one point that the tax burden on households was “historically high”, before quickly correcting himself to say taxes are “higher than I would like”.The PM blamed “economic scarring” on the country’s borrowing during the pandemic.Celia Macey lost her husband Neil Macey in August 2021 to CovidMr Sunak said: “The impact of having to pay it back only comes well after the fact when everyone can forget why it was necessary.“And now everyone is grappling with the consequences, I am grappling with the consequences of that, as we have a historically high … tax burden that … is higher than I would like.“That is a direct consequence of the support that was provided during the pandemic.”Mr Keith told him off for using the inquiry to excuse his government’s tax rises, adding: “Please do not go on to the issue of tax burdens.”Mr Sunak went on to claim he had “consistently” warned Mr Johnson about the wider impacts of lockdowns.The prime minister said he wanted Mr Johnson to “consider the totality” of the effects of lockdown.Mr Sunak said: “One of the consistent arguments I made from the beginning was making sure we collectively and the prime minister considered the totality of the impacts of the decisions that we were making.”The inquiry was then shown an email from Elizabeth Perelman, Mr Sunak’s then-principal private secretary, which revealed that in April the former PM was agitated about not having a plan to lift lockdown and said “the sooner we get this open the better”.It showed that Mr Johnson thought Britain had “overdone” lockdown, highlighting that other countries had not closed their construction sectors, for example.Asked about Eat Out to Help Out, for which he has drawn criticism after Sir Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance were not asked about the scheme before it was announced, he said it was “safe” and “the right thing to do” to protect jobs.Mr Sunak’s evidence concludes a slew of bumper appearances from the top scientific advisers and ministers in charge during the pandemic. 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Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill ‘doesn’t do the job’, says Robert JenrickSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRight wing conservatives have urged the prime minister to “pull” the Rwanda Bill and come up with a a “completely new” piece of legislation.Mark Francois, chairman to European Research Group (ERG), said there was a “consensus” among right-wingers that Rishi Sunak should “pull the bill”.The senior rebel said No 10 should “come up with a revised version that works better than this one which has so many holes in it”.David Jones, the ERG deputy chair, added that he agreed that the current Rwanda bill was “not easily amendable” at the committee stage – even if goes through the first hurdle on Tuesday.It comes after the so-called “star chamber” of lawyers for the right-wing European Research Group (ERG) said the bill “provides a partial and incomplete solution” but does not go “far enough to deliver the policy as intended”.The lawyers, led by veteran Eurosceptic Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, said “very significant amendments” to the legislation – which is due to be voted on tomorrow – are needed.Show latest update
1702305155Rishi Sunak should ‘pull the bill’ now, say Tory right-wingersMark Francois, chairman to European Research Group (ERG), said there was a “consensus” among right-wingers that Rishi Sunak should “pull the bill”.The senior rebel said No 10 should “come up with a revised version that works better than this one which has so many holes in it”.David Jones, the ERG deputy chair, said he agreed that the current Rwanda bill was “not easily amendable” at the committee stage – even if goes through the first hurdle on Tuesday.Mr Jones said the government “needs to review it” should “maybe consider a completely new piece of legislation.” He said there were “so many gaps in the [current] legislation”.But Mr Francois suggested MPs in the ERG – and other right-wing groups – would not necessarily agree on how to vote on Tuesday.“I’m not sure if final decision will be taken even today,” he said on MPs’ decisions. Pushed on whether the “logical conclusion” of the fierce opposition to the bill was that MPs would vote against it, Mr Francois said: “We have dropped the government a broad hint – we’ll see how the government replies.”Alexander Butler11 December 2023 14:321702305935Brexiteer will vote for Rwanda bill on TuesdayVeteran Tory MP Sir Michael Fabricant, a member of the European Research Group (ERG), said he would be voting for the Rwanda Bill on Tuesday.But he indicated the group would be pushing for changes in January. Sir Michael said: “It is not perfect (no bill ever is), but I agree with its principle: to deter the slavers providing dangerous channel crossings. Amendments can then be made later in the usual way.”Joe Middleton11 December 2023 14:451702305035Tory right-winger suggest he won’t back bill without changesRight-wing MP Simon Clarke, a figure in the Conservative Growth Group, said the ERG verdict was “very concerning”. The ex-minister in the Liz Truss government said he “really hopes” Rishi Sunak could be persuaded to make changes.Suggesting that he could vote against the bill at some stage – whether on Tuesday or early next year – Mr Clarke said: “There is no point frankly in our relitigating this issue unless it does work.”New Conservatives co-chairman Danny Kruger said: “We’ll be discussing later with colleagues in light of the report that we’ve just received, and having further conversations with government over the course of the next 24 hours.”Joe Middleton11 December 2023 14:301702304135Robert Jenrick will speak to ‘five families’ on Tory right at 6pmRobert Jenrick – the former Sunak who quit as his immigration minister – will speak at a meeting of Tory right-wingers at 6pm on Monday, the European Research Group (ERG) chief Mark Francois has said.Asked whether ERG members would be told to vote against it, and whether they could vote as a pack, Mr Francois said: “You don’t always announce what you’re going to do well before the bell was ringing.”The meeting is set to be attended by right-wing MPs from the ERG, the New Conservatives group run by Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates; the Common Sense Group run by Suella Braverman’s ally John Hayes; the Conservative Growth Group, made up of Liz Truss allies, and the Northern Research Group of red-wall MPs.Adam Forrest11 December 2023 14:151702303235VIDEO: Rishi Sunak accepts taxes are ‘historically high’ at Covid inquiryRishi Sunak accepts taxes are ‘historically high’ at Covid inquiryJoe Middleton11 December 2023 14:001702302223Gary Lineker offers Lee Anderson job at Walkers Crisps after next electionTory MPs have had another busy day taking part in one of their favourite pastimes – arguing with Gary Lineker on X, formerly Twitter.Mr Lineker has irked Conservative MPs over his support for a “fair” plan for refugees in Britain. Right-winger Jonathan Gullis earlier today accused the Match of the Day presenter of “yet another breach” of the BBC’s rules on political impartiality. Mr Lineker hit back by suggesting that the Stoke-on-Trent MP may be illiterate. He said: “Jonathan hasn’t read the new guidelines….or, should I say, had someone read them to him?”Lee Anderson has also waded into the row and said that what the British people want “is to stop the boats and to tell overpaid crisp salesmen to put a sock in it.”Mr Lineker responded: “I guess we’ll find out what the will of the British people is at the next general election. If you do end up out of work, I’ll put in a word for you with @walkers_crisps”Joe Middleton11 December 2023 13:431702300719Sunak in crisis as Tory right-wing rebels’ ‘star chamber’ rejects his Rwanda billRishi Sunak’s premiership has been thrown into crisis after right-wing rebels delivered a scathing rejection of the flagship Rwanda bill – saying it does “not go far enough”.In a huge blow to the PM, the so-called “star chamber” of lawyers convened by Tories on the European Research Group (ERG) said the bill won’t get deportation flights started.They group said it offers only a “provides a partial and incomplete solution” to the problem of asylum seekers using the courts to block flights ahead of Tuesday’s crunch vote on the issue.The group of lawyers, led by veteran Tory Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash, said “very significant amendments” would be needed by rebel MPs to make it work.Adam Forrest reports.Joe Middleton11 December 2023 13:181702299832Tory ‘star chamber’ tell ERG Rwanda plan provides ‘partial and incomplete solution’ to small boats problemThe Tory ‘star chamber’ – a group of lawyers employed by the right-wing of the party – has told the Conservative European Research Group (ERG) that the Rwanda bill is a “partial and incomplete solution” to the small boats problem.BBC Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt posted the announcement on X, formerly Twitter. However, despite the advice, the ERG is not what it will advise its members to do on Tuesday’s vote.Joe Middleton11 December 2023 13:031702299635Video: Boris Johnson’s indecision ‘not necessarily a bad thing’, Sunak says at Covid inquiryBoris Johnson’s indecision ‘not necessarily a bad thing’, Sunak says at Covid inquiryJoe Middleton11 December 2023 13:001702298590Sunak will stick will ‘toughest version’ of bill, No 10 suggestsNo 10 has suggested that Rishi Sunak will stick with the “toughest version” of the Rwanda bill in face of plans by Tory rebels to “fix” it in committee stage.Asked if the PM would listen to Tory MPs who will put down amendments in January, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “We will continue to listen carefully to MPs.”By the No 10 official suggested there was little room for changes, saying the PM was “confident this is the toughest version of the legislation that will stop the boats”.Adam Forrest11 December 2023 12:43 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Home Office plans to spend at least £700m on managing migrants who arrive on small boats during this decade, according to government contracts.Rishi Sunak faces his most perilous week at No 10 as the fate of his flagship Rwanda bill – aimed at fulfilling “stop the boats” pledge – lies in the hands of two warring Tory factions.But it has emerged that home secretary James Cleverly’s department has seta aside huge sums for dealing with asylum seekers who arrive across the English Channel.Some £700m will go on reception and detention and facilities until 2030, with the option of extending the contracts until 2034, according to plans first highlighted by the BBC.The documents show that the Home Office wants at least one partner firm to help manage two large facilities in Kent in the years ahead.The money will be spent running the Western Jet Foil facility in Dover, and the reception centre at the former Manston airfield in Kent.One part of the contract is aimed at overhauling the controversial Manston facility, aimed at accommodating up to 1,600 migrants while their claims are processed.A migrant held at Manston trying to communicate with journalists “The Home Office is currently transforming the site at Manston to establish permanent, purpose-built facilities,” the document states – saying the government want to “process arrivals with dignity and respect”.Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it showed that “even the Home Office doesn’t believe Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan is going to work”.She added: “Instead of sending nearly £300m of taxpayers money to Rwanda for a failing scheme, the prime minister should be using the money to stop the criminal smuggling gangs who are organising boat crossings in the first place.”Mr Sunak’s official spokesman responded: “A government plans for all eventualities – that is the responsible thing to do.”It emerged last week Home Office has paid £100m more to Rwanda than previously admitted – taking the total cost of the plan so far to £290m.Meanwhile, it has emerged that Mr Sunak’s government will publish a summary of its legal advice on the legislation to revive the stalled Rwanda asylum deportation scheme.The unusual step of releasing a summary of the advice will be seen as an attempt to placate Tory MPs as rival factions decide their positions on the bill.No 10 denied it was an unusual move – saying there was “significant” interest in the bill. Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “I’m sure it’s something MPs will wish to consider.”A Home Office spokesperson said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the department’s ongoing procurement plans. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s allies believe the Covid inquiry has already decided his Eat Out to Help Out scheme was harmful, it is claimed.The prime minister, who was chancellor during the pandemic, will be grilled over the hospitality scheme from 10.30am by the probe’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC.Mr Sunak will also face questions over whether he opposed measures to contain the virus and his failure to hand over WhatsApp messages from his time as chancellor to the inquiry.Allies of the former chancellor argue the probe has already decided the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which offered taxpayer-funded half-priced meals in a bid to boost the hospitality sector, fuelled the virus.The scheme initially saw Mr Sunak, having been widely praised for the furlough scheme, dubbed “dishy Rishi”. But it has been criticised by chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, who called it “Eat Out to Help Out…the virus”.And it contributed to Mr Sunak being described by chief scientific advisor Professor Dame Angela McLean as “Dr Death the chancellor”. Britain’s two top scientists during Covid Professor Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance have both told the probe they were not consulted about the scheme before it was launched.A Treasury insider who worked with Mr Sunak during the pandemic told The Daily Telegraph the scheme was beneficial, and said “hindsight is a wonderful thing”. “By summer 2020, hospitality was in a pretty dire state. We’d already helped considerably and [Eat Out to Help Out] was an attempt in the summer months when risks were less to support that sector and maximise economic activity,” they said.As Mr Sunak faces a grilling by Mr Keith, just miles away in Westminster his MPs will be deciding whether to back his latest plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda ahead of a vote on Tuesday which could decide the future of his premiership. It comes as a poll revealed twice as many people now think Mr Sunak handled the pandemic badly than well.Ahead of his highly anticipated evidence session, the YouGov survey found 56 per cent of people said he handled the pandemic “badly”, while just 29 per cent said he did “well”.Meanwhile more than half of people said Eat Out to Help Out was a “bad idea”, with just under a third saying it was a good idea. The poll, conducted for The Times, did however show strong support for Mr Sunak’s financial support schemes, such as the furlough programme which funded companies to keep paying staff while they could not work during the pandemic.Mr Sunak is expected to mount a robust defence of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and his wider response to the pandemic when he takes the stand this morning.But he is bracing for a backlash, with one source telling The Times: “He’s going to get absolutely slaughtered over his failure to provide WhatsApps.”He has told the probe that having changed his phone multiple times since entering government he did not have access to the relevant messages. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMedia mogul Jimmy Lai’s son has urged David Cameron to demand the release of his father ahead of a high-profile trial set to begin mid-December in Hong Kong.Lai’s loved ones fear he will die in prison after the 76-year-old was arrested in Hong Kong under the China-imposed draconian National Security Law in 2020 following the pro-democracy movement.The fierce Beijing critic and founder of the now-defunct “pro-democracy” Apple Daily newspaper was arrested in August 2020 for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.His son, Sebastien Lai, has called on Lord Cameron to “stand by my father’s side” and demand his release, which would send a “clear message” to China.“I have no doubt that Lord Cameron will do right by his country and its citizens,” he told The Observer.Mr Lai said he had managed to secure a meeting with the British foreign secretary this week to discuss his father’s imprisonment.While Washington has criticised a previous conviction of Lai on fraud charges, the European parliament has publicly called for the activists’s release.“This is a man who is obviously strong, but nothing can be taken for granted at his age. I can only imagine what it is like being in solitary confinement for more than 1,000 days,” Mr Lai said.Mr Lai has been an advocate on behalf of his father ahead of his trial, which is due to begin on 18 December. His father’s UK legal team has been denied access to Lai and subjected to cyberattacks.He said he had been asking to meet the British foreign secretary since July 2022 and Lord Cameron was the third secretary to receive the request. “I have met foreign ministers from other countries, but I have yet to meet with one from the UK,” Mr Lai said.Lai’s son and other campaigners have previously urged the government to be “frank and open” about its discussions with China after former foreign secretary James Cleverly in August tweeted that he had challenged China on Lai’s case.“Far from damaging the relationship, calling for my father’s release would be a vital step in repairing it,” Lai had then told The Independent.“It is disappointing that our own government has so far failed to do the same and won’t be open and frank about its discussions with China on his case,” he added.A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson told The Observer: “British national Jimmy Lai’s case is a priority for HMG [His Majesty’s Government], which has been raised on multiple occasions with the Chinese government, most recently when the foreign secretary spoke to Wang Yi this week.”“Mr Lai’s prosecution has been highly politicised – he and others are being deliberately targeted to silence criticism under the guise of national security,” the spokesperson added. More