UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Thousands of protesters rallied against the New Zealand government’s Indigenous policies on Tuesday as the Parliament convened for the first time since October elections.Demonstrations in the capital, Wellington, and in about a dozen other New Zealand cities and towns were organized by the minor Maori Party, which advocates for the rights of Indigenous New Zealanders who are known as Maori.Protesters demonstrated peacefully outside Parliament against what they described as the “anti-Maori” policies of the newly elected conservative-led coalition government.Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the new policies of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s administration would take New Zealand “back to the 1800s.”“Our protest this morning was an activation of our people,” Waititi said.The National Party-led government promises to review the Treaty of Waitangi and implement potential changes to how that foundation document signed by British colonists and Maori chiefs in 1840 affects modern laws.The government has also foreshadowed changes to the Maori Health Authority, a statutory agency responsible for ensuring that the New Zealand health system meets Maori needs.Luxon said his government was “deeply committed to improving outcomes for Maori and non-Maori.”“Maori have done very well in National-led governments in the past, and they’re going to continue to do well,” Luxon said.Lawmakers were sworn in on Tuesday after elections on Oct. 14 ousted the center-left Labour Party government that had ruled since 2017.The Maori Party won six of the 123 seats in the 54th Parliament.Party lawmaker Takuta Ferris wore a Maori headdress and performed a haka, a traditional dance or challenge accompanied by a chant, as he crossed the chamber to make an affirmation that confirmed his place in the Parliament.Other Maori Party lawmakers sang traditional Indigenous songs.Some Green Party lawmakers wore the Arab headdress known as the keffiyeh over their shoulders in a sign of support for Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war.Luxon’s National Party won 38% of the vote — the largest proportion of any party. He took almost six weeks after the election to reach a coalition agreement with another two parties: the populist New Zealand First party and the libertarian ACT Party.ACT Party leader David Seymour described the Maori Party protests as “divisive theatrics” that showed disrespect for the election result.“New Zealanders elected a government that will treat people equally, regardless of their race,” Seymour said.“It’s a sad day when a political party is protesting equal rights,” he added. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWebsites that display or publish pornographic content will be required to use age assurance measures such as credit card checks and photo ID matching on users under the Online Safety Act.Online safety regulator Ofcom has published draft guidance for platforms on how to protect children from pornography to ensure firms comply with the new internet laws.The draft guidance says websites must use methods which are technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair to carry out age checks, and recommends firms consider options such as open banking – where a user consents to their bank sharing information confirming they are over 18.Our practical guidance sets out a range of methods for highly effective age checksDame Melanie Dawes, OfcomOfcom also suggests other methods which could be used, such as photo ID matching where an uploaded document such as a passport is compared with an image taken at that moment; verified facial age estimation technology; mobile network age checks which automatically block age-restricted websites if the operator knows the user is under 18; credit card checks or digital identity wallets where a user’s proof of age is stored digitally and can be shared with the online pornography service.However, the regulator said certain approaches would not meet its new standards, including self-declaration of age, online payments methods which do not require a person to be 18, such as a debit card, or general terms, disclaimers or warnings about content.Under the Online Safety Act, platforms which do not comply with the new laws will face enforcement action, including possible fines.“Pornography is too readily accessible to children online, and the new online safety laws are clear that must change,” Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said.“Our practical guidance sets out a range of methods for highly effective age checks. We’re clear that weaker methods – such as allowing users to self-declare their age – won’t meet this standard.“Regardless of their approach, we expect all services to offer robust protection to children from stumbling across pornography, and also to take care that privacy rights and freedoms for adults to access legal content are safeguarded.”Ofcom said it would continue to work with online pornography services to finalise the draft guidance before a final version is published in early 2025, from which the Government will bring the duties set out in it into force.Pornography can have an absolutely devastating impact on children and their view of healthy relationshipsTechnology Secretary Michelle DonelanTechnology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “Pornography can have an absolutely devastating impact on children and their view of healthy relationships.“Right now, 13 is the average age at which a child first encounters it online. This is exactly why I made protecting children from pornography a key objective of our Online Safety Act.“Companies must now work closely with Ofcom to ensure they have robust checks in place to stop children from seeing harmful content that they can never unsee.“Consulting on how platforms must meet their new duties is key to making sure companies know exactly what is expected of them, allowing us to press ahead with this new online safety regime and the vital protections for our children that come with it.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as James Cleverly unveils changes to Britain’s legal migration system on Monday 4 December, after official statistics showed that annual arrivals had hit a record high last year.The home secretary shared a package of measures intended to bring down net migration.He told the Commons that the minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker from overseas will be significantly hiked to around £38,000.The increase from £26,200 a year for visas to work in Britain featured in a wider package announced as Rishi Sunak comes under huge pressure.The prime minister has vowed to “do what is necessary” to bring down net migration in the wake of an official estimate saying levels had peaked at 745,000 in 2022.The salary figure is lower than the £40,000 in the deal Mr Sunak allegedly agreed with his since-sacked home secretary Suella Braverman to win her support for the Tory leadership.Privately, two sources said, Ms Braverman and immigration minister Robert Jenrick had pushed for the cap to go even higher, to £45,000. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s government will unveil a major set of measures to bring down net migration to the UK after figures soared to a record high.The PM is to overhaul a series of visa rules to curb net migration after shock official figures showed net migration stood at 745,000 in 2022.Mr Sunak has been under severe pressure from right-wing Tory MPs to act since the immigration figures were released, with sacked home secretary Suella Braverman describing them as a “slap in the face”.His shake-up is set to include a big increase in the salary threshold for migrants and a crackdown on social care staff bringing dependents to the UK. Home secretary James Cleverly will announce the shakeup with a statement to MPs at 3.30pm on Monday. The current salary threshold of £26,200 is expected to be hiked to £38,000.And one official confirmed that the number of dependents that social care workers are permitted to bring into Britain will also be cut back in the package. Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly are also said to be ready to overhaul of the shortage occupation list, under which companies can pay foreign workers in shortage areas 20 per cent below the going rate.Suella Braverman has led pressure on Rishi Sunak to cut migration numbers A senior Whitehall source told The Daily Telegraph that people “will be surprised at how strong a package it is”.But it is not clear whether Mr Sunak will limit the total number of NHS and social care visas – a move immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been pushing for under a five-point plan.Privately, two sources said Ms Braverman and immigration minister Mr Jenrick had both pushed for the main salary threshold cap to go even higher – to £45,000.No 10 would not confirm any details – but said the legal migration package will crack down on “abuse” in the system. “The numbers are too high, there is evidence of abuse in the system and that’s what we will clamp down on.” In apparent rift with No 10, Mr Jenrick told MPs last week that his own immigration plan “would have been brought to the House before last Christmas if I could have done” – hinting that it had been blocked by Downing Street.The right-wing immigration minister – a close ally of Ms Braverman – also suggested he was keen to consider her idea of a radical “Australia-style” cap on annual net migration numbers.Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has pushed a five-point plan to cut net migration Tory MP Sir John Hayes – a key ally of Suella Braverman – welcomed the planned package of measures to tackle legal migration. “The government has finally, it seems to me, seen sense,” told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme.The leader of the Common Sense Group added: “There’s been a naivety on the part of some of the people advising government but actually that’s now been put aside and we’re seeing sense, we’re doing the right thing by the British people.”Pressed on a solution to a lack of workers, and the impact on the NHS and social care, Mr Hayes said: “The solution is to employ British workers for British jobs. It’s not that complicated.”However, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said the measures would be “cruel” and “disastrous” for the social care sector given “massive” shortages in the sector.She predicted that it will mean some foreign workers already here will leave. “What do you think’s going to happen?” she told the World at One programme.The Unison leader said: “This will be an utter disaster because what they’re doing is basically sending out a really strong message … saying you’re not welcome here.”She added: “To those who are already here, who do have dependents when they come to renew their visa, presumably they will be told you have to send your children back again.”Ms McAnea said that it was possible for more British people to work in social care “but not straight away”, saying UK employers would have to start paying people “appropriately to make it a job that is attractive to people”.Rishi Sunak has vowed to crack down on both legal and illegal migration After a new JL Partners survey found that just 59 per cent of 2019 Tories plan to vote Conservative – with one in six 2019 Tory voters switching to Reform UK – pollster James Johnson said: “Only one option for the Conservatives now: go big on immigration or go home.”The issue has opened up huge divides in the Tory party. The New Conservative group of around 35 right-wing Tory MPs exerting huge pressure on Mr Sunak to take radical steps to cut numbers. But senior Tory moderates, including health committee chair Steve Brine, urged Mr Sunak not to clamp down on NHS and social care visas. “They are the people who look after your ailing parents and grandparents,” he said.The major overhaul comes as Mr Cleverly is set to fly to Kigali to sign off on an updated agreement with Rwanda to take deported asylum seekers. British lawyers could be sent to Rwandan courts in order to address concerns about the country’s legal system, after the plan was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court. James Cleverly is set to visit Rwanda this week to sign an updated treaty The Sunday Times reported that Kigali is to be given a £15m top-up payment to agree fresh terms. But No 10 insisted there had been no demand for extra money. The PM’s official spokesman said: “Certainly I don’t recognise that figure of £15m.”Senior civil servants at the Home Office are said to have warned No 10 that the emergency Rwanda legislation is destined to fail.One Home Office source told The Times: “No 10 is very gungho but they’re trying to push this through for political reasons and they don’t know what they’re doing legally. Legislating to say Rwanda is safe doesn’t mean it is true … It’s all gimmicks.”Government lawyers are reportedly refusing to sanction the most draconian version of the legislation that would opt out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by using a “notwithstanding” clause to direct UK judges to ignore the ECHR on asylum cases.Senior Tory Mark Francois warned Mr Sunak that he must make sure the UK can opt out of the ECHR as part of the emergency Rwanda legislation.The chair of the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers told GB News: “Rishi promised to stop the boats but as [Tory deputy chairman] Lee Anderson very bluntly pointed out a few weeks ago, well, he hasn’t has he? … We’ve had two goes before. Now it’s three strikes and you’re out”. More