UK Politics

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailRishi Sunak’s claim that the government has cleared the asylum backlog has been called “misleading” by a fact checking organisation. Full Fact, a charity that combats misinformation, reviewed the claim after a row broke out about the backog, with Labour accusing Mr Sunak of a “barefaced lie”. It comes after the statistics watchdog, the Office for Statistics Regulation, launched an investigation into Mr Sunak’s announcement. The prime minister had said that the pledge to clear all so-called legacy asylum claims – counted as those submitted before June 2022 – had been met. Official statistics released on Tuesday showed that 4,500 of these cases had still to be processed. Mr Sunak then went on to suggest that he had cleared the entire backlog, despite data showing that 98,599 claims were still waiting on a decision. He wrote on X, formely Twitter: “I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”The Home Office said Rishi Sunak’s commitment to clear the legacy asylum backlog ‘has been delivered’ Now Full Fact have decided that this statement was misleading. In their review, published on their website on Wednesday, they wrote: “This is misleading. The PM’s claim relates to a subsection of outstanding asylum cases called the ‘legacy backlog’, rather than the overall backlog of cases which still stands at almost 100,000. “Most ‘legacy backlog’ cases have been resolved but around 4,500 are still marked as awaiting an initial decision.”Reacting to Mr Sunak’s comments, Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said they were “just not true”, and shadow immigration minister Steven Kinnock accused him of a “barefaced lie” that was “an insult to the public’s intelligence”. Home secretary James Cleverly had also said that “every single” legacy asylum case had been processed, despite thousands remaining unresolved. He said that the government had “committed to processing all those applications” not completing them. He said it was “impossible” to know when they would be given decisions and said the cases were “complex”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAn exam board is offering pupils the chance to be assessed digitally in their GCSE English exams from next year.Pearson, which runs exam board Edexcel, is aiming for GCSE students to be able to sit on-screen exams in the core subject by summer 2025, if they choose to do so.Up to 125,000 students in the UK will have the option to take Edexcel’s GCSE English language and English literature exams on-screen for the first time.The exam board’s on-screen GCSEs in English – which would be assessed in summer next year – are subject to regulatory approval by Ofqual.Pearson Edexcel hopes to be able to offer an on-screen option for all GCSEs by 2030 to increase accessibility for students, as well as other benefits.This is a pivotal moment for on-screen assessment in the UKSharon Hague, managing director for Pearson SchoolsThe exam board said it has seen more students using word processing for their responses to GCSE exam questions, as part of access arrangements.Sharon Hague, managing director for Pearson Schools, said: “This is a pivotal moment for on-screen assessment in the UK. For the first time, in summer 2025, students will be able to sit an exam in a core subject fully on-screen if they choose to do so.“We’ve heard loud and clear from students and teachers that they want a choice in how they take exams. That is why we’ll offer both on-screen and paper-based exam options.”Students who take Pearson Edexcel’s GCSE in computer science are already assessed partially on-screen and the exam board has begun rolling out digital assessments for its international GCSEs.This will be the first time that the main English GCSEs will be offered on-screen.Ms Hague added: “On-screen is a better experience for students who need accessibility adjustments. Students can zoom in to increase font size and choose colour filters on-screen during exams, something their schools or college would otherwise need to request in advance of their exams.“On-screen brings benefits for all students too. They can highlight and annotate information, cut and paste text and make easy edits to their answers. It’s what many students are used to doing when they work at home and in the classroom, and it’s undoubtedly how they will work in their careers too.”The move towards online assessment is positive and overdue, but does not come without challengesGeoff Barton, general secretary of ASCLSchools will still have the option to offer paper-based exams, as well as on-screen assessments, under the exam board’s plans.It comes as a number of the UK’s major exam boards have taken steps towards digital assessment.Last month, exam board OCR announced it would offer a digitally-assessed GCSE in computer science for pupils starting their course in 2025.Meanwhile, exam board AQA is aiming to roll out on-screen exams over a period of years and it hopes that students will sit at least one major subject digitally by 2030.The reading and listening components of GCSE Italian and Polish would be the first to move to digital exams in 2026, according to the proposals by AQA.Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “It is encouraging that exam boards are continuing to explore new forms of digital assessment.“It’s clear that an examination system that relies purely on pen-and-paper testing is outdated and we know that many students and their teachers will welcome the opportunity to provide typed answers.“As well as being more accessible for some students, digital exam papers should prove simpler to mark, easier to transport and hopefully less expensive to administer.”He added: “The move towards online assessment is positive and overdue, but does not come without challenges – including the ongoing disadvantage gap between those who may have more access to technology at home and therefore more familiarity with its demands.“It’s vital that schools are clearly guided through this process and have the necessary resources to put in place the digital infrastructure they need to deliver online exams going forward.”Steve Rollett, deputy chief executive at the Confederation of School Trusts (CST), said “On-screen assessment appears to have the potential to support students, especially those with particular needs, who might struggle to access traditional paper exams.“We hope this development will support children while retaining the overall integrity of the exam system.”An Ofqual spokesperson said: “Ofqual is committed to supporting well-evidenced innovation in how examinations are taken. Above all, it is critical that examinations are both accessible and fair to all students taking them.“We will evaluate in detail Pearson’s proposals when they are submitted for review. Our priority will be making sure their approach is fair to all students, whether they take their GCSE on screen or continue to do so on paper.”A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said: “The Department and Ofqual are taking time to understand the opportunities and implications of digital assessment to inform any decisions about the future of on-screen assessments.“As the independent regulator of qualifications in England, Ofqual requires that any GCSE or A-level moving on-screen will be subject to regulatory approval.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer will pledge to bring hope to an “exhausted” Britain as he seeks to draw dividing lines with Rishi Sunak – and his party’s own Jeremy Corbyn era – ahead of the general election.In a speech likely to be viewed as firing the starting gun on Labour’s long campaign, he will say his is no longer a party of “gestures politics” and accuse the prime minister of “pointless populist” gimmicks. Amid warnings disgruntled voters could sit on their hands this time around, the Labour leader will describe the UK as a nation “exhausted” by “the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends”.But he will pledge to change Britain, adding: “Whether you’re thinking of voting Labour for the first time, whether you always vote Labour, or whether you have no intention of voting Labour whatsoever: my party will serve you.“That’s who we are now, a changed Labour Party. No longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest, but a party of service.”Sir Keir will set out his stall on a visit to the west of England at the same time as the Tory leader gives a rival new year stump speech in the East Midlands. It comes as opposition parties increasingly put pressure on Mr Sunak to call a spring election. With the Tories trailing Labour in the polls, the prime minister will hope to narrow the gap before deciding to call a vote. But Tory MPs are increasingly downbeat after a series of announcements towards the end of last year failed to change the dial. In his pitch to voters, Sir Keir will say he understands why people have turned against politicians, following scandals like Partygate and a ramping up of political attacks between the parties. The Labour leader will hit out at Mr Sunak’s attempt last year to pitch himself as the “change candidate” in the election, despite 13 years of Tory rule. Keir Starmer: ‘crackdown on cronyism’ “They can’t change Britain, so they try to undermine the possibility of change itself,” he will say, as he urged voters to reject the “pointless populist gestures and the low-road cynicism that the Tories believe is all you deserve”.He will promise to “clean up politics” of sleaze, adding: “No more VIP fast lanes, no more kickbacks for colleagues, no more revolving doors between government and the companies they regulate.“I will restore standards in public life with a total crackdown on cronyism: this ends now.”The opposition leader will also pursue jail sentences of more than a decade for those who defraud the government, saying he helped send Labour and Tory “expense cheat politicians” to jail in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal while he was the director of public prosecutions.Assuring voters he offers a fresh start as the Conservatives step up their attempts to link him to Mr Corbyn, he will tell the public that “the opportunity to shape our country’s future rests in your hands”.He will also attack former Tory prime ministers Boris Johnson and David Cameron, saying politics is not a “hobby” for people who “enjoy the feeling of power”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA former government minister has revealed she came close to smothering her husband with a pillow as he died an agonising death from cancer. Dame Joan Ruddock said that she had gone so far as to get “the pillow ready” and anticipated a “struggle”. She is now appealing for assisted dying to be made legal.The former head of CND also set out how she cursed herself for not using his liquid morphine while he was still able to swallow it. She called for a vote on the issue, urging MPs not to stand in the way of something backed by 80 per cent of the population. Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen, who has stage four lung cancer, sparked a fresh debate on assisted dying last month, revealing she had joined the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.Dame Joan said that towards the end of her husband’s life she resolved that “my only option was a pillow over his head”.Frank Doran, himself a former MP, had been suffering from terminal colon cancer and she watched him suffer in extreme pain as he neared the end of his life. On his final night, she said: “I resolved that if a doctor did not come before 1am, I would end Frank’s life.“I cursed myself for not using the liquid morphine when Frank could still swallow. Now my only option was a pillow over his head.“I feared he might struggle but I got the pillow ready.“Just after midnight a doctor arrived. He said there was no need as Frank was sleeping peacefully.“I told him once the drug wore off the groaning would start again and I couldn’t allow his suffering to continue. He reluctantly gave [an] injection. Frank died seven hours later.”Dame Joan and Mr Doran both retired as MPs in 2015. Before he died aged 68 in October 2017 the pair endured a year of him living with cancer. She made her submission to the Commons health and social care select committee, which is investigating the issue of assisted dying. She said: “We had always spoken openly about death and promised each other help with the dying process should it be needed. It was a very happy marriage.“I loved him deeply and was determined to support him and didn’t leave his side during the gruelling hours of chemotherapy at our local hospital.”Joan Ruddock is second from right next to Harriet Harman, along with other Labour MPs Tessa Jowell, Barbara Roche and Clare Short in 1997She eventually became his carer and said he had “begged” her to ensure he died at home. “Some days later I heard a desperate cry,” Dame Joan recalled. “Frank was in the bathroom where I saw the toilet, the floor and his lower body covered in excrement.“It was a pitiful sight, and he was absolutely mortified. He said simply ‘I can’t go on living like this’.”Dame Joan said: “There should be a vote in the Commons and it should be a free vote. Around 80 per cent of people support assisted dying. MPs should take note of that. That is what the country wants and they should do what the country wants.” She added: “I think there will be a vote in the Commons before Keir becomes PM. But if there is not one before the general election then certainly I would urge Keir Starmer to allow … a free vote on the issue.”Esther Rantzen has called on MPs to think of their loved ones and the peaceful end they would wish for them as she accused politicians of avoiding a debate on assisted dying because it will not get them votes In her submission, she told MPs: “In Frank’s case the treatment was not sufficient to remove physical suffering and no care could remove the anguish of the mental and emotional suffering. “I do not believe we need to accept suffering when a condition cannot be treated, and death is inevitable. A person of sound mind should be able to ask to end their life in these circumstances.“In our case we would probably have asked for release one month before Frank actually died. This would have enabled us to part lovingly and peacefully, conscious that we were together.“By not having this choice we both suffered, and we used up a huge amount of NHS resource that could have been better deployed elsewhere.” More

The Liberal Democrats have demanded that Rishi Sunak launch a general election for May rather than “clinging on to power”.Mr Sunak has the power to hold the vote as late as January 2025, but Sir Ed Davey has urged him to call one much earlier.“I think people are fed up of waiting for a general election. They want change and it really shouldn’t be in the power of the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to call that,” the Lib Dem leader said.“He’s clinging on to power, desperate for something to turn up. That’s not right.” More

Shaun Bailey said Carol Vorderman “can’t be both” a serious political commentator and have “pictures of her bums and her boobs” on her Instagram during an appearance on GB News on Thursday, 28 December.”I would have some sympathy for that if she conducted herself like a grown-up… On one hand… she’s a serious political commentator, and then if you look at her Instagram it’s all pictures of her bums and her boobs… She can’t be both,” Lord Bailey said.Ms Vorderman called the Conservative peer a “misogynist” as she reposted a clip of the comments on X/Twitter. Lord Bailey said:  “I used a clumsy form of words to describe Carol Vorderman’s Instagram posts. The point I was trying to make is Carol lives in a world of glitz and celebrity, as her Instagram portrays, but simultaneously demonises and bullies those who hold different political views to her own.” More

Farage returns to GB News after jungle appearance Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailReform UK leader Richard Tice said Nigel Farage was still assessing his political return but was “very confident” the party’s founder would play some role in the general election campaign.Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning to launch Reform’s election campaign, Mr Tice also claimed a Labour government would usher in “Starmergeddon”. He claimed Sir Keir Starmer would drag Britain back toward the EU as he branded the opposition and the Tories as both part of the same “socialist coin”.Earlier, there was speculation over whether Nigel Farage would appear at the press conference. Mr Farage recently took part in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and rumours about his return to frontline politics have abounded ever since.In the end, Mr Farage did not appear but Mr Tice said he was “very confident” that his predecessors would play some role in the general election campaign in the future.Show latest update
1704293598Junior doctors start longest strike in NHS historyThe longest strike in NHS history “couldn’t come at a worse time”, experts said as they warned that elderly patients could put off seeking medical help due to the walkouts.Hospital bosses said the health service is “in the grip of peak winter pressure” as junior doctors in England take to picket lines for six days.NHS Providers said the “unprecedented” action will lead to delays in care for thousands of patients.Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 January 2024 14:531704292235 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe former boss of the Post Office should hand back her CBE over the scandal which saw postmasters wrongly jailed, a Tory minister has said.Paula Vennells, who was chief executive of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019, should give up the honour voluntarily, Kevin Hollinrake told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.The business minister, whose brief includes postal services, said: “Paula Vennells got a CBE for services to the Post Office.“Ultimately you’ve got responsibility for what happened here, you’re the chief executive, if I was Paula Vennells I would seriously consider handing that back voluntarily at this point in time.”Errors made by Horizon software, which was made by tech firm Fujitsu and used by the Post Office, led to the wrongful conviction of more than 700 people over false accounting and theft between 1999 and 2015.Amid a grilling over the scandal, Mr Hollinrake said he “absolutely” supported criminal prosecutions for those responsible where there is evidence of criminality.He added that an ongoing inquiry should determine “who is responsible” in the Post Office and Fujitsu and “wherever possible those people should be held to account”.Retired high court judge Sir Wyn Williams is chairing an inquiry into the Post Office scandal, considered the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British history.The renewed focus on the scandal comes amid a new ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office.Alan Bates, played by Toby Jones, has spent two decades of his life fighting for justice after hundreds of fellow postmasters and postmistresses were accused of theft, fraud, and false accounting due to faulty computers.In 1999, Horizon, a defective Fujitsu IT system, began incorrectly reporting cash shortfalls at branches across the country. The accusations tore people’s lives apart, with many losing their jobs and homes.Several people took their own lives due to the stress.To this day, not a single Post Office or Fujitsu employee has been held to account over the scandal, much less faced criminal investigation. Sixty of the victims have died before finding any justice at all.Ms Vennells was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) “for services to the Post Office and to charity” in the 2019 new year honours list.Previous calls for her to be stripped of the title include from the Communication Workers Union. More