UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has been forced to back down on proposals to water down a workers’ rights package that a new Labour government would bring in, The Independent understands.In what was seen as the first big test for the Labour leader ahead of the general election which he hopes will install him in 10 Downing Street, Sir Keir held a lengthy meeting with a Trade Union Congress delegation.It followed reports that the Leader of the Opposition was planning to water down a package on workers’ rights which had been agreed in consultation with the unions last year.After the meeting, TUC president Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), said: “I think it was a very good spirit. The unions are absolutely in one place which I think was noticeable.“The discussion with Labour now is how is that implemented. There is a lot of work to be done. We know there is a lot of lobbying of Labour by big business and the billionaire class.”Earlier, Mr Wrack told The Independent that his delegation would “compare and contrast” the measures in Labour’s policy document and what they had agreed in the consultation last year.Starmer met union leaders on Tuesday More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChildren are being “blackmailed into stripping for strangers”, an MP has warned, amid calls for the Government to ban smartphones for under-16s.Conservative MP Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) told a Westminster Hall debate that mobile devices had a harmful effect on children.She said: “This Government does have less than a year left in office, but if we could pass the Coronavirus Act (2020) in just one day, surely, surely, we can use these next few months to introduce effective legislation to protect children from a real and present danger.”Introducing the debate, Ms Cates said: “Imagine if it was a daily occurrence for our children to be propositioned for sex or blackmailed into stripping for strangers.“Imagine if every mistake your child made was advertised on public billboards, so that everyone could laugh and mock until the shame made life not worth living.“But this is not a horror movie, this is not some imaginary Wild West, this is the digital world that our children occupy, often for hours a day.“Our kids are not OK.”We will look back and ask why we allowed paedophiles, predators, greedy capitalists and foreign enemies unfettered access to our children onlineConservative MP Miriam CatesMs Cates compared the outcry over a reported link between smartphones and poor mental health with the Intoxicating Liquors Act 1901, which ended the sale of alcohol to children, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which raised the female age of consent from 13 to 16.“We will look back and ask why we allowed paedophiles, predators, greedy capitalists and foreign enemies unfettered access to our children online,” she said.SNP MP Alyn Smith said Murray Dowey, a 16-year-old boy in his Stirling constituency, had died by suicide after falling victim to “sextortion”.Victims of sextortion receive nude photographs and, if they return a similar photograph, receive threats that the image will be shared publicly unless they meet demands to share details online, including credit card information.“Sextortion being a horrible word for a horrible thing, but it is something that we really must make particularly young people more aware of, because the risks are real and clear,” Mr Smith said.“Murray was a bright, happy 16-year-old.“He was football daft, Stirling Albion was his team, he was well liked, he was popular, and he took his own life after being a victim of sextortion via his Instagram chat account.”Mr Smith said that a smartphone ban could “encourage a backlash” and would be “very difficult to enforce and regulate”.He said: “I am very drawn to the idea of restricting access in schools, (that) would be a sensible thing to do.”He added that police and legal enforcement were “nowhere near as joined up as tech companies and their products are”, and that regulators “don’t seem to have much teeth”.The decision on whether a child should have access to a smartphone should not be one for government. Instead, we should think about empowering parents to make the right call for their children and their individual circumstancesTechnology minister Saqib Bhatti Labour’s Sir Chris Bryant (Rhondda) said: “Social media I think has turbocharged some of the worst aspects of humanity.”He called for “many more mental health professionals into schools”.Sir Chris said creative education “can be a really important part of fostering better self-confidence, self-understanding, socialisation, working as part of a team and all those things, and one of the problems we have had over recent years is that that has fallen away”.Technology minister Saqib Bhatti said: “We live in a digital age and many parents do want their children to have a smartphone, as these provide many benefits to children and parents, such as staying connected while travelling alone.“In other words … while we may be trying to protect children from one harm, (a ban) may well lead to another.“So, I speak to many, many parents who give me the other side of the argument, and I just want to put that on record.“The decision on whether a child should have access to a smartphone should not be one for government.“Instead, we should think about empowering parents to make the right call for their children and their individual circumstances.“In fact, parents can obviously influence as consumers the market themselves and it is my belief that choice is a liberty that parents and children should be allowed to exercise.”Parliament passed the Online Safety Act in 2023, which requires tech firms to “prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise”, according to the Government.More than 24,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Government to ban smartphones and camera phones for under-16s. More

Six ‘new’ ships are from Tory pledge two years ago, Shapps confirmsSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Foreign Office has summoned Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang following the arrest of three men accused of spying for Hong Kong. Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, Matthew Trickett, and Chung Biu Yuen allegedly undertook information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception that were likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.It comes as Grant Shapps revealed the MoD is commissioning the creation of six new ships to support the Royal Marines in a bid to fulfill the government pledge to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.He has accused the Labour Party of being a danger to UK defence. The defence secretary branded Sir Keir Starmer unserious for not committing to a spending target to match the Tories. In a speech on Monday, Rishi Sunak delivered a pre-election speech in a move to pitch to voters after this month’s local election blow.The prime minister told voters the world is ‘closer to nuclear war since the Cuban missile crisis’.Show latest update 1715698499Health Minister urges MPs to ignore myths by Nigel FarageAndrew Stephenson has urged MPs to dismiss claims made by Nigel Farage about the treaty.The Reform UK president previously said: “It will be binding on us, under international law.“It would give the World Health Organisation the ability, number one, to take away 20% of our PPE and vaccines to give to other parts of the world.”“Give them the power to dictate behaviour, such as mask mandates, such as not being able to travel without being jabbed goodness knows how many times and, the really big one, they would be able to say to us, this is now a global pandemic, you must lock down.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Foreign Office has summoned the Chinese ambassador to a meeting after three people were charged with spying for Hong Kong.Zheng Zeguang met with senior officials at 10.30am on Tuesday over the growing row after instruction from the foreign secretary, Lord David Cameron.It comes after Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, appeared in court on Monday charged with foreign interference and assisting a foreign intelligence service.China’s London embassy reacted with fury to the charges, describing them as a “fabrication” and an “unwarranted accusation” against Hong Kong.A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “The FCDO was unequivocal in setting out that the recent pattern of behaviour directed by China against the UK including cyber attacks, reports of espionage links and the issuing of bounties is not acceptable.“The summons followed Monday’s announcement that three people have been charged with offences under the National Security Act as part of an investigation led by officers from the Met Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.China’s London embassy reacted with fury to the charges, describing them as a ‘fabrication’ More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightBrexiteers “should have considered the consequences of their actions” before complaining about a high court ruling which has potentially left UK immigration policy in chaos, a leading Northern Ireland MP has claimed.Belfast South SDLP MP Claire Hanna’s intervention came as immigration minister Tom Pursglove was answering an urgent question in the Commons on the rulong by the court in Northern Ireland that the Illegal Immigration Act does not apply in that part of the UK.Mr Pursglove insisted that the governmment “will appeal the decision” but came under fire from both sides of the House as Tory Brexiteer MPs joined the Opposition in condemning the chaos left in the UK’s immigration system.There were concerns expressed that a similar challenge on the Safety of Rwanda Act, to allow deportation flights, will also be successful in the Northern Irish high court.The problems appeared to originate from Rishi Sunak’s much vaunted Windsor Framework Agreement with the EU last year designed to try to resolve the chaotic Irish border problems eft by Brexit, which were first warned about during the 2016 Breit referendum by former prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair.Tom Pursglove answered the urgent question (Richard Townshend/UK Parliament/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe “irresponsible actions” of Chinese state-backed hackers are making the internet less secure for the world, a British spy chief warned.GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler said responding to the “coercive and destabilising actions” of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was her “top priority”.She also highlighted the “immediate threats” posed by Russia and Iran, carrying out actions ranging from cyber attacks, espionage and surveillance.In cyberspace, we believe that the PRC’s irresponsible actions weaken the security of the internet for allAnne Keast-ButlerBut the scale of the challenge from Beijing meant GCHQ devotes “more resource to China than any other single mission”.In a speech at the Cyber UK conference in Birmingham, she said: “Through their coercive and destabilising actions, the PRC poses a significant risk to international norms and values.“In cyberspace, we believe that the PRC’s irresponsible actions weaken the security of the internet for all.“China has built an advanced set of cyber capabilities, and is taking advantage of a growing commercial ecosystem of hacking outfits and data brokers at its disposal.“China poses a genuine and increasing cyber risk to the UK.”China wanted to shape global technology standards and assert its dominance in the field within the next 10 to 15 years, she said.The UK was working with its Five Eyes intelligence allies – the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – on the challenges, she said.She added: “We have repeatedly called out Chinese cyber adversaries for activities that threaten the security of the UK or target the institutions important to our society, such as the compromise of the UK Electoral Commission.”On Russia, the GCHQ chief said there were “growing links” between Vladimir Putin’s intelligence services and proxy groups to conduct “cyber attacks, as well as suspected physical surveillance and sabotage operations”.Previously, Russia “simply created the right environment” for these groups, but it was now “nurturing and inspiring these non-state cyber actors, in some cases seemingly co-ordinating physical attacks against the West”.The threat from Russia was “acute and globally pervasive”, Ms Keast-Butler warned.She said GCHQ continued to strengthen Ukraine’s cyber capabilities and shared vital intelligence to expose “Putin’s malign plans” and reliance on states including China, North Korea and Iran.She said Iran was also “aggressive in cyberspace” and “actors associated with the state had been implicated in attacks against victims in many countries”.Tehran was continuing to develop cyber espionage expertise alongside “disruptive and destructive” capabilities.“Whilst they might not always use the most advanced capabilities to conduct their operations, they should not be underestimated,” she added.The US government has already identified and disrupted the PLA’s efforts to pre-position on our critical infrastructure networks and we are going to keep pushing backHarry CokerThe National Cyber Security Centre’s chief, Felicity Oswald, also raised concerns about China’s online activity and urged network managers to bolster their defences.She said: “The Chinese authorities have introduced a new law requiring the discovery of security vulnerabilities to be provided to the government as a priority and at risk of severe penalty. This should worry all of us.”She said the UK, US and allies had warned about the activity of the Volt Typhoon cyber group “which could be laying the groundwork for disruptive and destructive cyber attacks”.“This is a clear warning about China’s intent to hold essential networks at risk,” she said.“And it is a warning that providers of essential services in the UK cannot afford to ignore.”Harry Coker, the White House’s national cyber director, said China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “has invested tremendous resources in building up their cyber programme” and was intent on embedding capabilities in foreign states’ civilian infrastructure to “wreak havoc” at a time of crisis.“The US government has already identified and disrupted the PLA’s efforts to pre-position on our critical infrastructure networks and we are going to keep pushing back,” he said. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA furious row has erupted over reforms set to bar MPs from Parliament if they are arrested for serious sexual or violent offences, with Grant Shapps calling the changes the “wrong side of natural justice”. MPs voted by a majority of one for the measure on Monday night. Controversially, the move was backed by former prime minister Theresa May, six years after she restored the whip to MPs accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour as she battled to save her premiership. Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, who was cleared earlier this year after a four-year investigation into allegations of rape, said he was “appalled” by the move.“The principle of innocent until proven guilty has been lost,” he told The Independent.Defence Secretary Mr Shapps said: “For me, it does seem to be just on the wrong side of natural justice. And that is why I voted to say wait for a charge. But there are passionate arguments in both directions. And I can see you can make that argument in both directions.“I thought it is slightly the wrong side of the line,” he told Times Radio. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRent hikes should be capped for people struggling to afford soaring rates, according to a report commissioned by the Labour Party.Rises should be limited to either consumer price inflation or local wage growth – whichever is lower – in England and Wales, it found.Stephen Cowan’s report, commissioned by Lisa Nandy as shadow housing secretary, recommends a swathe of measures to support renters struggling with the spiralling cost of living.It will pile pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to set out his own plans to support renters. Labour has welcomed the findings, but distanced itself from the report to insist it is not party policy.Former shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy commissioned the report More