UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHumza Yousaf has quit as SNP leader after just 398 days in office.The Scottish first minister’s decision to collapse a power-sharing agreement with the Greens spectacularly backfired, and on Monday he stepped aside.The once-dominant nationalist party is in meltdown. Ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, who ran the party for 22 years, has been charged in connection with the embezzlement of SNP funds.Humza Yousaf vowed last week to fight and win a vote of no confidence in his leadership More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Tory MP and former government minister claims he was deported during a trip to Djibouti because of the east African country’s close relationship with China.Tim Loughton, who was santioned by Beijing in 2021, said he was held at the airport for seven hours, barred entry from the country and then sent back to the UK on the next available flight.China imposed sanctions on a number of MPs, including Mr Loughton, after the country said they had “maliciously spread lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses against the Uighur people.The MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, who was in Djibouti for a 24-hour visit on 8 April, described the experience as “very lonely and frightening”.He told the BBC: “I told them I was a member of parliament and then it went all very frosty.“Djibouti is effectively a vassel state of China – what China wants, Djibouti kowtows to and having a troublesome MP who has been sanctioned by China turning up on their doorstep was clearly something they didn’t want to entertain.”Mr Loughton said he was held for an hour in the arrivals hall, before later being taken to a holding room for three hours and then sent back on a flight to Britain.He added: “This was another example of how the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Government extend far and wide, and their malign influence in sensitive parts of Africa is particularly worrying.“Yet the intimidation of countless others who have dared to speak out against China’s industrial scale human rights abuses and who do not have the platform an MP raises serious concerns.”The UK’s Chinese embassy has been contacted for comment.Mr Loughton is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet, which has previously shone the spotlight on China’s record on human rights abuses.He has previously called for a UN investigation into the “use of slave labour” in China and said the country is a “serial abuser” of human rights.Mr Loughton is one of more than 100 MPs who are standing down at the next election.The veteran backbencher, who has represented East Worthing & Shoreham since 1997, wrote in April that it was “wiser to leave five minutes too soon than to continue for five years too long”.In a letter to his local Conservative association, Mr Loughton said: “It has been a great honour to have served as the Member of Parliament for the newly created East Worthing and Shoreham constituency since 1997.“With the help of a fantastic local party association, we have fought seven general elections successfully.“By the time of the next one I will have spent more than 27 years in Parliament. After much reflection I have decided now is the right time for me to move on and hand over to someone new.“As former Cabinet Minister John Biffen appropriately put it: ‘In politics I think it is wiser to leave five minutes too soon than to continue for five years too long’.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNew laws protecting consumers from hacking and cyber attacks come into effect on Monday, with all smart devices required to meet minimum-security standards.Manufacturers of products including phones, TVs and smart doorbells are now legally required to protect internet-connected devices against access by cyber criminals, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.Weak default passwords such as “admin” or “12345” will be banned, with users prompted to change any common passwords.Manufacturers have to publish contact details so bugs and issues can be reported, and be transparent about timings of security updates.From today, consumers will have greater peace of mind that their smart devices are protected from cyber criminalsViscount CamroseThe new measures will help give customers confidence in buying and using products, according to the department.Science and technology minister Viscount Camrose said: “As everyday life becomes increasingly dependent on connected devices, the threats generated by the internet multiply and become even greater.“From today, consumers will have greater peace of mind that their smart devices are protected from cyber criminals, as we introduce world first laws that will make sure their personal privacy, data and finances are safe.“We are committed to making the UK the safest place in the world to be online and these new regulations mark a significant leap towards a more secure digital world.”The laws are taking effect as part of the product security and telecommunications infrastructure (PSTI) regime, which aims to strengthen the UK’s resilience from cyber crime. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Home Office has confirmed it will start detaining asylum-seekers within weeks for the first planned flights to Rwanda – after reports of a surprise move to round up people for deportation from Monday sparked anger from human rights groups.Rishi Sunak insisted this week that flights carrying asylum-seekers to Rwanda would take off in July, as the Rwanda Bill passed through parliament and into law.Despite still facing a host of difficulties in delivering on his flagship policy, Mr Sunak will be keen to show progress on illegal migration before calling a general election as pressure mountson his leadership.On Sunday, The Guardian published a report claiming the Home Office was set to launch a surprise two-week operation on Monday to detain refugees turning up for routine meetings at immigration service offices for deportation.The article claimed they would be immediately transferred to detention centres, which have already been prepared for the operation, before flights taking them to Rwanda. The passed legislation means deported asylum seekers’ applications will be dealt with by the east African country.The Home Office would neither confirm nor deny the paper’s claims, but said that, following the passage of its legislation, the “government is entering the final phase of operationalising this landmark policy to tackle illegal migration and stop the boats”. “At some stage inevitably this will include detaining people in preparation for the first flight, which is set to take off to Rwanda in 10-12 weeks. It would be inappropriate to comment further on operational activity,” the spokesperson said.Human rights advocates were quick to condemn the reported plan, warning such a move would further traumatise people fleeing torture and persecution.“Make no mistake, this latest attack on refugees by this government will further traumatise people who have fled from torture chambers seeking safety and a chance to rebuild their lives in the UK,” said Sonya Sceats, chief executive of charity Freedom from Torture.“We know from our clinical services that even survivors of torture who are completely safe from harm tend to live in a semi-permanent state of hypervigilance to threats, because of their history of being rounded up, detained, and abused in authoritarian states. Around 500 people crossed the Channel on small boats over the course of Friday and Saturday, the latest Home Office data suggests More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAlex Salmond has warned Scotland’s embattled first minister Humza Yousaf that his Alba Party will only back him in a confidence vote if the SNP is open to a renewed push for Scottish independence.The no-confidence motion was lodged by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross after Mr Yousaf dramatically collapsed the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens last week – leaving him at the head of a minority government in Holyrood.While there is no obligation for him to resign if he loses that vote, Labour has also called for a second vote of confidence in Mr Yousaf’s government, which would force all ministers to resign if passed and give MSPs 28 days to agree on a new first minister, or else trigger a Scottish parliamentary election.Humza Yousaf dramatically brought the Bute House Agreement to an end this week More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe use of mixed-sex wards has gone “through the roof” after the number of men and women being put in beds next to each other soared to nearly its highest level in a decade. Official figures from NHS England show the government’s strict rules against doing so were broken nearly 5,000 times in February alone.NHS leaders voiced concerns over the high number of breaches and warned that care that was “unthinkable a decade ago is at risk of becoming the new normal”.Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said patients were left feeling humiliated and at risk, adding: “The use of mixed-sex wards has gone through the roof under the Tories.”The government outlawed mixed wards in the NHS in 2010. Under the guidance, patients should not share wards overnight, share bathroom facilities or have to walk through areas occupied by patients of the opposite sex to get to the toilets.When hospitals breach this they are required to report it to the NHS. Only in very few circumstances is mixed accommodation allowed – such as urgent admission to critical care. Despite promises more than a decade ago to eliminate mixed wards, The Independent has found:4,811 reported breaches in February, up from 3,789 last NovemberNurses warning “sky-high breaches” are the tip of the icebergEvidence that patients are suffering sexual assaults while on mixed mental health wardsOne woman was sexually assaulted while in the corridor by a male patient More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAmy Gallagher is the Social Democrat Party candidate for London mayor. She is an NHS nurse and psychotherapist. She pledges “all woke and diversity, equity and inclusion programmes will be stopped” in London. “I will serve all Londoners equally with a colourblind policy – people will be judged on their character not skin colour. I will protect religious freedoms, women’s sex-based rights and gay rights. No more identity politics. Our spaces should be for everyone,” she added.Ms Gallagher garnered media attention after bringing legal action against the NHS, accusing it of forcing critical race theory on people.Her manifesto pledges include:‘Stand Up To Woke’ – she will fight a woke dogma she says is destroying London’s industries, culture, and atmospherePeople should be judged on the content of their character, not the colour of their skin, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and Martin Luther King Jr.“Make criminals scared again” and end gang violence in LondonEnding Ulez, low traffic neighbourhoods and “the war on cars”Increasing housing stock and reduce rents No more racialised divisive politics which drive people apartWe will not use the mayoralty as a platform for international “causes”End two-tier policing of political views and make the Met impartial againProtect women’s spaces with more visible policing and more police back on the beatEncourage a vibrant night-time economy which in turn will make our streets more occupied and safer for women alone at nightYou can read her full manifesto here.Voters can cast their ballot in person on 2 May, by post or by proxy. Find your nearest polling station here.Everyone will need to show photo ID at polling stations before they vote.The results will be announced at City Hall on Saturday 4 May.Read the full list of candidates here. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSusan Hall is the Conservative Party candidate for London mayor. The Tory candidate is a former leader of the London Assembly Conservative group. Ms Hall launched her manifesto on 22 April – 10 days before the polls open. At the event, Ms Hall said she would scrap the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) expansion from day one in the job.She pledged to end a “war on motorists” by reviewing 20mph speed limits on main roads and low traffic neighbourhoods where they are said to be unpopular.The Conservatives would also extend Night Tube services, and reinstate travel discounts for over-60s during peak morning hours, her manifesto said.Ms Hall has also committed to recruit 1,500 more police officers, and set up two new police bases in every London borough, while taking action to crack down on knife crime, theft and women’s safety issues.Ms Hall said she would scrap the Ulez expansion from day one in the job More