UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailCabinet Office officials working on the government’s small boats plan reportedly referred to “bloody migrants” and told colleagues they were expected to leave their “humanity at the door” in a sign of civil service tensions over the controversial policy,Rowaa Ahmar, a former senior civil servant who has withdrawn a discrimination case against the Cabinet Office, has described “inhumane conversations” in the illegal migration taskforce.She was head of policy at the department before resigning in 2022 and later accused individuals at the heart of Boris Johnson’s government of bullying, discrimination and gaslighting.The former civil servant, who is of Egyptian and French dual heritage, also made allegations of “systemic racism” against the Cabinet Office.“I was privy to some inhumane conversations using the words ‘let’s boomerang them’, ‘bloody migrants’, ‘let’s take them in Cat C and treat them as prisoners,’” she told The Guardian. “I can’t reveal the legal advice, but I was pushing for the legal advice to be respected.”Ms Ahmar, who previously worked at the Treasury, had lodged two claims with an employment tribunal, claiming she was subject to “direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of her sex and race” as well as “victimisation”.Tribunal documents made public following a successful application by news organisations show she accused the head of the civil service, Simon Case, of showing a “lack of support” and “cold-shouldering” her allegations of racism and harassment after she resigned.She said that after beginning her role as head of policy for the illegal migration task force on 4 January 2022, she found civil service directors viewed the “ultra-hostile environment” towards migrants as “practical, necessary and gratifying”.Rowaa Ahmar, a former senior civil servant, has withdrawn a discrimination case against the Cabinet Office More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDisillusioned Conservative voters in Blackpool South have turned on “Richy” Rishi Sunak ahead of a crunch by-election, a focus group conducted with The Independent reveals.With two weeks until the contest to replace disgraced former MP Scott Benton, a group of 10 Tory 2019 voters said the prime minister is “weak” and “just does not have a voice”.Working in a range of industries, the group described Blackpool’s descent from a bustling beachside resort a town riddled with shuttered shops, antisocial behaviour and an overstretched health service which has driven some to go private.Voters ‘felt that politicians had neglected Blackpool and that they were only in public life for themselves’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s plans to slash the spiralling costs of “sick note” benefits have been met with a barrage of criticism from mental health experts and others. The prime minister said it was a “moral mission” to reform the welfare system, as he warned the number of young economically inactive people in Britain was a “tragedy”.But he was forced to deny his proposals – which include removing benefits entirely from fit people who refuse to work after 12 months – were about cost-cutting and lacked compassion as he faced accusations of “hostile rhetoric” and a “full-on assault on disabled people”. Since Covid the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness has risen significantly, reaching 2.8 million people in February.At £69bn, Britain is now spending more on benefits for people of working age with a disability or health condition than “our entire schools budget”, Mr Sunak warned in a speech. Setting out his reform plans he announced that benefit payments could be withdrawn from some people with mental health problems, who would be offered treatment instead. Charities slammed the proposal pointing out that 1.8 million people are already waiting for mental health treatment on the NHS. The prime minister also unveiled plans that could strip GPs of the right to issue “fit notes”, handing them over to other professionals. Benefits fraud would also be treated like tax fraud, with new powers to make seizures and arrests and a new civil penalty. Meanwhile, those who are fit and able to work will have their employment claim closed and their benefits taken away if they do not accept available work, under plans to be brought in after the general election. Making the announcement the PM said: “Anyone who doesn’t comply with the conditions set by the work coach, such as accepting an available job will, after 12 months, have their claim closed and their benefits removed entirely.”Downing Street said a quarter of a million people have been out of work for more than a year, at a time when there are 900,000 vacancies in the economy. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hit out at the plans, saying the “biggest problem here frankly is that the government has broken the NHS, and waiting lists are up at 7.6 million”.The charity Scope said calls were “pouring into” their helpline from concerned disabled people following the speech, which it said felt “like a full-on assault”.Rishi Sunak has made a speech on major proposals for welfareMr Sunak insisted he was not downplaying or dismissing illness, but instead calling for a “more ambitious” approach to helping people back to work.But he said he would not let “down many of the people our welfare system was designed to help” for “fear of causing offence”. Warning that “something has gone wrong”, Mr Sunak warned that 850,000 more people had been signed off work due to long-term sickness since the pandemic. The change had “wiped out a decade’s worth of progress in which the rate had fallen every single year”, while the biggest proportional increase was among young people.He added: “There is nothing compassionate about leaving a generation of young people to sit alone in the dark before a flickering screen watching as their dreams slip further from reach every passing day.” His review of the fit-note system could see specialist work and health professionals charged with responsibility for issuing them instead of GPs.Recent NHS data showed almost 11 million fit notes were issued last year, of which 94 per cent declared the recipient “not fit to work”. The PM visits a branch of Timpson after giving his speech on welfare reform in London on Friday More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA devout Tory has said she has been “let down” by the Conservative Party after claiming her concerns about a sitting MP demanding thousands to free himself from an alleged kidnap attempt were “brushed under the carpet”.Katie Fieldhouse, 78, a former Tory mayor and respected member of Fylde MP Mark Menzies’ constituency encompassing the coastal town of Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, says the MP rang her at 3.15am one December morning begging for £5,000 to pay “bad people”.Mr Menzies lost the Conservative whip and was suspended as one of Rishi Sunak’s trade envoys after The Times published the claims this week.Speaking through tears at her home, Ms Fieldhouse, a lifelong Tory activist, told the BBC: “I watch people go for a walk in this quiet area. Do I want them to go out and vote for a man who gets himself locked up and needs money to get him out? No.”She recounted the conversation, saying the MP rang her up to say: “‘I’ve got in with some bad people and they’ve got me locked in a flat and they won’t let me out until I pay them £5,000.’ I said: ‘I beg your pardon.’ He said: ‘It’s life or death Katie, I need £5,000 from the account.’”Labour has said the allegations against Mark Menzies warrant a police investigation (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 emailFormer Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has broken her silence hours after her husband was charged in connection with embezzlement of SNP funds. Police Scotland confirmed on Thursday evening that Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive for 22 years, had been arrested and charged over the investigation.The 59-year-old was previously arrested as a suspect last year, before being released without charge. On Thursday, he resigned his membership of the SNP, which has been urged to cooperate with the police investigation.Mr Murrell’s charge is part of a probe known as Operation Branchform into the spending of more than £600,000 in donations for campaigning for Scottish independence.On Friday, Ms Sturgeon spoke to reporters outside her home in Uddingston near Glasgow. Asked about the situation as she got into her car, she said: “It is incredibly difficult, but that is not the main issue here.“I can’t say any more, I’m not going to say anymore”Nicola Sturgeon speaks to reporters outside her home near Glasgow after her husband was charged by police More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has vowed to end what he called a “sick note culture” with a new “moral mission” to reform the welfare system, as he warned the number of economically inactive young people in Britain was a “tragedy”.But he was forced to deny the plans – which include removing benefits entirely from fit people who refuse to work after 12 months – were just about cost cutting. The prime minister insisted his reforms were the compassionate choice as he faced accusations of “hostile rhetoric” and a “full-on assault on disabled people”. Since Covid the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness has risen significantly, reaching 2.8 million people in February.In a speech on Friday morning, Mr Sunak talked of the risk of “over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life” as he railed against people being “parked on welfare”. The current system is also “economically unsustainable”, he warned, with more spent on supporting working-age people with illness or disability than on schools, transport or policing. Setting out his plans for reform he suggested that some people with mental health conditions who receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP) could be offered treatment instead of cash.But charities slammed the proposal pointing out that 1.8 million people are currently waiting for mental health treatment on the NHS. The prime minister also unveiled plans that could strip GPs of the right to write fit notes, handing them over to other medical professionals. A post-election fraud Bill would also connect the Department for Work and Pensions to HMRC ”so that we treat benefit fraud like tax fraud, with new powers to make seizures and arrest” and a new civil penalty, he said. The charity Scope said calls were “pouring into” their helpline from concerned disabled people following the speech, which it said felt “like a full-on assault”.Mr Sunak earlier insisted he was not downplaying or dismissing illness, but instead calling for a “more ambitious” approach to helping people back to work.“We should see it as a sign of progress that people can talk openly about mental health conditions in a way that only a few years ago would’ve been unthinkable, and I will never dismiss or downplay the illnesses people have,” he said.“But just as it would be wrong to dismiss this growing trend, so it would be wrong merely to sit back and accept it because it’s too hard; or too controversial; or for fear of causing offence. Doing so, would let down many of the people our welfare system was designed to help.”Warning that “something has gone wrong”, Mr Sunak said 850,000 more people were out of work due to long-term sickness since the pandemic. The change had “wiped out a decade’s worth of progress in which the rate had fallen every single year”. Half of those individuals had depression or anxiety, he said, without stating that these are reported to be secondary conditions in most cases.“Most worryingly of all the biggest proportional increase in economic inactivity due to long term sickness came from young people. Those in the prime of their life just starting out on work and family, instead parked on welfare,” said the prime minister. He added: “There is nothing compassionate about leaving a generation of young people to sit alone in the dark before a flickering screen watching as their dreams slip further from reach every passing day.” His review of the fit note system could see specialist work and health professionals charged with responsibility for issuing them instead of GPs.Recent NHS data showed almost 11 million fit notes were issued last year, many of which were repeat fit notes “issued without any advice, resulting in a missed opportunity to help people get the appropriate support they may need to remain in work”, according to the government.“We don’t just need to change the sick note, we need to change the sick note culture so the default becomes what work you can do – not what you can’t,” he said, pointing to figures showing that 94 per cent of the 11 million fit notes signed off by GPs denoted people as not fit to work.“Building on the pilots we’ve already started we’re going to design a new system where people have easy and rapid access to specialised work and health support to help them back to work from the very first Fit Note conversation,” said Mr Sunak. “We’re also going to test shifting the responsibility for assessment from GPs and giving it to specialist work and health professionals who have the dedicated time to provide an objective assessment of someone’s ability to work and the tailored support they need to do so.”Mr Sunak suggested greater medical evidence could be required to substantiate a claim for personal independence payments (PIP), which are designed to help claimants deal with the extra costs of living with a long term disability, and said some people with mental health conditions may be offered talking therapies or respite care rather than cash transfers.And he detailed plans for new legislation to prevent treat benefits “fraudsters” in the same way as tax fraud to stop them exploiting “the natural compassion and generosity of the British people”.Since 2020, the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness has risen significantly, reaching a record high of 2.8 million people as of February 2024, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.A large proportion of those report suffering from depression, bad nerves or anxiety, although most of those report these as secondary conditions rather than the main one keeping them out of work.Labour accused the government of lacking “concrete answers” as the party pledged it would drive down NHS waiting lists.Alison McGovern, Labour’s acting shadow work and pensions secretary, added: “Rather than a proper plan to get Britain working, all we heard today were sweeping questions and reheated proposals without any concrete answers.”Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey described the speech as “desperate” at the time when millions are unable to access NHS hospitals, GPs or mental health support.He said: “Rishi Sunak is attempting to blame the British people for his own government’s failures on the economy and the NHS and it simply won’t wash.”Richard Kramer, chief executive at charity Sense, said: “The government’s ongoing onslaught on disabled people is hard to watch, with the prime minister today taking aim at people who are long-term sick in a cruel speech demonising people with ‘sick notes’.“This rhetoric is unbelievably damaging and unhelpful, presenting disabled people as ‘shirkers’ who don’t want to work. But this isn’t the case – while employment isn’t right for everyone, many disabled people do want to work.”Warning that stigma, unfair recruiting practices and a lack of specialist assistive technology in job centres – are stopping people from finding work are among the barriers to jobseekers with complex disabilities finding work, he said: “We’d urge the government to tackle these issues and offer better support as a priority, instead of focusing their time on scapegoating disabled and sick people.”Additional reporting by PA More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has called for “calm heads to prevail” as Britain has urged de-escalation following Israel’s retaliatory attack on Iran – with explosions heard near a major military airbase.While foreign secretary David Cameron met with his G7 counterparts in Italy to discuss easing tensions in the Middle East on Friday, Tehran was forced to activate its air defence system above the city of Isfahan, which is also home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear programme. Asked about the emerging reports on Sky News, a government minister said the UK accepts Israel’s “absolute right to defend itself” – but insisted Britain was “very firmly engaged in counselling de-escalation and moderation at this particular moment”.Smoke billows in the air as Israel strikes Iran on Friday More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain is moving to prohibit tobacco sales to those born after 2009 in a bid to create a smoke-free generation – but do you think Rishi Sunak’s controversial smoking ban is a good idea?The Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed its first Commons vote with a majority of 316 this week. Labour support helped the bill overcome opposition led by Liz Truss. But notable figures in the Tory party, such as Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, and Suella Braverman voted against it. Ms Truss denounced her successor’s plan as a “virtue-signalling piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future”.Health Secretary Victoria Atkins acknowledged these concerns, but countered: “Nicotine robs people of their freedom to choose. The vast majority of smokers start when they are young, and three-quarters say that if they could turn back the clock they would not have started,” she added.Former health secretary Lord Clarke, however, warned the move risked being difficult to enforce.“You will get to a stage where if you are 42 years of age, you will be able to buy them but someone aged 41 will not be allowed to,” he told The Telegraph. “Does that mean you will have to produce your birth certificate? It may prove very difficult to enforce. Future generations will have to see whether it works or not.”In the end, 57 Tory MPs defied Rishi Sunak’s call. Support for the bill came from various parties, with 178 Conservatives, 160 Labour MPs, and others voting in favor. We want to know what you think. Are Sunak’s plans to create a smoke-free generation the best way to stamp out smoking? Or should people be free to choose to smoke if they want to?Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments – we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More