UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which would prohibit the sale of tobacco to people born after 1 January 2009 and restrict sale of vapes, is debated in parliament on Tuesday 16 April.MPs will discuss and vote for the first time on government plans to stop young people from ever smoking.Rishi Sunak sees the bill as a key part of his long-term legacy as he bids to “stamp out smoking for good”.However, the prime minister is set to face opposition to the legislation from within his own party.The bill has attracted condemnation from senior Conservatives including former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who argue it impacts upon people’s freedoms.England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, has rejected those “pro-choice” arguments and suggested resistance to the plan was “surprising”.Mr Sunak has granted his MPs a free vote on the issue later on Tuesday, with several expected to reject the plan – although with Labour supporting it, the measure is likely to comfortably clear its first House of Commons hurdle. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak will give Rwanda £50m as soon as his flagship deportation bill becomes law, the Home Office has admitted.With the bill expected to gain royal assent this week, the UK will send Kigali the latest payment of cash despite no migrants having been sent to the east African nation.The policy is designed to let the government deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda, by deeming the country “safe” in British law, with the government expecting initial flights to take off in the coming months.But just a handful of migrants are expected to be sent to Rwanda before the general election, expected this autumn.Appearing before the House of Commons public accounts committee, Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft said Britain would hand Rwanda the £50m sum “as soon as we have royal assent”.Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda scheme will head back to the Lords on Tuesday (Stefan Rousseau/PA) 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 stop young people from ever smoking risk making smoking cooler, a Tory MP has warned.If passed, the tobacco and vapes bill would prevent anyone who turns 15 this year, or younger, from ever being able to legally buy tobacco products in England. It will be debated in parliament for the first time on Tuesday.But Conservative MP Simon Clarke said he is “both sceptical and downright opposed” to the plans, claiming they could help create a black market. He said: “There are good ways to tackle a problem like this and then there are bad ways, and I think that an outright ban risks being counterproductive.“I think it actually risks making smoking cooler, it certainly risks creating a black market, and it also risks creating a unmanageable challenge for the authorities.”Sir Simon said education and the tax system should be used as tools to deter people from smoking.Sir Simon has previously called for Mr Sunak to go before the election (Danny Lawson/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer prime minister Liz Truss has endorsed Donald Trump to win this year’s US presidential election. Ms Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, said the “world was safer” under Trump’s presidency as she criticised incumbent Joe Biden. The former PM, who was in office for 49 days, suggested it “has to be” Trump following the US presidential election due to take place in November.“I don’t think (President Joe) Biden has been particularly supportive to the United Kingdom. I think he’s often on the side of the EU. And I certainly think I would like to see a new president in the White House,” she told LBC. Read the latest updates on Truss’s new book hereMs Truss claimed the former president’s economic policies “were actually very effective”, adding: “He cut regulation, he cut taxes, he liberated the US energy supply. And this is why the US has had significantly higher economic growth than Britain.. In foreign affairs, he was more effective at preventing aggressive regimes expanding and I think we’d be in a different position if he got re-elected in 2020.”She doubled-down on these comments, telling the BBC: “I do agree that under Donald Trump when he was president of the United States, the world was safer.“I want to work with fellow conservatives to take on what I believe is a real threat of Western society and civilization being undermined by left-wing extreme ideas.”However, Ms Truss added she doesn’t agree with “absolutely everything he’s ever said”. Liz Truss speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailCreating a sexually explicit “deepfake” image is to be made an offence under new legislation, the Ministry of Justice has announced.Under the new legislation, anyone who creates a sexually explicit deepfake without consent will face a criminal record and an unlimited fine.They could even face jail, if the image is shared more widely.The creation of a deepfake will be an offence irrespective of whether the creator intended to share it or not, the department added.The new offence will be introduced through an amendment to the controversial Criminal Justice Bill, which is still making its way through Parliament.Minister for Victims and Safeguarding Laura Farris said the creation of deepfake sexual images is “unacceptable irrespective of whether the image is shared”.“It is another example of ways in which certain people seek to degrade and dehumanise others – especially women,” she said.“And it has the capacity to cause catastrophic consequences if the material is shared more widely. This Government will not tolerate it.“This new offence sends a crystal clear message that making this material is immoral, often misogynistic, and a crime.”Deborah Joseph, European editorial director of Glamour welcomed the planned amendment.“In a recent Glamour survey, we found 91% of our readers believe deepfake technology poses a threat to the safety of women, and from hearing personal stories from victims, we also know how serious the impact can be,” she said.“While this is an important first step, there is still a long way to go before women will truly feel safe from this horrendous activity.”Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, welcomed the announcement too.“Superimposing somebody’s image onto sexually explicit photos and videos is a gross violation of their autonomy and privacy, which can cause enormous harm, and it must not be tolerated,” she said.Ms Cooper said it was “vital” the Government gets ahead of “fast-changing threats”.She added: “It’s essential that the police and prosecutors are equipped with the training and tools required to rigorously enforce these laws in order to stop perpetrators from acting with impunity”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Tory MP who reported Angela Rayner to the police amid an ongoing row over the sale of her council house refused to explain what alleged offences he thought she had committed.James Daly, the Conservative Party deputy chairman, failed to answer the question three times during an awkward exchange on the BBC’s Daily Politics programme.“Well, the Greater Manchester Police last week…announced that they were investigating various matters in relation to this and therefore I think it’s perfectly appropriate to allow that investigation to proceed,” he said.Mr Daly, who represents the red wall seat of Bury North in Greater Manchester, contacted police to make them aware that neighbours of Ms Rayner had contradicted her account that a property, separate from her husband’s, was her main residency.Greater Manchester Police later launched an investigation into whether Ms Rayner had broken electoral law, having initially said she had no case to answer, following questions about whether she paid the correct amount of tax when she sold the property before becoming an MP.James Daly was asked three times what offence he thought Rayner had committed but did not answer More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK government is facing growing calls to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation following its attack on Israel. The British Board of Deputies, which represents British Jews, have led the calls for Rishi Sunak to ban the organisation. They have been backed by MPs from across the political divide, while Israel made similar representations to the United Nations security council. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is a powerful force within Iran and also controls the “axis of resistance” against Israel across the region.In a letter to Mr Sunak on Monday, the Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said: “The IRGC’s role in funding, arming and training a host of terror proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, is clear”. Senior Tories also urged Mr Sunak to take action, with former party leader Iain Duncan-Smith describing ministers’ justifications for not designating the organisation as “absurd”.He told the Guardian: “The government should have already proscribed IRGC. The USA have asked us to do it. The excuses the government uses are [firstly] that if the UK proscribes the IRGC it will lose influence. That’s absurd as we clearly have no influence.”Bob Blackman, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Israel told The Independent he wants to see the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps proscribed and the Iranian embassy “closed in London, as well as our embassy closed down in Tehran, and all our diplomats brought home.”Shadow defence secretary John Healey also said the threat to the UK from allowing the IRGC to operate should be sufficient for the government to be “responsible” and ban the organisation. He added: “It’s the leading edge of the threat that Iran poses not just to Israel, but to Arab countries and western interests right across the region”. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said on Sunday that the attack “highlights once again the extreme danger of the IRGC”.Foreign secretary David Cameron said that proscribing the “dangerous” organisation was something ministers were keeping under review, alongside a number of possible further sanctions against the stateHe added: “I keep this under review but the police and security services say they have the powers to deal with it here or elsewhere.”Foreign secretary David Cameron has said that proscribing the force was something ministers were keeping under review More