UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA former Post Office boss has suggested he was partly to blame for the Horizon IT scandal because he “didn’t really reflect” on how the organisation prosecuted alleged crimes. Giving evidence at the Post Office inquiry on Thursday, David Smith – who was the Post Office’s managing director between April and December 2010 – said there were “inherent risks” involved in the prosecutions taking place in-house as opposed to by an independent authority.He told the inquiry: “I’m sad to say at the time I didn’t really reflect on it in the way that I perhaps should have done.”Mr Smith added that, with hindsight, management should have identified those risks, to put in place “better control mechanisms”. Asked to what extent he accepted responsibility for not identifying that risk, Mr Smith responded: “I certainly think I am a part of it.”During his evidence, Mr Smith also admitted that the Post Office conducting investigations and then prosecuting the cases might have meant the organisation did not “act independently”.“I think that the passage of time has shown that conducting the case, gathering the data, acting as the prosecution can lead you to a position where you might not think as independently as you should do about the quality of information,” he said. David Smith was former managing director of the Post Office More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNearly a fifth of teenagers say the internet is their main source for information about sexual health and healthy relationships, a survey suggests.Young people are turning to online sources to learn about relationships and sex which is leaving them vulnerable to potentially “dangerous” and “untrustworthy” information, the Sex Education Forum charity has warned.A poll, of 1,001 students aged 16 and 17 in England, suggests that 30% of young people turned to social media as their main source of information about sexual orientation and gender identity, ahead of school (25%).The survey, carried out by Censuswide on behalf of the charity in February, found that 22% of young people said the internet was their main source of information on pornography, while 15% said they turned to pornography itself as their main source of information on the topic.Around a fifth said social media and websites were their main source of information about unhealthy relationships (21%), healthy relationships (18%) and sexual health (18%).Neglecting young people’s views does the next generation a disservice by leaving them dependent on potentially untrustworthy online sources for information and ill-equipped for healthy relationshipsLucy Emmerson, chief executive of the Sex Education ForumThe findings, which have been shared with the PA news agency, come after the Government announced a review of its statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance for schools more than a year ago.Delegates at the annual conference of the National Education Union last week warned that social media influencers, such as Andrew Tate, are contributing to a rise in sexism and misogyny which young girls are facing in schools.The Sex Education Forum poll suggests nearly half of students learned nothing at all or not enough at school on power imbalances in relationships (49%), porn (49%) and how to access local sexual health services (46%).More than two in five reported learning nothing at all or not enough at school on attitudes and behaviour of boys and men towards girls and women (44%) and on gender identity (44%).The charity’s report on relationships and sex education (RSE) said: “It is clear that schools feel under-confident about delivering on some areas of the curriculum that are statutory, but are particularly taboo and politicised.“The problem is that these gaps leave young people vulnerable to misinformation as they seek out knowledge from online sources like social media, or have no access to advice at all.”It is extremely worrying that children are turning to the internet for information about sexual education and relationships as this information may be unreliable and harmfulMargaret Mulholland, inclusion specialist at ASCLLast month, the Women and Equalities Committee said there was compelling evidence that RSE is “failing young people” as it warned of soaring rates of sexually transmitted diseases,More than four in five (81%) of the teenagers who were surveyed said they agreed that primary school children should be taught about the importance of consent for things like touching another person’s body, while 73% said they believed they should be warned about the harms of pornography.More than half (56%) said children should see examples of same-sex relationships – included in stories, scenarios and discussion – in primary schools, while 53% said children should learn what trans and non-binary mean.Teenage girls were more likely to say children should be taught about the importance of consent in primary school than their male peers (85% compared with 77%), the survey suggests.Since September 2020, relationships and sex education has been compulsory in secondary schools in England, while relationships education has been compulsory in primary schools.In March last year, Rishi Sunak announced a review of RSHE guidance for schools following concerns that children were being exposed to “inappropriate” content.But the Department for Education (DfE) has yet to publish a consultation on the guidance.When asked to select from a list of possible actions the Government could take to help improve RSE, more than half called for training for teachers to develop more confidence with the subject (57%), and flexibility for schools to cover RSE topics at the age that their pupils need (52%).Lucy Emmerson, chief executive of the Sex Education Forum, said: “More than a year after announcing a review of the subject, we are still waiting for Government to release its promised consultation and refreshed guidance for relationships and sex education (RSE).“While we hope these launch following the Easter recess, Westminster has been delaying this critical review despite the increasingly complex relationships landscape for young people and the well-documented harms impacting them, from sexual abuse and violence to poor sexual health.“I am alarmed to find that students feel today’s biggest issues, including pornography and attitudes of men and boys towards women and girls, are not being adequately covered.“Hearing that young people seek questionable or even dangerous information on outlets like social media to fill gaps on key topics should be a wake-up call that better provision is needed from schools for the safety of our pupils.“Government must heed the voices of young people and release improved guidance that deals with their realities – and soon.”The charity is calling on the Government to prioritise flexible “age and stage” relevant content and providing more teacher training.Ms Emmerson added: “Neglecting young people’s views does the next generation a disservice by leaving them dependent on potentially untrustworthy online sources for information and ill-equipped for healthy relationships.”Margaret Mulholland, inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “It is extremely worrying that children are turning to the internet for information about sexual education and relationships as this information may be unreliable and harmful.“We are very concerned, in particular, about the rise of online misogyny and the impact this is having on the behaviour of some young people.“Schools play a crucial role in providing reliable and responsible information on these issues through their relationships, sex and health education programmes.“However, they have been poorly supported by the Government in terms of resources and training and are expected to deliver this sensitive and complex topic within packed timetables and severe funding pressures.”A Government spokesperson said: “As part of the current review of the RSHE curriculum, we are looking at where certain topics can be strengthened, in an age-appropriate and factual way.“We want to ensure all children are safe online and so, through our world-leading Online Safety Act, social media firms are being required to protect children from being exposed to harmful material online, and the Education Secretary recently took robust action by prohibiting the use of mobile phones in schools.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDavid Cameron has rejected Donald Trump’s reported peace plan for Ukraine and warned against ‘appeasing’ Putin just days after his surprise meeting with the former US President to push for extra funding for the war.Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has also slated the idea, to give up swathes of territory to Russia, branding it “primitive”. The foreign secretary said a show of Ukrainian “strength” rather than “appeasement and weakness” would bring the conflict to a halt. Mr Cameron has defended his face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which came after he previously called him “xenophobic, [and] misogynistic”. But he appears to have been snubbed by a key Trump ally, House speaker Mike Johnson, as he meets US politicians to urge them to support Ukraine’s war effort. During an interview with CNN, Lord Cameron said: “Everyone wants to see an end to the killing and an end to the war… But you only get that by backing Ukraine, by showing strength.”Peace comes through strength, not through appeasement and weakness.”Similar language has previously provoked the ire of senior Republicans. Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.In return right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.In a message to Republicans, the ex-prime minister also said the money would be good for US jobs and security and show the West was prepared to stand up to “bullies”.Mr Trump, who hopes to become President again in November, is reportedly ready to push ahead with a ‘peace plan’ that would involve pressuring Ukraine to give up Crimea and the Donbas border region to Russia, according to the Washington Post. Asked about the idea, Lord Cameron added: “I don’t think we should be discussing those things right now, we should be discussing how do we get Ukraine back on the front foot.”They’ve showed incredible bravery. They’ve showed that they can win against Putin, they’re not going to lose for lack of morale, they’re not going to lose for lack of ingenuity on the battlefield.”The only way they can lose is if we don’t give them the support they deserve.”Lord Cameron said last week that he planned to discuss the funding with Mr Johnson, who must decide when to put the Ukraine package to a vote. But the two men have not met on the trip. Lord Cameron also warned decisions on Ukraine cannot be delayed until after November’s election.”There’s a risk that Ukraine will lose more ground to Putin, and no one wants to be in a situation in November, where we could have acted, we could have helped, we could have beaten back Putin, we could have started the process of getting a Ukraine win and getting a just peace but we failed to do that,” he said. He also urged US politicians not to be taken in by propaganda from Vladimir Putin.Separately, the Ukrainian president warned ceding territory would pave the way for more Russian aggression. “If the deal is that we just give up our territories, and that’s the idea behind it, then it’s a very primitive idea,” Mr Zelensky told Politico.“I don’t need a fantastic idea, I need a real idea, because people’s lives are at stake.” The Trump campaign has been aproached for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom – a member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry on Wednesday 10 April.The former MP for North East Hampshire spoke a day after lead campaigner and former subpostmaster Alan Bates told the inquiry he believed the Post Office was “definitely trying to outspend us” as part of its “aggressive” tactics at the High Court.Giving evidence in front of Post Office chief executive Nick Read on Tuesday, Mr Bates said the organisation “needs disbanding” and called it a “dead duck” that is “beyond saving”.He also took aim at the government’s “fundamental flaw” of being unable to deal with issues such as the Horizon scandal “easily and sensibly”.The Post Office has come under fire since the broadcast of ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which put the scandal under the spotlight.More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the government-owned organisation and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Tory peer and long-standing advocate for victims of the Post Office scandal has said he raised the issue with the Labour government 15 years ago but received a response that made clear “the government wanted nothing to do with them”. Lord Arbuthnot said he was left frustrated at the reply to his 2009 letter to then-business secretary Lord Mandelson, which asked for subpostmasters’ complaints over the faulty Horizon IT system to be investigated. He said the former Labour government avoided responsibility over the scandal, after receiving a letter from junior minister Pat McFadden which suggested the concerns were instead a matter for the Post Office. Lord Arbuthnot told the inquiry on Wednesday: “It was clear that the government was saying it was nothing to do with them.”Lord Arbuthnot said he was not satisifed with the ‘brush off’ he received from former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has backed Joe Biden’s calls for a 6-8 week ceasefire in Gaza to allow food and medicine to go into the country, following a significant intervention from the US president overnight where he called Israel’s approach to the conflict “a mistake”.The prime minister said Mr Biden and he were “very aligned on this” and that he had consistently called for an “immediate humanitarian pause so that we can get the hostages out.”Mr Sunak added: “We want to get aid in to help alleviate the suffering and then use that as a platform to build a sustainable ceasefire.”His comments come on the back of building domestic and international pressure on Israel to bring an end to the conflict in Gaza mounts following the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Palestine that has seen the death of over 30,000 people and the killing of seven aid workers – including three British citizens – by Israeli airstrikes.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More