UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailScotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon fought back tears at the Covid inquiry as she denied using the pandemic for political purposes.The ex-SNP leader choked up as she rejected claims that she had pushed for fights with Boris Johnson’s government to boost her Scottish independence cause.She insisted that she had not been “thinking of political opportunity”, as she was grilled about WhatsApps which showed she wanted public arguments with Mr Johnson.Ms Sturgeon also finally admitted that she had deleted her own WhatsApp messages with officials and ministers, but attempted to play down the importance of the messages.The former first minister said she “did not make extensive use of informal messaging” – claiming that her officials’ discussion of deleting messages was merely “light-hearted” banter.And she became visibly emotional as she spoke of being “overwhelmed” at times during the crisis. “There’s a large part of me wishes that I hadn’t been, but I was, and I wanted to be the best first minister.”Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the Covid inquiry It came as Ms Sturgeon vehemently denied that the government had politicised the pandemic to pursue Scottish independence, stating that would have been “robbing people of their livelihoods” and would “absolutely” have been a betrayal of the Scottish public.She told the Covid inquiry that she had never thought less about Scottish independence as she did during the course of the pandemic.The former SNP boss also said that she “will absolutely assert” that no decisions were made for political reasons, “or that were influenced in some way by considerations for the constitutional argument”.Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove previously accused the Scottish government of seeking “political conflict” with Westminster government during the pandemic.Messages between Ms Sturgeon and her top adviser Liz Lloyd showed they had discussed a “good old-fashioned rammy” with Boris Johnson’s government over the furlough scheme. It emerged that Ms Sturgeon called Mr Johnson a “f***ing clown”, while Ms Lloyd said she sought a “spat with a purpose”.The former SNP leader, fighting back tears, told the inquiry: “The idea that in those horrendous days, weeks, I was thinking of political opportunity” was “not the case”. She added: “It wasn’t true.”Sturgeon cabinet meeting minutes from June 2020 show that her ministers agreed to consider how the Covid crisis could be used to boost support for Scottish independence.But Ms Sturgeon pointed to a 2020 letter from her then constitution secretary, Mike Russell, to Mr Gove saying the Scottish government was suspending all work on an independence referendum.Nicola Sturgeon leaving the Covid inquiry hearing Ms Sturgeon apologised when grilled about her statement to a Channel 4 journalist during the Covid crisis saying she would be fully transparent in allowing access to her WhatsApp messages. She said she could have been more “clear”.She admitted that she deleted these informal messages – but said it was in line with official advice because “salient” points were all recorded on her government’s corporate record.Amid the storm of controversy over deleted messages, Ms Sturgeon conceded that WhatsApp had become “too common” a means of communication within the Scottish government during the crisis.But she insisted that she exchanged WhatsApps with no more than a “handful” of people – including key ally Ms Lloyd, and the now first minister Humza Yousaf, who was health secretary.The ex-SNP leader also dismissed messages sent by senior civil servants and officials about the deletion of WhatsApp messages as “light-hearted”.Nicola Sturgeon admits she deleted her WhatsApp messages during Covid inquiryKen Thompson, the Scottish government’s director-general for strategy, wrote in August 2020 that “plausible deniability are my middle names”. He also told colleagues they should “know where the ‘clear chat’ button is” on WhatsApp.Ms Sturgeon said: “I look at that exchange and what I don’t see is an exchange about the decisions that were taken, I see a light-hearted discussion between officials.”Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Ms Sturgeon’s behaviour has “smashed” trust in the SNP, as he accused the Scottish government of having a “culture of secrecy and cover-up”.The Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said the inquiry hearings had shown Ms Sturgeon to be a “liar” and a “fraud”, as he accused the former first minister of “destroying vital evidence”.And one of the Scottish Covid Bereaved group said Ms Sturgeon’s “crocodile tears aren’t washing with me” as they reacted to her evidence. Pamela Thomas lost her brother, James Cameron, said: “I don’t think they’re capable of actually telling the truth or being transparent.”Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon also rejected accusations of “secrecy” during the pandemic. She claimed she did not have “carte blanche” to make decisions on her own, as she was grilled about her so-called “gold command” meetings of only senior cabinet ministers.Inquiry counsel Jamie Dawson KC put it to her that she “did not like light to be shone” on the way decisions were taken. “I would very strongly refute that,” Ms Sturgeon replied. “I did not have carte blanche, wide latitude to take decisions – and nor should I have had.”Ms Sturgeon confirmed that no minutes were taken of the gold command meetings. “There were not minutes taken of them in the way you would have cabinet minutes because they were not decision-making meetings.”Defending small meetings, she told the inquiry she did “not have a great deal of patience” with the idea of “everybody” wanting to be in the room – saying said there was a tendency for a “cast of thousands” to want to be in the room with her.And Ms Sturgeon also admitted that it was a mistake to use a SNP email account to conduct some government business with public health expert Professor Devi Sridhar. “On reflection, perhaps I shouldn’t have done that.”Ms Sturgeon also said she regretted not locking down “a week, two weeks” earlier than Mr Johnson’s UK government did. She said it was one “of the many regrets I have”. 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 insightBoris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the DUP – warning that it could tie the UK to EU trade rules in future.Mr Sunak’s government revealed new arrangements to remove routine checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in a bid to restore power-sharing at Stormont.Checks required under the previous so-called “green lane” will be further reduced – a tweak aimed at fixing some of the unresolved mess left by Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal.Despite effectively being an extension of his own deal, Mr Johnson joined Tory rebels in claiming the new arrangements could thwart Britain’s post-Brexit “freedom” to diverge from EU rules.The former PM – who has repeatedly criticised Mr Sunak since he was kicked out of No 10 – called on his successor to have the “courage” to ditch more Brussels regulations.“We must retain the appetite and the courage to diverge from the low-growth high-regulation European model,” said Mr Johnson on X, formerly Twitter.“We must at all costs avoid a return to anything remotely like the disastrous ‘Chequers’ formula, whereby artificial concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland are used to keep the whole of the UK in alignment with EU rules.”Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak at odds over Brexit again Mr Johnson’s former Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost – believed to be part of a small cabal of right-wing MPs and ex-advisers plotting to bring down Mr Sunak – said he agreed with the former PM.The trouble-making Tory peer warned that the new agreement with the DUP should not “slow” the push to diverge from the EU.Under the new deal set out in Mr Sunak’s “Safeguarding the Union” paper, the “red lane” for transporting goods from GB to NI, and then on into the EU single market in the Republic of Ireland, will remain.But routine checks will be removed from the “green lane” on goods from the GB destined to stay in NI, and replaced with only occasional checks when “smuggling and disease risks” are suspected.The old “green lane” will be rebranded as the “UK internal market system”. And the government estimates that 80 per cent of goods will now move free of routine checks.The government has pledged to amend domestic law – specifically a section of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act – to affirm the fact that new EU laws will not automatically apply in Northern Ireland, and must first be subject to oversight by Stormont.In a bid to keep both the DUP and Brexiteers happy in allowing UK-wide divergence from EU standards, there is also a legal requirement that any new legislation is assessed as to whether it “impacts on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain”.Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris sets out new deal agreed with DUP But some Brexiteer Tory MPs remain sceptical. Former home secretary Priti Patel and former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg challenged Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to explain how the UK would be able to diverge on EU rules without risking arrangements for Northern Ireland.Answering their questions in the Commons, Mr Heaton-Harris insisted that the deal did not “change the freedoms and powers we have secured through Brexit”. The minister added: “It will not reduce our ability to diverge.”But fellow right-winger Theresa Villiers – a former Northern Ireland secretary – said she was “troubled” by the deal and the prospect of it being rushed through parliament. “It is vital that there’s nothing in the deal which prevents Great Britain from diverging from EU rules,” she told The Telegraph.However, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has hailed the plan, claiming it would effectively scrap the contentious Irish Sea border for goods. “There should not be a border within the UK internal market,” he said. “These proposals remove that border.”Sir Jeffrey praised Mr Sunak for going further than Mr Johnson. “Whilst Boris Johnson promised us a lot of things, he didn’t deliver them. Rishi Sunak has worked with us, [Mr Heaton-Harris] worked with us, to make these changes,” the DUP leader told the BBC.The DUP has agreed to drop its two-year blockade of Stormont but there are those within the unionist party who remain deeply sceptical of the proposed agreement.Sammy Wilson, the most outspoken, said the UK would still have to follow EU rules. “This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying government – refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland.”DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has hailed the deal Legislation promised in the deal is set to be fast-tracked through parliament on Thursday to enable the restoration of the institutions at Stormont – possibly as soon as Saturday.No 10 has insisted that the DUP deal would not mean that the Windsor Framework agreement Mr Sunak struck with the EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen would not have to be reopened.Downing Street said on Wednesday that the deal contains “significant” changes to the Windsor deal’s “operation” but is not about altering the “fundamentals” of the framework.The European Commission effectively endorsed the new arrangement by saying it had come “following in-depth technical discussions with the UK”. Vice-president Maros Sefcovic said on Wednesday that it “replies to the needs of Northern Ireland businesses while protecting our single market”.And Micheal Martin, the Republic of Ireland’s deputy PM, does not expect the European Commission to object to the new Sunak plan, saying: “I do not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side.”It came as Tory minister Andrea Leadsom dismissed the concerns of business chiefs over the costly new checks imposed on EU imports – calling them the “price you pay” for Brexit.The Brexiteer said on Times Radio that British firms must simply “adapt” to the new rules which began on Wednesday, and suggested they should even consider “changing their trading arrangements with the EU” if they were struggling.Nigel Jenny from the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) warned that the checks for food and plant importers are essentially a £200m tax on the industry and would push up prices for consumers.And Paolo Arrigo, managing director of London-based importer Seeds of Italy, told The Independent that the new checks were “anti-small business” and that it was now easier to import from China than France. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailTwo in three Independent readers want a change of government at the next general election, a major new poll suggests.Only a quarter (25 per cent) of readers want Rishi Sunak’s administration to remain in Downing Street, while 69 per cent said they would prefer fresh faces in charge.The results are in line with the overall results of British voters – 63 per cent of those questioned said it was time for a change of government, while less than a quarter (24 per cent) thought the current government should stay in No 10.The poll of almost 25,000 people, a larger-than-usual survey number, found that a change of government was the most popular option across all categories of voters, including age, gender, ethnicity, religion and income level.Even groups traditionally more supportive of the Conservatives, such as the over-65s and those in the top income bracket, agreed.The poll, carried out on behalf of Best for Britain, the organisation behind getvoting.org – a tactical voting site – also showed that a fifth (19 per cent) of those who said they intended to vote Conservative in their area wanted a change of government.Mr Sunak has been in crisis mode since the start of the year – battling to get his Rwanda bill through parliament and fighting to fend off a plot by right-wing Tory rebels to bring him down.On Wednesday, his beleaguered premiership suffered three new blows, including business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a favourite to succeed Mr Sunak, being unmasked as a member of a WhatsApp group called “Evil Plotters”.At the start of the year,  Best for Britain’s constituency-level polling showed that Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer was the most popular choice for prime minister in 390 seats, including Mr Sunak’s own North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond.The prime minister was the most popular candidate in only four out of 632 seats in Britain.Naomi Smith, founder of GetVoting.org, said: “It is now painfully obvious that after 14 years of failure, chaos and scandal, that time could soon be up for this government, but this polling shows that millions who want change still don’t know how they should vote to get it.”The poll of 24,954 adults by Focal Data on behalf of Best for Britain was conducted between 19 December and 16 January. 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 insightBoris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the DUP – warning that it could tie the UK to EU trade rules in future.Mr Sunak’s government revealed new arrangements to remove routine checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in a bid to restore power-sharing at Stormont.Checks required under the previous so-called “green lane” will be further reduced – a tweak aimed at fixing some of the unresolved mess left by Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal.Despite effectively being an extension of his own deal, Mr Johnson joined Tory rebels in claiming the new arrangements could thwart Britain’s post-Brexit “freedom” to diverge from EU rules.The former PM – who has repeatedly criticised Mr Sunak since he was kicked out of No 10 – called on his successor to have the “courage” to ditch more Brussels regulations.“We must retain the appetite and the courage to diverge from the low-growth high-regulation European model,” said Mr Johnson on X, formerly Twitter.“We must at all costs avoid a return to anything remotely like the disastrous ‘Chequers’ formula, whereby artificial concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland are used to keep the whole of the UK in alignment with EU rules.”Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak at odds over Brexit again Mr Johnson’s former Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost – believed to be part of a small cabal of right-wing MPs and ex-advisers plotting to bring down Mr Sunak – said he agreed with the former PM.The trouble-making Tory peer warned that the new agreement with the DUP should not “slow” the push to diverge from the EU.Under the new deal set out in Mr Sunak’s “Safeguarding the Union” paper, the “red lane” for transporting goods from GB to NI, and then on into the EU single market in the Republic of Ireland, will remain.But routine checks will be removed from the “green lane” on goods from the GB destined to stay in NI, and replaced with only occasional checks when “smuggling and disease risks” are suspected.The old “green lane” will be rebranded as the “UK internal market system”. And the government estimates that 80 per cent of goods will now move free of routine checks.The government has pledged to amend domestic law – specifically a section of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act – to affirm the fact that new EU laws will not automatically apply in Northern Ireland, and must first be subject to oversight by Stormont.In a bid to keep both the DUP and Brexiteers happy in allowing UK-wide divergence from EU standards, there is also a legal requirement that any new legislation is assessed as to whether it “impacts on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain”.Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris sets out new deal agreed with DUP But some Brexiteer Tory MPs remain sceptical. Former home secretary Priti Patel and former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg challenged Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to explain how the UK would be able to diverge on EU rules without risking arrangements for Northern Ireland.Answering their questions in the Commons, Mr Heaton-Harris insisted that the deal did not “change the freedoms and powers we have secured through Brexit”. The minister added: “It will not reduce our ability to diverge.”But fellow right-winger Theresa Villiers – a former Northern Ireland secretary – said she was “troubled” by the deal and the prospect of it being rushed through parliament. “It is vital that there’s nothing in the deal which prevents Great Britain from diverging from EU rules,” she told The Telegraph.However, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has hailed the plan, claiming it would effectively scrap the contentious Irish Sea border for goods. “There should not be a border within the UK internal market,” he said. “These proposals remove that border.”Sir Jeffrey praised Mr Sunak for going further than Mr Johnson. “Whilst Boris Johnson promised us a lot of things, he didn’t deliver them. Rishi Sunak has worked with us, [Mr Heaton-Harris] worked with us, to make these changes,” the DUP leader told the BBC.The DUP has agreed to drop its two-year blockade of Stormont but there are those within the unionist party who remain deeply sceptical of the proposed agreement.Sammy Wilson, the most outspoken, said the UK would still have to follow EU rules. “This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying government – refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland.”DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has hailed the deal Legislation promised in the deal is set to be fast-tracked through parliament on Thursday to enable the restoration of the institutions at Stormont – possibly as soon as Saturday.No 10 has insisted that the DUP deal would not mean that the Windsor Framework agreement Mr Sunak struck with the EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen would not have to be reopened.Downing Street said on Wednesday that the deal contains “significant” changes to the Windsor deal’s “operation” but is not about altering the “fundamentals” of the framework.The European Commission effectively endorsed the new arrangement by saying it had come “following in-depth technical discussions with the UK”. Vice-president Maros Sefcovic said on Wednesday that it “replies to the needs of Northern Ireland businesses while protecting our single market”.And Micheal Martin, the Republic of Ireland’s deputy PM, does not expect the European Commission to object to the new Sunak plan, saying: “I do not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side.”It came as Tory minister Andrea Leadsom dismissed the concerns of business chiefs over the costly new checks imposed on EU imports – calling them the “price you pay” for Brexit.The Brexiteer said on Times Radio that British firms must simply “adapt” to the new rules which began on Wednesday, and suggested they should even consider “changing their trading arrangements with the EU” if they were struggling.Nigel Jenny from the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) warned that the checks for food and plant importers are essentially a £200m tax on the industry and would push up prices for consumers.And Paolo Arrigo, managing director of London-based importer Seeds of Italy, told The Independent that the new checks were “anti-small business” and that it was now easier to import from China than France. 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 insight The U.K. government on Wednesday published the details of a deal that has broken Northern Ireland’s political deadlock and should — barring a major upset — restore the regional government in Belfast after almost two years on ice.Unveiled on the fourth anniversary of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, the agreement eases some of the border checks imposed because of Brexit that unsettled Northern Ireland’s delicate political balance and sparked a political crisis. CRISIS, WHAT CRISIS? Britain’s exit from the European trading bloc in 2020 imposed new trade barriers between the U.K. and the EU, and also between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. That’s because Northern Ireland shares a border with an EU member, the Republic of Ireland.An open border between the north and the republic is a key pillar of the peace process that ended three decades of violence in Northern Ireland, so checks were imposed instead between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.That angered Northern Ireland’s British unionists, who said the east-west customs border undermined Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K. In February 2022, the Democratic Unionist Party walked out of Northern Ireland’s government in protest.The walkout collapsed the administration. Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, power must be shared between Northern Ireland’s two main communities — British unionists who want to stay in the U.K., and Irish nationalists who seek to unite with Ireland. One side can’t govern without the other.The DUP boycott left Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people without a functioning administration for two years as the cost of living soared and public services creaked under the strain. WHAT BROKE THE BOYCOTT? The U.K. government sought to coax the DUP back into government by easing the burden of the border checks.In February 2023, the U.K. and the EU agreed on a deal, known as the Windsor Framework, that eased customs checks and other hurdles for goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. But it didn’t go far enough for the DUP, which continued its boycott.The new changes go farther, eliminating routine checks and paperwork for goods entering Northern Ireland and making legal tweaks designed to reassure unionists that Northern Ireland’s position in the U.K. is secure.The agreement includes legislation “affirming Northern Ireland’s constitutional status” as part of the U.K. and gives local politicians “democratic oversight” of any future EU laws that might apply to Northern Ireland.More concretely, the U.K. government also agreed to give Northern Ireland more than 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) for its battered public services once the Belfast government is back up and running. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The deal doesn’t have universal support. Some unionists and hard-line Brexit supporters argue that Northern Ireland will still be treated differently to the rest of the U.K. in order to keep the U.K.’s deal with the EU intact.But the British and Irish governments, and the DUP leadership, all support the deal, and the necessary legislation is likely to be sped through the U.K. Parliament on Thursday.The Northern Ireland Assembly then can meet to elect a speaker, followed by the nomination of a first minister and a deputy first minister.The new first minister is likely to be Michelle O’Neill of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein — a landmark in Northern Ireland, which was established as a unionist, Protestant-majority state in 1921.Unionists were the largest force in the Northern Ireland Assembly from its establishment in 1998 until 2022, when Sinn Fein won the largest number of seats in an election. That gives the nationalist party, affiliated with the militant Irish Republican Army during the Troubles, the right to hold the post of first minister, with the DUP supplying a deputy. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour is facing a backlash after saying it will not scrap former Tory prime minister Liz Truss’ decision to lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Defiant shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC that the party “does not have any intention of bringing that back”.Sir Keir Starmer’s top ally said that while the cap on bonuses was “the right thing to do to rebuild the public finances […] that has gone now and we don’t have any intention of bringing that back.”Former leader Jeremy Corbyn and left-wing Labour MPs criticised the move – saying Sir Keir and Ms Reeves must appeal for support beyond “the already wealthy”.And Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he still believed it was wrong to lift the cap – suggesting Ms Reeves to “keep it under review” if she becomes chancellor.Strict regulations on bonuses, which limit annual payouts to twice a banker’s salary, were introduced by the EU in 2014 in a bid to avoid excessive risk-taking after the 2008 financial crisis.Former prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng made the decision to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses in 2022, in a bid to encouragement more investment in the UK,Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says Labour wants to champion a ‘thriving financial services industry‘ Sir Keir Starmer had previously vowed to curb bankers’ bonuses by reinstating the cap back in 2022. At the time, he said lifting the cap “shows the Tories are absolutely tone deaf to what so many people are going through”.Trade unions have also called for the cap to be reinstated, with the TUC declaring that the removal of the cap was fuelling a “greed is good” mentality.The four big banks, HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest, Barclays paid an estimated £4 billion in bonuses in 2021, and an estimated 3,000 UK bankers earn more than £1m per year.Kwasi Kwarteng lifted bankers’ bonuses in the 2022 mini budget The decision is the latest U-turn by the party under Sir Keir’s leadership, and comes just months after Ms Reeves said scrapping the bonus cap “tells you everything you need to know about this government”.It comes amid mounting speculation the party is set to finally ditch its £28bn a year green spending pledge, having previously watered down the commitment. Sir Keir has also u-turned on pledges to abolish tuition fees and bring rail, mail, water, and energy back into public ownership. Sir Keir has said the railways would still be nationalised under a Labour government. But the decision on bankers’ bonuses is yet another signal from the Labour leader the party has fully parted with the left-wing influence of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.Mr Corbyn seized on Ms Reeves’ decision, describing it as a “political choice to enrich the wealthy”. The ex-Labour leader contrasted it with the party’s refusal to commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap, which he called “a political choice to impoverish the worst-off”.The Scottish Labour leader said he still believed it was wrong to lift the cap. “We were right to oppose the lifting of the cap on bankers’ bonuses,” Mr Sarwar said. “At the time I said it was a further demonstration of an economically illiterate and morally bankrupt Tory party. I still believe that.”Mr Sarwar said he wanted a Labour government to make sure “we never return to a situation where bankers can behave inappropriately and risk our wider economy like we saw with the financial crash”.The Scottish Labour leader added: “I think we have to keep it constantly under constant review … I’m not here to defend bankers’ bonuses, I’m not here to defend banks – that’s something the UK Treasury has got to keep an eye on.”Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South told The Independent that “a lot of people will be disappointed” because “bankers bonuses, and the caps on them, weren’t just a policy implemented because of what happened in 2008”.He said: “There was also an element of social and economic justice in what people perceived to be fair, which was that bankers, who had trashed the economy, who were then bailed out by the taxpayer, who were responsible for the 2008 crash and all that came with that, should see limits to the amount of wealth that they could extract from the British economy.”He added: “If in government, Labour has a historic chance to show the country we will do things differently, acting in the best interests of everyone – not just the already wealthy.”Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he still believed lifting cap was wrong Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, also told the BBC’s Politics Live that he “disagreed” with the decision and would “like to see [the cap] still there”.“I think actually one of the things we do see in society is the gap between the very richest and very poorest is growing day by day,” said the left-winger. “I want to see a society that comes together that doesn’t have people struggling to keep the light on in their own home.”Westminster leader of the SNP, Stephen Flynn, also criticised Labour’s policy. During PMQs, he said: “When the Tories scrapped the cap on bankers’ bonuses in the autumn during a cost of living crisis, the Labour Party opposed it.“Yet here we are just three months later, and the Labour Party support scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses,” he added, saying Mr Sunak could be “comforted by the fact that he’s now no longer alone in this house in being completely out of touch with public opinion”.The general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Matt Wrack, called Labour’s policy on bankers bonuses “utterly daft”.Former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn was critical of the financial services industry Ms Reeves comments appear to be timed to coincide with a Labour conference with business chiefs on Thursday, where the party will seek to convince business that their investment is safer under a Starmer government than it is with the Conservatives.But Mick McAteer, co-director of the Financial Inclusion Centre and a former board member of the Financial Conduct Authority, has told the BBC that Labour as “going too far”.“Ordinary people and the UK’s public services are still paying the price for that failure,” he said on the 2008 crash. “The City finance lobbies are very vocal at promoting the benefits of the sector. The City doesn’t need another champion in Labour,” Mr McAteer added.It comes as Jeremy Hunt is understood to have warned Rishi Sunak’s cabinet that tax cuts in the upcoming 6 March Budget are likely to be smaller than they were in the autumn statement.The chancellor, in comments first reported by The Times, told colleagues: “We are not likely to have as much room for tax cuts as we had in the autumn.”The comments come after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday warned further tax cuts could risk the government’s ability to invest money in the NHS and other vital services. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailScotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon fought back tears at the Covid public inquiry as she denied using the pandemic for political purposes.The ex-SNP leader choked up as she rejected claims that she had pushed for fights with Boris Johnson’s government to boost her Scottish independence cause.She insisted that she had not been “thinking of political opportunity”, as she was grilled about WhatsApps which showed she wanted public arguments with Mr Johnson.Ms Sturgeon also finally admitted that she had deleted her own WhatsApp messages with officials and ministers, but attempted to play down the importance of the messages.The former first minister said she “did not make extensive use of informal messaging” – claiming that her officials’ discussion of deleting messages was merely “light-hearted” banter.Ms Sturgeon became visibly emotional as she spoke of being “overwhelmed” at times during the crisis. “There’s a large part of me wishes that I hadn’t been, but I was, and I wanted to be the best first minister.”Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the Covid inquiry Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove previously accused the Scottish government of seeking “political conflict” with Westminster government during the pandemic.Messages between Ms Sturgeon and her top adviser Liz Lloyd showed they had discussed a “good old-fashioned rammy” with the Tory government on furlough scheme, while Ms Lloyd has conceded to seeking a “spat with a purpose”.The former SNP leader, fighting back tears, told the inquiry: “The idea that in those horrendous days, weeks, I was thinking of political opportunity” was “not the case”. She added: “It wasn’t true.”Amid the storm of controversy over deleted messages, Ms Sturgeon conceded that WhatsApp had become “too common” a means of communication within the Scottish government during the crisis.But she insisted that she exchanged WhatsApps with no more than a “handful” of people – including key ally Ms Lloyd, and the now first minister Humza Yousaf, who was health secretary.She admitted that she deleted these informal messages – but said it was in line with official advice because “salient” points were all recorded on her government’s corporate record.Nicola Sturgeon admits she deleted her WhatsApp messages during Covid inquiryThe ex-SNP leader also dismissed message sent by senior civil servants and officials about the deletion of WhatsApp messages as “light-hearted”.Ken Thompson, the Scottish government’s director-general for strategy, wrote in August 2020 that “plausible deniability are my middle names”. He also told colleagues they should “know where the ‘clear chat’ button is” on WhatsApp.Ms Sturgeon said: “I look at that exchange and what I don’t see is an exchange about the decisions that were taken, I see a light hearted discussion between officials.”Ms Sturgeon also rejected accusations of “secrecy” during the pandemic. She claimed she did not have “carte blanche” to make decisions on her own, as she was grilled about her “gold command” meetings of only senior cabinet ministers.Inquiry counsel Jamie Dawson KC put it to her that she “did not like light to be shone” on the way decisions were taken.“I would very strongly refute that,” Ms Sturgeon replied. “I did not have carte blanche, wide latitude to take decisions – and nor should I have had.”Ms Sturgeon confirmed that no minutes were taken of the ‘gold command’ meetings. “There were not minutes taken of them in the way you would have cabinet minutes because they were not decision-making meetings.”Defending small meetings, she told the inquiry she did “not have a great deal of patience” with the idea of “everybody” wanting to be in the room – saying said there was a tendency for a “cast of thousands” to wanted to be in the room with her.And Ms Sturgeon also admitted that it was a mistake to use a SNP email account to conduct some government business with public health expert Professor Devi Sridhar. “On reflection, perhaps I shouldn’t have done that.” More

Related video: Brexit to blame for food shortages in Britain, chair of Save British Food says 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 insightNew post-Brexit checks on food and drink imports have come into force today amid concerns that fresh checks at the border will lead to increased costs for businesses.The new rules mean that health certificates will now be needed on a wide range of EU goods such as meat, fruit and vegetables. A further system for physical checks at the border is coming into force on 30 April.But fears have been expressed about disruption to supply chains, with businesses concerned about delays and increased costs.Conservative health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom played down concerns about more red tape, saying that checks at the UK/EU border are the “price you pay” for leaving the EU.She told Times Radio: “It was very clear in the Brexit discussions a long time ago now, today is the fourth anniversary of leaving the EU, it was very clear that we would be leaving the single market.“What that does mean is that there is some friction in trade. However, we also have huge trading arrangements with other countries around the world.”Show latest update 1706712300UK government is ‘Brexit-betraying’, says DUP MPThe UK government has been accused of being spineless, weak-kneed and “Brexit-betraying” by a DUP MP.Speaking in the Commons, Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, said: “When the Northern Ireland assembly sits, ministers and assembly members will be expected by law to adhere to and implement laws which are made in Brussels, which they had no say over and no ability to amend, and no ability to stop.“This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying Government, refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland.”He added: “Is Northern Ireland going to find it’s got the ability to stay tied to the United Kingdom, or will the Government proceed happily to change laws here regardless of the impact it has on Northern Ireland?”Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris replied: “On the fourth anniversary of leaving the European Union, I can tell him absolutely that this agreed package of measures will not change the freedoms and powers we have secured through Brexit or through the Windsor framework. Joe Middleton31 January 2024 14:451706709080Labour will look again at EU relationship if businesses are ‘struggling’ with new checksLabour said the party, should it win this year’s expected general election, would look again at the trading relationship with Brussels if businesses are “struggling” with the new checks.Tulip Siddiq, a shadow Treasury minister, told Sky News: “If there are things that aren’t working, then of course we need to review it and look at it.“We would look at look at where businesses are struggling, where the economy is struggling, and go and see if we can get a better deal for our country.“That is what anyone who is in charge should be doing.“They (voters) may have voted to leave the European Union, but they didn’t vote to get a bad deal.”Joe Middleton31 January 2024 13:511706705489Boris Johnson celebrates four years of BrexitBoris Johnson marked four years since Brexit took effect with a warning of any watering down of the current arrangements.It comes with the government set to publish the details of its deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), setting the stage for the return of the Stormont powersharing institutions.But some Tories have concerns it could limit the UK’s post-Brexit freedom to diverge from EU rules.The former prime minister, in a post on X, hit out at “artificial” concerns about the border on the island of Ireland and warned against any return to the kind of deal pushed unsuccessfully by Theresa May.In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “Four years on from Brexit we celebrate the restoration of this country’s democratic power to make its own laws and rules.“With those Brexit freedoms we have introduced improved standards for animal welfare, cut taxes on sanitary products, created greater flexibility for cutting edge industries from financial services to bioscience, done many global free trade deals – and it was at least partly thanks to Brexit that this country had the fastest covid vaccine rollout in Europe.“We must retain the appetite and the courage to diverge from the low-growth high-regulation European model.“We must at all costs avoid a return to anything remotely like the disastrous ‘Chequers’ formula whereby artificial concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland are used to keep the whole of the UK in alignment with EU rules.”Joe Middleton31 January 2024 12:511706702886Brexit a ‘seismic moment’ and will take time to ‘filter through’, says ministerBrexit was a “seismic moment in British politics” and “something of that magnitude is going to take time to filter through”, Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins said.The health secretary told reporters that the Covid vaccine rollout was an example of Britain’s ability to move quicker than the EU after leaving the bloc.She said: “I’ll give you one very positive example of how being free from the EU enabled us to make real change to our society and that, of course, was through the vaccination programme during Covid.“We were able to come out of lockdown faster than any other country, because we were able to make those decisions about the vaccination programme and roll it out as quickly as we did.”She claimed the pharmaceutical industry viewed the UK’s position outside the EU as a “real game changer for them” and “I think we really are going to see some really exciting opportunities in the years ahead of us to the things”.Joe Middleton31 January 2024 12:081706702352Labour vows to ‘review’ Brexit deal in governmentLabour would look again at the trading relationship with the European Union if businesses are “struggling” with new checks that have come into force, a shadow minister has suggested.Tulip Siddiq, a shadow Treasury minister, told Sky News: “If there are things that aren’t working, then of course we need to review it and look at it.”She added: “We would look at look at where businesses are struggling, where the economy is struggling, and go and see if we can get a better deal for our country.“That is what anyone who is in charge should be doing.“They [voters] may have voted to leave the European Union, but they didn’t vote to get a bad deal.“[The EU] are still our closest trading partners. If we can work to get some sort of negotiation which is good for our country, I don’t think any British person is going to say no to our economy improving or our trade deals getting better.”Joe Middleton31 January 2024 11:591706700612Watch: Stormont powersharing set to return after DUP executive backs dealStormont powersharing set to return after DUP executive backs dealJoe Middleton31 January 2024 11:301706698812Tory Brexiteer dismisses cost of new food checks as ‘price you pay’ for BrexitConservative minister Andrea Leadsom has dismissed the concerns of business chiefs over the costly new checks imposed on imports from the EU as the “price you pay” for Brexit.The leading Brexiteer defended the “friction” in the new system for physical checks at the border – describing it as “the costs of doing business”.Ms Leadsom said British firms must “adapt” and could even consider “changing their trading arrangements with the EU” if they wanted to bring down their costs.Adam Forrest and Zoe Grunewald reportJoe Middleton31 January 2024 11:001706697522New Brexit border regime could pose ‘serious biosecurity risks’Concerns have been expressed as new post-Brexit rules come into force.The long-delayed new rules, coming into force today, are part of the UK Government’s introduction of a series of checks this year.But fears have been expressed about disruption to supply chains, with MPs saying the new border regime could present “serious biosecurity risks” to the UK.Joe Middleton31 January 2024 10:381706696485Former BBC journalist says he ‘doesn’t remember Brexit campaigners saying the cost of doing business was going to rise’Earlier today Conservative minister Andrea Leadsom dismissed the concerns of UK small business owners regarding increased costs and checks at the UK/EU border.She said it was the “price you pay” for Brexit and said that “businesses are used to the costs of doing business”, as the new rules on food imports came into force today.Former BBC journalist and now podcast host Jon Sopel has responded to the comments on X, formerly Twitter, and raised some interesting points.He said: “Sorry. Maybe I have false memory syndrome, but I don’t remember the Brexit campaigners during referendum warning companies that cost of doing business was going to rise steeply and become ever more bureaucratic. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention.”Joe Middleton31 January 2024 10:211706695837Parma hams and Spanish chorizos to disappear from UK shelves due to new Brexit checks, Rishi Sunak warnedSpecialist meats such as Parma hams and Spanish chorizo sausages could begin disappearing from the shelves of UK supermarkets and delis because of costly new Brexit checks, food sector chiefs have told The Independent.Rishi Sunak’s government has been warned of major supply problems with EU meat and dairy products when extra red tape and inspections are imposed on imports from April.Some suppliers of specialist products, like French cheeses, will give up on Britain because of the extra expense and “huge hassle” involved in sending goods, say industry bosses.Adam Forrest reports.Joe Middleton31 January 2024 10:10 More