Sunak “to increase warm home discount and cut tax”
“Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to increase the warm home discount by hundreds of pounds before cutting taxes to help with the cost-of-living crisis. The chancellor will take a two-pronged approach: a package to help with energy bills in July followed by general tax cuts in the autumn. From October the warm home discount will give three million of the poorest households in England and Wales £150 off their bills. Treasury officials have drawn up a range of options, including a one-off increase of £300, £500 or even £600 to help households to cope with soaring energy prices.” – The Times
- Tory clamour to act now on cost of living crisis – The Guardian
- Chancellor “plots 1p income tax cut a year” – The i
- Ministers “warm to energy windfall tax” after polling finds it “wildly popular” – Daily Telegraph
- Unemployment falls to lowest level in nearly 50 years – Financial Times
>Today: Columnist Ryan Bourne: Beware these new Keynesians who claim more spending is always the answer – whatever the state of the economy
>Yesterday: Stephen Crabb on Comment: The Government must show it remains committed to helping low-income families
Conservative MP arrested on suspicion of rape
“An unnamed Conservative MP has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. The Metropolitan Police confirmed a man was in custody over allegations dating back to between 2002 and 2009. The Conservative Party said he had been asked by the chief whip not to attend Parliament while an investigation is ongoing. The man also faces allegations of an abuse of position of trust and misconduct in a public office.” – BBC
- Anger of innocent Tory politicians who fear ‘names will fly around’ – Daily Mail
- Police ordered to revisit drug case of Labour MP Stephen Doughty – The Times
EU “to offer concessions” over the Northern Ireland Protocol…
“The EU will offer Britain new concessions on the Northern Ireland Protocol, but has threatened a trade war if Boris Johnson refuses to agree a compromise. The Telegraph understands that the European Commission will propose tweaking the bloc’s own laws to ease checks between mainland Britain and the province in order to end the long-running row over Brexit rules. According to sources, Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief negotiator, set out the olive branch in a call with Liz Truss after weeks of acrimony between the pair. Details of their conversion emerged after the Foreign Secretary vowed on Tuesday to introduce new powers to tear up the post-Brexit solution and suspend border checks in the Irish Sea.” – Daily Telegraph
- The Good Friday Agreement is in peril if Brussels doesn’t budge – Theresa Villiers, Daily Telegraph
- Britain must hold firm – Leader, Daily Telegraph
- M&S chair attacks ‘pointless’ post-Brexit rules for Ulster – The Guardian
- Farage slams Government for ‘betraying’ people of Northern Ireland – Daily Express
- Post Brexit businesses across the UK have not just coped with change, but used the opportunities it has brought – Penny Mordaunt, Daily Express
…but Truss to introduce legal changes in case a deal is not reached
“Liz Truss has said a new law would be introduced to change the post-Brexit trade deal for Northern Ireland. The foreign secretary insisted the bill would be legal under international law. Boris Johnson’s government agreed the trade deal – which governs how goods enter Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK – with the European Union in 2019 after the Brexit vote. But a row over its impact on trade has created a block on forming a devolved government in Northern Ireland.” – BBC
- These moves are not about scrapping the Protocol, but making it work – Liz Truss, Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday:
- ToryDiary: Lewis confirms a truth-and-reconciliation approach to legacy issues in Ulster
- WATCH: Truss says legislation will be introduced “during the coming weeks to make changes in the Protocol”
Johnson tells Cabinet to focus on crime
“Priti Patel was blasted over poor police pay as she faced rank and file officers today, after Boris Johnson had vowed to get touch on crime…Earlier the Prime Minister had played up the Government’s crime fighting credentials as he vowed to get tough on violent crime. He said ‘crime crime crime is what we want to focus on’ and vowed to ’round up’ drugs gangs and cut violent crime as he chaired a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street.” – Daily Mail
Border crossings continuing but Elphicke predicts Rwanda policy will work
“Border Force has deployed “ferry-style” vessels to pick up Channel migrants, as the new Rwanda policy failed to deter a surge in crossings….Natalie Elphicke, the Dover MP, said she was confident that once the Rwanda policy – where migrants are taken on one-way ticket to Africa, to claim asylum there – was operational, it would act as a deterrent, alongside the tougher penalties and restricted benefits for illegal entry. “What is certainly being heard is that the people-smugglers are now communicating that the window to cross may close,” she said. “That does mean the deterrent effect and the determination to go ahead with the policy is being clearly communicated to them.” – Daily Telegraph
Kwarteng orders petrol firm to pass on fuel duty cut to drivers
“Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tonight warned petrol firms they could face legal action following concerns they are not passing on the 5p per litre fuel duty cut to hard-pressed motorists. In a letter to industry leaders, the Cabinet minister informed them he had asked the competition watchdog to ‘closely monitor’ fuel prices. And Mr Kwarteng said he had been ‘reassured’ the Competition and Markets Authority would ‘not hesitate to use their powers’ if they found law breaches.” – Daily Mail
Gideon attacks u-turn on food offers
“A Tory MP has criticised the government’s about-turn on banning promotional deals on unhealthy food, warning Boris Johnson that he will never level up Britain when so many are overweight. Jo Gideon, who represents Stoke-on-Trent Central, told MPs that they were “wrong” to think dropping the ban would help with the cost of living. She added that “the cost to our health, the NHS and the economy is too great” to delay the plans….A ban on “buy one, get one free” deals on unhealthy food due to come into effect in October was delayed for at least a year by Boris Johnson due to the rising cost of living.” – The Times
Inflation increases to nine per cent
“Prices are rising at their fastest rate for 40 years as higher energy bills hit millions of households. UK inflation, the rate at which prices are rising, jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March. The surge came as millions of people saw an unprecedented £700-a-year rise in energy costs last month. Higher fuel and food prices, driven by the Ukraine war, are also pushing the cost of living up, with inflation expected to continue to rise this year.” – BBC
- The Bank of England’s task of taming inflation just got harder – Financial Times
- Beating inflation will require more than rate rises – Leader, Financial Times
- This nightmare of surging inflation and taxation is a direct consequence of the retreat from Thatcherism – Madeline Grant, Daily Telegraph
- There is little sign so far of inflationary wage rises – Leader, The Times
>Yesterday: Columnist Andy Street: How thinking green, and levelling up, can insulate against future cost-of-living shocks
Other political news
- Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections will be held on June 23rd – The Guardian
Wallace: Ukraine shows us the power of nationhood
“Ukraine’s enemies seek to deny its nationhood precisely because that unifying idea is its most powerful asset. The Russian Army was sent out on the false prospectus that Ukraine did not really exist – only to be shattered by the stubborn resistance of the Ukrainian people, who insist that it does. That should give us pause to reconsider assumptions about the future of our own countries. For many years, the nation state proved to be the most successful and durable medium for free, democratic life. Given that it is serving the same function for a people in deep crisis right now, is it really time to leave the concept behind?” – Mark Wallace, The i
- Is Germany’s leader so soft on Russia because he’s an ex-Marxist who savaged Nato and bowed to Moscow? – Hubertus Knabe, Daily Mail
Finkelstein: We need a return to neutral policing
“The fault here does not just lie with the police. People who believe in liberal democracy forgot the principle of equality under the law and the importance of operational independence of the police when Johnson was their prey. The danger of forgetting this has been shown with the equally dispiriting investigation of Starmer. For an advanced liberal democracy to be engaged in tit-for-tat politically inspired police investigations is shameful. And those who argue it is appropriate for police to act differently with Starmer and Johnson because they are powerful figures are being naive. Departure from neutral policing will, in the end, always favour the powerful over the less powerful.” – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
- Labour braced for 20 staff to be quizzed over Starmer’s lockdown curry – The Sun
- Starmer’s Beergate defence sunk faster than a bottle of San Miguel – Leader, The Sun
News in brief
- Take back control. A plan B for Northern Ireland – Fraser Nelson, The Spectator
- Why does Russia hate Britain so much? – Gabriel Gavin, Unherd
- There’s no evidence of a climate crisis in the UK – Kathy Gyngell, Conservative Woman
- Defunding the illiberal National Union of Students doesn’t go far enough – Marc Glendening, CapX
- Since when did Stonewall side with bullies? – Julie Bindel, The Critic
“Plans to make Covid-19 passports a legal requirement for large events are set to be dropped, The Telegraph understands. Officials working on the review into Covid-19 status certification believe there is no chance the law will be changed to mandate their use within the UK. “It’s not a case of ‘it’s finely balanced’. It’s not going to happen,” said one well-placed government source close to the review. “Everyone says it’s dead.” It comes as ministers examine data to determine whether the lifting of restrictions can continue as planned from June 21 in England, when it was hoped that the public would be able to return in greater numbers to mass events such as football matches and concerts. The Government first expressed interest in Covid passports in February, when a review into their use domestically was launched as part of Boris Johnson’s reopening roadmap for England.” – 
“Ministers have been urged not to “threaten” NHS staff by forcing them to get vaccinated against coronavirus under plans being considered by the government. The shadow Commons leader, Thangam Debbonaire, said it was not a “good idea” after the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said the proposal was being investigated alongside the existing consultation on making jabs mandatory for social care workers. There is nervousness in Whitehall about doing anything to destabilise the vaccine rollout by requiring that people get the jab instead of keeping it voluntary – something that several behavioural scientists have warned could dampen take-up among already vaccine-hesitant groups. But after concerns that a sizeable number of health and social care staff, who were among the first to be offered the vaccine, are reluctant to get jabbed, the government has been consulting on making vaccines mandatory for care workers, and is now expanding that to include all those working in the NHS.” – 
“Pub and restaurant bosses have called for an end to the furlough scheme as they desperately struggle to fill 190,000 job vacancies. Several businesses say they cannot get the staff needed to kickstart their recovery while millions remain on furlough. There are fears that workers languishing on the job retention scheme, which runs until September, will lose the will to work. The Office for National Statistics reported that a tenth of businesses’ workforce was on furlough in mid-April, or 2.7 million people. Across the UK there are 700,000 job vacancies, including 188,000 in hospitality, where a million remained on furlough before the May 17 reopening. Bosses say some staff would rather stay at home on 80 per cent of their full salary than get a new job. But the industry said the scheme is needed to protect jobs because many businesses will operate below full capacity until restrictions are lifted.” – 
“After the 7/7 terror attacks, Trevor Phillips, then the head of the Commission for Racial Equality, issued a stark warning. “We are sleepwalking our way to segregation,” he declared. “We’ve emphasised what divides us over what unites us. We have allowed tolerance of diversity to harden into effective isolation of communities, in which some people think special separate values ought to apply.” Sixteen years later, optimists will point to the minorities reaching the top of UK business and government. The Business Secretary is black, the Chancellor and Home Secretary have Indian heritage, the Foreign Secretary is the son of a Jewish refugee, and the recent London election saw a black Tory challenge a Muslim Labour mayor. Many minorities are thriving at school, building successful careers, and raising confident and happy families, secure in their identities.” – 
“Post Office executives “should be very worried” about possible criminal prosecutions after the accounting scandal that triggered the UK’s biggest miscarriage of justice, one of its former lawyers has said. Speaking to a Radio 4 documentary that will be broadcast this evening, an unnamed former lawyer at the government-owned company said that several senior figures could be charged with perverting the course of justice over the Horizon computer system scandal. The lawyer’s comments in the last instalment of the radio series The Great Post Office Trial: The Reckoning came after the Court of Appeal last month quashed 39 convictions of subpostmasters for fraud after it was found that the system, made by the Japanese company Fujitsu, had been faulty.” – 
“The public is being asked to weigh in on the fur trade, as the government considers a potential ban on sales across the UK. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a call for evidence amid plans for tighter animal welfare standards following Brexit. The consultation will consider the social and economic impacts of fur sales, both in the UK and overseas. It is understood that the UK could introduce an outright ban depending on the feedback it receives. The UK was the first country in Europe to ban fur farming in 2000, and has introduced strict rules prohibiting the import of skin and fur products from commercial seal hunting and domestic cats and dogs. However, the sale of other furs are still legal in the UK. Carrie Symonds, Boris Johnson’s wife, has described anyone who buys fur as “really sick”. The government has been been mulling tougher rules after Brexit, given the UK is no longer bound by the EU’s single market rules that blocked any individual country from taking a unilateral stance on fur trading.” – 
“A senior European Commission figure has defended the Northern Ireland protocol, calling on the UK government to ditch ideology in favour of pragmatism in order to transform problems arising from the Brexit deal. Maroš Šefčovič said he was looking at “solutions” to iron out disruption to businesses caused by the protocol, a key part of the Brexit agreement designed to protect the bloc’s single market at its frontier with the UK on the island of Ireland, without a return to a hard border. It means Northern Ireland has in effect stayed within the EU’s single market for goods, and a customs border was enforced on goods crossing the Irish sea. The resulting checks at the ports of Belfast and Larne have angered unionists and loyalists, who feel the region is being separated from the rest of the UK, and this anger has escalated into threats, violence and rioting.” – 
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s rivals were on the brink of removing him from power on Sunday after Naftali Bennett, a right-wing firebrand, threw his support behind a coalition government with centrist leader Yair Lapid. In a major step towards unseating Israel’s longest serving prime minister, Mr Bennett said his Yamina party would back a “unity” coalition that would draw support from across the Israeli political spectrum. “It’s either a fifth election, or a unity government,” Mr Bennett said in a televised speech. He vowed to end the “madness” of Israel’s worst political crisis in its history, which has seen four inconclusive election results since 2019. According to Israeli media reports, Mr Bennett is finalising a power-sharing deal where he will serve as prime minister for two years before handing the reins to Mr Lapid.”- 
“Boris Johnson married girlfriend Carrie Symonds in a secret ceremony yesterday morning, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. Mr Johnson, 56, exchanged vows with Ms Symonds, 33, in Catholic Westminster Cathedral in front of a handful of close friends and family – becoming the first Prime Minister to marry in office since Lord Liverpool married Mary Chester in 1822. It comes just six days after the couple – who became engaged on the Caribbean island of Mustique in December 2019 and have baby Wilfred, aged one – sent out save-the-date cards to guests telling them to keep Saturday, July 30, 2022 free for a marriage celebration. Despite sending out the cards, the couple are understood to have been secretly planning the small ceremony for six months. ” – 
“Matt Hancock was facing new questions over the spread of Covid to care homes on Saturday night as it emerged that guidance from his department ordered hospitals to discharge patients without any mention of a need to test them first. Instructions issued by the Department of Health and NHS on March 19 last year stated that “discharge home today should be the default pathway” in order to free up beds for the sickest Covid patients. The instructions were issued shortly after Mr Hancock told Boris Johnson that he would ensure that tests were undertaken on patients being discharged to care homes….the guidance fails even to recommend the use of tests in hospitals where they were available.” – 
“Labour leader Keir Starmer today warns that plans to lift almost all Covid-19 restrictions on 21 June are at risk because of serial incompetence and “civil war” inside Boris Johnson’s government. In his strongest attack for months on the prime minister’s handling of the pandemic, Starmer says that the huge death toll in the second wave of cases from last autumn, in which more than 80,000 lives were lost, was “avoidable and unforgivable” …As scientists warn today about the dangers of easing locking too early, Starmer says the level of incompetence and infighting within government raises doubts about whether the 21 June “big bang” release from lockdown will happen.” – 
“Thousands of foreign criminals will be tagged to stop them fleeing, Priti Patel will announce today. More than 900 have been deported this year but many stay to mount legal challenges. The Home Secretary will make electronic ankle tags a condition of their release from jail. She has ordered enough GPS kit for 4,500 offenders by the end of next year. Britain can kick out foreign citizens who have been jailed, with 7,985 removed since January 2019. But they can be released from a detention centre if they challenge the grounds of their deportation, sometimes at the last minute. So far, more than 250 criminals have been issued with GPS devices.” – 
“Schoolchildren in England will be offered 15 hours of free tuition to help them catch up after months of lost learning during the pandemic. The plans are expected to give teachers the chance to earn more money for working longer hours, but they will not be forced to do so, as ministers seek to avoid confrontation with unions. Under the £1.5 billion scheme, almost all pupils aged 5-16 will be offered extra lessons in groups of up to three…The extra teaching is part of the “recovery plan” led by Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, which is expected to be published next month. Private tutors will also be recruited.” – 
“The much trumpeted ‘levelling up’ agenda is simply a return to old-fashioned regional development policy. The man in Whitehall knows best and will direct central funding to areas which fit the right criteria on a civil service spreadsheet…We may have returned to a social democratic consensus, where state intervention is the automatic response to any human ill…The best way of understanding this government’s overarching vision is to grasp the philosophy of the departed Mr Cummings. His analysis is less about the state’s role than the bureaucrats’ level of expertise. If only we had better data scientists and strategic managers in Whitefall, central planning would suddenly produce perfect results. But this doesn’t even amount to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. It’s merely fretting about who sits in those deckchairs.” – Mark Littlewood, 
“The new Chair of Ofcom is a big role. Which is why we should be bothered that Nick Clegg has been lobbying the Government not to appoint Sir Paul Dacre….If Nick Clegg had interfered in the appointment of an independent regulator as Deputy PM it would have been improper. As the voice of Facebook it is outrageous. We need strong independent regulators to control the likes of Facebook. I don’t know if Paul Dacre is the right person for the job. But I do know that Facebook should have no say whatsoever in deciding who is.” – Damian Green MP, 
“Facemasks and work from home guidance could remain in place after June 21 under government plans to “prioritise” the end of social distancing if the Indian variant continues to surge, The Times has been told. Ministers are increasingly concerned that the variant’s spread could undermine plans to lift all restrictions next month. They are discussing contingency plans that could mean only a partial end to the lockdown. The Treasury is prioritising the end of the “one metre plus” distancing rule and the “rule of six” indoors, which is viewed as crucial to supporting hospitality and retail and helping the economy to recover. Ministers also want to end rules that limit mass gatherings so that festivals, concerts and sporting events can go ahead.” – 
“Matt Hancock is facing further pressure over the measures put in place to protect care homes early in the coronavirus pandemic following allegations from Dominic Cummings that he misled the prime minister over the issue. A woman whose father died of Covid in a care home that admitted an infected hospital patient is demanding that the health secretary release crucial internal documents about his risk assessment before thousands of people were discharged into care homes without tests. The move is part of a potentially explosive high court case against Hancock, the NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England scheduled for a three-day trial in October. It is likely to shed new light on this week’s claim and counter-claim between the prime minister’s former chief adviser and Hancock over care homes policy in the first weeks of the pandemic.” – 
“Boris Johnson has been cleared over his No11 flat refurb – as an official report said he didn’t break the ministerial code in the “cash for curtains” row. But the probe from a top Whitehall sleazebuster found that the Cabinet Office, Tory Party and a peer had helped stump up the cash for his Downing Street renovation – and the PM only settled the bill in full in March. For weeks the PM has been dogged over who paid the costs of a lavish revamp of the No11 digs he shares with Carrie Symonds and one-year-old son Wilfred. Lord Christopher Geidt, a former aide to the Queen, today released the long-awaited register of members interests about the PM’s Downing Street decorations. But the independent adviser concluded that there was nothing to suggest the PM had acted improperly or broken the code – effectively clearing him of wrongdoing.” – 
“Downing Street attempted to defuse the controversy over Boris Johnson’s decision to host a meeting with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban on Friday, insisting he voiced “significant concerns” over his counterpart’s record on human rights. In a statement issued after the talks, Downing Street said Johnson expressed his concerns surrounding Orban’s record on issues such as “gender equality, LGBT rights and media freedom”. “The leaders also discussed a number of foreign policy issues including Russia, Belarus and China,” Number 10 added. “The prime minister encouraged Hungary to use their influence to promote democracy and stability.” In recent years, Orban, who is regarded a rightwing populist and an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has become a controversial figure on the international stage.” – 
“Schools must act now to counter a spike in “abhorrent” anti-Semitic incidents which has emerged as the Israel-Palestine conflict flared up, the Education Secretary has warned. In a letter to head teachers and school leaders, Gavin Williamson warned that in some schools an “atmosphere of intimidation or fear” was at risk of emerging. He said that both Jewish students and teachers had been targeted with anti-Semitic bullying, stressing such behaviour was a form of racism and had “no part” in British schools. In one part of Mr Williamson’s letter he demanded that schools not use materials from organisations which “publicly reject Israel’s right to exist”. In another he stressed that where older students were engaging in political activity they must do so “sensitively” and not in a way that disrupts the classroom.” – 
“The UK health secretary has admitted that some hospital patients with Covid-19 were discharged into England’s care homes last year because of a lack of testing capacity, as he faced claims that he lied over the policy. Matt Hancock is under pressure after Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, claimed the health secretary had promised colleagues that patients being sent into care homes would be tested. Some 30,000 care home residents are thought to have died from the virus. Under repeated questioning at a Downing Street press conference on Thursday about whether he told the truth about care home testing, Hancock said: “My recollection of events is I committed to delivering that testing when we could do it. I then went away and built the testing capacity.”” – 
“The country’s hopes of ending coronavirus restrictions next month hang in the balance as the Indian variant surges but the number of people in hospital remains flat. The faster-spreading strain is now dominant in England and responsible for up to three quarters of known coronavirus cases, official data shows. Boris Johnson said yesterday that people would need to “wait a little bit longer” to know whether life could return to normal next month. Health officials are pushing for as much time as possible to analyse conflicting data. Cases of the Indian variant have doubled in a week and official data from Public Health England suggested that it could be 67 per cent more transmissible than the Kent strain.” – 
“The HS2 rail project will go all the way to Leeds and could arrive sooner than forecast, the government has said, scotching speculation that mounting costs would prevent from the full scheme proceeding. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, told an online event for the Policy Exchange think tank: “We are going to complete HS2 and include HS2 on the eastern leg to Leeds. And the only question that we have is how to better integrate that with plans which were developed a very long way since HS2 was first dreamt up all those decades ago, and that pertains to the Northern Powerhouse Rail.” The Oakervee review, commissioned by the government, warned last year that the final bill for HS2 could reach £106 billion, leading to concerns that the eastern leg of the project, which would run to Leeds, could be scrapped. Fears were compounded when the National Infrastructure Commission said in December that the focus should be on regional connectivity.” – 
“Boris Johnson has ordered a rerun of the process to appoint a new Ofcom chair after an assessment panel unanimously rejected his favoured candidate Paul Dacre, the former editor of the Daily Mail newspaper, according to people involved in the decision. The unorthodox intervention by the UK prime minister adds a further layer of controversy to an already highly contentious appointment process for the media watchdog, which is running more than six months late. Johnson told aides last summer that Dacre, a fierce critic of the BBC and online platforms, was his favoured candidate to chair the board of Ofcom, a regulator with a large and expanding remit over telecoms, media and the internet.” – 
“Sex pest MP Rob Roberts has been barred from the Commons for six weeks for harassing a member of staff – and is now facing calls to quit. The ex Tory member for Delyn in North Wales will be banned from Westminster until mid-July after breaching sexual misconduct rules. And senior minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said he should now do the “honourable” thing and resign altogether. MPs today overwhelmingly backed backed a motion calling for Mr Roberts’ temporary banishment. But there has been fury that he’s set to dodge being kicked out of his seat because of a loophole in recall laws. Mr Rees-Mogg fumed it’s “frankly ridiculous we have a higher sanction for somebody who uses a few envelopes incorrectly than for somebody who is involved in sexual misconduct”.” – 
“Nicola Sturgeon has claimed tax hikes are not on the table amid growing fears that a pact with the Greens will prove a “disaster” for Scotland’s Covid-ravaged economy. The First Minister’s office insisted she would not deviate from her manifesto pledge to freeze rates and bands despite Green plans to hit hundreds of thousands of Scots with savage levies. It came as Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross warned her proposed co-operation deal with Patrick Harvie’s party risked economic doom. At the opening session of First Minister’s Questions of the new parliament, Mr Ross insisted the chief SNP must urgently “reset” her relationship with business leaders, who he said “don’t see anyone around the Scottish Government table who’s fighting their corner”.” – 
“Dominic Cummings has branded Boris Johnson unfit to be prime minister and accused him of being responsible for tens of thousands of needless deaths from coronavirus. The prime minister’s former senior adviser used a seven-hour session with MPs to savage Johnson and his government’s response to the pandemic, which he said fell “disastrously short” of what the public deserved. Cummings said that ministers were too slow to realise the danger of Covid and too willing to condemn thousands to death by refusing to challenge the assumption that the virus could not be stopped.” – 
“Matt Hancock will today hit back at Dominic Cummings’ vicious attacks on his pandemic record including allegations he lied repeatedly, failed care home residents and should have been ‘sacked daily’ for ‘criminal, disgraceful behaviour’. The Health Secretary will give a statement in the Commons later after he and Boris Johnson’s were accused of ‘disastrous’ handling of the pandemic that had cost tens of thousands of lives. He will then face the media at a Downing Street press briefing as he tries to brazen out the storm… Mr Hancock insisted last night that he was focused on the vaccination drive, but a source called it a ‘character assassination’ that was ‘not backed by evidence’.” – 
“Carrie Symonds, the prime minister’s fiancée, has been accused of attempting to make an “illegal” intervention in the No 10 hiring process by appointing her friends to key roles. Dominic Cummings said during yesterday’s hearing that his resignation last autumn stemmed partly from Symonds’s interference. He alleged that she had acted illegally by trying to install friends and allies, including the government spokeswoman Allegra Stratton, to influential roles around Boris Johnson. A government source said that claims of illegal interference were wrong and Johnson had full responsibility for choosing his team.” – 
“There are two ways to view what Westminster has enjoyed calling “Domaggedon”, the appearance of the prime minister’s estranged and vengeful former chief adviser at a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. Inside the political bubble that Cummings affects to despise and yet whose admiration he appears to covet, his words were viewed through their likely impact on Boris Johnson… But to focus on the immediate consequences for Johnson is to succumb to the political theatre and miss the fundamentals. For all the hours of testimony, Cummings’ key words were his very first, his admission that the government “failed” when the public needed it most, that it “fell disastrously short”. In his estimate this meant “tens of thousands” died unnecessarily.” – 
“A loophole which prevents constituents of disgraced MP Rob Roberts from forcing a by-election should be closed, the Government has said. The Delyn MP faces being suspended from the Commons for six weeks after breaching sexual misconduct rules by making repeated unwanted advances to a member of staff. He has been stripped of the Tory whip, but the way recall laws are drawn up means he cannot face the prospect of losing his seat. The sanction was proposed by the panel set up in 2020 to deal with cases raised under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. But the Recall of Parliament Act was passed in 2015, and only allows the prospect of a by-election for sanctions imposed on the recommendation of the Commons Committee on Standards.” – 
“Ministers have been forced into retreat over “local lockdowns” after councils threatened to defy the rules. The Government on Tuesday night changed its advice to tackle outbreaks of the Indian variant of Covid within less than 24 hours of a row erupting over the policy, which critics said had descended into “farce”. The original guidance urged 1.7 million people in eight parts of England to restrict their travel in and out of their area and to socialise outdoors instead of indoors where possible. Ministers failed to pass on the new advice to local health and council leaders, who then told residents they did not have to follow the guidelines. The Government said on Tuesday it would “update” the guidance, insisting it was up to individuals whether to follow it.” – 
“Cabinet minister has defended the government ahead of Dominic Cummings’ blockbuster committee appearance saying “it’s easy to be the Professor of Hindsight”. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps dismissed Mr Cummings’ appearance before MPs as a “sideshow” and suggested he “has his own agenda”. Mr Shapps made the comments two hours before Mr Cummings is expected to use his evidence session with MPs to hit out at Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic. Mr Shapps said he would leave it to others to determine “how reliable a witness” Mr Cummings is. He told Sky News: “We were making decisions under [an] unprecedented situation. There’s no rule book. There’s no sort of text book to open to see how to deal with the pandemic. The last time the world faced something like this was 100 years ago with the Spanish flu.” He said “of course” mistakes were made but added: “It’s easy to be the Professor of Hindsight and look back on these things.”” – 
“Becoming a Conservative candidate is difficult at the best of times. Aspiring MPs must deliver speeches, write essays and survive being cross-examined by their future colleagues. Those who succeed are allowed to attempt the final stage: auditioning at a local Conservative association. Associations are notoriously unpredictable, with applicants often rejected for their politics or personality. This is to be expected. What I didn’t expect was to be rejected by one association because, as its chairman later explained, “some members didn’t think locals would vote for a Muslim to be their MP”. It’s a testament to how far we’ve come as a party that less than a decade later Saqib Bhatti, the former leader of Muslims for Britain, was selected over the former No 10 chief
“Flexible working should “become the norm” because it allows people based outside metropolitan areas to take up senior jobs, a cabinet minister has said. Liz Truss, the equalities minister and international trade secretary, said the expansion of remote working would promote the government’s levelling-up agenda by helping both women and people in places such as Stoke-on-Trent and Darlington have better careers. “The government policy works best where you have a universal solution that helps particular groups, and I’ve highlighted flexible working as a key one,” Truss told MPs. “Flexible working doesn’t just help women, it helps people who don’t live in major metropolitan areas . . . It’s about bringing opportunity to those areas.” Truss told the women and equalities committee that the government wanted
“A Conservative MP who has been stripped of the whip and suspended from the Commons for six weeks over unwanted sexual advances will not face a by-election because of obscure process rules. The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) found that Rob Roberts, the MP for Delyn in North Wales, made repeated and unwanted advances towards a member of his staff, although the MP insisted his actions were “romantic” rather than sexual. He has apologised and said the “breach of trust” was “completely improper and should not have happened”. Sir Stephen Irwin, chairman of the IEP, said Mr Roberts misconduct was “significant”. He said: “Our conclusion is that the determination of six weeks’ suspension from the service of the House was proper and proportionate.”” – 
“Sir Nick Clegg has reignited hostilities with Paul Dacre by attacking the former Daily Mail editor’s bid to become chairman of the media watchdog Ofcom. The former Liberal Democrat leader, now head of Facebook’s international political operation, has joined forces with Google to persuade ministers against appointing Mr Dacre, who has called for tech giants to be broken up. The companies are understood to have lobbied against giving the job to the 72-year-old Fleet Street veteran, who has privately signalled his determination to spearhead the successful implementation of new online harms laws. These aim to hold Google and Facebook to account for child sexual abuse images, terrorist material and suicide content carried on their services. Ofcom currently regulates telecoms, broadcasting and the postal services, but its remit is being broadened to include the internet.” – 
“Dominic Raab ordered British airlines last night not to fly over Belarus as he condemned Minsk’s “outlandish” operation to arrest a dissident by forcing a Ryanair plane to land on the pretext of a bomb threat. The foreign secretary said that Britain was also revoking the Belarusian national carrier’s licence to operate in the UK over what Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair chief executive, called a “state-sponsored hijacking” on Sunday. The opposition journalist Roman Protasevich was arrested after Belarusian authorities ordered the flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, to divert to Minsk, scrambling a fighter jet to force it down and claiming that a bomb might be on board. Protasevich’s Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, was also arrested and up to five passengers, thought to be Belarusian secret service members, disembarked.” – 
“Dominic Cummings is attempting to “rewrite history” and is a “rank hypocrite”, a government source has said ahead of his appearance before MPs tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser will criticise the prime minister for repeatedly delaying lockdowns and accuse the government of initially pursuing a policy of herd immunity. He is expected to claim that by failing to get a grip on the crisis Johnson and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, cost thousands of lives. A government source yesterday sought to defend Johnson’s record against criticism that the government had failed to do enough to prepare for the impacts of the coronavirus. Cummings has described the government’s contingency planning for virus epidemics as “part disaster, part non-existent” and criticised the fact that it considered only the threat of flu.” – 
“Angry MPs battered the BBC yesterday over the Martin Bashir scandal, with one boasting of ripping up his TV licence. The barrage of criticism came as desperate bosses at the Beeb launched an internal probe into the fiasco. Tory Lee Anderson was among those lashing out in the Commons. A hard-hitting report by Lord Dyson last week found that Bashir lied and forged documents to win his 1995 Princess Diana interview. BBC bosses then spent years covering up the truth. Mr Anderson, MP for Red Wall seat Ashfield in Notts, called for the BBC to lose its funding and warned that the Corporation had lost touch with viewers… Ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said police should consider prosecuting Bashir and his BBC bosses for fraud.” – 
“Liz Truss and her International Trade team are keen to secure an “ambitious and comprehensive” free trade agreement as they look at building opportunities for a post-Brexit Britain. The EEA nation exported goods worth 181 billion Norwegian crowns (£15.5billion) last year to the UK with oil and gas making up the majority of exports. Norway wants to continue enjoying zero tariffs on all industrial goods exported to Britain but wants fully free trade in seafood. However, the Christian Democrats threatened to block any agreed trade deal due to fears many farmers in the country were out of business due to fears of being outcompeted by British counterparts. The Christian Democrats are one of three parties in Norway’s current coalition government led by Prime Minister Erna Solberg.” – 
“The Liberal Democrats aim to use next month’s Chesham and Amersham byelection to test the extent of disillusionment with the Conservatives in southern commuter belt seats, Ed Davey has said – even if victory is still seen as a long shot. While there has been much focus about Tory gains in former Labour heartlands, this month’s local elections highlighted an apparent retreat for the party in more prosperous areas in the south of England and around London. On 17 June, voters in Chesham and Amersham will select a new MP to replace Cheryl Gillan, who died in April, in a Buckinghamshire constituency which has never seen the Conservatives win less than 50% support since it was created in 1974. Nonetheless there “definitely could be a shock”, the Lib Dem leader told the Guardian.” – 
“The culture secretary today accuses the BBC of having a “we know best attitude” in the wake of the Martin Bashir scandal, and says that the corporation must change to represent all of Britain. Oliver Dowden says that the BBC is guilty of “groupthink” and needs to “project British values” if it is to survive competition from the streaming giants Netflix and Amazon. Writing in The Times, he calls for deep change to ensure that it stays in tune with “all parts of the nation it serves”, saying that the scandal has “exposed failures that strike at the heart of our national broadcaster’s values and culture”. In his first full comments on how the report into Panorama’s interview in 1995 with Diana, Princess
“Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, has backed the findings of a new report advocating broad-ranging reform of the UK’s civil service, with a focus on wider recruitment and more accountability for senior officials. The Johnson government is planning a shake up of Whitehall in the wake of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, and a white paper on civil service reform is expected to set out plans to reform the permanent structures of the state. Government Reimagined, published on Monday by the influential think-tank Policy Exchange, sets out 10 criteria for improving the civil service with faster adoption of technology and recruitment of officials from “a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives.” The report states that greater emphasis should be put on performance rather than seniority, with pay rewards for those who develop professional qualifications. Its findings were endorsed by Gove, who is leading the Whitehall reform agenda.” – 
“Facebook could be fined if British spies are denied access to messages on the tech giant’s apps, it emerged yesterday. Priti Patel warned that the social media firm was operating in ‘dangerous territory’ and risking public safety with its plans for stronger encryption. With ‘end-to-end encryption’, messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram would only be visible to the sender and receiver. The Home Secretary is concerned the move could block hundreds of counter-terrorism investigations, and prevent police intercepting other crimes including child sexual exploitation. The Security Service and the police want Facebook to be able to see users’ content and share it with authorities if necessary. Miss Patel told Times Radio yesterday: ‘We’ll bring changes, we will legislate [and] we will absolutely fine companies because this is a dangerous territory for Facebook to be operating in.’” – 
“The Duke of Cambridge has continued his charm offensive in Scotland during a week-long tour that is being seen as an opportunity to “shore up the Union”. Prince William visited a care home yesterday where a 96-year-old resident asked him to give her a kiss. Betty Magee, 96, a great-grandmother, ex-servicewoman and resident of Queen’s Bay Lodge in Edinburgh, told him: “It’s customary in these parts to give a lady a kiss on the cheek.” He replied: “Oh you are sweet. You’ll make me blush.” Magee persisted, asking him to give her a peck as William laughed and covered his face in mock embarrassment. “When the rules relax more I will come back and give you a kiss on the cheek, Betty,” he said, before
“The equalities watchdog has pulled out of a Stonewall diversity scheme amid a row over transgender activism. The Equality and Human Rights Commission left the LGBT charity’s Diversity Champions programme in March after citing concerns over “value for money”. More than 850 organisations are currently part of the scheme, which seeks to ensure the acceptance of all LGBT employees through its Workplace Equality Index. “As a publicly funded organisation we have to ensure that we are making the best choices when it comes to our budget and are currently reviewing all of our memberships,” the EHRC said in a statement.” – 
“The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer broke down in tears during a television interview with Piers Morgan, as he described a series of family tragedies including his mother’s debilitating illness. In the interview,to be broadcast on June 1, Starmer recounted how his mother, Josephine, a life-long Labour supporter, died weeks before he was sworn in as an MP in 2015 and never got to see him in office. The MP, 58, also described how his father largely gave up on life and became a recluse after his wife’s death, saying: “When she died, it broke him. She was his whole life.” Starmer was speaking on ITV’s Life Stories with Piers Morgan, in an effort to boost his appeal after disappointing results in the May
“Britain said that the dictator of Belarus faced “serious consequences” after he scrambled a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight carrying a fugitive critic to land in the capital yesterday. The plane, carrying 171 passengers from Greece to Lithuania, was nearing the end of its journey when its crew was warned by Belarusian air traffic control that there had been a report of a bomb on board. The pilot of the MiG-29 ordered to intercept the airliner signalled that it should land in Minsk. When it did, the opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, 26, was arrested by state security service officers. He could face the death sentence after being accused of organising protests against President Lukashenko.” – 
“The BBC was facing a major shakeup on Friday night to ensure the Martin Bashir scandal can never be repeated. Ministers are considering an overhaul of the BBC’s editorial oversight in the wake of Lord Dyson’s damning report, which found Bashir had deployed “deceitful behaviour” to secure his world exclusive interview in 1995 with Diana, Princess of Wales and that the corporation had covered it up. Boris Johnson, in his first intervention, said such an episode “must never happen again”, while Scotland Yard said it was assessing Lord Dyson’s findings to see if there was any scope for a criminal investigation into Bashir’s conduct. On Friday night, it was reported that the Princess’s brother, Earl Spencer, had contacted Dame Cressida Dick, the Met Commissioner, to allege his sister was the victim of blackmail and fraud.” – 
“The UK has offered trade deal terms to Australia under which both countries would phase out taxes on imports over 15 years. The cabinet was reportedly split on what terms to propose, amid concerns UK beef and lamb farmers could be undercut by larger Australian producers. But the dispute was apparently resolved after Boris Johnson pushed for unity. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss formally made the UK offer to her Australian counterpart on Friday. If accepted, it would also lead to quotas – limits – on tax-free trade between the two countries to be phased out.” – 
“The Prime Minister is poised to announce that big weddings will be allowed to take place from June 21, The Telegraph has learned, despite it emerging that scientists urged the Government to “overreact” to the Indian variant. Boris Johnson vowed on Friday to give the public an update “by the end of the month” on the results of the review into relaxing social distancing rules, including the “one metre plus” and face mask regulations. He gave a strong hint that the fourth and final step in his roadmap out of restrictions, which is due to scrap the cap on attendees at weddings and other large-scale events, will go ahead as planned on June 21. “I am still seeing nothing in the data that leads me to think that we’re going to have to deviate from the roadmap,” he said, signalling his confidence that the Indian variant will not derail his blueprint.” – 
“What is the charity I helped to found doing, getting entangled in attempts to deny free speech at a university? This column should avoid getting into the trans debate itself. My single, tight focus is on this question: why Stonewall? There’s something perversely 20th-century about linking gays to trans. Gay men do not want to be women. We like being men. I doubt that being a lesbian is about not wanting to be a woman. Our issues have nothing to do with identification or changing our bodies: we know what we are and nobody disputes it. Most gay men would strongly resist the suggestion we’re boys who want to be girls. I can’t think of anything I’d like less.” – Matthew Parris,