Promised provision, particularly for autistic children, was announced a year ago but few schools will open on time
Plans to deliver thousands of new special school places by 2026 are falling seriously behind, with experts branding the building programme “a mess”, the Observer can reveal.
The news calls into question the only announcement on schools the chancellor made in last week’s budget – a commitment of £105m towards 15 additional special schools.
Continue reading...Victims’ families say Jon Boutcher’s report into British spy proves state and IRA were ‘co-conspirators’ in murder
The police chief who led the inquiry into a murderous British spy in the IRA known as Stakeknife has condemned MI5 for stalling his investigation, as his report was hailed by victims’ families as proof that the British state and the IRA had been “co-conspirators” in murder.
Jon Boutcher criticised attempts “to undermine me and the investigation” and spoke of a delay strategy deployed by the secret services as he revealed that agent Stakeknife had probably killed more people than he saved in the service of the British state.
The army’s claim that Stakeknife saved “hundreds” of lives was “implausible”, “rooted in fables and fairy tales” and should have rung “alarm bells”. He said it was probable that the handling of Stakeknife “resulted in more lives being lost than saved”.
Stakeknife was involved in “very serious and wholly unjustifiable criminality, including murder”.
There were several cases of murder where the security forces had advance intelligence but did not intervene in order to protect sources.
Boutcher had “extremely fractious spells” with the secret services. He was forced to hold several meetings with MI5 to raise “concerns regarding access to information, its decision to classify as ‘top secret’ an accumulation of ‘secret’ documents, the fact that solicitors representing former security force personnel had been given greater and unorthodox access to MI5 materials and my concern that its strategy was one of delay”.
When Operation Kenova tried to submit evidence files in October 2019 to prosecutors on Scappaticci and members of the security services relating to cases of murder, abduction and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, that “MI5 informed us that the building’s security accreditation had expired and we therefore could not proceed”. The evidence was finally submitted in February 2020.
Continue reading...Documents show officials stressing need to ‘keep the Saudis on side’ after revelations about notorious al-Yamamah deal
Britain’s Ministry of Defence moved questionable payments through its own bank account amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in history, despite concerns the money could be pocketed by the Saudi royal family.
Previously confidential documents show how the MoD agreed to make the payments to a Saudi bank account after the transactions came under scrutiny following an investigation by the UK anti-corruption agency, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Continue reading...Former PM says she remains committed to supporting Sunak as she decides to ‘pass the baton on’ after 27 years
Treasury minister Gareth Davies has denied the number of Conservative MPs stepping down signifies a lack of confidence in the party’s electoral prospects.
He told Sky News he was “personally sad” to see Theresa May step down after “a pretty good innings” of “27 years of service not just to her constituents but I think as one of our longest serving home secretaries and then obviously prime minister as well.”
This is what happens when you approach a new election, and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go, particularly when they’ve been in the House of Commons for a long time.
Each one has made their own decision for personal reasons and I respect every single person’s decision to do so.
Brexit has reignited the UK’s trade standing in global markets ‘worth hundreds of billions of pounds’ says Kemi Badenoch. Britons are better off.
Continue reading...Former PM says she wants to focus on causes close to her heart after 27 years in parliament
The former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament.
In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
Continue reading...No 10 refuses to say how Michelle Donelan was advised over accusation against academic who then sued her for libel
The science secretary, Michelle Donelan, received government advice before she tweeted a letter in which she accused an academic of supporting Hamas, Downing Street has said.
No 10 refused to say what advice officials had given her and whether she actually followed it, but insisted she had “acted in line with established precedent”.
Continue reading...Economists say making the policy an election pledge could cost £40bn, which is badly needed for health, education and elsewhere
Rishi Sunak has been warned against fighting an election on an unfunded plan to abolish employee national insurance amid projections the move could blow a £40bn hole in the public finances.
As the pre-election battle on the economy between the Conservatives and Labour intensified, the prime minister was on Thursday under mounting pressure to explain how the measure could be afforded while public services were crumbling.
Continue reading...Government agency issues disqualification proceedings after inquiry into failed finance firm Greensill Capital
The Insolvency Service has begun legal action to have Lex Greensill disqualified from running companies for up to 15 years after the outcome of an investigation into the directors of his failed finance firm.
The government agency said it had issued disqualification proceedings on behalf of the business secretary against the former Australian sugar farmer, who founded the Greensill group of companies.
Continue reading...PM says ‘people trust me on these things’ and refuses to be drawn on whether government would forgo entire £46bn raised from measure
Keir Starmer has accused Jeremy Hunt of repeating the budget mistakes made by Liz Truss during her disastrous premiership.
In comments on the budget during a visit to a building site this morning, Starmer focused on Hunt’s proposal to abolish employees’ national insurance over time, saying that this was a bigger unfunded tax promise than those in Truss’s mini-budget. (See 9.28am.)
How humiliating was that for the government yesterday?
We’ve argued for years that they should get rid of the non-dom tax status, they’ve resisted that. And now, completely out of ideas, the only decent policy they’ve got is the one that they’ve lifted from us.
Nothing that Jeremy Hunt did yesterday, nor anything the OBR said, changes anything very significantly. Which is a shame. Because that means we are still:
-heading for a parliament in which people will on average be worse off at the end than at the start,
Continue reading...Exclusive: Officials fear government is ill-prepared for lobbying from wealth advisory industry after taxation overhaul
The Treasury disbanded a unit tasked with offshore and non-dom tax policy weeks before announcing significant changes in the budget to the way foreign residents are taxed, sources have said.
The unit, which comprised technical experts on offshore tax issues, included specialists on non-dom policy. These officials would, according. to the sources, have been expected to help manage the implementation of a replacement for non-dom status as outlined by the chancellor this week.
Continue reading...Chancellor refuses to disclose number of houses owned but says he will pay higher tax rate on proceeds from sales
Jeremy Hunt has promised to voluntarily pay more capital gains tax on his properties so that he does not benefit from a tax cut he introduced.
The chancellor refused to disclose how many houses he owned but said he would pay a higher tax rate on any proceeds from selling his property.
Continue reading...Revelations about payments by Ministry of Defence are culmination of decades of British deal-making with Saudis
The revelation that the Ministry of Defence paid millions of pounds to a firm that would later be accused of being a conduit for secret payments to high-ranking Saudi officials is the culmination of a scandal that has been half a century in the making.
The £8m paid from an MoD bank account between 2014 and 2017 was in connection with a large defence deal, Sangcom, first struck in the 1970s.
Continue reading...Project Arrow contract signed amid scramble to keep on track £1.6bn defence deal and ran until at least 2017
The UK Ministry of Defence paid millions of pounds to a company later alleged to have been a conduit for secret payments to high-ranking Saudi Arabian officials including a member of the royal family.
The MoD payments, worth £8m, were made under a contract codenamed Project Arrow that ran until at least 2017, according to documents that surfaced in a criminal trial.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak’s bill was opposed in 10 votes by peers, two days after five amendments were forced through
Rishi Sunak has suffered further setbacks in the House of Lords over his controversial Rwandan deportation bill after peers defeated the government on all 10 votes.
Wednesday’s vote comes two days after the prime minister endured his heaviest defeat in the House of Lords when the archbishop of Canterbury and former Conservative ministers joined forces with the opposition to force through five amendments.
Continue reading...UK foreign secretary repeated request to Benny Gantz for Israel to allow delivery of more aid and refrain from a full-scale assault on Rafah
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said he had held a “tough but necessary” conversation with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, repeating calls for more humanitarian aid for Gaza and warning him against a fully fledged offensive in Rafah.
Cameron said ensuring the availability of aid in Gaza would be a factor when the UK assesses whether Israel is acting in line with international law.
Continue reading...Borrowing and stealth taxes fund £14bn giveaway, but public spending squeeze looms after election
Britain will go into the next general election with taxes at their highest level since 1948 despite Jeremy Hunt’s 2p budget cut in national insurance contributions – with the threat of a fresh squeeze on public spending to come after polling day.
The chancellor used a combination of higher borrowing and a range of stealth taxes to fund a £14bn giveaway package and said his ambition was to phase out NICs for employees and the self-employed altogether.
Continue reading...Labour candidate will stand in Mid Sussex against Conservatives who currently hold seat
Modern Life is Rubbish, Blur once famously pronounced. Well, after the band’s drummer was selected as a Labour candidate at the next general election, they may hope to change the situation.
Dave Rowntree will stand in Mid Sussex, the party announced on Wednesday evening. The constituency includes Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the Mid Sussex villages.
Continue reading...Michelle Donelan had urged Research England to cut ties with a member of its advisory group over alleged Hamas support
UK taxpayers have financed a £15,000 payout to an academic after the science minister wrongly accused her of supporting Hamas, the department has said amid growing political anger at why public money was used.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said £15,000 had been paid after a statement on Tuesday by Michelle Donelan, about a “clarification” from Prof Kate Sang, of Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh, about her views.
Continue reading...Jury acquits Jeffrey Cook and John Mason after lawyers argue payments were authorised by UK and Saudi governments
Two men have been acquitted of paying bribes totalling millions of pounds to high-ranking Saudis after they argued that they had been unfairly prosecuted.
Jeffrey Cook and John Mason had been accused of bribing a Saudi prince and his associates to secure and maintain a huge defence deal for a British company. But on Wednesday, a jury in London acquitted them after lawyers argued the payments had been authorised by the British and Saudi governments.
Continue reading...NI cut of 2p announced, along with new tax on vapes, end of tax relief for holiday lettings and more cash for NHS IT system
Jeremy Hunt is expected to extend the windfall tax on energy companies in the budget to help fund his national insurance cut. Extending the windfall tax is a Labour proposal that the Tories used to dismiss, and, according to a Daily Telegraph story, Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, is so angry about the move that colleagues thought he might resign. Ross is MP for Moray, in the north-east of Scotland, and he is worried that the potential impact on the oil and gas industry in Scotland will cost the party votes.
In their story, Nick Gutteridge, Dominic Penna and Simon Johnson say Ross had a row with Rishi Sunak about this at a reception on Sunday night. They report:
The leader of the Scottish Conservatives had doggedly sought out Mr Sunak across the crowded, stifling room, determined to give him a piece of his mind about the Treasury’s plans to extend the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas giants for an extra year.
What followed was a “heated” discussion between the pair, with Mr Ross warning the move would hammer the Tory vote north of the border and the prime minister countering that it was necessary to deliver a National Insurance cut for millions of workers.
Glen O’Hara, professor of modern history at Oxford Brookes University, points to the gaping trade deficit left for Labour in 1964, when outgoing Tory Chancellor Reginald Maudling infamously left a note for his successor reading: “Good luck, old cock … sorry to leave it in such a mess.”
Conservative Chancellor Norman Lamont’s pre-election budget in 1992 introduced a lower rate of income tax which Labour opposed, allowing the Tories to portray them as a “high-tax party.” The Tories unexpectedly went on to win the subsequent poll.
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