Category Archives: Politics

Consultants in England to strike in September if government refuses talks

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BMA highlights government’s ‘complete disregard’ for the health service and its patients

Consultants in England will strike for two additional days in September if the government continues to refuse pay talks and fails to present the profession with a credible offer, the British Medical Association has said.

The BMA said on Monday that it had written to the health secretary, Steve Barclay, to inform him that on top of strikes by consultants on 24 and 25 August, there would be additional strikes on 19 and 20 September, unless the government agrees to further negotiations.

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First asylum seekers arrive on Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset – UK politics live

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No 10 backtracks on minister’s claim 500 asylum seekers could be on barge by end of week

According to a report in the Times, Liz Truss named 16 people on her original honours list – four for peerages, and 12 people getting other honours. Two people have declined, but there are still 14 names on the list, the Times says, one person for every four days she was in office.

The Labour MP Chris Bryant says resignation honours lists should be abolished.

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Labour’s shared values with Democrats will aid UK-US trade deals, says shadow minister

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If both parties win election in 2024, their ideological closeness would make them strong allies, says Nick Thomas-Symonds

Labour’s ideological closeness to the Democrats puts the party in an ideal position to sign trade deals with the US should both parties win their elections next year, the shadow trade secretary has said.

Nick Thomas-Symonds told the Guardian he thought Labour’s shared economic values with the Biden administration meant his party would have more success than the Conservative government has had in making trade agreements across a range of sectors.

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Nearly 100,000 fewer top A-levels this year in grading plan, research suggests

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Tens of thousands of students face likely drop in As and A*s as ministers aim to return results in England to pre-pandemic levels

Tens of thousands of A-level students face disappointment on results day next week, amid warnings that nearly 100,000 fewer As and A*s could be awarded as the government seeks to return grades to pre-pandemic levels.

Up to 50,000 candidates this summer are likely to miss out on the top grades they might have expected last year, according to one estimate, throwing applications for the most competitive universities into doubt.

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UK MPs warn against growing use of smart tech in domestic abuse

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Committee’s report says devices including home security systems used to coerce and control victims

MPs have called on the UK government to tackle “tech abuse”, as they warned devices including smart home security systems were being used to coerce and control victims of domestic abuse.

The culture, media and sport committee launched an inquiry last year to consider the benefits and harms of connected technology, including virtual assistants and fitness trackers.

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Starmer says Sunak’s lack of investment in wind power is ‘gift to Putin’

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Labour leader claims Conservatives’ onshore turbine ban costs families £180 each and makes UK reliant on gas imports

Keir Starmer has condemned the prime minister’s climate policies, declaring the failure to invest in renewables such as wind turbines a “gift to Putin”.

The Labour leader also described the Conservatives’ onshore wind ban as “ludicrous” and said it now means every family in the country is paying £180 more on their energy bills.

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UK must stop funding detention of children in Syria, says David Davis

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Ex-cabinet minister calls on foreign secretary to reveal how many British minors are being held in camps

The UK must urgently end its policy of funding the illegal detention of children in north-east Syria, and disclose how many British minors are being held in camps run by Syrian Kurds on behalf of the west, the former cabinet minister David Davis has said in a letter to the foreign secretary, James Cleverly.

The letter comes after it was revealed that Yusuf Zahab, a 19-year-old Australian citizen locked up in Syria since he was 14 and presumed killed in a July 2022 Islamic State (IS) attack on a prison in the city of Hasakah, may be alive after all. A year-old video of him speaking and dated after the IS attack was released on Tuesday.

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Help with UK energy bills unlikely this winter, suggests Grant Shapps

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Energy secretary says government wants to focus on cutting taxes once inflation falls

Grant Shapps has suggested it is unlikely the government will step in to protect households from rising energy bills this winter.

The energy secretary said in an interview with the Times that once inflation had fallen the government would “absolutely” need to cut taxes.

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Rishi Sunak warned of concerns over NHS private sector partnerships

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Plans to cut waiting lists in England were welcomed but critics say they do not address deeper staffing issues

Rishi Sunak has been warned his plan for more private sector partnerships with the NHS in England to cut waiting lists will amount to “reshuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic” without addressing deeper structural issues with staffing.

The recommendations of an elective recovery plan, published on Friday, were broadly welcomed by opposition parties and health experts, but said to be overdue. Critics also said they only addressed a fragment of the much wider capacity and staffing issues across the whole of the country’s health systems.

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Let private and third sectors cut NHS waiting lists, says Steve Barclay

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Health secretary says ‘every available resource’ must be used to help patients access diagnosis and treatment faster

More private and third sector providers should be used by the NHS to help cut post-Covid waiting lists, Steve Barclay, the health secretary, will say after a review of capacity in the health service.

Barclay will draw on the work of his “elective recovery taskforce” – a group convened by ministers to look at how to bring down waiting times.

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Sadiq Khan expands £2,000 Ulez grant to all Londoners with non-compliant vehicles

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Capital’s mayor moves to reduce political fallout over scheme’s extension after Tory byelection win in Uxbridge

Sadiq Khan has expanded the grant scheme for London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to cover any household with a heavily polluting car or motorbike, spending an extra £50m after intense pressure over the political fallout of the plan.

The revised proposals, announced on Thursday, also notably increase the scrappage payments available for non-compliant vans owned by sole traders and small firms, as well as for minibuses and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

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Jeremy Hunt requests inquiry into ‘debanking’ of politicians

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Chancellor wants Financial Conduct Authority to investigate whether practice is ‘widespread’

Jeremy Hunt has asked the financial regulator to urgently investigate whether banks are barring politicians from accounts on a “widespread” basis, after Nigel Farage had his account shut down by private bank Coutts.

The chancellor said everyone must be able to express their opinions and people must have access to banking.

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Dowden’s jibe at fire union over migrant barge safety ‘disgraceful’

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Deputy PM suggested FBU’s Labour affiliation influenced its decision to raise concerns about the Bibby Stockholm

The deputy prime minister has been accused of making “disgraceful” comments after claiming that the firefighters’ union had raised safety concerns over a barge due to house asylum seekers because of close links to Labour.

Oliver Dowden suggested that the Fire Brigades Union’s affiliation and donations to the opposition were a motivating factor behind fire and overcrowding concerns raised about the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset.

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Oliver Dowden suggests Fire Brigades Union’s concerns over asylum seeker barge politically motivated – UK politics live

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The FBU had said the Bibby Stockholm could be a floating ‘death trap’ for asylum seekers

The Greenpeace campaigner Philip Evans says the four activists who have been on the roof of Rishi Sunak’s house since around 6am are “holding firm for now”.

Speaking from outside the house, Evans told the PA Media news agency they had made sure the prime minister’s family were on holiday and not going to be at home before carrying out the protest, which is a response to Sunak saying he would “max out” oil and gas in the North Sea.

It’s an incredibly dangerous thing to be saying and in general there’s been an attack on the climate since the Uxbridge byelection.

Rishi Sunak’s government has been the worst government we’ve had on climate.

This is the prime minister. He is the one that was standing in Scotland going to drill for every last drop of oil while the world is burning. He is personally responsible for that decision and we’re all going to be paying a high price if he goes through with it. It is personal.

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Bank of England warns interest rates will remain high for at least two years

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Policymakers vote for quarter-point rise to 5.25% – the 14th hike in a row – but BoE rules out prospect of recession

The Bank of England has warned businesses and households that the cost of borrowing will remain high for at least the next two years as it raised interest rates for the 14th consecutive time to 5.25%.

Ruling out the likelihood of a recession over the next two years, policymakers blamed strong wages growth in recent months for the need to increase interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to the highest level for 15 years.

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Foreign Office failed to notice torture of British academic in UAE, watchdog finds

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Parliamentary ombudsman says Matthew Hedges was let down by UK government during imprisonment

The UK’s parliamentary ombudsman has found that the Foreign Office “failed to notice signs of torture” when officials visited a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates.

Matthew Hedges was convicted on spying charges by the UAE in 2018 after travelling to Dubai to conduct research for his PhD at Durham University. He spent six months in prison, where he has said he had been handcuffed, drugged and questioned for hours, before being pardoned from a life sentence for spying.

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Bibby Stockholm will be housing people within weeks, says Oliver Dowden

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Deputy PM ‘confident’ asylum barge will soon be used and that fire safety concerns will be taken into account

Checks are still taking place on a barge designed to house asylum seekers, with the first group due to be housed there within “weeks”, the UK’s deputy prime minister has suggested.

Oliver Dowden said he was confident the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset, would become operational soon and that the government would “take into account those concerns” when pressed over fears raised about fire safety.

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UK Brexit checks on fresh food from EU delayed for fifth time, reports say

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Government source reportedly says there are concerns extra red tape could fuel further inflation

Brexit checks on fresh farm produce coming to the UK from the EU have been delayed for the fifth time, according to reports.

The decision to suspend plans to enforce the controls, which have been applied in the other direction to British exports to the EU since January 2021, is due to be announced imminently, according to the Financial Times.

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Firefighters demand meeting with Bravermen over asylum barge safety fears

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Fire Brigades Union questions large numbers kept on Bibby Stockholm and lack of exit points

Suella Braverman is facing demands from firefighters for an urgent meeting over the safety of a giant barge meant for asylum seekers amid a deepening row over whether it is a “deathtrap”.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has questioned a lack of exit points, the narrowness of corridors and increased occupancy on the Bibby Stockholm in a letter sent to the home secretary on Wednesday. Originally built with 222 cabins, the barge is now expected to contain more than 500 people in Portland, Devon.

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Energy bosses at No 10 summit warn investor confidence is waning

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Chiefs say UK’s troubled economy and political uncertainty is dampening enthusiasm for clean energy rollout

The bosses behind Britain’s multibillion-pound clean energy rollout have warned the government that the UK’s difficult economic circumstances and political uncertainty have taken a toll on investor confidence.

About 20 industry bosses representing companies from across the sector attended a summit at No 10 to discuss their plans to invest more than £100bn in the UK economy.

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