PM under pressure to follow EU and US in taking step over fears Chinese-owned app poses cybersecurity risk
Rishi Sunak has been urged to ban government officials from using TikTok in line with moves by the EU and US, amid growing cybersecurity fears over China.
Officials in Europe and the US have been told to limit the use of the Chinese-owned social video app over concerns that data can be accessed by Beijing.
Continue reading...Move would come after four months of intense negotiations and mark an end to two-year standoff with EU
Rishi Sunak is poised to announce a deal to end the protracted row over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol as soon as Monday, the Guardian has been told.
The move would come after four months of intense negotiations and mark an end to a two-year standoff with the EU. But in a huge political gamble for the prime minister, it may trigger a fresh battle with pro-Brexit Conservative backbenchers in the European Research Group (ERG) and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP).
Continue reading...Family pay tribute to man they described as ‘a journalist to his bones’
Margaret Thatcher’s former press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham has died at the age of 90 after a short illness, his family has said.
Ingham was a journalist with the Guardian in the 1970s before going into communications for the government. He served as press secretary for Thatcher for almost her entire time as prime minister.
Continue reading...They stopped short of Boris Johnson’s demand for UK to ‘break the ice’ and supply Ukraine with fighter jets
UK political leaders have marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a renewed call to support Kyiv with additional weaponry – but stopped short of the firm commitments on fighter jets demanded by Boris Johnson.
With James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, in New York for a meeting of the UN security council, Rishi Sunak hosted the Ukrainian ambassador at Downing Street, with a national minute’s silence planned for 11am on Friday.
Continue reading...Original review published in 2021 but Ukraine war demonstrates need for investment
A planned refresh of the government’s integrated review of defence and foreign policy is at risk of being delayed until after the budget in mid-March amid a row over funding and a lack of clarity over its aims.
It had been expected that the fresh look at Britain’s geopolitical strategy, originally announced by Liz Truss and inherited by Rishi Sunak, would be released on 7 March – more than a week before the 15 March annual financial statement.
Continue reading...The Labour leader will set out his party’s five ‘missions’ for government in a speech later
In an interview with BBC Breakfast this morning Keir Starmer defended the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) decision yesterday to refuse Shamima Begum’s appeal against the decision to remove her British citizenship. Starmer said “national security has to come first”.
Yesterday, after the Siac decision was announced, the Conservative party was tweeting a clip from an interview that Starmer gave to Sophy Ridge on Sky News in March 2019 saying that the decision by the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, to deprive Begum of her citizenship was “wrong”.
Continue reading...Shadow development secretary urged those calling Sikh temples unsafe to submit written apologies
Grassroots Labour supporters have complained about the behaviour of Preet Gill, the shadow international development secretary, whom they accuse of undermining Sikh victims of sexual violence.
Sikh members have made a complaint to the party after Gill sent a series of messages on a WhatsApp group that appeared to cast doubt on allegations of sexual abuse within gurdwaras.
Continue reading...Latest updates: PM says Commons will be given a chance to ‘express its view’ on any final deal
British Steel has announced the closure of the coking ovens at its Scunthorpe works with the loss of 260 jobs, my colleague Jasper Jolly reports.
Graeme Wearden has reaction to this on his business live blog.
Continue reading...Past supreme court ruling meant Siac judges found themselves unable to contradict home secretary
Almost exactly four years after she was stripped of her citizenship, Shamima Begum’s hopes of returning to the UK have been dealt a bitter blow, with the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) upholding the decision.
It is the latest development – and unlikely to be the last – in a legal fight that Begum’s family began in March 2019, one month after the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, took his controversial decision, shortly after she was found in a refugee camp in north-east Syria.
Continue reading...The 24-hour strike kicks off on budget day in dispute over pensions and working arrangements
London Underground drivers are to strike on 15 March – budget day – in a dispute over pensions and working arrangements.
The Aslef union announced on Wednesday that members would strike for 24 hours, in a row over changes to working arrangements and pensions.
Continue reading...Special immigration appeals commission decides revocation of her citizenship was lawful
Shamima Begum, who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State (IS), has lost an appeal against the decision to remove her British citizenship.
Describing it as a case of “great concern and difficulty”, the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) ruled that although there was “credible suspicion” that Begum was trafficked for sexual exploitation, the decision was ultimately one for the home secretary.
Continue reading...Peers rejected letting police exercise stop and search without suspicion and sanction people without conviction
Proposed legislation aimed at curbing tactics used by protest groups has suffered eight defeats in the House of Lords.
Peers rejected key measures of the controversial public order bill, including ditching a measure to let police exercise stop and search without suspicion to tackle disruptive demonstrations.
Continue reading...Prime minister and EU press ahead on protocol agreement before momentum slips
Rishi Sunak is preparing to face down his Brexit critics and press ahead with a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol if he can secure one in the coming days, government sources have said.
The prime minister was said to be “relaxed” about a growing backlash over what hardline Eurosceptic MPs fear will amount to little more than a “glossary” on “how to implement” the existing protocol.
Continue reading...Latest updates: government warning comes as former NI secretary says Good Friday agreement needs reform
Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union addressed the annual farming conference in Birmingham this morning with a grave tone. Pointing out that farmers across the country are going out of business, with the fastest reductions in some sectors such as salad since records began, she said that farmers are facing a huge squeeze and lack of support from government.
She said the Conservatives were “running out of time to walk the walk” and that food security was under severe threat as farmers face rising input costs, inflation, avian influenza and the climate crisis.
As a member of parliament for a farming constituency. I’ve worked with farmers and the NFU for years. I’ve even rolled up my sleeves and done the early morning milking at Wensleydale.
Now I know how important your work is. And I know that it’s more than just work. It’s a way of life that is passed down through the generations.
Continue reading...Surprise surplus lands the chancellor with a dilemma – but he is unlikely to listen to calls to change course
Inflation is the chancellor’s friend if he only considers his income.
The official figures for the public finances show total tax revenues rose by 13.2% in January from the same month a year ago.
Continue reading...Farming groups welcome grants but say money has been recycled from previous underspend
Farmers in the UK will gain access to robots that can harvest crops in the absence of migrant workers, sensors on tractors to measure the nutrient level of soils, and cow mattresses to help prevent lameness in dairy cattle, under government measures announced on Tuesday.
Mark Spencer, the farming minister, hailed the £168m in grants to farmers as a way for farmers to increase productivity and improve animal health. “The role farmers play in putting food on our tables as well as looking after our countryside is crucial. We know that sustainable food production depends on a healthy environment, the two go hand in hand,” he told the annual National Farmers’ Union conference in Birmingham.
Continue reading...Senior Brexiter Maria Caulfield says PM must be given ‘time and space’ to conclude talks with EU
A senior Brexiter minister has urged colleagues to give Rishi Sunak “time and space” to finish negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol, as warnings grew of potential ministerial resignations.
Sunak has been told he is facing the possibility ministers may quit if his deal does not significantly rewrite the protocol or remove any powers for the European court of justice.
Continue reading...Ten of thousands to take part in industrial action in escalation of row between NHS staff and government
Hundreds of thousands of operations and medical appointments will be cancelled in England next month and progress in tackling the huge care backlog will be derailed as the NHS prepares to face the most widespread industrial action in its history.
Junior doctors are poised to join nurses and ambulance workers in mass continuous walkouts in March after members of the British Medical Association (BMA) voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action.
Continue reading...Professor of mathematical biology to succeed Sir Patrick Vallance after advising MoD and working with Sage during pandemic
Dame Angela McLean has been appointed as the UK’s chief scientific adviser – the first woman to hold the post.
McLean will take over the role of providing independent scientific advice to the prime minister and members of the cabinet on 1 April, after the end of Sir Patrick Vallance’s five-year term. She will also advise on aspects of science and technology policy, and work to improve the quality and use of scientific evidence and advice in government.
Continue reading...Call for more personalised approach on back of broader efforts to build deeper relationships with families
Personalised text messages to parents could be used to help improve school attendance rates, as teachers struggle to re-engage children and their families after the disruption of Covid, according to experts.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said there was a “national persistent truancy crisis” in England, with significantly more children now missing lessons compared with before the pandemic.
Continue reading...