The prime minister claimed ‘these kinds of taxes’ deterred investment, contrary to BP boss saying it would not
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out the introduction of a windfall tax which would help to relieve pressure on the cost of living crisis.
Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Johnson said that while he believed a disadvantage of windfall tax would be the impact it would have on investment, the prospect of such a taxwas still something to be looked at.
Continue reading...Foreign minister will meet Maroš Šefčovič as attorney general said to approve overriding Brexit deal
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is to hold talks with the vice-president of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, in the first meeting since the UK threatened to remove parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol.
The attorney general for England and Wales, Suella Braverman, is said to have approved the scrapping of large parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal, according to reports.
Continue reading...Mayor of London says panel of experts will consider effectiveness of UK policies on non-class A drugs
Sadiq Khan has announced a commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on those governing cannabis.
The London drugs commission, to be chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer QC, a former lord chancellor and justice secretary, was one of Khan’s manifesto pledges in his re-election bid last year.
Continue reading...Latest updates: Conservative Lee Anderson says people just need to be shown how to cook nutritious meals that cost less
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s leader in Northern Ireland, has criticised the DUP for refusing to commit to backing the election of a speaker for the Northern Ireland assembly. (See 11.25am.) She said:
What we need to see is the positions filled - first minister, deputy first minister, all the ministerial positions filled, and let’s get down to doing business.
I don’t think it is good enough. It is not good enough for the people here that the DUP is holding society to ransom, punishing society, preventing the establishment of a speaker and an executive to actually respond to the things people are worried about.
Continue reading...Plans to require lobbyists to register their work for other countries delayed as key details yet to be worked out
Plans to require lobbyists, PR firms and other professionals in the UK to register their work for Russia, China or any other foreign country have been unexpectedly left out of the national security bill published on Wednesday.
Insiders said key decisions about what activities would have to be registered had yet to be taken, meaning the foreign agent scheme will have to be introduced via a government amendment to the bill in a few weeks.
Continue reading...Minister also refuses to say whether Ukrainians who cross Channel in small boats could be sent to Africa
Undocumented people who travel from Ukraine to the UK via Ireland could be considered for removal to Rwanda, a senior Home Office official has told MPs.
During the same select committee hearing, a minister refused to say under repeated questioning whether Ukrainians who arrive in the UK across the Channel by boat could also be sent to the central African country.
Continue reading...Rights organisations say refugees going into hiding as Home Office admits LGBTQ+ people could face persecution in African country
Ministers’ threats to send unauthorised migrants to Rwanda are having a detrimental impact on the physical and psychological health of people seeking asylum, according to two major refugee charities.
The British Red Cross and the Refugee Council, which worked with nearly 44,000 people in the asylum process, warn that they are disappearing from hotels and are reluctant to claim support for fear of deportation, detention and other harsh measures.
A Rwandan asylum seeker who contacted the Red Cross in south-east England fearing he could be sent back to the country. He disclosed that he would be in hiding and refraining from accessing support so he is not identified by the authorities.
An Afghan man living in temporary accommodation in the east Midlands who disclosed that he had gone into hiding, fearing that he would be detained and sent to Rwanda. He said that many of his friends were in the same situation and planned to go underground.
An asylum seeker from Ethiopia based in the West Midlands said that he feels anxious about the passing of the Nationality and Borders Act and disclosed he had left his accommodation out of fear that he will be sent to Rwanda.
An Afghan asylum seeker also based in the West Midlands who said he feels he is a second-class refugee as he is not eligible for recent schemes designed to support Ukrainians.
Continue reading...Despite 38 new bills, opposition accuses government of failing to act to protect people amid soaring inflation
Boris Johnson was accused of being “bereft of ideas or purpose,” after a Queen’s speech that included 38 new bills but offered no specific measures to tackle the immediate cost of living crisis.
Instead, the speech, delivered by the Prince of Wales amid the pomp of the state opening of parliament, included plans to tear up the Human Rights Act, make it harder for councils to rename streets and privatise Channel 4.
Continue reading...News comes as it emerges Labour is preparing dossier to show team worked late on night in question
Detectives investigating Keir Starmer’s alleged breach of lockdown rules are considering interviewing the Labour leader face to face, with his Beergate agony likely to last at least a month before a decision on a fine is made.
Questionnaires are expected to be sent to those who police identify as having been present at a meal of takeaway curry and beer, but some may be questioned in person, the Guardian understands.
Continue reading...Most seriously ill inmates left to wait in cells often due to bed shortages at secure hospitals, data shows
Hundreds of severely mentally ill prisoners in urgent need of hospital treatment are being left in prison cells due to bed shortages in secure NHS psychiatric units, an investigation has discovered.
Freedom of information (FoI) responses from 22 NHS trusts reveal for the first time that just over half of the 5,403 prisoners in England assessed by prison-based psychiatrists to require hospitalisation were not transferred between 2016 and 2021 – an 81% increase on the number of prisoners denied a transfer in the previous five years.
Continue reading...Charity’s report says nearly all targets set since 2000 have been missed, revised or quietly ignored
The international aviation industry has failed to meet all but one of 50 of its own climate targets in the past two decades, environment campaigners say.
A report commissioned by the climate charity Possible assessed every target set by the industry since 2000 and found that nearly all had been missed, revised or quietly ignored. The charity says the findings undermine a UK government plan to leave airlines to reduce their emissions through self-regulation.
Continue reading...Home secretary attacks ‘specialist lawyers’ as Labour calls delayed plan little more than a press release
Priti Patel has admitted that it will take time to establish the government’s high-profile plan to send people who arrive in the UK without authorisation to Rwanda, amid growing suspicion that it will not solve the migration crisis in the Channel.
In a further attack on the legal profession, the home secretary blamed “specialist lawyers” as the main reason for the delays in setting up the scheme.
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Adam Wagner, a barrister specialising in lockdown rules, says document shows purpose of meal was political, not social
A barrister specialising in lockdown rules has said a leaked document showing Keir Starmer attended a prearranged meal in Durham during an election could be used to clear the Labour leader of allegations that he broke the law.
The document, published by the Mail on Sunday, shows that an 80-minute dinner with the Labour MP Mary Foy, featuring a takeaway curry, was planned as part of his schedule.
Continue reading...Tories claim document published in Mail on Sunday proves Labour leader is guilty of ‘rank double standards’
Labour has rejected claims that a leaked planning memo about Keir Starmer’s visit to Durham last year undermined his assertion he did not break lockdown laws, insisting he is “Mr Rules”.
The Labour document, published by the Mail on Sunday, shows that an 80-minute dinner with the Labour MP Mary Foy, featuring a takeaway curry, was planned as part of his schedule.
Continue reading...Jagtar Singh Johal has been detained since 2017 and allegedly tortured, accused of helping to fund assassination plot
The UK is under pressure to insist India release Jagtar Singh Johal, a British citizen, after a UN working group ruled he had been arbitrarily detained by India and his detention lacked any legal basis.
Boris Johnson apparently raised the case when he met the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, last month and provided a written note of consular cases, but Foreign Office ministers have not confirmed whether they regard his detention as arbitrary.
Continue reading...Sinn Féin has called for debate on Irish unification, but many obstacles exist to a referendum on the issue
Sinn Féin hailed its first victory in a Northern Ireland assembly election as a defining moment for the British-controlled region and called for a debate on a united Ireland.
The party’s president, Mary Lou McDonald, had a simple message for unionists on Saturday, telling them: “Don’t be scared, the future is bright for us all.”
Continue reading...Keir Starmer having a beer and takeaway has potentially become a resigning matter after reopening of investigation
The Sun first published a picture of Keir Starmer drinking a beer with Labour workers in a party office in Durham on 30 April 2021 more than a year ago. Until recently, the story was a minor Tory attack line, but it is now potentially a resignation matter following Durham police’s decision to reopen its investigation into whether the Labour leader broke Covid lockdown rules.
Continue reading...Home secretary is violating international law, the UN refugee convention and data protection rules, say lawyers
The first legal action has been launched against Priti Patel’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as the UN’s refugee agency raised concerns that the UK is “inviting” other European countries to adopt the same divisive immigration policy.
Lodged last Tuesday, the legal challenge states that the home secretary’s proposals run contrary to international law and the UN refugee convention, as well as breaching British data protection law.
Continue reading...Documents show gambling firms warned Treasury officials against tightening up industry laws
Some of Britain’s betting giants are revealed to have quietly lobbied Treasury officials against a proposed industry crackdown, claiming it will cost millions of pounds in lost tax receipts.
Executives representing Bet365, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes met officials from the Treasury and Revenue and Customs, warning a radical overhaul of the industry could drive gamblers to the black market. The meeting was with tax officials rather than ministers and was therefore not required to be automatically disclosed.
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