Exclusive: Tom Hayhoe, ex-Tory cabinet adviser, will examine an estimated £7.6bn of Covid-related fraud
Rachel Reeves is to appoint a health service and regulatory veteran, Tom Hayhoe, a former Conservative cabinet adviser, as her Covid corruption commissioner with the remit of clawing back billions in fraudulent contracts.
The chancellor is understood to believe the Treasury can recoup £2.6bn from waste, fraud and flawed contracts signed during the pandemic.
Continue reading...At lord mayor’s banquet in London, British PM says ‘national interest demands that we work with both’
Keir Starmer has “utterly rejected” the idea that the UK must choose between the United States and Europe when Donald Trump comes to power, arguing that it is in the national interest to work with both.
The prime minister said the UK would “never turn away” from its relationship with the US, despite the difficulties the new administration could pose, as it had been the “cornerstone” of security and prosperity for over a century.
Continue reading...Health bosses reportedly concerned about government’s focus while council leaders are said to believe building targets are unrealistic
Keir Starmer’s “plan for change” being unveiled later this week (see 9.26am) will involve sidelining the mission pledge to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7, Ben Riley-Smith from the Telegraph reports.
New targets on living standards will be unveiled by Keir Starmer on Thursday
Is being seen as a sidelining of his big economic pledge - getting the highest growth in the G7
The problem with the ‘highest sustained growth in G7’ target is Starmer of course doesn’t control the economies of US, Aus, Canada, Germany, France, Japan
US growing way faster now: 2.8% estimate for 2024 vs 1.1% for UK
For the new living standards target real household disposable income and GDP per capita have been considered.
The new promise will likely have the benefit of not being a pledge to beat other countries.
Note the nuance. The G7 target remains. It will likely be mentioned in the ‘Plan For Change’ document unveiled on Thurs and Starmer’s speech
But a new major economic pledge will now be unveiled which in the coming years is likely to be talked about much more than the G7 ambition
Councils are committed to keeping tenants and residents safe, and are keen to work with government to drive the pace of remediation.
However, for local government to carry out enforcement and addressing cladding issues as effectively and quickly as possible, multi-year funding arrangements are needed.
Continue reading...PM expected to set target to carry out 92% of routine operations and appointments within 18 weeks
NHS bosses are said to be privately concerned about Keir Starmer’s ambitious targets to cut waiting lists for routine operations, set to be announced later this week, which will also include specific targets on living standards and housebuilding.
The prime minister is expected on Thursday to set a target for 92% of routine operations and appointments to be carried out within 18 weeks, one that has not been achieved in almost a decade, the Times has reported.
Continue reading...Palliative care commission set up to provide high-quality, holistic support following assisted dying vote
MPs, doctors and charities have drawn up a blueprint to deliver an “unprecedented transformation” of care for 100,000 people a year in the final stages of their lives.
After parliament’s historic vote last week to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, a commission on palliative care has been set up to help improve end-of-life care.
Continue reading...Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds says there is ‘no route to net zero’ that ignores concerns of businesses after wave of closures
• Jonathan Reynolds: If we delay the UK’s drive for electric vehicles, our rivals will overtake us
There is “no route to net zero” that ignores the real concerns of businesses, a cabinet minister has warned, as the government prepares to reduce financial penalties handed to carmakers not selling enough electric cars.
Ministers are also looking at how cheaper loans could be introduced to help people buy an electric vehicle (EV), after a wave of job losses and closures in which carmakers blamed the onerous fines they were facing.
Continue reading...Record number of deportees includes children who may have spent most of their lives in the UK
More than 600 Brazilians, including 109 children, have been secretly removed from the UK – on the three largest Home Office deportation charter flights in history – since the Labour government came to power, the Observer has learned.
The Home Office has never before removed any nationality in such large numbers on individual deportation charter flights. It is thought that children have never before been removed on these flights.
Continue reading...Sightings over three airbases in East Anglia could relate to foreign powers’ concerns about possible nuclear weapons
A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.
Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).
Continue reading...This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
Meanwhile, the government has thrown its weight behind a bill to crack down on puppy smuggling as part of a commitment to strengthening animal welfare.
Ministers announced on Friday that they were supporting a private member’s bill sponsored by Danny Chambers, a Liberal Democrat MP and veterinary surgeon, to crack down on the pet-smuggling trade.
Continue reading...Layla Moran and Diane Abbott say end-of-life care needs more funding after bill passed for England and Wales
MPs on both sides of the debate over assisted dying have called for improvements to palliative care, regardless of whether parliament eventually enacts legalisation.
Layla Moran, who supported the bill at its second reading on Friday, and Diane Abbott, who did not, agreed that more funding was required to improve end-of-life care during a joint-interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Continue reading...Newspapers across the board cover the historic vote prominently, but with some more enthused about the outcome than others
Front pages in the UK on Saturday were dominated by the step taken by MPs toward legalising assisted dying in England and Wales by backing a bill that would give some terminally ill people the right to end their own lives.
The Guardian splashed with the news, describing it as a “historic vote” that paves the way for assisted dying, along with a photo of emotional supporters of the bill embracing.
Continue reading...Terminally ill adults with less than six months to live will be given right to die under proposed legislation
MPs have taken a historic step toward legalising assisted dying in England and Wales by backing a bill that would give some terminally ill people the right to end their own lives.
Campaigners in favour of the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill said it was a significant move towards giving people more choice over the way they die, after the Commons backed the bill by 330 votes for to 275 against.
Continue reading...Bill aims to strengthen animal welfare by closing legal loopholes around imports of dogs, cats and ferrets
The government has thrown its weight behind a bill to crack down on puppy smuggling as part of a commitment to strengthening animal welfare.
Ministers announced on Friday that they were supporting a private member’s bill sponsored by Danny Chambers, a Liberal Democrat MP and veterinary surgeon, to crack down on the pet-smuggling trade.
Continue reading...Child safety experts say similar move in Britain would penalise young people for the failings of tech companies
Child safety experts have warned the UK government against enacting an Australian-style social media ban for children under 16, which they called a “retrograde step” that would “do more harm than good”.
On Thursday, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under-16s from using social media platforms. The move was supported by a large majority of the Australian public – but academics, politicians and child rights groups said it could backfire, driving teenagers to the dark web, or make them feel more isolated.
Continue reading...If Putin allowed to reduce Ukraine to vassal state ‘he will not stop there’, Richard Moore says in plea to Trump
Abandoning Ukraine would jeopardise British, European and American security and lead to “infinitely higher” costs in the long term, the head of MI6 has warned in a speech that amounted to a plea to Donald Trump to continue supporting Kyiv.
Richard Moore, giving a rare speech, said he believed Vladimir Putin “would not stop” at Ukraine if he was allowed to subjugate it in any peace talks involving the incoming US Republican administration.
Continue reading...Transport secretary departs after it emerged she pleaded guilty to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013
In her resignation letter Louise Haigh said little about the past conviction, now spent, that led to her resignation. But she gave a fuller statement yesterday when approached by reporters about the story. She said:
In 2013 I was mugged while on a night out. I was a young woman and the experience was terrifying.
I reported it to the police and gave them a list of what I believed had been taken - including a work mobile phone that had been issued by my employer.
Louise Haigh has done the right thing in resigning. It is clear she has failed to behave to the standards expected of an MP.
In her resignation letter, she states that Keir Starmer was already aware of the fraud conviction, which raises questions as to why the prime minister appointed Ms Haigh to Cabinet with responsibility for a £30bn budget? The onus is now on Keir Starmer to explain this obvious failure of judgment to the British public.
Continue reading...Haigh tells PM she is ‘totally committed’ but leaves role after incorrectly telling police a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013
Louise Haigh has resigned as transport secretary only 12 hours after it emerged she had been convicted of fraud over a missing work phone.
Haigh quit the cabinet with a letter to Keir Starmer saying that “whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering the work of this government”.
Continue reading...Vote expected on Friday afternoon, as those running campaigns for and against say it is too close to call
MPs are hours away from deciding whether to legalise assisted dying for those with less than six months to live, in a knife-edge historic vote.
The private member’s bill, brought by the Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, will be debated from 9.30am on Friday in the House of Commons with a vote expected at about 2.30pm.
Continue reading...Departments ready to work on assessment of its workability as critics say it is proceeding the ‘wrong way round’
Civil servants and ministers will begin work on implementing the assisted dying bill if it passes its first stage in parliament on Friday, but the Guardian understands it will not be adopted as a government bill.
MPs will have a free vote on the bill to legalise assisted dying in the case of terminal illness. It is a private member’s bill, brought by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, which means the government is technically neutral on the issue.
Continue reading...Prime minister holds press conference to announce plans as ONS announces net migration figures
Here is a chart from the ONS report illustrating the latest figures.
Here is the PA Media story on the figures.
Net migration to the UK hit a higher than previously thought record of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, revised official estimates show.
The measure for the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country then dropped by 20% in the latest period, the 12 months to June 2024, and now stands at 728,000.
Continue reading...