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...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...James Cleverly’s comments come after No 10 said ‘no deal has been done as yet’
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, will discuss the Northern Ireland protocol in a call with the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič this afternoon, PA Media reports. They will be joined by the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, amid expectations both sides are inching closer to a deal.
Micheál Martin, the Irish foreign minister and tánaiste (deputy PM), has urged UK politicians not to play politics with the Northern Ireland protocol negotiations. Speaking in Brussels, where he has been attending the EU foreign affairs council, he said:
I think what’s very important is that everybody now from here on think about the people of Northern Ireland.
Not power play, not politics elsewhere, I think the people of Northern Ireland have had enough of that, of people playing politics with their future. And, in my view, my only concern is that the people of Northern Ireland voted [in last May’s assembly election], they want their institutions [at Stormont] restored.
Continue reading...The Scottish health secretary and former Scottish minister enter race to replace Nicola Sturgeon
Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan have become the first candidates to officially announce plans to stand for SNP leader, while Keir Starmer is expected to urge Scottish voters on Sunday to “take another look at Labour”.
Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary, and former minister Regan announced their plans to stand in Scotland’s Sunday Mail.
Continue reading...Deputy first minister urges party to unite and ‘anchor SNP in mainstream of Scottish politics’
John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister and one of the Scottish National party’s longest-serving senior figures, has called for the party to unite and focus on concerns of mainstream voters as he ruled himself out of the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.
Swinney, who is widely respected among the SNP membership and was its leader 20 years ago, said the party needed “a fresh perspective” after Sturgeon’s shock resignation on Wednesday.
Continue reading...SNP scraps conference on first minister’s proposal to use next general election as ‘de facto referendum’
Senior figures in the Scottish National party believe Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation could delay their effort to stage another independence referendum by at least five years.
The party’s national executive committee confirmed on Thursday evening that Sturgeon’s plan – to stage a special conference on her proposals to use the next election as a single-issue “de facto referendum” on independence – had been scrapped.
Continue reading...SNP politicians fear quarrel weighing on leadership contest, while any compromise could break coalition with Greens
The future of transgender rights in Scotland remains in limbo, as SNP politicians warn that a leadership contest must not become dominated by ongoing rows on gender recognition reform.
Meanwhile, Scottish Greens sources suggest that any rowback on reform could lead to the collapse of the party’s power-sharing agreement with the SNP.
Continue reading...Westminster chief and president say conference on outgoing leader’s strategy should be delayed
Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation could prompt a major rethink around her plans to fight the next UK general election as a de facto referendum on independence, the Scottish National party’s leader in Westminster has suggested.
After the shock announcement of the first minister’s departure on Wednesday, Stephen Flynn said the special conference due to be held next month on Sturgeon’s plan should be pushed back to give the new leader time to set out their intentions.
Continue reading...Scottish National party leader says she no longer has stamina to carry on in pressured and demanding role
Nicola Sturgeon will stand down as first minister of Scotland, as she said she no longer had the stamina to continue in the highly pressured and demanding role.
In a shock decision, Scotland’s longest-serving first minister said she had instructed the Scottish National party (SNP) to begin the process of electing a new leader and would remain in office until her successor is chosen.
Continue reading...SNP MP for Glasgow South says he is victim of ‘sophisticated and targeted spear phishing’ attack
An SNP MP whose emails were hacked has spoken out because he fears they were stolen by a group linked to Russia and will be published.
Stewart McDonald’s emails were compromised last month after he clicked on a message from a member of his staff on his private MP’s account.
Continue reading...Stephen Flynn’s comments contrast with view of Westminster colleague Alyn Smith who said rebels should quit the party
Scottish National party politicians’ opposition to gender recognition reform should be “respected like any other conscience issue”, according to its new Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.
Discussing the issue that has convulsed the SNP since he was elected Westminster group leader in December, the Aberdeen South MP said: “Ultimately, they are a member of the Scottish National Party just as much as I am”.
Continue reading...Politicians, campaigners and UN special rapporteur concerned by case of Isla Bryson, who offended before she had transitioned
Politicians, campaigners and a UN special rapporteur have all expressed grave concerns that a transgender woman found guilty of raping two women before transitioning is being remanded in a female prison.
Opponents of the Scottish government’s gender recognition reforms – which the UK government has blocked from going for royal assent because of “safety issues for women and children” – said that the case vindicated their concerns about lack of safeguards in the bill.
Continue reading...Downing Street spokesperson also says inquiry into former chancellor’s affairs to be ‘conducted swiftly’
There are two urgent questions in the Commons later. At 12.30pm Caroline Lucas (Green) is asking one about the child asylum seekers who have gone missing from hotel accommodation provided by the Home Office, and that will be followed by Ben Bradshaw (Lab) asking one about the Church of England’s stance on equal marriage.
After those are over Damian Hinds, the justice minister, will deliver a statement about the probation inspectorate.
Continue reading...Nicola Sturgeon says her government will be ‘vigorously defending’ democracy as well as the bill passed in Scotland
I am sorry the comments are closed at the moment. There has been an update this morning that has created a glitch with the system, but the developers are trying to fix it as quickly as possible.
Labour has been anxious to avoid taking sides on the Scottish gender recognition reform bill. Although Keir Starmer has criticised aspects of the bill, and argued it might have an impact on UK equality laws, he has accused both the UK and Scottish governments of politicising the issues and implied that Labour would adopt a more consensual approach.
Continue reading...Leader of the Labour party made the comments during a speech on Brexit in Northern Ireland
The UK culture secretary, Michelle Donelan, has said she is “not ruling out” changing the online safety bill to allow regulators to prosecute social media bosses who are found not to have protected children’s safety.
Donelan told the BBC she was open to making changes that have been demanded by dozens of Conservative MPs, saying she would take a “sensible approach” to their ideas.
Obviously this is a very sensitive area and I know there were very robust debates and exchanges on it as the bill was passing in Scotland. What I’m concerned about is the impact of the bill across the United Kingdom.
There may be impacts across the UK that we need to be aware of and understand the impact of them, and that’s what we’re doing, and once the government has received final advice it will set out next steps.
This is not just a question about the GRR people’s individual views on it. This is about democracy.
The Scottish parliament has voted in favour of legislation that sits within devolved competencies, and it’s incumbent upon Westminster to ensure that legislation is passed in full.
Continue reading...Angela Crawley’s private member’s bill aims to grant three days of statutory paid leave to grieving parents
Ministers have been urged to back proposals that would grant paid leave to parents who have experienced miscarriage.
Under current UK law, people are not granted maternity leave or pay if they have had a miscarriage.
Continue reading...Alleged victim says end of suspension is ‘slap in face to anyone who has experienced sexual harassment’
The SNP has restored the party whip to a senior MP who has sat as an independent since June after an independent parliamentary inquiry found he made an unwanted sexual advance towards a teenage party worker.
Patrick Grady quit the SNP group at Westminster after a two-day suspension from parliament, imposed after the independent parliamentary standards commissioner found he had made the advances to the then 19-year-old man in 2016. The man to whom he made the advances said the end of Grady’s suspension was “a slap in the face to anyone who has experienced sexual harassment”.
Continue reading...Scottish secretary hints that Westminster may use rare power to block new law which removes need for diagnosis of gender dysphoria for gender recognition certificate
At the Scottish parliament Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, is taking questions. Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, asks about the gender recognition reform (Scotland) bill and amendments rejected by the Scottish government. He says the bill would allow a man standing trial for raping a woman to force his victim to refer to him as a woman, not a man, and he asks Sturgeon why she voted against an amendment that would have prevented this.
In response, Sturgeon says many amendments have been rejected in the past days. She says where amendments were rejected, it was often because there were alternative ways to add safeguards to the bill. These new safeguards covered sex offenders, she says.
Health and care is under huge strain in the run-up to Christmas. These figures suggest there is absolutely no slack in the system, which is dangerously close to overheating completely.
A key part of the problem is that the vast majority of hospital beds are full – around 95% – including with thousands of patients fit to be discharged. The lack of community and social care means they’ll be spending this Christmas in hospital.
Continue reading...Vote on law that would remove need for diagnosis of gender dysphoria to obtain gender recognition certificate pushed back after fraught debate
The final vote on the Scottish government’s long-awaited changes to simplify how someone can legally change gender has been delayed until Thursday after two days of fraught, chaotic and sometimes emotional debate among MSPs.
With discussion of more than 150 amendments continuing late into Wednesday night, the decision was taken by Holyrood business managers to re-schedule the crunch vote for Thursday afternoon rather than have the session run on into the early hours.
Continue reading...The SNP’s proposals including making it easier to get a gender recognition certificate polarised national politics and provoked angry debates over rights
When Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, pledged to reform gender recognition laws at a LGBTQ+ leaders’ hustings before the 2016 Holyrood elections, she could not have envisaged the escalating toxicity and political polarisation that would ultimately surround her plans, nor the personal toll it would exact.
The proposals to bring in a system of self-declaration for individuals wishing to change their legal gender has led to multiple protests outside the Holyrood parliament, booing the avowedly feminist first minister as a “destroyer of women’s rights”. It has prompted the SNP’s biggest ever backbench rebellion and brought Sturgeon head to head with another of Scotland’s best-known women, the Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who on the eve of the final vote described the gender recognition reform bill as “the single biggest rollback of women’s rights in our lifetimes”.
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