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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Amelia Morgan & Lizzy Buchan & Dan Bloom

7 bits of bad news the Tories slipped out as MPs go on six-week summer break

It's been a busy final week in Parliament before the summer recess as Tory tensions boiled over in the battle to succeed Boris Johnson.

In a bitter contest filled with reports of dirty tricks, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak emerged as the final contenders in the race for No10.

MPs have now gone home for the summer, which is set to be dominated by attempts by Truss and Sunak race to win over the party membership.

Meanwhile, the Government has been busy quietly publishing reports and statements on everything from Brexit to Jobcentre closures.

The end of the parliamentary term is often a time for ministers to "take out the trash" by releasing a tide of information at breakneck speed when things can get lost.

Ministers have been publishing a flurry of important documents in the run up to recess, known as 'taking out the trash' (Getty)

Demob-happy Boris Johnson even found time to publish a 2,500-word statement boasting about his achievements in office.

We're sure he wouldn't want you to miss the rest of these important stories after you've read that.

Brexit 'divorce bill' could soar by £7.5billion

The Brexit divorce bill could rise to £42.5billion according to new Treasury estimates quietly published on Thursday.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke blamed rising interest rates affecting EU pension obligations for the increasing cost on Thursday.

Boris Johnson has been winding down since he said he was leaving Downing Street (No 10 Downing Street / BEEM)

The Government originally estimated the UK owed between £35billion and £39billion to the EU to fulfil commitments made before leaving the bloc.

But the latest analysis puts the figure at £42.5 billion - a £5.2 billion increase on last year and a £7.5billion rise on the original figure.

The Government also rushed through the final Commons stages of the law-breaking Northern Ireland Protocol bill on Wednesday - triggering EU fury.

Home Office response to Channel crossings branded 'poor' by watchdog

A damning report said the Home Office response to the rise in asylum seekers making the Channel crossing is "poor" and the "system is overwhelmed".

Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Neal found that problems arose mainly due to a "refusal" by the Government to move from an "emergency response to what has rapidly become steady state, or business as usual".

Migrants packed tightly onto a small inflatable boat bail water out as they attempt to cross the English Channel (Getty Images)

His report also revealed that more than 200 migrants had absconded after arriving in the UK in the space of just four months - and not all their fingerprints and pictures had been recorded.

Mr Neal had hit out at Home Secretary Priti Patel for stalling on publishing his report, which was due in April.

Post-Covid tutoring scheme misses target

The Department for Education said more than 2 million tutoring courses had been started by pupils since the Covid catch-up scheme began.

But ministers have repeatedly promised 2 million starts this academic year alone.

New figures this week show only 1,781,946 have started since September.

It comes after the Department overhauled the scheme to help kids catch up after Covid due to slow take-up.

Schools faced major disruption during the pandemic (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Tourists to be told to share picture of their face to get on flights

Tourists visiting Britain will have to send a photo of their face to the Home Office before boarding a flight from next year.

Priti Patel unveiled fresh details of a tough post-Brexit immigration shake-up - designed to create a “contactless” border.

Piloted from 2024, the “contactless” scheme could see people who enter UK airports walk down a corridor with facial recognition cameras instead of scanning their passports at a booth.

(Getty Images)

This could cut waiting times with chaos-hit Border Force.

But before boarding a flight, tourists will need to give the UK government “their biographic, biometric and contact details” and answer “a short set of suitability questions", a fresh immigration control plan this week said.

U-turn confirmed on extending Ukraine visa scheme to unaccompanied kids

The government had already announced the Ukraine visa scheme would be extended to unaccompanied kids, and a ministerial statement on Tuesday made that official.

Ministers made the U-turn on June 22 after it emerged a four-year-old girl was denied a visa - and sent back to the war-torn Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Alika Zubets, four, was turned around from the UK, despite her grandma being granted entry to Britain.

Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, Alika was classed as an unaccompanied minor because she was not with either of her parents.

The Homes for Ukraine Scheme will also now be opened to new child applicants applying without their parents or legal guardians on August 10.

New Jobcentre closures in overhaul of DWP estate

Nine Jobcentres will shut under Tory plans to overhaul the Department for Work and Pensions estate.

The centres will merge into nearby DWP offices in an announcement slipped out to MPs before their summer break.

Officials insisted many of the new sites will be as little as 0.1miles from the existing offices.

But Sutton Coldfield Jobcentre will move its services 3.2 miles away, Wembley Jobcentre’s alternative will be 2.5 miles away no alternative has been given yet for Redhill Jobcentre.

Jobcentres are being closed by the Government as part of an overhaul of the estate (Getty Images)

The other Jobcentres to shut are Gravesend The Grove, Leeds Eastgate, Leicester New Walk, Oldham Phoenix House, Walsall Bayard House, and Wolverhampton.

A 10th site in Dalston, east London, that deals with national insurance numbers, will also shut.

The DWP said the Jobcentres shutting were “older and poorer”, adding: “This is not about reducing headcount or services offered, and we expect no jobs to be lost.”

Ministers will finally act on dodgy reservoirs after heatwave

A day after temperatures in the UK exceeded 40C the government has finally decided to take action on its reservoirs.

Professor David Balmforth’s Toddbrook Review has been quietly acknowledged as government efforts will now move towards reforming current reservoir safety regimes.

Yet, this review was published in the early months of 2020 and it appears that only now are the government accepting Balmforth’s recommendations.

It has taken over two years and temperatures to sky rocket for the government to take the effects of climate change and the stress it places on reservoir infrastructure into account.

... And the news they DIDN'T announce

A string of controversial plans like the gambling white paper, disability white paper and Online Safety Bill final stages have been delayed until September.

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