Evening summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s main news stories:
The Labour party has accused Rishi Sunak of being “slippery” in the row over whether the government will hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and other documents to the Covid inquiry. The shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has told Sky News the prime minister should “comply with the inquiry and do it today”.
The government has “absolutely nothing to hide” from the Covid inquiry and intends to be “absolutely transparent”, a cabinet minister has said, after Rishi Sunak faced accusations of attempting to cover up the actions of senior MPs during the pandemic. The Covid inquiry, led by the retired judge Heather Hallett, has used its powers to request unredacted notebooks, diaries and WhatApp correspondence between Boris Johnson and 40 senior government figures.
The Scottish National party at Westminster has filed its spending returns just in time to meet a strict deadline, which could have led to the suspension of its £1.2m state subsidy. The SNP at Westminster and its headquarters in Edinburgh had faced a major crisis after it emerged some weeks ago that its independent auditors, Johnson Carmichael, had resigned last September.
Fines during the pandemic were three times more likely to be given to black people and seven times more likely to be issued in the poorest areas, research commissioned for Britain’s police chiefs has revealed. The study covering England and Wales showed racial disparity for every single force. In one area, people from ethnic minorities were up to eight times more likely to be fined. It presents further evidence of ethnic disparity in the use of police powers. Most forces deny they are institutionally racist, as does the government.
A trade minister has insisted that there are safeguards in place for British farmers as the UK marks the first day that new trading rules with Australia and New Zealand come into force. Under the deals’ terms, from Wednesday tariffs on all UK goods exports to Australia and New Zealand will be removed, access to these markets for services unlocked and red tape slashed for digital trade and work visas, PA Media reported.
A prominent Tory mayor has gone on air to call a Labour MP a “liar and a coward” in a row over a major development project. The Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, hit out at the Middlesbrough MP, Andy McDonald, as their feud over the Teesworks scheme deepened, PA reported.
Labour’s plans to ban ex-ministers from lobbying the government for five years after leaving office are “encouraging” but need to go further, lobbyists have said. Along with the lobbying ban, the party is considering a five-point plan that would see former ministers fined for breaking lobbying rules and a new Integrity and Ethics Commission with the power to enforce standards across public life.
Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested for failing to move out of the road in Parliament Square in their latest slow march. The group said 10 supporters, including a retired cook who uses a wheelchair and members of Christian Climate Action, were detained by police on Wednesday, PA reports.
Rail services in parts of England have ground to a halt with the first of three train strikes this week taking place as the long-running dispute between the unions and the government over pay, jobs and conditions continues. A 24-hour strike by members of the driver’s union Aslef is under way and a further day of industrial action is planned for Saturday, the day of the FA Cup final.
Rishi Sunak will tell Joe Biden next week the UK should become a global hub for developing international regulation of artificial intelligence, as the prime minister rapidly shifts his position on the emerging technology. Sunak will travel to Washington DC on 7 and 8 June for meetings with the US president, as well as members of Congress and business leaders. Officials have told the Guardian that while there, Sunak intends to raise the issue of AI regulation, and specifically call for Britain to play a leading role in coordinating the formulation of global guidelines for its use.
Rishi Sunak should resurrect the help to buy scheme and lower national insurance in a bid to woo younger voters, a Tory MP has said. Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, said graduates under 40 should be paying a lower rate of tax as he claimed younger voters were more concerned with money than social issues.
Britain’s future is outside the EU, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said, as he promised to make Brexit work. Writing in the Daily Express newspaper, Starmer – who campaigned forremain in the 2016 referendum – also said he would not be seeking a return to freedom of movement.
The British businessman Dale Vince is a “perfectly legitimate person” to take money from and his donations to Just Stop Oil do not change Labour’s position on the climate activist group, the shadow international trade secretary has said. Nick Thomas-Symonds said his party had been “extremely clear on our views on Just Stop Oil” and that Vince was perfectly entitled to “give money to other causes”, PA reported.
Keir Starmer has been told by trade union Unite that any plan to block new North Sea oil and gas developments must not leave workers “paying the price”. Unite, the party’s single biggest donor, told the Labour leader that such a move could risk a “repeat of the devastation” caused by the closure of coalmines, PA reported.
Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) could be scrapped if the UK government does not U-turn on its decision to exclude glass from the plans, Humza Yousaf has warned. The first minister said the Scottish government was looking at options on how the scheme could progress without damaging Scottish businesses, but if no alternative could be found, the proposals may not continue, PA has reported.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
The man behind a parody Twitter account that claimed to be an anonymous Conservative MP offering a glimpse into Westminster life has revealed himself to be a personal trainer and environmental campaigner from Yorkshire.
Henry Morris set up the Secret Tory handle in 2019 and his brand of political satire has attracted more than 200,000 followers and earned him a book deal, PA reported.
Fans and critics speculated for years about who was behind the account, with some suggesting it could be a well-known comedian or even an actual MP.
But on Wednesday Morris, who now lives near Crymych in west Wales, unmasked himself in a video posted on his profile.
Who is the Secret Tory?
— THE SECRET TORY - OBE 🇬🇧 (@secrettory12) May 31, 2023
All is revealed in...
The Tories! pic.twitter.com/Wt3WL9X8Kt
He told BBC News he “inadvertently” started the account when talking about Brexit when he was “bored between training clients in my gym”.
“It took on a life of its own almost immediately. I remember people in the gym laughing about the account without knowing it was me, and it was very nice to have my hunch confirmed that I could make people laugh,” he said.
“Other people discover they’re good at things like ballet or darts. Turns out I’m very good at pretending to be a Tory MP.”
Updated
Rishi Sunak will tell Joe Biden next week the UK should become a global hub for developing international regulation of artificial intelligence, as the prime minister rapidly shifts his position on the emerging technology.
Sunak will travel to Washington DC on 7 and 8 June for meetings with the US president, as well as members of Congress and business leaders. Officials have told the Guardian that while there, Sunak intends to raise the issue of AI regulation, and specifically call for Britain to play a leading role in coordinating the formulation of global guidelines for its use.
The British government issued a white paper on AI this year, which spoke mainly of the benefits of AI rather than the risks it poses. But ministers are changing that position quickly, as experts warn the technology could present an existential threat to humankind.
Updated
A trade minister has insisted that there are safeguards in place for British farmers as the UK marks the first day that new trading rules with Australia and New Zealand come into place.
Under the deals’ terms, from Wednesday tariffs on all UK goods exports to Australia and New Zealand will be removed, access to these markets for services unlocked and red tape slashed for digital trade and work visas, PA Media reported.
While the introduction of the post-Brexit agreements was lauded as a “historic moment” by the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, there have been complaints about the terms the UK signed up to with Canberra and Wellington.
But the international trade minister Nigel Huddleston looked to assure farmers that the UK government has “got their backs” when it comes to protecting domestic food producers.
He said there were “safeguards” within the terms of the deals to allow ministers to prevent the UK market being “flooded” with Australian and New Zealand produce.
Updated
A prominent Tory mayor has gone on air to call a Labour MP a “liar and a coward” in a row over a major development project.
The Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, hit out at the Middlesbrough MP, Andy McDonald, as their feud over the Teesworks scheme deepened, PA reported.
Houchen challenged the MP to repeat allegations of corruption in the scheme without the protection of parliamentary privilege.
On BBC Radio 4’s World at One he said:
Andy McDonald is a liar and he’s a coward.
He added:
He would never repeat those accusations outside of parliament because he is a liar.
The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, has ordered an independent investigation into the Teesworks project to redevelop Redcar’s former steelworks, partly in response to a request from Houchen.
In April, McDonald raised concerns about the scheme in the Commons, alleging “truly shocking, industrial-scale corruption” around the site’s ownership and funding.
He said the site acquired by the public body South Tees Developments Limited for £12m in 2019 subsequently received hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer investment, but “private developers exercised their option to purchase for a mere £1 an acre plus inflation, paying £96.79 in December 2022”.
Updated
Fines during the pandemic were three times more likely to be given to black people and seven times more likely to be issued in the poorest areas, research commissioned for Britain’s police chiefs has revealed.
The study covering England and Wales showed racial disparity for every single force. In one area, people from ethnic minorities were up to eight times more likely to be fined. It presents further evidence of ethnic disparity in the use of police powers. Most forces deny they are institutionally racist, as does the government.
The report was commissioned by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and conducted by academics at the University of Edinburgh. The NPPC did not publish the findings, to the surprise of those who produced it.
It is the most detailed analysis yet of who got fined and the fairness of how police used the emergency powers to enforce rules that changed numerous times, with officers operating in far from ideal conditions.
Updated
SNP at Westminster files spending returns just in time for deadline
The Scottish National party at Westminster has filed its spending returns just in time to meet a strict deadline, which could have led to the suspension of its £1.2m state subsidy.
The SNP at both Westminster and its headquarters in Edinburgh had faced a major crisis after it emerged some weeks ago that its independent auditors, Johnson Carmichael, had resigned last September.
Its resignation, which had been withheld from the party’s national executive, emerged just after Humza Yousaf took over as party leader from Nicola Sturgeon.
After weeks struggling to find new auditors, Yousaf announced earlier this month a new firm had been appointed to audit the Westminster group’s accounts and the party’s central accounts – which have to be filed with the Electoral Commission by 31 July.
If the SNP had failed to file its Commons figures by the end of May, it faced losing its crucial £1.2m in state-funded Short money which largely pays the SNP’s costs at Westminster.
Peter Grant, the SNP’s Westminster group treasurer, said:
I’m pleased to confirm that the annual return for the SNP Westminster group’s Short money for 2022/23 has received a clean audit certificate and has been submitted, on time, to the parliamentary authorities.
Throughout this process, SNP MPs have remained focused on standing up for Scotland and supporting our hard-working staff.
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Dale Vince said criticism of Just Stop Oil in the media is “out of all proportion” given the damage being wrought by the climate crisis in the UK and elsewhere.
Speaking to the PA news agency about his donations to the group and to the Labour party, he said:
I’ve donated in the past to the Green party, the Lib Dems, Greenpeace, I donate to Sea Shepherd; a few weeks ago [it] was [to] a woman’s refuge in Stroud.
They’re all good causes, they’re all people in the world trying to do something good for other people.
Just Stop Oil fit that description perfectly. They’re putting their livelihoods on the line, they’re getting arrested and locked up by these new draconian powers that the Tories have given the police for basically trying to bring attention to the crazy notion of licensing new oil and gas in the North Sea.
There’s a lot of fuss in the media about the disruption they cause to bring attention to the issue. I think it’s out of all proportion.
People have lost their lives or their homes in the climate crisis and that’s happening right now. Not just in some other part of the world, it’s happening in Britain, it’s happening in Europe.
Updated
Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested for failing to move out of the road in Parliament Square in their latest slow march.
The group said 10 supporters, including a retired cook who uses a wheelchair and members of Christian Climate Action, were detained by police on Wednesday, PA reports.
They were among a larger group of 56 activists who were staging a slow march near the Houses of Parliament, following earlier protest action in west London when the A4 was blocked during rush hour.
JSO has held demonstrations every day since April 24, and has pledged to carry on indefinitely until the Government stops granting new licences for gas, coal and oil.
Officers have power under the new Public Order Act to make activists move out of the road or face arrest.
Updated
The British businessman and Labour donor Dale Vince has vowed to donate double all money given to Just Stop Oil for the next 48 hours after senior Conservatives urged Keir Starmer to return the funds the green energy entrepreneur gave to the party.
Vince told people on Twitter to “make a donation” to the climate activist group in the next 48 hours, adding: “I will double the amount you give.”
💥This is what we did after the right wing mud slinging…
— Dale Vince (@DaleVince) May 31, 2023
Make a donation to @JustStop_Oil in the next 48 hours and I will double the amount you give.
Visit Just Stop Oil website to donate…
The tweet comes amid controversy in the Labour party over financial support from Vince, who is also a key donor to Just Stop Oil, whose protesters are known for carrying out disruptive stunts such as interrupting sporting events and bringing roads to a standstill, PA reports.
Starmer has previously condemned Just Stop Oil activists, describing them as “wrong” and “arrogant” and senior Conservatives, including party chairman Greg Hands, have called on the Labour leader to hand back money given by Vince, arguing it legitimises group’s tactics.
The businessman, who is the founder of green energy firm Ecotricity, has given around £1.5 million to Labour over the past decade, according to filings to the Electoral Commission.
Updated
Lunchtime summary
Here is a roundup of the day’s headlines so far:
The Labour party has accused Rishi Sunak of being “slippery” in the row over whether the government will hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and other documents to the Covid inquiry. The shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has told Sky News the prime minister should “comply with the inquiry and do it today”.
The government has “absolutely nothing to hide” from the Covid inquiry and intends to be “absolutely transparent”, a cabinet minister has said, after Rishi Sunak faced accusations of attempting to cover up the actions of senior MPs during the pandemic. The Covid inquiry, led by the retired judge Heather Hallett, has used its powers to request unredacted notebooks, diaries and WhatApp correspondence between Boris Johnson and 40 senior government figures.
Labour’s plans to ban ex-ministers from lobbying the government for five years after leaving office are “encouraging” but need to go further, lobbyists have said. Along with the lobbying ban, the party is considering a five-point plan that would see former ministers fined for breaking lobbying rules and a new Integrity and Ethics Commission with the power to enforce standards across public life.
Rail services in parts of England have ground to a halt with the first of three train strikes this week taking place as the long-running dispute between the unions and the government over pay, jobs and conditions continues. A 24-hour strike by members of the driver’s union Aslef is under way and a further day of industrial action is planned for Saturday, the day of the FA Cup final.
Rishi Sunak should resurrect the help to buy scheme and lower national insurance in a bid to woo younger voters, a Tory MP has said. Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, said graduates under 40 should be paying a lower rate of tax as he claimed younger voters were more concerned with money than social issues.
Britain’s future is outside the EU, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said, as he promised to make Brexit work. Writing in the Daily Express newspaper, Starmer – who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum – also said he would not be seeking a return to freedom of movement.
The British businessman Dale Vince is a “perfectly legitimate person” to take money from and his donations to Just Stop Oil do not change Labour’s position on the climate activist group, the shadow international trade secretary has said. Nick Thomas-Symonds said his party had been “extremely clear on our views on Just Stop Oil” and that Vince was perfectly entitled to “give money to other causes”, PA reported.
Keir Starmer has been told by trade union Unite that any plan to block new North Sea oil and gas developments must not leave workers “paying the price”. Unite, the party’s single biggest donor, told the Labour leader that such a move could risk a “repeat of the devastation” caused by the closure of coalmines, PA reported.
Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) could be scrapped if the UK government does not U-turn on its decision to exclude glass from the plans, Humza Yousaf has warned. The first minister said the Scottish government is looking at options on how the scheme can progress without damaging Scottish businesses, but if no alternative can be found, the proposals may not continue, PA has reported.
My colleague Caroline Davies be with you for the next hour or so.
Updated
Keir Starmer has been told by the trade union Unite that any plan to block new North Sea oil and gas developments must not leave workers “paying the price”.
Unite, the party’s single biggest donor, told the Labour leader that such a move could risk a “repeat of the devastation” caused by the closure of coalmines, PA reported.
Starmer is reportedly on the verge of announcing the plan when he sets out his net zero energy policy next month, but the move has prompted a backlash from the party’s trade union backers concerned about the impact on workers.
Graham Stuart, the minister for climate and net zero, said earlier this month that the Government is committed to new North Sea oil and gas licences.
The Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, hit out at Starmer on Wednesday and said the proposal lacks crucial details.
“Grabbing the headlines is easy, developing a serious plan for more renewable energy is not,” she said.
“When Keir Starmer decided to let the world know that he would halt new oil and gas production in the North Sea he left out everything that was important – the detail.
“Labour must now be very clear that they will not let workers pay the price for the transition to renewable energy. When it comes to jobs we can’t have jam tomorrow.”
Updated
Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) could be scrapped if the UK government does not U-turn on its decision to exclude glass from the plans, Humza Yousaf has warned.
The first minister said the Scottish government is looking at options on how the scheme can progress without damaging Scottish businesses, but if no alternative can be found, the proposals may not continue, PA has reported.
Scotland’s DRS is due to begin in March 2024, with the earlier start date forcing ministers to seek an exemption from UK-wide legislation which aims to ensure there are no trade barriers between the four nations.
The UK government agreed the temporary extension from the Internal Market Act, but insisted the Scottish scheme could not include glass so it matched the initiative in England, which is due to begin in 2025.
Under plans outlined for Scotland, shoppers would pay a 20p deposit every time they buy a drink in a can or bottle, with that money refunded to them when the empty containers are returned for recycling.
Yousaf said excluding glass could be at the “severe detriment” to Scottish brands like Irn-Bru and Tennent’s.
Updated
Labour’s plans to ban ex-ministers from lobbying the government for five years after leaving office are “encouraging” but need to go further, lobbyists have said.
Along with the lobbying ban, the party is considering a five-point plan that would see former ministers fined for breaking lobbying rules and a new Integrity and Ethics Commission with the power to enforce standards across public life.
Alastair McCapra, CEO of the lobbyists’ trade association the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), welcomed the plans but urged Labour to do more, PA reported.
He said:
It is encouraging to see the Labour party addressing the issue of lobbying that has tarnished our politics for so long.
Their proposed five-point plan and Integrity and Ethics Commission is a huge step in the right direction and rightly focuses immediate concerns on the actions of those within parliament and those who have recently left.
He added that the CIPR had met with Labour last week to discuss the proposals, and had advised the party that transparency around external lobbyists was “still missing” from its plans.
Rishi Sunak should resurrect the help to buy scheme and lower national insurance in a bid to woo younger voters, a Tory MP has said.
Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, said graduates under 40 should be paying a lower rate of tax as he claimed younger voters were more concerned with money than social issues.
The Times reported that, speaking at an event held by the centre-right think thank Onward, he said that millennials “should suit the modern Conservative party with a modern Conservative leader – especially Sunak”.
An Onward report recently found that Sunak’s personal brand was more popular than his party with millennial voters.
Updated
Britain’s future is outside the EU, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said, as he promised to make Brexit work.
Writing in the Daily Express newspaper, Starmer – who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum – also said he would not be seeking a return to freedom of movement.
The comments are Starmer’s latest pitch to Brexit-backing voters ahead of the next general election, with the Labour leader promising to improve on the UK-EU deal reached by Boris Johnson, PA reported.
“If we are to make Brexit work, we need a government with the vision and the focus to deliver it,” he wrote.
“As Rishi Sunak heads off to meet with Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, there are no signs that he or his Government have any proper plan to deliver that better future for our country.
“Britain’s future is outside the EU. Not in the single market, not in the customs union, not with a return to freedom of movement. Those arguments are in the past, where they belong.”
He said that the current deal between London and Brussels is “paper-thin”, arguing that it had “stifled Britain’s potential and hugely weighted trade terms towards the EU”.
Updated
Cabinet minister says government has ‘nothing to hide’ from Covid inquiry
The government has “absolutely nothing to hide” from the Covid inquiry and intends to be “absolutely transparent”, a cabinet minister has said, after Rishi Sunak faced accusations of attempting to cover up the actions of senior MPs during the pandemic.
The Covid inquiry, led by the retired judge Heather Hallett, has used its powers to request unredacted notebooks, diaries and WhatApp correspondence between Boris Johnson and 40 senior government figures.
But the government is opposing the request on grounds that it wants to protect the privacy of ministers and officials, and is considering legal action to prevent disclosure.
The Cabinet Office has been given more time to hand over the unredacted information in relation to Johnson and one of his senior aides, Henry Cook, with the material now due by 4pm on Thursday. Refusing to comply with the inquiry’s order is a potential criminal offence.
Updated
The British businessman Dale Vince is a “perfectly legitimate person” to take money from and his donations to Just Stop Oil do not change Labour’s position on the climate activist group, the shadow international trade secretary has said.
Nick Thomas-Symonds said his party had been “extremely clear on our views on Just Stop Oil” and that Vince was perfectly entitled to “give money to other causes”, PA reported.
His comments come amid controversy in the Labour party over donations received from Vince, who is also a key donor to Just Stop Oil, protesters for which are known for carrying out disruptive stunts such as disrupting sporting events and bringing roads to a standstill.
Vince, the founder of the green energy firm Ecotricity, has given about £1.5m to Labour over the past decade, according to filings to the Electoral Commission.
Over the weekend, the home secretary, Suella Braverman, told the Telegraph Keir Starmer was “in bed” with Just Stop Oil donors and the Tory party chair, Greg Hands, urged Labour to hand back the money donated by Vince.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Thomas-Symonds defended his party’s position, saying:
We have been extremely clear on our views on Just Stop Oil. Indeed, Keir Starmer has said of them ‘just go home’ because they are not actually promoting the cause of tackling climate change.
What they are doing is entirely counterproductive and the only debate it’s provoking is about our public order laws.
He said Vince, who is also the chairman of the League Two football club Forest Green Rovers, was a “successful businessman here in the UK”, adding:
He’s a perfectly legitimate person to take money from.
If he wishes to give money to other causes that’s up to him, but it can hardly be said that this affects our views as a Labour party on Just Stop Oil.
Updated
Rail services in parts of England have ground to a halt with the first of three train strikes this week taking place as the long-running dispute between the unions and the government over pay, jobs and conditions continues.
A 24-hour strike by members of the driver’s union Aslef is under way and a further day of industrial action is planned for Saturday, the day of the FA Cup final.
Rail operators have said services will be severely reduced and have urged passengers to plan their journey before travelling.
About 40% of trains will be running but there will be wide regional variations, with no services on networks including Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Northern, Southern, Southeastern, Thameslink and Northern.
In addition, crew and station staff who are members of RMT will take industrial action on Friday. Approximately half of normal services will run.
Updated
Labour accuses prime minister of being 'slippery' over Covid inquiry messages
Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog. We begin the day with the Labour party accusing Rishi Sunak of being “slippery” in the row over whether the government will hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and other documents to the Covid inquiry.
The shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting , has told Sky News the prime minister should “comply with the inquiry and do it today”.
He said:
I think the prime minister looks really slippery today. He says he wants the government to cooperate with the inquiry but the government has been withholding information the inquiry has asked for.
One minute the government says the messages they have are immaterial; the next minute they’re saying they don’t exist. Which is it?
It comes as the work and pensions secretary, Mel Stride, said the government intended to be “absolutely transparent and candid” in relation to the Covid inquiry.
He told Kay Burley on Sky News:
So what the government is doing here is we have started this inquiry because we think it’s very important that we get to the bottom of some really important questions that many, many millions of people want to know the answers to around the Covid pandemic and our response to it.
We’ve provided around 55,000 documents, eight witness statements and corporate witness statements, as well, to the inquiry. And we absolutely intend to continue to be absolutely transparent and candid.
Inquiry chair Heather Hallett had ordered the government to hand over the messages, as well as diary entries and notes, by 4pm on Tuesday 30 May but the deadline has now been set for 4pm on Thursday 1 June.
The Cabinet Office’s request for an extension to Monday 5 June was rejected.
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