Summary
That’s it from us. Thank you for tuning in to the liveblog today.
Rishi Sunak went on GBNews’s People’s Forum, where he fielded questions on everything from the NHS, Rwanda, trans issues and education. He spoke at length about the upcoming election, beseeching voters to stand by the conservative government and vote for him instead of Keir Starmer.
Sunak stood by the Rwanda bill, which was being debated today in the House of Lords. He said he is “absolutely” committed to getting the Rwanda bill through Parliament because “we need a deterrent”. “We need to say unequivocally that if you come to our country illegally, you cannot stay,” he said. “That is what Rwanda is about.”
Minutes before Sunak went live, the Labour party withdrew its support for its candidate in the Rochdale byelection after he accused Israel of deliberately allowing the 7 October Hamas attacks.
While Sunak fielded questions, protesters amassed outside Downing Street, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “Rishi Sunak, shame on you. Keir Starmer, shame on you,” they chanted.
Loud chanting outside Downing Street right now.
— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) February 12, 2024
'Rishi Sunak, shame on you. Keir Starmer, shame on you.' pic.twitter.com/9GcbUKeOR1
Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, whose parents-in-law were trapped in the early stages of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has criticised both Keir Starmer and prime minister Rishi Sunak for their failure to call for a ceasefire.
David Cameron became the first Cabinet minister to explicitly criticise remarks made by Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump about Nato. Trump’s suggestion that the US would not protect Nato allies failing to spend enough on defence was “not a sensible approach”, the foreign secretary said.
GB News People’s Forum with Rishi Sunak has now finished.
Updated
Rishi Sunak is now goading the People’s Forum into asking a question about taxes, the economy and the cost of living crisis.
He got a question, but it’s not exactly the question he wants: He’s asked about the higher taxes in Scotland.
Updated
Rishi Sunak gets a question about the factions in the Conservative party, and how he plans to bring them together. He said he thinks all conservative MPs do have a unity in purpose – in making sure Conservatives win the next election.
He acknowledged the differences within the party, especially with the Rwanda bill, but said. “Those differences are an inch,” he said. “The real differences are between us and the Labour party. Those differences are a mile.”
“I think they will focus their attention on Keir Starmer and the opposition because that’s what it’s about, not the small minute differences,” he said.
Read more about the Tory factions here:
Rishi Sunak fields a question on education. He said the conservative party’s plan on education has worked and the country’s education system is improving.
“Our kids here now are the best readers in the western world thanks to the phonics reforms you have in our schools,” he said.
Rishi Sunak is asked why LGBT voters should vote for him. He’s pushed more about trans issues. He hammered down that “biological sex is important”, especially when it comes to health and safety, and that parents should be involved when it comes to issues with children.
Here’s a bit more on Rishi Sunak and his comments about the Labour party, in which he invoked Rochdale and the party’s reversal on its £28bn decarbonisation policy.
“Keir Starmer has been running around for the last year trying to tell everybody ‘OK, Labour Party’s changed’,” he said. “Well, look what just happened in Rochdale, a candidate saying the most vile conspiracy theories, antisemitic, and what happened? He’s stood by and sent cabinet ministers to support him, until literally five minutes before I walked on tonight, under enormous media pressure, has decided to change his mind on principle. No principles at all.”
Read more on what’s going on in Rochdale here:
Updated
Rishi Sunak brought up Labour’s reversal on its £28bn decarbonisation policy in his speech about the upcoming election.”
“There’s more to do and that’s what the election this year is about,” Sunak said. “That’s the choice. Do we stick with this plan? Our plan that is starting to deliver the change that you will want and the country deserves or do we go back to square one with Keir Starmer and the Labour party?
He continued: “Now we’ve just seen in the last week with absolute chaos over the £28 billion decarbonisation policy, that Labour simply don’t have a plan and if you don’t have a plan, you can’t deliver any change.”
Rishi Sunak is invoking Rochdale in his spiel about the next election, which he is confident he will win.
“The Labour party has not changed. It’s a con. That’s what you have to remember,” he said.
Questions with Rishi Sunak on GBNews’s People’s Forum is briefly derailed by a man from Scotland talking about the Covid-19 vaccine.
A man now berating Rishi Sunak about Covid vaccines pic.twitter.com/HRQEXqJGgl
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) February 12, 2024
Updated
Rwanda scheme 'the right thing to do', Sunak tells voters
Rishi Sunak gets a question on Rwanda: “Why are you so adamant on Rwanda?”
He responds that he made stopping the small boats a priority because “as a matter of compassion, it’s the right thing to do.”
“I think illegal migration is profoundly unfair,” he said. “I think our country is based on a sense of fairness.”
He said the plans he has put in place are working, and illegal migration is an example of that – small boats to UK are down, though they’re up in the rest of Europe. He referenced the Albania deal – said the UK has returned “something like 5,000” Albanians last year. “What do you know? They stopped coming.”
Sunak said he is “absolutely” committed to getting the Rwanda bill through Parliament because “we need a deterrent”.
“We need to say unequivocally that if you come to our country illegally, you cannot stay,” he said. “That is what Rwanda is about.”
Updated
As Rishi Sunak answers questions on GB News’ People’s Forum tonight, this is the scene outside Downing Street:
Downing Street tonight.
— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) February 12, 2024
Our political ‘leaders’ - Sunak and Starmer are complicit in genocide.
Not in your name. It’s time for everyone to say:
End the slaughter of children
End the genocide
Sanctions against Israel now
pic.twitter.com/aLvdWnm8lO
Sunak is now being questioned about the NHS.
“Why should you trust me on the NHS? I come from an NHS family. My dad was a GP, my mum was a pharmacist, I grew up working in my mum’s pharmacy,” Sunak said. “I saw first hand the incredible impact that primary healthcare has on people’s lives. People rely on it. It’s really important to me that we support the NHS.”
He blamed Covid for the backlog, and said the government is investing in “a massive expansion in the number of doctors and nurses we’re training here”, so fewer doctors and nurses will have to come from abroad to staff the NHS.
He said the waiting list fell during a period at the end of last year when there were no strikes. “I’m confident we can bring it down,” he said.
Updated
Rishi Sunak is on GB News’ People’s Forum tonight.
The first question is if the Conservative party has done anything of real substance since the last election.
The questioner is from Darlington and Sunak said the government has had a “record number of investments” in places like Darlington and across the north.
“It’s places like Darlington that are now getting the focus from a conservative government,” Sunak said.
Sunak continued: “Wherever you live in this country, you can grow up and know your dreams will be realised.”
Updated
Sunak starts GB News interview
And we’re back. Eleni Courea has the latest on the Labour fallout, but stay tuned here for updates on Rishi Sunak’s interview on GB News.
Updated
Thank you for following the liveblog this evening. We’ll now be pausing our live political coverage until Rishi Sunak’s GB News interview starts at 8pm.
'Rwanda cares deeply about refugees', says Home Office minister
“Rwanda is a country that cares deeply about supporting refugees,” said home office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom.
“We consider that the terms of the treaty, which had been carefully agreed with the government of Rwanda and will be binding in international law, to be sufficient to ensure that those relocated under the partnership will be offered safety and protection with no risk of refoulement,” he said.
Updated
Baroness Jones of Moulescoombe called the Rwanda bill “absurd”.
“I am arguing that this is an absurd bill,” she said. “It is nasty, it is inhumane and I don’t want any part of it.”
Today we are debating how to make the inhumane #RwandaBill safe. Sadly, that's impossible and in spite of all our good work, the Govt will ram it through.
— Jenny Jones (@GreenJennyJones) February 12, 2024
Tomorrow, the Victims and Prisoners Bill! https://t.co/MtvyinUrka
And away from the Lords, Andy Haldane – the former chief economist for the Bank of England – is going on Sky News tonight to discuss Labour’s decision to abandon its £28bn-a-year green spending pledge.
“I think it’s a shame,” he tells Sky’s Sophy Ridge. “It was big, it was bold, ambitious.”
Andy Haldane - head of the RSA and former Bank of England chief economist tells me “it’s a shame” Labour u-turned on the £28bn green spend because “we do need that investment”
— Sophy Ridge (@SophyRidgeSky) February 12, 2024
Full interview 7pm #PoliticsHub pic.twitter.com/AQAqGoGvaJ
Labour and Tory peers warn Rwanda bill sets dangerous precendents
PA Media has gone more in depth on both Tory and Labour peers warning of their belief that the bill could set dangerous precedents.
In addition to the remarks of Labour former justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Tory peer Lord Tugendhat claimed the bill could have an impact on the UK’s perception as a “marvellous place to do business because of our great respect for the rule of law”.
“I have been a member of Parliament for a very long time on and off, and I have been a member of the Conservative party for some 66 years when I counted it up, and I do have to say that I find it quite extraordinary that the party of Margaret Thatcher should be introducing a Bill of this kind,” Lord Tugendhat said.
Lord Tugendhat added: “What we are being asked to do really represents the sort of behaviour that the world associates with despots and autocracies, not with an established democracy, not with the Mother of Parliaments. It is a bill we should not even be asked to confront, let alone pass.”
Updated
Lord Falconer of Thoroton is arguing that this bill “fundamentally crosses over the separation of powers” and would set a bad precedent for the country’s future.
“Do not listen to this siren song that this is not a fundamental change in our constitution – it is and it will be the foundation of many bad things to come,” he said.
PA Media has some fuller quotes of what former Conservative party leader Michael Howard said in the House of Lords on the proposed amendments of the Rwanda deportation plans. He was speaking against a series of amendments that Shami Chakrabarti, the archbishop of Canterbury and Brenda Hale have put their names to, and specifically about their point that the UNHCR should play some role in advising the secretary of state on Rwanda. He said:
The plain fact is that we are a parliamentary democracy. That means that parliament is sovereign, and the reason why so many of us cherish that overarching principle is that we attach high importance to something called accountability.
Accountability was not a word which featured very large in your Lordships debate on second reading. The courts are accountable to no one, they proudly proclaim that fact; many of the bodies to which parliament in recent years outsourced some of its responsibilities have little if any accountability; but parliament itself – or at least the other place, the House of Commons in which I was privileged to serve for 27 years – is truly accountable.
To whom is the UN high commissioner for refugees accountable? Perhaps they might say to the general assembly of the United Nations. To whom is that body accountable? The acceptance of these amendments would constitute nothing less than an abdication of the responsibilities of Government.”
He was responding to Chakrabarti, who opened the debate by saying the Bill as it stands “threatens both the domestic rule of law, especially the separation of powers, and the international rules-based order”.
She said:
I will assume that the government does not want to put the executive of the UK on a collision course with our supreme court or our international legal obligations. So amendments in this group seek to offer a way through the stalemate for people of good will from all sides of your Lordships House
She said the proposals would mean no one was removed to Rwanda under the Government’s plans “unless two conditions are met”.
She added: “The first condition is that there is advice from the UNHCR that Rwanda is now safe, for example as a result of the successful implementation of promised reforms and safeguards to the asylum system there. The second condition is that this advice has been laid before both Houses of Parliament.”
That is it from me Martin Belam, for today. It has been quite the crash course in the Guardian style guide of how we address peers, that is for sure. I am handing over to my colleague Vivian Ho now. I will be back with you again tomorrow while Andrew Sparrow enjoys a well-deserved break.
Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark, says “we cannot afford to get this wrong” and that courts and tribunals must be able to make the judgment on the safety of Rwanda, not have it set in stone by legislation. He says the government is taking “an unreasonable risk” by currently sending people to Rwanda.
Arminka Helic, appointed to the Lords by David Cameron in 2014, has said that the inclusion of a role in the process of adjudicating the safety of Rwanda or otherwise to UNHCR would show a valuable signal of the UK’s commitment to international bodies.
Lord Howard of Lympne has gone on to argue that the supreme court ruling was not a “finding of fact” but a “finding of opinion” which fair-minded people could disagree on. He also said that none of the amendements were signed by Labour frontbench peers, and that did not surprise him, as he said no party aiming for government would put their name to them.
Baroness Meacher spoke to raise concerns that the Bar Council has concerns that the law is in opposition to the ECHR.
Baroness Hamwee has said “it goes against the grain” for a Liberal Democrat like herself to say that the Bill only needs “small tweaks”.
The list of amendments being proposed in the House of Lords to the government’s Rwanda bill are available here.
Baroness Chakrobati has argued that the government has nothing to fear from the amendments, if Rwanda is indeed a safe country.
Former Conservative party leader, Lord Howard of Lympne, is speaking next. He is arguing against the amendments, saying that in the Lords chamber at the second reading there was little mention of “accountability”. He seems to be arguing that courts have extended their powers, and that the amendments would further erode the accountability of the House of Commons. He is arguing that the UNHCR, mentioned in the amendment, has no accoutability within the UK.
Baroness Chakrabarti says that despite her own personal objection to transporting people for processing, she is approaching the amendments in a spirit of constitutional compromise, to seek a way through the stalemate.
House of Lords opens committee stage on government's Rwanda deportation bill
Baroness Chakrabarti is opening the committee debate in the House of Lords on Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. She says the debate on the amendments is on a fundamental dispute of facts, and that the government is undermining the rule of law and order as “the executive seeks to overturn the recent judicial factual determination.”
There is a video feed here, and you will shortly be able to get a feed at the top of the blog.
David Cameron has become the first Cabinet minister to explicitly criticise remarks made by Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump about Nato. Trump’s suggestion that the US would not protect Nato allies failing to spend enough on defence was “not a sensible approach”, the foreign secretary said.
PA Media quotes Cameron saying:
I am a very strong supporter of Nato. It is what helps to keep us safe and that is so essential in this world where we have seen Putin’s terrible illegal invasion of Ukraine.
And actually Nato this year has got stronger, with Sweden and Finland joining. Of course we want all countries, like us, to spend 2%, but I think what was said was not a sensible approach.
Cameron added that Nato was “more essential than ever” in “this very dangerous and uncertain world that we live in” and that it was not “responsible or sensible to say some of the things that have been said”. At the weekend Trump said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any of the US’s Nato allies whom he considers to have not met their financial obligations.
Before the Rwanda discussion, the House of Lords has a question on Royal Navy aircraft carriers.
It has been confirmed that HMS Prince of Wales has sailed to replace HMS Queen Elizabeth in Nato exercises. The Earl of Minto is responding for the government. Baroness Janke has said that the state of the aircraft carriers should be a source of “national shame”.
Earlier today security minister Tom Tugendhat suggested it was “not acceptable” that aircraft carriers were sitting in dock when they should be out “defending our interests abroad.”
In its announcement that HMS Prince of Wales has sailed, the Royal Navy quotes defence secretary Grant Shapps saying: “I would like to congratulate the crew of HMS Prince of Wales for their hard work and dedication in rapidly preparing the ship for departure. The ability to deploy hundreds of crew to make ready one of the world’s most complex aircraft carriers within a week is testament to the skill and ability of the Royal Navy.”
Lords have criticised the armed forces for the procurement process involved in building the ships, and criticised the navy’s risk management processes.
Updated
Lord Clement-Jones is asking in the House of Lords about reform of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which is the last question on the order paper before debate is due to start on the government’s Rwanda deportation plan.
Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, whose parents-in-law were trapped in the early stages of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has criticised both Keir Starmer and prime minister Rishi Sunak for their failure to call for a ceasefire.
In a social media post, quoting news that SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has written to the pair over the issue, Yousaf said:
Keir Starmer and Sunak’s unwillingness to call for an immediate ceasefire will never be forgotten, nor forgiven. The UK government and Labour opposition should hang their heads in shame as we witness a massacre that is killing thousands of women & children in front of our very eyes.
The House of Lords has just started sitting. After oral questions, which is down on the order paper for 40 minutes, they should move on to considering the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. There is a live stream here if you’d like to watch.
The Conservatives are continuing to home in on the Labour party over comments by Rochdale byelection candidate Azhar Ali.
The party social media account has fallen back to a frequently used PMQs attack line from Rishi Sunak, that the current Labour leader supported the previous Labour leader during election campaigns, writing:
Labour have admitted that Keir Starmer’s candidate for Rochdale spouted an antisemitic conspiracy theory. But today they’re still fully behind him and campaigning for him to be their MP. Remember: Keir Starmer is the same man that backed Jeremy Corbyn to be prime minister.
Home secretary James Cleverly has also attacked comments made earlier by Labour party shadow minister without portfolio, Nick Thomas-Symonds, who said Ali had fallen for a conspiracy theory. Cleverly wrote:
I’m not sure ‘our candidate believed and repeated a vile and clearly antisemitic smear that he saw on the internet’ is quite the defence that Labour think it is.
Philip Nye at the Institute for Government has this wallchart of the MPs who have already announced they will not be standing for re-election later this year, which is now 90 in total, of which 57 are Conservative MPs.
Tracey Crouch, former sport minister and Conservative MP for Chatham and Aylesford, has announced she will be standing down at the next election
— Philip Nye (@philipnye) February 12, 2024
That takes to 90 the total number of announcements we've had so far, of which 57 are from Conservative MPshttps://t.co/QywsumNvac pic.twitter.com/jNOHIcM93w
The prime minister’s spokesperson has said that Rishi Sunak believes Ofwat is doing a good job of regulating water companies in England.
Speaking earlier today, the spokesperson said “of course” Sunkak thinks the regulator is doing a good job, “but we have also recognised that there have been significant challenges in this sector. So that is why we are taking further action, not least today in giving Ofwat the powers they need to ban water bosses from receiving bonuses in scenarios where a company has committed serious criminal breaches, which I think the public would expect”.
The environment secretary, Steve Barclay, is proposing to block payouts to executives of firms that commit criminal acts of water pollution, starting with bonuses in the 2024-25 financial year from April. Bosses took home more than £26m in bonuses, benefits and incentives over the last four years, despite illegally dumping vast amounts of sewage in waterways.
Ofwat has also announced that a new scheme to fine water companies for providing poor service to customers, although it has been dismissed as “nothing less than a gimmick” by Liberal Democrats who have been campaigning on the issue.
Updated
The Northern Ireland assembly is sitting in Stormont today, with a Sinn Féin motion on childcare costs to be debated. Unlike England, Scotland and Wales there is no free childcare provision in the country.
Deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly (DUP), speaking on the BBC yesterday, said she was glad there was cross-party support to make a plan, and suggested that actually it was an advantage to be able to learn from mistakes made in other areas of the UK. “The DUP had set out a 30-hours free childcare promise but that doesn’t mean it’s a cut and paste from the English system,” she said.
Before that, in the assembly there was some confirmation of the allocation of the chairs and deputy chairs of all the Stormont committees, and this has angered Jim Allister, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice party, and its only representative in the Northern Ireland assembly.
He claims he has been deliberately excluded from the committee working on post-Brexit arrangements and the Windsor framework. PA Media quotes him saying:
Last week we had a carve-up by the main parties and then an offer of the crumbs to the four of us in this corner of the assembly. And of course crumbs which didn’t meet any of the desires of those of us sent here on an equal mandate with everyone else.
The result of course, in my own case … I have been denied a place on the EU Brexit committee because deep-dive scrutiny is not what is required; rather it is the form rather than the substance of scrutiny that the protocol-implementing parties in this House wish to see.
On that committee or not, elsewhere I will continue to shine a light on to the dark deeds of colonial rule from the EU in this place.
The committee, which is to meet for the first time on Thursday, is charged with examining and considering new EU Acts and replacement Acts as they arise, and it can recommend the application of the Stormont brake to the UK Government.
Updated
Crouch is the eighth MP – and the sixth Conservative – this year to announce they will quit Parliament at the next election, which is expected to take place later in 2024.
Overall, more than 80 MPs – of whom more than 50 are Conservatives – have already said they intend to stand down then. That is more than retired at the 2019 election and almost as many as retired in 2015.
In her resignation letter, Crouch says she will “continue to work tirelessly for my constituents” until the election, and looks forward to supporting whoever is selected as the Conservative candidate for her relatively safe seat.
In 2021, she chaired the review of football governance in England triggered by the backlash to the short-lived proposals to form a European Super League. The review had been promised in the 2019 Conservative manifesto following the collapse of Bury FC.
Among the recommendations were the creation of an independent football regulator to oversee financial regulation of the men’s professional game and the imposition of a “stamp duty” on transfers between Premier League clubs.
The UK has sanctioned four extremist Israeli settlers who have committed human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, the Foreign Office says.
Tracey Crouch, the Conservative MP for Chatham & Aylesford, has become the latest MP to announce they are standing down at the next election.
In a statement she said her reasons for not wishing to stand are “entirely personal and positive.”
Crouch, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, and in 2023 reached the summit of Kilimanjaro while raising funds for a breast cancer charity, said:
While everyone’s cancer journey is different, for me going through a diagnosis and coming out the other side of treatment has been a life affirming experience. It has been an opportunity to pause and reflect on my own personal priorities, and based on that, I truly believe it is time to seek a new professional challenge. We spend far too much time in our relatively short lives putting things off but at some point, you have to say to yourself if not now, when and for me I have realised that when is now.
A bit of personal news... pic.twitter.com/pE5huBwiEt
— Tracey Crouch (@tracey_crouch) February 12, 2024
The former sports minister resigned from government in 2018 because she believed pro-gambling MP Philip Davies successfully went above her head to secure a delay to curbs on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), defying her on a policy she had overseen. Crouch was also the author of the fan-led review into football governance.
Cameron: it would be wrong for House of Lords to 'frustrate' Rwanda plan
David Cameron has asserted that it would be wrong for the House of Lords to frstrate the government over its plans to declare Rwanda a safe country and deport asylum seekers there for processing.
Sky News quotes the foreign secretary, who is a member of the unelected second chamber, saying:
All over the world you see problems of very visible, illegal migration and that’s what we have coming to our south coast with this terrible human trafficking of people getting into very dangerous dinghies and crossing the Channel.
Many lose their lives. You’ve got to make sure you can’t get in a boat, arrive in Britain and stay in Britain. Rwanda is a safe country in our view.
The Lords begins its committee stage scrutinising the Bill at 3.20pm today, and has published 38 pages of potential amendments in advance. [See 9.43am GMT]
James Cleverly, meanwhile, has also added to the social media pressure on Labour’s candidate for the Rochdale byelection, reposting a message that asked how Labour could still be supporting Azhar Ali’s candidacy when the party had withdrawn the whip from Kate Osamor and Andy McDonald over comments which included references to Gaza the party had deemed offensive or controversial.
Osamor, the MP for Edmonton, appeared to have said Gaza should be remembered as a genocide on Holocaust memorial day, and McDonald was placed on a “precautionary suspension” after a Labour party spokesperson said comments he made that included the words “between the river and the sea” at a pro-Palestine rally were “deeply offensive”. McDonald subsequently threatened legal action against Conservative MP Chris Clarkson for defamation after Clarkson commented.
Diane Abbott, herself also suspended by the Labour party after comments in a letter to the Observer about racism, has added pressure on Keir Starmer’s stance over a ceasefire in Gaza this morning. Quoting Starmer’s message yesterday in which he said “an Israeli offensive [in Rafah] would be catastrophic”, she said:
Surely the decision for Labour to oppose a ceasefire was a mistake, then? An apology is called for and the party should vote for immediate ceasefire at the first opportunity. Otherwise, this is fraudulent. Just hot air before a tricky byelection.
On the government’s media grid this morning was the launch of a new anti-fraud campaign, which was being championed by home secretary James Cleverly and security minister Tom Tugendhat.
Describing the new campaign as “a powerful tool”, Cleverly said that as well as the campaign, the government was delivering “a world-first agreement from tech firms to prevent online fraud and the rollout of a national fraud squad that has 400 expert investigators.”
The campaign website – Stop! Think Fraud – can be found here.
💻 Fraud costs the taxpayer an estimated £6.8 billion per year.
— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) February 12, 2024
Our new campaign takes the fight to criminals, giving you the skills to spot fraud and protect you from its devastating impacts.
During the morning media round, Tugendhat cautioned that “fraud ruins lives”, while also claiming that the Conservative givernment he was representing was wrong to write off £4.3bn in fraudulent Covid loans. [See 9.58am GMT]
Labour’s Emily Thornberry was somewhat less impressed, with the shadow attorney general pointing out the government had overseen a near eightfold increase in the crime, adding that “After 14 years spent sleepwalking through the escalation of the crisis, launching an ad campaign in response is the definition of too little, too late.”
Updated
Sunak: scrapping northern leg of HS2 has benefited local bus routes
During his visit to Harrogate this morning, Rishi Sunak has claimed that local buses have benefited from his government’s decisions to scrap the northern leg of HS2.
PA Media reports the said:
Every penny from HS2 in the North, almost £20bn, is going to stay in the North. We’re here at a bus depot, which is benefiting from the £2 bus fare that we were able to put in place as a result of the reprioritisation.
Local road schemes across the North, railway stations being reopened – those are the types of the projects I think people want us to invest in alongside road maintenance, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Sunak said “Talking to the team here, as a result of that policy, they’ve seen a 15% increase in bus numbers in this area – I’m here in Harrogate, in North Yorkshire. That demonstrates that policy is working and the plans we’ve put in place are the right ones.”
The prime minister said the £2 bus fare cap was a direct result of his decision on HS2. The initial three month cap came into effect in January 2023, with the Department for Transport saying the average fare for a three-mile journey was about £2.80, meaning that passengers would save 30% of the price every time they travelled.
Sunak announced the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2 in October 2023. Last week the public accounts committee of MPs said the remaining London-Birmingham line will be “very poor value for money” and the government does not yet understand how the remaining £67bn high-speed line will now function as a railway.
Police have announced they will take no further action against Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell after he was arrested on suspicion of rape, sexual assault and misconduct in a public office. Scotland Yard said a “thorough investigation” had been carried out and the evidence threshold for criminal prosecution had not been met. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Romford MP said he had been “completely exonerated”.
I must confess that if I was looking for “woke extremists” myself, then the British armed forces would be unlikely to be my first port of call, but the idea has gripped defence secretary Grant Shapps, who has complained that “time and resources are being squandered to promote a political agenda which is pitting individuals against each other” because “there is a woke culture that has seeped into public life over time and is poisoning the discourse.”
He has ordered a review of diversity and inclusion policies at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after it was reported that the army wants to relax security checks for overseas recruits to increase black, Asian and minority ethnic representation.
The Telegraph is also spluttering today that it has uncovered “93 diversity networks including 10 for gender issues” within the MoD, some of whom have put posters up, and have online messageboards to discuss staff issues including race, gender and mental health. The MoD has about 60,000 civilian employees, and the armed forces consist of about 185,000 people.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat has been drawn into the debate during the morning media round, telling GB News:
This is a time when only our enemies want us to be divided and we have absolutely no time for this – sort of putting ideology before security. It is absolutely clear, and let me be totally clear, there is no way we are going to be easing up security requirements for ideological requests. That is simply not going to happen.
You know, the British armed forces have one purpose and one purpose alone, and that’s to defend the British people and bring death to the king’s enemies. There’s no way we’re going to be putting ideology before security.
A few more quotes from shadow minister without portfolio Nick Thomas-Symonds who was out defending Labour’s Rochdale candidate on the broadcast round this morning. Azhar Ali has apologised after a recording emerged of hi, suggesting that Israel allowed Hamas’s 7 October attacks to take place to provide grounds to invade Gaza.
Asked whether the incident reflected a problem at large with the Labour party in Rochdale, Thomas-Symonds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve got, as I understand it, a short clip from a meeting, so I think it would be unfair to draw a wider conclusion in that way. Let me first say the remarks that have been made are completely and utterly unacceptable. I was very shocked and appalled to see them and they in no way represent the views of the Labour party.”
Labour recently suspended the MP Kate Osamor after she appeared to say the Gaza war should be remembered as genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day.
On Sky News, Thomas-Symonds was pressed about whether, should he win in Rochdale, Ali would be allowed to stand again by the party later in the year at a general election, but wouldn’t be drawn, saying “we are all subject” to a selection process for that.
Labour under fire for standing by Rochdale candidate @CllrAzharAli
— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) February 12, 2024
The deadline to replace him as candidate for this month's by-election has passed, but will they stand by him in the general election?
We ask Labour's @NickTorfaen#KayBurley PO pic.twitter.com/86zpI3AGsG
Updated
Minister: writing off £4.3bn in fraudulent Covid loans by government was 'unacceptable'
The writing off of £4.3bn in fraudulent Covid loans by the Conservative government was “unacceptable” a Tory cabinet minister has said, suggesting more should have been done to tackle fraud during the pandemic.
Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, has been touring the broadcasters to push the government’s announcement of new anti-fraud measures this morning. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he described as an “extremely good point” the suggestion it would be better to rethink now how Covid fraud was addressed.
The point I’m making is that £4.3bn is an awful lot of money. And, frankly, this is a completely unacceptable outcome for the British people.
In 2022, HMRC figures showed fraudulent claims for furlough and other business relief schemes had resulted in a loss of an estimated £5.8bn. Of that, £4.3bn was written off. The scandal led to the resignation of the anti-fraud minister Theodore Agnew, who called the oversight of the scheme “nothing less than woeful” and accused officials of “schoolboy errors” on multiple fronts.
Speaking in the House of Lords at the time, he accused the government of “arrogance, indolence and ignorance” in its attitude to tackling fraud estimated to cost £29bn a year.
Rishi Sunak has insisted the economy “has turned a corner”, despite the anticipation that official figures this week will show a rise in inflation and that the country has been in a “technical recession”.
Speaking to reporters while visiting a bus depot in Harrogate, Sunak said:
At the start of this year I really believe the economy has turned a corner and we are heading in the right direction. You can see inflation has come down from 11% to 4%, mortgage rates are starting to come down, wages have been rising consistently now.
He said recent years had been “undoubtedly difficult”, PA Media reports.
“What is a technical recession?”, I hear some of you ask. The ONS defines it as “two consecutive quarters of negative growth”, with Darren Morgan, ONS Director of Economic Statistics saying “You could get a -0.1% or +0.1% change, but how different really was the economy at that point in time? I would say it was broadly flat, but some people do get excited about it.”
Back to Rishi Sunak’s week for a moment, we know that he has already acknowledged that he has failed to keep his promise to cut healthcare waiting lists in England, with the situation worsening under his watch. Official figures on Thursday will show whether the UK slipped into recession, despite Sunak’s promise to grow the economy, the day after an anticipated rise in inflation is announced.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott, fresh from her tricky appearance with Radio 4’s PM presenter Evan Davis last week, told the Sunday Times: “There will be bumps in the road and on Wednesday we can expect inflation to slightly increase when data for January is published.”
UK inflation rose unexpectedly to 4.0% in December in the first increase for ten months. The Bank of England target is 2%.
The main challenge today for Sunak however is the House of Lords beginning its committee consideration of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.
There are 38 pages of amendments to be debated, including moves that would insert into the bill clauses that require positive UNHCR advice on the safety of Rwanda to be laid before parliament before claims for asylum in the UK may be processed in Rwanda, would seek that the House of Commons have to reassert that Rwanda is still a “safe country” every six months, and delay any possible deportations until after all the clauses of the separate UK-Rwanda treaty, which require some reforms on Rwanda’s part, are implemented.
A quick scoot around the newspaper front pages. For the Daily Mail, the Labour Rochdale story leads, with the paper asking “So has Labour really changed?”
Introducing #TomorrowsPapersToday from:#DailyMail
— #TomorrowsPapersToday - The Press Room (@channel_tsc) February 11, 2024
So has Labour really changed
For a comprehensive collection of newspapers, explore: https://t.co/zvOl5CpDm7
Don't forget to support journalism – #buyanewspaper or #buyapaper for the latest updates! pic.twitter.com/xjrGc3Ki7O
That story also made the front of the Times, with the bonus ban at water companies being the lead item. Our Helena Horton reports the plans have been described as “a gimmick”.
Introducing #TomorrowsPapersToday from:#TheTimes
— #TomorrowsPapersToday - The Press Room (@channel_tsc) February 11, 2024
Bonus ban for water bosses who break the rules
For a comprehensive collection of newspapers, explore: https://t.co/zvOl5CpDm7
Don't forget to support journalism – #buyanewspaper or #buyapaper for the latest updates! pic.twitter.com/mZWXkALYer
The Daily Express headline lucky dip came up with “woke” again today, although the Telegraph also decided to go with the accusation that there are “woke extremists” in the British armed forces.
📰The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 11, 2024
'Shapps: Woke extremists are rife in Army'#TomorrowsPapersToday
Sign up for the Front Page newsletter⬇️https://t.co/x8AV4OoUh6 pic.twitter.com/4VHdJtAmRK
The Sun features King Charles on the front, as did the Independent, while the Mirror had an interview with kidnapped chid Alex Batty as its lead. The Independent also ran with a story about another Brexit black hole.
Introducing #TomorrowsPapersToday from:#Independent
— #TomorrowsPapersToday - The Press Room (@channel_tsc) February 12, 2024
For a comprehensive collection of newspapers, explore: https://t.co/zvOl5CpDm7
Don't forget to support journalism – #buyanewspaper or #buyapaper for the latest updates! pic.twitter.com/3BQMSwiEcV
For us at the Guardian we led with Amelia Gentleman’s exclusive on the Home Office English test scandal, and Emine Sinmaz reporting from Jerusalem.
Introducing #TomorrowsPapersToday from:#TheGuardian
— #TomorrowsPapersToday - The Press Room (@channel_tsc) February 11, 2024
Cousin of Gaza girl haunted by last call
For a comprehensive collection of newspapers, explore: https://t.co/zvOl5CpDm7
Don't forget to support journalism – #buyanewspaper or #buyapaper for the latest updates! pic.twitter.com/gyidNtAmc1
Louise Ellman has reacted to Azhar Ali’s remarks by saying that they were out of character for him, and saying that over a long period of time he had been an ally of her when she had been subjected to antisemitic attacks.
She said:
I have known Azhar for over twenty years and he consistently supported me when I was subjected to antisemitic attacks. He should now have the opportunity to work with the Jewish community to restore the loss of trust his actions have caused.
Ellman rejoined Labour after quitting over former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism.
Labour: Rochdale candidate had 'fallen for a conspiracy theory'
The Labour party’s shadow minister without portfolio, Nick Thomas-Symonds, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Azhar Ali had fallen for a conspiracy theory, and that his apology should be taken at face value.
“Councillor Ali has apologised unreservedly, he’s retracted those remarks, and he’s also shown a sense of the gravity of the offence that has been caused, and the need now to do tremendous amounts of work to rebuild trust with the Jewish community, which is going to be absolutely essential. So it’s for those reasons that he hasn’t been suspended.”
Mike Katz, the national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, said his group would not campaign in Rochdale because Ali had “destroyed his past record of allyship with the Jewish community” with his “totally reprehensible” comments.
But he stopped short of calling on Labour to drop the candidate, warning that the “alternative in Rochdale is George Galloway”, whose victory would “harm the Jewish community far more than electing Ali”.
He added: “We know how far the party has come under Keir Starmer in tackling antisemitism and that the party, from Starmer down, is as shocked and disgusted by Ali’s comments as we are.”
You can read Kevin Rawlinson’s report here: Labour criticised for backing Rochdale candidate after ‘offensive’ Israel remark
Updated
Labour's Rochdale byelection candidate apologises 'unreservedly' to Jewish community after Israel comments
The Labour candidate for the 29 February Rochdale byelection, Azhar Ali, has “apologised unreservedly to the Jewish community” for comments which he described as “deeply offensive, ignorant and false.”
After comments emerged in which he suggested Israel had allowed the 7 October to happen in order to have a pretext to attack Gaza, he said “Hamas’s horrific terror attack was the responsibility of Hamas alone, and they are still holding hostages who must be released.”
Describing them as “my inexcusable comments”, Ali said that “the Labour party has changed unrecognisably under Keir Starmer’s leadership” after years in which it has been claimed the party had failed to deal adequetly with antisemitism.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said Ali’s comments were “completely wrong” and did not represent the party’s view, but that he would remain the party’s candidate for the byelection, where Labour faces a challenge from George Galloway.
McFadden told Sky News: “He’s issued a complete apology and retraction. And I hope he learns a good lesson from it because he should never have said something like that in the first place.”
A recording obtained by the Mail on Sunday quoted Ali saying: “The Egyptians are saying that they warned Israel 10 days earlier. Americans warned them a day before there’s something happening. They deliberately took the security off”. He went on to suggest Israel allowed a “massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.”
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning. I would say we were expecting a quiet week in UK politics with most of our institutions – including Andrew Sparrow – enjoying a half-term break, but there are significant political headwinds gathering for both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
Sunak faces the prospect of potentially losing two byelections in Kingswood and Wellingborough later this week. Before that his flagship Rwanda deportation plan faces scrutiny in the Lords this afternoon, inflation figures are due out midweek, and Thursday’s GDP figures might show the country has been in a recession. He is out campaigning in Yorkshire today, and will sit through a one hour grilling from voters on GB News at 8pm, which will be another test of how well he is likely to hold up in contact with the public during an election campaign.
It is the Rochdale byelection on 29 February that is giving Starmer a headache, with George Galloway threatening the party’s votes from the left with his uncompromising stand over Gaza and Palestine, while Labour try to work out how to handle comments by candidate Azhar Ali back in October suggesting that Israel might have let the Hamas attack happen on purpose in order to justify significant military intervention. Shadow minister without portfolio Nick Thomas-Symonds has been having an uncomfortable time on the morning media round as a result.
Here are the headlines …
Labour’s candidate for the Rochdale byelection has “apologised unreservedly” to the Jewish community after comments emerged in which he claimed Israel had let the 7 October attacks happen. He remains the party’s candidate.
A damning parliamentary report has said the UK government’s controversial Rwanda legislation that deems the African country as a safe place to deport people to is fundamentally incompatible with Britain’s human rights obligations and places it in breach of international law.
UK workers can expect smaller pay rises this year, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has said.
More than 1.5 million patients in England had to wait 12 hours or longer in A&E in the past year.
Defence secretary Grant Shapps has ordered a review of Ministry of Defence diversity policies.
The Commons is in recess. The Lords is sitting from 2.30pm, and the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill will begin its committee stage there at 3,20pm. The Senedd and the Scottish parliament are not sitting. In Stormont there is a plenary session from noon.
It is Martin Belam here with you this week. I do try to read and dip into the comments when I can, but if you want to get my attention the best way is to email me – martin.belam@theguardian.com – especially if you have spotted an error or typo.
