Afternoon summary
Updated
Plaid Cymru inquiry finds culture of bullying and misogyny in party
Plaid Cymru have apologised after a damning review found a culture of harassment, bullying and misogyny in the party, PA Media reports. PA says:
The report states the Welsh nationalist party had “failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment” and that women had been “especially” let down.
It also said “too many instances of bad behaviour” by elected members have been tolerated within the party so that staff felt “there is little point in raising concerns”.
A total of 82 recommendations have been made to “detoxify” the party’s culture.
Plaid leader Adam Price said he was “deeply sorry” and that all the recommendations would be taken on board.
The party’s national executive committee and Price jointly commissioned the review, which was led by former Plaid politician Nerys Evans, and it began to look into the party’s culture last December …
Evidence from an anonymous staff survey and elected members “highlight cases of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination”, the report said, claiming: “These are not isolated cases.”
The survey also found most discrimination was gender-based, it said.
Sunak accused of making multiple misleading comments at PMQs
As mentioned earlier, Rishi Sunak faced an unusually high number of complaints after PMQs today about the accuracy of what he told MPs. Three MPs used points of order to query what he said, but Full Fact, the fact-checking organisation, has been on the case too.
Here are misleading, or potentially misleading, comments that have been flagged up.
Sadiq Khan’s record on building homes in London
Sunak said:
In London, the former conservative mayor [Boris Johnson] built 60,000 affordable homes in his first five years in office. How many has the current Labour mayor managed? Half of that.
The Labour MP Dawn Butler questioned this after PMQs. She said:
Unfortunately, the prime minister has inadvertently misled the house this week when he claimed that the former Tory prime minister built more houses than the current Labour mayor. Official statistics are not open to interpretation. Last year, the number of new homes in London was up 22% compared with the Tory mayor’s final year. More than 23,000 new City Hall-funded council homes have been started since 2018, with more than 10,000 in the last year alone.
The discrepancy was partly explained by the fact that Sunak was using these figures, from two years ago, while Butler was referring to more recent figures.
But Labour and the Tories have been trading rival claims on this subject for years, often using different definitions. The housing expert Peter Apps published a good article during Khan’s first time of office trying to adjudicate. He sides with Khan. He also points out that most of the affordable homes completed during Johnson’s years as mayor were set up under a Labour government programme over which he had no influence.
Scotland’s record with disadvantaged pupils going to university
Sunak said:
I gently point out to [the SNP leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn] somebody from a disadvantaged background is far more likely to go to university in England than they are in Scotland.
After PMQs the SNP MP Marion Fellows said this was misleading. She said:
The figures [Sunak] used are simply the Ucas applications directly from school, but in Scotland, as I well know as a former further education lecturer, most disadvantaged children and adults go through the college route, whereby they can do a higher national certificate or higher national diploma, moving to first, second or third year of a university course, or join an access to higher education course at any time.
Crime figures
Sunak said:
Crime is 50% lower than it was when we took office.
After PMQs Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said:
The prime minister used a figure for crime that did not include fraud, even though that is the fastest-increasing crime and has been one of the most prevalent and damaging crimes. He has been repeatedly challenged on this but again used the figure without fraud.
The Full Fact factchecking organisation has published an analysis making the same point.
The PM and the policing minister have both claimed in recent weeks that “overall crime” has fallen by about 50% since 2010.
— Full Fact (@FullFact) May 3, 2023
But the crime survey figures this claim is based on don’t count fraud or computer misuse. https://t.co/jUkcNz2vhz
Responding to Cooper, Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, said fraud was not included in the figures for 2010 because it was not being counted then.
Dentists working for NHS
Sunak said:
There are more than 500 more dentists working in the NHS this year than last year.
Full Fact says this is does not present the full picture.
At #PMQs, Rishi Sunak said over 500 more dentists are working in the NHS this year than last year.
— Full Fact (@FullFact) May 3, 2023
This is true, but only refers to the number of dentists doing some NHS work, rather than the number of whole-time equivalent NHS dentists.https://t.co/kl12AridQ2
Police numbers
Sunak said:
There is now a record number of police officers across the country thanks to the actions of this government.
Full Fact says this is potentially misleading, because it is not a per head figure.
At #PMQs, Rishi Sunak claimed there are now a “record number” of police officers.
— Full Fact (@FullFact) May 3, 2023
This is true in terms of the total number of warranted police officers in England and Wales - but as we wrote last week, it doesn’t tell the whole story. https://t.co/ocPoNFvYeD (1/2)
The headcount of police officers in England and Wales is around 3,500 higher than the previous record in 2010.
— Full Fact (@FullFact) May 3, 2023
But the number of police officers per capita has fallen, and the combined total number of police officers, PCSOs and special constables has also declined. (2/2)
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Humza Yousaf says he hopes fringe venue's decision to cancel appearance by gender-critical SNP MP can be reversed
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has said that he hopes a decision to cancel an appearance by the SNP MP Joanna Cherry at the Edinburgh festival fringe because of her gender-critical views will be reviewed.
Cherry, who is opposed to self-identification for transgender people, was due to speak at an In Conversation With event at a fringe venue in August. But, as Libby Brooks reports, the Stand comedy club said it was cancelling the booking because key venue staff were not willing to work with Cherry.
Commenting on the row today, Yousaf, the SNP leader, said:
I really do hope that Joanna’s show can go ahead.
I hope there’s a way there can be a compromise found in terms of Joanna’s show going ahead.
Joanna and I have a difference on a number of issues, including for example the GRR [gender recognition bill] bill that was passed by the Scottish parliament.
I do think it’s important that those views are heard.
But Yousaf also said that it was not his job as first minister to “tell comedy clubs and other venues what shows they must and must not put on”.
Updated
According to a report by Jim Fitzpatrick for openDemocracy, John Pullinger, who chairs the Electoral Commission, wrote to Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, six months ago saying he should use the national security bill to tighten the rules in place to stop foreign governments funding British political parties.
In his letter Pullinger said:
We have recommended that existing controls on donations should be strengthened so that parties and campaigners can only accept donations from companies that have made enough money in the UK to fund the amount of their donation.
Currently, a company can donate to a UK political party or campaigner if it is registered at Companies House and ‘carrying on business’ in the UK. There is no requirement for the company to show that it has made enough money in the UK to give or lend to campaigners.
Six months on, the Electoral Commission has still not received a reply, Fitzpatrick reports.
Earlier this afternoon the government used its majority in the Commons to vote down a Lords amendment that would have addressed Pullinger’s concerns. (See 4pm.)
MPs vote down Lords amendment intended to tighten laws stopping foreign powers funding UK political parties
In the Commons MPs have been voting on Lords amendments to the national security bill. The government used its majority to vote down an amendment passed in the Lords that would require UK political parties to publish a policy statement to identify donations from foreign powers.
Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, said he welcomed the Lords amendment, which would “increase the transparency and accountability of our political system”.
He said that in the past the UK had “clearly welcomed Russian money, including in the political sphere”, and he went on:
The amendment is eminently reasonable. It shouldn’t be controversial for political parties to want to ensure the transparency of their foreign political donations.
We must protect against covert, foreign-state-backed financial donations if we are to defend our democratic institutions from harmful interference and influence.
But Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, said the government was going to vote down the amendment because it was not needed. He explained:
The law already makes robust provision in relation to donations to political parties. Foreign donations are banned, it is an offence to accept them and there are strong rules safeguarding against impermissible donations via the back door.
The Lords amendment was voted down by 254 votes to 134 – a majority of 120. Lewis was the only Conservative MP voting against the government to keep the amendment in.
Spotlight on Corruption, which campaigns against corruption, claimed the vote left “the forthcoming UK general election desperately vulnerable to interference by hostile states, kleptocrats and oligarchs”.
It pointed out that Lord Evans, the former head of MI5, was among the peers backing the amendment in the Lords.
Updated
Artificial intelligence could have as big an impact on jobs as Industrial Revolution, Patrick Vallance tells MPs
Artificial intelligence (AI) could have as big an impact on jobs as the Industrial Revolution, Sir Patrick Vallance has told MPs.
In a session with the Commons science committee to mark the end of his term as the government’s chief scientific adviser, he said that AI would bring “a lot of benefits” and that it was a mistake to view it as “all risk”.
But he did highlight three concerns with the technology. He told the MPs:
The first is, with the large models and the potential, how do you determine what’s true and what’s not? As you can get replication of all sorts of things.
And the second is there will be a big impact on jobs. And that impact could be as big as the Industrial Revolution was. How are we going to think about that, over a slightly longer timeframe?
And the third, of course, is what happens with these things when they start to do things you really didn’t expect and what are the risks associated with that? That may be a slightly longer-term question.
Commenting more on the employment implications of AI, Vallance said it would “make life easier in all sorts of aspects of everyday work, in the legal profession, in all sorts of other areas as well”.
He went on:
On the jobs aspect, I think in the Industrial Revolution, the initial effect was actually a decrease in economic output as people sort of realigned in terms of what jobs were, and then a benefit.
And I think we need to get ahead of that actually. Which are the jobs, the sectors that will be most affected? And what are the plans to retrain and give people their time back to do a job differently, because there will be jobs that can be done by AI, which can either mean lots of people don’t have a job, or it can mean actually lots of people have a job that only humans can do.
And in the area I know most about in this – in medicine – that could be that you actually get more time with your doctor rather than being pressurised. So that could be a good outcome.
Updated
How Sunak and Starmer traded jibes about their parties' respective economic records
This is from Greg Hands, the Conservative party chair, responding to what Keir Starmer said at PMQs after Rishi Sunak mentioned the notorious “no money left” note left in the Treasury at the end of the last Labour government.
Sunak said:
Our memories aren’t that short. We all know what happened last time when they were in power, there was no money left for the country.
And Starmer replied:
Debt doubled since 2010, growth down, tax up, the economy crashed. They’re going to need a bigger note.
Sir Keir himself says we need a bigger letter! #LetterOnTour #PMQs. pic.twitter.com/1L0j0ohDUc
— Greg Hands (@GregHands) May 3, 2023
The Conservative MP Philip Davies lobbied the government on behalf of a casino to introduce a measure that was then included in last week’s gambling white paper, Rob Davies reports.
Labour says Sue Gray will become Starmer's chief of staff even if appointment subject to long delay
At the Labour party’s post-PMQs briefing Keir Starmer’s spokesperson indicated that Sue Gray would take up her job as Starmer’s chief of staff even if the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments recommended a long wait before she starts.
Acoba can say that ministers or officials should have to wait up to two years before taking up a job outside government (although a shorter period, such as three months or six months, is more common). Labour has said it will abide by the Acoba ruling, which is only advisory.
The spokesperson said:
The Labour party is fully supporting the Acoba process and the Acoba process is that Sue Gray submits her form with the information as requested of her by Acoba in the usual way.
Asked whether Gray will be hired no matter how long her appointment is delayed, the spokesman said:
Sue Gray is going to be Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
There is no interim chief of staff, and any plans to hire someone for that role temporarily would depend on what delay Acoba recommended, he said.
The spokesperson also accused the Tories of trying to “politicise” the process by introducing an “additional political process [the Cabinet Office inquiry into the appointment] which is not part of the standard process”.
The Economist’s Matthew Holehouse, who has been looking at precedents set by Acoba, thinks it is more likely anyway to impose restrictions on what Gray can do when she starts working for Starmer rather than a time-limited ban.
Struggling to see why ACOBA would impose an outright ban on Gray working for Labour on internal agenda for govt preparation rather than restrictions on activities. If you take those on former head of Uk armed forces working for a defence contractor as the uppermost benchmark… pic.twitter.com/Dz79CwoFrl
— Matthew Holehouse (@mattholehouse) May 2, 2023
Is there a case for theoretical “dirt on ministers” being subject to a tougher regime than say the former Government Chief Security Officer working for a contractor? Hard to see it. pic.twitter.com/1wNvfoq1J3
— Matthew Holehouse (@mattholehouse) May 2, 2023
It's *almost as if* the former Director General, Propriety and Ethics has a good working knowledge of how the P&E regime operates (or indeed, doesn't) pic.twitter.com/LbA11J9n2o
— Matthew Holehouse (@mattholehouse) May 2, 2023
Updated
Q: Why did you say Dominic Raab should be proud of what he achieved when he stepped down? He had been found to be a bully.
Sunak said that Raab stepped in when Boris Johnson was ill, and did a good job. And he introduced reforms to the justice system, Sunak said.
That was it.
Jeremy Vine put it to Rishi Sunak that people feel the country is “falling apart”.
Sunak said the cost of living was a problem for people. He has set out his five priorities, he said.
Q: After 13 years, do you think the Tories need a period out of power?
Sunak said he had been PM for six months. He said he wanted people to judge him by his values and what he was doing.
Q: Are you confident you would get an ambulance quickly if you called one, and did not mention Downing Street?
Sunak said ambulance response times have more than halved since December. A range of measures were in place. They were working, he said.
Q: People are going to A&E because they can’t get a GP appointment.
Sunak said he comes from an NHS family. His dad was a doctor, his mum a pharmacist. He wanted to reform the NHS to improve access. He mentioned initiatives such as community diagnostic scanning, and more use of the private sector for operations.
Updated
Q: What can you do about fraud calls from Russia?
Sunak said his plan would allow the government to block spoof calls from abroad. Currently fraudsters calling from abroad can make it look like they are calling from the UK. The government will make that much harder, he said.
Q: Lord Agnew resigned as a Treasury minister when you were chancellor saying you were not interested in tackling fraud.
Sunak said that was about fraud in relation to Covid schemes. He said he did not agree with Agnew at the time. And now the estimate of the amount lost to fraud and error in these schemes is down to 2 or 3%, he said.
Updated
Rishi Sunak interviewed by Jeremy Vine
Rishi Sunak has given an interview to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 ahead of tomorrow’s local elections.
He started by summarising the anti-fraud strategy announced today.
No 10 says it is 'disappointing' that Sue Gray did not cooperate with Cabinet Office probe into her taking Labour job
Downing Street has said it is “disappointing” that Sue Gray did not cooperate with the Cabinet Office inquiry into her departure from the civil service to take up a job with Keir Starmer.
Asked about the statement issued yesterday on this topic, Rishi Sunak’s press secretary told journalists at the post-PMQs briefing:
The prime minister is not obviously involved in this process. But it is obviously disappointing that Sue Gray was offered [the chance] to co-operate and has chosen not to do so.
I think what is more disappointing is that Keir Starmer is in a position where he could clear up very quickly when contact was made by his office or by him to Sue Gray to uphold the integrity of the civil service and ensure that it is transparent and open.
Updated
PMQs - snap verdict
The next election will be a contest between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. But what we learned from today’s exchanges was that Starmer would rather be fighting Liz Truss, and Sunak wants to campaign against Gordon Brown. This says something about the respective strength of both leaders, and their parties.
In an ideal world you would not need to attack the leader of the other party’s predecessor, because the current leader would provide a good target anyway, but Liz Truss’s brief premiership was such a disaster for the Conservative party that it would be foolish – even negligent – for Starmer to stop talking about it. Today he referenced her very directly with his first two questions, challenging Sunak to explain how many people were paying higher mortgages as a result of her mini-budget. Sunak did not answer directly, for reasons that were obvious when Starmer answered his own first question.
The question was how many people are paying more on their mortgages each month. The answer that the prime minister avoided giving is 850,000. Nearly a million people paying more on their mortgage each month because his party used their money as a casino chip.
Then, answering his second question, he said:
By the end of this year nearly 2 million homeowners counting the cost of the Tories’ economic vandalism with every mortgage payment they make.
Labour has been campaigning hard on housing over the last week and, as Starmer showed effectively, it is easy to rubbish the Tories’ record. Although focusing on Truss, Starmer also pinned it on Sunak, referencing his admission in a ConservativeHome interview recently that he abandoned plans for compulsory housebuilding targets because Conservative members and activists found them unacceptable. Sunak said he was in favour of localism, but south-east nimbies vote Tory anyway, and it was a weak retort.
By the time he was responding to question four, Sunak had to fall back on the “no money left” note left by the chief secretary to the Treasury at the end of the Gordon Brown government, which is currently being tweeted out, almost hourly, by Greg Hands, the Conservative chair. It is probably true that the “no money left” note revives the lingering concerns about Labour’s economic competence felt by some voters (mostly Tories). But if the Conservatives believe they can parry a Truss by playing a Brown they are in dire trouble.
First, Truss was in power just seven months ago; Brown hasn’t been in office for 13 years. Second, Sunak was in government with Truss, and they are both associated with an administration that has been in office, in one form or another, for 13 years; Starmer did not have anything do do with the Brown government. And, third, people are still experiencing the impact of the Truss administration; Brown is now part of political history.
(Also, Brown was not responsible for the financial crash of 2008-09 anyway, but we can save that argument for another day.)
In a reference to yesterday’s tuition fees story, Sunak referred at times to Starmer breaking promises. This will strike a chord with people who do think the Labour leader is shifty. But it sounded more like humouring the base than a compelling attack line, and probably less damaging to Starmer than going into an election with a £9bn spending promise he found hard to defend.
There was one other ex-leader referenced today. When Sunak became PM, one of his major advantages was that he was not Boris Johnson. But perhaps the Johnson gene is catching. At the last two PMQs Sunak was happy to indulge in personal attacks of the kind that his predecessor would have been happy with. And today he was pulled up for adopting a Johnson approach to truthfulness. In his first answer he said he had corrected the record after making a misleading statement last week. (See 12.04pm). More corrections may be needed. As PMQs ended, three separate opposition MPs raised points of order, saying Sunak had misled MPs about Sadiq Khan’s housebuilding record, the Scottish government’s performance on getting disadvantaged pupils into university and crime figures.
I can’t recall three separate points of order like this after a Johnson PMQs. “Less accurate than Boris Johnson” – that’s not a verdict any PM should welcome.
Updated
Munira Wilson (Lib Dem) asks about a constituent who was hospitalised after swimming in the Thames at Shepperton. Thames Water dumped sewage in the river just days before. Why does Sunak think it is OK for water companies to carry on polluting rivers?
Sunak says the government has a clear plan to tackle this. He criticises Labour for not even supporting these plans in the vote last week.
Updated
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Lab) asks if the government will pay any compensation recommended by the ombudsman for compensation to be paid to Waspi women.
Sunak says there is a process under way, and the government will respond.
Updated
Ian Levy (Con) asks about a rail restoration project in his Blyth Valley constituency. Sunak says this shows the Tory government is delivering for the area.
Catherine McKinnell (Lab) says police cuts have left the north-east shortchanged.
Sunak says there are a record number of police officers, and crime is 50% lower than in 2010.
Updated
John Whittingdale (Con) asks if the goverment is committed to protecting media freedom on press freedom day.
Sunak says the government is committed to this.
Updated
Holly Lynch (Lab) says schools have had to become “the fourth emergency service” for families struggling with heating costs.
Sunak says the government has offered a lot of help to families with the cost of living.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown says every young person who gets on the housing ladder makes communities more sustainable. Will the PM speed up planning decisions?
Sunak says he does want to ensure decisions can be taken more quickly.
Updated
Mary Kelly Foy (Lab) asks Sunak to accept NHS dentistry is in crisis.
Sunak says the government is investing £3bn in dentistry. Discussions are continuing on this issue.
Updated
Gagan Mohindra (Con) asks if Sunak agrees the Lib Dems are a threat to the green belt. Sunak does.
Vicky Foxcroft (Lab) asks if Sunak will commit to a post-election review of how many people are being disenfranchised by the new photo ID rule.
Sunak says pilots showed this did not affect turnout. Labour introduced this policy in Northern Ireland, and it is common in Europe, he says.
Karl McCartney (Con) asks about a Labour council in his Lincoln constituency cancelling a local market.
Sunak says he too is disappointed about the loss of the Christmas market in Lincoln. Lincoln deserves better, he says.
Alan Brown (SNP) says Tesla cars in autopilot mode are dangerous. Will Sunak meet with him to discuss this?
Sunak says he is sorry to hear about the case Brown raises. He will arrange a meeting with a transport minister.
Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, says Tory rhetoric on asylum seekers is not dog-whistle politics. It is a giant “foghorn” blasting out a poisonous narrative. In what sense do refugees from Sudan not share our values?
Sunak says the UK has a proud record of taking in refugees.
Updated
Sunak says it is a “simple statement of fact” that crime is lower in places with Tory police and crime commissioners.
Axing tuition fees pledge is Labour's 'Nick Clegg moment', says SNP leader in Westminster
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, says in 2010 David Cameron persuaded Nick Clegg to drop his pledge on tuition fees. Will Sunak take the credit for persuading Keir Starmer to do likewise.
Sunak thanks Flynn for the question. It is hard to keep up with Starmer’s broken promises, he says.
Flynn says Labour is having a “Nick Clegg moment”. The main Westminster parties don’t offer young people any hope, he says.
Sunak says people from a disadvantaged background are more likely to go to university in England than in Scotland.
Updated
Starmer says debt has grown, tax is up, the economy has stalled. The Tories are going to need a bigger note.
He says he hopes people enjoy the coronation. The world will see the UK at its best. But it will also be a reminder of the loss of Queen Elizabeth. Will Sunak join him in honouring the late queen and wishing the king a long and happy reign?
Sunak says he hopes people enjoy the coronation. But before that we have the local elections. There is a choice between higher council tax and higher crime under Labour, or lower council tax, lower crime, and fewer potholes under the Tories.
Updated
Starmer says Sunak has admitted he only dropped the targets because Tory councillors were opposed. Why won’t Sunak stop blaming others and build houses?
Sunak says, when Labour was last in power, there was no money left. He says the current Labour mayor of London is building half the number of homes built by his predecessor.
Updated
Starmer says Sunak pretends everything is fine. That reinforces just how out of touch he is. It would take an average saver four years to save £9,000 – or, to put it in a way Sunak would understand, the annual bill for his swimming pool. Scrapping housing targets is killing the dream of home ownership for people. Why won’t Sunak reverse that?
Sunak says he wants to give communities more control. Starmer used to favour that too, he says.
Updated
Starmer says 935,000 people will be paying higher mortgages this year. By the end of this year almost 2 million homeowners will be paying the cost of Tory “economic vandalism”. He says the cost of an average deposit is going up to £9,000. How long does it take people to save that up?
Sunak says that is why the government has a 95% mortgage guarantee scheme. Last year there was a record number of first-time buyers – twice as many as the record under Labour.
Updated
Starmer says 850,000 people paying higher mortgages because of Liz Truss's 'casino' policies
Starmer says Sunak did not answer the question. It is 850,000, paying higher mortgages because the Tories used public money “as a casino”. What will the figure be for people paying higher mortgages by the end of the year?
Sunak says interest rates are coming down. He says under Labour debt would go up.
Updated
Keir Starmer asks how many home owners are paying higher mortgages as a result of Liz Truss’s mini-budget.
Rishi Sunak says the government has cut costs for first-time buyers.
Updated
Gary Sambrook (Con) says hand car washes, employing illegal workers, are associated with criminality, and costing the Treasury £500m.
Sunak says the position of these car washes will be kept under review.
Stephen Timms (Lab) says last week at PMQs Rishi Sunak spoke about record numbers of people in work. But in fact there are fewer people in work than before the pandemic. Will Sunak assure MPs that he is not slipping into the ways of Boris Johnson?
Sunak says a correction has already been made in Hansard.
Rishi Sunak starts by saying MPs will want to send their best wishes to the king and queen ahead of the coronation.
Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs
PMQs is starting shortly. With local elections taking place tomorrow, reasoned, Socratic debate might be in even shorter supply than usual.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
George Osborne backs taxing fruit juice and gradually banning smoking to promote public health
George Osborne, the Conservative former chancellor, has come out in favour of banning smoking over the long term, and taxing orange juice, to promote public health.
He proposed the ideas – neither of which have much chance of featuring in the next Conservative manifesto – in evidence to the the Times Health Commission, a year-long project to investigate ideas that would improve health and social care.
As chancellor, Osborne introduced a sugar tax on soft drinks. He told the Times it should be extended to cover fruit juice and milkshakes.
Referring to Tory “nanny state” opposition to ideas like this, he said:
Since the dawn of states, [the government] has regulated certain products and medicines, and made certain things illegal. I don’t see why you can’t do that in a space such as food. Food’s been heavily regulated since the 19th century.
Osborne also said the government should consider banning smoking over the long term, by following the example of New Zealand, which over time will increase the age at which cigarettes can legally be brought. Osborne said:
Of course you’re going to have lots of problems with illegal smoking, but you have lots of problems with other illegal activities. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and ban them and police them and make it less readily available. I thought that was a compelling public health intervention.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has also expressed interest in the New Zealand plan.
Government announces anti-fraud strategy
The government has today unveiled an anti-fraud strategy. This is how Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, summed up the main features of it on GB News.
We’re making sure that we stop those sort of cold calls and those spoof text messages that pretend to be from somebody else, that’s the first thing.
The second thing we’re doing is we’re making sure there’s more ability for the police to pursue fraudsters and that’s where the national fraud squad with 400 new investigators and a new national fraud intelligence unit comes in. That’s a huge development.
The third thing we’re doing is we’re helping to inform people about the kind of attacks that may come to them. The kind of text messages, the kind of emails that they could get, that might convince them to click on a link or to hand over money that they really shouldn’t.
Updated
Unite to ballot its council worker members on strike action over pay
Council workers who belong to the Unite union are to be balloted for industrial action after rejecting a pay offer, PA Media reports. PA says:
Unite members employed by local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, voted by 75% against the offer, which the union said was worth between 3.88% and 9.42%.
Unite said it was a “substantial real-terms pay cut” as inflation is in double figures.
The Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Our members undertake vital frontline roles that ensure that local communities are well-maintained, safe and attractive places to live. They have now drawn a line in the sand and will not accept any further erosion of their pay.”
Unite said it will now move to an industrial action ballot for its local authority members.
If there is a yes vote, strikes could begin before the school summer holidays, said Unite, adding that local authority workers have endured more than a decade of pay freezes and below-inflation pay increases.
Updated
The Labour MP Clive Lewis is due to speak at the anti-coronation protest on Saturday in Trafalgar Square organised by Republic, the group campaigning for the monarch to be replaced with an elected head of state. Republic says other speakers will include its CEO, Graham Smith, Peter Tatchell and Paul Powlesland, the lawyer who was threatened with arrest when holding up a blank piece of paper after the death of the Queen.
Smith said:
We’re really pleased to have Clive Lewis joining the protest. It’s time more MPs spoke up. We know lots of them agree with us, they need to start saying so. Lewis is a great advocate for a British republic and we’re looking forward to hearing what he has to say on the day.
Lewis, who favours a republic, recently wrote an article for the Guardian saying Labour should be pushing for a reformed, scaled-down monarchy.
Updated
Cabinet Office inquiry into Sue Gray part of political 'vendetta', says Labour's Rachel Reeves
Yesterday Westminster spent much of the day waiting for a statement from the Cabinet Office about the process followed by Sue Gray as she lined up a job as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff before quitting her post as one of Britain’s most senior civil servants. Reports in pro-Tory papers suggested it was going to say that she broke the rules, with the result that gleeful Tories hoped this would reflect badly on Labour.
In the event, the statement failed to live up to the hype. Gray declined to cooperate with the Cabinet Office investigation, and so its report was held back. Instead Gray has submitted evidence to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), the body which advises on what ministers and senior officials should do when they take up jobs outside government to avoid conflicts of interest.
As Pippa Crerar and Rowena Mason report in our story, there was a last-minute decision to hold back the full report after Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, decided its publication would be unfair to Gray.
This morning Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, told Times Radio that the Cabinet Office inquiry into Gray was part of a political “vendetta”. She said:
The issue here is that there are two inquiries going on. There is the usual one, the Acoba process, which Sue Gray is cooperating with fully, and then there is the political gimmick one set up by government ministers to pursue this vendetta they have got against Sue Gray.
Sue Gray is cooperating with the normal process, the Acoba process, that looks at the appointment of former civil servants to roles outside the civil service and she is cooperating and also Labour is cooperating with that inquiry.
In their write-up this morning in the Times, Steven Swinford and Henry Zeffman quote a friend of Gray’s as saying that the Cabinet Office inquiry was a gimmick. They report:
The Cabinet Office report, which has been submitted to Acoba, accuses Gray of breaching the civil service code by failing to act with honesty, integrity and impartiality.
However, the Times has been told that Gray repeatedly questioned the standing of the committee and the rules it was following during an exchange of letters with the Cabinet Office. Gray has already submitted details of her departure, including the dates that she held talks with Labour, to Acoba.
“Rather than take part in a political gimmick, Sue Gray has fully respected the Acoba process,” the source said. “That detailed exactly when she had contact and will become public at the point at which Acoba makes a determination.”
Last night Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, claimed Gray suspended cooperation with the Cabinet Office after she found out it was using information for its inquiry (such as when she first was in talks with Labour) that she had submitted to Acoba. This morning Peston says some in government find this hypocritical.
Government source says: “As former employers we had a right to see ACOBA submission. Sue Gray would absolutely have known that - she used to run PET [Propriety and Ethics in cabinet office]”. That is Cabinet Office disputes they were wrong to use her ACOBA submission in their… https://t.co/vVCFBUsqzM
— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 3, 2023
internal enquiry. Gov source: “It’s quite rich of her to shoot the process of her former colleagues, which is exactly what she’s subjected people to loads of times over the years. I guess a process is only fair in her eyes if it’s run by Sue Gray - no one else has integrity”…
— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 3, 2023
Crikey. There is real anger on both sides
— Robert Peston (@Peston) May 3, 2023
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SNP signs contract with new auditor
The SNP has signed a contract with a new auditor more than six months after the previous company quit, PA Media reports. PA says:
Sources told the BBC the party now hopes to be able to file its accounts in time to meet key deadlines.
A source told the broadcaster: “Humza Yousaf, Stephen Flynn and their teams have had to put in some shift to fix the situation they inherited but they’ve managed to turn things around in a matter of weeks and both the party and the Westminster group now have auditors in place.”
Without a new auditor for the party, the SNP group at Westminster was at risk of losing £1.2m in public funding. That is because the payment – so-called “Short money”, available to opposition parties to help them pay staff – is conditional on parties submitting audited accounts.
Anti-monarchy group says it intends to carry on with coronation day protest despite Home Office warning
Republic, the group campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy and an elected head of state, has said that the Home Office’s decision to write to it warning about the new anti-protest powers was “very odd” because the group has been liaising with the police for some time about the coronation.
Graham Smith, the group’s CEO, told PA Media:
We’ve been liaising closely with the police about the protest for weeks. We’ve had meetings with them.
They’ve said very clearly that they have no problems with our plans. I just can’t understand why the Home Office thinks it’s appropriate to send a letter like that, which was anonymous in terms of no person’s name on it. It struck us as intimidatory in a way.
Republic says it is going ahead with its protest as planned.
We are proceeding as planned. Free speech and the right to protest are fundamental principles in a democracy. #NotMyKing https://t.co/yr2jSmvxNv
— Republic (@RepublicStaff) May 2, 2023
There are details of its coronation protest on its website.
Tugendhat suggests Public Order Act will help economic growth, because it will reduce disruption
Rishi Sunak has set five priorities for his government, of which three – halving inflation, getting the economy growing, and reducing debt – relate to the economy.
Law and order is not normally seen as part of economic policy. But in his Today interview this morning Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, suggested the Public Order Act, which gives the police new powers to stop protesters, was part of the government’s growth strategy. He explained:
We’ve seen the nature of protest in the UK become so much more disruptive, so much more intrusive.
We cannot deliver on the five pledges that the prime minister has set out – we can’t halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists or stop boats – if we can’t get the economy going. And that’s what we’ve really focused on.
Minister defends decision to threaten anti-coronation protesters with tough new police powers
And here is my colleague Aletha Adu’s story on the Tom Tugendhat interview.
Security minister refuses to say what anti-coronation protests will and won't be allowed under new public order law
Good morning. Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, was on the pitch for No 10 on the morning TV and radio programmes. He was there to talk about the prime minister’s new fraud strategy (fighting it, not perpetrating it), but inevitably he was asked about coronation security.
Today the Guardian is splashing on the revelation that new powers making it easier for the police to disrupt protests, which are in the Public Order Act, have been implemented about six weeks early so that they are available to officers this week, so that if people try to hold up coronation events they can be removed and arrested more easily than under previous public order legislation. The Home Office has even written to Republic, the group campaigning for Britain to become a republic which is organising coronation day protests, warning them what they are now up against.
The Guardian: New anti-protest powers rushed into law in time for coronation #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/9PoUxUswKM
— George Mann 🫧⚒️🫧 (@sgfmann) May 2, 2023
In an interview on the Today programme Tugendhat said the coronation would be a moment for the UK to showcase its abilities. He went on: “It’s also a major moment to showcase our liberty and our democracy.” This was a gift to the presenter, Nick Robinson, who asked what would happen to anyone who wanted to make use of this “liberty” by waving an anti-monarch banner in London on Saturday.
Tugendhat replied:
They have the liberty that anybody in the United Kingdom has to protest.
What they don’t have the liberty to do is to disrupt others, and that’s where we’re drawing and making a difference. Because you saw ambulances in London only a few months ago unable to take patients to hospital because people were blocking roads. You’ve seen people, quite rightly, getting extremely frustrated when they’re unable to get to work or get to school in the morning because people from one pressure group or another have decided to put an obstacle in their road.
This is why we are making this change to the law. And this is why the important changes we’ve made to the Public Order Act have gone through.
Robinson then tried to get Tugendhat to explain what would and would not be allowed under the new laws. But the minister would not answer. He replied:
I’m not going to go through the details what you can or can’t do for fear of encouraging people to find loopholes in it, for very obvious reasons.
Robinson then put it to him that it would not look good if people were prevented from holding up banners. Tugendhat replied:
So look, operational decisions are quite rightly a matter for the police, and you wouldn’t expect me to second guess them on your programme.
What we’ve done is we’ve passed laws that give the operational police commanders the powers that they have been asking for for many, many months.
Yesterday some Home Office figures were claiming that it was pure coincidence that the Public Order Act powers are coming into force this week. But in a separate interview with Times Radio, Tugendhat admitted that there had been a “change of time” – although he claimed that was not significant.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Sir Patrick Vallance gives evidence to the Commons science committee to mark his recent departure as the government’s chief scientific adviser.
12pm: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.
1.30pm: Sunak gives an interview to Jeremy Vine on his Radio 2 show.
Afternoon: Sunak and Suella Braverman, the home secretary, are on a visit in Buckinghamshire.
Afternoon: Starmer and Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, are on a visit in Kent.
Afternoon: Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, holds a press conference with Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, in Cumbria.
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