Afternoon summary
Miliband dismisses claims Labour leadership divided over its support for net zero policies
Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary for climate and net zero, has dismissed reports suggesting the Labour leadership is divided over its support for net zero policy.
There have been some reports suggestions that Miliband’s passion for green policies is not 100% shared by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, who are more worried about the impact of measures that might raise costs for voters.
But Miliband dismissed these reports in an interview on the World at One. He said:
I am far too experienced to be worried about that kind of thing. Because the truth is you always get tittle-tattle in Westminster.
The truth is that Keir Starmer is absolutely 100% committed to the project of clean energy by 2030, which is the way to cut bills and give us energy security and tackle the climate crisis.
And he’s also absolutely committed, as is Rachel Reeves, to ramping up to £28bn a year of investment to bring the good jobs that we need for our country.
And you know what? If Labour wins the election, we will never have had a prime minister and a chancellor so committed to this agenda and I’m incredibly proud to work alongside them.
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The Refugee Council has welcomed this morning’s high court ruling on unaccompanied child asylum seekers (see 11.28am) as a “landmark day for children’s rights”. The organisation’s chief executive, Enver Solomon, said:
The court has confirmed that there can be no exceptions when the rights of vulnerable children are concerned. The government should do everything in its power to ensure these children are safe and in the care of local authorities.
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Nadine Dorries urged to honour promise to resign as MP by councillors in her constituency
Nadine Dorries has been urged to honour her promise to resign as an MP by councillors in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Flitwick town council, which describes itself as having the largest concentration of voters of any town council in the constituency, has posted on its website an open letter to the MP saying she should quit.
In the letter Stephanie Stanley, the town clerk, says:
The last time you spoke in the Commons was 7 June 2022. You have not maintained a constituency office for a considerable time, and it’s widely understood that you have not held a surgery in Flitwick since March 2020.
Rather than representing constituents, the council is concerned that your focus appears to have been firmly on your television show, upcoming book and political manoeuvres to embarrass the government for not appointing you to the House of Lords. Councillors noted that your behaviour widely reported in the press is not in line with the seven principles of public life set out by Lord Nolan in 1995 …
Our residents desperately need effective representation now, and Flitwick town council calls on you to immediately vacate your seat to allow a byelection.
The town council says it operates on a non-party political basis.
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Opposition parties claim release of SNP's independence citizenship paper shows Yousaf 'out of touch'
Opposition parties in Scotland have strongly criticised Humza Yousaf for using Scottish government resources to publish a policy paper on citizenship policy in an independent Scotland. (See 10.25am.)
Donald Cameron, the Scottish Conservatives’ constitution spokesperson, said:
People across Scotland will be appalled that Humza Yousaf is focusing on yet another self-indulgent paper touting independence. It is the wrong priority at the worst possible time.
This paper is not only a blatant misuse of public money and resources by the SNP, but it also demonstrates how out of touch they are with the public.
Neil Bibby, Scottish Labour’s constitution spokesperson, said:
Our NHS is in chaos and people are struggling to make ends meet during the worst cost of living crisis in decades – but as always the SNP-Green government is distracted by its constitutional obsession.
Humza Yousaf is completely out of touch with Scotland’s priorities and bereft of new ideas.
And the Scottish Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said the policy paper was “more therapy for Humza Yousaf and the nationalist movement than a serious attempt to persuade people to support their cause”.
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Permanent GP numbers in England have fallen year-on-year for 12 months in a row, NHS figures show
The number of permanent GPs in England has dropped year-on-year for 12 months in a row, PA Media reports. PA says:
There were 26,521 permanent qualified GPs working in England in June 2023, down 1.3% from 26,859 in June 2022, according to figures from NHS Digital.
It is the 12th consecutive month the number of family doctors has fallen year-on-year, suggesting the total is on a clear downward path.
The latest drop of 1.3% comes after annual decreases of 1.4% in March, 1.5% in April and 1.3% in May.
Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the figures show “the true extent of both the workforce and workload crises” GPs are facing. She said:
Our teams have been working continuously under intense workload and workforce pressures in recent years, but the latest data shows just how serious these pressures have become.
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Nigel Farage has welcomed the resignation of Peter Flavel as Coutts CEO. (See 2.21pm.)
It was only a matter of time before Peter Flavel, Coutts CEO, stood down.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 27, 2023
The ultimate responsibility for the dossier de-banking me for my political views lies with him.
I even wrote to Mr Flavel twice before going public and didn’t receive an acknowledgment.
Yousaf says SNP former minister Fergus Ewing won't be expelled for criticising him
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has said he will not expel a former minister from the SNP over terse criticism of the party’s policies, PA Media reports. PA says:
Fergus Ewing has become a frequent opponent of Scottish government policy in recent months, including over plans to limit human activity in at least 10% of Scottish waters, the introduction of a deposit return scheme and the long-awaited dualling of the A9.
Speaking on the Holyrood Sources podcast this week, Ewing said there was a “toxic” atmosphere within the SNP group at Holyrood, claiming some in senior positions within the party and in government had not spoken to him in “well over a year”.
Asked by journalists on Thursday if the recent criticism could lead to Ewing’s expulsion, Yousaf said the former minister’s position in the party was safe.
“People aren’t going to be expelled or punished for criticising me, or criticising the party’s direction on several positions,” he said.
“We will always look to adhere to the standing orders that apply to me just as much as they apply to Fergus or Angus Brendan MacNeil.”
Later asked if there was a “toxic” environment within the party, the first minister said “not in my experience”. He added: “There’s pretty robust debate, it’s fair to say.”
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Coutts CEO stands down over Nigel Farage bank account row
Peter Flavel is stepping down as head of Coutts, Graeme Wearden reports on the business live blog. Flavel is the second senior figure from the NatWest group to lose their job over the row that erupted after Coutts closed Nigel Farage’s account. Dame Alison Rose, the NatWest chief executive, resigned yesterday.
There are more details on Graeme’s business live blog.
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Khan dismisses Sunak's attack on his housebuilding record in London as 'desperate nonsense'
Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has responded to Rishi Sunak’s attack on his housebuilding record (see 1.18pm) by accusing the PM of “desperate nonsense”.
Are you the same guy who dropped his house building targets? Because I’m the guy who started building more council homes than the rest of England combined, exceeded your affordable homes targets & built more homes of any kind than since the 1930s. This is desperate nonsense. https://t.co/ChSVSCSp3n
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) July 27, 2023
In a statement Khan said:
This is pathetic gesture politics by the Tories in an attempt to distract from their out of touch government’s inaction on the mortgage crisis and Rishi Sunak’s failure to stand up to his own backbenchers on housebuilding. Londoners won’t be fooled in the slightest.
The Tories have a miserable record of continually blocking badly needed new housing in London across the board while Labour in London has exceeded the government’s own affordable housing targets, delivered higher council home building than the rest of England combined and built more homes of any kind than since the 1930s.
In a briefing note for journalists, Khan said that there were 25,658 “genuinely affordable” housing starts in London in 2022-23, a record high, and that 23,092 council homes had been started in London since 2018, which is the highest level of council home building since the 1970s.
He also highlighted multiple ways in which he said the Tories were holding back building in the capital, including: ministers blocking new housing developments that would have delivered hundreds of homes; funding for affordable housing being cut and delayed; limits being imposed on the construction of tall buildings in London; the government failing to extend infrastructure in the capital.
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Sunak claims Sadiq Khan's poor housebuilding record has driven up house prices for Londoners
Rishi Sunak was visiting a housing development in west London today to promote an announcement from Downing Street that it is spending £200m on housing initiatives in the capital.
In a news release, sent out to journalists but not yet on the No 10 website, Downing Street says the money will fund “densification” and brownfield regeneration in the capital. It says:
A direct allocation of £150m for housebuilding to London boroughs, bypassing the Greater London authority – to unlock development by preparing brownfield land and supporting infrastructure like new roads and green spaces. Because of the mayor’s failure to deliver the number of homes required in London over his years in office, someone working in inner London can, on average, expect to pay 17 times their earnings to buy a home – a ratio more than double the national average. This is why the government needs to change the approach, working directly with other local leaders in the capital.
Further government investment worth £53m to Old Oak West – a project that will deliver over 9,000 new homes, support 12,000 jobs, and transform the area neighbouring the £1.7bn Old Oak Common HS2 station.
The news release is particularly critical of Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London. As well as suggesting that he is to blame for London property prices being so high, it says the government will be launching its own review into housebuilding in London because, it says, the target for 52,000 new homes per year in London’s housing plan is not being met.
In a quote in the news release, Sunak says:
The mayor has failed to deliver the homes that London needs. This has driven up house prices and made it harder for families to get on the housing ladder in the first place.
That is why we are stepping in today to boost house building and make home ownership a reality again for people across this great city.
The Tories have been criticising Khan’s record on housing for years. But normally government press releases are not as implicitly party political as this one, and this could be seen as fresh evidence that Sunak has decided to adopt a more “gloves off” approach to campaigning.
(Making assessments on which party has the best record on housebuilding in London is famously complicated. This article, by Inside Housing’s Peter Apps, published during the Boris Johnson premiership, explains why.)
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In his pooled broadcast interview this morning Rishi Sunak claimed the government was taking “tough” action to stop banks closing people’s accounts on account of their views. He said:
We have passed new laws to ensure banks do treat customers fairly and they are not discriminating against people because they are exercising their lawful right to free speech.
And we’re making sure that people, if banks are going to take away their bank accounts, have an ability to challenge that and have those bank accounts re-instated through the ombudsman.
So there’s tough action that the government has taken to make sure that banks are behaving in the right way.
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Sunak fails to give full backing to NatWest chair Howard Davies as NatWest/Farage banking row continues
Rishi Sunak has failed to give his full backing to Sir Howard Davies, chairman of NatWest, in interviews this morning, PA Media reports.
PA says that Sunak did not back calls for the resignation of Davies in a pooled interview this morning – but also that Sunak would not say whether he had confidence in him.
Davies has been under pressure to quit because he and the NatWest board initially backed Dame Alison Rose on Tuesday, after she admitted being the source of the BBC story that wrongly said Nigel Farage’s political views were not a factor in the decision by Coutts to close his account.
But late on Tuesday night, after the board realised that No 10 and the Treasury were pushing for resignation, there was a change of heart, and Rose quit.
Farage has been calling for the entire NatWest board to be replaced.
Asked about NatWest, Sunak said:
What I said right at the start of this was that it wasn’t right for people to be deprived of basic services because of banking, because of their views.
This isn’t about any one individual, it’s about values – do you believe in free speech and not to be discriminated against because of your legally held views?
Do you believe in privacy, particularly on matters as sensitive as your financial information. Those are the values and questions at stake here and that’s why I said what I did.
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One of the stories that generated particular outrage about the practice of housing unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels was the Observer investigation in January saying dozens of youngsters had been kidnapped by gangs from a Brighton hotel run by the Home Office.
In a statement welcoming today’s judgment, Bella Sankey, the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove city council, said:
As a result of this policy, a dozen classrooms of children, including some of the most traumatised and vulnerable children in the world, have gone missing and, sickeningly for us, 50 children are still missing from the hotel used in Brighton and Hove.
Importantly the high court also makes clear that the home secretary already has the power to require local authorities across the country to take children into foster care via a statutory rota system called the national transfer scheme.
Suella Braverman must now urgently enforce this system so that the hotels can be emptied and all local authorities can play their part in safeguarding children.
Brighton and Hove council was a party in the case, joining Every Child Protected Against Trafficking in challenging the legality of the Home Office’s policy. Sankey said she was proud the council had played a part in ensuring “all children in need of care can in future be properly safeguarded, irrespective of their nationality and immigration status”.
Ensuring safety of lone children 'among most fundamental duties of any civilised state', says ruling against Home Office
Here are extracts, via PA Media, from Mr Justice Chamberlain judgment at the high court saying the Home Office’s “routine” use of hotel accommodation for unaccompanied child asylum seekers is unlawful. He said:
Ensuring the safety and welfare of children with no adult to look after them is among the most fundamental duties of any civilised state …
The home secretary has been accommodating children in hotels for over two years.
It may be that, in June and July 2021, the home secretary could plausibly have contended that the commissioning of hotels was intended and functioning an emergency measure.
It is much more difficult to make that case after September 2021, when she agreed the Kent protocol, which formalised the cap on the numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children that Kent county council would accept, against a common understanding that any unaccompanied asylum seeking children children who arrived when the cap had been reached would be accommodated by the home secretary in hotels.
She and Kent county council may well have hoped that it would not be necessary to use hotels, but it rapidly became clear that this intention was not being realised.
The judge also found that Kent county council is acting unlawfully in failing to accommodate and look after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. He said:
In ceasing to accept responsibility for some newly arriving unaccompanied asylum seeking children, while continuing to accept other children into its care, Kent county council chose to treat some unaccompanied asylum seeking children differently from and less favourably than other children, because of their status as asylum seekers.
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Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (Ecpat) has strongly welcomed the high court ruling this morning saying the “routine” use of hotel accommodation for unaccompanied child asylum seekers is unlawful.
Explaining the significance of the judgment, Patricia Durr, Ecpat’s CEO, said in a statement:
This judgment powerfully reaffirms the primacy of the Children Act 1989 and our child welfare statutory framework which does not allow for children to treated differently because of their immigration status. It remains a child protection scandal that so many of the most vulnerable children remain missing at risk of significant harm as a consequence of these unlawful actions by the secretary of state and Kent county council.
Despite the recent passing of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which will deny unaccompanied children the right to claim asylum, amongst other hugely damaging provisions, this judgment serves as a clear and timely reminder that neither central nor local government departments can depart from the statutory child welfare framework and the duties towards all children under the Children Act 1989.
We will continue to defend the rights of every child in the UK to live free from exploitation and access the care they are entitled to under the law.
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Home Office's 'routine' use of hotels for unaccompanied child asylum seekers unlawful, high court rules
The Home Office’s “routine” housing of unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels is unlawful, the high court has ruled.
According to PA Media, the charity Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (Ecpat) brought legal action against the Home Office over the practice of housing unaccompanied youngsters in Home Office hotels, claiming the arrangements are “not fit for purpose”.
In a ruling this morning, Mr Justice Chamberlain said the use of hotels for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children had become unlawful, as the power to place the children in hotels “may be used on very short periods in true emergency situations”.
He told the court in London:
It cannot be used systematically or routinely in circumstances where it is intended, or functions in practice, as a substitute for local authority care.
From December 2021 at the latest, the practice of accommodating children in hotels, outside local authority care, was both systematic and routine and had become an established part of the procedure for dealing with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
From that point on, the home secretary’s provision of hotel accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children exceeded the proper limits of her powers and was unlawful.
There is a range of options open to the home secretary to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are accommodated and looked after as envisaged by parliament.
It is for her to decide how to do so.
Ecpat’s challenge was heard in London alongside similar claims brought by Brighton and Hove city council and Kent county council against the department, PA reports. It says the Home Office and Department for Education had opposed the legal challenges and said that the hotel use was lawful but was “deployed effectively as a ‘safety net’ and as a matter of necessity”.
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DfE's failure to bring down school absences could lead to 'moral failure of epic proportions', says Iain Duncan Smith
The government’s failure to bring down the level of school absences could lead to “a moral and social failure of epic proportions”, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said today.
He made the comment in a foreword to a report by the Centre for Social Justice, the thinktank he chairs, saying that “crisis levels” of absence in schools in England are becoming entrenched.
The problem became a lot worse during the pandemic, and absence levels have never returned to pre-Covid levels. The CSJ, which has been monitoring this problem since 2021, says steps taken by the Department for Education to increase attendance figures have been inadequate.
According to the CSJ’s latest report, in autumn 2022 1.7 million children were persistently absent from school – defined as missing 10% or more of possible sessions. That was equivalent to 24.2% of all children in England, and it was an 84% increase on the pre-Covid figure for autumn 2019 (13.1%).
And the report says 125,222 children were severely absent in autumn 2022 – defined as missing 50% or more of possible sessions. That was 1.7% of all children – a 108% increase on the figure for autumn 2019 (60,244 pupils) and the highest figure on record for an autumn term.
Commenting on the figures, Duncan Smith said in his foreword to the report:
The government risks creating a lost generation if it doesn’t act urgently to return so called ‘ghost children’ to the classroom. This would be a moral and social failure of epic proportions, creating a bow wave of problems for decades to come.
Duncan Smith said school absences would make the attainment gap worse. He explained:
It is a sad but unsurprising fact that among these children, the vulnerable are over represented. In the 2021/22 academic year, the rate of severe absence among children in receipt of free school meals was more than three times than among their higher income peers, while children in receipt of SEN [special educational needs] support were three times more likely to be severely absent.
The CSJ’s recent inquiry identified anxiety, poor mental health, disadvantage and SEN needs as key drivers of school absence – as well as changing parental attitudes to school since lockdown forced millions out of the classroom.
This attendance gap will serve only to exacerbate the ‘attainment gap’ between poorer and more affluent children, already at its widest level in a decade.
The DfE has been taking measures to bring down school absences, including piloting attendance monitors. But Duncan Smith said “existing measures fail to match the scale of the crisis”.
UPDATE: Responding to the report, a Department for Education spokesperson said:
We are also working with schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities to identify pupils who are at risk of becoming - or who are - persistently absent to support those children to return to regular and consistent education.
The DfE has published more details of what it is doing to reduce school absences in a blog here.
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Scotland would adopt Irish citizenship model after independence, Yousaf says
Scotland would adopt a citizenship model similar to that of Ireland if it ever becomes independent, Humza Yousaf, the first minister, has announced. PA News reports:
Yousaf has published the fifth paper in a series laying out the prospectus for Scotland after separation, focusing on immigration and citizenship.
The Scottish government has long advocated increased immigration to cope with an ageing population, with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon publishing plans for a separate Scottish visa in 2020, which was almost immediately rejected by Westminster.
Yousaf said that anyone with a parent born in Scotland would be able to apply for Scottish citizenship if the country leaves the UK.
The paper explains the rights of British nationals to claim dual citizenship, as well as how the process for foreign nationals to apply will be streamlined.
Yousaf said: “I am in no doubt that alongside the climate crisis, the challenges of an ageing population are one of the biggest issues future generations will face in Scotland, unless action is taken today.
“The Scottish government wants to make it easier for people, including those seeking to reconnect with family roots, to gain citizenship and contribute to our economy, society and public services like the NHS.”
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Bring in new lobbying rules for ex-ministers by autumn, says watchdog
No 10 should bring in new fines for ex-ministers who break the rules on lobbying in time for Rishi Sunak’s next reshuffle and tighten restrictions on former civil servants, Eric Pickles, the head of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), has said. Rowena Mason has the story here.
Ed Miliband urges PM to close ‘Swiss cheese’ holes in windfall tax on energy firms
Rishi Sunak has been urged to close the holes in his “Swiss cheese” of a windfall tax on energy companies after Shell and British Gas reported significant profits, with Labour calling the government’s stance “perverse”, Aubrey Allegretti reports.
Ministers were ‘crackers’ to suggest deadline for petrol car sale ban might slip after Uxbridge result, says climate expert
Good morning. A good way to think about the most important stories of our time is to imagine, if someone were to produce a news bulletin about what happened in the 21st century, what would be in it. Newspapers cover the most important stories of the last 24 hours. Live blogs, like this one, cover the most important stories of the last 24 minutes. But the story of the 21st century is obviously, obviously, the climate crisis, and this does feature in the daily news agenda too.
This morning Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, was on the Today programme and he was withering about the government’s backsliding on green issues (partly a matter of rhetoric, but there have been some policy shifts too) since the Uxbridge byelection result last week, which persuaded some Tories that fighting net zero measures could be an election. winning strategy.
Stark was particularly critical of the government’s failure to categorically reaffirm its commitment to banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. This was “crackers”, he said. He was referring to the days of mixed messaging. According to the Daily Mirror, the government produced five positions on this issue within 24 hours. John Stevens, the Mirror’s political editor, summed them up here.
Will 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars happen?
— John Stevens (@johnestevens) July 25, 2023
Andrew Mitchell: Cannot prophesy future
Rishi Sunak: 🤷♂️
PM’s spokesman: Yes
No10 source: Open to review
Michael Gove: Absolutely
I guess it is flip flop season 🩴
Here are the main points from Stark’s interview.
Stark said that there had been a “remarkable softening” in support for climate policies in recent days, and that this was a worry. He said:
It’s a worrying situation. As somebody who works on climate issues, climate policies, we’ve seen this week a remarkable softening of the stance and the rhetoric from our political leaders on climate, in a period when frankly, we should be seeing the opposite.
He seemed to be referring mostly to the government, but he may have had Labour in mind too.
He said that, although Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, said in an interview on the Today programme on Tuesday that the government was fully committed to implementing the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, by then the damage had been done. He said:
I was very reassured by what Michael Gove said when he sat in this chair. But, nonetheless, the damage was done because we had this discussion following Uxbridge result about whether the 2030 goal was the right one for the country.
That’s one of the things I’m very worried about, because we’ve just heard the the environmental case for having a net zero target ….
My own belief is that if you don’t make the economic case for it alongside that, then then we will really struggle in this mission towards net zero.
Stark said it was “crackers” to allow people to think the 2030 deadline might slip. The government was trying to promote investment in the electric car industry, he said. He went on:
So it’s crackers, frankly, to invest £500m pounds in bringing Jaguar Land Rover to the UK to invest in a new gigafactory for making the batteries for those cars, and then similarly, almost within almost the same week, start to talk about softening that 2030 goal, removing the market for the vehicles that Jaguar Land Rover want to make.
And he said the government was not making enough progress towards its net zero targets. He explained:
The progress we’re making in this country against the targets that are set in law is just not fast enough. Let me give you one illustration of that. If you removed from the equation the one sector where we have been doing pretty well in this country, which is the power sector – we are moving towards a more renewable, cleaner electricity system – if you take that out of the equation and look at all the other sectors where of course the challenge now lies, decarbonizing our economy, moving towards a score of net zero, the average in recent years has been about a 1% fall in greenhouse gas emissions.
If we’re going to meet the 2030 goal that the government set in that Cop26 process back in Glasgow, that needs to quadruple over the next six or seven years. Now we are not seeing that kind of progress and the government’s plans.
It looks like a quiet day in politics, and there isn’t much in the diary. But Rishi Sunak is on a visit this morning, and is due to record a pooled interview, so we might get a response from him.
If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a PC or a laptop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line, privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate), or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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