Early evening summary
Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA
Updated
What Humza Yousaf hopes to achieve from his meeting with Rishi Sunak
Humza Yousaf will be challenging Rishi Sunak over his government’s apparently hostile attitude to the Scottish government’s policies, particularly on bottle recycling and its lobbying with foreign governments, when the pair meet in the prime minister’s Commons office this evening.
It is something of an historic meeting: the UK’s first prime minister of south Asian heritage meeting the first Scottish first minister of south Asian descent, but that may be the only thing the pair have in common. Yousaf is a centre-left and republican Scottish nationalist; Sunak a right-leaning fiscal conservative.
Scottish officials say Yousaf has three major topics to press the prime minister on. Firstly is what the Scottish government sees as Westminster’s “ludicrous” obstruction of Holyrood’s troubled deposit return scheme after the UK government refused to lift cross-border sales restrictions on Scottish bottles and cans. Westminster has already blocked Holyrood’s proposed gender recognition reforms, a decision Yousaf is now challenging in court.
The first minister is meanwhile deeply irritated by a “bizarre” instruction from James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, to Britain’s ambassadors overseas to closely watch, and ideally sit in on, any meetings between Scottish ministers and foreign ministers.
According to Yousaf’s team, this mandate is based on Cleverly’s mistaken assumption that Scottish ministers use foreign lobbying trips as a Trojan horse to push independence. Not so, they say. These trips are far more mundane inward investment and cultural expeditions.
They also insist that foreign diplomats are disregarding the implication in Cleverly’s stance that Scotland ought to be ignored; Yousaf has been invited by the German ambassador, Miguel Berger, to dinner with other senior diplomats on Tuesday evening.
Last on Yousaf’s list is a plea for the Treasury to reverse its 10.1% tax rise on whisky – a levy increase that worsens the damaging impact on distillers of the steep increases in energy prices on which the whisky industry had no government help.
It is unlikely Yousaf will get much succour from Sunak; UK government officials say the prime minister regards tonight’s meeting as a getting-to-know you introduction, and not a policy summit. Sunak, they say, is comfortable with the policy stances taken by his cabinet colleagues. Yousaf is likely to return home unsatisfied.
Updated
Andrew Mitchell says he hopes government will ensure Sudan rescue effort not seen as 'shambles'
Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, told MPs in a statement earlier that the Foreign Office had registered around 2,000 British nationals who are in Sudan and that the government was looking at “every single available option” for extracting them.
But he also stressed the difficulties. When the government was evacuating Britons from Kabul, it had troops on the ground, access to an airport and permission from the authorities to stage an airlift. In Sudan, none of those factors applied, he said. He told MPs:
Movement around the capital [Khartoum] remains extremely dangerous and no evacuation option comes without grave risk to life.
Khartoum airport is out of action. Energy supplies are disrupted. Food and water are becoming increasingly scarce. Internet and telephone networks are becoming difficult to access.
We continue to advise all British nationals in Sudan to stay indoors wherever possible.
We recognise circumstances will vary in different locations across Sudan, so we are now asking British nationals to exercise their own judgment about their circumstances, including whether to relocate, but they do so at their own risk.
This morning Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs committee, said that up to 4,000 Britons could be in Sudan. (See 9.25am.) Mitchell said that figure included dual nationals, which was why it was different from the 2,000 figure he quoted.
When Labour’s Chris Bryant said the evacuation of Kabul was “a complete and utter shambles”, Mitchell said he hoped that would not be the case this time. He told MPs:
We hope that the word shambles will not be applied to the work that we are doing seamlessly across government to make sure that we achieve the aims that are common across the whole house.
My colleague Harry Taylor has more on this on the Sudan live blog.
Updated
Sunak says government to invest further £100m boosting UK's AI capacity
Rishi Sunak has announced plans to invest £100m in developing AI capacity. A new taskforce will oversee the project.
In a news release giving details, No 10 says:
The taskforce, modelled on the success of the Covid-19 vaccines taskforce, will develop the safe and reliable use of this pivotal artificial intelligence (AI) across the economy and ensure the UK is globally competitive in this strategic technology.
Foundation models - including large language models like ChatGPT and Google Bard - are a category of artificial intelligence systems trained on huge volumes of data such as text, images, video or audio to gain broad and sophisticated capabilities across many tasks.
With AI set to contribute billions of pounds to UK GDP, the work of the taskforce will help deliver on the prime minister’s priorities to grow our economy, whilst generating better outcomes for people across the country through better public services. Research suggests that the broad adoption of such systems could triple national productivity growth rates.
In areas like healthcare, this type of AI has enormous potential to speed up diagnoses, drug discovery and development. In education it could transform teachers’ day-to-day work, freeing up their time to focus on delivering excellent teaching.
This technology is also predicted to raise global GDP by 7 percent over a decade, making its adoption a vital opportunity to grow the UK economy. To support businesses and public trust in these systems and drive their adoption, the taskforce will work with the sector towards developing the safety and reliability of foundation models, both at a scientific and commercial level.
The investment will build the UK’s ‘sovereign’ national capabilities so our public services can benefit from the transformational impact of this type of AI. The taskforce will focus on opportunities to establish the UK as a world leader in foundation models and their applications across the economy, and acting as a global standard bearer for AI safety.
In Westminster Hall the SNP MP Martyn Day is opening the debate on the call for a public inquiry into the impact of Brexit. (See 3.28pm.)
He says the Office for Budget Responsibility has said Brexit could be as damaging as Covid. And there is a public inquiry into Covid, he says.
The public need to know what the impact of Brexit has been before the country can plot the way forward. Day says he has only got about 20 minutes for his speech, but that won’t be enough time to cover all the downsides, he says.
Can we make Brexit work, he asks. “I very much doubt it.” But Day says it is necessary for people to move on.
Updated
The Lib Dems have criticised the government for failing to publish the advice Rishi Sunak was given about Dominic Raab before he appointed him deputy as PM and justice secretary. Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, asked for this to be released, but Alex Burghart, the Cabinet Office minister replying, just said no formal complaint had been made about Raab at that point. (See 3.44pm and 3.45pm.)
In response, Chamberlain said:
It’s time for Rishi Sunak to come clean over what he knew and when about the bullying complaints against Raab before appointing him as his deputy. Any official advice provided to the prime minister on the informal complaints about Raab’s conduct should be published immediately. If Sunak has nothing to hide he has nothing to fear.
Updated
Tan Dhesi (Lab) says a firm part-owned by the PM’s wife will benefit significantly from policy changes in the budget.
At this point Dame Eleanor Laing, the deputy speaker, intervenes. She says he should not discuss this case, because it is being investigated.
Updated
Karin Smyth (Lab) says the ministerial code now says a range of sanctions could apply for breaches of the ministerial code. Was Dominic Raab offered an alternative to resigning?
Burghart says he was not party to those conversations.
Chris Bryant (Lab) says the ministerial code is now “bust”. In some respects it is more lax than the code for MPs. And the list of ministers’ interests is now already out of date.
He says oversight of the ministerial code should be independent. And he suggests it is time to unite the ministerial and parliamentary code of conducts.
Burghart says the rules are different for MPs and ministers for a reason. He says a minister’s interest might not need to be declared if the minister is doing one job, but if they move to another, where their responsibilities change, than that interest might become relevant, because of a potential conflict of interest.
Updated
Jackie Doyle-Price (Con) urges the PM to “reboot” the ministerial code, so it is focused on what is important.
Burghart says the ministerial code is a bedrock.
Angela Eagle (Lab) says the current system relies on the PM being honourable, and that can no longer be relied upon.
Burghart says he hopes that Eagle was not suggesting the PM is dishonourable.
Sir Desmond Swayne (Con) asks if the government will reduce the time limit within which complaints about ministers can be made.
Burghart says the PM has asked the Cabinet Office to look at any shortcomings in the current system, and it will do that.
Burghart is replying to Anderson.
He says Sunak is focused on tackling the cost of living crisis. That is why tackling inflation is his main preoccupation.
As for Sunak’s declarations, he says Lord Geidt, the former ethics adviser at No 10, said Sunak had been assiduous in declaring his interests.
On Raab, he says Raab in his letter last week said he was genuinely sorry for any distress felt by officials.
Updated
Fleur Anderson, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, asks Burghart to confirm that Raab broke the ministerial code.
Should Raab apologise?
And will Burghart commend Raab’s victims?
Anderson also asks when Rishi Sunak first declared his wife’s shareholding in Koru Kids.
The governmment has been “preoccupied with Tory psychodrama”, she says. She says Labour is focused on tackling the cost of living crisis.
Burghart is replying to Chamberlain.
He says no formal complaints were made about Dominic Raab before he was appointed deputy PM.
Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, who tabled the UQ, is replying to Burghart.
She says Rishi Sunak has now lost three of the cabinet ministers he orginally appointed, two of them over bullying.
She says the failure to publish an updated list of ministers’ interests for a year meant that ministers who resigned never had their interests published.
She says the government should publish the advice Sunak was given before he appointed Dominic Raab.
Updated
List of ministers' interests not supposed to duplicate register of MPs' interests, MPs told
Alex Burghart, a Cabinet Office minister, is replying to the urgent question about the list of ministers’ interests.
He says this is sometimes called a register of interests. But that is not the case, he says.
He says ministers have to disclose all their interests to their officials. The process is precise and thorough.
He says only those lists that are deemed relevant to a minister’s job are published in the list of ministers’ interests.
That list is meant to be read alongside the register of MPs’ interests. It is not meant to duplicate it, he says.
He says Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, has said it would be unduly intrusive to expect ministers to publish all their interests.
Updated
MPs to debate call for national inquiry into consequences of Brexit in Westminster Hall
This afternoon, starting at 4.30pm, there will be a debate in Westminster Hall on the call for a public inquiry into the impact of Brexit. Almost 200,000 people signed an online petition calling for one, and so the debate is being held in line with the custom that petitions attracting more than 100,000 signatures normally get debated.
At one stage, in the period after the 2016 referendum when it became obvious that the UK Brexit negotiations were going disastrously wrong, it was assumed that a public inquiry of some kind would be inevitable. But the government is not willing to admit that Brexit has been anything other than a success, and the Labour party is nervous of taking a position that implies it wants to reverse the process.
In its response to the petition, the government said:
The UK’s departure from the EU was a democratic choice and the UK-EU institutions are functioning as intended. The government does not believe this to be an appropriate subject for a public inquiry.
The Westminster Hall debate will not decide anything, and there will not even be a vote on setting up a public inquiry. But the National Campaign for a Public Inquiry into the Consequences of Brexit claims that this will be the first time MPs have debated the consequences of Brexit.
Updated
John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor and a longstanding ally of Diane Abbott, has said she made “a terrible, terrible” mistake when she made her comments about race in a letter to the Observer. In an interview with Andrew Marr for his LBC show broadcast tonight, McDonnell said that as a campaigner against anti-Irish racism he understood why people were angry. But he said Abbott had apologised, and he urged people to have the “generosity of spirit” to acknowledge all her work campaigning against racism.
This is from LBC’s Zeynel Can Yuce.
NEW: Labour MP John McDonnell tells Tonight with @Andrewmarr9 Diane Abbott's letter was a ‘terrible, terrible mistake..and she knows it’.
— Zeynel Can Yuce (@Zeynelradio) April 24, 2023
Understands why people are angry, but hopes a ‘spirit of generosity’ will recognise Abbott’s decades of anti racism campaigning.
👇👇 pic.twitter.com/gem1mRv1uu
Updated
No 10 defends civil servants, and rejects Raab/Daily Mail suggestion bullying probe making UK 'ungovernable'
On Saturday the Daily Mail splashed with the headline: “Was this the day Britain became ungovernable?” It was a classic QTWTAIN, inspired by Dominic Raab’s claim, following his resignation last week, that if ministers were forced to resign, as he was, for challenging their officials in an abrasive and intimidatory manner (deemed bullying by Adam Tolley), then they would not be able to govern effectively.
Saturday’s Mail: “Was this the day Britain became ungovernable?” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/L0Mc0biQNX pic.twitter.com/TecpplRKDx
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 21, 2023
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked if Rishi Sunak thought Britain had become ungovernable, the spokesperson gave a commendably clear answer: “No.”
On Friday Raab also claimed that a small minority of civil servants were trying to stop the government implementing its agenda. Asked if Sunak agreed, the spokesperson said he had not asked Sunak about that claim specifically. But he went on:
In the vast majority of cases, ministers work extremely closely with civil servants to deliver on important policies, every single day, and that will continue.
Updated
Government will 'pull every lever possible' to help Britons still in Sudan, says No 10
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson said the government’s Cobra emergency committee would meet later to discuss the situation in Sudan.
The spokesperson also said the government would “pull every lever possible” to help Britons still in the country. He said:
We will pull every lever possible to help bring about a ceasefire and equally to support British nationals trapped by fighting …
Obviously the safety of remaining British nationals is our utmost priority. We recognise it’s going to be a worrying and distressing time for those who are trapped by the fighting, so that’s why we are urgently exploring all routes for British nationals to leave Sudan obviously should they wish to.
We’re working around the clock to escort those who are remaining and the embassy team will be working from a neighbouring country.
The advice, as updated this morning, continues to be to shelter in place, to register your information with the Foreign Office, and we will update as soon as there is more to say.
Updated
Commons standards watchdog investigating Scott Benton, MP suspended by Tories after lobbying sting
An MP who was filmed offering to lobby in exchange for money is facing a second investigation by parliament’s standards watchdog, PA Media reports. PA says:
Scott Benton had the Tory whip suspended earlier this month after an undercover Times expose allegedly showed him offering to lobby ministers on behalf of gambling investors.
The Commons standards watchdog’s website says Benton is under investigation for “actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the house as a whole, or of its members generally”.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, opened a first investigation two weeks ago into Benton’s use of his parliamentary email address.
Updated
When Keir Starmer criticised Diane Abbott for endorsing a “hierachy of racism” (see 12.43pm), he was quoting a term that has also been used in Labour circles by people who have alleged the party has taken antisemitism more seriously than other forms of racism (not less seriously, as Abbott was doing).
As Jeremy Corbyn was about to stand down as leader in 2020, an 860-page internal party report was leaked featuring private WhatsApp messages written by Labour officials. They included racist and sexist comments about party figures loyal to Corbyn, including Abbott, and the report was cited by lefwingers as evidence that those in the party complaining about antisemitism under Corbyn were willing to overlook other forms of racism.
Keir Starmer commissioned Martin Forde KC to investigate the leak, and the circumstances surrounding it, and in his own report, published last summer, Forde said in his inquiry had uncovered concerns that a hierarchy of racism had been operating. He said:
Other themes [highlighted by the inquiry] included concerns that the attention to the surge of cases relating to antisemitism and the importance they appeared to play in the interfactional conflict meant that the party was in effect operating a hierarchy of racism or of discrimination with other forms of racism and discrimination being ignored.
Labour says it has responded fully to the Forde report, and implemented many of its recommendations. But last month Forde gave an interview saying he felt the party still needed to do more on this issue.
Starmer condemns Diane Abbott's race comments, saying they were antisemitic and 'hierarchy of racism' never acceptable
Keir Starmer has said that Diane Abbott’s comments about race in a letter to the Observer at the weekend were antisemitic.
Speaking to reporters at St Giles’ Trust, in Camberwell, London, after a roundtable event about violence against women and girls, Starmer said:
In my view, what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic.
Diane Abbott has suffered a lot of racial abuse over many, many years … that doesn’t take away from the fact that I condemn the words she used and we must never accept the argument that there’s some sort of hierarchy of racism.
I will never accept that, the Labour party will never accept that, and that’s why we acted as swiftly as we did yesterday.
Asked if Abbott would be allowed to stand again as a Labour MP (which would only be possible if she has the whip restored), Starmer replied:
There’s an investigation in place, I’ve got to let that investigation be completed.
The tone of Starmer’s response implies Abbott is definitely not likely to get the whip restored soon, and it will heighten suspicions that the party might seek to stop her standing again for parliament.
UPDATE: See 1.18pm for more on Labour and the “hierarchy of racism”.
Updated
There will be an urgent question in the Commons on the register of ministers’ interests and the ministerial code. Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, has tabled it.
AFTER 1530:
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) April 24, 2023
1 UQ – @wendychambLD - To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Register of Ministerial Interests and the Ministerial Code
2 Statement - Situation in Sudan - Andrew Mitchell
Commons standards watchdog extends inquiry into Sunak to include claim counter-briefing defending PM broke rules
Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, has extended his investigation into Rishi Sunak. This is unusual, and at the very least is a further embarrassment to the PM.
Last week, when he announced the inquiry through a statement on his website, Greenberg said it was under paragraph 6 of the code of conduct for MPs, which says MPs must be “open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the house or its committees”. Sunak has been criticised for not declaring that his wife is part-owner of a childminder agency when, in the course of questions about budget policy benefitting these agencies, he was asked at the liaison committee if he had anything to declare.
Today, Greenberg says on his website that the investigation into Sunak has been extended, and that he is now also being investigated under paragraph 13 of the code, which says:
Members must not disclose details in relation to: (i) any investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards except when required by law to do so, or authorised by the commissioner; nor (ii) the proceedings of the committee on standards or the independent expert panel in relation to a complaint unless required by law to do so, or authorised by the committee or the panel respectively.
This may be a reference to briefing last week, on behalf of Sunak, saying he had done nothing wrong. For example, in her London Playbook briefing Rosa Prince quoted an offical making the case for Sunak. She said:
A government official suggested that Sunak had not been asked a specific question about Koru Kids, and could not be expected to be across every firm his wife invested in, given her wide range of financial interests. He told the committee he had made all the correct declarations because he had lodged his wife’s financial affairs with the Cabinet Office. And the fact that the register of interests has not been published in over a year is a result of the high turnover of ministers in recent months, and the fact there was no independent adviser until recently.
Alternatively, the commissioner may be taking the view that the publication of the list of ministers’ interests on Wednesday, which arguably answered the claim that Sunak had not declared the relevant interest, was somehow an interference with the process.
Updated
Illegal migration bill risks breaching refugee convention and ECHR, says human rights watchdog
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has esclated its criticism of the illegal migration bill. The final day of Commons debate on the bill, before it goes to the Lords, will take place on Wednesday, and ahead of that the EHRC has issued a briefing paper containing extensive criticism. It goes beyond the statement issued after the text of the bill was published last month.
The commission says:
Our key areas of concern in the bill are that it:
- Undermines the core principle of the universality of human rights;
- Removes protections for victims of trafficking and modern slavery;
- Risks breaching the refugee convention by restricting the right to asylum and penalising refugees;
-Risks breaching human rights protections under the ECHR [European convention on human rights] and the principle of non-refoulement [which says refugees should not be sent back to a country where they are at risk of persecution];
- Includes broad provisions for detention, including of children and pregnant women; and
- Insufficiently considers the impact for different groups with certain protected characteristics. This includes children, women (including pregnant women) and disabled people, as well as other groups who are particularly vulnerable, including torture survivors and people who have been trafficked.
The briefing paper covers the bill as originally drafted. On Wednesday the government will propose amendments to tighten up parts of the bill that organisations such as the Law Society and the Bar Council say will undermine the rule of law. (They are concerned that the “illegal migration bill” is increasingly looking like the illegal “migration bill”.)
Updated
Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, will make a statement to MPs on Sudan this afternoon, it has been announced.
Later today the Minister for Development and Africa @AndrewmitchMP will make a statement on the situation in Sudan. pic.twitter.com/7x1JjCeSVD
— Leader of the House of Commons (@CommonsLeader) April 24, 2023
Diane Abbott deserves to be forgiven, says prominent Labour Blairite
It is not clear yet how the Labour party will respond to Diane Abbott’s apology for her letter to the Observer playing down the significance of some forms of racism. She said Irish, Jewish and Traveller people did not experience racism in the way black people do, and she suggested prejudice against them was akin to prejudice against people with red hair.
Abbott has had the party whip suspended. Often in cases like this an apology can lead to the whip being restored at some point, but in egregious cases the suspension is permanent, and the MP cannot stand again as a party candidate at the next election.
With Abbott, it seems it could go either way.
This morning an unlikely figure has leapt to her defence. John McTernan was Tony Blair’s political secretary in No 10 and is about as staunch an opponent of the Corbynite left (Abbott’s faction) as anyone in the party. But, in an article for the Spectator, he describes her as “a giant figure in the modern Labour party” and “an inspiration to black and brown communities – especially women – across the country”.
McTernan says that Abbott’s response to her error contrasts with Dominic Raab’s refusal to apologise when the report into the bullying allegations against him came out last week. McTernan suggests it is worrying that Abbott’s apology is not being taken at face value, and he argues it should be. He says:
The truth is that the drumbeat behind the criticism has been one that is far too familiar for Abbott – it has been a white, male relief that at last they can say out loud what they always thought about her. We know from other female politicians the level of violent and misogynistic abuse they routinely receive. We know, or at least we should know, how much worse it is for black or brown women who receive all that and racist abuse too.
It is a harsh world where there is no understanding, just condemnation. If we want better behaviour and higher standards in public life, then we all need to start forgiving a lot more.
Updated
Joel Hills from ITV has more on Rishi Sunak’s exchanges with Gerry Murphy about Brexit, and the removal of the VAT refund for overseas tourists. (See 10.47am.)
27 mins into a Q&A session with businesses, chairman of Burberry pitches first question with an edge.
— Joel Hills (@ITVJoel) April 24, 2023
Gerry Murphy asks PM to reverse decision to remove VAT refunds for tourists which has made UK “least attractive shopping destination” in Europe. Describes Brexit as “own goal”… pic.twitter.com/I4tTD83rh1
… Murphy says 90% of Burberry’s clothing is exported.
— Joel Hills (@ITVJoel) April 24, 2023
“We trade in Paris and Munich, we can see the rate of recovery of those markets as well as the UK and the UK is by far the weakest recovery of all those major markets.”
Rishi Sunak replies that he’s “here to listen”.
Sunak says he wants to make it easier to do drug discovery in the UK. Because of the NHS, the UK has datasets not available elsewhere in the world.
The UK has the biggest life sciences sector in Europe, he says. He says the UK needs to maintain that advantage.
This is one of the most exciting opportunities ahead of us, he says.
And that’s it. His speech and Q&A is over.
The next question is about the CBI. Is Sunak worried that the allegations about rape at the CBI will deter women from getting involved in business.
Sunak does not refer to the CBI story directly, but says the government wants to encourage female entrepreneurs.
Sunak agrees to consider case for bringing back VAT refund for overseas shoppers
The next questioner, Gerry Murphy, chairman of Burberry, asks about Brexit, and urges Rishi Sunak to reconsider the decision to stop VAT-free shopping for overseas tourists.
He says this was a bad decision and that, for his business, it has cut sales. He says Brexit has produced “a significant friction effect on trade”, and it has imposed a “drag on growth”, he says. But he expresses hope that over time that might change.
This morning the Daily Mail has splashed on this issue, saying it is launching a campaign “to scrap the tourist tax”.
MAIL: Time to scrap the tourist tax #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/UoJRWSxyFB
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) April 23, 2023
In response, Sunak does not seek to defend the decision to remove this VAT rebate, which was one of the tax cuts in Liz Truss’s doomed mini-budget that was subsequently reversed.
Instead, Sunak stresses he is here to listen. He says he is happy to look at the figures Murphy cited. He says this is not the place to talk about tax policy, but he says the government is taking this engagement with business seriously.
He also admits that government does not get everything right. He says:
We don’t get everything right. Nobody does.
Updated
Sunak says he believes in backing small businesses. His mother ran a small business, a pharmacy, he says. The majority of employment happens in small and medium-sized businesses, he says.
Regulation is more problematic to small businesses, he says.
He says the government is changing procurement rules to favour small businesses. That is “another Brexit opportunity”, he says.
The government has streamlined the rules, making it easier for small firms to apply for government contracts. It has reduced the paperwork, he says.
(Obviously, for firms exporting to the EU, a reduction in paperwork is not the first thing they associate with Brexit.)
Q: What is the government doing to strengthen links with India?
Sunak jokes about taking more family holidays.
Kemi Badenoch is “hard at work” engaging with the Indian government on making progress on a trade deal, he says. And he says he spoke to the Indian PM himself about it recently.
But trade agreements are “not easy”, he says. He says he does not want to rush these things. It is more important to get them right, he says.
But the “centre of gravity” in the world is shifting. Being outside the EU means the UK can be more nimble, he claims. The CPTPP trade deal was an example of that, he says.
Updated
Q: What is your strategy for AI?
Sunak says AI has the potential to transform every aspect of life. He will be making an announcement later today about foundation models. There is a need for sovereign capability here, he says.
He wants the UK to be well placed to capitalise on the opportunities. But the government also needs to protect against the risks, he says.
Updated
Sunak is now talking about attracting talent to the UK. He says there is now a global talent visa available, and a high potential individual visa. The latter is remarkable, he claims. It means anyone who graduates from a global top 50 university can come to the UK and stay for two years.
Updated
Keith Anderson, the chief executive of Scottish Power, is asking a question now. He asks what government can do to grow the UK supply chain for energy.
Sunak says the UK should be proud of its energy sector. The UK has the first, second, third, and he thinks fourth, largest windfarms, he says.
He says the CFD (contract for differences) system that helped to develop offshore wind did not happen by accident. Government created it, he says. And he says it has been copied around the world.
Updated
Sunak is taking questions again.
Q: How can government and business work together to mobilise private capital?
Sunak says his background is in financial services. He is proud of it; it is one of the best in the world, if not the best. Financial and professional services employ two million people in the country. And most of those jobs are not in London, he says.
He says the Solvency II reforms, possible after Brexit, allowed more investment in the economy. That will be “tranformational”, he says.
Updated
Rishi Sunak is now giving a speech to a Business Connect event. As Sky’s Paul Kelso reports, it’s a beefed-up version of the “we’re on your side” message to business he delivered in his LinkedIn Q&A earlier.
Rishi Sunak with a boosterish - and arguably selective - message for business leaders: “optimism & confidence is returning… this is pretty much the most attractive place to invest anywhere in the world” pic.twitter.com/2f4yp9o7Lu
— Paul Kelso (@pkelso) April 24, 2023
Updated
Labour officials will decide on Diane Abbott’s future, says shadow minister
Diane Abbott’s local party and Labour officials will decide whether she can stand again at the next election, Pat McFadden, a shadow minister has said, after Abbott lost the Labour whip for her comments about racism. Peter Walker has the story here.
Government exploring 'every single option' to get British nationals out of Sudan, says minister
Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, told Sky News that the government was doing everything it could to get British nationals out of Sudan. He said:
We will do everything we can, and I mean everything, to get our British citizens out.
Our intention always has been to facilitate the exit of our own citizens as soon as it is safe to do so.
Mitchell could not say when that might happen, but said “every single option is being explored in detail”.
Asked why diplomats, but not citizens, were evacuated, he said that the government had “a specific duty of care, a legal duty of care” to its staff, and that there had been “a very specific threat to the diplomatic community” in Khartoum.
Updated
Sunak praises 'bravery' of soldiers involved in Sudan rescue as MP warns 4,000 more Britons could still be stuck there
In his Q&A with business leaders Rishi Sunak paid tribute to the role played by the armed forces in the evacuation of embassy staff from Sudan. Sunak said:
We saw a great example [of the value of the military] over the weekend with the incredible bravery of our armed forces in rescuing our diplomats from Sudan.
Sunak was echoing the Daily Express take on the evacuation.
EXPRESS:Daring SAS mission plucks Britons to safety #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/nueMeHECwn
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) April 23, 2023
But other interpretations are available. The Daily Telegraph, which is not a paper hostile to the government, is splashing on claims that British civilians in Sudan have been abandoned by the government.
TELEGRAPH: UK citizens ‘abandoned’ amid feeble response to Sudan crisis #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4Rg2AxpjPO
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) April 23, 2023
In its story the paper reports:
The Telegraph understands that there are concerns within the Cabinet about how the crisis has been handled after it emerged senior embassy officials were out of the country when the fighting started …
A defence source said: “No obvious lessons have been learned from Kabul. It’s embarrassing. Leadership matters.”
This morning Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told the Today programme that, if the government was not going to evacuate British nationals from Sudan, it should say so. She said:
We have a moral obligation to tell British nationals as soon as possible that is the judgment that has been made, because they then need to make their own decisions.
She also said it was unacceptable that British nationals had only received limited communication from the Foreign Office.
That would suggest no lessons have been learned from Afghanistan and I have urged the government to make sure they are communicating regularly with British nationals. The reality is that, unlike other countries, we have thousands [of nationals in Sudan] so perhaps sometimes phoning around is terribly difficult.
Asked how many Britons could be there, Kearns replied:
I suspect that we are well over a thousand who wish to be evacuated. But sometimes these are large families. I suspect we could be looking at 3,000, 4,000 plus.
Patrick Wintour has a full story about Kearns’ comments here.
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Rishi Sunak manage to get through his Q&A with business figures without saying anything particularly interesting or newsworthy. At one point there was a question about AI. As my colleague Aubrey Allegretti points out, his replies could have been drafted by ChatGPT.
If you asked Chat GPT to write Rishi Sunak’s answer to the question, that would probably have been it
— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) April 24, 2023
Q: How can we ensure students have a more rounded education, so we develop future business leaders?
Sunak says this is really important. Last week he was talking about getting pupils to study maths until they are 18, he says.
Sunak says they are out of time. But this is not the end of the government’s engagement with business, he says.
Q: What will you do to address the gender funding gap for start-ups?
Sunak says this is a really important area. He says Alison Rose did a review on this. Since then, the number of women starting small businesses has doubled, he says. He asks what else the government should do.
The questioner suggests ring-fencing capital for women starting firms, and more networking opportunities.
Sunak says he agrees about the power of mentors.
Q: What are you doing to promote apprenticeships?
Sunak says he wants to put apprenticeships on Ucas. Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has announced this, he says. That will help people realised what is available.
Q: How will the UK regulate AI to prevent scenarios where it becomes uncontrollable?
Sunak says AI has huge potential.
An AI white paper was published a few weeks ago. It set out the regulatory approach. It proposed an adaptive, principles-based approach, he says. There will be safeguards, he says.
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Q: Could the government do more with employers, or with veterans, to help veterans retrain and re-enter the jobs market?
Sunak says he wants Britain to be the best country in the world to be a veteran. He pays tribute to the role played by the armed forces in rescuing people from Sudan. And he says he has a veterans minister in cabinet.
He asks the questioner to email him with information about what he sees as the barriers for over-40s going back to work.
Sunak is now taking a question from a restaurant owner in Northern Ireland.
Q: What will you do to ensure we don’t have to wait for a resolution at Stormont before we can access the government help that is available? Businesses like mine could have to close.
Sunak says the Windsor framework should allow Northern Ireland to move forward.
He says non-domestic rates have been frozen.
But he wants the institutions back up and running, he says.
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Rishi Sunak’s speech is being streamed on LinkedIn.
Sunak started by saying the government was holding a series of events with business today, about how they can make the UK “the most pro-enterprise country in the world”.
He said he backed business as chancellor through the furlough scheme. Now he wants to promote growth, and ensure business has “access to the right skills and talent”, he said.
But he said his priority was to listen.
Then he started taking questions.
Q: How can government ensure business has the right skills in the workplace?
Sunak said this was probably what he talked to business about the most.
First, he said, government had to “keep pace with how the economy is changing”. People do not get jobs for life, he said. He cited T-levels as an example of how the government was addressing the need for people to retrain, and skills bootcamp.
Sunak asked the questioner to tell him what the government should be doing. The questioner mentioned AI.
Sunak said he agreed on the potential of AI. He said AI had been added to the category of jobs where skilled workers can get visas to work in the UK.
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Rishi Sunak to address business leaders in first public appearance since Dominic Raab's resignation
Good morning. The Conservative party used to be seen as the party of business, but over the past nine years, because of Brexit, Boris Johnson (who at times could not conceal his dislike for big business) and Liz Truss (who almost crashed the economy), that link has been tested to breaking point. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been wooing business assiduously.
This morning Sunak will seek to address this by launching Business Connect, which No 10 describes as “a new platform for businesses to engage with prime minister Rishi Sunak’s pro-growth, pro-enterprise government”. It is the first time we will have heard from him since he lost his deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, on Friday.
In a statement released before the event, Sunak said:
Since taking office, I’ve spoken to over 1,000 businesspeople – because they are the innovators and change-makers at the heart of our economy, supporting jobs, attracting investment and driving growth.
The UK can be proud of its business credentials. Through the creation of 162 tech unicorns, smarter regulation and world-leading universities – we’ve got the right ingredients to double down on growing the economy.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.30am: Rishi Sunak speaks at a Business Connect event on LinkedIn.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Morning: Keir Starmer does a visit in London, where he will speak to journalists.
After 3.30pm: James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, is expected to make a statement to MPs about Sudan.
Afternoon: Sunak meets Humza Yousaf, the new Scottish first minister, in London.
If you want to contact me, do try the new “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. (It is not available on the app yet.) 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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