THE latest edition of The Worst of Westminster is out now covering the most rage-inducing stories of the week from the Houses of Parliament.
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Spying on SNP ministers
THE UK Government is planning to carry out further checks on SNP ministers’ trips abroad.
It will hold follow-up meetings with anyone who meets with Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson or others.
One such follow-up has already taken place, with Scotland Office minister John Lamont reportedly meeting with Spain’s EU minister after he had met with Robertson.
Robertson hit back at these claims, saying: “The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I had a constructive meeting in November last year.
“I made it clear that I would continue to represent Scottish Government positions internationally, including on the constitution.
“When asked, he could not provide examples of Scottish Government Ministers acting inappropriately or seeking to represent UK Government positions internationally.”
Robertson recently used a Commons select committee appearance to accuse the UK Government of “actively undermining Scottish interests overseas”.
Probe over GB News interview
OFCOM has launched an investigation into whether a GB News programme hosted by two Conservative MPs broke impartiality rules.
The show on March 11 hosted by Esther McVey and Philip Davies saw the pair interview Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. It received 39 complaints.
The media watchdog is now looking into the show to see if it broke impartiality rules. The rules say politicians are not allowed to be newsreaders, interviewers or reporters in news programmes “unless, exceptionally, it is editorially justified”.
However, they are able to host current affairs shows so long as a range of views are reflected.
SNP MP John Nicolson said this week Ofcom “is not up to the task” of protecting media freedom and impartiality in an exclusive column for The National.
Another ‘cruel’ asylum plan
The UK Government announced this week that the Bibby Stockholm barge docked off the Dorset coast will hold 500 asylum seekers for at least 18 months.
The plans – which the Home Office say will reduce the costly reliance on hotels – have been condemned as "ministerial cruelty" by Amnesty International, while the Refugee Council said the barge will be “completely inadequate” to house “vulnerable people who have come to our country in search of safety having fled beatings and death threats in countries such as Afghanistan and Iran”.
Tory-run Dorset Council also opposed the move, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the use of the barge, insisting it would save taxpayers’ money.
AOB
- UK Government minister Robert Jenrick has been disqualified from driving for six months after travelling at almost 30mph over a temporary speed limit. He was also fined £1639 at a court hearing on Tuesday after previously admitting to travelling at 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone between junctions 18 and 17 on the southbound M1 last August.
- The Tories have suspended MP Scott Benton pending an investigation into undercover footage of him offering to lobby ministers on behalf of gambling investors in exchange for money. He was stripped of the party whip after an undercover investigation for The Times found he was prepared to leak market sensitive information to a bogus investment fund and ask parliamentary questions on its behalf, in breach of parliamentary rules.
- Carol Vorderman rounded up a large number of Tory MPs and councillors who do not say which party they represent on their social media profile. The TV presenter asked her 738,000 followers to screenshot any Conservative politician who did not mention the party they represented on their social media. According to a post sent by Vorderman at 4pm on Monday, more than 70% of the party’s MPs did not say they were Conservative.
