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It may have seemed like a quieter week on the Westminster front given the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland dominating headlines.
But there’s definitely been a few notable stories to take you through.
Keir Starmer bars Jeremy Corbyn from standing for Labour
The big story of the week – which got slightly overshadowed by Sturgeon stepping down – concerned Labour infighting as Keir Starmer made a decision to block former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from standing for the party at the next General Election.
Left-wing veteran Corbyn – who sits as an independent after being suspended in 2020 in an antisemitism row – branded it a “flagrant attack” on democracy and said it should be up to local party members to choose their candidate, not Labour leaders.
But Starmer claimed Labour had changed and people who didn’t like it could leave. He received criticism from long-standing Corbyn ally Dianne Abbott and other MPs online on Thursday for the move.
Speaking in east London, Starmer said Labour was “unrecognisable from 2019 and it will never go back… if you don't like that, if you don't like the changes we have made, I say the door is open and you can leave."
Abbott said Starmer had once described Corbyn as a “friend and a colleague” when he won leadership of the party.
Corbyn is likely to be okay in his Islington North constituency however, where his most recent vote share was a whopping 64.4%. Despite the UK media painting him as the devil in disguise, he is a very popular constituency MP among the residents in the area.
Lee Anderson faces libel proceedings
We did predict last week more stories could hit the headlines regarding new deputy Tory chairman Lee Anderson. Earlier this week it emerged he is facing libel proceedings over “defamatory allegations of bribery against Michael Hollis” posted online.
The MP claimed in a Facebook post to 35,000 followers that brown envelopes of cash changed hands for a planning application by a now "outraged" Hollis.
Anderson was controversially made deputy chair of the Tory party last week despite becoming widely known as "30p Lee", as he tried to suggest meals could be cooked from scratch for this price.
London law firm Bindmans LLP is representing Hollis.
Holyrood committee has ‘deep concern’ over EU Law bill
We move on to the dreaded B word of Brexit and the subsequent Retained EU Law Bill. The bill passed in the Commons last month and now a Holyrood committee has said it has “deep and wide-ranging concerns” over its implications in a report.
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL) will see all remaining laws implemented while the UK was a member of the bloc removed at the end of the year if they are not already absorbed into the statute book.
Holyrood’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee said the bill could have an impact in areas under the power of the Scottish Parliament and claimed it should have the power to scrutinise changes to laws which are within devolved competence.
“Put your money where your mouth is”
A phrase we hear a lot from the SNP when it comes to the UK Government (granted!) and on this occasion it related to the party calling for immediate funding for the Acorn carbon capture project in North East Scotland following what they described as continual delays by Westminster.
The project, said to be critical to decarbonising Scotland’s industry, involves carbon capture and storage and hydrogen infrastructure projects proposed for the St Fergus gas terminal north of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said it was “snubbed” in 2021 in the Track 1 stage of funding for carbon capture sites in favour of sites in England. He said in a letter to the Prime Minister this was a “complete and utter betrayal of our energy sector” as he called for funding "without further delay".
AOB
And finally ... Rishi Sunak has been in Belfast and there is speculation a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol could soon be struck, with sources suggesting an agreement could be reached as early as next week. This is the deadlock none of Sunak's predecessors have successfully broken so it's potentially a huge moment for the Prime Minister. It's the very worst of Westminster which has led us on this ridiculous journey for so long in the first place, though.
