Good evening! Summer recess is almost upon us, but there's been plenty of news coming out of Westminster this week. Here's your Worst of Westminster!
Immigration bill ping-pong
There has been a never-ending tussle between the House of Commons and House of Lords over the UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill which looks set to rumble on.
The bill suffered a mammoth 20 defeats in the Lords last week, with one alteration spearheaded by stern critic Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But immigration minister Robert Jenrick has said ministers are not planning to make further compromises.
Tory ministers insist the bill is integral to efforts to tackle small boats crossings in the Channel but peers want further concessions on limits to the detention of children, modern slavery protections and the provision of safe and legal routes for refugees to the UK.
Jenrick told the BBC that critics of the bill had not put forward any “credible alternative”.
The bill – which includes plans to send migrants to Rwanda - is set to be debated again in the Commons on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the summer recess begins on Thursday.
The Rwanda plan was deemed unlawful by the Court of Appeal but the Government plans to challenge this call.
Truss stands by failed strategy
Despite only lasting a few weeks as prime minister after trashing the economy, Liz Truss is not backing down.
This week she appeared to suggest her mini-budget that sent mortgage rates through the roof may have paid off long-term, as her newly-convened taskforce warned that the UK risks lagging behind other nations in living standards unless it tackles stagnation.
She likened sluggish growth in recent years to a “boiling a frog situation” as she attended an event to launch the Growth Commission - a taskforce of economists aimed at improving growth in the UK.
Asked by reporters whether her own economic approach had been the right one, she said: “It’s a long game.”
The commission has suggested “consistent” growth levels of 3% can be achieved by 2040 but has not made policy recommendations for how this figure might be reached.
Peer slams ‘nationalist’ civil servants
Labour lord George Foulkes claimed this week that civil servants with “nationalist sympathies” are undermining the work of Tory ministers in the Scotland Office.
He said a “Conservative source” had told him the work of Alister Jack, Malcolm Offord, and John Lamont, the three Scotland Office ministers, was being undermined and insisted Simon Case, the head of the civil service, should step in.
It comes after confusion surrounded whether or not staff in the Scotland Office, working under Advocate General Keith Stewart KC, would be probing the Scottish Government’s spending in reserved areas.
Foulkes, and other Unionist politicians, have taken particular exception to Jamie Hepburn’s appointment as a Minister for Independence in the Scottish Government led by Humza Yousaf.
The Labour peer wrote on social media minutes before his claim about nationalist civil servants: "The spending on a so-called Minister for Independence and entourage is illegal and must be stopped.”
AOB
- The UK Government has agreed to give public sector staff a pay rise, but it’s not all sunshine and roses. Rishi Sunak’s decision not to borrow to fund the increase could leave departments forced to find an extra £3 billion from existing budgets. To fund the move, non-UK citizens will be charged more to access healthcare and visa fees will go up significantly for those hoping to work in, study in, or visit the UK.
- The drama continues around Tory MP Nadine Dorries who is now facing a probe into whether she broke the law over “forceful” messages sent to government officials about not being given a peerage. Appearing at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said he had “flagged” communications from the Boris Johnson loyalist to senior officials to both the Commons Speaker and the chief whip. Dorries has said she intends to quit as an MP, but not until she gets answers as to why she was removed from Johnson’s resignation honours list.
- And MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis hit back at the Government this week when he was said to have been behind action it has taken on mortgage support. He said he did “not appreciate being used in party-political spats”.
