“Rishi Sunak refused to say how many migrants he hopes will be removed to Rwanda next year as he watered down a pledge to clear the asylum backlog. He acknowledged that the number of migrants to be relocated to Kigali would depend on what commercial contracts the Rwandan government could secure for accommodation. The numbers would also depend on legal challenges to the policy, the prime minister told the Commons liaison committee yesterday. He said that he was not aware of an internal estimate for how many migrants were expected to cross the Channel in small boats next year. This time last year, the Home Office said 60,000 migrants would cross the Channel this year — about 15,000 more than the total so far.” – The Times
>Yesterday:
“Rishi Sunak has said he is “increasingly concerned” about Iran’s behaviour and suggested it could become one of the UK’s biggest foreign policy threats in the coming months. He cited Iran’s nuclear programme and their “destabilising” impact on the region, as well as the treatment of their own citizens. The Prime Minister made the remarks during his first appearance before the liaison committee, which is made up of select committee chairs. He told MPs: “Whilst Russia and Ukraine remain our number one foreign policy challenge as we go into the new year, I am increasingly concerned about Iran’s behaviour, the treatment of their citizens, what they’re doing in the region which is destabilising, and indeed the nuclear programme…”” – The Daily Telegraph
“Rishi Sunak today refused to rule out a massive hike in fuel duty in the spring. In comments that will alarm businesses and commuters across the country he would not rule out a 12p tax increase as he faced MPs. A 23 per cent increase in the duty is pencilled in for March, but chancellors have previously repeatedly frozen the levy. However Mr Sunak today said it was up to Chancellor Mr Hunt to make tax announcements in ‘fiscal statements’. However the next one is the Budget, due to take place on March 15, meaning millions of families and businesses will have their ability to plan potentially truncated. On the last day of the Parliamentary term Mr Sunak today faced the Liaison Committee, a Commons supergroup of senior backbench MPs.” – The Daily Mail
“Defiant Rishi Sunak is refusing to give in to nurses’ pay demands — as their union threatens to announce more strike dates. The PM batted away calls for a bumper salary rise as the Royal College of Nursing urged him to personally resolve the dispute in the coming days. But Mr Sunak addressed the striking NHS workers directly during a 90-minute grilling from senior MPs amid his long-term fears over spiralling prices. He told the Commons’ Liaison Committee: “I’ve acknowledged it’s difficult for everybody, because inflation is where it is. “The best way to help them and help everyone else in the country is for us to get a grip and reduce inflation as quickly as possible. “And we need to make sure that the decisions that we make can bring about that outcome.” – The Sun
“Ambulance unions have made a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients by going ahead with strikes, the Health Secretary has said as the public is urged to avoid needless car journeys or getting drunk. Around 25,000 paramedics and ambulance crews are due to take part in the first national strikes for more than 30 years on Wednesday, with 10 of 11 trusts in England and Wales affected. On Tuesday night, health leaders warned that Britain was entering “a very dangerous time” and said they “cannot guarantee patient safety” during the walkouts. Ministers have urged the public not to embark on any “risky activity”, suggesting that needless car journeys, along with contact sport, should be avoided.” – The Daily Telegraph
“UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been accused of leaving businesses facing “an anxious and uncertain” Christmas after breaking a promise to set out a new energy support package before the end of the year. Hunt has concluded he needs more time to…design of the new scheme, which will involve a big cut in overall taxpayer support for business. It is also awaiting approval from…Rishi Sunak. The chancellor had said he would give details of the scheme, to run from April next year, by December 31, but on Tuesday he told MPs: “We will bring forward an appropriate package early in the new year.” In September, the then prime minister Liz Truss announced a scheme costing £18bn to subsidise a price cap on companies’ electricity and gas bills…” – The Financial Times
“Business and energy secretary Grant Shapps has said that energy companies ‘aren’t set up’ to provide the financial support to people with prepayment meters that the Government has promised. Mr Shapps said that providers are sending out vouchers to people in different ways, and accused some of not picking up the phone when customers called. ‘What concerns me is that gap between vouchers being sent out and people finding the voucher,’ he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain. ‘There isn’t one way that this is done because the energy providers are sending them out in different ways, sometimes by text, sometimes by email, sometimes through the door. ‘Homes across Great Britain have been promised £400 in payments this winter to help them with energy bills.” – The Daily Mail
“British fishermen will be able to land 30,000 more tonnes next year than would have been possible before Brexit, ministers declared yesterday. The government announced a new quota deal with the EU that will take the total potential catches for UK trawlers up to £750 million. Senior Tories said the agreement illustrated the advantages of Britain’s return to being an independent coastal state. The agreement with Brussels allows British boats to catch 140,000 tonnes of fish worth £280 million next year… Mark Spencer, the fisheries minister, told the Commons yesterday: “We are 30,000 tonnes better off now that we are outside the EU. We have the freedom to negotiate on our own terms.” … However, some conservationists said that the agreement allowed overfishing…” – The Times
>Today:
“A new grassroots Tory group pushing for more democracy in the party is “a budget front organisation” for the campaign to bring back Boris Johnson, some Conservative MPs fear. The Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) argues that the party’s constitution must be overhauled to give members more say in how it is run. Its leaders have accused Rishi Sunak of orchestrating his own coronation after being rejected by members – but deny the claims that they are aiming to restore Mr Johnson to No 10. One minister told i the CDO “looks like a budget front organisation for Bring Back Boris”, while another MP said colleagues who engaged with the group were “insane”.” – The I
“A Conservative MP has lost his appeal against a five-day Commons ban for breaching Commons lobbying rules and was told that the sanction “could properly and fairly have been more severe”. In November, the standards committee recommended that Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, be suspended from the Commons after finding that he displayed a “cavalier” attitude to the rules in a series of lobbying breaches. It was found that he had breached rules on registration, declaration and paid lobbying “on multiple occasions and in multiple ways”. The recommendation followed a report in The Times in January revealing that Bridgen had lobbied Andrew Stephenson, then minister for Africa in the Foreign Office…” – The Times
“Scotland Yard is now investigating an allegation of racial abuse after Tory MP Bob Stewart told an activist to ‘go back to Bahrain’ during an angry confrontation. The Metropolitan Police said officers have opened a case after the complaint from Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who says he is living in exile after being tortured in the Gulf state. But the MP for Beckhenham, in London, apologised and denied his comments were racist…Video footage shows Mr Stewart telling Mr Alwadaei that he is ‘taking money off my country’ as he challenged the MP on his ties to the gulf state. Mr Stewart told him: ‘Get stuffed. Bahrain is a great place, end of. Go away, I hate you. You make a lot of fuss, go back to Bahrain.’” – The Daily Mail
“Teenagers as young as 15 will be able to begin the process of legally changing their sex after MSPs blocked a last-ditch bid to exclude children from Nicola Sturgeon’s transgender reforms. The SNP government on Tuesday rejected pleas to make meaningful concessions to critics of its controversial proposals, as a minister confirmed that Scots would become eligible to apply to change their legal sex on the day of their 16th birthday. Shona Robison… confirmed time spent living in an “acquired gender” as a 15-year-old would count towards a six-month minimum time period required by the legislation. A bid by Jackie Baillie, the Scottish Labour deputy leader, to close the loophole was opposed by the Scottish government.” – The Daily Telegraph