“The cabinet secretary was personally informed of a written complaint against Dominic Raab months before Rishi Sunak reappointed him as justice secretary, The Times has been told. Simon Case was warned that officials had made documented allegations about the behaviour of the deputy prime minister that were being taken seriously by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). An inquiry into Raab’s behaviour has been told that the deputy prime minister had to be spoken to about his behaviour towards officials last spring, when Boris Johnson was prime minister, and that Britain’s top civil servant was made aware. In addition, The Times understands that dozens of civil servants have submitted written statements in support of Raab’s accusers…” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak declared “biological sex really matters” as he blasted the unfairness of transgender athletes competing in women’s sport. After Nicola Sturgeon and Keir Starmer both tied themselves in knots over the definition of a woman, the PM insisted “of course, I know what a woman is, an adult human female.” Speaking to Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Mr Sunak hit out at the trans debate saying “it doesn’t strike most people as being fair.” He added: “Whether it’s sex, whether it’s women’s spaces, whether it’s prisons, biological sex really matters. And actually we saw that recently with what’s going on in Scotland.”… Probed on UK support for Ukraine, Mr Sunak did not rule out sending British jets.” – The Sun
“Rishi Sunak has said that he would like to give nurses a “massive” pay rise and that they should be treated as “an exception”, but warned that the NHS cannot afford it. Nurses will go on strike again on Monday and Tuesday after ministers and the Royal College of Nursing failed to reach a compromise on pay. In an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV the prime minister said he would like to give nurses a significant pay rise and agreed that they should be given priority…He added: “I would love to give nurses a massive pay rise. Who wouldn’t? Certainly that would make my life easier wouldn’t it?” However, he said the government needed to spend money elsewhere on the NHS.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak has said new laws will mean people arriving in the UK without valid documents will be deported “within days”, with asylum claims rejected and migrants returned. The prime minister also said he was committed to the Rwanda deportation policy, despite legal challenges, replying “yes” when asked if it would ever go ahead. In an interview to mark 100 days as prime minister, he said asylum claims would be heard in “days or weeks, not months or years”. The UK has a significant asylum backlog, with more than 140,000 people awaiting an initial decision. The Home Office is trying to double its number of asylum case workers and treble the rate at which they finish cases.” – The Guardian
>Today:
“Bank officials cast doubt over the Government’s ability to drive hundreds of thousands of people back to work, highlighting evidence of “increasing detachment” among people who had left their jobs or given up looking for work since 2020. Increasing numbers of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age meant the number of Britons in the workforce was already “trending down”, the Bank said. Many early retirees were now also “unlikely to return” to the jobs market soon because they do not want to work. Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is under pressure to do more to provide incentives to work in the forthcoming Budget, with Britons currently facing the highest tax burden in 70 years.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Jeremy Hunt doubled down on no tax cuts this year despite the Bank of England’s less gloomy predictions on the state of the economy. Even though the Old Lady suggested the worst of the doldrums were over, the Chancellor insisted there would be no U-turn on giveaways at next month’s Budget. Mr Hunt said he would be “resisting the urge right now to fund additional spending or tax cuts through borrowing”… Iain Duncan Smith told The Sun: “My question is was the Bank over-pessimistic earlier? The backdrop to this was a lot of international interference in the UK’s economic situation. The axis of orthodoxy that exists around the world has been co-ordinated…” The Bank of England said yesterday tax rises and spending cuts would put a handbrake on growth…” – The Sun
“James Cleverly has rejected suggestions Britain needs to do more to confront its colonial past, pointing out that he is “the black foreign secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain”. He was responding to questions after a speech by the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, while on a visit to London this week in which she said Britain needed to reflect on its past. Wong and the Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, had been meeting with Cleverly and the British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, in Portsmouth for an annual ministerial get-together in which the chief topic of conversation was the future structure of the Aukus plan to build a nuclear submarine.” – The Guardian
>Today:
“The UK government has said it is working to accelerate the process of publishing ministers’ financial interests, as it seeks to allay criticism following a series of ethics-related rows. Oliver Dowden, minister in charge of the Cabinet Office, announced the step on Thursday, telling MPs he wanted to align “declarations of ministerial interests . . . more closely with” those of other MPs. The move comes amid mounting accusations of a culture of sleaze at the top of government, following a series of controversies relating to ministers’ conduct. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — who pledged “integrity and accountability” upon entering Downing Street…— last week sacked Nadhim Zahawi as chair of the Conservative party over seven breaches of the ministerial code…” – The Financial Times
“Military spending may need to rise for twenty years as the UK faces a more dangerous world, the Defence Secretary said today. Cabinet Minister Ben Wallace revealed a “growing proportion” of cash will be needed in an effort to keep the nation safe. He is currently locked in talks with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to agree a settlement for short-term inflationary pressures ahead of the Budget in mid-March – but pointed to the long-term concerns. Mr Wallace said: “There’s a recognition that as the world gets more dangerous, unstable, defence should continue to get a growing proportion of spend, we can then debate how much that proportion should be…” His warning comes after he condemned the “hollowed out” military in recent decades under governments of all parties.” – The Sun
“The UK will conduct an independent inquiry into the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland that killed 29 people in 1998 to try to establish whether it could have been prevented. Chris Heaton-Harris, Northern Ireland secretary, told the House of Commons on Thursday that the investigation would examine points raised by a Belfast High Court judgment in July 2021. That ruling found there was a “real prospect” that the bombing, the worst attack in the three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles, could have been thwarted. “The inquiry will focus specifically on the full grounds for giving rise to plausible arguments that the bombing could have been prevented,” Heaton-Harris said. It will be headed by a former judge and…take around two years. – The Financial Times
“Tucker Carlson has branded Boris Johnson “a coward” after [he] ducked locking horns with the conservative TV host. Carlson, 53, claimed he invited Johnson, 58, onto his…show to discuss his stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The invitation came after Johnson took aim at Carlson during his Atlantic Council appearance for “frightening” Republicans over supporting Kyiv. Johnson claimed he was “amazed and horrified” that GOP officials could be “somehow intimated by his perspective”. The…host also claimed: “We had just invited Johnson on this show hours before he said that. “It was remarkable and remarkably dishonest. We knew that Johnson himself was a coward…” …But Johnson also slammed fellow Brexiteer Nigel Farage during his media round.” – Daily Express
>Today:
“Whitehall did a “c–p job” negotiating Brexit as it was biased towards the EU, says David Davis. The former Brexit secretary said the Civil Service “sympathised with the European view” as Theresa May’s government found itself in a stalemate over the terms of leaving Brussels. Mr Davis, who resigned from Mrs May’s Cabinet in July 2018 as he did not “believe” in her Chequers plan for leaving the EU, said bureaucrats should take some of the blame for the deadlock. “Whitehall did a really c–p job of negotiation – I mean, really c–p,” said Mr Davis in an interview with the Institute for Government…Mr Davis also revealed that Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, found himself “caught short” when asked to speak during crisis talks at Chequers…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Shadow climate chief Ed Miliband today demanded Britain ditch fossil fuels, then admitted we’ll need them for years. He U-turned after first saying Labour would use only green renewables by 2030. Mr Miliband slapped down calls for new oil and gas licences, saying they would take too long to deliver results. It comes as oil giant Shell recorded the highest profits in their entire 115-year history, a staggering £32billion – prompting calls for even bigger windfall taxes. Mr Miliband insisted that more drilling in the North Sea would be “wrong” despite soaring prices around the world. He says Labour would use only green renewables by 2030 to create electricity – despite 42 per cent of it currently coming from gas-fired power stations.” – The Sun
“Nicola Sturgeon is facing a mounting political crisis after she undermined her own gender laws by refusing three times to say whether she believes a trans double rapist is a woman. The First Minister is facing growing anger from within her own ranks over her handling of the case of Isla Bryson, previously known as Adam Graham, who was initially transferred to a women’s prison after being found guilty of two rapes committed before they claimed to identify as female. Under Scots law, only those with male genitalia can commit rape but at Holyrood on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon claimed she “does not have enough information” to say whether she agreed with her Justice Secretary that Bryson should be considered female.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
>Yesterday: