“Rishi Sunak is prepared to take Britain out of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) after being warned that 65,000 illegal migrants are expected to come to the country this year. Official estimates suggest there will be almost a 50 per cent increase in illegal migration on last year, when 45,000 claimed asylum, many of them after crossing the Channel in small boats. Sunak and Suella Braverman…are finalising plans for the most draconian immigration legislation seen in this country. Officials say the plans, to be unveiled within weeks, will take Britain to the “boundaries” of international law. But senior figures say if judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rule that the new plans are unlawful, [he] is open to withdrawing…” – The Sunday Times
“Rishi Sunak is facing problems on multiple fronts as the row over his appointment of Dominic Raab as justice secretary deepens and his two predecessors as prime minister seek to tell him how to do his job…Downing Street did not deny media reports that a written complaint about the behaviour of Raab had reached the centre of government before Sunak appointed him to the Ministry of Justice in October last year. Number 10 insisted the prime minister was not told about any “formal complaints”, but declined to say whether Simon Case, cabinet secretary, made him aware of any written complaints…Some Conservative MPs believe Raab should step aside while an investigation…into allegations that the justice secretary bullied civil servants is under way.” – The Financial Times
“Rishi Sunak’s plan to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of this year risks triggering a full-scale trade war between the UK and Brussels, senior figures in the European Union have warned. Letters from leading EU politicians, seen by the Observer, reveal deep concern that the UK is about to lower standards in areas such as environmental protection and workers’ rights – breaching “level playing field” provisions that were at the heart of the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement (TCA). In retaliation, EU leaders in the European Commission, the European parliament and the council of ministers are preparing what they call their own “unilateral rebalancing measures” in secret meetings in Brussels.” – The Observer
“Rishi Sunak visited Ukrainian troops training in Britain before they go to the front line, No 10 revealed. The PM saw them last weekend in the North East and told President Zelensky about it in a call yesterday. Mr Sunak said he was “inspired by their courage and the stories of their loved ones back home.” And he told the Ukrainian leader that the troops paid tribute to Mr Zelensky’s “strong leadership”. The PM vowed to make sure British kit, including newly donated Challenger 2 tanks, get there as quickly as possible. Number 10 revealed Ukrainian soldiers had already begun training on them. Meanwhile, the bodies of two British aid workers killed in Ukraine have been recovered.” – The Sun on Sunday
“Conservative MPs have urged Rishi Sunak to fill the role of party chairman and get ‘battle ready’ as local elections loom. The post has been vacant since Nadhim Zahawi was sacked by the Prime Minister for breaking the ministerial code following a tax dispute. Several names have been mentioned in connection with the job, including former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Environment Minister Mark Spencer. There has been speculation that the role will be difficult to fill with Labour 20 points ahead in the opinion polls and bruising local election results expected in May. But Tory MPs emphasised how important it was to fill the position to get ‘battle-ready’… It came as reports suggest the Conservative Party is facing a £25 million shortfall ahead of the [election].” – The Mail on Sunday
“Liz Truss is breaking her silence as she blames a “powerful economic establishment” and her own Conservative Party for her downfall. The former prime minister says that she stands by her radical policy agenda but “the forces against it were too great” for it to succeed. In an exclusive 4,000-word essay for The Telegraph, she admits that she is not “blameless” for the premature end to her time in Downing Street, but believes was “not given a realistic chance” of seeing her policies through. She criticises Whitehall’s “strength of economic orthodoxy and its influence on the market”, and condemns Treasury officials for blindsiding her over the collapse of the pension market which preceded her resignation.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“The business secretary has told the energy market regulator to toughen up on suppliers in the wake of the prepayment meter scandal. Grant Shapps accused Ofgem of “having the wool pulled over their eyes” by taking at face value what the energy company bosses were telling them and not listening to customers. He said he was giving the companies a deadline of Tuesday to report back on what action they would be taking – including compensation – with regard to customers who may have had prepayment meters wrongfully installed in their homes. It follows an investigation by the Times that revealed how vulnerable customers – including disabled and mentally ill people – were being forced by British Gas on to the pay-as-you-go meters, or have their gas switched off.” – The Observer
“The Government’s proposed ban on importing fur and foie gras is to be shelved, as the Environment Secretary says she wants to be the “voice of the countryside”…Therese Coffey told The Telegraph that animal welfare is important – but said: “We need to think through priorities.” She said the Government stands by its animal welfare action plan, but pointed out “there’s only so [much] time” ministers have to push through legislation. Her remarks will be seen as the nail in the coffin for plans that were drawn up under Boris Johnson’s premiership to ban a range of practices that were deemed harmful to animals. Critics claimed that Mr Johnson’s animal welfare agenda was influenced by his wife Carrie, a passionate environmentalist.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Health Secretary Steve Barclay made an 11th-hour appeal to union bosses last night to ‘call off the strikes’. Thousands of ambulance workers and nurses will take to picket lines across England tomorrow. Nurses will walk out again on Tuesday in what will be the most strike-disrupted week of the winter so far for the Health Service.. Mr Barclay said he had been having ‘constructive talks with unions about what is affordable’ in terms of pay for the next financial year, adding: ‘I urge them to call off the strikes and come back to the table.’ Seven of England’s ten regional ambulance services will be hit by strikes tomorrow. Mr Barclay said NHS contingency plans are in place but the strikes will ‘undoubtedly have an impact on patients’.” – The Mail on Sunday
>Today:
“The 1922 Committee will consider a rule change to allow a no confidence vote in Rishi Sunak if the party suffers a major blow in the local elections, The Telegraph understands. There is growing frustration on the Tory back benches about Labour’s lead in opinion polls, as well as the Government’s failure to crack down on Channel crossings. Conservative MPs are refraining from launching overt attacks on the Prime Minister ahead of the May elections, so as not to undermine campaigning efforts of their local councillors and activists. But several backbenchers have told this newspaper that if the party does badly…they will be ready to go public with their criticism. Some have even predicted that a severe defeat…will lead to calls for a return of Boris Johnson.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Eurosceptic Tories and Democratic Unionists are to force a parliamentary debate on controversial plans for new border control posts at Northern Ireland’s ports. The move will send alarm bells ringing in Number 10 because it is the first time that the groups have taken concrete action to challenge post-Brexit policy, at a time when the UK is involved in delicate talks with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Last month, the Government introduced legislation in the form of a statutory instrument that would let it build border control posts for agrifood checks at Northern Irish ports. Ministers said that the infrastructure is required irrespective of whether a deal is done with the EU because checks would need to be carried out on goods destined for the Republic of Ireland…” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Lord Andrew Tyrie, the Tory peer charged with cleaning up the banking industry after the financial crash, has claimed that regulatory failures have left time-poor middle class Britons as “the new vulnerable”. Tyrie accused regulators of failing across the board, creating a “crisis in capitalism” where consumers felt they were regularly being ripped off and not properly protected. The former chair of the Competition and Markets Authority…told the Financial Times: “We have widespread public dissatisfaction with capitalism. People feel alienated, they feel they live in a rip-off economy and it’s run for others, not them. These attitudes run deep into the middle classes, who are the new vulnerable.”” – The Financial Times
“The only way for the government to remain solvent is to bring its pension obligations into line with how we live now. I am not talking only of the basic state pension. Public sector pensions, too, will need to reflect reality. On current projections, our main state agencies – in healthcare, education, policing, local government – may cease to be service providers and become pension providers. Their budgets will be swallowed up by obligations to long-retired workers… But few people want to depend on the state in retirement. A wiser approach is to encourage private provision, giving people control over their pension pots. This can be done either through incentivised savings or through mandatory contributions into competing pension schemes.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“A billionaire who serves as Rishi Sunak’s general election fundraiser has agreed to a multimillion-pound tax settlement after his company was investigated by HMRC. Mohamed Mansour is an Egyptian businessman who served in the cabinet of the country’s long-time military dictator Hosni Mubarak before moving to the UK, acquiring a British passport and becoming a major donor to the Conservatives. In December, the prime minister appointed him senior treasurer of the party, giving him a key fundraising role. Mansour, who lives in a £28 million Mayfair townhouse, has donated £600,000 to the Tories through his company to date. Mansour, 75, derives his wealth from Unatrac, a conglomerate founded by his father…” – The Sunday Times
“Labour remains in special measures over anti-Semitism despite its two-year action plan coming to an end, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. The party was forced to come up with an action plan or face legal action after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) uncovered “serious failings” under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. The action plan’s two-year monitoring period ended in December 2022 and the equalities watchdog is preparing to make a statement to mark its end. But the EHRC is not yet expected to lift the party out of special measures, suggesting it believes there remain some unresolved issues. Labour joined the British National Party (BNP) in becoming only the second political party ever to be investigated by the UK’s human rights watchdog…” – The Sunday Telegraph
“I have always been struck by how many insiders talk about governing as a struggle, a battle, a war of wills between ministers and machine. They lament the structural dysfunction of Downing Street, or the way departments’ central imperative is not to deliver at pace but to protect (and ideally expand) their budgets in the endless war against the Treasury. Boris Johnson famously claimed parts of government were so sluggish in response to the pandemic that “sometimes it seemed like that recurring bad dream when you are telling your feet to run and your feet won’t move”… As one of the few Labour MPs to have run a large public sector bureaucracy, Starmer will be perfectly aware of this.” – The Sunday Times
“A double rapist would have been able to become legally female under Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reforms despite the First Minister admitting the predator is “almost certainly” faking being trans, a leading lawyer has said. Ms Sturgeon this week refused three times to say whether she believed Isla Bryson – previously known as Adam Graham – was male or female, but conceded that the 31-year-old was likely to be pretending to identify as female. Jonathan Brown, a Scottish advocate, said Ms Sturgeon’s shift undermined her push to allow Scots to change their legal gender without providing evidence and her dismissal of fears that predatory men would abuse the system to access women’s spaces.” – The Sunday Telegraph