“Rishi Sunak is preparing to mount a mini-reshuffle today and is considering significant changes to Whitehall departments as he refocuses the government on his priorities. The prime minister is expected to confirm Nadhim Zahawi’s successor as Conservative Party chairman after the former chairman was sacked over his tax affairs, setting in train a series of ministerial moves. He was also said last night to be considering changes to the structure of Whitehall. Sunak is said to be considering breaking up the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Energy would become a separate department while business and trade could be merged. He is also considering a separate department for culture and sport, and a new science and digital department has been mooted.” – The Times
More:
>Today: ToryDiary: Live Blog. Cabinet mini-reshuffle expected today.
“Downing Street has floated the prospect of quitting the European Convention on Human Rights to win over right-wing Tory MPs because it wants to finalise a deal on Northern Ireland, The Times has been told. No 10 has said that it would “rule nothing out” when asked if the prime minister would be willing to take Britain out of the convention as part of plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats. Hundreds arrived on Monday. Rishi Sunak is planning to unveil legislation later this month that will bar migrants who arrive illegally from claiming asylum, which critics warn will breach the UK’s obligations under the UN Refugee Convention and the European convention (ECHR).” – The Times
Comment:
“Health unions and the government remained deadlocked in their dispute over NHS workers’ demands for higher pay after ministers made clear they would not reopen the wage settlement in England for 2022-23. As up to 40,000 nurses and ambulance workers in England and Wales walked out on the biggest day of strike action in the health service’s history, health minister Maria Caulfield said “above-inflation pay rises” would fuel the problem of rising prices. Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is contending with the biggest wave of strikes in the public and private sectors in decades, with workers pushing for higher pay amid the cost of living crisis.” – FT
“Jeremy Hunt could have billions extra to play with in his Budget thanks to gas price falls — heaping pressure on him to cut tax this year. Tory MPs will urge the Chancellor to slash the burden because the scaled-back energy support package will cost 90 per cent less next year. A Resolution Foundation think-tank report said the Treasury would be in line for a “big windfall” with the outlook “a little less bleak”… Falling energy prices mean the estimated cost for the energy support package has fallen by around £11 billion for the next 12 months. But the drop will mean reduced tax receipts from energy producers and generators which could cost around £7 billion.” – The Sun
More:
>Today: Dr Gerard Lyons’ column: What can be done to get half a million people – and more – back into the labour market?
>Yesterday:
“Holidaymakers will still need to allow 10 weeks for new passports this summer despite a dramatic improvement in Passport Office performance, the Home Secretary has warned. Suella Braverman told MPs the 10-week deadline, introduced because of Covid, would have to remain because of continued “elevated” and “volatile” demand expected throughout the year. It comes despite 97.2 per cent of all applications last week being completed within three weeks, compared to 75 per cent last year, and 99.5 per cent of all UK applications being done within the 10-week deadline… Mrs Braverman admitted there had been serious concerns about the performance of the Passport Office last year, prompting an investigation by the home affairs committee.” – Daily Telegraph
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“Rishi Sunak has been accused of blocking any significant hike to Britain’s defence spending. The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee urged the PM to change course ahead of next month’s Budget. Tory Tobias Ellwood said: “The Treasury’s pitch is being rolled to suggest no major changes in the peacetime defence budget.” It comes amid concern in Whitehall that a promised review of Britain’s security threat level could now slip beyond March’s Budget. Last autumn the Government promised to update national threat levels and reflect that in the MoD’s budget. No10 insisted that remains the case and the Integrated Review would be published before March 15.” – The Sun
Comment:
“EU and UK negotiators have made a breakthrough in reducing checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as part of efforts to resolve the long-running dispute over the Northern Irish protocol. A senior EU official confirmed to the Guardian that an agreement on food and animal health checks was “close to being done” as part of a deal that would create red and green lanes at Northern Irish ports to differentiate between goods staying in the region and those moving south to the EU’s single market. Goods from Great Britain destined to stay in Northern Ireland would go through a green lane with lighter checks, although the precise nature of customs paperwork, and food and animal health checks remains unclear.” – The Guardian
“Europhile peers were accused yesterday of trying to thwart the spirit of Brexit by opposing a Bill to scrap swathes of EU-derived laws by the end of the year. Lord Frost, who was Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiator, said the legislation was crucial to extricate ‘ourselves properly and fully from the EU legal framework’. But anti-Brexit peers said the ‘reckless’ Bill would threaten workers’ rights and make Britain an ‘uncivilised’ place. Rishi Sunak has pledged to scrap, amend or retain all EU-derived laws by January 2024. As many as 4,000 pieces of legislation on the statute books are derived from Brussels. Opponents say they are concerned the laws will be scrapped without scrutiny because the Bill will let ministers bypass Parliament.” – Daily Mail
>Today: Anthony Browne MP’s column: Ten gains from Brexit
“Kemi Badenoch has been urged to call time on new laws which risk curbing pub chat. No10 insisted freedom of speech would be upheld in boozers and people will not be “silenced”. But campaigners and MPs warned legislation must be toughened up to stop claims from over-sensitive employees. As it stands, an update to equalities laws could mean employers may be held liable if staff hear something they dislike… Tory MP Danny Kruger said action was needed so “free speech is upheld and our much-loved pubs are not burdened by yet more red tape and curbs”. One minister added: “Has the world gone mad? This feels like Cromwellian times.”” – The Sun
“Liz Truss has admitted cutting the 45p tax rate was “perhaps a bridge too far” but said it was not fair to blame her mini-budget on rising mortgage rates. The former prime minister said she did not regret her time in No 10, and that she hoped to stay in the political arena making the case for low taxes and growth within the Conservative party. In an interview with the Spectator, Truss said she did not believe rising mortgage rates were the result of actions she took as prime minister. “I don’t think it’s fair to blame interest rises on what we did,” she said. “I think that’s unfair. On the UK factors, I believe there were other factors apart from the mini-budget.” Truss said she had decided to make a series of interventions because she did not see anyone high profile in the party making the same arguments.” – The Guardian
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Comment:
>Today: Rob Wilson in Comment: Truss is asking serious questions about the Bank, the Treasury, the OBR – and anti-growth groupthink
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Truss, tax cuts and the Tories. “The burnt fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the fire.”
“It’s easier to start afresh in life if you have learnt from your setbacks, rather than live in denial of what caused them. If you are a resigning party leader, your party can move on more easily if you leave without recrimination. And the electorate have more faith in democracy if leaders take responsibility for their failings. Accepting blame as a departing leader has the added merit of usually being a close fit with the truth. Politics is packed with difficult colleagues, obstructive opponents, unfortunate media coverage and a daily diet of being let down or betrayed, but it is futile to resent that. If you set out to conquer the jungle you cannot complain that the animals are aggressive.” – The Times
>Yesterday: Audio: The Moggcast: Brexit – and how Corbyn saved Britain from “a government of all the non-talents”