“Prime minister Rishi Sunak will introduce new laws this week barring anyone arriving in the UK by small boats across the English Channel from claiming asylum. The government is expected to put forward a bill on Tuesday that will also place a legal onus on the home secretary to remove anyone using irregular routes into the UK “as soon as practicable” to a safe third country. Whitehall officials have indicated in recent weeks that the new legislation will bring the UK to “the boundaries” of what is permissible under international law and Sunak has hinted that he is willing to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights…Sunak is meeting French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday for talks aimed partly at improving co-operation…” – The Financial Times
“The government is to invest £250 million in artificial intelligence and other “transformational technologies” as part of an effort to safeguard Britain’s standing as a scientific leader. Rishi Sunak will argue that advances in AI are already fuelling a transformation of society “as important as the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century”. The prime minister believes if Britain is not at the forefront of this global shift it “will fall behind as other countries see an explosion in productivity, jobs and improved quality of life”. The funding, expected to be announced on Tuesday, will assist research on quantum computers, which have the potential to be many times more powerful than those used at present.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a significant boost in defence spending on a visit to the US next weekend. It has been reported that the Prime Minister will announce a multi-billion pound spending increase during the visit, which comes just days before Jeremy Hunt’s Budget on March 15. Government sources did not deny the claims, first reported by The Sunday Times. During the two-day visit, Mr Sunak will hold talks with Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese, the US president and Australian prime minister respectively, to discuss the three countries’ Aukus nuclear submarine pact. Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, has been pushing for an increase of between £8 billion and £10 billion to fulfil spending commitments…” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
“Jeremy Hunt will find himself with an extra £30 billion to ease the cost of living crisis and resolve labour shortages, new research suggests. The Resolution Foundation think tank said the chancellor would benefit from borrowing being about £30 billion lower than anticipated this year due to tax receipts recovering and a lower bill than expected for energy support. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicted in November that the borrowing bill to support household energy bills would be £177 billion. But the figure is now predicted to be lower. Hunt has suggested he will spend about £3 billion to extend the £2,500 level of the Energy Price Guarantee. He is also under pressure to improve the supply of workers and resolve public sector pay disputes.” – The Times
>Today:
“Drivers will not accept being “cash cows”, the Chancellor is warned as he mulls a fuel duty hike. Two dozen Tory MPs have written to Jeremy Hunt to demand the levy is either reduced or remains frozen. Ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel, leading the group, said such a move would “provide an enormous relief and much-needed certainty” during a cost of living squeeze. The letter says: “Given the impact fuel costs have on prices more widely, a freeze or reduction will help the Government meet its priorities to halve inflation and grow the economy.” The group claimed the fuel duty freeze introduced in 2011 has been one of the Government’s most successful policies… Drivers face paying £3billion extra when they fill up if Mr Hunt reverses a 5p fuel duty cut brought in by Rishi Sunak…” – The Sun
“The Home Secretary will launch a crackdown on police needlessly recording non-crime hate incidents in the wake of a row over the handling of the Quran at a West Yorkshire school. Last year, the College of Policing, the police professional standards body, changed its guidance to stop officers recording incidents that do not amount to a crime. Despite this, officers said an incident in which the Muslim holy book was damaged was a non-crime hate incident. Suella Braverman’s intervention comes after the 14-year-old schoolboy, who is reportedly autistic, received death threats after a copy of the Quran was damaged. The book was dropped and sustained minor damage, with police called to investigate the incident and said no crime had been committed.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Social media bosses will face up to a year in jail if they refuse to provide bereaved parents with data to explain why their children died, under new laws being considered by Michelle Donelan, the Technology Secretary. Ms Donelan, who is responsible for the Online Safety Bill, is understood to back the proposals which aim to prevent a repeat of the trauma suffered by the parents of Molly Russell who were denied access to her social media accounts for nearly five years after she took her life. On Monday, the lawyer who supported the family in their battle to get access to their data will lend her weight to the campaign for tougher laws to aid bereaved parents… The proposed new laws have been laid in Parliament as amendments to the Online Safety Bill…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, is facing calls…to resign after appearing to criticise Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak in leaked WhatsApp messages. In the messages Case…told Matt Hancock, the [then health secretary], that the public needed to be told to isolate by “trusted local figures, not nationally distrusted figures like the PM”. In other messages, Case described Sunak’s opposition to Covid restrictions on businesses as “bonkers” and said it was “hilarious” that holidaymakers were going into…quarantine…A cabinet minister said: “Case is looking more and more ridiculous, I think he has to go. Rishi needs to clear him out. It’s the level of indiscretion in these messages.” Last night Downing Street said the prime minister retained confidence in Case.” – The Times
“Sue Gray quit the civil service to become Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff after being blocked from one of the most senior roles in Whitehall by Simon Case…Gray, the author of the official inquiry into the Downing Street parties scandal, provoked fury from Tory MPs and ministers last week when it emerged that she was quitting the civil service for Labour. Allies of Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, claimed that her departure had undermined an investigation by the privileges committee into claims he misled parliament over the Downing Street parties scandal. His supporters are expected to table urgent questions today about Gray’s departure. Chris Heaton-Harris…said yesterday that Gray should disclose all messages she exchanged with Starmer before accepting the role.” – The Times
>Yesterday:
“Matt Hancock rejected advice from England’s Chief Medical Officer to replace the 14-day Covid quarantine with five days of testing because it would “imply we’ve been getting it wrong”. Mr Hancock was told by Prof Sir Chris Whitty in Nov 2020 it would be “pretty well as good” for contacts of positive Covid cases to test for five days “in lieu” of a fortnight’s isolation. WhatsApp messages between the two men have also revealed that the 14-day quarantine period had likely been “too long all along”. By then, nearly a million people in England who had come into contact with an infected person had been told to self-isolate for a full fortnight, even if they had no symptoms… The Telegraph has revealed that Mr Hancock wanted to “deploy” a new variant to ensure public compliance…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Tory women in a bellwether seat have complained to Conservative headquarters about the treatment of their MP. Theo Clarke, MP for Stafford, was deselected by her local association last month after what a source described as a “campaign of misogyny”, Clarke having only returned from maternity leave a week beforehand. But Duncan Sandbrook, chairman of the Stafford Conservatives, has dismissed the claim, and said the decision was because of “widespread and longstanding dissatisfaction” with Clarke…The Times understands that at least five complaints have been sent to Tory headquarters over Clarke’s treatment, and that Sandbrook has been reprimanded for including details of the selection meeting in his newsletter.” – The Times
“Boris Johnson could be blocked from making a “chicken run” to a safer constituency to fight the next election because of rules imposed by Conservative high command, The Telegraph understands. The former prime minister has insisted he will defend his current seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in Greater London. However, with Mr Johnson facing a tough fight to retain the seat, there has been speculation that he may seek to engineer a move to a more winnable constituency. This has only been intensified by reports of Mr Johnson house-hunting in Oxfordshire close to his former seat of Henley, where the current MP, John Howell, has not yet confirmed whether he will stand again at the next election.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Kate Forbes has launched an attack on her main rival’s running of the NHS, suggesting he had been unwilling to take difficult decisions that would ensure the survival of the health service. The Finance Secretary, standing to become SNP leader, claimed on Sunday that the party needed to “get serious” about delivering fundamental reforms, and suggested that even though solutions might be unpopular with the public, they were needed to safeguard the NHS’s future. Humza Yousaf is seen as the “continuity candidate” in the leadership contest, vowing to build on and protect Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy, while both Ms Forbes and Ash Regan have been more critical of the SNP’s recent record in government.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: