“UK inflation remained in double digits in March with annual price rises of 10.1 per cent, raising the chances of further interest rate rises from the Bank of England. Consumer price inflation had been 10.4 per cent in February and was expected to drop to 9.8 per cent last month. Although petrol and diesel prices fell in the month, further sharp rises in the costs of food, recreation and culture left the index in double digits. The Bank of England had been watching these figures very closely as they were the last significant data release before their next meeting in early May. Officials had hoped that there would be the first signs of a significant drop in inflationary pressure, but core inflation, excluding food and energy prices remained unchanged at 6.2 per cent…” – The Financial Times
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“Rishi Sunak will say it is time to fulfil the “true promise” of the Good Friday Agreement as he piles pressure on unionists in Northern Ireland to get back to Stormont. The Prime Minister will use a speech Wednesday to pledge the “full force” of the UK Government to transform the province into a world-leading investment hub to build on the “precious legacy” of the peace deal on its 25th anniversary. Mr Sunak is also expected to praise the security forces as well as the architects of the historic treaty for their role in delivering peace. For the second time in two weeks Mr Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland, having held talks with Joe Biden, the US president, on his brief visit from Washington DC to the province.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Dominic Raab is likely to be replaced by a woman if he is forced to quit as justice secretary over claims that he bullied officials, The Times has been told. Three female ministers — Victoria Atkins, financial secretary to the Treasury, Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general and Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary — are said to be in contention to succeed Raab. Alex Chalk, a defence minister, is also in the running. A government source said that Sunak was most likely to appoint a woman to the role amid concerns about the gender imbalance in cabinet. Just a quarter of the seats are filled by women. Rishi Sunak’s cabinet contains fewer women that of Liz Truss, who filled a third of the positions with women… All four contenders are lawyers and have legal experience in government.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak will launch a charm offensive with business leaders next week, in an attempt to galvanise his growth agenda and counter Labour’s growing success in wooing corporate Britain. The prime minister has told his cabinet to strengthen links with senior business leaders and “embed practical business insights into policymaking”, ahead of a big event in London on Monday. Sunak’s initiative is aimed at resetting relations between business and the Conservative government, following economic upheaval and acrimony between the two sides during the regimes of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Senior Tories admit that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is winning over some in the business community through a relentless “prawn cocktail offensive” in the City…” – The Financial Times
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“The public should not deactivate the new emergency alert system on their phones, Downing Street has urged amid a backlash from Conservative MPs. Millions of mobile phones across Britain will emit a loud 10-second blast at 3pm on Sunday in a test of the new warning…Phone users who receive the accompanying text message will not be able to use their device until they acknowledge it, although those who do not wish to receive such alerts are able to manually opt out … Sir John Redwood…questioned the need for multi-million pound spending and suggested the alert system would not be needed…Tory backbenchers criticised the new system, with Jacob Rees-Mogg…saying he had disabled the alert…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Britain should not “pull the shutters down” on China, as it would be counterproductive to the national interest, the foreign secretary has told the Guardian. In a warning to Conservative hawks, James Cleverly insisted there was not a binary choice to be made between treating China as either a threat or an opportunity, and said the UK’s approach needed to be more nuanced. It comes as the government attempts to navigate Beijing’s growing economic and political reach, with influential Tory MPs pressing the prime minister and his cabinet to take a harder line. Next week, Cleverly will set out the UK’s approach towards China explicitly in a major speech following the government’s refreshed integrated review of defence and foreign policy…” – The Guardian
“Britain’s three biggest conservation groups have criticised the environment secretary’s water pollution plan, arguing that it allows farmers to keep “choking the life” out of rivers. The heads of the National Trust, RSPB and the WWF said, that despite the renewed public interest in nature kindled by Sir David Attenborough’s Wild Isles show on BBC2, the government was failing to act with the urgency needed. Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, and her department have repeatedly tried to capitalise on the popularity of the BBC series, tweeting about the episodes and action the government is taking to protect wildlife and habitats. However…the conservation groups said the government had failed to act with the urgency and scale needed to turn around declines.” – The Times
““Wagner-like” Russian hacker groups are seeking to attack and damage critical British infrastructure, the government has warned, as it urged businesses to strengthen their cyber defences. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden will warn in a speech on Wednesday that the primary motive of these emerging threats is “to disrupt or destroy” and are unlikely to show the same restraint as Russia’s usual intelligence-linked cyber services. “These adversaries are ideologically motivated, rather than financially motivated,” Dowden will add, making the situation “particularly concerning”. In terms of volume and intensity, the level of cyber attacks on western and Ukrainian networks since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been unprecedented.” – The Financial Times
“Social media bosses who repeatedly fail to remove harmful content such as suicide and self-harm videos face up to two years’ in jail under plans announced by ministers on Tuesday. Michelle Donelan, the Technology and Science Secretary, announced the changes to the online safety bill which will make senior managers at tech firms criminally liable for persistent breaches of their duty of care to protect children from harmful material. The measures are designed as a last-resort penalty if company bosses continue to ignore requests by the regulator, Ofcom, to correct flaws in their technology which cause serious harm to children. The Government amendment to the bill…comes on top of Ofcom’s powers to fine the tech giants up to 10 per cent of their global turnover for breaches.” – The Daily Telegraph
“A group of about 60 Conservative rebels are refusing to cave in over demands to toughen up Rishi Sunak’s Illegal Migration Bill. The MPs are demanding ministers make at least two concessions when the key legislation returns to the House of Commons next week. Some of the MPs discussed their demands with the prime minister over breakfast in No 10. They also met Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister…The rebels want the government to introduce mandatory scientific age assessments for migrants who claim they are under-18… MPs are demanding the government introduce a measure that would prevent the European Court of Human Rights from granting injunctions that ground migrant deportation flights, known as Rule 39 orders.” – The Times
““Woke” welcome signs for illegal Channel migrants in Dover are to be taken down and replaced by notices telling them that they have broken the law and will be deported from the UK. Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, was shocked to find welcome signs with colourful branding that had turned the site at which migrants are landed into a “welcoming” humanitarian operation rather than a “law enforcement environment” on Britain’s southern border… Border Force officers will also get extra powers to seize and examine migrants’ mobile phones because of their value as a potential “gold mine” of intelligence that could help establish who they are, where they have been and where they have come from.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Members of the Women’s Institute should “get over” their opposition to transgender people joining the organisation, a former Tory leader has said. Lord Hague of Richmond, who led the party for four years from 1997, said that existing members should welcome transgender women and “get used” to the fact they want to join. The present admission policy says that anyone “who is living as a woman is welcome”, but the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) has been accused of forcing the policy on local branches. However, a group of WI members is demanding that the federation pause the admission of transgender women to local branches and want a vote to be held. More than 700 people have signed a petition…” – The Times
“The wholesale conversion of the establishment to gender ideology has not only shaped discussions among academics and policy-makers, but has also led to rapid changes to our language and to long-established protections for women, generating fear of the consequences of dissenting from the new orthodoxy. Last week, it was reported that a teacher was forced to apologise after addressing a group of girls with the words “good afternoon, girls”. Even the Women’s Institute is struggling to define what a woman is. Nowhere has the tangible impact of this ideological capture been greater, however, than in schools… One of the reasons this insanity has spread is that people have lacked the confidence or have been scared about standing up against it.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The NHS is “broken”, Sir Keir Starmer has declared, claiming that a fifth of A&E patients go to hospital because they cannot get a GP appointment. In an interview with The Telegraph, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of presiding over a “cycle of decline” that could bring the NHS to an end. New research by Labour has suggested that around 4.5 million patients in England went to A&E last year because they could not get a GP appointment. Sir Keir also accused Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, of “sitting on his hands” as the risk from further health strikes grows. The Labour leader said he saw “no political advantage” from the strike action and was fearful about the risks to the public if doctors embarked on more walkouts.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The real significance of Labour’s punchy ads accusing Rishi Sunak of being soft on child abuse isn’t their content. It’s their form. A new era of online advertising…is under way. And it is already altering British politics. Using shocking, and misleading, images to promote an idea and relying on outrage to spread it is not new. It’s exactly what the Leave campaign did with its £350-million-a-week claims. And what the Tories did in 2019, making misspelt and inaccurate points that were then spread by people ridiculing them. What is changing fast is the scale of such efforts. In 2014 British political parties spent £30,000 advertising on Facebook. In 2019 they spent £3.16 million…as the scale increases, its impact will become more profound.” – The Times
“Senior members of the SNP are braced for Nicola Sturgeon’s imminent arrest in the wake of detectives interviewing her husband and the party treasurer amid an investigation into party finances. Senior MPs and MSPs claim it is “inevitable” that the former first minister will be interviewed under caution or as a witness in the coming weeks.Sturgeon is the only senior SNP official named on the party’s most recent financial accounts who has not been arrested. The former first minister appears on accounts for the 2021-22 financial year as one of three registered officers, alongside Peter Murrell, the former chief executive, and Colin Beattie, the treasurer. It is understood she has not been spoken to by police but has previously said she would “fully co-operate” if required.” – The Times
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