“Rishi Sunak is purportedly agonising over whether to sack Dominic Raab after deciding that he needs more time to review allegations that he bullied officials. The prime minister was sent a “very lengthy” report by Adam Tolley KC early this morning but by this evening was still undecided over whether to keep Raab in his cabinet. Raab, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, was also sent a copy of the report and is said to be “confident” he will be exonerated. He believes the report does not show that he breached the ministerial code and will not be offering his resignation, although he has not yet spoken to the prime minister. Officials who have seen the report, however, believe that it is “terrible” and think Raab should be sacked.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak’s government is on a collision course with members of the House of Lords, the legal profession and charities over plans to allow the UK to block the European Court of Human Rights from preventing the deportation of asylum seekers. Sir Robert Buckland, the Conservative former justice secretary, [said] that he expected the Lords to throw out an amendment to the illegal migration bill that would allow ministers to ignore interim injunctions from judges in Strasbourg. The prime minister has faced pressure from a group of Tory MPs who threaten to oppose the bill at its final parliamentary stages if he refuses to toughen it up. His decision to take on the court in Strasbourg is a sign of his continuing vulnerability to rebellions from the party’s rightwing.” – The Financial Times
“The most important and contentious concession offered to appease Tory rebels on migration is a measure that will allow the home secretary to ignore interim injunctions issued by the European Court of Human Rights to prevent deportations. Suella Braverman had argued, along with Conservative backbenchers, that ignoring these court measures — known as Rule 39 orders — would not, and should not, affect Britain’s membership of the Council of Europe or its compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights. Such measures do not form part of the convention, it is argued, and are essentially internal rules relating to the operation of the Strasbourg court. They have been commonly used only since 2005…” – The Times
“The Foreign Secretary has said MPs underestimate Britain’s influence on the world stage. James Cleverly appeared to wobble on whether Britain should leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as he suggested MPs instead trust that he could influence the controversial EU judges who blocked migrant flights to Rwanda. It came as senior legal figures warned that the rule of law would be undermined if ministers were allowed to ignore ECHR orders stopping migrant flights to Rwanda. Cleverly said he wasn’t ‘convinced’ Britain wanted to be in the small group of European countries outside of the ECHR. More than 5,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel this year.” – The Daily Mail
“Michael Gove warned investors who own £4 billion of shares in Grenfell cladding companies of “severe consequences” if the firms do not pay to fix fire-risk flats across Britain. The levelling-up secretary urged titans including Nicolai Tangen, the art-loving boss of Norway’s £1.1 trillion state-owned Norges Bank, to “use [their] position of influence” as investors in the manufacturers of flammable products on Grenfell Tower and thousands of other buildings. Blackrock, Vanguard and Fidelity Management and Research also received letters. Only 8 per cent of an estimated 374,000 fire-risk flats (in blocks taller than 11m) have been fixed — leaving almost 640,000 residents still in danger, analysis of the latest government figures shows.” – The Times
>Today:
“When Labour lost the 2010 election, Liam Byrne infamously left a note to his successor at the Treasury advising him that there was “no money left”. It might as well have been written for Britain’s future pensioners. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that the state pension age may have to rise to 70 by 2050; the same organisation has previously said that the triple lock will also have to go. It’s no wonder that young people are gloomy about their future prospects. Polling shows that half of Britons in their 20s think they will get a less generous pension than their parents; roughly a third don’t think they will get one at all. The kindest thing the Government could do is tell them that they are right, and to prepare for the future as if no state pension will come.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has become increasingly dysfunctional because of its heavier post-Brexit workload and the rapid turnover of ministers, according to Whitehall officials and lobby groups. Civil servants and lobbyists told the Financial Times that they believed Defra was struggling to handle its large workload, which includes implementing strict new environmental targets and developing a post-Brexit subsidy regime for farmers. Defra is also grappling with the requirements of Rishi Sunak’s retained EU law bill, which requires government departments to review nearly 4,000 laws and regulations inherited from the EU before the end of 2023. Defra has by far the largest review exercise of any Whitehall department.” – The Financial Times
“The NHS must accept that reform rather than cash is the route out of its current crisis, Labour will warn on Friday. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, will tell NHS leaders that they cannot expect a Labour government to simply “pour more resources in”, and reform will have to do “the heavy lifting” in improving care. He will set out plans to divert money from hospitals to GP surgeries and beefed-up local clinics, arguing that preventing ill health will ease the pressure on emergency services. However, he is also backing away from suggestions that Labour would scrap the GP contractor model and will rule out wholesale nationalisation of family doctors. In a speech to the King’s Fund…, Streeting will highlight a series of dire performance measures in the NHS…” – The Times
“The most talked-about Labour politician these days is Rachel Reeves, easily the most important member of Keir Starmer’s team. No one doubts that she will stay in her job after an expected post-local-election reshuffle. She has spent months meeting businesses, building up credibility — and working as a unit with her party leader. Sharing offices on the same floor of the Norman Shaw South building, they are geographically and politically proximate. He credits her with bringing direction and gravitas to the operation. Critics say what unites them is managerialism. Those on the right of the party welcome her presence as proof that fiscal sanity has returned to Labour… Polite and businesslike, she is hard to hate — but she is cursed by Tories…” – The Times
“Humza Yousaf has refused to order the scrapping of sentencing guidelines that allowed a man who raped a 13-year-old girl to avoid prison. Douglas Ross…challenged him during the First Minister’s Questions about Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines, which advise against custodial sentences for offenders aged under 25. There was uproar earlier this month when Sean Hogg, 21, was given just 270 hours of community service for raping a child at Dalkeith Country Park in Midlothian. The judge in the case, Lord Lake, said if Hogg had been aged 25 or over when the offence was committed he would have been jailed for between four and five years. The guidelines were developed by the Scottish Sentencing Council, a body set up by SNP ministers in 2015…” – The Daily Telegraph