“Elite forces led a military operation to rescue British diplomats and their families from Sudan as fears grow over other Britons still stranded amid the bloodshed. Rishi Sunak praised the “complex and rapid” rescue from violence-ravaged Khartoum, with about 30 people — including young children — believed to have been flown out of the country. There were warnings, however, that evacuating the hundreds of British citizens thought to remain in Sudan would be difficult with Khartoum’s international airport damaged and passage through the capital unsafe. The night-time evacuation, which took part in two stages, involved 1,200 military personnel, most of whom were on standby and ready to intervene should the mission go wrong.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak will hold the first of a series of summits with UK corporate leaders on Monday as his ruling Conservative party seeks to repair the damage done by the Brexit years and fend off Labour’s attempts to become the party of business. The debut of the “Business Connect” forum, which will bring together 200 senior business figures at a venue in London, will take on extra urgency as the UK’s premier business lobby group, the CBI, teeters on the brink of collapse following two rape allegations. Downing Street said the prime minister wanted the format to become “a new platform” for businesses to engage with government. “We are bringing together some of the UK’s biggest companies and investors for meaningful dialogue,” Sunak said.” – The Financial Times
“Rishi Sunak has backed down over the detention of unaccompanied child migrants [to] see off a rebellion over his small boats Bill. The Government has moved to amend its illegal migration Bill to ensure that unaccompanied children will only be detained in “exceptional circumstances” with time limits set out in regulations. Ministers have also sought to reassure rebels the children will only be deported in “very limited circumstances”…However, the moves appear to have failed to satisfy the rebels who will meet on Monday to decide whether to force a vote when the illegal migration Bill returns to the Commons for its report stage on Wednesday. Similar rebellions are also growing over the proposed crackdown on modern slavery claims…” – The Daily Telegraph
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“Channel migrants will have the right to claim legal aid to fund human rights challenges against deportation under measures introduced by Suella Braverman. The Home Secretary has set out changes to the immigration Bill making clear that ‘irregular’ migrants will be entitled to legal aid if they claim their life will be at risk in their home nation, or they will face ‘torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. The change has been tabled in addition to a series of other moves demanded by up to 60 rebel Conservative backbenchers urging tougher action to deter Channel migrants. But the legal aid provisions appear to be aimed at pacifying Tories from the liberal wing of the party who had raised concerns.” – The Daily Mail
“Ministers will not let up on holding civil servants to high standards for fear of bullying, the new deputy prime minister has suggested. Oliver Dowden, the Cabinet Office minister, said Dominic Raab’s resignation over bullying claims would not lead to “letting up” the high standards expected of civil servants. He also said Mr Raab did the “right thing” by stepping down as deputy prime minister, having said that he would quit if bullying allegations were upheld. The report into the bullying claims by Adam Tolley KC upheld two of the eight complaints, concluding Mr Raab’s behaviour involved an “abuse or misuse of power” and that he had acted in a manner that was “intimidating”… Dowden said he had experienced “frustrations” when dealing with the Civil Service in the past…” – The Daily Telegraph
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“The deputy prime minister warned civil servants not to use Dominic Raab’s resignation to let standards slip as a business minister said that the definition of bullying needed to be tightened. Oliver Dowden said he had experienced frustrations in dealing with the civil service but sought to stay neutral on Raab’s accusations of a conspiracy by “activist” officials to force him out. A review of how bullying claims against ministers are handled is expected to look at time limits for formal complaints to be made after Raab said he had been confronted with accusations dating back years. Ministers are said to be reluctant, however, to allow complaints to be judged by an independent panel, as now happens in parliament after an overhaul of how misconduct claims against MPs are dealt with.” – The Times
“When ministers complain about Whitehall, the reply tends to be the same. If they cannot make the machine work for them, this only reflects badly on their own abilities and the government they serve. And it is true that ministers with a strong sense of direction, clarity of instruction, and ability to inspire their teams can get things done. But this often happens despite the machine, not because of it. And while the Dominic Raab “bullying” saga has sparked new rows between Tory MPs and officials, frustrations among ministers have run far deeper for some time. Whitehall is not structured to succeed…The biggest problem with Whitehall is that it is too often ineffective, and its staffing and structures are unable to deliver.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Gillian Keegan, Education Secretary, has rebuffed a teaching union’s plea to negotiate ahead of strikes. The Government has no plans to resume pay talks ahead of planned industrial action in schools across England on Thursday, The Telegraph has been told. Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), urged the Government on Sunday to negotiate and end the pay row. “We will go in any time,” she told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show… However, a Department for Education source said: “Our position has not changed on industrial action.” Mrs Keegan previously refused to meet with the NEU unless it agreed to suspend earlier planned strikes. The NEU is preparing further strikes across schools in England on April 27 and May 2…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Next month the first National Conservatism Conference in the UK will take place in London. We will both be speaking, alongside a wide range of conservative scholars, commentators and other politicians, including two current Cabinet ministers. We are doing so because we are excited to contribute to the development of a movement that can bring new life to our conservative traditions in Britain…What is the NatCon movement? At its heart, it is a belief in the nation state and the principle of national independence…We see no contradiction between a policy of free markets and free trade, which is the best way to generate growth, and one of rebuilding Britain as an independent nation proud of its historic and cultural inheritance…” – The Daily Telegraph
“The future of Diane Abbott in the Labour Party was in doubt last night after she was disciplined for claiming Jewish people could not suffer from racism. Abbott, one of the party’s longest-serving MPs and a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, had the party whip suspended after an outpouring of criticism. She had suggested that Jewish people had only experienced prejudice similar to discrimination against people with red hair. Her comments threatened to reopen the issue of antisemitism in Labour’s ranks which dogged the party throughout the Corbyn era. The former shadow home secretary was forced to issue an apology for the comments…Sir Keir Starmer decided this was not enough to end the matter, however, and Abbott will now sit as an independent pending a disciplinary process.” – The Times
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“A senior SNP minister was handed a secret £33,000 top-up to his salary from the party when he was its Westminster leader, it has emerged. Angus Robertson received the wage hike after the SNP won 56 out of 59 seats in the 2015 general election, making it the third largest party in the Commons. The £33,207 raise was funded using short money – taxpayer funding made available to all opposition parties based on the number of seats and votes they have…the SNP group at Westminster was not informed about the payments while they were being made and senior party figures in Scotland were also kept in the dark. Mr Robertson lost his Moray seat to Douglas Ross…in the 2017 general election and the payments were not made to Ian Blackford, his successor.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has made a pitch for opponents of the Conservatives to vote tactically for his party as he refused to rule out entering into a coalition with Labour. He said it was his job to “beat the Conservatives” as he seeks Labour votes to win commuter seats that have previously been solidly Tory. Davey said his focus was winning over blue wall seats whose voters felt “taken for granted” by the Conservatives, adding that the “vast majority” of Lib Dem target seats were Tory-held. The party is campaigning hard in areas such as Surrey for next month’s local elections, in preparation for targeting up to 80 seats in the next general election. “The Liberal Democrats’ job is to beat Conservatives at the next election,” he told Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News.” – The Times
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