“New immigration records are likely to be set later this year, with ministers signalling that fresh measures to cut numbers will be announced before the next election. The Office for National Statistics will publish figures today that are expected to show that net migration hit between 700,000 and one million last year. Internal Home Office modelling of net migration showed that 728,000 more people came to the UK than left permanently, The Times has been told. Separate figures from the Home Office covering the first three months of this year are expected to show that the number of work and study visas has hit a record of almost a million, up by about a third on last year.” – The Times
Comment:
Sketch:
>Today: ToryDiary: What the Government’s immigration policy should be and why it needs to act on it at once
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Starmer has no idea how to embarrass Sunak and Braverman
“Ex-lags should “absolutely” be drafted onto building sites and into restaurants to help wean us off foreign labour, the new Justice Secretary says. Alex Chalk showed The Sun around a prison to talk tough justice ahead of bumper migration stats out on Thursday. He insisted that former prisoners were harder working, “more reliable” employees than others in the workforce because it means more to them to have a job. In his first interview since taking over from Dominic Raab, he paid tribute to him and said he was sad to see him stand down as an MP after a probe found he’d bullied staff.” – The Sun
More:
“Labour would try to force employers to recruit British staff by barring them from hiring foreign workers below the market rate for pay. The party said it would scrap rules that allow companies to pay foreigners 20 per cent less than the going rate in roles where there is deemed to be a shortage of workers. It comes ahead of Thursday’s announcement of figures for net migration, which is expected to hit a record high of between 700,000 and 800,000 for 2022 – up from 504,000 in the year to June 2022 and nearly treble pre-Brexit levels. Labour’s move to stop companies undercutting British workers is designed to force businesses to train more UK staff and boost workforce skills, as well as end firms’ reliance on foreign staff.” – Daily Telegraph
“Rishi Sunak has cleared Suella Braverman of breaching the ministerial code but rebuked her over her handling of a speeding fine. In a letter to the home secretary, the prime minister said that, after consulting Sir Laurie Magnus, his ethics adviser, on this occasion a formal inquiry was “not necessary”. However, he suggested that she should not have tried to arrange a private speed awareness course and that “a better course of action could have been taken to avoid giving rise to the perception of impropriety”. Sunak said he had been reassured by the home secretary that she “takes these matters seriously” and had provided a “thorough account, apologised and expressed regret”.” – The Times
Comment:
>Yesterday: Daniel Hannan’s column: This frenzied effort to concoct a Braverman scandal makes this country look ridiculous
“The Conservatives are now ahead of Labour in the Blue Wall for the first time since October last year when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister. A new Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted on May 22 puts the Tories on 34 per cent and Labour narrowly behind on 33 per cent in the key collection of seats. The Tories were up two points and Labour was down three points when compared to a previous poll conducted on May 7. The Blue Wall refers to approximately 42 affluent southern constituencies in England where the Tories have traditionally found electoral success but where support has been slipping in recent years.” – Daily Telegraph
“This week, Raab announced that he intends to stand down as a member of parliament at the next election. He is not yet 50, and has been an MP for just 13 years. Explaining this doesn’t take any more detective work than an online search for his constituency. In 2015, the Conservative majority in Esher and Walton was 28,616; in 2017, a still hearty 23,298. In 2019? Just 2,743. Over the past year, the Tories’ polling collapse has led some to wonder whether all the talk of a post-Brexit realignment was overstated. But it is seats such as this that suggest they are wrong. The last time Esher and Walton or any of the constituency’s predecessors returned a non-Tory MP was when a Liberal scraped home in Chertsey by 99 votes… in 1906.” – The Guardian
“Boris Johnson has accused the Cabinet Office of mounting a “witch-hunt” after he was referred to police for a meeting in the No 10 garden with his elderly mother and sister while Covid-19 restrictions were in place. The Times disclosed yesterday that Johnson had been referred over visits by family and friends to Chequers, the prime minister’s grace-and-favour home, and Downing Street during the pandemic. Johnson launched a fightback on Wednesday and disclosed details of a meeting with his mother and sister that took place on June 14, 2020. At the time outdoor meetings in groups of six or fewer were permitted. An ally of the prime minister said: “Is this what the Cabinet Office think is a crime? It was a meeting with his elderly mother and sister.”” – The Times
Comment:
“Rishi Sunak is facing calls to delay or cancel Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list rewarding dozens of his allies after the former prime minister was reported to police over fresh Partygate allegations. Labour and the Lib Dems said Sunak should pull the list of about 50 names, which is thought to be nearing approval and could be published within two weeks. Some Conservatives are also privately baffled as to why Sunak would be willing to go ahead with the list. It is set to cause the prime minister a headache because it would hand peerages to three MPs – Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma and Nigel Adams – and trigger potentially difficult byelections.” – The Guardian
“The UK government has promised an “independent review” of its flagship northern regeneration project, which is overseen by the Conservative party’s most high-profile mayor, Ben Houchen, following allegations of cronyism, lack of transparency and poor value for money. Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove said he was taking the “exceptional” step of appointing an external panel to investigate the claims relating to Teesworks, the vast former steel site in north-east England that forms part of the Teesside freeport. But he stopped short of ordering the National Audit Office to investigate, rejecting calls for the UK’s public spending watchdog to lead a probe after an investigation…” – FT
“Energy bills will fall by £426 to an average of £2,074 a year for a typical household from July, Ofgem has announced. Households have been paying record high prices since October — equivalent to £2,500 a year based on typical usage — under the government’s energy price guarantee. The regulator confirmed today that the energy price cap would mean bills falling below this level from July 1, thanks to reductions in wholesale gas and electricity prices after the mild winter. The reduction should offer some respite to households but experts warned that bills would still be significantly higher than pre-crisis levels of £1,000 to £1,200 a year and that millions would be left struggling to pay without further help.” – The Times
Comment:
Editorial:
>Today: Sam Hall in Comment: Some claim Net Zero is woke. But dragging climate action into culture wars would fail with red wall voters.
>Yesterday:
“Doctors will be required to give patients options including travelling further for healthcare or going to private alternatives as Rishi Sunak tries to fulfil his promise to cut NHS waiting times. GPs will be compelled to offer up to five healthcare providers when clinically appropriate, allowing patients to select their preference using the NHS app or website. The options will be filtered by distance, waiting times and the quality of care, in the expansion of the app downloaded by millions during the coronavirus pandemic. Patients already have a right to choose where they go, but it is hoped doctors being required to give alternatives, as outlined in a letter being sent by the NHS on Thursday, will increase usage.” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: Emily Carver’s column: Vaping. Say no to the nanny state – but yes to better law enforcement.
“The introduction of a four-day working week across the public sector would cost £30billion, the Prime Minister was warned yesterday. Rishi Sunak urged the first town hall to implement the experiment to think again after he was told it had made services worse while costing more. South Cambridgeshire District Council is allowing all desk-based staff to reduce their hours by 20 per cent without loss of pay for the next year, despite missing important targets to answer phones and process benefits claims. Local MP Anthony Browne raised the controversy in the Commons for the first time…” – Daily Mail
>Today: Elliot Keck in Local Government: We are campaigning against South Cambridgeshire Council’s four-day week
>Yesterday:
“Labour is to restore the party whip to Neil Coyle after the MP was suspended for drunken abuse and making racist comments to a journalist. Coyle was suspended in February last year after a complaint by Henry Dyer, a political reporter for the Insider website who now works for the Guardian, about the behaviour of the MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in London. The MP previously had a complaint of sexual harassment upheld against him over an incident at a Labour conference. The decision over Coyle’s readmission was confirmed on Wednesday by Labour’s chief whip, Alan Campbell.” – The Guardian
“Jeremy Corbyn is the favourite to become the next Mayor of London if Sadiq Khan pulls out of the race. Recent reports have cast doubt over whether Mr Khan will stand in the election in 2024, opening the door for Mr Corbyn to win as an independent. The former Labour leader lost the whip in 2020 and has been barred from standing for the party in the next general election, but the latest odds from bookmakers suggest he has a high chance of winning against Labour or Conservative candidates. Mr Khan remains the favourite right now at 1/4, but Mr Corbyn is catching up as the election approaches and is currently 8/1 to enter City Hall according to Ladbrokes.” – Daily Express
“Ron DeSantis announced his White House bid in a glitch-plagued Twitter event in which he vowed to lead a “Great American Comeback”. The social media platform appeared to be overwhelmed as more than half a million people attempted to tune in to hear Mr DeSantis declare his candidacy. But it was almost 30 minutes into the broadcast before the Florida governor got to deliver his much-anticipated line: “I am running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback”. The debacle overshadowed what should have been a rousing 2024 campaign launch that the DeSantis team had teased for months.” – Daily Telegraph
“The head of Scotland Yard’s catastrophic VIP sex abuse investigation is to face gross misconduct proceedings following an explosive Daily Mail investigation. Former Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse should face a disciplinary board over allegations he lied in public at the conclusion of Operation Midland, the police watchdog has ruled. The astonishing development, following the Mail’s eight-year campaign for justice and accountability, has plunged Britain’s biggest police force into yet another crisis. In the past, the Met has repeatedly defended the conduct of Mr Rodhouse and briefed against a Mail journalist who has exposed the VIP abuse inquiry scandal since 2015.” – Daily Mail