“Ex-soldier Tobias Ellwood today quit his high-profile role as Chair of the Commons Defence Committee. The MP for Bournemouth East had sparked fury in July after posting a bizarre video on Twitter, now known as X, praising the Taliban. Mr Ellwood described Afghanistan under Taliban rule as a “country transformed” and claimed “security has vastly improved, corruption is down and the opium trade has all but disappeared”. In response, outraged MPs on the Defence Committee plotted to oust him as chair. This evening the ex-minister chose to resign rather than face a humiliating no-confidence defeat. MPs will now be given the chance to vote for a new committee chair to replace him.” – The Sun
>Today: ToryDiary: Loose lips sink careers. Ellwood’s whitewashing of the Taliban destroyed his credibility.
“Plans by the UK government to dilute rules on water pollution in order to enable more housebuilding were defeated in the House of Lords on Wednesday night in a major setback for Rishi Sunak’s administration. The UK prime minister had proposed to remove EU-era “nutrient neutrality rules”, complaining that they were blocking the construction of up to 100,000 new homes by the end of the decade. But the government was defeated by 203 votes to 156 over the issue in the upper house. Three Conservative peers — including Lord Deben, an ex-cabinet minister and former chair of the climate change committee — voted against the government alongside various opposition peers. Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour party, said the “flawed plan” had been “humiliatingly rejected” by the upper house of Parliament.” – FT
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>Yesterday:
“Rishi Sunak refused to commit the Conservatives to maintaining the pensions triple lock after the next election, as he was challenged by MPs in the Commons. The prime minister said the Tories were the “one party” that had “always stood up for our pensioners” but pointedly declined to confirm that the policy would remain in place after the next general election. Ministers have repeatedly cast doubt on the long-term future of the policy in recent days, even while promising it would be retained over the next year. Maria Caulfield, the health minister, told GB News this morning: “The triple lock will be kept next April. There’s absolutely no doubt about that.” At prime minister’s questions Sunak was challenged by Stephen Flynn… to commit “his party to maintaining the state pension triple lock beyond the next general election”.” – The Times
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>Yesterday:
“Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff Dan Rosenfield has decided not to sit on the Conservative benches following his elevation to the Lords in a move that has outraged some Tories, with one saying it made the former prime minister “look like a chump”. Rosenfield, a former Treasury official, was one of several ex-aides nominated in June for peerages in Johnson’s resignation honours list. However, he is now listed on parliamentary profiles as a non-affiliated life peer, unlike the others on the list who include Charlotte Owen, a former aide; Ross Kempsell, a former journalist who became Johnson’s spokesperson; and Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor. Rosenfield, who has taken the title of Baron Rosenfield of Muswell Hill, became Johnson’s chief of staff in January 2021 in a reorganisation after the departure of Dominic Cummings.” – The Guardian
Comment:
“Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday demanded that Rishi Sunak conduct a “full audit of UK-China relations” following the arrest of a British parliamentary researcher accused of spying for Beijing. Starmer said the prime minister’s approach to China was “at odds” with the hardline position urged by parliament’s intelligence and security committee in a damning report in July. The government’s formal response to the committee’s report, which found the UK’s approach to China’s “increasingly sophisticated” espionage was “completely inadequate”, is expected on Thursday. Sunak sought to portray the committee’s findings as out of date, relating to “a period of investigations in 2019 and 2020”, as he pointed to legislation and other measures the government has since introduced to boost protections against potential spying and interference by China.” – FT
“Rishi Sunak blocked plans to rebuild five hospitals riddled with crumbling concrete three years ago, prompting warnings of a “catastrophic” risk to patient safety, the Guardian has learned. Just two of the seven hospital rebuilding projects requested by the Department for Health were signed off by the Treasury at the 2020 spending review when Sunak was chancellor and Steve Barclay, now the health secretary, was his chief secretary. The other five were finally added to the new hospitals programme in May, when the government amended the list, but it has meant a three-year delay in starting to rebuild dangerous hospitals. In their most recent risk assessments, all five have been graded at “catastrophic” risk with warnings that an incident is “likely”.” – The Guardian
>Today: Local Government: Councils are spending too much on agency staff. But switching to a four-day week is not the answer.
“Channel migrants are being deported within 48 hours of arriving in the UK, the Daily Express can reveal. A Home Office flight which landed in Tirana, Albania, last week was carrying five men, aged 25, 20, 28, 27 and 22 who had been on UK soil for less than two days. The Albanians had crossed the Channel in small boats on September 5, but were removed on September 7. The Daily Express understands these are some of the fastest deportations on record… Mr Jenrick met with Albanian interior minister Taulant Balla yesterday to discuss the deal struck by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in December. London and Tirana have agreed to expedite the removal of Albanians who arrive in small boats, hoping to deport them within weeks instead of months or years, in a bid to deter more people from making the crossing.” – Daily Express
“Sir Keir Starmer has said that Labour will treat people-smugglers like terrorists if he wins the next election by freezing their assets and placing restrictions on their movement. In an interview with The Times the Labour leader pledged that he would “smash the gangs” by expanding the use of civil orders that are used to target serious criminals, terrorists and drug traffickers. The Labour leader says he will ultimately seek an EU-wide returns agreement for asylum seekers who come to Britain. He says that the “quid pro quo” of any deal, such as accepting quotas of migrants from the EU, would be for future negotiations with Brussels. In a clear dividing line with the Tories, Starmer confirmed that he would drop Conservative plans to ban cross-Channel migrants from claiming asylum in Britain.” – The Times
“A Labour government would accept migrants from Europe as part of a proposed deal with the EU to try to stop the small boats crisis. The party is considering taking a share of asylum seekers reaching Europe in return for the bloc taking back migrants who arrive illegally having crossed the Channel. Senior party figures believe Britain is only likely to secure a returns deal, enabling it to deport Channel migrants, if it offers to share the burden of asylum seekers reaching the continent. The plan emerged as Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, arrived in The Hague on Wednesday to visit Europol, the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation, before a trip to see Emmanuel Macron, the French president, next week.” – Daily Telegraph
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>Today: Akhila K Jayaram in Comment: Reform visas allow private funding for academia – and so make Britain Europe’s science capital
“A union boss has dismissed Labour’s green energy policy as ‘impossible’ and argues the Left has been ‘hoodwinked’ into backing renewables. Gary Smith, leader of the GMB – one of Labour’s biggest donors – says Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to have a net-zero electricity system by 2030 is not feasible. He told The Spectator it was ‘impossible’, saying: ‘It cannot be done. The National Grid can’t get [undersea] cables. There are four suppliers of cables in the globe, they’re all booked out to 2030.’ Mr Smith added: ‘The renewables lobby is very wealthy and powerful. I think people on the Left, for good intentions, have got hoodwinked into a lot of this.’ Labour leader Sir Keir has said that he wants a net-zero carbon electricity system by 2030, along with no more licences for North Sea oil and gas drilling.” – Daily Mail
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Editorial:
>Yesterday:
“The Scottish government has postponed a ban on conversion therapy amid fears it could criminalise parents who question their child’s wish to change gender. Holyrood had promised to publish legislation by the end of 2023, but last week’s programme for government – the Scottish version of the King’s Speech – included no such legislation. It has been replaced by a consultation which will not report until next year. Long-promised plans for conversion therapy in England are also mired in delay. But the postponement in Scotland of the ban, which covers both gay and trans conversion therapy, is more surprising as the SNP has been much more forward in its support for the trans rights agenda. The delay follows the row over Scotland’s attempt to bring in a law to make it much easier for people to legally change their gender.” – Daily Telegraph