“Rishi Sunak is pushing Berlin to approve the sale of Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia ahead of a visit to Britain by Mohammed bin Salman. The Prime Minister has personally urged Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, to give the green light to the defence deal, which is worth at least £5 billion. Typhoon jets are designed, manufactured and maintained by BAE Systems, which employs 5,000 people on the programme in Lancashire. However, defence sources [said] it was possible Germany could “scupper” the inter-government deal agreed in March 2018 to sell 48 of the multi-role jets to the Middle Eastern country, which accounts for 12pc of BAE revenues. The Eurofighter Typhoon was developed by a consortium of British, German, Italian and Spanish companies…in the 1980s.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Rishi Sunak is being advised on HS2 by a long-standing critic of the project who has described the railway as the “greatest infrastructure mistake in half a century”. The prime minister is understood to have hired Andrew Gilligan earlier this year. The former journalist is thought to have been an important figure behind the attempt to curtail the project. Gilligan wrote a highly critical report on HS2 for the think tank Policy Exchange, which called for the cancellation of all sections of the railway on which construction had not yet started… Amid a growing backlash against Sunak’s plans to scrap the northern leg of the railway, the prime minister is understood to have reassured critics that he has yet to take a final decision.” – The Times
“UK home secretary Suella Braverman on Tuesday asked world leaders to consider whether the UN Refugee Convention was “fit for the modern age”, in a speech that queried the treaty that has underpinned international humanitarian law for seven decades. Addressing the rightwing American Enterprise Institute think-tank in Washington, DC, Braverman claimed that courts had expanded the convention’s definition of “persecution” and increased the number of people qualifying for refugee protection. The speech marks the strongest attack yet by a UK government minister on the treaty, agreed in 1951 in the aftermath of the second world war… The treaty obliges signatories — including the UK — to grant asylum to people fleeing persecution.” – The Financial Times
“The UK Government is taking the EU to court in the first case of its kind since Brexit after SNP ministers in Scotland complained Brussels hit them with fines that were too steep. The Scottish Government under Nicola Sturgeon was forced to pay a £5.6 million (€6.4 million) fine after a 2020 audit uncovered failures with how it was administering Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments to Scottish farmers. SNP ministers have now asked the UK Government to argue their case in the European Court of Justice and state that the fine should be reduced by around £2.4 million (€2.7 million). They cannot go to court themselves to challenge the fines as the European Commission’s decision to impose the penalty was initially enforced against the UK as the relevant member state.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
“Alok Sharma has become the latest Conservative MP to announce he will step down at the next general election. The former Cop26 president, who has represented Reading West since 2010, said it had “not been an easy decision”…Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: “I have this evening informed my local Conservative Association that I have decided not to stand at the next general election and therefore do not seek to be adopted as the Conservative candidate for the revised seat of Reading West & Mid Berkshire. This has not been an easy decision for me. It has been the honour of my life to…represent the UK on the international stage.” More than 40 Conservative MPs have already announced they will step down at the next election…” – The Guardian
>Yesterday:
“Tory candidate James Cracknell has suggested that Britain could rejoin the European Union in a generation. The double Olympic rowing gold medalist said he has no appetite to reverse Brexit for the time being, but predicted that the UK could re-enter the bloc when the young adults who overwhelmingly backed Remain become older. In his first interview since being selected to stand for the Conservatives in Colchester, Mr Cracknell said he would approach the contest like the Olympics…. The 51-year-old told The Telegraph he has been a Conservative all his life because “you ought to be in a country where you are allowed to set your own limits” He was known to be eyeing up a parliamentary seat, although he had initially favoured Henley-on-Thames…” – The Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday:
“Variously described as “local champions” and “local heroes”, they are cut from a different cloth. And they’re favoured now by many local…associations, according to figures…compiled by…Conservative Home… “Members are looking back at 14 years in government, and many are wondering what has been achieved, other than a Brexit that has not been implemented as they hoped,” says Paul Goodman, editor of Conservative Home… “This big slice of party membership is disillusioned, bruised and suspicious of successive leaders, SW1 and the Spad [ministerial special adviser] class. As a result, they are choosing the people they know from their area who they believe they can trust more.”… The “local heroes” strategy received a major boost after the Uxbridge by-election…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Labour will introduce VAT on private school fees immediately if it wins power, meaning parents could face higher costs shortly after an election. The charitable status of private schools will be abolished in the first months of a Sir Keir Starmer government, the party has signalled. VAT at the 20 per cent rate would be added to fees in the first academic year after an election, rather than being phased in. Autumn next year is widely seen as the mostly likely date for a general election, meaning the policy could take effect in the 2025-26 academic year if Labour won. The independent sector has said that smaller schools will be forced to close under the policy but Anneliese Dodds, the Labour Party chairwoman, said that the cash raised was needed to improve the state sector.” – The Times
“Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey on Tuesday put the NHS at the heart of his party’s strategy at the next election, in a closing speech at his party conference in which he vowed to dislodge the Conservatives from power. He announced an ambitious policy to tackle cancer waiting times in England, including a new legal right for patients to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral, in a highly personal speech to delegates in Bournemouth. About 40 per cent of patients — 72,000 people — waited more than two months to start treatment in the past year, according to Lib Dem calculations. The party previously set out plans to invest £4bn in cancer treatment over the next four years, which it has not yet fully costed.” – The Financial Times