“Ministers are increasingly confident that they will succeed in sending illegal migrants to Rwanda after the European Court of Human Rights made it harder to block deportations. Rishi Sunak suggested this week that he was open to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights if flights to Rwanda were blocked by Strasbourg judges. However, the court has raised the threshold for interim injunctions, which are known as Rule 39 orders. These were used by judges in Strasbourg to block the first deportation flight to Rwanda in June 2022. A newly codified version of court guidance states that migrants must be at “imminent risk of irreparable harm” if they are deported. It mirrors the language in the government’s own legislation.” – The Times
“The foreign secretary has ruled out deploying British troops to Ukraine, saying that it would give President Putin a target. Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton dismissed a suggestion first made by President Macron that Nato troops could be stationed in the country. Speaking at the end of a two-day Nato meeting in Brussels, Cameron was asked whether British troops could be sent to Ukraine. He told BBC’s Ukrainecast: “No, we don’t want to give Putin a target like that.” Cameron described the Russian leader as “deluded” and a “dangerous dictator” who was trying to redraw the borders of Europe by force. “We’ve seen that before. We know what you have to do, you mustn’t appease it, you have to confront it and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.” – The Times
“Michael Gove has admitted that he showed “moral cowardice” by leading David Cameron to believe he would take a back seat role during the Brexit referendum. The Cabinet minister said he did not believe he deceived his former friend, but acknowledged he could have been “more upfront earlier” about the possibility of him playing a more prominent part…The pair fell out in the run up to the 2016 vote when Mr Gove…abandoned his ally to join the Brexit camp in a move that was said to have left Lord Cameron “shocked and hurt”. In an interview on his Political Currency podcast, George Osborne, the former chancellor, said Mr Gove had assured Lord Cameron that he would not play a “prominent role” in the campaign – only to end up chairing it.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Ministers will cut funding for performing and creative arts courses at English universities next year, which sector leaders say will further damage the country’s cultural industries. The cuts, outlined by the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, in guidance to the universities regulator, will also reduce funding for Uni-Connect, which runs programmes aimed at widening access to higher education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to £20m, a third of its 2020-21 budget. Universities across England are already announcing redundancies and restructuring plans as inflation erodes their income from UK undergraduates, with performing arts and design courses among those most at risk. Keegan told the Office for Students (OfS) to freeze grants…” – The Guardian
“A senior Conservative MP has admitted his involvement in a honeytrap sexting scandal targeting a minister and fellow MPs. William Wragg, chairman of a Commons select committee, told The Times he handed over the personal phone numbers of colleagues to a man he met on Grindr, a gay dating app. The vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee said he provided the details after sending intimate pictures of himself to the user. Wragg said he was “scared” that the man “had compromising things on me”. Those colleagues — which included several MPs, members of their staff and a political journalist — were sent unsolicited flirtatious messages from senders…It is understood two MPs responded by sending an explicit picture of themselves.” – The Times
“A former Foreign Office minister is being investigated by the Conservative Party after claiming there were pro-Israel “extremists” at the “very top of government”. Sir Alan Duncan, who stood down as a Tory MP at the 2019 election, was accused by Jewish groups of invoking “classic anti-Semitic tropes” by alleging that certain parliamentarians are “doing the bidding” of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. Speaking to LBC, Sir Alan said there are “a lot of people at the top of our own politics” who “refuse to condemn” Israeli settlements and are therefore “not supporters of international law”. A Tory spokesman confirmed Sir Alan is under investigation by the party. However, the former MP said he had heard “nothing” about it…” – The Daily Telegraph
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“Liz Truss has become embroiled in a row with Natural England over its decision to effectively block a £274 million road project in Norfolk because of a rare bat species. The former prime minister is among eight Norfolk MPs to write to Steve Barclay, the Environment Secretary, urging him to review Natural England’s “arbitrary decision”, which could halt the Norwich Western Link. The body has ordered the local council to prove that the work will not have an impact on the population of barbastelle bats after imposing new protections on the rare species. According to the Woodland Trust, there are as few as 5,000 barbastelle bats in the country. In the letter…the MPs urged him to “bring sanity to the stance taken by Natural England” and criticise the body…” – The Daily Telegraph
“Reform UK is predicted to cost the Conservatives 41 seats, an analysis of a major seat-by-seat poll has shown. An MRP poll this week predicted the Conservatives are on course for a worse result at the general election than Sir John Major in 1997, suggesting Rishi Sunak would win just 155 seats to Labour’s 403. Were the right-leaning Reform UK not fielding candidates in the election, however, the Tories would be expected to hold on to considerably more seats. A joint analysis by The Times and YouGov finds the Conservatives would win 196 seats, 41 more than under the existing poll. Labour’s seat count would drop to 374… Tice has previously said the Conservatives deserve to be “smashed and destroyed” at the next election.” – The Times
“Labour plans to immediately ban MPs from pursuing most second jobs if it wins the next UK election but would allow them to continue giving paid speeches and doing broadcast work on a “case by case basis”. Two Labour insiders said the outright ban on second jobs would exclude speaking engagements and media presenting roles, even though the bulk of outside income for serving MPs has come from these…in recent years. “It wouldn’t be a blanket ban on speeches, it would be on a case-by-case basis,” said one of the people, adding that “there needs to be some discretion”…But some commentators warned that the carve-outs risked undermining efforts to ensure parliamentarians focused on serving their constituents…” – The Financial Times
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