“Rishi Sunak has said that boosting defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP would not stop him from cutting taxes or spending on public services amid questions over how he plans to fund his pledge. The prime minister said he would protect budgets for schools and the NHS, but it is thought that deep cuts would be needed in other areas to fund the funnelling of billions of pounds into defence… Sunak’s new pledge means spending more than £75 billion more on defence over the next six years compared with existing levels. The government said the commitment would be funded by slashing 72,000 civil service jobs and rerouting some research and development funding. But Labour called the £75 billion a “fake figure” and accused the government of not explaining how it would pay for the rise.” – The Times
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>Today: ToryDiary: Why face down demands for more defence spending in the Budget, only to do it now?
“Labour has been accused of failing to keep Britain safe in a “dangerous world” after the party refused to back the Government’s boost to defence spending. Shadow ministers declined to promise that 2.5 per cent of GDP would be spent on defence by 2030, as Rishi Sunak has pledged, instead saying they would have to decide after the general election. Labour’s position was attacked on Wednesday by defence industry sources, who warned it could create “uncertainty” and undermine the industry’s confidence to invest. Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, accused the Opposition of having “no plans in a dangerous world”, while Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, claimed Labour’s position would lead to “delay, disruption and obfuscation”.” – Daily Telegraph
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“Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely”, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the £1.8m a person cost of the scheme was justified. James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had booked a succession of initial flights and was preparing to order the detention of people seeking refuge in the UK so they could be sent to east Africa. Aiming to defuse criticism that the Rwanda plan was a waste of money, which the National Audit Office said could exceed £580m by the end of the decade, Cleverly said it would “massively reduce” the costs of housing asylum seekers in the UK. Analysis from the Refugee Council suggests the Rwanda policy could cause “a system meltdown”.” – The Guardian
“Labour could keep Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda policy if it is successful, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer has suggested. Baroness Jenny Chapman, a frontbencher who was Sir Keir’s political secretary, was asked whether Labour would axe the scheme if 10,000 migrants had been flown to Rwanda by the time of the election. The peer, who was a member of the shadow cabinet, replied: “If it did, as a major major leap with a thought experiment, then we might be having a different conversation but there is absolutely no evidence this is going to work.” Her comments, on GB News’s PMQs live show, leave open a door that Sir Keir has firmly tried to shut by declaring that he would scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme even if it succeeded in slashing small boat arrivals.” – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: Daniel Hannan’s column: Labour did its level best to scupper the Rwanda Bill, knowing the Tories would be blamed
“And never forget how dangerous it is to cross the Channel in a dinghy. Many lives have been lost, including in the tragic incident this week. People smugglers don’t care. They treat human beings as cargo, rip them off, beat them, rape them and let them drown. The loss of five innocent lives in the Channel on Tuesday serves as a painful reminder of this. It demonstrates precisely why we must stop the boats and the evil gangs who put profit over people’s lives. We are not the only country to face the problem of illegal migration, however. Nations across the globe are also looking for new ways to smash the people- smuggling gangs… Illegal migration is a global issue and demands international co-operation. Our Rwanda plan is about just that.” – The Sun
“Ministers have pledged to publish a long-buried internal study into the emotional and financial impact of fines and prosecutions incurred by tens of thousands of unpaid carers for falling foul of strict carer’s allowance earnings rules. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) agreed to carry out the research at the insistence of MPs five years ago after they criticised it for having no understanding of the misery and hardship inflicted on unpaid carers by its policies. Mims Davies, the minister for disabled people, told MPs on the work and pensions select committee on Wednesday that the study, which the DWP has consistently refused to publish, would be released “shortly”… However, Davies told MPs there were no plans to review carer’s allowance despite growing calls to overhaul its punitive earnings rules.” – The Guardian
>Today: Miriam Cates MP in Comment: Childcare policy should deliver for parents, not GDP figures or the political establishment
“They were once a political double act at the top of government. But even the tightest of duos can fall out when their heyday is over. David Cameron has – playfully – taken aim at his former chancellor George Osborne over the latter’s praise for Labour finance chief Rachel Reeves. Last month Mr Osborne, who is now a businessman and postcaster, praised her fiscal conservatism and suggested she was the ‘heir to Cameron/Osborne’. This caused a bit of a stir, as Lord Cameron is the Foreign Secretary in a Conservative Government trailing Labour badly in the polls. And it has earned Mr Osborne a gentle rebuke from his friend and former boss. Speaking to ITV on a tour of Asian states Lord Cameron was asked about the analogy.” – Daily Mail
“A future Labour government will be more pro-business than Tony Blair, Rachel Reeves has pledged, as she plans to raise £22 billion of private sector investment in green energy projects. The shadow chancellor said in an interview with the Times that business groups and financial institutions would be “in the room” with ministers making key decisions as part of Labour’s “mission” to make the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7. She also hinted that the party would listen to concerns over its plans to reform workers’ rights, saying the policy had “to work for business as well”. She said: “If I become chancellor, the next Labour government is going to be the most pro-business government this country has ever seen.” – The Times
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Rayner still looks forward to life as the new Prescott
“The Labour party has pledged to fully renationalise the passenger rail network within a first term if it wins the UK general election, as it promised sweeping reforms of fares to draw people back on to trains. The ambitious opposition plan to complete the process within five years would shut private companies out of running passenger trains by folding each operator into state control as their contracts to run trains expire over the course of the next parliament. Where needed, Labour plans to exercise break clauses to end early a handful of rail contracts that continue into the 2030s. The decision would mostly reverse the privatisation of the railways by the Conservative government of the 1990s. But the plan has prompted warnings from the private sector of higher costs and reduced services.” – FT
“Nigel Farage will be allowed to present his nightly GB News programme throughout the general election campaign, Ofcom has confirmed, after the media regulator said there was no clear consensus among the British public to stop politicians presenting shows on news channels. The founder of the Reform UK party, which has the backing of 10% of voters in opinion polls, will be allowed to keep broadcasting until polling day providing he does not stand as a parliamentary candidate… She was speaking as Ofcom confirmed GB News and other channels can continue to pay serving MPs such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson to work as presenters.” – The Guardian
“Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, has appeared in court in connection with a range of historical sex offences including rape and child abuse. Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP arrived at Newry magistrates’ court to face charges alongside his wife, Eleanor, amid heightened security. Donaldson, 61, resigned as DUP leader last month after his arrest. He is accused of offences relating to two alleged victims spanning 20 years. He is accused of one count of rape between 1985 and 1991, as well as an act of gross indecency towards a child between 2005 and 2006. Donaldson faces a further nine allegations of indecent assault said to have taken place between 1985 and 2006. ” – The Times
More devolution:
>Yesterday: Alan O’Reilly’s International column: A new government in Dublin has led to a change in tone on Northern Ireland
“Lord Frank Field, the independent-minded former Labour MP who devoted a lifetime to fighting poverty, has died at the age of 81. Field briefly served as a minister in Sir Tony Blair’s government, charged with “thinking the unthinkable” on welfare reform, but was regarded as a maverick and lasted little more than a year in the job. The highly respected MP for Birkenhead for 40 years quit the Labour whip in 2018 over “antisemitism” in the party, and towards the end of his life, after years battling cancer, he became an advocate for assisted dying. Field was always a free thinker and did not fit easily into the mould of party politics. He was one of the few Labour MPs to support Brexit, arguing that unlimited EU migration was bad for Britain’s working class.” – FT
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