Afternoon summary
- Boris Johnson has told his cabinet that yesterday’s confidence vote was “very important” because it meant the government could now “draw a line” under Partygate. (See 11.16am.) But William Hague, the former Tory leader, used his column in the Times to say that that Johnson’s position is now untenable and that he should quit. (See 9.23am.)
- Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has said the NHS cannot be “complacent” about funding and that it must show it is spending money efficiently. Speaking at an Institute for Government event, he said:
What I would say to the NHS is that we should not be complacent about the fact that healthcare spending now accounts for a huge proportion of departmental expenditure, a significant proportion of the country’s GDP.
And I think the public feel a sense of real jeopardy and anxiety about the future of the NHS, and there are siren voices on the right that have always been there who say this system is simply not sustainable and shouldn’t we look at an insurance-based model or shouldn’t we look at people paying for certain types of healthcare in addition to the ones they already pay for. I don’t think we should be complacent about that.”
As well as making the case to the Treasury for greater investment in health and social care, the thing I would say to the NHS and social care leaders is you can’t be complacent about demonstrating that you are spending that money well, and I won’t be able to be complacent about demonstrating that we’re spending that money well if I’m the secretary of state for health and social care.
Updated
Government 'genuinely open-minded' about future of BBC licence fee, peers told
The government is “genuinely open-minded” about the future of the BBC funding model despite Nadine Dorries’ concerns about the licence fee, culture minister Julia Lopez told the House of Lords. PA Media says:
Dorries, the culture secretary, announced earlier this year that the corporation’s licence fee will be frozen for the next two years, confirming she wants to find a new funding model before the current deal expires in 2027.
Lopez, minister for media, data, and digital infrastructure, appeared before the Lords communications committee as part of its inquiry into the future funding of the BBC.
She said: “The government is genuinely open-minded about the right model and we are seeking for somebody to survey the choices open to any government about the right way of funding the BBC and we are doing that in advancement of 2027 so that when we look at what we seek the BBC to achieve post-2027 we have a sense of how the best way of funding that will be.
“Looking at the licence fee itself, I think it is challenged by the technological revolution ....
“It is regressive that you pay the same regardless of your circumstances, it’s enforced through criminal sanctions and I know this is something [Dorries] has [been] particularly exercised about because she is concerned about conviction rates in particular for women.
“It is also quite expensive to administer ...
“There is an open question as to whether it can [be replaced] and maybe government decides it can’t and while the secretary of state has made clear her own position having serious concerns about the licence fee, she also said she is open-minded to what the right model is and if the review comes back and suggests that these are the pros and cons of other models and on balance the licence fee is better, I don’t think she would entirely dismiss that.”
Updated
