Early evening summary
Rishi Sunak has confirmed that he will not be talking about a US-UK free trade deal when he meets Joe Biden tomorrow, implying that he no longer views this as an ambition. (See 5.04pm.)
Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, has said the review announced today into allegations about the Teesworks freeport scheme will be “an utter whitewash”. (See 5.29pm.)
Labour chair Anneliese Dodds suggests Equality Act not safe under Tories
Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair and shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, has suggested the Equality Act is not safe under the Conservatives. In a speech to the UK in a Changing Europe conference today, she said:
Thirteen years after Labour passed that landmark legislation, it is still protecting people in countless ways every day. The legal framework it provides against discrimination by employers, businesses, schools, public bodies and many other institutions is one that many other countries still lack and look to learn from.
This was a legislative achievement that cemented our country’s reputation as a beacon of equality at the time, and of which my party is still rightly proud 13 years on. Perhaps this is why Conservative ministers have started to take aim at the Equality Act with increasing regularity. From criticising protected characteristics to describing the Act itself as a “Trojan horse”, what started out as a few political pot shots against this groundbreaking law is in danger of becoming a creeping barrage, with worrying consequences for the future of equality in the UK.
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Sunak says no other country outside US has UK's strength in artificial intelligence
In his BBC interview Rishi Sunak also insisted that the UK was well placed to be a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI). When it was put to him that the EU might make a better partner for the US on this than the UK, because it was bigger, he replied:
I think we should have confidence in our country in being a leader when it comes to AI because that’s what the facts demonstrate.
If you look at the number of companies, the amount invested the quality of our research, other than the US there’s no other democratic country that has that strength in AI.
Talk to the companies themselves. They would all agree with everything I’ve said. They’ve also demonstrated that because the only place they’ve opened an international office is the UK, outside of the US, the only country that has managed to bring them all together to have a conversation about this is the UK, other than the US, so I think that people can look at that and say actually, yes, we can have confidence in the UK to lead this conversation.
Nandy says review into Teesworks freeport allegations announced by Gove 'an utter whitewash'
In the Commons, as Lisa Nandy was concluding her speech on Teesworks, and the review into claims that public money and assets have been squandered in the freeport development, a Labour MP put it to her that the way the government was handling this “smacks of a cover-up”.
Nandy said, having seen the terms of reference of the review (see 4.56pm), she agreed. She went on:
I think to many people in this country this will look like, what increasingly it appears it is, an utter whitewash.
Sunak says he is not worried about Covid inquiry seeing messages that would be embarrassing to him
Rishi Sunak has said that he is not worried about the Covid inquiry seeing messages that would worry him personally. Asked about the government’s legal action against the inquiry over its demand to see unredacted messages, and if he was worried about something coming out that would embarrass him personally, he told the BBC’s Chris Mason:
No, not at all. I as well am co-operating and providing information to the inquiry.
It’s actually taking a lot of my own time, and that’s right that I do that.
I'm not worried about Covid inquiry messages, says Rishi Sunak https://t.co/FjQtJoJq7Z
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 7, 2023
Sunak confirms he won't be talking about US-UK free trade deal with Biden, implying this is no longer goal
Rishi Sunak has explicitly accepted that a formal post-Brexit trade deal with the US is not on the table ahead of talks in Washington DC with President Biden, even hinting that the whole idea was one he was not especially invested in.
In a wide-ranging chat to reporters on the plane to the US, Sunak also – when pressed three times – said he has had a mortgage, while giving no details about it.
Although No 10 has previously conceded that a trade deal is not being discussed, Sunak’s comments were notable for the implication that he now views a trade deal as a legacy obsession belonging to the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss era. He said:
For a while now, that has not been a priority for either the US or UK.
What we’re both focused on is making sure that our economic partnership reflects the particular challenges and opportunities of the time that we’re in right now. And that is the conversation that I will be having with President Biden.
Asked if the pledge to reach a rapid deal – as repeatedly made by various Conservative ministers and prime ministers before and after the Brexit referendum – had been unrealistic, Sunak said:
Since I’ve been prime minister, we’ve been focused, as have the US, on making sure that our economic partnership reflects the opportunities and challenges of the time that we face now.
Later in the chat, asked about people struggling with rising mortgage rates, Sunak gave a fairly standard answer about needing to reduce inflation. The journalist also asked Sunak if he had ever personally ever had a mortgage – which the PM ignored.
Pressed on this, he said: “My mortgage is not the big focus.” Asked one more time, Sunak finally said: “Yes.”
We still do not know what the mortgage was for – or why someone so well off even needed one.
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Here are the terms of reference for the review of Teesworks announced by Michael Gove.
Gove appoints former business department official to head review of Teesworks
In the Commons Lisa Nandy said that Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, only sent her details of the panel being set up to review the Teesworks project shortly before the debate was starting. She also complained about Gove not being in the chamber to respond to the debate.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has just published details of the panel. It says Angie Ridgwell, a council chief executive and former business department official, will be in charge. It says:
Angie Ridgwell, chief executive of Lancashire county council, and previously a director general at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, has been appointed as lead reviewer, bringing 30 years of experience across local government, central government and the private sector.
She will be supported by Quentin Baker, who is a qualified solicitor and the director of law and governance at Hertfordshire county council and by Richard Paver, who brings significant financial experience and knowledge of combined authorities from a previous role as first treasurer of the Greater Manchester combined authority.
The independent panel will review the Tees Valley combined authority’s oversight of the South Tees development corporation (STDC) and Teesworks joint venture. This will include consideration of specific allegations made in relation to the Joint Venture.
As set out in the published terms of reference, as well as considering the specific allegations of corruption, illegality and wrongdoing that have been raised, the panel will also look at governance and financial management, reflecting the government’s existing approach to external assurance reviews of local authorities.
Labour says voters need answers about 'murky' Teesworks funding claims - but declines to allege corruption
In the Commons Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, is opening the Labour debate on Teesworks. Labour has tabled a “humble address” motion saying the government should publish its correspondence relating to the decision to set up a review of the funding of the Teesworks project in the Teesside freeport area.
Nandy started by saying that, in all her time as an MP, she had never seen such serious allegations raised about a project.
Simon Clarke, the former Tory business secretary, intervened to ask if Nandy was prepared to say that what happened amounted to corruption. He said Andy McDonald, the Labour MP for Middlesbrough, has used this word in the chamber, where he is protected by parliamentary privilege from being sued for libel. But he has not said that outside the chamber, Clarke said.
In reply, Nandy would not use the word corruption. She said the whole point was that “people on Teesside simply don’t know the answer to that question”.
And later she said:
The Labour frontbench hasn’t made allegations against Teeswork … and we will not do so before any investigation reports back. What we have asked for is honesty, transparency and clarity about what appears on the face of it to be an incredibly murky situation.
Labour has called for the National Audit Office to investigate what happened. Ben Houchen, the Tory mayor of Tees Valley, has also called for an NAO inquiry. But Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has just committed to a review of the scheme by a panel.
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Micheál Martin, the tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) and foreign minster, has called for power sharing to be restored in Northern Ireland urgently. Speaking in Belfast, after meetings with party leaders from Northern Ireland, he said:
It’s very clear from all of the parties that there’s a genuine desire to get the executive back up and running.
We’re now past the local elections. It is, in my view, imperative that the mandate that the people of Northern Ireland have given to their political parties is reflected and manifested in the restoration of the assembly and the executive.
What was clear from our discussions today was the degree to which the situation has been compounded now by the budgetary situation – that came up in all of our discussions, that the situation is very serious from a financial perspective and the impact on public services and the impact that that is having on the people. And any delay in restoring the executive will make the challenge even greater subsequently.
That is why the need to move quickly and we want that sense of urgency transferred into the restoration of the executive and the assembly.
Asked if he had asked Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, if he would lift his party’s boycott of power sharing, Martin replied:
First of all he was adamant, as he has been with me consistently since the election, that he wants to go back, he wants the DUP back in the executive and back in the assembly. He says he has outstanding issues to deal with in respect of the wider issues that have been under discussion for quite some time.
My view is that this needs to be attended to with some degree of urgency now in terms of both the budgetary situation but also the need to have the mandate of the people reflected in the executive and the assembly coming back.
Scottish government again delays deposit return scheme, until October 2025 at earliest, blaming Westminster
The Scottish government has said it is delaying the introduction of its deposit return scheme until October 2025 because the UK government is refusing to allow it to include glass.
The scheme would involve a 20p charge being added to drinks containers, with the money repaid once they were returned for recycling.
The Scottish parliament legislated for a scheme in 2000. It was originally due to come into force in August this year, but Humza Yousaf delayed the start date until 2024 when he became first minister in March.
Since then the UK government has in effect vetoed the scheme as originally planned by the Scottish government. Under the Internal Market Act it has the final say on regulations affecting UK trade, and it has refused to allow Scotland to go ahead with a scheme including glass.
In a statement at Holyrood, Lorna Slater, the Scottish Green MSP who serves as the Scottish government’s circular economy minister, said:
As of today, it is now clear that we have been left with no other option than to delay the launch of Scotland’s DRS, until October 2025 at the earliest based on the UK government’s current stated aspirations.
I remain committed to interoperable DRS schemes across the UK provided that we can work in a spirit of collaboration not imposition. I wrote again last night to the UK government, to urge ministers to reset a climate of trust and good faith to galvanise and retain the knowledge that has been built in Circularity Scotland and DRS partners in Scotland.
This parliament voted for a deposit return scheme. I am committed to a deposit return scheme. Scotland will have a deposit return scheme. It will come later than need be. It will be more limited than it should be. More limited than parliament voted for.
These delays and dilutions lie squarely in the hands of UK government that has sadly seemed so far more intent on sabotaging this parliament than protecting our environment.
This is the second time this year the UK government has blocked a legislative move by the Scottish government. Using a different process, it also stopped the gender recognition reform bill becoming law.
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Leftwing Labour MP Beth Winter attacks 'unjust' process after being defeated in selection contest by Starmer loyalist
The leftwing Labour Beth Winter has complained that “unacceptable obstacles” led to her losing the battle to be her party’s candidate in a new seat.
Winter was defeated by Gerald Jones in the contest to be Labour’s candidate in Merthyr Tydfil and Upper Cynon. Jones, a shadow Welsh Office minister, is seen as much more loyal to Keir Starmer than Winter, a member of the Corbynite Socialist Campaign Group.
Some MPs in all main parties are having to compete against each other for the right to represent new constituencies because new boundaries are coming into force at the next election. But Wales, which is losing eight of its 40 current seats, is affected particularly severely.
The new Merthyr Tydfil and Upper Cynon seat takes in most of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, Jones’s current seat, but it also includes more than half of Winter’s seat.
According to a report for LabourList, it has been claimed Jones won by 231 votes to 215.
In a statement following the selection result, Winter said:
I’m disappointed by this result and by the unjust manner in which it came about, which leaves major questions outstanding …
Unacceptable obstacles were placed in the way of this grassroots campaign, undermining the democratic process.
The online-only process was bulldozed through in just two weeks, with no face-to-face hustings.
This was not a fair contest, and I will be taking advice and soundings in the days ahead about my next steps.
Under Starmer, Labour has repeatedly been accused of organising selection processes in such a way as to exclude or disadvantage leftwingers, and to promote “centrists” aligned with Starmer’s politics.
Momentum, the leftwing Labour group, said:
Once again a Labour party selection is shrouded in controversy. Whether it’s Jamie Driscoll in the north-east or Beth Winter in Cynon Valley, the Labour leadership is taking a sledgehammer to the democratic rights of local Labour members in order to purge socialists and install his loyalists. Sadly, we have witnessed more irregularities in this selection contest.
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Dowden suggests government holding back messages from Covid inquiry to protect medical and 'intimate' information
In his second response to Angela Rayner at PMQs, Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM, implied that the government was taking the Covid inquiry to court to contest its demand for unredacted WhatsApp messages because it wants to stop the inquiry seeing messages containing private medical information and “intimate” family details. (See 12.06pm.) He said:
We will provide the inquiry with each and every document related to Covid including all internal discussions in any form as requested while crucially protecting what is wholly and unambiguously irrelevant because essentially [she] is calling for years worth of documents and messages between named individuals to be in scope and that could cover anything from civil servants’ medical conditions to intimate details about their families.
This is a more detailed explanation of why the government wants to hold back “unambiguously irrelevant” material than we have had before. In the Commons on Monday Jeremy Quin, the Cabinet Office minister, implied that the government’s priority was to avoid setting a precedent that could lead to private messages about policy discussions being disclosed in future to public inquiries on wholly different topics. He said:
Whereas it is entirely right that any material in any way related to Covid is available to the inquiry, we believe there is value to challenge and debate inside government being unclouded by the knowledge that other discussions could be disclosed regardless of their relevance to any future inquiry.
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The Kiss star Gene Simmons said he witnessed “controlled chaos” during his “insane” visit to the Commons today to watch PMQs, PA Media reports. PA says:
The hard rocker, in the UK for the band’s End of the Road tour, was a guest of the DUP MP Ian Paisley and received a private tour before making his first trip into the Commons chamber.
Simmons, speaking in central lobby, told the PA news agency: “What I just saw in there was controlled chaos. It was the clash of wills but respectful – the right honourable so and so, it was fascinating. In America, it’s like the middle finger is a salute. I think Americans can take a big lesson in civility in how to make democracy actually work and still respect the other side.”
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PMQs - snap verdict
According to Kate Ferguson from the Sun on Sunday, many Conservative MPs no longer see the point of coming to PMQs.
There is an increasingly large band of Tory MPs who never bother coming to PMQs anymore
— Kate Ferguson (@kateferguson4) June 7, 2023
They are probably not alone. Even at the best of times, PMQs is rarely a source of enlightenment, and today’s exchanges came close to being one of those events with a negative information function; you end up knowing less at the end of it than you did before, not more.
That is because neither Oliver Dowden nor Angela Rayner were particularly effective at their messaging. For Dowden, it was only his second time at PMQs, and (again) he only really succeeded in not showing Rishi Sunak up. Rayner has delivered some terrific PMQs performances in the past, but she didn’t today.
Rayner started with the Covid inquiry, and a very short question highlighting the hypocrisy of the Tories taking the Covid inquiry to judicial review when their 2019 manifesto included a pledge to stop JR being abused. It was a good opener, but she did not have a powerful follow-up on the Covid inquiry – Nick Robinson (see 9.39am) and Kay Burley (see 9.54am) did a better job at exposing the weakness of the government’s legal position this morning – and from there she embarked on a scattergun approach, where it was not always clear what her main attack line was. For example, when she asked about value for money and the Covid inquiry, it was not clear whether she was asking about the government taking legal action, or the £1m legal fees for Boris Johnson.
The £1m figure seems to have come from this Daily Mirror story. It seems to have been little more than a guess. But Rayner’s reliance on tabloid cuttings for her pre-PMQs briefing is nothing compared with Dowden’s. His entire script seemed to have been inspired by what he read in the Sun or the Daily Mail, and most of it was unconvincing (which was why today’s PMQs was an information black hole).
He complained about the Welsh Labour government not launching its own Covid inquiry, even though the UK one will specifically cover what the Welsh government did. He complained about Rayner claiming AirPods on expenses, even though the claim was approved, and Rayner paid the money anyway when this became a news story. He complained about Labour taking money from a Just Stop Oil backer, when his party’s own record on dodgy donations is probably far worse.
When Rayner asked about the government dropping plans for a register of children missing from school, he claimed it hadn’t. When a Tory MP asked exactly the same question later, he gave a more considered reply, which showed that Rayner was indeed onto something.
Dowden’s most audacious attack line came towards the end, when he claimed that Labour’s proposed climate investment pledge – a £28bn annual commitment on climate projects – would put up the cost of mortgages by almost £1,000 a year. This is based on a “Treasury analysis” that mysteriously seems to have surfaced only in the Daily Mail.
Rayner had one more question to go. She could have tried to contest this claim but instead she ignored it – which perhaps serves as further proof that Labour is getting increasingly nervous about this pledge, and that it might get watered down or ditched. This enabled Dowden to recover some ground, but overall it was not an encounter where either of them emerged with great credit.
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Fleur Anderson (Lab) asks if the government will introduce a proper windfall tax on energy companies.
Dowden says the government introduced a higher windfall tax than Labour was proposing. And he says the OECD today has given the highest growth update to the UK.
And that’s it. PMQs is over.
Sir Bob Neill (Con) asks for an assurance that the election in Spain will not hold up the negotiation of a treaty concerning Gibraltar.
Dowden says the government remains committed to that.
Mohammad Yasin (Lab) asks about a planning dispute in his constituency.
Dowden says Labour claims to favour more development. But as soon as developments are proposed in Labour constituencies, MPs oppose them.
Ashley Dalton (Lab) asks when the government will take responsibility for the attainment gap falling over Covid and not recovering.
Dowden says, before the pandemic, the attainment gap had narrowed. If Labour cares about education, it should urge the unions to call of their strikes, he says.
Gareth Bacon (Con) asks if Dowden agrees it would be disgraceful for a political party to accept public money from a company that received huge sums from the fulough scheme.
Dowden criticises Labour for taking sums from someone who supports Just Stop Oil.
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Simon Baynes (Con) asks Dowden to congratulate a choir in his constituency.
Dowden says choral music is one of our greatest contributions to global culture. He congratulates the choir on making the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent.
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Hilary Benn (Lab) asks about Huntingdon’s disease. Will the government support better access to mental health services for people with the disease?
Dowden says he completely agrees with Benn about the impact of this disease. Investment in mental health has increased, he says.
Damien Moore (Con) asks about a girl in her constituency who took her life. He asks if Dowden agrees Southport council should put better protection measures in place.
Dowden says new guidance addressing this will be published soon.
Nia Griffith (Lab) asks if the home secretary will meet her to discuss concerns about a hotel being used in her constituency for asylum seekers.
Dowden says the government will do what it can to stop small boats. Arrivals are down by 20%, he says.
Flick Drummond (Con) asks Dowden if the government will support having a register of children not in school.
Dowden says local authorities should identify children in their area who are not safe. The Department for Education wants this to happen more swiftly.
Gavin Newlands (SNP) asks if Dowden thinks he is worth the £13,000 he was paid at one point for 20 hours work.
Dowden says he is not sure what the question refers to, but he says the government is helping people with the cost of living.
Dame Andrea Leadsom (Con) says she hopes the rollout of digital medical records will help babies get the best start in life.
Dowden says the so-called digital red book will be rolled out in the next two years.
Catherine West (Lab) says the government has repeatedly failed to reform social care. Will it repair the system, or leave it to Labour?
Dowden says the government has put more money into social care.
Kevin Foster (Con) asks about levelling up and Torbay.
Dowden says the levelling up partneships are helping places in the most need. Foster will make the case for Torbay, he says.
Ronnie Cowan (SNP) says working culture will have to be overhauled as a result of AI. Will the government engage with the universal basic income pilots?
Dowden says the government has never been convinced of the case of UBI. Creating more jobs is a better approach, he says.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, describes meeting a carer yesterday. She cares for her husband, but feels her work is not valued. Carers like Karen save the government more than the NHS budget. Will the government recognise this, and give them the help they deserve?
Dowden says he would like to pay tribute to Karen and other carers. He acknowledges Davey speaks from his own experience as a carer. He quotes the government sums spend on caring.
Black says the government is spending £6bn detaining asylum seekers, and has wasted £21bn. Is the view from the PM’s helicopter so skewed he thinks this is value for money?
Dowden says he will take no lectures from the SNP on getting value for money.
Mhairi Black, deputy leader of the SNP at Westminster, says interest rates are one of the highest in the G20. Isn’t it the case that this government is trashing the economy, only slightly more slowly than Liz Truss did?
Dowden says the OECD has revised its growth forecast for the UK upwards. He says Black described the coronation as a pantomime. But the real pantomime is the SNP, he says.
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Rob Butler (Con) asks about a new rail link to Aylesbury.
Dowden says the Department for Transport is looking at the case for this.
Rayner says this country cannot afford more of this government. The government cannot ensure money is spent properly. The PAC said more money could be wasted because ministers are in denial.
Dowden says more resources are being spent on tackling fraud and error. The government wants to drive down energy bills. But Labour is getting money from Just Stop Oil protesters. And its policies would force the UK to import more oil and gas. For once, he agrees with the GMB union, he says. They said the policy was naive, and could decimate communities.
Rayner attacks Tories over lost £21bn of taxpayers' money as Dowden says Britain 'cannot afford Labour'
Rayner says a public accounts committee report this week says £21bn of taxpayers’ money has been lost.
Dowden says the government is trying to recover that money. Labour plans a £28bn spending spree that would add £1,000 to everyone’s mortages, he says. He says Britain cannot afford Labour.
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Rayner says Dowden’s punchlines are dire. Thousands of people have not returned to school. Why did the government abandon its plans for a register of missing children?
Dowden says that is not the case. This is still under review, he says. He says the government has put extra money into schools, and reading standards are the highest in the western world.
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Rayner says Labour just supports the handing over of what the Covid inquiry has asked for. Boris Johnson is asking for another £1m for his lawyers. Is this a good use of taxpayers’ money?
Dowden says there is no relationship between Rayner and Keir Starmer. He says Labour backed extending the lockdown while he, as culture secretary, was trying to keep arts institutions in business.
Rayner says Dowden prides himself on his knowledge of working people. Will they thank him for spending taxpayers’ money on this legal case?
Dowden says the government wants to ensure that material that is unambiguously irrelevant is not included. That could include details of people’s medical records. On costs, he says Rayner has claimed expenses for two pairs of headphones.
Angela Rayner says the last Tory manifesto said they would abolish judicial review. How is that going?
Dowden says the Tories support the Covid inquiry. But in Wales there is no independent inquiry. There is one rule for Labour, another for everyone else.
David Johnston (Con) says Labour is committed to abolishing Sats, academy schools and Ofsted. He invites Dowden to say this would not be in the interests of children.
Dowden says he is delighted at the recent figures showing children in England are the best readers in the western world. Only the Conservatives can be trusted with our children’s future, he says.
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Oliver Dowden says he is replying on behalf of Rishi Sunak, who is in Washington at the invitation of President Biden. They will be discussing a range of issues including AI, trade and Ukraine, he says.
Oliver Dowden faces Angela Rayner at PMQs
PMQs is starting soon. It will be the second encounter between Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM who is standing in while Rishi Sunak is in Washington, and Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
OECD report shows Britons 'paying price for Tory failure' on economy, Labour claims
Labour says the lastest OECD report (see 10.07am) shows Britons are “paying the price for Tory failure”. In a statement, James Murray, the shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, said:
That the UK will have the highest inflation in the developed world is a mark of government failure.
Inflation has remained so high in Britain – and hit families so hard – because our economy has been badly weakened by 13 years of Tory economic mismanagement.
Labour’s mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 will make our economy stronger and more secure and stop working people paying the price for Tory failure.
Best for Britain has now published details of the MRP polling it commissioned from Focaldata here.
Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, says the figures show the need for tactical voting by progressive voters. She says:
The next election still looks like Labour’s to lose but the high number of undecided voters and marginal seats coupled with the threat of right wing parties working together suggests victory is far from in the bag.
That’s why, when the starting pistol on the next general election is fired, Best for Britain will unleash the most powerful tactical voting operation the UK has ever seen using up to date MRP polling the information they need on how to vote in their area to deliver a change in government.
Labour on course for landslide election victory, megapoll suggests
Keir Starmer is on course to clinch a landslide majority of 140 for Labour at the next UK general election, the first modelling based on a megapoll of new constituency boundaries suggests. Aubrey Allegretti has the story.
And here is an extract.
The general election poses a headache to pollsters and campaign strategists, as constituency boundaries are being redrawn for the first time in several election cycles.
In the first MRP based on the new boundaries, conducted by FocalData and presented by the Best For Britain campaign group, Labour’s potential success was said to be under varying degrees of risk.
If the Reform party – the reincarnation of the Brexit party – repeats the tactic used in 2019, of standing aside in Tory marginals, Labour’s seats would still be at a healthy 401, leaving the Conservatives on 202.
Another scenario has Labour winning 370 seats to the Tories’ 232, based on redistributing undecided voters by their education profile.
If both were combined, under what was billed as Labour’s “worst-case scenario”, the model predicts a hung parliament – with the party about a dozen seats short of a majority, with 316, leaving the Tories at 286.
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Sadiq Khan criticises proposal from Labour council leader to evict families who don't report knife crime
Darren Rodwell, the Labour leader of Barking and Dagenham council, has suggested that families could be evicted from council housing if they do not inform on people who commit knife crime.
Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has criticised the proposal. He told LBC:
I understand that Darren cares passionately about keeping his community safe, as we all do, but you have to be careful about unintended consequences with the best of intentions leading to big problems.
We don’t want innocent people being made homeless because of the actions of somebody in their home.
OECD says government plans to extend free childcare should be 'implemented swiftly'
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has welcomed some elements of today’s OECD report (see 10.07am), particularly what it says about his plans to expand free childcare. He says:
Today’s report boosts our growth forecast, praises our action to help parents back to work with a major expansion of free childcare, and recognises our cuts to business taxes which aim to drive investment.
But while inflation is still too high, we must stick relentlessly to our plan to halve it this year. That is the only long-term way to grow the economy and ease the cost of living pressures on families.
The OECD report does welcome the government’s childcare plans. But it says they should be implemented quickly. PA Media says:
The OECD also stressed that women’s skills are not being fully utilised in the labour market, because they disproportionately work part-time due to caring duties.
It urged that the government’s new childcare measure be “implemented swiftly” to improve participation in the national workforce – which offers 30 hours a week of free childcare for working parents of children aged nine to 24 months.
The policy is not due to come into effect until 2024, and may not be fully in play until September 2025.
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UK set to have second worst growth of all G7 economies in 2023, OECD says
The UK economy will continue to lag behind other countries in the G7 group of advanced economies this year, despite improved growth projections, new analysis has shown. As PA Media reports, only Germany, which fell into a recession over the start of the year and is set to stagnate throughout 2023, will perform worse than the UK. PA says:
Analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forecast that the UK’s economy will just about eke out growth this year.
It expects GDP to edge up by 0.3% before improving moderately to 1% growth in 2024.
It compares with the OECD’s previous forecast in March of a 0.2% decline in GDP this year followed by a rise of 0.9% next year.
All other economies in the G7 apart from Germany – the US, Canada, France, Italy and Japan – are expected to grow at faster rates this year, showing Britain is lagging behind on the international stage.
It is also a significantly slower rate when compared with the group of 20 (G20) advanced economies as a whole, which is predicted to see GDP growth of 2.8% this year and 2.9% next year.
The best performer among the G7 is set to be the US, with its economy forecast to grow by 1.6% this year before easing to 1% in 2024.
“The global economy is turning a corner but faces a long road ahead to attain strong and sustainable growth,” the OECD chief economist, Clare Lombardelli, said.
The UK economy will be “propped up” by government investment and spending, including on energy bills support measures, the OECD said.
And as energy prices come down, inflation will ease and global economic conditions will improve.
“However, weak household income growth will weigh on consumption despite the fall in inflation, monetary tightening will slow both housing and already sluggish business investment, and uncertainty will continue to reduce the contribution of trade to growth,” the OECD said in its report.
Core inflation – which does not account for food and energy prices – is set to be more persistent, only receding to 3.2% in 2024, the projections show. And unemployment will rise, reaching 4.5% next year.
As Ed Conway, Sky’s economics editor points, out, the OECD also says inflation in the UK will be higher this year than in any other G20 economy – although, in global terms, the UK is roughly in the middle in inflation terms, he points out.
Just deleted a tweet containing the below @OECD chart because, frankly, I don’t think it gives a fair impression of where the UK sits vs the rest of the developed world.
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) June 7, 2023
While it’s technically true 👇 UK will have among the highest inflation in the G20… pic.twitter.com/Y2VXJlj84d
When you look at the ENTIRE OECD membership (I just pulled the numbers from the database, which went up after our story went live), actually the UK (red) is pretty much middle of the pack.
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) June 7, 2023
A v different picture.
(NB y axis is truncated at 20%. Argentina/Turkey WAY higher) pic.twitter.com/b1RUgVNHys
The full OECD report is here.
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Steve Barclay, the health secretary, also had trouble with Kay Burley this morning when the Sky News presenter tried to get him to justify the government’s decision to take the Covid inquiry to court. HuffPost has the full story here.
Why would the Govt take its own Covid inquiry to court in a case it's almost certainly going to lose?
— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) June 7, 2023
Sound on for exchange with Health Secretary @SteveBarclay#KayBurley FC pic.twitter.com/jIurfAWSLv
Nicola Sturgeon urged to release all her WhatsApp messages to Covid inquiry
Lawyers representing Covid bereaved families in Scotland have called for all of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s WhatsApp and other messages to be released to the UK Covid inquiry.
Counsel acting for Scottish ministers had previously said that Sturgeon did not have any relevant informal correspondence but the families’ lead solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said it should be for the inquiry to judge what was relevant to the handling of the pandemic.
This comes as the row between the inquiry and the Westminster government over access to WhatsApp messages deepens.
This morning it was also revealed that Scotland’s national Covid memorial has been defaced with anti-vaccination graffiti. The words “masking and vaxxing kids” were daubed on the oak artwork in Pollock Park, Glasgow, while an information board was completely destroyed.
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Health secretary struggles to defend government decision to take Covid inquiry to court over release of documents
Good morning. He had a terrible day in court yesterday. Not Prince Harry (or not just Prince Harry) – from the government’s point of view, it was Nicholas Chapman’s performance that should be a lot more worrying. Chapman was representing the Cabinet Office in the Covid inquiry (not quite a court – but very similar, and as good as), and he was unable to defend the government’s position in terms of releasing documents to the inquiry – because it’s all a muddle. Asked to explain the Cabinet Office’s position on redacting documents from Boris Johnson that Johnson says should go to the inquiry unredacted, he replied: “The position is that the Cabinet Office is working out its position.”
Officially, the government is still going to court because it does not accept the demand from the inquiry that it should submit all WhatsApp messages from Johnson and others to the inquiry so that the inquiry itself can work out what is relevant. It is seeking judicial review, arguing that it should have the right to hold back “unambiguously irrelevant” material. Heather Hallett, the inquiry chair, says that it should be up to her to decide what is irrelevant, and that of course irrelevant material won’t be disclosed.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, was doing interviews on behalf of the government this morning. He was there to talk about extending the availability of weight loss drugs, but he was asked about the Covid inquiry, and he failed to give a full defence of the government’s decision to take the inquiry to court.
In an interview on the Today programme, asked by Nick Robinson why the government would not just trust Hallett to decide what was and was not relevant, Barclay implied this was just about “clarification”. He said:
My understanding this is some clarification that is being sought. Obviously, the use of WhatsApp and the way modern communication was used [during the pandemic] was a new area, to some extent, in terms of government, and the way government business was conducted. And the Cabinet Office wants to clarify some points around that.
Asked what needed to be clarified, he replied:
I think there’s some small, technical questions that are being clarified by the Cabinet Office.
And when Robinson tried again, asking what were the reasons for going to court, Barclay replied:
It’s a long, long time since I practised as a lawyer. I don’t want to stray into legal questions that a better placed for others to explore.
Robinson also pointed out that the Department of Health and Social Care was praised by the Covid inquiry yesterday for being much more forthcoming than the Cabinet Office in releasing documents. Asked if he would advise his Cabinet Office colleagues to follow his lead, and just hand over the material, Barclay laughed, and just muttered something about decisions being “taken on their merits”.
The Cabinet Office is run by Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister. He is taking PMQs later today, because Rishi Sunak is in Washington, and so we will probably get to hear more about this then.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Best for Britain, the internationalist campaign group, releases the results what it says is the first major nationwide MRP poll based on the new constituency boundaries that will be in place at the next election.
Noon: Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM, faces Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, at PMQs.
After 12.30pm: MPs begin a debate on a Labour motion criticising the government’s record on mental health. Later, at around 4pm, they will debate a Labour “humble address” motion saying the government should publish its correspondence relating to the decision to set up a review of the funding of the Teesworks project in the Teesside freeport area.
Afternoon (UK time): Rishi Sunak begins the first day of his trip to Washington. He is visiting Arlington National Cemetery, holding talks with political figures on Capitol Hill and giving interviews to broadcasters.
If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a PC or a laptop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line, privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate), or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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