Early evening summary
Labour has described the Ministry of Justice’s confirmation that it wants to get rid of short jail sentences for most offenders, as part of a response to the prison overcrowding crisis, as “a damning indictment of this government’s collective failure”. (See 5.59pm.)
Rishi Sunak has described the Hamas attack on Israel as a “pogrom” and “an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people”. (See 3.37pm.) In a statement to MPs, he said that at least six Britons were killed, and 10 more were missing. He offered very strong support for Israel, and for the Jewish community in the UK, but he said he had urged the Israeli government to take “every possible precaution” to avoid civilian casualties. (See 3.48pm.) Keir Starmer adopted a very similar tone in his response. (See 3.55pm.) MPs from all parties expressed their horror at the killings by Hamas, although some MPs did dissent from the goverment/opposition frontbench line by criticising Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians and accusing it of breaking international law.
Labour says prisons announcement 'damning indictment of government's collective failure'
Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, starts by saying:
As everybody knows, the first stage of rehabilitation is to acknowledge your mistakes and make a sincere apology to those affected and let down by your actions.
She says this announcement is “a damning indictment of this government’s collective failure”.
Chalk says he will extend the early removal scheme for foreign offenders, so that they could be sent home up to 18 months before they are due to be released.
The government will seek to strike more prisoner transfer deals with other countries, he says.
He says the government will consider increasing the sentencing discount for offenders who plead guilty at the first opportunity.
And, indeterminate indefinite sentences (imprisonment for public protection, IPP – a scheme set up by the Labour government, but now abolished), the government will review what to do about offenders still in jail on these sentences, he says. He says they are “a stain on our justice system”.
Chalk says government will legislate to create presumption that sentences of less than 12 months should be suspended
Chalk says more than 50% of people given sentences of less than a year go on to reoffend. These sentences are expensive, and they risk “further criminalising offenders and trapping them in a merry go round of short sentences”.
He says the government will legislate to create a presumption “that custodial sentences of less than 12 months in prison will be suspended and offenders will be punished in the community”.
He goes on:
I can announce today that we are doubling the number of GPS tags available to the court to ensure that offenders can be monitored to track that they are going to work and also to ensure their freedom is curtailed in the evenings and weekends with robust curfews of up to 20 hours a day.
Chalk says this does not mean all short sentences will be abolished. In some cases they are appropriate, he says.
Chalk says he also wants wider reform to prison policy. He says there are three elements to the plan.
First, the most dangerous offenders should be locked away for longer, he says.
Second, he says there will be more emphasis in prisons on rehabilitaton.
And, third, he says he will ensure lower level offenders are more likely to get community sentences, which could cut reoffending.
Chalk says less serious offenders to be let out of jail up to 18 days early to ease overcrowding problem
Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, is making his statement on prisons now.
He starts with what seems like a repeat of what he said in the article he published in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday.
He says sentences have become longer for some offenders.
And the government will go further, he says; it will legislate to ensure rapists have to serve their entire custodial terms.
He says reports saying judges would not be allowed to send rapists to prisons were not true.
But he says the justice system does need reform.
The prison population has grown. And that is mainly because the remand population ha grown so much, he says.
He says the government is spending £400m to provide more prison sentences.
He says the government will use powers it has to allow the prison service to let some prisoners out of jail up to 18 days early. This will not apply to “anyone serving a life sentence, anyone serving an extended determinate sentence, anyone serving a sentence for an offence of particular concern, anyone convicted of a serious violence offence, anyone convicted of terrorism, [and] anyone convicted of a sex offence.
Chalk says this power will only be used in certain areas, and for a limited period.
And offenders let out early will be subject to conditions, he says. This could include being tagged.
Updated
At the start of proceedings in the Commons and the Lords today there was a minute’s silence for innocent Israelis and Palestinians who have been victims of the war.
Colum Eastwood, the SDLP leader, says Israel should not be dropping bombs on innocent children in Gaza. He says that in Northern Ireland they know that “unspeakable violence should not be met with unspeakable violence”.
There are still many MPs trying to ask a question. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, says he will run the statement until 5.30pm if necessary, at which point he will move on to the prisons statement.
Kim Johnson (Lab) asks if Sunak has requested an immediate ceasefire to prevent the collective punishment of civilians in Gaza.
Sunak says the government is urging Israel to take every precaution.
The Labour MP Imran Hussain asked Sunak:
Will the prime minister make it clear to the Israeli government that laying siege to civilians in Gaza by cutting food, water, power and medical supplies, and indiscriminate airstrikes killing civilians is in clear violation of international law? And just what is the international community doing to stop the horrific and inhumane treatment of Palestinians?
Sunak replied:
The entity responsible for the suffering we are seeing is Hamas and Hamas only.
Labour MP asks PM to ensure he does not add to 'vilification of Palestinians and Muslims' when condemning Hamas
The Labour MP Afzal Khan was heckled as he asked Rishi Sunak to review his statements about the Israel-Hamas conflict to avoid adding to the “further vilification of Palestinians and Muslims”, PA Media reports.
Khan said:
A six-year-old Palestinian child was murdered in Chicago because of his Muslim faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
In the last week we have seen a sharp rise in Islamophobia rhetoric and the dehumanisation of Palestinians, and tragically yesterday we saw the consequences of this in the murder of this little boy.
Will the prime minister review his statements about the conflict and ensure he does not add to the further vilification of Palestinians and Muslims when condemning the actions of Hamas?
Sunak advised Khan to examine his statement to the Commons, adding:
We will not tolerate anti-Muslim hatred in any form and will seek to stamp it out wherever it occurs.
Updated
Layla Moran (Lib Dem) says members of her extended family live in Gaza, and their house was destroyed by the Israeli army. They are now taking refuge in a church, because they are Christians, she says. She urges the PM to honour the promise that the Palestinians will eventually get their own state.
Sunak announces £10m further aid for people in occupied Palestinian territories
Here is the No 10 news release about the £10m in aid for people in the occupied Palestinian territories announced by Rishi Sunak in his opening statement. It says:
Today’s announcement is a 37% uplift to the existing £27m of UK funding this year which is already providing critical support to the region, including an extra £10 million announced by the Foreign Secretary during his visit last month. We will consider further support depending on the changing humanitarian needs on the ground.
Anum Qaisar (SNP) says families in Gaza are being wiped out. She says some children are writing their names on hands so they can be identified if they are killed. What help is being given for children?
Sunak says aid spending in the region is being increased by about one third.
Rosena Allin-Khan (Lab) urges the PM to seek reassurance from Israel on four points; that incendiary weapons won’t be used in Gaza; that hospitals and medics will not be targeted; that food and water will be restored; and that there will be no military occupation or annexation.
Sunak says he is confident the Israeli PM does not want to see regional escalation. He says the UK is urging Israel to do what it can to avoid civilian casualties.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, says people on protests talking about Palestine being free from the river to the sea were calling for Jews to be removed from Palestine. He says the police should take action against conduct like this.
Sunak agrees with this point. He says the police are still reviewing video footage from the demonstrations at the weekend. Further action is possible, he says.
Rehman Chishti (Con) asks who might replace Hamas in Gaza. Did Sunak discuss this with the King of Jordan, and Mahmoud Abbas.
Sunak says that is a good question. This issue was part of the conversation, he says. He says Gaza needs “stable leadership”.
How Sunak told the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, UK still supports two-state solution
Downing Street has released its readout of Rishi Sunak’s conversation with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, earlier today. No 10 said:
[The PM expressed his condolences for the deaths of Palestinian civilians, who have been caught up in the aftermath of Hamas’s terror attack. The prime minister reiterated the UK’s position that Hamas does not speak for ordinary Palestinians.
The leaders agreed on the importance of avoiding further regional escalation and ensuring calm in the West Bank. The prime minister committed the UK’s support for the Palestinian Authority in trying to establish peace and stability. They also discussed support for Gaza, including humanitarian aid and measures to protect civilians.
More broadly, the prime minister and President Abbas agreed that the international community must intensify efforts to break the cycle of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The prime minister affirmed that the UK continues to support a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state existing alongside a safe and secure Israel.
Updated
Dawn Butler (Lab) asks about the the mother of a constituent taken hostage by Hamas. She asks if Sunak will intervene personally in this case.
Sunak says he is happy to have a conversation. He says the government is trying to secure the release of all British hostages.
Julian Lewis (Con), the chair of the intelligence and security committee, said Hamas committed “an act of calculated barbarism with a strategy behind it”. That strategy was to prevent further peace agreements between Israel and countries like Saudi Arabia.
Sunak says Lewis is right about the broader context.
Updated
Andrew Percy (Con) says many British Jews are not confident that the police will act against offensive and threatening conduct. He says in other European countries the police have gone further against pro-Palestinian marches, and he says that should happen here.
Sunak says:
I am clear, when people incite racial or religious hatred, or where people’s conduct is threatening, abusive or disorderly, or causes distress to others, we expect the police to take action and that those committing those crimes should face the full force of the law.
Michael Ellis (Con), the former attorney general, said that Israel had acted entirely in line with international law. He said Israel had not just a right to defend itself, but a duty to defend itself.
Crispin Blunt (Con), a former chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said it was important for Israel to act with proportionality, and to avoid any sense of collective punishment.
Richard Burgon, the Labour leftwinger, said that what Israel was doing in Gaza amounted to “the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians”. He urged the PM to encourage Israel to stop.
Sunak said Israel had the right to defend itself. And he said it was dealing with a vicious enemy that had embedded itself among civilians.
UPDATE: Burgon said:
The massacre of Israeli citizens was a heinous act of terrorism which we all utterly condemn, and the hostages must be released immediately.
In the words of the United Nations general secretary, ‘the horrific acts by Hamas do not justify responding with collective punishment of the Palestinian people’.
But that is what we’re seeing in Gaza – civilian areas bombed, food, electricity, water, medicines, all cut off. Such collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
So will the prime minister take this opportunity to make clear to the Israeli government that this collective punishment of Palestinian civilians must end immediately?
According to PA Media, other MPs could be heard appearing to condemn Burgon’s remarks, saying “shame” and “disgraceful”.
Updated
Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative former chancellor, said that as someone born in the Middle East, this was too painful to watch. He said Israel had to root out the “evil virus of fundamentalism”. But after that Israel has to show “the positive actions it will take to change the reality in Gaza”, he said.
Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, urged Sunak to appoint a special envoy for the peace process, and to proscribe the IRCG (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps).
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said he was concerned the forced evacuation of hospital in Gaza was a breach of international humanitarian law. He asked what advice the PM had received on this.
Sunak said the government would continue to urge Israel to do all it could to minimise civilian casualties.
Theresa May, the former PM, urged Sunak to leave no stone unturned in trying to prevent the conflict escalating in the region. She urged Sunak to reflect on the role of Iran in what happened.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, said Hamas committed a “horrific terrorist attack” that must be condemned unequivocally. He called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor so that people can flee Gaza.
Updated
Starmer says Labour stands with Israel - but its defence must be conducted in accordance with international law
Keir Starmer told the Commons that last Saturday Israel was “the victim of terrorism on an unimaginable scale”.
Hamas wants to wipe Israel off the map, he said. He went on:
Hamas are not the Palestinian people. And the Palestinian people are not Hamas. So Labour stands with Israel. Britain stands with Israel.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
As in any time of grave crisis, it is crucial that this House speaks with one voice in condemnation of terror, in support for Israel in its time of agony and for the dignity of all human life …
Hamas are not the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people are not Hamas.
So Labour stands with Israel, Britain stands with Israel. The attack is ongoing, terrorists are at large, hostages are still being held, some of them British citizens.
Israel has the right to bring her people home, to defend herself, to keep its people safe.
And whilst Hamas has the capability to carry out attacks on Israeli territory, there can be no safety …
Israel’s defence must be conducted in accordance with international law. Civilians must not be targeted, innocent lives must be protected. There must be humanitarian corridors, there must be humanitarian access, including food, water, electricity, and medicines, so that hospitals can keep people alive and so that innocent people do not needlessly die.
And there must be proper protection for all those who work selflessly, so aid can be delivered to victims.
Updated
Sunak highlighted three things the UK government was doing in response.
It was deploying RAF aircraft and the Royal Navy to stop the supply of further arms to the region and to help with the humanitarian effort, he said.
He said the government was increasing the spending on humanitarian aid by £10m.
And he said British diplomacy would be doing what it could “to sustain the prospects of peace and stability in the region”, he said.
He said he had spoken to Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, earlier today.
Updated
Sunak urges Israel to take 'every possible precaution' to protect civilians as it pursues Hamas
Sunak says when Israel goes after Hamas, it should do so in line with international, humanitarian law. He goes on:
As a friend, we will continue to call on Israel to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. I repeat President Biden’s words: as democracies we are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law.
Sunak says he understands 'great anguish' of British Muslims and will listen to their concerns
Sunak says he also recognises this is a moment of “great anguish” for British Muslim communities who are “appalled” by what Hamas did, and fearful of the response.
He says the government will listen to their concerns.
Hamas is using innocent Palestinian people as human shields, he says.
Updated
Sunak says Hamas attack was 'existential strike at very idea of Israel as safe homeland for Jewish people'
Sunak says he has a message for the Jewish community in the UK.
We stand with you now and always.
This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people. I understand why it has shaken you to your core.
And I’m sickened that antisemitic incidents have increased since the attack. We are doing everything that we can to protect you. We are providing an additional £3m to the Community Security Trust to protect schools, synagogues, and other Jewish community buildings. And we are working with the police to ensure that hate crime and the glorification of terror is met with the full force.
Updated
Sunak tells MPs that at least six Britons killed, and 10 more missing, after Hamas attack on Israel that was 'pogrom'
Rishi Sunak is making a Commons statement about Israel and Hamas. He says more than 1,400 people were murdered by Hamas. He says they should call it what it was: a pogrom.
He says at least six Britons were among those killed, and a further 10 are missing. Some of those are likely to be dead, he says.
The government has been helping Britons leave Israel, he says. He says eight flights have removed 500 people.
UPDATE: Sunak said:
The attacks in Israel last weekend shocked the world. Over 1,400 people murdered one by one, over 3,500 wounded, almost 200 taken hostage. We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom.
The families of some of the missing are in the public gallery today. We call for the immediate release of all hostages and I say to them: we stand with you. We stand with Israel.
The murdered and the missing come from over 30 countries, including the United Kingdom.
The terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased but with a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed.
A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead.
Updated
And this is from John Hyde from the Law Society Gazette on the prisons announcment coming later. (See 9.27am.)
The government promising to fix prison overcrowding now is like vowing to fix a leak once the floodwater has reached your eyeballs.
— John Hyde (@JohnHyde1982) October 16, 2023
Ahead of the Commons statement from Alex Chalk later, the Institute for Government thinktank has published a blogpost saying government policy on prisons has been neither consistent nor coherent.
Here is an extract from the article by Gil Richards.
Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, is expected to announce plans to lower the number of short sentences – plans that had previously been cancelled under Boris Johnson. He is also expected to announce plans to release some prisoners early, again going against former policy – Dominic Raab, his predecessor in the role, apparently “refusing to contemplate” such a move. While the government is right to take steps to free up capacity, waiting for crises to strike before addressing policy problems is the wrong way to run any public service.
And here is an IfG graph representing the situation.
Updated
Labour’s newest MP has taken his seat in the House of Commons, PA Media reports. Michael Shanks, the new MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, swore an oath of allegiance to the king after arriving in the chamber. He was accompanied by Labour’s shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray, and shadow Wales secretary Jo Stevens as he entered the Commons.
Former CQC chair Peter Wyman to review how DfE made £370m error in school funding calculation
A former chair of the Care Quality Commission has been appointed to lead a formal review into a funding error by the Department for Education (DfE) which resulted in £370m being cut from English schools’ indicative budgets.
Peter Wyman, who is currently chair of NHS Blood and Transport, will head the review, which will examine the quality assurance process surrounding funding calculations. Schools minister Nick Gibb said improvements had already been made to ensure no similar mistakes were made in future.
In a written ministerial statement, Gibb said he recognised the error would be difficult for local authorities and frustrating for some school leaders, many of whom will now have to amend their budgets.
Gibb made no move, however, to accede to pressure from unions to honour the £370m mistakenly added to school budgets and insisted the downward adjustment would not affect the affordability of the teachers’ pay award, which brought disruptive industrial action to an end.
The DfE admitted there had been an error in its calculation of the national funding formula for schools on 6 October, explaining it inflated the schools budget for 2024/5 by 0.62% after miscalculating pupil numbers. Schools are likely to receive at least £45 less per primary pupil and £55 less for each secondary pupil in 2024/5 as a result.
Chris Bryant, the Labour MP and former chair of the Commons standards committee, has posted a short thread on X about the IEP report into Peter Bone. He says it only reinforces the argument he makes in his recent book, Code of Conduct.
A few thoughts about the IEP report on Peter Bone and his suspension for six weeks.
When I started writing Code of Conduct I thought this the worst parliament in history because 19 MPs had been suspended for a day or more or resigned before a critical report appeared
🧵 A few thoughts about the IEP report on Peter Bone and his suspension for six weeks.
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 16, 2023
When I started writing Code of Conduct I thought this the worst parliament in history because 19 MPs had been suspended for a day or more or resigned before a critical report appeared
When I handed in the text it stood at 20. At publication it was 22. It is now 24.
On the one hand it is good that behaviour that was once swept under the carpet - especially bullying and sexual harassment - is now dealt with more robustly.
But I am struck by four things:
When I handed in the text it stood at 20. At publication it was 22. It is now 24.
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 16, 2023
On the one hand it is good that behaviour that was once swept under the carpet - especially bullying and sexual harassment - is now dealt with more robustly.
But I am struck by four things:
A) attitudes and behaviour still need to change in parliament or else parliament and democracy will fall further into disrepute
B) successive prime ministers, inc Cameron, May, Johnson and Sunak have turned a blind eye to complaints and even made perpetrators ministers
A) attitudes and behaviour still need to change in parliament or else parliament and democracy will fall further into disrepute
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 16, 2023
B) successive prime ministers, inc Cameron, May, Johnson and Sunak have turned a blind eye to complaints and even made perpetrators ministers
C) many MPs still excuse bad behaviour. 250 voted to excuse Owen Paterson and failed to turn up to censure Johnson for lying (inc Sunak). D) the code of conduct and behaviour code is enforced far more strictly and independently against backbench MPs than the ministerial code
C) many MPs still excuse bad behaviour. 250 voted to excuse Owen Paterson and failed to turn up to censure Johnson for lying (inc Sunak).
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 16, 2023
D) the code of conduct and behaviour code is enforced far more strictly and independently against backbench MPs than the ministerial code
is against ministers.
I am proud of the changes we have made to the code of conduct and the introduction of the independent complaints and grievance scheme.
But there is a lot more to do.
is against ministers.
— Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) October 16, 2023
I am proud of the changes we have made to the code of conduct and the introduction of the independent complaints and grievance scheme.
But there is a lot more to do.
Sturgeon backs SNP's revised independence strategy as she arrives at conference
Nicola Sturgeon has told reporters at SNP conference that she gives her “full, unequivocal support” to the party’s new election strategy, after her plan to run the next general election as a de facto referendum was abandoned during a debate yesterday. Instead, the party adopted a revised plan saying that if the SNP wins a majority of Scotland’s Westminster seats at the general election, it will have the mandate to negotiate independence with the UK government.
Sturgeon insisted that she was not overshadowing her successor Humza Yousaf – as she spoke to a wall of assembled media after sweeping down the main conference centre staircase to applause from delegates. She said he was doing “a fantastic job” and that there wasn’t “any doubt about who is in charge of this conference”.
She was also asked if she was a liability for the party after Yousaf said that the continuing police investigation into SNP finances – which saw her and her husband, the former chief executive Peter Murrell, both arrested – came up regularly on the doorstep in the recent Rutherglen byelection, where Scottish Labour won with a 20-point swing. Sturgeon replied:
I am no longer the leader of the SNP. Humza is more than capable of speaking for himself. I’m a leader with a fair amount of election success under my belt and I look forward to supporting the SNP’s future election success.
Updated
A Scottish councils leader has expressed disappointment that 21,000 school workers who are part of Unison have rejected an “incredible strong” £500m pay offer and resumed strike action. (See 1.03pm.)
Cllr Katie Hagmann, the resources spokesperson for Cosla, the umbrella group for Scotland’s 32 local authorities, said:
Firstly, Scotland’s council leaders value their workforce.
Secondly, we have listened to our trade unions, met all their asks and worked with Scottish government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package on the table – which we hope the other trade union members will vote to accept.
Finally, offering almost 10 per cent or a £2,006 pay increase for our lowest paid workers, which the unions specifically asked for, and £1,929 or at least 5.5% for everyone else is as far as local government can go without impacting service and jobs.
Two other local council unions, Unite and GMB, have accepted the Cosla offer. Unison objects to the deal partly because it largely involves money which councils have to take out of their existing budgets, so service cuts and job losses will be needed to fund it.
Updated
Byelection spending suggests tacit Labour and Lib Dems deal on fighting Tory-held seats
Labour and the Liberal Democrats appear to have made space for each other in byelections held in Conservative seats, spending figures acquired by the Guardian show. Henry Dyer has the story here.
Unison school support staff in Scotland vote to continue strike action
More than 21,000 school cleaners, caretakers, caterers and classroom assistants in Scotland are to take rolling strike action, closing nearly 1,900 schools and nurseries, after again rejecting a pay offer from Scottish councils.
Unison announced its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of continuing their strike action over the next few months and urged Cosla, the Scottish councils’ umbrella body, to resume pay talks this week.
The ballot result was released on the second day of the Scottish National party’s annual conference in Aberdeen, as the party licks its wounds after being resoundingly defeated by Labour in Rutherglen and the defection of the MP Lisa Cameron to the Conservatives.
Unison said the strikes would affect 24 local authorities, from Shetland to Dumfries & Galloway. Its members are frequently women working part-time, in jobs on the lowest pay grades; 57% of its members took part, with 90% voting to strike.
Mark Ferguson, chair of Unison Scotland’s local government committee, said:
I’m a parent myself, so I understand the disruption these strikes cause. But if wages don’t rise, school staff will leave for other jobs beyond education that pay significantly more an hour. That would be a disaster and would help no one.
The current offer amounts to a real-terms pay cut and adds further stress to a dedicated workforce who are already suffering from the cost-of-living crisis.
Unison is the last of Scotland’s local government unions on strike after Unite and GMB members voted to accept Cosla’s last offer. Last month, Unite said its members would now be forced to cross Unison picket lines if they were required back in work – a situation Unite described as “bizarre”.
Updated
There will be four ministerial statements in the Commons this afternoon. They are, with approximate timings:
3.30pm: Rishi Sunak on Israel/Gaza
Around 4.30pm: Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, on prisons
Around 5.30pm: Mark Harper, the transport secretary, on HS2 and the new “Network North”
Around 6.30pm: Claire Coutinho, the energy secretary, on the changes to net zero policy announced by Sunak the day after the Commons conference recess started
Updated
Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Féin president, has paid tribute to Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president who has died. Ahtisaari played an important role in the Northern Ireland peace process because he and Cyril Ramaphosa, now the South African president but at the time a prominent ANC leader, were appointed to inspect IRA arms dumps to guarantee that weapons were being decommissioned, in line with the agreement. Adams said:
Martin McGuinness and I met Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari in London in early 2000 and asked if they were willing to act as international arms inspectors examining and securing IRA arms dumps. They agreed and over the following year they carried out three inspections.
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported in 2001 that the dumps that Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari had inspected were secure and that none of the materiel in them could be removed without their knowledge.
Their willingness to undertake this difficult work made an important contribution to the peace process.
Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister, is attending the SNP conference this afternoon. As the BBC’s David Wallace Lockhart reports, that has led to questions about whether she will upstage her successor, Humza Yousaf.
Ahead of Nicola Sturgeon’s expected arrival at SNP conference, Humza Yousaf says members will be “really excited to see her”, and says he doesn’t think he’ll be upstaged by his successor making an appearance in Aberdeen
Ahead of nicola sturgeon’s expected arrival at SNP conference, Humza Yousaf says members will be “Really excited to see her”, and says he doesn’t think he’ll be upstaged by his successor making an appearance in Aberdeen pic.twitter.com/QNayg40ncY
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) October 16, 2023
Updated
At the SNP conference in Aberdeen Humza Yousaf, the SNP leader, and Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, have issued a joint statement saying the two nationalist parties have a “bond of solidarity”. They say:
The SNP and Plaid Cymru share a long history, bound by a common cause: to forge fairer and more prosperous nations through independence. Today, we are proud to be renewing that shared political project.
From the days of Gwynfor Evans and Winnie Ewing, our parties have stood side by side, and have crafted a unique alliance in these islands, one that we will endeavour to strengthen further.
Our shared mission is to improve the lives of the people of our respective nations, in stark opposition to the inequality at the heart of the United Kingdom. We exist to give our respective nations the tools they need to play their full part.
Together, we are building a future where our communities thrive and our children have brighter futures. This is not just a partnership; it’s a bond of solidarity. Today, we commit to renewing that bond, guided by our shared principles of fairness, equality, and self-determination.
Updated
Bone says bullying and sexual misconduct allegations against him are false, and inquiry into them flawed
Peter Bone has issued a statement saying that the bullying and sexual misconduct claims about him made by a former employee, that have led to the IEP recommending a six-week suspension, are false and without foundation. He says the complainant did not raise them at the time and only submitted a complaint years after they had left.
As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.
The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months. The complainant first made the allegations years after they left my employment. They did not raise them at any time during their employment, either in writing or verbally with me, nor with their line managers …
I can say that the allegations are the only allegations at all made against me throughout my work as an MP and beyond. Witness statements were submitted from ten employees (current and former) of the highest integrity, testifying to the professional, accommodating and friendly place my office is to work. Many others would be prepared to testify the same.
Bone also claims the inquiry into his behaviour was flawed, and he says he is taking legal advice as to whether the investigators “operated outside of the powers given to them by parliament”.
I am also firmly of the opinion that on this occasion the independent complaints and grievance scheme investigation was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations. It is my belief that they have operated outside of the powers given to them by parliament and I am currently discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.
The full statement is on X.
Below is my statement on the publication of the IEP report today. pic.twitter.com/nuShAGPlh7
— Peter Bone MP (@PeterBoneUK) October 16, 2023
Updated
Why IEP found Peter Bone guilty of bullying and sex misconduct
The IEP report into Peter Bone says the complaints were made by a man working in the MP’s office in 2012 and 2013, when the misconduct happened. He complained to the Conservative party in 2017 and in 2021, with the Tory complaint still unresolved, the man took his complaint to the independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS), which did not exist at the time the bullying took place. In August 2022 he withdrew his complaint to the Conservative party, which cleared the way for the ICGS to conduct its own inquiry.
Under the ICGS process, an investigator examined the allegations, and their findings were reviewed by the parliamentary commissioner for standards. This is how the report summarises what the commissioner concluded.
The commissioner found the following allegations proved:
Allegation 1: Mr Bone “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the complainant, and this was bullying.
Allegation 2: Mr Bone “repeatedly physically struck and threw things at” the complainant, and this was bullying.
Allegation 3: Mr Bone “imposed an unwanted and humiliating ritual on” the complainant, namely instructing, or physically forcing, the complainant to put his hands in his lap when Mr Bone was unhappy with him or his work; and this was bullying.
Allegation 4.2: Mr Bone “repeatedly pressurised [the complainant] to give him a massage in the office” and this was bullying, but not sexual misconduct.
Allegation 4.3: Mr Bone indecently exposed himself to the complainant on an overseas trip, initially in the bathroom of the hotel room they were sharing and then in the bedroom. The commissioner concluded this was sexual misconduct.
Allegation 5: ostracised the complainant following the events subject to allegation 4.3, and this was bullying.
Bone appealed against these findings, but that appeal was rejected. He also appealed against the proposed six-week suspension, but that appeal was rejected too.
Updated
Tory MP Peter Bone should be suspended from Commons for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct, report says
The Conservative MP Peter Bone should be suspended from the Commons for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct, the Commons independent expert panel has recommended.
In a report the IEP, which deals with bullying and sexual misconduct complaints against MPs, says the complainant first complained about Bone to the Conservative party in 2017. After that inquiry failed to reach a conclusion, that took the complaint to the parliamentary watchdog.
The IEP says:
Following an investigation by an independent investigator appointed by the ICGS [independent complaints and grievance scheme], the parliamentary commissioner for standards upheld five allegations of bullying and one of sexual misconduct. Mr Bone appealed this decision to the IEP. That appeal was dismissed by the IEP sub-panel appointed to consider that case as having raised no substantive grounds.
The sub-panel then determined that Mr Bone should be suspended for six weeks. It stated that: “This is a serious case of misconduct. […] The bullying involved violence, shouting and swearing, mocking, belittling and humiliating behaviour, and ostracism. […] This wilful pattern of bullying also included an unwanted incident of sexual misconduct, when the complainant was trapped in a room with the respondent in a hotel in Madrid, […]. This was a deliberate and conscious abuse of power using a sexual mechanism: indecent exposure.”
Mr Bone appealed the sanction to a fresh IEP sub-panel. They dismissed his appeal, and confirmed the original decision.
If the Commons votes to confirm the suspension, Bone could be subject to a recall election in his Wellingborough constituency, where he had a majority of 18,540 at the last election.
Updated
Sunak says he has urged Israel to minimise impact on Palestinian civilians of its war against Hamas in Gaza
Rishi Sunak has recorded a pooled clip for broadcasters this morning about the Israel-Hamas war during a visit to a Jewish school in London. Here are the main points he made, many of which he is likely to repeat in the Commons later, where he is due to make a statement to MPs in the afternoon.
Sunak said he has told the Jewish community he will do “everything in our power to keep them safe” from antisemitic attacks. He said:
There is no place in our society for antisemitism and we will do everything we can to stamp it out and where it happens, it will be met with the full force of the law.
He said the police may make further arrests in relation to the pro-Palestinian protests held over the weekend, where some attendees were showing explicit support for the Hamas attack on Israel and for the murder of civilians. He said:
We’ve spent time with the police to make sure they have all the tools, powers and guidance they need to police protests over the weekend appropriately, and strike that right balance.
It’s a difficult job, but I’m grateful to them for everything that they’ve done. They’ve made several arrests, but they’re also now reviewing footage of some of the things that many people would have seen that are just simply not acceptable and where they can they will be able to make further arrests.
He said that glorifying Hamas could result in long jail sentences. He said:
Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, it’s very clear under the law, the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal, and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail.
He said the government was providing support to the families of the Britons who have been taken hostage by Hamas.
He defended what Israel was doing in Gaza, but said he had urged the country to minimise the impact on Palestinian civilians as much as possible. He said:
I’ve raised with the Israeli prime minister the need to minimise the impact on civilians as best we can. I’ve raised the humanitarian situation. We will continue to do that with other allies around the region as well.
But again, Israel has given people advance notice of what’s happening, given them the opportunity to leave and it’s Hamas who is now telling people to stay behind, it’s Hamas that is embedding itself inside civilian populations and that is just example of the barbarity with which they operate.
He said British surveillance aircraft sent to the eastern Mediterranean would help to prevent arms being shipped to other terrorist groups in the region.
At the SNP conference in Aberdeen the party yesterday agreed a new version of its plan to use the general election as a test of whether it should have a mandate for a second independence referendum. Severin Carrell and Libby Brooks have the story here.
Keith Brown MSP, the SNP’s deputy leader (or depute leader in Scotland – the party uses the Scots word) has been doing an interview round this morning and he told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland that the the party took the view it would still have a mandate for independence negotiations if it won the most seats in Scotland – even it its support was down from the result in 2019. He said:
If in the UK, a party of government, as has happened many times in the past, have won the election again with fewer votes – you’re saying they didn’t have a mandate. Of course, that’s not the case.
We would have that mandate because we would have won the election and I think people understand that.
And if we do that, then we will enter independence negotiations and set in train in other processes, which will lead to Scotland taking a different path from the rest of the UK.
Brown is addressing the SNP conference later. According to extracts released in advance, he will say Scots will have a choice between “Westminster control and independence” at the next election. He will say:
The next election in Scotland will be a clear choice between Westminster control and independence.
Scotland can escape the chaos of Westminster mismanagement – from the hard-right economic destruction of a Tory budget to the lurch to the right from Labour on everything from workers’ rights to immigration.
Now, with the party united behind the independence strategy, our job is to take the substance of the independence debate to the people – to build support and to deliver independence.
Minister says Israel is 'balancing correctly' need to protect civilians against need to deal with Hamas effectively
James Heappey, the armed forces minister, was doing a morning interview round on behalf of the government earlier. Speaking about the Israel-Hamas war, he told LBC that he thought Israel was “balancing correctly” the need to protect innocent lives against the need to deal with Hamas effectively.
Asked whether the government supports the blockade of water, medical supplies and power from Gaza, Heappey told LBC:
I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity and what we’re saying to Israel is that they need and are, need to show the balance between those two imperatives.
Echoing the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, Heappey said democracies hold themselves to a “higher standard” and “of course we are encouraging Israel to make sure it does hold itself to that higher standard”. He went on:
It is the devil’s own choice that Israel has got to make but for my money they are balancing correctly the need to preserve innocent human life as best they possibly can while accepting that the adversary that they will soon launch an attack on, uses humans and shields and deliberately seeks to hide within civilian population and infrastructure.
Updated
Ministry of justice announces plans to abolish short-term prison sentences to try to free up space in jails
Good morning. Governments that have been in power a long time often have to reverse decisions they have taken earlier, but under this administration this practice has become endemic. Two of the most important acts of public service reform under David Cameron were privatisation of the probation service and the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which put competitive tendering at the heart of the provision of NHS services. Both reforms were subsequently regarded as flawed (or disastrous in the case of probation), and reversed. On tax, the Tories spent the first half of their time in office reducing corporation tax, and putting the income tax allowance up. Now they’re doing the opposite. At the Tory conference Rishi Sunak announced a colossal U-turn on HS2, one of the biggest infrastructure schemes in British history. And today, on sentencing policy, Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, is set to announce another U-turn.
Arguably, it’s a U-turn on a U-turn. When David Gauke was justice secretary in 2019, he announced plans to abolish short-term jail sentences. A few months later Boris Johnson became MP, Robert Buckland replaced Gauke as justice secretary, and the plans were ditched. Today, in a statement to MPs, Chalk will revive them.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, Chalk said:
We need to keep people safe – and that means moving away from short-term prison sentences that make hardened criminals rather than rehabilitated offenders. So we need to look again at low-level offenders. Because while the overall reoffending rate is 25%, the rate for people who spend fewer than 12 months in prison is over 50%.
A short stretch of a few months inside isn’t enough time to rehabilitate criminals, but is more than enough to dislocate them from the family, work and home connections that keep them from crime. Too often, offenders routinely turn back to crime as soon as they walk out of the prison gates.
No prison system should further criminalise offenders or trap criminals who might otherwise take the right path in a cycle of criminality through a merry-go-round of short sentences. This is the wrong use of our prison system and taxpayers’ money. It doesn’t deliver for victims and it doesn’t cut crime. We need to fix this.
There are alternatives to having low level offenders languishing in prison. Judges can make them repay their debt to society in communities – cleaning up neighbourhoods, scrubbing graffiti off walls, and even helping to plant new forests. And with technology moving on rapidly, these options are growing. The latest GPS tags, for example, offer many more options than the radio frequency versions, which were the only ones available to the court when I first started my career as a prosecutor.
All this sounds quite liberal – and not the sort of thing likely to appeal to the Tory core vote which, as the party conference revealed, seems increasingly to be the focus of government policymaking. But Chalk is in a bind because the prisons in England and Wales are full. And so, as Helen Pidd reports, his announcement about phasing out short-term sentences will be combined with one about deporting more foreign criminals.
Ingeniously, the Ministry of Justice has even managed to put a punitive spin on abolishing short-term sentences. The Sunday Telegraph wrote a story based on Chalk’s article yesterday saying that he would be bringing Texas-style justice to the UK. Given that the best known fact about the Texas justice system is that it has by far the highest execution rate for any US state, this made it sound as if Chalk was embracing a policy about which even Suella Braverman might have second thoughts. But the headline was just based on a line in the Chalk article in which he said even US states like Texas were using tagging more for some offenders.
Danny Shaw, the BBC’s former home affairs correspondent, has a good take on X.
What a waste of 4 years.
On 18 July 2019, @DavidGauke – then Justice Secretary – announced limits on the use of short prison sentences to cut reoffending & reduce costs.
But 5 days later Gauke resigned. Boris Johnson became PM & the plans were scrapped.
Now, they’re back …
What a waste of 4 years.
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) October 15, 2023
On 18 July 2019, @DavidGauke - then Justice Secretary - announced limits on the use of short prison sentences to cut reoffending & reduce costs.
But 5 days later Gauke resigned. Boris Johnson became PM & the plans were scrapped.
Now, they’re back…
An acute shortage of prison places has forced the current Justice Secretary’s hand…
So @AlexChalkChelt is adopting Gauke’s 2019 plan - to get courts to use tough community sentences rather than 6 or 12 month jail terms.
Worth a try - but it must be evaluated properly…
An acute shortage of prison places has forced the current Justice Secretary’s hand…
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) October 15, 2023
So @AlexChalkChelt is adopting Gauke’s 2019 plan - to get courts to use tough community sentences rather than 6 or 12 month jail terms.
Worth a try - but it must be evaluated properly…
There’ll also be other emergency measures from @AlexChalkChelt to free up space…
…like extending early release schemes…
… and trying (yet again) to persuade other countries to take back foreign offenders locked up here - there are 10,500 in jails in England/Wales …
There’ll also be other emergency measures from @AlexChalkChelt to free up space…
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) October 15, 2023
…like extending early release schemes…
… and trying (yet again) to persuade other countries to take back foreign offenders locked up here - there are 10,500 in jails in England/Wales …
There’ll also be other emergency measures from @AlexChalkChelt to free up space…
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) October 15, 2023
…like extending early release schemes…
… and trying (yet again) to persuade other countries to take back foreign offenders locked up here - there are 10,500 in jails in England/Wales …
To sweeten the early release pill @AlexChalkChelt will outline some tougher sentences…
…but this shouldn’t deflect from the big story here:
A grotesque failure by @MoJGovUK to plan for the rise in the prison population which its own statisticians had forecast.
To sweeten the early release pill @AlexChalkChelt will outline some tougher sentences…
— Danny Shaw (@DannyShawNews) October 15, 2023
…but this shouldn’t deflect from the big story here:
A grotesque failure by @MoJGovUK to plan for the rise in the prison population which its own statisticians had forecast.
In a statement issued yesterday, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said the government was to blame for a “crisis of epic proportions” in prisons. She said:
The only thing Texan about this government is that they are running the country like cowboys.
13 years of reckless mismanagement of the criminal justice system has led to a crisis of epic proportions where they are now coming up with policy on the hoof, which does nothing to deal with the immediate overcrowding crisis …
With thousands of offences – including sexual offences – committed by people on bail every year, the government is seeking to distract from the issue at hand, instead of giving answers on how they plan to keep our streets safe now.
Labour would uphold law and order in this country by building the prison places we need and by putting criminals behind bars.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Rishi Sunak makes a visit to show support for the Jewish community.
10.30am: The SNP conference resumes with a session on priorities for Scotland, debates on resolutions including one on wind turbines and a speech from Rhun ap Iowerth, the Plaid Cymru leader.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2pm: Keith Brown, the SNP’s deputy leader, addresses the SNP conference.
2.30pm: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 3.30pm: Sunak makes a statement about the Israel-Hamas war.
After 4.30pm: Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, makes a statement about prisons.
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 laptop or a desktop. 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.
Updated
