Evening summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s main news stories:
The Labour party has accused Rishi Sunak of being “slippery” in the row over whether the government will hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and other documents to the Covid inquiry. The shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, has told Sky News the prime minister should “comply with the inquiry and do it today”.
The government has “absolutely nothing to hide” from the Covid inquiry and intends to be “absolutely transparent”, a cabinet minister has said, after Rishi Sunak faced accusations of attempting to cover up the actions of senior MPs during the pandemic. The Covid inquiry, led by the retired judge Heather Hallett, has used its powers to request unredacted notebooks, diaries and WhatApp correspondence between Boris Johnson and 40 senior government figures.
The Scottish National party at Westminster has filed its spending returns just in time to meet a strict deadline, which could have led to the suspension of its £1.2m state subsidy. The SNP at Westminster and its headquarters in Edinburgh had faced a major crisis after it emerged some weeks ago that its independent auditors, Johnson Carmichael, had resigned last September.
Fines during the pandemic were three times more likely to be given to black people and seven times more likely to be issued in the poorest areas, research commissioned for Britain’s police chiefs has revealed. The study covering England and Wales showed racial disparity for every single force. In one area, people from ethnic minorities were up to eight times more likely to be fined. It presents further evidence of ethnic disparity in the use of police powers. Most forces deny they are institutionally racist, as does the government.
A trade minister has insisted that there are safeguards in place for British farmers as the UK marks the first day that new trading rules with Australia and New Zealand come into force. Under the deals’ terms, from Wednesday tariffs on all UK goods exports to Australia and New Zealand will be removed, access to these markets for services unlocked and red tape slashed for digital trade and work visas, PA Media reported.
A prominent Tory mayor has gone on air to call a Labour MP a “liar and a coward” in a row over a major development project. The Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, hit out at the Middlesbrough MP, Andy McDonald, as their feud over the Teesworks scheme deepened, PA reported.
Labour’s plans to ban ex-ministers from lobbying the government for five years after leaving office are “encouraging” but need to go further, lobbyists have said. Along with the lobbying ban, the party is considering a five-point plan that would see former ministers fined for breaking lobbying rules and a new Integrity and Ethics Commission with the power to enforce standards across public life.
Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested for failing to move out of the road in Parliament Square in their latest slow march. The group said 10 supporters, including a retired cook who uses a wheelchair and members of Christian Climate Action, were detained by police on Wednesday, PA reports.
Rail services in parts of England have ground to a halt with the first of three train strikes this week taking place as the long-running dispute between the unions and the government over pay, jobs and conditions continues. A 24-hour strike by members of the driver’s union Aslef is under way and a further day of industrial action is planned for Saturday, the day of the FA Cup final.
Rishi Sunak will tell Joe Biden next week the UK should become a global hub for developing international regulation of artificial intelligence, as the prime minister rapidly shifts his position on the emerging technology. Sunak will travel to Washington DC on 7 and 8 June for meetings with the US president, as well as members of Congress and business leaders. Officials have told the Guardian that while there, Sunak intends to raise the issue of AI regulation, and specifically call for Britain to play a leading role in coordinating the formulation of global guidelines for its use.
Rishi Sunak should resurrect the help to buy scheme and lower national insurance in a bid to woo younger voters, a Tory MP has said. Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, said graduates under 40 should be paying a lower rate of tax as he claimed younger voters were more concerned with money than social issues.
Britain’s future is outside the EU, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has said, as he promised to make Brexit work. Writing in the Daily Express newspaper, Starmer – who campaigned forremain in the 2016 referendum – also said he would not be seeking a return to freedom of movement.
The British businessman Dale Vince is a “perfectly legitimate person” to take money from and his donations to Just Stop Oil do not change Labour’s position on the climate activist group, the shadow international trade secretary has said. Nick Thomas-Symonds said his party had been “extremely clear on our views on Just Stop Oil” and that Vince was perfectly entitled to “give money to other causes”, PA reported.
Keir Starmer has been told by trade union Unite that any plan to block new North Sea oil and gas developments must not leave workers “paying the price”. Unite, the party’s single biggest donor, told the Labour leader that such a move could risk a “repeat of the devastation” caused by the closure of coalmines, PA reported.
Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) could be scrapped if the UK government does not U-turn on its decision to exclude glass from the plans, Humza Yousaf has warned. The first minister said the Scottish government was looking at options on how the scheme could progress without damaging Scottish businesses, but if no alternative could be found, the proposals may not continue, PA has reported.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
The man behind a parody Twitter account that claimed to be an anonymous Conservative MP offering a glimpse into Westminster life has revealed himself to be a personal trainer and environmental campaigner from Yorkshire.
Henry Morris set up the Secret Tory handle in 2019 and his brand of political satire has attracted more than 200,000 followers and earned him a book deal, PA reported.
Fans and critics speculated for years about who was behind the account, with some suggesting it could be a well-known comedian or even an actual MP.
But on Wednesday Morris, who now lives near Crymych in west Wales, unmasked himself in a video posted on his profile.
Who is the Secret Tory?
— THE SECRET TORY - OBE 🇬🇧 (@secrettory12) May 31, 2023
All is revealed in...
The Tories! pic.twitter.com/Wt3WL9X8Kt
He told BBC News he “inadvertently” started the account when talking about Brexit when he was “bored between training clients in my gym”.
“It took on a life of its own almost immediately. I remember people in the gym laughing about the account without knowing it was me, and it was very nice to have my hunch confirmed that I could make people laugh,” he said.
“Other people discover they’re good at things like ballet or darts. Turns out I’m very good at pretending to be a Tory MP.”
Updated
