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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Deal reached over onshore windfarms and new SNP leader in Westminster named – as it happened

Summary

That’s all from our coverage of UK politics for this evening. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of all the latest from throughout today.

  • A Labour motion calling on the government to release all documents related to contracts awarded to PPE Medpro, has passed.

  • It comes after the Guardian revealed that Tory peer Lady Mone appeared to have received millions originating from the company’s profits, allegations she has denied.

  • Labour leader Angela Rayner said “ministers must now confirm when, where and how this information will be released”.

  • A further Guardian report has revealed that a second company over which Lady Mone allegedly lobbied ministers in an attempt to secure government Covid contracts was a secret entity of her husband’s family office.

  • Stephen Flynn, the MP for Aberdeen South, has been elected leader of the SNP in Westminster, replacing Ian Blackford, who resigned last week amid reported disquiet about his leadership.

  • Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi Black was elected as Flynn’s deputy.

  • Flynn said he would be “relentlessly focused on standing up for Scotland’s interests and our democratic right to decide our future in an independence referendum”.

  • Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has abandoned his opposition to the opening of new onshore wind farms amid a back bench revolt over the issue.

  • While campaigning for the Tory leadership over the summer, Sunak pledged to scrap plans to relax a ban on new farms because of the “distress and disruption [they] can often cause”.

  • Former levelling up secretary Simon Clarke, who led the rebellion, said communities ought to be able to decide for themselves whether they want a wind farm in their area.

  • Ambulance crews at five ambulance trusts in England will stage a 12-hour strike over pay and staffing from 12pm on 21 December, the Unison union has announced.

  • Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has accused the government of allowing NHS strikes to go ahead this winter because wider failures mean “patients are going to suffer” anyway so it wants to use staff “as a scapegoat in the hope that they avoid the blame”.

Updated

The chancellor will urge the UK’s largest banks to do all they can to support those struggling to pay their mortgage during the cost of living crisis when he holds his first talks with chief executives on Wednesday.

Jeremy Hunt will host a roundtable with heads of major mortgage lenders, including Debbie Crosbie of Nationwide, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart and NatWest’s Alison Rose to discuss the impact of rising interest rates and living costs on customers.

Richard Lloyd, the interim chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates and supervises mortgage lending, will also be attending alongside bosses from Lloyds, Santander UK and Barclays.

Hunt is expected to tell them they should do everything they can to support borrowers, including through interest-only payments that could temporarily reduce their monthly bills during the economic downturn.

Read the full story here:

Updated

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