Summary of today's developments
Rishi Sunak is not expected to attend the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt next month, Downing Street has said. A No 10 spokesperson denied that Sunak’s decision signalled a downgrading of climate change as a priority by the new administration.
Northern Ireland is on course for a snap election after a recall of the Stormont assembly failed to elect a speaker and break the political deadlock. The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) blocked an attempt to revive the assembly and executive, perpetuating paralysis and running down the clock to a midnight deadline to restore devolved government.
The country’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, will not be launching an investigation into Suella Braverman’s reappointment as home secretary. Braverman is under pressure to answer fresh questions about her resignation as home secretary for breaching the ministerial code last week, after new details emerged that cast doubt on her and Sunak’s version of events.
Labour has called for an “urgent investigation” into the “extremely serious allegations” and told Sunak to confirm whether he knew about them. Nadhim Zahawi, who took over from Berry in Tuesday’s reshuffle, said Braverman had quickly realised her mistake.
The SNP minister Ash Regan has resigned over Scottish government plans to make it easier for someone to change their legally recognised gender. Regan’s resignation came just hours before proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act face a first vote at Holyrood.
Downing Street has said Sunak will not commit to raising the state pension in line with inflation before the government’s autumn statement on 17 November. The PM’s official spokesperson acknowledged that the “uncertainty” is causing difficulty for pensioners.
Zahawi has suggested that Sunak and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, may consider extending the windfall tax on energy firms, after Shell’s profits more than doubled to nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September.
That’s it for today. Our full report on Braverman can be found here:
Updated
Eddie Izzard has said she would not try to be selected as an MP using an all-women shortlist for the Labour party, and “isn’t sure” that transgender women should be allowed to run on them.
Izzard, 60, who became famous as a cross-dressing comedian and now identifies as a gender-fluid trans woman, has made the longlist of the open contest to become Labour’s candidate for the safe seat of Sheffield Central in the next general election.
In a short telephone interview with the Guardian on Thursday, Izzard said she had suffered a “torrent of transphobic abuse” since announcing her candidacy, including being photographed by a gender-critical feminist using the women’s toilet.
She and the former Channel 4 economics editor Paul Mason are the only candidates on the longlist to not live in Sheffield. The two local favourites are both city councillors: Abtisam Mohamed and Jayne Dunn.
Izzard, a Labour party member since 1995, started an accounting degree in Sheffield in the 1980s but dropped out to pursue a career in comedy. She now lives in London, but has promised to move her “main residence” to the steel city if selected later this year to replace Paul Blomfield, who is standing down with a majority of 27,273.
Boris Johnson is considering setting up an organisation to help support Ukraine as he seeks to build a new career on the international stage, the Telegraph is reporting.
Johnson has reportedly set up an office in Westminster from which he hopes to start a new foundation which one ally described as a “Marshall plan for Ukraine”.
“Boris will raise loads of money” from private donors to help reconstruct the war-torn country, the friend said.
A source close to the former prime minister confirmed the plans but warned they were moving forward at a delicate pace due to the sensitivity of getting it right.
Labour former home secretary David Blunkett has warned security and intelligence services may be reluctant to share sensitive information with the home secretary Suella Braverman.
Speaking in the House of Lords, he said:
Isn’t it true there could be two really unfortunate outcomes to the reappointment of the current home secretary?
One is that the security and intelligence services will be reluctant to provide the briefings and the openness needed.
The second is that other international security agencies will be reluctant to share with us if they are fearful that their information will be passed out of Government itself.
Replying for the government, Cabinet Office minister Lady Neville-Rolfe said:
(Braverman) brings experience and talents to the job. She apologised, she acknowledged her mistake. That was dealt with by the previous prime minister and you have to allow us to look forward.
She added:
Ms Braverman wrote a letter to the (then) prime minister. She set out why she was resigning. She resigned in good order and quickly. She deserves another chance.
Downing Street has denied that Rishi Sunak’s decision not to attend Cop27 signalled a downgrading of climate change as a priority by the new administration.
A No 10 spokesperson said:
It is a recognition of other pressing domestic commitments, not least preparations for the Autumn Budget.
The UK government remains “committed to net zero and to leading international and domestic action to tackle climate change”, she added. She said:
The UK is forging ahead of many other countries on net zero.
We will obviously continue to work closely with Egypt as the hosts of Cop27 and to make sure that all countries are making progress on the historic commitments they made at the Glasgow climate pact.
The environment secretary Thérèse Coffey, who as health secretary asked civil servants to avoid using Oxford commas, has “learned to live” with the grammatically contentious practice, the Sun’s Harry Cole says.
⁉️ Therese Coffey told an all staff call at DEFRA this afternoon that she has "learned to live with the Oxford comma."
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) October 27, 2022
Another u-turn!
Updated
Rishi Sunak will not attend Cop27 climate summit
Rishi Sunak is not expected to attend the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt next month, Downing Street has said.
The PM’s spokesperson said:
The prime minister is not expected to attend due to other pressing domestic commitments including preparations for the autumn budget.
The UK will be represented by other senior ministers and [the Cop26 president] Alok Sharma.
Updated
Northern Ireland is on course for a snap election after a recall of the Stormont assembly failed to elect a speaker and break the political deadlock.
The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) blocked an attempt to revive the assembly and executive on Thursday, perpetuating paralysis and running down the clock to a midnight deadline to restore devolved government.
The party rebuffed appeals from the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, business leaders and other parties, saying it had a mandate from its supporters to boycott Stormont unless unionist objections to the post-Brexit Irish Sea border were resolved.
If power sharing is not revived before Friday by law, caretaker ministers must step down to be replaced by civil servants, and there must be an assembly election within 12 weeks.
Assembly members traded blame over why an assembly election last May had produced seven months of stalemate and the prospect of another poll, probably in December.
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s vice-president, said people were “bewildered”, and accused the DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, of blocking democracy.
This is his mess, and a failure of leadership by him and his party.
Naomi Long, the Alliance party leader, said politicians were placing party interests over that of a region where public services were “on their knees”. The Ulster Unionist party (UUP) leader, Doug Beattie, said anger in the chamber was nothing compared with what voters were feeling.
I guess we are all going to feel that anger in the next six or seven weeks.
Updated
The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said he spoke with Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission’s vice-president, about the Northern Ireland protocol today amid ongoing UK-EU talks about post-Brexit arrangements in the region.
Good to speak again with @MarosSefcovic today about the Northern Ireland Protocol.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) October 27, 2022
The priority must be upholding the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and protecting political stability in Northern Ireland.
Our teams continue to talk and we agreed to speak again soon.
Šefčovič described it as a “good conversation” and said the EU’s “commitment to finding joint solutions remains unwavering”.
📞 Good conversation with @JamesCleverly. We agree that our teams will continue to engage on the Protocol on IE/NI.
— Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) October 27, 2022
The EU's commitment to finding joint solutions remains unwavering. It's the only way to ensure certainty and predictability in Northern Ireland.
We'll speak soon. pic.twitter.com/2T9ZpBJIBu
Updated
Simon Case not investigating Braverman's reappointment as home secretary
The country’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, will not be launching an investigation into Suella Braverman’s reappointment as home secretary, the Guardian’s Aubrey Allegretti has been told.
I'm told cabinet secretary Simon Case is NOT launching an investigation into Suella Braverman's re-appointment and the circumstances around her original departure as home secretary.
— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) October 27, 2022
This comes as Braverman faced fresh questions about her resignation after new details cast doubt on her and Rishi Sunak’s version of events, as my lobby colleagues wrote earlier today:
Updated
An experienced and senior judge, Lord Brailsford, has been appointed to run Scotland’s public inquiry into the Covid crisis, four weeks after its first chair and four lawyers to the inquiry quit suddenly.
John Swinney, the deputy first minister, said Brailsford would replace Lady Poole, who resigned unexpectedly on 30 September after suggestions emerged of significant tensions and disputes in her inquiry team. Aamer Anwar, a lawyer who represents Scottish families, said it looked like “a sinking ship”.
Brailsford will now appoint his own senior team, but it remains unclear when the new inquiry will begin its work. He has to find lead counsel to replace Douglas Ross KC, whose resignation in late September is thought to have triggered Poole’s departure.
The Scottish government was the first in the UK to acknowledge the need for a public inquiry into its handling of the Covid crisis, as it came under intense criticism over its discharging of elderly Covid-positive people into care homes, and its lockdown strategies.
Despite delaying its decision to follow suit, the UK government’s Covid inquiry has started work and will hold preliminary hearings next week including, on Tuesday, a session starting work on Scotland’s handling of the crisis.
An experienced civil judge, Brailsford said:
The public are rightly looking for answers and no more so than the loved ones of the nearly 16,000 people in Scotland who died during this pandemic.
I am immensely aware of the enormous responsibility this places on me and the inquiry. I promise the families that, along with the inquiry team, I will work independently to establish the facts and ensure the inquiry thoroughly examines the decisions taken throughout the pandemic.
Updated
Penny Mordaunt says she is not disappointed about staying in same post
Penny Mordaunt has said it is “not a disappointment” that she will remain in her role as Commons leader during Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle.
During business questions in the Commons earlier today, the shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire congratulated Mordaunt on remaining in her job. She added:
There were suggestions it might not have been the job she was hoping for. But as parliament’s representative in government, and government’s representative in parliament, we both know that she has an incredibly important role.
Mordaunt replied:
It is not a disappointment to find myself here, in part because I very much enjoy the exchanges I have across the dispatch box with the honourable lady. It was important we tested the proposition of a contest, and we did, to destruction. And I think that … has been a good outcome.
Updated
Labour has said Rishi Sunak must “swiftly” clarify the circumstances surrounding the Suella Braverman row.
The shadow Commons leader, Thangam Debbonaire, said Braverman’s appointment “raises serious questions” about the prime minister’s judgment. She added:
The prime minister must swiftly offer clarity to these contradicting versions of events - which relate to our country’s national security.
If Rishi Sunak has misled parliament and the country, he needs to correct the record urgently and act.
Updated
Musical chairs are underway at the Department for Education, after last night’s announcement from Downing Street that veteran schools minister Nick Gibb and the education select committee chair Robert Halfon would return as DfE ministers of state.
But so far there’s no word on the fate of the incumbent minister of state, Kelly Tolhurst, who faces inevitable demotion, or the department’s other ministers Andrea Jenkyns and Jonathan Gullis, leaving the three MPs chasing one or two ministerial spots.
Gullis was a cheerleader for Boris Johnson’s abortive leadership campaign, and a minister for barely a month, leading many to assume he would be first out the door. Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, was quick to make her feelings plain:
Jonathan Gullis repeatedly demanded my resignation in House of Commons education debates. He even offered to clear out my office at the NEU. Now he is no longer schools minister I am very happy to return the offer and to help him clear out his office at the DfE.
— Dr Mary Bousted (@MaryBoustedNEU) October 27, 2022
Gibb’s return as a schools minister makes him one of the longest serving ministers outside cabinet. While not yet in the Hans-Dietrich Genscher league – the German politician who served as a minister from 1969 to 1992 – Gibb was schools minister from 2010 to 2012, then from 2014 until September last year, when he was unexpectedly sacked by Johnson.
SNP minister quits over gender recognition vote
The SNP minister Ash Regan has resigned over Scottish government plans to make it easier for someone to change their legally recognised gender.
Nicola Sturgeon has accepted her community safety minister’s resignation, which comes just hours before proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act face a first vote at Holyrood.
Regan told Scotland’s first minister she had “considered the issue of gender recognition reform very carefully over some time”. She added:
I have concluded that my conscience will not allow me to vote with the government at the stage one of the bill this afternoon.
Consequently, I am writing to resign my position in the Scottish government as minister for community safety.
Updated
Police in Scotland are investigating claims that China has operated a secret police base in Glasgow as part of a worldwide network allegedly used to intimidate and monitor Chinese citizens and dissidents living overseas, Nicola Sturgeon has indicated.
Asked about the claims made on Tuesday by two Dutch news outlets, the first minister told MSPs she had discussed the reports with Ian Livingstone, Police Scotland’s chief constable, during a routine meeting on Wednesday.
Sturgeon said, in response to a question from Ross Greer, a Scottish Green party MSP, that the allegations were “deeply concerning”.
I want to be very clear that we take them extremely seriously. Any foreign country operating in Scotland must abide by Scottish law. The Scottish government fully supports individuals’ rights to freedom of expression …
[These] matters require to be fully and properly investigated and it would be improper of me to go into too much detail, but I do know as a result of conversations I had yesterday with the chief constable that the police are aware of the reports.
It is not yet clear whether Scottish ministers have raised the claims with the Home Office or UK security services. While Scotland has its own legal system, alleged espionage and unlawful police activity by foreign powers on British soil are reserved matters handled by the UK government.
Updated
Doubts over Braverman claim to have come forward about code breach
Suella Braverman is under pressure to answer fresh questions about her resignation last week as home secretary for breaching the ministerial code, after new details emerged that cast doubt on her and Rishi Sunak’s version of events.
Sources have told the Guardian that Braverman was challenged by the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, about the leaking of a sensitive document, rather than coming forward herself about what had happened.
A government insider said: “She only owned up to it when she was confronted with the evidence.”
It follows an intervention by the former chairman of the Conservative party Jake Berry, who said the issue was “really serious” and added: “As I understand it, the evidence was put to her and she accepted the evidence, rather than the other way round.”
The account appears to contradict what Sunak said during his first prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.
When he was justifying the reappointment of Braverman as home secretary just six days after her departure, he insisted: “She raised the matter and she accepted her mistake.”
Read the full story here:
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Rishi Sunak is facing fresh questions over his decision to reappoint Suella Braverman as home secretary. A former chair of the Conservative party said Braverman was responsible for “multiple breaches of the ministerial code”, but the current chair said she deserved “redemption”.
Jake Berry, the former party chair, said the situation was “really serious” given that Braverman had sent sensitive documents relating to “cybersecurity” from a personal email account to a backbench colleague and tried to copy in the MP’s wife.
Nadhim Zahawi, who took over from Berry in Tuesday’s reshuffle, said Braverman had quickly realised her mistake. The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has called for Braverman to be sacked and a full inquiry opened into her ministerial code breach.
Labour has called for an “urgent investigation” into the “extremely serious allegations” and told Sunak to confirm whether he knew about them. It is demanding that the government publish the advice received from the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, about the decision to reappoint Braverman.
Downing Street has said Sunak will not commit to raising the state pension in line with inflation before the government’s autumn statement on 17 November. The PM’s official spokesperson acknowledged that the “uncertainty” is causing difficulty for pensioners.
Zahawi has suggested that Sunak and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, may consider extending the windfall tax on energy firms, after Shell’s profits more than doubled to nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September.
Sunak has rehired five ministers who are entitled to redundancy payouts after resigning from government only seven weeks ago. Ministers who are sacked and then reappointed are able to claim thousands of pounds in redundancy pay as long as they have been out of a ministerial post for at least three weeks.
Updated
Tory MP says 'big questions' hanging over Braverman reappointment
Tory MP Caroline Nokes has questioned the reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary, just days after she was forced to resign for a security breach.
Speaking to the BBC, she said there were “big questions” hanging over the issue and called for a full inquiry. She said:
I think what is apparent is that there are big questions hanging over this whole issue.
And to be frank I would like to see them cleared up so that the home secretary can get on with her job.
Updated
Downing Street refuses to commit to triple lock
Downing Street has said Rishi Sunak will not commit to raising the state pension in line with inflation before the government’s autumn statement on 17 November.
The PM’s official spokesperson acknowledged that uncertainty over whether the government will maintain the triple lock for state pensions is causing difficulty for pensioners.
They said:
As the prime minister said, decisions will be guided by the values of the government and will be done with compassion.
We do recognise that uncertainty is difficult for pensioners and other groups of people. That’s why the prime minister and the chancellor believe it is right to take the time to work carefully and diligently to come up with proposals that will provide that certainty in the long term.
Given the very challenging economic circumstances the country, and indeed the world, faces, it is right that we take that time so that we put in place measures that can last.
Updated
Downing Street insists Braverman has ‘strong relationships’ with security services
Downing Street says the home secretary, Suella Braverman, maintains “strong relationships” with security services, amid reports of a breakdown in trust after an allegation of Braverman having been investigated by government officials after the leaking of a story involving MI5 emerged.
Asked whether Rishi Sunak believes MI5 is confident in Braverman, his official spokesperson said:
Yes, the home secretary continues to have strong relationships with all the operational bodies that report into the Home Office and are focused very much on keeping the country safe.
Asked if the prime minister is concerned security analysts might be reluctant to share information with the Home Office, the spokesperson replied:
No, and any suggestion of that would be entirely false.
They refused to comment on the accuracy of Sunak’s statement in the Commons that Braverman reported her own mistake of sending an official document from her personal email.
Updated
Downing Street has announced a couple of new appointments to Rishi Sunak’s government.
Victoria Atkins has been made financial secretary to the Treasury, while Andrew Griffith becomes economic secretary to the Treasury.
A couple more now pic.twitter.com/9Ji37C0WTl
— John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) October 27, 2022
The Democratic Unionist party leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said that in the absence of a Stormont assembly, unionists will not accept a joint authority arrangement between London and Dublin, instead of direct rule from London. He said:
I think the Irish government needs to hear this loud and clear: unionists will never accept joint authority. If joint authority is imposed upon us, the Good Friday agreement is dishonoured completely and is not therefore a basis for us moving forward.
If the Irish government thinks that by threatening me or my party with joint authority that that will help us get to a solution quickly, that it will move us forward on the basis of mutual respect and understanding then I’m afraid the Irish government is deluded.
Unionists will not accept joint authority. Joint authority would be an abandonment of the Good Friday agreement and if that’s what the Irish government want to do, then let them be honest and say.
Updated
Northern Ireland faces another Stormont assembly election just seven months after the previous one, after the Democratic Unionist party confirmed it will continue to block the formation of a new executive.
The DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said “sufficient progress” towards alleviating concerns about the Northern Ireland protocol had not been made and “we will not be supporting the nomination of ministers”.
Speaking ahead of Stormont recall, @J_Donaldson_MP says the DUP "will not be supporting the nomination of ministers to the executive". https://t.co/EI5V8X1Oa5 pic.twitter.com/0gJHj42HKX
— UTV Live News (@UTVNews) October 27, 2022
He said:
We were given a clear mandate in the assembly elections that we would not nominate ministers to an executive until decisive action is taken on the protocol to remove the barriers to trade within our own country and to restore our place within the United Kingdom internal market. That remains our position.
He added:
I will not rest until this matter is resolved and the sooner that happens the better.
Updated
The Liberal Democrats have joined renewed calls to expand the windfall tax on energy firms after Shell doubled its profits.
The Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey, said the Tories’ refusal to properly tax “eye-watering” profits of oil and gas companies is an “insult” to people struggling to pay their bills.
The Conservatives' refusal to properly tax the eye-watering profits of oil and gas companies is an insult to all those struggling with their bills.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) October 27, 2022
Even Shell’s CEO has admitted they should be taxed more. People should not have to pick up the bill for this Tory economic chaos.
Updated
Rishi Sunak has rehired five ministers who are entitled to redundancy payouts after resigning from government only seven weeks ago.
The new prime minister filled his cabinet with allies including Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps who were once loyal to Boris Johnson but switched to back Sunak as leader.
Ministers sacked and reappointed are able to claim thousands of pounds in redundancy pay as long as they have been out of a ministerial post for at least three weeks. Raab, Michael Gove, Steve Barclay, Shapps and Johnny Mercer, who have all got their old jobs back after leaving Johnson’s government, are entitled to receive £16,876 each.
Shapps is understood to be donating half of the sum to charity, while Gove and Raab say they hope to pay back half of the sum on a pro-rata basis. Barclay and Mercer did not respond to calls for comment.
A Liberal Democrat source said:
It is absurd that Conservative ministers are effectively being treated to a taxpayer-funded mini-break. Conservative MPs are living it up on the back of government instability, while the country suffers.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said the ministers should have rejected the payments “if they had a shred of decency”.
Updated
The Commons has been suspended until at least 12pm because the Commons leader, Penny Mordaunt, was not present to announce next week’s agenda at business questions.
Rishi Sunak has not yet hired a deputy Commons leader to fill in for Mordaunt.
Updated
The House of Commons has been suspended because the Commons leader, Penny Mordaunt, is not able to take business questions until midday.
The House has suspended for a short time before Business Questions. Business will resume at 12:00.
— UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) October 27, 2022
As the New Statesman’s Rachel Wearmouth points out, no one has been appointed as deputy Commons leader yet.
House suspended because Commons leader Penny Mordaunt can't take business Qs until about 12pm ... & there is no deputy Commons leader yet
— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) October 27, 2022
Updated
Labour has been granted an urgent question in the Commons on the situation at the Manston facility for cross-Channel migrants.
Channel 4 News’s Serena Barker-Singh reports that the home secretary, Suella Braverman, has not appeared to answer the question. The immigration minister Robert Jenrick is answering questions instead.
Labour's UQ on Manston migrant centre has begun - Suella Braverman a no show, Robert Jenrick instead arrives in her place
— Serena Barker-Singh (@serenabarksing) October 27, 2022
Jenrick said that “as of eight o’clock this morning, there are 2,636 arrivals at Manston” with “over 170 people” leaving the site for onward accommodation on Wednesday alone.
He described the Manston processing centre as a “secure environment” that is “resourced and equipped to process migrants securely whilst efforts are made to provide alternative accommodation as soon as possible”.
Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson, who chairs the home affairs committee, said she does not recognise Jenrick’s description of the facility. She told the Commons:
The situation at the Manston facility for cross-Channel migrants constitutes a major incident that is escalating in severity.
She said the number of individuals currently being detained at Manston is “larger than any prison in this country”. She said:
The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration just yesterday described it at the home affairs select committee and I quote: ‘A really dangerous situation and it had left him speechless’.
The committee “heard that people are being held for well over 24 hours, some as long as a month”, she added.
Jenrick said he hoped to visit Manston next week, and that he was “concerned” to read evidence by the independent chief inspector, David Neal.
Updated
The cabinet office minister Oliver Dowden has told MPs that advice provided by the UK’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, to Rishi Sunak on Suella Braverman’s reappointment as home secretary will not be released.
This is from Theo Usherwood of LBC:
Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden tells MPs private advice provided by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to the PM on Suella Braverman's reappointment as Home Secretary will not be released.
— Theo Usherwood (@theousherwood) October 27, 2022
"It's never been case under any administration that advice has been made public."
Updated
Here’s a clip of the Conservative MP Jake Berry, who sat in Liz Truss’s cabinet alongside Suella Braverman, telling TalkTV that she was responsible for “a really serious breach” in the ministerial code while she was home secretary.
Berry said he believed Braverman used a private email address to send confidential cybersecurity information to another MP and tried to copy in the MP’s wife but accidentally sent it to a parliamentary staff member instead.
He indicated that the UK’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, had been consulted and confirmed Braverman had broken the rules.
Updated
More now from the Tory party chairman, Nadhim Zahawi, who has suggested that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt could consider extending the windfall tax on energy firms after Shell’s profits more than doubled to nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September.
Asked if the government would review its position on the windfall tax, he told LBC radio that, as chancellor, Sunak had brought in the current windfall tax on energy firms. He said:
These are tough decisions and I know the chancellor and the prime minister will be looking at everything.
Asked again on the issue, Zahawi added:
I would not pre-empt any decisions but absolutely the chancellor and the prime minister will look at every decision and will, on 17 November, stand up at the dispatch box … and deliver an autumn statement that demonstrates we have an energy plan that delivers energy security, because what you can’t do is create a tax system that disincentivises investment.
Updated
Labour calls for increased windfall tax after Shell doubles its profits to $9.5bn
Labour has renewed its calls for an increased windfall tax in the energy sector after Shell reported profits of nearly $9.5bn (£8.2bn) between July and September.
The oil company made more than double the amount it made during the same period a year earlier, and said it would increase its payments to shareholders.
It was unable to match the record $11.5bn profit it made between April and June, because of weaker refining and gas trading. Despite this, the FTSE 100 company’s third-quarter earnings were higher than the $9bn forecasts by analysts, and were more than double the $4.1bn reported in the same quarter in 2021.
The shadow climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, said Shell’s latest profits report was further proof that a proper windfall tax was needed to make energy companies pay their fair share.
Further proof that we need a proper windfall tax to make the energy companies pay their fair share.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) October 27, 2022
Rishi Sunak's existing plans would see billions of pounds of taxpayer money go back into the pockets of oil and gas giants through ludicrous tax breaks. https://t.co/BdUlz4DYJr
Updated
Northern Ireland assembly members will return to Stormont on Thursday in a final attempt to restore the Northern Ireland executive before fresh assembly elections are called.
It comes after the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, held last-ditch talks with the region’s party leaders to try to restore devolved government and avert an assembly election.
The sitting at Stormont will see an attempt to elect a new speaker – a prerequisite before an executive can be appointed – but that is expected to fail as the Democratic Unionist party will use its veto to block it.
The special sitting comes just hours before a deadline for calling another election. A six-month legislative time frame to form an administration expires just after midnight early on Friday.
If no ministerial executive is put in place, the UK government assumes a legal responsibility to call another election and Heaton-Harris is expected to do so, tipping Northern Ireland into further uncertainty.
Updated
More from the Conservative party chairman, Nadhim Zahawi, who said the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, was not telling people to “dial down the gay” at the Qatar World Cup when he said gay football fans should show “a little bit of flex and compromise” and to “respect the culture of your host nation”.
Cleverly was criticised yesterday after he said Qatar, which criminalises homosexuality, was willing to make compromises to allow people it would normally persecute to attend the tournament. He said:
One of the things I would say for football fans is, you know, please do be respectful of the host nation. They are trying to ensure that people can be themselves and enjoy the football, and I think with a little bit of flex and compromise at both ends, it can be a safe, secure and exciting World Cup.
Speaking to Sky News today, Zahawi was asked if Cleverly was saying people should “dial down the gay” while at the football tournament, which starts next month. He replied:
No he wasn’t – absolutely not. He was saying the policies of the government of Qatar are not our policies, nor would we condone them.
Gay football fans should not have to compromise on their sexuality, Zahawi told LBC radio. He said:
Of course you are safe to go to the World Cup. No one should have to compromise at all in my view. I am very proud of what we have done in the UK.
We use every opportunity when we engage with the Qatari government to share with them how we do things here. They have had a different historical journey but football is a celebration of diversity. I am sure the Qataris completely understand this as well.
No one should need to compromise on their sexuality or their preference whatsoever.
Updated
‘Breakdown’ in trust between MI5 and Braverman ‘needs to be sorted asap’, says Tory MP
The Conservative MP and former member of the intelligence and security committee (ISC) Mark Pritchard said a “breakdown” in trust between MI5 and the home secretary, Suella Braverman, must be “sorted asap”.
MI5 need to have confidence in the Home Secretary - whoever that might be. It’s a vital relationship of trust, key to the UK’s security & democratic oversight of MI5. Any breakdown in that relationship is bad for the Security Service and the government. It needs to be sorted asap
— Mark Pritchard MP (@MPritchardUK) October 27, 2022
A report by the Daily Mail last night claimed Braverman was investigated by national security officials earlier this year as part of an MI5-linked inquiry into a security breach relating to a British spy.
The investigation found “no conclusive evidence” of the identity of the leaker. The newspaper said Braverman, who was attorney general at the time, was seeking an injunction against the BBC to stop it from identifying a spy accused of using his position to terrorise his former partner.
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, described the allegations as “extremely serious”. She added:
There needs to be an urgent investigation into the home secretary’s security breaches, including these new allegations while she was attorney general.
The prime minister needs to say whether he knew about these allegations when he reappointed her. Ignoring warnings about security risks when appointing a home secretary is highly irresponsible and dangerous.
Updated
The Tory party chairman, Nadhim Zahawi, said it would be “unwise” for the government to make an announcement on the pensions triple lock before the autumn statement on 17 November.
Downing Street yesterday declined to commit to keeping the triple lock on state pensions in place, and said the decision would be “wrapped up into the fiscal statement” on 17 November.
Zahawi told Sky News:
It would be unwise of me to pre-empt the autumn statement. This government is about responsibility and sustainability.
What I would say to pensioners watching this morning is both the prime minister and the chancellor are very much aware – and I’m going to state the obvious here – pensioners are uniquely unable to work to add to their income or improve their income.
He said Rishi Sunak “always protected the most vulnerable” as chancellor. He told Times radio:
I am stating the obvious here, but uniquely pensioners cannot add to their income by taking on more work and therefore we have to be clear in how we make sure we help the most vulnerable in our society, including those pensioners, but I won’t pre-empt the autumn statement.
Updated
The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has called for the home secretary, Suella Braverman, to be sacked and a full inquiry opened into her ministerial code breach.
The role of home secretary is the “most serious job you could have in our state”, Lammy told Sky News, describing her position in the role as “very fragile”. He said:
This is a person who makes judgments about terrorism and counterterrorism, who makes judgments about very serious offenders, whether they should be allowed out of prison. For that reason, it’s someone for whom, I’m afraid, judgment is critically important.
'Suella Braverman should be sacked'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 27, 2022
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy says "judgement is critically important" in the role of home secretary, and calls her return "a lapse of judgement"
👉 https://t.co/jUh3qMgZ1n
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/0585AgvfMN
The former Conservative party chairman Jake Berry claimed Braverman had been responsible for “multiple breaches of the ministerial code”. He also indicated that the UK’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, had been consulted and had ruled that the rules had been broken.
Lammy said Braverman was “rightly” sacked for these breaches, adding:
The question is, why was she brought back? What was the advice of the cabinet secretary to the prime minister when he suggested that she should be brought back? He should share that advice, but it’s clear to me that she should be sacked and there should be a full inquiry into what’s gone on.
Asked if he agreed with the chairman of the Conservative party, Nadhim Zahawi, who said politicians deserve a “second chance”, Lammy replied:
A home secretary making decisions about terrorism isn’t allowed to make mistakes.
Updated
Braverman deserves ‘second chance’ as home secretary, Nadhim Zahawi says
Good morning. The Conservative party chairman, Nadhim Zahawi, has defended Rishi Sunak’s reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary less than a week after she was forced to resign for a security breach.
The prime minister is facing a growing backlash over his decision to reappoint Braverman, who was forced by his predecessor Liz Truss to quit last week for breaching the ministerial code.
Zahawi argued that Braverman had admitted her “mistake” and resigned “immediately”, a characterisation that has been disputed by government officials. He told Sky News today:
She admitted her mistake, she resigned. A new prime minister came in, looked at the information and decided that he wants to give her a second chance. It think that is the right decision. Redemption is a good thing.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
She fell on her sword, she didn’t try to ride it out and try to hang on to her job. This prime minister looked at the details of this case and he believes in second chances and he’s giving Suella Braverman a second chance. I believe in redemption, as I’m sure many of your listeners would do as well.
Sunak’s reappointment of Braverman faced fresh questions last night after a former Tory party chairman claimed the home secretary was responsible for “multiple breaches of the ministerial code”.
Jake Berry, who sat in the cabinet alongside Braverman at the heart of Liz Truss’s government, said she was responsible for a “really serious breach” after using a private email address to send confidential cybersecurity information to an MP, trying to copy in the MP’s wife but accidentally sending it to a member of parliamentary staff instead.
He also indicated that the UK’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, had been consulted and found that rules had been broken.
Sunak told MPs on Wednesday that Braverman had made an “error of judgment” and had recognised her mistake, adding:
That’s why I was delighted to welcome her back into a united cabinet that brings experience and stability to the heart of government.
Here is the agenda for the day.
09.30am. Office for National Statistics releases its weekly economic activity and social change data, and its latest crime figures for England and Wales.
09.30am NHS digital figures on GP appointments, NHS workforce and staff absences in England.
09.30am. Cabinet Office questions to the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden.
10.30am. Commons leader Penny Mordaunt has the weekly business statement, followed by backbench business debates on the national food strategy and food security, and guaranteeing the right to maintain contact in care settings.
11am. Questions in the Lords on public space protection orders, the Zimbabwean government’s detention of the country’s members of parliament and on COP26.
11.45am. A statement on the resignation and reappointment of the home secretary.
12pm. The Northern Ireland assembly recalled for special sitting.
3pm. Westminster Hall has a debate marking World Menopause Day.
I’m Léonie Chao-Fong and I’ll be taking you through today’s developments in British politics. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
