Early evening summary
Rishi Sunak has refused to endorse Suella Braverman’s claim that multiculturalism has failed. (See 5.01pm.) There is a good thread on this on Twitter from Sunder Katwala, head of the British Future thinktank, which studies race and identity issues. He points out that the word multiculturalism is interpreted in different ways by different politicians. The thread starts here.
The prime minister calling Britain “a fantastic multicultural democracy” fits with the government’s view that the UK is a role model/leader among multi-ethnic democracies, compared to other countries, like France. (It does not entail a commitment to a multiculturalism policy).
The Prime Minister calling Britain "a fantastic multicultural democracy" fits with the government's view that the UK is a role model/leader among multi-ethnic democracies, compared to other countries, like France. (It does not entail a commitment to a multiculturalism policy). https://t.co/vSMJIOEGpS
— Sunder Katwala (@sundersays) September 28, 2023
Updated
Sunak refuses to commit to discussing with Dublin 'plan B' approach to reviving power sharing at Stormont
In an interview with UTV, Rishi Sunak refused to commit to discussing a so-called “‘plan B” approach to revising power sharing at Stormont with the Irish government. Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach (Irish PM), has said a “plan B” may be necessary if the DUP continue to boycott Stormont.
Updated
Sunak says he does not think drug consumption room pilot in Glasgow will work
Rishi Sunak has said that he does not think the opening of a drug consumption room in Glasgow will help tackle the problem of drug addiction.
In an interview with STV News, asked if he thought the initiative would be work, he replied:
We don’t, and we think they condone illegal use and that’s what they run the risk of doing.
But he confirmed that the UK goverment would not try to stop the pilot scheme going ahead.
In full: STV News political editor Colin Mackay quizzes Rish Sunak on issues including the UK's first drug consumption room in Glasgow and approving the £24bn Rosebank oil field. https://t.co/jXwuy6fLvX pic.twitter.com/qkJKB4RPhE
— STV News (@STVNews) September 28, 2023
Sunak says Britain should try to extract 'every last drop' of oil from North Sea
Rishi Sunak has said Britain should try to extract “every last drop” of oil from the North Sea.
He made the comment in an interview with STV News in which he defended the decision to approve the development of the Rosebank oil field off Shetland, and insisted the move was compatible with the drive towards net zero.
Asked if he thought the UK should take “every last drop” of oil from the North Sea, Sunak replied:
I think the UK should focus on the North Sea because we’re going to take every last drop. I mean, we need oil and gas for decades to come.
So yes, I would much rather have that from home because it’s better for our energy security. It’s better for our economy and it’s better for our jobs now.
Pressed again whether that approach meant “taking every last drop”, he replied:
I think that is absolutely the right thing to do, because that’s better for our country.
It’s better for jobs, it’s better for our energy security, and by the way, better for carbon emissions.
When we import gas from somewhere else around the world, it comes here with three or four times the emission that you would get from getting it here at home so yes I do think it’s the right thing to do.
It’s the right long-term thing to do for our country, and that’s what I’m always going to do.
Although the terminology was new, when Sunak said he wanted “every last drop” of oil extracted from the North Sea he was just restating the position he set out in July when he said he wanted “to max out the opportunities that we have … in the North Sea”.
Sunak says he wants tougher jail sentences for 'heinous' crimes
Rishi Sunak has said that he would like to see sentences toughened for the most serious crimes.
He made the point in an interview with BBC Points West, as he spoke about how appalled he was by the stabbing to death of a schoolgirl in Croydon this week.
Sunak said:
The idea that a girl not much older than my own kids would have their life just cruelly ended in that way is shocking, it’s absolutely shocking.
The solutions are to keep doing the things that we are doing, and that’s making sure we’re putting more police officers on the street.
It’s also important to give them the powers that they need whether that’s stop and search … But most importantly we need to toughen up on the sentencing on the people who perpetuate these heinous crimes.
When people just do the most awful things they should just go to jail for a very long time and life should mean life.
Earlier this week the Daily Mail said the government is drawing up plans to ensure convicted rapists no longer qualify for early release.
Sunak says Labour's plan for VAT on private schools shows party does not get aspiration and is waging 'class war'
Rishi Sunak has said that Labour’s plan to impose VAT on private school fees shows the party does not understand aspiration and is engaged in “class war”.
In an interview with BBC South Today Sunak said:
Labour’s approach illustrates that they just don’t understand the aspiration of families like my parents who were working really hard.
As PA Media reports, Sunak attended Winchester College in Hampshire, one of the UK’s top and most expensive private schools where fees for day pupils are more than £36,000 per year and boarders pay almost £50,000.
Sunak went on:
[My parents] wanted to do something for their kids that they thought would make a difference to them. Labour’s approach to that is to clamp down on it.
They don’t understand the aspiration that people have to provide a better life for their kids.
They want to punish them for that as part of some class war. I don’t think that is right.
Sunak defends Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson over GB News presenting job
Rishi Sunak has defended the right of Lee Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chairman, to receive £100,000 as a presenter for GB News.
In an interview with BBC East Midlands, he was asked about Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, working for the channel, which suspended two presenters this week over misogynist comments.
Sunak said there were rules in parliament to ensure that “MPs are focused on their constituents and that we regulate exactly what they’re doing”. He went on:
But Lee’s also doing a fantastic job representing his constituency.
He’s helping me deliver for people to halve inflation to grow the economy, to reduce debt, to cut waiting lists, and importantly, to stop the boats. That’s what’s Lee’s getting on and helping us deliver nationally.
Lee’s also helping me deliver a more realistic, pragmatic and sensible path to net zero that’s going to save families across the east Midlands thousands of pounds by not forcing them to do things that aren’t necessary.
That’s what Lee’s doing. He’s got my total support, and that’s what we’re doing for people in the east Midlands.
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Sunak refuses to endorse Braverman's claim multiculturalism has failed
Rishi Sunak has repeatedly declined to endorse Suella Braverman’s claim that multiculturalism has “failed” in her hardline speech on immigration, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister instead praised the UK’s “fantastic multicultural democracy”, saying the nation has done an “incredible job of integrating people”.
In her speech Braverman argued the “misguided dogma of multiculturalism” had “failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it”.
She suggested it has allowed them to “pursue lives aimed at undermining the stability and threatening the security of our society”.
But Sunak, the first British PM of Indian heritage, repeatedly declined to back her comments during a round of regional broadcast interviews ahead of the Tory conference.
Asked by BBC East Midlands political editor Tony Roe if he agreed with Braverman, Sunak said: “I think that this is something that is incredible about this country, is that it is a fantastic multicultural democracy.
“We have done an incredible job of integrating people into society and one of the lovely things about getting the job I have, as the first person from my background to hold this job, that’s a wonderful thing, but it’s also not a big deal in our country.
“I think that speaks to the progress we’ve made over the years and how far we’ve come and something we should all be collectively incredibly proud of.”
Asked if the home secretary was wrong, Sunak said it is “important that everyone subscribes to British values” but that he believes “our country has done an incredibly good job of integrating people from lots of different backgrounds”.
In her speech on Tuesday Braverman said:
Uncontrolled immigration, inadequate integration, and a misguided dogma of multiculturalism have proven a toxic combination for Europe over the last few decades.
I’m not the first to point this out. In 2010 Angela Merkel gave a speech in which she acknowledged that multi-culturalism “had utterly failed”.
The then French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron echoed similar sentiments shortly thereafter.
Multiculturalism makes no demands of the incomer to integrate. It has failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it. They could be in the society but not of the society.
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Sinn Féin says 'patience has run out' with DUP as it continues to block resumption of power sharing
Some elements of the Windsor framework, the revised version of the Northern Ireland protocol, come into force this weekend. At a briefing for the media, Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and first minister designate, said the British and Irish government should now come up with a plan to restore power sharing at Stormont, which has been blocked for more than a year and a half because of the DUP boycott.
O’Neill told reporters:
Everyone has been more than reasonable giving time and space to the DUP, but that patience has run out. We are at the end of that road and what we need to see is the action plan to get us back into the executive …
Our priority should always be plan A, which is to get the executive up and running, but if that is not the case of course it is prudent for the two governments to work together and actually find a way.
But, what does that look like? What does that joint stewardship look like? They need to be having those conversations.
I do think the two governments need to bring forward a plan in the first instance to have a restored executive and how they are going to stop the DUP preventing the formation of an executive.
Updated
Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty to wind down venture capital fund
Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, is winding down her startup investment fund, months after questions were raised over its links to taxpayer-funded schemes, Kalyeena Makortoff reports.
Tom Brake, a former Lib Dem MP who now heads the Unlock Democracy campaign group, has joined those criticising Rishi Sunak for claiming he was powerless to intervene when Nadine Dorries was not serving her constituents properly. (See 10.34am.) Brake said:
Rishi Sunak had the power to withdraw the party whip. He didn’t. Doing that would have given Nadine Dorries the clearest possible message that she needed to do her job or go. Sunak’s inaction gives the lie to his promise to lead a government of integrity, professionalism and accountability.
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Sunak refuses to say how much government spending on empty barge for asylum seekers
Having done a round of interviews with regional radio this morning, Rishi Sunak has also been giving interviews to regional TV. Speaking to David Wood, from ITV News West Country, Sunak repeatedly refused to say how much the government was spending on the Bibby Stockholm, the barge for asylum seekers that has been empty since the discovery of legionella led to it being evacuated.
“The only boat you’ve stopped so far, though, is the Bibby Stockholm, which is empty again today, and has been for more than a month,” Wood said.
Sunak insisted that using the barge to house asylum seekers was still “viable”.
Commenting on the interview, Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, said:
The barge is a symbol of Rishi Sunak’s total failure to clear the asylum backlog and tackle the criminal gangs that have taken hold on Britain’s borders.
The taxpayer is already on the hook for £8m per day for asylum hotels, and now the prime minister is refusing to say how much his latest failed gimmick is costing.
Rishi Sunak tells me the Bibby Stockholm is still "viable" accommodation for asylum seekers at Portland Port. He insists it'll bring down costs of housing migrants but repeatedly refuses to say how much it is costing. No one has stayed on board since early August. pic.twitter.com/bKGr2mw9sG
— David Wood (@davidbevanwood) September 28, 2023
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Phillipson suggests government may delay trans guidance for schools until after election
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said the government may not release its long-promised guidance for schools dealing with transgender pupils before next year’s election, forcing an incoming Labour government to restart the consultation process.
“It looks to me like the government might not conclude that process this side of the election, it’s all gone rather quiet,” Phillipson said, leaving schools to navigate controversial issues such as pupils’ changing facilities and social transition.
In her Mumsnet Q&A, she said:
If we were elected, we would have to start that process over in effect, so we’d have to start the process of working through the challenges that we see and the balances that we need to strike and then consult to get it right.
I don’t believe we do that by having loud and noisy conversations on the front page of national newspapers. So I’d want to take a step back, balance that and make sure that we do have an open discussion about the challenges that young people can experience growing up, especially for young women in particular.
Rishi Sunak had promised that the government’s transgender guidance for schools in England would be released earlier this year. But so far ministerial conflicts and legal wrangling appears to be behind the delay in publication.
UPDATE: In response to Phillipson’s comment, a spokesperson for the government said:
The education secretary [Gillian Keegan] is working closely with the minister for women and equalities [Kemi Badenoch] to provide guidance to schools and colleges.
Given the complexity and sensitivity of the issue, we’re taking the time to make sure any guidance we provide is as clear as possible.
We’ve been repeatedly clear about the importance of biological sex and we advise that schools and colleges proceed with caution - prioritising the safeguarding and wellbeing of all children and involving parents in decisions relating to their child.
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Bridget Phillipson suggests private schools should cut costs not raise fees when Labour makes them pay VAT
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said it was “not necessary” to strip charitable status from private schools in order to end their tax breaks and fund state schools with the revenue raised.
In a Q&A session with users of the Mumsnet online forum, Phillipson was asked if she believed private schools should lose charitable status, as she appears to have suggested in the past, leading to accusations of Labour flip-flopping on the issue. She replied:
I’ve always been focused on how we end the tax breaks and how we then use that money to deliver higher standards in our state schools. Ending charitable status was not a necessary part of doing that. We can press ahead with ending the tax breaks relatively quickly, and then put that money into delivering better outcomes for children. So the policy is unchanged in that regard.
Phillipson also rejected claims that adding VAT to private school fees, potentially raising fees by 20%, would strain the state sector by causing an influx of pupils.
Arguing that demographic changes meant state schools were having to close because of falling pupil numbers, Phillipson said there was “ample space” in England’s classrooms and advised private schools to try belt-tightening rather than simply raising fees. She said:
Private schools are not required to pass on a VAT to parents and I think they could choose to make different choices themselves about how they offer different kinds of provision.
Everyone in recent years has had to make cutbacks. Many of the people who are taking part in this discussion will be facing difficult choices every day about what they can and can’t afford in the middle of a cost of living crisis. I think private schools are no different and perhaps they should reflect on where they could be making savings.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that adding VAT to school fees could raise a net £1.3bn to £1.5bn a year. Pointing this out, Phillipson went on:
That’s a lot of money, and that would allow us to deliver 6,500 new teachers, better mental health support in our schools, more support around teacher training and development, greater support around early years too, so more effective speech and language interventions when children are starting at primary school.
I just think it’s a simple question of political priorities. I don’t think the tax breaks private schools enjoy can be justified. And, the independent evidence is absolutely clear about how much we could raise and how we could then choose to use that money differently.
Updated
Earlier this week two polls appeared suggesting the Labour lead over the Conservatives was narrowing significantly following Rishi Sunak’s announcement last week that he was watering down some net zero measures. The results were written up by the Sun as evidence that Sunak was making a recovery.
Today the Times has published YouGov polling suggesting that, if Sunak did receive a net zero bounce, it has not lasted. It suggests that Labour now has a 21-point lead (Lab 45%, Con 24%), up from a 16-point lead (Lab 43%, Con 27%) in the middle of last week, when people were polled in the two days straight after the net zero announcement.
Luke Tryl from More in Common (which carries out a lot of polling) suggests it is best to wait until the polls have settled down.
Why it’s a little premature to declare narrowing before you see a sustained trend, YouGov in RedBox has Labour lead up 5. Good advice, which I will absolutely not follow myself, is to ignore VI polls during policy blitzes and conference season and wait for them to settle down.
Why it’s a little premature to declare narrowing before you see a sustained trend, YouGov in RedBox has Labour lead up 5. Good advice, which I will absolutely not follow myself, is to ignore VI polls during policy blitzes and conference season and wait for them to settle down. pic.twitter.com/MURdDPI8Cp
— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) September 28, 2023
And Peter Kellner, the former YouGov president, argues the message from the polls is relatively settled.
Two polls this week show Labour lead down (@DeltapollUK and @RedfieldWilton). Now @YouGov shows Labour lead up. Calm down, headline writers! 30 polls in past month all agree: Labour on 44% +/- 3; Conservative 26% +/- 3. Watch the signal; ignore the noise.
Two polls this week show Labour lead down (@DeltapollUK and @RedfieldWilton). Now @YouGov shows Labour lead up. Calm down, headline writers! 30 polls in past month all agree: Labour on 44% +/- 3; Conservative 26% +/- 3. Watch the signal; ignore the noise.
— Peter Kellner (@PeterKellner1) September 28, 2023
BBC updates ‘Lineker clause’ to restrict presenters airing political views
The BBC has updated its social media guidelines to include a strengthened “Lineker clause”, in an attempt to stop high-profile presenters expressing strong views on party politics, Jim Waterson reports.
Legal challenges to Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act to be heard in November
Legal challenges to the provisions of the government’s new Northern Ireland Troubles legacy act must be heard in November, PA Media reports.
At a hearing at the high court, Mr Justice Colton was told the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, which became law last week, is now subject to 19 judicial review applications.
The act, which offers immunity from prosecution to people accused of Troubles-era crimes who cooperate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, has been widely criticised as in breach of human rights laws saying the state has a duty to ensure such crimes are properly investigated.
The judge said he intended to deal with the cases in November, but that the court would not be able to accommodate all parties who have applied for judicial review.
Updated
The FT columnist Stephen Bush has posted a good thread on Twitter arguing that Rishi Sunak’s failure to disown Nadine Dorries more aggressively this morning (see 10.34am) is a good example of his ineptitude as a leader.
It’s a fascinating political strategy to pay the price of being divided with your party over climate change and HS2 but not try to get the dividend of differentiating yourself personally from the era of Tory politics that’s gone.
It’s a fascinating political strategy to pay the price of being divided with your party over climate change and HS2 but not try to get the dividend of differentiating yourself personally from the era of Tory politics that’s gone. https://t.co/VufZy7aMny
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) September 28, 2023
A theory I have is that one challenge of switching from being a minister or opposition frontbencher to leader is, when you’re the former, all the differentiation you do is for internal consumption and has to be subtle enough not to look disloyal and risk the sack.
A theory I have is that one challenge of switching from being a minister or opposition frontbencher to leader is, when you’re the former, all the differentiation you do is for internal consumption and has to be subtle enough not to look disloyal and risk the sack.
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) September 28, 2023
Successful political leaders get this - e.g. Cameron, literally part of what was described months before as “Howard’s boys” schlepping out to look sad at a glacier and basically go “unlike the leader I owe everything to, I am a moderate”.
Successful political leaders get this - e.g. Cameron, literally part of what was described months before as “Howard’s boys” schlepping out to look sad at a glacier and basically go “unlike the leader I owe everything to, I am a moderate”.
— Stephen Bush (@stephenkb) September 28, 2023
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Rishi Sunak said this morning that tackling potholes should be a transport priority. (See 9.32am.) A reader has been in touch to point out that the Commons all-party parliamentary group for better roads published a report earlier this year saying that the government’s record in this area was “bad” and that, according to some accounts, £14bn was needed to bring roads in England and Wales up to an acceptable level.
Updated
Environmental campaigners have been staging a Restore Nature Now protest this morning outside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs HQ in London this morning. It follows the publication of the State of Nature report saying one in six species in Britain is at risk of being lost. Helena Horton writes about it here.
Gordon Brown says Braverman 'completely wrong' on immigration because she ignores case for aid spending
It has taken a while, but some Conservative MPs have now started to criticise Suella Braverman for the immigration speech she delivered in the US on Tuesday. As Aubrey Allegretti reports, Sir Bob Neill, who chairs the Commons justice committee, and Tobias Ellwood, who was chair of the Commons defence committee, have spoken out against the home secretary.
The former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has also attacked Braverman’s argument. In an interview with Sophy Ridge on Sky’s Politics Hub last night, Brown said that Braverman was “completely wrong” because she thought countries like UK should respond to the problem caused by mass migration by becoming more restrictive. Brown said it was better to alleviate the conditions driving immigration to Europen in the first place.
Asked if Braverman was right to talk about the problem of uncontrolled immigration, Brown replied:
Yeah but her policy is completely wrong.
Look, if you go to Africa, and I’ve visited most of the African countries over my time, the African population is 1.2 billion at the moment. It will be 2.5 billion twice as much in 30 years time. Africa will be 25% of the world’s population.
Now, are you going to say to people in Africa that your only hope of getting a decent standard of living is migrating to the rest of the rest of the world, particularly to Europe? Or are you going to say we will help you in Africa and enable you to produce jobs, to produce products that can be sold to get your agricultural sorted out?
Africa is still a net importer of food. So you’ve got to have a policy to help those people. If they think they’re going to be better off poor in a rich country, then rich in a poor country, then the pressures for migration will grow.
Asked if he was making the case for aid spending, Brown said that was partly what was needed, but that promoting economic development was also vital.
Updated
Former SNP minister Fergus Ewing claims party no longer stands up for Scotland after suspension for rebel vote
The former SNP minister Fergus Ewing has claimed his party no longer stands up for Scotland as he was suspended for a week after a disciplinary vote by fellow MSPs.
The sanction, which was backed by 48 votes to nine with four abstentions, came about after Ewing voted against the SNP-Green government in a no-confidence motion against the Scottish Green minister Lorna Slater.
Ewing, a long-serving MSP and minister whose mother, Winnie, was a leading figure in the independence movement and whose sister also sits at Holyrood, has been increasingly vocal in criticising polices he believes penalise rural communities and with his attacks on the SNP’s governing partnership with the Scottish Greens.
After the MSP group meeting last night where the suspension was agreed, Ewing made a statement saying:
The SNP I joined would never have asked me, or indeed any other elected politician, to choose between loyalty to party and loyalty to constituents …
It was never an ordinary political party because it was one which put Scotland first.
Ewing has been outspoken in his opposition to gender recognition reform, coastal protection plans and short-term letting reform, and he has described the Greens as “extremists” and as “the green tail wagging the yellow dog”.
The suspensions is notable for highlighting how rarely MSPs have stepped out of line with the whip in the past, and raises questions about party discipline since Humza Yousaf took over as leader. Ewing speaks for the rural, business-friendly wing of the party that has become increasingly vocal since Nicola Sturgeon resigned, and after the Highlander Kate Forbes ran Yousaf so close in the contest to replace her.
Asked about Ewing’s suspension on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, the net zero secretary, Màiri McAllan, said the sanction was “a normal thing”. She added:
Fergus is a long standing MSP, he has been a minister, he understands the procedures here and what the outcome is of voting in the way that he did.
McAllan also said that the SNP welcomed free thinking and that Yousaf “wants people to come to him and to speak to him internally if they have any concerns they wish to raise”.
Updated
Sunak rejects claim he had power as Tory leader to force Nadine Dorries to do her job properly as MP
Rishi Sunak received a nice, soft question about Star Wars from Babs Michel on BBC Three Counties Radio this morning (see 9.49am), but she also gave him hell over the conduct of Nadine Dorries, who eventually resigned as MP for Mid Bedfordshire after repeated claims that she was doing no work on behalf of her constituents.
Michel said that Dorries was understood not to have held a constituency surgery since 2020, and that this was “hugely embarrassing”. She said Dorries’s behaviour went against everything the Tories stood for, and she said the voters in Mid Beds “deserved better”. Sunak did not try to defend Dorries at all, and instead said Festus Akinbusoye, the Tory candidate in the byelection, would be “a great MP”.
Sunak went on: “Festus isn’t responsible for Nadine Dorries’ behaviour.” At that point, Michel pounced.
No, you are and you’re her direct line boss. So why didn’t you deal with that situation, as her boss?
In response, Sunak claimed that, despite being her party leader, he did not have the power to ensure that Dorries served her constituents properly as an MP. He said:
The way it works for MPs is slightly different, in the sense that they themselves are elected by their constituents and we have a separate process for them stopping the job that they’re in. It is not my ability to do that, actually. Ultimately people elect their MPs regardless of who the prime minister is.
Sunak is right in the sense that party leaders cannot force MPs to resign from parliament. But they can withdraw the whip from them on the grounds of misconduct, and that is not something that happened to Dorries.
Sunak said he wanted to talk about the future, not the past. At that point Michel said Akinbusoye was refusing to be interviewed by the station. She suggested that that was because the party was “just embarrassed about what’s happened in Mid Beds”.
Rishi Sunak refused a dozen times in his interview round this morning to say whether the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 would be scrapped, reports Aubrey Allegretti, who has been keeping a tally.
Defence secretary Grant Shapps meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv
Grant Shapps, the newish defence secretary, has been in Kyiv meeting Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, he has revealed on Twitter.
I’ve been back to Kyiv this week to ask President @ZelenskyyUa what he needs to win.
As Ukraine retakes its territory, UK support remains unwavering. We will work tirelessly to bring our partners together to help Ukraine defeat Putin’s illegal invasion. Slava Ukraini
I've been back to Kyiv this week to ask President @ZelenskyyUa what he needs to win.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) September 28, 2023
As Ukraine retakes its territory, UK support remains unwavering. We will work tirelessly to bring our partners together to help Ukraine defeat Putin's illegal invasion. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/VSkIPO7BBs
Zelenskiy has also tweeted about the meeting.
I received UK Defense Secretary @GrantShapps in Kyiv.
I am profoundly grateful to the UK for all the financial, humanitarian, and military support, including crucial long-range capabilities.
We discussed further defense cooperation and steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense.
I received UK Defense Secretary @GrantShapps in Kyiv.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 28, 2023
I am profoundly grateful to the UK for all the financial, humanitarian, and military support, including crucial long-range capabilities.
We discussed further defense cooperation and steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. pic.twitter.com/hITN23AjD7
Updated
Rishi Sunak described himself at least twice during his regional radio interview round as someone who lives in a rural area. This was when he was speaking to BBC Radio Shropshire and to BBC Radio Cornwall. Asked about housing problems, he told BBC Radio Cornwall:
What we are doing is giving councils far more power to manage that. And, it’s a tricky balance. I live in a very rural area of North Yorkshire. And, it’s great to live in place that people want to come and visit – that’s great for our local economy.
But, we’ve got to balance that with the needs of local communities and that’s why local councils are being given by this government more power to think about how they prioritise housing for local people. I do want to get on a build more homes for the next generation in a sensible way.
Sunak is MP for Richmond in Yorkshire. It is a very rural constituency, and he has a home there. But it is not really where he lives, because his primary residence at the moment is in Downing Street, in the centre of London.
Updated
Sunak says having cameo role in a Star Wars film would be his 'childhood dream'
Rishi Sunak sounded defensive and occasionally a bit tetchy during his local radio media round this morning. But he sounded genuinely enthusiastic when asked on BBC Three Counties Radio about Star Wars. Sunak is a hardcore Star Wars fan (he got every single question right, I seem to remember, when Nick Robinson asked a series of obscure questions about the films in a podcast some years ago) and Babs Michel, pointing out that some of the sequels were filmed in the Three Counties (Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire), asked Sunak if he was more Skywalker, Hans Solo or Darth Vader.
As with the HS2 question, she did not get definitive answer, but Sunak enjoyed fantasising. He replied:
I’ll leave others to come to their own conclusions.
Who wouldn’t love to go on the Millennium Falcon and have that be your ship, so I would love to be able to do that. But then again also piloting an X-wing has been probably one of my life’s bucket list things I would want to do so actually if you could have a chat with the people who film the movies there.
If they could get me a cameo in an X-wing and I would get to say ‘Red Seven standing by before we take down the Death Star’ that would make me a very happy man, so that was always my childhood dream.
Updated
The Independent’s Tom Peck may have worked out why the HS2 project is going so badly.
Might seem like a silly question but are there actually ‘spades in the ground’ on HS2, as Rishi Sunak claimed at least ten times this morning? Is it being dug by hand? That would explain a lot.
Might seem like a silly question but are there actually “spades in the ground” on HS2, as Rishi Sunak claimed at least ten times this morning? Is it being dug by hand? That would explain a lot.
— Tom Peck (@tompeck) September 28, 2023
Updated
Sunak suggests fixing potholes a transport priority as he refuses to tell Manchester if it will get HS2
Here are the quotes from Rishi Sunak’s exchange with Anna Jameson, the presenter, on BBC Radio Manchester about HS2. (See 9.08am.) Asked about high-speed rail, Sunak really did imply that potholes were a bigger priority.
This is how the exchange went.
Jameson: Sorry, I feel we’re going off topic here and I just want to keep it focused on HS2. We’re straight-talking people in the north. It’s a yes or a no. Are you scrapping the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester?
Sunak: Like I said, I’m not speculating on future things. We’ve got spades in the ground right now and we’re getting on …
Jameson: But is it under review?
Sunak: Government is always making sure that we get value for money out of everything we do, but that’s just a statement of the obvious, right. But I think what people also should know, because I know there’s a lot of focus on this one thing, but actually what are the journeys that people use most in Greater Manchester or across the north? It’s in their cars, right now, getting to work, taking their kids to schools, making sure that the roads are free of potholes. That’s probably priority number one that people raise with me.
Jameson: But we’re not talking about potholes. The main story right now, across the country, is people want to know about the future of HS2. And still now you can’t give me a yes or a no. And you are the man in control. You have the keys. You can tell us now if that’s happening.
Sunak: But, Anna, my point to you is the vast majority of the journeys that people make are in their cars. Making sure that we make sure our roads are well maintained is very important.
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Here is a clip of Rishi Sunak refusing to tell BBC Radio Manchester about the fate of the HS2 link to the city. It has been posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Adam Bienkov from Byline Times.
Rishi Sunak repeatedly refuses to answer questions from BBC Manchester about whether he will scrap HS2 to the city and just talks about filling potholes instead pic.twitter.com/ncqsMknxxX
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) September 28, 2023
Sunak repeatedly refuses to commit to building HS2 phase two in local radio interview round
Good morning. Rishi Sunak has been doing a regional radio broadcast round this morning. According to PA Media, he had eight interviews scheduled between 8am and 9am. But we did not getting much new insight into the fate of phase two of HS2. Asked if the link between Birmingham and Manchester would definitely go ahead, Sunak refused to say. But he instead he stressed his commitment to funding local transport initiatives – fuelling speculation that he may combine an announcement cancelling or delaying the Manchester extension with plans for other transport investment in the north of England.
This is what Sunak told BBC Radio West Midlands when asked if phase two was going ahead.
There are spades in the ground right now at the moment making sure that we complete the first part of this line from Birmingham to Central London, and we are absolutely getting on with that, that is important.
But I think what is also important, particularly to your listeners as well, is that we are investing in the transport that they use every day, making sure that the roads that people are using, probably right now as they are driving to work or taking their kids to school, are free of potholes, that the bus services that we have are reliable and frequent.
I will post more from the interviews shortly. But the main takeaway was probably Sunak’s repeated question dodging in relation to HS2. This did not make a good impression.
This is from the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves.
Rishi Sunak tells exasperated Radio Manchester presenter that the ‘vast majority of journeys are made by car’ as she tries – and fails – to get a commitment that HS2 will make it to Manchester. ‘We’re not talking about cars, we’re talking about trains,’ she snaps back
Rishi Sunak tells exasperated Radio Manchester presenter that the ‘vast majority of journeys are made by car’ as she tries - and fails - to get a commitment that HS2 will make it to Manchester. ‘We’re not talking about cars, we’re talking about trains,’ she snaps back
— Jason Groves (@JasonGroves1) September 28, 2023
This is from Bloomberg’s Kitty Donaldson.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's whirlwind tour of local BBC radio stations has been dominated by questions about whether the northern spur of HS2 will go ahead.
— Kitty Donaldson (@kitty_donaldson) September 28, 2023
By failing to shut down the speculation, seems likely this issue will dominate Tory conference at the weekend
And this is from the Telegraph’s Jack Maidment.
Rather brave of No10 to put Rishi Sunak on BBC Radio Manchester with literally no answer on the future of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2.
— Jack Maidment (@jrmaidment) September 28, 2023
Repeated refusal to answer the question is not a great look.
Otherwise, it is a relatively quiet day. The Commons is in recess, but the Scottish parliament isn’t, and Humza Yousaf is taking first minister’s questions at noon.
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