Early evening summary
Keir Starmer has accused Kemi Badenoch of “bandwagon jumping” in calling for a new inquiry into sexual abuse gangs. The two leaders clashed before MPs started the second reading debate for the children’s wellbeing and schools bill. At 7pm Tory MPs will vote for a Conservative amendment that would block the bill and urge the government to hold an inquiry into sexual abuse by gangs. Starmer has not ruled out an inquiry (see 1.59am), but Labour MPs have been ordered to vote down the amendment and it is certain to be defeated. Given that the bill includes measures to protect children from abuse, Starmer said it was “shocking” that the Conservatives wanted to vote it down. During the debate the Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe suggested all Pakistani visas should be refused, and aid to the country suspended, until Pakistan agreed to take back any of its nationals who have been involved in child sex crimes – and their relatives. Labour’s Sarah Champion said she was “disgusted” by his speech. (See 5.03pm.)
Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP usually seen as a loyalist, has criticised the bill because of its impact on academies. Under the bill, they will lose some of the freedoms they enjoy and be required to teach the national curriculum. Speaking in the debate, McDonagh said when she was first elected in 1997 two of the four secondary schools in her Mitcham and Morden constituency were in the lowest-performing 5% of schools in London and the capital was the “worst region in the country” when she was first elected in 1997. There are now three academies in her constituency, all rated oustanding, she said. She went on:
According to Ofsted’s latest inspection report, one of the keys to the success of Harris Academy Merton is its aspirational curriculum – their version of our national curriculum that is flexible and tailored to pupils’ individual needs.
Ofsted stated that their teachers were able to carefully consider what pupils needed to learn and the right time for pupils to revisit this knowledge.
This is a proven recipe for success, not just at Harris Academy Merton but in academies across England.
I struggle to see how removing this right to a carefully tailored education will benefit the students that need the additional support that this provides.
Forcing schools like Harris Academy to teach the national curriculum risks undermining one of the keys to their success.
The former Brexit negotiator Oliver Robbins has been appointed as the UK Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant.
Members of the Welsh parliament could receive a 6% pay rise this year, PA Media reports. PA says the rise would mean a backbench Senedd member would earn £76,380 a year from April, up from £72,057 in 2024. Proposals for a 6% increase in MSs’ pay have been put forward by the Independent Remuneration Board, as part of its annual review. The first minister, Eluned Morgan, would see her additional salary rise to £90,701, taking her total pay to £167,081, while senior government ministers would get £119,343. The increase is now subject to a public consultation.
Lib Dems ordered to pay £14,000 in damages to former candidate claiming discrimination over gender-critical views
The Liberal Democrats have been ordered to pay £14,000 in damages to a former parliamentary candidate who feels she was driven out of the party and barred from standing as an MP in a row over her gender-critical views, PA Media reports. PA says:
Natalie Bird, 45, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, had complained of being unfairly targeted for her beliefs after she wore a top bearing the slogan “Woman: Adult Human Female” to a party meeting.
Bird recalled “being treated like a wicked witch and felt targeted” in a campaign of discrimination and feeling that “the complaints system was weaponised against her”, the central London county court heard today.
The single mother and former prospective parliamentary candidate for Wakefield sued for discrimination, and representatives of the Lib Dem membership had previously conceded the claim.
Bird had asked for an award of £90,000 for injury to feelings for breach of her membership contract and rights under the Equality Act.
She had gone online and been critical of the party’s policies and “there is no evidence that Bird’s views ever crossed the line and became transphobic or abusive”, judge Jane Evans-Gordon said.
Bird was also “upset” by people who called her transphobic when her claims of their alleged abuse went “unaddressed”.
The court heard: “Ms Bird holds the belief that sex and gender are separate. Her views are known as gender critical. She alleges that as a result she has suffered discrimination by the Liberal Democrats which has caused her great hurt to her feelings.”
The judge said the level of compensation reflects the fact the discrimination was not “a one-off or an isolated incident and it is likely to have had a significant impact on Ms Bird”.
She noted that Bird is not prevented from returning to work, the sum makes allowances for the unfair process involved in her removal as a prospective parliamentary candidate for Wakefield but not for her lack of progress in her political career or ability to network.
The judge added: “Political parties are entitled to choose candidates who support party policies and remove those who disagree with the policies. They cannot be expected to choose those who publicly disagree and undermine party policy.”
Bird had worn the T-shirt bearing the words “Woman: Adult Human Female” in the days after she was nominated as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Wakefield in December 2018.
Soon after she received a letter suspending her membership and notifying her that there would be a formal disciplinary hearing against her for breaching the party’s code of conduct.
The court heard that Bird’s case covers a range of issues including how the complaints against her were dealt with, her prospects for appeal, her removal as a prospective parliamentary candidate and her exclusion from the 2020 party conference as a result of her suspension.
After the ruling, a Lib Dem spokesperson said: “This case relates to events that took place in 2019 under a different complaints system that has since been changed.”
