Summary of the day …
Labour’s transport secretary Louise Haigh has said ending sexual harassment and violence on public transport is an “absolute priority” for her, as figures revealed a 50% increase in violent incidents reported on trains in the last two years. In a message on social media, Haigh described the numbers as “appalling”. Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said the level of violence was “unacceptable”, telling PA Media “In this day and age, no woman should have to plan her journeys by public transport based on where and when she will feel safe, and yet that is the daily experience for millions of women”
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds held talks with senior representatives from the TUC, CBI, Unison, Unite and the British Chambers of Commerce today over Labour’s plans for workplace reform
Conservative leadership hopeful Mel Stride has repeated his criticism of Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage, and again ruled out doing any deal with him. Stride said he would not welcome Farage into the Tory party if Stride won the leadership election, saying “No deals with Nigel Farage. Nigel Farage wants to destroy the Conservative party”
Stride said he was not surprised by a polling result which suggested that three in five British people asked didn’t care about who the next party leader would be, saying many people would have considered the way the party had been fighting itself “pretty selfish”
Stride described Elon Musk’s interventions into British politics as “absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful”, but said that he would continue to use the platform, despite reservations about it
Britain’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.2% last month – its first increase since December last year – as domestic energy bills fell by less than in July 2023. Darren Jones, Labour’s chief secretary to the Treasury, said “The new government is under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge we have inherited”. Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat treasury spokesperson, has said the inflation figures are “a stark reminder that the cost of living crisis is not over”. Stride cautioned that public pay settlements by the new government threatened to drive further inflation in the future
Scotland’s deputy first minister has claimed “disrespectful and damaging” actions by the UK government mean a benefit to help with the cost of fuel bills cannot be paid to all pensioners. Kate Forbes said the Scottish government has been forced to limit payments because “the Chancellor announced this cut to the winter fuel payment just weeks before the Scottish parliament is due to take on responsibility for the payment – and without any consultation with the Scottish government”
Foreign secretary David Lammy has been meeting in London with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud
Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has posted a series of messages to social media justifying a meeting between the Scottish government’s cabinet secretary for external affairs Angus Robertson and Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky
Private rents across the country jumped 8.6% in the year to July, averaging £1,319 monthly, according to the ONS’s estimates. The average price for a home increased by 2.7% in the 12 months to June in the UK
London Southend Airport has become the latest airport to secure a high court injunction to stop environmental protesters trespassing on its land. In a separate court action, an environmental consultant has lost a high court challenge against the government’s approval of a new gas power station in north-east England called the Net Zero Teesside Project
A £450m plan to expand an AstraZeneca vaccine-manufacturing site in Merseyside has suffered a blow after it emerged the government plans to cut some of the funding for the scheme
Liberal Democrats have called for A-level students who had their education disrupted by crumbling concrete in schools to have the ability to appeal against their grades. A-level results in England, Northern Ireland and Wales are released tomorrow
Former Conservative deputy prime minister Thérèse Coffey failed in an application for a job in Labour’s Treasury department
Liz Truss continues to be irritated by the stunt that interrupted her talk in Suffolk. She said “What happened last night was not funny. Far-left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons. This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech”. Her talk was interuppted by a banner of a lettuce with some googly-eyes and the slogan “I crashed the economy”
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for today. I shall reconvene with you bright and early tomorrow.
Liz Truss continues to be irritated by the stunt that interrupted her talk in Suffolk. She has posted to social media to reiterate that she did not find it funny, and questioned whether the reaction of people laughing would be different in an entirely different set of circumstances.
The former prime minister, who lost her seat as an MP in July, said:
What happened last night was not funny. Far-left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons. This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech. I won’t stand for it. Would we see the same reaction if the activists were far-right?
Severin Carrell here has a report on the Scottish government decision to scrap its universal winter fuel payment, a decision which senior SNP figures have blamed on chancellor Rachel Reeves and the UK government.
West Midlands police have issued nine images of suspects wanted in connection with disorder in Birmingham on 5 August, which saw a man being assaulted and damage being caused to a pub and a car.
In a statement the police force said:
We’ve made almost a dozen arrests for violence, possessing weapons and online threats as we continue to keep our communities safe amid recent unrest across the UK.
We did sadly see some disorder in Bordesley Green last Monday evening (5 August) which led to a man being assaulted, damage caused to a pub and also a vehicle.
We have dedicated officers working on this investigation and we’ve already arrested five people on suspicion of violent disorder, and charged another man with possession of a weapon.
We continue to review all available material and are now issuing images of other suspects we’re looking to identify, as what occurred was unacceptable and can never be condoned.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds held talks with senior representatives from the TUC, CBI, Unison, Unite and the British Chambers of Commerce today over Labour’s plans for workplace reform.
PA Media quotes Rayner saying:
Our plan to Make Work Pay will bring together workers and businesses, both big and small and across different industries, for the good of the economy. This first-of-its-kind meeting has kicked off a new era of partnership that will bring benefits to everyone across the country striving to build a better life.
For too long the valuable insights of business and trade unions have been ignored by government, even on past decisions which have directly impacted them.
Business and workers will always help to shape the ambitions of government including our plan to Make Work Pay, to ensure it boosts economic growth and creates better working conditions for all.
Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has posted a series of messages to social media justifying a meeting between the Scottish government’s cabinet secretary for external affairs Angus Robertson and Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky.
In the posts, Swinney said:
Last week the cabinet secretary for external affairs met the Israeli UK deputy ambassador to express the Scottish government’s clear and unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The Scottish government received the meeting request and accepted on the basis it would provide an opportunity to convey our consistent position on the killing and suffering of innocent civilians in the region.
I understand why some believe a face-to-face meeting was not appropriate, however, I thought it necessary to outline our longstanding position on an immediate ceasefire directly, and explicitly, to one of Israel’s representatives in the UK.
As first minister and SNP Leader, I will never hold back in expressing support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, an end to UK arms being sent to Israel, and the recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state within a two-state solution.
The SNP leader’s comments come after Green MSP Ross Greer accused the Scottish government of adopting a “two-faced approach”, with PA Media quoting Greer saying “They publicly condemn Israel’s war crimes whilst holding secret meetings with its representatives to discuss so-called ‘mutual interests.”
London Southend Airport has become the latest airport to secure a high court injunction to stop environmental protesters trespassing on its land.
In written submissions, Tom Roscoe, representing the airport, said: “London Southend is now the only London airport not to have an injunction against ‘persons unknown’ connected to Just Stop Oil. This is unlikely to have escaped the attention of Just Stop Oil activists and therefore exacerbates the risk faced by this airport.”
No members of Just Stop Oil or any other protest group attended Wednesday’s hearing and were not represented. Granting the injunction, Mrs Justice Farbey said it was “no more than is necessary and proportionate” and that further protests could cause “significant disruption”.
PA Media reports the measure will last for five years and be reviewed in 12 months.
Transport secretary says ending sexual violence on public transport is 'absolute priority'
Labour’s transport secretary Louise Haigh has said ending sexual harassment and violence on public transport is an “absolute priority” for her, as figures revealed a 50% increase in violent incidents reported on trains in the last two years.
In a message on social media, Haigh described the numbers as “appalling”, and said “I’ve already met with the British Transport Police (BTP) to discuss how we work together to end the scourge of violence against women and girls on our public transport. This is an absolute priority for me.”
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said the level of violence was “unacceptable”, telling PA Media “In this day and age, no woman should have to plan her journeys by public transport based on where and when she will feel safe, and yet that is the daily experience for millions of women.”
A survey commissioned by BTP found the number of sexual harassment reports doubled to 1,908, over the two-year period from 2021 to 2023, while the number of crimes against women and girls rose from 7,561 to 11,357, and the number of sexual offences rose 10% from 2,235 to 2,475.
Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of Rail Delivery Group said: “Experiences of sexual harassment are sadly a reality for many women, but as an industry our message is clear, any form of sexual harassment on the rail network is completely unacceptable and we are working with the British Transport Police to confront this problem. [We] want people to feel confident to report anything that makes them uncomfortable by texting 61016 or using the Railway Guardian app.”
Head of crime and public protection at the BTP, TDCI Sarah White, said it takes “all reports seriously” and that the organisation was “working tirelessly to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour.”
Conservative leadership hopeful Mel Stride has repeated his criticism of Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage, and again ruled out doing any deal with him.
Appearing on GB News as part of a media day to promote his leadership bid, Stride said “Is it helpful when you’ve got police officers going out there, risking their lives in a rioting situation, to be questioning whether they’re being truthful with the public? For example, it’s likely to lead to more police officers ending up getting in more trouble than they would otherwise, so it’s not responsible.”
Stride said he would not welcome Farage into the Tory party if Stride won the leadership election, saying “No deals with Nigel Farage. Nigel Farage wants to destroy the Conservative party.”
All six leadership candidates – Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat – have ruled out working alongside Farage.
There have been several more court cases today dealing with the repercussions of the far-right led anti-immigrant violent disorder seen in England and Northern Ireland in the last couple of weeks.
Sentencing Dominic Capaldi, 34, in Bristol to 34 months, Judge Martin Picton told the court Capaldi had been involved in “the first post-Southport protest in Bristol to turn violent, but it has to be seen in the context of coordinated action on the part of extremists to cause violence, and by so doing to generate fear on the part of the community as a whole.”
In one incident, Capaldi was seen throwing objects towards police officers while a crowd chanted “send them back”, and in an other he was seen throwing objects at police who were trying to prevent protesters gaining entry to a hotel used to house asylum seekers.
PA Media reports Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, has suggested that prosecutors look “for those who are playing front and central roles” in the unrest “at the alternative charge of riot rather than violent disorder.”
Violent disorder carries a maximum sentence of five years, and the maximum term for rioting is 10 years, according to sentencing guidelines.
In Sheffield, a 60-year-old man who pulled a police officer to the ground and grabbed a riot shield as the officer was trying to protect another hotel housing asylum seekers, was jailed for two years and eight months.
A 49-year-old man who was part of a mob that stormed a hotel housing asylum seekers during rioting in Rotherham has been jailed for three years.
The Metropolitan police said more people have been charged over disorder in Whitehall on 31 July, including a 14-year-old boy.
In Birmingham, a 49-year-old man has pleaded not guilty at the city’s crown court to a charge of possessing an imitation AK-47 with intent to cause members of a far-right otganisation to believe violence would be used against them, and has also denied sending a communication threatening death or serious harm in a video uploaded to Elon Musk’s X platform.
Scotland’s deputy first minister has claimed “disrespectful and damaging” actions by the UK government mean a benefit to help with the cost of fuel bills cannot be paid to all pensioners.
Kate Forbes said the Scottish government has been forced to limit payments because “the Chancellor announced this cut to the winter fuel payment just weeks before the Scottish parliament is due to take on responsibility for the payment – and without any consultation with the Scottish government”.
PA Media reports she added: “Devolving a policy weeks after cutting its budget by almost 90% is disrespectful to everybody involved in shaping the new Scottish policy. Not only does it drive a coach and horses through the devolution settlement, it ignores the disproportionate importance of this payment to households in Scotland, who face harsher winters and higher fuel costs.
She also accused Scottish Labour MPs of putting their party before the country on the issue, saying: “There is an eerie silence from Labour politicians north of the border, who would have been the first and loudest to condemn the Scottish government if the roles were reversed. It is particularly galling to hear no condemnation from Labour MPs who represent areas with the highest proportion of fuel poverty.”
Updated
Are you a teacher in England? If so, our community team would like to hear from you about whether you are worried about the spread of misinformation among pupils. Find out how to get in touch here …
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, described the level of violence, harassment and sexual offences against women on public transport as “unacceptable”.
She told PA Media:
In this day and age, no woman should have to plan her journeys by public transport based on where and when she will feel safe, and yet that is the daily experience for millions of women, whether they are commuting to and from work, or arranging an evening out with friends.
Getting on a night bus or near empty train to go home should not feel like taking your life into your hands.
Whether these figures reflect an increase in reporting, an increase in the volume of crime, or a combination of the two, one thing is clear, the level of violence, harassment and sexual offences that women and girls are facing when using the transport network is completely unacceptable, and cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.
Foreign secretary David Lammy has been meeting in London with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud. In a message posted to social media, Lammy said “We’ll work together on shared defence, economic and security interests, including pressing for de-escalation in the region and a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.”
An environmental consultant has lost a high court challenge against the government’s approval of a new gas power station in north-east England, PA Media reports.
Andrew Boswell took legal action against ministers over the granting of development consent for the Net Zero Teesside Project by the former Tory government in February.
He alleged that the government had failed to “adequately” explain how the power plant, which is forecast to emit millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases, will help deliver the government’s net zero goal. The project was given the green light by former energy secretary Claire Coutinho.
In a written ruling on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Lieven dismissed his case, concluding that there was “no logical flaw in the reasoning” set out by ministers.
Labour leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, is already talking about the 2026 Holyrood election. He has posted a video this morning on what he described as “the next steps for change”, saying:
We’ve got rid of the Tories, and we’ve got straight to work, to deliver the change Scotland needs. But let’s be clear, our schools, our hospitals and our public services are still in crisis because of 17 years of SNP incompetence. In 2026, we have an opportunity to complete the next stage of change with Scottish Labour.
The next steps for change. pic.twitter.com/TLOxP6qfIO
— Anas Sarwar (@AnasSarwar) August 14, 2024
Just after Sarwar published his video, the Scottish government were promoting one change that has come about in the last few weeks – a decision to restrict winter fuel payments to pensioners by means-testing it.
In a statement, the SNP’s social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed the Scottish government will replicate a decision taken by the UK government and applying to England and Wales, and that Scotland’s pension age winter heating payment will be limited.
She said “Despite all efforts to review our financial position we have been left with no choice but to follow the UK government and restrict payments to older people who receive relevant eligible benefits.”
The Scottish government says there is no change to eligibility for winter heating payments for those on low incomes or to child winter heating payments.
UK Government plans to end universal fuel payments for older people mean the Scottish Government budget will be cut by up to £160 million.
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) August 14, 2024
This cut has left Ministers no choice but to limit Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in Scotland.
Find out more: https://t.co/bm9KUp7ZOQ pic.twitter.com/lkNisZMgFG
Private rents have risen 8.6% in a year according to ONS estimates
A little more on those house price rises we reported on earlier. The average price for a home increased by 2.7% in the 12 months to June in the UK, but as mentioned, that is not evenly distributed.
PA Media reports that in Scotland, the average property cost £192,000, up 4.3% from a year ago, and in Northern Ireland it was £185,000 between April and June, 6.4% higher than the same period a year ago.
Private rents across the country jumped 8.6% in the year to July, averaging £1,319 monthly, according to the ONS’s estimates.
PA Media spoke to Sarah Coles, head of personal finance for Hargreaves Lansdown, who said rent rises remain “eye-watering” and that “Landlords continue to sell up in the face of higher mortgage costs”. She added “growing tenant numbers make it harder to get hold of a property, even if you’re prepared to pay sky-high prices. It’s difficult to see how things will ever get any better.”
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, told PA: “The rental market continues to feel the harsh reality of ongoing pressures on housing demand, which are outstripping current supply. This has a real-world effect on rental prices for consumers and that consequence is prices tend to be pushed further upwards.”
Transport secretary: figures on violence against women and girls on trains 'appalling'
Labour’s transport secretary Louise Haigh has described as “appalling” a set of figures which show that violence against women and girls on British railways has risen by more than 50% over two years, and said reducing it is “an absolute priority”.
In a post to social media, the MP for Sheffield Heeley said:
These figures are appalling. Everyone should be safe on public transport. That’s why under this government, our publicly owned railways will be relentlessly held to account on safety and standards, and completely focused on the passenger.
I’ve already met with the British Transport Police to discuss how we work together to end the scourge of violence against women and girls on our public transport. This is an absolute priority for me.
These figures are appalling.
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) August 14, 2024
Everyone should be safe on public transport.
That’s why under this Government, our publicly owned railways will be relentlessly held to account on safety and standards, and completely focused on the passenger. https://t.co/kKFN0SBCgD
As my colleague Geneva Abdul wrote earlier:
The number of crimes against women and girls rose from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 in 2023, and the number of sexual offences rose 10% from 2,235 to 2,475, according to a survey commissioned by British Transport Police. The survey, first reported in the Times, also found the number of sexual harassment reports doubled to 1,908, over the two-year period.
A British Transport Police survey released last year revealed more than a third of all women travelling by rail were likely to be assaulted while commuting – predominately during rush hour time, according to figures – and showed 51% of female victims reported that other rail passengers intervened to try to help.
James Cleverly has posted that he is campaigning for the Tory leadership in the Isle of Wight today with local MP Joe Robertson.
Great to be back on the Isle of Wight visiting local businesses and talking to members.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) August 14, 2024
Thanks @JoePJRobertson for showing me around and introducing me to everyone. pic.twitter.com/qCJGaQeyvo
Robert Jenrick, one of the six people vying to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the opposition, has meanwhile posted a video clip in which he claims to be summing up 40 days of Keir Starmer’s Labour government in 40 seconds.
Among other things he criticises the administration for are scrapping Sunak’s Rwanda deportation scheme and releasing “1,000s of dangerous criminals”. The latter is apparently a reference to the Labour decision from next month to release non-violent offenders after they have served 40% of their sentence, continuing an early release scheme introduced by the previous Conservative government that Jenrick was part of before his resignation in December.
Jenrick also claims Labour have invented “a black hole in the public finances … to justify tax rises and broken promises” and in what sounds very much like a Trumpist US talking point he says they have put into place “a radical left wing academic reviewing the curriculum for our kids at school”.
Keir Starmer’s 40 days in 40 seconds.
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) August 14, 2024
Isn’t it great to have the ‘grown ups’ back in charge? pic.twitter.com/gq2u6SMnRl
By popular demand, here is video of Liz Truss being ambushed by a lettuce.
Political corespondent Aletha Adu has a write-up here …
Our economics correspondent Richard Partington offers this analysis of why the Bank of England could still cut interest rates again despite the rise in inflation:
The latest figures revealed a much sharper than forecast decline in service sector inflation, down from 5.7% in June to 5.2% in July, where prices for restaurants and hotels plunged on the month. Core inflation – which excludes volatile items including energy, food, alcohol and tobacco – also fell.
Both figures are closely watched by the Bank. Softer falls in previous months gave policymakers enough comfort earlier this month to cut interest rates for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. Further signs of cooling could therefore open the door to another reduction in borrowing costs, with investors betting on a cut from 5% to 4.75% from as early as September.
Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, may, however, want to wait for more data, such as the gross domestic product and retail sales figures released later this week. Jobs market figures on Tuesday – which showed falling unemployment and robust wage growth – will have given the Bank a headache, as they suggest there may still be lingering domestic pressures. Threadneedle Street also forecasts headline inflation will reach 2.75% by the end of the year before falling to 1.7% within two years’ time.
Despite easing inflationary pressures, households are still also feeling the pinch. Falling inflation does not mean prices are coming down, only that they are rising at a slower pace.
Read more here: Bank of England could still cut interest rates again despite rise in inflation
A £450m plan to expand an AstraZeneca vaccine-manufacturing site in Merseyside has suffered a blow after it emerged the government plans to cut some of the funding for the scheme.
It is understood that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering reducing the state aid earmarked for the scheme by more than £20m after her predecessor, Jeremy Hunt, had promised the pharmaceutical company £65m.
The cut to funding is part of a wide-reaching review of all investment decisions taken by the previous administration, the Financial Times reported.
Read more here: Reeves ‘planning to cut state aid’ for AstraZeneca project in Merseyside
Tom Tugendhat was very prominent in the blog yesterday, as he was one of very few politicians to appear in public so far this week during the summer recess period. He was making a wide-ranging set-piece speech as part of his leadership campaign for the Conservative party, which include an attack on Keir Starmer’s handling of recent far-right led violent disorder, and strong criticism of Nigel Farage for “amplifying false information” by spreading a theory first suggested by influencers like Andrew Tate, and then failing to wholly condemn the riots. My colleague Rowena Mason has a write-up of that here.
Tugendhat this morning is campaigning with a poster suggesting he is the person that the public feel will most do a good job as opposition leader to replace Rishi Sunak.
We have to unite, rebuild and win.
— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) August 14, 2024
That is what I will deliver. pic.twitter.com/yQFblHSb0C
There is a little bit of creative accountancy in the way Tugendhat has presented the figures there, because he has gone with the net approval rather than overall figures. In fact the Ipsos survey he is referencing found that 18% of people think that James Cleverly is the best option, with 17% of people saying Tugendhat or Priti Patel would do the better job.
39% of people said they had never heard of Tugendhat at all, a lower proportion than the 50% of people who said they had never heard of Mel Stride, which seems scant reward for the amount of hours the seemingly ever-present Stride put into media interviews during the election campaign.
Worth noting too that in the survey, Stewart Lewis and Sarah Lewis polled 9% and 6% respectively, and Stewart Lewis has a net positive rating of +2%, despite neither of them existing.
The government has just published the UK house price index for June 2024. It states that on average, house prices have risen 0.5% since May 2024 and there has been an annual price rise of 2.7%, which makes the average property in the UK valued at £288,000.
There is, as ever, considerable regional and national differences hidden within the figures. In England house prices have risen by 0.6% since May 2024, with Yorkshire and the Humber experiencing the highest monthly and annual rises, the south-west seeing a 1% monthly fall in prices, and London showing the slowest annual growth, at 0.6%.
Wales has seen a monthly rise of 0.3% and an annual rise of 1.8%, with the average property valued at £216,000.
The figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are collected separately and not broken down in today’s government bulletin.
The latest ONS data on private rentals is from January of this year, and showed rents rising by 6.2% in the 12 months to January 2024.
Violence against women and girls on British railways has risen by more than 50% over two years, according to official figures.
The number of crimes against women and girls rose from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 in 2023, and the number of sexual offences rose 10% from 2,235 to 2,475, according to a survey commissioned by British Transport Police. The survey, first reported in the Times, also found the number of sexual harassment reports doubled to 1,908, over the two-year period.
“I think it’s just a reminder of the fact that we’ve got this issue of violence against women and girls (VAWG) that isn’t going away and if anything is getting worse,” said Anna Birley, a co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, which organised the London vigil for Sarah Everard, 33, who was killed by police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.
“I want to be clear I think there is also an increase in VAWG. I don’t think it’s simply a case of increased reporting,” Birley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Read more here: Violence against women on UK trains rises by 50% in two years
A commission of energy experts has been set up to review the impact of the gas crisis and ensure the UK is better prepared in future, PA Media reports.
The Energy Crisis Commission will bring together representatives from Energy UK, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Citizens Advice and National Energy Action.
David Laws, Energy UK chairman and the former Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil, will chair the commission. Laws said: “The energy crisis has been hard on households and businesses alike. It is important that we reflect on what has happened and steps that the country could take to mitigate the impacts of any future crises to ensure we are more resilient.”
The CBI is attempting to rebuild its public profile after what its president Rupert Soames described as the “near-death experience” of a series of revelations about sexual misconduct at the lobbying group.
A former Conservative deputy prime minister who lost her seat at the last general election applied for a job in Labour’s Treasury department. Thérèse Coffey also had a stint as the health secretary and was one of Liz Truss’s fiercest allies when she was prime minister.
Coffey, who is one of more than 200 former Conservative MPs forging a new career after Labour’s landslide election victory cost them their seats, applied to become the UK director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Telegraph reported.
The role Coffey applied for was advertised on LinkedIn by the Treasury in July, with the posting saying that the position would include “representing the UK and promoting the UK’s interests at the EBRD board in a credible and effective manner”.
However, Coffey was unsuccessful. She told the Telegraph: “It was an interesting role. I thought I would apply given my experience in government on international work. I have dealt with these sorts of banks before.”
Read more here: Thérèse Coffey was turned down for Labour Treasury job
Lib Dems call for special appeals process for A-level student disrupted by crumbling concrete
Overnight the Liberal Democrats have called for A-level students in England and Wales who had their education disrupted by crumbling concrete in schools to have the ability to appeal against their grades.
In a statement calling for a “special appeals process”, the party said “schools facing issues with crumbling concrete have had to deal with sudden closures, relocations and significant disruptions to learning, including children being taught in portacabins” but pointed out that pupils “are set not to receive any moderation in their exam marking to reflect these challenges”.
Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson said:
The previous Conservative government abandoned children and parents leaving a legacy of crumbling classrooms. The new government must now ensure pupils and parents impacted by these years of chaos are given the support they need.
That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for a special appeals process for A-level students affected by crumbling concrete, to ensure they get the grades they deserve.
Patrick Butler is the Guardian’s social policy editor, and he has this story of social media getting the RSPB into hot water:
The RSPB has been criticised by the English charities watchdog over social media posts in which it accused named government ministers of being “liars” for watering down environmental protections.
The Charity Commission said the tweets a year ago were “inappropriate” in “tone and nature”, they had not been signed off at the correct level and the RSPB could have done more to prevent them going out.
But it said it would take no further action against the charity, having been satisfied that the RSPB had taken sufficient remedial action internally to ensure it would not repeat what the regulator called “party political tweets”.
The posts, published on X, named the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, former environment secretary Thérèse Coffey and the former levelling up secretary Michael Gove, adding: “You said you wouldn’t weaken environmental protections. And yet that’s just what you are doing. You lie, and you lie, and you lie again.”
Read more here: RSPB criticised by watchdog for accusing politicians of being liars on X
While some MPs have been debating leaving Elon Musk’s X, James Cleverly has decided to create a new account specifically for his leadership campaign. Journalists up and down the land will be adding @jcforleader to their verified lists of genuine accounts.
My new account for anyone who wants to keep up with everything that’s going on with the campaign - go check it out👇 https://t.co/nPolKQBluM
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) August 13, 2024
Stride: it is 'untenable' that average age of Conservative voters is 63
Asked about his leadership campaign, Mel Stride said that one of the challenges facing the Conservative party was that the average age of its voters is 63, which he described as “untenable”.
He told listeners to Times Radio.
The fact that the average conservative voter is age 63 that is completely untenable. It is not something that you can solve by leaping on some magical ideological square. It is something you solve through deep, hard work over a sustained period of time, and I believe that I understand that, and I’m the right person to take that forward.
Stride: most people from outside party would consider Tory infighting 'pretty selfish'
Speaking on Times Radio about the Conservative leadership contest, candidate Mel Stride said he was not surprised by a polling result which suggested that three in five British people asked didn’t care about who the next party leader would be, saying many people would have considered the way the party had been fighting itself “pretty selfish”.
He told listeners of Times Radio:
Not a huge amount of surprise, because I think, you know, we have been a party that has been fighting itself and been introspective in a way that most people from the outside would have found pretty selfish.
Without listing any, Stride said “We did some great things when we were in government, absolutely great things,” and then continued:
There are areas where we failed to deliver. And so we have a lot of work to do now to unite our party and to come forward with the right policy platform.
To reach out both to those that were drawn by Reform UK, but also never to forget that we lost people to Labour and the Liberal Democrats [too]. And now we’ve got five years basically in order to assess that policy platform and to get that right.
He said:
We’ve got to rebuild our party, and we’ve got to get a hearing with the British electorate, and we’re going to do that through unity, and we’re going to do that through a lot of listening and a lot of hard work and working out the answer to a lot of fundamental and difficult questions.
Stride: 'flashing red lights' around Labour's approach to public sector pay in inflation figures
Mel Stride, shadow work and pensions secretary and candidate for the Conservative leadership election, has said that Labour’s approach to public sector pay showed there are “flashing red lights around the approach that they’re taking”, warning that pay settlements could drive future rises in inflation.
Figures published earlier today showed that UK inflation rose to 2.2% its first increase since December.
Speaking on Times Radio, and asked if the last government, that Stride was part of, were responsible for the rise, he told listeners:
The path of inflation is not a sort of nice, neat, linear line. So I think a sort of small uptick to 2.2% from 2%, when the market was expecting 2.3%, largely due to baseline effects around the way in which energy prices have moved today compared to about a year ago, is not a cause for alarm bells to be ringing.
Having said that, I think what is concerning is what is actually in the services elements of inflation, which fell from 5.7% to 5.2% which was welcome, but it is still high. And within that you’ve got wage inflation.
Now, what this Labour government has done is stepped in and very promptly started paying out lots of fairly hefty wage increases, including the junior doctors at 22% without any commensurate requirement for productivity improvements to go alongside that. And my fear would be that this in itself may drive that services component of inflation.
The implications of that could be inflation higher and longer than expected, and of course, interest rates, therefore perhaps having to stay higher for longer, with knock on effects with mortgage holders and businesses and so on.
So I don’t think we’re entirely out of the woods. It is in the government’s hands, and I think there are flashing red lights around the approach that they’re taking to pay in the economy.
Lib Dems: inflation figures 'stark reminder' that cost of living crisis is not over
Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park and the party’s treasury spokesperson, has said the inflation figures are “a stark reminder that the cost of living crisis is not over.”
Speaking on LBC news, she said:
A lot of this rise is being driven still by energy prices, and people are still seeing the impact of those increased prices in their monthly bills and at the checkout when they pay for their food shop.
And so many people are suffering from big increases in their mortgages as a result of the interest rate rises we saw off the back of the Liz Truss disastrous mini-budget.
She said the Liberal Democrats were demanding real action from the government.
We need to invest in our farmers to bring down food prices. We need to save families money by expanding free school meals to all children in poverty.
We want to see a one year freeze to rail fares, because we know that the inflation announcement today is going to feed through to rail fare increases in January, and that’s something that will concern a lot of people already paying eye-watering amounts to travel on the trains.
And we want to see, as well, a real commitment to insulating homes, because that, more than anything else, can help to bring down people’s monthly bills, their energy costs.
Olney’s line on Truss is likely to irk the former prime minister, who has been very strident in public in rejecting suggestions that her economic policy led to mortgage rises, even getting a reference to her mini-budget deleted from the King’s speech.
Labour on inflation: we are 'under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge we have inherited'
Darren Jones, Labour’s chief secretary to the Treasury, has responded to those inflation figures, saying “The new government is under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge we have inherited, with many families still struggling with the cost of living. That is why we are taking the tough decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.”
UK inflation rises to 2.2% in first increase since December
Britain’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.2% last month – its first increase since December last year – as domestic energy bills fell by less than in July 2023.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the government’s preferred measure of the cost of living climbed again after two months at the Bank of England’s 2% target.
The increase – although expected by the Bank and the City – was slightly smaller than the rise to 2.3% anticipated.
Prices fell by 0.2% in July – helped by cheaper hotel stays – but this was smaller than the 0.4% decrease in prices in July 2023, when energy bills dropped sharply, meaning that the headline rate of inflation increased.
The ONS’s chief economist, Grant Fitzner, said: “Inflation ticked up a little in July as although domestic energy costs fell, they fell by less than a year ago. This was partially offset by hotel costs, which fell in July after strong growth in June.”
Read more here: UK inflation rises to 2.2% in first increase since December
Stride: I will continue to use X despite Elon Musk's 'absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful' comments
Conservative leadership candidate Mel Stride has described Elon Musk’s interventions into British politics as “absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful”, but said that he would continue to use the platform.
Citing Musk spreading a completely fake Telegraph story that rioters were to be dispatched to the Falkland Islands and the billionaire’s claim that civil war was inevitable in the UK, Stride said:
Elon Musk, look, I think you know his comments about us sending people to the Falklands, which was untrue, his comments suggesting that we’re on the brink of a civil war in this country is absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful.
I have concerns about X generally, in terms of the fairly permissive way, permissive approach, should I say, to those that are able to further all sorts of views, including conspiracy theories, on that platform.
And I do think that one of the takeaways from the very, very unfortunate incidents that have happened in recent days and weeks is that we do need to look afresh at social media in terms of policing content, in terms of consequence for those platform providers that allow some of these ideas to percolate, because they do have real world consequences, as we saw in our streets.
Asked if he himself was considering quitting the social media platform on Times Radio, Stride ruled it out:
Me personally? No, certainly not. At the moment, I know some fellow colleagues across the House actually have been debating that, and I think some of them might have actually done that. In my case, I will stay on the site.
But I do think we do need to have a long and long, careful, measured look at the way in which sites like X are feeding into issues like conspiracy theories, misinformation and violence on our streets.
The shadow work and pensions secretary said the situation might be improved by the Online Safety Act introduced by the last government although, he conceded “the actual teeth of that don’t bite until next year.”
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Wednesday. Here are your headlines …
Conservative leadership hopeful Mel Stride has said he will not quit social media platform X despite Elon Musk’s “absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful” comments
Britain’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.2% last month – its first increase since December last year – as domestic energy bills fell by less than in July 2023
A-level students in England have increasingly dropped humanities and arts subjects in favour of a narrower range of science-based subjects after changes to A-levels made a decade ago
Liberal Democrats have called for students affected by the concrete crisis in school to have a special appeals process
The RSPB has been criticised by the English charities watchdog over social media posts in which it accused named government ministers of being “liars”
Anti-sewage campaigners have warned of “extreme anger” if the Labour government does not radically reform the water regulator
There has been a major incident in the West Midlands after sodium cyanide spill into Walsall canal
It is Martin Belam with you today. You can email me if you spot typos, errors or omissions – martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Neither Labour nor the Conservatives sent anybody out on the media round this morning, and we are very much becalmed in summer recess. I suspect “on diary” domestic news will be thin on the ground today, unless you are campaigning to be Tory leader. All I’ll say is if you are a backbench MP with a bee in your bonnet about something, it might turn out to be a great week to send out press releases about it.
Updated
