Foreign Office ‘handed power to spend aid budget’

Ministers have been told to come clean on the future of the foreign aid budget – as the Foreign Office is quietly handed power over how to spend it.

Senior MPs raised the alarm after a leaked memo revealed that department for international development (DfID) staff have been told to report directly to Dominic Raab’s department.

Directors in poorer countries have always answered directly to DfID in London – but the Foreign Office will now control spending, the memo reportedly said.

Labour MP Sarah Champion, the chairwoman of the international development committee, said: “Anything that is seen to undermine that independence will undermine our reputation among partners and must be avoided at all costs.” 

All the details here:

Tory minister warns BBC against ‘urban outlook’

The BBC needs to avoid providing a “narrow urban outlook”, the new culture secretary Oliver Dowden will warn today.

Speaking at the Media and Telecoms 2020 and Beyond conference in London on Thursday, Dowden is expected to say that the BBC is similar to many British institutions in having “missed” or being slow to pick up on many of the key political changes and trends in recent years.

“If we’re honest, some of our biggest institutions missed, or were slow to pick up, key political and social trends in recent years.

“The BBC needs to be closer to, and understand the perspectives of, the whole of the United Kingdom and avoid providing a narrow urban outlook.

“By this, I don’t just mean getting authentic and diverse voices on and off screen – although this is important … But also making sure there is genuine diversity of thought and experience.”

Downing Street is considering replacing the TV licence fee with a subscription model as part of a move to scale back the corporation’s operations.

The government is already consulting on proposals to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee and ministers have suggested it could be abolished altogether when the BBC’s charter comes up for renewal in 2027.

Staff ‘shell-shocked’ by Priti Patel’s ‘aggression’, say DFID sources

Yet more claims against the beleaguered home secretary – this time relating to her time as secretary of state at the Department for International Development.

Two sources at DFID told ITV News were left “shell-shocked” by Patel’s “aggression” with civil servants at the department. According to Paul Brand, Patel’s successor at DFID Penny Mordaunt asked human resources to draft a new code of behaviour.

It follows a claim by Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman that government staff are now contacting the Labour party with “information and allegations” about bullying at the Home Office.

Patel continues to deny all allegations of bullying behaviour.

No-deal Brexit plans could be ‘dusted off’, says senior Tory

The former business secretary Andrea Leadsom said minister’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit stand it in “incredibly good stead” to help the nation cope with the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Ironically, I think a lot of the work we did last year preparing for the supposed no-deal Brexit on 31 October has stood the government in incredibly good stead – looking at packages of support and how you might be able to help companies keep going should something dramatic happen,” she told Sky News.

“I’m quite sure that some of that will be being dusted off with a view to looking at how that could be adapted.”

Parliament ‘could shut down for five months’

Emergency discussions have taken place in Westminster over a possible shutdown of parliament if it becomes necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty briefed Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on the risks on Monday this week, but no decision has yet been taken on whether to send MPs home.

And Boris Johnson suggested that an announcement could be made within days on possible alternatives to MPs gathering at Westminster, such as electronic voting and debates by conference call.

One possibility could see MPs rise at the end of March and not return until September, according to The Times. One official said the Commons potentially contains “650 super-spreaders”. 

Prof Whitty appears before the House of Commons health and social care committee today to answer questions on the virus and the preparations being made to contain, delay and mitigate it.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.