‘Outrageous, ridiculous and so deeply offensive’

Plenty of responses to John McDonnell’s earlier remarks comparing Julian Assange’s extradition case to “the Dreyfus case”.

The shadow chancellor was referring to the 1895 conviction at a court martial of French officer Alfred Dreyfus on treason charges many felt were brought against him because he was Jewish. He was later exonerated after a long campaign.

Karen Pollock, chief executive at the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “Go figure how or why John McDonnell could make such an inappropriate comparison with the Assange case. Outrageous, ridiculous and so deeply offensive.”

Where’s the prime minister?

Boris Johnson has been criticised for staying at the foreign secretary’s Chevening estate this week rather than visiting flood-hit areas in the aftermath of Storm Dennis.

He’s there because the PM’s official country retreat of Chequers is having repair work, with scaffolding visible outside the mansion.

New pictures show scaffolding covered in white sheeting outside the 16th century Buckinghamshire property. The building work is described as “routine maintenance” by Downing Street.

No 10 said Johnson had been receiving “regular updates” about the flooding.

Outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has – according to the BBC – declined to rule out taking a job in his successor’s shadow cabinet. It’s a stark contrast to shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who has said his time in frontline politics is over.

Corbyn visits flood-hit town in south Wales

Jeremy Corbyn is doing something he thinks the prime minister should have been out doing this week – meeting victims of flooding.

The Labour leader is speaking to affected residents and business owners in Pontypridd in south Wales.

He said earlier: ‘Failing to convene Cobra to support flood-hit communities sends a very clear message: if the prime minister is not campaigning for votes in a general election he simply does not care about helping communities affected by flooding, especially communities that have repeatedly been flooded in recent years.”

Raab blames Russian military intelligence for ‘menacing’ cyber attacks on Georgia

The government has condemned Russia’s military intelligence service over a “significant” number of cyber attacks against Georgia last year.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the GRU’s campaign was “brazen” and “totally unacceptable”.

“The GRU’s reckless and brazen campaign of cyber-attacks against Georgia, a sovereign and independent nation, is totally unacceptable,” Raab said.

“The Russian Government has a clear choice: continue this aggressive pattern of behaviour against other countries, or become a responsible partner which respects international law.

“The UK will continue to expose those who conduct reckless cyber-attacks and work with our allies to counter the GRU’s menacing behaviour.”

Civil service union speaks out against ‘atmosphere of fear’

The FDA union – the body representing civil servants – has intervened in the row at the Home Office, as Priti Patel faces allegations of bullying.

“Ministers must recognise the consequences of their behaviour,” said the union’s general secretary Dave Penman.

“An atmosphere of fear is not conducive to a successful workplace and anonymous briefings against civil servants are not only unfair, they corrode public trust in government.”

The Times reported earlier about allegations of bullying behaviour, citing “multiple sources” inside the Home Office. One said she was responsible for an “atmosphere of fear” at the department.

PM’s floods response a ‘shambles’, says union

The Fire Brigades Union has criticised the “shambles” of Boris Johnson’s response to the floods ravaging communities in many parts of England and Wales in the wake of Storm Dennis.

Matt Wrack, the union’s general secretary, said visiting communities would be “an opportunity for a prime minister to turn out and hear the concerns of people who’ve been affected”.

“Mr Johnson needs to be seen to be taking change,” he added.

Jeremy Corbyn, heading to a flood-hit community in south Wales this afternoon, condemned Johnson’s failure to visit victims – claiming he was “nowhere to be seen”.

Assange ‘persecuted for political reasons’, says McDonnell

Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US and is being “persecuted for political reasons”, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has claimed. The Labour MP visited Assange for two hours at Belmarsh prison, where the WikiLeaks founder is awaiting the start of an extradition hearing next week.

McDonnell said: “I think this is one of the most important and significant political trials of this generation … I think it’s the Dreyfus case of our age.

“The way in which a person is being persecuted for political reasons, for simply exposing the truth for what went on in relation to recent wars.”

McDonnell was referring to the 1895 conviction at a court martial of French officer Alfred Dreyfus on treason charges many felt were brought against him because he was Jewish. He was later exonerated after a long campaign.

McDonnell said: “We’re hoping that in court he (Assange) is able to defeat the extradition bid. We don’t believe that extradition should be used for political purposes.”

Assange, 48, is wanted in the US to face 18 charges, including conspiring to commit computer intrusion, over the publication of US cables a decade ago. If found guilty he could face up to 175 years in jail.

“We have a long tradition in this country of standing up for journalistic freedom, standing up for the protection of whistleblowers and those who expose injustices,” McDonnell said.

Top Tory MP ‘ashamed’ of inaction over Syria

Tobias Ellwood, the head of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, has said he is “ashamed to see how cowardly the West‘s become” over the ongoing conflict in Syria.

“The world mobilises to contain the Coronavirus, affecting thousands, but shows indifference to the hundreds of thousands killed Syria,” the tory MP tweeted. “We hide behind a broken UN that can’t agree a ceasefire.”

Priti Patel ‘asked to move permanent secretary’

More now on the apparent bust-up at the Home Office. According to the BBC, Priti Patel try to move her department’s permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam.

A source told the broadcaster No 10 had been asked to “intervene” to move the top civil servant after a fall-out with the home secretary.

Caroline Lucas probed over ‘£150 tour of Commons’

Green MP Caroline Lucas is under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

The parliamentary authorities are probing whether she broke the Code of Conduct rules by offering a “personal guided tour” of the Commons for £150 during an election fundraising drive last year.

“I do not believe I have done anything wrong,” she said. 

According to The Argus, a member of the public referred to the parliamentary authorities for offering the tour to party donors in exchange for money.

Rory Stewart sets out ‘London Youth Corps’ plan

The former Tory minister has pledged to introduce a citizenship programme for teenagers in London if elected as mayor. Stewart, running as an independent in the race, plans to create a ‘London Youth Corps’, with young people carrying out two shifts each month for a year.

Building on the National Citizen Service (NCS), teenagers would spend two weeks away from home after completing their GCSEs, taking part in activities such as rock-climbing and canoeing, as well as learning skills such as public speaking. He said: “Teenagers face a peer-pressure cooker of social media, an increasingly competitive job market, and in some areas, the threat of gangs and drugs.”

“Our young people need worthwhile and engaging activities outside school, and they need to be shown broader opportunities … As mayor I will make the London Youth Corps a rite of passage for all young Londoners.”

Shaun Bailey, who is running in the capital against Sadiq Khan in the mayoral contest, has suggested London could host the Olympic games later this year if Japan is unable to due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

More here from political correspondent Lizzy Buchan on the bullying allegations against the home secretary and claims she attempted to oust her most senior official in the department. 
 

Blair warns Labour against prioritising trans rights in ‘culture war’

Tony Blair said he would not sign a controversial transgender rights pledge backed by leadership Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy.

While it might be right to support transgender rights, it was a tactical mistake for a political party to launch itself into a “culture war” on the issue, he said.

“If you go ‘transgender rights are our big thing’” and the right say “immigration control is our big thing”, you are going to lose that war, so you are not going to advance any of the things you want to do,” said Blair.

“We shouldn’t be fighting that culture war.”

Blair warned against a “finger-jabbing, sectarian” approach to identity politics which he said risked “putting a lot of people off” voting for the party.

Cummings an ‘arrogant thicko’, says Charlie Brooker

The screenwriter and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has attacked the No 10 supremo Dominic Cummings – calling him an “an arrogant thicko”.

“The sole upside of living through this humblingly s***** era is knowing you’ll *probably* get to witness arrogant thicko Dominic Cummings’ inevitable comeuppance five minutes before a blinding white flash in the sky,” he tweeted.

He added: “‘Superforecasting’. Christ. What a f***ing clown.” 

Earlier this week Cummings recommended everyone read Philip Tetlock’s book Superforecasting.

Starmer denies Ed Miliband lined up for shadow cabinet job

The campaign for Labour leadership hopeful Keir Starmer has denied he’s ready to offer former party Ed Miliband a return to the frontline if wins the contest.

Unnamed allies told The Telegraph Miliband could be given the shadow chancellor role, with one praising him as a “giant on strategy”.

But a close to Keir Starmer told The Independent: “It’s the first we have heard of it! It’s people speculating. We’re focusing on the campaign, not speculating on who will or won’t be in any possible future shadow cabinet.”

Blair won’t name his choice for Labour leadership

Tony Blair has refused to name his preferred candidate to succeed Jeremy Corbyn – but said that any of them would be better than the current leader.

Answering questions after his speech at King’s College in London, the former prime minister said: “I don’t want to damage anyone by supporting them so I’m not going to give an opinion on which candidate.

“Whatever happens is going to be a significant improvement.”

Blair said he believed Labour would have done “much better” in the December election if it had dumped Corbyn and gone into the campaign with a more moderate leader.

Immigration rules ‘won’t be an issue’ for fishing, says Tory MP

Tory MP Lia Nici said she is not concerned about the impact of the new immigration laws on fish processing.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the MP for Grimsby said: “No, I’m not. I think we will have to see through the fullness of time, but we’re not as reliant in Grimsby on migrant workers for seafood processing as they are in Scotland. I don’t think that it will be a massive problem, there’s no shortage of labour.”

Nici said that, although she has not yet spoken to the big seafood processors since the proposals were published, she does not believe it will be a problem.

“I don’t think it will be an issue for us; we’ve got businesses here who are already spending millions on innovative products, ways to do things, new factories.”

On the potential impact of the new immigration policy on the care sector, Nici said: “I think this brings up the whole question of what do we want to see about the future of our social care. That’s something that cross party we’re talking about now, and do we want to see the future of our care system continuing as a low-cost industry – I’m not sure that we do.”