LiveUpdated
Monday 17 February 2020 11:20
Boris Johnson is facing a backlash from Conservative MPs over the state of the nation’s flood defences after the havoc wreaked by Storm Dennis. Tory MP Philip Davies said “precious little” had changed since the 2015 floods and urged the government “to pull its finger out”.
Senior Tories have also warned Mr Johnson to stop picking an “unpopular fight” with the BBC, claiming it will cost the party votes. It follows reports suggesting No 10 wants to scrap the licence fee and axe many of the broadcaster’s radio stations.
The prime minister is also under growing pressure to sack a new No 10 adviser after it emerged he argued for giving children the drug modafinil – even if it meant “a dead kid once a year”. He also called for compulsory contraception to prevent “a permanent underclass”.
‘If this was Surrey … we would see action’: Labour calls for Cobra meeting
More criticism for the government over the response to the severe flooding caused by Storm Dennis, as MPs call for an emergency meeting of Cobra.
Labour MP for Batley and Spen Tracy Brabin, shadow culture secretary, said: “If this was in Surrey or the south, we would have had swifter action. Why hasn’t the government called COBRA? This is an absolute emergency. We need to see people round the table.”
Jon Trickett, Labour MP for West Yorkshire constituency of Hemsworth, said: “There were solemn promises made last time, ministers walking around in welly boots, and it just isn’t good enough.
“There’s got to be a sense of urgency and they just aren’t showing any sense that it really matters.”
Nicola Sturgeon appoints Derek Mackay replacement
Scotland’s first minister has appointed Kate Forbes as the new finance secretary.
The move comes after the shock resignation of Derek Mackay on the eve of the budget – following reports he had sent 270 unsolicited messages over social media to a 16-year-old boy.
Forbes will now continue negotiations with other parties over the draft budget, which is being accelerated through Holyrood following a delay to the announcement of spending pledges. The final Scottish government budget will be put to a vote in Holyrood in early March.
Fiona Hyslop will move to take on the role as economy secretary, previously held by Mackay.
‘I love him so’: Long-Bailey would like Corbyn in her shadow cabinet, report claims
Rebecca Long-Bailey has suggested she would want Jeremy Corbyn to be part of her shadow cabinet if she wins the Labour leadership contest.
According to reports at the weekend, the hopeful told supporters in London earlier in February that she would like to give the departing leader a role.
Long-Bailey is said to have told backers: “I’d like to but I don’t know whether he wants to do it because he said not. It’s up to him. I love him so.”
Deputy leadership contender Richard Burgon said Corbyn would be an “ideal” shadow foreign secretary.
Tory MPs turn on Boris Johnson over plot to ‘smash the BBC’
More now on the Tory backlash against No 10’s attacks on the BBC. The Sunday Times quoting a senior Downing Street source as saying that the BBC could be forced to sell off most of its radio stations in a “massive pruning back” of its activities.
Tory MP Damian Collins, a former chair of the Commons culture committee, added: “No surprise that no-one has put their name to this destructive idea.
“This would smash the BBC and turn it from being a universal broadcaster to one that would just work for its subscribers. The biggest losers would be the UK’s nations and regions.”
It follows criticism by former Home Office minister Damian Green, who said: “Destroying the BBC wasn’t in our manifesto and would be cultural vandalism.”
And Huw Merriman, another Conservative MP who is also chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the BBC, also warned that the corporation should “not be a target”.
He said it felt as if senior government aides “are now ramping up an unedifying vendetta against this much-admired corporation”.
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‘Why is he not out there?’ Minister unsure if PM will visit flood-hit areas
The newly-appointed environment secretary George Eustice could not say whether Boris Johnson would be visiting flood-stricken areas across the country.
Sky News host Kay Burley claimed the prime minister was “in his bunker in Downing Street” and asked: “Why is he not out there reassuring people? Why is the prime minister not going up to the north where all these people voted for him and saying ‘I’m here’?”
Eustice said: “I went up there yesterday on his behalf … I don’t manage the prime minister’s diary.”
The minister also said: “I am leading on this and in cabinet. I’m I was up there in Yorkshire yesterday – I’ve been in regular touch with officials on this … the government has a firm grip on this.”
SNP calls for Cummings to explain reshuffle before parliamentary committee
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, has called for the PM’s right-hand man Dominic Cummings to give evidence before a parliamentary committee about last week’s reshuffle.
Blackford has expressed concerns over what he calls a “revolving door” of ministers – accusing the Prime Minister of acting in a presidential way.
The SNP leader also described Cummings as the “power behind the throne”, raising worries about the power of unelected advisers in Downing Street.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Monday, Blackford said: “I’ve written to the clerk of the Liaison Committee to ask that he use his powers to make sure that Dominic Cummings appears before that committee.
“It’s been clear for a long period of time that this is the power behind the throne.”
Blackford went on to raise questions about the replacement of former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith and the former attorney general Geoffrey Cox in the Thursday reshuffle, claiming the PM is surrounding himself with “yes men and women”.
‘Untrustworthy’ 5G vendors jeopardises intelligence-sharing, says US ambassador to Germany
The latest tweet by the US ambassador for Germany, Richard Grenell, will raise a few eyebrows in Downing Street – as the storm over the approval for Huawei to play a role in Britain’s 5G network continues.
He said Donald Trump had “instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share Intelligence and information at the highest level”.
No 10 advisor’s past comments ‘a matter for Dominic Cummings’, says cabinet minister
Questions over controversial past comments made by a Downing Street adviser are for Dominic Cummings and No 10 to answer, according to Environment secretary George Eustice.
Asked about comments made by a Conservative Party aide – named as Andrew Sabisky in reports over the weekend – about contraception being enforced to avoid unplanned pregnancies and the “creation of a permanent underclass”, the newly-appointed cabinet minister said he did not know the individual.
Eustice told Sky News: “I don’t know who that individual is. I have seen the reports that someone is alleged to have those views but I’m not going to get drawn on that.
“I’m not going to get drawn on the comments of that particular individual. That is a matter for Dominic Cummings and No 10, and I’m sure you can talk to them.”
Eustice also said the government cannot “protect every single property” after the country was hit by a second major storm within a week.
“What’ve put in place is working,” he said. “The investments we’ve made mean we are able to protect a significant number.”
Tory MPs turn condemn No 10 attacks on BBC – claiming it could cost party votes
A Conservative MP has warned his own party against “picking a potentially unpopular fight” with the BBC.
Huw Merriman warned the corporation “should not be a target” after reports suggested the Conservative party were considering widespread changes including scrapping the licence fee.
In a column in Monday’s Daily Telegraph, he wrote the Conservatives did not mention tinkering with the BBC in their election manifesto.
Merriman, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the BBC, wrote “it feels as if senior government aides are now ramping up an unedifying vendetta against this much-admired corporation.
“This culminated in a bizarre promise this weekend to ‘whack’ the BBC with a suggestion it should ‘be slimmed down and put on subscription’.”
Downing Street is reportedly considering replacing the TV licence fee with a subscription model, forcing the sale of most BBC radio stations, cutting the number of television stations and reducing the amount of online content.
Merriman said that given some people had voted Conservative for the first time, “it begs the question as to why we are picking such a potentially unpopular fight”.
He wrote: “The BBC should not be a target. It not only brings us together at home but helps maintain our influence on the world stage.
It follows a warning by former Tory Home Office minister Damian Green: “Destroying the BBC wasn’t in our manifesto and would be cultural vandalism.”
Government ‘needs to pull its finger out’, says Tory MP
Will Boris Johnson have to stick on his wellies and head north at some stage this week? Quite probably.
There’s growing anger over the nation’s flood defences after Storm Dennis wreaked havoc across much the country – hitting Yorkshire and south Wales particularly badly.
The Tory MP for Shipley, Philip Davies, said “precious little” had changed since the 2015 floods.
Davies told The Telegraph: “My constituents who were flooded were the same people who were flooded on Boxing Day 2015. It’s not as if there hasn’t been enough time to do something. The government needs to pull its finger out.”
Other MPs in the north have called for a redistribution in resources after analysis showed that one third of the £5bn allocated for defences up until 2026 is going on London and the south east.
According to the BBC, just over 1 per cent of government infrastructure spending in England is going on flood defences.
Tim Farron, the Lib Dem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, criticised the regional allocation – and the amount put into flood defences. “It is odd the government has chosen to spend so much money on London and the south east, and so little on the north,” he said.
“It’s also staggering that we’re spending so little money on flood defences altogether.”
Under-fire No 10 advisor ‘must be removed immediately’, says Labour
Boris Johnson under growing pressure to sack a new No 10 adviser after it emerged he called for the young to undergo compulsory contraception to prevent “a permanent underclass”.
Andrew Sabisky – hired following Dominic Cummings’ call to sign up “misfits and weirdos” – was also found to have previously argued for giving all children modafinil, a drug that cuts the need for sleep by two-thirds, even at the cost of “a dead kid once a year”.
Calling himself a “super-forecaster”, Sabisky backed using eugenics to “select” for good things, and compared women’s sport to the Paralympics.
Labour’s Cabinet Office spokesman, said: “There are really no words to describe Boris Johnson’s appointment, as one of his senior advisers, of a man who is on record as supporting the forced sterilisation of people he considers not worthy.
“He must of course be removed from this position immediately.”
France warns UK two sides could ‘rip each other apart’ during trade deal deal this year
Boris Johnson has been warned to expect a bruising battle with the EU in the forthcoming negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian predicted the two sides would “rip each other apart” as they strove for advantage in the talks.
Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, he made clear that Brussels will defend its interests when negotiations begin next month.
“I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart,” he said.
“But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.”
Emmanuel Macron’s government is said to want a tough stance on alignment, demanding the UK adopts Brussels standards on workers’ rights and environmental rules.
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Food importers tell PM to act to prevent price hikes and shortages
Concerned food importers have revealed the “mountain of paperwork” they face under Boris Johnson’s “hard” Brexit plan making price hikes and shortages inevitable at the begging of 2021.
The prime minister has been told there is “no time to lose” to reach an agreement with the EU to prevent the worst possible damage – and to begin expensive preparations at channel ports.
A report by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has listed no fewer than six documents its members will have to fill in if there is only a skeleton deal after the transition period. They are: VAT and customs documents; freight forms; health and veterinary paperwork; export health certificates; exit and entry summary declarations; and safety and security permits.
“The government must set about to negotiate a zero-tariff agreement that minimises checks and red tape otherwise it will be consumers who suffer as a result,” said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
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