Afternoon summary
- Theresa May has been accused of lying about the impact of EU migrants on the UK by the Czech Europe secretary, Tomas Prouza. (See 4.51pm.)
- MPs have passed without opposition a motion saying they have no confidence in the Football Association. It was proposed on behalf of the Commons culture committee by the committee’s chairman, Damian Collins. He told MPs:
We believe now that legislation is the only way in which [reform of the FA] can be delivered. That was the recommendation of the last three chairmen of the FA to the select committee - to say that the FA cannot reform itself, the turkeys won’t vote for Christmas, there has to be external pressure and external action through legislation to achieve it.
What I’m asking in this debate today is that if the government is unsuccessful in getting reform from the FA, that a bill is prepared to be introduced into the next session of parliament after the Queen’s speech, to deliver the reform the FA so badly needs.
At the end of the debate a few minutes ago the motion (see 3.47pm) was passed by acclamation, with no MP objecting.
That’s all from me for today, and for this week.
And next week I’m off for the half-term break. If there any big political stories, a colleague may be writing a live blog. Otherwise I will be launching a readers’ edition.
Updated
May accused of lying about impact of EU migrants on UK by Czech Europe minister
Theresa May has been accused of lying about the impact of immigration on Britain by a senior European government figure. It was Tomas Prouza, the Czech state secretary for European affairs, who made the claim in a speech at Charles University in Prague at a conference on Brexit. He also delivered a harsh assessment of May’s Brexit strategy. Here is the full text, and here are the key points.
- Prouza accused Theresa May of lying about the impact of EU migrants on Britain.
Czechoslovakia managed to get divorced without much fuss. I believe we should strive for the similar effect here. Our legacy for future generations cannot be a world where the clock turned back a century and everybody is an enemy. However, we cannot achieve this if we continue to make unfounded claims about each other. I am speaking about the continuing and growing aggression towards other nationals, especially citizens from central Europe, in the UK. As I mentioned at the beginning, time and time again, numbers have shown that EU citizens contribute more to Britain’s economy than they take out. Even so, this alternative fact, or let’s call it what it is – a lie, once again re-surfaced in Theresa May’s speech. Let’s move beyond such tactics and build our new relationship on facts and respect, not populism and lies.
This seems to be a reference to this passage in May’s Lancaster House speech, where she said immigration was having a negative effect on communities.
In the last decade or so, we have seen record levels of net migration in Britain, and that sheer volume has put pressure on public services, like schools, stretched our infrastructure, especially housing, and put a downward pressure on wages for working class people.
The text of the speech on Prouza’s website includes a link to a Guardian article saying EU migrants make a net contribution to the British economy.
- He said May’s Brexit plans were contradictory, because making Britain more global was incompatible with restricting immigration.
To sum it up „Theresa May’s speech means Theresa May’s speech“. We are a bit confused – the main idea of a fairer, more open, and more Global Britain seems nice on paper, but how do you want to be open when one of the key elements of the plan is to stop the inflow of bright and hardworking people from all over the world that invested so much of their energy into making Britain great? How do you want to “reach beyond Europe” when your plan is to close yourself up and when you are best friends with a man who is basing his new administration on cutting his international ties?
- He said May’s claim that no Brexit deal would be better than a bad Brexit deal was “dangerous” and wrong.
Hard Brexit itself is not what we would have wanted, but there is a good and bad way of doing it. The rhetoric that “no deal is better than a bad deal” is certainly the latter. The UK sometimes seems to be forgetting that it needs us too. Yes, UK is a big business partner for the EU, but so is the EU for the UK. This splendid isolation game regardless of the real consequences is dangerous.
- He said May’s desire to have a very close trading relationship with the EU without being in the single market or the customs union was “unrealistic”. That was because the EU would not allow “cherry picking”, he said.
The UK’s ambitions to have trade relations as close as possible without being a part of the single market and the customs union are frankly speaking unrealistic. The EU cannot undermine the very principles on which the internal market was established and has to ensure a level playing field.
The possibility of cherry-picking is the biggest danger that would devalue the existing efforts of all Member States. We cannot allow unhindered access to the single market in areas that suit the UK and limit access to the UK market for European companies. There must be some “Give” for all the UK’s “Take”.
These quotes all give the impression that it was an anti-British speech. But it wasn’t. Prouza ended with a passage saying the EU did not want to punish the UK for Brexit and stressing the close historical ties between the British and the Czechs.
Neither the Czech Republic nor the EU has the intent to punish the UK for the legitimate decision of its citizens. We have tight historic ties; have been long-standing allies and I sincerely believe this will not change. We should leave this process as partners as well. Let me remind you that during World War II, the Czech government in exile had its base in London; similarly, Czech pilots played a role in the success of the Royal Air Force. We must not forget these key historic moments, we must remember the heroism of our ancestors and continue to work together. All the same time, the Czech Republic is a Member of the European Union and will continue to defend its principles and unity of the integration. We still believe moving forward together is the best available and most efficient option for us. As was once said, no man is an island… except for Britain, of course.
My speech at #brexit conference @UniKarlova @FSV_UK → https://t.co/AadhOSdC29 pic.twitter.com/3xy3EFkQWi
— Tomas Prouza (@CZSecStateEU) February 9, 2017
UPDATE: I’ve corrected the post and the headline. Earlier I described Prouza as the Czech minister for Europe. But his official title is state secretary for European affairs, and he works in the prime minister’s office as an official, not a minister.
Updated
Here is the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast, with Heather Stewart, Polly Toynbee, Ryan Shorthouse and John Healey discussing the Brexit bill and the housing white paper, as well as the Labour leader in the Lords, Baroness Smith, and Angelique Chrisafis on the French election.
In the Commons Damian Collins, the Conservative MP who chairs the culture committee, is opening the backbench debate on the Football Association.
Here is the motion.
That this House has no confidence in the ability of the Football Association (FA) to comply fully with its duties as a governing body, as the current governance structures of the FA make it impossible for the organisation to reform itself; and calls on the Government to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the governance of the FA.
Collins has tabled the motion on behalf of his committee. This is what the committee says about what it thinks FA reform is needed.
The committee published two reports in the last parliament calling for reform of the FA, to allow representatives of fans, women’s football, BAME groups, officials such as referees and the grassroots sport a significantly greater say in the governance of the game, and to give the Executive Directors of the FA greater weight in comparison with the representatives of the Premier and Football Leagues. However, the reforms called for by groups representing the wider game, the committee, successive ministers for sport and recently, a number of past chairmen and chief executives of the FA, have been ignored by The FA.
Last autumn, the government published its guidance on best practice in sports governance. It is clear that The FA does not comply with this guidance now and there appears to be considerable resistance to the idea of changing its very out-of-date structure at all. The committee is therefore preparing a draft Bill to bring the structure of The FA—which is, in legal terms, a company—into line with modern company law.
Rupert Murdoch was there when Gove interviewed Trump, FT reports
The Financial Times has got a good scoop. It says that, when Michael Gove interviewed Donald Trump last month for the Times last month, he chose not to reveal that someone else was present, as well as the German journalist who jointly conducted it with Gove.
Here is the FT story (subscription). And here is an extract.
It was the journalistic coup of the moment, the first British newspaper interview with Donald Trump since his victory. But there was one thing The Times of London did not reveal: that its proprietor Rupert Murdoch was sitting in on the conversation.
The chairman of News Corp did not feature in photographs of the encounter last month at the top of Trump Tower in Manhattan but two people have confirmed he was in the room. The interview was conducted by Michael Gove, a former British cabinet minister and proponent of the UK’s exit from the EU.
Mr Murdoch’s presence is a sign of the mogul’s interest in Mr Trump and his close relationship with the new president and his family.
I’ve put a call in to Gove’s office to see if he is saying anything about this. I’ll let you know if I get a response.
Updated
Q: [From an Italian journalist] Angela Merkel has said the time has come to launch a two-speed Europe. Will Europe be part of the top sphere?
Gentiloni says at the summit in Rome, EU leaders will think about the next 10 years.
Q: [From an Italian journalist] What do you think of President Trump’s immigration policy? And should President Putin be invited to the G7?
Gentiloni says Italy has not invited Putin to the G7 meeting in Sicily later this year.
May says the British government thinks Trump’s travel ban is divisive and wrong. It is not a policy the UK would adopt. The government has worked to ensure it does not cover British nationals.
But there is a general problem with immigration, she says.
She says the key thing in Europe is to stop people travelling across the Mediterranean in the first place.
And that’s it. The press conference is over.
Q: Would you allow Scotland to have a second independence referendum?
May says the question is whether there should be one. We had one in 2014. The Scottish people said they wanted to stay in the UK. The SNP said that was a once in a lifetime vote. She says her priority is to get the best possible Brexit deal. She is looking at the Scottish government’s plan.
Q: [From an Italian journalist] You said Italian workers and other EU citizens will have full rights in the UK after Brexit. But your article 50 bill did not say that. Why won’t you make a unilateral statement on this?
May says she has consistently said she wants and expects to be able to guarantee their citizenship. But as UK prime minister she must get assurances for Britons living in other EU countries. When she triggers article 50, she will ask for this to be resolved quickly.
Q: You spoke of cooperation. Are you worried about protectionism that we see in the UK, linked to Brexit, having a bad effect on the Italian economy?
Gentiloni says the EU has to be aware of the difficulties presented by the international scene. But there are also opportunities. We don’t know what the future will be in relation to markets.
They are now taking questions.
Q: The A&E figures are the worst for more than 10 years. What can you say to reassure voters the NHS is safe in your hands. And did you change the funding formula for Surrey county council.
Theresa May says she would like to thank staff who are working in the NHS, giving such a good quality of service, and treating record numbers of people.
In December A&E departments had their busiest ever day.
There are not 3,000 more people being seen every day within the four-hour standard, she says.
On social care, she says the government has given councils the chance to raise council tax by 3% with the money going to social care. Other money is going in, taking the total figure to £900m.
On refugees, she says there are a number of schemes that bring refugees into the UK. Quite a number of children and families are being resettled here, she says. And the UK is giving significant aid in the region.
Q: Is Britain doing enough to take in refugees?
Paolo Gentiloni says Europe needs a common strategy for migrants. The influx of migrants needs to be shared. He says the EU has made incredible strides forward if you look back to what the situation was in 2014.
Paolo Gentiloni, the Italian prime minister, is speaking now.
He says the EU countries want the best possible Brexit negotiation with the UK. They don’t want a destructive approach to talks, he says.
He says he also wants to be able to assure Italians in the UK, and Britons in Italy, that their acquired rights will be respected.
He says Italy did not want the UK to leave the EU.
PM says we've moved a step closer to triggering Article 50, after last night's vote, in press conference with Italian PM Gentiloni pic.twitter.com/7r7JoofbBE
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) February 9, 2017
May says the UK and Italy will work together tackling the migration crisis.
Some 180,000 people arrived in Italy in 2016 from the Mediterranean, she says.
Theresa May's press conference with the Italian PM, Paolo Gentiloni
Theresa May is opening the press conference now.
She says she and Paolo Gentiloni have agreed to hold regular UK-Italy summits.
Clive Lewis has released the resignation letter he sent to Jeremy Corbyn yesterday when he quit his post as shadow business secretary so that he could vote against the article 50 bill.
Thank you for all your kind words - they're much appreciated. The letter of resignation I sent to @jeremycorbyn can be read in full here: pic.twitter.com/ohgJqB2a08
— Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) February 9, 2017
Lunchtime summary
- Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed claims he has set a date for standing down as Labour leader as “false news”. (See 9.28am.) He was speaking in an interview with BBC Breakfast.
- Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, has told MPs that Britain has 200 trade negotiators and is getting more.
- The Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni has arrived at Number 10 for talks with Theresa May. They will hold a press conference at about 2pm.
Theresa May greets Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni as he arrives for talks at 10 Downing Street pic.twitter.com/nGJJujra4F
— Arj Singh (@singharj) February 9, 2017
Cooper says Rudd's response to her child refugees urgent question 'completely inadequate'
Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the Commons home affairs committee, has said Amber Rudd’s response to her urgent question about child refugees was “completely inadequate”. In a statement she said:
The Dubs scheme was working and helping the most vulnerable refugees of all so it is shocking that the government has decided to close it after only six months. Thanks to the scheme, child refugees from Syria are now safe in foster care, teenage girls from Eritrea who have been trafficked, raped and abused are now in school, getting an education and a future. This was an important way for Britain to do its bit in a global refugee crisis just as we did through the Kindertransport generations ago. It is shameful that the Government has stopped it so soon.
The home secretary’s response today was completely inadequate. Far from deterring traffickers, this decision to halt legal routes to sanctuary will encourage traffickers instead. By closing both the Dubs scheme and the fast-track Dublin scheme for child refugees with family in Britain, at the same time as the French are closing some of their support, the government is pushing vulnerable children back into the arms of smuggler and trafficker gangs, and back into modern slavery.
Already we are seeing hundreds of children starting to return to Dunkirk and Calais. Both France and Britain have an obligation to work together to make sure the dangerous Calais camp conditions don’t start all over again. The prime minister said last week that “on refugees this Government has a proud record.... and long may it continue.” It’s time Ministers lived up to that and continued this important support for child refugees now.
Here is my colleague Alan Travis’s story on the urgent question on child refugees.
And here is how it starts.
MPs have said 50 unaccompanied child refugees a day are now heading back to the “people traffickers and mud” of the Calais and Dunkirk camps, as the home secretary’s decision to close the “Dubs scheme” faced growing cross-party criticism.
The Tory MP David Burrowes was among those who criticised the government’s decision to close the scheme to bring unaccompanied child refugees in Europe to the UK after only 350 arrivals. .
Accusing ministers of having “cut and run from child refugees”, he said that when MPs and peers voted to set up the scheme last May “parliament did not intend to set a time a limit on our compassion for vulnerable child refugees in Europe”.
This is what Lord Dubs said in the Lords after Lady Williams of Trafford, a Home Office minister, told him the the Dubs scheme for child refugees had not been closed.
My lords, I must confess I’m slightly puzzled because if the government says there is a specified number of children, then after that total has been reached, the scheme has been closed.
It was not long ago that I remember the prime minister when she was home secretary told me that the government was prepared to accept the amendment. It was on the same day that the then immigration minister said to me that the government would accept the letter and the spirit of that amendment. I believe in arbitrarily closing down a scheme without any good reason for doing so the government is in breach of its own commitments.
Here is the full text of what is known as the Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act passed last year. And this is what it says:
Unaccompanied refugee children: relocation and support
(1) The Secretary of State must, as soon as possible after the passing of this Act, make arrangements to relocate to the United Kingdom and support a specified number of unaccompanied refugee children from other countries in Europe.
(2) The number of children to be resettled under subsection (1) shall be determined by the Government in consultation with local authorities.
(3) The relocation of children under subsection (1) shall be in addition to the resettlement of children under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme.
Dubs originally proposed an amendment saying Britain should take in 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees. That was defeated in the Commons. Dubs then proposed his alternative version (see above), which did not use the number 3,000 or specify how many child refugees should be admitted, and that was reluctantly accepted by the government, partly as a result of public pressure.
Another Conservative MP has issued a statement criticising the government for closing the Dubs scheme. This is from David Burrowes, MP for Enfield Southgate and vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on refugees. He said:
I am deeply disappointed that both the government and local councils have shut the door to more “Dubs” child refugees. This was not what parliament intended. It looks like they have cut and run from child refugees. Our legal and moral obligation to child refugees has not been fulfilled. The government need to keep the door open to lone child refugees in Europe particularly with family in UK, and help keep others safe from slavery. Local councils need to work with the local community who want to find ways to provide more places for vulnerable child refugees.
I recognise that the government has made good efforts to support refugees. The UK has resettled over 4400 individuals through the Syrian vulnerable persons resettlement scheme so far; last year transferred over 900 asylum seeking children to the UK from Europe; established the £10 million refugee children’s fund to support the needs of vulnerable refugee children arriving in Europe; committed to resettle 3000 children at risk from the MENA region, and has pledged over £2.3bn in aid to Syria and the region.
However, as the home secretary reminded us at the Conservative party conference, compassion does not have borders, and parliament last May did not intend to set a time limit on our compassion for vulnerable child refugees in Europe.
Earlier the Conservative MP Will Quince said he was “sad and disappointed” by the government’s decision. (See 11.12am.)
On Radio 5 Live this morning David Simmonds, head of the Local Government Association’s asylum, refugee and migration task group, said that lack of government funding, not a shortage of families willing to take in refugee children, explained why councils were not offering to take more children.
Simmonds, a Conservative and deputy leader of Hillingdon council, said:
If the money is available, then more places can be found. The government needs to make the decision. How much money is it going to make available? If the money isn’t available to pay foster carers, then the council is not going to be able to get them to take on refugee children.
It costs on average £50,000 to support a child in the UK. The government funding at the moment covers at most around £40,000 a year. The more children we take, the bigger the cost to local taxpayers.
If we are going to do more, we need to make sure the money is there because no community should be asked to bear an unfair burden and to choose between supporting refugee children and cutting services to rail elderly people or closing libraries.
Lord Reid, the Labour former home secretary, asks where the figure of 350 came from. And can it be revised.
Lady Williams of Trafford says this figure came from local authorities. Originally it was 400, but it was revised down to ensure capacity in case some family arrangements break down.
'How does she live with herself?' - Abbott to Rudd over ending of Dubs scheme for child refugees
Here is the key quote from Diane Abbott. She was addressing Amber Rudd.
Can the secretary of state tell me ... how does she live with herself, leaving thousands of children subject to disease, people trafficking, squalor and hopelessness?
Urgent question in the Lords
Lord Dubs is asking his urgent question in the Lords.
He says he is “puzzled” by the claim the scheme is not closed. He says the government says it will only take 350 children, and then no more. He says this is against the spirit of what the government agreed when it accepted the amendment.
Lady Williams of Trafford, a Home Office minister, says that the scheme is not closed because the government will be taking more children until it reaches the 350 number.
Updated
The SNP’s Patrick Grady says, although no one will accuse the UK of not helping refugees, it looks as if the government is not.
Rudd says the government is meeting its commitments in the Dubs amendment. It is proud of its response.
Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds says he knows one faith community in London housing about 30 children, which would be one tenth of the total. Will faith groups be able to take in more children if they want to and can support them?
Rudd says any groups that want to provide homes for more children should get in touch with the Home Office, and it will try to help them.
The SNP’s Margaret Ferrier asks if the Home Office asked every council how many children they could take.
Rudd says the Home Office set out what support it could offer. And it urged councils to offer to take children.
She praises the Scottish local authorities for doing “so much” to take in refugees, particularly vulnerable young women.
Labour’s Vernon Coaker says MPs cannot understand why the scheme is being closed with so few children being taken in.
Rudd says he does not accept this. She says Coaker is not listening to what she is saying about who children become vulnerable. “We are doing what we believe is best for those children,” she says. She says Coaker should reconsider his language.
Richard Graham, a Conservative, says charity begins at home, but should not end at home. That is why he supports the work being done by the government to help refugees abroad. He says he does not approve of the personal attack Diane Abbott launched on Rudd. She should accept that all MPs want to do the right thing.
Rudd says Abbott should recognise they both share “an ambition of compassion”.
The Conservative MP Will Quince has posted a statement on Twitter saying he is “sad and disappointed” by the government’s announcement about the Dubs scheme.
He says taking 350 children amounts to taking on average fewer than two per local authority. Councils that are not playing their part and offering to help find homes for child refugees should be named and shamed, he says.
My thoughts on the Government's Written Statement on the Dubs (unaccompanied refugee children in Europe) Scheme. #dubs #Dubsamendment pic.twitter.com/ibzHmyNiop
— Will Quince MP (@willquince) February 9, 2017
Rudd rejects claims there are similarities between Trump’s refugee policy and the government’s
Labour’s Pat McFadden says he thinks Rudd is a good person, so he won’t attack her. But what signal does this send in the light of last week’s announcement from President Trump. Does she want to be aligned with that?
Rudd says the government is not saying it is pulling up the drawbridge. She says she does not recognise the comparison McFadden is making.
- Rudd rejects claims there are similarities between Trump’s refugee policy and the government’s.
Labour’s Paul Flynn says it is important to have a fair dispersal system. His city, Newport, takes hundreds of asylum seekers every year. But Theresa May’s constituency (Maidenhead), David Cameron’s (Witney) and George Osborne’s (Tatton) have not taken any.
Rudd says her constituency, Hastings and Rye, has taken in asylum seekers.
Thangam Debbonaire, the Labour MP, asks Rudd to appoint a minister for refugees.
Rudd says she has an excellent ministerial team, including an immigration minister. But she will keep this under review.
Michael Fabricant, a Conservative, says he has Jewish ancestry, like Lord Dubs. He says he finds comparisons with the 1930s and the Kindertransport distasteful.
Rudd says she agrees. The only places where 1930s comparisons might apply are the camps in the regions, where conditions are very bad. That is why the government is focusing its efforts there.
Labour’s Stella Creasy says an average 50 children every day are going back to the camps. The government’s attempt to stop the pull factor is not working.
Rudd says Creasy should ask why they are going back. It would be better for these children to be processed by the French.
Tania Mathias, the Conservative MP, says the government should be leading the way on this. She says the government should have a minister for refugees.
Rudd says at the time the amendment was agreed the government said a number would be set. That has been done.
The SNP’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman, Joanna Cherry, says Rudd claims that the scheme is not closed. But she has put a limit of 350 on the number of children coming.
She says this is against the spirit of what was debated in the Commons.
She complains about the announcement being sneaked out. And she asks if the government is adopting the spirit of President Trump.
Rudd says the scheme is still open because another 150 children are due to come to the UK as part of it.
(They are part of the 350.)
But she says the government had to put a number on it.
Peter Bone, a Conservative, says he understands why Labour feels strongly about this. Labour MPs are sincere, he says. But if the government continues to accept children, it will continue to encourage trafficking.
Rudd asks Labour MPs to accept the government has a different approach. It is sincere, she says.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, says she visited a number of refugee camps last year. Volunteers told her that the worst thing about the crisis was the children. The written statement yesterday said all children in France were in the care of the French authorities. They may be the responsibility of the French authorities, but they are not being looked after, she says.
She asks Rudd how she lives with herself, leaving thousands of children subject to disease, people trafficking, squalor and hopelessness.
Rudd says she agrees with Abbott that the children matter most.
The number of children being trafficked into Europe is a disgrace, she says.
It is because we care that we are taking children from the most vulnerable places. It is the children in places like Jordan and Lebanon who are most at risk, she says.
She says the French are processing children coming out of the Calais camps. But the hope of being taken to the UK deters children from leaving the camp.
So making it clear that the scheme will not be indefinitely open is best for them, she says.
Rudd claims Dubs scheme is not closed
Rudd is replying to Cooper.
She says, again, the Dubs scheme is not closed. The government has put a number on it, she says.
- Rudd claims Dubs scheme is not closed.
She says the government has a different approach to where the most vulnerable children are. They are in the region (ie, in countries near Syria), and that is where the government is taking children from.
She says France does not want the UK to run this scheme indefinitely.
Updated
Yvette Cooper asks Rudd to confirm that after the 350 children mentioned in the written ministerial statement yesterday are admitted, no more will come.
She says this is “shameful”.
Most of the children who have come have family here already, and were entitled to come.
She says it takes time to set up schemes to allow councils to support refugee children.
She says child refugees are heading back to Calais and Dunkirk, back to the danger and the people traffickers and prostitution rings.
Britain and France can both do better.
Will she reinstate the scheme?
Amber Rudd, the home secretary, is responding.
She says the government takes the fate of child refugees very seriously.
She says the UK has contributed signifcantly to hosting and supporting the most vulnerable children affected by the refugee crisis.
She quotes some of the figures from yesterday’s written ministerial statement about the numbers of children who have come to the UK.
She says the Dubs scheme is not closed.
(That is now what my colleague Alan Travis was told. Here’s an extract from his story from yesterday.
Robert Goodwill, the immigration minister, told MPs in a written ministerial statement that one further group of 150 lone child refugees are to be brought to Britain but they will be the last to be transferred under the scheme. He did not spell out that they would be the last to arrive under the scheme – but the Home Office later confirmed that it was the case when pressed.)
Yvette Cooper asks Commons urgent question on ending of Dubs scheme for child refugees
Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons home affairs committee, is about to ask a Commons urgent question on the ending of the Dubs scheme for child refugees.
Here is our overnight story on this.
Lord Dubs himself will be asking an urgent question on this in the Lords later.
@AlfDubs secures Lords #UQ (PNQ) on Govt's scandalous u-turn on #childrefugees - 11.35am, straight after today's #LordsQs
— LabourLordsUK (@LabourLordsUK) February 9, 2017
The NHS in England is performing at its worst ever level against a raft of targets, including A&E, cancer and people forced to wait on trolleys, the Press Association reports.
The number of people waiting more than two months to start cancer treatment after an urgent referral was 25,157 in 2016 - the highest on record and up on the 23,760 recorded in 2015 and 13,191 in 2010.
Meanwhile, figures for December reveal just 86.2% of A&E patients were seen within four hours - the worst figure on record. January data leaked to the BBC shows this is expected to drop even further.
Delayed transfers of care - so-called bed-blocking - is also the highest on record, while patients spending more than 12 hours to be admitted to a bed were at their highest ever levels in 2016.
Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, has published a written ministerial statement this morning rebutting the claim made by Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs yesterday that his department has offered Surrey county council a “sweetheart” funding deal.
Javid says that “the government is not proposing extra funding to Surrey county council that is not otherwise provided or offered to other councils generally.”
But he confirms that that Surrey has been given the chance to take part in a pilot that will allow it to keep 100% of its business rates in 2018/19, a year before the scheme is rolled out nationally.
Lord Dubs, the Labour peer who tabled the amendment to the Immigration Act obliging the government to take in child refugees from Europe, has criticised yesterday’s announcement that the scheme is closing with far fewer children admitted than was originally envisaged. Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, he said:
I think it’s a very disappointing decision. And I think the government have gone back on their word. They assured me at the beginning that they would accept the letter and the spirit of the amendment. And they haven’t done that.
Here we had an amendment which brings unaccompanied child refugees to this counry. There was no time limit. There was no limit on the numbers. They simply should do it while there was a need.
I never said we should take all the children in Europe. All I said was we should take some of them. But the government have done very little.
There will be an urgent question on this at 10.30am. I will be covering it in detail.
Jeremy Corbyn also gave a brief interview to Sky News this morning. Asked about filling the four shadow cabinet vacancies, he said there would be announcements later today. But there would not be a wider shadow cabinet reshuffle, he said.
Corbyn dismisses claims he has set date for resigning as 'fake news'
For many years there was an assumption that an EU referendum, and Brexit, would split the Conservative party. But, as last night’s vote confirmed, that actual process of leaving the EU is creating much more turmoil for Labour, as became apparent when Jeremy Corbyn was interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning. Here are the key points from what he had to say.
- Corbyn dismissed claims that he has set a date for stepping down as “fake news”. When he was asked about these claims, he dismissed them as “absolute nonsense”.
That’s in the ‘Imadeitupyesterday.com’.
When pressed, he criticised the presenter for even raising the issue.
I’m really surprised that the BBC is reporting fake news. There is no news. Listen, I was elected leader of this party. I’m very proud to lead this party. We will go through this process demanding from the government social justice in Britain, setting out our economic plans for an investment-led economy, opposing this government on the crisis in social care and the health service, demanding real action on the housing crisis taking place all over this country. That is our agenda. That is what we are united on. And that is what I’m doing.
The claim that Corbyn has set a date for stepping down may have been first made by Adam Boulton in a column in the Sunday Times (paywall) in December. Boulton wrote:
Corbyn is due to celebrate his 70th birthday on May 26, 2019. According to a very senior Labour source, he has said privately he does not want to serve as leader beyond then. He has also hinted that he does not want to fight a general election as party leader.
At Westminster the rumour mill started whirling again on this issue yesterday, prompted to a large extent by this tweet from the Manchester Evening News’s Jennifer Williams.
Here’s the clip, tweeted by the BBC’s Jamie McConkey, who points out that the BBC was not reporting this supposed “fake news” but just asking Corbyn if it was true.
BBC: We want to avoid reporting fake news, so please clarify something for us.
— Jamie McConkey (@JamieMcConkey) February 9, 2017
Corbyn: I'm really surprised the BBC is reporting fake news. pic.twitter.com/lsYGGdb7y4
- Corbyn ejected claims that the resignation of Clive Lewis showed that Brexit was a “disaster” for Labour. When this was put to him, he replied:
No, it’s not a disaster. Look, the majority of Labour MPs voted to trigger article 50. Fifty-odd voted against it, mainly on the basis of their strong message from their own constituents. My argument is, it was a national vote, it was a national referendum, and parliament has to respect that.
On all the other votes there is unity. On all the other campaigning points there is unity.
- He defended the tweet he posted last night saying the “real fight” on Brexit starts now. When it was put to him that Labour should have started fighting on this issue earlier, he said that most Labour MPs had campaigned for yes. He said Theresa May had been forced to give parliament a vote on the final deal. And he rejected the claim that, by backing the article 50 bill last night, Labour was agreeing to everything May wanted to do.
No, we have not agreed with everything. Do you not understand? This was a one-clause bill, a one-clause bill that authorised the government to start negotiations, and recognised the result of the referendum ...
The government does not have a blank cheque to set up an offshore tax haven in Britain. All that it has is authority to proceed with negotiations, which is what the referendum was about.
Here is Corbyn’s tweet.
Real fight starts now. Over next two years Labour will use every opportunity to ensure Brexit protects jobs, living standards & the economy.
— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) February 8, 2017
And here is our story about the reaction it has provoked.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: NHS England publishes A&E waiting times and other performance figures.
9.30am: The Office for National Statistics publishes figures on violent crime and sexual offences.
10am: Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
10.30am: A Home Office minister answers an urgent question in the Commons about the ending of the Dubs scheme for child refugees.
2pm: Theresa May holds a press conference with the Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, after their meeting in Downing Street.
Around 2.30pm: MPs begin a debate on a backbench bill saying they have no confidence in the Football Association. They will vote at 5pm.
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.
You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.
Updated
