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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Theresa May to give her Brexit speech on Tuesday – as it happened

Theresa May.
Theresa May. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

Afternoon summary

  • Number 10 sources have confirmed that Theresa May is planning to make her much-anticipated speech on Brexit on Tuesday next week.
  • NHS England has published figures showing waiting time performance getting worse. (See 10.46am.)
  • Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has accused Gerard Coyne, who is challenging him for the Unite leadership, of proposing to act like a “dictator”. (See 12.28pm.) He was speaking after Coyne published his manifesto. (See 11.40am.)

That’s all from me for today.

There will be a readers’ edition blog tomorrow. But I will be back on Saturday to write a blog from the Fabian Society conference in London where Jeremy Corbyn is giving the keynote speech.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has used Twitter to highlight his own priorities in the Unite leadership contest.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has warned that a new election to the Stormont Assembly will be divisive and in danger of driving people further apart.

He is co-chairing talks in Belfast today with Irish foreign minister Charles Flanagan in a bid to defuse the crisis caused by Martin McGuinness’ resignation as deputy first minister and first minister Arlene Foster’s refusal to stand aside temporarily from her office.

Brokenshire admitted that elections are still “highly likely” despite last ditch efforts to try and bring the two ruling parties in the power sharing coalition, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists, back together in government.

Speaking at Stormont House, the Northern Ireland Secretary said:

It is important for the parties to talk together and anything that indicates a move to encourage that type of discussion I take as helpful, albeit that position does remain serious and stark.

We are still looking at an election but we are doing everything we can as the two governments to work with the political parties to see if there is a way forward that can be found.

The 11th hour intervention of the British and Irish cabinet ministers into this crisis is an indication that both governments fear that the chances of piecing together a new power-sharing executive after the second set of elections in under a year may be remote given the bad blood that currently exists between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

James Brokenshire speaking to the media at Stormont House in Belfast today.
James Brokenshire speaking to the media at Stormont House in Belfast today. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Politicians, academics and broadcasters pay tribute to Anthony King

Here are some tributes to Prof Anthony King, the political scientist and BBC elections expert who has died at the age of 82. (See 9.34am.)

From Harriet Harman, the former deputy Labour leader

From Prof John Curtice, who is now the BBC’s leading elections expert

From the BBC presenter David Dimbleby

From the SNP MP and former broadcaster John Nicolson

From Labour peer Stewart Wood

From Peter Riddell, the commissioner for public appointments and former Times columnist and former Institute for Government director

From Channel 4 News’ Michael Crick

From the Guardian’s John Harris

From Prof Rob Ford

From the Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi

From Guy Lodge, co-author of Brown at 10

From Prof Tim Bale

From Prof Justin Fisher

From Chris Hughes

Updated

It seems it is a case of too-little-too-late by the Democratic Unionist party in their moves to avoid another election to a new Northern Ireland assembly.

The DUP suddenly found the money today - £50,000 to be precise - for an Irish language bursary the party’s culture minister Paul Givan cut from his budget just before Christmas. (See 9.44am.)

Refunding the scheme which enables children from poorer backgrounds to attend summer courses in Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) regions of Ireland won’t persuade Sinn Fein to return to government and avoid what first minister Arlene Foster has predicted is going to be a “brutal” election.

Minister Givan tweeted this morning that he had “identified the necessary funding to advance” the scheme repeating his earlier insistence that he was not hostile to the Irish language.

But Sinn Fein insist elections are going ahead after its deputy first minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness resigned from his post earlier this week. Although the party cited the withdrawal of the Liofa scheme as one example of DUP bad faith in the power-sharing government, the principal reason for the pull out has been first minister Foster’s refusal to step aside temporarily while a public inquiry takes place into the botched green energy heating programme whose costs have spiralled out of control.

Doubts continue over McGuinness’ health with reports that he is suffering form a rare condition of amyloidosis, a rare disease that affects the central nervous system, the heart and other vital organs.

However, McGuinness penned a column in today’s Belfast Telegraph in which he emphasised that his resignation and the entire crisis was “not an Orange and Green issue, despite attempts to paint it as such.”

The outgoing deputy first minister said the controversy over the Renewable Heat Incentive was rather was about allegations of “corruption” and the need for “the highest standards of governance.”

On these questions McGuinness said the people must have their say and election has to be called.

In today’s article he makes no reference though to his illness or indicate if he will stand for election in the Derry constituency of Foyle in that forthcoming contest.

As my colleague Alan Travis reports, police have confirmed that the speech given by Amber Rudd, the home secretary, at the Tory party conference in October has been officially recorded as a hate incident. Joshua Silver, an Oxford physics professor, complained because he thought the speech was anti-foreigner.

Prof Silver told the Daily Politics that he did not actually watch Rudd deliver the speech.

I didn’t actually see the speech but I’ve read the draft. And I’ve looked at all the feedback that there was to the speech. I’ve read the speech carefully and I’ve looked at all the feedback.

It’s discriminating against foreigners, you pick on them and say we want to give jobs to British people and not to foreigners. It was interpreted that way.

Michael Howard, the former Conservative leader and former home secretary, was also on the programme. He said Silver should he ashamed of himself.

Of course it wasn’t a hate incident. What Amber Rudd said was no different from Gordon Brown when he said there should be British jobs for British workers.

I think Mr Silver should be thoroughly ashamed of himself because what he’s doing is to bring a well-intentioned piece of legislation into disrepute. The meaning behind the legislation is very important, it’s meant to deal with hate crimes, and Mr Silver has been totally unable to justify what he’s done in the face of your questioning and is bringing that legislation into disrepute.

You can read all today’s Guardian political stories here.

As for the rest of the papers, here is the PoliticsHome list of top 10 must reads and here is the ConservativeHome round-up of today’s political stories.

And here are two stories I found interesting.

Mr Hammond, when he was Foreign Secretary, took the 15 per cent stake in Cambridgeshire-based Hydramach in October 2015, according to records at Companies House.

Months later – in April 2016 – Hydramach was one of eight companies which won the grant to develop low fat and low sugar soups, ready meals and sauces from Innovate UK, a tech start up quango run by the Department for Business.

Last night a former standards watchdog said Mr Hammond’s failure to make public his shareholding was “a serious failure” because “there is clearly a potential conflict of interest” ...

Last night Mr Hammond’s friends said Hydramach had pulled out of the consortium after winning the contract.

A source said Mr Hammond “didn’t know that the company had entered the assessment stage as part of this consortium, until after the assessment phase was complete.

“Mr Hammond has no involvement in his capacity as Chancellor in the process of awarding Innovate UK grants.”

Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to nuclear power is being exploited by the Conservatives as they fight to win a crucial seat for the first time in 80 years.

The Tories are taking advantage of the fact that election spending limits do not yet apply in the marginal seat of Copeland in Cumbria, which is home to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. It will also be the site of a new nuclear power station that could be in place by 2024.

Parties can spend no more than £100,000 in any by-election, but the rules only kick in when the sitting MP resigns. While Copeland’s Labour MP James Reed has already announced that he is standing down, he will not officially do so until the end of the month, leaving parties free to spend as much as they wish until then.

The Tories have been campaigning hard since Christmas with dozens of MPs visiting the constituency. About 100 activists and ten MPs recently gathered to deliver leaflets there.

The Times story highlights these leaflets.

McCluskey says Coyne talking 'nonsense' about need to clean up Unite

Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has dismissed Gerard Coyne’s claims about the need to “clean up” the union (see 11.40am) as “nonsense”. He also accused Coyne of devaluing the union’s achievements and of proposing to act as a “dictator” if he wins.

Here is the statement McCluskey issued about Coyne’s manifesto.

Yet again Gerard Coyne appears unaware of Unite’s rules and procedures. The matter of subscription rates is for the elected executive council who will make any decision one way or another. Members are electing a general secretary, not a dictator.

I also regret that Gerard continues to talk down Unite and its achievements. He is denying all that has been accomplished since Unite came together, doing a disservice to our lay membership and rank and file activists.

Given the challenges we have met, and are to meet, this is unworthy, especially as he knows his claims are nonsense. Unite is an open, democratic and financially well-managed union.

I am proud of the many victories that have been secured in industrial disputes during my time in office and proud of the many landmark legal wins we have achieved against bad bosses, including those who have blacklisted our members or refused them holiday pay.

I am clear that my vision is the right one for the future of our union and for our members’ jobs.

I again urge Gerard Coyne to raise the tone of his campaign and focus on the workplace issues which Unite members care about and that he ditch his party political campaign managers who clearly understand little of Unite’s rules, role and record.

Len McCluskey.
Len McCluskey. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Updated

The Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn says Theresa May is expected to deliver her Brexit speech on Tuesday next week - and that the supreme court could deliver its article 50 judgment on the same day.

Labour urges government to build tidal lagoon power plant in Swansea Bay

Labour is urging the government to build a tidal lagoon power plant in Swansea Bay.

Clive Lewis, the shadow business secretary, backed the idea following the publication of a government review, headed by the former energy minister Charles Hendry, saying the government should press ahead with a tidal energy scheme.

Here is the Guardian’s story about the Hendry report.

Referring to the proposed project in Swansea Bay, Lewis said:

We have high hopes that tidal energy will get cheaper fast, as we’ve seen in other renewable technologies. The government has repeatedly delayed this project, despite Labour backing it months ago. It’s time to stop dithering and get it built.

Gerard Coyne launches his Unite leadership manifesto

Gerard Coyne does not seem to have generate huge media interest in his manifesto launch.

But here goes anyway. Coyne’s manifesto is here (pdf). And it contains five main proposals.

1 - Focusing on strengthening the union, not “playing Westminster politics”.

Our current leader spends too much of his time – and your money – playing at Westminster politics. I will never try to be the puppet master of the Labour Party. The most important job is standing up for you the members, wherever you live and work in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland or Gibraltar.

He says he would try to recruit more women, younger members and BME members and improve support for union reps.

2 - Freezing membership subscriptions

He says he would freeze membership subscriptions for two years , introduce a family membership and reintroduce honorary membership for long-serving retired members.

3 - Making skills, training and apprenticeships a priority.

He says he would invite companies Unite works with to a Backing Britain Skills and Investment Summit, and introducing Unite-endorsed apprenticeships.

4 - Cleaning up Unite

He says he would “clean up Unite and put power back in your hands”.

Your union takes more than £150m of subscription money from members every year. I do not believe there is enough openness about how your money is spent, so I will introduce proper transparency to Unite’s finances. At the moment members of the union cannot see what their money is being spent on. If elected as general secretary I will set up a new value for money and audit committee, directly elected from the lay membership, to ensure you get the best value for your subscriptions.

5 - Promoting equality and openness

He says he would ensure the union has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and discrimination.

Scottish government urges Theresa May not to implement section 40 media law

The Scottish government has urged the UK government not to implement section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act, the provision that would mean newspapers who do not sign up to a government-approved regulator having to pay the costs of people who sue them for libel even if the newspapers win. In a statement Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish culture secretary, said:

We are committed to ensuring the practices which led to the Leveson Inquiry in the first place do not happen again and we believe that all individuals should have the ability to seek redress when they feel they have been the victim of press malpractice.

However, the context of press regulation in Scotland is quite distinct from that in England and Wales and section 40 of the crime and courts act does not apply under Scots law. We have not introduced statutory measures to incentivise participation in the regulatory system, as has happened in Westminster, and I can confirm we have no plans to do so.

Despite press regulation being devolved, Scottish local and national media could be impacted by any decision to enact section 40 in England and Wales, and it is my view that the measures consulted on by the UK government would put at risk the viability of much of our independent media, particularly local newspapers, and pose a potential threat to freedom of the press.

Fiona Hyslop.
Fiona Hyslop. Photograph: Andrew Cowen/Scottish Parliament/PA

A&E waiting time performance gets worse

Here is the NHS England bulletin out today (pdf) with the performance statistics for November 2016.

And here are some of the key points.

  • Only 88.4% of patients were dealt with at A&E within four hours, below the 95% target. The 95% target was last hit in July 2015.

There is a table here that shows the figures for previous months. Here they are.

Jul 15 - 95%

Aug 15 - 94.3%

Sep 15 - 93.4%

Oct 15 - 92.3%

Nov 15 - 91.3%

Dec 15 - 91%

Jan 16 - 88.7%

Feb 16 - 87.8%

Mar 16 - 87.3%

Apr 16 - 90%

May 16 - 90.3%

Jun 16 - 90.6%

Jul 16 - 90.3%

Aug 16 - 91%

Sept 16 - 90.6%

Oct 16 - 89%

Nov - 88.4%

  • Some 1.1% of patients had to wait more than six weeks for one of 15 key diagnostic tests. The target, 1%, was last met in November 2013.
  • 90.5% of patients were waiting less than 18 weeks for an operation, below the 92% target.
  • Seven out of eight cancer standards were met, but only 82.3% of patients started treatment within 62 days of a referral from a GP - less than the 85% target.

The NHS England bulletin also points out that hospitals are dealing with an increasing number of patients.

The long-term trend is one of greater volumes of both urgent and emergency care and elective activity, with A&E attendances up 4.5% [the 12 months to November compared with the previous 12-month period], emergency admissions up 3.5%, diagnostic tests up 4.8% and consultant-led treatment up 4.4%.

A&E department failing to meet waiting time targets, figures show

The latest figures from NHS England show that only 88.4% of A&E patients in November were dealt with within four hours, Sky News reports. The target is 95%.

I will post more on this when I have looked in detail at the figures.

A Democratic Unionist minister has reversed his controversial decision to cut an Irish language initiative in the midst of Stormont’s eco-boiler scandal, the Press Association reports.

Communities minister Paul Givan’s decision to cut a £50,000 bursary to pay for children to visit gaelic speaking communities - the Gaeltacht - infuriated Sinn Fein and has been seen as a key factor in the republican party’s decision to pull the plug on the power-sharing institutions.

In a tweet on Thursday morning, Givan said: “My decision on the Liofa Bursary Scheme was not a political decision. I have now identified the necessary funding to advance this scheme.”

The Press Association report goes on.

The shock development has been interpreted by some as a DUP olive branch to Sinn Fein as devolution teeters on the brink.

While the looming collapse of the ruling executive was triggered by the renewable heat incentive (RHI) affair - a green heating scandal that has left Stormont with a £490m bill - other disputes between the two main parties have been reignited by the furore.

One was the Irish language.

Sinn Fein cited DUP “disrespect” toward the language as one of the main reasons they had walked away.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams branded Givan an “ignoramus” for his original decision to cut the bursary.

Prof Anthony King has died

Professor Anthony King, one of the undisputed giants of postwar British political science and a familiar face in the BBC’s live coverage of general election night results, has died aged 82.

Born in Canada, and arriving in Britain as a Rhodes scholar in the 1950s, King taught at the school of government at the University of Essex for half a century and never officially retired. After early collaborations on studies of the 1964 and 1966 general elections with David Butler, King replaced Butler as a fixture in BBC television’s coverage of UK general elections from 1983 to 2005.

A born populariser and teacher, King reported and analysed Gallup opinion polls for the Daily Telegraph for many years, though his private political sympathies, though catholic and always carefully hidden, were never those of his employers.

King’s many books included the semi-official history of the Social Democratic Party, which split from Labour in 1981, in which he collaborated with his close friend and later Essex vice-chancellor Ivor Crewe. The two joined forces more recently in the best-selling 2013 study The Blunders of Our Governments.

King was a member of several significant public bodies, including the Nolan committee on standards in public life in 1994 and the Wakeham commission on the future of the House of Lords in 1999. In 2005 he chaired an inquiry on drugs policy for the Royal Society of Arts.

Anthony King
Anthony King Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

Gerard Coyne has been tweeting about his manifesto launch.

Union leadership elections tend to receive little or no attention in the mainstream press but this year’s Unite contest is different. Len McCluskey, the leftwing former docker, was first elected Unite general secretary in 2010 and he was re-elected comfortably in 2013. He is up for re-election again but this time he is facing a more serious challenge, from Gerard Coyne, Unite’s West Midlands regional secretary, who is launching his campaign manifesto this morning.

Unite is one of Britain two 1m-plus member super unions (the other is Unison) and it plays an important role in the British workplace. But Unite is also a very powerful player in Labour party politics, bankrolling the party, filling key seats on the national executive committee and exerting influence over candidate selection, and this leadership contest has become, at least in party, a proxy battle about Jeremy Corbyn. McCluskey is one of Corbyn’s strongest supporters. Coyne is arguing that McCluskey has been wrong to spend so much time dabbling in Labour’s internal politics, but he himself is seen as the candidate of the anti-Corbynites and a Coyne victory would be a significant defeat for the Corbyn project.

We will get Coyne’s manifesto later, when he launches it with a speech in Birmingham at 10.30am, but he set out his approach yesterday in an article in the Times (paywall).

One of my main criticisms of Unite’s leadership is that with these huge challenges in front of him, Len McCluskey prefers to spend his time in office using the union’s money and resources to intervene in the running of the Labour Party.

I have no doubt that Unite members, and the workers Unite ought to be representing, would be better off under a Labour government, but it is not up to the General Secretary of Unite to act as Labour’s puppet master.

Tomorrow I will be launching the manifesto on which I am running to be Unite’s next General Secretary.

It will promise a sharper focus on the issues that matter to the membership, including a strong emphasis on the skills that the workforce will need to fill the gaps when Brexit limits the supply of skilled labour imported from the EU.

It will also promise more transparency in how Unite, the UK’s biggest union, uses the £150 million a year that its members contribute through their subscriptions, an end to the misuse of funds, and zero tolerance of bullying.

I will cover this in more detail when the launch happens.

Otherwise, it seems a relatively quiet day. But I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web.

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.

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