Afternoon summary
Higher earners in Scotland are to be taxed more heavily after ministers in Edinburgh sought to reduce cuts to public services and fund an expensive council tax freeze.
Updated
Sunak rejects call for higher taxes on wealth and says worrying about inequality does not keep him awake at night
While he was giving evidence to the liaison committee earlier, Rishi Sunak was asked about the morality of tax policy by the Labour MP Liam Byrne, chair of the business committee.
Byrne started telling Sunak that sales of luxury cars were at an all-time high while food banks were running out of food, homelessness was at a record level and millions of people faced destitution. He asked Sunak if he lay awake at night worrying about the levels of inequality.
Sunak replied:
No. I want to make sure we can reduce economic inequality and spread opportunity, and I’m please that we are making progress on that.
Sunak said that income inequality was lower than it was in 2010, that there were 1.7 million fewer people living in absolute poverty, and that the number of people in low-paid work was at its lowest level on record.
Byrne put it to Sunak that wealth inequality has gone up. And he said the UK has the worst record in inequality of any major economy. He asked Sunak to accept that the tax system should be fair and that those with the broadest shoulders should pay more, and Sunak replied: “Of course I do. I believe in a progressive tax system, and that’s what we’ve delivered.”
Byrne then asked why, if one person in five is set to pay 40% income tax, it was right for people who get their income in the form of investment income to pay around half of that.
Sunak said he did not agree this was wrong. Capital gains tax on second homes was higher than before, he said. And, with investment taxes generally, rates have to make allowance for the value of investment to the economy.
But, Byrne said, investment income had doubled during the course of the century, rising to to £80bn. That mean rich people were paying tax rates of around 21% or 22%. He asked: ‘“Surely that is morally wrong.”
Sunak did not accept that. He said it was Gordon Brown who cut capital gains tax, and he pointed out that Byrne was a Treasury minister at the time. Byrne said that that was 13 years ago, and that wealth inequality had widened a lot since then.
Byrne is due to publish a book on wealth inequality next year, which may partly explain why he was so keen to ask about the wealth taxes. But it is also an issue that is likely to become increasingly topical. Labour is currently only proposing a very small number of highly-targeted tax increases, but in the past Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have hinted that they would support removing what are seen as the tax advantages for people who get income from wealth.
And in its recent report on the economy, Ending Stagnation, the Resolution Foundation explicitly proposes taxing wealth more. The report which says:
Although we must wait to assess the full – and potentially significant – effect of newly raised interest rates in reducing overall levels of wealth, the big story of the last 40 years has been of private wealth racing ahead of income, rising from around three times to more than seven times of GDP. One might have imagined that as wealth increased, tax on wealth would increase in rough proportion. Figure 55 reveals nothing of the sort has happened. Instead, wealth taxes remain roughly where they were 15 or even 35 years ago, at somewhere around 3 per cent of GDP.
And here is figure 55 that illustrates this.
Starmer attended the launch of the report. He did not endorse all its recommendations, and its tax plans did not feature in the press summary of the main points, but, as Byrne’s questions showed, there will be people in the party pushing for a future Labour government to move in this direction.
Updated
Number of asylum seekers who might come to UK from Rwanda under reciprocity clause in 'single digits', Cleverly says
Asked about the clause in the agreement saying the UK will agree to take in a portion of Rwanda’s asylum seekers, Dan Hobbs, the official giving evidence with Cleverly, says this refers to people who might have acute medical needs.
Cleverly says he cannot speculate on the number of people who might come to the UK as a result, but he says he expects the numbers to be “tiny”. He says he is talking about “single digits”.
The hearing has now ended.
Goldsmith returns to his point about the case for delaying ratification of the treaty. Rwanda has not yet implemented the changes that have been promised, he says. He says:
Parliament is being asked to accept that it is safe when we don’t yet know.
Cleverly says he is confident that the elements of the treaty will be in place.
Q: So why not wait until they are in place before ratifying the treaty?
Cleverly says he understands why the committee is cautious. But the scale of the challenge means the government also has an incentive to move swiftly, he says.
He accepts that it is a judgment call.
Updated
Lord Kerr, a former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, complains about what Cleverly said earlier at UNHCR.
Kerr says UNHCR runs a scheme that involves sending refugees from Libya to Rwanda while on transit to somewhere else. It does not settle them there permanently. He says Cleverly implied the opposite. (See 5.11am.)
Cleverly says Rwanda policy on its own will not stop small boat crossings
Q: What progress has been made in recruiting the international judges required under the new treaty?
Cleverly says: “The answer won’t be nothing.” But he says he does not have that information. When he next speaks to the Rwandan government, he will asks for a progress report, he says.
Q: Wouldn’t it be more sensible to put that structure in place, and then ratify the treaty?
Cleverly says every day they wait, more people put their lives at risk in the Channel. He says another person died this weekend. He does not want to hang around.
He says there are areas where he cannot reassure peers now, but expects to be able to reassure them in time.
Q: Are you saying once this will be in place, there will be no boat crossings?
Cleverly says:
I have never said that this alone will prevent illegal people smuggling across the Channel.
He says he has been criticised for saying that other policies are needed too. (He is referring to the row generated by his claim in an interview that Rwanda wasn’t “the be all and end all”.)
He says Rwanda is one part of a “multi-strand approach”.
Next year, as the weather improves, more people will try to cross, he says. He says he wants a deterrent in place by then.
Updated
Cleverly says UK will not try to start deportations to Rwanda until Kigali has implemented all changes required by new treaty
Goldsmith says the supreme court said its main worry was not the good faith of the Rwandan government; it was the practical ability of Rwanda to deliver a proper asylum system.
Q: So how can we trust Rwanda to make the appropriate changes?
Cleverly says the UK is not just relying on Rwanda’s good faith. A robust legal framework is being put in place to address the concerns.
He refers to the new appeals body being set up, which will have co-president from a Commonwealth country.
Q: Can you confirm the government will not ratify the treaty until the new measures in Rwanda are fully effective?
Cleverly says the treaty does not come into force until both sides have ratified it. He says he does not want to dictate to Rwanda.
Q: I am not asking you to dictate to them. But they have a lot to do. I am just suggesting you wait until those things are done.
Cleverly says the things Rwanda is being asked to do are not complicated.
Q: So can you say you will not ratify this until the agreement has been fully implemented.
Cleverly says the UK will not operationalise the scheme until the measures underpinning the treaty are in place.
He says neither side has an interest in “rushing the fence” and getting this wrong.
Updated
Cleverly says the Rwandans really want the deal with the UK to work. They believe it would help their reputation, in a continent where countries are more often seen as causing problems than solving them, he says.
Q: But this treaty will not be looked at by the courts. So it is just parliament that will decide if this treaty works, and in the Commons there is no equivalent of this committee. How can we know this will work?
Cleverly says the supreme court relied extensively on comments from the UNHCR in its judgment. But the day after the judgment was published, UNHCR sent refugees to Rwanda. That implies they think it is safe, he says.
He says the treaty is more robust than the deal it replaces.
In Rwanda there is a political desire for this to work. That is important, he says.
Q: Under the treaty, there will be a new law in Rwanda. But we don’t know what it is.
Cleverly says that will be part of the ratification of the treaty in Rwanda.
Updated
Cleverly questioned by Lords committee about treaty with Rwanda
James Cleverly, the home secretary, is now giving evidence to the Lords international agreements committee about the deportation treaty with Rwanda. The committee just has half an hour with him, and Lord Goldsmith, the Labour former attorney general who chairs the committee, says he will be asking most of the questions to save time.
There is a live feed here.
Sunak rebuked by UK's statistics watchdog for making misleading claim about government debt falling
Rishi Sunak has been rebuked by the UK’s statistics watchdog for making misleading claims about his record on bringing down government debt.
Sunak has made reducing the national debt one of his five priorities, and in a video posted on X after the autumn statement he said “debt is falling”. Later in November he told MPs at PMQs “we have indeed reduced debt”.
Sarah Olney, the Lib Dem’s Treasury spokesperson, wrote to the UK Statistics Authority to ask if there was any justification for what Sunak was saying and today, in a response, the authority’s chair, Sir Robert Chote, said Sunak’s words were misleading.
Chote said No 10 tried to justify Sunak’s “is falling” comment by saying he was referring to what was forecast to happen in 2028. Chote explained:
In this instance, the prime minister’s office informed us that both claims referred to the fact that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was forecasting that the underlying measure of net debt (excluding the Bank) would be falling as a proportion of GDP (although not in cash terms) in the final year of its five-year forecast, in line with the government’s target …
The average person in the street would probably not have interpreted the prime minister’s claims in the way that his office explained them to us and would likely have assumed that he was claiming that debt was already falling or that the government’s policy decisions had lowered it at the fiscal events – neither of which is the case. This has clearly been a source of confusion and may have undermined trust in the government’s use of statistics and quantitative analysis in this area.
Members of the public cannot be expected to understand the minutiae of public finance statistics and the precise combination of definitional choices that might need to be made for a particular claim to be true. So, when speaking about the public finances and making claims of this sort, intelligent transparency demands that ministers, other senior politicians, departments and political parties ask themselves how someone with an interest but little specialist knowledge is likely to interpret a particular claim and to explain themselves clearly if they choose to depart significantly from that in definitional terms. When a claim is made in abbreviated form, they should certainly be ready to explain the precise basis for their claim when approached and asked to do so after the event.
Commenting on the letter, Olney said:
Rishi Sunak knows he has no good story to tell on the UK economy so he has resorted to making one up. The least this no-growth prime minister could do is be honest about it with the British public.
Instead, he has reached for the Boris Johnson playbook and is undermining trust in politics. This is desperate stuff from a desperate Prime Minister and it is right that he has been called out on it.
Updated
Many school and college leaders in England are expressing relief that the government has finally published its draft transgender guidance, promised since 2018. But there is also criticism of both the timing, after term has ended for many schools, and the content.
Paul Barber, director of the Catholic Education Service, which supports more than 2,000 Catholic schools in England, said:
While some clarity from the government is welcome, Catholic schools have been responding to pupils over this issue for many years, on a case-by-case basis, with sensitivity and understanding that each individual’s needs vary. Catholic education focuses on the God-given dignity of each individual, regardless of what gender they are. We will be participating in the consultation in due course.
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts that represents many academies, said:
The contents of this consultation will need to be considered carefully. It is a sensitive area, and one where legal opinion is sometimes contested. Given this, we will be seeking appropriate legal advice in order to understand the legal position of schools and trusts.
We have repeatedly asked the Department for Education not to publish major documents and consultations at the end of term and during holidays, which can add significant workload to school leaders and cause unnecessary confusion for staff and families.
Welsh government warns of 'toughest financial situation since devolution' as draft budget published including many cuts
Wide-ranging cuts to public services in areas from policing to flood risk management, culture and sport have been announced by the Labour-led Welsh government as it attempts to shore up the NHS and support local councils.
Its draft budget, which was published today, also includes plans to reduce business rate relief for pubs, restaurants and shops, which means many will be facing rises in bills from April.
In addition, the budget flags up the possibility of increases in the cost of NHS dental care, university tuition fees and home care for the elderly and says that rail fares will have to rise.
Finance minister Rebecca Evans said the protection of the NHS and frontline local council services such as schools and social care was at the heart of the 2024/25 draft budget.
She said there would be an extra £450m for the NHS and the core local government settlement will increase by 3.1% but she warned that even with these rises, health boards and councils faced a “very difficult” year.
The Welsh government says that as a result of high inflation, Wales’ overall budget is worth £1.3bn less in real terms than when it was set in 2021 and the settlement, which largely comes from the UK government in the form of a block grant, is not sufficient enough to respond to the extreme pressures that public services, businesses and people are facing.
Evans said:
We have had to take some really difficult decisions to radically redesign our spending plans to focus funding on the services which matter most to the people of Wales. This is the toughest financial situation Wales has faced since the start of devolution. We have been presented with the most stark and painful budget choices in the devolution era.
Evans said the government will be carefully examining whether charges for NHS dental care, tuition fees and domiciliary care need to be raised but said there would be a consultation on this if the government decided increases were needed.
The biggest hits in the £23bn budget come in the rural affairs and climate change departments. The latter includes transport, housing and Natural Resources Wales.
The leader of the Lib Dems in Wales, Jane Dodds, said:
Huge parts of Wales are still being left behind with this budget, in particular rural Wales. We need more investment in our rural areas and more support for our farmers.
Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, criticised the Welsh government for blaming Westminster for its problems. He said: “Labour ministers have run Wales for 24 years, failing to reform public services and deliver results for the people of Wales.” He claimed “pet projects” like the wide-ranging 20mph speed limit in Wales was leading to cuts in areas such as rural affairs.
Cuts include smoking and obesity campaigns and plans to increase funding for mental health service has been shelved. The government has “reprioritised” £8.5m from flood risk management and water policy and says it will “carefully monitor the impacts to our flood risk management preparedness and response.”
It has taken the “difficult decision to reprioritise £16m of funding from within culture sport and tourism.” It is also “reprioritising” £7.5m from the budget for police community support officers adding: “Our policing partners will need to reshape their workforce.” It says that Transport for Wales will need to increase rail fares.
Business rate relief for pubs, shops and restaurants will be reduced from 75% to 40%. The Welsh government said the discount, which dates back to the pandemic, was never intended to continue indefinitely.
Scottish government publishes figures showing its tax policies progressive, and strong public support for redistribution
The Scottish government has published all its budget documentation here.
This chart, from this document, sets out the new tax rates.
These two charts, from this document, show the distributional impact on Scottish households, from benefits received and tax paid, in 2024-25 compared to households in the rest of the UK, where different tax and benefit policies apply. The top chart shows the differences as a percentage of household income, and the bottom one shows the differences in cash terms. Both chart show the Scottish-only policies are progressive, because the rich are paying more.
The Scottish government has published polling to support its policies (which is not something the UK government does to justify a budget). This chart shows that in Scotland there is strong support for a redistributive tax system – although support for this principle has fallen considerably over the past year.
Updated
Scottish government to raise £1.5bn by income tax rises for top earners, including new band and top rate rising to 48%
A new tax band of 45p in the pound will be created in Scotland, Shona Robison, the deputy first minister and finance secretary has announced. PA Media says:
Robison said in her budget statement at Holyrood that the “advanced” band will apply to those earning between £75,000 and £125,140.
The top rate of tax, levied against those earning above this figure, will rise by 1% next year to 48p in the pound.
In other areas of tax, the three lowest rates will see no increase to their rates while the starter and basic rate bands will increase by the level of inflation.
The changes will bring in another £1.5bn to Scotland’s finances next year, Robison said.
She also said the Scottish government would fully fund its proposed council tax freeze, providing local government with the equivalent of a 5% rise.
Robison told MSPs the Office for Budget Responsibility projection for inflation next year was 3%, but she wanted to “go further than that”.
She said: “That’s why I will fund an above-inflation 5% council tax freeze – delivering over £140m of additional investment for local services.
“Combined with the other support being provided to local government, this will increase their overall funding by 6% since the last budget, taking local government funding to a new record high of over £14bn.”
Councils will be provided with £1.5m to wipe out school meal debt incurred by pupils across Scotland.
“Due to Westminster mismanagement of our economy, too many households are worrying about debt,” Robison said.
“With our limited powers there is only so much we can do. However, where we can step in, we will.
“That is why I am pleased to confirm we will provide local authorities with £1.5m to cancel school meal debt, removing a worry hanging over families up and down the country who are struggling to make ends meet.”
The introduction of the new band will mean Scotland will have six rates for income tax. In the rest of the UK, three rates apply. The Scottish system is more progressive.
Updated
When Michael Gove said during his Q&A earlier that he hoped the inquiry into Michelle Mone “results in a case being brought”, he mis-spoke, an aide has said. (See 12.26pm.) What Gove meant was that he hoped the inquiry concludes soon, we’re told.
Steve Brine (Con), chair of the health committee, asks about the junior doctors’ strike.
Sunak says the junior doctors are the only group of NHS workers who have not settled.
And they already had the largest pay increase of any group, he says.
Q: When will we see the dental recovery plan?
Sunak says the plan is being worked on.
Q: Will it come early in the new year?
Sunak won’t say.
And that’s it. Unusually, the session has ended bang on time.
Updated
Iain Stewart (Con), chair of the transport committee, aks about the decision to scrap phase two of HS2.
Q: Given that the west coast mainline will soon be at capacity, what else is the government doing to address the rail capacity in the region?
Sunak says government investments are increasing capacity.
Q: There will be a bottleneck between Birmingham and Manchester. The Network North programme will not address this. Will you consider other options?
Sunak says phase one of HS2 will expand capacity.
Updated
Sunak dismisses concerns about Brexit's impact on tourism and creative sectors
Caroline Dinenage (Con), chair of the culture committee, goes next.
Q: The tourist sector says the end of tax-free shopping is harming it. Will that be reviewed?
Sunak says he will not comment on tax policy. But he knows from his time as chancellor that there are different views on this policy.
Q: I don’t remember Brexit campaigners saying it was going to make tourism less competitive?
Sunak says he does not accept that. The UK is still an attractive country to visit, he says. And he says the UK’s visa regime is easier for people from, for example Asia, to use than most European countries’.
Q: Brexit has also been bad for Britons touring on the continent. And it has been bad for the haulage industry too.
Sunak says the creative industries are booming. The UK is outpacing the rest of Europe in this sector. He is hosting a reception for this sector this evening, he says.
Q: Does the government really understand the value of theatres. The National Theatre exports globally. Around 17.5 million people a year are reached. But there are operating despite under-investment in their infrastructure.
Sunak says he has spoken at the National Theatre. He insists he is committed to the sector. And it is the third largest recipient of Arts Council funding, he says.
Updated
Sunak defends decision to downgrade status of minister for disabled people, saying what counts is work being done
Q: Some 350m hours of unpaid care are done every year, mostly by women. Is it right to accept the system would accept without them.
Sunak does not contest that. He pays tribute to the work unpaid carers do.
Q: Mims Davies is the right person to be minister for disabled people. But her predecessor was a minister of state. Davies is a more junior minister. Shouldn’t she be upgraded?
Sunak says what matters is the work that the minister is doing. He cites some of the things the government is doing, including initiatives he pushed when he was a local government minister (such as increasing access to toilets for disabled people).
Q: The disability sector is very disappointed by this.
Sunak repeats his point, claiming the government is doing an enormous amount for disabled people.
Updated
Caroline Nokes (Con), the chair of the women and equalities committee, goes next.
Q: The flee fund, which helps women escaping a violent partner, is capped at £300,000. Is that enough?
Sunak says this is a pilot. He implies it is subject to review.
Updated
Q: Shouldn’t the local housing allowance be uprated annually? It was frozen for four years?
Sunak says there are different ways of paying benefits. He says benefits are being uprated in line with a high inflation figure, even though inflation will be lower last year.
Q: The household support fund allows councils to provide a safety net for families. Do you accept there is a very strong case for extending that into the next financial year?
Sunak says it would not be right to comment on the budget. But this was introduced as an emergency measure. It was not a permanent feature of the system.
He makes the point again about benefits rising by a level higher than inflation.
Timms points out that last year it was happening the other way round.
Sunak makes the point that people are getting significant financial support.
Updated
Back at the liaison committee, Stephen Timms (Lab), the chair of the work and pensions committee, asks if Sunak expects food bank use to be falling by the time of the election.
Sunak says inflation has made a difference. But he claims he is genuinely confident that government policies will, over time, reduce food bank usage.
Updated
Angus Brendan MacNeil (SNP), the chair of the energy security committee, asks why Sunak is not joining other world leaders in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Sunak says he addressed this at PMQs last week. He supports a sustainable ceasefire, he says.
Q: Are you serious about global warming, or is it just political positioning for you?
Sunak say he is serious about it. The UK’s record on decarbonising since 1990 is very good, he says.
Updated
Sunak told by public accounts committee chair he is wrong to claim Rwanda costings can be held back on commercial grounds
Meg Hillier (Lab), the chair of the public accounts committee, asks why the government will not tell parliament how much the Rwanda programme is costing.
Sunak says the government holds back information that is commercially sensitive.
Hillier says she knows when information is commercially sensitive, and when it isn’t. She says he does not accept what Sunak is claiming.
Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con) asks Sunak if he was saying the government is speaking to other countries about a Rwanda-type deal.
Sunak says he was saying, if the government were doing that, it would be commercially sensitive.
Updated
Sunak refuses to say when he expects to 'stop the boats', and whether airlines have agreed to take flights to Rwanda
Diana Johnson (Lab), chair of the home affairs committee, goes next.
Q: Will you meet your target of clearing the legacy backlog of asylum applications by the end of the year?
Sunak says the government is making good progress. It is down by 80%. There are 18,000 cases left. It is not the end of the year yet.
Q: When will you clear the remaining backlog?
Sunak says these cases are down by 16%. He does not have a date in mind.
Q: When will you stop the boats?
Sunak says there are down by a third.
The first thing to say is we have made progress and that is that the numbers this year are down by a third, which is considerable progress.
There isn’t a firm date on this because I’ve always been clear from the beginning; we will keep going until we do. This isn’t one of these things when there’s a precise date estimate on it, this is something where before I took this job they had only ever gone up, now they’re down by a third.
Q: There are still at a very high level.
Sunak implies this will take time.
Q: Do you have planes available to take people to Rwanda? (There have been reports saying airlines are refusing to offer to take asylum seekers.)
Sunak says he will not comment on commercial negotiations. But he says he is confident that they can make the plan work.
You wouldn’t expect me to comment on commercial conversations that are necessarily private but I’m highly confident that we can operationalise the bill in all its aspects.
Q: You have told us that Rwanda is going to get £290m by next year. What further money will be spent?
Sunak says the extra costs will be disclosed in the normal way.
Q: Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM, says funding for the scheme was unlimited.
Sunak says he thought Dowden said there was no cap on the scheme.
He claims the scheme will have a deterrent effect. The cost of that has to be compared againt the double-digit cost of managing asylum seekers.
Q: Does it worry you the home secretary said there was no evidence that this would work?
Sunak says the ministerial direction letter said doing this was proper.
Q: There is no evidence this works.
Sunak says there is evidence; the returns agreement with Albania has led to 5,000 people going back, and Albanian arrivals falling by 90%.
Updated
Sunak says too many civilians dying in Gaza, but says responsibility for that lies with Hamas, not Israel
Q: Can you show examples of where Israel has shown restraint?
Sunak says he has raised this with the Israelis.
Q: But can you give examples of where this has made a difference?
Sunak says he pushed for the Rafah crossing to open. That happened.
Q: President Biden says indiscriminate bombing is taking place. Do you agree?
Sunak says too many civilians are dying. He does not know what the targeting strategy is.
Q: Have you been told by government lawyers that Israel is breaking international law?
Sunak says he cannot comment on government legal advice. But he says Israel has a right to defend itself. He says the UK would do that itself.
Q: But in the past the UK has been willing to say international law has been broken in war, for example in Syria or Ukraine. If too many civilians are dying, whose responsibility is that?
Sunak says Hamas is to blame. It is deliberately embedding itself in civilian populations.
He says Kearns’s question is extraordinary.
UPDATE: Sunak said:
There are two sides to this. Israel is trying to defend itself. If a terrorist organisation which is perpetrating these attacks is deliberately embedding itself inside civilian populations, then they have to accept responsibility for that.
Israel, it’s right they should take every precaution to avoid harming civilians, but that will be very difficult if the precise organisation which has caused untold suffering for the Israeli people is hiding among civilians, knowingly doing so, knowingly putting them in harm’s way.
Updated
Sunak says 'sustainable ceasefire' he wants in Gaza can't happen while hostages still being held
Alicia Kearns (Con), chair of the foreign affairs committee, asks Sunak to give a progress report on efforts to secure the release of Britons held hostage by Hamas.
Sunak says there is a limit to what he can say. But he insists the government is working hard on this issue.
Q: What are the conditions for a sustainable ceasefire?
Sunak says there is no perfect formula for peace. But a ceasefire won’t last if hostages are still being held, and if Hamas is still able to operate from tunnels, firing missiles into Israel.
UPDATE: Sunak said:
A ceasefire is clearly not going to last if hostages are still being held.
And also if Hamas, whose stated aim is to destroy Israel, is still able to operate in underground tunnels and launch rocket attacks into Israel.
So those are important facets that we need to grapple with.
And ahead of a permanent ceasefire, what we’d like to see are immediate and sustained humanitarian pauses which allow release of more hostages and more aid to enter Gaza.
Updated
Sarah Champion (Lab), chair of the international development committee, asks about cuts to the aid budget.
Sunak says that is not an issue his foreign counterparts have raised with him.
Aubrey Allegretti from the Times says Sunak has taken the unusual step of writing a pre-emptive letter to the committee, ahead of his appearance, saying that if he fails to declare any interests, he will do so later.
Sunak is doing this because, after a liaison committee hearing in March, he was criticised by the parliamentary commissioner for standards for not declaring an interest.
Rishi Sunak tries to head off getting entangled in not declaring an interest (as happened at his last liaison committee appearance).
— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) December 19, 2023
He says it might not always be possible for him to declare a relevant interest during the session - so will write to the cttee afterwards to… pic.twitter.com/XquUrQNyyd
Updated
Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con), the chair of the committee, goes next.
He asks where Russia sits in the list of threats facing the UK.
Sunak says Russia poses an existential threat to Ukraine. The UK has been at the forefront of countries supporting Ukraine, he says.
Q: What would be the consequence of Russia retaining illegally held territory for a long period?
Sunak repeats the point about this being existential for Ukraine. He says Russia’s actions must not be tolerated.
Updated
Sunak suggests he does not see case for new mechanism being set up to allow MPs to regularly question Lord Cameron
Karen Bradley (Con), the chair of the procedure committee, goes first. She asks if the government will set up a new procedure to allow MPs to question David Cameron, the foreign secretary, who sits in the Lords.
Rishi Sunak says there is precedent for having a foreign secretary in the Lords. He says there is also a Foreign Office minister who attends cabinet in the Commons.
There are proposals to let MPs question Cameron in Westminster Hall, but Sunak is implying that he does not see the need for any new arrangements.
UPDATE: This is from the i’s Paul Waugh.
Sunak sounding v underbriefed re MPs' worries re Lord Cameron scrutiny.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) December 19, 2023
Says Cab min peers 'common practice' [even tho just twice 1997-2010] + 'longstanding practice' + parl thought it had right mechanisms
Seems unaware Procedure Cttee wanted reforms after Mandelson/Adonis
Updated
Rishi Sunak questioned by Commons liaison committee
Rishi Sunak is about to start one of his regular hearings with the Commons liaison committee.
According to the committee, he will be asked about global affairs, economic issues, Cop28 and energy concerns.
Updated
Mermaids, a charity that supports transgender children, has described today’s government guidance for schools on trans pupils as “unworkable”. A spokesperson said:
All young people deserve an accepting and supportive school environment to learn and be their authentic selves.
The UK government’s draft trans guidance for schools in England seeks to prevent that. Its approach is unworkable, out of touch and absurd.
Rather than listening to trans young people and reflecting best practice of inclusive educators across the UK, the government has created more confusion for schools and is putting young people at risk.
Q: There are claims that housing cannot be expanded around Cambridge without a new reservoir. But at the very earliest that won’t be built until 2029, and it could take longer. Will you work with Anglia Water to deliver it?
Gove says he will do that. But he says more must be done to unlock unnecessary infrastructure.
Updated
Gove says he loves Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London. But he says Khan needs help to deliver more homes.
The audience laughs at the transparent insincerity of Gove’s opening claim.
Q: Do councils have enough staff to deliver more homes?
Gove says he thinks there are highly capable people in local government. He thinks they have the resources they need to deliver this.
But if they need extra resources, he will consider the case for that.
Q: Should Michelle Mone have the whip withdrawn in the House of Lords.
Gove says his understanding is that Mone is not officially a Conservative peer.
(Gove is wrong about this. Technically, Mone is still listed as a Tory peer.)
Q: Do you support Esther Rantzen’s call for legislation to allow assisted dying?
Gove says he is not persuaded of that.
But he says he thinks it is time for parliament to reconsider this again.
Gove says government will achieve its 300,000 per year housebuilding target when interest rates back to normal
Q: How many more homes will be built as a result of these plans?
Gove says, once the UK gets back to a normal level of mortgage and interest rates, the government will meet is target of getting 300,000 homes built a year.
He says he does not know when that will happen.
Q: Do you accept high levels of migration have made this worse? And will you apologise for that?
Gove says the steps announced by the government recently will bring down legal and illegal migration?
He accepts that high migration has put put pressure on housing.
Gove dodges question about whether Michelle Mone right to say he knew about her links to PPE Medpro
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has finished his speech. We have covered the main points already (see 10.49am), and I will post more from it when I have seen the full text.
He is now taking questions.
Q: Are you giving in to nimbys?
Gove rejects that. It can be reasonable to resist development, if it will harm the nature of an area, he says. But he says it has always been the case that housing targets are an advisory starting point. Now there is no excuse for not delivering houses, he says. And government is providing councils with the resources to deliver.
Q: Michelle Mone says you knew about her links with PPE Medpro. Is that right?
Gove says this PPE contract is being investigated. He says he is more than happy to answer further questions on this at the Covid inquiry.
With respect to fairness, as I’m sure you know, there is a National Crime Agency inquiry going on.
I’ve cooperated with that inquiry because I want to ensure that it reaches its conclusion quickly, that justice can be served. I hope that inquiry results in a case being brought.
And if there are further questions to ask about PPE procurement, and I believe the government has a strong record, then I’m more than happy to do so with the Covid inquiry.
(Gove gave evidence to the inquiry in module two, but it will cover PPE in a separate module next year.)
UPDATE: When Michael Gove said that he hoped the inquiry into Michelle Mone “results in a case being brought”, he mis-spoke, an aide has said. What Gove meant was that he hoped the inquiry concludes soon, we’re told.
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Chris Heaton-Harris raises financial offer to Northern Ireland to revive power sharing at Stormont to £3.3bn
Apart from the government of Rwanda, there are very few bodies as expert at extracting money from the UK Treasury as the DUP. Last week it emerged that the government was offering Northern Ireland a financial package that it said was worth £2.5bn in return for the restoration of power sharing, which has been blocked by a DUP boycott.
That did not seem to work, and PA Media is reporting that Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, is now proposing a financial package of £3.3bn.
Speaking at Hillsborough Castle after meeting Northern Ireland’s political leaders, Heaton-Harris said:
This morning I have brought forward a new plan which reasonably and generously responds to the parties’ concerns and provides Northern Ireland ministers with an offer for a restored executive worth in excess of £3bn. This package provides solutions to many of the issues the parties have raised.
The parties have asked for a new formula on how much Northern Ireland receives from the UK government, we have agreed to establish such a formula reflecting the different levels of need in Northern Ireland.
That would see funding uplifted through the Barnett formula by 24%.
The parties have asked for assistance with public sector pay. This package includes £584m to address this.
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Social care sector has 'grave concerns' about new visa rules, MPs told
Social care leaders felt “blindsided” by recently announced changes to visa rules banning care workers from bringing their families to the UK and have “grave concerns” it could drive people from the sector, the Commons health committee heard this morning. PA Media has filed this from the hearing.
The head of Care England, which represents social care providers across the country, criticised a lack of consultation with the sector, saying it left them “particularly concerned, annoyed and irritated”.
Prof Martin Green, its chief executive, told the committee the system is currently already “creaking at the edges” due to a lack of funding, and spoke of the “chronic workforce shortage” it faces.
The health secretary, Victoria Atkins, told the same committee last week that the social care sector was “broadly relaxed” about the changes on dependants. That session heard from the health department’s permanent secretary, Sir Chris Wormald, that there had not been prior consultation with Care England before the changes as that is “not how immigration decisions tend to be made”.
This morning Green told MPs it “would have been much better if they [the government] had been more collaborative” with the sector in trying to understand what the implications of the changes could be before announcing them. He added: “Unfortunately they did not do that, so we were all a bit blindsided by it.”
He said there is a “great deal of uncertainty for people who are already here who thought they might be able to bring their dependants in”.
He also warned workers might move from social care to the NHS and other sectors, due to a difference in the policy on bringing dependants.
He compared differences in how the NHS and social care sectors have been treated previously, referring to vaccinations in the pandemic.
He said: “What we see is endless discussion about integration, but we never see that translated into policy. And we saw during Covid, the rule that meant that all care home staff had to be vaccinated but the NHS didn’t have to do that. The impact was people left social care and went into the NHS and other sectors.
“And we have grave concerns that that’s going to happen as a result of this policy. People are going to move away because they can’t bring in their dependants and go into other sectors where they can.”
The Skills for Care chief executive, Oonagh Smyth, told the committee that “international recruits have significantly contributed to workforce capacity” in the year to April 2023.
She said the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England did not take a view on whether international recruitment was the right policy choice but said if it were cut, more must be done on building a domestic workforce.
She said: “If we do reduce international recruitment, then it’s really clear that we’re going to need to do more to recruit – and really, really importantly, retain – our domestic workforce, because demand is only going to grow over the next few years as our populations grow and and we’re living longer but not necessarily healthier.”
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Liz Truss claims new trans guidance does not protect children, and calls for de facto ban on social transitioning by under-18s
Liz Truss, the Conservative former prime minister, has criticised the new trans guidance for schools in England. She released a statement saying:
Today’s guidance does not go far enough. During the many months we have been waiting for its publication, it has become increasingly clear that non-statutory guidance will provide insufficient protection and clarity, and that a change in the law of the land is required.
That is why I am today asking the government to back my private member’s bill which would change the law in this area to ensure children are fully protected.
I fear that activists and others will be able to exploit loopholes in the guidance and the existing legal framework to pursue their agenda, leaving children at risk of making irreversible changes and with single-sex spaces not sufficiently protected.
Truss is referring to her private member’s health and equality acts (amendment) bill which would ban schools or the state from recognising social transitioning by under-18s. It would also assert that sex unambiguously means biological sex, protecting single-sex spaces in law. And it would ban the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatment for gender dysphoria for the under-18s.
Truss took a socially conservative stance on transgender issues when she was minister for women and equalities, but since leaving office she seems to have upped her rhetoric on this topic.
In November she came 18th out of the 415 MPs who entered the ballot to sponsor a private member’s bill. Being in the top 20, that means there is a chance of her bill being debated. But only the top seven bills are guarantee a full day’s debate. Truss’s bill is one of those down for consideration on Friday 15 March, but it is almost certain to be blocked or talked out by opponents.
The bill’s co-sponsors include Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary, Miriam Cates, the co-chair of the New Conservatives group, and the DUP’s Ian Paisley.
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Keegan says trans guidance for schools puts 'best interests of all children first', with parents' views 'at heart of all decisions'
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, has now issued her written statement about the transgender guidance for schools.
There is also a press release here, and here is the guidance.
Commenting on the guidance, Keegan said:
This guidance puts the best interests of all children first, removing any confusion about the protections that must be in place for biological sex and single-sex spaces, and making clear that safety and safeguarding for all children must always be schools’ primary concern.
Parents’ views must also be at the heart of all decisions made about their children – and nowhere is that more important than with decisions that can have significant effects on a child’s life for years to come.
There are two urgent questions in the Commons at 12.30pm, on Gaza and Ukraine. And there will be a statement on the planning rules after all. (See 10.15am.) But Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, is not doing it; he is sending Lee Rowley, the housing minister, to the chamber instead.
Gove rejects claim that Tories are planning nimbys, saying he will not let councils hold back legitimate building
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, gave an interview to the Times, published this morning, ahead of his speech on planning this morning. Oliver Wright, who interviewed him, points out that critics will say that the pro-building measures being announced by Gove are “little more than window dressing to a complete capitulation to nimby (not in my backyard) protests”. Wright put this to Gove that he was just giving in to nimyism, but Gove replied:
No no, absolutely not. No.
[But] you can’t say that reasonable grounds for being wary about development should simply be discounted. You can’t simply say they are irrational.
You would not want to change the character of attractive suburban areas where there are already existing family homes. The whole point about planning is that it’s about the thoughtful use of land. What we will do is to give people an opportunity to protect that which is reasonable.
In truth, the capitulation to nimbyism came last year, when the government abandoned compulsory housebuilding targets for councils. That prompted Keir Starmer to declare that Labour is the party of “the builders, not the blockers”, and willing to allow development on the green belt. Rishi Sunak has to an extent embraced this dividing line, stressing his opposition to building on the green belt. But in reality, there is more overlap than either side would be happy to admit; Labour is not proposing a greenbelt development free-for-all, and the Tories do have some proposals to speed up building.
Judging by what Gove has told the Times, his plans are mix of nimbyism (not in my backyard) and yimbyism (yes in my backyard – an approach Starmer has embraced).
The nimby-leaning measures are:
Councils will not have to set aside greenfield areas for housing.
And the yimby-leaning measures are:
Councils are being told if they delay or deny legitimate housebuilding in their area, they could lose power over planning. Echoing Starmer’s language, a source from Gove’s department said:
We have been clear that the government is on the side of the builders and not the blockers – councils must play their part and deliver the homes this country needs, without concreting over the countryside.
And Gove told the Times:
There is now no excuse for not having a (housing) plan in place and no excuse for not making sure that planning applications are dealt with in a timely fashion. There is no excuse for the arbitrary refusal of planning permissions. Delay, no. Denial, no.
Labour’s plans to reform planning rules also include a proposal to intervene if councils are not building enough homes.
Plans for more than 150,000 houses around Cambridge.
A review of supply of housing in London, based on claims Sadiq Khan is not doing enough.
Councils are being told to set aside plots of land for small developers, to increase competition in the market.
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Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, is announcing his new planning rules in a speech outside parliament, not in a statement to MPs. This appears to be a breach of the ministerial code which says “the most important announcements of government policy should be made in the first instance, in parliament” – although Gove is also making a written ministerial statement, so MPs will get the chance to read the details as Gove gives a speech attended by journalists.
According to Sky’s Beth Rigby, some MPs are very unhappy about this.
Gove giving a keynote speech in housing policy in central London rather than to Houses of Parliament: A former cabinet minister tells me there’s “lots of unhappiness” that he’s giving speech and not speaking in Parliament. “One of the most blatant breaches of the Ministerial Code I’ve seen,” says source
Gove giving a keynote speech in housing policy in central London rather than to Houses of Parliament: A former cabinet minister tells me there’s “lots of unhappiness” that he’s giving speech and not speaking in Parliament. “One of the most blatant breaches of the Ministerial Code…
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) December 19, 2023
We still have not heard yet whether the speaker is allowing any urgent questions this morning. He could allow one on this.
Recall byelection petition for Peter Bone MP to close at 5pm
A petition which could unseat the MP Peter Bone will close to voters in his Northamptonshire constituency later today, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Wellingborough MP was suspended from the Commons for six weeks in October after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct.
He is sitting as an independent after losing the Conservative whip.
The six-week process of the recall petition, which was prompted by his suspension, closes at 5pm.
If signed by 10% of the 79,046 eligible voters in his constituency – 7,904 people – Bone will lose the seat and a byelection will be called.
Bone has held the seat for the Conservatives since 2005 and retained it at the last general election with a majority of 18,540.
After the closure of nine signing places across the constituency, vote counting will begin, overseen by North Northamptonshire council petition officer Adele Wylie.
If the petition is successful, the petition officer will notify the speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, first and the seat becomes vacant.
There has only been one instance of a recall petition not meeting the 10% threshold, in North Antrim in 2018. I wrote more about that, and the recall process generally, in this post on the blog last week.
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EU fingerprint checks for British travellers to start in 2024
A new EU digital border system that will require fingerprints and facial scans to be taken from British travellers on first use is expected to launch next autumn, according to reports. Jamie Grierson has the story.
Michael Gove attacks Sadiq Khan’s record on housebuilding as he sets out new planning policy for England
Good morning. In a normal workplace the final day before the Christmas break is a time to ease up, but it does not work like that in the House of Commons where, inspired by an old West Wing episode, today is referred to by lobby journalists as “take out the trash day”. It’s the day when the government finally publishes a series of policies/reports/announcements that it has been holding back because they might be embarrassing, or because they have been the subject of prolonged, internal feuding.
There are two obvious examples today. The Department for Education is finally publishing its guidance for schools in England on transgender pupils (which at one point was due out before the summer holidays), and Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, seems to have pushed back against reported attempts by Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary and minister for equalities, who wanted to largely ban socially transitioning in schools. Sally Weale has a preview here.
And Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, will publish the government’s national planning policy framework for England. He has had to construct a compromise compatible with the government’s stated desire to build 300,000 new homes a year, while also acceptable to the Conservative party’s hardcore nimbyist wing who fear that new housing estates in their leafy constituencies will be an electoral liability. Kiran Stacey has a preview here.
When politicians are under pressure from their own side, the safest response is often to redouble attacks on the opposition and there is some evidence that Gove will do that when he delivers a speech on his plans this morning. He has given an interview to the Times which reports that he will criticise Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, for failing to build enough home and threaten to remove Khan’s powers over planning. Khan is up for re-election next year.
Lee Rowley, the housing minister, told LBC this morning:
We have a long-standing concern that London is not delivering as many houses as it could do. And we think that the mayor is not helping in that instance. So we’re going to be making some further announcements on that later.
As Politico reports, Khan has hit back, saying house completions in London are higher than elsewhere. “The progress we are making in London is despite nimby Tory ministers regularly intervening to block new building in the capital,” Khan said.
There are 11 other ministerial statements today with “take out the trash” potential.
As well as all that, Rishi Sunak is at the liasion committee, and the Scottish government is publishing its budget. Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Rishi Sunak chairs cabinet.
10am: Leaders from the care sector give evidence to the Commons health committee about the impact of the recently-announces changes to visa rules on the sector.
Morning: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, gives a speech on planning.
11am: Mourners attend Alistair Darling’s funeral at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh.
11.30am: Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, takes questions in the Commons.
1pm: Sunak gives evidence to the Commons liaison committee.
2.20pm: Shona Robison, Scotland’s finance secretary and deputy first minister, unveils the Scottish government’s budget.
5pm: James Cleverly, the home secretary, gives evidence to the Lords international agreements committee about the deportation treaty with Rwanda.
5pm: The petition closes on whether to have a recall byelection in Peter Bone’s Wellingborough constituency. If 10% of eligible voters have signed, a byelection will take place in the new year.
At some point today Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, will also published the long-awaited guidance for schools in England on how to deal with pupils who want to transition. This is one of 13 written ministerial statements out today.
Also David Cameron, the foreign secretary, is today meeting his counterparts in Paris and Rome to discuss a joint European approach to the Israel-Hamas war.
If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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