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Bill of Rights: Liz Truss shelves plans to reform human rights law - BBC News
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2022-09-07
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The Bill of Rights bill was aimed at reasserting the role of UK courts but it is not likely to proceed.
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UK Politics
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The Bill of Rights was aimed at reasserting the primacy of UK courts in human rights cases
Liz Truss's government has shelved plans for a law designed to give ministers the power to ignore human rights rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The Bill of Rights bill, championed by former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, was due back before Parliament.
Mr Raab said the bill would reassert the primacy of UK law on human rights cases.
But a source said the bill is unlikely to progress in its current form.
A source told BBC political editor Chris Mason that Ms Truss's new administration was "reviewing the most effective means to deliver objectives through our legislative agenda".
The Bill of Rights bill was intended to make clear that the UK's Supreme Court had legal supremacy and ECHR decisions did not always need to be followed by British courts.
The bill also contained measures to strengthen free speech and make it easier to deport foreign criminals by restricting their right to appeal using human rights arguments.
Earlier this year, the ECHR - which is based in Strasbourg - blocked the British government's plans to send migrants to Rwanda.
During the Tory leadership campaign, Liz Truss promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights to provide a "sound legal basis" to tackle illegal migration.
But on Wednesday, Downing Street declined to guarantee that a new Bill of Rights will be introduced during the current Parliament.
Back in 2019, the Conservative Party manifesto promised to "update" the Human Rights Act.
Dominic Raab's now-binned bill went much further.
His critics said it would restrict the number of human rights challenges against allegedly bad government that British judges could consider while, confusingly, still allowing the same challenges to go before the European Court of Human Rights.
Critics included Sir Jonathan Jones, the government's former top lawyer. He has tweeted his support for Liz Truss's decision, saying the bill had been a paradoxical mess.
The political battle over human rights hasn't gone away - not least because Suella Braverman, the new home secretary, says she wants the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
That seems vanishingly unlikely under Liz Truss - but her government does not seem to have ruled out resurrecting some parts of Mr Raab's plan in future legislation.
The bill had triggered concern from the legal profession and human rights groups, who accused the government of a power grab.
Last year the government launched what it said were "common sense" reforms to the Human Rights Act, saying they would "restore confidence" in the legal system.
The Human Rights Act was introduced more than 20 years ago and it sets out in law a set of minimum standards of how everyone should be treated by public bodies.
The proposals committed to staying within the ECHR, despite pressure from some Conservatives to leave the treaty.
Mr Raab said the UK would "remain a party to the European Convention on Human Rights", while saying the government wanted to "change, reform to revise" how it is interpreted by courts.
On Tuesday Mr Raab, a strong advocate of the Bill of Rights, was replaced as justice secretary by Brandon Lewis.
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Labour's shadow justice secretary Steve Reed described the Bill of Rights bill as a "disastrous" piece of legislation which "makes it harder to deport foreign terrorists and rips up basic legal protections".
Director of Big Brother Watch Silkie Carlo welcomed the government's decision to shelve the legislation as "a huge win for the public".
However, she added that the government was "full of people" who wanted to leave the ECHR - a move she argued would amount to "a depraved attempt to steal basic rights and freedoms".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62818286
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news_uk-politics-62818286
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Keir Starmer: Labour would reverse cut to top income tax rate - BBC News
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2022-09-25
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Scrapping the 45% rate is the "wrong choice" during a cost-of living crisis, the Labour leader says.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer tells Laura Kuenssberg that his government would reverse the cut to the top income tax rate
Labour would reverse the government's cut to the top rate of income tax, leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.
He told the BBC the move was "the wrong choice" during a cost-of-living crisis.
But Sir Keir said he supported the decision to cut the basic rate of tax from 20% to 19% as this would "reduce the tax burden on working people".
On Friday Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled plans to scrap the higher 45% rate as he set out the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years.
Sir Keir told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: "I do not think that the choice to have tax cuts for those that are earning hundreds of thousands of pounds is the right choice when our economy is struggling the way it is, working people are struggling in the way they are... that is the wrong choice."
However, on the cut to the basic rate of income tax, he said: "I've long made the argument that we should reduce the tax burden on working people.
"That's why we opposed the national insurance increase earlier this year, which of course the government is now reversing."
But the Labour mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said his party should commit to scrapping income tax cuts to both the basic and top rate.
He told Sky News' Sophy Ridge now "wasn't a time for tax cuts" as it was not the most "targeted" way of helping those most in need.
The chancellor denied his tax cuts favoured those at the top, saying he was "focused on tax cuts across the board".
Mr Kwarteng also suggest there was "more to come".
"We've only been here 19 days. I want to see, over the next year, people retain more of their income because I believe that it's the British people that are going to drive this economy," he told the BBC.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng: "What I'm focused on, is tax cuts across the board"
Sir Keir also said there was now "a belief" that his party would win the next election, with signs some former Labour voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 were returning.
"Something has happened in the Labour Party this year, which is the hope of a Labour government has turned into a belief in a Labour government," he said.
Tax looks set to be one of the key political issues in the run up to the next general election.
Labour has criticised the government's priorities, but it doesn't want to junk everything the chancellor announced on Friday.
Sir Keir says if he's in power, he'll reverse the decision to scrap the additional rate paid by those earning more than £150,000.
But he is accepting another part of the government's tax-cutting plan; reducing the basic rate of income tax by a penny from next year.
Labour argues that's necessary because working people are paying too much tax at the moment.
Sir Keir wants the political battle to be over whether it's right to give the highest earners a tax cut at a time when many households are struggling with the cost of living.
The government is adamant it's worth it to grow the economy.
The political battle lines are being drawn.
Asked whether workers should expect their pay to rise in line with inflation, Sir Keir said it was "reasonable" for people to expect their wages to take account of the rising cost of living.
Workers ranging from rail staff to barristers have taken industrial action over pay, with unions calling for pay rises above inflation, which is at a 40-year high of 9.9%.
Pushed whether he would support people going on strike if pay rises did not match inflation, Sir Keir said strikes were "a last resort" and he could understand how people were driven to industrial action when they were struggling to pay their bills.
Sir Keir's shadow transport minister was sacked after joining striking rail workers on a picket line over the summer.
The official line was that Sam Tarry was sacked for "making up policy on the hoof" in an unauthorised media appearance but shadow ministers had been warned not to appear at picket lines.
Asked why he was not more visible on picket lines, Sir Keir said the "most important" thing he could do as party leader was "usher in a Labour government" and his job was different to that of a union leader.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer: "When people go on strike, it is a last resort"
At the start of its party conference in Liverpool, Labour has unveiled plans on green energy and boosting police numbers.
The party said it wanted to make the UK the first major economy in the world to generate all of its electricity without using fossil fuels.
Sir Keir said achieving zero carbon energy by 2030 would be a key priority if his party wins the next election, adding that it was a "difficult" goal but "absolutely doable".
However, he said fossil fuels may be a "fall back" if the target cannot be met by 2030.
The government has already committed to zero carbon electricity by 2035 but Labour believes it can win votes by promoting green energy as a way to generate economic growth, in contrast to Tory tax cuts for the well-off.
In the short-term Labour has backed freezing energy bills for six months to help people cope with the rising cost of living.
The government has committed to a 2-year freeze for household energy bills.
But Sir Keir said his party's plan would be to look at the situation again in April and find a "longer-term answer" to the issue.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63025443
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Tax cuts: Kwasi Kwarteng's measures benefit richest, Labour says - BBC News
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2022-09-25
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The government is taking a dangerous gamble, Angela Rayner says, but ministers argue tax cuts will get the economy growing.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Angela Rayner: "I felt that it (the mini-budget) was casino economics"
The government's tax cuts will benefit the richest 1% and make the next generation worse off, Labour has said.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner told the BBC the chancellor's approach of "trickle-down economics" was a "dangerous gamble".
Independent think tank the Institute of Fiscal Studies said the richest 10% of households would gain the most.
But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp said tax cuts for all would get the economy growing.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years on Friday, including the scrapping of the top rate of income tax.
He also reversed the National Insurance rise from November; cut stamp duty for homebuyers; and brought forward to April a cut to the basic rate of income tax to 19p in the pound.
The measures will be paid for by a sharp rise in government borrowing amounting to tens of billions of pounds.
There was an immediate reaction in financial markets, as the pound sank and UK stocks fell.
Speaking ahead of Labour's party conference, Ms Rayner called the plans "a very dangerous gamble on our economy and future generations".
"I don't accept the argument of trickle down economics - which is what this is - give those at the top loads more money and that will filter down to those at the bottom. That's not how it works."
She added the proposals were "grossly unfair" and would "saddle the next generation with more debt".
Arriving at the party conference in Liverpool, Labour leader Keir Starmer said the government had shown its "true colours" and the conference was "our chance to set out the alternative".
But minister Mr Philp told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Yesterday's tax package cut taxes for everybody across the income spectrum...
"It's a growth plan, and to get Britain growing we need to get rid of the burden of taxation. You can't tax your way to growth."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp: "We are not into the politics of envy"
The announcements by Mr Kwarteng came after the Bank of England warned the UK may already be in a recession and raised interest rates to 2.25%.
Meanwhile, the IFS published analysis suggesting only those earning over £155,000 would see any benefits from the tax policies over the current Parliament, with the "vast majority of income tax payers paying more tax".
The think tank also said the chancellor was "betting the house" by putting government debt on an "unsustainable rising path".
IFS director Paul Johnson told BBC Breakfast: "If looked straightforwardly at people's incomes with these tax changes, the more money you have, the more you gain.
"In fact, because there was one big tax increase the chancellor didn't reverse - and that is the fall over time in the point at which you start paying income tax. If you take that into account, in three or four years' time, the only people gaining from this will be earning more than about £150,000 a year."
Responding, Mr Philp said the IFS analysis "involves speculation about what future budgets may do with the various tax thresholds".
"This wasn't a full budget - it didn't address the question of tax thresholds and I'm not going to get into speculation about what they might do in the future."
It's already the biggest package of tax cuts for decades, but the chancellor might not be done yet.
There's been criticism from some economists that the policies announced disproportionately benefit those on higher incomes and those living in London and the south east of England.
The Treasury wants to give people and businesses more money to invest and spend to help boost growth, and the economy.
The previous chancellor, Rishi Sunak, froze the threshold at which we all start to pay basic rate tax.
That will stay at £12,570 for the rest of this Parliament. That means more people will start paying tax as wages rise. All earners will be worse off, but lower earners disproportionately.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp hinted today that the policy could be looked at.
And Treasury insiders explained to me that a wider review of all taxes was very much on the table.
A full budget, mooted for late autumn, could see even more tax cuts.
The Resolution Foundation, a think tank which focuses on those on low to middle incomes, said the package would do nothing to stop more than two million people falling below the poverty line, amid soaring living costs.
The richest 5% will see their incomes grow by 2% next year (2023-24), while the other 95% of the population will get poorer, it said.
The package will also see London and south-east England "disproportionately" better off than those living in Wales, the North East and Yorkshire, according to the think tank.
Chief executive Torsten Bell, a former Labour adviser, said: "The backdrop to yesterday's fiscal statement was an ongoing cost-of-living crisis that will mean virtually all households getting poorer next year as Britain grapples with high inflation and rising interest rates."
Elsewhere, Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told Today the measures would not "suddenly unlock growth".
"Having borrowed £150bn to support an energy package, we have to grow faster, there is no alternative."
He added: "We need a broad-based plan for growth... Action on tax is necessary but not sufficient."
On Friday Mr Kwarteng said the UK needed "a reboot", adding: "I don't think it's a gamble at all. What was a gamble, in my view, was sticking to the course we are on."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63019307
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news_uk-politics-63019307
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Tax cuts signal radical shift in No 10 policy - BBC News
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2022-09-25
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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For something that wasn't even technically a Budget, it was one heck of a statement of intent.
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UK Politics
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For something that wasn't even technically a Budget, it was one heck of a statement of intent from the new prime minister and new chancellor.
It amounts to the wholesale shredding of previous economic policy: both the ones adopted by Conservative governments over the last 12 years (which Liz Truss sat within for most of that time) and those of Labour before that.
It is an all-or-nothing strategy, where the prime minister will own the consequences, good or bad.
Economic growth is the prize they seek.
But they can't be certain their approach will work, nor the methods they have chosen to deliver it will be popular.
And then there are the side effects.
The markets are jittery. The value of the pound is slumping and the cost of government borrowing is rising, just when the government has said it going to borrow a shedload more money.
A few around here with a taste for political history have been making comparisons with the so-called 'Barber boom'.
A senior Labour figure was the first to mention it to me just as Kwasi Kwarteng prepared to get to his feet in the Commons.
And a few hours later, so did Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The Barber boom is a reference to the stint in the Treasury of former Conservative chancellor Anthony Barber, when Ted Heath was prime minister.
Mr Barber cut taxes big time, particularly in 1972 - it being the only Budget in the last half century to cut taxes more than Kwasi Kwarteng just has.
Mr Barber wanted a "dash for growth". He borrowed money, cut taxes and the economy grew.
But strikes, unemployment and inflation followed, and the Conservatives lost the next general election.
Things are different now: unemployment is low, the Bank of England controls interest rates.
But don't be surprised if we hear more of Mr Barber's stewardship of the economy in the coming months, particularly from those sceptical about Mr Kwarteng's plans.
So, given the risks, and the historical precedent, why is the government choosing this approach?
They argue this is a calculated and worthwhile thing to do, because to do nothing, to maintain the status quo, would be a bigger gamble still.
And yes, growth has been sluggish for years and years, and the economy teeters on the edge of - or is perhaps already in - recession.
So few would dispute doing something to catalyse the economy, one way or another.
They do, though, have a big persuasion job on their hands, including, incidentally, among some on their own side.
There is a bunch of Conservative MPs who have never warmed to Liz Truss, and some who are hostile towards her political instincts.
One or two have already said as much publicly, others are keeping their thoughts to themselves for now.
Some fret the plan doesn't look fair, given the scale of the tax cuts for the richest.
Others see it as a sugar hit for the economy which runs the risk, they fear, of stoking inflation further.
For others though, in the parliamentary party and among the grassroots, this is a moment they can gladly cheer: what they see as a properly Conservative budget after all those years of coalition compromise, Brexit and Covid.
Which brings us to the coming political argument: the government hopes this set of measures will give the economy a giant injection of oomph.
It will certainly give politics that: the dividing lines between the Conservatives, Labour and others are bold and stark.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63016807
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news_uk-politics-63016807
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Ashfield councillor guilty of harassing neighbours in hot tub row - BBC News
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2022-09-22
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Tom Hollis is found guilty of harassment following a dispute with neighbours over Covid rules.
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Nottingham
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Tom Hollis, the deputy leader of Ashfield District Council, denied the charges against him
A councillor has been found guilty of harassing his neighbours after they accused him of holding meetings in his hot tub during a Covid lockdown.
Tom Hollis, deputy leader of Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire, had denied two counts of harassment without violence.
Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard Hollis made up a false knife threat and called his neighbour a "paedophile".
The district judge said his behaviour in May 2020 amounted to harassment.
The court heard the row between the 28-year-old and his neighbours Shannon Jones-Golding and her husband Luke Golding began when Ms Jones-Golding rang police to ask if he was breaching Covid restrictions by holding meetings in his hot tub.
This led to an angry confrontation with Hollis who threatened to report her to police himself for "harassing a key worker".
Two weeks later another row broke out when Hollis accused the couple of breaching Covid rules when Mr Golding's father visited their back garden to mend a bicycle.
The court heard this argument led to Hollis branding the husband a "paedophile" before calling 999 to report being threatened with a large carving knife.
District Judge Leo Pyle said Hollis calling his next-door neighbour Luke Golding a "paedophile" was "deplorable" with no basis or evidence to back it up.
The judge found the claim his neighbour had threatened him with a knife was an "entirely false accusation".
The 999 call played in court featured Hollis "screaming" that he was being threatened with a "one-and-a-half-foot carving knife".
But video footage did not corroborate these claims, the court heard.
"It could be called pathetic, but it's far more than that," Mr Pyle said.
"If not for the footage taken by Shannon Jones-Golding, her husband could have been taken away in handcuffs."
He was also convicted of a second harassment charge for sending Ms Jones-Golding a threatening letter on council-headed paper.
Mr Pyle said this "caused alarm and distress" and was "oppressive".
However, Mr Pyle also found Hollis did not hold council meetings in his hot tub and used his home for work during the Covid pandemic.
He told Hollis he will be sentenced on 13 October.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-62985587
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Kwasi Kwarteng considers scrapping bankers’ bonus cap to boost City - BBC News
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2022-09-14
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The new chancellor believes removing a cap on bankers' bonuses could boost growth in the City.
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Business
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The Treasury is considering removing a cap on bankers' bonuses as part of a post-Brexit shake-up of City rules.
Sources said no final decisions had been made, but confirmed chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng considered it a way of making London a more attractive place for global banks to do business.
City bosses have long complained about the EU-wide bonus rules which cap bonuses at twice an employee's salary.
They say they lead to higher base pay that pushes up banks' fixed costs.
Those costs cannot be adjusted in line with the firm's financial performance, they add, making the UK less attractive than the US or Asia.
People close to Mr Kwarteng confirmed reports in the Financial Times that the new chancellor is considering the move.
Critics have argued that uncapped bonuses lead to the kind of excessive risk taking that spawned the financial crisis of 2008.
But others argue that other new rules that can hold senior managers personally and potentially criminally responsible for misconduct, plus the ability to claw back bonuses years after they are granted, achieve a sufficient disincentive.
Taking the lid off bankers' pay at a time when many households are facing hardship from the rising cost of living will undoubtedly provoke outrage in many quarters.
The proposal "sends a rather confused signal when people are being squeezed in terms of the cost of living, and the government is trying to encourage pay restraint in the public sector", Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, told the BBC.
"To appear to allow bankers to have bigger bonuses at the same time, doesn't look very well timed. There may be some longer term arguments for pursing this policy but I think the timing would be very bad if they did it now."
Rachel Winter, from Killick & Co, told the BBC: "It's an absolutely terrible time for this headline when you've got inflation [at] a 40-year high, you've got so many people struggling with the cost of living, do we really want to be reading headlines about banker bonuses?
"Arguably the banks do pay a lot of tax, so I think the chancellor is looking at ways to boost the UK economy to get more banks to come to London, to stay in London and pay more tax."
Removing the cap is just one of a number of deregulation initiatives being considered.
The government is also keen to relax rules limiting the amount insurance and pension funds can invest in assets that are harder to sell at short notice - such as long-term infrastructure projects.
These rules are part of pan-European regulations collectively known as Solvency II.
But the Bank of England is concerned that relaxing the rules could expose pensioners' savings to greater long-term risk and that lowering the amount of ready cash firms are required to hold could see them pay out any money freed up to their shareholders rather than invest in projects favoured by the government.
Pitting the Treasury and the financial services industry against the Bank of England is seen as a key test of the Bank's independence and senior officials at the Bank have privately conceded the fight over Solvency II is a political one they could well lose.
Kwasi Kwarteng laid out his "unashamedly pro-growth plan" for the economy at a gathering of senior bankers two weeks ago.
He would argue that the instincts that persuade him to cut banking regulations are the same instincts that persuaded him to throw a £100bn-plus shield over businesses and households to prevent high energy prices causing a job-and-growth-killing recession.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62906854
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What kind of king will Charles be? - BBC News
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2022-09-10
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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How will a former prince used to speaking out on issues he cared deeply about adapt to the neutrality of a monarch?
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UK
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Charles, the longest-serving heir to the throne in British history, is now King. His apprenticeship as heir, lasting 70 years, has made him the best-prepared and oldest new monarch ever to take to the throne.
The 73-year-old King was there throughout his mother's long reign, witnessing generations of world leaders come and go, including 15 UK prime ministers and 14 US presidents.
After Queen Elizabeth II's remarkable, era-defining reign, what kind of King might we expect? And how will a prince used to speaking out on issues adapt to the neutrality of a monarch?
As King, Charles will no longer have his own passport or driving licence - or strong opinions in public. Being monarch supersedes the individual.
It is a case of different roles, different rules, believes leading constitutional expert Professor Vernon Bogdanor.
"He's known from his earliest days that his style will have to change. The public won't want a campaigning monarch," Prof Bogdanor says.
King Charles is well aware of the need to be less outspoken. "I'm not that stupid. I do realise it's a separate exercise being sovereign," he said in a BBC interview in 2018. "The idea that somehow I'm going to carry on exactly in the same way is complete nonsense."
When a new monarch takes to the throne, the royal profile on the coins is switched to face in the opposite direction. Charles' reign will also have a different focus.
The country that King Charles will reign over is much more diverse than that inherited by his mother, and Prof Bogdanor anticipates that the new King will reach out to a multicultural, multi-faith Britain.
He expects him to try to act as a unifying force, making more visible efforts to connect with ethnic minorities and disadvantaged groups.
On a bike with members of the British Asian Trust as they start a sponsored ride at Highgrove House in Tetbury, Gloucestershire - June 2021
Prof Bogdanor also anticipates greater royal patronage of the arts, music and culture - more Shakespeare and less horse-racing.
But Sir Lloyd Dorfman, who worked with King Charles for many years on his Prince's Trust charity, doesn't foresee a complete halt to his involvement with issues such as climate change and organic farming.
"He's very knowledgeable, very effective. It's hard to imagine he'll give that up in a cliff-edge way on the day he becomes sovereign," suggests Sir Lloyd.
There has been much talk about the King preferring a "slimmed-down" monarchy. It's likely to mean a greater emphasis on a smaller core group of working Royals, with Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Catherine at its centre.
Despite this, the overriding message of the new reign will be continuity and stability, says royal commentator Victoria Murphy.
"Don't expect any huge, jarring differences. He will be very careful," she says.
The "slimmed down" Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, June 2022
Historian and author Sir Anthony Seldon believes King Charles has been fortified by being proved right over issues, such as warnings about climate change. From once being ridiculed, he now has an "Attenborough-aura," says Sir Anthony.
At the climate change summit in Glasgow in 2021, for example, Charles was taken seriously by figures like US President Joe Biden, according to royal commentator and author Robert Hardman, who says his status on the world stage will serve him well as King.
"It wasn't just platitudes. The two of them sat down together in a corner and Biden was saying: 'You got all this going'," he says.
"We've tended to think of the Queen as a constant in national life, but apart from her, he's been there longer than anybody in public life, longer than any politician," says Mr Hardman.
But what kind of character will we see in the new monarch?
Those who have known him say deep down he is a rather shy, reserved person. A "sensitive soul" is one description.
Official photograph to mark the prince's 18th birthday
There might be a trace of the lonely boy who complained of being bullied and isolated at school. "They throw slippers all night long or hit me with pillows or rush across the room and hit me as hard as they can," he wrote in a letter home about being tormented in his school dormitory.
His wife Camilla, now Queen Consort, has described him as: "Pretty impatient. He wants things done by yesterday. That's how he gets things done."
She told a TV interview for Charles's 70th birthday that below the rather earnest character that people see in public, there was a more playful side to him.
"They see him as a very serious person, which he is. But I would like people to see the lighter side of him. He gets down on his knees and plays with the children, reading Harry Potter to them and doing the voices," said Camilla.
Charles with his grandson Prince Louis, during the Platinum Jubilee in June 2022
Charles and Camilla laughing during the Braemar Highland Gathering on 3 September 2022
Charles has become a relaxed and approachable figure when he's meeting the public, getting his audience onside with a few self-deprecating jokes. Perhaps that will change as monarch, but as Prince of Wales he developed an affable, grandfatherly style, with no standoffishness.
For a man in his 70s, the King shows no sign of slowing down.
Chris Pope, who worked with Charles on the Prince's Teaching Institute, describes the new King as a relentlessly busy, driven figure, a "bundle of energy" taking on a huge workload.
"He is genuinely passionate about the well-being of the next generation. You'll see that across a lot of the work he does," says Mr Pope.
The prince's charitable work includes protecting the heritage and preserving traditional craft skills - but at the same time encouraging innovation and change.
"He is always concerned that traditions are not lost, but that's not the same thing as saying we have to turn the clock back," says Mr Pope.
The new King's character seems to bring together those themes, which might be seen to be pulling in different directions, of wanting change while wanting to conserve. He's a kind of tweedy radical.
At Shipton Mill in Gloucestershire, which holds the HRH Royal Warrant and specialises in traditional milling, July 2020
Charles addressing an Action on Forests and Land Use event on day three of the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, November 2021
He sometimes looks like a red-cheeked landowner who has stepped down from an 18th-Century painting. At other times he sounds like a frustrated reformer, annoyed at how some communities have been neglected and left behind.
Much will be made of inheriting a sense of duty from his mother, but King Charles has also inherited her religious faith and her strong sense of humour.
Hitan Mehta has worked with him since helping to set up the British Asian Trust in 2007.
"He is a humanitarian at heart. I think people underestimate how much he does care. He often talks about the world he's going to leave for his grandchildren. He does worry about it," says Mr Mehta.
This can mean direct calls to action. "It must have been nine o'clock on a Friday night and I get a phone call from him saying: 'I've just heard about the floods in Pakistan. What are we doing?' It's not as if he's not a busy person. But he's heard of the problem and he's on it. He really does care," says Mr Mehta.
"This is a man who has dinner ridiculously late at night and then goes to his desk and will fall asleep on his notes," said Prince Harry about his father.
Charles was born in Buckingham Palace in 1948
Charles Philip Arthur George was born in Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948. When the BBC announced his birth, it wasn't with news that the Queen had had a boy, but that his mother had been "safely delivered of a prince". Four years later, he became heir apparent.
"I find myself born into this particular position. I'm determined to make the most of it. And to do whatever I can to help," Charles said in a 2005 interview.
He's been the patron or president of more than 400 organisations and in 1976 he founded his own flagship charity, the Prince's Trust, using his severance pay from the Royal Navy.
It has helped almost 900,000 disadvantaged young people from some of the poorest parts of the country and given him an insight into a range of social problems.
His plans for the Prince's Trust to connect with what he called the "hardest to reach in society" didn't always go down well.
"The Home Office didn't think it was at all a good idea. It was quite difficult to get it off the ground," he told a BBC interview in 2018.
His work has drawn accusations of political interference and accusations of meddling, particularly around the so-called "black spider memos". Taking their name from Charles' spidery handwriting, these were private letters from Charles to government ministers from 2004 onwards.
The letters questioned the government's approach on issues such as farming, urban planning, architecture, education and even protecting the Patagonian toothfish.
Charles, known for his public views on architecture, at his Poundbury village development, Dorset 1999
A former cabinet minister on the receiving end of Charles' lobbying said he didn't feel under great pressure, but his memory of the new King is of someone with fixed opinions. He saw him as arriving with pre-set views which he wanted to pursue, rather than wanting to engage with opposing arguments.
"I didn't feel brow-beaten. He'd make his interventions and you'd get letters. He didn't assert, he didn't push, he wasn't discourteous," he says.
Reflecting on claims of interfering, in a 2006 interview, Charles said: "If that's meddling, I'm very proud of it." But he acknowledged that he was in "a no-win situation".
"If you do absolutely nothing at all, stuff all, they're going to complain about that. If you try and get stuck in and do something to help, they'll also complain," he said.
In a later interview, he said that he had avoided party politics, but felt compelled to speak out on issues such as "the conditions in which people were living".
Former Labour minister Chris Mullin described in his diaries a briefing with Charles and how taken aback he was by his single-minded focus and his readiness to risk "treading on official toes".
"He comes back to the same point. How to widen the horizons of the young, especially the disaffected, the unlucky and even the malign. I confess I am impressed. This is a man who, if he chose, could fritter away his life on idleness and self-indulgence."
Charles posing for an official portrait to mark his 70th birthday in the gardens of Clarence House
How much public support will King Charles have as his reign begins?
"Something as curious as the monarchy won't survive unless you take account of people's attitudes. After all, if people don't want it, they won't have it," Charles has said.
According to research carried out by YouGov in December 2021, he has been growing in popularity, with almost two-thirds of people seeing him in a positive light.
But opinion polls have consistently shown him to be less popular than his mother Queen Elizabeth II or his son Prince William, so there is a sizeable proportion of the public still to be won over. In particular his popularity is lower among younger people.
Victoria Murphy says this could reflect the unsympathetic portrayals of Charles in TV shows and movies about his relationship with his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in August 1997.
These might be a mix of fact and fiction, but they are a big influence.
"What's been really interesting over the last few years has been how large Diana continues to loom as a narrative around the Royal Family," Ms Murphy says.
As Charles has approached the throne, there has been an attempt to shift the public perception, says Professor Pauline Maclaran of the Centre for the Study of the Modern Monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.
From the previous lampooning of him on comedy shows such as Spitting Image, he has been gradually repositioned as a more dignified figure, a "sage" with serious things to say about the environment, says Prof Maclaran.
The interests of the public might not always be so high-minded. And as head of the Royal Family he will have to contend with the intense global appetite for stories about Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their relationship with the Royal Family.
The Prince was visibly upset at the funeral of his father, Prince Philip, in 2021
Where royal stories start to overlap with the soap opera of celebrity life isn't his natural territory.
King Charles faces other tough family decisions, such as the future role of Prince Andrew, or the lack of it, after the settlement deal that followed the sexual assault claims of Virginia Giuffre.
Outside the UK, a major challenge will be to redefine a more modern relationship with the Commonwealth. As its new head, how can his visits to Commonwealth countries navigate the difficult legacies of colonialism and issues such as slavery?
King Charles has become head of state of 14 countries, as well as the UK. Some of these could want to become republics, while staying as Commonwealth members, and King Charles has already made clear he is ready for grown-up conversations about change.
There have been decisions already taken that have smoothed the path of his new reign. He must have been delighted when his mother intervened to say Camilla should use the title of Queen consort, rather than Princess.
Camilla will be a vital support as he starts one of the highest profile roles in the world at an age when most people would have retired.
This moment, in all its daunting solemnity, has been waiting ahead of him all his life.
For King Charles, it's his time now.
Read the latest from our royal correspondent Sean Coughlan - sign up here.
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William and Harry united in grief - BBC News
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2022-09-10
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What messages were sent by Prince William and Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan, appearing together?
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The couples went on an unexpected walkabout together in Windsor
Headline writers would have been thinking about "Brothers in arms" or maybe "Brothers in grief" for their coverage.
The sight of Princes William and Harry meeting the crowds together will become one of the stand-out and most unexpected images from what have been sombre days.
With their wives, Catherine and Meghan, they greeted people in Windsor, in a way that couldn't have been predicted last week, when the Sussexes returned to the UK.
The talk then was of feuds and unbridgeable differences between couples. They were said to be staying in houses close together on the Windsor estate, while emotionally many miles apart. The couple hadn't been seen together in public for more than two years.
That all changed on Thursday. If William and Harry were not planning to see each other, they were brought together in ways that couldn't have been predicted.
It already seems a long time ago, but as the news worsened about the Queen, and the country was checking for updates on their phones, the two brothers were both making rushed journeys to Balmoral.
Families can fall out when there's a bereavement. Feelings are running high and are close to the surface. It's easy for old arguments to be brought back by grief.
Prince Harry was given flowers by well-wishers
But losing a loved one can also bring unity, putting things into perspective and setting disagreements aside. It can be a time to come together.
Of course, looking in from the outside, no one watching the TV pictures really knows what's happening. Was this only a show? Had they been told to send out this positive message?
It's going to be complicated and private between two brothers. And William and Harry have already faced the hard-to-measure sense of loss at an early age, with the death of their mother Diana.
For the waiting public, looking to show their own solidarity with the mourning Royal Family, they clearly warmed to the idea of William and Catherine, Harry and Meghan, appearing together. For a few minutes at least, the royal famous foursome were back. It tuned in to the public mood.
According to royal sources, it was Prince William who had extended the invitation to Prince Harry and Meghan to go on this walkabout.
Even if this is a moment of togetherness, there is no disguising that this is also a moment of great divergence. The brothers are on pathways about to take them in completely different directions.
William, now Prince of Wales, is now on a different path from his brother
On the death of the Queen, William became heir to the throne. He will be keenly aware of what now lies ahead. He has a new and much more important status than his brother.
William is now the Prince of Wales, the name that they both until yesterday used to call their father - that must seem strange enough in itself.
When the reign of King Charles III was proclaimed at the Accession Council on Saturday, William was standing firmly behind the new monarch.
It's likely that the King and Camilla, now the Queen Consort, with William and Catherine will be the core group, almost a separate unit, at the heart of the monarchy. It was this foursome that often appeared together when Charles was standing in for his mother.
Prince Harry is on a very different route, living with Meghan and his young family in California, with media ventures, charities and campaigns. They have to invent their own post-royal life, while still part of the Royal Family. They generate huge public interest, not always positive, and seem to live with a media tornado hovering above them.
Even among the most carefully-choreographed steps of public mourning, there are still families and people falling out and making up.
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Pound hits record low after tax cut plans - BBC News
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2022-09-26
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Sterling sinks close to $1.03 as global markets react to the UK's biggest tax cuts in 50 years.
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Business
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The pound has fallen to a record low against the dollar as markets react to the UK's biggest tax cuts in 50 years.
Sterling fell close to $1.03 early on Monday before regaining some ground to stand at $1.08.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has promised more tax cuts on top of a £45bn package he announced on Friday amid expectations borrowing will surge.
The cost of UK government borrowing climbed and markets speculated about an emergency interest rate rise.
Some economists predict the Bank of England may call an emergency meeting as soon as this week to raise rates, to help stem a fall in the pound and calm high inflation.
If so, it would come less than a week after the Bank lifted interest rates by half a percentage point to 2.25% and before its next official meeting on 3 November. The Bank of England declined to comment.
Market-watchers now forecast that interest rates could reach 5.5% or even higher by next spring.
The rate increase in September was the seventh in a row and took rates to the highest for 14 years. A further rise would increase monthly mortgage costs for millions of homeowners.
If the pound stays at low levels against the dollar, imports of commodities priced in dollars, including oil and gas, will be more costly.
Other imported goods could also become considerably more expensive, further pushing up inflation which is already at its highest rate for decades.
And British tourists visiting America will find that their holiday money does not go as far as before sterling's slide.
Neither the chancellor or Prime Minister Liz Truss would comment on the fall in the pound.
While worries about the UK economy have hit the pound, its value has also been under pressure due to the strength of the dollar.
Other currencies have been falling against the dollar, and the euro touched a fresh 20-year-low against the US currency amid concerns about the risk of recession.
Investors all around the world trade huge amounts of foreign currency every day. The rate at which investors swap currencies also determines what rate people get at the bank, post office or foreign exchanges.
Many people don't think about exchange rates until it's time to swap money for a foreign holiday. When you travel abroad, things will be more expensive if the pound buys less of the local currency.
However, a fall in the pound affects household finances too.
If the pound is worth less, the cost of importing goods from overseas goes up.
For example, as oil is priced in dollars a weak pound can make filling up your car with petrol more expensive. Gas is also priced in dollars.
Technology goods, like iPhones, that are made abroad, may get more expensive in UK shops. Even things that are made in the UK but from parts that are bought abroad can get much more expensive.
Commenting on the likelihood the Bank of England could raise rates before its scheduled meeting in November, former Bank deputy governor Sir John Gieve told the BBC: "I'm sure they very much don't want to do that... because that is a sign of pressure.
"Emergency meetings are avoided if at all possible and I am sure they will try to avoid it."
Sushil Wadhwani, chief investment officer at PGIM Wadhwani and a former member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee, said if he was still there: "I would be tempted to announce an extra meeting in a week.
"The argument for waiting a week would be to give them time to properly assess the extra news. The reason for not waiting until November is that they are cognisant of the need to respond in a timely basis to the new developments."
He added: "Of course, the Bank of England taking action is a second best solution. The first would involve the chancellor coming up with a credible fiscal plan which is blessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility."
On Monday, the cost of UK government borrowing surged again. Interest rates on borrowing over two and five-year periods reached 4.5%, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis, while rates over 10 years hit the highest since April 2010.
At the weekend, Mr Kwarteng said there was "more to come" in terms of tax cuts after announcing a massive shake-up of taxes on Friday during a "mini-budget" to boost economic growth.
Under the plans, which he hailed a "new era" for the economy, income tax and the stamp duty on home purchases will be cut and planned rises in corporation taxes have been scrapped.
As well as outlining £45bn in tax cuts, the government confirmed it would spend £60bn for the first six months of its scheme to subsidise rising energy bills for households and businesses. But that cost is expected to rise as the scheme to support households will last for two years.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves described the fall in sterling as "incredibly concerning".
"We need to hear from the chancellor his plans to get a grip on the public finances because that is what is giving real concern to market traders" and "working people", she added.
The Treasury refused to publish a forecast by independent watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility on Friday on the UK's economic outlook as well as future borrowing and debt.
BBC political editor Chris Mason said that while ministers were not saying anything publicly: "The impression I am left with is they want to ride this out. They hope it is short-term volatility. "
However, he said one Conservative MP told him: "This is very worrying. All the wheels could come off."
Brewers say the fall in the pound is "worrying" for the UK beer industry
Paul Davies, chief executive at Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, said the fall in the pound was "worrying" for the British beer industry, which imports hops from overseas.
He said: "Many of the hops used in this country are actually imported and a lot of them, particularly for craft brewers, are imported from the US, so changes in currency is actually worrying for industry.
"Then of course people drink a lot of imported beers from Europe, and the euro vs the pound is also something we're watching very closely at the moment."
Has your business been affected by the falling value of the pound? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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Judges unlawfully releasing defendants, court hears - BBC News
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2022-09-26
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It comes as some trial dates have been put off for months due to the criminal barristers' strike.
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Crown Court judges have been releasing potentially dangerous criminals unlawfully because of delays linked to the criminal barristers' strike, the High Court has heard.
Lawyers for the director of public prosecutions (DPP) said judges must be stopped from bailing defendants whose trials have been put off for months.
It is a highly significant challenge to decisions by trial judges in England.
Barristers are in a dispute with the government over legal aid funding.
The indefinite, uninterrupted strike by barristers in England and Wales is an escalation of industrial action over pay, which began in April.
The BBC has discovered that at least a dozen defendants have been told in recent weeks they would be bailed back in to the community because of a lack of barristers to enable their cases to be heard.
In each custody ruling, judges said they had no power to keep defendants in jail beyond the standard six-month pre-trial limit - because the law does not let them consider the strike as a "good and sufficient" reason to do so.
In one recent decision, a senior judge at Oxford Crown Court said he could not extend the custody of four alleged murderers whose trial had been put back.
Two defendants waiting for trial in Manchester for alleged serious violence have also been released.
At other courts, one judge bailed a defendant charged with kidnapping with intention to commit a sexual offence, while another bailed someone facing serious drugs gang and county lines slavery charges.
Brought by Crown Prosecution Service head Max Hill KC, the test case at the High Court is focusing on cases in Bristol and Manchester.
Barristers protesting outside the Supreme Court earlier this month
Tom Little KC, for the director of public prosecutions, told the High Court the law required crown court judges to take the strike into account as a reason to keep defendants behind bars while awaiting trial.
"Custody time limit applications are not the place to second-guess fine judgments about funding," he told the court.
"This is not a position where no trial is possible but a situation where individual advocates have taken a decision not to attend."
In one case being examined, the Bristol trial of a defendant accused of threatening someone with a razor failed to go ahead because of the strike.
Judge Peter Blair in Bristol said the government had had "many many months" to end the barristers' industrial action, adding: "In my view today's predicament arises precisely because of the chronic and predictable consequences of long-term underfunding."
Lawyers for the DPP told the High Court that those comments went beyond the judge's legal responsibilities.
"[The judge] is attributing fault and blame to the government and has entered into the arena and has done so with no detailed argument or evidence," said Mr Little. "He has taken into account a matter he should not have done."
But lawyers acting for three of the defendants in the cases being considered said the government's failure to prevent foreseeable delays did not mean judges had unchecked power to keep people locked up.
"The [Bristol judge] has said nothing that is wrong, improper or inaccurate," said David Hughes, for one of the defendants.
"He was perfectly entitled to hold the views that he did based on that knowledge and experience.
"He was just expressing what the situation is. The dispute has been going on for many months now - and he was entitled to say that there has been a failure to address the dispute in a system that has primary legislation that makes time limits for custody in advance of trial."
The case continues. Dame Victoria Sharp, one of England's most senior judges, said the High Court would rule in the coming days.
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NHS Scotland strikes are last resort, says union leader - BBC News
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2022-09-26
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Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warned that NHS union members are prepared to strike.
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Scotland's NHS staff could strike soon but it remains a "last resort", a trade union leader has warned.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said healthcare workers do not want to see longer waiting times and cancelled appointments, but told BBC Scotland they may be forced to act.
Unite is balloting NHS members on industrial action after a 5% pay increase was turned down last month.
Ministers said they were disappointed but were "re-engaging" with unions.
Unite said it had amassed a £50m strike fund and called on the Scottish government to table a "decent" pay offer.
"Strikes are a last resort but obviously I will back my members where they want to take that action," Ms Graham said.
She insisted that union members "don't want the consequences" of the pressure on services that strike action would bring.
It comes as Scotland reported its worst ever A&E waiting times last week, and the cost of living crisis is expected to place further strain on hospitals this winter.
She said: "It's not very often that you get people in the NHS going out on strike. That is the reality, it's a huge thing for them to do.
"But on the other side of that argument, you've got people with families, you've got people who can't feed their families."
Healthcare staff from five unions are being balloted on industrial action
Ms Graham pointed to a Unite survey that suggests more than 152,000 people (24%) in Glasgow are living in food poverty, while more than 82,000 (13%) cannot afford to pay their household bills.
"People feel that they are in food poverty right this moment - they can't afford to take any more pay cuts.
"Of course we don't want that sort of disruption, so I would say to the respective governments come to the table and put decent pay offers down."
Healthcare staff from Unite and four other unions are being balloted on industrial action after rejecting the Scottish government's pay deal.
Unison, GMB, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy also condemned the 5% offer.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: "While we respect the mandate given to trade unions, I am disappointed they voted to reject the record 5% pay deal for NHS Scotland Agenda for Change staff, and are now holding ballots for industrial action.
"We are re-engaging with trade unions in the hope of reaching a satisfactory outcome."
Ms Graham, who spoke to BBC Scotland at Unite's Scottish policy conference in Glasgow, also took aim at Prime Minister Liz Truss over the UK government's mini-budget last week
She said the tax cuts for the most wealthy in England and Wales represented a "bonanza for the rich".
The union leader was also asked her view on a second Scottish independence referendum.
She said: "I don't think the general secretary in London should be telling people in Scotland what they should or shouldn't be doing on indyref2.
"In the first instance that's my Scottish members who will tell me that and from there the Scottish people will decide."
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Keir Starmer: Labour would reverse cut to top income tax rate - BBC News
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2022-09-26
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Scrapping the 45% rate is the "wrong choice" during a cost-of living crisis, the Labour leader says.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer tells Laura Kuenssberg that his government would reverse the cut to the top income tax rate
Labour would reverse the government's cut to the top rate of income tax, leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.
He told the BBC the move was "the wrong choice" during a cost-of-living crisis.
But Sir Keir said he supported the decision to cut the basic rate of tax from 20% to 19% as this would "reduce the tax burden on working people".
On Friday Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled plans to scrap the higher 45% rate as he set out the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years.
Sir Keir told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: "I do not think that the choice to have tax cuts for those that are earning hundreds of thousands of pounds is the right choice when our economy is struggling the way it is, working people are struggling in the way they are... that is the wrong choice."
However, on the cut to the basic rate of income tax, he said: "I've long made the argument that we should reduce the tax burden on working people.
"That's why we opposed the national insurance increase earlier this year, which of course the government is now reversing."
But the Labour mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said his party should commit to scrapping income tax cuts to both the basic and top rate.
He told Sky News' Sophy Ridge now "wasn't a time for tax cuts" as it was not the most "targeted" way of helping those most in need.
The chancellor denied his tax cuts favoured those at the top, saying he was "focused on tax cuts across the board".
Mr Kwarteng also suggest there was "more to come".
"We've only been here 19 days. I want to see, over the next year, people retain more of their income because I believe that it's the British people that are going to drive this economy," he told the BBC.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng: "What I'm focused on, is tax cuts across the board"
Sir Keir also said there was now "a belief" that his party would win the next election, with signs some former Labour voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 were returning.
"Something has happened in the Labour Party this year, which is the hope of a Labour government has turned into a belief in a Labour government," he said.
Tax looks set to be one of the key political issues in the run up to the next general election.
Labour has criticised the government's priorities, but it doesn't want to junk everything the chancellor announced on Friday.
Sir Keir says if he's in power, he'll reverse the decision to scrap the additional rate paid by those earning more than £150,000.
But he is accepting another part of the government's tax-cutting plan; reducing the basic rate of income tax by a penny from next year.
Labour argues that's necessary because working people are paying too much tax at the moment.
Sir Keir wants the political battle to be over whether it's right to give the highest earners a tax cut at a time when many households are struggling with the cost of living.
The government is adamant it's worth it to grow the economy.
The political battle lines are being drawn.
Asked whether workers should expect their pay to rise in line with inflation, Sir Keir said it was "reasonable" for people to expect their wages to take account of the rising cost of living.
Workers ranging from rail staff to barristers have taken industrial action over pay, with unions calling for pay rises above inflation, which is at a 40-year high of 9.9%.
Pushed whether he would support people going on strike if pay rises did not match inflation, Sir Keir said strikes were "a last resort" and he could understand how people were driven to industrial action when they were struggling to pay their bills.
Sir Keir's shadow transport minister was sacked after joining striking rail workers on a picket line over the summer.
The official line was that Sam Tarry was sacked for "making up policy on the hoof" in an unauthorised media appearance but shadow ministers had been warned not to appear at picket lines.
Asked why he was not more visible on picket lines, Sir Keir said the "most important" thing he could do as party leader was "usher in a Labour government" and his job was different to that of a union leader.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer: "When people go on strike, it is a last resort"
At the start of its party conference in Liverpool, Labour has unveiled plans on green energy and boosting police numbers.
The party said it wanted to make the UK the first major economy in the world to generate all of its electricity without using fossil fuels.
Sir Keir said achieving zero carbon energy by 2030 would be a key priority if his party wins the next election, adding that it was a "difficult" goal but "absolutely doable".
However, he said fossil fuels may be a "fall back" if the target cannot be met by 2030.
The government has already committed to zero carbon electricity by 2035 but Labour believes it can win votes by promoting green energy as a way to generate economic growth, in contrast to Tory tax cuts for the well-off.
In the short-term Labour has backed freezing energy bills for six months to help people cope with the rising cost of living.
The government has committed to a 2-year freeze for household energy bills.
But Sir Keir said his party's plan would be to look at the situation again in April and find a "longer-term answer" to the issue.
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I hope King Charles will push for action on climate change, says John Kerry - BBC News
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2022-09-18
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The US presidential envoy says the King can "leverage" the action needed to tackle global warming.
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UK
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John Kerry - seen here with the then-Prince of Wales in 2021 - says the King knows the climate issue "inside out"
President Biden's climate envoy has told the BBC he hopes King Charles will continue his work on global warming.
John Kerry told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he would welcome the King's involvement because he "has the ability... to leverage the kind of action we need now on a global basis".
He said the monarch had "indicated" he wanted to maintain his passion for the environment "in the appropriate way".
And Mr Kerry said he hoped the King would visit the next UN climate summit.
Speaking from the US, the former Secretary of State told Laura Kuenssberg he had been invited to see the then-Prince of Wales in Scotland to discuss the climate crisis but the meeting was cancelled following the death of the Queen.
But Mr Kerry said he "very much" hopes the King will continue to push the arguments for radical action to tackle climate change "within the constitutional process".
"There's no question in my mind, that it is not a standard multilateral issue or bilateral issue, there is a threat to the entire planet, a threat to all of our nations and he understands it as well as anybody on the planet," he said.
"He's been consistent on this issue, beginning in his teenage years and carrying on in many different iterations and he's for real, believe me.
"He knows the issue inside out, backwards and forwards and he's been a leader."
Mr Kerry said the King had discussed wanting to be "relevant and try to be engaged" and that he hoped he would continue to be active on environmental issues.
"He is an enormously important convener and somebody who has the ability to be able to leverage the kind of action we need now on a global basis.
"This challenge is as significant as any threat we've ever faced," he told the BBC.
John Kerry represented the US at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year
Mr Kerry was appointed President Joe Biden's special envoy for climate in January 2021 - the first time such a role has existed within the White House.
He has spoken in recent months about the impact of the war in Ukraine on efforts to limit global heating to 1.5C by 2030 - with countries facing the simultaneous challenges of sourcing alternatives to Russian gas supplies while also needing to cut their CO2 emissions.
Mr Kerry told Laura Kuenssberg the lesson from the conflict in Ukraine is that "you do not want to be a prisoner of your energy source" adding that Europe "wants to liberate itself" from its dependency on Russian gas.
He added it would be "terrific" if the King could come to the COP climate change summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh in November - adding that he thought His Majesty would like to be able to attend.
Mr Kerry said that he thought next gathering would see a "raising of ambition" by countries which had been unable to sign up at the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year to steps to limit the planet's temperature increase to 1.5C.
"We can get there but it's going to take a gigantic effort moving forward," he said.
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is on BBC One from 09:00 BST on Sunday 18 September or you can catch it on BBC iPlayer
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62940512
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news_uk-62940512
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William and Harry united in grief - BBC News
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2022-09-11
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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What messages were sent by Prince William and Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan, appearing together?
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UK
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The couples went on an unexpected walkabout together in Windsor
Headline writers would have been thinking about "Brothers in arms" or maybe "Brothers in grief" for their coverage.
The sight of Princes William and Harry meeting the crowds together will become one of the stand-out and most unexpected images from what have been sombre days.
With their wives, Catherine and Meghan, they greeted people in Windsor, in a way that couldn't have been predicted last week, when the Sussexes returned to the UK.
The talk then was of feuds and unbridgeable differences between couples. They were said to be staying in houses close together on the Windsor estate, while emotionally many miles apart. The couple hadn't been seen together in public for more than two years.
That all changed on Thursday. If William and Harry were not planning to see each other, they were brought together in ways that couldn't have been predicted.
It already seems a long time ago, but as the news worsened about the Queen, and the country was checking for updates on their phones, the two brothers were both making rushed journeys to Balmoral.
Families can fall out when there's a bereavement. Feelings are running high and are close to the surface. It's easy for old arguments to be brought back by grief.
Prince Harry was given flowers by well-wishers
But losing a loved one can also bring unity, putting things into perspective and setting disagreements aside. It can be a time to come together.
Of course, looking in from the outside, no one watching the TV pictures really knows what's happening. Was this only a show? Had they been told to send out this positive message?
It's going to be complicated and private between two brothers. And William and Harry have already faced the hard-to-measure sense of loss at an early age, with the death of their mother Diana.
For the waiting public, looking to show their own solidarity with the mourning Royal Family, they clearly warmed to the idea of William and Catherine, Harry and Meghan, appearing together. For a few minutes at least, the royal famous foursome were back. It tuned in to the public mood.
According to royal sources, it was Prince William who had extended the invitation to Prince Harry and Meghan to go on this walkabout.
Even if this is a moment of togetherness, there is no disguising that this is also a moment of great divergence. The brothers are on pathways about to take them in completely different directions.
William, now Prince of Wales, is now on a different path from his brother
On the death of the Queen, William became heir to the throne. He will be keenly aware of what now lies ahead. He has a new and much more important status than his brother.
William is now the Prince of Wales, the name that they both until yesterday used to call their father - that must seem strange enough in itself.
When the reign of King Charles III was proclaimed at the Accession Council on Saturday, William was standing firmly behind the new monarch.
It's likely that the King and Camilla, now the Queen Consort, with William and Catherine will be the core group, almost a separate unit, at the heart of the monarchy. It was this foursome that often appeared together when Charles was standing in for his mother.
Prince Harry is on a very different route, living with Meghan and his young family in California, with media ventures, charities and campaigns. They have to invent their own post-royal life, while still part of the Royal Family. They generate huge public interest, not always positive, and seem to live with a media tornado hovering above them.
Even among the most carefully-choreographed steps of public mourning, there are still families and people falling out and making up.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62866245
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news_uk-62866245
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Kwasi Kwarteng considers scrapping bankers’ bonus cap to boost City - BBC News
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2022-09-15
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The new chancellor believes removing a cap on bankers' bonuses could boost growth in the City.
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Business
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The Treasury is considering removing a cap on bankers' bonuses as part of a post-Brexit shake-up of City rules.
Sources said no final decisions had been made, but confirmed chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng considered it a way of making London a more attractive place for global banks to do business.
City bosses have long complained about the EU-wide bonus rules which cap bonuses at twice an employee's salary.
They say they lead to higher base pay that pushes up banks' fixed costs.
Those costs cannot be adjusted in line with the firm's financial performance, they add, making the UK less attractive than the US or Asia.
People close to Mr Kwarteng confirmed reports in the Financial Times that the new chancellor is considering the move.
Critics have argued that uncapped bonuses lead to the kind of excessive risk taking that spawned the financial crisis of 2008.
But others argue that other new rules that can hold senior managers personally and potentially criminally responsible for misconduct, plus the ability to claw back bonuses years after they are granted, achieve a sufficient disincentive.
Taking the lid off bankers' pay at a time when many households are facing hardship from the rising cost of living will undoubtedly provoke outrage in many quarters.
The proposal "sends a rather confused signal when people are being squeezed in terms of the cost of living, and the government is trying to encourage pay restraint in the public sector", Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, told the BBC.
"To appear to allow bankers to have bigger bonuses at the same time, doesn't look very well timed. There may be some longer term arguments for pursing this policy but I think the timing would be very bad if they did it now."
Rachel Winter, from Killick & Co, told the BBC: "It's an absolutely terrible time for this headline when you've got inflation [at] a 40-year high, you've got so many people struggling with the cost of living, do we really want to be reading headlines about banker bonuses?
"Arguably the banks do pay a lot of tax, so I think the chancellor is looking at ways to boost the UK economy to get more banks to come to London, to stay in London and pay more tax."
Removing the cap is just one of a number of deregulation initiatives being considered.
The government is also keen to relax rules limiting the amount insurance and pension funds can invest in assets that are harder to sell at short notice - such as long-term infrastructure projects.
These rules are part of pan-European regulations collectively known as Solvency II.
But the Bank of England is concerned that relaxing the rules could expose pensioners' savings to greater long-term risk and that lowering the amount of ready cash firms are required to hold could see them pay out any money freed up to their shareholders rather than invest in projects favoured by the government.
Pitting the Treasury and the financial services industry against the Bank of England is seen as a key test of the Bank's independence and senior officials at the Bank have privately conceded the fight over Solvency II is a political one they could well lose.
Kwasi Kwarteng laid out his "unashamedly pro-growth plan" for the economy at a gathering of senior bankers two weeks ago.
He would argue that the instincts that persuade him to cut banking regulations are the same instincts that persuaded him to throw a £100bn-plus shield over businesses and households to prevent high energy prices causing a job-and-growth-killing recession.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62906854
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news_business-62906854
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Liz Truss defends plan to lift cap on bankers’ bonuses - BBC News
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2022-09-23
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The prime minister tells the BBC lifting a cap on bonuses is part of a plan to increase growth.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Liz Truss: "I will always work to make sure we are helping those who are struggling."
Prime Minister Liz Truss has said she is prepared to take "difficult decisions" such as removing a cap on bankers' bonuses to boost the economy.
In an interview with the BBC, Ms Truss said that spurring economic growth may mean doing unpopular things.
Her government is considering removing a cap on bankers' bonuses as part of a post-Brexit shake-up of City rules.
Speaking in New York ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden, the PM said she was about "delivering for people".
BBC Political Editor Chris Mason asked Ms Truss whether she was happy to see bankers getting bigger bonuses and for the rich to get richer.
"What I want to see is a growing economy," Ms Truss said.
"If that means taking difficult decisions which are going to help Britain become more competitive, help Britain become more attractive, help more investment flow into our country, yes, I'm absolutely prepared to make those decisions."
Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Pat McFadden, said there was nothing difficult about lifting the cap on bankers' bonuses.
"This is a bizarre move that will do nothing to support growth, and comes straight from the tired Tory playbook on trickle-down economics which haven't worked for them over the last decade," the Labour MP said.
President Biden tweeted earlier that he was "sick and tired" of the theory that cutting taxes for business and the wealthy would see the benefits "trickle down" into the pockets of poorer workers.
Although apparently not intended as a swipe at Ms Truss, the comment underlines the political differences between the two leaders ahead of their meeting.
The prime minister's official spokesman said it was "ludicrous" to suggest President Biden was referring to Ms Truss in the tweet.
He said the world's democracies were "not prescriptive" in how they achieve economic growth.
Ms Truss has admitted a new trade deal with the United States is unlikely in the "short-to-medium term" and that no discussions are currently underway.
The UK government had previously promised a post-Brexit trade deal with the US by 2022.
There has been lots of talk of a new era in the last few weeks, for obvious reasons.
Now, with political argument returning, it is language the prime minister is embracing, about her premiership and the challenges she - we - face.
'We are entering a new era. It is a more insecure era,' she told me.
Insecure abroad, insecure at home. The core of her political strategy is turbo-charging economic growth — and, for now at least, being willing to embrace the unpopular.
"Difficult decisions" as she put it - such as allowing bankers to get bigger bonuses.
There are two big questions for her: will it work, and will people like it?
She doesn't have long to find out the answers, with a general election two-ish years away.
In her Chris Mason interview, Ms Truss said she wanted to forge closer ties with the UK's allies.
"It is a more insecure era. We face an increasingly aggressive Russia, an assertive China. We need to work more closely with our allies, and we also need to get the British economy growing so that we have that security for all of our citizens."
In a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in New York, Ms Truss agreed to enhance UK-France co-operation on energy to cut costs for households.
In Downing Street's account of the meeting, there was no mention of contentious issues that have strained Anglo-French relations since the UK left the European Union.
Neither the unauthorised migrant crossings of the English Channel, nor the post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland were discussed, in a meeting described as "constructive" by Downing Street.
Mr Macron and Ms Truss were meeting face-to-face for the first time, weeks after the she questioned whether the French President was a friend or foe.
"I now believe in proof, in results," Mr Macron said. "There is a will to re-engage, to move on and to show that we are allies and friends in a complex world."
Speaking earlier, Ms Truss said "we are facing incredibly tough economic times" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic "pushed up energy prices".
She said higher energy bills were "a price worth paying" for the UK's long-term security.
Typical household energy bills will rise to £2,500 a year from 1 October, in part due to reductions in Russian gas exports during the war in Ukraine.
Under Ms Truss's plans, energy bills will be frozen at that level for the next two years.
The scheme is likely to be paid for by increased government borrowing, but the full details will be announced on Friday as part of a mini-Budget.
On Wednesday, Ms Truss will use her speech to the United Nations General Assembly to rally support for Ukraine and highlight the threat from authoritarian states such as Russia and China.
The PM will argue that democratic nations should prioritise economic growth and security to win the new era of strategic competition.
Ms Truss will also reiterate her commitment to protecting the UK and its allies, including by increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
"Just as we are building a plan for growth at home, we are also developing a new blueprint for our engagement with the world," the PM is expected to say.
"We will build resilience and collective security - because they are vital for freedom and democracy."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62968072
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news_uk-politics-62968072
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Cristiano Ronaldo: Manchester United forward charged by FA over fan's phone incident - BBC Sport
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2022-09-23
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Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo is charged by the Football Association over footage which appeared to show him knocking a phone out of a fan's hand.
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Last updated on .From the section Man Utd
Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been charged by the Football Association over footage which appeared to show him knocking a phone out of a fan's hand.
A video was shared on social media alongside comments claiming he smashed the device as he left the pitch after a 1-0 loss at Everton in April.
He was cautioned by police regarding the incident in August.
"It is alleged that the forward's conduct after the final whistle was improper and/or violent," the FA said in a statement.
Manchester United said they would support Ronaldo in his response to the charge.
The defeat at Everton dealt a blow to United's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. They went on to finish sixth.
In an Instagram post after the incident, Ronaldo said it was "never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing".
He added: "Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game.
"I would like to apologise for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sportsmanship."
'An issue Ronaldo could have done without' - analysis
This is an unprecedented case and regarded as non-standard, so there will be a hearing whether Ronaldo accepts the charge or not.
It could result in anything ranging from a warning to a suspension.
Tottenham's Eric Dier was banned for four matches two years ago when he went into the stand to confront a fan who had been in an argument with a family member.
It is an issue Ronaldo could have done without after a difficult summer during which he failed to get his desired move to a Champions League club and started the season on the bench under new manager Erik ten Hag.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63012264
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January 6: Ex-police officer gets record 10-year sentence over Capitol riots - BBC News
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2022-09-01
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Thomas Webster, 56, attacked officers with a metal flagpole during the riots in January 2021.
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US & Canada
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An ex-New York City police officer who assaulted law enforcement officials during the 6 January riots has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Thomas Webster, 56, was convicted in May on multiple charges, including assaulting police and violent and disorderly conduct.
More than 850 people have been charged over their involvement in the attack.
But the sentence handed down on Thursday is the longest imposed on anyone over their role in the riots.
A federal jury in New York previously rejected Webster's argument that he had been acting in self-defence when he swung a metal flagpole at an officer and tackled another to the ground, holding him in a chokehold.
In pre-sentencing documents, the Marine Corps veteran disavowed former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen and included a letter of reference from a friend who blamed the Republican politician's "despicable lies" for inducing Webster's conduct.
Jurors accepted prosecutors' argument that Webster had "spearheaded" an attack on police lines and that he was responsible for "disgracing a democracy that he once fought honourably to protect and serve".
"Notwithstanding his background and training, Webster did not try to de-escalate the situation or leave the premises," the justice department said in court filings. "Webster spent eight minutes elbowing his way through the densely packed crowd so that he could position himself at the front of the mob."
The court agreed to suspend the final 36 months of Webster's term in deference to his 25 years service as a police officer and soldier.
The sentencing comes as US law enforcement officials also detained Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer for the far-right Oath Keepers group.
Ms SoRelle was indicted on four charges in connection with the 6 January attacks, including obstruction of justice.
Several members of the group have pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from the attack on the Capitol, where a number of Oath Keepers were seen entering the building in military style body armour.
The 43-year-old previously volunteered with Lawyers for Trump during efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62761037
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news_world-us-canada-62761037
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Shamima Begum: Canada will investigate spy smuggling allegations - BBC News
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2022-09-01
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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PM Justin Trudeau will examine accusations that Shamima Begum was smuggled into Syria by a Canadian spy.
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US & Canada
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Shamima Begum speaks of her regret at joining ISIS: 'It kills me inside'
Canada says it will "follow up" claims that one of its spies smuggled three UK schoolgirls into Syria in 2015.
A BBC investigation revealed Shamima Begum, who fled the UK and joined the Islamic State group with two friends, was smuggled by a Canadian agent.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will "look at" the accusations to ensure rules were followed.
But he defended the intelligence services, who he said keep the country safe "in a very dangerous world".
"The fight against terrorism requires our intelligence services to continue to be flexible and to be creative in their approaches," Mr Trudeau told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
"But every step of the way, they are bound by strict rules by principles and values that Canadians hold dear, including around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and we expect that those rules be followed.
"I know there are questions about certain incidents or operations of the past and we will ensure to follow up on this," he pledged.
Ms Begum is now held in a detention camp in north-east Syria. Her citizenship was taken away in 2019 after she was discovered at a refugee camp following the collapse of the so-called IS caliphate.
Tasnime Akunjee, the lawyer for the Begum family, is challenging the removal of Ms Begum's citizenship and said "one of the main arguments" will be that the home secretary did not consider that she was a victim of trafficking.
He said it was "shocking" that a Canadian intelligence asset was a key part of the smuggling operation - "someone who is supposed to be an ally, protecting our people, rather than trafficking British children into a war zone".
Ms Begum was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls - Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase - travelled to Syria to join the IS group in 2015.
The girls met Mohammed Al Rasheed, who would facilitate their journey from Istanbul into IS-controlled Syria.
A senior intelligence officer, at an agency which is part of the global coalition against IS, has confirmed to the BBC that Rasheed was providing information to Canadian intelligence while smuggling people to IS.
The BBC has obtained a dossier on Rasheed that contains information gathered by foreign law enforcement and intelligence, as well as material recovered from his hard drives, which provide extraordinary detail about how he operated.
He told authorities that he had gathered information on the people he helped into Syria because he was passing it to the Canadian embassy in Jordan.
Rasheed, who was arrested in Turkey within days of smuggling Ms Begum to IS, told authorities he had shared a photo of the passport the British schoolgirl was using.
The Metropolitan Police were searching for her, although by the time Canada received her passport details, Ms Begum was already in Syria.
A Canadian Security Intelligence Service spokesman told the BBC he could not "publicly comment on or confirm or deny the specifics of CSIS investigations, operational interests, methodologies or activities".
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he could not "comment on intelligence matters", but added that "at the moment" he did not recognise "what's being reported".
Ms Sultana is believed to have been killed in a Russian airstrike on the then IS held city of Raqqa. The whereabouts of Ms Abase are unknown.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62747901
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news_world-us-canada-62747901
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Bill Turnbull: Former BBC Breakfast presenter dies aged 66 - BBC News
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2022-09-01
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The presenter hosted BBC Breakfast for 15 years and more recently hosted programmes on Classic FM.
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Entertainment & Arts
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Memories of broadcaster Bill Turnbull, who has died at the age of 66
Broadcaster Bill Turnbull has died at the age of 66, his representatives have confirmed.
Turnbull hosted BBC Breakfast for 15 years, in both London and later Salford, and also fronted Songs of Praise and game show Think Tank.
His family said: "Bill will be remembered by many as a remarkable broadcaster who brought warmth and humour into people's homes".
In 2018, he announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
After leaving the BBC in 2016, he joined Classic FM, and continued presenting shows on the network until recently.
His family added: "Following a challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family on Wednesday, 31 August."
They said he received his diagnosis in 2017, and praised his "outstanding medical care" from the Royal Marsden and Ipswich Hospitals, St Elizabeth Hospice and his GP.
Turnbull pictured in 2010 with BBC Breakfast co-hosts (L-R) Sian Williams, Susanna Reid and Charlie Stayt
"He was resolutely positive and was hugely buoyed by the support he received from friends, colleagues and messages from people wishing him luck.
"It was a great comfort to Bill that so many more men are now testing earlier for this disease," they said, calling him a "wonderful husband and father to his three children" and a devoted Wycombe Wanderers fan and "an ever-aspiring beekeeper".
Turnbull was a favourite with viewers on BBC Breakfast thanks to his gentle presenting style, which was well suited to early morning broadcasting.
During his time on the show, he worked alongside Sian Williams, Susanna Reid, Kate Silverton, Natasha Kaplinsky and Louise Minchin.
His former colleagues Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt, who were presenting Thursday's programme, paid an emotional tribute just after the news was announced.
Turnbull presented BBC Breakfast for 15 years, and later moved to radio station Classic FM
Munchetty said: "As a team we are in shock this morning. He cared so much about this programme and the audience. I did my first ever shift with him on Breakfast."
"His energy was amazing. He came into this programme and threw everything at it. He was funny; he was a brilliant journalist. He loved this programme and he loved serving you, the audience," she said.
Stayt added that Turnbull "didn't take himself too seriously".
The programme's editor Richard Frediani confirmed on Thursday that Friday's Breakfast would be "a celebration of Bill's life on and off-screen". He noted: "Bill Turnbull loved our viewers and our viewers loved him."
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On his last BBC Breakfast show, Turnbull himself talked about some of the moments he remembered most.
"I remember nearly getting into a fight with a ventriloquist's dummy named Bob," he said.
"Seriously it nearly came to blows, although that was more me than him."
He added: "And there was a moment where I actually wore a sweater made from dog hair with a bow on the front. It was alright but it was very, very warm and I just couldn't get the stuff off me for weeks afterwards."
Williams told the BBC he "mentored a lot of young journalists and a lot of people in the industry... and that was very important to him", adding he had "very high standards".
She spoke of their relationship, saying: "We never bickered... in 30 years of friendship", and said she would remember them "laughing so much we couldn't really keep control of our faces... and then we realised we were on television - we laughed a lot".
Minchin described him as "a brilliant journalist", adding "most of all he was great fun".
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BBC Breakfast's sport presenter Mike Bushell also paid a glowing tribute to his "dear friend" and "mentor" with the "incredible talent".
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Reid, now on ITV's Good Morning Britain, added: "I feel lucky to have worked with him, and he taught me everything. But above all, he was devoted to his family and I am heartbroken for them."
Another former Breakfast colleague, Channel 4 presenter Steph McGovern, posted she was "absolutely gutted", and said: "I learnt so much from him. And we had some cracking arguments about how you should pronounce words like 'poor'. We all loved him."
Channel 5 news presenter Dan Walker said it had been "an honour" to replace Turnbull on the Breakfast sofa, saying: "He was full of brilliant advice and it was clear just how loved he was by his colleagues and the audience," while Breakfast presenter Jon Kay called Turnbull "an absolute gent".
Karen Hardy paid an emotional tribute to her former Strictly dance partner
Turnbull appeared as a contestant on an early series of Strictly Come Dancing, finishing in sixth place with his partner Karen Hardy.
Hardy, who was in New Zealand, cried as she paid tribute to her friend, calling Turnbull "such a gentleman, such a mentor".
She said meeting him was "life-changing" - he was her first partner on Strictly - and "he made TV magical, he told me what it was about", she said, adding he would help critique her appearances on Breakfast.
"If he wasn't on it, I knew he'd be watching..." she said, adding he would text her with tips including how to sit and speak clearly for the cameras.
Turnbull met the Queen and Prince Philip in 2015 at an awards reception at Buckingham Palace
BBC Director-General Tim Davie called Turnbull "a much-loved and respected broadcaster and journalist - not just by viewers but by all those lucky enough to have worked with him".
"He always struck the right tone, no matter what the story. Warm, wise, professional and caring, he will be much missed by us all," he said.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries described "an incredibly sad loss of a broadcasting legend", praising his "special charm and wit" and his tireless work to raise awareness about prostate cancer.
BBC Radio 4's Today programme presenter Nick Robinson described Turnbull as "a very, very dear friend and an extraordinary broadcaster."
"There was a warmth to his broadcasting which people who watch Breakfast television every day knew," he said. "But perhaps what they forgot was what a bloody good journalist he was. This was a man who'd been a correspondent in Washington, who travelled 30 countries. He'd been in Moscow, he'd covered wars, he'd reported on the troubles in Northern Ireland."
He added: "And that combination of a razor-sharp intellect, wit, humour and humanity, came out every day when he was on Breakfast. It came out every day when he was a reporter on this programme. And listeners to Classic FM will have heard him present beautifully as well his love of music."
Robinson also recalled how Turnbull and his wife [Sarah] had met on the Today programme, where they had worked.
Broadcaster and writer Monty Don called Turnbull "a thoroughly decent, good man", adding: "We shared an enthusiasm for bees and were both patrons of Bees for Development charity."
Prior to working on Breakfast, Turnbull also worked as a reporter on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC News 24, as the news channel was then known.
In recent years, Turnbull guest presented episodes of The One Show and reunited with Reid for several editions of ITV's Good Morning Britain.
After his cancer diagnosis was made public, he fronted a documentary for Channel 4 called Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive, in which he explored the use of cannabis oil for medicinal purposes.
Prostate Cancer UK said that after Turnbull announced he had the illness in March 2018, their specialist nurses experienced their "busiest day on record" and they saw a huge rise in web traffic of men looking for information and support.
In November 2017, Turnbull took part in a celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off - which was in aid of a charity, Stand Up to Cancer. He found out about his prostate cancer during filming.
He said inspiring men to get tested for the illness by publicly revealing his own diagnosis was the "one useful thing" he had done in his life, admitting he was "cross with myself" for the pride he had felt at not visiting a GP in four years.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. We explain what warning signs to look out for
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-62714293
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news_entertainment-arts-62714293
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Uyghurs: China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang - UN - BBC News
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2022-09-01
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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China urged the UN not to release the report - Beijing called it a "farce" arranged by the West.
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China
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China is accused of detaining up to a million Uyghurs and other Muslims in detention camps in Xinjiang
The UN has accused China of "serious human rights violations" in a long-awaited report into allegations of abuse in Xinjiang province.
China had urged the UN not to release the report - with Beijing calling it a "farce" arranged by Western powers.
The report assesses claims of abuse against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, which China denies.
But investigators said they found "credible evidence" of torture possibly amounting to "crimes against humanity".
Human rights groups have been sounding the alarm over what is happening in the north-western province for years, alleging that more than one million Uyghurs had been detained against their will in a large network of what the state calls "re-education camps".
The BBC's own reporting in recent years has uncovered documentation - including police files detailing those in detention - which appear to support the claims, as well as allegations of rape, torture and forced sterilisation.
China has always vociferously denied any wrongdoing.
However, the UN's report concluded that "the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups ... may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity".
The report recommended that China immediately takes steps to release "all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty".
Beijing has already rejected the findings, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin telling reporters the "so-called suggestions were pieced together based on disinformation to serve political objectives".
The World Uyghur Congress welcomed the report and urged a swift international response.
"Despite the Chinese government's strenuous denials, the UN has now officially recognised that horrific crimes are occurring," Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Director Omer Kanat said.
There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang. The UN said non-Muslim members may have also been affected by the issues in the report.
The US and lawmakers in several other countries have previously denounced China's actions in Xinjiang as a genocide, but the UN stopped short of making the accusation.
Beijing - which saw the report in advance - denies allegations of abuse and argued that the camps are a tool to fight terrorism.
China has always insisted that Uyghur militants are waging a violent campaign for an independent state, but it is accused of exaggerating the threat in order to justify repression of the Uyghurs.
Its delegation to the UN human rights council in Geneva on Thursday rejected the findings of the report, which it said "smeared and slandered China" and interfered in the country's internal affairs.
The Xinjiang Police Files - the title given to the cache by a consortium of international journalists of which the BBC is part - have formed the basis of a large part of reporting done by the BBC on the Uyghurs in recent years. Here, the BBC's former China correspondent John Sudworth reveals some of what the cache of documents have been able to tell us.
In the most significant document in this part of the dataset, officers are ordered to be prepared to use the weapons in the event of an escape.
When the alarm is triggered, the papers say, the perimeter roads must be sealed off, the buildings locked down and the camp's own armed police "strike group" sent in.
After a warning shot is fired, if the "student" continues to try to escape, the order is clear: shoot them dead.
China insists that the camps provide grateful and willing Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities with lessons that steer them away from the dangers of terrorism and extremism.
In some regards, they bear a passing resemblance to schools, with the rote learning of Chinese and the reciting of propaganda slogans.
But the cache goes further than ever before in showing the harsh, involuntary nature of these facilities designed to target almost any aspect of Uyghur identity, and replace it with an enforced loyalty to the Communist Party.
The report has long been the subject of intense international attention, with UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet admitting last week she had been under "tremendous pressure to publish or not to publish".
Some Western human rights groups alleged Beijing was urging her to bury damaging findings in the report, especially after publication was delayed several times.
Ms Bachelet defended the delay, arguing that seeking dialogue with Beijing over the report did not mean she was "turning a blind eye" to its contents. But Amnesty International called it "inexcusable".
In the end, the report was made public just 13 minutes before the end of her four-year tenure.
And while it has been welcomed by many, some have expressed disappointment - including the World Uyghur Conference. Spokesman Zumretay Arkin said they had "expected her to be firmer on China overall".
Olaf Wientzek, director of the Geneva office of the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation, went on to accuse Ms Bachelet of having "avoided the aftermath" of the report's publication.
Ms Bachelet, meanwhile, has blamed the "politicisation" of the issue by some countries, saying it made "engagement more difficult and... trust-building and the ability to really have an impact on the ground more difficult".
Now attention will turn to what will happen next.
Uyghur rights activists are calling for a commission of inquiry to be set up, and asking businesses around the world to cut all ties with anyone abetting the Chinese government in its handling of the Uyghurs.
Tom Tugendhat, an MP and chair of the UK's foreign affairs select committee, said the findings of the report represented an "extremely serious charge" and rejected Beijing's argument that the allegations were stoking anti-Chinese sentiment. Germany has called for the release of all arbitrarily detained Uyghurs.
However, there is unlikely to be much pressure from inside China: the issue of Uyghur human rights abuses has long been a taboo topic and heavily censored - as of Thursday afternoon, the UN report had yet to be mentioned in Chinese mainstream media or social media platforms.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. China's ambassador: "There is no such concentration camp in Xinjiang"
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What kind of king will Charles be? - BBC News
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2022-09-09
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How will a former prince used to speaking out on issues he cared deeply about adapt to the neutrality of a monarch?
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UK
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Charles, the longest-serving heir to the throne in British history, is now King. His apprenticeship as heir, lasting 70 years, has made him the best-prepared and oldest new monarch ever to take to the throne.
The 73-year-old King was there throughout his mother's long reign, witnessing generations of world leaders come and go, including 15 UK prime ministers and 14 US presidents.
After Queen Elizabeth II's remarkable, era-defining reign, what kind of King might we expect? And how will a prince used to speaking out on issues adapt to the neutrality of a monarch?
As King, Charles will no longer have his own passport or driving licence - or strong opinions in public. Being monarch supersedes the individual.
It is a case of different roles, different rules, believes leading constitutional expert Professor Vernon Bogdanor.
"He's known from his earliest days that his style will have to change. The public won't want a campaigning monarch," Prof Bogdanor says.
King Charles is well aware of the need to be less outspoken. "I'm not that stupid. I do realise it's a separate exercise being sovereign," he said in a BBC interview in 2018. "The idea that somehow I'm going to carry on exactly in the same way is complete nonsense."
When a new monarch takes to the throne, the royal profile on the coins is switched to face in the opposite direction. Charles' reign will also have a different focus.
The country that King Charles will reign over is much more diverse than that inherited by his mother, and Prof Bogdanor anticipates that the new King will reach out to a multicultural, multi-faith Britain.
He expects him to try to act as a unifying force, making more visible efforts to connect with ethnic minorities and disadvantaged groups.
On a bike with members of the British Asian Trust as they start a sponsored ride at Highgrove House in Tetbury, Gloucestershire - June 2021
Prof Bogdanor also anticipates greater royal patronage of the arts, music and culture - more Shakespeare and less horse-racing.
But Sir Lloyd Dorfman, who worked with King Charles for many years on his Prince's Trust charity, doesn't foresee a complete halt to his involvement with issues such as climate change and organic farming.
"He's very knowledgeable, very effective. It's hard to imagine he'll give that up in a cliff-edge way on the day he becomes sovereign," suggests Sir Lloyd.
There has been much talk about the King preferring a "slimmed-down" monarchy. It's likely to mean a greater emphasis on a smaller core group of working Royals, with Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Catherine at its centre.
Despite this, the overriding message of the new reign will be continuity and stability, says royal commentator Victoria Murphy.
"Don't expect any huge, jarring differences. He will be very careful," she says.
The "slimmed down" Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, June 2022
Historian and author Sir Anthony Seldon believes King Charles has been fortified by being proved right over issues, such as warnings about climate change. From once being ridiculed, he now has an "Attenborough-aura," says Sir Anthony.
At the climate change summit in Glasgow in 2021, for example, Charles was taken seriously by figures like US President Joe Biden, according to royal commentator and author Robert Hardman, who says his status on the world stage will serve him well as King.
"It wasn't just platitudes. The two of them sat down together in a corner and Biden was saying: 'You got all this going'," he says.
"We've tended to think of the Queen as a constant in national life, but apart from her, he's been there longer than anybody in public life, longer than any politician," says Mr Hardman.
But what kind of character will we see in the new monarch?
Those who have known him say deep down he is a rather shy, reserved person. A "sensitive soul" is one description.
Official photograph to mark the prince's 18th birthday
There might be a trace of the lonely boy who complained of being bullied and isolated at school. "They throw slippers all night long or hit me with pillows or rush across the room and hit me as hard as they can," he wrote in a letter home about being tormented in his school dormitory.
His wife Camilla, now Queen Consort, has described him as: "Pretty impatient. He wants things done by yesterday. That's how he gets things done."
She told a TV interview for Charles's 70th birthday that below the rather earnest character that people see in public, there was a more playful side to him.
"They see him as a very serious person, which he is. But I would like people to see the lighter side of him. He gets down on his knees and plays with the children, reading Harry Potter to them and doing the voices," said Camilla.
Charles with his grandson Prince Louis, during the Platinum Jubilee in June 2022
Charles and Camilla laughing during the Braemar Highland Gathering on 3 September 2022
Charles has become a relaxed and approachable figure when he's meeting the public, getting his audience onside with a few self-deprecating jokes. Perhaps that will change as monarch, but as Prince of Wales he developed an affable, grandfatherly style, with no standoffishness.
For a man in his 70s, the King shows no sign of slowing down.
Chris Pope, who worked with Charles on the Prince's Teaching Institute, describes the new King as a relentlessly busy, driven figure, a "bundle of energy" taking on a huge workload.
"He is genuinely passionate about the well-being of the next generation. You'll see that across a lot of the work he does," says Mr Pope.
The prince's charitable work includes protecting the heritage and preserving traditional craft skills - but at the same time encouraging innovation and change.
"He is always concerned that traditions are not lost, but that's not the same thing as saying we have to turn the clock back," says Mr Pope.
The new King's character seems to bring together those themes, which might be seen to be pulling in different directions, of wanting change while wanting to conserve. He's a kind of tweedy radical.
At Shipton Mill in Gloucestershire, which holds the HRH Royal Warrant and specialises in traditional milling, July 2020
Charles addressing an Action on Forests and Land Use event on day three of the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, November 2021
He sometimes looks like a red-cheeked landowner who has stepped down from an 18th-Century painting. At other times he sounds like a frustrated reformer, annoyed at how some communities have been neglected and left behind.
Much will be made of inheriting a sense of duty from his mother, but King Charles has also inherited her religious faith and her strong sense of humour.
Hitan Mehta has worked with him since helping to set up the British Asian Trust in 2007.
"He is a humanitarian at heart. I think people underestimate how much he does care. He often talks about the world he's going to leave for his grandchildren. He does worry about it," says Mr Mehta.
This can mean direct calls to action. "It must have been nine o'clock on a Friday night and I get a phone call from him saying: 'I've just heard about the floods in Pakistan. What are we doing?' It's not as if he's not a busy person. But he's heard of the problem and he's on it. He really does care," says Mr Mehta.
"This is a man who has dinner ridiculously late at night and then goes to his desk and will fall asleep on his notes," said Prince Harry about his father.
Charles was born in Buckingham Palace in 1948
Charles Philip Arthur George was born in Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948. When the BBC announced his birth, it wasn't with news that the Queen had had a boy, but that his mother had been "safely delivered of a prince". Four years later, he became heir apparent.
"I find myself born into this particular position. I'm determined to make the most of it. And to do whatever I can to help," Charles said in a 2005 interview.
He's been the patron or president of more than 400 organisations and in 1976 he founded his own flagship charity, the Prince's Trust, using his severance pay from the Royal Navy.
It has helped almost 900,000 disadvantaged young people from some of the poorest parts of the country and given him an insight into a range of social problems.
His plans for the Prince's Trust to connect with what he called the "hardest to reach in society" didn't always go down well.
"The Home Office didn't think it was at all a good idea. It was quite difficult to get it off the ground," he told a BBC interview in 2018.
His work has drawn accusations of political interference and accusations of meddling, particularly around the so-called "black spider memos". Taking their name from Charles' spidery handwriting, these were private letters from Charles to government ministers from 2004 onwards.
The letters questioned the government's approach on issues such as farming, urban planning, architecture, education and even protecting the Patagonian toothfish.
Charles, known for his public views on architecture, at his Poundbury village development, Dorset 1999
A former cabinet minister on the receiving end of Charles' lobbying said he didn't feel under great pressure, but his memory of the new King is of someone with fixed opinions. He saw him as arriving with pre-set views which he wanted to pursue, rather than wanting to engage with opposing arguments.
"I didn't feel brow-beaten. He'd make his interventions and you'd get letters. He didn't assert, he didn't push, he wasn't discourteous," he says.
Reflecting on claims of interfering, in a 2006 interview, Charles said: "If that's meddling, I'm very proud of it." But he acknowledged that he was in "a no-win situation".
"If you do absolutely nothing at all, stuff all, they're going to complain about that. If you try and get stuck in and do something to help, they'll also complain," he said.
In a later interview, he said that he had avoided party politics, but felt compelled to speak out on issues such as "the conditions in which people were living".
Former Labour minister Chris Mullin described in his diaries a briefing with Charles and how taken aback he was by his single-minded focus and his readiness to risk "treading on official toes".
"He comes back to the same point. How to widen the horizons of the young, especially the disaffected, the unlucky and even the malign. I confess I am impressed. This is a man who, if he chose, could fritter away his life on idleness and self-indulgence."
Charles posing for an official portrait to mark his 70th birthday in the gardens of Clarence House
How much public support will King Charles have as his reign begins?
"Something as curious as the monarchy won't survive unless you take account of people's attitudes. After all, if people don't want it, they won't have it," Charles has said.
According to research carried out by YouGov in December 2021, he has been growing in popularity, with almost two-thirds of people seeing him in a positive light.
But opinion polls have consistently shown him to be less popular than his mother Queen Elizabeth II or his son Prince William, so there is a sizeable proportion of the public still to be won over. In particular his popularity is lower among younger people.
Victoria Murphy says this could reflect the unsympathetic portrayals of Charles in TV shows and movies about his relationship with his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in August 1997.
These might be a mix of fact and fiction, but they are a big influence.
"What's been really interesting over the last few years has been how large Diana continues to loom as a narrative around the Royal Family," Ms Murphy says.
As Charles has approached the throne, there has been an attempt to shift the public perception, says Professor Pauline Maclaran of the Centre for the Study of the Modern Monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.
From the previous lampooning of him on comedy shows such as Spitting Image, he has been gradually repositioned as a more dignified figure, a "sage" with serious things to say about the environment, says Prof Maclaran.
The interests of the public might not always be so high-minded. And as head of the Royal Family he will have to contend with the intense global appetite for stories about Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their relationship with the Royal Family.
The Prince was visibly upset at the funeral of his father, Prince Philip, in 2021
Where royal stories start to overlap with the soap opera of celebrity life isn't his natural territory.
King Charles faces other tough family decisions, such as the future role of Prince Andrew, or the lack of it, after the settlement deal that followed the sexual assault claims of Virginia Giuffre.
Outside the UK, a major challenge will be to redefine a more modern relationship with the Commonwealth. As its new head, how can his visits to Commonwealth countries navigate the difficult legacies of colonialism and issues such as slavery?
King Charles has become head of state of 14 countries, as well as the UK. Some of these could want to become republics, while staying as Commonwealth members, and King Charles has already made clear he is ready for grown-up conversations about change.
There have been decisions already taken that have smoothed the path of his new reign. He must have been delighted when his mother intervened to say Camilla should use the title of Queen consort, rather than Princess.
Camilla will be a vital support as he starts one of the highest profile roles in the world at an age when most people would have retired.
This moment, in all its daunting solemnity, has been waiting ahead of him all his life.
For King Charles, it's his time now.
Read the latest from our royal correspondent Sean Coughlan - sign up here.
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Tax cuts signal radical shift in No 10 policy - BBC News
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2022-09-24
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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For something that wasn't even technically a Budget, it was one heck of a statement of intent.
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UK Politics
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For something that wasn't even technically a Budget, it was one heck of a statement of intent from the new prime minister and new chancellor.
It amounts to the wholesale shredding of previous economic policy: both the ones adopted by Conservative governments over the last 12 years (which Liz Truss sat within for most of that time) and those of Labour before that.
It is an all-or-nothing strategy, where the prime minister will own the consequences, good or bad.
Economic growth is the prize they seek.
But they can't be certain their approach will work, nor the methods they have chosen to deliver it will be popular.
And then there are the side effects.
The markets are jittery. The value of the pound is slumping and the cost of government borrowing is rising, just when the government has said it going to borrow a shedload more money.
A few around here with a taste for political history have been making comparisons with the so-called 'Barber boom'.
A senior Labour figure was the first to mention it to me just as Kwasi Kwarteng prepared to get to his feet in the Commons.
And a few hours later, so did Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The Barber boom is a reference to the stint in the Treasury of former Conservative chancellor Anthony Barber, when Ted Heath was prime minister.
Mr Barber cut taxes big time, particularly in 1972 - it being the only Budget in the last half century to cut taxes more than Kwasi Kwarteng just has.
Mr Barber wanted a "dash for growth". He borrowed money, cut taxes and the economy grew.
But strikes, unemployment and inflation followed, and the Conservatives lost the next general election.
Things are different now: unemployment is low, the Bank of England controls interest rates.
But don't be surprised if we hear more of Mr Barber's stewardship of the economy in the coming months, particularly from those sceptical about Mr Kwarteng's plans.
So, given the risks, and the historical precedent, why is the government choosing this approach?
They argue this is a calculated and worthwhile thing to do, because to do nothing, to maintain the status quo, would be a bigger gamble still.
And yes, growth has been sluggish for years and years, and the economy teeters on the edge of - or is perhaps already in - recession.
So few would dispute doing something to catalyse the economy, one way or another.
They do, though, have a big persuasion job on their hands, including, incidentally, among some on their own side.
There is a bunch of Conservative MPs who have never warmed to Liz Truss, and some who are hostile towards her political instincts.
One or two have already said as much publicly, others are keeping their thoughts to themselves for now.
Some fret the plan doesn't look fair, given the scale of the tax cuts for the richest.
Others see it as a sugar hit for the economy which runs the risk, they fear, of stoking inflation further.
For others though, in the parliamentary party and among the grassroots, this is a moment they can gladly cheer: what they see as a properly Conservative budget after all those years of coalition compromise, Brexit and Covid.
Which brings us to the coming political argument: the government hopes this set of measures will give the economy a giant injection of oomph.
It will certainly give politics that: the dividing lines between the Conservatives, Labour and others are bold and stark.
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Tax cuts: Kwasi Kwarteng's measures benefit richest, Labour says - BBC News
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2022-09-24
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The government is taking a dangerous gamble, Angela Rayner says, but ministers argue tax cuts will get the economy growing.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Angela Rayner: "I felt that it (the mini-budget) was casino economics"
The government's tax cuts will benefit the richest 1% and make the next generation worse off, Labour has said.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner told the BBC the chancellor's approach of "trickle-down economics" was a "dangerous gamble".
Independent think tank the Institute of Fiscal Studies said the richest 10% of households would gain the most.
But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp said tax cuts for all would get the economy growing.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years on Friday, including the scrapping of the top rate of income tax.
He also reversed the National Insurance rise from November; cut stamp duty for homebuyers; and brought forward to April a cut to the basic rate of income tax to 19p in the pound.
The measures will be paid for by a sharp rise in government borrowing amounting to tens of billions of pounds.
There was an immediate reaction in financial markets, as the pound sank and UK stocks fell.
Speaking ahead of Labour's party conference, Ms Rayner called the plans "a very dangerous gamble on our economy and future generations".
"I don't accept the argument of trickle down economics - which is what this is - give those at the top loads more money and that will filter down to those at the bottom. That's not how it works."
She added the proposals were "grossly unfair" and would "saddle the next generation with more debt".
Arriving at the party conference in Liverpool, Labour leader Keir Starmer said the government had shown its "true colours" and the conference was "our chance to set out the alternative".
But minister Mr Philp told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Yesterday's tax package cut taxes for everybody across the income spectrum...
"It's a growth plan, and to get Britain growing we need to get rid of the burden of taxation. You can't tax your way to growth."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp: "We are not into the politics of envy"
The announcements by Mr Kwarteng came after the Bank of England warned the UK may already be in a recession and raised interest rates to 2.25%.
Meanwhile, the IFS published analysis suggesting only those earning over £155,000 would see any benefits from the tax policies over the current Parliament, with the "vast majority of income tax payers paying more tax".
The think tank also said the chancellor was "betting the house" by putting government debt on an "unsustainable rising path".
IFS director Paul Johnson told BBC Breakfast: "If looked straightforwardly at people's incomes with these tax changes, the more money you have, the more you gain.
"In fact, because there was one big tax increase the chancellor didn't reverse - and that is the fall over time in the point at which you start paying income tax. If you take that into account, in three or four years' time, the only people gaining from this will be earning more than about £150,000 a year."
Responding, Mr Philp said the IFS analysis "involves speculation about what future budgets may do with the various tax thresholds".
"This wasn't a full budget - it didn't address the question of tax thresholds and I'm not going to get into speculation about what they might do in the future."
It's already the biggest package of tax cuts for decades, but the chancellor might not be done yet.
There's been criticism from some economists that the policies announced disproportionately benefit those on higher incomes and those living in London and the south east of England.
The Treasury wants to give people and businesses more money to invest and spend to help boost growth, and the economy.
The previous chancellor, Rishi Sunak, froze the threshold at which we all start to pay basic rate tax.
That will stay at £12,570 for the rest of this Parliament. That means more people will start paying tax as wages rise. All earners will be worse off, but lower earners disproportionately.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp hinted today that the policy could be looked at.
And Treasury insiders explained to me that a wider review of all taxes was very much on the table.
A full budget, mooted for late autumn, could see even more tax cuts.
The Resolution Foundation, a think tank which focuses on those on low to middle incomes, said the package would do nothing to stop more than two million people falling below the poverty line, amid soaring living costs.
The richest 5% will see their incomes grow by 2% next year (2023-24), while the other 95% of the population will get poorer, it said.
The package will also see London and south-east England "disproportionately" better off than those living in Wales, the North East and Yorkshire, according to the think tank.
Chief executive Torsten Bell, a former Labour adviser, said: "The backdrop to yesterday's fiscal statement was an ongoing cost-of-living crisis that will mean virtually all households getting poorer next year as Britain grapples with high inflation and rising interest rates."
Elsewhere, Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told Today the measures would not "suddenly unlock growth".
"Having borrowed £150bn to support an energy package, we have to grow faster, there is no alternative."
He added: "We need a broad-based plan for growth... Action on tax is necessary but not sufficient."
On Friday Mr Kwarteng said the UK needed "a reboot", adding: "I don't think it's a gamble at all. What was a gamble, in my view, was sticking to the course we are on."
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William and Harry united in grief - BBC News
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2022-09-12
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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What messages were sent by Prince William and Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan, appearing together?
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UK
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The couples went on an unexpected walkabout together in Windsor
Headline writers would have been thinking about "Brothers in arms" or maybe "Brothers in grief" for their coverage.
The sight of Princes William and Harry meeting the crowds together will become one of the stand-out and most unexpected images from what have been sombre days.
With their wives, Catherine and Meghan, they greeted people in Windsor, in a way that couldn't have been predicted last week, when the Sussexes returned to the UK.
The talk then was of feuds and unbridgeable differences between couples. They were said to be staying in houses close together on the Windsor estate, while emotionally many miles apart. The couple hadn't been seen together in public for more than two years.
That all changed on Thursday. If William and Harry were not planning to see each other, they were brought together in ways that couldn't have been predicted.
It already seems a long time ago, but as the news worsened about the Queen, and the country was checking for updates on their phones, the two brothers were both making rushed journeys to Balmoral.
Families can fall out when there's a bereavement. Feelings are running high and are close to the surface. It's easy for old arguments to be brought back by grief.
Prince Harry was given flowers by well-wishers
But losing a loved one can also bring unity, putting things into perspective and setting disagreements aside. It can be a time to come together.
Of course, looking in from the outside, no one watching the TV pictures really knows what's happening. Was this only a show? Had they been told to send out this positive message?
It's going to be complicated and private between two brothers. And William and Harry have already faced the hard-to-measure sense of loss at an early age, with the death of their mother Diana.
For the waiting public, looking to show their own solidarity with the mourning Royal Family, they clearly warmed to the idea of William and Catherine, Harry and Meghan, appearing together. For a few minutes at least, the royal famous foursome were back. It tuned in to the public mood.
According to royal sources, it was Prince William who had extended the invitation to Prince Harry and Meghan to go on this walkabout.
Even if this is a moment of togetherness, there is no disguising that this is also a moment of great divergence. The brothers are on pathways about to take them in completely different directions.
William, now Prince of Wales, is now on a different path from his brother
On the death of the Queen, William became heir to the throne. He will be keenly aware of what now lies ahead. He has a new and much more important status than his brother.
William is now the Prince of Wales, the name that they both until yesterday used to call their father - that must seem strange enough in itself.
When the reign of King Charles III was proclaimed at the Accession Council on Saturday, William was standing firmly behind the new monarch.
It's likely that the King and Camilla, now the Queen Consort, with William and Catherine will be the core group, almost a separate unit, at the heart of the monarchy. It was this foursome that often appeared together when Charles was standing in for his mother.
Prince Harry is on a very different route, living with Meghan and his young family in California, with media ventures, charities and campaigns. They have to invent their own post-royal life, while still part of the Royal Family. They generate huge public interest, not always positive, and seem to live with a media tornado hovering above them.
Even among the most carefully-choreographed steps of public mourning, there are still families and people falling out and making up.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62866245
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Liz Truss admits no US trade deal in 'short to medium term' - BBC News
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2022-09-20
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Liz Truss is to meet US President Joe Biden for the first time as prime minister, at the UN in New York.
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UK Politics
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Liz Truss is due to to meet with world leaders including Mr Biden, at the UN General Assembly
Liz Truss has said a new trade deal with the United States is unlikely in the "short to medium term".
The prime minister is in New York for the UN General Assembly, where she will meet US President Joe Biden.
The UK government had previously promised a post-Brexit trade deal with the US by 2022.
Labour said the lack of a trade deal with the US "is costing billions in lost potential trade opportunities and holding back growth".
Speaking ahead of her flight to the US, Ms Truss said: "There aren't currently any negotiations taking place with the US and I don't have an expectation that those are going to start in the short to medium term."
In May, the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US state of Indiana.
The US is Britain's biggest individual trading partner and accounts for £1 in every £6 of UK trade.
A deal to make it easier for the two nations to trade with each other had been a much-coveted jewel for the government's post-Brexit crown.
But those hopes were dashed in the early months of the Joe Biden's administration. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Trade Secretaries - first Liz Truss, then Anne-Marie Trevelyan - conceded the US had other priorities. President Biden made clear protecting US jobs came first. Resuming free trade discussions has not been on the agenda.
Instead, US-UK meetings focused on co-operation around issues such as China and Ukraine.
Why did Ms Truss choose to raise this explicitly today? Perhaps to get in first and imply that it is the UK's choice.
But also to signal that any threat from the US to refrain from talks unless the UK backed down on an option to dissolve the Northern Ireland Protocol would be empty.
For it is Brexit itself - a policy President Barack Obama, when Mr Biden was his deputy, previously said would leave the UK at the back of the queue for a deal - that's likely to have played a key role in America's refusal to return to the negotiating table.
Labour's shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas Symonds said: "The admission that there is no prospect of a trade deal with the USA is terrible news for the UK economy.
"There is no doubt that the blame for this mess lies at the door of the prime minister, who tarnished the UK's international reputation as foreign and international trade secretary.
"This is an embarrassment for Liz Truss."
Ms Truss said she will use her speech at the UN to try and rally support for Ukraine and ending international energy dependence on Russia.
Ms Truss pledged that her government will match or exceed the £2.3bn support given to Ukraine's "inspirational" troops over the last seven months
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February, only the United States has sent more military aid to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In her speech, Ms Truss will point to the recent success of Ukraine's counter-offensives as examples of what the country can achieve with Western backing.
"Ukraine's victories in recent weeks have been inspirational," Ms Truss said. "Time and time again these brave people have defied the doubters and showed what they can do when given the military, economic and political support they need."
Ms Truss's visit to the US is her first foreign trip as prime minister.
Political activity and government business have been paused until after the Queen's funeral, which Ms Truss attended alongside other politicians, foreign dignitaries and members of the Royal Family.
She is due to meet with world leaders, including Mr Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Ahead of her meeting with Mr Macron, Ms Truss said she wanted to have a constructive relationship with France and there were a number of issues they need to work together on.
She had previously declined to say whether Mr Macron was a "friend or foe" during the Conservative leadership contest.
Prepare for the roaring return of politics.
Families, businesses, the country face grave threats: soaring prices, crippling fuel costs, the prospect of recession.
But, with the funeral now over, the arguments resume - and the demands for action will be loud.
The prime minister is already on her first foreign trip in the job.
It will mean the returning political conversation will have a diplomatic air - in its opening few hours at least - rather than an immediately intense domestic scrappiness.
But that will be back before you know it.
Supporting Ukraine was a key policy plank of the previous UK government led by Ms Truss's predecessor, Boris Johnson.
On a visit to Ukraine last month, Mr Johnson said the West must endure rising energy bills to help the country drive out Russia.
MPs will return to Parliament on Wednesday, when they can swear a new oath of alliance to King Charles III, if they wish.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg is expected to set out government's energy support package for businesses, but this is yet to be confirmed.
The package was part of a plan to limit energy bill rises for businesses and all households for two years, unveiled hours before the Queen's death was announced.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Liz Truss announces energy price guarantee for next two years
On Thursday, Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Thérèse Coffey is due to make an announcement about her plan for the NHS this winter.
A mini-budget, described as a "fiscal event" to outline the government's economic plans, will then take place on Friday.
In it, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to deliver tax cuts promised by Ms Truss during her campaign to be Conservative Party leader.
Ms Truss has promised to use the mini Budget to undo a rise in National Insurance and cancel a planned hike in corporation tax.
She has also said she would temporarily scrap green levies on energy bills to bring down prices for consumers.
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Chris Mason: Noisy politics back after pause for mourning - BBC News
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2022-09-20
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After the solemnity and silence of the Queen's funeral, UK politics comes roaring back.
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UK Politics
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Prepare for the roaring return of politics.
Families, businesses and the country face grave threats: soaring prices, crippling fuel costs and the prospect of recession.
It is two-and-a-half months - 76 days - since Boris Johnson said he was resigning as prime minister, draining his already crippled government of its remaining authority.
And then, a little over 48 hours after Liz Truss became prime minister, the Queen died. What many described as a zombie government had been replaced by a Trappist one; politics understandably falling silent during the period of mourning.
But, with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth now over, the arguments resume - and the demands for action will be loud.
The prime minister is already on her first foreign trip in the job, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
While there, Ms Truss will meet plenty of world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, for a re-arranged one-on-one conversation that had originally been scheduled to happen in London.
No matter that it felt like the United Nations gathered in London for the funeral of the late Queen. This is the actual UN.
It will mean the returning political conversation will have a diplomatic air - in its opening few hours at least - rather than an intense domestic scrappiness.
But that will be back before you know it. This is a government that wants to give the impression that it is in a hurry, and it has catching up to do.
So there will be a blitz of announcements between now and the weekend.
We're told the new government's overriding mission is delivering economic growth. And, in the short term, there are two other priorities: help with energy bills and a plan for the NHS.
Expect a sense of continuity Johnson on some issues, such as support for Ukraine.
And expect a hawkish scepticism about China from Ms Truss when she addresses the UN.
The long journey from the warmth of David Cameron taking Chinese President Xi Jinping for a pint just seven years ago to the current downright frostiness continues.
On the economy, there is a markedly different approach. The strategy is economic growth, even if the hoped-for means of delivering it cause a row.
It is in that context that we should see the plan to lift the cap on bankers' bonuses, an idea which, in isolation, would appear to many to be politically crazy when so, so many people are struggling to pay for their groceries or fill up their car.
But expect to hear ministers argue it means the very best (read very best paid bankers in the world) will want to ply their lucrative, economy-expanding trade here again, and in so doing - or at least so the theory goes - pay lots of tax in the UK.
The call for growth means we'll also hear about fracking and the licensing of drilling for oil in the North Sea, with the added justification of increasing the UK's energy security in an uncertain world.
These ideas, alongside the tax cuts promised by Ms Truss in her leadership campaign, will be at the core of the mini Budget presented by the new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday.
Long gone will be the mantra of balancing the books from the era of Mr Cameron and George Osborne.
Instead, we see the prospect of falling taxes, a vast rise in spending to help with energy bills and little expectation of spending cuts elsewhere.
And so key among the tools and techniques deployed in the hope of economic growth: borrowing. Big time.
Incidentally, central to the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's diagnosis of Britain's contemporary problems is a fascinating overlap with his new opponent, Ms Truss - the sclerotic growth of the last decade.
But expect the suggested remedies and medicines from the two sides to differ considerably. And so the rows will be stark, the ideological dividing lines clear, and the stakes high.
What then of energy bills and the NHS?
The public row about bills may have paused when the Queen died. But the pain did not.
One reporter friend of mine once told me about news that "it is not old until it's told".
The government's plan to help with energy bills has been announced but it was rapidly overtaken by events at Balmoral, where the Queen died.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Liz Truss announces energy price guarantee for next two years
The precise nature and cost of the help hasn't been comprehensively explained, examined and scrutinised. In the coming days, that process will begin - and the plan to help businesses will be set out too.
The rather more sluggish help for companies compared to households is, those in government explain, because the energy market for businesses is much more complicated.
Despite Ms Truss's initial aversion to what she called "handouts", the scale of the crisis had the capacity to bankrupt people and firms - and so bankrupt her government before she began, making a big intervention inevitable.
And the intervention is big. It is considerably more expensive than the furlough scheme and, in reality, a blank cheque, for it is impossible to know what the overall cost will be given the fluctuating price of gas.
The argument inside government is that the alternative would have been more expensive, both in its social costs and on the exchequer.
And then there is the NHS. We can expect an announcement about plans for the winter from the new Health Secretary for England and Deputy Prime Minister Thérèse Coffey.
Waits to get an ambulance, waits to get a GP appointment, waits to get an operation are long, long and long for many.
That matters for millions and, politically, is potentially incredibly dangerous for ministers.
A tough winter for the NHS, the prospect of industrial action looming, added to what we are already seeing in the justice system, leaves some senior figures in the Labour Party pondering whether a critique of the government centred on examples of state failure - where the infrastructure of what ministers manage is simply not working - would hit home.
If examples of this really start to stack up, the political peril for the prime minister is obvious.
The best ministers can hope for is to keep the NHS out of the headlines. That would be a metric of success. But achieving it will, I suspect, be near impossible.
Ms Truss has inherited a party that has spent the summer scrapping with itself and where a chunk of her backbenchers are sceptical of both her and her economic strategy.
She inherits, too, a party that has been in government for 12 years.
Eternal youth is no easier to achieve in politics than it is in life, although Conservative MPs hope yet another facelift at the top, a new leader, may tempt the electorate to look at them afresh.
The opinion polls, for now at least, suggest the new prime minister has quite the challenge ahead.
Labour, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats each have their tails up and a general election is just two-ish years away.
From the silence and solemnity of the last 10 days, politics is now back and it's going to be noisy.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62959380
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Kwasi Kwarteng considers scrapping bankers’ bonus cap to boost City - BBC News
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2022-09-20
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The new chancellor believes removing a cap on bankers' bonuses could boost growth in the City.
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Business
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The Treasury is considering removing a cap on bankers' bonuses as part of a post-Brexit shake-up of City rules.
Sources said no final decisions had been made, but confirmed chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng considered it a way of making London a more attractive place for global banks to do business.
City bosses have long complained about the EU-wide bonus rules which cap bonuses at twice an employee's salary.
They say they lead to higher base pay that pushes up banks' fixed costs.
Those costs cannot be adjusted in line with the firm's financial performance, they add, making the UK less attractive than the US or Asia.
People close to Mr Kwarteng confirmed reports in the Financial Times that the new chancellor is considering the move.
Critics have argued that uncapped bonuses lead to the kind of excessive risk taking that spawned the financial crisis of 2008.
But others argue that other new rules that can hold senior managers personally and potentially criminally responsible for misconduct, plus the ability to claw back bonuses years after they are granted, achieve a sufficient disincentive.
Taking the lid off bankers' pay at a time when many households are facing hardship from the rising cost of living will undoubtedly provoke outrage in many quarters.
The proposal "sends a rather confused signal when people are being squeezed in terms of the cost of living, and the government is trying to encourage pay restraint in the public sector", Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, told the BBC.
"To appear to allow bankers to have bigger bonuses at the same time, doesn't look very well timed. There may be some longer term arguments for pursing this policy but I think the timing would be very bad if they did it now."
Rachel Winter, from Killick & Co, told the BBC: "It's an absolutely terrible time for this headline when you've got inflation [at] a 40-year high, you've got so many people struggling with the cost of living, do we really want to be reading headlines about banker bonuses?
"Arguably the banks do pay a lot of tax, so I think the chancellor is looking at ways to boost the UK economy to get more banks to come to London, to stay in London and pay more tax."
Removing the cap is just one of a number of deregulation initiatives being considered.
The government is also keen to relax rules limiting the amount insurance and pension funds can invest in assets that are harder to sell at short notice - such as long-term infrastructure projects.
These rules are part of pan-European regulations collectively known as Solvency II.
But the Bank of England is concerned that relaxing the rules could expose pensioners' savings to greater long-term risk and that lowering the amount of ready cash firms are required to hold could see them pay out any money freed up to their shareholders rather than invest in projects favoured by the government.
Pitting the Treasury and the financial services industry against the Bank of England is seen as a key test of the Bank's independence and senior officials at the Bank have privately conceded the fight over Solvency II is a political one they could well lose.
Kwasi Kwarteng laid out his "unashamedly pro-growth plan" for the economy at a gathering of senior bankers two weeks ago.
He would argue that the instincts that persuade him to cut banking regulations are the same instincts that persuaded him to throw a £100bn-plus shield over businesses and households to prevent high energy prices causing a job-and-growth-killing recession.
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Liz Truss defends plan to lift cap on bankers’ bonuses - BBC News
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2022-09-20
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The prime minister tells the BBC lifting a cap on bonuses is part of a plan to increase growth.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Liz Truss: "I will always work to make sure we are helping those who are struggling."
Prime Minister Liz Truss has said she is prepared to take "difficult decisions" such as removing a cap on bankers' bonuses to boost the economy.
In an interview with the BBC, Ms Truss said that spurring economic growth may mean doing unpopular things.
Her government is considering removing a cap on bankers' bonuses as part of a post-Brexit shake-up of City rules.
Speaking in New York ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden, the PM said she was about "delivering for people".
BBC Political Editor Chris Mason asked Ms Truss whether she was happy to see bankers getting bigger bonuses and for the rich to get richer.
"What I want to see is a growing economy," Ms Truss said.
"If that means taking difficult decisions which are going to help Britain become more competitive, help Britain become more attractive, help more investment flow into our country, yes, I'm absolutely prepared to make those decisions."
Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Pat McFadden, said there was nothing difficult about lifting the cap on bankers' bonuses.
"This is a bizarre move that will do nothing to support growth, and comes straight from the tired Tory playbook on trickle-down economics which haven't worked for them over the last decade," the Labour MP said.
President Biden tweeted earlier that he was "sick and tired" of the theory that cutting taxes for business and the wealthy would see the benefits "trickle down" into the pockets of poorer workers.
Although apparently not intended as a swipe at Ms Truss, the comment underlines the political differences between the two leaders ahead of their meeting.
The prime minister's official spokesman said it was "ludicrous" to suggest President Biden was referring to Ms Truss in the tweet.
He said the world's democracies were "not prescriptive" in how they achieve economic growth.
Ms Truss has admitted a new trade deal with the United States is unlikely in the "short-to-medium term" and that no discussions are currently underway.
The UK government had previously promised a post-Brexit trade deal with the US by 2022.
There has been lots of talk of a new era in the last few weeks, for obvious reasons.
Now, with political argument returning, it is language the prime minister is embracing, about her premiership and the challenges she - we - face.
'We are entering a new era. It is a more insecure era,' she told me.
Insecure abroad, insecure at home. The core of her political strategy is turbo-charging economic growth — and, for now at least, being willing to embrace the unpopular.
"Difficult decisions" as she put it - such as allowing bankers to get bigger bonuses.
There are two big questions for her: will it work, and will people like it?
She doesn't have long to find out the answers, with a general election two-ish years away.
In her Chris Mason interview, Ms Truss said she wanted to forge closer ties with the UK's allies.
"It is a more insecure era. We face an increasingly aggressive Russia, an assertive China. We need to work more closely with our allies, and we also need to get the British economy growing so that we have that security for all of our citizens."
In a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in New York, Ms Truss agreed to enhance UK-France co-operation on energy to cut costs for households.
In Downing Street's account of the meeting, there was no mention of contentious issues that have strained Anglo-French relations since the UK left the European Union.
Neither the unauthorised migrant crossings of the English Channel, nor the post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland were discussed, in a meeting described as "constructive" by Downing Street.
Mr Macron and Ms Truss were meeting face-to-face for the first time, weeks after the she questioned whether the French President was a friend or foe.
"I now believe in proof, in results," Mr Macron said. "There is a will to re-engage, to move on and to show that we are allies and friends in a complex world."
Speaking earlier, Ms Truss said "we are facing incredibly tough economic times" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic "pushed up energy prices".
She said higher energy bills were "a price worth paying" for the UK's long-term security.
Typical household energy bills will rise to £2,500 a year from 1 October, in part due to reductions in Russian gas exports during the war in Ukraine.
Under Ms Truss's plans, energy bills will be frozen at that level for the next two years.
The scheme is likely to be paid for by increased government borrowing, but the full details will be announced on Friday as part of a mini-Budget.
On Wednesday, Ms Truss will use her speech to the United Nations General Assembly to rally support for Ukraine and highlight the threat from authoritarian states such as Russia and China.
The PM will argue that democratic nations should prioritise economic growth and security to win the new era of strategic competition.
Ms Truss will also reiterate her commitment to protecting the UK and its allies, including by increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
"Just as we are building a plan for growth at home, we are also developing a new blueprint for our engagement with the world," the PM is expected to say.
"We will build resilience and collective security - because they are vital for freedom and democracy."
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January 6: Ex-police officer gets record 10-year sentence over Capitol riots - BBC News
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2022-09-02
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Thomas Webster, 56, attacked officers with a metal flagpole during the riots in January 2021.
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US & Canada
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An ex-New York City police officer who assaulted law enforcement officials during the 6 January riots has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Thomas Webster, 56, was convicted in May on multiple charges, including assaulting police and violent and disorderly conduct.
More than 850 people have been charged over their involvement in the attack.
But the sentence handed down on Thursday is the longest imposed on anyone over their role in the riots.
A federal jury in New York previously rejected Webster's argument that he had been acting in self-defence when he swung a metal flagpole at an officer and tackled another to the ground, holding him in a chokehold.
In pre-sentencing documents, the Marine Corps veteran disavowed former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen and included a letter of reference from a friend who blamed the Republican politician's "despicable lies" for inducing Webster's conduct.
Jurors accepted prosecutors' argument that Webster had "spearheaded" an attack on police lines and that he was responsible for "disgracing a democracy that he once fought honourably to protect and serve".
"Notwithstanding his background and training, Webster did not try to de-escalate the situation or leave the premises," the justice department said in court filings. "Webster spent eight minutes elbowing his way through the densely packed crowd so that he could position himself at the front of the mob."
The court agreed to suspend the final 36 months of Webster's term in deference to his 25 years service as a police officer and soldier.
The sentencing comes as US law enforcement officials also detained Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer for the far-right Oath Keepers group.
Ms SoRelle was indicted on four charges in connection with the 6 January attacks, including obstruction of justice.
Several members of the group have pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from the attack on the Capitol, where a number of Oath Keepers were seen entering the building in military style body armour.
The 43-year-old previously volunteered with Lawyers for Trump during efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62761037
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news_world-us-canada-62761037
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Bill Turnbull: Former BBC Breakfast presenter dies aged 66 - BBC News
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2022-09-02
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The presenter hosted BBC Breakfast for 15 years and more recently hosted programmes on Classic FM.
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Entertainment & Arts
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Memories of broadcaster Bill Turnbull, who has died at the age of 66
Broadcaster Bill Turnbull has died at the age of 66, his representatives have confirmed.
Turnbull hosted BBC Breakfast for 15 years, in both London and later Salford, and also fronted Songs of Praise and game show Think Tank.
His family said: "Bill will be remembered by many as a remarkable broadcaster who brought warmth and humour into people's homes".
In 2018, he announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
After leaving the BBC in 2016, he joined Classic FM, and continued presenting shows on the network until recently.
His family added: "Following a challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family on Wednesday, 31 August."
They said he received his diagnosis in 2017, and praised his "outstanding medical care" from the Royal Marsden and Ipswich Hospitals, St Elizabeth Hospice and his GP.
Turnbull pictured in 2010 with BBC Breakfast co-hosts (L-R) Sian Williams, Susanna Reid and Charlie Stayt
"He was resolutely positive and was hugely buoyed by the support he received from friends, colleagues and messages from people wishing him luck.
"It was a great comfort to Bill that so many more men are now testing earlier for this disease," they said, calling him a "wonderful husband and father to his three children" and a devoted Wycombe Wanderers fan and "an ever-aspiring beekeeper".
Turnbull was a favourite with viewers on BBC Breakfast thanks to his gentle presenting style, which was well suited to early morning broadcasting.
During his time on the show, he worked alongside Sian Williams, Susanna Reid, Kate Silverton, Natasha Kaplinsky and Louise Minchin.
His former colleagues Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt, who were presenting Thursday's programme, paid an emotional tribute just after the news was announced.
Turnbull presented BBC Breakfast for 15 years, and later moved to radio station Classic FM
Munchetty said: "As a team we are in shock this morning. He cared so much about this programme and the audience. I did my first ever shift with him on Breakfast."
"His energy was amazing. He came into this programme and threw everything at it. He was funny; he was a brilliant journalist. He loved this programme and he loved serving you, the audience," she said.
Stayt added that Turnbull "didn't take himself too seriously".
The programme's editor Richard Frediani confirmed on Thursday that Friday's Breakfast would be "a celebration of Bill's life on and off-screen". He noted: "Bill Turnbull loved our viewers and our viewers loved him."
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On his last BBC Breakfast show, Turnbull himself talked about some of the moments he remembered most.
"I remember nearly getting into a fight with a ventriloquist's dummy named Bob," he said.
"Seriously it nearly came to blows, although that was more me than him."
He added: "And there was a moment where I actually wore a sweater made from dog hair with a bow on the front. It was alright but it was very, very warm and I just couldn't get the stuff off me for weeks afterwards."
Williams told the BBC he "mentored a lot of young journalists and a lot of people in the industry... and that was very important to him", adding he had "very high standards".
She spoke of their relationship, saying: "We never bickered... in 30 years of friendship", and said she would remember them "laughing so much we couldn't really keep control of our faces... and then we realised we were on television - we laughed a lot".
Minchin described him as "a brilliant journalist", adding "most of all he was great fun".
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BBC Breakfast's sport presenter Mike Bushell also paid a glowing tribute to his "dear friend" and "mentor" with the "incredible talent".
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Reid, now on ITV's Good Morning Britain, added: "I feel lucky to have worked with him, and he taught me everything. But above all, he was devoted to his family and I am heartbroken for them."
Another former Breakfast colleague, Channel 4 presenter Steph McGovern, posted she was "absolutely gutted", and said: "I learnt so much from him. And we had some cracking arguments about how you should pronounce words like 'poor'. We all loved him."
Channel 5 news presenter Dan Walker said it had been "an honour" to replace Turnbull on the Breakfast sofa, saying: "He was full of brilliant advice and it was clear just how loved he was by his colleagues and the audience," while Breakfast presenter Jon Kay called Turnbull "an absolute gent".
Karen Hardy paid an emotional tribute to her former Strictly dance partner
Turnbull appeared as a contestant on an early series of Strictly Come Dancing, finishing in sixth place with his partner Karen Hardy.
Hardy, who was in New Zealand, cried as she paid tribute to her friend, calling Turnbull "such a gentleman, such a mentor".
She said meeting him was "life-changing" - he was her first partner on Strictly - and "he made TV magical, he told me what it was about", she said, adding he would help critique her appearances on Breakfast.
"If he wasn't on it, I knew he'd be watching..." she said, adding he would text her with tips including how to sit and speak clearly for the cameras.
Turnbull met the Queen and Prince Philip in 2015 at an awards reception at Buckingham Palace
BBC Director-General Tim Davie called Turnbull "a much-loved and respected broadcaster and journalist - not just by viewers but by all those lucky enough to have worked with him".
"He always struck the right tone, no matter what the story. Warm, wise, professional and caring, he will be much missed by us all," he said.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries described "an incredibly sad loss of a broadcasting legend", praising his "special charm and wit" and his tireless work to raise awareness about prostate cancer.
BBC Radio 4's Today programme presenter Nick Robinson described Turnbull as "a very, very dear friend and an extraordinary broadcaster."
"There was a warmth to his broadcasting which people who watch Breakfast television every day knew," he said. "But perhaps what they forgot was what a bloody good journalist he was. This was a man who'd been a correspondent in Washington, who travelled 30 countries. He'd been in Moscow, he'd covered wars, he'd reported on the troubles in Northern Ireland."
He added: "And that combination of a razor-sharp intellect, wit, humour and humanity, came out every day when he was on Breakfast. It came out every day when he was a reporter on this programme. And listeners to Classic FM will have heard him present beautifully as well his love of music."
Robinson also recalled how Turnbull and his wife [Sarah] had met on the Today programme, where they had worked.
Broadcaster and writer Monty Don called Turnbull "a thoroughly decent, good man", adding: "We shared an enthusiasm for bees and were both patrons of Bees for Development charity."
Prior to working on Breakfast, Turnbull also worked as a reporter on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC News 24, as the news channel was then known.
In recent years, Turnbull guest presented episodes of The One Show and reunited with Reid for several editions of ITV's Good Morning Britain.
After his cancer diagnosis was made public, he fronted a documentary for Channel 4 called Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive, in which he explored the use of cannabis oil for medicinal purposes.
Prostate Cancer UK said that after Turnbull announced he had the illness in March 2018, their specialist nurses experienced their "busiest day on record" and they saw a huge rise in web traffic of men looking for information and support.
In November 2017, Turnbull took part in a celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off - which was in aid of a charity, Stand Up to Cancer. He found out about his prostate cancer during filming.
He said inspiring men to get tested for the illness by publicly revealing his own diagnosis was the "one useful thing" he had done in his life, admitting he was "cross with myself" for the pride he had felt at not visiting a GP in four years.
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Partygate probe is flawed and unfair, says lawyer advising Boris Johnson - BBC News
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2022-09-02
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MPs are examining whether Boris Johnson misled Parliament over Covid rule-breaking events in No 10.
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UK Politics
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Boris Johnson has said he did not deliberately mislead MPs over Partygate
An inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled MPs over Partygate is "unfair" and "fundamentally flawed", a lawyer hired by the government has said.
A Commons committee is investigating what the outgoing prime minister told Parliament about Covid-rule breaking.
Mr Johnson could be suspended from Parliament or even lose his seat if they rule against him.
The government's legal advice strongly criticises the process but it cannot halt the inquiry.
Mr Johnson is due to step down as prime minister on Tuesday, a day after the winner of the Tory leadership race is announced. Voting in the contest closes at 17:00 BST on Friday.
The Commons Privileges Committee is investigating whether he obstructed the Commons by telling it that pandemic rules had been followed during lockdown events in No 10 that since led to Covid fines.
The soon-to-be-ex PM could be hauled before the committee in the autumn to account for what he previously told MPs.
Last month, the committee decided it would not have to prove Mr Johnson deliberately misled MPs to show he committed a "contempt of Parliament" by obstructing its work.
It made the decision after taking advice from a parliamentary official, who said intent was "not relevant" to deciding whether Mr Johnson broke the rules.
But Lord Pannick, the top lawyer hired by the government to examine the committee's approach, said the inquiry needs to establish "that Mr Johnson intended to mislead the House [of Commons] - that is that he knew that what he told the House was incorrect".
In his legal advice, the independent crossbench peer warns that "the threat of contempt proceedings for unintentional mistakes would have a seriously chilling effect" on MPs.
Lord Pannick says the committee's approach is inconsistent with past cases where intent was taken into account and the process would be deemed "unlawful" if it was tested in a court.
He criticises the committee for taking evidence anonymously and said Mr Johnson should be told the detail of the case against him.
The committee's own lawyer, former judge Sir Ernest Ryder, has previously defended this, saying potential witnesses may not be prepared to give evidence if their identity is made public.
A spokesperson for the committee said it would respond to Lord Pannick's arguments in due course.
As with so much when it comes to Boris Johnson, what people make of the conflicting opinions from lawyers is likely to depend on what they think of the man himself.
His supporters are likely to see Lord Pannick's contribution as "evidence" that the inquiry is a witchhunt stacked against Mr Johnson.
His detractors are likely to view it as an attempt to interfere with parliamentary process which suggests lessons have not been learned from the Owen Paterson saga.
Ultimately, legal opinions are just that: opinion.
This is about the procedures of the House of Commons and it is up to the committee to decide the terms.
Labour MP Chris Bryant - who chairs the Privileges Committee but is not taking part in the inquiry - suggested it was "very odd" the Cabinet Office had commissioned advice "on behalf of a private individual, namely the prime minister".
Speaking to the Today programme, Mr Bryant argued that ministers who unintentionally mislead or get a fact wrong "have a perfect opportunity to go through the House of Commons processes for correcting the record".
"The question for the Privileges Committee is simple: did he [Boris Johnson] mislead the house, and if he misled the house... is that a contempt of Parliament because he did not correct the record swiftly enough?"
Labour's Thangam Debbonaire suggested the government was "playing fast and loose with the rules" while the Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: "The government must fess up to the cost of this legal advice and stop expecting the taxpayers to pick up the tab for Conservative sleaze."
Parliament voted to launch the inquiry in April, after a series of revelations about events held in and around Downing Street while Covid restrictions were in place.
An official investigation later concluded rules had been broken and a police inquiry led to 83 people, including Mr Johnson himself, being fined.
The prime minister has admitted that previous statements to Parliament - in which he insisted all rules had been followed - had since been proved incorrect, but he believed them to be true at the time.
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Gleision mine disaster: Families' inquest wait goes on - BBC News
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2022-10-21
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Four men died when thousands of gallons of water flooded the Gleision drift mine in 2011.
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Wales
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Nigel Evans (left) and Jake Wyatt spoke about their "survivors' guilt" in 2011
Families have been told they must continue to wait for a decision on whether an inquest will be held on four men killed in a 2011 mine disaster.
They had hoped for a decision now, but a coroner has said it will now be made by Christmas.
Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Phillip Hill, 44, and Garry Jenkins, 39, died in the flooded Gleision drift mine in Neath Port Talbot.
The families say there are still many "unanswered questions".
They have been fighting for a full inquest to understand what caused the disaster.
A hearing in the Guildhall in Swansea on Friday heard submissions from the representatives of the families, the owners MNS Mining Ltd, the Coal Authority, the Health and Safety Executive and South Wales Police.
The coroner for Swansea and Neath Port Talbot told the court "there was a lot to think about" and a decision will be made before Christmas.
Michael Imperato, representing the families, said: "It's been a hard slog for the families to get here, but they're here now."
He said they were very pleased that the barrister giving the coroner independent legal advice "agreed with many of our arguments", and "was recommending that the matter be resumed."
He said: "The families would have liked a ruling as soon as possible, but they've been waiting more than 10 years for this now. So they can probably hang on another month or two.
"We're hopeful the coroner will will adopt the advice that he was given by his own barrister, adopt our advice, and see that justice is done for the families."
Charles Breslin, David Powell, Philip Hill and Garry Jenkins died after water rushed into Gleision colliery
Christian Howells, also representing the families, said the Coal Authority and the Health and Safety Executive had failed to ensure up-to-date plans of the workings of the mine, that precautions were taken, and that there was a second exit for the miners.
He also argued that the fact that more than 11 years have passed was not a reason for not resuming an inquest.
Prashant Popat KC, representing the owners MNS Mining, said the question of how the men died has not been answered.
But a representative for Malcolm Fyfield, the mine manager at the time, confirmed to the coroner that his client was not in favour of a resumption of the inquest because it would be "detrimental" to his health.
The disaster happened after routine blasting at Gleision near Cilybebyll, Pontardawe, when thousands of gallons of water flooded into a tunnel where seven miners were working. Three of them escaped.
In 2014, the manager and owners of the mine were cleared of manslaughter charges.
Now the families say they have new information that supports the need for a full inquest and that questions remain over the mine's operation and the tragedy's causes.
Speaking before the decision, Mr Breslin's widow, Mavis, said she believed it was time for an inquest.
"It's been 11 years which is far too long," she said. "We all need answers as to exactly what happened. It's frustrating."
Mr Jenkins's son Alex said an inquest would put people's minds at rest.
Charles Breslin's widow, Mavis, believes it is time for an inquest
"Not having the answers really makes you question yourself when you're speaking to people and trying to explain what happened but there's nothing to show them," he said.
Maria Seage, who owns the colliery with Gerald Ward, agreed there were unanswered questions.
"We want to know what happened that day, we need closure," she said.
"We feel let down. The families need answers as to why four men went to work that day and never came home.
"You wake up with it in the morning and you go to bed with it in the night," she said.
"We get triggers and flashbacks. It's changed us from the people we were.
"The people we were have gone. I don't really like the person I am now. Tears are never far from the surface."
Mine owners Gerald Ward and Maria Seage are both backing calls for an inquest
Ms Seage said the men killed were not just employees but friends.
"We were all in it together," she said.
Mr Ward said it had been hard for the families to understand what happened.
He said: "This is what we need. We need the answers. Why don't they want the inquest?"
Member of the Senedd for South Wales West Sioned Williams said the disaster had scarred the families and the community.
South Wales West Senedd member Sioned Williams says the disaster scarred the families and the community
She said: "It's incredible that a full inquest hasn't been held to give those answers, to do those investigations that so crucially need to be done in order to get the full picture as to what happened that resulted in four men losing their lives in the Gleision Colliery".
Swansea and Neath Port Talbot coroner's office said a decision on whether a full inquest would be held would be made after Friday's hearing.
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How big are Donald Trump's legal problems? - BBC News
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2022-10-21
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He has been criminally indicted four times and will have a series of trials to attend in 2024.
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US & Canada
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Donald Trump has been criminally indicted four times, and will have a series of trials to attend in 2024 as he runs again for the White House.
His candidacy now also faces a challenge from the Colorado Supreme Court, which has ruled Mr Trump cannot run for president because he engaged in an insurrection with his actions in the days leading to the US Capitol riot on 6 January 2021.
Here's a guide to the five cases and what they could mean for the former president and current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Colorado Supreme Court declared Mr Trump ineligible for the presidency under the US Constitution's insurrection clause - Section 3 of the 14th Amendment - which disqualifies anyone who engages in insurrection from holding office.
Voting 4-3, the state's top court found Mr Trump had incited an insurrection in his role in the 6 January 2021 storming of the Capitol by his supporters. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied responsibility for the riot.
The bombshell ruling directs the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr Trump from the state's Republican primary on 5 March, where registered party members vote on their preferred candidate for president. But it could also affect the general election in Colorado next November.
It does not stop Mr Trump running in other states.
Similar lawsuits to to remove the Republican from the ballot in Minnesota, New Hampshire and Michigan have failed.
What will his defence be?
During a one-week trial in Colorado in November, the former president's lawyers argued Mr Trump should not be disqualified because he did not bear responsibility for the riot.
Following the Colorado Supreme Court's decision Mr Trump's campaign said immediately it would appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court, where it's likely a similar argument would be made.
His legal spokeswoman Alina Habba said the ruling "attacks the very heart of this nation's democracy."
"It will not stand, and we trust that the Supreme Court will reverse this unconstitutional order," she said.
The Colorado Supreme Court put its ruling on hold until at least 4 January. If Mr Trump appeals, that pause will continue until the country's top court weighs in.
If the Supreme Court does take up the case, which experts say is likely, it could be forced to decide Mr Trump's eligibility beyond Colorado to all 50 states.
That court has a 6-3 conservative majority with three justices appointed by the former president himself.
What are the charges in Georgia 2020 election investigation?
This is the most recent indictment, the one that saw the first ever mugshot of a former US president after Donald Trump turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail on 24 August. The charges for Mr Trump - listed now as inmate no. P01135809 on Fulton County Jail records - were unsealed last month.
Mr Trump and 18 others are named in a 41-count indictment for alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
The investigation was sparked in part by a leaked phone call in which the former president asked Georgia's top election official to "find 11,780 votes".
Mr Trump was hit with 13 criminal counts including an alleged violation of Georgia's Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Rico).
His other charges include solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiring to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery, conspiring to commit false statements, and writing and conspiring to file false documents.
What are the potential penalties?
The racketeering charge, which is mostly used in organised crime cases, carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.
Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis would need to prove that there was a pattern of corruption from Mr Trump and his allies aimed at overturning the election result in order to bring a conviction.
As for making false statements, that carries a penalty of between one to five years in prison or a fine.
And a person convicted of first-degree criminal solicitation to commit election fraud will face between one to three years in jail.
What will his defence be?
Mr Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the case and has entered a plea of not guilty.
He has defended the phone call in question as "perfect" and accused Ms Willis of launching a politically motivated inquiry.
There is no confirmed date for the trial yet.
What are the charges in 2020 election investigation?
Donald Trump has been criminally charged in a separate federal investigation into efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
The 45-page indictment contains four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
They stem from the former president's actions in the wake of the 2020 election, including around the 6 January Capitol riot, which occurred while Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden's victory.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch the moment Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building
What are the potential penalties?
But there are logistical, security and political questions around whether Mr Trump would serve time even if charged and convicted.
What will his defence be?
Mr Trump was formally charged in court in Washington DC on 3 August. A tentative trial date is scheduled for 4 March 2024.
He argues that the charges are an attempt to prevent him from winning the 2024 presidential election. Before leaving Washington after his arraignment hearing, he told journalists the case "is a persecution of a political opponent".
Mr Trump has repeatedly denied responsibility for the riot on 6 January 2021.
His legal team is also likely to argue that the former president is not directly responsible for the violence that unfolded that day because he told supporters to march "peacefully" on the Capitol and is protected by First Amendment free speech rights.
What are the charges in classified documents case?
Mr Trump is facing 40 criminal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified material after he left the White House.
Thousands of documents were seized in an FBI search at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago last year, including about 100 that were marked as classified.
The charges are related to both his handling of the documents and his alleged efforts to obstruct the FBI's attempts to retrieve them.
The majority of the counts, are for the wilful retention of national defence information, which falls under the Espionage Act.
There are then eight individual counts which include conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record and making false statements.
Will Donald Trump go to jail?
These charges could - in theory - lead to substantial prison time if Mr Trump is convicted.
But the logistics, security and politics of jailing a former president mean a conventional prison sentence is seen as unlikely by many experts.
Looking at the letter of the law, the counts under the Espionage Act, for example, each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Other counts, related to conspiracy and withholding or concealing documents, each carry maximum sentences of 20 years.
Counts relating to a scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations carry sentences of five years each.
But while there is no doubt the charges are serious, many questions remain unanswered about the potential penalties should he be convicted.
What will his defence be?
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and the trial is set to begin on 20 May 2024.
The former president has offered shifting defences for the material found at his property, mostly arguing that he declassified it. No evidence has been provided that this was possible or is true.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Trump supporters outside court: 'They're afraid of him'
His lawyers may argue in court that Mr Trump was unfairly targeted and that other politicians, namely Hillary Clinton, Mike Pence and current President Joe Biden, were never charged for their handling of classified documents.
But experts say the former president's case is different in a number of ways. For one, other politicians were willing to return whatever documents they had, while prosecutors allege Mr Trump resisted.
What are the charges in New York hush money case?
Mr Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
The charges stem from a hush-money payment made before the 2016 election to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, who says she had an adulterous affair with Mr Trump.
While such a payment is not illegal, spending money to help a presidential campaign but not disclosing it violates federal campaign finance law.
What are the potential penalties?
Each of the charges carries a maximum of four years in prison, although a judge could sentence Mr Trump to probation if he is convicted.
Legal experts have told BBC News they think it is unlikely Mr Trump will be jailed if convicted in this case and a fine is the more likely outcome.
What will his defence be?
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial in the case on 25 March 2024.
He denies ever having sexual relations with Ms Daniels and says the payment was made to protect his family from false allegations, not to sway the election.
Do you have any questions relating to Donald Trump's legal cases?
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Steve Bannon verdict: Ex-Trump adviser sentenced to four months in jail - BBC News
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2022-10-21
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The ex-Trump adviser is also fined $6,500 after refusing to testify to Congress about the Capitol riot.
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US & Canada
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Bannon's lawyer David Schoen has also worked with Donald Trump Image caption: Bannon's lawyer David Schoen has also worked with Donald Trump
Lawyers on both sides are making their final pitches to Judge Carl Nichols before he rules on Steve Bannon's sentence.
Bannon's lawyer David Schoen says the government has applied the "Bannon rule" to the case, meaning that the long-time Trump ally has been treated differently than other defendants.
A lawyer for the Department of Justice speaks next, saying Bannon hid behind a "fabricated claim of executive privilege... to thumb his nose at Congress".
Bannon has argued that executive privilege - a legal principle which allows some communications between presidents and their advisers to be kept private - prevented him from testifying before the House committee.
This argument has already been rejected by the judge.
"Your Honour, the defendant is not above the law," the prosecutor says.
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How big-bang economic plan and political turmoil sank Liz Truss - BBC News
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2022-10-21
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The outgoing PM won power promising radical change, but it ended in disaster, after just 45 days.
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UK Politics
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Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after political and economic turmoil engulfed her government
Liz Truss came to power promising a new economic and political era. It is 45 days since she became PM - the shortest premiership in British history.
Yet that period saw an historic economic gamble, an almost unthinkable number of U-turns and the junking of an entire political programme. It's been short. But not simple.
Over the summer, it all felt very different. As we travelled around the UK for hustings, it was clear Ms Truss was highly popular with Conservative members.
Her promises to slash tax and govern as a Conservative were exactly what they wanted to hear. She wasn't a flawless media performer, but she knew how to work a friendly crowd.
There were warnings from former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his supporters that her economic plans were risky and could backfire. Some said it would be electoral suicide. But they lost the argument in the Conservative Party.
With victory imminent, along with her close friend and political ally Kwasi Kwarteng, Ms Truss got to work on formulating a plan for power which would be radical and bold.
They decided they had to rip up the rules, which had been followed by previous Tory prime ministers. The economic "orthodoxy" was to go out the window. The pair prepared what aides called a "big bang" of measures - to hit the ground running.
"We are not going to be tinkering at the edges," a senior figure in Team Truss boasted.
Ms Truss modelled herself on former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her allies said that like the former prime minister, Ms Truss would be resolute in power; the lady wasn't for turning.
They made it clear she would make unpopular decisions and stick with them, whatever happened. Ms Truss wanted to be the new Iron Lady.
Within 48 hours came the first of a series of bold economic gambles, which went considerably further than almost everyone expected.
First there was the energy support package, which promised to cap the unit price for two years. For a candidate who had said there would be no more handouts, political reality had hit and the cheque book had been opened.
But within hours of being in Downing Street, politics had to take a back seat.
Ms Truss was told in the House of Commons that the Queen was ill. By the end of the day, a prime minister in office for two days was on the steps of Downing Street paying tribute to the longest-serving monarch in British history. Over the next few days, the government's focus was firmly on national mourning.
The late Queen Elizabeth II was succeeded by her son, King Charles, two days after Ms Truss took office
After the Queen's funeral though, Ms Truss had to make up for lost time. She went on her first and only major diplomatic trip to the United Nations in New York, where she told broadcasters she was prepared to make difficult decisions in pursuit of economic growth.
On her return came the economic "big bang" she had been thinking about for years.
Her mini-budget - which was anything but mini - was the most radical in recent history; taxes were slashed, particularly for the higher paid. It would be funded by borrowing, despite warnings that could make inflation worse.
Senior figures in Number 10 believed they were about to launch a bright new era for the UK economy. Economic libertarians had their chance and they were determined to take it.
One told me: "Something different and bold needs to be done."
Ms Truss's mini-budget was announced by her former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng
Team Truss believed the markets would give the country space to restructure the economy. But within days - it became clear they had been wrong and the wheels started to fall off their economic experiment.
There were few details on how the government would fund the package, which left financial markets reeling, sent the pound plummeting, and forced the Bank of England to bail out pensions funds.
Tory MPs began to panic quickly. Within 72 hours of the mini-budget, many were making it clear that they were unhappy. Conservative MPs spoke privately of the government already provoking a political crisis.
Over the coming week, that would only increase until a full-blown crisis emerged at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. By the time Ms Truss arrived, it was clear there was a significant rebellion brewing on the decision to scrap the 45p top rate of tax.
Under pressure from backbench MPs, Ms Truss buckled. The same day, she told the BBC she would not change her mind - she did. She sent the chancellor out to explain the decision.
The U-turn was supposed to show that Ms Truss was listening. Number 10 believed it would allow rebellious MPs to move on. Instead, it did the exact opposite; rebels smelled blood. "It feels like the last days of Rome," remarked one former minister.
Over the next few weeks, Ms Truss's authority collapsed completely.
She sacked her chancellor and scrapped a plan to keep corporation tax down. She appointed Jeremy Hunt to run the Treasury - someone who had backed Mr Sunak.
Mr Hunt decided on Saturday that the whole economic strategy had to go and told the prime minister at Chequers the next day. Weakened by events, she had little option but to agree.
"Jeremy Hunt is de facto PM," said one MP, speaking for many. "I don't see the point of her," added another.
By Sunday, the wheels were in motion for the end of Ms Truss's premiership. The BBC contacted many MPs and the mood was dark. Nobody was suggesting Ms Truss's authority would recover. One Ms Truss loyalist told me: "We've lost".
A senior party figure added as the mood turned: "People know that this is over. It's a question of how and when."
There was however, still a ray of hope for Ms Truss.
Some MPs were nervous about bringing the prime minister down without having a unity candidate to replace her. They feared it would mean even more chaos, which nobody would be able to control.
Some of the PM's internal critics urged caution. As one senior figure put it to me: Ms Truss's future might be decided by what her opponents can't do at this stage.
But what followed was even more humiliation.
On Monday, Mr Hunt took control and junked the economic plan. The prime minister was widely ridiculed for not speaking herself in Parliament. She dodged an urgent question from the Labour leader, then sat beside the chancellor briefly as he ripped up her economic plan in the Commons.
A couple of days later, the home secretary resigned over a breach of the ministerial code - but launched a blistering attack on the prime minister and her programme.
Suella Braverman launched a withering attack on Ms Truss in her resignation letter
There was trouble brewing on the right of the party, which had campaigned so vigorously for Ms Truss over summer. And yet Prime Minister's Questions had ended without disaster, buying Ms Truss at least a few more hours.
The final straw for Conservative MPs was the chaos over a vote on banning fracking. MPs were told it was confidence vote - that by not voting with the government, they were saying they didn't want it to continue. Then they were told it wasn't a confidence issue. Then they were told it was - and those who rebelled would be disciplined.
It all meant that by Thursday morning, the Conservative Party had decisively turned. When the prime minister summoned Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, to test the mood of the party, it was game over.
The new economic era was over. Twenty-four hours after saying she was a fighter, she had resigned. Ms Truss had failed, her "big bang" plan in tatters.
Turmoil has defined Ms Truss's time in office. But it has also helped define 2022. In less than one year, there have been four chancellors, and by next week there will have been three prime ministers.
The Conservatives now have to choose a leader they think can bring stability. Whoever it is will want to last a lot longer than Ms Truss.
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Tory leadership: Hopefuls jostle for MPs' support - BBC News
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2022-10-21
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Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says he will not run to replace Liz Truss, as others race to secure backing.
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UK Politics
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Liz Truss was spotted out jogging on Friday, a day after her dramatic resignation
Conservative MPs hoping to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister are racing to find backers before a Monday deadline.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has ruled himself out of the contest, adding he is "leaning towards" backing Boris Johnson.
The former PM has not ruled out a dramatic comeback, months after being forced out after a Tory revolt.
Candidates to replace Ms Truss need support from at least 100 colleagues, limiting the contest to three.
She resigned on Thursday just six weeks into the job, making her tumultuous premiership the shortest in British history.
Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, who stood unsuccessfully in the contest to replace Mr Johnson, are also seen as likely contenders to run again.
So far, the BBC estimates that Mr Sunak has the most MPs declaring their support, with 63, compared to 38 for Mr Johnson and 17 for Ms Mordaunt.
But in a fast-moving situation, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch are thought to be considering bids.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out, along with Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and former cabinet minister Michael Gove.
Candidates have until 2pm on Monday to find 100 backers. If three reach the threshold, MPs will knock out one contender in a ballot on the same day.
MPs will hold an "indicative" ballot of the final two, with the winner then decided in an online vote of party members to finish on Friday next week.
Mr Wallace said he was "leaning towards" supporting Mr Johnson, although he added the former PM still had "questions to answer" over the investigation he faces into his Partygate conduct.
He told reporters Mr Johnson had a "mandate" from the 2019 general election and "could win the next election".
But Tory MP Jesse Norman, one of scores of ministers to quit Mr Johnson's government, said bringing him back would be an "absolutely catastrophic decision".
Polling has suggested Ben Wallace is a popular figure among Tory activists
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has been encouraging MP colleagues to nominate Mr Johnson, and tweeted his support earlier alongside the hashtag "Boris or bust".
Fellow Conservative MP Tim Loughton took issue with the rallying cry, suggesting it would damage party unity.
He tweeted in reply: "How on earth can that slogan be remotely helpful to the party given the strong possibility that the next PM will not be Boris?"
If Mr Johnson did make a comeback it would be unprecedented in British political history, coming three months after being forced out by his own MPs after a string of scandals.
Polling suggests he remains popular with Tory members, but another tilt at the leadership could prove divisive among Tory MPs, some of whom have said they would quit politics if he came back.
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Opposition parties are calling for a general election to decide who should be the next prime minister.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said if Mr Johnson returned to No 10, that would be the "most powerful argument" for another poll.
"I remind myself that only three months ago Boris Johnson left office because most of those who were serving him on his front bench had declared that he was unfit for office," he said.
The next general election is not due to take place until at least 2024 and, at this stage, it looks unlikely that date will be brought forward.
Labour has been way ahead of the Conservatives in recent opinion polls.
Ms Truss's resignation on Thursday followed weeks of turmoil on financial markets following her tax-cutting mini-budget in September.
In response, she sacked her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and appointed Jeremy Hunt to the post hours later to try to calm the markets.
On Wednesday, her Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, resigned and a chaotic night with accusations of bullying during a vote in the House of Commons followed, sealing her fate.
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Tory conference: We must stay the course, insists Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng - BBC News
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2022-10-03
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Kwasi Kwarteng will defend his tax cuts during his Conservative Party conference speech.
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UK Politics
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Kwasi Kwarteng will use his Conservative conference speech later to insist the government will "stay the course" on his tax-cutting growth plan.
The chancellor's approach has sparked market turmoil and disquiet among some Conservative MPs, but he will argue his plan is "the right one".
Without action, the country is heading for "slow decline", he will warn.
Mr Kwarteng is under pressure after a backlash against his mini-budget, unveiled on 23 September.
Former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps have criticised the decision to remove the 45% top tax rate, with former transport secretary Mr Shapps predicting the proposal would be defeated in the Commons.
But Mr Kwarteng and Prime Minister Liz Truss have so far doubled down on their argument that their tax-cutting plans are needed to boost the UK's economy after more than a decade of sluggish growth.
In his first speech to a Conservative conference as chancellor, Mr Kwarteng will tell the audience in Birmingham: "We must face up to the facts that for too long our economy has not grown enough.
"I refuse to accept that it is somehow Britain's destiny to fall into middle income status… or that the tax burden reaching a 70-year-high is somehow inevitable.
"It isn't, and shouldn't be."
On Sunday, Mr Gove described the plan to cut the 45p top rate of tax as "a display of the wrong values", suggesting he would vote against the policy if it came before the Commons.
And Mr Shapps, who supported Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest, warned Ms Truss not to have a "tin ear" to voters' concerns about rising living costs by introducing "tax cuts for wealthy people".
Also speaking on Sunday, Ms Truss acknowledged she should have "laid the ground better" for the tax changes her government was proposing.
But she stood by the decision to "act quickly" and promised to win over the "hearts and minds" of MPs in her own party who opposed the measures.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Michael Gove: Cutting tax for the wealthiest "a display of the wrong values"
Also in his speech, Mr Kwarteng will argue he has a "new approach" focused on raising economic growth, which he says would create "higher wages, more jobs and crucially, revenue to fund our precious public services".
In a response to criticism that the government's tax-and-spend plans do not add up, he will say that his measures will be "backed by an iron-clad commitment to fiscal discipline".
"We will show that our plan is sound, credible and will increase growth."
Mr Kwarteng's £45bn package of measures outlined in the mini-budget also included cutting the basic rate of income tax to 19% from April 2023, as well as reducing stamp duty for some buyers.
The government had already announced it would be freezing energy prices for two years, estimating that the intervention would cost £60bn in the first six months alone.
Concern about how the government's proposals would be paid for was heightened by the Treasury's decision not to publish an assessment by the independent spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - and by Mr Kwarteng's suggestion that more tax cuts could come.
In the days following the chancellor's announcement, the value of the pound fell and the cost of government borrowing rose, forcing the Bank of England to make a £65bn intervention to calm markets.
Mr Kwarteng is due to set out further details of his economic plan on 23 November, along with a forecast by the OBR.
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Ukraine war: Questions over France's weapons supply to Kyiv - BBC News
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2022-10-03
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Paris's relative absence in its supply of weapons to Ukraine leaves eastern European countries wary.
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Europe
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Less than 2% of foreign arms deliveries to Ukraine are contributed by France
If France wants to lead Europe to a new era of military self-reliance, how come its contribution to the war effort in Ukraine is so small?
That is the awkward question being posed by some of the country's top strategic thinkers, who are pushing President Emmanuel Macron to make an urgent decision on more arms to Kyiv.
Recent analysis conducted on the ground in Poland and Ukraine shows that the French share of foreign arms deliveries is less than 2%, way behind the US on 49%, but also behind Poland (22%) and Germany (9%).
"I was concerned about the reliability of the statistics which showed France low on the list of contributing countries," says François Heisbourg, who is perhaps France's most influential defence analyst.
"So I went out to the main distribution hub in Poland to see how much in tonnage was actually being delivered, rather than just promised.
"Unfortunately the figures bore out my fears. France is way down the list - in ninth position."
The official reaction to this in Paris is: "Yes, but..."
Yes, the aid statistics are unflattering, but there are other factors at work.
First, defence officials say the true measure of military help is quality not quantity. Some countries are delivering masses of outdated equipment. France has given 18 Caesar self-propelled artillery units, which are now celebrated along the Ukrainian front-line.
France, they add, is like other Western countries in having run down military stocks as part of the post-Cold War peace dividend.
I had the distinct feeling we [France] were becoming irrelevant. François Heisbourg
Senior Advisor for Europe at the International Institute for Strategic Studies
Ukraine's Caesars are fully one quarter of France's entire mobile artillery. It cannot offer much more without making itself vulnerable in regions where it is already committed, like the Sahel and the Indo-Pacific.
"It might look like we are behind other countries, but France has every intention of playing its part," says Gen Jérome Pellistrandi, editor of the National Defence Review.
These arguments are not without merit, says Mr Heisbourg. The problem is that by not being more present in theatre, France risks writing itself out of the plot.
"When I was in Kyiv, everyone was very polite. I had no sense that the Ukrainians disapproved of us," he says. "In a way it was worse. I had the distinct feeling we were becoming irrelevant."
For Mr Heisbourg the equation is simple. Ukraine will talk to countries who it knows are likely to deliver the weapons it needs. France at the moment is not one of them.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna discussed the supply of defence equipment with President Zelensky in Kyiv
But there is another danger for France. Its relative absence in Ukraine undermines its bid for leadership in the cause of European defence.
Already many countries of eastern Europe are wary of President Macron, who they believe was far too indulgent towards Russia's Vladimir Putin in the first months of the war. A narrative has taken root according to which France still feels ambivalent about an outright Ukrainian triumph.
For Pierre Haroche, who lectures on international security at Queen Mary University of London, this narrative is unfair - and is not the reason for France's low levels of arms deliveries to Ukraine.
However, he is firmly of the view that France should beef up its contribution as early as possible, in order to reassure central and eastern European countries like Poland that "we are all on the same page".
"France's goal of strategic autonomy for Europe is focused primarily on building up our defence industries via joint procurement. But if you want joint procurement, you have to demonstrate to other countries that you have the same vision about our common security," he says.
"In order to make our objective of European co-operation viable, we need to show eastern European countries that co-operating with France and buying the idea of strategic autonomy is not a strategic risk."
Dr Haroche is calling for France to send 50 Leclerc main battle tanks. Mr Heisbourg would prefer air defence systems, which he says Ukraine is more in need of.
"It is like a fire extinguisher," says Dr Haroche. "If there is a fire in a neighbour's house it is better to offer your extinguisher straightaway, and not wait till the fire reaches your own home.
"It's not just generosity. It's also for your own protection."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63090644
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Wayne Couzens appears in court on flashing charges - BBC News
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2022-10-03
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The former Met Police officer is accused of indecent exposures pre-dating Sarah Everard's murder.
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London
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Wayne Couzens is a former armed officer with the Met's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command
Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens has appeared in court on flashing charges but was not asked to enter pleas amid the barristers' strike.
The 49-year-old ex-Met Police officer is accused of two counts of indecent exposure pre-dating Ms Everard's kidnap, rape and murder in 2021.
He is accused of exposing himself to a female cyclist in November 2020.
He also allegedly drove with the lower half of his body undressed in Dover, Kent, in June 2015.
On Monday, Couzens appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from jail.
He only spoke to confirm his name at the brief hearing.
His barrister was not present and the defendant was instead represented by a solicitor.
The case was adjourned until 1 November when legal argument is set to take place.
The former armed officer with the Met's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, has already pleaded not guilty to four separate counts of indecent exposure.
Those charges are over other alleged incidents at a fast food restaurant in Kent in 2021 - on 30 January and 6 February, and on 14 February and 27 February.
Couzens, from Deal, Kent, is serving a whole-life sentence at HMP Frankland in Durham for murdering Ms Everard in March 2021.
He kidnapped the 33-year-old marketing executive as she walked home in south London.
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Ground should have been laid for tax cuts, admits Liz Truss - BBC News
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2022-10-03
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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But the prime minister says she sticks by her mini budget, despite a bad reaction from the markets.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Prime Minister Liz Truss says she stands by plans announced in the mini-budget
Liz Truss has admitted she should have "laid the ground better" for her mini-budget, after it sparked days of market turmoil.
The prime minister told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg she had "learned from that", but she was confident her tax cutting package would boost economic growth.
She added a decision to cut the top earner tax rate was a "decision that the chancellor made".
And she revealed it was not discussed with the whole cabinet beforehand.
The cut to the 45p rate has provoked outrage from opposition parties, and concern from some Conservative MPs.
Former minister Michael Gove said the cut displayed the "wrong values," and signalled he wouldn't vote for it.
He also said he was "profoundly concerned" about the decision to borrow to fund the tax cuts, calling it "not Conservative".
The government's mini-budget included £45bn in cuts funded by government borrowing, and revealed the government expects its two-year scheme to fix energy prices will cost £60bn in the first six months.
The announcements sparked days of turbulence in financial markets, with the pound falling to a record low against the US dollar on Monday, although it has since recovered.
The rocky economic backdrop is set to dominate this week's Conservative party conference, Ms Truss's first as Tory leader, where she faces the task of reassuring her MPs over her approach to boosting the flagging UK economy.
Speaking from the gathering in Birmingham, Ms Truss promised to win over "the hearts and minds" of Tory MPs to persuade them of her plan.
In an interview for the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, she said she remained committed to her approach and she was "confident" better growth would result.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Michael Gove: Cutting tax for the wealthiest "a display of the wrong values"
"I do stand by the package we announced and I stand by the fact we announced it quickly, because we had to act," the prime minister added.
"But I do accept we should have laid the ground better. I have learned from that, and I will make sure that in future we do a better job of laying the ground."
She also defended the decision to cut the 45p income tax rate for top earners, saying it "raises very little" and made the tax system more complicated.
She added that the cut was a decision made by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng - prompting former cabinet minister and Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries to accuse her of throwing him "under a bus".
And Mr Gove, who has served in several cabinet roles in previous governments, expressed concerns about scrapping the top rate at a time when "people are suffering".
Former deputy prime minister Damian Green warned a reception at conference that the Tories would lose the next general election if "we end up painting ourselves as the party of the rich".
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves accused the government of conducting a "mad experiment" with the economy, calling the market turmoil a "crisis made in Downing Street".
Also speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, she said investors had been spooked by the "sheer scale of the borrowing" to fund the tax cuts, alongside the decision not to publish an official economic forecast alongside the plans.
She added that the public would "pay the price" for the turbulence, and said Ms Truss had failed to understand the "anxiety and fear" about the state of the economy.
Just a few weeks ago, this was a conference where many would have anticipated a mood of loyal celebration.
Yes, a government and a country confronting difficult times - but a party welcoming a new prime minister; relieved to have left the arguments of the collapsing premiership of Boris Johnson behind.
Instead, with nosediving opinion poll numbers and self-inflicted economic volatility, the mood here is bleak, the outbreaks of public anger illustrative of a deeper well of private anguish.
There are few things more dangerous for a government than a perception that senior figures don't know what they are doing and are not fully in control of events.
Some Tory MPs are already privately questioning how long Liz Truss might last in office; even more say they will not support elements of her budget, not least the tax cut for the highest paid.
Senior Conservatives recognise this is a moment of considerable jeopardy for a prime minister not yet a month in the job - and the next few days will be crucial in providing reassurance for the party and the country.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rachel Reeves says the government is conducting a "mad experiment" with the UK economy
In a bid to reassure markets, the government has said it will set out how it plans to lower public debt in the medium term on 23 November.
Pushed repeatedly on whether she planned to cut public spending, Ms Truss did not say, but added she wanted to get "value for money for the taxpayer".
She did not commit to raising benefits in line with inflation, saying that a decision would be made later this autumn.
She also rejected calls to bring forward an assessment of the government's plans from the UK's budget watchdog, currently due to be published alongside the debt plan.
She added that an assessment of the spending plans was "not yet ready".
"There's no point in publishing something that's not ready. That would just cause confusion," she added.
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US President Biden calls Truss's economic policies 'a mistake' - BBC News
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2022-10-17
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The US president spoke out as the UK pays a diplomatic price for turmoil, the BBC’s James Landale writes.
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World
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Joe Biden voices his disagreement to cutting taxes for the UK's "super wealthy"
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has called Liz Truss's original economic policies "a mistake".
In an unusual intervention, he said the economic turmoil that followed the government's mini-budget had been "predictable".
Speaking at an ice cream shop in Oregon, Mr Biden was asked by reporters about the prime minister's attempt to boost growth with unfunded tax cuts - what the reporter called the "trickle-down plan that she has had to back away from".
The president replied: "Well, it's predictable. I wasn't the only one that thought it was a mistake."
He added: "I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy at a time when - anyway, I just think - I disagreed with the policy, but that's up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me."
Mr Biden has long been critical of the economic theory at the heart of the prime minister's policy, namely that cutting taxes on businesses and the rich generates growth that allows wealth to "trickle down" to all sectors of society.
But it is unusual for the president of the United States to be so critical of the leader of one of America's closest allies.
Mr Biden has been criticised in the past for not doing enough to support UK-US relations, preferring instead to focus his transatlantic relationship on Dublin, Paris and Berlin.
But he is not alone on the world stage in being puzzled at the way Britain is being governed and the choices being made by its politicians.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also joked about the UK's economic upheaval
Foreign ministers and British diplomats say there is a diplomatic cost to Britain's political turmoil, as well as an economic price.
Some world leaders are even happy to laugh at Britain's expense in public. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke to the Sunday Times about the concerns expressed by the International Monetary Fund about the state of Britain's economy.
"If you need experience in dealing with the IMF, we are here to help!" he joked, a reference to Greece's own financial instability and support from the international body.
Diplomats from countries suffering their own economic turmoil joke that their currency is stronger than the pound.
And crucially, foreign diplomats feel able to break one of the first rules of diplomacy and criticise the domestic policies of their host governments, such as the German ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, who voiced his concerns about the government's economic plans.
Liz Truss insists she will see through her "mission" to get Britain's economy growing
One UK diplomat told me: "We are a laughing-stock. People come up to me and ask: 'What is going on in your country?' There is a grim fascination in it all. But when I want to talk about substance, they just say, "let's wait until things have settled down and there's a plan.'"
Foreign diplomats and ministers say they miss the role the UK used to play on the world stage, saying they long to see what some describe as "the Britain of old", that provided a calm, steady presence on the world stage.
Britain was in the past seen by diplomats as one of those countries that followed due process and the rule of law and tended to be on the sensible side of any argument.
One European foreign minister told me this weekend: "Wake up Britain! The world is on fire. We need you."
The international unease has been noted by the main opposition parties in the UK, with shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, saying the recent turmoil has "made Britain's economy an international punchline".
"President Biden knows the dangerous folly of trickle-down economics," the MP continued. "His comments confirm the hit our reputation has taken thanks to the Conservatives."
The BBC approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for a response, but it said it would not be commenting.
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Jeremy Hunt buries Truss’s economic experiment - BBC News
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2022-10-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The new chancellor has quickly made it clear he will not be pursuing so-called "Trussonomics".
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Business
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Having just conducted what turned out to be the last interview with former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng while across the pond, it certainly seemed like the economic experiment known as "Trussonomics" was dead - even if Liz Truss remained prime minister.
I had not expected the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to seal the coffin and publicly bury that approach to economics within 24 hours. But that is what happened in his interview with Laura Kuenssberg today.
And for good measure, former Health Secretary Matt Hancock read out a eulogy, of sorts.
"There are people who, in good faith, made arguments about libertarian economics… We've tested those arguments, it is now self-evident for a generation, it didn't work", he said.
Jeremy Hunt's acknowledgement of the "mistake" of side-lining the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), revealed by the BBC before the mini-budget, promise of "very difficult decisions" - and refusal to take any Truss tax cuts "off the table" - are aimed squarely at unimpressed markets.
In a few hours, the markets for British government borrowing reopen, but without the support of emergency help from the Bank of England.
But the market can be a capricious friend as well as a difficult enemy.
The economic message may be "credible", but questions remain as to the political sustainability: A prime minister without her programme, a cabinet now obliged to keep its lips shut over doubts about the OBR or Institute for Fiscal Studies, and a defence secretary having to contemplate how realistic the 3% of GDP promise is.
Truss-supporting MPs are privately concerned that all of this has been driven by pessimistic borrowing forecasts. Is this an entity with enough political capital and unity to push through significant cuts and tax rises, at least partly the result of previous mistakes, that they do not agree about?
And as this happens, businesses, rather in tune with public opinion, are no longer shy about criticising the government.
Many kept their counsel as the government pursued a form of Brexit that made exports more difficult and hit inward investment. The latest bout of economic and political instability has led to open conversations about how "investible" the UK is at this precise moment.
The chairman of Tesco, the supermarket historically most shy of saying anything about politics, told Laura Kuenssberg not only that the Conservatives "did not have a growth plan", but that Labour had the start of one with "many attractive ideas" and that "there's only one team in the field".
This reflects more general grumbling: Who is in charge? What is the policy? Is there macroeconomic stability? What is sterling worth?
These are active questions in boardrooms, and with an apparent swing in public opinion, and big stakes, business leaders feel empowered to say what they think. Buckle up.
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Who is in charge? Liz Truss or Jeremy Hunt? - BBC News
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2022-10-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The new chancellor has junked the prime minister's economic strategy in 24 hours, writes Laura Kuenssberg.
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UK Politics
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Who is in charge? Over the last couple of days you'd be forgiven for wondering if anyone was running the country.
The dizzying ups and downs of the mighty financial markets suggest they didn't really have faith that anyone had a grip on things either.
What happens on traders' screens affects the costs we have to grapple with - whether mortgages or rents - and how much of our taxes the government can spend on vital public services rather than paying interest on debt.
Under acute pressure from the markets Prime Minister Liz Truss had a choice - stick with her plan and say goodbye to what economic credibility her government had left - or say farewell to her proposals and try to muddle on.
In other words - change or die. She chose change. But has she killed off what political authority she had left and handed it to someone else?
Jeremy Hunt, her new Chancellor of the Exchequer and a guest on this week's show, has in a little over 24 hours junked her economic strategy of tax cuts and a promise not to cut public spending.
He's made a virtue out of being candid about how bad things are - dangling the implication the prime minister has not levelled with the public about what comes next.
Whether it's intentional or not, the message isn't that subtle: after the craziness of the last few weeks here comes an experienced grown-up to take control.
And it's given the impression, as one former minister put it: "He's gone out and said he's in charge."
Another said Mr Hunt had "dismantled" the prime minister's agenda, while others suggested his arrival leaves Ms Truss in office, but not really in power.
Mr Hunt told me in our interview for Sunday's programme - as you might expect - that she is still the boss.
Yet the way in which he has been able to comprehensively ditch her programme is striking and shifts the political balance in Downing Street.
The hope in No 10 and No 11 is that Mr Hunt's appointment will grant some breathing space to this struggling administration and the financial markets will stop pounding the UK and reserve judgement about the economy's prospects for a fortnight.
Then, on 31 October, the government will be able to spell out how its numbers add up without the need for a magic calculator. But that arithmetic won't be pretty - public spending cuts are on the way and taxes could rise too.
It leaves Ms Truss now technically in charge of a government that is on track to do the opposite of what she originally promised.
She became prime minister by promising the Conservative Party she would cut taxes and shake up what she condemned as boring old Treasury thinking.
But now she can't keep those vows does she still have the right to govern?
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: A dizzying 24 hours for UK politics... in under a minute
One former minister suggested no-one really has legitimacy now: not Ms Truss, nor Mr Hunt.
Mr Hunt's appointment could calm the markets and has definitely eased some of the concerns in the centre of the Conservative Party, but it has created new unhappiness on the right.
They are frustrated that Ms Truss has given up on her plans and are suspicious that MPs who were never really on board with her ideology have taken advantage of a crisis in the markets for their own political ends.
One of her fellow free marketeers, an ex-minister, told me they were "discouraged" and warned a "full-scale dismantling of the plans would test party unity in a different way".
In other words, the prime minister can no longer rely on their support.
Does the politicking of the last 48 hours really make that much difference? Believe the polls and Ms Truss' start in office has been an epic disaster from which it is hard to see a return.
For some MPs, whoever is in No 11, the Truss project is over. One former minister said there had been a "total seepage of power and authority" and she is on her way out in either weeks or months.
Another MP said there was no point hanging around: "We need to purge the current incumbents," they said, suggesting it would be a mistake to wait.
"The idea we would lose any credibility we have left by removing her is for the birds because we have no credibility."
It is one of the easiest things in politics to say: "We can't go on like this." And yet, very often, it does.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Liz Truss asked why she should stay on as PM
Boris Johnson and Theresa May survived far, far longer than many of their colleagues had hoped. Disbelief and depression on the Tory backbenches is not the same as there being consensus about who could do the job, or how a replacement would be installed.
There's still reticence about dispatching yet another leader. As one minister said: "We'll look like circus clowns if we change again."
And there's a truth that's been obscured by the wild politics of the last few weeks.
The Conservative Party in 2022 doesn't feel entirely sure what it's for, and hasn't for some time.
On the Tory right some feel an attempt at ditching the rather limp centrist approach of the last few years has crashed - but in the middle there's a sense of grim satisfaction they were correct.
Right now this deeply fragile government may not have time to consider such lofty arguments, let alone settle them.
Their only way out is to try to get a grip.
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Liz Truss tries to cling on as MPs work out next step - BBC News
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2022-10-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Few Tory MPs think she should lead them into an election but they are trying to work out their next move.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
There was a tense mood in the building.
Liz Truss knows. Her team knows. Even the dogs in the street know. She is in serious peril.
But she appeared stoical and philosophical about things - and had time to chat about the artwork on the walls in Number 10 as we prepared to record our interview.
She is trying to make the best of a desperate situation for her.
Getting out there and making the argument that she should be given more time.
Why? Well there aren't many others making that argument, so if anyone is going to, it's going to have to be her.
It is worth remembering when we reflect on what is happening in politics right now just how extraordinary it is.
Yes, the extraordinary has become ordinary in recent years: a coalition, Brexit, political instability, frequent general elections, a pandemic, war in Europe.
I have reported from Westminster, on and off, for nearly 20 years.
I know, I know, I should get out more.
But I've never known a period like this.
Like the rest of us, political leaders change their minds.
But this was not just a wave of U-turns in scale and speed never seen before in contemporary politics.
It was more than that: it amounts to the wholesale collapse of the near entire programme for government of a prime minister who has been in office for six weeks.
So there was an obvious place to start.
"Prime minister, who is to blame for this mess?" I asked.
"Well, first of all, I do want to accept responsibility and say sorry, for the mistakes that have been made," she acknowledged.
But on specifics, extracting an apology proved much tougher.
On the economy, she stands accused of directly contributing to higher mortgage bills for millions of people.
What does she say to those families, right now, I asked.
"I understand it is very difficult for families across the country," she told me.
It took me three attempts for her to acknowledge she was "sorry."
She had gone "too far and too fast" with her plans, she acknowledged.
So was her rival for the leadership, the former chancellor Rishi Sunak, right all along?
"We had a very robust leadership campaign this summer where we debated ideas, we debated philosophy…" she said, not answering my question.
"He suggested your ideas would be a disaster, and he's been proven right, hasn't he?" I suggested.
She told me she was "committed to a low-tax high-growth economy," (taxes are going up, growth is sluggish) but she said "my responsibility as prime minister is making sure that we have economic stability" - which the UK hasn't had since she became prime minister.
Will she lead the Conservatives into the next general election?
"I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election," she said.
"Well look, yeah," she said, laughing nervously. "I'm not focused on internal debates within the Conservative Party leader."
But she has to be, to stay in office.
Only hours before, after all, she had had Sir Graham Brady in to see her, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers who'll have been able to tell her direct whether her own colleagues want her to stick around.
"The important thing is that I've been elected to this position to deliver for the country. We are facing very tough times. We simply cannot afford to spend our time talking about the Conservative Party, rather than what we need to deliver. That is my message to my colleagues," she concluded.
It is a plea to be given more time.
At a time when many of them are not inclined to do so.
Her nervous laugh about her long-term future nods to the stark reality that is obvious in Westminster.
There are very, very few Conservative MPs right now who think it'd be a remotely good idea for her to lead them into an election.
But for now they are collectively trying to work out what to do next.
Plenty tell me if the opinion polls remain dire for them, and they look better with an alternative to Liz Truss, she will be ditched.
But the challenge they face is finding a successor in as clean and quick way as possible.
And it almost certainly won't be clean. And it probably won't be that quick.
And so in the meantime, Liz Truss tries to cling on.
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Independent Scotland to have own currency when 'time right' - Sturgeon - BBC News
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2022-10-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The first minister publishes a paper on the case for Scotland becoming an independent nation.
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Scotland politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. FM Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland would continue to use the pound sterling while the Scottish pound is introduced in a "careful and responsible phased approach".
An independent Scotland would keep the pound and move to its own currency when the "time is right".
Nicola Sturgeon outlined the view at a briefing giving updated arguments for what could happen if the country voted for independence.
The first minister said a timetable for creating a Scottish currency would not be set, however, use of sterling would be as "short as practicable".
The UK government has said now is not the time to discuss independence.
A Scottish government paper has set out proposals for key issues, such as currency, trade and border crossings.
The prospectus, which was unveiled at a media briefing in Edinburgh, included details on how an independent Scotland would apply to become a member of the European Union.
It also outlined a redesign of the energy market and a migration policy to boost the working population.
At the Bute House briefing, Ms Sturgeon said a Scottish pound would be created after independence only "when the time is right".
This is in keeping with proposals made in 2018 by the SNP's Sustainable Growth Commission, which said six key tests would have to be passed before the country transitioned away from sterling. That move was forecast to take about a decade.
The "Building a new Scotland" paper cuts the number of tests to three with no prediction on the length of time it would take to fulfil them. The first minister said it would not be "responsible" to give a firm commitment on a timetable.
In the prospectus, an independent Scottish central bank would be created, along with a debt management office and a significantly strengthened Scottish Fiscal Commission to replicate the work of the UK Office for Budget Responsibility.
An independent Scotland would look to join the EU; remain within the Common Travel Area with the UK and Ireland and join the EU's Schengen free movement area.
Ms Sturgeon explains: "That means any talk of passports to visit relatives in England is utter nonsense. Free movement of people across our islands will continue as before.
"An independent Scotland will also be gaining free movement across 27 other countries."
The independence prospectus says there would be some checks on goods at the Scottish border
The prospectus says there would be physical border checks on goods on the two main trunk routes between England and Scotland, while similar measures at rail freight terminals would be likely.
Ms Sturgeon said: "None of this, none of this is insurmountable, but it does require proper planning."
She went on to address the issue of an independent Scotland taking on UK debt.
The first minister explained that while there was no "legal" requirement to do so, Holyrood has a "moral" responsibility.
Ms Sturgeon told the press conference: "In light of that, and indeed our desire for a strong future partnership between Scottish and UK governments, we would seek a fair settlement on both debt and assets."
She also said that an independent Scotland could realise its "vast renewable energy potential" and "kickstart the inclusive growth" via the proposed Building a New Scotland Fund, a pot of up to £20bn generated through oil industry revenues.
"Without independence, Scotland will face austerity, trade barriers and "narrowed horizons as a result of Brexit," Ms Sturgeon said. "All of it exacerbated by increasingly dysfunctional Westminster decision-making."
Scotland has a head start if it is to become independent. It already has its own parliament, legal system and other key institutions.
Even so, designing the economic architecture of a sovereign state remains a colossal challenge.
And what is clear from this economic paper is that task would also be layered, complex and dynamic.
Consider some of the issues: setting up a central bank; transitioning to a new currency; applying to join the European Union; balancing the books.
Nicola Sturgeon is essentially saying that she cannot yet provide detailed answers to some questions about the process because of the unpredictable interaction between those different topics.
The first minister insists she is being as candid as possible, pointing to a 108-page document with 300 footnotes as evidence.
Opponents say that isn't good enough. They demand more detail, more answers, more explanation - now.
But, if voters in Scotland one day have their say on the subject again, in the end it won't be the judgment of any politician which matters - but that of the nation.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said the paper "illustrates just how thin the economic case for independence is".
He added: "The SNP are trying to sell Scotland a pig in a poke. It's completely the wrong priority at the worst possible time for Scotland.
"Nicola Sturgeon should be using government resources to help struggling families instead of to push for another divisive and unwanted referendum."
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour called on the SNP to be honest about its proposals.
The party's finance spokesman Daniel Johnson said: "The SNP need to drop the spin and come clean with people about the catastrophic reality of their economic plans.
"Despite wasting 15 years in government peddling the same old agenda, they still can't answer even the most basic questions."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'They're asking for a yes or no answer to really complex question'
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton branded the plan a "recipe for years of chaos".
He accused Ms Sturgeon of making "the same pie-in-the-sky promises as the Brexiteers, threatening to cut Scotland off from its biggest trading partner".
"She refused to admit her proposals would leave Scotland outside both the UK and the EU for an untold number of years," he added.
"Nor can she tell the public how Scotland would build up the necessary foreign currency reserves for her plans to ditch the pound."
A UK government spokesman said: "People in Scotland want their governments to be focused on the issues that matter to them - growing our economy, ensuring our energy security, tackling the cost of living and supporting our friends in Ukraine against Russian aggression.
"This is simply not the time to be talking about another independence referendum."
The spokesman added that Scotland benefited from being part of a wider union, through initiatives like the Covid furlough scheme or the energy support package which has limited bill increases this winter.
The paper is the third in a series, published as part of the Scottish government's plans to hold a referendum on 19 October next year.
In June Ms Sturgeon unveiled what she called a "refreshed" case for independence and said her government had an "indisputable mandate" for a second referendum.
The following month she launched a second paper which argued independence was the only way to end the "starker than ever" democratic deficit in Scotland.
The UK Supreme Court, which heard two days of submissions last week, is considering if Holyrood has the legal powers to press ahead with a referendum without consent from the UK government.
Scotland's lord advocate argued that such a vote would be advisory, and therefore would not have a legal effect on the Union.
The UK government argues the case is plainly about the constitution which is reserved to Westminster and holding a referendum is therefore beyond the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63278974
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news_uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63278974
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Kevin Spacey denies sex abuse claim during testimony at his trial - BBC News
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2022-10-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The actor is on trial in New York over an allegation he touched a 14-year-old boy at a party in 1986.
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US & Canada
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Actor Kevin Spacey has taken the stand at his civil trial in New York to deny the claim that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old at a house party in 1986.
"They are not true," he said of the allegations by Anthony Rapp, who is seeking $40m (£36m) in damages.
Before taking the stand on Monday, Mr Spacey won a victory when a judge dropped one of the claims brought by Mr Rapp.
Mr Spacey is separately facing five charges in the UK of sexual assault.
Mr Rapp, 50, who is also an actor and known for his role in Star Trek: Discovery, filed a complaint against Mr Spacey in 2020 saying that he touched him inappropriately when Mr Rapp was 14 years old and made sexual advances toward him.
Taking the stand in his own defence in the third week of his trial, Mr Spacey said he was shocked when Mr Rapp went public with his allegations five years ago.
"I didn't know how this could possibly be true," he said, adding he would not have been sexually interested in Mr Rapp as he was underage.
Mr Spacey also discussed growing up with a father who he described as a "white supremacist and neo-Nazi".
The 63-year-old House of Cards actor said he was "forced to listen to hours and hours and hours" of "hatred" from his father, which instilled in him a "hatred" for prejudice and bigotry.
This, he said, has also discouraged him from publicly disclosing that he was gay sooner.
"I have never talked about these things publicly," he testified.
Mr Spacey announced he was choosing "to live as a gay man" as part of his first response to Mr Rapp's allegations, which was criticised for deflecting attention from the accusations against him.
Mr Rapp says that Mr Spacey was around 26 or 27 years old when he met him at a party at his Manhattan apartment.
According to court documents, he claims that during the party Mr Spacey lifted him up and his hand "grazed" his buttocks. He alleges Mr Spacey then placed him back down on a bed and "briefly placed his own clothed body partially beside and partially across" his own.
In opening arguments early this month, his lawyer said Mr Spacey's behaviour was "wrong and frankly unacceptable".
Last week, Mr Rapp was asked if he has lied about his allegations against the Oscar-winning actor.
"I have not," he told the court. "It was something that happened to me that was not okay."
On Monday morning, Judge Lewis A Kaplan dismissed Mr Rapp's claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, leaving only one claim - of battery - to be weighed by the jury.
The judge had already previously dismissed a charge of sexual assault, ruling the statute of limitations had expired.
Separate sex assault charges - alleging that Mr Spacey groped an 18-year-old at a restaurant in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 2016 - collapsed in 2019 after the actor's lawyers argued the accuser had manipulated text messages on his phone.
In August, a judge ruled that Mr Spacey must pay $31m to the producers of House of Cards for the costs they incurred after firing him from the show.
In July, he entered a not guilty plea in London to criminal charges of sexually assaulting three men over a decade ago. That trial is due to begin in June 2023.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63293995
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news_world-us-canada-63293995
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Rwanda three-week removals plan revealed - BBC News
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2022-10-13
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda three weeks after their arrival in the UK, High Court hears.
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UK
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The first flight to take refugees from the UK to Rwanda was cancelled at the last moment in June
Asylum seekers crossing the English Channel could be sent to Rwanda in as little as three weeks after their arrival, it has been claimed.
In the latest stage of a High Court legal battle over the controversial Home Office plan, opponents said the timescales were unlawful and unfair.
Charity Asylum Aid said the plan denies people a fair chance to make a case.
But the Home Office said flexible timescales would in fact allow migrants time to present all of their arguments.
No flights to Rwanda have yet left - and they will not take place until the complex and huge legal battle is finished.
Last month, the High Court heard five days of arguments over whether the government had any actual power to send asylum seekers to Rwanda if they have come to the UK from a safe country, such as France.
Judges are also considering the UN refugee agency's concerns and whether the UK can share the personal data of migrants with Rwanda's authorities.
In Thursday's hearing at the High Court, lawyers for Asylum Aid argued that migrants could not get a fair hearing under the accelerated timetable to list them for a flight.
After an initial screening interview in Kent, migrants would be given a "notice of intent" that they were being considered for the Rwanda scheme.
They would then have seven days to make a case to stay in the UK - and if the Home Office later decides to send them to Rwanda instead, they would have a further five-day notice of the date of their flight.
During the hearing, Charlotte Kilroy KC, for the charity, repeatedly clashed with Lord Justice Lewis, one of the two judges hearing the case.
He repeatedly asked her to explain why seven days was procedurally unfair or unlawful, given all the migrant had to do was tell Home Office officials why they had not sought asylum in another European country, and explain why they were too vulnerable to be sent to Rwanda or had another reason to remain in the UK.
"Whether they come on a boat or lorry, the reality is that in most cases they will be able to explain the countries they passed through," said the judge. "Do they not have every opportunity [to put their case]?"
Ms Kilroy replied: "It is not just where they have passed through but the exceptional circumstances [they may have].
"They need to get a lawyer in order to properly explain the sorts of matters that might amount to exceptional reasons.
"The screening interview is brief and they [without proper advice] don't understand what amounts to exceptional circumstances."
The home secretary's team say the minimum seven-day period would be "sufficient" in most cases - and others would get extensions so they could raise issues that officials need to examine more closely.
"It is not an 'accelerated' process," said Edward Brown KC, for the government, in written submissions.
"The process is designed to determine, without delay, the issue of admissibility and possible removal to Rwanda, whilst giving sufficient opportunity to the individual to make representations."
The hearing continues on Friday - with the judges expected to rule within weeks on the entire plan. It is highly likely that result will then be appealed by the losing side - meaning no flights to Rwanda would take off this year.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63248214
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Alex Jones told to pay $965m damages to Sandy Hook victims' families - BBC News
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2022-10-13
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The shock jock is ordered to pay huge damages after branding the Connecticut school shooting a hoax.
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US & Canada
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Alex Jones now acknowledges that the Sandy Hook shooting was "100% real"
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay $965m (£869m) in damages after falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
The families of eight victims, and an FBI agent who responded to the attack, had sought at least $550m in the defamation trial in Connecticut.
They alleged the right-wing radio host's misinformation led to a decade of harassment and death threats.
Twenty children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Jones, who founded the conspiracy-laden Infowars website and talk show, argued for years that the massacre was a "staged" government plot to take guns from Americans and that "no-one died".
He called the parents of victims "crisis actors" and argued that some of them never actually existed.
He now acknowledges the attack was "100% real", a concession he made in August at a separate defamation trial in Texas.
As the verdict was read out on Wednesday in Waterbury, Connecticut - some 20 miles (32 km) from the site of the 2012 shooting - many of the families were visibly emotional with some in tears.
The three-week trial was marked by emotional testimony from a succession of parents.
Some described receiving a deluge of online hate and others said they had to move homes repeatedly for their own safety. A father, Mark Barden, recounted hearing that people were desecrating his son Daniel's grave by "urinating on it and threatening to dig it up".
Jurors also heard evidence that Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, made millions of dollars selling nutritional supplements, survival gear and other products on the Infowars catalogue.
Jones broadcast himself watching Wednesday's verdict and scoffing at the court proceedings. He also appealed to his followers to make urgent donations, and pledged that the funds would not go towards his legal costs.
"The money does not go to these people," he said. "It goes to fight this fraud and it goes to stabilise the company."
His lawyer Norm Pattis told reporters that they will appeal the decision.
"Candidly, from start to finish, the fix was in in this case," he said outside the court.
In closing arguments, plaintiffs' attorney Chris Mattei said: "When every single one of these families were drowning in grief, Alex Jones put his foot right on top of them."
Jones, for his part, had slammed the proceedings as a "show trial" run by a "tyrant" judge and argued he was not to blame for the actions of his followers.
"I've already said I'm sorry hundreds of times, and I'm done saying I'm sorry," he said in dramatic testimony late last month that brought some in the courtroom to tears.
His lawyers urged the six-member jury to ignore political undercurrents in the case and award minimal damages.
His lead defence lawyer, Mr Pattis, also drew a stern rebuke from the judge after he accused the opposing legal team of "inventing anger".
This marks a moment of reckoning when it comes to harmful online conspiracies. Jones has never been handed damages of this scale before, nor has any other conspiracy theorist - and it sets a huge precedent.
The question everyone is asking now: will this put an end to these kinds of conspiracies and the harm they can cause? That's certainly what the Sandy Hook parents hope.
A former Infowars insider tells me that he thinks this could be the beginning of the end for Jones and put a stop to him pushing theories.
But, after the pandemic, there's an increasing group of people vulnerable to the tactics and rhetoric used by a conspiracy theorist like him. Jones is already attempting to claim this verdict is just more proof that people are trying to stop him telling the truth. The bereaved families who were in court can see it's far from that.
Pandora's box is wide open and it's hard to close. At the very least, this shows the tide is starting to turn. People realise the danger online disinformation can pose - and how dismissing it as fringe does nothing to stop harm caused to the victims. Those victims are turning to the courts, rather than social media sites or policy markers, for justice.
The trial follows a similar case in Texas in August that saw Jones ordered to pay $49.3m in damages to other Sandy Hook parents.
The plaintiffs - who said they had endured harassment and emotional distress because of the Infowars founder's misinformation - had sought $150m.
A lawyer in the Connecticut case said families should receive at least $550m, saying Jones's Sandy Hook content got an estimated 550 million views from 2012 to 2018.
But the jury ultimately made 15 separate awards, ranging from $28m to $120m, totalling $965m.
It said these were to cover emotional distress as well as slander and defamation. It is possible Jones will be separately told to pay punitive damages.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sandy Hook dad: Trolls said I killed and dismembered my son
However, it is unclear how much money the families will actually receive, with Jones saying on Wednesday there "ain't no money".
He and his company have filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas, where a forensic economist has testified that he and his company are worth around $270m. Jones has disputed that figure.
Jones and his entourage flew to Connecticut from Texas for the trial in a private jet. They stayed in a rented villa with a pool and tennis court, according to the New York Times.
Jones still faces a third defamation trial over the Sandy Hook shooting that begins in Texas later this year.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63237092
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news_world-us-canada-63237092
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Chinese cotton sold in UK could be from persecuted Uyghurs, court hears - BBC News
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2022-10-25
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Reasonable grounds to believe cotton on sale in the UK was from persecuted Uyghurs, High Court told.
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UK
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Rahima Mahmut, UK director of the World Uyghur Congress, wants cotton products thought to have been made in Xinjiang to be banned
The UK government acted unlawfully by not investigating whether some cotton imports come from Uyghur forced-labour camps in China, a court has heard.
Lawyers for the World Uyghur Congress said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe UK retailers had benefited from cotton made by Uyghurs held in China.
Rights groups say Xinjiang's Muslim Uyghur minority are being persecuted and conscripted for forced labour.
Government lawyers said it needed more evidence of a link to be able to act.
Around 20% of the world's cotton is made in China, and Xinjiang cotton accounts for 85% of all Chinese cotton.
In the first of two days of hearings at the High Court in London, Mr Tom Forster KC, for the World Uyghur Congress and the Global Legal Action Network, said the case was "not remotely hypothetical" but concerned the UK government's duty to investigate whether "dirty property" was entering the country from Xinjiang.
Sir James Eadie KC, representing the home secretary, HMRC and the National Crime Agency, said the government considered China's effort "to silence and repress Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang [to be] appalling".
However, he said there needed to be a clear link between "the alleged criminality and its specific product" to investigate whether goods were made in a foreign prison.
"At best, the claimant's case is that there is a compelling inference of a chance that a crime has been committed but it is unable to identify how, by whom, when, or where such an offence took place," the government's lawyers argued.
"The existence of a general statistical likelihood is not (nor has it ever been) a basis for any criminal investigation or the exercise of any coercive power."
They said government agencies needed the discretion to decide whether an investigation was likely to succeed before allocating resources.
"In the present context of an investigation in which the Chinese government would be implicated, there is no realistic prospect of police-to-police (or agency-to-agency) co-operation or of evidence being obtained by way of mutual legal assistance from the Chinese authorities, for example."
Mr Forster responded that the claimant was not alleging a crime had been committed, just that there was enough evidence to launch an investigation.
"No identified criminal property results in no investigation, which results in no identified criminal property."
It is thought to be the first time a foreign court has heard legal arguments from the Uyghurs over the issue of forced labour in Xinjiang.
Rahima Mahmut, UK director of the World Uyghur Congress, told the BBC she had not seen her family in Xinjiang for almost six years.
She urged the UK government to follow the lead of the United States and pass legislation to ban cotton products thought to have been made in Xinjiang.
"A genocide is happening in my country," she said. "This case is about accountability.
"For us this is a legal opportunity to go to the high court in this country to complain about the departments that have the responsibility to stop slave-laboured goods."
Gearóid Ó Cuinn, director of Global Legal Action Network, said the UK government needed to match its strong rhetoric on China with action.
"Right now UK consumers are systematically exposed to consumer goods tainted by forced labour," he said.
"Companies have categorically failed in their efforts to remedy this unacceptable situation and continue to trade in these illicit goods in broad daylight."
A government spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment while litigation was continuing.
The hearing, before Mr Justice Dove, is due to conclude on Wednesday, with a ruling at a later date.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63390458
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news_uk-63390458
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Harvey Weinstein rape trial begins in Los Angeles - BBC News
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2022-10-25
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The former film producer is currently serving a 23-year jail term following a previous trial in New York.
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Entertainment & Arts
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In 2020, Weinstein was convicted on charges of rape and criminal sexual acts, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison
An actress and model identified as Jane Doe 1 accused former Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault during the first day of his Los Angeles rape trial.
She tearfully recounted being forced to perform oral sex on Weinstein after he turned up at her hotel room following a film festival event in 2013.
The woman was the first to take the stand on Monday in the trial, following opening statements from his legal team.
"I was crying, choking," the women said, sobbing as she spoke.
US trade publication Deadline reported Jane Doe 1 also covered her mouth with her hand as she described how Weinstein allegedly grabbed her by the hair and shoved her face toward his genitalia.
The woman filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department in October 2017, shortly after the New York Times and New Yorker reported on multiple allegations of sexual assault by Weinstein.
At the Los Angeles court on Monday, Weinstein wore a black suit, blue tie and glasses as he was brought to the courtroom in a wheelchair, seated at the right edge of the defence table.
Jane Doe 1, speaking at times with some assistance from a Russian interpreter, told jurors her grasp of English was a factor in her encounter with Weinstein.
She said she had been living in Rome in 2013 when she travelled to Los Angeles to attend the Italia Film Festival, where she was expected to "work red carpets."
She told the court she had previously met Weinstein in Rome, where he invited her to his hotel room but she declined.
At the Los Angeles event, she said, she saw Weinstein in a VIP room but said that they "barely" spoke.
Yet later, when she was back in her hotel room, the front desk put a phone call through from a person identifying himself as Weinstein, who insisted that he see her.
When he got into her room, she said there was some small talk before Weinstein removed his jacket and started talking about a massage.
"I was continuing to ask him to go because I was realising it was something awkward and I was missing my English a lot," she said.
Weinstein then made a comment about the size of her breasts, she said, and he then tried to open her robe. She said that she pulled away and asked him again to leave.
She told the jury she feared that her poor English may have accidentally led Weinstein to believe that she was interested in him. But she said that she was trying to explain that she would not have sex "because I have three kids."
Weinstein opened his trousers, she said, and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Her testimony will continue on Tuesday.
Harvey Weinstein pictured during his previous trial at Manhattan criminal court in February 2020
Earlier on Monday, Weinstein's attorney Mark Werksman told jurors during opening arguments the case against the former film producer would "evaporate upon your close scrutiny".
Mr Werksman argued that the numerous allegations were in fact consensual sex or fabricated.
He said that the evidence in the case is "based on emotion, not facts," that accusers were taking part in what he called "transactional sex."
"It was the casting couch," he said. "Everyone did it. He did it. They did it. Because each wanted something from another."
"Now look at him," Mr Werksman said, referring to Weinstein. "He's not Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Do you think these beautiful women had sex with him because he's hot? They did it because he is powerful."
He suggested "an asteroid called the MeToo movement" struck with "such ferocity that everything changed overnight. And Mr Weinstein became the epicentre of the MeToo movement."
Mr Werksman told jurors that they would not see any eyewitness corroboration of the sexual assault claims during the trial, nor would there be forensic evidence.
"You will see that not a single [Jane Doe] reported to the police that she had been sexually assaulted until five years after the fact," he said.
"You will see reams of emails and texts from the very women who accuse him of sexual assault asking him for future meetings…expressing regret that they didn't see him. Asking for favours."
Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not guilty to 11 sexual assault charges that involve claims from five women between 2004 and 2013.
A jury of nine men and three women is hearing the Los Angeles case, following about two weeks of jury selection. The trial is expected to last until late November.
Weinstein was convicted in 2020 on charges of rape and criminal sexual acts, and he was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He was granted an appeal by New York's highest court in August.
The former film producer, who had been transferred to Los Angeles county jail to await the second trial, faces a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison if convicted of the additional charges.
The grand jury charges are for four counts of rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, one count of sexual penetration by use of force, plus one count of sexual battery by restraint and sexual battery.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63384384
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news_entertainment-arts-63384384
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John Cleese to host new GB News TV show - BBC News
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2022-10-10
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The Fawlty Towers star will appear on the network alongside satirist Andrew Doyle from next year.
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Entertainment & Arts
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John Cleese rose to fame as part of the British surreal comedy troupe Monty Python
Actor and comedian John Cleese has confirmed he will host his own GB News TV show from next year.
The Fawlty Towers star told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the new show will see him work alongside satirist Andrew Doyle, and encourage "proper argument".
Doyle currently hosts Free Speech Nation on the channel which launched last year.
Cleese warned that GB News audiences "may not be used to hearing the sort of things I'll be saying".
"I was approached and I didn't know who they were," he explained to presenter Amol Rajan on Monday.
"I don't know much about modern television because I've pretty much given up on it - English television."
He added: "Then I met one or two of the people concerned and had a dinner with them and I liked them very much.
"And what they said was, 'people say it's a right-wing channel [but] it's a free speech channel'."
(Left to right) Monty Python's Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin in 1969
Before creating and playing the much-loved misanthropic hotel owner Basil Fawlty, Cleese rose to fame as part of the British surreal comedy troupe Monty Python in the late 1960s and early 70s.
He told Rajan that entertainment bosses had said the show would not get commissioned today "because it's six white people, five of whom went to Oxbridge".
Adding he had not been offered an opportunity to return to the BBC but that if he did his reply would be: "Not on your nelly."
"Because I wouldn't get five minutes into the first show before I'd been cancelled or censored," he said.
Cleese been a vocal critic of cancel culture in comedy and so-called "woke" politics. Last year, he cancelled an appearance at Cambridge University after a visiting speaker was banned for a doing a Hitler impression.
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He later walked out of a BBC interview due to what he described as the "deception, dishonesty and tone" of the conversation. Though a BBC spokeswoman said at the time it had been a "fair and appropriate interview".
GB News launched in June last year, becoming the UK's first TV news start-up for 30 years, since the launch of Sky News.
A few months ago, Cleese questioned the extent to which his soon-to-be new employer was "influenced by Russian interests".
He told Today he had "kind of lost interest" in British politics in recent years after the country "sunk to the lowest intellectual level I can ever remember" during the Brexit debates.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63197829
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news_entertainment-arts-63197829
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Tory conference: Rebellion in the air over possible benefit squeeze - BBC News
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2022-10-04
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Some Tory MPs are clear they will not back a move to end the link between benefits and inflation.
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UK Politics
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This has not been an easy party conference for the government.
Some in Birmingham think it's been a disaster.
First, a colossal U-turn on the 45p tax rate, then being forced to bring forward the next step of the chancellor's economic growth plan under pressure from Tory MPs.
Now, there's another mutiny brewing over benefits - and how much they should go up by.
Boris Johnson's government promised that working-age benefits would go up in line with inflation.
His successor as PM, Liz Truss, has pledged that pensions will continue to be linked to inflation but has pointedly not made the same commitment when it comes to welfare payments like universal credit.
It means a rise in working-age benefits could be linked to wages instead.
The government has said no final decision will be made for a few weeks yet. But rebellion hangs in the air here in Birmingham and it's likely to follow the prime minister back to Westminster.
A growing number of Conservative MPs are making it clear where they stand - and remarkably, that goes all the way up to the cabinet.
"We are not about trying to help people with one hand and take away with another," she told Times Radio.
Remember, cabinet ministers are supposed to toe the government line. This is not an example of biting your tongue.
Then there's the former Tory leader - and one of the main architects of the universal credit system - Iain Duncan Smith, who has urged benefits to rise in line with prices.
He told the BBC: "Do the right thing for those who are poorest.
"The money you give into this area to deal with the worst off will go straight back into the economy, so that will help growth, ironically, at a time when we need growth rather than recession."
There is a debate going on in government over the best way to proceed.
One argument being made in Downing Street is that it is unfair to urge workers to accept below inflation wage rises, then to give inflation-matched increases in benefits.
Hence the suggestion the rises in benefits could be limited to the average salary increase.
One minister who sits around the cabinet table also argues the government needs to be prepared to have "a conversation" with the public about the benefits system.
They argue the drive for growth requires people to be in work, earning more money.
But there is significant concern in the Conservative Party about the idea of real-terms benefits cuts during a cost-of-living crisis.
Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith is among those to have argued the government needs to protect the most vulnerable in society.
She told the conference: "We do understand that these are very anxious times for people, we know that people are struggling with some of the costs that are rising. That's why protecting the most vulnerable is a vital priority for me and to this government."
It'll be her job to conduct review of benefit levels. It's common for people in the job to back higher rather than lower benefits. Her allies haven't contested suggestions she wants to secure an inflation-level increase.
"I suspect we'll end up with something close to inflation because of parliamentary pressure," says one minister I spoke to on Tuesday morning.
So where does this all end up? Is the move now inevitable? Some think so, like the former cabinet minister Damian Green who says the prime minister would lose any vote in Parliament on below-inflation benefits.
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Rishi Sunak defends return of Suella Braverman to Home Office - BBC News
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2022-10-26
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But opposition MPs claim it undermines the new PM's pledge to have integrity in his new government.
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UK Politics
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Rishi Sunak has defended re-appointing Suella Braverman as home secretary days after she quit over data breaches.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the new PM of doing a "grubby deal" with Ms Braverman to secure her support in the recent Tory leadership contest.
He also asked if officials had raised concern over the appointment.
Mr Sunak avoided the question but argued bringing Ms Braverman back into cabinet brought "experience and stability" to government.
A No 10 spokesperson later denied reports that Simon Case - the head of the civil service - had been "livid" about the appointment.
Taking his first Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Sunak justified his decision telling MPs: "The home secretary made an error of judgment but she recognised that, she raised the matter and she accepted her mistake."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Starmer welcomes Sunak as the first British Asian prime minister, calling it a “significant moment"
He hit back at the Labour leader, accusing the party of being "soft on crime and in favour of unlimited immigration".
Sir Keir pointed to his own experience as head of the Crown Prosecution Service adding: "I know first hand how important it is that we have a home secretary whose integrity and professionalism are beyond question.
"He's so weak, he's done a grubby deal trading national security because he was scared to lose another leadership election - there's a new Tory at the top but as always with them party first, country second."
The Liberal Democrats have also been critical of the appointment with the party's home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael saying: "A home secretary who broke the rules is not fit for a Home Office which keeps the rules."
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford accused the prime minister of doing "a sleazy backroom deal to shore up his own position".
Opposition parties are calling for investigations - the Liberal Democrats want an inquiry into Ms Braverman's appointment "including any promises Sunak made to her behind closed doors", while Labour wants one into possible security breaches by the home secretary.
Some Conservative MPs have also privately expressed their concern to the BBC about the decision.
During an urgent questions on the subject in Parliament, Labour MP Angela Eagle asked if an independent ethics adviser would investigate Ms Braverman's behaviour.
Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin replied that Mr Sunak did intend to appoint a new adviser - the previous holder of the role quit earlier this year - but added that "events in the last administration would not be properly part of the remit of the new independent adviser".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The SNP's Ian Blackford says new PM Sunak did a "sleazy backroom deal" with Braverman to gain post
Ms Braverman stepped down last week amid the final days of Liz Truss's short-lived and chaotic premiership.
In her resignation letter, she admitted committing a "technical infringement" of the rules by sending an official document to someone not authorised to receive it.
Her letter also hinted at disagreements with Ms Truss over immigration policy expressing concern that the government was not delivering on commitments to tackle illegal migration.
However, on his first day as prime minister Mr Sunak re-appointed Ms Braverman as home secretary.
It came three days after Ms Braverman had thrown her support behind him in the contest to replace Ms Truss, in what was widely seen as a significant endorsement by an influential MP on the right-wing of the Conservative party.
Asked if Ms Braverman had been given the job as a reward for supporting the new PM, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told the BBC Mr Sunak had strong support from MPs in the contest adding: "I doubt he needed any particular individual endorsement."
What's behind Suella Braverman's comeback and what does it mean for policy?
It's clear what she wants to do in the job - in her resignation letter to Liz Truss she said she had "serious concerns" over whether the government was committed to reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal immigration.
At the Tory conference she talked about her "dream" of making the Rwanda policy work and wanting to eventually get immigration levels down to the tens of thousands.
Remember Liz Truss was poised to make an announcement on immigration policy as a way of trying to stimulate economic growth - something over which she was reportedly at loggerheads with Suella Braverman.
For Rishi Sunak, getting Suella Braverman's backing was a key moment in the truncated leadership campaign - and returning her to one of the great offices of states is an overture to the right of the party.
He talked a lot about asylum seekers during the leadership contest over the summer - but less so about immigration, so we don't know much yet about his thinking.
But it's interesting he's put one of his long-term allies - Robert Jenrick - in the Home Office as immigration minister.
Perhaps his eyes and ears in the department, someone to make alternative arguments or shape one whole policy area.
The row over Ms Braverman's new job, came as MPs on the Home Affairs Committee heard evidence on Channel crossings.
They had been due to hear from the immigration minister Tom Pursglove, but his appearance was cancelled after he lost his job in Tuesday's cabinet reshuffle.
Instead MPs heard from Dan O'Mahoney - the Home Office's clandestine Channel threat commander - who told the committee that 38,000 people have arrived in the UK so far this year in small boats - an increase compared to last year's figure of 28,526.
The committee also heard that around 93% of people arriving in small boats this year have claimed asylum. However, there is a backlog in processing claims and only 4% of applications from 2021 have been processed.
Mr O'Mahoney also noted there had been a huge increase in the number of Albanians arriving in the UK illegally - 21,000 in the UK this year, compared to 50 in 2020.
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Waukesha trial: Man convicted of deadly car-ramming at Wisconsin parade - BBC News
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2022-10-26
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Dozens more were injured when an SUV ploughed into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last November.
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US & Canada
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The attack took place on Main Street in downtown Waukesha last November
A jury in Wisconsin has convicted a man for killing six people and injuring dozens more when he drove through a Christmas parade last year.
Prosecutors argued he was filled with rage and his actions had shown "utter disregard for human life".
The 40-year-old attacker represented himself in the trial, repeatedly interrupting the judge and derailing court proceedings.
He faces six life sentences plus 859 years of confinement, prosecutors say.
School bands and a dance troupe of Wisconsin grandmothers were among those marching in the city of Waukesha on 21 November when the attacker sped down the road in his red SUV.
Those killed were Virginia Sorensen, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52; Jane Kulich, 52; Wilhelm Hospel, 81; and eight-year-old Jackson Sparks. More than 60 others were injured.
The driver, Darrell Brooks, a native of nearby Milwaukee, was said to have been fleeing a domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend.
He was convicted of 76 charges, including homicide, hit and run, bail jumping and battery.
As the 12-person jury's verdict was read on Wednesday, he sat motionless with his head in his hands.
Someone in the gallery shouted as the verdicts were read: "Burn in hell!"
"Your actions are that of a murderer," lead prosecutor Sue Opper said during closing arguments on Tuesday. "When you ride through a parade route and roll over children... your intent is known."
Ms Opper told the court that the attacker "never stopped", despite the police officers and barricades in his way, before later attempting to "change his appearance" and "get the hell out of town as fast as he could before the cops came".
"This was an intentional act... and an act of utter disregard for human life," she said.
Initially pleading not guilty on grounds of mental illness, the attacker later withdrew the plea without explanation.
Days before the trial, he also dismissed his public defenders and chose to represent himself. He declared himself a so-called "sovereign citizen", adherents of a fringe movement who believe they are not under the jurisdiction of the government and are exempt from US law.
In court, the defendant claimed not to recognise his own name, objected to prosecutors' questions and repeatedly heckled Judge Jennifer Dorow, forcing her on more than one occasion to move him to an adjacent courtroom to follow the proceedings via a muted Zoom call, where he at one point appeared shirtless.
"This case has demonstrated that a stubbornly defiant defendant can forfeit even important constitutional rights by conduct," the judge said on Tuesday.
Weeping through his closing statement, the suspect claimed he was "speaking from the heart" and had not intentionally mowed down parade-goers.
"My conscience is clear," he told jurors. "Whatever you decide, make sure you can live with it."
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Liz Truss tries to cling on as MPs work out next step - BBC News
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2022-10-18
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Few Tory MPs think she should lead them into an election but they are trying to work out their next move.
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UK Politics
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There was a tense mood in the building.
Liz Truss knows. Her team knows. Even the dogs in the street know. She is in serious peril.
But she appeared stoical and philosophical about things - and had time to chat about the artwork on the walls in Number 10 as we prepared to record our interview.
She is trying to make the best of a desperate situation for her.
Getting out there and making the argument that she should be given more time.
Why? Well there aren't many others making that argument, so if anyone is going to, it's going to have to be her.
It is worth remembering when we reflect on what is happening in politics right now just how extraordinary it is.
Yes, the extraordinary has become ordinary in recent years: a coalition, Brexit, political instability, frequent general elections, a pandemic, war in Europe.
I have reported from Westminster, on and off, for nearly 20 years.
I know, I know, I should get out more.
But I've never known a period like this.
Like the rest of us, political leaders change their minds.
But this was not just a wave of U-turns in scale and speed never seen before in contemporary politics.
It was more than that: it amounts to the wholesale collapse of the near entire programme for government of a prime minister who has been in office for six weeks.
So there was an obvious place to start.
"Prime minister, who is to blame for this mess?" I asked.
"Well, first of all, I do want to accept responsibility and say sorry, for the mistakes that have been made," she acknowledged.
But on specifics, extracting an apology proved much tougher.
On the economy, she stands accused of directly contributing to higher mortgage bills for millions of people.
What does she say to those families, right now, I asked.
"I understand it is very difficult for families across the country," she told me.
It took me three attempts for her to acknowledge she was "sorry."
She had gone "too far and too fast" with her plans, she acknowledged.
So was her rival for the leadership, the former chancellor Rishi Sunak, right all along?
"We had a very robust leadership campaign this summer where we debated ideas, we debated philosophy…" she said, not answering my question.
"He suggested your ideas would be a disaster, and he's been proven right, hasn't he?" I suggested.
She told me she was "committed to a low-tax high-growth economy," (taxes are going up, growth is sluggish) but she said "my responsibility as prime minister is making sure that we have economic stability" - which the UK hasn't had since she became prime minister.
Will she lead the Conservatives into the next general election?
"I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election," she said.
"Well look, yeah," she said, laughing nervously. "I'm not focused on internal debates within the Conservative Party leader."
But she has to be, to stay in office.
Only hours before, after all, she had had Sir Graham Brady in to see her, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers who'll have been able to tell her direct whether her own colleagues want her to stick around.
"The important thing is that I've been elected to this position to deliver for the country. We are facing very tough times. We simply cannot afford to spend our time talking about the Conservative Party, rather than what we need to deliver. That is my message to my colleagues," she concluded.
It is a plea to be given more time.
At a time when many of them are not inclined to do so.
Her nervous laugh about her long-term future nods to the stark reality that is obvious in Westminster.
There are very, very few Conservative MPs right now who think it'd be a remotely good idea for her to lead them into an election.
But for now they are collectively trying to work out what to do next.
Plenty tell me if the opinion polls remain dire for them, and they look better with an alternative to Liz Truss, she will be ditched.
But the challenge they face is finding a successor in as clean and quick way as possible.
And it almost certainly won't be clean. And it probably won't be that quick.
And so in the meantime, Liz Truss tries to cling on.
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Kevin Spacey denies sex abuse claim during testimony at his trial - BBC News
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2022-10-18
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The actor is on trial in New York over an allegation he touched a 14-year-old boy at a party in 1986.
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US & Canada
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Actor Kevin Spacey has taken the stand at his civil trial in New York to deny the claim that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old at a house party in 1986.
"They are not true," he said of the allegations by Anthony Rapp, who is seeking $40m (£36m) in damages.
Before taking the stand on Monday, Mr Spacey won a victory when a judge dropped one of the claims brought by Mr Rapp.
Mr Spacey is separately facing five charges in the UK of sexual assault.
Mr Rapp, 50, who is also an actor and known for his role in Star Trek: Discovery, filed a complaint against Mr Spacey in 2020 saying that he touched him inappropriately when Mr Rapp was 14 years old and made sexual advances toward him.
Taking the stand in his own defence in the third week of his trial, Mr Spacey said he was shocked when Mr Rapp went public with his allegations five years ago.
"I didn't know how this could possibly be true," he said, adding he would not have been sexually interested in Mr Rapp as he was underage.
Mr Spacey also discussed growing up with a father who he described as a "white supremacist and neo-Nazi".
The 63-year-old House of Cards actor said he was "forced to listen to hours and hours and hours" of "hatred" from his father, which instilled in him a "hatred" for prejudice and bigotry.
This, he said, has also discouraged him from publicly disclosing that he was gay sooner.
"I have never talked about these things publicly," he testified.
Mr Spacey announced he was choosing "to live as a gay man" as part of his first response to Mr Rapp's allegations, which was criticised for deflecting attention from the accusations against him.
Mr Rapp says that Mr Spacey was around 26 or 27 years old when he met him at a party at his Manhattan apartment.
According to court documents, he claims that during the party Mr Spacey lifted him up and his hand "grazed" his buttocks. He alleges Mr Spacey then placed him back down on a bed and "briefly placed his own clothed body partially beside and partially across" his own.
In opening arguments early this month, his lawyer said Mr Spacey's behaviour was "wrong and frankly unacceptable".
Last week, Mr Rapp was asked if he has lied about his allegations against the Oscar-winning actor.
"I have not," he told the court. "It was something that happened to me that was not okay."
On Monday morning, Judge Lewis A Kaplan dismissed Mr Rapp's claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, leaving only one claim - of battery - to be weighed by the jury.
The judge had already previously dismissed a charge of sexual assault, ruling the statute of limitations had expired.
Separate sex assault charges - alleging that Mr Spacey groped an 18-year-old at a restaurant in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 2016 - collapsed in 2019 after the actor's lawyers argued the accuser had manipulated text messages on his phone.
In August, a judge ruled that Mr Spacey must pay $31m to the producers of House of Cards for the costs they incurred after firing him from the show.
In July, he entered a not guilty plea in London to criminal charges of sexually assaulting three men over a decade ago. That trial is due to begin in June 2023.
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Five challenges the BBC faces as it turns 100 - BBC News
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2022-10-18
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The BBC's media editor on how the BBC has to prove its worth, as it reaches its 100th birthday.
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Entertainment & Arts
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As the BBC celebrates its 100th anniversary, our media editor looks ahead at the challenges it faces, from competition from streaming services to reaching young people on TikTok.
Great institutions, like great literature, are often born from existential angst, as urgent responses to the prevailing horrors of their era. As with TS Eliot's The Waste Land, released in 1922, so with the BBC.
When Lord Reith - shot in the face in World War One - became the BBC's first General Manager, he had the national interest at heart. A Scottish engineer in post-war London, he wanted to deploy the latest technology to rebuild a country ravaged by war.
Today few people would suggest building a public media institution. Fewer still would fund it through a licence fee, seen by some as tax on households. And yet, as the plaudits for its coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II demonstrate, the BBC often remains world-class.
Millions tuned in to watch the Queen's coronation, broadcast by the BBC in 1953
For a century, the BBC has been there for Britons at the big moments in national and international life. Churchill's war broadcasts; Queen Elizabeth's coronation; the World Cup in 1966; a man on the moon; the fall of the Berlin Wall; Ed Balls doing Gangnam Style on Strictly Come Dancing.
Most people in Britain found out about these things through the BBC. But bringing the country together is now harder than ever, partly because of how Britain has changed, but mainly because of how the media has changed.
For 100 years, the BBC has used the latest technology to secure its emotional contract with the people. It was born in the era of radio, and gave us the first glimpse of TV. A series of technological revolutions - the internet, smartphones, social media - have irreversibly weakened the BBC's grip on our culture.
These revolutions connect the major challenges the BBC faces today. Here are five.
Trust is easily destroyed, but not easily created. Frequent scandals - Jimmy Savile; Martin Bashir's Princess Diana interview; many others - have eroded the public's trust in the BBC.
And this is the age of disinformation. In a world where lies spread faster than truth, the belief that accuracy is sacred has diminished. Social media has been catastrophic for the news trade.
This is an opportunity for some journalists, who spend time, money, and effort ascertaining the truth, something most people still believe in. But declining trust is a threat to the BBC. People won't pay for something they don't trust.
With direct competitors valued in the hundreds of billions, such as Netflix and Disney, the BBC will struggle. Its funding is capped at around £5bn. The BBC is obliged to do stuff they don't do (news, radio, religious programming), it's tightly regulated and comes under relentless political pressure.
Streaming services have also driven up staff and programming costs. Ultimately, the BBC will have to do less, which means it will have to work out what it can do that others can't.
Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, former presenters of the Great British Bake Off, who did not move with the show to Channel 4
There is a stark generational divide in consumption of BBC content.
Britons aged between 16 and 24 spend more time on TikTok alone than watching broadcast television. In the past decade, the amount of time they spend watching terrestrial TV has fallen by two-thirds.
The BBC's worst nightmare is irrelevance. Losing Test cricket to Sky is one thing, losing Bake Off to Channel 4 is another. But there are limits. At the big moments, the BBC needs to remain indispensable. For now, it is.
But the road to irrelevance is paved with TikTok videos, Netflix dollars and Spotify playlists.
To retain the licence fee, the BBC must appeal to all - or at least, as close to all as possible. This is why Director-General Tim Davie has prioritised restoring the BBC's fragile reputation for impartiality.
In a country as digital, diverse, and divided as modern Britain, appealing to all is extremely difficult. An institution that nurtures Antiques Roadshow must also grow the audience for 1Xtra. Critics call this "imperial ambition".
But even as the BBC acknowledges it is going to have do less, and focus on providing what the market cannot, its current funding model depends on proving it appeals across generational, geographic and gender divides.
The BBC has always infuriated governments, of all hues. Today, there are two big differences.
First, the hostility from government is much more relentless, thanks in part to social media and today's culture wars.
Second, the BBC's most committed enemies can use the streaming revolution to make their case, by saying the licence fee is no longer fit for purpose. Their agenda is ideological; their argument is based on technology.
There remains a strong objection in practice to the licence fee in practice: namely, the threat of criminal sanction.
Today, those who take this view can add a strong objection: it is unfit for the era of YouTube and Instagram.
Strictly Come Dancing is hugely popular on BBC One
Together, these challenges present an existential threat.
Only a brave soul would bet on the BBC's current funding model surviving the next few decades.
But as recent weeks have shown, it remains widely cherished and able to do some useful things exceptionally well. Its current leadership has a plan to address the challenges.
Even as it slowly shrinks in relative terms, the BBC has to use the latest technology to secure a new contract with the people, persuade them it is worth paying for, and keep opponents at bay.
This centenarian's best hope is to go back to the enlightened vision of that lanky son of a preacher man who founded it. As Lord Reith knew in 1922, quality, not quantity, is the BBC's best hope.
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Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford loses temper with Tories in Senedd - BBC News
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2022-10-18
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Wales' first minister erupted as he accused Conservatives of making a mess of the UK's reputation.
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Wales politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The first minister was reacting to a series of questions about poor ambulance response times
Wales' first minister lost his temper in the Senedd on Tuesday under questioning from the Welsh Conservative leader.
Mark Drakeford erupted in anger as he accused Andrew RT Davies' party of making a mess of the UK's budget and reputation.
It followed a heated exchange where Mr Davies called for a solution to poor ambulance response times.
Presiding Officer Elin Jones asked the Senedd to calm down after the outburst.
Both men had raised their voices during First Minister's Questions, gesticulating at each other.
The Welsh Conservatives accused the first minister of looking to blame the UK government for his own ministers' failings in a "fit of fury".
In response Mr Drakeford's government said the Welsh Labour leader was reflecting the anger of people in Wales.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned on Monday that there were spending cuts to come, after he axed most of the measures of his recently-sacked predecessor's mini-budget.
Cuts to services in England would have a knock-on impact on the Welsh government's own budget, used to fund the NHS, schools and other services run from Cardiff.
Such a move would put Welsh government ministers under pressure and would likely see them having to make cuts themselves.
Raising his voice with the Welsh Tory leader in First Minister's Questions, Mr Drakeford said it was "shocking that you think that you can turn up here this afternoon with the mess that your party has made, to the budgets of this country, to the reputation of this country around the world".
Angrily flipping the pages of his briefing notes, he told Mr Davies: "You think you can turn up here this afternoon and claim some sort of moral high ground? What sort of world do you belong in?"
"I understand that the arguments and the feelings run high on these issues from a variety of perspectives," she said.
"I understand some of the shouting taking place but I won't have people pointing in anger and gesticulating in anger at other people. Can we just take a moment just to calm down."
Andrew RT Davies repeated accusations that Wales had a "third world" NHS
In his questions Mr Davies had raised two examples of long waits, including a story from Walesonline of a man who was stuck on a floor waiting 15 hours.
He read out quotes from the man's daughter accusing Wales of having a health service like a "third world country" and that Aneurin Bevan, the Labour minister who oversaw the creation of the NHS, would be turning in his grave.
In response, Mr Drakeford accused Mr Davies of being "partly responsible for the mess we're in" because he supported Liz Truss for the Conservative leadership.
He objected to the description of the NHS, and in response Mr Davies accused Mr Drakeford of failing to offer a solution.
"You haven't said once in response to my two questions the solution that the government is proposing to take this pressure out of the ambulance service and allow them to get on with the job that they do," he said.
Mr Drakeford said the Welsh government wants to invest more money in the ambulance service and have more staff, and for ambulances to know that hospitals can receive patients.
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But in his answer the first minister criticised the Conservatives: "They've had cuts to their pay because of the policy of your government and now they face cuts to the budgets that the health service itself will have at its disposal."
After the angry Senedd scenes, Mr Davies said in a statement: "Rather than take responsibility for Labour's poor running of the NHS, Mark Drakeford looked to pass the blame onto the UK government, despite the fact that health in Wales has been under Labour control for 25 years."
A Welsh government spokesman said: "We are deeply concerned about the position the UK government has put us in and the eye watering scale of cuts facing public services in Wales.
"The first minister was reflecting the anger of people in Wales who are now having to pay for the mistakes made by the UK government."
The events on Tuesday come two weeks after Mr Drakeford angered the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group through comments he made in First Minister's Questions.
The first minister said the group had moved on from calls for a Wales-wide Covid inquiry.
Last week Mr Drakeford accused the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, of offering "pious aspirations and accusations that somehow other people are not as holy as he is".
Mr Price, who called for better public sector pay, is in a co-operation agreement with Mr Drakeford.
What's behind the emotional outburst from the first minister?
It is not unreasonable for the leader of the opposition to want to scrutinise the Welsh government's handling of the NHS.
But with stubbornly high waiting times, staff shortages and no solution in sight, this long standing issue has become increasingly sensitive.
Add to that increasing gloom amongst Welsh ministers about the budget cuts that could be on their way from the Treasury and resentment at the recent chaos supplied by the UK government.
And there's one more thing to consider: Mark Drakeford will be standing down in the next few years.
At the risk of stating the obvious, facing down public sector strikes and slashing budgets is not what he wants for his final chapter.
• None What does Jeremy Hunt's statement mean for Wales?
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PM Truss has days to turn this around or quit, says MSP Smith - BBC News
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2022-10-18
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The Scottish Conservatives' economy spokesperson Liz Smith says Liz Truss is in "very grave difficulty".
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Scotland politics
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Liz Smith said the prime minister was in "very grave difficulty"
The prime minister should stand down if she cannot salvage her authority within days, the Scottish Conservatives' finance spokesperson has said.
Liz Smith said Liz Truss was still in "very grave difficulty" despite a slight improvement in the markets.
Ms Truss apologised in a BBC interview on Monday after the new chancellor scrapped much of her tax-cutting plans.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said he still backed the PM and the chancellor to deliver growth.
He told STV's Scotland Tonight on Monday: "I back the prime minister, the chancellor and this government to do what it promised to do - to get growth back into our economy. There's now a different direction of travel but the ultimate destination has not changed."
However, Ms Smith said she was angry and disappointed as Ms Truss "has not been able to command the confidence of the nation".
Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme, she said: "She can't command the confidence of the general public, of colleagues and of the markets.
"There's been a little improvement on the market scenario to be fair, but she's got days left to turn this round and if she can't do that I think she needs to stand down."
During a dramatic day at Westminster, new chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrapped nearly all the tax cuts announced at last month's mini-budget.
The decision was welcomed by investors - but the reversals have prompted some Tory MPs to talk privately about how Ms Truss could be ejected from office, despite party rules preventing a formal leadership challenge for a year.
On the same day, Nicola Sturgeon delivered her economic arguments for independence as a Scottish government paper set out proposals for key issues such as currency, trade and border crossings.
Ms Truss later insisted she would lead her party into the next general election, but apologised for making mistakes - a move Ms Smith said may "help her a little bit".
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Asked whether she had any sympathy for the PM, Ms Smith said: "I think it's a ghastly scenario for anybody to be in.
"When you're in the full glare of the public, as obviously she was yesterday because of the difficulties over the last few weeks, yes anyone feels sympathy for that.
"But that's not to take away from the fact that I think there are things she should have been doing that would have helped to avoid this mess."
Like the Scottish Conservative leader, Ms Smith acknowledged she had supported many aspects of the mini-budget.
However, she said she had assumed it would be costed and published alongside an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report - the official forecast of how the UK economy is expected to perform - which it was not.
Liz Truss sat in the Commons for half an hour as Mr Hunt outlined the U-turns to MPs
Public opinion of the Conservatives has dropped since Ms Truss was elected, with a recent poll by Redfield and Wilton Strategies finding Labour leading by 36%.
Tom Lubbock, co founder of polling company JL Partners, told the BBC he "almost couldn't believe" the findings - which he called a disaster for the Conservatives and an extremely positive picture for Labour.
Ms Smith said she remains committed to the Conservatives despite "dire" poll results - but there was a danger the Scottish Conservatives could be undermined at Holyrood by recent Westminster turmoil.
She said: "We feel we make a very good case against the SNP on lots of different issues - and yes it's very disappointing when our UK government enters very turbulent waters.
"What we've got to be able to do is ensure that when we are taking decisions in the Scottish Parliament, that is very closely aligned with our colleagues in Westminster and we're not undermined in any way by what's going on down south."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63299269
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Unions will fight government over workers' rights, vows TUC - BBC News
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2022-10-18
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The TUC says it is "putting ministers on notice" that it will challenge any attempt to remove rights.
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Business
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. In her final speech as TUC leader, Frances O Grady criticised government policies over workers' rights.
The unions are ready to take on the government if it attempts to strip away workers' rights, the head of the Trades Union Congress has said.
The government has promised to change the rules on taking strike action.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said it as "a cynical move to distract from the chaos they have caused".
But a government spokesperson said it wanted to ensure the public did not pay the price for "disproportionate strike action".
Ms O'Grady said the TUC had taken legal counsel over whether the government's plans to change rules governing industrial action breached the law.
"Read my lips: We will see you in court!" she told the TUC annual conference in Brighton.
Ms O'Grady was giving her final speech as leader of the TUC - the umbrella movement for the UK's major unions. She is stepping down after almost a decade in the post.
She used the opportunity to highlight the "longest wage squeeze since Napoleonic times" which she said had left UK families at breaking point,
Workers were facing two decades with no real wage growth, once inflation was taken into account, she said.
The union body is warning that the anger felt by workers over falling real wages is likely to lead to hundreds of thousands joining the picket line this winter. Nurses, doctors and teachers are already being balloted on action.
This week at the TUC conference unions are expected to vote in favour of co-ordinating any strikes.
There has already been a wave of strike action affecting postal, communication and rail services. Barristers and dockworkers have also been on strike.
The government has said it will do what it can to minimise disruption, and said it is confident its proposals are compliant with the UK's domestic and international legal obligations..
It said it "makes no apology for taking action so that essential services are run as effectively as possible, ensuring the British public don't have to pay the price for disproportionate strike action".
Under Prime Minister Liz Truss, the government has proposed requiring unions to put pay offers to a member vote before calling a strike. It also aims to introduce legislation to ensure transport companies maintain a minimum level of service during industrial action.
The government said strike action should be the result of a positive decision by union members and that those who do not support strike actions should be able to continue working through any industrial dispute.
New rules on allowing employers to hire agency workers during strikes have already been passed.
Ms O'Grady defended the right of workers to strike at a time when wages were failing to keep pace with prices.
"Just when the citizens of this country are in despair, when key-workers' kids are going to school with holes in their shoes, and young families are worried sick about taking on a mortgage - Liz Truss' top priority is to make it harder for workers to win better pay.
"If ministers cross the road to pick a fight with us then we will meet them halfway," she said.
Ms O'Grady also told the conference the Business Secretary Jacob Rees Mogg wanted worker's rights derived from EU laws to be "stripped from the statute book" including "holiday pay, time off for mums and dads and limits on safe working hours".
The TUC estimates that real wages - which take rising prices into account - will not return to their 2008 level until 2028.
That would mean a further loss in real terms of £4000, on average over the next three years, as a result of price rises outstripping wage growth. The TUC used Bank of England and Office for National Statistics data to make the calculations.
Public sector staff were quitting "in droves" because of poor pay rates, Ms O'Grady added.
In response, the government said it was "determined to make work pay" and said it had already increased the minimum wage.
A government spokesperson said it was supporting people with bills due to the impact of rising costs.
"In the long-term, we are committed to building a high-skilled, high-wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work," they added.
In an interview ahead of the conference Ms O'Grady said there was a "moral and economic argument for making sure people's pay packets at least keep up with inflation".
"The economy has become skewed," she told the BBC's Today programme.
"Shareholder dividends have been rising much, much faster while real pay has been falling.
"We need people to have money in their pockets to spend in pubs local shops to keep our High Streets open."
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SNP conference: Sturgeon will seek to exploit Truss's faltering start as PM - BBC News
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2022-10-08
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The SNP conference will hear much about the fallout from the UK government's mini-budget.
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Scotland politics
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Chaos. Chaos. Chaos. It is a word you can expect to hear a lot this weekend as the SNP meets in Aberdeen.
Nicola Sturgeon has already deployed it during a round of pre-conference interviews with broadcasters.
Not to describe her own party's gathering, of course. Instead, to characterise the political and economic fallout from the UK government's tax cutting mini-budget.
In a preview of his speech, the SNP's deputy leader Keith Brown suggests that independence is the only way to "escape Westminster chaos for good".
Consider that a foretaste of what will become a conference theme.
It is not exactly a new argument but expect new emphasis on it as the SNP seeks to exploit the faltering start to Liz Truss's premiership.
Nicola Sturgeon is not, of course, without difficulties in her own administration after 15 years of SNP rule.
Among the challenges: the threat of strikes in schools and hospitals, a huge backlog in the NHS and the overdue, overbudget ferries being built for CalMac.
The party continues to enjoy high levels of support in opinion polls, even as Labour's revival at the expense of the Conservatives across Britain offers voters another potential route to political change.
While the SNP see independence as the ultimate opportunity to do things better, their opponents think the upheaval of leaving the UK could make the Scottish economy considerably worse.
This would be one of the key battlegrounds in any future referendum campaign, just as it was in 2014.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Prime Minister Liz Truss have been strongly criticised over their mini-budget plans
Nicola Sturgeon has said a Scottish government paper on the economic case for independence is to be published soon after conference.
There is little sign that the UK government will engage in the argument because they remain determined to ensure that indyref2 does not happen any time soon.
During the Conservative leadership campaign, Liz Truss said Nicola Sturgeon was an "attention seeker" best ignored, at least on the issue of independence.
She has since offered to work with the first minister on other issues like cutting taxes, building infrastructure and energy security.
One snag with that is the considerable disagreement that exists between the two governments in these areas.
For example, Nicola Sturgeon is opposed to UK calls for new nuclear power stations in Scotland and does not consider UK plans to issue a hundred new North Sea exploration licences justified.
Another problem with talk of cross-border co-operation is that, unlike the past three Conservative prime ministers, Liz Truss has not arranged early talks with Nicola Sturgeon.
They are unlikely to chat in advance of next week's UK Supreme Court case, where their respective lawyers will dispute Holyrood's ability to hold an independence referendum without UK consent.
The case could determine whether or not the Scottish government is able to go ahead with a vote on 19 October 2023.
If not, Nicola Sturgeon has said she will seek to win majority support for independence at the next UK general election - to treat it like a referendum.
It is a risky strategy. Success would not necessarily be accepted as a mandate for independence. Failure could throw the SNP into a chaos of its own.
This weekend, the party leadership will prefer to focus on the political difficulties of others and try to persuade SNP members that independence is within grasp.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63180758
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news_uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63180758
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Tory conference: Rebellion in the air over possible benefit squeeze - BBC News
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2022-10-05
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Some Tory MPs are clear they will not back a move to end the link between benefits and inflation.
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UK Politics
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This has not been an easy party conference for the government.
Some in Birmingham think it's been a disaster.
First, a colossal U-turn on the 45p tax rate, then being forced to bring forward the next step of the chancellor's economic growth plan under pressure from Tory MPs.
Now, there's another mutiny brewing over benefits - and how much they should go up by.
Boris Johnson's government promised that working-age benefits would go up in line with inflation.
His successor as PM, Liz Truss, has pledged that pensions will continue to be linked to inflation but has pointedly not made the same commitment when it comes to welfare payments like universal credit.
It means a rise in working-age benefits could be linked to wages instead.
The government has said no final decision will be made for a few weeks yet. But rebellion hangs in the air here in Birmingham and it's likely to follow the prime minister back to Westminster.
A growing number of Conservative MPs are making it clear where they stand - and remarkably, that goes all the way up to the cabinet.
"We are not about trying to help people with one hand and take away with another," she told Times Radio.
Remember, cabinet ministers are supposed to toe the government line. This is not an example of biting your tongue.
Then there's the former Tory leader - and one of the main architects of the universal credit system - Iain Duncan Smith, who has urged benefits to rise in line with prices.
He told the BBC: "Do the right thing for those who are poorest.
"The money you give into this area to deal with the worst off will go straight back into the economy, so that will help growth, ironically, at a time when we need growth rather than recession."
There is a debate going on in government over the best way to proceed.
One argument being made in Downing Street is that it is unfair to urge workers to accept below inflation wage rises, then to give inflation-matched increases in benefits.
Hence the suggestion the rises in benefits could be limited to the average salary increase.
One minister who sits around the cabinet table also argues the government needs to be prepared to have "a conversation" with the public about the benefits system.
They argue the drive for growth requires people to be in work, earning more money.
But there is significant concern in the Conservative Party about the idea of real-terms benefits cuts during a cost-of-living crisis.
Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith is among those to have argued the government needs to protect the most vulnerable in society.
She told the conference: "We do understand that these are very anxious times for people, we know that people are struggling with some of the costs that are rising. That's why protecting the most vulnerable is a vital priority for me and to this government."
It'll be her job to conduct review of benefit levels. It's common for people in the job to back higher rather than lower benefits. Her allies haven't contested suggestions she wants to secure an inflation-level increase.
"I suspect we'll end up with something close to inflation because of parliamentary pressure," says one minister I spoke to on Tuesday morning.
So where does this all end up? Is the move now inevitable? Some think so, like the former cabinet minister Damian Green who says the prime minister would lose any vote in Parliament on below-inflation benefits.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63130852
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Bruce Lehrmann: Australia parliament rape trial abandoned over juror 'misconduct' - BBC News
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2022-10-27
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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A jury has been dismissed after "misconduct" during deliberations in a trial that has shocked Australia.
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Australia
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The case of a former political adviser accused of raping a colleague inside Australia's Parliament House has been aborted after juror "misconduct".
Bruce Lehrmann, 27, denies sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins on a government minister's sofa after a night out in Canberra in 2019.
He says they did not have sex at all.
But after a 12-day trial and five days of deliberation the jury was discharged when it emerged one member had looked at academic research on sexual assault.
Juries are required to reach a verdict only on evidence presented in the courtroom.
The research was discovered by a court official during "routine tidying" of the jury room, Justice Lucy McCallum told a court.
"It may be that no harm has been done, but that is not a risk I can take," the judge said, adding she had previously warned the jury at least 17 times.
It is not yet clear if there will be a retrial, but Justice McCallum set aside a date in February in the event one goes ahead.
Before giving her account to police in early 2021, Ms Higgins gave up her right to anonymity and went public with her claims in high-profile newspaper and television interviews.
Her allegations were a catalyst for what's been called Australia's "Me Too moment", sparking huge protests over the safety of women, particularly in politics.
Speaking outside court on Thursday, Ms Higgins criticised the justice system and said the trial had taken a toll.
"I told the truth, no matter how uncomfortable or unflattering, to the court," she said. "My life has been publicly scrutinised, open for the world to see."
Mr Lehrmann's legal team said they were disappointed by the outcome, but said it would be inappropriate to comment further.
They also argued "a pre-prepared speech" by Ms Higgins outside court could prejudice a future retrial, saying they had referred it to police and the court for investigation.
The trial heard that Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins worked in the same office - for then-Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds. On 22 March 2019 they both had drinks with colleagues and others.
Ms Higgins gave evidence in court for about a week
Ms Higgins said she was the most intoxicated she had been in her life, after spending hours at two Canberra bars, before the pair shared a cab to Parliament House, the jury was told.
Ms Higgins says she fell asleep on a sofa in Ms Reynolds's office and woke to find Mr Lehrmann having sex with her.
In a police interview played to the jury, she said she had cried while telling Mr Lehrmann "stop" and "no".
She reported the alleged rape to police in the days afterwards but then did not proceed with her complaint because she was afraid she might lose her job, the jury heard.
Mr Lehrmann chose not to give evidence, but in a police interview that was played to the court said what was alleged "simply didn't happen".
His lawyer, Steven Whybrow, argued parts of Ms Higgins' evidence were "totally and utterly inconsistent".
"We can't be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that she knows what happened," he said.
The aborting of the trial comes two days after jurors told the court they had been unable to reach a unanimous decision but were asked by the judge to try again.
The prosecution and defence teams are yet to make arguments about whether the case should be retried.
If a retrial in February goes ahead, it will mark two years since Ms Higgins first went public with her allegations.
Her interviews last year reignited - yet again - criticisms of Australian politics as a hostile workplace.
It also sparked massive protests last year when more than 100,000 people gathered in towns and cities across Australia to voice their fury about sexism, misogyny and abuse in society.
It also led to a damning review which found that a third of employees in federal parliament had been sexually harassed.
There had been concerns that Mr Lehrmann might not get a fair trial because of the publicity, but an earlier application for it to be thrown out was rejected.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-63395607
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No 10 backs Suella Braverman amid MI5 leak row - BBC News
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2022-10-27
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Opposition parties and some Tory MPs have raised concerns about her reappointment as home secretary.
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UK Politics
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No 10 has said Suella Braverman has "strong relationships" with the security services, following concerns about her return as home secretary.
Reports have emerged suggesting that, as attorney general, she was investigated over the leak of a story involving MI5.
Ms Braverman was reappointed as home secretary just days after she resigned over separate data breaches.
Several Conservative MPs have raised questions about her reappointment.
Mark Pritchard - a former member of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee - said in a tweet: "MI5 need to have confidence in the home secretary, whoever that might be.
"It's a vital relationship of trust, key to the UK's security and democratic oversight of MI5. Any breakdown in that relationship is bad for the security service and the government. It needs to be sorted asap."
Asked whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believed MI5 had confidence in Ms Braverman, his official spokesperson said: "Yes, the home secretary continues to have strong relationships with all the operational bodies that report into the Home Office and are focused very much on keeping the country safe."
Asked if Mr Sunak was concerned security analysts might be reluctant to share information with the Home Office, the official said: "No, and any suggestion of that would be entirely false."
In January, the Daily Telegraph reported that Ms Braverman was seeking an injunction to block a BBC story about a spy working for British intelligence.
The briefing received by the newspaper damaged the government's argument that publishing details of the court case could harm national security.
Mr Justice Chamberlain said it would be a "matter of concern" if Ms Braverman was seeking to hold part of the hearing in private while, at the same time, the government was briefing the press.
The senior judge said he had been provided with no evidence to undermine the inference that a government source was responsible for briefing the paper.
The High Court later ruled the BBC could publish the story, though an injunction still bars the corporation from identifying the man.
An inquiry was launched to find out who had leaked confidential details of the court case to the Telegraph.
The High Court permits publication of the fact there was a leak inquiry, but the government has so far refused to comment.
The Cabinet Office has not responded to the BBC's questions about the leak inquiry including whether or not Ms Braverman was questioned, if the police were involved, or if anyone was arrested or questioned under caution. The attorney general's office also did not respond to queries.
Labour is calling for a probe into the reports in the Daily Mail that Ms Braverman was investigated over the leak.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The prime minister needs to say whether he knew about these allegations when he reappointed her. Ignoring warnings about security risks when appointing a home secretary is highly irresponsible and dangerous. We need answers now."
Raising the matter in the House of Lords, former Home Secretary Lord David Blunkett told peers the security and intelligence services could be reluctant to brief the home secretary and that other international security agencies would be reluctant to share information with the UK "if they're fearful that information will be passed out from government itself".
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The SNP's Ian Blackford says new PM Sunak did a "sleazy backroom deal" with Braverman to gain post
Separately, opposition parties and some Tory MPs have also questioned Ms Braverman's reappointment as home secretary after she admitted sending an official document to someone not authorised to receive it.
She stepped down from her cabinet position last week in the final days of Liz Truss's premiership.
In her resignation letter, she admitted committing a "technical infringement" of the rules.
However, just six days later Mr Sunak reappointed Ms Braverman as home secretary.
It came two days after Ms Braverman had thrown her support behind him in the contest to replace Ms Truss, in what was widely seen as a significant endorsement by an influential figure on the right of the Conservative Party.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the new prime minister of giving Ms Braverman a job in exchange for her support.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called for inquiries into Ms Braverman's appointment.
Caroline Nokes - Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North - agreed there should be an inquiry, saying there were "big questions" hanging over the issue.
"To be frank I would like to see them cleared up so that the home secretary can get on with her job," she told BBC Radio Solent.
Jake Berry - who served as party chairman under Ms Truss but was fired by Mr Sunak - has also questioned Ms Braverman's return to the cabinet, saying there had been "multiple breaches" of the rules.
He told Talk TV that Ms Braverman had sent a document "from a private email address to another MP, she then sought to copy in that individual's wife but accidentally sent it to a staffer in Parliament".
"To me, that seems to be a really serious breach - the cabinet secretary had his say at the time. I doubt he has changed his mind in the last six days," he added.
A No 10 spokesperson has denied reports that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case - the head of the civil service - was "livid" about the appointment.
New party chairman Nadhim Zahawi defended Ms Braverman's reappointment, telling the BBC he believed in "redemption".
"The prime minister looked at this case and he decided to give her a second chance," he added.
The BBC has been told that the home secretary has requested further briefings on email security.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63410737
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Judgement on indyref2 court case 'requires time' - BBC News
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2022-10-11
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Supreme Court judges hear legal arguments on whether the Scottish government can hold a second independence referendum.
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Scotland
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It will be a while before there is a result - the judges warned they may need “some months” to chew things over.
Court President Lord Reed noted that the arguments heard in court were “the tip of the iceberg”, with thousands of pages of written material to wade through.
There are three potential outcomes:
• MSPs have the power to pass an independence referendum bill
• they are specifically barred from it
• the court decides it would be premature to decide.
The Scottish government is confident that, regardless of the outcome, it will move the issue on a bit.
If they win, they will move to get the bill through Holyrood swiftly. But they will also use it as a lever to try to box the UK government into signing up to the contest.
If they lose, Scottish ministers will still look to exert pressure - but this time via the public, by arguing that the existing setup blocks Scottish democracy at every turn.
They hope the perceived unfairness of this will prompt a wave of support - which in itself may force UK ministers to engage, or risk the wrath of the electorate.
Whatever happens, the debate over Scotland's future is far from over.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-63202031
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news_live_uk-scotland-63202031
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Who is in charge? Liz Truss or Jeremy Hunt? - BBC News
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2022-10-15
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The new chancellor has junked the prime minister's economic strategy in 24 hours, writes Laura Kuenssberg.
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UK Politics
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Who is in charge? Over the last couple of days you'd be forgiven for wondering if anyone was running the country.
The dizzying ups and downs of the mighty financial markets suggest they didn't really have faith that anyone had a grip on things either.
What happens on traders' screens affects the costs we have to grapple with - whether mortgages or rents - and how much of our taxes the government can spend on vital public services rather than paying interest on debt.
Under acute pressure from the markets Prime Minister Liz Truss had a choice - stick with her plan and say goodbye to what economic credibility her government had left - or say farewell to her proposals and try to muddle on.
In other words - change or die. She chose change. But has she killed off what political authority she had left and handed it to someone else?
Jeremy Hunt, her new Chancellor of the Exchequer and a guest on this week's show, has in a little over 24 hours junked her economic strategy of tax cuts and a promise not to cut public spending.
He's made a virtue out of being candid about how bad things are - dangling the implication the prime minister has not levelled with the public about what comes next.
Whether it's intentional or not, the message isn't that subtle: after the craziness of the last few weeks here comes an experienced grown-up to take control.
And it's given the impression, as one former minister put it: "He's gone out and said he's in charge."
Another said Mr Hunt had "dismantled" the prime minister's agenda, while others suggested his arrival leaves Ms Truss in office, but not really in power.
Mr Hunt told me in our interview for Sunday's programme - as you might expect - that she is still the boss.
Yet the way in which he has been able to comprehensively ditch her programme is striking and shifts the political balance in Downing Street.
The hope in No 10 and No 11 is that Mr Hunt's appointment will grant some breathing space to this struggling administration and the financial markets will stop pounding the UK and reserve judgement about the economy's prospects for a fortnight.
Then, on 31 October, the government will be able to spell out how its numbers add up without the need for a magic calculator. But that arithmetic won't be pretty - public spending cuts are on the way and taxes could rise too.
It leaves Ms Truss now technically in charge of a government that is on track to do the opposite of what she originally promised.
She became prime minister by promising the Conservative Party she would cut taxes and shake up what she condemned as boring old Treasury thinking.
But now she can't keep those vows does she still have the right to govern?
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: A dizzying 24 hours for UK politics... in under a minute
One former minister suggested no-one really has legitimacy now: not Ms Truss, nor Mr Hunt.
Mr Hunt's appointment could calm the markets and has definitely eased some of the concerns in the centre of the Conservative Party, but it has created new unhappiness on the right.
They are frustrated that Ms Truss has given up on her plans and are suspicious that MPs who were never really on board with her ideology have taken advantage of a crisis in the markets for their own political ends.
One of her fellow free marketeers, an ex-minister, told me they were "discouraged" and warned a "full-scale dismantling of the plans would test party unity in a different way".
In other words, the prime minister can no longer rely on their support.
Does the politicking of the last 48 hours really make that much difference? Believe the polls and Ms Truss' start in office has been an epic disaster from which it is hard to see a return.
For some MPs, whoever is in No 11, the Truss project is over. One former minister said there had been a "total seepage of power and authority" and she is on her way out in either weeks or months.
Another MP said there was no point hanging around: "We need to purge the current incumbents," they said, suggesting it would be a mistake to wait.
"The idea we would lose any credibility we have left by removing her is for the birds because we have no credibility."
It is one of the easiest things in politics to say: "We can't go on like this." And yet, very often, it does.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Liz Truss asked why she should stay on as PM
Boris Johnson and Theresa May survived far, far longer than many of their colleagues had hoped. Disbelief and depression on the Tory backbenches is not the same as there being consensus about who could do the job, or how a replacement would be installed.
There's still reticence about dispatching yet another leader. As one minister said: "We'll look like circus clowns if we change again."
And there's a truth that's been obscured by the wild politics of the last few weeks.
The Conservative Party in 2022 doesn't feel entirely sure what it's for, and hasn't for some time.
On the Tory right some feel an attempt at ditching the rather limp centrist approach of the last few years has crashed - but in the middle there's a sense of grim satisfaction they were correct.
Right now this deeply fragile government may not have time to consider such lofty arguments, let alone settle them.
Their only way out is to try to get a grip.
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How big-bang economic plan and political turmoil sank Liz Truss - BBC News
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2022-10-23
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The outgoing PM won power promising radical change, but it ended in disaster, after just 45 days.
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UK Politics
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Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after political and economic turmoil engulfed her government
Liz Truss came to power promising a new economic and political era. It is 45 days since she became PM - the shortest premiership in British history.
Yet that period saw an historic economic gamble, an almost unthinkable number of U-turns and the junking of an entire political programme. It's been short. But not simple.
Over the summer, it all felt very different. As we travelled around the UK for hustings, it was clear Ms Truss was highly popular with Conservative members.
Her promises to slash tax and govern as a Conservative were exactly what they wanted to hear. She wasn't a flawless media performer, but she knew how to work a friendly crowd.
There were warnings from former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his supporters that her economic plans were risky and could backfire. Some said it would be electoral suicide. But they lost the argument in the Conservative Party.
With victory imminent, along with her close friend and political ally Kwasi Kwarteng, Ms Truss got to work on formulating a plan for power which would be radical and bold.
They decided they had to rip up the rules, which had been followed by previous Tory prime ministers. The economic "orthodoxy" was to go out the window. The pair prepared what aides called a "big bang" of measures - to hit the ground running.
"We are not going to be tinkering at the edges," a senior figure in Team Truss boasted.
Ms Truss modelled herself on former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her allies said that like the former prime minister, Ms Truss would be resolute in power; the lady wasn't for turning.
They made it clear she would make unpopular decisions and stick with them, whatever happened. Ms Truss wanted to be the new Iron Lady.
Within 48 hours came the first of a series of bold economic gambles, which went considerably further than almost everyone expected.
First there was the energy support package, which promised to cap the unit price for two years. For a candidate who had said there would be no more handouts, political reality had hit and the cheque book had been opened.
But within hours of being in Downing Street, politics had to take a back seat.
Ms Truss was told in the House of Commons that the Queen was ill. By the end of the day, a prime minister in office for two days was on the steps of Downing Street paying tribute to the longest-serving monarch in British history. Over the next few days, the government's focus was firmly on national mourning.
The late Queen Elizabeth II was succeeded by her son, King Charles, two days after Ms Truss took office
After the Queen's funeral though, Ms Truss had to make up for lost time. She went on her first and only major diplomatic trip to the United Nations in New York, where she told broadcasters she was prepared to make difficult decisions in pursuit of economic growth.
On her return came the economic "big bang" she had been thinking about for years.
Her mini-budget - which was anything but mini - was the most radical in recent history; taxes were slashed, particularly for the higher paid. It would be funded by borrowing, despite warnings that could make inflation worse.
Senior figures in Number 10 believed they were about to launch a bright new era for the UK economy. Economic libertarians had their chance and they were determined to take it.
One told me: "Something different and bold needs to be done."
Ms Truss's mini-budget was announced by her former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng
Team Truss believed the markets would give the country space to restructure the economy. But within days - it became clear they had been wrong and the wheels started to fall off their economic experiment.
There were few details on how the government would fund the package, which left financial markets reeling, sent the pound plummeting, and forced the Bank of England to bail out pensions funds.
Tory MPs began to panic quickly. Within 72 hours of the mini-budget, many were making it clear that they were unhappy. Conservative MPs spoke privately of the government already provoking a political crisis.
Over the coming week, that would only increase until a full-blown crisis emerged at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. By the time Ms Truss arrived, it was clear there was a significant rebellion brewing on the decision to scrap the 45p top rate of tax.
Under pressure from backbench MPs, Ms Truss buckled. The same day, she told the BBC she would not change her mind - she did. She sent the chancellor out to explain the decision.
The U-turn was supposed to show that Ms Truss was listening. Number 10 believed it would allow rebellious MPs to move on. Instead, it did the exact opposite; rebels smelled blood. "It feels like the last days of Rome," remarked one former minister.
Over the next few weeks, Ms Truss's authority collapsed completely.
She sacked her chancellor and scrapped a plan to keep corporation tax down. She appointed Jeremy Hunt to run the Treasury - someone who had backed Mr Sunak.
Mr Hunt decided on Saturday that the whole economic strategy had to go and told the prime minister at Chequers the next day. Weakened by events, she had little option but to agree.
"Jeremy Hunt is de facto PM," said one MP, speaking for many. "I don't see the point of her," added another.
By Sunday, the wheels were in motion for the end of Ms Truss's premiership. The BBC contacted many MPs and the mood was dark. Nobody was suggesting Ms Truss's authority would recover. One Ms Truss loyalist told me: "We've lost".
A senior party figure added as the mood turned: "People know that this is over. It's a question of how and when."
There was however, still a ray of hope for Ms Truss.
Some MPs were nervous about bringing the prime minister down without having a unity candidate to replace her. They feared it would mean even more chaos, which nobody would be able to control.
Some of the PM's internal critics urged caution. As one senior figure put it to me: Ms Truss's future might be decided by what her opponents can't do at this stage.
But what followed was even more humiliation.
On Monday, Mr Hunt took control and junked the economic plan. The prime minister was widely ridiculed for not speaking herself in Parliament. She dodged an urgent question from the Labour leader, then sat beside the chancellor briefly as he ripped up her economic plan in the Commons.
A couple of days later, the home secretary resigned over a breach of the ministerial code - but launched a blistering attack on the prime minister and her programme.
Suella Braverman launched a withering attack on Ms Truss in her resignation letter
There was trouble brewing on the right of the party, which had campaigned so vigorously for Ms Truss over summer. And yet Prime Minister's Questions had ended without disaster, buying Ms Truss at least a few more hours.
The final straw for Conservative MPs was the chaos over a vote on banning fracking. MPs were told it was confidence vote - that by not voting with the government, they were saying they didn't want it to continue. Then they were told it wasn't a confidence issue. Then they were told it was - and those who rebelled would be disciplined.
It all meant that by Thursday morning, the Conservative Party had decisively turned. When the prime minister summoned Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, to test the mood of the party, it was game over.
The new economic era was over. Twenty-four hours after saying she was a fighter, she had resigned. Ms Truss had failed, her "big bang" plan in tatters.
Turmoil has defined Ms Truss's time in office. But it has also helped define 2022. In less than one year, there have been four chancellors, and by next week there will have been three prime ministers.
The Conservatives now have to choose a leader they think can bring stability. Whoever it is will want to last a lot longer than Ms Truss.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63335671
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Tory leadership: Why would anyone want to be prime minister now anyway? - BBC News
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2022-10-23
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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An economy in crisis and an unruly party await the new Tory leader, writes Laura Kuenssberg.
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UK Politics
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Why on earth would anyone - especially those seeking to lead the Conservative Party - want to be prime minister?
Well, you get a fancy Georgian house in central London, hundreds of staff, private travel and a chat with the King every week.
You even get the chance to do some good and improve people's lives. And whatever happens you'll have a place in history.
But why, right now, would anyone in their right mind put themselves through a leadership election so they can get the top job?
When I asked this question of an experienced former Downing Street staffer the answer comes: "I honestly could not answer it."
At the top of the gruesome list of issues that awaits the next prime minister is that the UK economy is in trouble.
The country has been getting poorer and the public are feeling it - or as one cabinet minister says: "We have all the same problems we have before and there is an economic crisis."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why has Liz Truss resigned as prime minister? Leila Nathoo explains.
The mess created by the short-lived Truss administration has tied the Conservatives to the trouble. Her decisions, and the subsequent ditching of them, singled the UK out for particularly brutal treatment at the hands of the financial markets.
Families and firms may find it harder to make ends meet and many of them will blame the Tories for the financial pain on its way.
And whoever ends up in No 10 will have less money in real terms to allocate to public services.
The NHS is seriously stretched, as are services for older people and those with disabilities. Education is struggling to catch up after Covid.
Transport is creaking, and there are stubborn problems with building houses, as well as the challenges of climate change and energy supply.
At the risk of depressing you, the list could go on and on.
Any one of these challenges would be enough to occupy a government's political focus.
But it's naïve to imagine the squeeze on public budgets that is coming won't make it harder for many government departments to do the job the public needs them to do.
There is a reason that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, says there will be "difficult decisions". Cuts are coming, not least because inflation is so high.
Away from home, there is no question of the UK reneging on its support for Ukraine - but there are no answers yet about how long the war will go on, or how it ends.
How should the UK and its allies deal with China? And the row with the EU about the Irish border rumbles on as the unfinished business of Brexit.
On paper the new prime minister should have the political ability to start solving those problems because, by historic proportions, the Conservatives have a huge majority in Parliament.
But thanks to the Tories' internal squabbles and horrors that majority is, in truth, hypothetical. "The party is ungovernable," says a cabinet minister.
This is where the personalities of the candidates vying to the next prime minister come in (sorry, I know some of you wish it wasn't about the characters but it's just part of the deal).
One of the biggest personalities belongs to Boris Johnson - forced from office this summer by his colleagues.
However, there was a chunk of Tory MPs who stood clapping - some on the verge of weeping - when he left office and who are convinced he is the answer now.
One of his cabinet backers says "it was existential for us in 2019, and it is existential for us now" - joking that they are "plotting the biggest come back since Lazarus".
Thousands of column inches have already been devoted to whether that is a good idea, or even feasible. Let's say it came to pass. There would be horror among many of his colleagues, and profound awkwardness for those MPs, including many of his then-backers, who called publicly for him to go.
One former minister worries: "Half the party will be upset and 90% of the country will be upset."
Another MP says: "I keep thinking I'm in a never-ending nightmare, then I realise that I actually am. I keep asking my colleagues if they are having memory loss."
Boris Johnson is without question the biggest political celebrity around. But many of his colleagues believe now it's infamy, not admiration.
Which one of these three will become the next - or return as - prime minister?
He couldn't keep the party together under his leadership last time, so why is there a chance he will now? Lazarus may have been raised from the dead, according to the Bible, but it was suggested he never smiled again.
But there is an equivalent risk for former Chancellor Rishi Sunak - who is likely to end up as the MPs' favourite.
Some blame him for Mr Johnson's downfall and may never fully accept him as the leader if he wins, with one source warning: "There is a significant part of the Conservative Party that will not serve under Rishi."
The Sunak and Johnson camps are a cracked mirror of each other - both would likely find it hard to bring the party together, leading to what one cabinet minister calls a "never-ending circle of arguments".
This, by the way, is where Penny Mordaunt's backers believe she could win - free of the toxic baggage, and able to pull the party together as a team captain who could lead.
While I'm writing this, we don't yet know if Boris Johnson is actually going to stand. You won't be surprised to learn this is a classic Boris Johnson move.
His allies are convinced he wants to do it. Some of his colleagues and superfans are cockahoop that he wants to do it. But he is not confirming he will do it. Why?
Until he is sure he will get the numbers to avoid being humiliated by not making the final cut he would rather dangle the possibility, and perhaps enjoy the attention, than confirm he will stand.
If he does not get into the final two he can say "ah ha, well I never said I would stand, thank you for the kind suggestion, but I never really meant it, it's not the right time".
But it's not clear that being loathed by no-one will translate into being liked enough.
And then there are the polls. The Tories' ratings have fallen off a cliff. Could they climb back? Of course, anything is possible.
But the polls suggest disaster, not just a dip, and superhuman leadership will be required to make a full recovery from this.
The public, quite rightly, often gets on with more interesting things than what's going on at Westminster, but this time the public has noticed and for the most part largely disapproves of what the Conservatives have been doing.
So why would anyone want the job?
That's politics. The mixture of the high-minded call to serve and the low lust of of ambition.
Or as one former senior minister says: "There is always someone in the Tory Party who believes that they are the one who can lead everyone to the promised land."
Correction 27th October 2022: This article has been amended to remove a word considered offensive to Welsh people.
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Roblox removes 'meat grinder' Ukraine v Russia game - BBC News
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2022-10-01
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The War on Larkiv game was accepted and promoted by the world's largest children's game platform.
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Technology
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The world's biggest gaming platform for children, Roblox, has removed two games that allowed players to fight and kill each other as Russians or Ukrainians.
One of them, called War on Larkiv: Ukraine, was showcased to users in the Roblox discovery section.
It clocked up 90,000 plays in less than two weeks.
Roblox said that both games violated its community standards and removed them within four hours of being contacted by the BBC.
War on Larkiv was based in a fictional city that resembled the real city of Kharkiv, where hundreds of people have died in indiscriminate shelling after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February this year.
The game was launched by a developer called Russia War RP
The other game, called Battle for Ukraine, had been on the Roblox website for months.
It allowed players to watch the bombing of cities such as Mariupol, which was besieged and largely destroyed by Russian forces earlier this year.
Fifty million players, mainly children, log in to Roblox every day to explore, play mini-games and create their own "experiences".
The game was selling upgrades to weapons in exchange for Roblox's currency Robux
There are millions of these player-generated experiences.
The most popular are showcased to Roblox players through a curated home screen, but others can be found using the search function.
War on Larkiv: Ukraine grew in popularity because it was showcased and had a review score of 71% from users.
It had also gained an audience on TikTok, with 4.7 million views of videos related to the title.
The game encouraged players to upgrade their weapons in exchange for Roblox's in-game currency, Robux.
The game page read: "Grab your guns and choose your side to fight in the War on Larkiv: Ukraine. Heavy combat is taking place right now in the fictional city of Larkiv, soldiers strive with hope and destiny."
Players could choose to fight for Ukraine or Russia, with a kill count on each side updating throughout the live game that anyone on the platform could take part in.
The BBC monitored the game on and off for two days and found it had a continuous player base of about 10 to 40 people, with many sharing game chat in English, Ukrainian and Russian.
Players could choose to spawn inside the bombed city or in the suburbs
A Roblox spokesman said: "We have strict Community Standards which govern the portrayal of real-world events. Both of the experiences in question have been removed for violating our standards following an assessment by our moderation team."
Ukrainian game developer Grisha Bolshakov, who fled his home in Kharkiv and is now living in the UK, said he would never try to make an entertainment game about the war.
"Obviously a game with this sensational topic will resonate and generate interest on social platforms, but I would never touch this topic for an entertainment product,
"It's not helping to educate players morally or take a real look at rather sad things. It's just making fun from the meat grinder happening in the real world."
Controversies are not new to Roblox, a huge sprawling world of games valued at about $24bn (£18bn).
In Battle for Ukraine the city of Mariupol is depicted with bombs falling on it from the sky
Recent headlines have referred to sex rooms and inappropriate sexual content about Kim Kardashian.
There are also other war simulation games seemingly based on active Middle Eastern conflicts that have been available for over a year.
"The model is broken," technology and ethics researcher Stephanie Hare says of Roblox's moderation system.
"There is an argument that the company has the right to profit from content that some people find offensive, but clearly these games broke their own decency rules, so why wasn't it spotted before a reporter found it?
"It comes down to incentive - there's no penalty or enforcement, so the company can just rely on inadequate tools and staffing and this will keep happening."
Unlike many games companies, Roblox has not stopped or suspended trading in Russia since the invasion.
At a recent Roblox developer conference, Chief Executive Dave Baszucki said Russia sees more than two million active Roblox users a day, according to Bloomberg reporting.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63078950
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So what are the prime minister's options now? - BBC News
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2022-10-19
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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One senior Tory MP said Liz Truss' actions have been "unforgivable," "terrible" and "appalling".
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UK Politics
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Crises engulfing the government by the hour.
It seems near impossible that this chaos can be bottled and buried.
The dysfunction is too profound, the outrage among Conservatives too loud for any sense of serenity to return.
A prime minister who had already shredded her programme for government and sacked her first chancellor, then, in just one day, loses a home secretary, a senior adviser is suspended and then for hours - yes, hours - her team cannot say whether two other senior figures have walked too.
A weak government had tried to turn a routine vote into a show of strength, and then bottled it, illustrating their weakness.
And for an entire evening, neither Downing Street nor senior ministers had the faintest idea whether the chief whip and deputy chief whip were still in their jobs.
Tory MPs cannot believe what they are witnessing. What is happening in their name.
I've been speaking privately to a very senior Conservative whose analysis was so brutal it left me open-mouthed.
Liz Truss's actions have been "unforgivable," "terrible" and "appalling".
"She has stuffed the party, the country, and there'll be a general election."
"How could she act like a little dictator without a mandate?"
So, what could the prime minister do next?
She could wake up and decide the game's up.
I should say there is no indication she is about to do that.
She could be told by her party the game's up.
The level of discontent within it is huge.
Or she could attempt to continue.
Those still supportive point out, rightly, that finding an alternative prime minister is difficult and even if this is pulled off it will be seen as absurd to many around the country.
The argument for a general election will be deafeningly loud, and why on earth would any Tory MP want an election given how massively unpopular they appear to be, according to opinion polls?
But the life expectancy of a young government already deeply in peril is currently shortening by the day.
The chaos might yet multiply.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63323985
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news_uk-politics-63323985
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Should public sector workers get bigger pay rises? - BBC News
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2022-10-06
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The government risks economic dynamite as some state workers lobby for double-digit wage rises.
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Business
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The reports of the public sector pay review bodies are arriving across Whitehall right now, with the potential to become both economic and political dynamite.
They cover eight areas and just under half the public sector workforce but it may be the case that the evidence submitted, mainly at the turn of the year, is already out of date.
Inflation is on a march. But as Treasury Minister Simon Clarke told me last week, and reiterated yesterday, there is no automatic link in the Treasury's view between the rate of inflation and wage settlements.
In private, senior Cabinet ministers go further, saying that matching wages to inflation would be dangerous and damaging - even suggesting such a thing is irresponsible.
They point to two factors around a significant real terms pay cuts for NHS workers, teachers, police officers and council workers.
The bulk of the 9% current rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is driven by energy price rises.
The Government has already announced support for energy bills for millions of households, especially those on lower incomes. It also points to early indications of private sector wage growth at around 4-5%, as a more relevant metric.
There are two counter arguments here Firstly, those payments, which cover almost all the cost for several million households, are currently a one-off. Second, public sector pay has fallen overall since 2010 already, and there are some recruitment challenges already affecting some provision of services.
Furthermore, state pensions and some benefits are pegged to the prevailing rate of inflation, and that potentially huge increase will be delivered next year, under current plans. Other bills are also linked to inflation, such as mobile phone and broadband payments.
Unions have asked for pay rises reflecting the current huge spike in inflation. Unison, for example, has asked for rises to match the higher Retail Price Index measure of inflation at 11%. Nurses have asked for 15%.
Our Cost of Living survey last week suggested eight in 10 Britons thought that wages should go up with the cost of living.
Fewer though - just over a third of workers - said they would push their employer for such a rise. Unions also face some difficulties in reaching new thresholds required in ballots for legal strike action on a national basis. Though the RMT did manage to clear such hurdles to go ahead with the rail strike.
Then there is the more general argument about a 1970s-style wage-price spiral emerging. Certainly the last time inflation reached double digits in the 1970s when inflation topped over 20%, and in some years wage inflation was 30%.
Prices went up in anticipation that wages would, which in turn increased because of expectations of price rises, and so on and so forth. This was the classic wage-price spiral that saw the period of very high inflation last years rather than months.
There is some evidence that this is happening in the US. But not much so far in the UK, where prices certainly have spiked and wages haven't - though that could change. There are structural reasons for this.
Union membership has fallen from 13 million at the 1970s peak to six million now. While the Government privately accepts that the numbers affected are small in relation to the whole economy, there is a "signalling effect", they argue, from high profile public disputes.
We are obviously a world away from Downing Street slapping down the Bank of England Governor after my interview in February, where Andrew Bailey warned workers not to ask for excessive pay rises. And significant in-year real wage cuts may leave some voters who were promised a "high wage" economy a little short-changed.
But the Treasury insists there is no "central pay" policy. The result of the Pay Review Body process is for relevant departments to make decisions, based on recruitment and retainment and existing policies on, for example, starting salaries for teachers.
The important fact here though is that the Treasury is not intending to increase the cash budgets for departments. If they want to find funds to increase wages against Spending Review plans, they will have to find it in efficiency savings or cuts in their own departments.
It is time for Cabinet ministers who like to talk about a smaller state and tax cuts to show how they intend to contribute, say some of their colleagues.
All of which leaves unions claiming their members are ready to move towards industrial action across a range of public services. At a time of labour shortages, some union leaders believe they will never have more leverage to force their wages higher, and that there will be post-pandemic public sympathy for their asks not to see a cut to living standards.
The Government will argue this way lies the inflationary dangers of the past.
But for many of the workers concerned, it is not just that their memories have faded - they were not even born the last time inflation hit double digits. So for many, we are in uncharted territory.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61874732
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Tory conference: Rebellion in the air over possible benefit squeeze - BBC News
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2022-10-06
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Some Tory MPs are clear they will not back a move to end the link between benefits and inflation.
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UK Politics
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This has not been an easy party conference for the government.
Some in Birmingham think it's been a disaster.
First, a colossal U-turn on the 45p tax rate, then being forced to bring forward the next step of the chancellor's economic growth plan under pressure from Tory MPs.
Now, there's another mutiny brewing over benefits - and how much they should go up by.
Boris Johnson's government promised that working-age benefits would go up in line with inflation.
His successor as PM, Liz Truss, has pledged that pensions will continue to be linked to inflation but has pointedly not made the same commitment when it comes to welfare payments like universal credit.
It means a rise in working-age benefits could be linked to wages instead.
The government has said no final decision will be made for a few weeks yet. But rebellion hangs in the air here in Birmingham and it's likely to follow the prime minister back to Westminster.
A growing number of Conservative MPs are making it clear where they stand - and remarkably, that goes all the way up to the cabinet.
"We are not about trying to help people with one hand and take away with another," she told Times Radio.
Remember, cabinet ministers are supposed to toe the government line. This is not an example of biting your tongue.
Then there's the former Tory leader - and one of the main architects of the universal credit system - Iain Duncan Smith, who has urged benefits to rise in line with prices.
He told the BBC: "Do the right thing for those who are poorest.
"The money you give into this area to deal with the worst off will go straight back into the economy, so that will help growth, ironically, at a time when we need growth rather than recession."
There is a debate going on in government over the best way to proceed.
One argument being made in Downing Street is that it is unfair to urge workers to accept below inflation wage rises, then to give inflation-matched increases in benefits.
Hence the suggestion the rises in benefits could be limited to the average salary increase.
One minister who sits around the cabinet table also argues the government needs to be prepared to have "a conversation" with the public about the benefits system.
They argue the drive for growth requires people to be in work, earning more money.
But there is significant concern in the Conservative Party about the idea of real-terms benefits cuts during a cost-of-living crisis.
Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith is among those to have argued the government needs to protect the most vulnerable in society.
She told the conference: "We do understand that these are very anxious times for people, we know that people are struggling with some of the costs that are rising. That's why protecting the most vulnerable is a vital priority for me and to this government."
It'll be her job to conduct review of benefit levels. It's common for people in the job to back higher rather than lower benefits. Her allies haven't contested suggestions she wants to secure an inflation-level increase.
"I suspect we'll end up with something close to inflation because of parliamentary pressure," says one minister I spoke to on Tuesday morning.
So where does this all end up? Is the move now inevitable? Some think so, like the former cabinet minister Damian Green who says the prime minister would lose any vote in Parliament on below-inflation benefits.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63130852
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news_uk-politics-63130852
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Tory leadership: Why would anyone want to be prime minister now anyway? - BBC News
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2022-10-24
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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An economy in crisis and an unruly party await the new Tory leader, writes Laura Kuenssberg.
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UK Politics
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Why on earth would anyone - especially those seeking to lead the Conservative Party - want to be prime minister?
Well, you get a fancy Georgian house in central London, hundreds of staff, private travel and a chat with the King every week.
You even get the chance to do some good and improve people's lives. And whatever happens you'll have a place in history.
But why, right now, would anyone in their right mind put themselves through a leadership election so they can get the top job?
When I asked this question of an experienced former Downing Street staffer the answer comes: "I honestly could not answer it."
At the top of the gruesome list of issues that awaits the next prime minister is that the UK economy is in trouble.
The country has been getting poorer and the public are feeling it - or as one cabinet minister says: "We have all the same problems we have before and there is an economic crisis."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Why has Liz Truss resigned as prime minister? Leila Nathoo explains.
The mess created by the short-lived Truss administration has tied the Conservatives to the trouble. Her decisions, and the subsequent ditching of them, singled the UK out for particularly brutal treatment at the hands of the financial markets.
Families and firms may find it harder to make ends meet and many of them will blame the Tories for the financial pain on its way.
And whoever ends up in No 10 will have less money in real terms to allocate to public services.
The NHS is seriously stretched, as are services for older people and those with disabilities. Education is struggling to catch up after Covid.
Transport is creaking, and there are stubborn problems with building houses, as well as the challenges of climate change and energy supply.
At the risk of depressing you, the list could go on and on.
Any one of these challenges would be enough to occupy a government's political focus.
But it's naïve to imagine the squeeze on public budgets that is coming won't make it harder for many government departments to do the job the public needs them to do.
There is a reason that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, says there will be "difficult decisions". Cuts are coming, not least because inflation is so high.
Away from home, there is no question of the UK reneging on its support for Ukraine - but there are no answers yet about how long the war will go on, or how it ends.
How should the UK and its allies deal with China? And the row with the EU about the Irish border rumbles on as the unfinished business of Brexit.
On paper the new prime minister should have the political ability to start solving those problems because, by historic proportions, the Conservatives have a huge majority in Parliament.
But thanks to the Tories' internal squabbles and horrors that majority is, in truth, hypothetical. "The party is ungovernable," says a cabinet minister.
This is where the personalities of the candidates vying to the next prime minister come in (sorry, I know some of you wish it wasn't about the characters but it's just part of the deal).
One of the biggest personalities belongs to Boris Johnson - forced from office this summer by his colleagues.
However, there was a chunk of Tory MPs who stood clapping - some on the verge of weeping - when he left office and who are convinced he is the answer now.
One of his cabinet backers says "it was existential for us in 2019, and it is existential for us now" - joking that they are "plotting the biggest come back since Lazarus".
Thousands of column inches have already been devoted to whether that is a good idea, or even feasible. Let's say it came to pass. There would be horror among many of his colleagues, and profound awkwardness for those MPs, including many of his then-backers, who called publicly for him to go.
One former minister worries: "Half the party will be upset and 90% of the country will be upset."
Another MP says: "I keep thinking I'm in a never-ending nightmare, then I realise that I actually am. I keep asking my colleagues if they are having memory loss."
Boris Johnson is without question the biggest political celebrity around. But many of his colleagues believe now it's infamy, not admiration.
Which one of these three will become the next - or return as - prime minister?
He couldn't keep the party together under his leadership last time, so why is there a chance he will now? Lazarus may have been raised from the dead, according to the Bible, but it was suggested he never smiled again.
But there is an equivalent risk for former Chancellor Rishi Sunak - who is likely to end up as the MPs' favourite.
Some blame him for Mr Johnson's downfall and may never fully accept him as the leader if he wins, with one source warning: "There is a significant part of the Conservative Party that will not serve under Rishi."
The Sunak and Johnson camps are a cracked mirror of each other - both would likely find it hard to bring the party together, leading to what one cabinet minister calls a "never-ending circle of arguments".
This, by the way, is where Penny Mordaunt's backers believe she could win - free of the toxic baggage, and able to pull the party together as a team captain who could lead.
While I'm writing this, we don't yet know if Boris Johnson is actually going to stand. You won't be surprised to learn this is a classic Boris Johnson move.
His allies are convinced he wants to do it. Some of his colleagues and superfans are cockahoop that he wants to do it. But he is not confirming he will do it. Why?
Until he is sure he will get the numbers to avoid being humiliated by not making the final cut he would rather dangle the possibility, and perhaps enjoy the attention, than confirm he will stand.
If he does not get into the final two he can say "ah ha, well I never said I would stand, thank you for the kind suggestion, but I never really meant it, it's not the right time".
But it's not clear that being loathed by no-one will translate into being liked enough.
And then there are the polls. The Tories' ratings have fallen off a cliff. Could they climb back? Of course, anything is possible.
But the polls suggest disaster, not just a dip, and superhuman leadership will be required to make a full recovery from this.
The public, quite rightly, often gets on with more interesting things than what's going on at Westminster, but this time the public has noticed and for the most part largely disapproves of what the Conservatives have been doing.
So why would anyone want the job?
That's politics. The mixture of the high-minded call to serve and the low lust of of ambition.
Or as one former senior minister says: "There is always someone in the Tory Party who believes that they are the one who can lead everyone to the promised land."
Correction 27th October 2022: This article has been amended to remove a word considered offensive to Welsh people.
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How big-bang economic plan and political turmoil sank Liz Truss - BBC News
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2022-10-24
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The outgoing PM won power promising radical change, but it ended in disaster, after just 45 days.
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UK Politics
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Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after political and economic turmoil engulfed her government
Liz Truss came to power promising a new economic and political era. It is 45 days since she became PM - the shortest premiership in British history.
Yet that period saw an historic economic gamble, an almost unthinkable number of U-turns and the junking of an entire political programme. It's been short. But not simple.
Over the summer, it all felt very different. As we travelled around the UK for hustings, it was clear Ms Truss was highly popular with Conservative members.
Her promises to slash tax and govern as a Conservative were exactly what they wanted to hear. She wasn't a flawless media performer, but she knew how to work a friendly crowd.
There were warnings from former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his supporters that her economic plans were risky and could backfire. Some said it would be electoral suicide. But they lost the argument in the Conservative Party.
With victory imminent, along with her close friend and political ally Kwasi Kwarteng, Ms Truss got to work on formulating a plan for power which would be radical and bold.
They decided they had to rip up the rules, which had been followed by previous Tory prime ministers. The economic "orthodoxy" was to go out the window. The pair prepared what aides called a "big bang" of measures - to hit the ground running.
"We are not going to be tinkering at the edges," a senior figure in Team Truss boasted.
Ms Truss modelled herself on former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her allies said that like the former prime minister, Ms Truss would be resolute in power; the lady wasn't for turning.
They made it clear she would make unpopular decisions and stick with them, whatever happened. Ms Truss wanted to be the new Iron Lady.
Within 48 hours came the first of a series of bold economic gambles, which went considerably further than almost everyone expected.
First there was the energy support package, which promised to cap the unit price for two years. For a candidate who had said there would be no more handouts, political reality had hit and the cheque book had been opened.
But within hours of being in Downing Street, politics had to take a back seat.
Ms Truss was told in the House of Commons that the Queen was ill. By the end of the day, a prime minister in office for two days was on the steps of Downing Street paying tribute to the longest-serving monarch in British history. Over the next few days, the government's focus was firmly on national mourning.
The late Queen Elizabeth II was succeeded by her son, King Charles, two days after Ms Truss took office
After the Queen's funeral though, Ms Truss had to make up for lost time. She went on her first and only major diplomatic trip to the United Nations in New York, where she told broadcasters she was prepared to make difficult decisions in pursuit of economic growth.
On her return came the economic "big bang" she had been thinking about for years.
Her mini-budget - which was anything but mini - was the most radical in recent history; taxes were slashed, particularly for the higher paid. It would be funded by borrowing, despite warnings that could make inflation worse.
Senior figures in Number 10 believed they were about to launch a bright new era for the UK economy. Economic libertarians had their chance and they were determined to take it.
One told me: "Something different and bold needs to be done."
Ms Truss's mini-budget was announced by her former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng
Team Truss believed the markets would give the country space to restructure the economy. But within days - it became clear they had been wrong and the wheels started to fall off their economic experiment.
There were few details on how the government would fund the package, which left financial markets reeling, sent the pound plummeting, and forced the Bank of England to bail out pensions funds.
Tory MPs began to panic quickly. Within 72 hours of the mini-budget, many were making it clear that they were unhappy. Conservative MPs spoke privately of the government already provoking a political crisis.
Over the coming week, that would only increase until a full-blown crisis emerged at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. By the time Ms Truss arrived, it was clear there was a significant rebellion brewing on the decision to scrap the 45p top rate of tax.
Under pressure from backbench MPs, Ms Truss buckled. The same day, she told the BBC she would not change her mind - she did. She sent the chancellor out to explain the decision.
The U-turn was supposed to show that Ms Truss was listening. Number 10 believed it would allow rebellious MPs to move on. Instead, it did the exact opposite; rebels smelled blood. "It feels like the last days of Rome," remarked one former minister.
Over the next few weeks, Ms Truss's authority collapsed completely.
She sacked her chancellor and scrapped a plan to keep corporation tax down. She appointed Jeremy Hunt to run the Treasury - someone who had backed Mr Sunak.
Mr Hunt decided on Saturday that the whole economic strategy had to go and told the prime minister at Chequers the next day. Weakened by events, she had little option but to agree.
"Jeremy Hunt is de facto PM," said one MP, speaking for many. "I don't see the point of her," added another.
By Sunday, the wheels were in motion for the end of Ms Truss's premiership. The BBC contacted many MPs and the mood was dark. Nobody was suggesting Ms Truss's authority would recover. One Ms Truss loyalist told me: "We've lost".
A senior party figure added as the mood turned: "People know that this is over. It's a question of how and when."
There was however, still a ray of hope for Ms Truss.
Some MPs were nervous about bringing the prime minister down without having a unity candidate to replace her. They feared it would mean even more chaos, which nobody would be able to control.
Some of the PM's internal critics urged caution. As one senior figure put it to me: Ms Truss's future might be decided by what her opponents can't do at this stage.
But what followed was even more humiliation.
On Monday, Mr Hunt took control and junked the economic plan. The prime minister was widely ridiculed for not speaking herself in Parliament. She dodged an urgent question from the Labour leader, then sat beside the chancellor briefly as he ripped up her economic plan in the Commons.
A couple of days later, the home secretary resigned over a breach of the ministerial code - but launched a blistering attack on the prime minister and her programme.
Suella Braverman launched a withering attack on Ms Truss in her resignation letter
There was trouble brewing on the right of the party, which had campaigned so vigorously for Ms Truss over summer. And yet Prime Minister's Questions had ended without disaster, buying Ms Truss at least a few more hours.
The final straw for Conservative MPs was the chaos over a vote on banning fracking. MPs were told it was confidence vote - that by not voting with the government, they were saying they didn't want it to continue. Then they were told it wasn't a confidence issue. Then they were told it was - and those who rebelled would be disciplined.
It all meant that by Thursday morning, the Conservative Party had decisively turned. When the prime minister summoned Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, to test the mood of the party, it was game over.
The new economic era was over. Twenty-four hours after saying she was a fighter, she had resigned. Ms Truss had failed, her "big bang" plan in tatters.
Turmoil has defined Ms Truss's time in office. But it has also helped define 2022. In less than one year, there have been four chancellors, and by next week there will have been three prime ministers.
The Conservatives now have to choose a leader they think can bring stability. Whoever it is will want to last a lot longer than Ms Truss.
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US President Biden calls Truss's economic policies 'a mistake' - BBC News
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2022-10-16
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The US president spoke out as the UK pays a diplomatic price for turmoil, the BBC’s James Landale writes.
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World
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Joe Biden voices his disagreement to cutting taxes for the UK's "super wealthy"
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has called Liz Truss's original economic policies "a mistake".
In an unusual intervention, he said the economic turmoil that followed the government's mini-budget had been "predictable".
Speaking at an ice cream shop in Oregon, Mr Biden was asked by reporters about the prime minister's attempt to boost growth with unfunded tax cuts - what the reporter called the "trickle-down plan that she has had to back away from".
The president replied: "Well, it's predictable. I wasn't the only one that thought it was a mistake."
He added: "I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy at a time when - anyway, I just think - I disagreed with the policy, but that's up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me."
Mr Biden has long been critical of the economic theory at the heart of the prime minister's policy, namely that cutting taxes on businesses and the rich generates growth that allows wealth to "trickle down" to all sectors of society.
But it is unusual for the president of the United States to be so critical of the leader of one of America's closest allies.
Mr Biden has been criticised in the past for not doing enough to support UK-US relations, preferring instead to focus his transatlantic relationship on Dublin, Paris and Berlin.
But he is not alone on the world stage in being puzzled at the way Britain is being governed and the choices being made by its politicians.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also joked about the UK's economic upheaval
Foreign ministers and British diplomats say there is a diplomatic cost to Britain's political turmoil, as well as an economic price.
Some world leaders are even happy to laugh at Britain's expense in public. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke to the Sunday Times about the concerns expressed by the International Monetary Fund about the state of Britain's economy.
"If you need experience in dealing with the IMF, we are here to help!" he joked, a reference to Greece's own financial instability and support from the international body.
Diplomats from countries suffering their own economic turmoil joke that their currency is stronger than the pound.
And crucially, foreign diplomats feel able to break one of the first rules of diplomacy and criticise the domestic policies of their host governments, such as the German ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, who voiced his concerns about the government's economic plans.
Liz Truss insists she will see through her "mission" to get Britain's economy growing
One UK diplomat told me: "We are a laughing-stock. People come up to me and ask: 'What is going on in your country?' There is a grim fascination in it all. But when I want to talk about substance, they just say, "let's wait until things have settled down and there's a plan.'"
Foreign diplomats and ministers say they miss the role the UK used to play on the world stage, saying they long to see what some describe as "the Britain of old", that provided a calm, steady presence on the world stage.
Britain was in the past seen by diplomats as one of those countries that followed due process and the rule of law and tended to be on the sensible side of any argument.
One European foreign minister told me this weekend: "Wake up Britain! The world is on fire. We need you."
The international unease has been noted by the main opposition parties in the UK, with shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, saying the recent turmoil has "made Britain's economy an international punchline".
"President Biden knows the dangerous folly of trickle-down economics," the MP continued. "His comments confirm the hit our reputation has taken thanks to the Conservatives."
The BBC approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for a response, but it said it would not be commenting.
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Liz Truss: Jamie Wallis asks PM to resign over 'basic errors' - BBC News
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2022-10-16
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Jamie Wallis accuses her of "very basic and avoidable errors" over the government's mini-budget.
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Wales
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Jamie Wallis published his letter to Liz Truss on Twitter criticising her performance as prime minister
A Welsh MP has written to Prime Minister Liz Truss calling on her to resign.
Bridgend MP Jamie Wallis accused her of "very basic and avoidable errors" over the government's mini-budget and her sacking of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
It comes after Wales Office minister David TC Davies apologised for "all of the problems" and "feeling of instability" caused by the mini-budget.
Mr Wallis is the third Tory MP to publicly call on Ms Truss to resign.
Former minister Crispin Blunt was the first, telling Channel 4 "the game is up and it's now a question as to how the succession is managed".
Then later on Sunday, Andrew Bridgen became the second, telling the Daily Telegraph: "We cannot carry on like this. Our country, its people and our party deserve better."
In Mr Wallis' letter to Ms Truss, he said she had "undermined Britain's economic credibility and fractured our party irreparably".
He added: "Mistakes can be undone, and as one united team I believe we can achieve almost anything. However, while you are leader, I no longer believe this is possible."
Liz Truss has held talks with her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over the weekend about a new budget
In the letter, shared on Twitter, Mr Wallis also accused the prime minister of choosing her supporters for key roles in the cabinet over the most experienced.
Jeremy Hunt was appointed as chancellor on Friday after Mr Kwarteng was sacked following a major U-turn over the mini-budget.
On Sunday, he urged the party to unite behind Ms Truss, as the pair held crunch talks to thrash out plans on tax and spending.
Despite overseeing a dramatic change in Ms Truss's flagship policy, Mr Hunt insisted "the prime minister's in charge" and denied media speculation that he had become the most powerful member of government.
"She's listened. She's changed. She's been willing to do that most difficult thing in politics, which is to change tack," he said in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg.
Earlier, Monmouth MP Mr Davies accused fellow Conservative MPs of "undermining" Ms Truss with anonymous "whispering" to the media.
The Monmouth MP said some did not accept losing the argument over the party leadership and "want to pick fights".
Mr Davies, the parliamentary under-secretary at the Wales Office, told BBC Radio Wales Sunday Supplement the issues began with the government trying to find ways to pay for an energy price cap to halt rising costs.
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"I'm sorry for all of the problems that it's caused," he said.
"I understand that there's a feeling of instability at the moment and people are nervous. I absolutely get that.
"The chancellor has gone partly as a result of that mini-budget and we're going to have to change a few things in order to make sure it continues.
"But my message, actually, as much as anything else, is to other Conservative MPs: it's just let's get on with the job," he said.
"There are millions of people and businesses out there who need that energy guarantee, who need to know that they're going to be able to pay their bills.
"And it doesn't always help anyone if people start getting involved in unattributed briefings to the press."
He added: "We want a stable economy and we want to do the right thing for people and businesses in this country.
David TC Davies: "Some of the endless brickbats that have been thrown around aren't terribly helpful"
"And I sometimes think that some of the endless brickbats that are being thrown around aren't terribly helpful."
Asked if Ms Truss had not delivered stability to the country, Mr Davies said: "You could argue that Liz Truss hasn't done it, but one could also argue that some people in the Conservative Party have done the undermining".
Referring to party leadership campaigns, he said "unfortunately there might be a small number of MPs who can't accept sometimes when they are on the losing side of an argument and want to pick fights.
"I haven't always backed all of the people who've ended up as leaders of the Conservative Party. But I look at it and I say I'm a Conservative and I believe in Conservative values and therefore whoever ends up there I'm going to back them because I don't want the alternative.
"And I think there may be a few of my colleagues who want to dwell on that".
Mr Davies said: "Any briefings I give are on air and on the radio like this. If any of my colleagues feel particularly strongly about something they should go out and say it in person on the radio and the telly and put their name to it.
"What I really find difficult is people who are whispering things to the press and we don't know who they are."
Stephen Crabb: "There will need to be some difficult discussions about how we manage our finances as a nation"
Former Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb, the Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, said after a "very difficult, poor start", the "next few weeks are going to be crucial" for Ms Truss's premiership.
He said that if she returned to "a broad-based, balanced, pragmatic political agenda", there was "no reason she shouldn't be able to carry on through 'til 2024".
"The immediate challenge, though, is to get us through a very difficult winter, address the challenge of high energy costs, get the country through that focus on protecting, particularly people at the lowest end of the income chain - people on social security, pensioners.
"Beyond that, there will need to be some difficult discussions about how we manage our finances as a nation," he told BBC Politics Wales.
Welsh government budget over next three years estimated to be worth £4bn less due to inflation, Vaughan Gething says
Meanwhile, Wales' Labour Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said the Welsh government was facing "terrible choices to make with less money" with its budget over the next three years already estimated to be worth £4bn less than originally planned as a result of inflation.
Asked if the Welsh government would consider using its own partial income tax powers to try to plug some of the gaps, Mr Gething replied: "We'll consider the income tax position in the round with all our other budget choices and we don't have any kind of certainty about the context in which we'll be making those choices."
Welsh teachers, NHS staff, ambulance staff and nurses are all threatening to go on strike in their calls for better pay offers from the Welsh government.
Mr Gething said the government "simply can't provide" an inflation-matching pay rise for public sector workers.
He went on to say that it was "entirely possible that there will be significant industrial action" in Wales over the winter months.
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Jeremy Hunt buries Truss’s economic experiment - BBC News
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2022-10-16
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The new chancellor has quickly made it clear he will not be pursuing so-called "Trussonomics".
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Business
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Having just conducted what turned out to be the last interview with former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng while across the pond, it certainly seemed like the economic experiment known as "Trussonomics" was dead - even if Liz Truss remained prime minister.
I had not expected the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to seal the coffin and publicly bury that approach to economics within 24 hours. But that is what happened in his interview with Laura Kuenssberg today.
And for good measure, former Health Secretary Matt Hancock read out a eulogy, of sorts.
"There are people who, in good faith, made arguments about libertarian economics… We've tested those arguments, it is now self-evident for a generation, it didn't work", he said.
Jeremy Hunt's acknowledgement of the "mistake" of side-lining the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), revealed by the BBC before the mini-budget, promise of "very difficult decisions" - and refusal to take any Truss tax cuts "off the table" - are aimed squarely at unimpressed markets.
In a few hours, the markets for British government borrowing reopen, but without the support of emergency help from the Bank of England.
But the market can be a capricious friend as well as a difficult enemy.
The economic message may be "credible", but questions remain as to the political sustainability: A prime minister without her programme, a cabinet now obliged to keep its lips shut over doubts about the OBR or Institute for Fiscal Studies, and a defence secretary having to contemplate how realistic the 3% of GDP promise is.
Truss-supporting MPs are privately concerned that all of this has been driven by pessimistic borrowing forecasts. Is this an entity with enough political capital and unity to push through significant cuts and tax rises, at least partly the result of previous mistakes, that they do not agree about?
And as this happens, businesses, rather in tune with public opinion, are no longer shy about criticising the government.
Many kept their counsel as the government pursued a form of Brexit that made exports more difficult and hit inward investment. The latest bout of economic and political instability has led to open conversations about how "investible" the UK is at this precise moment.
The chairman of Tesco, the supermarket historically most shy of saying anything about politics, told Laura Kuenssberg not only that the Conservatives "did not have a growth plan", but that Labour had the start of one with "many attractive ideas" and that "there's only one team in the field".
This reflects more general grumbling: Who is in charge? What is the policy? Is there macroeconomic stability? What is sterling worth?
These are active questions in boardrooms, and with an apparent swing in public opinion, and big stakes, business leaders feel empowered to say what they think. Buckle up.
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Who is in charge? Liz Truss or Jeremy Hunt? - BBC News
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2022-10-16
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The new chancellor has junked the prime minister's economic strategy in 24 hours, writes Laura Kuenssberg.
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UK Politics
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Who is in charge? Over the last couple of days you'd be forgiven for wondering if anyone was running the country.
The dizzying ups and downs of the mighty financial markets suggest they didn't really have faith that anyone had a grip on things either.
What happens on traders' screens affects the costs we have to grapple with - whether mortgages or rents - and how much of our taxes the government can spend on vital public services rather than paying interest on debt.
Under acute pressure from the markets Prime Minister Liz Truss had a choice - stick with her plan and say goodbye to what economic credibility her government had left - or say farewell to her proposals and try to muddle on.
In other words - change or die. She chose change. But has she killed off what political authority she had left and handed it to someone else?
Jeremy Hunt, her new Chancellor of the Exchequer and a guest on this week's show, has in a little over 24 hours junked her economic strategy of tax cuts and a promise not to cut public spending.
He's made a virtue out of being candid about how bad things are - dangling the implication the prime minister has not levelled with the public about what comes next.
Whether it's intentional or not, the message isn't that subtle: after the craziness of the last few weeks here comes an experienced grown-up to take control.
And it's given the impression, as one former minister put it: "He's gone out and said he's in charge."
Another said Mr Hunt had "dismantled" the prime minister's agenda, while others suggested his arrival leaves Ms Truss in office, but not really in power.
Mr Hunt told me in our interview for Sunday's programme - as you might expect - that she is still the boss.
Yet the way in which he has been able to comprehensively ditch her programme is striking and shifts the political balance in Downing Street.
The hope in No 10 and No 11 is that Mr Hunt's appointment will grant some breathing space to this struggling administration and the financial markets will stop pounding the UK and reserve judgement about the economy's prospects for a fortnight.
Then, on 31 October, the government will be able to spell out how its numbers add up without the need for a magic calculator. But that arithmetic won't be pretty - public spending cuts are on the way and taxes could rise too.
It leaves Ms Truss now technically in charge of a government that is on track to do the opposite of what she originally promised.
She became prime minister by promising the Conservative Party she would cut taxes and shake up what she condemned as boring old Treasury thinking.
But now she can't keep those vows does she still have the right to govern?
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: A dizzying 24 hours for UK politics... in under a minute
One former minister suggested no-one really has legitimacy now: not Ms Truss, nor Mr Hunt.
Mr Hunt's appointment could calm the markets and has definitely eased some of the concerns in the centre of the Conservative Party, but it has created new unhappiness on the right.
They are frustrated that Ms Truss has given up on her plans and are suspicious that MPs who were never really on board with her ideology have taken advantage of a crisis in the markets for their own political ends.
One of her fellow free marketeers, an ex-minister, told me they were "discouraged" and warned a "full-scale dismantling of the plans would test party unity in a different way".
In other words, the prime minister can no longer rely on their support.
Does the politicking of the last 48 hours really make that much difference? Believe the polls and Ms Truss' start in office has been an epic disaster from which it is hard to see a return.
For some MPs, whoever is in No 11, the Truss project is over. One former minister said there had been a "total seepage of power and authority" and she is on her way out in either weeks or months.
Another MP said there was no point hanging around: "We need to purge the current incumbents," they said, suggesting it would be a mistake to wait.
"The idea we would lose any credibility we have left by removing her is for the birds because we have no credibility."
It is one of the easiest things in politics to say: "We can't go on like this." And yet, very often, it does.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: Liz Truss asked why she should stay on as PM
Boris Johnson and Theresa May survived far, far longer than many of their colleagues had hoped. Disbelief and depression on the Tory backbenches is not the same as there being consensus about who could do the job, or how a replacement would be installed.
There's still reticence about dispatching yet another leader. As one minister said: "We'll look like circus clowns if we change again."
And there's a truth that's been obscured by the wild politics of the last few weeks.
The Conservative Party in 2022 doesn't feel entirely sure what it's for, and hasn't for some time.
On the Tory right some feel an attempt at ditching the rather limp centrist approach of the last few years has crashed - but in the middle there's a sense of grim satisfaction they were correct.
Right now this deeply fragile government may not have time to consider such lofty arguments, let alone settle them.
Their only way out is to try to get a grip.
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Tory leadership: Hopefuls jostle for MPs' support - BBC News
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2022-10-20
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says he will not run to replace Liz Truss, as others race to secure backing.
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UK Politics
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Liz Truss was spotted out jogging on Friday, a day after her dramatic resignation
Conservative MPs hoping to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister are racing to find backers before a Monday deadline.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has ruled himself out of the contest, adding he is "leaning towards" backing Boris Johnson.
The former PM has not ruled out a dramatic comeback, months after being forced out after a Tory revolt.
Candidates to replace Ms Truss need support from at least 100 colleagues, limiting the contest to three.
She resigned on Thursday just six weeks into the job, making her tumultuous premiership the shortest in British history.
Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, who stood unsuccessfully in the contest to replace Mr Johnson, are also seen as likely contenders to run again.
So far, the BBC estimates that Mr Sunak has the most MPs declaring their support, with 63, compared to 38 for Mr Johnson and 17 for Ms Mordaunt.
But in a fast-moving situation, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch are thought to be considering bids.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out, along with Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and former cabinet minister Michael Gove.
Candidates have until 2pm on Monday to find 100 backers. If three reach the threshold, MPs will knock out one contender in a ballot on the same day.
MPs will hold an "indicative" ballot of the final two, with the winner then decided in an online vote of party members to finish on Friday next week.
Mr Wallace said he was "leaning towards" supporting Mr Johnson, although he added the former PM still had "questions to answer" over the investigation he faces into his Partygate conduct.
He told reporters Mr Johnson had a "mandate" from the 2019 general election and "could win the next election".
But Tory MP Jesse Norman, one of scores of ministers to quit Mr Johnson's government, said bringing him back would be an "absolutely catastrophic decision".
Polling has suggested Ben Wallace is a popular figure among Tory activists
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has been encouraging MP colleagues to nominate Mr Johnson, and tweeted his support earlier alongside the hashtag "Boris or bust".
Fellow Conservative MP Tim Loughton took issue with the rallying cry, suggesting it would damage party unity.
He tweeted in reply: "How on earth can that slogan be remotely helpful to the party given the strong possibility that the next PM will not be Boris?"
If Mr Johnson did make a comeback it would be unprecedented in British political history, coming three months after being forced out by his own MPs after a string of scandals.
Polling suggests he remains popular with Tory members, but another tilt at the leadership could prove divisive among Tory MPs, some of whom have said they would quit politics if he came back.
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Opposition parties are calling for a general election to decide who should be the next prime minister.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said if Mr Johnson returned to No 10, that would be the "most powerful argument" for another poll.
"I remind myself that only three months ago Boris Johnson left office because most of those who were serving him on his front bench had declared that he was unfit for office," he said.
The next general election is not due to take place until at least 2024 and, at this stage, it looks unlikely that date will be brought forward.
Labour has been way ahead of the Conservatives in recent opinion polls.
Ms Truss's resignation on Thursday followed weeks of turmoil on financial markets following her tax-cutting mini-budget in September.
In response, she sacked her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and appointed Jeremy Hunt to the post hours later to try to calm the markets.
On Wednesday, her Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, resigned and a chaotic night with accusations of bullying during a vote in the House of Commons followed, sealing her fate.
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How big-bang economic plan and political turmoil sank Liz Truss - BBC News
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2022-10-20
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The outgoing PM won power promising radical change, but it ended in disaster, after just 45 days.
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UK Politics
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Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after political and economic turmoil engulfed her government
Liz Truss came to power promising a new economic and political era. It is 45 days since she became PM - the shortest premiership in British history.
Yet that period saw an historic economic gamble, an almost unthinkable number of U-turns and the junking of an entire political programme. It's been short. But not simple.
Over the summer, it all felt very different. As we travelled around the UK for hustings, it was clear Ms Truss was highly popular with Conservative members.
Her promises to slash tax and govern as a Conservative were exactly what they wanted to hear. She wasn't a flawless media performer, but she knew how to work a friendly crowd.
There were warnings from former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his supporters that her economic plans were risky and could backfire. Some said it would be electoral suicide. But they lost the argument in the Conservative Party.
With victory imminent, along with her close friend and political ally Kwasi Kwarteng, Ms Truss got to work on formulating a plan for power which would be radical and bold.
They decided they had to rip up the rules, which had been followed by previous Tory prime ministers. The economic "orthodoxy" was to go out the window. The pair prepared what aides called a "big bang" of measures - to hit the ground running.
"We are not going to be tinkering at the edges," a senior figure in Team Truss boasted.
Ms Truss modelled herself on former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her allies said that like the former prime minister, Ms Truss would be resolute in power; the lady wasn't for turning.
They made it clear she would make unpopular decisions and stick with them, whatever happened. Ms Truss wanted to be the new Iron Lady.
Within 48 hours came the first of a series of bold economic gambles, which went considerably further than almost everyone expected.
First there was the energy support package, which promised to cap the unit price for two years. For a candidate who had said there would be no more handouts, political reality had hit and the cheque book had been opened.
But within hours of being in Downing Street, politics had to take a back seat.
Ms Truss was told in the House of Commons that the Queen was ill. By the end of the day, a prime minister in office for two days was on the steps of Downing Street paying tribute to the longest-serving monarch in British history. Over the next few days, the government's focus was firmly on national mourning.
The late Queen Elizabeth II was succeeded by her son, King Charles, two days after Ms Truss took office
After the Queen's funeral though, Ms Truss had to make up for lost time. She went on her first and only major diplomatic trip to the United Nations in New York, where she told broadcasters she was prepared to make difficult decisions in pursuit of economic growth.
On her return came the economic "big bang" she had been thinking about for years.
Her mini-budget - which was anything but mini - was the most radical in recent history; taxes were slashed, particularly for the higher paid. It would be funded by borrowing, despite warnings that could make inflation worse.
Senior figures in Number 10 believed they were about to launch a bright new era for the UK economy. Economic libertarians had their chance and they were determined to take it.
One told me: "Something different and bold needs to be done."
Ms Truss's mini-budget was announced by her former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng
Team Truss believed the markets would give the country space to restructure the economy. But within days - it became clear they had been wrong and the wheels started to fall off their economic experiment.
There were few details on how the government would fund the package, which left financial markets reeling, sent the pound plummeting, and forced the Bank of England to bail out pensions funds.
Tory MPs began to panic quickly. Within 72 hours of the mini-budget, many were making it clear that they were unhappy. Conservative MPs spoke privately of the government already provoking a political crisis.
Over the coming week, that would only increase until a full-blown crisis emerged at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. By the time Ms Truss arrived, it was clear there was a significant rebellion brewing on the decision to scrap the 45p top rate of tax.
Under pressure from backbench MPs, Ms Truss buckled. The same day, she told the BBC she would not change her mind - she did. She sent the chancellor out to explain the decision.
The U-turn was supposed to show that Ms Truss was listening. Number 10 believed it would allow rebellious MPs to move on. Instead, it did the exact opposite; rebels smelled blood. "It feels like the last days of Rome," remarked one former minister.
Over the next few weeks, Ms Truss's authority collapsed completely.
She sacked her chancellor and scrapped a plan to keep corporation tax down. She appointed Jeremy Hunt to run the Treasury - someone who had backed Mr Sunak.
Mr Hunt decided on Saturday that the whole economic strategy had to go and told the prime minister at Chequers the next day. Weakened by events, she had little option but to agree.
"Jeremy Hunt is de facto PM," said one MP, speaking for many. "I don't see the point of her," added another.
By Sunday, the wheels were in motion for the end of Ms Truss's premiership. The BBC contacted many MPs and the mood was dark. Nobody was suggesting Ms Truss's authority would recover. One Ms Truss loyalist told me: "We've lost".
A senior party figure added as the mood turned: "People know that this is over. It's a question of how and when."
There was however, still a ray of hope for Ms Truss.
Some MPs were nervous about bringing the prime minister down without having a unity candidate to replace her. They feared it would mean even more chaos, which nobody would be able to control.
Some of the PM's internal critics urged caution. As one senior figure put it to me: Ms Truss's future might be decided by what her opponents can't do at this stage.
But what followed was even more humiliation.
On Monday, Mr Hunt took control and junked the economic plan. The prime minister was widely ridiculed for not speaking herself in Parliament. She dodged an urgent question from the Labour leader, then sat beside the chancellor briefly as he ripped up her economic plan in the Commons.
A couple of days later, the home secretary resigned over a breach of the ministerial code - but launched a blistering attack on the prime minister and her programme.
Suella Braverman launched a withering attack on Ms Truss in her resignation letter
There was trouble brewing on the right of the party, which had campaigned so vigorously for Ms Truss over summer. And yet Prime Minister's Questions had ended without disaster, buying Ms Truss at least a few more hours.
The final straw for Conservative MPs was the chaos over a vote on banning fracking. MPs were told it was confidence vote - that by not voting with the government, they were saying they didn't want it to continue. Then they were told it wasn't a confidence issue. Then they were told it was - and those who rebelled would be disciplined.
It all meant that by Thursday morning, the Conservative Party had decisively turned. When the prime minister summoned Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, to test the mood of the party, it was game over.
The new economic era was over. Twenty-four hours after saying she was a fighter, she had resigned. Ms Truss had failed, her "big bang" plan in tatters.
Turmoil has defined Ms Truss's time in office. But it has also helped define 2022. In less than one year, there have been four chancellors, and by next week there will have been three prime ministers.
The Conservatives now have to choose a leader they think can bring stability. Whoever it is will want to last a lot longer than Ms Truss.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63335671
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news_uk-politics-63335671
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So what are the prime minister's options now? - BBC News
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2022-10-20
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One senior Tory MP said Liz Truss' actions have been "unforgivable," "terrible" and "appalling".
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UK Politics
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Crises engulfing the government by the hour.
It seems near impossible that this chaos can be bottled and buried.
The dysfunction is too profound, the outrage among Conservatives too loud for any sense of serenity to return.
A prime minister who had already shredded her programme for government and sacked her first chancellor, then, in just one day, loses a home secretary, a senior adviser is suspended and then for hours - yes, hours - her team cannot say whether two other senior figures have walked too.
A weak government had tried to turn a routine vote into a show of strength, and then bottled it, illustrating their weakness.
And for an entire evening, neither Downing Street nor senior ministers had the faintest idea whether the chief whip and deputy chief whip were still in their jobs.
Tory MPs cannot believe what they are witnessing. What is happening in their name.
I've been speaking privately to a very senior Conservative whose analysis was so brutal it left me open-mouthed.
Liz Truss's actions have been "unforgivable," "terrible" and "appalling".
"She has stuffed the party, the country, and there'll be a general election."
"How could she act like a little dictator without a mandate?"
So, what could the prime minister do next?
She could wake up and decide the game's up.
I should say there is no indication she is about to do that.
She could be told by her party the game's up.
The level of discontent within it is huge.
Or she could attempt to continue.
Those still supportive point out, rightly, that finding an alternative prime minister is difficult and even if this is pulled off it will be seen as absurd to many around the country.
The argument for a general election will be deafeningly loud, and why on earth would any Tory MP want an election given how massively unpopular they appear to be, according to opinion polls?
But the life expectancy of a young government already deeply in peril is currently shortening by the day.
The chaos might yet multiply.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63323985
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news_uk-politics-63323985
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Ground should have been laid for tax cuts, admits Liz Truss - BBC News
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2022-10-02
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But the prime minister says she sticks by her mini budget, despite a bad reaction from the markets.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Prime Minister Liz Truss says she stands by plans announced in the mini-budget
Liz Truss has admitted she should have "laid the ground better" for her mini-budget, after it sparked days of market turmoil.
The prime minister told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg she had "learned from that", but she was confident her tax cutting package would boost economic growth.
She added a decision to cut the top earner tax rate was a "decision that the chancellor made".
And she revealed it was not discussed with the whole cabinet beforehand.
The cut to the 45p rate has provoked outrage from opposition parties, and concern from some Conservative MPs.
Former minister Michael Gove said the cut displayed the "wrong values," and signalled he wouldn't vote for it.
He also said he was "profoundly concerned" about the decision to borrow to fund the tax cuts, calling it "not Conservative".
The government's mini-budget included £45bn in cuts funded by government borrowing, and revealed the government expects its two-year scheme to fix energy prices will cost £60bn in the first six months.
The announcements sparked days of turbulence in financial markets, with the pound falling to a record low against the US dollar on Monday, although it has since recovered.
The rocky economic backdrop is set to dominate this week's Conservative party conference, Ms Truss's first as Tory leader, where she faces the task of reassuring her MPs over her approach to boosting the flagging UK economy.
Speaking from the gathering in Birmingham, Ms Truss promised to win over "the hearts and minds" of Tory MPs to persuade them of her plan.
In an interview for the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, she said she remained committed to her approach and she was "confident" better growth would result.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Michael Gove: Cutting tax for the wealthiest "a display of the wrong values"
"I do stand by the package we announced and I stand by the fact we announced it quickly, because we had to act," the prime minister added.
"But I do accept we should have laid the ground better. I have learned from that, and I will make sure that in future we do a better job of laying the ground."
She also defended the decision to cut the 45p income tax rate for top earners, saying it "raises very little" and made the tax system more complicated.
She added that the cut was a decision made by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng - prompting former cabinet minister and Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries to accuse her of throwing him "under a bus".
And Mr Gove, who has served in several cabinet roles in previous governments, expressed concerns about scrapping the top rate at a time when "people are suffering".
Former deputy prime minister Damian Green warned a reception at conference that the Tories would lose the next general election if "we end up painting ourselves as the party of the rich".
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves accused the government of conducting a "mad experiment" with the economy, calling the market turmoil a "crisis made in Downing Street".
Also speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, she said investors had been spooked by the "sheer scale of the borrowing" to fund the tax cuts, alongside the decision not to publish an official economic forecast alongside the plans.
She added that the public would "pay the price" for the turbulence, and said Ms Truss had failed to understand the "anxiety and fear" about the state of the economy.
Just a few weeks ago, this was a conference where many would have anticipated a mood of loyal celebration.
Yes, a government and a country confronting difficult times - but a party welcoming a new prime minister; relieved to have left the arguments of the collapsing premiership of Boris Johnson behind.
Instead, with nosediving opinion poll numbers and self-inflicted economic volatility, the mood here is bleak, the outbreaks of public anger illustrative of a deeper well of private anguish.
There are few things more dangerous for a government than a perception that senior figures don't know what they are doing and are not fully in control of events.
Some Tory MPs are already privately questioning how long Liz Truss might last in office; even more say they will not support elements of her budget, not least the tax cut for the highest paid.
Senior Conservatives recognise this is a moment of considerable jeopardy for a prime minister not yet a month in the job - and the next few days will be crucial in providing reassurance for the party and the country.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rachel Reeves says the government is conducting a "mad experiment" with the UK economy
In a bid to reassure markets, the government has said it will set out how it plans to lower public debt in the medium term on 23 November.
Pushed repeatedly on whether she planned to cut public spending, Ms Truss did not say, but added she wanted to get "value for money for the taxpayer".
She did not commit to raising benefits in line with inflation, saying that a decision would be made later this autumn.
She also rejected calls to bring forward an assessment of the government's plans from the UK's budget watchdog, currently due to be published alongside the debt plan.
She added that an assessment of the spending plans was "not yet ready".
"There's no point in publishing something that's not ready. That would just cause confusion," she added.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63107649
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news_uk-politics-63107649
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Tory conference: We must stay the course, insists Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng - BBC News
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2022-10-02
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Kwasi Kwarteng will defend his tax cuts during his Conservative Party conference speech.
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UK Politics
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Kwasi Kwarteng will use his Conservative conference speech later to insist the government will "stay the course" on his tax-cutting growth plan.
The chancellor's approach has sparked market turmoil and disquiet among some Conservative MPs, but he will argue his plan is "the right one".
Without action, the country is heading for "slow decline", he will warn.
Mr Kwarteng is under pressure after a backlash against his mini-budget, unveiled on 23 September.
Former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps have criticised the decision to remove the 45% top tax rate, with former transport secretary Mr Shapps predicting the proposal would be defeated in the Commons.
But Mr Kwarteng and Prime Minister Liz Truss have so far doubled down on their argument that their tax-cutting plans are needed to boost the UK's economy after more than a decade of sluggish growth.
In his first speech to a Conservative conference as chancellor, Mr Kwarteng will tell the audience in Birmingham: "We must face up to the facts that for too long our economy has not grown enough.
"I refuse to accept that it is somehow Britain's destiny to fall into middle income status… or that the tax burden reaching a 70-year-high is somehow inevitable.
"It isn't, and shouldn't be."
On Sunday, Mr Gove described the plan to cut the 45p top rate of tax as "a display of the wrong values", suggesting he would vote against the policy if it came before the Commons.
And Mr Shapps, who supported Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest, warned Ms Truss not to have a "tin ear" to voters' concerns about rising living costs by introducing "tax cuts for wealthy people".
Also speaking on Sunday, Ms Truss acknowledged she should have "laid the ground better" for the tax changes her government was proposing.
But she stood by the decision to "act quickly" and promised to win over the "hearts and minds" of MPs in her own party who opposed the measures.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Michael Gove: Cutting tax for the wealthiest "a display of the wrong values"
Also in his speech, Mr Kwarteng will argue he has a "new approach" focused on raising economic growth, which he says would create "higher wages, more jobs and crucially, revenue to fund our precious public services".
In a response to criticism that the government's tax-and-spend plans do not add up, he will say that his measures will be "backed by an iron-clad commitment to fiscal discipline".
"We will show that our plan is sound, credible and will increase growth."
Mr Kwarteng's £45bn package of measures outlined in the mini-budget also included cutting the basic rate of income tax to 19% from April 2023, as well as reducing stamp duty for some buyers.
The government had already announced it would be freezing energy prices for two years, estimating that the intervention would cost £60bn in the first six months alone.
Concern about how the government's proposals would be paid for was heightened by the Treasury's decision not to publish an assessment by the independent spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - and by Mr Kwarteng's suggestion that more tax cuts could come.
In the days following the chancellor's announcement, the value of the pound fell and the cost of government borrowing rose, forcing the Bank of England to make a £65bn intervention to calm markets.
Mr Kwarteng is due to set out further details of his economic plan on 23 November, along with a forecast by the OBR.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63108242
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news_uk-politics-63108242
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England 6-2 Iran: Three Lions win World Cup opener emphatically - BBC Sport
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2022-11-21
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Bukayo Saka scores twice as England cruise to a comfortable win against Iran in their Qatar 2022 opener.
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Last updated on .From the section World Cup
England's Fifa World Cup campaign opened in thoroughly convincing fashion as they outclassed Iran in an incident-packed match in Doha.
Gareth Southgate's side strolled to victory, with Iran's hopeless plight made worse by the early loss of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to concussion after a clash of heads with team-mate Majid Hosseini.
Jude Bellingham got England off the mark in this World Cup with a soaring header from Luke Shaw's cross 10 minutes before the break and the game was wrapped up before half-time thanks to Bukayo Saka's fine strike and Raheem Sterling's classy volley with the outside of his foot from Harry Kane's cross.
Saka got his second before Iran's supporters were given a moment of real delight when Mehdi Taremi scored a fine goal after 65 minutes - but England substitute Marcus Rashford then netted another smooth, composed strike with his first involvement.
To put the gloss on an incredibly dominant display, Jack Grealish slotted home from close range after a good run and pull back by Callum Wilson.
Iran did pull another back in injury time when Taremi slotted in a penalty after a John Stones foul.
The game was played out against the backdrop of more off-field controversy here in Qatar after England were forced to ditch plans to wear the OneLove armband promoting diversity and inclusivity under threat from Fifa of players being cautioned should they carry out the gesture of support.
• None Great marker but England must be better - Southgate
It is almost impossible to deliver any firm judgement on England's World Cup prospects given the paucity of Iran's opposition but this could hardly have gone better for Southgate as his one major selection decision reaped a rich dividend and the result was almost perfect.
Iran were expected to provide stern resistance as they reside in the top 20 in the Fifa rankings and have a recent victory against Uruguay on their record but England made light work of the task once Bellingham gave them the lead.
Bellingham is being touted as one of the big emerging names at this World Cup, the 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund star already a target for a host of the game's elite names.
And, even in the context of this game, Bellingham showed exactly why as he joined Saka as the dominant force in this game, scoring his first England goal with a magnificent header and bestriding midfield with a complete authority that belied his years.
This was only the second time England have scored six goals in a major tournament but on this evidence you would not bet against the brilliant Bellingham being involved the next time it happens.
Bellingham is a player with the world at his feet and a long career ahead of him at international level.
Southgate picked Saka ahead of Manchester City's Phil Foden, the only mildly contentious decision in his line-up, but there can be no arguments after a hugely impressive performance from the 21-year-old who has played such a big part as Arsenal head the Premier League.
Saka scored twice and was a threat throughout and thoroughly deserved the warm applause he received when he was substituted.
It will get harder for England as they now face the United States and Wales but this was the perfect start.
Iran suffered the early setback of losing goalkeeper Beiranvand to suspected concussion but this was never going to change the course of the game give the chasm in class between the two teams.
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz hinted at a bold approach beforehand but this was never going to be the case and once the game settled down following an opening 20 minutes littered with interruptions, this opening World Cup game was only going one way.
Iran's many fans had a moment of real joy when Taremi thumped home his finish but there was little else to celebrate in this game as their team took a heavy beating.
This was not a day without great significance, however, as both Iran's players and supporters used this global stage to make their feelings clear about the growing human rights protests against the ruling regime in their homeland.
The national anthem was shouted down by the supporters and none of the Iran players joined in.
Iran were heavily supported inside the Khalifa International Stadium and clearly regarded this as an ideal platform to make their grievances clear. The football itself gave them few moments to cheer but they were clearly determined to make this day count.
• None Goal! England 6, IR Iran 2. Mehdi Taremi (IR Iran) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Penalty conceded by John Stones (England) after a foul in the penalty area.
• None Mehdi Taremi (IR Iran) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt saved. Sardar Azmoun (IR Iran) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mehdi Torabi with a through ball.
• None Goal! England 6, IR Iran 1. Jack Grealish (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Callum Wilson.
• None Offside, IR Iran. Hossein Hosseini tries a through ball, but Sardar Azmoun is caught offside.
• None Offside, IR Iran. Hossein Hosseini tries a through ball, but Ali Gholizadeh is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
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Bounty bars removed from Celebrations tubs in trial - BBC News
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2022-11-03
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Mars Wrigley is removing the treat from some tubs after finding 40% of people hate the coconut-filled sweet.
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Business
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Bounty hunters may have their work cut out this Christmas, after chocolate manufacturer Mars Wrigley said it would be eliminating the sweet from some of its tubs.
The coconut-flavoured treat may be marketed as a slice of paradise, but nearly 40% of us hate them, Mars says.
So a limited run of "No Bounty" tubs will go on sale at 40 Tesco stores in the run-up to Christmas.
It comes after the brand let shoppers return unwanted Bounties last year.
However, the food maker said it was yet to decide whether the treats would be banished for good. Because while a survey for the firm found many people leave the coconut creation languishing at the bottom of the tub, for 18% it is still their choc of choice.
Big tubs of Quality Street, Roses, Celebrations and Heroes start appearing on supermarket shelves in the run-up to Christmas, with sales usually soaring during the festive season.
But cost-of-living concerns could see customers striking some treats off their shopping lists. Stirring the debate around customers' preferences is one way to promote the brand, with one communications company describing lively discussion about the move on social media as a "great PR coup for the Mars team".
Mars Wrigley said its survey, which consulted 2,000 people aged between 18 and 65, suggested that 18% would feel irritated to find only Bounty bars were left in a tub, while 58% believed it would lead to a family argument.
Its polling also suggests the sweet is popular with older consumers, with 38% of over-55s choosing it as their preferred bar.
Mars Wrigley said the limited edition tubs would include additional Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, Galaxy and Maltesers sweets in place of the missing Bounty. They will be available at "pop ups" within 40 different Tesco stores for six weeks in the run-up to Christmas.
It follows a "Bounty Return Scheme" last year, in which Bounty haters were able to return their unwanted chocolates and swap them for Maltesers after the festive period.
"Last year, we gave customers the opportunity to return their unwanted Bounty chocolates. Now, off the back of public demand, we're trialling taking them out of the tub altogether," said Celebrations senior brand manager Emily Owen.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63497187
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news_business-63497187
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Supreme Court to rule on indyref2 powers next week - BBC News
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2022-11-17
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The judgement on powers to stage a second referendum will be handed down next Wednesday.
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Scotland politics
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The Supreme Court will deliver its judgement next Wednesday on whether the Scottish Parliament can hold a second independence referendum without Westminster's approval.
The UK's highest court heard arguments in the case last month.
The Scottish government said a referendum would fall within devolved powers, but the UK government said it was a reserved matter.
The decision will be delivered at 09:45 on Wednesday 23 November.
Scotland's lord advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, referred the case to the Supreme Court due to uncertainty over whether Holyrood could legislate for a second independence referendum while this was opposed at Westminster.
The judgement on Holyrood's proposed Scottish Independence Referendum Bill will come six weeks after the two-day hearing on 11 and 12 October.
The Supreme Court's senior judge, Lord Reed, warned at the time that it could be "some months" before a ruling is reached in the case.
He said the arguments heard in court were just the "tip of the iceberg", with more than 8,000 pages of written material to consider.
This is a comparatively quick turnaround from the court, six weeks on from the hearing - although we shouldn't read anything into what that means for the judgement.
There are three possible outcomes: the judges let MSPs pass a referendum bill; they block them from doing so; or they refuse to make a ruling either way.
Obviously the Scottish government has fingers and toes crossed for a green light.
But the UK government side spent much of the hearing last month arguing for no ruling at all, hoping to leave Scottish ministers in an awkward limbo.
That underlines that this case won't necessarily settle the vexed question of indyref2 once and for all.
Even if judges do make a ruling, that still only tells us whether there can be a referendum, in strict legal terms. There would still need to be a political settlement over whether there should be a vote next October.
So regardless of the result, the case is sure to tee up an almighty political clash between ministers in Edinburgh and London.
Ms Bain, the Scottish government's top law officer, argued that a referendum would be "advisory" and would have no legal effect on the Union.
She told the court that while Scottish ministers might have the "subjective intention" of independence, the bill itself would be objectively neutral.
But Sir James Eadie KC, the UK government's independent barrister on legal issues of national importance, said it was "obvious" that the bill related to reserved matters and the Union.
He said that meant it would fall outside of the competence of the Scottish Parliament, and argued that the Supreme Court should not rule on the case.
When Scotland held an independence referendum in September 2014, voters backed staying in the UK by 55% to 45%.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made repeated attempts to push for another vote, but there has been no agreement with the UK government.
In June, Ms Sturgeon unveiled what she called a "refreshed" case for independence and said her government had an "indisputable mandate" for a second referendum, which she wants to hold on 19 October 2023.
But if the Supreme Court ruling goes against her, she has said she would use the next election as a "de facto referendum" and attempt to use the result to trigger independence negotiations.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given no indication that he is likely to grant formal consent for a second vote.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63649795
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news_uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63649795
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Autumn Statement: Who do spending cuts hit the most? - BBC News
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2022-11-17
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Ahead of the Autumn Statement, what do the 2010 austerity cuts tell us about who was worst affected?
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UK
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The government is expected to announce plans to raise £20bn in tax alongside extensive spending cuts, as part of its Autumn Statement on Thursday.
It's a bid to plug an estimated £55bn black hole in the nation's finances, and it echoes the original austerity plans unveiled back in 2010.
Over the last 12 years, I've seen the impact those cuts have had at a local level. From the lack of police in Hartlepool, to the cuts to addiction services in Barrow-in-Furness.
Perhaps most strikingly, I've also reported from more and more food banks across the UK. They once felt like a novelty, now their use is a fact of life in so many communities.
But what does the data show us about who those spending cuts will affect the most?
In June 2010, the government faced similarly tough choices to those Rishi Sunak is confronted with today. The UK's finances were in a mess following the 2008 global financial crisis. The government had spent hundreds of billions of pounds shoring up the economy, including rescuing several major banks.
The then chancellor, George Osborne, introduced a wide range of spending cuts in an emergency budget, which he called "tough, but fair."
It included cuts in most areas of public life, but in particular local government and welfare. Housing benefit was reduced, school buildings weren't repaired and Sure Start children's centres were cut, among many other measures.
At the time, Mr Osborne said the consequence of not trying to reduce the UK's deficit would be "severe" - he warned of "higher interest rates, more business failures, sharper rises in unemployment". He promised, while the process might be painful, "we are all in this together".
And while his cuts - alongside tax rises - did affect the whole country, evidence built up since 2010 is clear; the impact was not equally felt.
Take a look at this data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which shows the change in average household wealth between 2006 and 2020, after inflation.
It suggests that in London, average household wealth increased by 63%, to £340,300. By contrast, in north-east England it fell by 17%, to £168,500.
The data combines the change in the value of different sources of wealth, such as property, private pension pots and savings, and highlights how unequally England has developed in recent years.
That's something underlined in a report published by public health expert Professor Sir Michael Marmot, in 2020.
He found, since 2010, while London had become the richest area in northern Europe, the UK also contained six of the 10 poorest regions.
The North East's sluggish performance has had real-world consequences.
Since 2014, child poverty in the region grew by 46% to the highest rate in England. In an average classroom of 30 children in the North East, 11 are living in poverty.
A head teacher from Wallsend, in north Tyneside, recently told me the cuts to Sure Start centres had resulted in many children starting school well below the social and academic level of previous intakes.
Benefit cuts and an increase in unstable, often zero-hour contract work, had left more families needing a referral to a local food bank - although the more recent cost of living crisis had also been a factor.
The North East saw the greatest cuts to services for children and young people, and the largest reduction in spending per person. Life expectancy also fell in some of the North East's most deprived communities.
Indeed across the UK, some experts have made a link between austerity and some people dying younger. Last month, Glasgow University researchers suggested 335,000 excess deaths in Scotland, England and Wales between 2012 and 2019 could be largely attributed to the public spending cuts first introduced in 2010.
The study, the authors say, adds to the "growing evidence of deeply worrying changes to mortality trends in the UK" - particularly among deprived communities.
The cuts and freezes to welfare benefits during the decade after 2010 have been consistently blamed for the explosion in food banks, something I looked at earlier this year.
Less appreciated is the huge increase in another emergency provision - so called "baby banks", which supply nappies, clothing, shoes and sometimes school uniforms for little or no money.
There appears to have been little more than a handful of these in existence prior to 2010. Today there are more than 200 across the UK. The Little Village network, which compiled the map, acknowledges that the pandemic also had an impact.
This was a position largely held onto until, in 2019, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had long thought austerity "was just not the right way forward for the UK".
Until then, most ministers had argued the cuts were unavoidable for the long-term economic health of the UK, and a less generous welfare system had been responsible for record levels of employment - in effect, forcing people to get a job.
The aim of the 2010 emergency budget was to "put in order the nation's finances" by cutting the UK's debt and reducing its deficit - which is the amount a country allocates to day-to-day spending versus how much it brings in.
Economically, it did have some success, and the deficit fell by 75% between 2009 and 2019, before the Coved-19 pandemic hit. But national debt actually increased over the same period by a fifth as a percentage of GDP.
Ahead of this week's Autumn Statement, Simon Clarke, the MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, told me "there is scope for spending to come down".
The former levelling up secretary added: "I don't think people would say that their communities have been left scarred by those spending reductions. There is scope for it to come down without impacting on people's lives.
"The state has had to take too much of the strain precisely because the private sector hasn't been resilient enough and so people have therefore been disproportionately reliant on it."
In interviews this week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said his plan would be fair and show both compassion and support "for the most vulnerable".
But he also didn't shy away from saying difficult decisions would have to be made for the long-term health of the country's finances. It's essentially the same argument George Osborne used 12 years ago.
Whatever the government announces on Thursday, the decisions it makes are going to have real-life consequences for millions of people. And if the 2010 budget taught us one thing - it's that public spending cuts hit poorer communities harder.
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Ukraine war: Russia's uncertain future a product of its past - BBC News
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2022-11-07
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine is making its future uncertain - but so too is its authoritarian past.
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Europe
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In his St Petersburg apartment, university lecturer Denis Skopin shows me the document which has changed his life.
Until recently Denis was associate professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences of St Petersburg State University. But on 20 October the university sacked him for "an immoral act incompatible with educational functions".
What was this so-called immoral act? Participation in an "unsanctioned" rally.
On 21 September Denis joined a street protest against the Kremlin's decision to draft Russians to fight in Ukraine. Earlier in the day, President Vladimir Putin had declared "partial mobilisation" across the country. During the demonstration Denis was arrested and spent 10 days in jail.
"Freedom of expression in Russia is in crisis," Denis tells me. "All kinds of freedoms are in deep crisis."
"After I was released from detention, I worked for three more weeks. The university sent me letters asking me to explain my absence. I replied that I'd been arrested for participation in a protest and put in detention. Then the Human Resources department called me and told me that I'd been sacked."
On his final day at work, Denis's students gathered outside the university to say goodbye.
In an impromptu speech (the video was posted online) he told them:
"What is an immoral act? Acting against your conscience and passively obeying someone else's orders. I acted according to my conscience. I am sure that the future of our country belongs to you."
The students broke into applause for their sacked teacher.
"I love my students very much," Denis tells me. "They are very smart and they understand very well what is happening now in Russia. Their [show of] approval was not for me personally. Rather, it was disapproval of what is happening now in Russia.
"Many people in Russia don't dare to protest because they risk being punished for it. But many would like to. And, for these people, providing approval to those who do protest is a way of disagreeing with what is happening in Russia."
Denis says a quarter of his colleagues have left Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Denis Skopin's story highlights not just the pressure which opponents of the Kremlin's "special military operation" are coming under here. It also raises questions about Russia's future.
"Locked up with me in the detention centre there were IT specialists, scientists, doctors, teachers and students. Many of them are now abroad. Like my cell-mate, a young talented mathematician.
"About 25% of my immediate colleagues have already left Russia. They left after 24 February. Some of them left immediately, some left after mobilisation was declared. I think Russia is losing the best people now. The most educated, the most energetic, the most critically thinking people are leaving the country. In short, Russia is going in the wrong direction."
An uncertain future is not solely the consequence of the present. It is also the product of Russia's past.
Across town a small group of St Petersburg residents is standing beside a monument to the victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Terror of the 1930s.
The monument is made out of a large rock from the remote Solovetsky Islands, home to one of the most notorious forced labour camps of the Gulag. Solovki camp was set up to imprison political prisoners alongside other convicts.
People are queuing up at a microphone. They are taking it in turns to read out names of individuals who were arrested, condemned and executed in and around St Petersburg.
At a monument in St Petersburg, people read the names of victims of Stalin's Great Terror
It is thought that Soviet dictator Stalin had a million of his own citizens executed. Millions more lives were destroyed in his machine of terror which cranked out arrests, deportations and forced labour on a mass scale. Some of his successors, like Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev, did denounce Stalin's crimes.
And yet, in Vladimir Putin's Russia, Stalin has enjoyed something of a rehabilitation. The authorities today place less emphasis on the darker chapters of the Stalin years, while Stalin himself is often portrayed as a strongman who defeated Nazi Germany and turned the Soviet Union into a superpower. Putin's Kremlin seeks positives in the past - victories.
"Unfortunately, our country didn't turn over this page properly. Stalin's repressions were not talked about enough or fully condemned. This is why the war in Ukraine is happening today," says pensioner Ludmila, who has come to lay flowers at the Solovki Stone.
"Experience shows that remaining silent leads to bad things. We mustn't forget the bloody stains of our country's history."
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has undergone a kind of rehabilitation in Putin's Russia - you can even buy Stalin merchandise
Sacked university lecturer Denis Skopin has studied the Stalin years. He sees parallels between then and now.
"I just published a book in English about how people in Stalin's Russia removed from group photographs those who were declared 'enemy of the people'. Colleagues, friends or even close relatives had to remove all signs of them from photographs. They did it with scissors and with ink.
"The faculty where I taught had a partnership with Bard College, an American liberal arts college. Last year Bard College was declared an 'undesirable organisation' in Russia. So, our faculty broke the partnership and the Bard College name was removed from the stands displayed in the corridors of our faculty using exactly black ink. In the same way as in Stalin's Russia."
If, as Denis claims, his students "understand very well" what is happening in Russia and Ukraine, that raises a question: if young Russians are not convinced by the Kremlin's arguments, how will the authorities persuade the public long-term to rally round the flag and back the president?
Answer: by making sure young people "understand" events as the Kremlin does.
To help achieve that, a new patriotic lesson has been introduced into schools across Russia for all schoolchildren: "Conversations About Important Things." It is not part of the official curriculum, but it is the first lesson on a Monday morning and children are strongly encouraged to attend.
What "important things" are discussed there? Well, when President Putin played teacher in Kaliningrad in September, he told a group of children that the aim of Russia's offensive in Ukraine was to "protect Russia" and he described Ukraine as an "anti-Russian enclave." You can see which way the "Conversation" goes.
Olga Milovidova says the "forced education" reminds her of the Soviet era
"This is forced education. To my mind this is as dangerous as it was in Soviet times when we had 'political information' lessons," says St Petersburg teacher Olga Milovidova, who retired last month. "In those days we had to read the newspaper Pravda. And I remember we had to read books by [Soviet leader] Brezhnev as if they were masterpieces. We had to give only positives opinions. There was no critical discussion.
"Education and patriotism mustn't be put together," believes Olga, who was a deputy school director. "There are children who just believe. They open their eyes and they are ready to believe in anything. That is very dangerous."
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Should public sector workers get bigger pay rises? - BBC News
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2022-11-25
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The government risks economic dynamite as some state workers lobby for double-digit wage rises.
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The reports of the public sector pay review bodies are arriving across Whitehall right now, with the potential to become both economic and political dynamite.
They cover eight areas and just under half the public sector workforce but it may be the case that the evidence submitted, mainly at the turn of the year, is already out of date.
Inflation is on a march. But as Treasury Minister Simon Clarke told me last week, and reiterated yesterday, there is no automatic link in the Treasury's view between the rate of inflation and wage settlements.
In private, senior Cabinet ministers go further, saying that matching wages to inflation would be dangerous and damaging - even suggesting such a thing is irresponsible.
They point to two factors around a significant real terms pay cuts for NHS workers, teachers, police officers and council workers.
The bulk of the 9% current rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is driven by energy price rises.
The Government has already announced support for energy bills for millions of households, especially those on lower incomes. It also points to early indications of private sector wage growth at around 4-5%, as a more relevant metric.
There are two counter arguments here Firstly, those payments, which cover almost all the cost for several million households, are currently a one-off. Second, public sector pay has fallen overall since 2010 already, and there are some recruitment challenges already affecting some provision of services.
Furthermore, state pensions and some benefits are pegged to the prevailing rate of inflation, and that potentially huge increase will be delivered next year, under current plans. Other bills are also linked to inflation, such as mobile phone and broadband payments.
Unions have asked for pay rises reflecting the current huge spike in inflation. Unison, for example, has asked for rises to match the higher Retail Price Index measure of inflation at 11%. Nurses have asked for 15%.
Our Cost of Living survey last week suggested eight in 10 Britons thought that wages should go up with the cost of living.
Fewer though - just over a third of workers - said they would push their employer for such a rise. Unions also face some difficulties in reaching new thresholds required in ballots for legal strike action on a national basis. Though the RMT did manage to clear such hurdles to go ahead with the rail strike.
Then there is the more general argument about a 1970s-style wage-price spiral emerging. Certainly the last time inflation reached double digits in the 1970s when inflation topped over 20%, and in some years wage inflation was 30%.
Prices went up in anticipation that wages would, which in turn increased because of expectations of price rises, and so on and so forth. This was the classic wage-price spiral that saw the period of very high inflation last years rather than months.
There is some evidence that this is happening in the US. But not much so far in the UK, where prices certainly have spiked and wages haven't - though that could change. There are structural reasons for this.
Union membership has fallen from 13 million at the 1970s peak to six million now. While the Government privately accepts that the numbers affected are small in relation to the whole economy, there is a "signalling effect", they argue, from high profile public disputes.
We are obviously a world away from Downing Street slapping down the Bank of England Governor after my interview in February, where Andrew Bailey warned workers not to ask for excessive pay rises. And significant in-year real wage cuts may leave some voters who were promised a "high wage" economy a little short-changed.
But the Treasury insists there is no "central pay" policy. The result of the Pay Review Body process is for relevant departments to make decisions, based on recruitment and retainment and existing policies on, for example, starting salaries for teachers.
The important fact here though is that the Treasury is not intending to increase the cash budgets for departments. If they want to find funds to increase wages against Spending Review plans, they will have to find it in efficiency savings or cuts in their own departments.
It is time for Cabinet ministers who like to talk about a smaller state and tax cuts to show how they intend to contribute, say some of their colleagues.
All of which leaves unions claiming their members are ready to move towards industrial action across a range of public services. At a time of labour shortages, some union leaders believe they will never have more leverage to force their wages higher, and that there will be post-pandemic public sympathy for their asks not to see a cut to living standards.
The Government will argue this way lies the inflationary dangers of the past.
But for many of the workers concerned, it is not just that their memories have faded - they were not even born the last time inflation hit double digits. So for many, we are in uncharted territory.
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Jeffrey Epstein victims sue several major banks - BBC News
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2022-11-25
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Two women have claimed JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank "facilitated" the late sex offender's crimes.
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Business
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Financier Epstein was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges when he was found dead in his cell in 2019
Two women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse have filed lawsuits against JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank.
They accuse the banks of ignoring "red flags" about their client and benefiting from the late financier's alleged sex-trafficking operations.
The disgraced financier took his own life in a prison cell while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Both lawsuits were filed in New York on Thursday as class action cases.
They were brought by lawyers who have represented dozens of the deceased billionaire's accusers.
The women, who are also seeking financial damages, are not named in the filings, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal newspaper and have been seen by the BBC.
According to claims in the lawsuit filed against JP Morgan Chase, one woman, described as a former ballet dancer, was abused by Epstein and his associates between 2006 and 2013.
It alleges that JP Morgan knew that its accounts were being used for trafficking because of the identity of the individuals withdrawing large sums of cash, as well as "Epstein's well-documented criminal history".
JP Morgan Chase declined to comment when contacted by BBC News.
In a separate lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, another woman claims she was trafficked for sex by Epstein for 15 years, starting in 2003 when she first moved to New York.
It claims that in some instances Epstein would pay the woman directly in cash for sex acts.
The lawsuit suggests that the wealthy Epstein turned to Deutsche Bank when ties were severed with JP Morgan around 2013.
It also refers to previous findings by New York banking regulators about Deutsche Bank's business with Epstein.
They concluded that "although the bank properly classified Epstein as high-risk, [it] failed to scrutinise the activity in the accounts for the kinds of activity that were obviously implicated by Epstein's past".
Deutsche Bank previously admitted that it made a "critical mistake" when taking on Epstein as a client.
But a spokesman for the investment bank said on Thursday: "We believe this claim lacks merit and will present our arguments in court."
One of the lawyers, Bradley Edwards, said in a written statement: "Epstein and his co-conspirators could not have victimised without assistance from wealthy individuals and financial institutions. We will not stop fighting for the survivors until everyone is held responsible. This is a big step but not the end.
He added: "The time has come for the real enablers to be held responsible, especially his wealthy friends and the financial institutions that played an integral role."
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World Cup 2022: Who could be England’s Plan B against USA if they don't risk Harry Kane? - BBC Sport
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2022-11-25
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BBC pundit Martin Keown feels Gareth Southgate will turn to Marcus Rashford to lead England's attack against the USA, if he does not want to risk Harry Kane after his injury.
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Host nation:Dates: Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.
I'm really pleased Harry Kane has been declared fit for England to face the United States but we have to look after him - and Gareth Southgate could still turn to Marcus Rashford to lead the line if he does not want to risk his captain.
Kane has been able to train after suffering an ankle injury in our 6-2 win over Iran, and a scan showed there is no serious damage, but it was a reminder we must think about who would replace him in Qatar if needed - and I am happy with our options.
The most obvious Plan B is to put Newcastle striker Callum Wilson up front, because he plays down the middle for his club and he can play at least part of the provider role that Kane does so well.
I was so pleased with Wilson's decision to pass to Jack Grealish for our final goal on Monday rather than have a shot himself, and that is the kind of collective thinking that Southgate will love.
If he thinks we need a kind of backboard against the US or any other side - a player for us to feed so he can play in other people - then Wilson is the best man for the job.
We know Southgate picks players he trusts
I still think Rashford will get the nod if Kane is rested on Friday, however. From what we know about Southgate's managerial style, there is a pecking order in his squad based on players he trusts.
We have seen that with his selection of people such as Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount, and Bukayo Saka also comes into that category now - if he is fit, he starts. It is the same with players who are outside his first-choice XI too.
With what Rashford has done for England in the past, and the goals he has scored, he is probably ahead of Wilson, who has only just returned to the squad after a three-year absence.
We know Rashford is more effective in a wide position, and prefers to play on the left of Manchester United's attack, but his pace is still a threat down the middle.
I have confidence in him and Wilson, so I honestly don't think it matters too much who is our centre-forward against the US - we should win anyway - but we will definitely need Kane when we face tougher opposition.
He has been criticised for dropping deep for England in the past but we saw against Iran just how well it suits our system, with runners going beyond him and down both flanks. Neither Wilson nor Rashford can do exactly what he does.
Some of Kane's crosses against Iran were so good, he reminded me of David Beckham, who provided the best deliveries into the box of anyone I saw during my playing days.
The one he put in for Sterling was on the same level as Becks at his best, so fingers crossed he is OK for the rest of the tournament.
Should England change anything else?
There is an argument that, if Kane is fit, we should stick with the same team that scored six goals against Iran - clearly no-one deserves to get dropped after that - but I have a feeling Southgate might want to give Kyle Walker some minutes.
Walker has not played since he picked up a groin injury in the Manchester derby on 2 October and we were told he was not fit for the first game in Group B.
Southgate is going to switch to three at the back at some point at this tournament and, when he does, Walker will feature on the right side of that trio. That's why he is here, but he needs time on the pitch to get his sharpness back.
We might not see that change in system against the US, but whatever the formation, I would not be surprised to see Walker come in to start at right-back. If he's anywhere near fit, he will definitely feature at some point.
I love the fact that we have involved so many players already, and that people made an impact off the bench against Iran.
For two of the substitutes, Rashford and Grealish, to score was perfect really and of course Wilson set one of them up too.
Out of the 26-man squad, 16 have got on the pitch already and all of them will feel like they have contributed.
The unique circumstances of this winter World Cup means the players are in peak condition from being in the middle of their domestic season, and it feels like Southgate is doing his best to keep them bubbling by getting as many of them as possible involved. It's exactly the right thing to do.
More pace and precision passing, please
So far, I've spoken about everything from England's point of view - who we might bring in if Kane is out, and anything that might suit the needs of our squad in the tournament as a whole.
I certainly don't think Southgate will make any changes to his selection or formation specifically to deal with the opposition; his decisions are on our terms because I don't feel we have to worry about how the US will hurt us.
Again, this game will be all about breaking the opposition down, and they will offer a different test to Iran, who sat on the edge of their own box and allowed us to dictate the play in their half.
In contrast, pressing high is almost the USA's mantra, and it should be a useful game for us to develop the way we beat their press and work the ball forward, progressing through each part of the pitch.
We will have to get the balance right between Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham dropping deep to get the ball off their defenders, and making sure we get Bellingham forward too.
The fluidity in our movement and the way we were passing so quickly and precisely was one of the best things about Monday's performance.
If we do that again, we will win - and book our place in the last 16 with a game to spare.
Martin Keown was speaking to Chris Bevan in Doha.
Get the latest results and goal notifications for any team at the Fifa World Cup by downloading the BBC Sport app: Apple - Android - Amazon
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Political parties want to appear tough on immigration but numbers tell different story - BBC News
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2022-11-25
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UK net migration was the highest ever in the year to June, creating many political and societal quandaries.
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UK Politics
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In recent days, the prime minister has said immigration should fall.
The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK's "immigration dependency", as he put it, must end.
Even if, in an interview I did with him, he wasn't willing to explicitly say he wanted the numbers to fall.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer says he will not pick "arbitrary migration targets" over the number of workers coming to the UK from abroad
And then there are these latest figures. Half a million more people arriving in the UK than leaving in the year to June. Half a million. The highest ever.
Take a step back from the political argument here, and this is an outwardly flattering scenario. A country whose magnetism to so many propels people to our shores in such numbers.
Whatever their circumstances or background, half a million more people concluding their hopes and dreams are better served by moving to the UK than by leaving.
And yet, as so often with the question of immigration, it creates a cascade of political and societal quandaries.
Opinion polls suggest concerns about immigration eased after the Brexit referendum, but it remains a significant worry for many.
Not on the scale of the cost of living, the economy or the health service. But important nonetheless.
And none of these issues exist in isolation.
Migration has an impact on these issues too.
It's worth remembering, by the way, that not all political leaders express a desire for the numbers to shrivel. Take the Scottish National Party, for instance, which advocates more immigration.
But for those that do talk about, or at least hint at reducing the numbers, actually delivering that requires difficult decisions. Should fewer international students be allowed in? What about fewer people coming to the UK to work in the NHS? And at what consequence?
But what too could be the consequence of political rhetoric and observable reality being so out of step, as a swelling population heaps further pressure on school places, the health service and housing?
Almost instantly, the former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage branded it a disgrace, and said that Reform UK, the successor to the Brexit Party, would field candidates everywhere at the next general election.
One recent opinion poll from Deltapoll does suggest that among Conservative-leaning, Leave-backing voters, asylum and immigration is hugely, hugely important.
So how do those voters, many of whom perhaps backed Leave expecting immigration to fall, respond?
Who do they blame? And where do they turn? And what do the Conservatives and Labour say now?
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said "we remain committed to reducing migration over time, in line with our manifesto commitment".
You may remember the Conservatives long promised to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands, and it never happened.
Labour said there had been Conservative "mismanagement" of the asylum and immigration systems. But they themselves have shifted their frontbench view a million miles from where it was. They want to appear robust on immigration.
But can both big parties at Westminster continue saying this stuff with any credibility if the numbers tell a different story?
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Brexit: No case for UK returning to EU, Labour leader Starmer says - BBC News
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2022-11-22
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Labour's leader says "we cannot afford to look back" as he sets out his plan to "make Brexit work".
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Keir Starmer: We're not trading on divisions
The UK "will not go back into the EU" under a Labour government, Sir Keir Starmer has said, in a speech attacking the government's record on Brexit.
The Labour leader vowed to "move on arguments of the past" and seek to "make Brexit work".
He said the UK was "stuck" and needed a plan to get its "economy growing again".
And he recommitted to keeping the UK out of the EU single market, customs union and free movement rules.
Speaking to the BBC's political editor Chris Mason before the speech, Sir Keir said: "We want to go forward, not backwards. And therefore this is not about rejoining the EU.
"It's very clear that what we can't do is reopen all those arguments, all those divisions that caused so much anguish over past years."
He said the economy was stagnant under the Conservative government and its Brexit deal was "holding us back".
Labour's plan, he said, would focus on "unblocking" the government's Brexit deal by removing barriers to trade with the EU and taking steps to resolve border issues in Northern Ireland.
The Labour leader's address marked an attempt to regain control over an issue that has been a dividing line between the party's MPs, members, and some of its voters.
Sir Keir - who as Jeremy Corbyn's shadow Brexit secretary said the party should advocate staying in the EU in any second referendum - has largely avoided talking about Brexit during his time as leader.
Before Monday, he had not made a set-piece speech on the issue since the UK cut legal ties with the EU, and mentioned it just five times in a 11,500 word essay ahead of Labour's annual conference last year.
With official forecasters continuing to say Brexit has damaged the UK's economy, he has faced pressure within Labour - including from London mayor Sadiq Khan - to push for Britain to rejoin the bloc's single market.
On Monday Mr Khan told the BBC he disagreed with the party's position on Brexit and said the "country's future is best served being members of the single market".
Others in the party have expressed similar sentiments, including shadow minister Anna McMorrin, who recently told a private meeting she hoped the UK could return to the EU single market under a Labour government.
But in a speech at pro-EU think tank the Centre for European Reform, Sir Keir rejected that approach, arguing it would be a "recipe for more division".
He added: "There are some who say, 'We don't need to make Brexit work. We need to reverse it'.
"I couldn't disagree more, because you cannot move forward or grow the country or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if you're constantly focused on the arguments of the past."
What Sir Keir Starmer is doing today, in black and white, is making peace with Brexit.
He will say explicitly that a Labour government would not return to the single market, customs union or freedom of movement.
He has said these things before - but saying them all together is quite something.
Unlike the Conservatives, Labour MPs and party members were not split down the middle on Brexit. The vast majority of them absolutely hated the idea.
So today, the Labour leader is saying that argument is closed and he is turning a political leaf.
He will hope by doing that, criticism can't come back the other way accusing his party of secretly wanting to take the UK back in.
He will also hope it creates space to criticise the Tories' Brexit deal, not least on the Northern Ireland issue.
Sir Keir also repeated his promise not to re-establish the EU's free movement rules in the UK, arguing instead he would seek new flexibilities for short work trips and touring musicians.
The Labour leader said new trade barriers with Europe have created a "fatberg of red tape" for business to follow.
He likened the economic effect of Brexit to the "wet wipe island" blocking the river Thames in London, adding: "It is hampering the flow of British business — we will break that barrier down."
As part of a plan to "make Brexit work", the Labour leader promised to:
He also promised a new approach to post-Brexit border arrangements for Northern Ireland, which have proved highly unpopular among unionists.
The government argues the provisions, which it signed up to as part of the 2019 withdrawal deal, are causing economic disruption and must be changed.
After failing to secure the changes it wants during talks with the EU, it recently tabled legislation enabling it to go back on parts of the deal it doesn't like.
Border checks on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland are opposed by many unionists
In his speech, Sir Keir accused minsters of "lashing out" and pledged to continue talks over the arrangements, known as the Northern Ireland protocol.
"The solutions are there, the desire is there. What is lacking is trust," he said. "Labour will change that. We will be the honest broker our countries need."
He also attacked the government's approach to regulating the economy outside the EU, accusing them of cutting rules and then "gawping at the power of the market".
"The government have missed Brexit opportunities time and time again. It beggars belief that during a cost of living crisis that they still haven't cut VAT on energy bills," he added.
"Labour will be sharper than this. We will use our flexibility outside of the EU to ensure British regulation is adapted to suit British needs."
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Why Labour's leader has made peace with Brexit - BBC News
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2022-11-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Sir Keir Starmer's vow to "make Brexit work" feels like a moment for Labour after years of argument.
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UK Politics
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The man who dreamed of overturning Brexit in a second referendum has categorically and clearly made peace with it.
It is one heck of an about-turn from Sir Keir Starmer, who just three years ago turned up at a rally for what was called a People's Vote - another referendum in which he hoped for a Remain victory.
Now, he says, as prime minister he wouldn't advocate rejoining the European Union, nor sign up to three of its biggest ideas: the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement.
In other words, Sir Keir is not just accepting Brexit, but what many critics liked to call a "hard Brexit", when arguing that staying in the EU or having a closer relationship with it was preferable to the government's vision.
It felt to me like he was fulfilling the advice once offered to former Prime Minister David Cameron by the elections strategist Lynton Crosby, to "get the barnacles off the boat".
In other words, deal with the stuff that gets in the way of what really matters.
What Sir Keir wants to focus on in the coming weeks and months is what he diagnoses as being at the root of so many of the country's problems - a lack of economic growth.
"Our driving mission is to get Britain's economy growing again," as he put it.
While the Labour leader has spelt out his new outlook on Brexit in more piecemeal fashion before, this speech at the Irish Embassy in London, and the interviews he did with the political editors of the BBC, ITV and Sky, still felt like a moment.
After the long-haul anguish and argument over Brexit, this was the leader of the only alternative main party of government at Westminster definitively accepting it and seeking to move on.
To nail, in a set of consecutive sentences that couldn't be interpreted any other way, that the fundamentals of the argument about Brexit, that has so dominated British political discussion for years and years, is, as far as he is concerned at least, over.
But it does raise a question about authenticity - what does he actually believe? What he said three years ago, or what he is saying now?
"We have left the EU now, and there is no going back," he told me in answer to this question - arguing that accepting these fundamentals would mean he could focus on what he sees as making Brexit work better, not least in Northern Ireland.
It's not a surprise all this has prompted a bit of internal squirming.
After all, this is a party where the vast majority of its members were passionate advocates of Remain, and deeply sceptical about Brexit.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, reiterated that rejoining the EU's single market, which aims to make trade between countries as easy as it is within them, would be worth it.
On the face of it too, you might imagine that given the Brexit referendum split 52% to 48% in favour of Leave, there might be plenty of opportunity for a party like Labour to do well out of appealing to those who voted Remain.
But, the Remain vote was concentrated in a small number of places, whereas the Leave vote was much more evenly distributed around the country.
There are 632 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales.
Of those, 403 of them voted Leave in the 2016 referendum, and 229 voted to Remain.
Only 72 Remain voting seats were won by the Conservatives, and Labour are the closest challengers in just 30 of those.
So Labour can't make much progress by appealing just to Remain-voting areas.
Things might be different if there had been a huge shift in opinion against Brexit since 2016.
But while there is polling evidence to suggest more people now say that, in hindsight, voting to leave the EU was the wrong decision than the right one, there is still a significant split - and so in plenty of constituencies staying out of the EU is still likely to be the favoured option.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Keir Starmer: We're not trading on divisions
It is different for the Scottish National Party, the Green Party and, to at least some extent, the Liberal Democrats.
For the SNP and the Greens, their best chances at the next general election will be in Remain-voting areas and they'll seek to capitalise on this.
The Green Party has already claimed Sir Keir's stance is "driven only by Labour's self-interest rather than the best interests of the country".
The Lib Dems will see Conservative-held, Remain-leaning seats as potentially rich pickings for them, although recent by-elections in Devon and Shropshire have shown they can win in Leave-leaning areas too.
But Labour's big challenge is winning seats currently held by the Conservatives, particularly those it lost for the first time in decades in 2019 where there was a solid Leave vote in 2016.
The party will hope that its unambiguous acceptance of Brexit will ensure it can get a hearing again, for what Sir Keir wants to set out next; his broader economic vision.
He just has to pray he will get that chance - because having promised to resign if he gets a fine for breaking Covid rules, he is still awaiting the decision of Durham police.
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Chris Mason: Brexit has shifted Labour's instinct on immigration - BBC News
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2022-11-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Labour is keen to be seen to be learning a lesson of the Brexit vote - a concern about immigration.
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UK Politics
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Yes, it's been in the offing for a while.
But it is worth emphasising what an about-turn Sir Keir Starmer's call to wean the UK off its "immigration dependency" amounts to.
This from a party that oversaw huge levels of immigration from central and eastern Europe almost two decades ago, which transformed many communities all over the UK.
And this from a man who campaigned to maintain freedom of movement with the European Union when he ran to be Labour leader under three years ago.
It was even one of his 10 pledges for the leadership.
Labour's instinct now is different. Very different.
Sir Keir repeatedly refused to tell me if he thought net migration was currently too high, but this is a party determined to be seen to learn one of the lessons of the Brexit referendum; a concern about the scale of immigration.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer says he will not pick "arbitrary migration targets" over the number of workers coming to the UK from abroad
Yet this comes as some business leaders say they have run out of available workforce, which, they argue, is crushing growth and pushing up prices.
And it's not just here in the conference centre in Birmingham, on a retail park next to the airport, where you hear those concerns.
We drove half-an-hour down the road to the headquarters of the National Farmers' Union near Kenilworth in Warwickshire, where the main item on the agenda of the union's National Horticulture and Potatoes Board today was the very same issue.
Ali Capper, a hops and apples farmer on the Worcestershire-Herefordshire border, told me "there is a strong chance that it will put our business out of business".
She said: "It is very difficult to see a way forward when we have no clear idea how we are going to recruit next year.
"And when the cost, the inflation that is built into that workforce every year, is going up in double digits."
Farmer Ali Capper fears the lack of labour could put her company out of business
And she doesn't think politicians from either the Conservatives or Labour are listening.
Other farmers also told me there is an obvious cost to their businesses. But a moral cost too.
At a time of spiralling food prices, and some families struggling to feed themselves, food is left to rot because there aren't the workers to pick it.
Some argue too many British people aren't willing to do what can be backbreaking work.
But with unemployment at historically low levels, for now at least, the farmers argue that isn't the crux of the issue.
The crux is numbers. There simply aren't enough workers.
But, six years on, the Brexit referendum is still a major contributor to the political weather and that isn't likely to fundamentally change before the general election.
Labour have to convince the millions of voters who rejected them in 2019 that they understand the contributory factors that led to that rejection.
Sir Keir wants to frame an argument for a post-Brexit world, where "low pay and cheap labour" - as he put it - are not part of the "British way on growth".
He reckons that is an approach that "borders on a disaster" in the long run, and the solution is investing in people, to boost skills and productivity.
He wants to make the immigration system more responsive to short-term need, but not a crutch.
But speak to people here at the CBI privately, and they fear neither the Conservatives nor Labour get it.
They say the Conservatives don't have a growth strategy and Labour's could prove prohibitively expensive.
There is, though, another thing worth mentioning here.
Beyond his message on immigration, Sir Keir is determined to continue his charm offensive with businesses.
He boasts of meeting over 100 chief executives in the last six months. He talks up the value of enterprise and profit.
Labour hasn't just changed, he claims. He reckons it's been turned "inside out". And the Labour leader was warmly received by the CBI.
The political battle for the endorsement - or at least tolerance - of corporate Britain is on and competitive.
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Owen Paterson takes UK government to European court over lobbying probe - BBC News
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2022-11-22
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Owen Paterson, who was forced to quit as an MP after a lobbying probe, claims his right to privacy was infringed.
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UK Politics
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Owen Paterson has been at the centre of a row over how to police MPs' conduct
Ex-minister Owen Paterson is taking the UK government to the European Court of Human Rights over a standards watchdog verdict that he broke lobbying rules.
He resigned from Parliament last year after he was found to have abused his role as an MP while working for two firms as a paid consultant.
The ex-Tory MP is taking legal action in Strasbourg over the investigation, which he says was unfair.
The UK government says it is aware of the court action.
Mr Paterson, a leading Eurosceptic who once campaigned for the UK to break away from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), argues that the standards watchdog ruling "damaged his good reputation".
In a European court listing, he argues the investigation, by Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone, was unfair because it did not hear from witnesses and met in secret.
The former MP for North Shropshire also says he was only given 15 minutes to address the commissioner, was not permitted to be represented by a lawyer and had no right to appeal.
At the time, Mr Paterson insisted he was "totally innocent" of breaking lobbying rules and that the process did not "comply with natural justice".
In response, Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the standards committee, insisted Mr Paterson had been given "every opportunity" to put his case across - and his arguments had been heard "respectfully and fairly".
In her report, the Kathryn Stone described Mr Paterson's actions as "an egregious case of paid advocacy" and recommended he be suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days.
Conservative MPs initially sought to block the suspension with the backing of No 10, but Downing Street reversed its decisions after an angry backlash.
Mr Paterson subsequently announced his resignation from Parliament saying he wanted a life "outside the cruel world of politics".
The row severely damaged then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's reputation, and is one of the factors that led to his eventual downfall.
In 2014, Mr Paterson argued in a speech that the UK should not just quit the EU but also replace the European Convention on Human Rights, on which the European Court of Human Rights adjudicates.
Downing Street said the government would "respond in the normal way" but that it was not able to comment on legal proceedings at this stage.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63714944
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England 6-2 Iran: Three Lions win World Cup opener emphatically - BBC Sport
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2022-11-22
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Bukayo Saka scores twice as England cruise to a comfortable win against Iran in their Qatar 2022 opener.
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Last updated on .From the section World Cup
England's Fifa World Cup campaign opened in thoroughly convincing fashion as they outclassed Iran in an incident-packed match in Doha.
Gareth Southgate's side strolled to victory, with Iran's hopeless plight made worse by the early loss of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to concussion after a clash of heads with team-mate Majid Hosseini.
Jude Bellingham got England off the mark in this World Cup with a soaring header from Luke Shaw's cross 10 minutes before the break and the game was wrapped up before half-time thanks to Bukayo Saka's fine strike and Raheem Sterling's classy volley with the outside of his foot from Harry Kane's cross.
Saka got his second before Iran's supporters were given a moment of real delight when Mehdi Taremi scored a fine goal after 65 minutes - but England substitute Marcus Rashford then netted another smooth, composed strike with his first involvement.
To put the gloss on an incredibly dominant display, Jack Grealish slotted home from close range after a good run and pull back by Callum Wilson.
Iran did pull another back in injury time when Taremi slotted in a penalty after a John Stones foul.
The game was played out against the backdrop of more off-field controversy here in Qatar after England were forced to ditch plans to wear the OneLove armband promoting diversity and inclusivity under threat from Fifa of players being cautioned should they carry out the gesture of support.
• None Great marker but England must be better - Southgate
It is almost impossible to deliver any firm judgement on England's World Cup prospects given the paucity of Iran's opposition but this could hardly have gone better for Southgate as his one major selection decision reaped a rich dividend and the result was almost perfect.
Iran were expected to provide stern resistance as they reside in the top 20 in the Fifa rankings and have a recent victory against Uruguay on their record but England made light work of the task once Bellingham gave them the lead.
Bellingham is being touted as one of the big emerging names at this World Cup, the 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund star already a target for a host of the game's elite names.
And, even in the context of this game, Bellingham showed exactly why as he joined Saka as the dominant force in this game, scoring his first England goal with a magnificent header and bestriding midfield with a complete authority that belied his years.
This was only the second time England have scored six goals in a major tournament but on this evidence you would not bet against the brilliant Bellingham being involved the next time it happens.
Bellingham is a player with the world at his feet and a long career ahead of him at international level.
Southgate picked Saka ahead of Manchester City's Phil Foden, the only mildly contentious decision in his line-up, but there can be no arguments after a hugely impressive performance from the 21-year-old who has played such a big part as Arsenal head the Premier League.
Saka scored twice and was a threat throughout and thoroughly deserved the warm applause he received when he was substituted.
It will get harder for England as they now face the United States and Wales but this was the perfect start.
Iran suffered the early setback of losing goalkeeper Beiranvand to suspected concussion but this was never going to change the course of the game give the chasm in class between the two teams.
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz hinted at a bold approach beforehand but this was never going to be the case and once the game settled down following an opening 20 minutes littered with interruptions, this opening World Cup game was only going one way.
Iran's many fans had a moment of real joy when Taremi thumped home his finish but there was little else to celebrate in this game as their team took a heavy beating.
This was not a day without great significance, however, as both Iran's players and supporters used this global stage to make their feelings clear about the growing human rights protests against the ruling regime in their homeland.
The national anthem was shouted down by the supporters and none of the Iran players joined in.
Iran were heavily supported inside the Khalifa International Stadium and clearly regarded this as an ideal platform to make their grievances clear. The football itself gave them few moments to cheer but they were clearly determined to make this day count.
• None Goal! England 6, IR Iran 2. Mehdi Taremi (IR Iran) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
• None Penalty conceded by John Stones (England) after a foul in the penalty area.
• None Mehdi Taremi (IR Iran) wins a free kick on the right wing.
• None Attempt saved. Sardar Azmoun (IR Iran) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mehdi Torabi with a through ball.
• None Goal! England 6, IR Iran 1. Jack Grealish (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Callum Wilson.
• None Offside, IR Iran. Hossein Hosseini tries a through ball, but Sardar Azmoun is caught offside.
• None Offside, IR Iran. Hossein Hosseini tries a through ball, but Ali Gholizadeh is caught offside. Navigate to the next page Navigate to the last page
Get the latest results and goal notifications for any team at the Fifa World Cup by downloading the BBC Sport app: Apple - Android - Amazon
Get your daily dose of Fifa World Cup reaction, debate & analysis with World Cup Daily on BBC Sounds
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UK music festivals: 'Drug checking could have saved Georgia' - BBC News
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2022-11-14
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The mum of an 18-year-old backs new findings which suggests on-site drug testing makes events safer.
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Newsbeat
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Georgia Jones' mum believes there's "too much stigma" around drugs
An 18-year-old who died after taking high-strength MDMA at a festival might be alive if on-site drugs tests had been at the event, her mum says.
Her mum Janine Milburn believes there's still too much stigma around drugs, and substance tests would have let Georgia know what she was taking.
Janine has spoken after new research from drug-checking charity The Loop and Liverpool University was released.
Their study suggests testing doesn't lead to more drugs being taken.
They also found that two-thirds of people who had drugs checked binned them if they weren't what they expected.
Drug-checking wasn't in place at Mutiny when Georgia died. Tommy Cowan, aged 20, also died after taking drugs at the festival.
At an inquest into Georgia's death, the organiser Luke Betts described how people attending were searched for drugs as they entered.
Janine tells BBC Newsbeat Georgia's pills were "found to be pure - but extremely high strength".
"If testing was in place she could've got her pills tested," says Janine.
"She would've got advice on how to take her pills safer and the strength and purity of her pills as well."
Love Saves the Day in Bristol has offered drug checking
Festivals in the UK don't have to offer drug-checking services, and many of them currently don't.
Tom Paine, organiser of Bristol's Love Saves The Day festival, introduced testing at the event and says it helped to reduce drug-taking.
"We were able to put out three warnings across the weekend of substances that were dangerous," he says.
"One of these was three or four times the normal strength of ecstasy," he tells Newsbeat.
"Not only were we able to put that warning out - but it was shared by other festivals, bands and producers - and it reached millions of people."
One of the country's biggest music promoters, Festival Republic, announced plans to introduce drug-checking at Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2017.
In the run-up to the events, the company said it was waiting for a special government licence to make sure it wasn't breaking the law.
Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn later said he was worried drug-checking "could mislead" people and didn't take into account risks such as mixing alcohol and drugs.
The company has yet to respond to a request about whether it plans to introduce the service at any future events.
University of Liverpool Prof Fiona Measham, director of The Loop, led the organisation's latest piece of research on drug-checking.
She describes it as a three-year research project that surveyed 4,240 UK festivalgoers who used its service.
"People can come along, take samples of concern - they get tested in the lab and get confidential advice and information," Prof Measham explains.
"We found people wanted to use the service, they queued up to use it in all weathers, and they were willing to do that for several hours."
But could access to drug testing encourage people to take more drugs? Not according to the study's findings.
"Only about 1% said they'd take more, 48% said they'd take less - so I think we can say with some confidence that people don't take more after using the service, and in fact most people actually take less," Fiona adds.
Georgia's mum Janine also wants to see drug-checking offered at all festivals in the UK in the future.
"In my eyes there should be no argument, it should be available," she says.
"It's about saving lives and that's what we all want to do at the end of the day."
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-63599505
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news_newsbeat-63599505
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Rishi Sunak grilled over tax rises, spending cuts and small boat crossings - BBC News
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2022-11-14
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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On his way to the G20 in Indonesia, the PM explains his thinking on the Autumn Statement and migrant crisis.
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UK Politics
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took questions from the travelling press pack on the way to the G20 summit in Indonesia.
I've been the BBC's political editor for six months, but this is the first overseas trip I've done where the prime minister travelling is the same as the one on my previous trip.
In June, I travelled with Boris Johnson to the G7 Summit in Germany and the Nato summit in Spain. In September, it was Liz Truss travelling to the United Nations in New York.
And then, last week, Rishi Sunak did his first foreign visit as prime minister, to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
I now type these words during a brief, middle-of-the-night refuelling stop in Dubai, ahead of another 10 hours in the air to Indonesia - and yes, Mr Sunak is with us as we head to the G20 summit in Bali.
Like many of us, he's changed out of his work clothes for something more comfortable - he's a fan of hoodies - for the long haul to the southern hemisphere.
The G20 is an economic forum where the long haul of reviving the global economy, given the consequences of the war in Ukraine, will dominate.
And so the economy frames the prime minister's week: the international picture from Monday to Wednesday in Bali, and then - with a spot of jet lag, no doubt - the Autumn Statement in Westminster on Thursday.
All the political talk is about that statement, now in just a few days' time.
What many will see as a bad news budget is highly likely to provoke the kind of rows within the Conservative Party and beyond that we haven't yet seen during Mr Sunak's time in No 10 - rows about whether the prime minister and the chancellor have made the right calls.
Already some on the right, both on the Tory backbenches and among the Conservative-leaning newspapers, are arguing tax rises and spending cuts are un-Conservative and risk making a bad situation worse.
The travelling press pack got to ask Mr Sunak about this on the first leg of this schlep out to Indonesia.
It happened in what is called a huddle, where the prime minister comes to the back of the plane, we all crowd around and he takes questions from each of us for the best part of 45 minutes, on any topic we can think of.
I know what you might be thinking reading about a load of reporters flying to the other side of the world with the prime minister: is it a bit cosy?
Well, all I can say is having a couple of dozen sceptically minded reporters surrounding the prime minister and asking whatever we like, including follow-ups, for rather a while - and then dissecting every syllable afterwards - feels like close scrutiny.
So, what did he say about the tax rises and spending cuts that are coming?
He claimed it was his approach that had meant "financial conditions in the UK had stabilised".
This was specifically because, he reckoned "people expect the government to take the decisions that will put our public finances on a sustainable trajectory, and it's the government's job to deliver on that".
To advocate anything else could lead to chaos, is the thrust of his argument, one some on the left and the right would take issue with.
But what he portrays as a necessity, others see as an economic choice.
There are Conservatives who think there should be more emphasis on spending cuts and less on tax rises, as well as a much greater focus on economic growth.
And there are the opposition parties who argue so much of what Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confront is a consequence of what they see as long term Conservative mismanagement of the economy.
The other main thing worth mentioning as this trip gets under way is the issue of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.
The government is signing a new deal with France on Monday to try to stop people crossing in that way.
It will see the number of officers patrolling the French coast to try to stop people setting off rising from 200 to 300, with the UK paying France around £63m to fund it - an £8m increase on the current annual cost.
The prime minister sought to emphasise to us how important he sees it - and how much of his own time it has taken up.
"I've spent more time working on that than anything else, other than obviously the Autumn Statement, over the past couple of weeks," he told us.
The big question is whether what is being announced will make a noticeable difference. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has acknowledged the situation was "out of control."
The big test, then, is will these measures leave people with the impression the government is actually in control?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63619412
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