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Government defends plans to increase state pension
The Government has defended its plans to increase the state pension, saying that pensioners claiming the basic rate would be £2,300 better off in cash terms than when the Conservatives came to power 12 years ago.
Work and pensions minister David Rutley told the Commons: “The state pension is a foundation of support for older people. With this order the basic state pension will rise to £149.26 a week for a single person. This means that a full yearly basic state pension will increase by £2,300 a year higher in cash terms than in April 2010.”
He added: “The full rate of the new state pension will increase from £185.15 per week. This increase means that over the two years of the pandemic the basic new state pensions will have increased by 5.6% while CPI in the two years to September 2021 was 3.6%.”
Mr Rutley later said the Government “remains committed” to deferring back to the pension triple lock in future years.
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Tory MP brands Starmer footage ‘appalling’
Tory MP Julian Smith has condemned the footage of Sir Keir Starmer being whisked away by police officers after being surrounded by protesters as “appalling”.
He tweeted: “What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling.
“It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.”
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Starmer whisked into police car after being surrounded by protesters
Sir Keir Starmer was whisked into a police car on Monday evening after being surrounded by protesters.
Footage posted to social media appears to show a crowd of demonstrators surrounding the Labour leader as he was led into a police vehicle by officers.
Protesters were heard chanting “Jimmy Saville” at Sir Keir in reference to Boris Johnson’s slur directed at the Labour leader, according to The Sun.
In a clip posted on Twitter, they are also heard shouting “traitor”.
More on that here.
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Tory Mayor issues warning over bus cuts
Bus services risk being slashed after funding under Boris Johnson’s £3 billion plan for a “bus revolution” was substantially reduced, a Tory mayor has warned.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street joined seven Labour regional leaders in expressing their disappointment that the funding now involves “significant double counting”.
The mayors, including Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and Liverpool City Region’s Steve Rotheram, warned this will “reinforce the decline in many bus networks”.
They write: “We write to you today because we are concerned that the committed levels of funding are not adequate to secure the future provision of bus services in our cities and regions.
“We have been disappointed therefore to learn that the £3 billion that was originally and specifically pledged for transforming bus services has been substantially reduced.”
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Row over Barclay role continues
It is “clear as day” Steve Barclay cannot be the Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster and the new chief of staff, SNP Cabinet Office spokesman Brendan O’Hara has said.
It comes after last week’s announcement that Mr Barclay would continue in his role at the Cabinet Office whilst also working as the prime minister’s new chief of staff.
Ms O’Hara said: “Erskine May, section on public service disqualification, chapter three, paragraph 12. It says ‘all persons employed either in whole or in part in the civil servants are disqualified and it is immaterial whether they’re serving in an established capacity’.
“It’s clear as day minister, that he is a new chief of staff at Downing Street and he is also a serving member of this House. He cannot do both. And according to Erskine May he has disqualified himself from that rule. So when will the Government be moving the writ for the by-election?”
Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis stressed that Mr Barclay is not a “civil servant”.
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PM ‘ambitious’ in tackling backlog, says minister
Boris Johnson is “unapologetically ambitious” in seeking to tackle waiting lists and improve performance of cancer care, a health minister has said.
Edward Argar’s comments came as Labour former minister Chris Bryant asked about the Prime Minister’s recently announced cancer target.
The MP for Rhondda told the Commons: “As I understand it, the Prime Minister has also announced another cancer target today, which is that we’re to get to 75 per cent of all cancer diagnosis to be made at stage one or stage two.
“I just wonder how on earth he’s intending to get to that.”
Mr Argar replied: “The Prime Minister is unapologetically ambitious in seeking to tackle waiting lists and improve performance of cancer care.”
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Shadow health secretary attacks ‘Tory backlog’ of NHS care
Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has attacked the Conservatives for creating a “Tory backlog” in NHS care.
He told the House of Commons: “This isn’t a Covid backlog, this is a Tory backlog. We went into the pandemic with NHS waiting lists already at a record four and a half million and now six million people are waiting on NHS waiting lists, more than ever before.
“More than a million are waiting for scans and tests used to diagnose cancer and the NHS itself is waiting, waiting for the Government’s plan to deal with the backlog. So where is it?
“It was due to be published today but was pulled last night. It’s like something from The Thick Of It but the reality is worse than fiction. A photo op without a plan, their own NHS recovery plan just another cancelled operation.
“But don’t worry because there’s a website coming that will tell people they’re waiting a long time even if there’s no plan to make sure that they don’t and then there’s the reason for the delay.”
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Starmer hails police decision to clear him over lockdown beer
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the police decision to clear him following allegations that he broke lockdown rules when drinking a beer in an office showed the “contrast” with No 10 and the partygate claims.
Durham Constabulary said they do not believe any offence was committed in April 2021 when Sir Keir was pictured with a bottle of beer in the office of City of Durham MP Mary Foy in the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election.
Sir Keir, asked by broadcasters in south London whether he is “relieved” by Durham Police’s announcement, said: “I was clear throughout that no rules were broken.
“And here’s the contrast – only last Monday we got the overview from Sue Gray, and 12 cases being referred to the Metropolitan Police in relation to the Prime Minister and the goings-on in Downing Street.
“Because the Metropolitan Police consider there was evidence not only of offences, but they were serious enough and flagrant enough to put aside their usual rule that they won’t investigate 12 months after the event.
“So that’s a huge contrast, as there always was in this case.”
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UK to send additional troops to Poland
The UK is set to send an additional 350 troops to Poland amid fears Russia will soon invade Ukraine, Ben Wallace has said.
The Defence Secretary said: “In that spirit of solidarity and helping share each other’s challenges of resilience we will add to those 100 Royal Engineers by sending a further 350 British troops to Poland in a bilateral deployment to show that we can work together and send a strong signal that Britain and Poland stand side by side.”
Polish defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak welcomed the additional British deployment as the country faces threats from Belarus and the Russian build-up on the border with Ukraine.
He said: “Today we are facing another challenge, the Russian aggressive policy towards Ukraine and as part of Nato, but also on a bilateral level, Poland and the United Kingdom are really to do all the necessary decisions in order to deter the potential aggressor.”
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SNP MP who suffered brain hemorrhage returns to Westminster
Amy Callaghan, MP for East Dunbartonshire returned to Westminster on Monday after spending four months in hospital.
She underwent two life-saving surgeries after collapsing at home in June 2020.
She said: “Westminster should have adapted to people with my kind of condition, so I could still represent my constituents.
“It should never have reached this point. It’s definitely against doctor’s orders. If this was a constituent travelling to London, I would be telling them not to go.
“It’s 420 miles from my constituency office to the House of Commons. My mobility is significantly better than what it was, but it’s not great.
“If I could do my job from home, and still represent my constituents, I would – but I can’t just now.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/london-politics-latest-news-boris-johnson-carrie-guto-harri-partygate-ukraine-russia-truss-b981068.html
