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Rishi Sunak has been called “desperate and pathetic” by a member of the shadow cabinet after posting a message on Twitter saying Labour is on the side of “criminal gangs” because of its stance on the Illegal Immigration Act. (See 3.45pm.) More criticism came from Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, who said Sunak was demeaning his office.
Usually, I try and maintain some sense of respect for the office of the Prime Minister, but it’s just impossible when the man doing the job is willing to demean it like this. What a desperate attempt to deflect from his own dismal failures. Utterly pathetic.
Usually, I try and maintain some sense of respect for the office of the Prime Minister, but it’s just impossible when the man doing the job is willing to demean it like this. What a desperate attempt to deflect from his own dismal failures. Utterly pathetic. pic.twitter.com/5gFwayX40U— Emily Thornberry () July 25, 2023
A member of the Society of Radiographers on a picket line outside the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, south London. Radiographers have been on strike in NHS trusts across England today. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PAUpdated at 17.15 BSTRishi Sunak’s latest attack on Labour (see 3.45pm) is unlikely to work, according to two public opinion experts.Keiran Pedley from the polling firm Ipsos says that, although voters care about immigration, they don’t trust the Tories to deal with the issue.Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are strategically right to go big on immigration - it matters a lot to their supporters. The problem they face with immigration as a dividing line with Labour is the public don't think Sunak & Conservatives are delivering pic.twitter.com/5IEgIR99SX— Keiran Pedley () July 25, 2023This tweet understates the extent of the problem for Sunak. It is not just that voters think the government is doing a bad job on small boats; they think Labour would do better.And Luke Tryl from More in Common, the group campaigning for inclusivity – which commissions a lot of public opinion research – says that people will see that the Sunak tweet is unfair, and that it will come across as inauthentic too.Don't think this this will work1. Voters are fair minded, they thought Labour Rishi adverts unfair they'll think this is too2. In the mud attacks aren't congruent with Sunak's persona (authenticity matters) instead risks alienating the voters who didn't like Boris but like him. https://t.co/zkBvVtDLzL— Luke Tryl () July 25, 2023Updated at 16.49 BSTJournalists and commentators at the liberal end of the market are outraged by Rishi Sunak’s tweet associating Labour with “criminal gangs”. (See 3.45pm.) Here are some of their comments.From Steve Richards, the writer and broadcasterFrom Sonia Sodha, the Observer’s chief leader writerThat tweet from the PM re Labour/asylum. Rock bottom, and the absolute opposite of prime ministerial.— Sonia Sodha () July 25, 2023And yes, Labour’s attack ad earlier this year claiming Rishi Sunak doesn’t think child sex abusers should go to prison was also grim. At least it wasn’t from Starmer’s account.— Sonia Sodha () July 25, 2023From Prospect’s Sam FreedmanSunak's thread inciting more hatred towards asylum seekers comes the day after his government were found to be unlawfully depriving pregnant women and children of £3 a day for food. It's just all so grim.— Sam Freedman () July 25, 2023From LBC’s Sangita MyskaThis tweet from Rishi Sunak directly links the Labour Party with criminal gangs. Quite something from the Prime Minister who promised to restore “professionalism” and “integrity” at every level of political life. https://t.co/PxGsnyEZDH— Sangita Myska () July 25, 2023From Robin Lustig, the former BBC presenterI won’t retweet (re-X?) it, but the immigration tweet from the account of is beneath contempt. He’s proving beyond any remaining doubt that he’s definitely not as nice as he looks.— Robin Lustig () July 25, 2023From Oliver Kamm, the writer and former Times leader writerI recall Paddy Ashdown once describing John Major as a decent man at the head of a truly appalling party. You could say the same thing about Rishi Sunak, apart from the first bit. https://t.co/wPC5HbavGS— Oliver Kamm () July 25, 2023Updated at 16.36 BSTThe Labour MP Chris Bryant has accused Rishi Sunak of debasing the office of prime minister with his tweet associating Labour with criminal gangs. (See 3.45pm.)I’m not going to RT Sunak but in his desperation he has plumbed a new depth. My political opponents aren’t enemies, or enemies of the people or a ‘criminal gang’. He debases his office and forgets act as PM of the UNITED Kingdom not seek to sow division— Chris Bryant () July 25, 2023Sunak's tweet associating Labour with 'criminal gangs' labelled 'desperate and pathetic' by shadow cabinet ministerA shadow cabinet minister has accused Rishi Sunak of descending into the “gutter” after the PM posted a message on Twitter associating the Labour party with “criminal gangs” and corrupt lawyers.Sunak posted the message via his party political account, claiming that all three groups were obstructing government plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats. (See 1.16pm.) He was promoting a Daily Mail report about lawyers helping people claim asylum on the basis of evidence they knew to be false.
This is what we’re up against.
The Labour party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs - they’re all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally.
I have a plan to stop it.
This is what we’re up against.The Labour Party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs - they're all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally.I have a plan to stop it.Here’s how 🧵https://t.co/ez3rYIU0uQ— Rishi Sunak () July 25, 2023In response, Jim McMahon posted a message on Twitter saying Sunak was being “desperate and pathetic”.
When all else is lost, the only place you have is the gutter. Poor yes. Desperate and pathetic from Sunak too.
When all else is lost, the only place you have is the gutter. Poor yes. Desperate and pathetic from Sunak too. https://t.co/ltKYdC2Kit— Jim McMahon MP () July 25, 2023McMahon was commenting on a tweet from Iain Dale, the broadcaster who worked as a Tory adviser many years ago. Dale described the Sunak tweet as “pretty desperate stuff”.While the Sunak smear was unusual, because prime ministerial tweets are normally more restrained, it was not unprecedented. At PMQs in April Sunak claimed Labour was going to “side with the people smugglers” when it voted against the illegal migration bill.Sunak issued his tweet linking Labour with “criminal gangs” following reports saying he has been persuaded that he needs to campaign more aggressively if he wants to win the next election. In a report in the Sunday Times at the weekend Tim Shipman and Harry Yorke said:
Sunak’s is not a leaky Downing Street where officials routinely talk out of turn, but conversations with several of those close to the prime minister suggest that it has taken several weeks of intense persuasion to convince him that just turning up and doing the job competently will not be enough to win the general election.
They now say he is fired up and keen to go “gloves off” against Labour, drawing starker dividing lines with the opposition and offering bolder policy to voters who are crying out for some hope. Sunak told his MPs on Wednesday: “In the coming months, I am going to set out more of what I would do if I had a full term. I was recently described as a full-spectrum modern Conservative and you are going to see that in the programme I lay out. You are going to see that I am committed to providing people with both security and opportunity.”
The Sunak tweet is a smear because it associates Labour with criminal gangs, on the grounds that Labour is opposed to the Illegal Migration Act, when there are perfectly legitimate grounds for opposing it. Other groups who have criticised it just as strongly include the Law Society, the UNHCR and the Church of England.But Labour has also been willing to use unfounded smears in its own campaigning. In April it posted a message on Twitter claiming that Sunak does not believe adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison. Labour MPs defended the campaign, on the grounds that it was highlighting flaws with the justice system (prison overcrowding leading to the courts issuing lighter sentences). But there were also claims that the advert was misleading, and no Labour MP seriously tried to argue that Sunak thinks the sexual assault of a child is something that doesn’t generally deserves a jail sentence.Updated at 15.47 BSTThe UK government has added its voice to international concerns about the situation in Israel, amid mass protests against plans by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to overhaul the country’s judicial system, PA Media reports.In a statement today, the Foreign Office said:
As the prime minister discussed with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year, the UK’s strong relationship with Israel has always been underpinned by our shared democratic values.
While Israel’s exact constitutional arrangements are a matter for Israelis, we urge the Israeli government to build consensus and avoid division, ensuring that a robust system of checks and balances and the independence of Israel’s judiciary are preserved.
Updated at 14.58 BSTEnvironment minister Trudy Harrison to stand down as MP at next electionTrudy Harrison, 47, an environment minister, has announced she is standing down at the next election. She represents Copeland, but it is being replaced by a new constituency with different boundaries and she said she would not apply to fight that seat because it would not cover where she lived.“Essentially I am a community activist at home and I want to come home and make sure the policies that I have been involved in shaping and making actually reap benefits for people in west Cumbria,” she told ITV.Harrison won Copeland from Labour in a byelection in February 2017. The seat had been Labour since it was created in 1983, and the win may have helped to persuade Theresa May to call a snap general election soon afterwards.On the basis of this tally, Harrison is now the 43rd Tory MP to say they will be standing down.Labour suggests Foreign Office should reconsider decision not to tell people to avoid travelling to RhodesLabour has suggested the government should “rethink” the advice it is providing for people considering travelling to the Greek island of Rhodes.The Foreign Office is not telling holidaymakers to avoid travelling to Rhodes – although its travel advice does urge people to contact their travel company if they are due to go to an area affected by the wildfires.Speaking during a private notice question in the Lords, where it is the last sitting day before the summer recess, Lady Smith, the Labour leader in the Lords, said the lack of advice from the Foreign Office was “not helpful”.She said:
When the minister [Andrew Mitchell] at the [Foreign Office] is asked if he would go to Rhodes on holiday he admitted he wouldn’t travel there.
And yet the government’s advisory is not helpful – or lack of advisory – to those who are not sure if they should fly this week or not, or what the financial consequences could be.
Smith said the government should reconsider what it is saying to Rhodes. She suggested that, without advice from the Foreign Office telling people to stay away, it could be harder for people to claim compensation for a cancelled holiday.The Earl of Courtown, the deputy chief whip in the Lords replying on behalf of the government, said the government’s travel advice was being kept under constant review.He also said that the situation in Rhodes was stabilising, and that the “vast majority” of the island was not affected by the fires.On compensation, he said the official advice “should not impact people’s ability to claim insurance for things like cancelled hotel bookings or flight changes, depending on their policy and level of cover”.Updated at 14.57 BSTThe government is not trying to kick compensation payments for victims impacted by the infected blood scandal into the “long grass”, Jeremy Quin, the Cabinet Office minister, has said.As PA Media reports, Quin told the official inquiry this morning he was determined to set out “redress” amid anger that the delays may be because compensation is deemed too expensive and complicated. PA says:
The minister insisted there is a “determination to get this resolved” and confirmed he will await the inquiry’s final report, expected in the autumn, before announcing a plan.
The infected blood inquiry was set up in 2017 to investigate the infection of thousands of patients with HIV and hepatitis C via contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
Around 2,900 people died in what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
Quin said he was “aware of the number of people who are dying” while awaiting full payments after an initial scheme of interim payments was set out.
He acknowledged there is a “moral case here for compensation to be paid” but said “no decisions have been taken” on the full scheme.
He added: “I’ve got no doubt that compensation will be paid. The form and shape of that compensation are decisions that have to be made.”
Updated at 14.26 BSTSunak welcomes Daily Mail undercover report claiming lawyers are helping people submit bogus asylum claimsThis morning the Daily Mail has splashed on the findings of an investigation by undercover reporters who found law firms willing to submit claims for asylum using evidence they knew to be bogus on behalf of someone posing as an “economic migrant”. In their story, Tom Kelly and Izzy Lyons report:
Lawyers are charging thousands of pounds to submit false asylum and human rights claims for illegal immigrants.
Staff at solicitors’ firms readily agreed to help an undercover Mail reporter posing as an economic migrant get refugee status.
This was despite being told he had no legitimate reason to stay in the UK after arriving on a small boat.
The investigation focuses on three cases involving two lawyers, and one legal adviser who, the paper says, were happy to help concoct a fake story for a client that might enable them to successfully claim asylum. They were charging between £4,000 and £10,000 for the service, the Mail says.But the Mail also claims these were not isolated cases. It says:
Our investigation discovered widespread and blatant abuse of the rules by lawyers and legal representatives at registered solicitors’ firms.
In most cases they suggested our journalist, who was originally from the Punjab, should pretend to be a supporter of a Sikh separatist movement banned in India – giving him grounds for asylum.
In February, Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, told MPs that “a small number of legal practitioners” were being monitored by the Home Office on suspicion that they were helping people submit false asylum claims. The Mail report appears to vindicate these claims.This morning Rishi Sunak tweeted a link to the Daily Mail story from his party political Twitter account.He also claimed the story showed how “the Labour party, a subset of lawyers [and] criminal gangs” were all opposed to government policy on small boats.
This is what we’re up against.
The Labour party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs – they’re all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally. I have a plan to stop it.
This is what we’re up against.The Labour Party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs - they're all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally.I have a plan to stop it.Here’s how 🧵https://t.co/ez3rYIU0uQ— Rishi Sunak () July 25, 2023Updated at 13.45 BSTCommittee on standards in public life chair says government should do more to keep foreign money out of UK politicsLord Evans, chair of the committee on standards in public life, has complained that the government has not done enough to stop foreign money being used to fund political parties in Britain.In an interview with Sky News, Evans said the rules intended to stop parties getting funding from foreign donors, companies or governments were “not rigorous” and “insufficiently transparent”.Parties are only allowed to accept money from permissible donors – broadly people registered to vote in the UK, or companies registered in Britain. But companies that donate don’t have to prove that they generated profits in the UK, and there are concerns that this loophole allows foreign donations to fund British politics indirectly.In a report two years ago Evans’ committee called for the rules to to be tightened to prevent this. The government has ignored these recommendations.Evans, a former head of MI5, told Sky News:
We have been assured, and this has been said repeatedly by the government, that the rules are strict and rigorous. That’s not our view. The rules are not strict. They are not rigorous and they are insufficiently transparent …
The first problem is lack of real openness. And just to say: ‘I have been given money by company X’, when you can’t work out where company X got that money from [and] who actually controls that company, is really not a satisfactory way of discharging responsibility for openness.
And it’s also very important that we can protect the political system from an improper influence, whether that’s from business interests, whether that’s from extreme political interests, or whether that’s from foreign powers. And transparency is a really important part of that. And the transparency rules at the moment, in our view, the view of my committee are not strong enough.
In his interview Evans also called for some limit on the amount of time MPs can spend on a second job. He said:
There have been some quite well-documented cases where it’s hard to argue that this person is putting their main focus on their parliamentary duties, given the amount of time that they appear to be giving to other activities.
Updated at 12.42 BSTLabour urged to work with Tories to counter ‘ignorant’ climate policy attacksLabour should counter “absolutely unacceptable” and “ignorant” Conservative attacks on its climate policies by offering a cross-party consensus on climate action, to bring forward measures this parliament to meet net zero, the outgoing chair of the Climate Change Committee has urged.As Fiona Harvey reports, Lord Deben, a former Tory environment secretary and minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, strongly criticised Grant Shapps and Suella Braverman, cabinet ministers who have led vitriolic attacks on Labour as “the political wing of Just Stop Oil”. He called on the government instead to heed the message of climate protesters.The full story is here.Renters could end up paying £1.4bn in higher bills under Gove's plan to delay energy efficiency rules, thinktank claimsPeople who rent accommodation could end up paying £1.4bn more in energy bills because the government is planning to give landlords more time to comply with new energy efficiency standards, an energy thinktank has claimed.In his interview with the Sunday Telegraph at the weekend Michael Gove said landlords were being asked to do “too much too quickly”. He went on:
We do want to move towards greater energy efficiency, but just at this point, when landlords face so much, I think that we should relax the pace that’s been set for people in the private rented sector, particularly because many of them are currently facing a big capital outlay in order to improve that efficiency.
According to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), Gove was referring to minimum energy efficiency standards for landlords. Currently they only need a band E energy performance certificate (EPC) for a property to be let, but the plan is for them to need a band C certificate (requiring better energy efficiency) for new tenancies from 2025, and all tenancies from 2028.There have already been reports saying the band C deadline for new tenancies will be put back to 2028.The ECIU says that there are more than 2.4m homes in England that fall below the EPC band C standard. It says that, if the deadline for them meeting this were put back to 2030, tenants could end up paying £1.4bn in fuel bills, on a “medium” assumption as to what will happen to gas prices.The thinktank also says that delaying the introduction of the new rules for all tenancies could create a “cliff edge”, with landlords all trying to get better insulation fitted just ahead of the deadline, with the risk that supplies won’t be able to meet the demand.Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the ECIU, said:
The government looks to be taking the side of landlords over the millions who’ve been stuck in cold, rental accommodation during a gas crisis that’s forced them to shell out hundreds on gas bills to try to keep warm. The main culprit here is the government – consulting on the changes in 2021 yet still not doing anything about this problem, even during a gas crisis, seems frankly irresponsible.
This is a net zero policy that would save ordinary people who rent money on bills, and could have been phased in gradually so landlords carry out the work over several years. The UK was hit hard by the gas crisis because of failure to get on with simple common sense measures like these, and we’ll end up more dependent on foreign gas imports because of it. As the OBR has pointed out recently a failure to shift away from volatile gas prices could add 13% of GDP onto our national debt.
The first set of minimum energy efficiency standards in 2018 made no significant difference to the number of rental properties available, with the sector actually increasing by over 150,000 since 2021. So the landlord lobby may claim that they’ll go packing but the evidence points to the contrary.