1 month ago
No 10 backs cabinet secretary Simon Case despite report implying he may have failed to pass on Raab warning to PM
Downing Street has suggested that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, failed to fully inform Rishi Sunak of a complaint about Dominic Raab before he appointed him to cabinet.
But, at the No 10 lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson also insisted that Sunak retained full confidence in the cabinet secretary, his most senior civil service adviser.
Sunak has repeatedly insisted that he was not aware of any “formal” complaints about Raab’s treatment of officials when he reappointed him as justice secretary and deputy prime minister. But he has refused to say whether he was aware of informal concerns raised about Raab being a bully.
This morning the Times reported that Case was aware of a written complaint that had been made about Raab when Boris Johnson was prime minister. That was considered a formal complaint by those people who submitted it, the Times reports. (See 10.34am.)
At the No 10 lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson did not deny that Case was aware of this complaint.
The spokesperson would not say what, if anything, Sunak was told about this when he was appointing people to cabinet. But the spokesperson did say that Sunak did not know about any “formal complaint” before appointing Raab.
Asked whether Sunak was confident he was getting solid advice from Case, the spokesperson replied:
Yes. The prime minister has full confidence in Simon Case.
Asked about the allegations about Raab made by the anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller (see 10.29am), the spokesperson said it would be for Adam Tolley KC, the lawyer conducting the inquiry into claims that Raab bullied officials, to decide whether to investigate them.
Raab has repeatedly denied being a bully and insisted that he treated staff professionally at all times.
Key events
RCN chief says Sunak has 'no place to hide' as Edinburgh and Cardiff show revised pay offers for health staff possible
Pointing out that the Westminster government is an outlier in Britain in not making revised pay offers to health staff, Pat Cullen, the RCN general secretary, said:
If the other governments can negotiate and find more money for this year, the prime minister can do the same. Rishi Sunak has no place left to hide. His unwillingness to help nursing is being exposed as a personal choice, not an economic necessity.
Again, we are making good on our commitment to cancel strikes when ministers negotiate and make pay offers to our members. First in Scotland and now in Wales too.
If the prime minister decides to leave England’s nurses as the lowest-paid in the UK, he must expect this strike to continue. He can still turn things around before Monday – start talking seriously and the strikes are off.
RCN calls off nurses' strike in Wales following revised pay offer
The Royal College of Nursing has called off its planned strike in Wales in the light of the new pay offer from the Welsh government. (See 3.17pm.) The GMB union has also suspended its planned strike by ambulance staff in Wales. (See 2.27pm.)
The GMB and RCN had planned to be on strike on Monday in Wales, and the RCN strike had been due to extend to Tuesday too.
The RCN says it will put the revised pay offer to its members within days.
Welsh government says it is offering health staff extra 3% - half one-off, half consolidated - on top of existing pay rise offer
The Welsh government has given details of the revised pay offer to NHS staff that has led to the GMB union suspending its proposed strike by ambulance staff. (See 2.27pm.) A 4.5% pay increase has already been paid, but the Welsh government is offering an extra 3%, of which half is one-off, and half consolidated (ie, permanent, and rolled over for future years).
The spokesperson said:
Following continued discussions over the last week, we are pleased to announce that an enhanced pay offer has been made to our health trade unions.
On this basis, we are hopeful that the planned industrial action over Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 February will be postponed, allowing trade unions to discuss the proposals further with their members.
Individual trade unions will confirm their intentions regarding next week’s action, prior to further talks with their members.
This revised pay offer comprises an additional 3%, of which 1.5% is consolidated so will be in pay packets year on year, on top of the pay review body recommendations, which have already been implemented in full.
This offer will be backdated to April 2022. Included in this revised package are a number of non-pay commitments to enhance staff wellbeing, on which negotiations will continue next week.
Whilst there is currently no improved pay offer on the table for NHS staff in England, it was also agreed that any resulting Barnett consequential following any improved offer to staff in England would result in a further pay offer to staff in Wales.
We would like to thank those that have participated in the negotiations for their positive engagement and goodwill. We are awaiting a formal response from each of the individual trade unions.
Neil Kinnock says John Major in stronger position in 1992 than Rishi Sunak is now
Conservative hopes for the general election rest on the idea that Rishi Sunak can pull off what John Major managed to do in 1992. Major became leader when his party had been in power for more than a decade, was deeply unpopular and facing a resurgent opposition. He went into the election widely expected to lose, but pulled off a surprise victory.
But Neil Kinnock, who knows about as much about this as anyone because he was the Labour leader who lost, reckons Major was in a stronger position in 1992 than Sunak is in now. He told Times Radio:
John Major was relatively new, but he’s not Rishi Sunak in so many ways. For instance, John is probably quite well off now but he wasn’t when he became an MP. And Rishi Sunak is fabulously wealthy, and it does make a difference. And Major is a guy off the high street which is a real strength.
John’s party was divided but it wasn’t shattered into fragments like the one that Sunak has got. He’s got a whole bunch of his MPs, demanding tax cuts, and the other bunch demanding more public spending. And there are some who say, let’s remove public spending and [have] tax cuts.
And they’ve got their own sympathies and rivalries, some are campaigning for [Boris] Johnson, some are yearning for [Liz] Truss. He’s dealing with an impossible indiscipline in his party, which isn’t going to go away.
And then there’s the basic schism, which is as big as anything ever experienced by the church, over membership or lack of membership or distance from the European Union.
So I was going to say the best of luck to him, but that would be really hypocritical.
GMB suspends ambulance strike in Wales after Welsh government makes improved pay offer
A planned strike by GMB ambulance workers in Wales has been suspended after a new offer aimed at resolving a pay dispute, PA Media reports. PA says:
Members of the GMB were due to walk out in Wales and England on Monday alongside members of other unions.
The GMB said its action has been suspended to allow further negotiations with the Welsh government.
The union said the proposed deal amounts to both a consolidated and non-consolidated one-off payment for 22-23 – on top of an increase of 4.5% which has already been paid.
GMB official Nathan Holman said:
After intense negotiations, GMB has agreed to suspend strike action while further talks take place.
We recognise that the Welsh government and Welsh Ambulance have made concessions and, through social partnership, we appreciate the frank and open dialogue with them over the last few months.
This has only been made possible because the Welsh government has been prepared to talk about pay – a lesson for those in charge on the other side of the Severn Bridge.
We are a member-led union, ultimately they will decide.
Bill to extend maternity protections passes in House of Commons
A push to secure better protection from maternity discrimination has taken a step forward, after a bill extending maternity protections passed its final stage in the House of Commons. My colleague Alexandra Topping has the story here.
Greens celebrate becoming largest party on Bristol city council
The Green party has been celebrating a byelection win last night which means it is now the largest party on Bristol city council.
The Greens now have 25 seats on the council, ahead of Labour on 24, Conservatives on 14, and the Liberal Democrats on five.
Last night the Greens’ Patrick McAllister won in Hotwells and Harbourside, beating Stephen Williams, the former MP for Bristol West and a junior minister in the coalition government, by 537 votes to 511.
As the BBC reports, Carla Denyer, another Green councillor in the city, co-leader of the party nationally and the Green candidate for Bristol West, said:
It’s fantastic to see that the people of Hotwells and Harbourside, and more broadly the people of Bristol, want to see more Green politics in the city and are ready to trust us with power.
The byelection win means 17 of the 20 councillors in the Bristol West constituency are now Green. But the MP, Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire, had a majority of almost 30,000 at the last election, making it very hard to see how Denyer could replace her.
As my colleague Steven Morris wrote in a preview feature ahead of the byelection, the city is currently run by the Labour elected mayor Marvin Rees, which means being the largest party does not put the Greens in control.
No 10 backs cabinet secretary Simon Case despite report implying he may have failed to pass on Raab warning to PM
Downing Street has suggested that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, failed to fully inform Rishi Sunak of a complaint about Dominic Raab before he appointed him to cabinet.
But, at the No 10 lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson also insisted that Sunak retained full confidence in the cabinet secretary, his most senior civil service adviser.
Sunak has repeatedly insisted that he was not aware of any “formal” complaints about Raab’s treatment of officials when he reappointed him as justice secretary and deputy prime minister. But he has refused to say whether he was aware of informal concerns raised about Raab being a bully.
This morning the Times reported that Case was aware of a written complaint that had been made about Raab when Boris Johnson was prime minister. That was considered a formal complaint by those people who submitted it, the Times reports. (See 10.34am.)
At the No 10 lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson did not deny that Case was aware of this complaint.
The spokesperson would not say what, if anything, Sunak was told about this when he was appointing people to cabinet. But the spokesperson did say that Sunak did not know about any “formal complaint” before appointing Raab.
Asked whether Sunak was confident he was getting solid advice from Case, the spokesperson replied:
Yes. The prime minister has full confidence in Simon Case.
Asked about the allegations about Raab made by the anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller (see 10.29am), the spokesperson said it would be for Adam Tolley KC, the lawyer conducting the inquiry into claims that Raab bullied officials, to decide whether to investigate them.
Raab has repeatedly denied being a bully and insisted that he treated staff professionally at all times.
Banning prepayment meters would lead to higher energy bills for all customers, says former Ofgem chief
As Peter Walker, Heather Stewart and Alex Lawson report in their overnight story, Ofgem has asked energy companies to stop forcing customers to use prepayment meters until they are in a position to assure the regulator that the procedures designed to protect vulnerable users are being followed.
Major energy companies have suspended forced installation of prepament meters.
But this morning Dermot Nolan, a former Ofgem chief executive, said banning the use of prepayment meters could lead to higher bills for other customers.
Asked why energy could not be treated like water, where suppliers are not allowed to disconnect households, he said:
If you did that for energy, I think, frankly … bad debts would rise.
Now it is up to companies to control bad debts but if you look at the water sector, maybe 2-3% of your bill is actually bad debt, so you’re probably spending £15-20 a year to cover bad debts.
That’s definitely higher than energy, but not hugely higher.
If you did that and you still make companies manage debt as much as you can, I think you would get slightly higher energy prices as a result – that happens in water.
Is that a trade-off you should make? I’m not sure, but I think you could argue it is the more civilised thing to do. But you would, I think, have slightly higher energy prices as a result.
Councils in Scotland may be facing a real terms cut to funding in 2023-24 even if council tax is increased by 5%, the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank says. In a report, it explains that, even though the Scottish government has allocated councils a small real-terms increase, once allowance is made for the new responsibilities they have, and funding that came as a top-up, “grant funding for Scottish councils is set to fall by 0.8% in real terms this April. Even if Scottish councils were to increase their council tax rates by 5% in April, their overall funding would still fall by about 0.3% in real terms.”
Disabled people left short in universal credit move may get compensation
Tens of thousands of disabled people across the UK wrongly deprived of benefits by the Department for Work and Pensions could share in compensation potentially totalling about £150m after an appeal court ruling, my colleague Patrick Butler reports.
