Treasury minister rejects calls for UK to leave ECHR
Treasury minister John Glen has said he does not back the UK leaving the European convention on human rights.
He made the comments when asked on LBC’s Nick Ferrari if he is in support of “what we understand to be a growing sentiment within the Conservative party that the United Kingdom should quit the European convention on human rights”.
Earlier this week, Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said the government would do “whatever is necessary”, even if that meant pulling out of the ECHR, the 70-year-old pan-European treaty that protects human rights and political freedoms in the continent.
His comments are an escalation of the government’s previous statements that leaving the ECHR was not an immediate step it was going to take. It has insisted that it can deliver on Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” within the convention.
Glen told Ferarri he did not support leaving because he believed in the plan and said it hadn’t finished the legal process yet.
He said:
This is a Europe-wide problem. We’ve had a 30% increase in illegal immigration across Europe, but we’re working with Turkey, new arrangement with them last week, with France, with Albania. The arrangements with France have led to 33,000 fewer crossings – also tougher fines for employers and landlords.
We’ve got the professional enablers taskforce. We’re working with media companies as well. So this is a multi-dimensional approach as well as the immigration (bill) which of course many criticised us for and it was a real battle to take through the Houses of Parliament. But we’ve got a legal challenge waiting on that, but I believe in plan A and we will see that come to fruition in the autumn.
Glen said he did not want to “speculate about alternatives” to the government’s immigration policy.
Asked about “small boats week” on Times Radio, he said:
I think it’s important to recognise that there are many dimensions to the government’s policy.
We have diplomatic arrangements with Turkey, in France, Albania. Indeed from France, we’ve seen 33,000 fewer arrivals because of that arrangement.
But we’ve got to understand is this phenomena of illegal migration of criminal gangs taking people across Europe and across the Channel, we have seen a 30% increase in Europe as well over recent months.
Glen went on:
We’ve obviously passed legislation in the House of Commons. There is a legal challenge to that, but we are confident, and the government has been made clear by the legal system that they support the principle of offshoring our illegal immigrants to Rwanda, and we haven’t finished the conclusion of that legal process yet, but we are confident that that will work.
Asked about a “plan B”, he said:
Well, we believe that the actions that we’ve taken – and I’ve just taken you through a number of them – and including the legislation which hasn’t yet been fully enacted, because of the legal challenge outstanding in the autumn, will work and we stand by that.
I don’t want to speculate about alternatives until we’ve exhausted the process that we think will work.
I will be looking after the politics blog today. If you have any tips or suggestions, please get in touch: [email protected].
Key events
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have announced their candidate in the forthcoming Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.
Gloria Adebo, who works as a data analyst, will run for the party in the vote triggered by the successful recall petition for Margaret Ferrier.
While a date for the by-election has not been set yet, it will be keenly contested by the SNP and Labour.
Adebo, who lives in Rutherglen with her family and previously stood as a council candidate, started her campaign by calling for more help for people struggling to pay their mortgages.
She said:
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election is a real chance for local people to deliver a judgment on the difficulties and disasters we have been landed in by incompetent, populist governments in London and Edinburgh.
It needn’t be like this. And it is the Liberal Democrats who, increasingly, are a growing and dynamic part of an alternative way forward – offering hope in place of despair, founded on a belief in individuals, in the rule of law, in equality of opportunity and the importance of human rights here and across the world.
Other candidates in the by-election include Labour’s Michael Shanks, the SNP’s Katy Loudon and the Conservatives’ Thomas Kerr.
Patrick Wintour
China has temporarily shelved plans to build a new embassy in London, angrily accusing the British government of not doing enough to force through planning permission for the project.
China had been given until Thursday to file an appeal to Tower Hamlets council in east London after the proposals for the embassy were rejected.
Beijing bought the Royal Mint Court site for its new embassy in 2018 for £255m, with the plan to move from its long-term but relatively cramped site in Portland Place, near Regent’s Park.
Chinese officials appear to have decided that rather than appeal through the local Tower Hamlets planning process, where they have relatively little chance of success, they want central government to intervene and give assurances that it will back a resubmitted application.
The UK Foreign Office is aware that if it does not intervene, its already strained relations with Beijing will be damaged further.
The Chinese foreign ministry in a statement urged the British government to meet its “international obligation” to help it build a new embassy, and said China wanted to find a solution “on the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit”.
China wants to build a 65,000-sq metre (700,000-sq ft) embassy, which would be its biggest mission in Europe and almost twice the size of its embassy in Washington. A decision to build such a large embassy would be proof that China regarded relations with the UK as critical since Brexit.
Read more here:
Record 755 people detected crossing Channel in small boats on Thursday, Home Office says
On Thursday 755 people were detected crossing the Channel in small boats, the highest number on a single day so far this year, the Home Office said.
The previous high for this year was 686 people on 7 July.
The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 15,826. Total arrivals last year were 45,755.
The latest figures mean there have been 100,715 arrivals detected since January 2018, when data was first reported.
There were 14 boats detected crossing the Channel on Thursday, which suggests an average of about 54 people per boat.
Junior doctors in England launch fifth round of industrial action
Andrew Gregory
Junior doctors in England have launched a fifth round of industrial action, with thousands going on strike just days after starting their first NHS jobs.
The latest strikes from British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors began at 7am on Friday and will end at 7am next Tuesday. It could result in the total number of appointments cancelled due to NHS industrial action hitting 1m.
Foundation year 1 doctors started their first roles after medical school nine days ago, on 2 August, and will now strike for four days amid the bitter dispute with the government over pay.
Dr Raymond Effah, one of those striking first-year doctors who has just begun his first placement, said:
When I chose medicine as my career, never did I imagine my second week in the job would see me going on strike. The government may not see the value of myself and my doctor colleagues, but we do, leaving us no choice but to strike.
As a medical student I have now gone through a pandemic, a cost of living crisis, and now have student debts of almost £100,000. Even with the 10% pay uplift, I’m still starting in a job where real-terms pay has eroded by more than a quarter. That is why first-year doctors are going on strike today even though we have barely begun. It is for our future in this profession.
Soon after the doctors began their strike action the chief secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, ruled out pay negotiations with the doctors.
He told Sky News:
A 35% pay increase, which is what they’re asking for, is completely unrealistic. It would be sending completely the wrong signal to the economy and to the wider public at a time when obviously inflationary pressures are the top priority of the government.
He added:
We will continue to be open to them to talk about working conditions, but what we can’t move on is additional pay, given that we’ve listened to their independent pay review body … we urge the doctors to stop the strikes and start serving the patient.
Read the full story here:
Rob Blackie has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in next year’s London mayoral contest.
The party confirmed the Pimlico native and former director of research for Charles Kennedy will run in an attempt to defeat Sadiq Khan.
Blackie said:
It is an absolute honour to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for London mayor. London needs a liberal challenger to the mayor – who has been a disappointment to many Londoners.
Khan has failed to tackle rape, sexual offences and other serious crimes over the last seven years and Labour are committed to the worst possible priorities for the police – arresting people for laughing gas rather than spending time on serious crimes.
The Conservatives are discredited nationally by their cost of living failures and in London they’ve all but given up.
For far too long people in London have been let down by Labour and the Conservative plan for London shows that they are not serious about tackling our city’s problems.
Angus MacNeil expelled from SNP after row with party’s chief whip
The MP Angus MacNeil has announced he has been expelled from the Scottish National party (SNP).
He was suspended from the party’s Westminster group last month after reportedly clashing with its chief whip, Brendan O’Hara.
The party’s conduct committee met on Thursday to discuss his case after he refused to immediately rejoin the group at the end of his suspension.
MacNeil, 53, has represented the Na h-Eileanan an Iar, or Western Isles constituency since 2005.
He tweeted about his expulsion, using a kangaroo emoji to refer to the member conduct committee.
He said:
The Summer of Member Expulsion, has indeed come to pass. As I have been expelled as a rank & file SNP member by a ‘member conduct committee’.
I didn’t leave the SNP – the SNP have left me. I wish they were as bothered about independence as they are about me!
He was suspended from the Westminster group for a week in early July following reports of a row with O’Hara in the House of Commons.
Later that month his membership of the party was suspended later the same month because he refused to immediately rejoin the SNP group.
He released a statement attacking the SNP leadership’s approach to independence, accusing it of a lack of urgency.
Read the full story here:
Rishi Sunak said the government’s plan was working, after the latest GDP figures showed the UK economy had grown by 0.2% in the second quarter of the year.
The prime minister said:
This is good news. At the beginning of the year I made growing the economy one of my top priorities, and we are making progress.
There’s still more work to do, but today’s figures show the plan is working.
A government minister has defended a Tory MP who failed to declare she held shares valued at more than £70,000 in Shell while she was environment secretary.
Theresa Villiers admitted her shareholding in the oil and gas company via her latest update to the register of members’ financial interests.
Under the section “other shareholdings on, valued at more than £70,000”, Villiers’ entry says: “From 23 February 2018, Shell plc; energy. (Registered 17 July 2023).”
Asked about the omission on Sky News, Treasury minister John Glen described it as an “oversight on her part” and insisted the former minister had been “very clear” in apologising.
Villiers served in Boris Johnson’s cabinet as environment secretary from July 2019 until February 2020.
MPs are required to register any change to their registrable interests within 28 days.
A list of ministers’ interests from November 2019 did not include a mention of the shares for Villiers.
The MP for Chipping Barnet’s latest entry also included newly declared shares above the same threshold in drinks manufacturer Diageo from February 23 2018 and Experian plc from July 29 2019.
Glen said:
I think she’s apologised. She’s admitted their mistake. I think part of the situation is there’s an MP regime for disclosures of private assets and there’s a ministerial regime.
As I understand it, she didn’t fulfil the obligations of the MP regime while she was a minister.
But as I say she’s been very clear in apologising, it was an oversight on her part, and she will correct it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Here’s more on that story from my colleague Henry Dyer:
Severin Carrell
Mark Drakeford, the first minister of Wales, has said he could stand for election to a directly elected senate at Westminster if Labour follows through on its pledge to abolish the House of Lords.
Drakeford, the Welsh Labour leader, has previously refused invitations to stand as an MP and instead devoted himself to the Senedd in Cardiff, overseeing the implementation of new powers for the devolved parliament.
But Drakeford, 68, the most electorally successful of Welsh Labour leaders, confirmed on Wednesday he plans to quit as an MS at the next Senedd elections in 2026; he has said he will quit as first minister before then, to allow his successor time to bed in.
Replacing the Lords with an elected senate for the UK’s nations and regions is one of Keir Starmer’s major post-election pledges, alongside a suite of new powers for the devolved governments and England’s region.
The measure was central to a constitutional reform commission led by former prime minister Gordon Brown, which Drakeford has endorsed.
The timetable for abolishing the Lords has slipped. Labour now favours installing a large slate of new peers in its first months of power, to act as a counterweight to the Tory majority built by recent prime ministers.
Quizzed about his future by Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith on the Edinburgh fringe on Thursday, for their podcast For the Many Live, Drakeford vehemently ruled out accepting a peerage: he said the Lords was a “desperate, desperate anachronism. It’s not for me.”
The Brown report “powerfully argues for a much smaller elected chamber of the regions and the nations, with a particular responsibility for the constitution”. Asked by Smith whether he would stand for the new senate, Drakeford said:
I wouldn’t rule that out, put it like that. But I wouldn’t go to an unelected one.
Treasury minister rejects calls for UK to leave ECHR
Treasury minister John Glen has said he does not back the UK leaving the European convention on human rights.
He made the comments when asked on LBC’s Nick Ferrari if he is in support of “what we understand to be a growing sentiment within the Conservative party that the United Kingdom should quit the European convention on human rights”.
Earlier this week, Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said the government would do “whatever is necessary”, even if that meant pulling out of the ECHR, the 70-year-old pan-European treaty that protects human rights and political freedoms in the continent.
His comments are an escalation of the government’s previous statements that leaving the ECHR was not an immediate step it was going to take. It has insisted that it can deliver on Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” within the convention.
Glen told Ferarri he did not support leaving because he believed in the plan and said it hadn’t finished the legal process yet.
He said:
This is a Europe-wide problem. We’ve had a 30% increase in illegal immigration across Europe, but we’re working with Turkey, new arrangement with them last week, with France, with Albania. The arrangements with France have led to 33,000 fewer crossings – also tougher fines for employers and landlords.
We’ve got the professional enablers taskforce. We’re working with media companies as well. So this is a multi-dimensional approach as well as the immigration (bill) which of course many criticised us for and it was a real battle to take through the Houses of Parliament. But we’ve got a legal challenge waiting on that, but I believe in plan A and we will see that come to fruition in the autumn.
Glen said he did not want to “speculate about alternatives” to the government’s immigration policy.
Asked about “small boats week” on Times Radio, he said:
I think it’s important to recognise that there are many dimensions to the government’s policy.
We have diplomatic arrangements with Turkey, in France, Albania. Indeed from France, we’ve seen 33,000 fewer arrivals because of that arrangement.
But we’ve got to understand is this phenomena of illegal migration of criminal gangs taking people across Europe and across the Channel, we have seen a 30% increase in Europe as well over recent months.
Glen went on:
We’ve obviously passed legislation in the House of Commons. There is a legal challenge to that, but we are confident, and the government has been made clear by the legal system that they support the principle of offshoring our illegal immigrants to Rwanda, and we haven’t finished the conclusion of that legal process yet, but we are confident that that will work.
Asked about a “plan B”, he said:
Well, we believe that the actions that we’ve taken – and I’ve just taken you through a number of them – and including the legislation which hasn’t yet been fully enacted, because of the legal challenge outstanding in the autumn, will work and we stand by that.
I don’t want to speculate about alternatives until we’ve exhausted the process that we think will work.
I will be looking after the politics blog today. If you have any tips or suggestions, please get in touch: [email protected].
