Politics
Ministers oust CMA chair after Chancellor called for regulators to ‘tear down’ red tape
Labour ministers have ousted the chairman of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after Rachel Reeves demanded that regulators “tear down” red tape.
Marcus Bokkerink’s departure from the watchdog was announced by the Department for Business & Trade last night after it deemed that the organisation was not sufficiently focused on growth.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds thanked Bokkerink for his time at the watchdog, saying: “We want to see regulators including the CMA supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions.”
Doug Gurr – who used to work for Amazon UK and is a director of the Natural History Museum – has taken on the role in the interim.
Rachel Reeves instructed top bosses of railways, water, energy and aviation firms to “tear down regulatory barriers that hold back economic growth”
PA
Labour is currently pushing authorities to support its economic agenda on growth, sparking concerns surrounding the consequential effect on industry standards and consumers.
Reeves instructed top bosses of railways, water, energy and aviation firms to “tear down regulatory barriers that hold back economic growth” at a joint meeting hosted by the Labour Chancellor and Business Secretary last week.
It followed previous instructions from the pair that the regulators must bring forward a list of reforms to support growth and the Government – 17 of which would be subsequently scrutinised by ministers.
Labour has said that regulators must work towards developing environments that “unlock innovation and investment”.
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Bokkerink – who used to work for Boston Consulting Group – wrote to the Government last week to inform them that the CMA was “fully supportive of the government’s focus on driving economic growth and stands with you in this critical shared endeavour”, setting out five proposals.
Nevertheless, business leaders have complained that the body has been too interventionist, as it previously came under fire for its handling of Microfsoft’s $69billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The deal was later approved after the CMA blocked it at first, leading to a 21-month-long process.
More recently, the CMA started an investigation into the search and search advertising markets last week, producing a report that quoted a Government official saying that the body’s “performance has not been good enough”.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds thanked Bokkerink for his time at the watchdog
PA
There was also some “frustration about this across the board from business”, according to the same source.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: “I would like to thank Marcus for his leadership and support over the last two years.
“The CMA has a critical role to play supporting the government’s growth mission.
“I welcome the appointment of Doug Gurr as the CMA’s new interim chair and look forward to working closely with him as we drive growth, opportunity and prosperity for the UK.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), a leader in the effort to lift the limit on a state and local tax deduction some key House Republicans are demanding, said at a POLITICO Playbook event on Wednesday morning that he will be meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
New York, New Jersey and California Republicans made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago recently to reiterate their demands to lift the so-called SALT cap, which limits the deduction to $10,000, in negotiations over a large tax bill. The lawmakers say the cap is harming constituents in their politically competitive, high-tax districts.
Their votes will be crucial to passing a major tax bill GOP lawmakers are assembling.
Politics
Southport attack: Labour MP blasts ‘damning failures’ of social services to stop Axel Rudakubana
Labour MP James Frith has issued a scathing critique of Britain’s social services, describing their failure to prevent the Southport attack as a “damning” indictment of the system.
Speaking during PMQs Live on GB News, Frith highlighted what he called “a failure of a joined up social services system that has repeatedly been warned and failed to act”.
The attack, carried out by Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last summer, resulted in the deaths of three young girls.
Frith emphasised that while individual judgments should be measured, the systemic failures were clear.
James Frith has hit out at social services failings in the case of Axel Rudakubana
GB News / CPS
“Whether it’s an under-investment or a lack of scrutiny and oversight, a number of the social services have systemically failed to pick up this issue, and the worst has happened for these three girls and their families,” he said.
The Labour MP stressed that while knife access was a crucial issue, the broader failures of social services demanded urgent attention.
“It’s not complicit in the act, but is certainly unintentionally given permission for such acts to happen,” Frith added in what he termed a “damning statement on our social services”.
The Southport attacker had purchased the murder weapon from Amazon without significant barriers, when he was 17-years-old.
Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to all 16 charges he faced in court on Monday CPS
Frith warned that the Southport attack highlighted broader concerns about evolving terrorism risks in Britain.
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“There’s a changing face of the risks of terrorism in this country, and the online hate, the radicalisation that is also being accessed by some of these loners and monsters,” he said during the GB News discussion.
The Labour MP called for a comprehensive review of existing protective measures.
He acknowledged the complexity of predicting such attacks, stating: “We shouldn’t cast too much judgment, given that you can never know for sure as somebody that is reported will go on and do such an appalling act.”
However, Frith insisted that both knife access restrictions and social service reforms needed urgent attention.
Frith told GB News there is a ‘changing face of the risks of terrorism in this country’
GB News
In response to the attack, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced stricter measures for online knife purchases, requiring two forms of identification.
The new requirements will mandate that buyers provide documents such as a passport or driving licence, along with a live video verification of their age.
Amazon has responded to the incident by launching an urgent investigation, stating they take their responsibility around age-restricted items “extremely seriously.”
The online retailer confirmed they use ID verification services to check personal details and require age verification upon delivery.
Politics
Kim Leadbeater accused of ‘stitching-up’ Assisted Dying Bill committee over selection of expert witnesses in secret
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has been accused of “stitching-up” a House of Commons committee after attempting to select an expert witnesses in secret.
Leadbeater’s last-minute amendment was supported by committee members yesterday, meaning much of the session took place in private as it met for the first time.
The Spen Valley MP tabled the motion on Monday night to ensure that the committee sits in private.
Tory MP Danny Kruger, who opposes the bill, argued that there was “clear public interest” in decisions being made openly.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has claimed that most Britons want to allow assisted dying.PAHe said: “And if there are concerns about the witnesses, they should be aired publicly.”
Kruger added: “Of the getting on for 60 names that have been put to us, 38 of them are in favour of this Bill and in favour of the principle of assisted dying.”
However, Leadbeater argued that it would be “inappropriate to discuss named individuals” and their suitability as witnesses, and that, while transparency is important, “so is respecting individuals’ privacy”.
Tory MPs piled pressure on Leadbetter over the lack of transparency.
Protesters gather to support assisted dyingPAFormer Home Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘This is not reassuring me that getting good legislation is the priority for the proponents of the Bill.
“I’ve seen this before. People become so focused on getting the win, they lose sight of the importance of getting a balance of views.”
Romford MP Andrew Rosindell added: “I believed Kim Leadbetter when she assured us that sunlight would win the day and there was to be full public scrutiny of the Bill. I now know that wasn’t true.”
Leadbeater’s bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live legally allowed to end their lives.
Campaigners near Parliament Square against the proposed bill to legalise assisted dying,GETTYTwo doctors and a High Court judge must approve the request before.
The controversial session held yesterday sets out dates over the course of the next few months.
The committee will hear oral evidence from medical and legal professionals and line-by-line scrutiny of the Bill will begin in February.
MPs backed the second reading of Leadbeater’s proposal by 330 to 275 in November.
Politics
John Healey issues warning to Vladimir Putin after Russian spy vessel spotted in British waters
Defence Secretary John Healey has issued a stark warning to Vladimir Putin after a Russian spy ship was detected operating near UK waters.
“We see you, we know what you are doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country,” Healey told MPs.
Healey revealed the Russians have been using the ship for “gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”.
In November, the Yantar was detected “loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure”, prompting a decisive response from British forces.
John Healey spoke to MPs in the House of Commons earlier today
Parliament
“I authorised a Royal Navy submarine, strictly as a deterrent measure, to surface close to the Yantar to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move,” the Defence Secretary said.
The submarine is believed to have been one of Britain’s Astute-class nuclear-powered attack boats.
Following the encounter, the Russian vessel departed UK waters and sailed towards the Mediterranean.
The Yantar has now returned to the North Sea, having entered the UK exclusive economic zone approximately 45 miles off the British coast on Monday.
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Royal Navy vessels HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne have been deployed to monitor the Russian ship’s movements.
The warships have been tracking the vessel’s every move through British waters for the past two days.
“The foreign ship Yantar is currently in the North Sea having passed through British waters,” Healey told MPs.
So far, the Defence Secretary noted that the Russian vessel has been complying with international rules of navigation.
So far, the Defence Secretary noted that the Russian vessel has been complying with international rules of navigation
PA
In response to the Yantar’s return, Healey has implemented new rules of engagement for Royal Navy vessels.
The Defence Secretary confirmed he had amended the protocols to allow British warships to better understand the movement of the Russian vessel.
“I changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar,” Healey told MPs.
He emphasised the vessel’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, saying: “Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.”
GB News presenter Ellie Costello grilled Tory MP Matt Vickers over the Southport stabbings, highlighting multiple missed opportunities to prevent the tragedy.
“There were a number of failings, failings under your watch which you must be able to accept responsibility for”, Ellie fumed during the heated exchange.
Politics
Daughter of Sir David Amess hits out at Prevent scheme following Rudakubana revelations: ‘They failed me!’
The daughter of late MP Sir David Amess has revealed that she “begged and pleaded” for an inquiry into her father’s murder, as she highlighted the “failures” of the Home Office and the Prevent programme.
The Labour Government has announced an inquiry into the Southport attack of July 2024, after it was revealed that killer Axel Rudakubana, 18, was referred to the Government’s anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times, but no intervention was made.
A Labour minister has defended “important judgements” made about withholding information in the Southport killings case, after police claimed they were “gagged” by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Employment minister Alison McGovern said decisions around information disclosure were crucial to protect the possibility of a trial and achieving justice.
Politics
The scandalous climate bill that will give Labour UNCHALLENGED power to pursue net zero that’s going under the radar
The shocking details of a bill giving the government unprecedented power to pursue net zero and other eco-goals have been revealed.
The ‘Climate and Nature Bill’, which will have its second reading on Friday, will legally bind the UK government and the Secretary of State for Energy to achieving net zero and a slew of other green targets described by some as ‘national self-harm’.
The legislation, which is being led by Lib Dem MP Roz Savage, will give Labour legal cover to rigorously pursue climate targets.
Critics say it has the potential to erode personal freedoms under the guise of addressing climate crises and could devastate rural economies, enforce invasive carbon tracking and strip property rights from rural folk.
The legislation states ‘the Secretary of State must achieve the following objectives’, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, taking responsibility for ‘offshored’ emissions via exports and imports, and preventing the world from warming by 1.5 degrees.
It also states the Secretary of State must ‘ensure the end of the exploration, extraction, export and import of fossil fuels by the United Kingdom as rapidly as possible,’ inviting concerns the UK may harm its energy security in pursuit of green credentials.
Other objectives include ‘fulfilling the Paris Climate agreement,’ ‘halting and reversing the degradation and loss of nature in the United Kingdom and overseas’ and ensuring ‘nature is visibly and measurably on the path of recovery.’
Critics have argued the government could use the bill as legal cover to seize farmers’ land for rewilding projects, harming the UK’s food security and destroying rural economies.
Roz Savage, Lib Dem MP and leader of the Climate and Nature Bill
HoC Official Portrait
It could also provide legal cover for land requisitions for vast solar panel farms, scores of wind turbines and other green energy producing infrastructure across Britain’s countryside.
Sceptics also highlight the potential skyrocketing of energy prices as the UK government is legally required to move away from fossil fuels to expensive green energy.
Hikes to energy prices, which have already happened under Labour, would tip many businesses and families struggling with the cost of living over the edge.
This could also make travel prohibitively expensive, something Labour have been accused of eyeing to encourage people into electric cars.
Critics have also warned how the legislation could weaken the UK internationally, making us dependent on foreign imports from countries like China.
It comes after Donald Trump promised to scale up the US’s fossil fuels industry, telling the world America was going to ‘drill, baby, drill’, a move that has buoyed the energy industry in the US.
The bill has split opinion, receiving widespread support from MPs, faith leaders, businesses, seventeen union leaders and eco cheerleaders Dale Vince and Chris Packham.
GB News’ Bev Turner has taken a dim view of the legislation, however.
– YouTube
The proposed legislation will also require itself to have a ‘positive impact’ on ‘local communities with a high deprivation’, ‘young people’ and ‘people with protected characteristics’ like religion, race, transgender status and age.
OBJECTIVES IN FULL
As laid out by Zero Hour, the campaign for the Climate and Nature Bill, the bill’s objectives include:
- Limit the UK’s total CO2 emissions to no more than its proportionate share of the IPCC’s remaining global carbon budget, for a 67% chance of limiting heating to 1.5°C.
- Reduce CO2 emissions caused in the manufacture of the goods we import, in line with UK territorial emissions.
- Reduce the UK’s emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, at rates consistent with the last chance of limiting global heating to 1.5°C.
- Ensure the end of the exploration, extraction, export and import of fossil fuels by the UK as rapidly as possible.
- Ensure that steps taken to mitigate emissions minimise damage to ecosystems, food and water availability, and human health, as far as possible.
- Restore and expand natural ecosystems, and enhance the management of cultivated ecosystems, to protect and enhance biodiversity.
- Include the Mitigation and Conservation Hierarchy so that any development or activity that threatens nature uses this framework to prioritise the protection of nature.
- Address the UK’s entire ecological footprint at home and overseas by accounting for and monitoring the impacts on human health and the destruction of nature; through the production and consumption of goods and services and all relate
The bill was supported by some big names when it was first introduced in March 2024 such as Caroline Lucas (former Green Party leader), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat leader) and Colum Eastwood (Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party).
Roz Savage has been approached for comment.
Politics
Suella Braverman doubles-down on Reform pact just days after refusing to rule out defection to Nigel Farage
Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman has renewed calls for the Torries to “unify” with Reform UK in order to defeat Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
Braverman also called on her Conservative colleagues to mirror the tactics adopted by Republicans following Donald Trump’s emphatic 2024 US Presidential Election victory.
The Fareham & Waterlooville MP claimed that the Tories should look to adopt Trump’s brand of “unfiltered conservatism”, adding that she wants to make the “unsayable mainstream”.
Directly addressing the threat posed by her friend Nigel Farage, Badenoch told The Telegraph: “We do need to unite the Right. We need to come to some kind of accommodation.
`Rael Braverman, Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage
RAEL BRAVERMAN
“I don’t know what the precise form looks like – whether that is a merger, whether that is a coalition, whether that is a supply and confidence agreement, whether that is a non-aggression pact.
“I don’t know what it looks like.“In general, I am in favour of unifying the right.”
Braverman, who last week declined to rule out defecting to Reform UK, also highlighted that she agrees with Reform UK on its support for leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.
The 2022 Tory leadership hopeful was joined in Washington DC by her Reform-supporting husband Rael Braverman.
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Donald TrumpREUTERSThe couple posed alongside Farage ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
Discussing Trump’s victory, Braverman said: “Donald Trump has not just shifted Overton window [a theory about what is politically acceptable], he’s shattered it.
“He’s made the unsayable mainstream and he’s made the radical much more acceptable to the moderates.
“That is of an undeniable value to British Right-wing politicians. There are many things that we can adopt going forward to hopefully emulate his success in a few years time in the United Kingdom.”
Suella Braverman PABraverman also slammed her Conservative colleagues for their attacks on Reform UK.
She claimed: “I’m not one of these Tories who is going to denigrate the Reform Party for running Nuremberg rallies [as] some of my colleagues did during the general election.
“I’m not going to turn my nose up at those who vote Reform as racists or nut jobs.
“The people who are in Reform are largely conservatives who have lost patience with our party and that’s our fault.”
Kemi BadenochPADespite Braverman extending an olive branch to Reform UK, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and the populist party’s chairman Zia Yusuf dismissed calls for an alliance on the right.
Addressing the threat to the right of the Tories, Badenoch said: “Nigel Farage says he wants to destroy the Conservative Party. Why on earth would we merge with that?”
Yusuf also downplayed talks of a merger – comparing the populist party joining forces with the Tories to Netflix merging with Blockbuster.
However, the latest YouGov poll paints a difficult picture for the Tories.
Labour retain top spot on 26 per cent, with Reform UK leapfrogging the Tories into second-place with 24 per cent of the vote.
Support for the Tories appears to have dropped slightly since the 2024 General Election, falling to as low as 22 per cent.
“Absolute transparency” is needed about the circumstances surrounding the attack in Southport by Axel Rudakubana, according to Employment Minister Alison McGovern.
She told GB News: “In relation to Southport, I hope you’ll understand if I first say that, like everybody in our country, my heart just breaks for the poor families of the three little girls and everybody who was injured or hurt in that dreadful attack.
“And we’ve seen another attack this morning that also is utterly heartbreaking.
“When it comes to the question that you asked there, we need to have transparency over all of the elements that have happened here.
“I’m very, very concerned about some of the things that seem to have gone wrong in this case. That’s why it’s right that we have an inquiry to get the facts out in the open.
“That is the best way to get trust in the steps that we need to take forward to put right what is wrong, and to make sure, as a matter of course, there should be absolute transparency about what’s happened here.”
She added: “I know the police and Merseyside very well, and they are incredibly good and they will make their needs known following these terrible events to the government.
“As a general point, I’ve been a strong supporter of the Hillsborough Law, which following the terrible events and all that went wrong in covering up that terrible situation, we need to have a duty of candour to make sure that public servants who say what they know when terrible things happen, because that’s the public’s information and it should be out there.
“I would say that anybody who’s worried about trust in government can show that they want change by voting and supporting Hillsborough law.”
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