Peace Tour: President Trump poses at the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt on Monday. © PA Images
With Parliament back from recess and parliamentary scrutiny back in business, pressure on the Government mounted this week with the Opposition demanding answers to unanswered questions over why the China spy case was dropped. The case, which sought the prosecution of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, on accusations of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state, saw charges dropped last month, as the CPS claimed it did not have sufficient evidence from the Government referring to China as a national security threat. The Government, who claim that no minister, member of government or special adviser were involved in the decision to drop the charges, have attempted to shift the blame to the Conservatives, as the case spans the general election, and witness statements were given under both governments. The noise around the case came to a head on Thursday evening, as the Prime Minister was pressured into publishing the witness statements in the case, including submissions from the UK’s Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins – the man in charge of providing information regarding the UK’s stance on China. The statements reveal that Collins described China as "the biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security" with the country’s intelligence services conducting "large-scale espionage operations against the UK". However, his final two statements, released under the Labour Government, also claim that the Government is "committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China". Critics of the Government, who argue that it must have had a larger role in the case being dropped than it is claiming, and who accuse Starmer of being too soft on China, have also pointed towards language in the statements that mirror that of the Labour manifesto, to “co-operate where we can; compete where we need to; and challenge where we must, including on issues of national security." With several questions still left unanswered as to how and why the case was dropped, the Home Affairs, Justice, Foreign Affairs and Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy have collectively written to Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson demanding further answers, with the expectation that he be called to witness in front of one of them.
The peace in Gaza is holding, tentatively. On Monday, as Palestinians began returning to their homes, Hamas released the last remaining 20 living Israeli hostages in return for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The violence has not entirely ceased: fighting has broken out between Hamas and other armed Gazan groups; and Israel has killed more than 20 Palestinian civilians who crossed the line of control within Gaza. Hamas has also failed to return all of the bodies of the killed hostages, which some in Israel have labelled a breach of the agreement, although Hamas attributes it to its lack of access to heavy machinery. An audibly relieved Keir Starmer, who attended the peace summit in Egypt alongside other world leaders, welcomed the fact that “the surviving hostages are free, the bombardment of Gaza has stopped, and desperately needed aid is starting to enter”, although Kemi Badenoch castigated the Government for the damage done to UK-Israel relations over the course of the conflict and its failure to play a central role in bringing about the peace agreement.
0.1% – UK economic growth in August.
£22bn – the budgetary shortfall the Chancellor is facing ahead of the Budget next month.
599 – number of Written Parliamentary Questions asked by Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty during Conference Recess.
17,000 – number of affordable homes sitting unsold nationwide due to flaws with the developer contribution system, according to the Public Accounts Committee’s report.
£100,000 – amount that Margaret Thatcher’s 1975 parliamentary nomination papers, recently discovered in a Somerset garage, are expected to fetch at auction.
2 – number of times the Government has delayed its planning decision on the Chinese ‘super-embassy’, with the deadline now pushed back to 10th December.
2,500km – range of US Tomahawk missiles, which President Trump is considering providing Ukraine with.
The Chancellor appeared to sow the seeds for further tax rises in the Budget this week during an interview with Sky News in which she noted the Treasury is “looking at tax and spending as well” ahead of the famous red box’s next outing on 26th November. The slight change of tone comes shortly after the full extent of the state of the Government’s current finances were revealed to the Chancellor in the OBR’s highly confidential first-draft of its economic and fiscal outlook, that is expected will show a £30bn blackhole in the nation’s finances… The Chancellor managed to get away from the glare of Westminster this week during the annual IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington, during which she told the BBC the Government will need to work with the Bank of England “to bear down further on some of the causes of inflation”. Keep your eyes peeled for our comprehensive Budget Rumours doc coming soon…
AI is an increasing threat to the UK’s security, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum argued in his annual threat update this week. Terrorism remains an “ever-present threat”, with MI5 having disrupted 10 late-stage attack plots since the start of 2020. State threats from Russia, Iran and China continue to pose a serious threat, with the MI5 chief tiptoeing around the political sensitive nature of the UK’s relationship with China, following the collapse of the spy court case last week, noting that his officers had “intervened operationally again just in the last week” against a threat from China. On AI he whilst he noted he wasn’t “forecasting Hollywood movie scenarios”, he expressed concern about “potential future risks from non-human, autonomous AI systems which may evade human oversight and control”.
Matthew Taylor has been appointed chair of the Fair Work Agency. Mr Taylor authored the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices in 2016, which the Government has praised for being the inspiration behind much of its Employment Rights Bill. Most recently he has served as Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation. The Fair Work Agency is due to launch in April next year, bringing together the enforcement functions of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC's National Minimum Wage Enforcement Team.
Court times for infrastructure project judicial reviews will be cut by 6 months under new plans announced by the Treasury this week in amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Announcing the proposals, the Chancellor noted that of the 34 infrastructure projects that faced judicial reviews since 2008, just four were upheld.
Almost 500 employers have been fined over £10m for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage, as part of the Government's initiative to 'Make Work Pay'. The list included a disproportionate number of hotels, nurseries and home care companies. In total, around 42,000 workers have been repaid £6m by their employers.
A whole series of additional amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill were published, including to give ministers the power to issue ‘holding directions’ to stop councils refusing planning permission whilst they consider using their ‘call-in’ powers; enabling non-water sector companies to build reservoirs that are automatically considered as nationally significant infrastructure projects; stopping planning permissions from being timed out for approved major housing schemes facing lengthy judicial reviews; and unlocking more onshore windfarms.
The National Cyber Security Centre handled a record 204 nationally significant cyber-attacks last year, according to its Annual Review published this week. The figure is up from 89 in the previous 12 months. Of a total of 429 incidents handled, another 18 were categorised as ‘highly significant’, almost a 50% increase on incidents of the second-highest level categorisation compared with the previous year.
They think [party conference season] is all over… it is now! After what felt like a recording-breaking few long weeks, the public affairs industry has finally ended its tour of Britain for another year as the party conference season concluded with the SNP and Plaid Cymru conferences last weekend. Scottish First Minister John Swinney delivered a speech at SNP Conference, in which he launched into an attack of many of the Labour Government’s policies including digital ID and GB Energy, and, unsurprisingly, called for Scotland to gain independence. Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS also delivered his speech at his party’s conference, with many similar themes to John Swinney’s… a criticism of the Labour Government and a call for independence.
In the Commons, MPs returned from party conference season to a packed agenda and little time to ease back in. Monday kicked off with a series of statements: Dan Jarvis addressed the fallout from the Official Secrets Act case; Liz Kendall made the case for the rollout of mandatory digital ID, facing pushback from a concerned cohort of MPs, and Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes presented the committee’s Solving the SEND Crisis report. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister addressed the House with a statement on the Middle East, followed by the remaining stages of the Mental Health Bill. PMQs on Wednesday saw the Prime Minister come under pressure over the collapse of the China spy trial, followed by the remaining stages of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill. The week concluded with an urgent question on the Official Secrets Act on Thursday, followed by the second reading of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill - a niche title, but a key piece of marine conservation legislation.
The Lords were also back, with a typically methodical week of legislative progress. Monday saw continued committee stage debate of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, followed by consideration of Commons amendments to the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill. On Tuesday, the Renters’ Rights Bill received the same treatment, as Lords picked over MPs' changes made before recess. Wednesday brought the report stage of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill - not the most exciting title, but an important piece of work aimed at boosting transparency in Government. And on Thursday, the second reading of the Crime and Policing Bill rounded out the week, setting the stage for further debate in the coming months.
As conference season comes to a close, with the SNP and Plaid Cymru holding theirs this week, party leaders’ ratings have remained largely unchanged, according to a recent YouGov poll. While both Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch’s speeches were well received by their parties, Starmer’s favourability rating remains at 21%, with 72% viewing him unfavourably. Similarly, Badenoch holds a 21% favourable rating and a 54% unfavourable rating. Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and the Liberal Democrats’ Ed Davey fare slightly better, with favourability ratings of 30% and 29% respectively. Meanwhile, newly elected Green Party leader Zack Polanski has seen his favourability rise by seven points, with 17% of Britons now holding a positive view of him.
Ahead of the Chancellor’s second Budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a report outlining how the fiscal outlook has “deteriorated” and examining the potential need for spending cuts or further tax rises. The report predicts that the Bank of England will continue to reduce interest rates “to the point where they are no longer acting as a headwind to the economy” and cautioned against introducing an annual wealth tax, arguing that it could face huge practical challenges.
The costs of government policies have pushed up electricity prices, according to a Resolution Foundation report. The report highlighted that, while higher wholesale prices account for 71% of the increase in gas bills seen over the past decade, government policies is the biggest driver for electricity bills and accounts for 46% of the increase. The report argues that the Carbon Price Support should be disbanded, and that removing the cost of social policies and closed energy schemes from electricity bills would save the poorest fifth of households over £100 per year.
What do you get when an immoveable object meets an unstoppable force? Attendees of a Westminster Hall debate on knife crime found out on Wednesday when outspoken Labour MP Neil Coyle traded words with outspoken Conservative MP (and the debate’s Chair) Esther McVey. Arguing over whether his point of order (a let’s be honest, oft-abused procedural loophole) was in fact a point of order, Mr Coyle was ordered to leave the chamber by the Chair, citing his “temper” and “attitude” as not quite Westminster Hall material. Enter Lee Anderson, never one to miss a moment, who reminded viewers, “It’s not the first time the honourable member’s been thrown out of a room on this estate...” Play nicely, guys…
If you’ve ever had a Lib Dem leaflet shoved through your letterbox just before an election, you will be no stranger to a rather eye-raising bar chart most often appearing to show the party a close second behind their Labour or Conservative rivals (so much so they even have their own X account). Well it seems Reform have taken a leaf out of their rival’s book this week after Nigel Farage tweeted a bar chart that is eerily similar in its disproportionate design to the Lib Dem’s trademark approach. To rub salt into the wound… the Lib Dems were entirely left off… (h/t the MailOnline’s David Wilcock)
And finally… the inaugural “There’s a Drake meme for every situation” Award goes to Luke Evans MP, who dug out the classic meme from Drake’s Hotline Bling music video (now celebrating it’s 10th anniversary of overused on the internet) to highlight the rather confusing and arguably embarrassing situation the Government found itself in this week over the collapse of the China spy case.
