Inside Politics: Back to school

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Negative briefings, bitter feuds, betrayal, revenge and media attention seeking. Never mind Prince Harry and his book. Yes, that’s right – MPs are back at work today.

Commons actions gets underway at 2.30pm with levelling up questions, followed by any urgent questions or statements. After that is a debate on the procurement bill.

As MPs return to Westminster following the Christmas holidays, things are pretty much just as they were before recess: public sector strikes over pay and conditions and the dire state of the NHS continue to dominate the political agenda.

In that vein, ministers from the health, transport and education departments will meet with union bosses today to talk about salary deals for next year in a bid to stop further industrial action. But it is wages for this year that remain key to unlocking the dispute with nurses, who are due to walk out again on 18 and 19 January.

Rishi Sunak, who refuses to accept the NHS is in crisis, would not give a yes or no answer when pressed by Laura Kuenssberg yesterday on whether ministers would discuss this year’s pay in today’s talks, although his tone was slightly softer than in previous outings.

“The government has always been clear that it’s happy to talk about pay that is responsible [and] that’s affordable for the country — that’s always been clear,” the prime minister said. Clear as mud then? His comments came after Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, signalled last week that her members would be willing to accept a 10 per cent hike, having initially demanded an inflation-busting 19 per cent rise.

Cullen described Sunak’s comments as a “chink of optimism” but warned him in an interview with The Independent that he would not be able to meet his waiting list pledge without addressing pay, after the PM called for “bold and radical” action to fix overwhelmed emergency services and record waiting lists. Separate reports, meanwhile, suggest the PM is considering a “one-off” payment to health workers to boost their pay through the winter months and to break the strike deadlock.

Ministers have this morning announced plans for the NHS to buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings to help discharge more patients to free up hospital beds, with £200m worth available for the scheme. Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said he was taking “urgent action” to reduce pressure on the health service. Wes Streeting, his shadow, described the plan as “another sticking plaster”.

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It feels like several lifetimes ago now since the MPs’ second jobs scandal broke, with Sir Geoffrey Cox, the Tory MP and KC, taking a lot of heat for raking it in while working away in far-flung exotic locations with parliament still sitting.

He was certainly not the only one earning a few quid in a second job and a new report reveals that many MPs continue to do so. They have earned £17.1m from work outside parliament since the 2019 election, it has emerged – with the vast majority made by Conservative MPs.

A total of £15.2m was made by Tory MPs over and above their salaries during the parliament. Labour MPs earned a total of £1.2m from second jobs and work outside parliament, with the Liberal Democrat MPs earning an extra £171,000 and SNP MPs taking in £149,000. Around two-thirds of the additional earnings were made by just 20 MPs, with Tories making up 17 of the 20 highest earners.

Sunak refuses to say if he uses private healthcare.

“As a general policy I wouldn’t ever talk about me or my family’s healthcare situation. But it’s not really relevant, what’s relevant is the difference I can make to the country.”

Kevin Schofield, HuffPost UK politics editor, on PM’s refusal to talk about his healthcare arrangements.

“Most viewers would have noticed him sidestepping the questions and come to the conclusion that, yes, Sunak does have private healthcare but doesn’t want to admit it. For a prime minister who came to office promising “integrity”, that’s not a great look.”

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