UK politics news: Government 'did not want to know' about evidence of Russian interference in Brexit vote as long-awaited report released
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Your support makes all the difference.The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has judged it “credible” that Russia tried to interfere in the Scottish independence referendum as part of an effort to influence political life in the UK.
MPs setting out the Russia report have told Boris Johnson to order an assessment of “potential” Russian meddling in the Brexit referendum. The government “did not want to know” if there been interference in the 2016 vote – and had “actively avoided looking for evidence”, they said.
However the government quickly rejected the call for further enquiries, with foreign secretary Dominic Raab describing a retrospective investigation as “unnecessary”.
Government 'sleepwalking into winter of discontent'
A Nobel Prize winning geneticist has warned the UK government risks sleepwalking into a “winter of discontent” unless clear governance structures are implemented for the remainder of the pandemic.
Professor Sir Paul Nurse, a distinguished scientist and director of the Francis Crick Institute, criticised what he described as a “pass the parcel” approach and said it was unclear who was responsible for various aspects of the coronavirus strategy.
No return to austerity?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that the government must "exercise restraint" in pay rises for public servants.
The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) will set departmental resource budgets from 2021/22 to 2023/24 and capital budgets from 2021/22 until 2024/25.
No set spending envelope has been fixed, but departments have been told that their budgets will grow above inflation.
Mr Sunak was clear to ministerial colleagues that the impact of Covid-19 means there has to be tough choices on spending in other areas at the review.
Whitehall departments have been asked to identify opportunities to reprioritise spending and deliver savings.
Departments will also be required to fulfil a series of conditions in their returns, including providing evidence that they are delivering the government's priorities.
Mr Sunak said: "The first phase of our economic response to coronavirus was about safeguarding employment as far as possible.
"Our goal in the second phase is to protect, create and support jobs, and we set out our plan to achieve this two weeks ago.
"The Comprehensive Spending Review is our opportunity to deliver on the third phase of our recovery plan - where we will honour the commitments made in the March Budget to rebuild, level up and invest in people and places, spreading opportunities more evenly across the nation."
Raab 'a lost child in an adult's world'
The mother of Harry Dunn, the teenage motorcyclist who was killed in a collision with a US diplomat's wife, has accused Dominic Raab of being a "lost child in an adult's world".
Charlotte Charles appeared in person at the gates of Downing Street to watch the foreign secretary greet the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this afternoon.
Ms Charles, who was accompanied by her partner Bruce and lawyer Radd Seiger, said that she had come "to show Mr Pompeo and Mr Raab and Mr (Boris) Johnson that I'm not just going to stick on my TV and watch them at home.
"It's really important that we come here and let them know that Harry was important and they need to realise that," she told the PA news agency.
"So I'm not going to stay at home. I intend to make sure that they are aware that we've made the effort to be here to try to communicate with them."
A request for the extradition of Anne Sacoolas to stand trial in the UK over the death of Harry Dunn was rejected by the US in January.
Tory MP referred to watchdog over texts to staff
A Conservative MP has been referred to Parliament's standards body over WhatsApp texts allegedly sent to a young female intern and a male worker at Parliament.
Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn, North Wales since 2019, has not yet responded to the allegations, which first surfaced last month on the Guido Fawkes website.
The intern was sent a string of messages by the 40-year-old MP, according to BBC Wales.
Charlotte Nichols, Labour MP for Warrington North, tweeted: "I reported RobDelyn via the third party reporting line over a month ago.
"I called on Conservatives to remove the Whip and refer him over a month ago.
"This is totally unacceptable conduct for an MP. The Conservatives should immediately remove the Whip from Bob Roberts, and refer him to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. No excuses."
A second allegation relates to allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a male member of Parliamentary staff.
Mr Roberts recently split from his wife and publicly came out as gay with a statement on Twitter on 20 May.
UK facing 'difficult months ahead', says PM
The UK faces "difficult months ahead' as it tackles the coronavirus crisis, Boris Johnson warned.
As the Cabinet gathered for a face-to-face meeting for the first time since March, the Prime Minister stressed the need to "get our economy moving".
The symbolic meeting is an attempt by Downing Street to show that it is safe to return to workplaces - although it took place in the Foreign Office's Locarno Suite rather than the smaller Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street.
Opening the meeting, Mr Johnson said there will be "difficult months ahead for our people and our country, but no-one will be without hope.
"We will build back better and come through this crisis more strongly than ever before," the Prime Minister said.
"And for the next few months we have to strike a balance - we have to continue to push down on this virus and keep it under control in the heroic way the British people have managed so far.
"But we must also cautiously, while observing the rules on social distancing, get our economy moving again and get our people back into work."
Pay rise 'kick in the teeth' for social care staff
Social care providers have accused the Government of "sidestepping" the issue of low pay for care staff as it announced pay rises for thousands of key workers in the public sector.
The above-inflation pay rise announced by the Chancellor today will see almost 900,000 workers benefit, with teachers and doctors seeing the largest increase at 3.1 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively, according to the Treasury.
It also includes police, prison officers, National Crime Agency staff, members of the judiciary, armed forces and senior civil servants, but not nurses and healthcare assistants, who are covered by a three-year pay deal agreed in 2018.
The Institute for Public Policy Research think tank said not including nurses and carers was "unforgivable" and an "unjustifiable snub".
Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said it is not acceptable to make nurses wait a year, adding: "In this year, of all years, it is time to value these professionals and begin to fill the tens of thousands of vacant posts."
Mike Padgham, chairman of the Independent Care Group, said: "They have put themselves in harm's way, they deserve something, and this is a kick in the teeth again, about being forgotten yet again, and it beggars belief in that perspective.
"I hope the government will rethink and make sure social care staff get due attention - not just praise but something in their pay packets as well."
Chief executive of Care England, Professor Martin Green, said: "These past few months have been an incredibly challenging time for our NHS and social care and it is imperative that frontline staff are recognised and rewarded as such.
"We need to ensure that lip service is replaced by action in order to ensure the long term sustainability of the adult social care sector."
Pompeo has 'valuable' and 'candid' talks with PM and Raab
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he discussed 5G telecommunications and a potential US-UK trade deal with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"Constructive visit with @BorisJohnson today," he tweeted.
"Our two countries' long-standing, strong bilateral relationship has laid the foundation for today's candid discussion on issues ranging from 5G telecommunication to our negotiations for a U.S.-UK free trade agreement."
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab also mentioned "the diversification of telecoms" as he described the discussion as "valuable".
'A shameful stain on our democracy'
The report from the Intelligence and Security Committee raises the question – who has been protecting our electoral processes like the Brexit referendum?, writes Sean O'Grady.
Harry Dunn case raised with Pompeo, says No10
Boris Johnson raised the Harry Dunn case in his talks with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister reiterated the need for justice to be done for Harry Dunn and his family.
"He said there was a strong feeling among the people of the UK that justice must be delivered."
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