Inside Politics: UN publishes climate report and No 10 splashes out £100k on paintings

Climate experts to issue starkest warning yet and Johnson’s art spending branded ‘selfish’, writes Matt Mathers

(AFP via Getty Images)

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change today publishes its most comprehensive report on climate science since 2013. Elsewhere, Boris Johnson has been criticised for splashing £100k on paintings for Downing Street, and just 10 super-rich donors account for a quarter of donations to the Tories since the PM entered office.

Inside the bubble

Parliament is in recess.

Coming up shortly:

-Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

-Shadow secretary of state for child poverty Wes Streeting on talkRADIO at 8.33am

Daily Briefing

CLIMATE CRISIS: A “devastating” new UN report is expected to set out a stark message on runaway climate change in what the government hope will be a “wake-up call”. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, published later today will be the first comprehensive assessment of scientific knowledge about the threat to the plant from human activity since 2013. An interim report said global warming was likely to hit 1.5C, the disastrous limit world leaders have pledged to try to avoid, between 2030 and 2052. But reports indicate that a new landmark study will bring the window forward by a decade to 2040 at the latest.

NO, MINISTER: Ministers are said to be drawing up plans to force unwilling civil servants back into the office following the end of Covid restrictions. One cabinet minister tells this morning’s Mail workers refusing to commute should have their salaries cut. And according to the Times, which is also splashing on the story, one Whitehall department is likely to order its employees to work from the office at least three days a week by October. “We are significantly concerned at the lack of people coming into the office. We are monitoring attendance,” a source in the department tells the paper. “We will be mandating people to return from the start of September. It might not be every day of the week but at least two to three days a week by October.” The WHF vs office debate will only intensify in the coming months and the government has been accused of sending out mixed messages on the issue, after plans to require the department of health staff to return part-time were reportedly scrapped.

PAINTS A BAD PICTURE: Great scoop on the front of the Mirror today, which reveals that nearly £100,000 was spent on two paintings to hang on the walls of 10 Downing Street. The paper says the cash was splashed as the PM drew up plans to cut public sector pay and slash benefits. “His selfishness and desire for luxuries for himself whilst cutting support and income for others is a sign of the sickness at the heart of his government,” Labour MP Neil Coyle said. The paintings were purchased through the Government Art Collection fund, which is propped up by taxpayers, although No 10 did not say how much of the £100,000 was public money, insisting “the majority” came from donors.

DONOR CASH: Which leads nicely on to some good analysis by The Independent, showing that just 10 wealthy people account for a quarter of all donations made by individuals to the Conservative Party since Johnson came to power. The 10 super-rich donors – nine of whom are men – have given a combined sum of just over £10m to the Tories since Johnson entered Downing Street, equalling more than 25 per cent of the £38.6m received from all individuals in the past two years. “These revelations underline concerns that great wealth can secure a privileged audience in UK politics,” Alex Runswick, senior advocacy manager at the Transparency International UK campaign group, said. “This dependence on a small number of wealthy donors risks shaping policy and decisions in their favour rather than national interest, so the government should legislate to take big money out of politics.”

DOWNING STREET AT WAR: Allies of Rishi Sunak are briefing the papers that there is no way the chancellor would accept a demotion, following reports in the Sunday Times the PM is considering moving him to the health department. “If he loses Rishi, he loses direction completely,” a source told The Times. “He would have the most likely contender to replace him on the backbenches. He’s not going to take a demotion. That would be ridiculous.” Elsewhere, in Labour land, Gerard Coyne, the candidate who narrowly failed to beat Len McCluskey four years ago, is “quietly confident” of winning the leadership of Unite, the party’s largest affiliated union.

On the record

“After the calamity of the past two years, the prime minister should look in the mirror and demote himself before worrying about the rest of them.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey on reports PM is considering demoting Sunak.

From the Twitterati

“The failure of the cheerleaders of Brexit to acknowledge the consequences of Brexit as due to Brexit remains remarkable.”

Actor and writer David Schneider on delivery driver shortages.

Essential reading

• Phil Thornton, The Independent: Economic reality exposes the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda
• Kate Green, The Independent: Gavin Williamson’s record is shameful – young people deserve better
• Anoosh Chakelian: A decade after the London riots, has anything actually changed?
• Katy Balls, The Spectator: Is Boris Johnson planning to demote Rishi Sunak