UK politics live: Jenrick gets justice role in Badenoch’s shadow cabinet as Stride and Patel land top jobs
It comes as education secretary Bridget Phillipson announced a rise to university tuition fees
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Your support makes all the difference.Robert Jenrick has been named shadow justice secretary in Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s new-look shadow cabinet.
It comes just two days after the conclusion of a long Conservative leadership contest, in which Ms Badenoch comfortably beat Mr Jenrick in a run-off.
But Mr Jenrick was not the only high-profile addition to Ms Badenoch’s shadow cabinet.
Priti Patel will return to the front bench as shadow foreign secretary, while Mel Stride will take on under-fire Rachel Reeves as shadow chancellor of the exchequer. All three of them were Ms Badenoch’s rivals in the leadership contest, and will join what is being dubbed a “unity” shadow cabinet.
Earlier today, Badenoch-ally Laura Trott was named shadow education secretary, while Jenrick-supporter Neil O’Brien was named shadow minister for education.
The upheaval of the Tory front bench came as Labour unveiled plans to increase tuition fees for the first time in eight years.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson announced on Monday afternoon that fees will rise to £9,535 from April 2025 in order to “secure the future of higher education”.
James Dyson condemns Rachel Reeves’s first Budget as ‘spiteful’
Sir James Dyson has condemned Labour’s Budget as “spiteful”, warning her so-called tractor tax will be the “death of entrepreneurship”.
The leading British businessman – who employs more than 2,000 people in the UK - claimed that the new government will “kill off home-grown family businesses”, dubbing the changes an “ignorant swipe at aspiration”.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
James Dyson condemns Rachel Reeves’s Budget ‘tractor tax’ as ‘spiteful’
The businessman said the decision to tighten inheritance tax relief on business property is an ‘ignorant swipe at aspiration’
Yvette Cooper condemns ‘appalling’ tweet shared by Labour MP
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said she strongly disagrees with a tweet that a backbench MP appeared to have reposted saying Kemi Badenoch represents “white supremacy in blackface”.
Ms Cooper told LBC she did not see the post that Dawn Butler appeared to have shared, saying: “I didn’t see the post, I clearly strongly disagree with that.”
Pressed on why no action had been taken against Ms Butler, she said: “As I said, I haven’t seen the post and I think those sorts of issues around party issues, those are always ones for the Whip.”
Asked whether the words in the post had a “racist sentiment”, Ms Cooper said: “The words that you have read out are clearly appalling and I would strongly disagree with them. So, I haven’t seen the post. I don’t know the circumstances around it but I think we should congratulate Kemi Badenoch on her election.
“I will continue to disagree with her on all sorts of issues, but, nevertheless, I congratulate her on her election.”
Badenoch appoints new chairs of Tory party
Kemi Badenoch has appointed Nigel Huddleston and Lord Dominic Johnson as joint chairs of the Conservative Party.
They will reportedly join the new Tory leader at party headquarters on Monday morning to meet staff.
Full appointments are set to be announced in time for the first meeting of Ms Badenoch’s shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
Badenoch’s Partygate claim labelled ‘insulting’ by Covid bereaved
People whose loved ones died during the Covid pandemic have expressed anger over Kemi Badenoch’s suggestion that the Partygate row was “overblown”.
Lobby Akinnola, a spokesman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who lost his father during the pandemic, told The Independent Ms Badenoch’s comment was “cruel and highlights just how detached politicians can be from the people they represent”.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor whose older brother Umar died of Covid while self-isolating, told TheGuardian: “Ms Badenoch needs to remember that people were dying and being stored in industrial fridges while those in government partied in breach of the rules that they created for the rest of us.
“It was a question of trust and integrity and such a failure cannot ever be overblown.”
Naomi Fulop, whose mother Christina died in January 2021 told the outlet that Badenoch’s comments were “insulting and extremely painful”.
Ms Fulop, who is a member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: “It is not possible to overblow the impact of those in government partying while my mother died alone. We then had to have a very restricted funeral, as did thousands and thousands of other people.”
She added: “Badenoch said the Tory party needs to have an honest conversation about what’s gone wrong and one of the big things that went wrong was Partygate so I’m quite mystified that she doesn’t realise the impact that’s had on families like mine and the wider public.”
Starmer to double funding for new Border Security Command
Sir Keir Starmer is set to double the funding Labour’s Border Security Command as he fixes his sights on ending small boat crossings.
The prime minister is expected to use a speech to the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow on Monday to kick off a week-long blitz on the issue that will see him travel to Hungary for talks on tackling people smuggling.
Monday’s speech will see Sir Keir pledge another £75m for his new border command, taking its total funding to £150m over two years, with the new money to be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators.
The PM will say: “The world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge. I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesn’t stop at our borders. There’s nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.”
Reforming council tax would've led to some ‘paying significantly more’, Reeves argues
Reforming council tax would have led to some people “paying significantly more”, Rachel Reeves said as she was charged with “dodging” the issue.
Asked whether her Budget had “dodged” the question of whether to reform council tax by uprating property values, the Chancellor told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “That’s a very complicated and tricky issue to address and it would result in some people paying significantly more in tax.”
Asked what happened to making “tough choices”, she added: “I think we made plenty of tough choices in the Budget this week.”
Shadow culture secretary happy to hold any position in new shadow cabinet
The shadow culture secretary has said she would be happy to hold any position in Kemi Badenoch’s new Conservative shadow cabinet.
Julia Lopez told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “My main priority is to be part of the team that rebuilds the Conservative Party.
“Kemi wants to lead a renewal of the whole movement from top to bottom, so I will serve in whichever capacity she thinks I am best suited. It’s the mission for me, rather than the position.”
Ms Lopez said she had not yet had discussions about what her new role may be.
Kemi Badenoch’s first duty must be to provide an effective opposition
The election of Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party is an intriguing moment. Not only have the members of the party finally disposed of the calumny that they would never elect a non-white candidate, but – given the options available to them – they have to some extent made up for their folly in electing Liz Truss the last time they were asked to vote.
Robert Jenrick’s rather unconvincing reinvention as a hardline anti-immigration candidate required him to adopt an unrealistic position on the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). While recognising that the European Court is an imperfect organisation, The Independent will have no truck with any politician who seeks to renounce a document drawn up by British lawyers after the trauma of world war that underpins the protection of fundamental rights across the continent.
Not only would withdrawal from the ECHR have been wrong in principle, it would not be the magic solution to the problem of irregular immigration – a point made with some courage by Ms Badenoch – and the policy would have plunged the Tory party into a prolonged civil war, because a large share, probably a majority, of its reduced contingent of MPs remain rightly committed to the ECHR.
Read more here:
Kemi Badenoch’s first duty must be to provide an effective opposition
Editorial: A Conservative Party capable of holding the government to account will strengthen our democracy
Watch: Badenoch dismisses Reeves’ position as first female chancellor as ‘low glass ceiling’
Worst of Britain’s Brexit pain is still to come, admits Treasury minister
The majority of Brexit’s impact on Britain’s economy is still yet to be felt, a minister has warned.
In a damning assessment of Britain’s departure from the European Union, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq said 60 per cent of the impact of Brexit is yet to materialise.
The Treasury economic secretary cited Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that the economy would shrink by 4 per cent in the long run due to Brexit. And Ms Siddiq said that Britain’s imports and exports would end up 15 per cent lower than they would be had the UK stayed in the EU.
Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Worst of Britain’s Brexit pain is still to come, admits Treasury minister
Exclusive: In a damning assessment of Britain’s departure from the European Union, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq said 60 per cent of the economic impact of Brexit is yet to materialise
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