Boris Johnson news: Priti Patel department facing ‘tropical storms’ amid calls for new bullying investigation, and claims Windrush report watered down

Brexit briefing: How long until the end of the transition period?

Home secretary Priti Patel is facing fresh accusations of bullying, as former ministers and civil servants allege “aggressive” and “vile” conduct when she was in charge of the Department for International Development (Dfid).

The union representing civil servants called for a new process for raising complaints and investigating ministers’ behaviour, while the Home Office’s permanent secretary Sir David Normington said the department was facing “tropical storms”.

It comes as MPs warned Boris Johnson’s government not to water down a report into the Windrush scandal after it was reported a section branding the Home Office “institutionally racist” was stripped out.

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Key Points

• Patel hit by allegations of ‘vile’ and ‘aggressive’ behaviour
• Windrush draft report was ‘watered down’, officials claim
• Tory peer tells critics of ‘genius’ Cummings to ‘shut up’
• Sadiq Khan not voting for Rebecca Long-Bailey
• Civil service union demands process to ‘raise complaints’ about ministers

[21 February 2020 10:46 · Adam Forrest]

Windrush report must not be ‘watered down’, says Yvette Cooper

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, has spoken out on the Windrush review after it was reported that a section branding the Home Office “institutionally racist” was stripped out from a draft report.

“The Wendy Williams review was supposed to be independent,” she said. “It’s one thing for the Home Office to check facts. But it would be completely unacceptable for the Home Office to try to water down the review's conclusions and judgments about what went wrong.”

The Home Office did not deny the report had been toned down. “This is an independent review being led by Wendy Williams,” a spokesman said.

“She has not yet submitted the final report to the Home Office. Once we have received it, we will publish it as soon as practicable. Ministers have not seen any version of the report.”

Labour MP Yvette Cooper (PA)

[21 February 2020 11:02 · Adam Forrest]

Is Blair too toxic to shape the Labour’s future?

Tony Blair had plenty of advice to offer the Labour leadership candidates on Thursday – warning them not to get into a “culture war” on trans rights, urging a “progressive coalition” with the Lib Dems and asking them to focus on winning power rather than coming up with ways to “trend on Twitter”.

But if the former Labour prime minister simply too “toxic” among members to have any influence?

Our associate editor Sean O’Grady suspects so. “Andrew Adonis said recently that the Labour Party would not prosper again until it learned to love Tony Blair, echoing an earlier quip by Blair about Peter Mandelson,” he writes. “If so then recovery is still a distant prospect.”

Read more here:

[21 February 2020 11:17 · Adam Forrest]

Scotland could become one West’s most divide countries, says Gordon Brown

The former Labour PM has claimed that Scotland is at risk of becoming “one of the West’s most divided countries”.

Brown made the claim after a YouGov poll suggested that only 16 per cent believe the country is united. Commissioned by the Our Scottish Future think tank, the poll also found that 47 per cent of respondents believe Scots will always be divided on the issues of Brexit and independence.

Ahead of a speech in Newcastle today, Brown said: “The poll shows Scotland is at risk of becoming one of the West’s most divided countries and stuck in a rut.

“I want us to break out of the trench warfare from which everyone loses out  ... The poll shows that Scotland is not just more divided than at any time in my lifetime but these divisions could dominate our lives for many decades to come.”

“Scotland looks more like two nations, not the united country I’d like it to be,” he said.

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown (PA)

[21 February 2020 11:37 · Adam Forrest]

McDonnell: I was right to see ‘parallel’ between Assange and Dreyfus

John McDonnell has defended his controversial comments comparing Julian Assange’s extradition case to the Dreyfus affair – referring to the 1895 conviction at a court martial of French officer Alfred Dreyfus on treason charges many felt were brought against him because he was Jewish.

Jewish community groups branded the shadow chancellor’s comparison of Julian wrongful conviction of Dreyfus – he was later exonerated – as “deeply offensive”.

The Labour MP responded to criticism by tweeting: “It was quite clear what I meant.

“Just like the Dreyfus case, the legal action against Julian Assange is a major political trial in which the establishment is out to victimise an innocent. On that basis, of course it’s right to assert than it’s a parallel.”

[21 February 2020 11:59 · Adam Forrest]

Labour and Lib Dems should co-operate, says Layla Moran

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran – expected to compete with Sir Ed Davey to become the party’s next leader – has backed an alliance with Labour after former PM Tony Blair called for a “progressive coalition”.

In Moran’s latest piece for The Independent, she states: “Where cooperation around shared, progressive and internationalist agendas can help make a difference, we should support it.”

She warned people in the Labour Party to “focus on their real enemy”, complaining about “thuggish behaviour by Labour activists directed at Lib Dem councillors and activists”.

Moran said: “I hope those in the Labour Party will encourage reform and steer their comrades towards cooperation, just as the Greens and others have done. Because the priority for anyone in opposition to the Conservatives should be to get back to winning again. Our country’s future depends on it.”

More here:

[21 February 2020 12:14 · Adam Forrest]

BBC criticised for promoting ‘unhinged’ Question Time rant

There’s been plenty of reaction to Question Time’s latest viral moment – an angry woman ranting about immigration and the urgent need to “completely close the borders”.

Many are upset the BBC decided to promote a clip of the woman’s extended diatribe and its various inaccurate claims.

More on the row here:

[21 February 2020 12:33 · Lizzy Buchan]

Lisa Nandy reveals 'surprise' at level of misogyny in Labour leadership contest

Lisa Nandy has said she has been “surprised” at the “level of misogyny” she and Rebecca Long-Bailey have faced during the Labour leadership contest.

She told LabourList: “We’ve been asked a lot more about things like trans rights versus safe spaces for women, and decriminalisation of prostitution, than Keir [Starmer]... And it’s been quite noticeable.”

The Wigan MP said: “When I first put my put my name forward to stand, particularly in the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party], I had a lot of men saying to me, ‘you haven’t got the level of parliamentary experience that you might need, and when you’ve been in parliament for longer and you’ve served on the frontbench, perhaps then would be the time to think about putting your name forward’.

“They then went on to nominate a man who had less than half the amount of parliamentary experience, and less frontbench experience as well. I think that has to be called out for what it is. Because it’s misogyny.”

Jane Barlow/PA Wire/PA Images

[21 February 2020 12:48 · Lizzy Buchan]

Sale of coal and most polluting wood burned at home will be phased out to combat air pollution

The sale of the most polluting fuels burned in household stoves and open fires will be phased out from next year to clean up the air, the government has said.

Plans to phase out the sale of house coal and wet wood have been confirmed, as part of efforts to tackle tiny particle pollutants known as PM2.5, which can penetrate deep into lungs and the blood and cause serious health problems.

Wood burning stoves and coal fires are the single largest source of PM2.5, contributing three times as much of the pollution as road transport, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

[21 February 2020 13:04 · Lizzy Buchan]

Splits emerge among senior SNP figures

A row appears to be brewing among senior SNP figures over the direction of the party - as Boris Johnson continues to block their demands for a second independence referendum.

Angus MacNeil, a former chair of the Commons trade committee, publicly took his colleague Pete Wishart to task over whether there should be an advisory plebiscite. MacNeil is open in his support for such a move - but Wishart thinks anything less than a legally binding referendum will damage their cause.

Elsewhere, justice secretary Humza Yousaf posted a furious tweet about a BBC article questioning Nicola Sturgeon's position as SNP leader. He described it as 'an absolute load of baloney' and attacked a couple of MPs 'stirring the pot'.

It is particularly notable because the SNP is usually outwardly unified and rarely appears caught up in the sort of infighting that plagues both Labour and the Tories.

[21 February 2020 13:20 · Lizzy Buchan]

How Brexit talks turned into a learning experience for the UK

Europe correspondent Jon Stone reviews Britain’s confused dealings with the EU since the referendum in 2016.