Boris Johnson news: Keir Starmer says PM's economic recovery plan 'not enough' as May attacks government over civil service shake-up
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said Boris Johnson's economic recovery plan for coronavirus is "not enough" to prevent a crisis after the prime minister warned on Tuesday that "many jobs are not coming back" after the pandemic.
The prime minister announced a £5bn infrastructure spending boost on Monday night for hospital maintenance, high street rescues and road upgrades but critics warned the plans failed to address the need for action on climate change or the extent of the economic crisis brought on by Covid-19.
It came as former prime minister Theresa May sharply criticised the government over the decision to appoint David Frost, the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, as a national security adviser, despite the diplomat having "no proven expertise in national security".
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May's outrage - the response
The severity of Theresa May's response to the government's new national security adviser has caught attention of reporters and MPs alike.
The former PMs stern rebuke probably the most severe criticism Ms May has aimed at the government since her return to the back benches.
UK economy suffered largest fall since 1979 in first quarter
The UK economy shrank more than initially thought between January and March as output fell at its fastest pace since 1979.
Revised figures from the Office for National Statistics show that gross domestic product (GDP) slumped by 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous three months – more than the 2 per cent that had initially been estimated.
While the economy was relatively flat in January and February, new data showed it plunged 6.9 per cent in March compared with the previous month.
More below:
Lammy calls out government over his review on BAME people and criminal justice
David Lammy has asked the government about the implementation of his review into the treatment of BAME people in the criminal justice system.
"In this country we have two major political parties with different visions of our past and our future, but on some matters of political importance it is vital for us to work across the parliamentary divide to achieve lasting change.
"It was in this spirit in good faith that David Cameron asked me to complete an independent review into the disproportionality in the criminal justice system and it was with the same good faith and the hope of forging political consensus that I completed it.
"I was disappointed to hear the prime minister break this consensus last week when he said that 16 of recommendations made in the Lammy review had been - and I quote - implemented, when in fact the majority of them had not.
"Inadvertently he misled the house and it's a shame he's not answering this question himself."
He added: "Language matters, and as the Black Lives Matter movement makes its voice heard about systemic justice here and abroad, the very least this government could do is be honest about its actions".
Government reaffirms commitment to greenbelt
The government has made clear it has no plans to ease restrictions for building on the greenbelt as part of plans announced by Boris Johnson to reduce red tape around construction.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We've not changed our greenbelt policy. What we've announced today will reduce the pressure to build on greenfields by making it easier to build new homes from the regeneration of vacant and redundant buildings on brownfield land."
The spokesman also said Boris Johnson's comments on slashing "newt-counting" red tape related to reducing delays to getting building projects going.
Opinion: ‘Boris Johnson's new deal sounds depressingly like the old deal’
Our economics editor, Ben Chu, has given his take on Boris Johnson's promise to “build, build, build” his way out of the UK’s economic crisis.
Ben writes:
“This ‘new deal’ from the prime minister feels uncannily like the old deal, both when it comes to the substance and the cynically overblown political presentation.
“Five billion pounds might sound like a significant amount of money but the reality is that it represents less than a twentieth of what the government was already due to spend on infrastructure in the current financial year.
“If this is how the government intends to fund its 'infrastructure revolution' then the gates of the Bastille of chronic UK under-investment are unlikely to be troubled.”
You can find his full piece below:
More from shadow justice secretary David Lammy's scathing criticism of the government over its inaction on the Lammy Review, which was published in 2017, can be found below:
No 10 unable to say if Johnson’s 24-hour testing turnaround pledge has been met
Downing Street has been unable to say if Boris Johnson's pledge to get all coronavirus tests completed within 24 hours by the end of June has been met.
The prime minister's official spokesperson said they could not provide data to show whether the government had so far failed or succeeded on the deadline day of Tuesday.
Mr Johnson pledged to meet the target except for “insuperable problems” in response to questioning from former health secretary Jeremy Hunt on 3 June.
“We said that was something that we wanted to achieve by the end of the month and we're talking to the Department of Health and Social Care about how we can make that data available,” the spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“We've been working to turn around those test results as quickly as possible but I don't have those figures for you.”
‘It’s not enough’: Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed Davey react to Johnson’s economic plan
The leaders of the two main opposition parties in the UK have criticised Boris Johnson for not going far enough with his economic recovery plan for Covid-19.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said the prime minister had promised a new deal but “there is not much that's new, and, it's not much of a deal.”
“We are facing an economic crisis, the biggest we have seen in a generation, and the recovery needs to match that,” Sir Keir said.
“What's been announced amounts to less than £100 per person, and it's the re-announcement of many manifesto pledges and commitments.
“So, it's not enough.”
Meanwhile, acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the speech amounted to “a lot of Boris bluster”.
“The prime minister says he will 'build build build' but all his government is building is a wrecking ball for our economy as he recklessly pursues Brexit at all costs,” he said.
“Johnson promised a green recovery from the pandemic, but as usual his promises are meaningless.
“We're seeing yet more mass investment in road building rather than in new infrastructure for cycling, and the construction of new homes without also tackling our existing draughty houses.”
Johnson’s economic plan will not lead to any new investment in Wales, minister says
Boris Johnson’s so-called spending spree will not lead to a “single penny” of new investment for Wales, the country’s health minister has said.
Vaughan Gething said the prime minister’s “New Deal” was nothing more than recycling money found by “looking down the back of departmental sofas”.
“It's a classic challenge of unpicking the rhetoric from the reality,” Mr Gething told the Welsh government’s daily press briefing.
“I know he's been presenting it as a 'New Deal', [but] it's not so much new deal as no deal.
“If you look at what's actually happening from his announcement today, we don't understand there was a single penny of new investment for Wales.”
He added: “There is no new money being put into England, let alone new money into Wales.
“We would welcome additional capital spending that is genuinely additional, but that is not what today's speech by the prime minister represents.”
Raab warns Israel’s annexation plans are ‘counter-productive to peace’
The foreign secretary has insisted any further attempts by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank will be “counter-productive to peace” in the region.
Dominic Raab’s comments came after Labour accused the UK government of a “deafening” silence over the issue.
“We make clear on all sides the United Kingdom's consistent position that we want to see a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders,” Mr Raab said, adding that he had spoken to Palestinian and Israeli leaders on the issue.
“We acutely feel the vacuum without talks is very dangerous. We want to see talks proceed, that's why we're working with partners in the region.
“And let me be absolutely crystal clear to the House: we've made clear that any annexation - partial or full - in relation to further territory in the occupied territories and the West Bank would be both contrary to international law but also counter-productive to peace.”
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