View from Westminster
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Monday, February 19, 2024 |
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Kemi Badenoch takes her fight to the Commons |
Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, took her war against Henry Staunton, the chair of the Post Office whom she sacked, to the Commons with a statement from the despatch box. She said she would publish the civil service note of her phone conversation with him, which would show that his account of his sacking was untrue. But she could not be categorical in rejecting his claim, in an interview on Sunday, that he had been told by a "fairly senior person" early on in his role to "stall on spend on compensation" for subpostmasters wrongly accused of fraud. "There is no evidence that this is true." She didn't say it, she told MPs, and she didn't think any of her officials would have done either. "It is quite likely that this is something that he is making up." Welcome back. The Commons has returned from a week's recess, and first business was the swearing-in of two new Labour MPs, the by-election winners. |
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When did conscription end in the UK after the Second World War: 1954, 1956, 1958 or 1960? |
Answer at the bottom of today's email |
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| The shadow health secretary said the party's position in Rochdale was 'appalling' | |
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| The regulator is assessing complaints that show broke impartiality rules |
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| 'It is a change,' says education secretary, accused of reheating existing policy |
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What else you need to know today |
- Keir Starmer held his new line on Gaza, calling for a "permanent" rather than a "sustainable" ceasefire, while Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, appeared to shift Labour's position by saying that Israel has gone "beyond reasonable self-defence"
- The House of Lords is expected to sit all night tonight debating amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. You can watch here
- I wrote at the weekend about what Rishi Sunak should do with his last nine months in power – he should do the right thing rather than try to buy votes or to scrabble too hard to secure a legacy
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Why has the Post Office scandal not been sorted out yet? |
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Just as the outcry at the mistreatement of subpostmasters was dying down, the story has flared back to life, as Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, accuses the former chair of the Post Office of lying ... Read more |
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| Tomorrow inside the Westminster bubble |
Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for |
Keir Starmer and his shadow cabinet will probably discuss how to respond to a Commons motion tabled by the SNP calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which will be debated on Wednesday. Rishi Sunak will speak at the National Farmers Union conference in Birmingham, which is why the cabinet met this afternoon rather than the usual Tuesday morning.
The Commons will sit at 11.30am for questions on justice, followed by debate on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.
Johnny Mercer, the minister for veterans' affairs, will appear at the independent inquiry into operations by British special forces in Afghanistan at 10am. Expect some blasts from the past on the committee corridor. Alex Salmond, Scotland's former first minister, will be quizzed by the Scottish Affairs Committee at 10am. Former business secretaries Peter Mandelson, Vince Cable and Greg Clark will speak about industrial policy at the business committee at 11 am. |
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"Starmer does not tend to narrate his motives." |
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