Front pages here
Brexit
Express
The Government is in the “final stages” of engagement with the DUP over its concerns as further changes of the Windsor Framework come into effect on Sunday, including the green/red lane system for the movement of goods, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.
Chris Heaton-Harris added there is “still more work to do” and called for the restoration of Northern Ireland’s institutions.
The DUP has been blocking powersharing for more than a year in protest at the internal UK trade barriers created by Brexit‘s Northern Ireland Protocol.
The party says the deal struck by the EU and the UK to reform the protocol – the Windsor Framework – does not sufficiently address its concerns and has made clear it will not accept a return to devolution until the Government provides further assurances, by way of legislation, over Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.
Talks between the DUP and the Government have been ongoing over the summer.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday that the agreement of the framework removed the major stumbling block to the return of the Stormont Assembly.
However, DUP MP Sammy Wilson said on Friday that the changes will “confirm” a border in the Irish Sea, adding that his party would not return to the powersharing institutions at Stormont as it would be legally required to implement the framework.
BBC News
The implementation of the Windsor Framework has reached a major milestone on Sunday as the green lane/red lane system starts operating, but how will it work?
Let’s start by explaining what the Windsor Framework is.
It is the post-Brexit trade deal for Northern Ireland, amending the original deal known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol and the framework have the same basis: they keep Northern Ireland inside the EU’s single market for goods.
This means that goods can flow unimpeded between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Conservative conference
Sun
SENIOR Tories will mutiny at the party’s conference tomorrow by staging an “unprecedented intervention” to call for tax cuts.
The PM wants to use his first conference as party leader to turn his fortunes around with hard-hitting policy announcements on smoking and education.
But an influential bloc of rising star MPs are threatening to overshadow him by unveiling five demands in a 90-minute ambush.
Other warring tribes are set to chip in, further stealing the limelight from the PM.
Heading the charge will be the New Conservatives who want taxes cut, starting with those of typical white van men and women.
Telegraph
Rishi Sunak is preparing to use new legal powers to ignore injunctions from Strasbourg judges if the Supreme Court gives the go-ahead to the Rwanda policy in November, The Telegraph understands.
Allies expect the Prime Minister to ignore further attempts by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to ground deportation flights with emergency orders if the Government wins the case.
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, is also understood to be pushing for any future injunctions blocking flights to be disregarded.
Last June, the first flight to remove illegal migrants to Rwanda was blocked at the 11th hour by a rule 39 interim injunction issued by one unnamed ECHR judge.
As a result, the Government was forced to delay any flights until the legality of the Rwanda scheme had been determined in the UK courts. The Supreme Court is due to begin a three-day hearing on Oct 9, with a ruling expected in November.
While ministers are confident of winning the case, they are likely to face further appeals to Strasbourg, which could result in fresh rule 39 orders being issued.
However, Mr Sunak is understood to be prepared to use a power enshrined in the new Illegal Migration Act to ignore such orders.
BBC News
Rishi Sunak has arrived in Manchester for what could be his last party conference before the next election.
Ahead of the four-day event, he announced £1.1bn of cash for towns the government says have been “overlooked”.
However, the prime minister faces pressure from across his party over issues including tax cuts and HS2.
And on the eve of the conference, a prominent supporter, the boss of Iceland supermarkets, announced he was quitting the party.
In a parting shot, Richard Walker accused the party of having “lost its way”.
Mr Walker had been hoping to become a Conservative MP and was on the party’s list of approved parliamentary candidates, but announcing his resignation on Saturday, he labelled the Tories “out of touch”.
Express
Liz Truss appears to be exacting revenge for her humiliation at last year’s Tory party conference by leading a rebellion against Rishi Sunak over tax as he prepares for the Tory gathering this year in Manchester.
Ms Truss’s 49 day premiership began to unravel this time last year when Mr Sunak’s allies led by Michael Gove rebelled against her plans to cut benefits and the 45p top rate of income tax.
Now, Ms Truss and 31 other MPs including some big names and allies of Boris Johnson have got together to sign a pledge that they will not vote for anymore tax rises.
Among those who have signed the pledge are former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel, former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former cabinet minister Sir Brandon Lewis, former chairman and founder of the powerful Northern Research Group Sir Jake Berry, and former Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The line up is he most formidable coalition against the Prime Minister yet since he took control after a coup was orchestrated against Ms Truss.
The move is a huge blow for the Prime Minister’s authority with the party already teatering on all out civil war.
The pledge reads: “I (insert MPs Name) pledge to the taxpayers of (constituency)and to the British People, that I will not vote for or support any new taxes that increase the overall tax burden. My pledge will protect the working people, families and businesses of our United Kingdom.”
The full list of MPs signing the pledge are: Sir Jake Berry, Sir Brandon Lewis, Rt Hon Liz Truss, Sir Jacob Rees Mogg, Dame Priti Patel, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Sir James Dudderidge, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Sir John Redwood, Danny Kruger, Greg Smith, Bill Wiggin, John Stevenson, Damien Moore, Ben Bradley, David Jones, Karl McCartney, Col Bob Stewart, Lucy Allan, Craig Whittaker, Robert Courts, Craig Mackinley, Alun Cairns, Stephen McPartland, Henry Smith, Kevin Foster, Paul Bristow, Chris Green, Adam Holloway, Nick Fletcher, Jonathan Gullis and Marcus Fysh.
Levelling up
Express
A group of Conservative MPs representing the North of England has set out a manifesto calling for a dedicated Cabinet minister for the region and 500,000 homes to be built.
The Northern Research Group (NRG) also wants to see a commitment to devolving some of Westminster’s tax responsibilities to the North and the prioritisation of a rail line linking Liverpool in the west to Hull in the east.
It comes as ministers have recently refused to commit to building the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester, via Crewe, over cost concerns associated with the high-speed rail project.
HS2
Express
Former Prime Ministers have urged Rishi Sunak not to pull the plug on the HS2 high-speed rail link – but exclusive polling shows only a third of people want it built in full.
The cost of the multi-billion pound plan has skyrocketed, but ex-premier Boris Johnson warned ministers are “out of our minds” if they are considering axing the Birmingham to Manchester leg.
He said: “We simply cannot afford to abandon this vision now – to panic, and throw up our hands, and say it is all too difficult.”
Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, also warned against scaling back HS2, saying “we need more railway capacity to serve the North West”.
She also opposed halting the line at Old Oak Common in North West London, instead of Euston.
Independent
Theresa May has joined the Conservative heavyweight pile-on against Rishi Sunak over HS2 as she becomes the third former Tory prime minister to call for the project not to be axed.
Asked on Saturday if she would cut HS2, the former Tory leader responded with a categoric “no” over fears that abandoning the line into Euston will disrupt trains from her constituency, Maidenhead. She also warned that scaling back the project would leave the northwest without the railway capacity it desperately needs.
Her intervention came following The Independent’s revelation that he is secretly planning to cut the high-speed rail project – prompting a barrage of criticism from Tory grandees, businesses and regional mayors.
Sun
THE MANCHESTER leg of HS2 will be scrapped within weeks – as Theresa May became the latest former PM to hit out at the plan.
Rishi Sunak has been weighing up whether to scale back the project to save many billions of pounds, or just delay it.
But senior government sources said the PM will go bold and chop the branch shortly after their party conference, which kicks off in Manchester today.
An insider said: “What is the title of our conference? Long term decisions.
“Delaying is not a long term decision.”
Billions saved will go into crowd pleasing projects on roads, local trains and buses.
Local authorities
Mail
Michael Gove has vowed to ban councils from adopting a four-day week and has threatened budget cuts for slacking services, as he brands Keir Starmer as ‘spineless’ and ‘condescending’.
Ahead of the start of the Conservatives annual conference in Manchester tomorrow, Mr Gove said he is looking to change the law to prevent ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘slacking’ at local authorities.
He added that working from home during the pandemic was important but it shouldn’t mean a lifestyle shift.
‘People who pay council tax work five days a week or longer. They deserve 100 per cent of the service, not 80 per cent. The idea that everyone should be slacking in this way at the expense of hard-working taxpayers is completely wrong,’ he said.
According to Gove, councils such as Lib-Dem-run South Cambridgeshire and Labour-run Norwich could face budget cuts if they decide to adopt a four-day week.
During the interview with The Sun, Mr Gove also insisted Mr Sunak could defy experts and lead the Tories to a victory in the next election and said if Tony Blair was a steak, Starmer is ‘quorn mush’.
Sun
MICHAEL Gove today reveals how he aims to outlaw slacker councils from bringing in the four-day week — as he blasts town hall staff who skive on the job.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, the top Cabinet minister disclosed that he is looking into a law change to prevent such “quiet quitting” at local authorities.
He insists councils adopting a four-day week, such as Lib Dem-run South Cambs — and Labour-run Norwich, which wants to — could face funding cuts if they flout the ban.
On the eve of the Conservative Party conference, Mr Gove fumed: “People who pay council tax work five days a week or longer.
NHS
Mail
NHS consultants last week descended on a luxurious hotel in Portugal for a conference – just days after widespread strikes brought the health service to a standstill.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that senior doctors checked in to a state-of-the-art Club Med resort in the sunny Algarve which boasts three swimming pools, a spa – and a flying trapeze school.
The extravagant trip took place in between two mass walkouts by NHS consultants – 20,741 of whom voted in favour of striking – and junior doctors. The last strike led to 130,000 cancelled operations and appointments, bringing the total number up to more than a million this year.
Despite the unprecedented NHS backlog, senior medics found time to jet off to the private resort in Da Balaia for the four-day conference where they enjoyed ‘wellbeing’ yoga classes and beach walks.
‘After your conference session, why not t-off [sic] at the neighbouring golf courses or relax in the adults-only eco pool or experience the mini-golf course or flying trapeze, to name just a few of the on-site activities available,’ organisers for the event said online.
Education
Mail
Sir Keir Starmer has rebuffed an attempt by private schools to hold peace talks over his plan to add 20 per cent VAT to school fees, as fears grow over the future of the sector under a Labour Government.
Independent schools have written to the Labour leader to request a meeting to discuss a compromise to the party’s ‘cliff edge’ intention to hike fees by one fifth as soon as possible after any Election victory, such as phasing in the measure gradually and exempting pupils already in the system from the increase.
However, Sir Keir has failed to respond to the overture – and Labour insiders say that they are in no mood to compromise.
Mail
Labour’s planned private school tax raid may see state-educated pupils losing access to vital sports grounds and arts spaces.
Three quarters of fee-paying schools open their state-of-the art facilities to the wider community. This is because public schools can register as charities in return for acts that benefit communities.
But there are fears Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer‘s proposal to add 20 per cent VAT to school fees could lead some schools to close and others to decide it no longer makes financial sense to operate as a charity.
Guardian
The Department for Education (DfE) is keeping files monitoring the social media activity of some of the country’s leading educational experts, the Observer can reveal.
At least nine experts have uncovered files held on them, some as long as 60 pages. One individual even discovered the department had compiled an Excel spreadsheet in which officials had detailed who she interacted with.
Officials at the DfE also tried to cancel a conference because two of the scheduled speakers had previously criticised government policy.
Ukraine
Telegraph
Britain will ramp up its training programme for Ukrainian soldiers under plans being discussed with military chiefs, the new Defence Secretary has disclosed.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Grant Shapps said that he had held talks with Army leaders about moving “more training and production” of military equipment into Ukraine. He also called on more British defence firms to set up factories in Ukraine.
Following a trip to Kyiv last week, Mr Shapps also reveals that he has talked to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, about how Britain’s Navy could play a role in defending commercial vessels from Russian attacks in the Black Sea.
Mail
Britain is set to boost its support for Ukrainian forces with robust training programmes in line with new plans discussed with military officials, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has revealed.
Mr Shapps told the Telegraph he has held talks about the possibility of moving more British-led ‘training and production’ operations into Ukraine instead of relying on bases within the UK and those in other NATO countries.
He has also called for more British defence firms to set up factories in Ukraine after he took an official trip to the country’s capital, Kyiv, last week, and revealed he has discussed ways in which the British Navy could help to defend Ukrainian commercial vessels in the Black Sea with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Metro
More British military training of Ukrainian soldiers could move into the war-torn country under new plans revealed by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
Mr Shapps said he has spoken with Army chiefs about moving ‘more training’ into Ukraine and called on British defence firms to set up production in the country.
Talking to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Shapps – who took over the defence portfolio from Ben Wallace at the end of August – said he has also spoken to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky about the Royal Navy helping to defend commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
Anaesthetic gas
Mail
The NHS will ban an anaesthetic gas by early next year in an attempt to meet net zero targets – despite a top scientist claiming the move is ‘not supported by climate science’.
Some anaesthetists believe the planned ban will unnecessarily restrict what can be given to patients undergoing surgery.
According to NHS England desflurane has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide. The health service has said the ban will help to reduce ‘harmful emissions’ and there are ‘safe and clinically effective alternatives’ already in use.
Telegraph
The NHS is banning an anaesthetic gas to meet net zero targets in a move that a leading climate expert has warned lacks any scientific basis.
The health service has said it is “decommissioning” desflurane by early next year in order to help reduce “harmful emissions”.
But in a keynote speech to a major conference of anaesthetists, Prof Dame Julia Slingo, the Met Office’s former chief scientist, said: “NHS directives to ban desflurane are not supported by climate science and should be reversed. The use of desflurane should be based on what is best for the patient.”
The comments by Prof Dame Julia, an expert on climate science who led a team of more than 500 scientists at the Met Office, were welcomed by a series of anaesthetists working in the NHS who are concerned that the drug will only be available in “exceptional clinical circumstances”.
Plastic
ITVX
Bans and restrictions on supplying single-use plastics have come into force in England.
From Sunday, all businesses – including retailers, takeaways, food vendors and hospitality firms – can no longer sell certain plastic items.
The ban will apply to single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks and polystyrene cups and food containers.
Meanwhile, the use of single-use plastic plates, trays and bowls will be restricted.
The new regulations, announced by the Government in January, come as part of efforts to cut down on plastic pollution.
The Government estimates that people across England use 2.7 billion items of mostly plastic single-use cutlery and 721 million single-use plates every year but only 10% are recycled.
BBC News
A ban on some single-use plastic products will come into force across England on Sunday.
Shops and hospitality businesses will no longer be able to supply plastic cutlery, balloon sticks and polystyrene cups under the new rules.~
The government says the move will “tackle the scourge of litter and protect the environment from plastic pollution”.
But councils have warned that some firms are not ready for the change.
Around 1.1 billion single-use plates and more than four billion pieces of plastic cutlery are used in England every year, government figures suggest.
The vast majority of these products cannot be recycled and can take hundreds of years to biodegrade in landfill sites.
Please let there be a sharpening of the knives at the gathering of the Tory deplorables. Please let them start tearing at each others throats and stabbing each other in the back. Please let them fester and rot in a sea of slime of their own making.
HS2:
Time for some value engineering of the project itself and the cancellation of all government vanity projects to help fund it. I’m sure there are many other instances of government squandering that could also be cancelled to help fund it as well as leaving the ECHR and dealing with illegal immigration. Time too to stop calling those illegal immigrants “asylum seekers” which they are not having passed through at least one safe country on their way here.
Sunak our hapless prime minister, wants to promote hard hitting policies in the party manifesto…….including, er….smoking and education. What a chump this man is, smoking indeed. How about getting a backbone and some political conviction and doing something positive about the English Channel migrant crisis which goes from bad to worse on a daily basis with no apparent end in sight, and leave the ECHR which would enable this country to send these migrants from whence they came….France. How about doing something about Northern Ireland’s situation with separate customs rules, and treat the province the same as the rest of the country. And how about taking the bull by the horns and tell the European Union that we are going to take full control of our Territorial Waters and Fishing rights, and how about forcing the Police to investigate every crime and arrest all suspects and putting them before the courts where there is sufficient evidence, and whilst he is at it, abolish the Crown Prosecution Service into the bargain. And how about stop giving all our weaponry away to the Ukraine and dismiss Schapps back to the backbenches. But he won’t do any of this because he is weak, afraid, and scared of his own shadow…….
Grant Schapps represents everything that is wrong with modern conservatism. He is a clueless and hapless fool of the highest order, and has a loose cannon of a mouth with seemingly very little understanding of his remit. How any prime minister with his finger on the pulse can appoint this politically naive individual into a cabinet post is beyond me. The day Schapps loses his seat can’t come quick enough for me so that someone with a bit of common sense can be appointed as a replacement candidate.
Stout- Agreed. Apart from the bicycles – nothing. And to set up ANY firms in soon to be Russian controlled territory – in the immortal words of Adge Cutler, ‘you made I larf’.
Northern Ireland – you should have read the ballot sheet when voting to leave Britain. Apart from yes/no page one, pages two to one hundred and forty three of ”the Deal” listed how we would surrender Northern Ireland and still be under the rule of the unelected punters in Brussels.
Unelected, fond of lyin’ will have Britain heavily fined for something or other if we rattle our chains.
Oh God. It’s party conference time. A depressing couple of weeks ahead. It’s going to be hard to avoid hearing about them. Apparently, the Lib Dems have already had their conference. Did anyone notice?
“Grant Shapps …. called on more British defence firms to set up factories in Ukraine.” WTF?!?