A curious incident this morning as energy minister Martin McClusky and Bill Esterson, chairman of the DESNZ committee in parliament, both pull out of their speaking engagements at the Energy Landscape UK 2026 conference in the City. They cited urgent parliamentary business to attend…
Labour has been shifting its position on Net Zero of late, abandoning talk of Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 missions amid a higher focus on bills. Does that mean ministers will now literally run away from speaking engagements…
Both the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Border Security Minister Anna Turley have in the last 24 hours refused to back Andy Burnham’s quiet campaign to resurrect EU freedom of movement. A wide open split at the top of government; collective responsibility is optional these days…
Last night Mahmood told Sam Coates:
“What I am keen on is abiding by our manifesto… I have views which are a matter of public record… you can go and read and have trawl through what I think.”
She even said she didn’t want to “indulge” questions about it. Does this include at the Cabinet table?
This morning Anna Turley said similarly:
“My priority is sorting out the system we’ve got… We’ve been very clear in manifesto we won’t be having free movement in this country.”
Yet the rejoiners in Labour really want to fight these battles all over again…
The Tories have gained in the latest YouGov political intention polling. Reform also picks up, but by half as much…
Some Tory Shadow Cabinet ministers predict Burnham will be too squeamish to call an election unless Labour is about ten points ahead of both the Conservatives and Reform. Not there right now…
Foreign visa holders are far tougher on illegal migrants than the Brits who answered the Home Office’s earned settlement consultation. And the charities…
Data tables published alongside today’s consultation response show 77% of current visa holders back a settlement penalty for people who arrive illegally, versus only 45% of British respondents.
Half of visa holders picked the toughest option they could – a 20-year wait – against 29% of Brits. Only 7% of visa holders say illegal arrivals should face no penalty at all. Among British respondents it is 48%…
Mahmood has gone for an extra 10 years. The Home Office points out that “a clear majority of respondents” backed longer waits for illegal arrivals…
It is the same story on benefits. 55% of British respondents want no penalty for migrants who claim public funds, against 21% of visa holders. The British respondents happen to look nothing like the country either. 62% work in professional or managerial jobs and 27% live in London. Even the Home Office concedes the results “should not be treated as representative of the general public”. A cross-section of Islington dinner parties and the charity sector…
66% of the 560 third sector groups (charities) that responded say illegal arrivals should face no penalty, with just 20% backing any penalty at all. Among private firms, 70% back one…
Campaign groups spent the run-up to the deadline coaching people on how to respond. One guide from migrant charity Praxis told fans: “We reject the concept of ‘earned settlement’ entirely and urge the Government to change course.” The enemy within…
Hilariously 41% of charities that use volunteers said counting volunteering towards settlement would harm their organisation. Responses mentioned the extra paperwork, volunteers who would vanish once they had their papers, and forged references with the charity’s name on them. The Home Office duly dropped its proposal to count volunteering. For avoidance of doubt this sector knows full well about people gaming the rules…
Care workers: U-turn by Mahmood. They can still apply for settlement after 5 years if they earn at least £25,000, rather than facing the 15-year wait proposed in the consultation.
3 years: top-rate taxpayers on more than £125,141, plus Global Talent and Innovator Founder visa holders.
5 years: higher-rate taxpayers on more than £50,271, public sector professionals such as doctors, nurses and teachers, and refugees who came on safe and legal routes.
10 years: the new default for everyone else, including refugees who go into work or study. They must prove a steady record of contribution.
20 years: anyone who claims certain benefits or breaks visa rules.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked John Healey: “Just finally, I mean Andy Burnham has been very clear he wants Britain back in the European Union in his lifetime. Do you?”
The Chancellor replied: “I’m older than Andy Burnham. I don’t expect to see that.”