Britain's ambitious plan to rearm looks underfunded
IF THERE IS one thing that Britain's political parties agree on, it is that British defences are broken. The armed forces were 'hollowed-out…overstretched and under-equipped', acknowledged Ben Wallace, then defence secretary, in 2023. John Healey, his Labour successor, speaking last year, agreed: 'What we've not been ready to do is to fight.'
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Powys County Times
32 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Politicians making final push for votes ahead of Holyrood by-election
Scotland's political leaders will hit the campaign trail for the final time today ahead of a Holyrood by-election. With voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse going to the polls on Thursday June 5, parties are making their final push for votes – with both First Minister John Swinney and the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar expected in the constituency on Wednesday. 🗳️ Less than 2 days before polls open in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse! Fab to speak to so many folk who are excited to vote for @KatyLoudonSNP this Thursday 💛 #ActiveSNP #TeamSNP #VoteSNP — Sarah Masson (@_sarahmasson) June 3, 2025 It comes in the wake of a campaign which has been, for the most part, dominated by the rise in support for Reform UK – and a row over one of the party's online adverts. The ad alleged that Mr Sarwar would 'prioritise' the Pakistani community – but it was quickly branded racist by Labour, who together with rivals in the SNP demanded it should be taken down. Great to have @Nigel_Farage in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse today. Vote Reform. Get Reform. ✅ — Reform UK Scotland (@ReformUKScot) June 2, 2025 SNP leader and Scottish First Minister John Swinney meanwhile urged voters in the constituency to back his party in a bid to 'stop Nigel Farage'. His plea comes after an opinion poll in Scotland last month indicated Reform could come second in next year's Holyrood elections, ahead of both Labour and the Tories. On the doorstep, it is clear the SNP is completely failing communities in Scotland. Only Scottish Labour can beat the SNP in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. 🗳️Vote @DavyRussell4HLS on Thursday! — Elaine Stewart MP (@ElaineStewartMP) June 3, 2025 Speaking ahead of the by-election, which is taking place after the death of Scottish Government minister Christina McKelvie, Mr Swinney said that the campaign 'has made it crystal clear that the SNP is the only party listening to people and taking action on what matters to them'. The First Minister claimed: 'The Labour Party has lost its way and Keir Starmer's abject failure to deliver on his promises has led to the concerning rise of Nigel Farage across the UK – something that will worry many across Scotland. Just two days to go until the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election on Thursday 5th June 🗳️ It was great to be out yesterday in Larkhall to support @ScotTories candidate Richard Nelson. — Alex Burnett MSP (@AJABurnett) June 3, 2025 'Farage does not care about Scotland, and he also poses a threat to many of the things that we hold dear – our NHS, our parliament, and transformative policies like free tuition.' Mr Swinney insisted: 'This by-election is an opportunity to reject the politics of Farage and make sure Scotland's interests are front and centre, and only a vote for the SNP will do that.' However, Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie insisted: 'The Reform circus is nothing but a convenient distraction for the SNP – this by-election is a direct fight between Scottish Labour and the SNP.' A lot of people are frustrated that they have been let down by the SNP, Conservatives and Labour but it's the Liberal Democrats who are offering real change, not Reform. Last year's general election shows that we are winning again. If you want change, come with us. — Scottish Lib Dems (@scotlibdems) June 2, 2025 She said that Thursday's poll gives voters 'the chance to put this incompetent SNP government on notice and chart a new direction for the whole of Scotland'. Ms Baillie stated: 'The SNP's woeful record is plain to see here – chaos in local NHS services, high streets in decline, and a generation of young people let down. 'The SNP government has failed this community and Katy Loudon has made it clear she will toe the party line no matter what – but Davy Russell will be a tireless champion for the community he calls home.'
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Ministers who bin WhatsApps face £5,000 fine after Nicola Sturgeon deletion scandal
EXCLUSIVE: A Labour MSP is behind plans to introduce a criminal sanction for the deliberate deletion of WhatsApp messages on government business. Ministers who delete their WhatsApp messages about government business will face criminal sanctions under a secrecy crackdown. Politicians could be fined up to £5000 after the scandal of Nicola Sturgeon wiping her messages during the pandemic. Families who lost loved ones during covid were furious after thousands of Whatsapp messages between key Scottish Government figures were destroyed. It meant a mass of information - including from Sturgeon's then deputy John Swinney - had been lost, fuelling claims of betrayal. Katy Clark, a Labour MSP for West of Scotland, has introduced a new Bill to promote transparency in public life. A key element of the plan is ensuring the covid deletion scandal never happens again. Under the proposals, it would become a criminal offence to deliberately or recklessly wipe WhatsApp messages about government business. The penalties would apply to Ministers and public officials subject to freedom of information laws. Clark said: 'It's completely unacceptable for politicians and officials to wipe WhatsApps, texts, and other messages about the work of government and public bodies. 'Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney still have very serious questions to answer about the disappearance of all of their WhatsApp messages about the SNP's handling of the Covid pandemic 'Their explanations about the unavailability of these messages is simply not good enough given the lives lost and the catastrophic decision to admit infected patients into care homes at the height of the Covid outbreak.' She added: 'Nicola Sturgeon, in particular, has offered up remarkably similar excuses to Boris Johnson when failing to provide WhatsApp messages from her phone to the Covid public inquiry. 'My Freedom of Information Reform Scotland bill will tackle this head-on. This new legislation will make it a criminal offence to deliberately or recklessly erase anything in advance that could be requested under freedom of information laws.' ' Nicola Sturgeon 's and John Swinney's disappearing WhatsApp messages speak volumes about their party's contempt for the public's right to know about what were quite literally life and death decisions made by the government. Making leaders and ministers who attempt to defeat freedom of information legislation by wiping WhatsApps criminally responsible is long overdue.' Clark also wants to extend FOI to other public bodies as she believes the right-to-know law needs to be overhauled. Giving evidence to the UK Covid Inquiry last year, Sturgeon said her use of the app was "extremely limited" and did not relate to "substantive" government business. She said: "There would be nothing in those communications that was not available to either the inquiry or the public, through the record of the Scottish government, or indeed in the very detailed public statements that were being made every day.' Swinney told the same Inquiry that since entering government in 2007 he had "deleted material after I have made sure any relevant information was placed on the official record of the government'. Messages retrieved by the UK Covid Inquiry revealed that Ken Thomson, who was a top civil servant during covid, was central to the deletion scandal. He told colleagues in a WhatsApp group called ' Covid Outbreak' in 2020: 'Just to remind you (seriously) this is discoverable under FOI. Know where the 'clear chat' button is.' He added: 'Plausible deniability are my middle names. Now clear it again!' A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "Scotland has the most open and far-reaching Freedom of Information legislation in the UK. As this Member's Bill has now been introduced, it will be scrutinised by Parliament and we will consider its detail.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Chancellor to announce £15bn for transport projects
Billions of pounds of investment in transport infrastructure in England are set to be announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West move comes before the government's spending review next week, which will determine how much money each Whitehall department gets over the next three to four has been under pressure from Labour MPs to spend money following criticism of relentless economic gloom, particularly around disability and benefit cuts, as the chancellor tries to stick to her fiscal rules in difficult circumstances. Trams form the backbone of the investment plans, with Greater Manchester getting £2.5bn to extend its network to Stockport and add stops in Bury, Manchester and Oldham, and the West Midlands getting £2.4bn to extend services from Birmingham city centre to the new sports will also be £2.1bn to start building the West Yorkshire Mass Transit programme by 2028, and build new bus stations in Bradford and more metro mayors will receive transport investments:£1.5bn for South Yorkshire to renew the tram network as well as bus services across Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham by 2027£1.6bn for Liverpool city region with faster connections to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Everton stadium and Anfield, and a new bus fleet in St Helens and the Wirral next year£1.8bn for the North East to extend the Newcastle to Sunderland tram via Washington£800m for West of England to improve rail infrastructure, provide more frequent trains between the Brabazon industrial estate in Bristol and the city centre, and develop mass transit between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset£1bn for Tees Valley including a £60m platform extension programme for Middlesbrough station£2bn for the East Midlands to improve road, rail and bus connections between Derby and transport investment marks Reeves' first open move away from the stringent rules in the Treasury's Green Book, which is used by officials to calculate the value for money of major book has been criticised for favouring London and the south-east. Labour MP Jeevun Sandher, a member of Westminster's Treasury Committee, complained of its "hardwired London bias" in a speech in Manchester later today, the chancellor is expected to say that sticking to book's rules has meant "growth created in too few places, felt by too few people and wide gaps between regions, and between our cities and towns".Changing the rules will also mean more money for areas of the North and Midlands, including the so-called "Red Wall", where Labour MPs face an electoral challenge from Reform is not the first chancellor to review the rules; Rishi Sunak also reviewed the book as part of the Conservatives' Levelling up agenda. Sunak had also announced some of these same projects, including the development of a mass transit network in West Yorkshire, in his Network North plan, intended to compensate for the decision to scrap the HS2 line north of reviewed these projects when they came to power in July, arguing they had not been fully £15.6bn regional transport announcements are part of a five-year funding allocation from 2027/28 to 2031/32, which a Treasury spokesman confirmed would double the current £1.14bn spending allocation for 2024-25 to £2.9bn by Secretary Heidi Alexander said the announcement "marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the North and Midlands - opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life".However, Liberal Democrat treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper warned the chancellor must now deliver, because "these communities have heard these same promises before, only to be left with phantom transport networks"."We must not see people led up the garden path once again," she said."Extra investment in public transport must also focus on cutting fares for hard-pressed families being clobbered by a cost of living crisis." Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
