Grooming gangs report author Baroness Casey ‘disappointed' in Tories for ‘politicising' scandal
Baroness Casey, the author of a report into grooming gangs, has said that she was 'disappointed' that the Conservatives have 'politicised' the findings of her audit.
Speaking on Newsnight on Monday (16 June), Casey said she wished MPs would put aside their differences and focus on law changes and implementing the newly announced national enquiry.
'It almost doesn't matter right now, does it, what political party people are part of. We've identified there's a problem, it's been a problem there for a long time, and it's about time we drew a line in the sand,' she said.
After Sir Keir Starmer announced on Saturday (14 June) that the Government will launch a national enquiry into the campaign, after previously dismissing calls for one, Kemi Badenoch immediately called on him to apologise for 'six wasted months'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer dismisses concerns on Trump's health after document gaffe
Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed concerns about Donald Trump's health after the US president dropped pages of the UK-US trade deal when holding it up for the cameras. Mr Trump's slip happened as he held the bundle of documents when standing alongside the Prime Minister after their talks at the G7 summit in Canada. Mr Trump also told reporters he was pleased to have signed a deal with the 'European Union', rather than the UK. Earlier this month, he had tripped when climbing the stairs of Air Force One. Sir Keir reached down to pick up the pages of the trade deal, which dropped to the floor. The Tories mocked an image capturing him crouched at the feet of the president. Joe Biden, Mr Trump's predecessor as US president, often had slips and gaffes leapt upon by Right-wing critics when he was in the White House. Mr Biden dropped his attempt to seek re-election after concerns soared after a stumbling debate performance against Mr Trump last summer. Mr Trump, 79, is just three years younger than 82-year-old Mr Biden. Asked whether he had concerns about the US president's health, Sir Keir told reporters at the G7 summit. 'No. I mean, look, there weren't many choices with the documents and picking it up, because as you probably know there were quite strict rules about who can get close to the president. 'I mean, seriously, I think if any of you had stepped forward other than me.. I was just deeply conscious that in a situation like [that] it would not have been good for anybody else to have stepped forwards – not that any of you rushed to! There's a very tightly guarded security zone around the President, as you would expect.' The comments referenced the pack of reporters, photographers and cameramen who were standing nearby and covering the remarks from Sir Keir and Mr Trump. 'He's slightly more liberal than I am' The Prime Minister and the US president appear to have struck up a warm, constructive personal relationship despite their differing political and personal backgrounds. Mr Trump joked after their meeting in Canada: 'We're very long-time partners and allies and friends, and we've become friends in a short period of time. He's slightly more liberal than I am. 'The Prime Minister has done a great job. I want to just tell that to the people of the United Kingdom. He's done a very, very good job.' The Prime Minister was asked by reporters to explain why Mr Trump likes him so much, given that other world leaders have had strained relationships with the US president. Sir Keir said: 'That's really for him to answer rather than me, but we do have a good relationship. I think that is in the national interest, frankly. There's long been a close relationship between the US and the UK. 'As I've said many times, on defence and security and intelligence sharing in particular, we are closer than any two countries, and I'm very pleased that I've got a good relationship with him – notwithstanding, as both he and I acknowledge, that our political backgrounds are different. 'But it just goes to prove that it is possible to work in a constructive way if you keep your focus on the national interest.'
Sky News
8 minutes ago
- Sky News
Bosses of Octopus Energy and SSE clash over 'postcode pricing' proposals
The head of Britain's biggest energy supplier has claimed his competitors oppose proposals for so-called postcode pricing because they financially benefit from the current system. Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson told Sky News his business's rivals were against customers being charged based on where they lived, rather than on a national basis, because they would lose out on profits. He said: "A very small number of companies that today get paid tens of millions, sometimes in a single day, to turn off wind farms and generate gas elsewhere, don't like it. "The reason you're seeing that kind of behaviour from the rivals is they are benefiting from the current system that's generating incredible profitability." The government is currently considering whether to introduce the policy, which is also known as zonal pricing. Energy secretary Ed Miliband is expected to make a decision on the proposals by this summer. Octopus has become Britain's biggest supplier with more than seven million customers. Mr Jackson has been a vocal proponent, as he said he wants to charge customers less and boost government electrification policies by having cheaper electricity costs. What is postcode pricing? Zonal pricing would mean electricity bills are based on what region you live in. Some parts of Britain, like northern Scotland, are home to huge energy producers in the form of offshore wind farms. But rather than feeding electricity to local homes and businesses, power goes into a nationwide auction and is bought to go across Britain. As the energy grid is still wired for the old coal-producing sites rather than the modern renewable generators, it's not straightforward to get electricity from where it's increasingly produced to the places people live and work. That leads to traffic jams on the grid, blocking paid-for electricity moving to where it's needed and a system where producers can be paid a second time, to power down, and other suppliers, often gas plants, are paid to meet the shortfall. Zonal pricing is designed to prevent paying the generators for power that can't be used. It would mean those in Scotland have lower wholesale energy costs while those in the south, where there is less renewable energy production, would have higher wholesale costs. Whether bills go up or down depends on implementation. Savings from one region could be spread across Britain, lowering bills across the board. Mr Miliband has said he's not going to decide to raise prices. However, SSE's chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies described the policy as a "distraction" and said it could affect already agreed-upon upgrades of the national grid that will lower costs. "I think you've got a very, very small number of people who are asking for this. It's just a distraction. We should remove it now," he said. While Octopus Energy estimates that said postcode pricing could be introduced in two to four years, Mr Phillips-Davies said it could take until 2032 before it was implemented, by which time Britain would have "built much of the networks that are required to get the energy from these places down into the homes and businesses that actually need it". "We just need to stay true to the course," he added. Unions, as well as industry and energy representatives, have also spoken out against the policy. Opponents include eco-tycoon Dale Vince and trade body UK Steel. A joint letter signed by SSE, UK Steel, Ceramics UK and British Glass, along with the unions GMB, Unite and Unison, said zonal pricing could lead to scaled-back investment due to uncertainty and higher bills. A separate letter signed by 55 investors, including Centrica and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, has also criticised the policy. 1:21 However, Mr Jackson said many investors had not voiced opposition, with thousands of small and medium businesses instead backing the policy in the hope of paying less on energy bills.
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Tighter immigration rules could hit UK net zero mission, report warns
Tough rules announced in the government's immigration white paper could jeopardise the UK's net zero mission by causing labour shortages, a report has warned. Labour's white paper released last month included plans to raise the minimum qualification for skilled worker visas from A-level equivalent to degree and to maintain the higher salary threshold of £38,700 introduced by the outgoing Conservative government last year. A report by the Centre for European Reform (CER), calculates that more than half of the foreign-born workers doing 'green jobs' in the UK – 260,000 out of 465,000 – would not have been allowed in under the new rules. Ministers are relying on employers to raise wages and provide more training in order to attract domestic workers into these roles, but John Springford, an associate fellow at the CER, said that could push up the costs to consumers of going green. 'If labour shortages raise the cost of decarbonising buildings, fewer people will insulate their homes or buy heat pumps,' he said. Using Office for National Statistics data, the CER defined a green job as one in which more than a third of the worker's time is spent on green tasks. Many of these are in the construction sector, given the need to retrofit homes with low-carbon technologies, for example. The report also suggests construction jobs more generally may be difficult to fill under the new visa regime, casting doubt on the government's target to build 1.5m homes by the end of the parliament. 'Construction is labour-intensive and has a lot of employee turnover, because the work is physical and seasonal. Given that the government's aim is to expand housebuilding and decarbonise buildings concurrently, the sector is most at risk of labour shortages as a result of the government's immigration proposals,' the report says. Labour has announced that the existing 'immigration salary list', which allows people doing specific types of job to be brought in on lower pay, will be replaced with a similar 'temporary shortage list'. To avoid this becoming a long-term measure, the relevant industry will be expected to set out plans to train and recruit more UK workers. The CER said that using a shortage list as a safety valve could be problematic because the higher salary threshold elsewhere means migrants in the sectors with shortages are unlikely to be able to shift into other jobs, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by the employer who sponsors their visa. This problem arose in social care where holders of health and care visas were subject to exploitation by bad employers, with little chance of moving to another post. 'The government should keep an eye on labour shortages in occupations that are crucial for its net zero and housebuilding missions, and relax visa rules if needed,' Springford said. 'But offering exemptions to the rules for specific occupations is risky.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Other options mooted in the report include offering 'green visas' for jobs that contribute to achieving the government's target of hitting net zero by 2050, or reducing salary and skills thresholds right across the economy. Keir Starmer announced the immigration crackdown last month, claiming it marked the end of 'a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy and our country' in which the post-Brexit Conservative government had overseen soaring migration. Net migration hit a record level above 900,000 in the year to June 2023 before dropping sharply after a series of changes made by Rishi Sunak's government, including tightening the rules for visa applicants to bring in dependents. In the 2024 calendar year net migration was 431,000. Starmer said net migration would fall 'significantly' as a result of the changes he has announced. As well as potentially causing labour shortages in key sectors, economists have said lower net migration could prompt the independent Office for Budget Responsibility to downgrade its growth forecasts. The government has been approached for comment.
