Latest news with #Commons'
Scotsman
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
How Keir Starmer can escape damaging family farm tax row
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It would take a brave soul to claim that the first months of Keir Starmer's government have gone to plan. Even on the most generous assessment, ministers have been fighting on all fronts almost from day one – some conflicts inherited from the previous government, and some created by Labour themselves. No government can expect to fight every political battle at once and win. On at least one front, however, Starmer has the opportunity to make a gracious retreat – by accepting the cross-party consensus to pause changes to inheritance tax which are putting the future of family farms at risk. That is the conclusion of the report published today by the Commons' Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, which I chair. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The committee took its work extremely seriously in agreeing our findings. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the constructive approach taken by my Labour colleagues on the committee in particular. Select committee work is hard enough at the best of times, let alone when you are dropped into a contentious debate just weeks after you were first elected. For us to come to a cross-party consensus in calling for a pause on the farm tax should be a red flag to ministers in Defra and the Treasury. Farmers protest over Labour's changes to inheritance tax on the Edinburgh city bypass (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images Growing drumbeat of protest The way in which the government has acted over recent months has clearly badly affected the confidence and wellbeing of farmers. Our report's figures are stark: before the Autumn Budget, 70 per cent of farmers felt optimistic about the future of their rural businesses. That number has collapsed to just 12 per cent. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ministers have done their level best to dismiss farmers' concerns and ignore the strength of feeling in rural communities. The months of protests that saw tractors converge on Westminster and parade up and down the country should tell you how well that is going. Not every problem facing farmers was created by the current administration, but there has been a growing drumbeat of protest, culminating in the farm tax row, with farmers left feeling they cannot rely on the government to live up to its commitments, past or present. A positive story What our report makes clear is that there is a better and more constructive path forward, for both the government and farmers. There is a consensus to be found on inheritance tax that protects working family farms while tackling tax avoidance – if ministers can pause and rethink. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad After all, farmers ought to be the essential element in the government's goals to achieve food security and restore and protect the environment. There is a genuine opportunity for ministers to set out a positive vision for farming in a way that no government has managed to do for decades. It is the battle over inheritance tax that is getting in the way of that potentially positive story – and it will continue to do so for months to come if the Prime Minister does not grasp the nettle now. I hope that the government will take our recommendations seriously and pause their inheritance tax plan. There is a chance here for Starmer to rebuild trust and confidence in the farming sector – if he calls off the fight.
Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Repeat of Grenfell fire warning issued as ministers 'left marking own homework'
MPs said it is 'completely unacceptable' that survivors and bereaved families of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster 'are still awaiting justice for that terrible day' Ministers must not be 'left marking their own homework' over the Grenfell Tower tragedy, MPs have warned. The Commons' housing committee has written to Housing Secretary and Deputy PM Angela Rayner calling for an independent body to be introduced to oversee the Government's response to public inquiries. In their letter, MPs said it is 'completely unacceptable' that survivors and bereaved families of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster 'are still awaiting justice for that terrible day'. They welcomed the Government's decision to accept the recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry's final report but said there must be an independent mechanism to hold it to account for implementing them. It warned there are 'significant risks of these recommendations not being implemented effectively if independent oversight is lacking'. READ MORE: Sadiq Khan urged to block high rise building that skirts Grenfell building rule by 30cm The committee called for a national oversight mechanism to be included in the upcoming Hillsborough Bill. It demanded a new system be in place before the tenth anniversary of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire on June 14, 2027. The letter said an oversight mechanism will "reduce the risk future governments repeating the catastrophic mistakes which have historically led to state-related deaths, from Hillsborough, to the infected blood scandal, to the Grenfell Tower fire itself'. Campaigners on a range of scandals, including the Grenfell fire and infected blood victims, have previously called for a national oversight mechanism - an independent public body - to be put in place, responsible for collating, analysing and following up on recommendations from public inquiries. They have argued that, without such a body in place, governments can delay the implementation of, or even ignore entirely, recommendations from public inquiries. Elsewhere, the letter raised fire safety concerns in care homes after London's Fire Commissioner Andy Roe told the committee earlier this year that it 'keeps me awake at night'. MPs called on the Government to 'urgently review' its decision to mandate sprinklers in new care homes, but not existing ones. Florence Eshalomi, the committee's chair, said: 'How can the loved ones of the Grenfell victims be asked to trust the Government to mark their own homework when they have spent nearly eight years fighting for answers as to why people were denied the most basic level of safety?' She continued: 'The Grenfell fire highlighted the toxic stigma too often faced by those living in social housing, where resident concerns were cruelly dismissed, neglected and ignored. 'As a Committee, we are determined to shine a light on this issue and to hold the Government to account for their role in addressing the systematic failings in building safety, product standards and testing, and fire safety exposed by the tragedy at Grenfell. Never again must people be left without such basic levels of safety in their own home.' A Government spokesperson said: "The Grenfell Tower tragedy claimed 72 innocent lives in a disaster that should never have happened. We are acting on all of the Inquiry's findings, working closely with industry, local authorities and the bereaved, survivors and residents, and have committed to updating on progress regularly. "We have also committed to introducing a more robust system to improve the transparency, accessibility and scrutiny of inquiry recommendations received by government."
Daily Mail
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Now British drone troops destined to aid Ukraine's war effort face new enemy: Health and safety!
British soldiers destined to aid Ukraine 's war effort are facing a fearsome foe closer to home – health and safety rules that hamper their training for drone warfare. Troops have been told to stop flying drones that weigh more than 250g (9oz) – the weight of a cucumber – over their comrades while training on Salisbury Plain, even if they are in heavily armoured tanks at the time. They have also been prevented from using signal-jamming equipment to stop drone pilots controlling the deadly devices due to fears it might interfere with satnavs and other gadgets used by residents near the Wiltshire site. It has prompted concerns that troops at the base will be under-prepared when dispatched to the Russian border to help Volodymyr Zelensky 's soldiers defend their homeland. Labour MP Fred Thomas, who sits on the Commons' Defence Committee, said: 'British soldiers who are deploying as part of a deterrence force to places like Estonia and eastern Europe are going out without the kind of training and capability that is completely bog-standard in warfare now, whether it is in the Middle East or in Ukraine.' 'They are taking steps to try to protect themselves by going online and buying kit to then tinker around with, to see if they can jam frequencies themselves,' he told the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, soldiers complained they had to make repeated requests to the Military Aviation Authority – part of the Ministry of Defence – for permission to fly a drone over a tank during a training exercise in March. This was despite the tank not having any personnel inside at the time. Rules are in place to stop the devices from being flown near airports, buildings or above members of the public. They were cited as the reason why soldiers had been prevented from practising electronic warfare, including using signals data to jam drones. But drones have become a crucial facet of modern warfare. Both Russian and Ukrainian troops jam radio control frequencies and video links between drones and pilots to down the devices. Last month Defence Secretary John Healey announced that Britain would send hundreds of thousands of drones to the Ukrainian frontline as part of a £450million aid package. The devices being supplied include 'first-person view' or FPV drones, to attack targets, and aerial devices, which can drop explosives on Russian positions. These types of drones are reported to be responsible for 60 to 70 per cent of damage caused to Russian equipment. But there are concerns that a lack of 'real-life' training will restrict British soldiers' ability when they reach the front-line. An MoD spokesman said: 'While operating within the UK, it's right that we balance safety with the need to train, innovate and operate new drone systems. To protect operational security and non-military environments, people would also expect us to ensure that electronic warfare capabilities have some restrictions.'
The National
01-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Rachel Reeves under investigation by watchdog over theatre tickets
The Chancellor is understood to have referred herself to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, over the late declaration. The tickets from the National Theatre were accepted and received on December 27, but were not declared on the members' register of interests until March 27. According to parliamentary rules, MPs must update any changes to their financial interests within 28 days. READ MORE: Half of SNP voters back nuclear power despite party's stance, poll shows Reeves received four tickets, according to the entry on the members' registry, one for her and three for family members. They are estimated to have had a value of £276. As well as the MPs' register, ministers must separately declare any gifts or hospitality they receive on a ministers' register. The Chancellor's tickets were entered into the December register for ministerial hospitality which was published in late January, and it is thought that an admin oversight is why they were entered late on to the MP register. A spokesperson for Reeves said: 'The Chancellor's interests are fully declared and up to date.' The parliament website states that an investigation into Reeves was opened on April 29 and relates to paragraph 5 of the Commons' Code of Conduct, which lays out that financial interests must be declared within 28 days.
STV News
01-05-2025
- Politics
- STV News
Rachel Reeves under investigation by standards watchdog over theatre tickets
Rachel Reeves is under investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog after a late declaration of free theatre tickets. The Chancellor is understood to have referred herself to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, over the late declaration. The tickets from the National Theatre were accepted and received on December 27, but were not declared on the members' register of interests until March 27. According to parliamentary rules, MPs must update any changes to their financial interests within 28 days. Reeves received four tickets, according to the entry on the members' registry, one for her and three for family members. They are estimated to have had a value of £276. As well as the MPs' register, ministers must separately declare any gifts or hospitality they receive on a ministers' register. The Chancellor's tickets were entered into the December register for ministerial hospitality which was published in late January, and it is thought that an admin oversight is why they were entered late on to the MP register. A spokesperson for Reeves said: 'The Chancellor's interests are fully declared and up to date.' The parliament website states that an investigation into Ms Reeves was opened on April 29 and relates to paragraph 5 of the Commons' Code of Conduct, which lays out that financial interests must be declared within 28 days. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
