Latest news with #GrantShapps
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Chagos outrage! Extraordinary pledge that could help our enemies is buried in smallprint of £30billion surrender deal
Britain will be forced to tell Mauritius about any military attacks launched from the Chagos Islands under Sir Keir Starmer 's £30billion surrender deal, it emerged yesterday. MPs and ex-military chiefs lined up to warn that the 'grotesque' and 'dangerous' clause, buried in the treaty's small print, risked aiding Britain's enemies. The deal to hand over sovereignty of the archipelago states that 'the United Kingdom agrees to expeditiously inform Mauritius of any armed attack on a third State directly emanating from the Base on Diego Garcia '. Mauritius is an ally of China and it is feared that any sensitive information passed on could end up in the hands of Beijing or other states hostile to Britain. In recent months, Mauritius has also been deepening ties with Iran. Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard yesterday insisted the deal was 'good value' and that Washington will be paying 'many multiples more' to jointly operate the Anglo-American military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos atolls which the UK will lease back from Mauritius. But two former defence secretaries, Sir Grant Shapps and Sir Gavin Williamson, led a fresh chorus of outrage as more details of the deal became clear. Sir Grant told the Mail: 'Now we learn that we're not only paying Mauritius for continued access to our own territory, we've actually potentially signed away the right to act there without their say-so. 'In effect, we're bankrolling our own strategic retreat. It's a grotesque surrender of both sovereignty and responsibility.' Sir Gavin said: 'They've effectively given China, through the back door, a pretty amazing and unique position to have insight into what we're wanting to do – our objectives and motivations – which is very dangerous. 'The idea that we have to effectively kowtow to an irrelevant island nation in order to be able to ask permission for things that are strategically important to us I think is a very dangerous move by the government. 'The assumption will have to be that every time you do inform the Mauritians, China will also know.' Former head of the Army Lord Dannatt said: 'I think this is the most bizarre defence arrangement I have ever come across.' Last night the Government insisted the treaty does not necessarily require details to be given in advance of military operations. However, this is not written into the legal text of the treaty, nor is the level of detail that needs to be given, leaving it open to interpretation and possible challenge. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also hit out at the pact, saying Donald Trump will be 'laughing' because he's got a 'great deal at the expense of the UK'. The US is not contributing towards the deal but will continue footing the bill for operating the military base. The Chagos Islands have been a British territory since 1814 but thousands of Chagossians were deported, most to Mauritius, when a US military base was built on Diego Garcia in the 1960s. In 2019 the International Court of Justice ruled the UK's occupation of the archipelago was unlawful, prompting the Tory government to begin negotiations on a deal – but they later blocked progress amid concerns from former Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron. Labour restarted talks after the 2024 election and an agreement was struck this year. Critics say ministers should have ignored the ICJ ruling because it was advisory and non-binding. But Labour finally signed the deal this week. It must now be ratified by both houses of Parliament. Sir Keir said this week the average annual cost of the deal would be £101million. This figure over the deal's 99 years would equate to £10billion. But the prime minister claimed that the total 'net cost' over a century would be just £3.4billion, sparking accusations that he was misleading taxpayers. This is because the Government performed calculations that factor in 'the value society attaches to present as opposed to future consumption' and an estimated rate of inflation over time. The Tories said the 'surrender tax', assuming inflation of 2 per cent, actually amounted to £30billion. The Ministry of Defence was contacted for comment.
The Independent
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Grant Shapps says he's barred from sharing theories on Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin ‘in cahoots'
Grant Shapps says he is barred from sharing his theories on why Donald Trump is "in cahoots" with Vladimir Putin. The former defence minister told Times Radio he's "got some theories" as to why Trump "seems to support the tyrant", but he's held up by a 30-year closure rule. "I have some theories as to why, but I may have to wait for the 30-year rule to talk about them," Mr Shapps said. The rule refers to the release of public records after a thirty-year closure period. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 reduced the closure to 20 years.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NHS ‘discriminates' against white job applicants in shortlists
NHS trusts 'discriminate' against white job applicants by manipulating interview shortlists in favour of black and ethnic minority candidates, The Telegraph can reveal. NHS England documents encourage the use of the Rooney Rule – an American football policy that makes it mandatory for ethnic minorities to be shortlisted for interviews if they apply. Other so-called inclusive recruitment practices range from making managers justify hiring white British nationals to using race as a 'tie-breaker'. An NHS hospital in Liverpool admitted it had previously used 'positive discrimination' to shortlist applicants from minority backgrounds. The disclosure is the latest in a growing row over 'racist' hiring policies being pursued by public sector services following a decision by West Yorkshire Police to temporarily block applications from white Britons. It is likely to cast a spotlight on organisations that attempt to give minorities priority during the interview process, particularly by focusing on how candidates are shortlisted. A Tory source described the NHS as seeking to 'discriminate against applicants based on their race'. Grant Shapps, the former Tory Cabinet minister, said the 'tick-box' exercise was 'entrenching racial quotas'. He said: 'This kind of tick-box policy is patronising, divisive, and fundamentally wrong. Jobs should be awarded on merit, not skin colour. 'We should be building a colour-blind society, not entrenching racial quotas under the banner of 'diversity'.' Practices to promote diverse shortlists stem from the 2010 Equality Act, which made it legal to take 'positive action' to support the recruitment of ethnic minorities. The act, drawn up by Harriet Harman, the then Labour minister, has been seized upon by HR professionals who want to diversify their workforces. Positive discrimination – where a minority candidate is explicitly favoured over a white candidate who is better qualified – is illegal in the UK. Supporters of the Rooney Rule and similar measures argue they do not amount to discrimination because the interview process is the same for everyone on the shortlist. Neil O'Brien, a Tory MP and former health minister, said public services had been infected by 'race-based hiring policies' that mean 'people are chosen based on the colour of their skin'. He said: 'The people who put these policies in place lump together every non-white group as if they are all the same, and will favour someone from a privileged background better than someone who has overcome all kinds of obstacles, as long as they have the right skin colour.' Earlier this year, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, attacked 'misguided' diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) agendas, including one that boasted of an 'anti-whiteness stance', telling the NHS to get 'back to basics' amid its 7.4 million backlog and lowest public satisfaction scores on record. Despite this, the NHS continues to prioritise EDI initiatives. Publicly available guidance from NHS England's East of England region called 'improving the selection process' tells employers to 'consider using a version of the Rooney Rule or increase the numbers of under-represented groups who are shortlisted'. A separate document called No More Tick Boxes gives examples of initiatives NHS Trusts are using to enforce diverse interview panels and says 'at least one trust applies a version of the [Rooney] rule'. In another example, it cites a hospital that will 'only interview if there is at least one BME [black and minority ethnic] candidate and one woman candidate shortlisted'. Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust introduced 'positive discrimination at the shortlisting stage' as part of measures to increase diversity up until 2023. It is understood this was to guarantee that people from 'the global majority' – a way of describing the non-white ethnic groups that account for most of the world's population – would be interviewed if they met job criteria. NHS Employers encourages hospitals to use race as a 'tie-breaker' if two candidates are equally qualified for the job. A section of the Equality Act dubbed 'equal merit' allows for under-represented groups to be given priority if they are as qualified as a white person. This measure has been adopted by NHS organisations, including East Lancashire Hospitals Trust and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board, according to public documents. A Conservative Party source said this was racial discrimination and described it as 'social engineering'. They said: 'No employer, least of all one funded by taxpayers, should discriminate against applicants based on their race. 'People should be judged on the content of their character, not the colour of their skin. 'It's high time we do away with divisive DEI hiring policies that do nothing to improve outcomes for patients. It is utterly wrong, this social engineering has to stop.' In another NHS England guidance called A Model Employer, health service leaders encourage recruiters to always involve at least one minority person in interviews. It says that hiring managers are 'accountable for institutionalising diverse shortlisting and interview panels' and that there 'would seldom be acceptable exceptions for not having a BME member'. It also says that managers who opt to hire white Britons should be required to explain themselves. The guidance says: 'Justification should be sent to the organisation's chair setting out, clearly, the process followed and the reasons for not appointing the BME candidate.' Some trusts have taken this even further, with managers having been told to justify hiring white candidates to the chief executive. The London Ambulance Service and Royal Free Hospital in north London are among those to have adopted policies requiring interview panels to explain why a shortlisted ethnic minority candidate is not appointed to a role. Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed 30 NHS trusts in the North West had signed up to an anti-racism awards scheme, requiring boards to have a minimum number of directors from ethnic minorities. Steve Barclay, the former Tory health secretary, described these racial quotas as 'crude' and 'arbitrary ideological targets', which can 'distort behaviours in organisations'. A national scheme called the Workforce Race Equality Standard is used to measure NHS organisations' progress on increasing diversity against nine targets. One of the key metrics NHS trusts are asked to improve is the 'relative likelihood of white applicants being appointed from shortlisting compared to BME applicants', with 76 per cent of trusts more likely to hire a white applicant after interviews than an ethnic minority. The NHS has a target of ensuring its leadership is representative of the overall BME workforce by 2028. Schemes to help reach that goal, include those run by University Hospitals Bristol and the Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which has a 'a positive action programme to support increasing representation of global majority colleagues at bands 6 and above'. Other 'positive action' measures frequently used by NHS trusts include appealing for applicants from ethnic minority groups on job adverts, targeting vacancies and apprentice roles at specific communities, and more vaguely 'embedding anti-racism' and 'de-biasing recruitment practices'. The practice of giving guaranteed interviews to ethnic minorities has spread beyond the public sector to major companies. Welsh Water interviews every candidate who meets a job's essential requirements if they 'identify as part of an under-represented group' because of the company's commitment to 'the improvement of equality and diversity'. ITN interviews one ethnic minority candidate for all of its roles, and Reed in Partnership, a recruitment company, offers guaranteed interviews to minority applicants for management positions and at least one female candidate for all roles. Riverside Group Ltd, a private housing association, gives adequately qualified ethnic minorities guaranteed interviews for vacancies with salaries of £35,000 and above. DWF Group, a multinational law firm, runs a scheme giving work experience and mentoring to ethnic minorities who are considering applying for a training contract. An NHS spokesman said: 'All NHS organisations should have recruitment policies that are fair for everyone.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS ‘discriminates' against white job applicants in shortlists
NHS trusts 'discriminate' against white job applicants by manipulating interview shortlists in favour of black and ethnic minority candidates, The Telegraph can reveal. NHS England documents encourage the use of the Rooney Rule – an American football policy that makes it mandatory for ethnic minorities to be shortlisted for interviews if they apply. Other so-called inclusive recruitment practices range from making managers justify hiring white British nationals to using race as a 'tie-breaker'. An NHS hospital in Liverpool admitted it had previously used 'positive discrimination' to shortlist applicants from minority backgrounds. The disclosure is the latest in a growing row over 'racist' hiring policies being pursued by public sector services following a decision by West Yorkshire Police to temporarily block applications from white Britons. It is likely to cast a spotlight on organisations that attempt to give minorities priority during the interview process, particularly by focusing on how candidates are shortlisted. A Tory source described the NHS as seeking to 'discriminate against applicants based on their race'. Grant Shapps, the former Tory Cabinet minister, said the 'tick-box' exercise was 'entrenching racial quotas'. He said: 'This kind of tick-box policy is patronising, divisive, and fundamentally wrong. Jobs should be awarded on merit, not skin colour. 'We should be building a colour-blind society, not entrenching racial quotas under the banner of 'diversity'.' Practices to promote diverse shortlists stem from the 2010 Equality Act, which made it legal to take 'positive action' to support the recruitment of ethnic minorities. The act, drawn up by Baroness Harman, the then Labour minister, has been seized upon by HR professionals who want to diversify their workforces. Positive discrimination – where a minority candidate is explicitly favoured over a white candidate who is better qualified – is illegal in the UK. Supporters of the Rooney Rule and similar measures argue they do not amount to discrimination because the interview process is the same for everyone on the shortlist. Neil O'Brien, a Tory MP and former health minister, said public services had been infected by 'race-based hiring policies' that mean 'people are chosen based on the colour of their skin'. He said: 'The people who put these policies in place lump together every non-white group as if they are all the same, and will favour someone from a privileged background better than someone who has overcome all kinds of obstacles, as long as they have the right skin colour.' 'Misguided' equality agendas Earlier this year, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, attacked 'misguided' diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) agendas, including one that boasted of an 'anti-whiteness stance', telling the NHS to get 'back to basics' amid its 7.4 million backlog and lowest public satisfaction scores on record. Despite this, the NHS continues to prioritise EDI initiatives. Publicly available guidance from NHS England's East of England region called 'improving the selection process' tells employers to 'consider using a version of the Rooney Rule or increase the numbers of under-represented groups who are shortlisted'. A separate document called No More Tick Boxes gives examples of initiatives NHS Trusts are using to enforce diverse interview panels and says 'at least one trust applies a version of the [Rooney] rule'. In another example, it cites a hospital that will 'only interview if there is at least one BME [black and minority ethnic] candidate and one woman candidate shortlisted'. Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust introduced 'positive discrimination at the shortlisting stage' as part of measures to increase diversity up until 2023. It is understood this was to guarantee that people from 'the global majority' – a way of describing the non-white ethnic groups that account for most of the world's population – would be interviewed if they met job criteria. Race as 'tie-breaker' NHS Employers encourages hospitals to use race as a 'tie-breaker' if two candidates are equally qualified for the job. A section of the Equality Act dubbed 'equal merit' allows for under-represented groups to be given priority if they are as qualified as a white person. This measure has been adopted by NHS organisations, including East Lancashire Hospitals Trust and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board, according to public documents. A Conservative Party source said this was racial discrimination and described it as 'social engineering'. They said: 'No employer, least of all one funded by taxpayers, should discriminate against applicants based on their race. 'People should be judged on the content of their character, not the colour of their skin. 'It's high time we do away with divisive DEI hiring policies that do nothing to improve outcomes for patients. It is utterly wrong, this social engineering has to stop.' 'Institutionalising diverse shortlisting' In another NHS England guidance called A Model Employer, health service leaders encourage recruiters to always involve at least one minority person in interviews. It says that hiring managers are 'accountable for institutionalising diverse shortlisting and interview panels' and that there 'would seldom be acceptable exceptions for not having a BME member'. It also says that managers who opt to hire white Britons should be required to explain themselves. The guidance says: 'Justification should be sent to the organisation's chair setting out, clearly, the process followed and the reasons for not appointing the BME candidate.' Some trusts have taken this even further, with managers having been told to justify hiring white candidates to the chief executive. The London Ambulance Service and Royal Free Hospital in north London are among those to have adopted policies requiring interview panels to explain why a shortlisted ethnic minority candidate is not appointed to a role. Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed 30 NHS trusts in the North West had signed up to an anti-racism awards scheme, requiring boards to have a minimum number of directors from ethnic minorities. Steve Barclay, the former Tory health secretary, described these racial quotas as 'crude' and 'arbitrary ideological targets', which can 'distort behaviours in organisations'. Representative leadership by 2028 A national scheme called the Workforce Race Equality Standard is used to measure NHS organisations' progress on increasing diversity against nine targets. One of the key metrics NHS trusts are asked to improve is the 'relative likelihood of white applicants being appointed from shortlisting compared to BME applicants', with 76 per cent of trusts more likely to hire a white applicant after interviews than an ethnic minority. The NHS has a target of ensuring its leadership is representative of the overall BME workforce by 2028. Schemes to help reach that goal, include those run by University Hospitals Bristol and the Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which has a 'a positive action programme to support increasing representation of global majority colleagues at bands 6 and above'. Other 'positive action' measures frequently used by NHS trusts include appealing for applicants from ethnic minority groups on job adverts, targeting vacancies and apprentice roles at specific communities, and more vaguely 'embedding anti-racism' and 'de-biasing recruitment practices'. The practice of giving guaranteed interviews to ethnic minorities has spread beyond the public sector to major companies. Welsh Water interviews every candidate who meets a job's essential requirements if they 'identify as part of an under-represented group' because of the company's commitment to 'the improvement of equality and diversity'. ITN interviews one ethnic minority candidate for all of its roles, and Reed in Partnership, a recruitment company, offers guaranteed interviews to minority applicants for management positions and at least one female candidate for all roles. Riverside Group Ltd, a private housing association, gives adequately qualified ethnic minorities guaranteed interviews for vacancies with salaries of £35,000 and above. DWF Group, a multinational law firm, runs a scheme giving work experience and mentoring to ethnic minorities who are considering applying for a training contract. An NHS spokesman said: 'All NHS organisations should have recruitment policies that are fair for everyone.'
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ministers draw up plans to shut Hammersmith Bridge for cars
Plans to ban cars from crossing Hammersmith Bridge when it reopens are being drawn up by minsters in a move likely to infuriate thousands of drivers in Britain. A government-led taskforce examining what to do about the 138-year-old bridge, which has been closed for six years for repairs, is focusing on making it a bridge for cycling and walking only, according to the minutes of a closed-door meeting held in January. Officials are examining three options but just one would allow cars. That would involve building a new road above the route for pedestrians and cyclists in a temporary 'double-decker' crossing. However, the minutes show officials are concerned about the 'considerable cost' of this option. Two other vehicle-friendly solutions that would have involved installing replacement bridges have already been rejected. The other two remaining options would involve reopening the bridge for cyclists, pedestrians and single-decker buses only. Officials involved in the meeting praised these options as being good for the environment and cheaper, according to the minutes. Details of the meeting were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and seen by The Telegraph. The document suggests that the bridge, which is among the world's oldest suspension bridges, is unlikely to allow cars when it reopens. Any moves to bar drivers would reverse a long-held government pledge to ensure motorists would be able to use Hammersmith Bridge following the repairs. In 2022 Grant Shapps, then transport secretary, vowed to 'reopen the bridge to motorists'. Baroness Vere, then roads minister, promised the landmark would be 'reopened to motorists as soon as possible and returned to its former glory'. Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, told the Standard in January last year that he 'want[ed] the bridge reopened for vehicles'. Nigel Edwards, the chairman of the Hammersmith Bridge SOS campaign group, said: 'It is extraordinary that in this day and age, we should have a Government that seems to think it's appropriate not to have any viable options for transport for this bridge, for the entire population.'There's an eight-mile stretch of west London that does not have any priority roads across the river. Hammersmith Bridge, Putney Bridge, Wandsworth Bridge – none of them are priority bridges.' Hammersmith Bridge has been closed for long-running works to fix cracks, causing a huge headache for hundreds and thousands of drivers in the area. Findings from Basemap, a transport data provider, suggest travel times have increased to as much as an hour by bus from Barnes to Hammersmith station when it would otherwise take 10 minutes. Tens of thousands of car journeys have also gotten longer. The taskforce meeting was chaired by Simon Lightwood, the minister for local transport, and attended by local councillors representing each side of the bridge as well as MPs and officials from Transport for London (TfL) and City Hall. It was the first meeting of the group in four years. The cost of repairs has spiralled to an estimated £250m and various levels of government have been in dispute over how to pay for the work. Under a 2021 funding agreement, the bill for repairs would be split between the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, the Department for Transport (DfT) and TfL. However, the borough, which owns the bridge, has already said it cannot afford to pay its share unless it introduces a toll or road user charge, a measure that the DfT and TfL do not appear to support. The upcoming Whitehall Spending Review, which sets departmental budgets for three years, will likely determine how any future works on the bridge would be funded. A DfT spokesman said: 'While the Government faces a difficult situation with Hammersmith Bridge, where decisions about its future have been ducked for many years, we recognise the frustration its closure causes motorists. 'The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce met on January 30 to consider the potential next steps for the long-term future of the bridge. A range of possible engineering solutions were discussed, and further updates will be made available in due course.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
