Newslinks for Monday 30th May 2022

Johnson 1) The Prime Minister ‘plans bonfire of EU laws’ to try and appease rebellious Tory backbenchers after Partygate…

“Dozens of EU laws are set to be repealed this year as Boris Johnson seeks to win back the support of Conservative MPs who worry that the Government is drifting in the wake of “Partygate”. The Prime Minister is battling to turn around his flagging poll ratings and persuade Leave voters that he is making the most out of the opportunities presented by Brexit. This week Mr Johnson will formally announce plans to allow all goods to be sold in imperial measures instead of metric, in a move derided by critics as “nostalgia”. But Cabinet ministers are drawing up a raft of further-reaching changes to convince the public that leaving the EU will allow Britain to overhaul its regulatory regime and out-compete European countries. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities, is leading the efforts alongside the Remain-voting innovation minister George Freeman.” – The I

• Chaos undermines time for celebration – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
• Patients still waiting months to book GP appointments – Editorial, Daily Express
• It’s time to stop firms gambling with lives – Editorial, The Daily Mail
• Brexit is the Tories’ golden ticket out of scandal and impotence – Robert Tombs, The Daily Telegraph
• Number 10’s reputation is the latest casualty of Johnson’s premiership – Gavin Barwell, The Financial Times

>Today:

• ToryDiary: Cabinet League Table: Johnson is back in negative ratings

Johnson 2)…as Zahawi and he consider lifting the ban on new grammar schools…

“Ministers are considering whether to overturn the ban on new grammar schools, despite opposition from civil servants, The Telegraph understands…There are growing calls from Red Wall MPs to bring back grammars, which they argue are crucial to the levelling up agenda, and point out that half of the UK’s 163 grammars are in London and the South East, while the North East has none…However, officials at the Department for Education (DfE) insist there are no current plans to lift the current restrictions… “There are some in government who are open to exploring this,” a Whitehall source told The Telegraph. “Nadhim Zahawi [the Education Secretary] has quite a lot in his constituency and sees that they are very good. But civil servants at the Department for Education are very down on it.” – The Daily Telegraph

• Covid catch-up tutoring ‘revolution’ fails after fraction of pupils take part in government scheme – The Sun

>Today:

• Jeremy Yallop in Comment: Home Education has been a basic freedom for most of English history. Why is this government placing it under threat?

Johnson 3)…and as Lewis says Tory rebels should ditch their plans to oust Johnson ‘for the good of the nation’

“Tory rebels were last night ordered to abandon their attempts to oust Boris Johnson for the sake of the country. Cabinet ministers rallying around the Prime Minister warned plotters that a challenge to his leadership would fail. Under Conservative Party rules, Mr Johnson will face a confidence vote among Tory MPs if 54 write to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, demanding one be held. The PM’s critics would then need more than half of the party’s MPs to back removing him. Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said yesterday he does not believe the rebels have the numbers to call a confidence vote. He told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘I don’t think it is in the interests of the country, I don’t think it is in the interests of the Conservative Party.”” – The Daily Mail

• Syms: I would take “a lot of persuading” to back Johnson in a confidence vote – The Times
• Davis says MPs most move by October if they want the Prime Minister gone by the next election…– The Sun
• …as he questions whether the Bank of England should remain independent – The Daily Mail
• Hague says Partygate is a ‘distraction’ from the ‘biggest period of crisis in our lifetimes’ – The Daily Mail

>Today:

• MPs Etc: The 26 Conservative MPs who have called on Johnson to go 

>Yesterday:

• Video: WATCH – Lewis “doesn’t recognise” claims that civil servants lobbied Gray to change her report

Sunak and Patel laud post-Brexit push for the world’s top graduates

“Graduates from the world’s top universities, including Harvard and Yale, will be eligible for visas to work in Britain under a new post-Brexit immigration drive to “put ability and talent first”. On Monday, the Government will launch its “high potential individual” route to attract the “brightest and best” graduates from the world’s most prestigious overseas universities to come and work in the UK at the beginning of their careers… Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said that the “exciting” new route was part of the Government’s ambition to “put ability and talent first, not where someone comes from”. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, said it would enable the UK to grow as an international hub for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.” – The Daily Telegraph

• Windrush scandal caused by ’30 years of racist immigration laws’ – The Guardian
• A simple fix will help universities open doors to the world – Jo Johnson, The Times

>Today:

• Anthony Browne’s column: It’s the economy, stupid. Or should that be: it’s higher growth, stupid? 

Foges: How much immigration can Britain sustain?

“A million people: roughly the number living in Birmingham. The populations of Edinburgh and Cardiff combined. Or Plymouth plus Southampton plus Blackpool plus Belfast. Just over a million people is also the number of foreign citizens offered visas to live in the UK last year. Home Office statistics released last week show significant rises from pre-pandemic times. Work visas are up 50 per cent from 2019-20, study visas up 58 per cent, visas granted for family reasons up 63 per cent. A Home Office spokesman says: “The government has delivered on its promise to the British people to take back control of our immigration system.” This version of “taking back control” is different, I imagine, from that anticipated by millions of Brexit voters.” – The Times

Dorries calls for probe into ‘distressing scenes’ at Champions League final

“The UK has called on European football’s governing body to launch a formal investigation following the Champions League final, after reports emerged of violent clashes and the use of tear gas by the French police against British fans in Paris. Saturday’s game between Liverpool and Real Madrid, held at the Stade de France, was delayed by 35 minutes as French authorities struggled to manage the crowd outside the stadium… The French government and Uefa, European football’s governing body, accused Liverpool supporters of misbehaving. Nadine Dorries, culture secretary, described the “footage and accounts from Liverpool fans” as “disturbing”, adding that it was in the “interests of everyone involved to understand what happened and to learn lessons” from Saturday’s events.” – The Financial Times

Ukraine 1) Kwarteng delays closure of coal-fired generations over fear of gas shortages caused by Ukraine war

“The Times has been told that the government’s “reasonable” worst-case scenario, which has been drawn up by officials from across Whitehall, says that there could be widespread gas shortages if Russia goes further in cutting off supplies to the EU. A minister said the briefing suggested that electricity could have to be rationed for up to six million homes at the start of next year, mostly at peaks in the morning and evening. The curbs could last more than a month, causing energy prices to rise again and leaving GDP lower than forecast for years to come. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has written to the owners of Britain’s three remaining coal-fired power stations to ask them to stay open for longer than planned. They were due to close in September under plans to phase them out entirely by 2024 to reduce emissions.” – The Times

• Austria objects to Sizwell C plant, dealing a blow to Johnson’s ‘energy revolution’ – The Daily Telegraph
• The good, the bad, and the ugly of government energy policies – Martin Sandbu, The Financial Times

Ukraine 2) Germany ‘breaks its promise’ to give Kyiv more heavy weapons

“Germany has reduced military support for Ukraine “to a minimum” prompting accusations that it has reneged on its pledge to provide heavy weaponry. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, reversed a historical policy banning the provision of arms to conflict zones and authorised the shipment of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. However, since March 25, Germany has sent only two arms packages to Ukraine, according to documents seen by Die Welt. The shipments included 4,600 anti-tank mines, machinegun parts, radios, hand grenades and other explosives. On two occasions, once in April and once this month, Ukraine wrote to the German government urgently requesting tanks and armoured fighting vehicles, the newspaper reported. However, despite assurances that Berlin would provide heavy weapons, deliveries are yet to arrive.” – The Times

• Zelensky makes his first official appearance outside of Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion – The Daily Mail
• Scholz’ equivocation in arming Ukraine risks emboldening Russia and undermining wider European security – Editorial, The Times
• The time for talk is over – the West must pull together to defeat Putin – Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun

>Yesterday:

• Video: WATCH – Russian ambassador denies that Putin could launch a nuclear attack on the UK
• Video: WATCH – “It is absolutely right that our Foreign Secretary stands up for what is right” – Lewis 

Lawson: When even rail chiefs are working from home, what folly to spend tens of billions on HS2

“Well, this is embarrassing. While telling the country in February that ‘encouraging businesses and commuters to take the train will boost the economy, helping to get the country back on track’, the Rail Delivery Group is simultaneously informing its own staff: ‘All we ask is that you do a minimum of two days a week in the office, the rest of your time can be working from home.’… Whether you approve, disapprove or are indifferent, the big move towards working from home (WFH) is a permanent feature, long outlasting the period when it was compelled by the Government as part of the response to the pandemic… But is the Government smelling the coffee? In particular, does it see the implications for the HS2 project?” – The Daily Mail

• Rail strike to last ‘a very, very long time’, says union baron – The Times

>Yesterday:

• Video: WATCH – RMT General Secretary challenges Starmer to be “on the side of the workers” 

Labour 1) Dodds and Creasy highlight conflict within Labour over whether women can have penises…

“Labour MPs are at war again — over whether a woman can be born with a penis. After prominent backbencher Stella Creasy declared they could, a party boss stepped in to slap her down. Ms Creasy told the Telegraph: “Do I think some women were born with penises? Yes. But they are now women and I respect that.” And she added: “Of course biological sex is real. It’s just not the end of the conversation.” But Labour chairperson Anneliese Dodds hit back, telling Sky News: “There are trans women who have made a transition in their gender. But sex is not the same as gender.” The row comes after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer famously dodged the question, refusing to say if he believed a woman could have a penis.” – The Sun

• Justice system ‘puts trans rights ahead of women’ – The Times
• Police set to interview witnesses over Beergate footage – The Daily Mail
• Labour’s abandonment of women matters to those who see their rights being trampled on – Editorial, The Sun

>Yesterday:

• Video: WATCH – “We are relieved the Government has listened to us on the Windfall Tax” – Dodds

Labour 2)…as the Opposition calls for an inquiry into ‘alleged second event’ at Number 10 hosted by Carrie Johnson

“Labour has called for an investigation into leaked text messages suggesting there was a second gathering in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat during lockdown, held by his wife, Carrie, on his birthday. The emergence of new evidence of an event hosted on 19 June 2020, which was not mentioned in the Partygate report by Sue Gray, sparked accusations of a cover-up and calls for No 10 to “come clean”. The event has not been denied, but Carrie Johnson’s spokesperson said that Gray had been made aware of the texts “as part of her exhaustive inquiry into alleged breaches” of Covid rules. They added: “Staff were given ample opportunity to present evidence including these messages, and all relevant information was passed to the Metropolitan police for investigation.” – The Guardian

• The Prime Minister’s wife could face a ‘grilling’ by MPs – The Daily Telegraph
• The Johnsons’ daughter christened in Westminster Cathedral – The Daily Mail

News in Brief:

• Lionel Shriver on mass shootings, gun control, and American carnage – Lionel Shriver and Freddy Gray, The Spectator 
• Is Russia about to seize Donbas? – Aris Roussinos, UnHerd
• Women should not be for sale – Julie Bindel, The Critic 
• How the Marshall Plan made Europe – David Reynolds, The New Statesman 
• George Orwell’s idea of civilisation – D. J. Taylor, Engelsberg Ideas