“Millions of households face higher gas and electricity prices after the government said that it would not bail out energy companies on the brink of going into administration. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said that there was “absolutely no question of the lights going out” but insisted that there would be “no rewards for failure or mismanagement”. Ministers are instead considering underwriting billions of pounds in loans to cover the cost of companies taking customers from those that go bust. Suppliers that take these customers are expected to charge them the maximum allowed under the energy price cap at £1,277 a year for a typical household.” – The Times
>Today: Andrea Leadsom MP in Comment: A short and medium term plan for energy costs. First, protection from price rises. Then action on lower bills.
>Yesterday: John Redwood MP in Comment: Our energy policy should start with keeping the lights on and the factories powered up
“Boris Johnson appears to have given up hope of securing a UK-US free trade deal any time soon, saying that Joe Biden, the US president, has other “fish to fry”. In comments underscoring how many steps remain until a final agreement is struck, Mr Johnson said he would rather wait for a “great” deal than hurry talks. His official spokesman declined to say he believed a deal could be done and got through Congress before the US midterm elections next November. It means that, more than five years after the Brexit vote, it remains unclear how, when and in what form a UK-US deal – much touted in by eurosceptics – will happen. Mr Johnson will on Tuesday visit the White House for the first time since becoming Prime Minister more than two years ago, holding face-to-face talks with Mr Biden in the Oval Office.” – Daily Telegraph
“Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte offered to mediate in EU-UK talks on the contentious Irish protocol of the Brexit agreement, Boris Johnson has claimed. The UK prime minister said Rutte had made the offer during a meeting in Downing Street last Friday, although Dutch diplomats briefed on the meeting have contested the claim. Johnson has raised alarm bells in Europe, warning in recent months that the UK will not hesitate to trigger Article 16 — the override mechanism that suspends parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, the part of Britain’s 2019 Brexit withdrawal agreement that covers trade with the region.” – FT
“Britain’s nuclear-powered submarines are to use Australia as a base so that they can have a more permanent presence in the Indo-Pacific region under plans discussed by ministers. Senior government sources said that the AUKUS pact could lead to the Royal Navy’s £1.4 billion Astute-class attack submarines undergoing deep maintenance in the region so they can stay deployed for longer rather than returning to the Faslane naval base in Scotland. The plans would materialise once the Australians start building their own fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines over the coming years with the help of the British and Americans.” – The Times
Comment:
>Today: Audio: The Moggcast: AUKUS and French outrage. “We should accept a little bit of garlic eating”.
>Yesterday:
“Boris Johnson today hit out at M25 eco-protesters, saying they were damaging their own cause. And the PM threw his weight behind tough police action to deal with their chaos and disruption. Speaking out for the first time on the environmentalist extremists who have spent several days blocking key motorways around the capital, he said they “detract” from the very important “moral mission” he’s pushing. He told reporters today that cops were “able to move protesters when they are threatening critical national infrastructure, when they are threatening to do serious economic damage… I think that is entirely right”.” – The Sun
More:
“Developers who hoard land face a new tax to help pay for the cost of the cladding crisis. Rishi Sunak is to announce a levy on housebuilders with profits over £25 million in his autumn budget. The chancellor’s tax is expected to raise at least £2 billion over the next decade to pay for the removal of flammable cladding from high-rise buildings. MPs have estimated that the cost of fixing the crisis could total £15 billion. Yesterday the government published draft legislation for the Residential Property Developer Tax. It shows that ministers want to tax profits made on land that has secured planning permission even if no homes have actually been built. There are 1.1 million homes awarded planning permission that have not been built, according to the Local Government Association.” – The Times
“Routine vaccination of children is under way in England with the first jabs given in schools yesterday morning. Hundreds of schools are due to begin offering Covid vaccination to pupils aged 12-15. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, explained in The Times on Saturday that concerns relate to very rare cases of damage seen in children’s hearts as a result of the vaccine. He said that in normal times vaccination would not yet have been recommended and said parents should feel justified in opting to wait six months if unsure. Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary and former vaccines minister, said: “Whatever decision teenagers and parents take, they must be supported and not stigmatised in any way. We must continue to respect individual choice.”” – The Times
More:
>Yesterday:
“Thousands of criminals are to have their records wiped clean to try to help them get jobs. Felons who have served more than four years in jail will no longer have to inform future bosses about past offences under Government plans. Currently, anyone caged for longer than that term must tell employers. But in future crimes will be spent seven years after the sentence is completed. The change will not apply to violent, sexual and terror offences… Only employers recruiting for jobs involving children or vulnerable people will now be told of offenders’ records.” – The Sun
More:
Pensions:
“Dan Jarvis, who has spent the last three years as a Labour MP and the mayor of South Yorkshire, will not seek another term in the latter job, he has announced, saying he had never planned to carry out the dual role in the long term. The Barnsley Central MP had to battle initial Labour party opposition to his staying on in parliament when he was selected in 2018 to fight for the mayoralty, which at the time had no powers or funding due to a dispute about devolution arrangements. But in a video statement on Monday, Jarvis said he would not seek re-election as mayor in May next year, and that he wanted to give enough time for Labour to select a new candidate. He will remain as an MP.” – The Guardian
“Rosie Duffield has called for Keir Starmer to meet her and other female Labour MPs to discuss the party’s policy on transgender issues, confirming she will not attend Labour’s annual conference over worries she could face abuse because of her views on the subject. “I took the decision a few weeks ago not to go,” the Canterbury MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme… Saying she had received some “pretty unpleasant” threats online, and was in contact with the police, Duffield said her worry was mainly about being targeted at the party conference in Brighton, which begins on Sunday. “It’s hard to know how serious to take threats by people who post them online. But they’re pretty awful, and I did not want to subject myself and other people to that kind of abuse,” she said.” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: Gary Powell in Local Government: No Conservative council leader should lambast a female Labour MP for defending women’s sex-based rights.
“Ed Davey insisted the Liberal Democrats believed in free speech today as he was grilled over the party’s decision to bar a member from running for Parliament over her views on transgender women. Ahead of his party conference speech this afternoon the party leader was quizzed over the action taken against mother-of-two Natalie Bird earlier this year. The 40-year-old was blocked from standing in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and banned from the party office for 10 years after a complaint about her wearing a T-shirt reading, ‘Woman: Adult, Human, Female’. She is now taking legal action under the Equalities Act against the Lib Dems, claiming she was ‘hounded’ by trans activists who accused her of ‘disseminating transphobic material over a prolonged time’.” – Daily Mail