“Boris Johnson yesterday made an impassioned plea to ‘keep alive’ the dream of combating global warming – declaring this week’s climate change summit to be ‘the world’s moment of truth’. As world leaders gathered in Glasgow, the Prime Minister raised fears of civilisation ‘going backwards’ unless they came together to agree decisive action. But Mr Johnson also played down hopes of success at the COP26 UN climate change summit, which gets under way today. Speaking at the G20 meeting in Rome, the PM – who last month rated the chances of an agreement in Glasgow at just ‘six out of ten’ – confessed that the odds were ‘about the same’.” – Mail on Sunday
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Comment:
“Boris Johnson today admitted that the chance of COP26 being a success is just six out of 10 as he begged China to do more to stop climate change. In a round of interviews at the G20 summit in Rome – where he is trying to gain momentum ahead of the gathering in Glasgow next week – the PM warned that the outcome is still in the balance. He painted a dire picture of the consequences if world leaders do not act, with civilisation at risk of plunging back into the ‘Dark Ages’. He said that when the Roman Empire collapsed it could ‘no longer control its borders, people came in from the east’ – and climate change could cause similar disaster with ‘contests for water, for food’.” – Mail on Sunday
“Boris Johnson has urged Brussels to rein in France as Britain accused Emmanuel Macron of engaging in a “pattern” of threats against the UK. In a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, in Rome, Mr Johnson complained about France’s aggressive rhetoric and demanded an explanation of a letter from the country’s prime minister which said Britain must be shown that Brexit is “damaging”. Senior government sources said the letter, from Jean Castex to Mrs Von der Leyen, suggested that the EU may not have been negotiating in “good faith” over Northern Ireland, which is currently the subject of a virtual impasse between the two sides.” – Sunday Telegraph
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“Owen Paterson’s suspension from parliament could be reduced from 30 days to as little as 24 hours as his Conservative allies plot a series of amendments to save his political career. Paterson, 65, is set to be banned from the House of Commons after the standards committee found that he had committed an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules by using his position as an MP to benefit companies he was a paid consultant for. The former Northern Ireland secretary has protested his innocence and blames a “Kafkaesque” two-year investigation into his paid advocacy for the suicide of his wife, Rose Paterson, who died aged 63 last year.” – Sunday Times
“The case of Conservative MP Owen Paterson, who has been accused of abusing his position for personal gain, is shot through with high drama and personal tragedy. An MP for more than 20 years and a former Cabinet Minister, Mr Paterson faces political ruin, thanks to a one-sided House of Commons investigation by the Standards Commissioner that was so amateurish it failed to interview witnesses. Mr Paterson has already lost his wife Rose, who committed suicide last year – a death that he firmly believes was linked to the stress of the investigation.” – Mail on Sunday
“Former ministers and senior mandarins who break lobbying rules should be forced by law to hand back part of their pension or severance pay, according to a root-and-branch review by the anti-corruption watchdog. The investigation by Lord Evans of Weardale was commissioned in the wake of the Greensill scandal, when David Cameron privately lobbied ministers on behalf of a disgraced banker. A loophole meant his behaviour was not covered by the rules but it would be under the changes. The review amounts to the biggest shake-up in standards in a generation and is intended to clean up politics.” – Sunday Times
“The NHS is sending fewer patients for admission to private hospitals than before the pandemic, despite a £10 billion scheme intended to help reduce the backlog by using independent facilities. Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, has been warned that vast capacity to treat NHS patients in private hospitals is going “unused” despite his previous announcement that making use of such facilities would allow some patients to be seen “a lot more quickly”. Official data show that the overall number of daily admissions of NHS patients to private hospitals was seven per cent lower compared with two years ago, having dropped from 2,327 per day to 2,166.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Sajid Javid is under pressure from hospital leaders not to enforce until the end of April a deadline for all NHS staff to be vaccinated amid fears of a winter crisis. The health secretary is poised to introduce legislation that would make jabs a condition of NHS employment as soon as this week to protect vulnerable patients from catching the virus in hospital. But NHS leaders fear it could force trusts to fire staff or remove them from frontline duties during the critical winter months. Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “There are two risks to manage here, not one.” – Sunday Times
“Civil servants have been sent a reading list to help white staff ‘confront their privilege’ and admit their place ‘in a system of oppression’. Employees have been advised to read titles such as White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard To Talk To White People About Racism to address their ‘ignorance’ of the topic. Other books and articles on the list argue for the abolition of the police and prisons, and defend looting. Whitehall sources have defended the list, circulated by a staff group called the Civil Service Race Forum as it aims to tackle race equality issues that affect employees.” – Mail on Sunday
“A lawyer representing victims wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office because of a faulty IT system has warned that more victims will die before receiving meaningful compensation. David Enright, who is representing more than 150 subpostmasters, has urged Nick Read, the Post Office’s chief executive, to speed up payouts to victims. Between 2000 and 2014, the organisation prosecuted at least 736 subpostmasters after accusing them of stealing from the till. It was later found that shortfalls were due to faulty software, known as Horizon, installed by the computer firm Fujitsu.” – Sunday Times