Sunak to strip GPs of right to sign people off sick
“Rishi Sunak is vowing to end Britain’s “sick-note culture” and says that over-medicalising common anxieties is driving a rise in the number of people off work with mental health problems. GPs face being stripped of the right to issue sick notes, as the prime minister says doctors are too readily writing people off as unfit for work. Specialist teams linked to the benefits system will instead assess the sick and decide how best to keep them in work. In a speech to be given in London, Sunak promises a “new welfare settlement” to tackle “unsustainable” rises in benefit spending and the record 2.8 million people off work with long-term sickness.” – The Times
- PM vows to end Britain’s ‘sick note culture’ – Daily Telegraph
- Sunak tells sicknote Britain to get a grip and find a job – Daily Express
- Crackdown on sick note culture – FT
- Overhaul of fit note system to be unveiled – The Guardian
- GPs to lose power to hand out sick notes – Daily Mail
- Schools asked to provide thousands of free childcare places – The Times
- Sunak’s wife in line for multimillion-pound Infosys payout – The Times
- Tory rent reforms backfire as evictions shoot up – Daily Telegraph
- Case ‘allowed unrelenting and systemic racism to run rampant’ in Cabinet Office – Daily Telegraph
MPs and peers set to vote overnight to get Rwanda Bill through
“Ministers are preparing to force MPs and peers to sit through the night to get Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill through Parliament on Monday. After being criticised for failing to “run the votes round the clock”, the Prime Minister has ordered party managers to ensure that there are no more delays after peers blocked the Rwanda Bill for a fourth time on Wednesday. The hardline tactic emerged after Downing Street had appeared to drop Mr Sunak’s target of getting the first Rwanda deportation flights off the ground in the spring because of the delays to the legislation. Parliamentary “ping-pong” has spanned nearly three weeks, starting just before the two-week Easter recess. It threatens to equal the record of five rounds of to-ing and fro-ing between the two Houses, set by Labour’s Prevention of Terrorism Act in the early 2000s.” – Daily Telegraph
Tory activists call for ‘disgusting’ MP Menzies to face police probe
“Police were last night urged to investigate a Tory MP accused of misusing thousands of pounds of campaign funds to pay off ‘bad people’ who locked him in a flat. In another sleaze headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Fylde MP Mark Menzies had the whip suspended and was axed as a trade envoy over the extraordinary allegations. He is said to have ‘angrily’ called an elderly former mayoress at 3.15am one day last December demanding that she release £5,000 from a local campaign account as a ‘matter of life and death’. Local party stalwart Katie Fieldhouse, 78, refused, but another party worker reportedly cashed in an Isa to cover the payment, later being reimbursed from money raised by local donors.” – Daily Mail
- Conservative HQ resists calls to refer Menzies to police – The Guardian
- Police to contact Menzies over campaign fund misuse allegations – The Guardian
- Starmer calls for police investigation into Menzies – FT
Grant: A ban on smoking? Stubbing out Tory sleaze may have been the better priority
“When the publication of the memoirs of walking social-skills-bypass, the Rt Hon Liz Truss, isn’t even in the top three most dubious things members of your party have managed to achieve in a week you know you’re in trouble. Such developments are increasingly the “new normal” in the Conservative Party. They make the previous champions of British political perversion, the Lib Dems, look like a Brownie pack. It’s indicative of their current topsy-turvy morality that Tory HQ seems more exercised about legal adults having a crafty smoke than dealing with the apparently endless sleaze.” – Daily Telegraph
Dowden ‘urges Sunak’ to call early election amid fears of Tory wipe out
“Deputy PM Oliver Dowden has urged Rishi Sunak to call an election sooner rather than later. The PM insists the “working assumption” is a general election in the second half of this year. No 10 officials and strategists want to wait until October or November with hopes that an improved economy and another round of tax-cutting could improve party fortunes. But with opinion polls showing the Tories at a new record low, senior figures have considered a vote in June or July.” – The Sun
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Labour to create ‘grey belt’ to meet housing targets
“Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to develop “ugly” parts of the green belt in a move that experts say could free land for up to half a million homes. The Labour leader said he wanted to create a new class of “grey belt” land earmarked for development that has few natural or aesthetic qualities. He told The Times that there was nothing sacred about a disused car park or former industrial site that happened to be on green belt land. Labour will prioritise building on brownfield land, but Starmer said the party must be honest about that fact that it will be unable to build the homes needed without releasing some land classed as green belt.” – The Times
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Rayner’s eldest child on electoral roll at ‘other’ house
“Angela Rayner is facing fresh questions after her eldest child was listed on the electoral roll at the home where she has insisted she did not live. Public documents, seen by The Times, show Rayner’s son, then in his late teens, living in Stockport with his stepfather rather than with the Labour deputy leader. At the time, in 2014, Rayner was listed on the electoral roll at a former council home, about a mile away, that she has insisted was her “principal property”. Social media photographs from the period show her son’s bedroom at the Lowndes Lane property where he was registered, owned by Mark Rayner, who was then her husband.” – The Times
- Labour destroyed documents that could have revealed Rayner’s living arrangements – Daily Telegraph
Sturgeon’s husband charged with embezzlement
“Nicola Sturgeon’s husband has been charged with embezzlement following a nine-hour interview by detectives investigating SNP finances. Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive, was rearrested and questioned at Falkirk police station by detectives as part of the Operation Branchform investigation into £600,000 of SNP finances. He attended the station by appointment at 9.13am on Thursday before being charged at 6.35pm and then released. It is understood Murrell has resigned his SNP membership. An SNP spokesman said the development was a “shock” but would not comment further.” – The Times
- Murrell charged in connection with embezzlement of SNP funds – Daily Telegraph
- Former SNP CEO charged – Daily Mail
- Sturgeon’s husband faces charges – The Guardian
- SNP breaks silence as Murrell resigns – Daily Express
- Scrapping 2030 target is ‘worst environmental decision’ yet – The Times
Truss’s book not cleared to reveal details of chat with Queen
“Liz Truss failed to get the Cabinet Office’s clearance to reveal details of private conversations with the late Queen in her new memoir. The former prime minister broke the rules meant to avoid sensitive details about a person’s time in government being released. Truss launched her new book, Ten Years to Save the West, on Tuesday, and said it detailed “my experience of being the only conservative in the room”. The book is a defence of her 49-day premiership, but includes behind-the-scenes details about her time in No 10 in the lead-up to and after the disastrous September 2022 mini-budget.” – The Times
Street ditches Tories in West Midlands mayoral campaign material
“The West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, has said it is “utterly deliberate” to exclude reference to the Conservative party from his campaign material, as he believes he is fighting an individual campaign and “people are sick and tired of Westminster”. Street is hoping to be elected to a third term in office in May’s election in a vote that could be the strongest indicator yet as to how the two main parties will perform at the impending general election. The former John Lewis boss has been criticised for largely excluding reference to the Conservative party from his social media accounts and campaign literature, and has frequently described himself as more of a businessman than a politician.” – The Guardian
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