Cancer nurses strike for the first time today
“Health Secretary Steve Barclay has described the latest nurses strike as “disrespectful”, with industrial action to end at midnight on Monday (May 1). Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in more than 100 NHS trusts are involved in the 28-hour walkout, including cancer nurses who are striking for the first time. Health Secretary Steve Barclay has described the latest nurses strike as “disrespectful”, with industrial action to end at midnight on Monday (May 1). Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in more than 100 NHS trusts are involved in the 28-hour walkout, including cancer nurses who are striking for the first time. Mr Barclay slammed the latest walkout, saying: “I think this strike is premature and is disrespectful to those trade unions that will be meeting on Tuesday.” – Daily Express
- Activists push for joint schools-hospitals strikes – The Sun
- Harper urges striking nurses to “think again” – Daily Express
- Rail boss hits out at Transport Secretary – Daily Telegraph
- Unions dispute Ministers claims – The Guardian
Conservatives fear agitators will disrupt Thursday’s local elections
“Left-wing activists could seek to “disrupt” the local elections as part of a protest against voter identification, the Tories fear. For the first time at Thursday’s elections, people will have to show identification such as a passport before they can cast their vote. But some campaigners believe the new rules will make it harder for various marginalised groups to vote. Craig Mackinlay, a Conservative MP, has written to the Electoral Commission to say he was concerned that activists would use the occasion to flood the voting booths with “sock-puppet activists” who claim they do not have the required identification. These could “seriously distort the evaluation of actual rollout of the new measures”, as well as “wasting council officer time and disrupting the polls”.” – Daily Telegraph
Policy 1) Sunak draws up plans to help first-time buyers…
“Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to boost support for first-time home buyers, as a key plank of the Conservatives’ campaign for a fifth term in office. Officials in Downing Street and the Treasury are looking at proposals to help thousands of renters who have been unable to get on the housing ladder in the face of high prices and rising interest rates. The move was discussed before the spring budget but was not taken forward amid fears that it would prove inflationary. Three government sources said a new-buyers’ support scheme was “back on the table” and could form part of Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement. “We cannot go into the next election without an offer for first-time buyers,” one minister said. “We all know that homeowners are more likely to vote Conservative and we cannot cede this ground to Labour.” – The Times
Policy 2) …And is poised to announce cold calls ban
“Cold calls which trick people into buying fake investments will be banned under a strategy to be launched next week by Rishi Sunak. He said the move was needed as ‘scammers devastate lives and livelihoods, preying on people’s fears to cheat them out of their money’. The proposal will extend the current ban on cold calls about pensions to cover calls about selling any financial product. The Prime Minister added: ‘We have to prevent fraudsters from infiltrating their way into people’s lives in the first place. That’s why we’re stopping scams at source by taking away the routes used to target victims, keeping people safe and shielding them from criminals.’ The proposals will also ban so-called SIM farms, electronic boxes made up of bundles of SIM cards which send fraudulent messages simultaneously to thousands of people.” – Daily Mail
Ministers ponder how to stop the Lords stopping them from stopping boats
“Ministers are plotting to force Rishi Sunak’s “stop the boats” bill into law if it is blocked or watered down by the House of Lords this summer. The options being discussed among officials, ministers and Conservative MPs include using the Parliament Act, an instrument used only seven times in history that allows the Commons to overrule the Lords, to force the illegal migration bill on to the statute book. Another idea is to appoint new Conservative peers to bolster the party’s numbers in the upper chamber, with one government source proposing to speed up the appointment of the 50 people nominated in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list. Another source said they should instead soften the more controversial elements of the bill to get the legislation through” – The Times
New guidance to bar trans pupils from competitive PE lessons with children of the opposite sex
“Trans pupils should be barred from competitive PE lessons with children of the opposite biological sex, the Government is to say. The guidance is to protect girls’ safety at school and ensure they can compete fairly in sport. Schools will also have to tell parents if their children want to change their gender, wear different uniforms, or start using different pronouns. Those who identify as trans should also be barred from using toilets and changing rooms set up for the opposite sex, the advice will say. Government insiders said it was unfair for biological boys who identify as girls to take part in competitive school sport against biological girls. One said: “In sports like rugby, it would be dangerous and unfair as biological boys are bigger and stronger. Headteachers will be allowed to have mixed PE lessons where that is not such a worry — for example, tennis.” – The Sun
- Tavistock gender clinic threatened with court action by watchdog – Daily Telegraph
Sue Gray Starmer appointment probe to report this week
“Keir Starmer risks turning from “Sir Softie to Sir Shifty” over his attempt to poach Whitehall inquisitor Sue Gray, it was claimed earlier today. The Labour leader faces awkward questions in the Commons on Tuesday about his secret talks with the top civil servant he wants as his chief of staff. The Partygate investigator resigned in March after news of Sir Keir’s overtures leaked. Ministers believe Ms Gray broke strict Whitehall probity rules by holding secret talks with Labour while serving at the top of government. And Sir Keir — who is a stickler for doing things by the book and even calls himself Mr Rules — faces the embarrassment of having his aspiring right-hand woman fall foul of the Civil Service code. A Cabinet Office probe into the affair will report back to MPs this week.” – The Sun
- Case “could be forced to step down after being sidelined by Sunak” – Daily Mail
- Labour leader denies Sunak child abuse attack ad is racist – Daily Express
- Starmer calls for Government to be stripped of power to appoint BBC Chairman – The Times
- Labour has leverage on private equity tax reform – Financial Times
- Just Stop Oil supporting energy boss Starmer donation – Daily Mail
- Labour leader has a blank piece of paper where his policies should be – Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun
- How Starmer could fix the stats to raise borrowing – Matthew Lynn, Daily Telegraph
Cleverly expected to visit China
“James Cleverly is expected to become the first foreign secretary to visit China in more than five years as part of plans to use the King’s coronation to reset relations. Cleverly is due to hold talks with Han Zheng, the Chinese vice-president, this week when he visits London to attend the coronation. Government sources believe he may be accompanied by Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister. In what is being seen as a piece of careful diplomatic choreography, the meeting is expected to result in an official invitation by the Chinese for Cleverly to visit Beijing later this year. Foreign Office sources indicated that Cleverly would accept the invitation. The move risks infuriating China hawks within the Conservative Party, including the former leaders Liz Truss and Iain Duncan Smith, who have accused western countries of “appeasing” China in the face of human rights abuses and threats to Taiwan.” – The Times
- Foreign Secretary “censoring Scottish Government”: Robertson – Scotsman
- Scottish Conservatives accuse SNP of “distorted” business rates statistics – Scotsman
Nick Timothy: A crisis of masculinity imperils the foundations of the West
“To some extent, the crisis of masculinity is only a symptom of our broader malaise. Men are suffering the consequences of our deindustrialisation and failure to build an economy that creates enough well-paid jobs. Boys and men are more often than girls and women the losers in a system that fails to provide enough technical and vocational education. Family breakdown hits divorced men, who cope worse than women, and boys, who can find themselves without a reliable male role model. We can do something about each of these problems but we can consider more specific and targeted action too. For example, if we accept that diversity and representation matter for women, or for minorities, in different walks of life, why would we dismiss its relevance for boys and men?” – Daily Telegraph
Duwayne Brooks on why he should be the Conservative candidates for the London mayoralty
“So how come he left the Lib Dems and became a Conservative? “I am entirely grateful for the Lib Dems’ support, their guidance, encouragement and everything they’ve done for me. But our values are a bit different: I’m about hand-ups, not handouts.” Brooks was always a “small-c conservative”, he says. “I think most of us are, especially from the Caribbean. We want our children to have the best education. We respect authority, respect the law, we believe in family, family values, tradition – all of that stuff is just normal.” He peppers our discussion with initiatives he would enact as mayor: reading groups for schoolchildren, a debating competition across schools, compulsory first aid training, social media communications, plans to fix problems of crime, racism, education. Not to mention making sweeping changes to the Met.” – The Guardian
Other political news and comment in brief:
- Guardian engulfed in Rowson cartoon anti-semitism storm – Daily Mail
- Sharp is a legitimate target for satire, the use of anti-semitic imagery is not – Dave Rich, The Guardian
- Special MOD Sudan flight – The Times
- Rescue from Sudan – Times Editorial
- Truss disputes Chevening bill – Daily Mail
- De Santis backs Badenoch’s war on woke – The Guardian
- Cracknell enters Tory race for Henley – Daily Mail
- Government to water down fraud proposals for tech groups – Financial Times
- Start-up backed by Sunak’s wife given Government grant – The Times
- Pensioner £350 million overpayments – Daily Express
- Humza Yousaf accused of ‘failure’ over children’s rights delays in Scotland – The Guardian
- Poll gap between Sinn Fein and DUP has almost halved since Assembly election – Belfast Telegraph
- Sudan’s terrifying biolab threat – Matt Ridley, Daily Telegraph
- The East of England: yes to an offshore energy grid, no to a corridor of metal pylons – Priti Patel, Daily Express
- Our anti-business culture – Roger Bootle, Daily Telegraph
- Police chiefs are too busy with woke causes to bother about catching criminals – Sun Editorial
> Today:
Yesterday:
Lambeth Palace defends Coronation homage of the people pledge
“Lambeth Palace has defended the decision to ask members of the public to pledge allegiance to the King following a backlash on social media. In a significant break with tradition, the King has scrapped the act of hereditary peers kneeling to “pay homage” before touching the crown and kissing the monarch’s right cheek. Instead, he has introduced a “Homage of the People” that will allow “a chorus of a million voices” to participate for the first time by joining the congregation at Westminster Abbey in declaring their allegiance to the King. But the idea – which was intended to make the ceremony “less elitist” by widening participation to those who wanted to get involved – was branded “offensive” and “tone deaf” by critics. A Lambeth Palace source said it was “very much an invitation rather than an expectation or request”. They said it was considered a “very simple” way of allowing members of the public to participate should they wish.” – Daily Telegraph
News in Brief
- Labour campaign chief opposes Khan rent controls plan – Guido Fawkes
- Taking the Jolyon Maugham clown seriously – Elijah Granet, The Critic
- What Starmer doesn’t understand about the Red Wall – Lisa McKenzie, Spectator
- Inside America’s rodeo prison – Elle Hardy, UnHerd
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