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UK politics live: No 10 implicitly criticises Geoffrey Cox; MPs to get new vote on Owen Paterson report UK politics live: No 10 implicitly criticises Geoffrey Cox; MPs to get new vote on Owen Paterson report
(about 1 hour later)
Latest updates: PM’s spokesperson says serving constituents should be an MP’s ‘primary’ role and confirms second vote on Paterson lobbyingLatest updates: PM’s spokesperson says serving constituents should be an MP’s ‘primary’ role and confirms second vote on Paterson lobbying
Boris Johnson will travel to the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow tomorrow, Downing Street has announced. A No 10 spokesperson said:
The Economist’s Matthew Holehouse thinks it is a mistake for Labour to be attacking Sir Geoffrey Cox on the basis of the clients he is working for, as Anneliese Dodds has done in her letter to the PM today. (See 1.13pm.)
Tom Newton Dunn from Times Radio thinks government whips are starting to brief against the PM.
Chris Bryant, the chair of the Commons standards committee, has released the text of a letter he has received from Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, with the wording of the motions that MPs will vote on next week approving the committee’s report into Owen Paterson. No 10 announced the vote was coming at lobby. (See 12.27pm.)
Angela Rayner, who as Labour’s deputy leader shadows Dominic Raab in his capacity as deputy PM, has written an open letter to Raab complaining about his claim this morning that Geoffrey Cox’s work in the British Virgin Islands was “quite important” because it was useful for parliament to have some knowledge of what is happening in the overseas territories. (See 9.40am.) She said:
In his point of order Chris Bryant also referred to the No 10 announcement that there would be a second vote next week on the standards committee report saying Owen Paterson broke the rules on lobbying. (See 12.27pm.) He asked the deputy speaker Nigel Evans if he had any more information about when that vote might take place. Mark Harper, the Tory former chief whip, said it was wrong for the announcement about next week’s vote to have been announced to the lobby, not to MPs in the chamber.In his point of order Chris Bryant also referred to the No 10 announcement that there would be a second vote next week on the standards committee report saying Owen Paterson broke the rules on lobbying. (See 12.27pm.) He asked the deputy speaker Nigel Evans if he had any more information about when that vote might take place. Mark Harper, the Tory former chief whip, said it was wrong for the announcement about next week’s vote to have been announced to the lobby, not to MPs in the chamber.
Evans said he agreed it was “not really appropriate” for the announcement about this vote to have been made outside parliament. He also said it was “a shame” that the new vote was not announced earlier.Evans said he agreed it was “not really appropriate” for the announcement about this vote to have been made outside parliament. He also said it was “a shame” that the new vote was not announced earlier.
In the Commons Chris Bryant, the chair of the Commons standards committee, has just announced that his committee has appointed a senior judicial figure to advise it on whether its procedures could be improved.In the Commons Chris Bryant, the chair of the Commons standards committee, has just announced that his committee has appointed a senior judicial figure to advise it on whether its procedures could be improved.
This is a concession to those MPs, particularly Owen Paterson’s allies, who argued that Paterson did not get a fair hearing from the committee because its procedures were flawed. Their main complaints were that Paterson did not get a right of appeal, and that some of his witnesses were not heard by the committee.This is a concession to those MPs, particularly Owen Paterson’s allies, who argued that Paterson did not get a fair hearing from the committee because its procedures were flawed. Their main complaints were that Paterson did not get a right of appeal, and that some of his witnesses were not heard by the committee.
Bryant has argued that these complaints were unfounded, because Paterson did effectively get a right of appeal and because the views of his witnesses were fully taken into account. But he has accepted that some aspects of how the system works could be reformed. His committee is currently concluding an inquiry covering this very topic.Bryant has argued that these complaints were unfounded, because Paterson did effectively get a right of appeal and because the views of his witnesses were fully taken into account. But he has accepted that some aspects of how the system works could be reformed. His committee is currently concluding an inquiry covering this very topic.
Raising a point of order, Bryant told MPs:Raising a point of order, Bryant told MPs:
Here is my colleague Denis Campbell’s story about Javid’s announcement.Here is my colleague Denis Campbell’s story about Javid’s announcement.
Tim Loughton (Con) asks Javid what his assessment is of the proportion of the 103,000 unvacinated staff who are exempt.Tim Loughton (Con) asks Javid what his assessment is of the proportion of the 103,000 unvacinated staff who are exempt.
Javid says the impact statement will give more details. With care home staff, the announcement of a mandatory vaccination policy led to the number of staff getting vaccinated increased “dramatically”, he says.Javid says the impact statement will give more details. With care home staff, the announcement of a mandatory vaccination policy led to the number of staff getting vaccinated increased “dramatically”, he says.
Mark Harper (Con) asks if the government will publish a plan explaining what will be done to deal with the vacancies created by this policy before MPs vote on it.Mark Harper (Con) asks if the government will publish a plan explaining what will be done to deal with the vacancies created by this policy before MPs vote on it.
Javid says an impact statement will be published today. And the government will publish more details of its workforce planning later.Javid says an impact statement will be published today. And the government will publish more details of its workforce planning later.
Clive Efford (Lab) asks if Javid will follow a suggestion from the royal colleges and the unions that FFP face masks should be compulsory for health workers.Clive Efford (Lab) asks if Javid will follow a suggestion from the royal colleges and the unions that FFP face masks should be compulsory for health workers.
Javid says this is being kept under review.Javid says this is being kept under review.
Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative former health secretary, welcomed the policy. And Matt Hancock, Javid’s immediate predecessor, has just told MPs that he was in favour too. He said he backed making flu vaccines compulsory too, and he said he was glad Javid has not ruled that out.Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative former health secretary, welcomed the policy. And Matt Hancock, Javid’s immediate predecessor, has just told MPs that he was in favour too. He said he backed making flu vaccines compulsory too, and he said he was glad Javid has not ruled that out.
In response, Javid paid tribute to Hancock for laying the foundations for the successful vaccination programme.In response, Javid paid tribute to Hancock for laying the foundations for the successful vaccination programme.
Javid thanks Ashworth for his approach. He says the cross-party support for vaccines has been helpful.
He says the vaccine take-up in the NHS in England is 93% for the first dose, and 90% for both doses. He says 103,000 people have not had a single jab.
He says it is hard to know how many of them will now choose to get vaccinated. With care homes, once vaccination became mandatory for staff, a “significant number” of workers came forward to get vaccinated, he says. He says he would expect that to happen in the NHS too.
Staff will be offered one-to-one meetings with clinicians if they want their concerns addressed, he says.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, says he would urge Javid to proceed “with caution”.
There are more than 90,000 vacancies across the NHS, he says.
There will be anxiety at trust level that the policy, however desirable in principle, will exacerbate these problems, he says. He says they cannot afford to lose thousands of staff.
He welcomes Javid’s decision to delay introducing this until next spring.
But he has some questions.
What is the number of NHS staff who are not vaccinated and who are not covered by exemptions?
Will the testing regime for NHS staff change?
Will visitors to hospitals be asked about their vaccination status?
What analysis has been done of vaccine hesitancy in the NHS workforce?
What more support will communities get to drive up vaccination rates?
Javid says the government has already made vaccination mandatory for staff in care homes from 11 November.
Since that was announced, the number of staff in care homes without at least one vaccine does has fallen from 88,000 to 32,000 at the start of last month.
He says the government consulted on mandatory vaccination for NHS staff. He says the evidence tips to one side, and he is making vaccination compulsory, in line with advice from NHS leaders and the NHS chief executive.
He says he has decided staff will have to get vaccinated. There will be two exceptions: for people who do not have face to face contact with patients, and for those who are medically exempt.
He says an impact assessment of the plan will be published. And MPs will get a vote. The measure will be introduced under the 2008 Health and Social Care Act.
The new rule will take effect 12 weeks after parliamentary approval, he says.
He says the government wants to new condition to apply to staff from 1 April.
Javid says despite the “fantastic rates of uptake”, MPs should encourage more people to get vaccinated.
Vaccination is an emotive topic, he says.
He says people working in health and social care have been “the best of us”, saving lives not only through their work, but by choosing to get vaccinated too.
He says 90% of NHS staff have chosen to get fully vaccinated, although in some trusts the figure is closer to 80%.
But he says NHS staff have a special responsibility. Their first duty is to avoid preventable harm to the people they care for.
And they have responsibilities to their colleagues too.
So “it cannot be business as usual when it comes to vaccination”, he says.
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, is starting his statement to MPs now.
He says we are going into the winter “in a much stronger position than last year”.
That is mostly because of the vaccine programme, he says.
MPs will start a mini-recess tonight, meaning there will be no PMQs tomorrow. But the Lib Dems are saying it should be cancelled. Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, said:
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, is due to make a Commons statement soon in which he is expected to say that frontline NHS workers in England will have to be fully vaccinated.
In Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister, said that the health minister in the Northern Ireland executive (the UUP’s Robin Swann) had yet to make recommendations on this issue. But she said she would have concerns about mandatory vaccination. She said:
Labour is calling for an inquiry into Sir Geoffrey Cox’s work for a tax haven, the British Virgin Islands. In an open letter to the prime minister, Anneliese Dodds, the Labour chair, say she asssumes that Boris Johnson was “as shocked as everyone else” to discover what Cox had been up to (see 9.40am) and that Cox’s constituents will be wondering whether they are represented by “a Caribbean-based barrister or a Conservative MP”.
But her letter mostly focuses on the work Cox was doing for the BVI, and whether this was appropriate for someone who until last year was the attorney general. She explains:
Dodds says it looks as if Cox would “rather get a tax haven off the hook than represent the interests of his constituents” and she asks Johnson if he is happy about that. She ends her letter:
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are the key points.
Downing Street has implicitly critcised Sir Geoffrey Cox for the extent of his work outside parliament. At the briefing the No 10 spokesman said Johnson thought that serving constituents should be the “primary” role for an MP. But the spokesman did not criticise Cox directly, or suggest that he should resign as an MP, arguing that ultimately it was for the voters to judge him. The spokesman said:
The spokesman would not say whether Johnson had any regrets about not following his advice himself for a year. He was re-elected to parliament, as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, in May 2015, but at the time he was mayor of London. He did not give up his mayoral post until May 2016, and during that year his presence in the Commons was relatively limited because he was mostly focused on his mayoral job.
According to the Mirror’s Dan Bloom, Cox was spending an average of 22 hours per week on legal work over the past year.
The spokesman said Johnson was opposed to an “outright ban on second jobs” for MPs. The spokesman said Johnson thought an outright ban would be wrong, because it would stop MPs working, for example, as part-time doctors or nurses. But the spokesman would not say whether Johnson favoured a ban on MPs working as political consultants. He said the rules on second jobs for MPs were a matter for the Commons.
The spokesman confirmed that MPs would get a second chance to approve the standards committee report saying Owen Paterson broke Commons rules. The motion would be tabled today, the spokesman said. It would rescind the vote last week that proposed setting up a new committee chaired by John Whittingdale, and allow MPs to approve the report criticising Paterson, even though Paterson is no longer an MP. MPs will vote on the motion next week, after the mini-recess starting tonight. This sounds like a possible U-turn because in the Commons yesterday Stephen Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister, implied there would not be a second vote.
No 10 would not say that Johnson was sorry for what happened last week. Asked if the PM was sorry, the spokesman just referred journalists to what Johnson said in an interview about this yesterday (when he refused to apologise). The spokesman also referred to what Stephen Barclay said yesterday, about the government regretting what happened. When it was put to him that, because he would not say the PM was sorry, people would conclude Johnson was not sorry, the spokesman said the government thought it was regrettable that the vote last week conflated the Owen Paterson issue with the general issue of standards reform.
Labour is calling for the government to “come clean” about exactly how levelling up money for individual constituencies is distributed. It said if the criteria for funding was clear, it would not be possible for Tory whips to threaten to withhold cash from places where the local MP was defying the government whip.
Steve Reed, the shadow communities secretary, told the Today programme: