Sunday round-up

John Healey: ‘Few people will mourn the Ayatollah’s death’ Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, after the US and Israel launched joint military attacks on Saturday. The conflict is ongoing, with Iran firing retaliatory strikes at multiple countries, and the outcome of President Donald Trump’s actions is highly unpredictable. In a statement, Keir Starmer made clear that the UK had ‘no role’ in the attacks, but said British planes were ‘in the sky’ to protect allies. On Sky News this morning, John Healey, the Defence Secretary, told Trevor Phillips that Khamenei and his regime were a ‘source of evil’ who had murdered thousands of protestors and exported terror

Lisa Nandy: The future of Greenland is ‘for the people of Greenland’ President Trump has escalated his rhetoric over Greenland, threatening NATO allies, including the UK, with tariffs if a deal to buy the territory is not reached. The president reacted to NATO countries sending troops to Greenland by calling it ‘a very dangerous situation for the safety, security and survival of our planet’. On Saturday evening, Keir Starmer called Trump’s tariff threats ‘completely wrong’, and this morning on Sky News Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy echoed the prime minister’s words. Nandy said the future of Greenland is for Denmark and Greenland to determine ‘alone’, and that the US and its

Heidi Alexander: ‘Tackling child poverty is in the DNA of the Labour Party’ The expectation is that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ upcoming budget will lift the two child benefit cap. On the BBC this morning, Laura Kuenssberg suggested that Labour have been giving mixed messages, with the chancellor saying she was determined to get welfare spending under control. Alexander said that growing up in poverty creates a ‘lifetime of consequences’, and three quarters of children in poverty are in households where both parents work. The transport secretary said she was confident that there would be fewer children in poverty at the end of Labour’s term. However, when pushed to confirm that

Chaos continues to follow the prime minister, as damning emails between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein were made public, forcing Keir Starmer to sack the UK ambassador to the US just days before Trump’s scheduled state visit. Details of the emails were reportedly given to Downing Street on Tuesday, but Starmer defended Mandelson in the House of Commons on Wednesday, apparently not knowing about the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening. On Sky News this morning, Business Secretary Peter Kyle told Trevor Phillips that Starmer had taken ‘decisive action’ hours after coming across the emails. Phillips asked Kyle how it was possible that the vetting process had not brought

Baroness Mone: ‘I can’t see what we’ve done wrong’ Laura Kuenssberg’s show this morning was dominated by her interview with Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman, who have admitted their direct involvement with PPE Medpro, a company which was awarded a huge PPE contract during the pandemic, despite years claiming the contrary. The couple said they made £60 million in profit from the deal, and Mone admitted to being a beneficiary of financial trusts where the money is held. There is an ongoing criminal investigation, but Mone suggested they had been made scapegoats while Barrowman even implied a government official had asked for a bribe in exchange for

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg after resigning on Wednesday, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick was disparaging in his assessment of the government’s new Rwanda legislation. Explaining his resignation, he said he couldn’t be the minister guiding the bill through parliament. Jenrick implied he had a better understanding of the issue than the Prime Minister, and that a ‘political choice’ had been made to bring forward a bill which wouldn’t do the job. Jenrick claimed that under the proposed legislation, the Rwanda scheme would be bogged down by migrants’ potential legal claims and would not act as an effective deterrent. Michael Gove: ‘this bill is the robust measure required’ In defence of

As the conflict in Gaza continues, there is increasing division over the crisis here in the UK. Keir Starmer continues to resist those in his party calling a ceasefire; Home Secretary Suella Braverman has labelled pro-Palestine rallies as ‘hate marches’; and Jewish columnist Lord Finkelstein told Trevor Phillips that he wonders whether it is safe for him or his children in central London. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden partially agreed with Braverman, telling Laura Kuenssberg there was hateful conduct occurring on the marches. He said he had ‘grave concerns’ about the pro-Palestine rally planned for Armistice day. Labour’s John Healey – a ceasefire leaves Hamas in place Speaking to Trevor

The political focus this morning was centred around the three days’ worth of railway disruption due to begin on Tuesday. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps joined Sophy Ridge to make the case against strike action, taking aim at the leadership of the RMT union: Union calls for government meeting are ‘a stunt’ Sophie Raworth also interviewed Shapps, and asked him about last week’s call from the RMT to get around the negotiating table with government: Mick Lynch – ‘We’re facing a crisis’ RMT leader Mick Lynch also joined Ridge to put forward the case for industrial action. Lynch took issue with Shapps, raising possible job cuts as a particular bone of

Sajid Javid – I’m not anticipating any more lockdowns The Health Secretary was the main guest of the day on BBC One’s Andrew Marr show, hosted this morning by Nick Robinson. Robinson asked Javid about the likelihood that Christmas could be threatened once again by lockdown. Javid responded by saying that it was highly unlikely that the UK would see itself in a similar position to last year, even with an expected surge of the virus over this winter: SJ: I’m not anticipating any more lockdowns… I just don’t see how we get to another lockdown. Vaccine passports will not go ahead Last week, the Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi appeared

John Bercow – ‘I do not identify with the Conservative party’ Last night, it was revealed that the former Commons Speaker John Bercow had not merely distanced himself from his former party, but had disowned it altogether. Interviewed by the Observer, he castigated the Conservative party as ‘reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic’. Bercow’s jump across the divide may come as no surprise to some, but in doing so he has become the first ex-Speaker to ever make such a move back into the political arena. Trevor Phillips spoke to Bercow, once an enthusiastic figure on the Tory right, about the reasons for his change of allegiance: JB: My

Oliver Dowden – We have ‘every confidence’ there will not be future lockdowns The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden was in the hot seat this morning amid reports that a third wave of Covid-19 is engulfing much of continental Europe. Many of the UK’s close neighbours, including France, Germany and the Netherlands, are re-introducing or extending measures to combat the so-called ‘Kent variant’ of the disease. Andrew Marr sought to get reassurance from Dowden that the government would not end up plunging England back into a fourth nationwide lockdown: OD: [Our] aim… is to make sure this is irreversible… You can’t rule things out, but we have every confidence that we

Liz Truss – We can guarantee UK’s vaccine supply The European Union’s attempt at vaccine procurement has not been its finest hour. Concerns about lack of supply across Europe prompted the EU Commission to consider how it might override Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s prior commitments and commandeer the output of their Belgian factories for the bloc’s own internal use. Signalling that the EU might block the export of the jabs, many of which had been intended for use in the UK, triggered an immediate backlash, and the EU eventually climbed down. The International Trade Secretary Liz Truss spoke to Andrew Marr, who asked her if she could be certain that the UK would

Boris Johnson – Restrictions ‘probably about to get tougher’ The Andrew Marr Show returned this morning, and with it came an in-depth interview with the Prime Minister. It will surprise no one to hear that the bulk of the interview focused on the coronavirus, and Boris Johnson signalled throughout that the new year could see fresh restrictions being brought into place. He did not go into any detail about what measures could be introduced under a potential ‘Tier 5’, but it was clear enough that his 5pm Downing Street press conferences were not yet a thing of the past: BJ: It may be that we need to do things in

Simon Coveney – Internal Market Bill could mean no trade deal Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney returned to Sophy Ridge’s show this week to make clear his objections to the government’s Internal Market Bill. The bill, which famously threatened to break the EU Withdrawal Agreement in ‘a specific and limited way’, has recently been watered down by the House of Lords. However, it is expected that the government will reinsert the offending clauses, which would keep Northern Ireland’s market aligned with Britain in the event of no trade deal. Coveney warned that this move could derail the prospective trade deal altogether: SC: If the British government is determined to continue

Steve Baker – Liberty ‘dies like this’ with ‘draconian powers’ unchecked The government has come under fire from its own side this morning as it prepares to renew the Coronavirus Act six months after it was first put into effect. Graham Brady, the chair of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, is spearheading an amendment to the act which would ensure that Parliament could vote on the emergency measures that ministers wish to take. Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, gave his reasons for supporting this amendment: SB: I doubt really anyone understands what [the] law is… We’re in an environment where you really can’t know whether you’re a

Grant Shapps – Dominic Cummings won’t resign A media storm has been battering the government this morning after it emerged that the Prime Minister’s key adviser Dominic Cummings could have breached the government’s strict advice against travel during the lockdown. In March, Cummings and his family left London to self-isolate in his native Durham, in order to be near to close relatives should he and his wife be unable to look after their 4 year old son. Cummings and the government insist that he did nothing wrong. The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended Cummings’ decision and denied that his job was on the line: GS: Mr Cummings decided that the