Jeane Freeman obituary

Jeane Freeman, who has died aged 72, held two critical roles in the SNP government at Holyrood, leading the Scottish government’s response to the Covid pandemic alongside Nicola Sturgeon and establishing Scotland’s first devolved social security system.By no means a career politician but an instinctive campaigner from the outset, she entered elected politics a decade ago, and relatively late in life, after a varied career in nursing, criminal justice and the civil service. This followed a political journey from her family’s working-class, trade-unionist roots to the progressive nationalism of the 2014 independence referendum campaign, during which she championed women’s voices and famously took on the broadcaster Andrew Neil in a viral interview about whether the union benefited Scotland’s NHS.Freeman co-founded the cross-party group Women for Independence in 2012, determined to push women’s experience to the heart of the debate that was gripping the country. Her rubric was “there’s no such thing as a stupid question”

Former top civil servant warns ‘more due diligence’ to be done over replacement of Chris Wormald

A former top civil servant has urged No 10 to do “more due diligence” as it prepares to replace the cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, with Antonia Romeo, the frontrunner for the role.Sir Simon McDonald, the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, said he had tried to warn No 10 the process needed to start from scratch and it was vital that the prime minister followed a thorough procedure given the importance of the role.He told Channel 4 News: “The due diligence needs to be thorough. If the candidate mentioned in the media is the one, in my view, the due diligence has some way still to go.”No 10 was preparing to confirm earlier on Wednesday that Wormald would depart his job as cabinet secretary after just a year in the job – but the announcement was delayed

Labour bill would stop ‘dodgy front companies’ making political donations

Labour will end the use of “dodgy front companies” that hide the source of dark money for political donations as part of its sweeping elections bill, which will give votes to 16-year-olds and pave the way for “opt-out” voter registration.Gifts and hospitality for politicians sponsored by foreign states or companies will also be severely curbed, the Guardian understands.The government also intends to put new restrictions on cryptocurrency donations and the size of foreign donations, a key concern of Labour MPs about money that may be funnelled to Reform UK.Elon Musk, the billionaire X owner, was once reported to have been interested in a multimillion pound donation to Nigel Farage’s party, though later said he had failed to be impressed by the Reform UK leader.The communities secretary Steve Reed told the Guardian the bill introduced to the Commons on Thursday would be “the biggest reset to our democratic system since the second world war”, adding potentially millions to the electoral roll and introducing tough new laws to stop foreign donations being hidden in shell companies

Labour can win political argument for closer EU ties, says Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves has insisted Labour can win the political argument for a closer relationship with the EU, calling it the “biggest prize” for UK economic growth.Some Labour strategists have been wary of making the case for stronger alignment with the EU, believing it could alienate pro-Brexit voters.But Reeves said on Wednesday: “I am confident this is a political argument, as well, that we can win.” She pointed to the recent agreement to rejoin the Erasmus student exchange scheme, calling it “one of the most popular things that we’ve done.”Underlining the overriding importance of EU trade for the health of the UK economy, because of the bloc’s close geographical proximity, she said: “Economic gravity is reality, and almost half of our trade is the EU

Anas Sarwar says Starmer welcome to campaign for Labour in Scotland, days after after urging him to resign – UK politics live

Last week Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, wrote to the Metropolitan police urging it to open an investigation into Peter Mandelson and evidence that he leaked confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein when he was a minister. Later that day the Met confirmed they were starting a criminal investigation.Brown has not left it at that. He has been looking at the Epstein files in considerable detail and, in a long and powerful article for the New Statesman, he says it has led him to conclude that a much more extensive investigation is required. He says:What I discovered about the abuse of women by male predators and their enablers – and Britain’s as yet unacknowledged role – has shocked me to the core

Peers under pressure: how to reform Britain’s House of Lords | Letters

Jenny Jones is right to argue for reform of the House of Lords (Peter Mandelson is fleeing the House of Lords: now let’s throw out all the other rogues and idlers, 4 February). But can I offer a word of caution?There is talk of remaking the Lords as another elected chamber. I think that would be a mistake. It would generate a competing democratic mandate, which is the last thing we need (just look at the US if you need proof). What is required is a chamber devoted to scrutiny (of draft legislation and executive action), advice and accountability in public office