‘We need to think much bigger’: trade minister calls for greater ambition in UK-EU reset

It was all smiles and warm handshakes when the two men in charge of renegotiating the UK’s relationship with the EU met in Brussels this week.Maroš Šefčovič and the UK minister for EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, sharing a stage on the third floor of the vast European parliament building, were at pains to show the cross-Channel relationship was in a good place after years of rancour.The deep frustration about the lack of progress in the “resetting” of the relationship between the UK and the EU was evident on stage and behind the scenes.Šefčovič, the European commissioner for trade, told MPs and MEPs gathered at the EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly (PPA) of the need for a reboot but also hinted at the need for more ambition in the next round of talks, reminding the British in the room that an over-arching Swiss-style deal, as offered to the former prime minister Boris Johnson, was still very much on the table.The following day, the trade minister, Chris Bryant, on a charm offensive in Paris, expressed his own frustration at the “piecemeal” approach he inherited when he was appointed in September

Reform UK suspends Scottish candidate less than a day after announcing him

Reform UK has suspended one of its Scottish candidates after it emerged he had been struck off as a company director, and the party faces growing attacks for fielding candidates making Islamophobic remarks.Reform confirmed on Friday morning it had suspended Stuart Niven, its candidate for Dundee City West, after the Herald revealed he had been struck off after diverting tens of thousands of pounds of Covid grants into his personal account.Several hours after that admission, claims within Reform’s Scottish manifesto that it could save billions of pounds in Holyrood spending were dismissed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, which described many of its pledges as “not fiscally credible” and “unserious at best”.Reform had faced a succession of attacks from across the political spectrum about the conduct of several candidates only hours after Nigel Farage unveiled the 73 Reform UK hopefuls standing for May’s Scottish parliament election.Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said the disclosures in several newspapers about their “divisive tweets” raised challenging questions about the party’s screening process, which Farage earlier this year claimed was now far more rigorous than before

Starmer’s ministers look at new economic blueprint to quell voter anger

Cabinet ministers have been studying a blueprint for Labour to radically overhaul its economic offer and messaging, including devolving tax powers, abolishing national insurance, and major property tax changes.Passed around dozens of MPs, the paper argues that without a major rethink, the failure to tackle the discontent on the cost of living will hand the next election to a hard-right government. There is also increasing concern that the war with Iran – pushing up prices of fuel, energy, food and mortgages – will fuel further mass public anger.The report, which has the draft title of the Beveridge Report for the Economy, will say the British economy rewards grifters and exploitation rather than hard work, and that voter anger is fuelled by the belief that hard work and “doing the right thing” leaves many feeling cheated.Several potential Labour leadership candidates are understood to have requested to see the report, which was prepared as part of a partnership between the Labour Growth Group of MPs once considered loyal to Keir Starmer and the Good Growth Foundation thinktank

Attorney general asks if Kemi Badenoch would object to Jewish public prayer

Richard Hermer, the attorney general, has challenged Kemi Badenoch to say whether she would object to Jewish prayer in public, after the Conservative leader backed one of her shadow ministers who said an Islamic prayer event was intimidating and un-British.Hermer, one of the UK’s most prominent Jewish politicians, said Badenoch’s decision to support the views of Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, put her on a par with Reform UK and Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist.After an event to mark Ramadan took place on Monday evening in London’s Trafalgar Square, Timothy posted images of mass prayers taking place, saying such an action in a public space was “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.Asked about her support for Timothy on Thursday, Badenoch said any public expressions of religion should “fit within the norms of a British culture”, and criticised the way men and women were separated for the Ramadan prayers, with men nearer the stage and women farther behind.Hermer told the Guardian Badenoch needed to clarify her view

Nigel Farage condemned over call to ban public prayer for Muslims in the UK

Muslim leaders have condemned Nigel Farage’s call to ban public prayer by Muslims in the UK as bigoted and warned of a “growing tide of hate” after the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, questioned whether the events fitted “within the norms of British culture”.Farage was speaking at the launch of Reform UK’s manifesto for the forthcoming Scottish parliament elections when he made the remarks.He described as “a wake up call and a warning to everybody” an event in Trafalgar Square earlier this week where hundreds of Muslims and people of other faiths prayed together, before the celebration of Eid.He said the event, organised by the Ramadan Tent Project and attended by Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, was “an open, deliberate, wilful attempt, not at the private observance of a different religion, but the attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”.The event has happened in the historic square in central London five times before without incident or previous controversy

Here’s what a reformed House of Lords could look like | Letters

A reformed Lords could give us the best of all worlds: a chamber that connects and legitimises the disparate parts of our higgledy-piggledy devolved constitution without challenging the primacy of the directly elected Commons (So long, hereditary peers – but the Lords is still full of absurd anachronisms, 13 March).Three-quarters of its members could be indirectly elected by local councillors, with temporary seats reserved for the heads of the national governments and regional mayors. Party leaders not yet in the Commons – such as Zack Polanski – could also sit there. The remaining seats could be time‑limited appointments for experts such as retired civil servants and former ministers, perhaps with different voting rights. An independent commission could oversee appointments, vet eligibility and weed out dodgy donors