UK government putting pressure on nature groups to drop opposition to planning bill

The government is putting pressure on wildlife organisations to drop their opposition to its planning bill, the Guardian has learned.Some of Britain’s biggest nature charities including the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust say the legislation risks widespread destruction of nature. The charities want a key section of the legislation, part 3, scrapped entirely because they say it is a “licence to kill nature”.Leading figures from the organisations were summoned by the government to a meeting last Friday where officials put forward nine amendments to the language of the bill, which they say offer greater environmental protections. In return for accepting these, ministers want the nature groups to stop their campaign, the Guardian has established from several sources

Sick pay changes could benefit UK firms by up to £2bn, TUC says

Changes to sick pay to cover part of workers’ salaries from the first day off could end up benefiting British businesses by as much as £2bn, according to analysis commissioned by the UK’s main union body.The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which is pushing for the government to stick with its plans for workers’ rights, said modelling showed businesses would gain benefits of £2.4bn thanks to productivity boosts, while facing direct costs of £425m to pay for extra sick days.Sick employees in the UK are currently entitled to statutory sick pay only from their fourth day of illness, including weekends and days on which people do not usually work. The government’s employment rights bill, which is being debated in the House of Lords, proposes to abolish the wait, putting the UK in line with countries such as Germany and Sweden

‘I was raped. And my dreams were shattered’ – Gina Miller on abuse, cancer and the toxic race for Cambridge chancellor

She is the activist who fought against Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Now she’s vying to be the university’s first female chancellor – all while going through chemotherapy. She talks about the attack that destroyed her own student yearsMy first question for Gina Miller is the same one I put to all interviewees – what did you have for breakfast? Since she’s not a chef or a famous foodie, but the businesswoman and activist who fought Boris Johnson over his Brexit plans, and is now standing for chancellor of the University of Cambridge, this is more a journalistic ritual designed to test whether the recording device is working. But her response is startling.“I rarely have time for breakfast,” says Miller, who turned 60 this year

HMRC criticised by watchdog for failing to track billionaires’ tax

HM Revenue and Customs has been sharply criticised by parliament’s spending watchdog for being unable to track how many billionaires pay tax in the UK.In a highly critical report on the collection of tax from wealthy individuals, the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said HMRC could not say how much the super-rich either contributed to the exchequer or avoided.Highlighting “significant opportunities to collect more revenue”, it warned that the lack of clarity risked damaging public confidence and called on the tax authority to take immediate action.It comes as Keir Starmer’s government faces growing demands to increase taxes on wealth after Labour’s welfare U-turn earlier this month raised fresh questions over the health of the public finances.Ministers have warned of “financial consequences” after the backtracking on disability benefits and winter fuel payments for pensioners, which will cost more than £6bn

John Healey and MPs bask in nauseating non-mea culpas over secret Afghan relocation scheme | John Crace

I suppose we might have guessed something like this. In August 2021, the then foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, had moaned about the “sea being closed” while on holiday in Crete. The fate of thousands of Afghans who had helped the UK and whose lives were in danger as the Taliban homed in on Kabul came a distant second. For Psycho Dom, it was a simple matter of priorities.So no wonder a government official and/or a soldier had been less than diligent with the names of Afghans at risk

Reeves says rules and red tape are ‘boot on the neck’ of business

Rachel Reeves has claimed that rules and red tape are acting as a “boot on the neck” of businesses and risk “choking off” innovation across the UK without bold reforms.In a speech to City bosses attending the Mansion House dinner in London on Tuesday evening, the chancellor heaped further pressure on regulators to allow for more risk in order to boost economic growth.“It is clear that we must do more,” Reeves said. “In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses, choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth.“Regulators in other sectors must take up the call I make this evening, not to bend to the temptation of excessive caution, but to boldly regulate for growth in the service of prosperity across our country