7 bits of unhealthy information the Tories sneaked out earlier than MPs started their Christmas break
Every hack in Westminster preferred Christmas lots, But Rishi, who lived simply off Whitehall didn’t,
The Rish hated Christmas, the entire Christmas season, Now, please do not ask why. No one fairly is aware of the explanation.
It might be his bluetooth mug was out of cost, It might be the resurgence of Nigel Farage,
But I believe that the most probably purpose of all, May have been his trousers have been two sizes too small.
So when Rishi regarded out from his Downing Street flat, He noticed lights in an workplace and thought “Wait… who’s that?”
Surely no person’s left within the House writing tales, Of his damaged regime and his scurrilous Tories,
But the Mirror predicted his horrible scheme, And had divvied the unhealthy information between the entire group,
“The only ones left working now should be cleaners!” Cried Rishi, afraid we might expose misdemeanours.
He hadn’t stopped scrutiny coming, it CAME. Somehow or different it got here simply the identical,
So we took what we discovered, and we listed it right here, Merry Christmas you lot, and a nasty information New Year.
Stats watchdog raps Rishi Sunak over deceptive debt declare
The head of the UK statistics watchdog challenged Rishi Sunak over his declare that he has diminished public debt. In a social media clip final month, the Prime Minister stated that “debt is falling” – after which stated that “we have indeed reduced debt” at Prime Minister’s Questions quickly after.
But UK Statistics Authority chairman Sir Robert Chote stated Mr Sunak’s claims have been deceptive and will have undermined public belief. In a letter revealed yesterday, he stated the typical particular person “would likely have assumed that he was claiming that debt was already falling or that the Government’s policy decisions had lowered it at the fiscal events – neither of which is the case.”
He added: “This has clearly been a source of confusion and may have undermined trust in the Government’s use of statistics and quantitative analysis in this area.” Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney accused the PM of “using smoke and mirrors to cover up his own failings”.
‘No formal course of’ to cease £370million faculties funding blunder
A evaluate into an enormous gaffe which successfully reduce anticipated faculties funding by £370million has discovered the Department for Education had “no formal process” to stop the error. A mistake in forecasting pupil numbers for 2024-25 resulted in faculties being allotted overinflated budgets – which have been then successfully diminished.
In a letter to Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, finance chief Peter Wyman, who led the evaluate, stated: “There was no formal process to ensure there was no such mismatch. Since an overall reduction in pupil numbers was expected, alarm bells were not triggered by the total pupil numbers that resulted. At this stage of the process checks should have been in place which would have detected the error.”
He said checks later in the process also did not pick it up, as they assumed earlier inputs were correct. “In hindsight, it is easy to see not only how the error occurred but also what could have been in place to have detected it before the affordability calculation was finalised; at the time, however, officials were simply following a tried and tested process that had worked without error in prior years,” he added.
MPs poised for inflation-busting pay rise
MPs are in line for an inflation-busting pay rise of more than £6,000 in the New Year according to details released this week.
They are set for a 7.1% salary increase from £86,584 to £92,731 – way ahead of inflation, which is running at 4.6% The expected rise comes because MPs’ pay hikes are linked to changes in average public sector earnings in the October before a pay rise takes effect the following April.
MPs do not set their own pay and the level is recommended by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), the Westminster watchdog set up following the expenses scandal. Planned pay rises for MPs’ have triggered outrage in the past, with some choosing to forgo their salary hikes or donate the difference to charity.
Controversial transgender guidance for schools published
The Government came under fire for releasing much-anticipated transgender guidelines for schools – after many had broken up for Christmas. Controversial new draft rules say teachers shouldn’t be made to accept requests from pupils who want to change their pronouns and uniform.
The guidance says “significant decisions” affecting a child’s future shouldn’t be taken without parents being involved. Documents say schools and colleges have “no general duty” to allow children to change their gender identity. But critics branded it “actively dangerous” and said it would lead to “real harm” being caused to trans children and young people.
The Government says the guidance has been issued in response to “the complex phenomenon of the increasing number of children questioning their gender”. This means schools must consider requests for children wanting to change their pronouns, names, and uniform.
National bus strategy struggling to deliver
A report has warned there could be a “significant gap” between what’s anticipated and what’s delivered from the National Bus Strategy for England. The evaluate by Campaign for Better Transport recognized “constraints in capacity and capabilities” throughout most Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) in planning and delivering native bus providers alongside operators.
The technique, which is called Bus Back Better, locations a “much greater emphasis” on native authorities however the report discovered “only the largest LTAs, in terms of both population and team sizes, tend to have sufficient technical expertise”.
In its conclusion, it stated: “The report found that constraints in capacity and capabilities across most LTAs, together with a number of institutional and structural barriers, could lead to a significant gap between the expectations of the National Bus Strategy and what LTAs felt they could deliver on the ground.” It added the Department for Transport has undertaken numerous actions to deal with “some” of its concerns including giving extra funding to and providing outreach events for local authorities.
Royal Navy destroyer sent to the Red Sea
A Royal Navy destroyer has been sent to the Red Sea as attacks on commercial ships threaten global supply chains.
The Ministry of Defence announced HMS Diamond will be in the region following a spate of missile attacks in international waters. Attacks by Houthi militants based in Yemen have stepped up during the crisis in Gaza. As a result companies including BP have stopped sailing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Royal Navy destroyer will join an international task force, the Government announced. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “These unlawful assaults are an unacceptable menace to the worldwide financial system, undermining regional safety and are threatening to drive up gasoline costs.”
Pressures felt by coroner service as delays rise
The number of cases waiting more than a year to be completed by the coroner service are 50% higher than they were before the pandemic, the Chief Coroner of England and Wales has warned. The impact of pandemic restrictions and excess deaths “continues to exert pressure on timeliness in the coroner system”, judge Thomas Teague KC said.
In his combined annual reports for 2021 and 2022, he said there were 2,278 cases that had waited over a year to be completed in the 12 months to 2019. In April 2021, this jumped up to 5,013 cases and remained at 4,568 in April 2022. He said the latest figures showed “a welcome improvement” but there was “much still to do”, issuing a further warning that the coroner service is “not immune from wider pressures in society”.
“Pandemic restrictions have, of course, all but disappeared and society has returned to something resembling normality, but a significant aftershock remains,” Judge Teague wrote. “The size of the backlogs of inquests remains too high, despite the strenuous efforts of coroners and their staff. Tackling them remains my priority.” He added: The coroner service is also not immune from wider pressures in society, including the ability to recruit and retain sufficient staff, the pressure on wages and the impact of the energy and cost-of-living crisis on local authority budgets.”
