Northern newspapers unite as part of backlash against PM’s scrapping of HS2’s eastern leg

Published

2 years ago

November 15, 2021

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Boris Johnson is facing a backlash from MPs, mayors and a coordinated local newspaper campaign as he’s poised to scrap the eastern leg of the HS2 rail project between Birmingham and Leeds.

The prime minister is this week expected to confirm a watering-down of plans for both HS2 and a new Leeds to Manchester rail line.

Ahead of an anticipated scaling back of the projects, likely to be confirmed when the government’s “Integrated Rail Review” is announced on Thursday, Mr Johnson has been hit by anger from northern politicians.

Tracy Brabin, the Labour mayor of West Yorkshire, wrote to the prime minister to urge him to stick with delivering HS2’s eastern leg “in full”, as well as to build a new rail line from Leeds to Manchester.

Following reports that the Leeds-Manchester section of the £39bn Northern Powerhouse Rail project will be delivered through upgrades to existing track, rather than a new line via Bradford, Ms Brabin wrote: “The government has a choice to make.

“It can choose to unlock the potential of the North, or it can let us down once again, limiting your levelling up ambitions.”

South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis said ministers were “either serious about levelling up or not” and warned that those he represents “will not be fooled by half-measures and spin”.

Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, who represents Thirsk and Malton in North Yorkshire, told the i newspaper that scaling back rail plans would show the government is “not willing to put our money where our mouth is”.

Labour’s Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West, said: “This is Boris pulling the whole damn rug from under our feet and ripping up the floor behind him.”

Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon accused ministers of attempting to “quietly back out” of infrastructure schemes that they had “committed to dozens of times”.

In his Conservative Party conference speech last month, Mr Johnson vowed: “We will do Northern Powerhouse Rail, we will link up the cities of the Midlands and the North.”

In February last year, on HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, Mr Johnson told MPs: “Both are needed, and both will be built – as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.”

As well as the backlash from politicians, a string of northern newspapers have published the same front page on Tuesday calling for the government to deliver on Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 in full.

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One of those newspapers, the Manchester Evening News, said on its website: “Today the North calls on government to finally put its money where its mouth is.

“With ministers poised to release their long-delayed plan for railway investment this week, we warn it is time to replace rhetoric with reality where the north of England is concerned.

“Enough’s enough. The prime minister has been prepared to use chronic central government neglect of northern England to his political advantage. It is time to keep his side of the bargain.

“Where rail investment is concerned, that does not mean a smattering of piecemeal upgrades dressed up as a transport revolution, ready for deployment on leaflets at the next election.

“It means new inter-city lines to and across the North, a move supported both by Northern leaders and the Conservative manifesto.”

The Manchester Evening News was joined in the campaign by five other newspapers; The Gazette in Teesside, The Journal and The Chronicle in Newcastle, the Huddersfield Examiner and the Hull Daily Mail.

At a Downing Street news conference on Monday, the prime minister advised people to “wait and see” the results of the Integrated Rail Review on Thursday.

But he said it would be “absolutely fantastic” for the North, the North East, the North West, and the Midlands.

Business

Rishi Sunak to demand end to ‘sick note culture’ and shift focus to ‘what people can do’

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

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Rishi Sunak to demand end to 'sick note culture' and shift focus to 'what people can do'

Rishi Sunak is to call for an end to the “sick note culture” in a major speech on welfare reform – as he warns against “over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life”.

The prime minister wants to shift the focus to “what people can do with the right support in place, rather than what they can’t do”.

Mr Sunak also wants sick notes to be issued by “specialist work and health professionals” rather the GPs in order to reduce workloads.

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The plans, which the government is now set to consult on, come as part of the government’s aims to cut spending on benefits in a bid to reduce spending and increase employment.

Mr Sunak is set to say: “We should see it as a sign of progress that people can talk openly about mental health conditions in a way that only a few years ago would’ve been unthinkable, and I will never dismiss or downplay the illnesses people have.

“But just as it would be wrong to dismiss this growing trend, so it would be wrong merely to sit back and accept it because it’s too hard; or too controversial; or for fear of causing offence.

“Doing so, would let down many of the people our welfare system was designed to help.”

He will say there is a “growing body of evidence that good work can actually improve mental and physical health”.

“We need to be more ambitious about helping people back to work and more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life,” Mr Sunak will add.

The prime minister will say, “we don’t just need to change the sick note, we need to change the sick note culture so the default becomes what work you can do – not what you can’t”.

“Building on the pilots we’ve already started we’re going to design a new system where people have easy and rapid access to specialised work and health support to help them back to work from the very first Fit Note conversation,” he will add.

“We’re also going to test shifting the responsibility for assessment from GPs and giving it to specialist work and health professionals who have the dedicated time to provide an objective assessment of someone’s ability to work and the tailored support they need to do so.”

It comes after Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, was criticised a month ago for suggesting in an interview that there was “a real risk” that “the normal ups and downs of human life” were being labelled as medical conditions which then held people back from working.

And upon launching the government’s “back to work plan”, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned that “anyone choosing to coast on the hard work of taxpayers will lose their benefits”.

Since 2020, the number of people out of work due to long-term sickness has jumped drastically to a record high of 2.8 million people as of February this year, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

A large proportion of those report suffering from depression, bad nerves or anxiety.

The government said NHS data shows almost 11 million fit notes were issued last year – with 94% stating someone was “not fit for work”.

“A large proportion of these are repeat fit notes which are issued without any advice, resulting in a missed opportunity to help people get the appropriate support they may need to remain in work,” Downing Street said.

Fit notes are usually required by employers when someone takes more than seven days off work due to illness.

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Disability equality charity Scope has said it would question whether Mr Sunak’s announcements are being “driven by bringing costs down rather than how we support disabled people”.

James Taylor, director of strategy at the charity, said: “We’ve had decades of disabled people being let down by failing health and work assessments; and a broken welfare system designed to be far more stick than carrot.

“Much of the current record levels of inactivity are because our public services are crumbling, the quality of jobs is poor and the rate of poverty amongst disabled households is growing.”

Alison McGovern, Labour’s acting shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “A healthy nation is critical to a healthy economy, but the Tories have completely failed on both.

“We’ve had 14 Tory years, five Tory prime ministers, seven Tory chancellors, and the result is a record number of people locked out of work because they are sick – at terrible cost to them, to business and to the taxpayer paying billions more in spiralling benefits bills.

“Today’s announcement proves that this failed government has run out of ideas, announcing the same minor alternation to fit notes that we’ve heard them try before. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak’s £46bn unfunded tax plan to abolish national insurance risks crashing the economy once again.”

Business

Post Office had ‘bunker mentality’ towards press, lawyer tells inquiry

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

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Post Office had 'bunker mentality' towards press, lawyer tells inquiry

A sub-postmaster victim of faulty IT software Horizon was described as a “bluffer” when he alerted senior Post Office officials about bugs in the system.

One of the Post Office’s heads of legal Rodric Williams dismissed the complainant and told the Post Office Horizon Inquiry on Thursday there was “bunker mentality” among staff in relation to the media’s coverage of the IT system.

The inquiry has been hearing evidence to examine who in government and the Post Office knew what and when about the accounting computer programme that falsely generated financial losses at Post Office branches across the UK and led to the conviction of hundreds of sub-postmasters who ran branches for theft and false accounting.

As a result of Horizon’s errors, many other sub-postmasters lost homes, moved out of their communities, and became unwell having wracked up significant debts and had their reputations ruined.

But in 2015 – while prosecutions were taking place with Horizon data and four years before the Post Office would apologise for the miscarriage of justice – the warnings of former sub-postmaster Tim McCormack were dismissed.

“Generally, my view is that this guy is a bluffer, who keeps expecting us to march to his tune,” Mr Williams – who is now tasked with dealing with Horizon complaints – said in an email to colleagues.

“I don’t think we should do that, but instead respond with a straight bat.”

The lawyer had been asked by former chief executive Paula Vennells to look into, what Mr McCormack said, was “clear and unquestionable evidence of an intermittent bug in Horizon that can and does cause thousands of pounds in losses to sub-postmasters”.

‘Bunker mentality’

Mr Williams agreed that there was an element of siege mentality at the Post Office against media questioning.

“I don’t know if I can speak for senior management but I do think certainly where I was sitting it did feel a bit bunker mentality, yes,” he told the inquiry.

When asked by barrister for the inquiry, Jason Beer: “It’s that siege mentality again, Mr Williams, isn’t it? Challenges to the Post Office are hostile and must be fended off rather than considered on their merits.”

Mr Williams responded, “I think that’s maybe overstating but there’s probably something in that, I think, that’s fair”.

‘Take it or leave it’

In response to a 2014 media request about Horizon satisfaction levels among sub-postmasters, Mr Williams effectively said they could use the system or leave.

“We don’t need to do research on Horizon – it’s the system we provide to our agents and require them to use. If agents don’t like it, they can choose not to provide services for us,” he said at the time.

“The vast majority of our agents and other users work with it just fine, and we’re not required to bespoke our point of sale accounting system to the whims of each individual agent.”

He was asked if it was his view, in 2014, that sub-postmasters could either use Horizon or leave he replied “yes”.

Mr Williams began at the organisation in 2012 as a litigation lawyer and still works there as the head of the remediation unit set up to address sub-postmaster complaints about Horizon.

His evidence continues on Friday.

Ms Vennells has said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.

“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.

“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”

Business

Ministers kick off search for new football referee

Published

22 hours ago

April 18, 2024

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Ministers kick off search for new football referee

Ministers are to kick off a search for the inaugural chair of the new football watchdog, even as it faces growing hints of opposition to its establishment from the Premier League.

Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will launch the appointment process for the role at the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) as soon as this week.

The chair, who is expected to be paid a six-figure salary, will be responsible for overseeing a landmark period in the English game.

The regulator will have three primary objectives, including promoting clubs’ financial sustainability and the financial resilience of English football as a whole.

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It will also be charged with safeguarding the heritage of clubs, including their badges and traditional playing colours.

The IFR will have the power to prevent clubs from joining breakaway competitions, inspired by the putative efforts of English football’s big six clubs to join a European Super League.

Its establishment through primary legislation comes amid an ongoing impasse between the Premier League and English Football League about future financial distributions.

Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, is among the names who have been touted as potential chairs of the IFR.

Last week, Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, warned in an article for The Times that more intrusive regulation could “undermine the Premier League’s global success, thereby wounding the goose that provides English football’s golden egg”.

A DCMS spokesman declined to comment on Thursday morning.