Rishi Sunak to attend COP27 – reversing decision to skip it to focus on economy

Published

2 years ago

November 2, 2022

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Rishi Sunak has reversed his decision to skip the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next week, following pressure from green campaigners and MPs.

In a statement on Twitter, the prime minister said: “There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change.

“There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend COP27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow’s legacy of building a secure and sustainable future.”

Mr Sunak initially said he was not going to head to the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh due to “other pressing domestic commitments”.

But the PM faced a raft of criticism, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accusing him of displaying a “failure of leadership” and Greenpeace UK saying he was not taking climate change “seriously enough”.

Within days, Downing Street changed course, saying the PM’s attendance was “under review”, depending on progress around preparation for the economic statement, set for 17 November.

Mr Sunak announced his attendance the morning after Boris Johnson, one of his predecessors in No 10, told Sky News that he would be going.

Opposition parties were quick to mock the “screeching U-turn” and claimed the PM is only going because he’s been “shamed” into doing so.

‘Embarrassing misstep on the world stage’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has accused Mr Sunak of acting “in the name of political management” rather than the national interest, adding: “Caving in to criticism is not leadership.”

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, tweeted: “Dragged kicking and screaming into doing the right thing. Embarrassing.”

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, said: “The prime minister has been shamed into going to COP27 by the torrent of disbelief that he would fail to turn up.

“He is going to avoid embarrassment, not to provide leadership.”

The Liberal Democrat’s climate change spokesperson, Wera Hobhouse, claimed the environment is “simply not a priority” for Mr Sunak’s new government and that he is “only going after being embarrassed by Boris Johnson’s attendance”.

And Caroline Lucas, the Green Party’s only MP, said: “Glad to see Sunak’s screeching U-turn on COP27, but what an embarrassing misstep on the world stage.

“Let this be a lesson to him – climate leadership matters.

“Now he urgently needs to increase UK ambition on emission reduction targets & pay what we owe to global climate funds.”

On Friday, and in the face of growing pressure, Mr Sunak defended his decision not to go to COP27, saying he wanted to focus on the UK’s “depressing” economic challenges.

A No 10 source told Sky News that Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have made “good progress” on the autumn statement after working on it over the weekend and this week.

It is not clear how many days the PM is expected to be away for.

The summit will run from 6-18 November, but the key day for world leaders is Monday, when high-level talks are scheduled, and US President Joe Biden is expected to attend.

Some Conservative MPs were also urging Mr Sunak to attend the summit, and have welcomed his change of plan.

Alok Sharma, the president of COP26, said he is “delighted” by the news, after previously saying he was “disappointed” the PM had decided not to go.

Chris Skidmore, who is chairing the government’s review into Net Zero, tweeted: “Extremely good news Rishi Sunak will continue to champion the UK’s climate leadership and COP26 legacy with Alok Sharma.

“Looking forward to also attending COP27 to highlight how the Net Zero Review is an opportunity to better deliver greater prosperity and economic growth.”

The UK chaired the previous climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow last year.

World leaders made a series of climate pledges, culminating in an agreement to strengthen emissions-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year.

Ending and reversing deforestation, cutting methane emissions, and the journey to net zero were all agreed to at the crucial Glasgow climate summit last year which lasted for two weeks.

UK

Robert Jenrick defends £75k donation after criticising Labour in freebies row

Published

6 hours ago

September 29, 2024

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Robert Jenrick defends £75k donation after criticising Labour in freebies row

Robert Jenrick has defended being handed a £75,000 donation from a company which had received money from a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), despite criticising Labour over the freebies row.

Questions have been raised over the ultimate source of the funds from The Spott Fitness, which gave Mr Jenrick three separate £25,000 donations in July.

As first reported by Tortoise Media, the company received a loan from a firm based in the BVI.

The Tory leadership contender told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that The Spott Fitness “as I understand it… is a fitness company that operates in the UK”, and the donation was “perfectly legal and valid”.

Politics Live: Tory leadership candidates faced questions on Sky News

Mr Jenrick spoke to Sky News alongside the three other rivals to replace Rishi Sunak, as the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham kicks off.

During the interviews, Kemi Badenoch said she is a fighter and if someone takes a swing at her “I will swing back”.

Meanwhile, Tom Tugendhat defended his “posh boy public school background”, saying his military service has given him leadership skills, while former home secretary James Cleverly refused to name any of the previous four Tory prime ministers as being to blame for the party’s general election defeat, saying the public “don’t like infighting”.

Jenrick says donations ‘valid’

Asked about the donations from The Spott Fitness, which have been declared on his MPs’ register of interests, Mr Jenrick said: “As I understand it, this is a fitness company that operates in the UK.

“It’s a perfectly legal and valid donation under British law and we’ve set it out in the public domain in the way that one does with donations.”

Pressed for details on who owns the company and who works for it, the former immigration minister said this would be set out “on Companies House in the normal way” and he has “obviously met people who are involved in the company”.

“What people are criticising Labour for is actually rather different,” he added.

“Labour are being criticised for their rank hypocrisy that they spent years complaining about other political parties and then they’ve chosen to take off donors and cronies and to give passes to Number 10 in response.”

The Labour Party Conference in Liverpool last week was overshadowed by a donation and freebies row, after it emerged Sir Keir Starmer accepted over £100,000 in gifts since 2019.

Questions have been raised in particular over the large amount given by Labour peer and TV executive Lord Alli, who had a pass to Number 10 for a short time in order to attend meetings, the government said.

The Conservatives are now gathering in Birmingham since their worst defeat at the ballot box in history at the July general election.

Jenrick backs ‘cast iron cap’ on migration

Mr Jenrick, currently the frontrunner to replace Mr Sunak, said his party made “serious mistakes” and failed to deliver.

He is pitching himself as a “change” candidate, telling Trevor Phillips he would take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR) in order to get the failed £700m Rwanda asylum scheme up and running, and introduce a cap on migration.

He said this would be different from previous commitments to introduce a limit as the cap would be “legally binding… cast in iron”, with the number set “in the tens of thousands or lower”.

Badenoch: ‘If you swing at me I will swing back’

Mr Jenrick faces competition on the right from Kemi Badenoch, the former equalities minister.

Speaking to Phillips, she defended an Op-ed in The Daily Telegraph in which she claimed there was a rise in the number of migrants coming to the UK who “hate Israel”.

She said she was not referring to all Muslim immigrants “but there are some, those who buy into Islamist ideology, political Islam, they do not like Israel and we need to be able to distinguish between the two”.

The combative shadow housing secretary also insisted she does not go looking for fights when asked about her rows with the likes of Doctor Who star David Tennant, but that she will stand up for herself.

The North West Essex MP said: “I will not stand there and let people punch me. If you swing at me I will swing back but I don’t look for fights.”

She added: “I am something that is just different and unique and that is why I stand out in this contest.”

‘Public don’t like bickering’

All four leadership contenders will make their case at the party conference this week, before another round of voting by MPs will reduce them to the final two, which the party membership will then vote on.

Mr Cleverly, who got the least votes of those remaining in the previous round, said his various cabinet roles in the past few years meant he has spent “more time promoting other people’s ideas” rather than his own – but that shows he is a “team player”.

He declined to name a prime minister who he blamed most for the party’s 2024 defeat but added: “I’ll tell you what the public told me they didn’t like – they didn’t like the constant infighting, they didn’t like the bickering.”

Mr Tugendhat asked the public to judge him on his own record, rather than his public schooling.

“I think that decisions I have made for the last 35 years demonstrate the character that you are looking at,” he said.

“I have chosen consistently to serve our country. I have put myself on the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

UK

Boy, eight, dies after being shot at farm in Cumbria

Published

6 hours ago

September 29, 2024

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Boy, eight, dies after being shot at farm in Cumbria

An eight-year-old boy has died after sustaining “serious” injuries to his head and face after being shot at a farm.

Cumbria Police said they are investigating the incident, and said they were called to the farm – in the Warcop area – at around 2.50pm on Saturday.

They said they received “a report that a child had been seriously injured by a firearm at the property” and that police and North West Ambulance Service attended.

“The firearm was secured at the scene by police and an eight-year-old boy was taken to hospital by air ambulance having suffered serious and life-threatening injuries to his head and face,” they said.

“Sadly, the boy has died overnight.”

Cumbria Police added officers arrested a man in his 60s at the scene on suspicion of assault GBH.

“He remains in police custody but is now under arrest on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter,” they said in a statement.

UK

Rosie Duffield ‘never thought’ she would quit Labour – but says Sir Keir Starmer ‘has problem with women’

Published

6 hours ago

September 29, 2024

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Rosie Duffield 'never thought' she would quit Labour - but says Sir Keir Starmer 'has problem with women'

Former Labour MP Rosie Duffield has said she never thought she would leave the party “in a million years” and suggested the prime minister has a “problem with women” after her resignation.

The Canterbury MP, who submitted a scathing resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer on Saturday, told the BBC she is “desperately sorry” to those in her constituency who voted for Labour.

“It’s not at all where I wanted to be. I never thought in a million years I would leave this party,” she told the broadcaster late last night.

“I’m trying not to get upset… it’s in your soul and your heart, particularly someone like me.

“I’m from a very different background to Keir Starmer. I was a single mum who needed the Labour Party.

“It’s just so profoundly disappointing as a Labour voter and activist and a former recipient of tax credits in a low-paid job to see this is what we’ve become.”

Her resignation letter to the prime minister said she was “so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party”.

In the interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Duffield was asked if she thought Sir Keir “has a problem with women”.

She replied: “I’m afraid I do. I’ve experienced it myself.”

The now-independent MP said she and other female Labour backbenchers refer to “the young men who surround” Sir Keir as “the lads”.

“It’s very clear that the lads are in charge,” she added.

“They’ve now got their Downing Street passes and they’re the same ones briefing against me in the papers and other prominent female MPs.”

Her resignation letter specifically criticised Sir Keir’s treatment of Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott as “deeply shameful” after her long-term suspension.

Reacting to Ms Duffield’s resignation on Sky News, Labour minister Pat McFadden said he “regrets” her decision, but added: “It’s probably not a secret that she’s been unhappy for some time.”

On questions of “sleaze” that relate to Sky News revelations of the prime minister receiving more freebies than any other MP, he said he “wouldn’t characterise it in the way that Rosie has” and that there was “no public money involved”.

He also said he is “not ashamed of the party” and that “government is always tough” in light of Labour’s decision to cut winter fuel payments for thousands of pensioners.

Starmer ‘hasn’t actually explained’

Ms Duffield told Kuenssberg Labour’s three months in power has been “mass hypocrisy” she “can’t be part of”.

“It’s greed,” she said. “Why else would someone on so much more money than most people get free gifts? He can absolutely afford his own clothes – we all can.”

She said Sir Keir “hasn’t answered” or “actually explained” the situation.

In response to the revelations on his donations, he said: “Wherever there are gifts from anyone, I’m going to comply with the rules.

“It’s very important to me that the rules are followed. I’ve always said that. I said that before the election. I reinforced it after the election. And that’s why shortly after the election, my team reached out for advice on what declarations should be made so it’s in accordance with the rules.

“They then sought out for further advice more recently, as a result of which they’ve made the relevant declarations.”