Downing Street has apologised after meat and alcohol were served at last month’s Diwali reception. Meanwhile, Baroness Harman says Wes Streeting “crossed the line” with his interventions on assisted dying. Listen to Electoral Dysfunction as you scroll.
Friday 15 November 2024 18:08, UK
Last month, the prime minister hosted a reception marking Diwali in Downing Street – but there has been some controversy.
Attendees were rather surprised to find that meat and alcohol were being served – despite the majority of Hindu communities only eating vegetarian food during the festival and abstaining from alcohol.
Tory MP Shivani Raja wrote a letter to the PM yesterday, saying she was “greatly concerned” to hear about it, and said it speaks to “a disappointing lack of knowledge of the customs and traditions that many British citizens hold dear”.
A Downing Street spokesperson has now apologised for what happened.
They said in a statement: “The prime minister was pleased to welcome a range of communities celebrating Diwali to a reception in Downing Street.
“He paid tribute to the huge contribution the British Hindu, Sikh & Jain communities make to our country and how the government is driven by the shared values of hard work, ambition and aspiration.
“A mistake was made in the organisation of the event. We understand the strength of feeling on this issue and so would apologise to the community and assure them it will not happen again.”
By Faye Brown, political reporter
Sexual assault and indecent exposure are among the crimes alleged to have been committed by people with diplomatic immunity last year.
The Foreign Office has revealed that, in 2023, nine serious and significant offences were allegedly carried out by overseas officials who are exempt from being prosecuted.
A “serious offence” has been defined as something that could carry a penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment or more, according to government minister Catherine West, who confirmed the data in a Written Ministerial Statement.
Under diplomatic conventions enshrined in international law, officials with a diplomatic service based in a foreign country are granted various immunities. The extent to which they, or their family members, are immune from prosecution depends on how senior they are.
In 2023, serious offences committed included: An Iraqi accused of possession or distribution of indecent images of children; a Libyan accused of sexual assault; a Portuguese person accused of indecent exposure and someone from Singapore facing an accusation of child cruelty or neglect.
A Fijian and a Pakistani were also accused of driving without insurance; while diplomats from Ghana, Libya and Mongolia were accused of assault.
The Conservative Party has published an attack ad on social media to highlight the impact of changes to the way farms are tax.
Farms worth more than £1m will face an effective inheritance tax rate of 20% from April 2026.
They have published an image of a billboard that reads: “Keir Starmer: Farmer Harmer”, and added in the post: “Keir Starmer doesn’t get farming. It takes decades to learn the skills, and generations to make it a success.
“Keir’s Family Farm Tax will force families to sell their farms, putting farmers out of business and crippling the industry.”
Sir Ed Davey has hit out at the government for changes in last month’s budget to the way farms are taxed.
Farms worth more than £1m will face an effective inheritance tax rate of 20% from April 2026.
The Lib Dem leader said: “I think the Labour budget shows that the government doesn’t understand farmers or rural communities and how it works.
“I mean, farmers must feel really absolutely angry. They were let down by the Conservatives – their failure on the rural payments, the failure on the various trade agreements and so many problems caused by the Conservatives to farmers.
“And now Labour’s making it even worse.”
He called on the government to reverse the decisions, and said his party will be “fighting it in parliament”.
Sir Ed Davey has criticised the government after data showed the economy grew by just 0.1% in the first three months of the new Labour government (more here).
The Lib Dem leader described the figures as “very lacklustre”, adding: “We’ve got used to them under the Conservatives who’ve really messed up the economy and we had hoped the new government would turn it around, but it’s not going fast enough.
“We need a growth strategy which makes sure we rebuild our relationship with Europe so we can trade more and grow more from that trade.
“We’ve got to really tackle the waiting lists on the NHS so people can get back to work.”
That is compounded for Sir Ed by the re-election of Donald Trump as US president, and he highlighted the president-elect calling himself “the tariff man”.
“That’s why Liberal Democrats have said we need to rebuild our relationship with Europe, get rid of the awful, costly trade barriers that the Conservatives put up so our businesses can trade more freely with Europe – hopefully to offset any damage that comes from President Trump.”
The Lib Dem leader has been out and about today to make known his opposition to the government’s move to increase the cap on bus fares from £2 to £3, which he said is a “big concern” of his.
Sir Ed Davey told broadcasters: “People who are really struggling, who depend on the bus to go to work, to go to towns like Wantage, young people [who] go to their college – they’re going to have to pay this extra money, and it’s going to hit them hard.
“And when we’re trying to get people into public transport, into buses, it’s the wrong decision.”
MPs will soon get their first chance to debate and vote on an assisted dying bill for almost a decade. It’ll be about a proposed law for England and Wales.
Ruth, Beth and Harriet discuss the hugely divisive issue on this episode – including whether Health Secretary Wes Streeting should have said that the law could impact other NHS services. Hariet thinks he’s crossed a line. He plans to vote against the bill.
They also talk about confidence in public institutions following the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury, asking has anyone got any trust left in them?
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You can read our Sky News explainer about the assisted dying bill here.
By Alix Culbertson, political reporter
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected civil servants’ demands for a four-day working week, hours after a minister said: “We’re not living in the 1970s.”
Civil servants who are members of the PCS union have been campaigning for a four-day working week and on Wednesday released research they said could save the government £21.4m a year in one department.
However, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said it is “not government policy to support a four-day working week”.
“The civil service is working to deliver for working people day in, day out,” he added.
The PCS called the government’s response “knee-jerk” and “disappointing”, and said ministers were being close-minded.
Pensions minister Emma Reynolds was more forthright in her response than Number 10, as she simply said civil servants “won’t get one”, in reference to a four-day week.
Asked why not, she told Times Radio: “Because we’re not living in the 1970s.”
By Jimmy Rice, Money blog editor, and Daniel Dunford, senior data journalist
The anger caused by Labour scrapping the universal winter fuel payment earlier this year has been well publicised – but a less talked about cut to the benefit has been taking place every year since 2000.
About 1.3 million people in England and Wales who are entitled to certain means-tested benefits can get either £200 or £300, down from more than 11 million previously.
These amounts have not changed in more than two decades, despite periods of sky-high inflation, and energy prices rising exponentially in recent years.
Sky News analysis in the Money blog shows that the £200 available for 60 to 79-year-olds would be worth £370 today if it had risen in line with inflation.
If it had risen in line with energy prices, it would be worth almost £1,000 now, and would’ve paid out more than £1,200 during the peak of the energy price crisis in the winter of 2022-23.
The payment for the over 80s was raised to £300 in April 2003. If that had risen with inflation since then it would be worth more than £500 now.
‘Lack of insight’ in government
If it had risen by the same as energy prices, it would be worth more than £1,200 now, and would’ve topped £2,000 in 2022-23.
This significant, annual real-terms cut has, over the past 13 years, coincided with pensions rising in real terms due to the triple lock – potentially offsetting some consequences of freezing the payment.
But charities who spoke to Money say vulnerable pensioners are suffering due to the payment’s stagnation.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Energy prices are much higher than they were a few years ago, and yet the winter fuel payment which was designed to support pensioners in meeting these costs has remained the same.
“Most recently, of course, the current government has decided to brutally ration access to the payment, the main qualification for it now being that you are in receipt of pension credit.
“The lack of commitment to winter fuel payment by governments of all colours arguably reflects a lack of insight in Whitehall about the difficulties older people on low and modest incomes face in making their money stretch to cover the basics, especially during the colder months when they need to stay warm to protect their health.”
Disability Rights UK pointed to a report this week that estimated 10,400 terminally ill people die in poverty each year.
It is therefore “astounding”, the charity says, that the winter fuel payment hasn’t been raised in decades.
‘An increase is imperative’
Policy and campaigns officer Dan White said: “Energy bills are rising, energy companies are recording huge profits, poverty is increasing, so there is ample proof that the current winter fuel payment is out of touch with the financial reality of disabled pensioners’ lives.
“An increase is not just justified, it is imperative, and we need an energy social tariff targeted at those facing high energy costs, including disabled and older people. If government fails to act accordingly, there will be a humanitarian crisis on our doorstep.”
We asked the government if raising the winter fuel payment was something it would look at. The Department for Work and Pensions told us:
“We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,700 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take up has already seen a 152% increase in claims.
“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount to help with energy bills over winter while our extension of the household support fund will help with the cost of food, heating, and bills.”
By Faye Brown, political reporter
Sexual assault and indecent exposure are among the crimes alleged to have been committed by people with diplomatic immunity last year.
The Foreign Office has revealed that, in 2023, nine serious and significant offences were allegedly carried out by overseas officials who are exempt from being prosecuted.
A “serious offence” has been defined as something that could carry a penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment or more, according to government minister Catherine West, who confirmed the data in a Written Ministerial Statement.
Under diplomatic conventions enshrined in international law, officials with a diplomatic service based in a foreign country are granted various immunities. The extent to which they, or their family members, are immune from prosecution depends on how senior they are.
In 2023, serious offences committed included: An Iraqi accused of possession or distribution of indecent images of children; a Libyan accused of sexual assault; a Portuguese person accused of indecent exposure and someone from Singapore facing an accusation of child cruelty or neglect.
A Fijian and a Pakistani were also accused of driving without insurance; while diplomats from Ghana, Libya and Mongolia were accused of assault.
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