Politics latest: Nicola Sturgeon speaks after husband charged; Rishi Sunak accused of 'full-on assault on disabled people' (2024)

Conservative MP Mark Menzies has been suspended from the parliamentary party in light of allegations he abused local Tory party funds to pay off "bad people".

Mark Menzies strongly disputes the claims which also include accusations he used campaign funds to pay his personal medical bills.

On the Conservatives' investigation into the claims, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News: "There's further information that the chief whip I understand became familiar with yesterday and actions being swiftly taken on the basis of that further information.

"I think it is important to stress that the MP in question here denies the allegations and so on basis of sort of fairness and proper justice, I think it's important to mention that."

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by political correspondent Darren McCaffrey to analyse how Westminster will cope with another scandal.

Plus, the Scottish government has come under fire for rowing back on its climate commitments.

Niall speaks to science correspondent Thomas Moore about the consequences of the government missing eight out of 12 of its annual climate commitments.

👉Listen above then tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts👈

By Serena Barker-Singh, political correspondent

A former senior civil servant criticised some of the policymakers behind the illegal migration bill, accusing them of "harbouring racist views" about immigrants, it has emerged.

The senior policy official was in key ministerial meetings on the small boats policy, including in meetings with the then prime minister Boris Johnson.

Her claims emerged as part of an employment tribunal that has now concluded.

She says from her perspective the head of the illegal migration task force Michael Bourke and his deputy directors saw "the ultra-hostile environment towards unwanted foreigners as both being practical, necessary and gratifying".

In formal court documents seen by Sky News, the ex-head of policy in the illegal migration task force, who has been a civil servant for 12 years, said she had repeatedly tried to move conversations away from "prejudice and blame, to objective assessment and accountability".

Mr Bourke has stated his position is that his conduct towards the former civil servant was fair and during the time she was on the task force she was "negative and problematic, leading colleagues to feel disrespected, overburdened or undermined".

Read the full story here:

By Tim Baker, political reporter

Liz Truss's memoir broke the rules in place for ministers publishing works about their time in office.

The former prime minister's book, Ten Years To Save The West, came out earlier this week and tells of her time as the UK shortest-serving leader.

This includes how her government was run, and details of her conversation with the late Queen Elizabeth II.

While Ms Truss submitted the book to civil servants in the Cabinet Office for review, a final sign-off was not sought before publication.

A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said: "This book was submitted to the Cabinet Office for review. While we would not publicise the details of any discussions, we did not agree to the final wording. So the author is in breach of the Radcliffe Rules."

Read more here:

Rishi Sunak today announced he wanted to tackle what he calls "sick note culture" which he says is costing the taxpayer £69bn and rising.

In effect, he said that if his party wins a general election and he is still the prime minister, he plans to strip GPs of their power to sign of people off work.

Instead, unspecified "specialist work and health professionals" would be given the job of issuing sick notes in England to combat what he called a "worrying" number of 2.8 million younger people who were out of work as of this year.

General election posturing aside, is the prime minister's diagnosis of the problem the right one?

From OBR figures, the number of sick notes have stayed relatively stagnant over the past four years - essentially flat with the exception of lockdowns - and that it's difficult to determine why sick notes are issued, for mental health or otherwise.

Where increases do arise are on the levels of worklessness generally.

"Economic inactivity" is now higher than in the pandemic and the biggest driver behind this seems to be long-term ill health - people out of work for more than three years.

The director of the Institute for Employment Studies, Tony Wilson, says these figures suggest the problem isn't higher flows of people out of work, but rather lower flows into work.

He says sick notes are important, but not the whole picture as the priority shul be to help those already out of work.

One of the rationales behind the government's announcement was that Britain simply "can’t afford" the current levels of sickness benefit and that it was "not fair on taxpayers".

Mr Sunak made a point of stating that those who are anxious or depressed should be expected to work, saying that while "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", he was also concerned that 53% of people inactive due to long term sickness reported they had depression, bad nerves or anxiety.

But Louise Murphy from the Resolution Foundation says most PIP claims among young people do relate to "psychiatric disorders" but these tend to be long term conditions such as ADHD and autism rather than anxiety and depression.

Critics have also pointed out something missing from the speech was NHS mental health capacity, after NHS bosses warned "overwhelmed" services had been unable to cope with a big post-COVID increase in people needing help.

As these plans are promised for the next parliament and a consultation will be the next steps, it is likely there will be more detail in the coming months from the government on how these plans can be legislated for.

By Adam Parsons, Europe correspondent, and Tim Baker, political reporter

Young people could be able to move more easily between the UK and Europe and stay longer to work, study and train under proposed plans by the European Union

Under the proposal, which has been put forward by the European Commission,new rules would be drawn up to allow for greater movement between the UK and EU countries for people aged between 18 and 30.

Formal negotiations have not yet begun, and a UK source told Sky News no formal proposal had been put forward by Brussels to begin negotiating on.

The proposal will be further discussed by the European Council, which represents all the nations, before negotiations start in earnest.

The plans proposed by the EU would allow young people to stay in Europe for periods of four years, with the same rules extended to EU citizens coming to Britain.

It would also mean EU students paying the same fees as British ones. Since Brexit, UK universities have charged much higher fees to European students.

Announcing the move, the European Commission said it wanted to take an "innovative" approach to tackling the barriers experienced by young people looking to travel from the EU to the UK and vice versa for longer periods.

Read more here:

By Beth Rigby, political editor

This is a tale that's more than just a marmalade dropper. It's a story so astounding you have to pick yourself up off the floor.

Mark Menzies MP last December allegedly made a 3.15am phone call to an elderly party volunteer asking for £5,000 as a matter of "life or death" because he had been locked up by "bad people".

To secure his release, the money was paid by his office manager from her personal account and reimbursed from funds raised from donors, according to The Times. The newspaper also alleges Mr Menzies received thousands of pounds from campaign funds into his personal bank account which were used for personal medical expenses.

I will say from the outset that these are claims Mr Menzies, the MP for the Lancashire seat of Fylde, "strongly disputes".

In a statement to The Times, he said: "I strongly dispute the allegations put to me. I have fully complied with all the rules for declarations. As there is an investigation ongoing I will not be commenting further."

But when the story broke, Conservative chief whip Simon Hart suspended Mr Menzies from the parliamentary party pending the outcome of an investigation.

It is a mega story. Not just because of the staggering, astounding, eye-popping - take your pick - nature of the allegations, but the questions it throws up: If this had happened over three months ago, why is it only now that the Conservative Party are suspending the whip? Was there misuse of money and what are the implications of that? Can Mr Menzies really continue as an MP?

Read Beth's full analysis below:

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Labour is today revealing more details about its housing plans, should it form the next government.

Speaking to Sky News, the party's shadow housing secretary Matthew Pennycook accused the Tories of "presiding over an acute and intensifying housing crisis", saying there is "no aspect of that housing crisis that is not improved by building many more homes across the country".

He went on: "What we're announcing today is a strategic release of some greenbelt land in order to meet housing need across the country."

Despite the government's claim it is "protecting every inch" of the green belt, he said it is releasing land, but in "an inconsistent and haphazard manner".

"Labour is saying there's a smarter way to do this when we have to release greenbelt land to meet local housing targets, we can ensure we're releasing the right parts of the green belt," Mr Pennycook says.

"So low quality grey belt land in the green belt. Disused petrol stations. Abandoned car parks.

"And when that is released, we can ensure through our golden rules that the development that takes place on it does meet local housing with high rates of affordable housing, first class infrastructure and amenities, and access to local green space."

He rejected suggestions of a potential backlash from environmental groups, saying the move is backed by Natural England, for example.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was out on a visit this morning visitinga housing development in the East Midlands.

He told broadcasters: "Having a secure roof over your head is one of the dreams of so many people across the country.

"Because it's a base camp, if you like. For life, for security, for everything they want to achieve."

The site he visited was "derelict", he said, and is now being developed, and he said: "We want to see more of that."

By Jennifer Scott, political reporter

A Tory activist who reported an MP over claims he misused party funds has told Sky News she is disappointed by the way her complaint has been handled.

Mark Menzies voluntarily quit the Conservative parliamentary party this week after a report in The Times claimed he called his ex-campaign manager Katie Fieldhouse, 78, early one day to say he was locked in a flat by "bad people" and needed £5,000 as a matter of "life and death".

The sum, which rose to £6,500, was eventually paid by his office manager from her personal bank account and subsequently reimbursed from funds raised from donors in an account named Fylde Westminster Group, the newspaper said.

But despite the incident taking place in December - and Ms Fieldhouse submitting her complaint in January - the Fylde MP had remained part of the parliamentary party and as a trade envoy for the government until the press reports surfaced.

He has now lost the Conservative whip and was suspended as one of Rishi Sunak's envoys.

Mr Menzies strongly disputes the claims, which also include accusations he used campaign funds to pay his personal medical bills.

Speaking to Sky News' Frazer Maude, Ms Fieldhouse said: "I am feeling dreadful because I am a devout Tory and as I have said to everybody else, I reported his actions to the chief whip… it is now the middle of April.

"Come to your own conclusions [about] what is happening."

Read her full comments here:

People voting in local elections in England on 2 May will need to provide photo ID.

It is the second year the requirement has been in place - but in 2023,14,000 people couldn't cast their ballot because they didn't take ID to the polling booth.

There are 22 different types of ID you can use - and if you don't have any of them, you can register for a Voter Authority Certificate.

Here's everything you need to know to avoid being caught out:

By Jennifer Scott, political reporter

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has breached government rules by being "evasive" about his links to a hedge fund that set up a meeting between him and the president of Venezuela, a watchdog has said.

Mr Johnson raised a few eyebrows earlier this year after his spokesman confirmed he had flown to the country to meet its controversial leader Nicolas Maduro.

But now, the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) Lord Pickles, has highlighted further controversary around the meeting which was arranged by a company called Merlyn Advisors - a hedge fund.

Under government rules, any minister leaving office must run new jobs or appointments by the Acoba watchdog before taking them up.

But Lord Pickles said despite "repeatedly" being asked to "clarify his relationship" with the firm, Mr Johnson had "not done so", nor had he "denied the reports in the media that he had been working with Merlyn Advisors on a non-contractual basis".