Ashworth urges Labour to probe ‘lewd comments’ allegedly made to female MP-.mp4
Rishi Sunak has said it would be “silly” for the government to provide more help to families struggling with energy bills “now”, despite the mounting cost of living crisis.
Desperate Britons are facing an average £700 increase in their gas and electricity bills after April’s energy price cap rise – with another 50 per cent spike expected in October.
However, in an interview with Mumsnet, the chancellor rejected the idea of further help in the months ahead – insisting he was willing to make himself unpopular by sticking to his plan.
Hinting at possible action closer to the autumn, he said: “Depending on what happens to bills then, of course, if we need to act and provide support for people, we will.
“But it would be silly to do that now or last month or the month before when we don’t know exactly what the situation in the autumn will be … We’ll see where we are with that if we need to do more.”
‘Cultural change’ needed in House of Commons, says cabinet minister
More from Ben Wallace’s interview on Sky News now, where the defence secretary was also asked to comment on the investigation into a Tory MP who has been accused of watching pornography on his phone while inside the Commons chamber.
The defence secretary said simply that there is “no place for pornography in any workplace” and there needs to be a cultural change in Westminster.
“There is a range of allegations that go right across the House, go right across the parties,” he said, adding:
“This is a problem, I think, about the overall culture of the House of Commons. It is late sitting, long nights with bars, and that very often leads, and it has done for decades, to behavioural challenges.
“I think it’s really important that we think about ways to change the culture in the House of Commons”.
The accusation, made to the Tory chief whip by an unnamed female minister, came amid an ongoing misogyny row involving Angela Rayner after a Conservative MP told the Mail on Sunday that he suspected the deputy Labour leader of purposely crossing and uncrossing her legs in parliament to distract Boris Johnson.
Those remarks have seen been debased as sexist, misogynistic and classist.
Sam Hancock28 April 2022 08:41
Labour frontbencher ‘made vulgar sexual comments to female MP’
Following my earlier post (7.35am), here’s our politics reporter Adam Forrest with some more on claims made by a female Welsh MP that a member of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet made vulgar comments to her.
Sam Hancock28 April 2022 08:34
Wallace struggles to defend government after Covid court ruling
Defence secretary Ben Wallace sought to defend the government this morning following the High Court ruling on Wednesday that ministers acted unlawfully when they permitted the discharge of elderly patients from hospitals into care homes during the pandemic.
Asked if it was “finally time to dispose of the notion, as put forward by [former health secretary] Matt Hancock that a protective ring was thrown around care homes”, Mr Wallace said he remembered the virus being quick-moving and the government had to learn what was best as the disease played out.
The cabinet minister also jumped to Mr Hancock’s defence, saying he had since admitted “he has his own regrets”.
“I bet he does,” Sky’s Niall Paterson quipped back.
The High Court ruling yesterday focused on the government’s decision to allow the discharge of Covid patients to care homes without testing them, which it ultimately judged was unlawful because it failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from non-symptomatic transmission.
Put to Mr Wallace that both Mr Hancock and PM Boris Johnson had erroneously claimed they knew very little about the risk of asymptomatic transmission – despite Patrick Vallance, the government’s…
Read More: Rishi Sunak news live: ‘Silly’ to help families with energy bills right now, chancellor says