London Playbook: Mega nurses strike — Case
against Gray — Who will fix housing?
BY ELENI
COUREA
MAY 1, 2023
8:00 AM CET
London
Playbook
By ELENI
COUREA
Good Monday
morning. This is Eleni Courea taking you through the first of three bank
holiday weekends in May … it’s like the king wanted us to trial a four-day work
week by stealth. Thanks your majesty!
DRIVING THE
DAY
MAY DAY
WALK-OUT: Nurses are staging today their biggest strike so far, with cancer
nurses and some from ICU and A&E departments walking out for the first time
in their dispute with ministers over pay.
On the
picket lines: The strike by the Royal College of Nursing began at 8 p.m. last
night and will last 28 hours until 23:59 p.m. (after plans to carry on through
Tuesday were scuppered by a legal challenge) … while Unite members working for
the NHS at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London and the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust are
launching a fresh wave of strikes today after rejecting the government’s pay
offer.
DHSC view:
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said on Sunday that the RCN’s action was
“premature and disrespectful” to other unions ahead of the NHS staff council
meeting on Tuesday. The government is hoping that the council’s expected
approval of the deal will put pressure on unions to stop striking.
For the
strikers’ view: RCN’s Pat Cullen is on GMB at 8.10 a.m … and Unite’s Onay Kasab
is on Times Radio at 8.05 a.m. Cullen warned in an interview with the Indy that
strikes could carry on for years. The Mirror has the full list of NHS trusts
affected.
**A message
from Lloyds Banking Group: More than 120,000 households across Great Britain
were in temporary accommodation at the end of September 2022, according to
official data. Increasing access to quality homes is a fundamental part of
solving homelessness. That’s why we’re calling for one million new and
genuinely affordable homes to be built. Find out more.**
OVER IN
SW1: Other than that, it’s a quiet bank holiday Monday — especially if you’re
Simon Case and have been frozen out of key meetings by No. 10. Rishi Sunak is
working from Downing Street today. (Maybe for fun he’ll tap Case on the
shoulder and utter the terrifying words “have you got time for a quick chat.”)
Off the
Case: The cabinet secretary was thrust back into the spotlight amid the fallout
from Richard Sharp’s resignation as BBC chair, as reports emerged that in
December 2020, Case met Sharp alone to discuss Boris Johnson’s finances and
took barely any notes.
About to
steal back the spotlight: Case’s nemesis Sue Gray, who is bracing for the
Cabinet Office verdict on her shock appointment as Labour chief of staff.
Tuesday’s order paper says a Cabinet Office minister will update MPs on “the
circumstances leading to the resignation of a senior civil servant.” A Cabinet
Office aide wouldn’t comment on what this was — but the Mail on Sunday reported
that Gray will be ruled in breach of the civil service code.
You can see
where this is going: A Whitehall source tells the Sun’s Harry Cole: “If Sue is
found to have broken the civil service code, Mr Rules would be hiring a
rule-breaking chief of staff.”
On top of
that: The Times’ Oli Wright reports that the Cabinet Office will recommend that
Gray be blocked from taking up the role until March — and that Case was
“instrumental” to that recommendation. Senior Whitehall figures accuse Case of
a vendetta, with one source telling Wright it’s “very personal” and another
saying he’s pursuing a “vindictive” agenda against Gray after she criticized
the civil service leadership over the Downing Street parties.
Not
everyone is happy: A senior Tory tells the Times that delaying Gray’s
appointment could backfire, saying: “She really wasn’t central in Whitehall …
Are we really saying we want an effective ban on officials going to work for
political parties — because that is what a one-year ban is. I think we’re
setting a dangerous precedent.” There’s hand-wringing in Labour too, where some
senior figures have long thought installing Gray as chief of staff was a bad idea.
A shadow Cabinet member tells the Telegraph’s Dan Martin: “Keir needs a chief
of staff as there is a lack of organisation at the moment. There is a gap at
the top that needs to be filled.”
Process
point: This Cabinet Office probe expected to conclude on Tuesday is separate
from the Acoba deliberations into how long Gray should wait before she takes up
the role — but its recommendation will feed into the Acoba process.
POLICY
CORNER
HELP FOR
HOUSING: Can’t Keir Starmer talk about anything without the Tories taking it
away from him? The Times’ Oli Wright reports that Rishi Sunak is drawing up
plans to help people get onto the housing ladder in what would be a central
plank of the Tory offer at the next election. Three government sources tell the
Times that a “new-buyers’ support scheme” — which was discussed at the spring
budget but not taken forward because of fears it would exacerbate inflation —
could make it into the Autumn Statement.
Of course …
Fixing the housing crisis is easier said than done — as the Times leader points
out it would require “some politically unpalatable decisions.” The paper
reports that the proposals being examined by ministers include resurrecting
George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme, which was shut to new entrants last year. Hardly
revolutionary.
Over in
Labour land: Starmer has spent the weekend talking about home ownership
including in an interview with the Observer’s Toby Helm. “The dream of home
ownership has been killed by the prime minister,” he said. “I want Labour to be
the party of home ownership.”
For more on
that: Patrick Maguire’s Times column has more policy detail on how Labour is
putting home ownership at the center of its plan to grow the economy.
“Starmer’s offer can now be summed up quite simply: more houses — lots of
them,” he writes.
PENSIONER
PAYOUTS: The Express splashes on Labour analysis which found that 1.3 million
pensioners — over 10 percent of all state pension cases — were underpaid £530
million last year because of mistakes by government officials. The average
underpayments were more than £400 per person, according to the figures.
Lawless
Britain: More than 99 percent of thefts from a person between April and
December last year didn’t end in a charge — even when the victim tracks their
stolen phone, according to Labour-obtained data written up by the Sun.
BREAKDOWN
IN TRUST: Senior Tories are demanding a change to trust fund rules, according
to the i, after 72,000 teenagers with learning disabilities were locked out of
money their parents saved for them under the Child Trust Fund scheme. They are
each set to lose more than £2,000.
UNCLAIMED
WELFARE: The Guardian splashes on figures suggesting that U.K. households are
missing out on at least £19 billion a year in unclaimed welfare benefits.
TODAY IN
WESTMINSTER
PARLIAMENT:
Of course not.
INVESTMENT
QUESTIONS: A company that the PM’s wife is a shareholder in was awarded a
£349,976 government grant as part of a scheme to support entrepreneurship, the
Times’ Rachel Sylvester reveals. A Downing Street spokesman tells her “all interests”
had been declared to the independent adviser.
QATARGATE
HITS LONDON: British MPs and peers were lobbied by a key group at the heart of
a European Parliament corruption scandal during visits to Qatar ahead of the
2022 FIFA World Cup, my colleagues Esther Webber, Eddy Wax and Gregorio Sorgi
reveal. Peers Qurban Hussain and Pola Uddin traveled to Qatar on a trip paid by
the National Human Rights Committee and then made positive comments about the
country in the chamber. There is no suggestion they broke U.K. parliamentary
rules.
STOP THE
LORDS: Government figures are discussing using the Parliament Act or appointing
a load of Boris Johnson-proposed Tory peers to prevent the Lords from watering
down the Illegal Immigration Bill, the Times’ Matt Dathan reports. He speaks to
a couple of former ministers who say these proposals won’t work. “It’s quite
clear their intention is to say, ‘We’ve tried but those awful doddery Lords
blocked us,’” one Tory MP tells him.
WHAT
PLAYBOOK WANTS TO KNOW: What happened to the bathrobes and slippers that
vanished during Liz Truss’ reign at Chevening? (H/t Glen Owen’s widely followed
Mail on Sunday scoop). Truss is disputing £12,000 bill, but has indicated she’s
happy to pay to replace missing items, so that’s alright then.
ON THE
CAMPAIGN TRIAL
THREE DAYS
TO GO: Local election campaigning is in full swing with both Labour and the
Tories cranking up the expectations management.
On the one
hand: Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge, Keir Starmer claimed the Tories should be
making gains on Thursday, which led an incensed CCHQ official to message
Playbook: “This is a risible claim from a man who will just say whatever suits
the politics of the time. The last time these seats were up for election,
Keir’s friend and colleague Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party and
they were polling in the high 20s to low 30s. The assessment that we could lose
1,000 seats is not from party HQ, but the most respected independent experts in
the field. If he finds that so astonishing, he should take it up with
Professors Thrasher and Rallings.”
And on the
other hand: A Labour official said in response that “the Tories are misquoting
Rallings and Thrasher.” The official pointed to the context of the article
saying 1,000 losses would result from a 6 percent swing and said: “The Tories
however are trying to say 1,000 losses is certain/baked in rather than simply
representing one possible scenario. Also, just take a step back: the Tories are
saying they’re going to do worse than Theresa May in 2019. She had to quit
three weeks later. So the Tories can’t say that Rishi Sunak is doing a great
job and he’s going to do worse than Theresa May in these elections.”
What Labour
is up to: Keir Starmer and Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson are
visiting a seaside town in Lancashire to speak to local residents about their
plan for tackling the cost of living.
As for the
Lib Dems: They are targeting the blue wall — including Dominic Raab’s Esher and
Walton seat — with attack ads on the impact of ministers’ freeze on income tax
thresholds, the Telegraph reports.
THE FINAL
WORD: Polling guru John Curtice told the BBC’s Westminster Hour that the key
metric in Thursday’s local elections will be the size of Labour’s lead against
the Tories. Curtice said: “The best that Labour have managed to do since 2010
is to be 7 points ahead of the Conservatives. But before Tony Blair won … he
was recording double-digit leads over the Conservatives … Labour should be
recording a clear double-digit lead on Thursday,” he said. He made similar
comments on GB news — the Telegraph has a write-up.
VOTER ID
WARS: The Good Law Project will announce its intention to seek a judicial review
to scrap voter ID requirements before the next general election, according to
the i … while the Telegraph and the Sun report that Tory MP Craig Mackinlay has
written to the Electoral Commission warning that campaigners against voter ID
might try to disrupt the voting process.
**On May
31, POLITICO will host a spotlight discussion “How can Europe go from budgetary
Wild West to a new fiscal order?”. This spotlight discussion is part of the
Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos’ event "A very European puzzle:
balancing budgets and promoting growth”. Register today.**
CHINA
CORNER
WISHING,
WAITING, HOPING: Foreign Secretary James Cleverly hopes to visit China later
this year after holding talks with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng when he
travels to London for the coronation this week, the Times reports. Cleverly
would be the first foreign secretary in five years to travel to Beijing.
POLITICO reported in February that talks were ongoing over a Cleverly visit to
China … but there hasn’t been much in terms of movement since then.
Can’t they
take a hint? A government source tells the Times an invitation to Beijing was
not “guaranteed” but that diplomats were increasingly confident there would be
one. “Clearly we are not going to invite ourselves to China,” they said — when
it does feel a bit like that’s what they’re trying to do — “but if an
invitation is forthcoming we will look at that very seriously.” French
President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen went to Beijing earlier this spring. Visits by U.S. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell were on the cards but
were postponed.
Scooplet:
Taiwan hasn’t been invited to send anyone to the coronation — which adds insult
to injury to the MPs and activists who are incensed that Han, an architect of
China’s crackdown on Hong Kong, is due to attend.
The
explanation: The FCDO says it only invites the heads of state of countries with
which it has full diplomatic relations … but critics point out the president of
Kurdistan was invited to the queen’s funeral. Luke de Pulford, executive
director of the hawkish Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “Two short
weeks ago the U.K. joined a statement calling for Taiwan’s ‘meaningful
participation’ in international organisations like the WHO — Taiwan is excluded
at the behest of China. How do we expect to be taken seriously when we can’t
even find space for our 33rd largest trading partner at the coronation?”
BEYOND THE
M25
SUDAN
EVACUATION RESUMES: An extra U.K. evacuation flight will take off today from
Port Sudan in the east of the country. It’s scheduled to leave at noon local
time (11 a.m. in the U.K.) — adding to the total of 2,122 people already
airlifted from Wadi Saeeda near Khartoum. NHS staff with U.K. residency are now
eligible for evacuation.
Stranded:
Dozens of people are trapped in Khartoum because their passports are at a U.K.
visa processing center which closed after the fighting began, the Times
reports.
On the
ground: The BBC’s Lyse Doucet has a dispatch from Port Sudan where thousands of
people are trying to leave.
RUSSIA
HUNTS FOR SPIES AT HOME: Since Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of Russians
have received fines or significant jail sentences under new military censorship
laws. But never before has the nuclear charge of treason been used to convict
someone for statements containing publicly available information. Read
POLITICO’s story here.
ISIS LEADER
KILLED: Turkish forces have killed the suspected leader of Islamic State, Turkey’s
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced. The BBC reports Erdoğan told TRT Turk
the ISIS leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi was “neutralized” in a Turkish MIT
intelligence agency operation on Saturday.
**A message
from Lloyds Banking Group: Hundreds of thousands of people are being trapped in
homelessness or living in poor quality homes. We’ve joined forces with national
homelessness charity Crisis and Simon Community in Northern Ireland to help
tackle the shortage of good quality, affordable homes in the UK. Together,
we’re calling for one million new and genuinely affordable homes to be built
over the next decade and made available to those on the lowest incomes, with a
focus on supporting people at risk of, and experiencing homelessness. It’s one
of the ways we’re helping Britain prosper. Find out more.**
MEDIA ROUND
Labour
Party Chair Anneliese Dodds broadcast round: LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Sky News (8.10
a.m.) … TalkTV (8.30 a.m.) … GB News (9.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (9.35 a.m.).
Also on Sky
News Breakfast: Unite National Lead Officer Onay Kasab (7.10 a.m.) … RCN
General Secretary Pat Cullen (9.05 a.m.).
Also on GB
News Breakfast: Former Defense Secretary Michael Portillo (6.30 a.m., 7.30 a.m.
and 8.30 a.m.) … Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Mellor (7.09
a.m.).
Also on
Times Radio Breakfast: SNP MP Joanna Cherry (7.35 a.m.) … Onay Kasab (8.05
a.m.) … Scouts Chief Executive Matt Hyde (8.35 a.m.) … Former Institute for
Government Director Peter Riddell (8.45 a.m.) … NHS Confederation Chief
Executive Matthew Taylor (9.05 a.m.) … Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds (9.35
a.m.).
Good
Morning Britain: Former Labour, Change U.K. and Lib Dem MP Luciana Berger (6.20
a.m.) … Pat Cullen (8.10 a.m.).
TODAY’S
FRONT PAGES
(Click on
the publication’s name to see its front page):
POLITICO
UK: U.K. politicians lobbied by Qatargate ‘controller’ on expensive overseas
trips.
Daily
Express: Shocking — 1.3 million hit by state pension errors.
Daily Mail:
One billion reasons to be cheerful!
Daily
Mirror: Wills — Heirs to you both.
Daily Star:
Invasion of the fat rats!
Financial
Times: U.S. bank First Republic nears collapse as Munger warns over ‘bad
loans.’
i: Striking
nurses warn Sunak to improve wage offer or face more walkouts.
The Daily
Telegraph: Cancer nurses on strike for first time.
The
Guardian: Households missing out on £19 billion in benefits.
The
Independent: To deport this brave man would be a travesty of justice.
The Times:
Sunak eyes more Help to Buy.
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