The economic value of the UK’s coastal waters has been put at more than £200bn amid growing recognition of the sea’s importance for renewable energy and as a barrier against global heating.

Richard Partington www.theguardian.com

In an official estimate for the value of marine natural assets, the Office for National Statistics said offshore wind production had soared in value by 37 times in the past decade.

Reflecting the growth of renewable electricity generation, the annual value of offshore wind energy generation increased to £296m in 2018, more than double the value in 2017, and 3,612% higher than in 2008.

Britain has become a world leader for wind power in recent years, with turbines on land and sea generating nearly a fifth of overall UK electricity, as the second-largest source behind gas. The UK recorded its greenest ever day for power generation over the Easter bank holiday, as a result of the windy and sunny weather, when 41% of electricity came from wind and 21% from solar farms.

However, official figures show the number of direct jobs supported by the offshore wind sector has only increased marginally in recent years despite the energy boom, growing by just 14% from 6,300 in 2014 to 7,200 in 2019.

The ONS said there were three main ways that the value of Britain’s marine ecosystems could be calculated: as a cultural and recreational asset; in the provision of natural resources; and as a regulator of environmental factors such as carbon emissions and water flows to prevent flooding.

Recreation had the highest value to the economy, worth an estimated £75bn. The study found more than 1 bn hours are spent on beaches and by the sea in Britain each year, representing a tenth of total hours spent on outdoor recreation with the coastal environment the key draw for millions of tourists and more than £1.7bn in consumer spending. It also said there was an average added-value of £8,100 for house prices with a sea view.

Highlighting the importance of aquatic habitats, sand dunes and salt marshes for capturing carbon – helping to limit global heating – the ONS estimated that between 10.5 and 60.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent are sequestered in UK waters, with a value of between £742m and £4.3bn.

However, it warned there was increasing pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater discharge, while the extent of natural salt marshes in the UK had also declined at a rate of 40 hectares a year for the last 50 years, damaging natural defences.

Estimating the contribution from fishing, the ONS said the value from the marine environment was about £7.5bn. It found that a total of 395 different species of fish were caught in UK waters, but that more than half the tonnage was made up of just two species: herring and mackerel. Overall, the report found a rise in sustainable fishing between 2015 and 2019.

However, the total net profit from catching fish in UK waters fell from a peak of £366m in 2017 to £284m in 2018, according to the latest available figures.

Democracy in the Dark – our new report commissioned from two of the UK’s leading election finance academics reveals a major rise in online spending during the 2019 general election – with little transparency over how it was used. 

www.electoral-reform.org.uk 

Nearly a year after the 2019 election, official insights on party spending returns have not yet been published. Even when the official figures are released, lax reporting rules mean voters will be little wiser as to how campaigners were targeting their resources.  

In Democracy in the Dark, Dr Katharine Dommett and Dr Sam Power have estimated how much was spent on social media platforms by campaigners and parties during the election and tracked the rise of non-party ‘outriders’.   

Online spend increases

In the six weeks before polling day in 2019, the Conservative Party raised more money in donations than all other parties combined during the same pre-poll period in 2017. But little information is available about any of the main parties’ spending online or offline, not least in terms of how they targeted voters. We do know that in 2019 the Conservatives invested dramatically more in Google than other parties – roughly triple Labour’s spend.  

Political party spending on platforms is likely to have increased by over 50 percent in 2019 compared to 2017, with around £6 million spent on Facebook and just under £3 million on Google by the three main UK-wide parties. However, social media giants’ online ad archives – set up to provide a veneer of political transparency – are insufficient and often error-prone. 

The rise of outriders

Adverts placed by national parties constituted only a fraction of the total campaign spend: we also saw the rise of the ‘outrider’. Sixty-four of these organisations registered in 2019 as a whole and 46 were registered after the election was (officially) confirmed on 29 October. Voters are too often kept unaware of who is behind these opaque outfits.

• Campaign material from non-party actors

According to new analysis of Facebook data, 88 UK organisations were listed as non-party campaign groups during the 2019 election. These groups placed 13,197 adverts at a calculated cost of £2,711,452. It is often difficult for voters to work out who is behind campaign material from a non-party actor.  

There is a lack of information available in key areas around the digital campaign such as how much was spent on online, who was behind key election spending, how such messages were targeted, what they said –  and how voters’ personal data was used to do it. 

It is currently ‘exceedingly difficult’ if not impossible to uphold the principles of the UK’s foundational electoral legislation.   

 While the government has committed to legislating for digital ‘imprints’ to show who is paying for ads, it has not yet set out a clear timeline as to its implementation.  

10 key reforms

In Democracy in the Dark, the authors highlight 10 key reforms – beyond online imprints – needed to shine a light on online political campaigning: 

1. Require campaigners to provide the Electoral Commission with more detailed, meaningful and accessible invoices of what they have spent, boosting scrutiny and transparency over online vs offline spend. 
2. Strengthen the powers of the Electoral Commission to investigate malpractice and create a stronger deterrent against wrongdoing by increasing the maximum fine it can levy. 
3. Implement shorter reporting deadlines so that financial information from campaigns on their donations and spending is available to voters and the Commission more quickly after a campaign, or indeed, in ‘real time’. Currently, voters have to wait far too long to see the state of the campaign.  
4. Regulate all donations by reducing ‘permissibility check’ requirements from £500 to 1p for all non-cash donations, and £500 to £20 for cash donations. The current rules are riddled with loopholes and haven’t kept up with the digital age, raising the risks of foreign or unscrupulous interference.  
5. Create a publicly accessible, clear and consistent archive of paid-for political advertising. This archive should include details of each advert’s source (name and address), who sponsored (paid) for it, and (for some) the country of origin.  
6. New controls created by social media companies to check that people or organisations who want to pay to place political adverts about elections and referendums in the UK are actually based in the UK or registered to vote here.  
7. New legislation clarifying that campaigning by non-UK actors is not allowed. Campaigners should not be able to accept money from companies that have not made enough money in the UK to fund the amount of their donation or loan. 
8. Legislate for a statutory code of practice for the use of personal information in political campaigns, to clarify the rules and ensure voters know their rights. 
9. A public awareness and digital literacy campaign which will better allow citizens to identify misinformation. 
10. Rationalise Britain’s sprawling, Victorian-era electoral law under one consistent legislative framework. 

Openness and transparency are the key foundations for any democracy. Yet nearly a year after the general election, voters remain in the dark about who is targeting them online.  

It’s likely that we’ll never get a full picture of who was behind the online ads that so many voters saw during the election, digital campaigning remains an unregulated Wild West, and the government must get to grips with this now. But rather than giving our election watchdog the powers it needs to shine a light on what’s going on, we are instead seeing growing threats made to its future. 

There is near-unanimous agreement that our election rules are not fit for purpose and are undermining our democracy. As technology moves ahead, analogue-age campaign laws are putting the integrity of our elections at risk. But with the clear recommendations for change in this report, we can safeguard against dodgy donors, dark ads and disinformation, and restore faith in our democratic system.

We asked the authors for their thoughts on the importance of Democracy in the Dark. Dr Kate Dommett said: “This report sets out the clear impetus for change and shows the scale of the challenge we confront. Reflecting on the numerous recommendations that are already out there, we demonstrate the need to move beyond inquiries and begin to act.”  

Dr Sam Power added: “This report shows that in five key areas – money, non-party campaigning, targeting, data use and misinformation – our electoral regulation is being stretched to breaking point. Whilst we present new data, the basic argument is not novel. It contains recommendations that have been repeated again and again by campaigners and policy-makers alike, and reflect genuine public concern in this area.”  

With this report we call on the government to take urgent action, far beyond merely a consultation on digital imprints.

Read Democracy in the Dark here. 

Sign our petition to shine a light on ‘dark ads’

With the amorphous character of housing development sprawling around our towns and villages, it is only their centres that retain any character. But this character can now be changed “overnight” by new permitted development rights introduced by Robert Jenrick and described as a “complete gift to unscrupulous developers”.

From a Budleigh correspondent:

New rules allowing commercial premises to be converted into homes came into force on 31 March 2021 as “part of a package of measures to revitalise England’s cherished high streets and town centres”.

 “Permitted Development Rights” (PD) will be expanded which will enable developers to turn shops, pharmacies, restaurants and post offices into apartments without needing planning permission in town centres. A property will only have to be empty for 3 months before it can be converted. Until now, for example, while developers have technically had a permitted development right to turn shops and professional services premises into homes, this has only applied to properties smaller than 150sq m.

There will be no right for the local authority to object to the conversion on the basis that they want to retain commercial uses in a particular location, or in order to support the delivery of local plan policies around town centres.

The amount of activity of high streets would plummet which has to be really carefully managed and the quality of the accommodation would also plummet as has already been seen with current PD conversions.

PD conversions would bring in no section 106 money and councils would also lose business rates, while at the same time facing a potentially higher social services load as a consequence of people living in substandard accommodation.

And where would the wheelie bins go?

The “sting” is that this will also apply to Conservation Areas – albeit with an additional prior approval criterion added to consider the impact of conversion on the conservation area.  Architects, planners, conservationists and the National Trust have condemned this move.

East Devon District Council has designated 33 Conservation Areas in the district. We have many areas of special architectural or historic interest and the aim of these is to enhance or preserve the character of each area. They cover the historic town centres of all the seven major towns i.e. Exmouth , Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Seaton, Honiton and Axminster, and also include our historic villages. See designation here.

However, local authorities will have the ability to apply for so-called “article 4” directions exempting specific areas from the measures, if they can mount a persuasive case as to why that is necessary. My previous experience with EDDC’s Ed Freeman and Article 4 directions is there is a reluctance to apply these powers, so not much hope here.  (A number of London boroughs, for example, managed to secure similar exemptions from the 2015 “office-to-resi” rights. And they were enthusiastically deployed by prime minister Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London to protect the capital’s commercial heartland.)

We all agree that our towns need an uplift but a free for all is not the way to go about it as our historic town centres will be extremely vulnerable to “unscrupulous developers” and “substandard homes”.

The only excemption to these rights will be in Budleigh Salterton. The town is in the East Devon AONB and the only exceptions to this policy will be in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You may ask why Budleigh Salterton and not Sidmouth, a much older, historic town is in the East Devon AONB. Initially all towns were excluded when boundaries were set but the reasons for this exception were given in 1961 by the National Parks Commission  

(i) they believed that the quality of the coastline immediately west of Budleigh Salterton was so good that it justified the inclusion of the town itself in the AONB, and

(ii) while they agreed with the NPC view that Sidmouth should be excluded, the drawing of a precise boundary around the town should await the outcome of discussions between Sidmouth UDC and the County Council.

But has this exceptional inclusion had any effect on the town with EDDC planners? As a resident of Budleigh Salterton it has been obvious that the town’s inclusion in the East Devon AONB has always been a thorn in the flesh to EDDC planners and something very often completely forgotten or overlooked. We will see whether the blinkers continue with Permitted Development Rights.

We all know we need to upgrade our town centres but as Victoria Hills, chief executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, said “the changes were a complete gift to unscrupulous developers”.

Work is set to begin on a beach management plan for Exmouth to ensure that the town’s ‘jewel in the crown’ isn’t lost.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

There have been noticeable changes to Exmouth beach over the last 20 years which has led to a depletion of beach levels in front of the Maer, while there has been some mixed changes to the eastern and western ends at Exmouth seafront.

Some of the changes have been short-term due to the impacts of storms, while others are more longer term, such as the loss of former beach dunes and the movement of sand towards the estuary.

East Devon District Council’s cabinet on Wednesday recommended to council that a new Steering Group be created to look at how to best to address the impacts of the most significant changes to the beach.

While the meeting heard that Exmouth’s beach is vital for tourism, including the new Sideshore watersports centre set to open this summer, it offers no flood defences and thus funding so any agreed scheme from other agencies would be limited.

EDDC engineer Tom Buxton-Smith said: “There is little property at risk that can be used to justify grant in aid funding from the Environment Agency and impact on infrastructure such as roads is also limited due to the availability of alternative routes.

“An aim of the proposed scheme will be to explore the potential options to improve the beach and this will also need to consider the lifetime of these options in light of any trends in coastal processes

“We are keen to set up a group to see how to best manage the beach in the short term and the long term. Exmouth beach is an amenity beach and offers no flood defence to notable buildings, so there won’t be millions of pounds to tap into, but we need to do what we can to keep Exmouth beach healthy and for the amenity and tourism that relies on it.”

Cllr Steve Gazzard said that he welcomed the proposals and hoped that actions would actually be taken. He said: “The beach has changed beyond all recognition and it has lost over 6ft from the area around the lifeboat and at low tide, they have to move it way down the seafront so they can get into deeper water.

“Exmouth seafront is the jewel in the crown but what concerns me is that people will come to Exmouth and see the state that the beach is in, they may get a false impression. We advertise it as a golden beach but they see the pipes and the metalwork that has been exposed. I hope there will be some short term measures taken as I am really concerned about what could happen to tourism in Exmouth.”

Cllr Fred Caygill added: “We have to look forward as the whole economics of the town relies on Exmouth seafront,” while Cllr Nick Hookway added: “This is a very urgent matter as the winter storms virtually took sand away from the area around the lifeboat station and exposed pipes in a very dangerous condition.”

Mr Buxton-Smith, in his report, said that the baseline option that the council could choose was to do nothing, but it would mean sand will ramp up to sea wall, and blow over before loss into the road, assets such as steps and the seawall will slowly start to fail and become unusable, and at some point, the sea wall may fail, the Queen’s Drive road will be severed, and the road/seawall would continue to disappear as the sea tries to connect back to the Maer, and that while it would be a financial saving to the council, it would be unacceptable both legally and politically.

Carrying on with the current management of the beach would become increasingly expensive to maintain, he said, and proposed that an Exmouth Beach Management Scheme Advisory Group be set up to allow exploration of the best options to manage this sustainably into the future for the town.

Potential future options that could be considered include beach recycling/recharge to replace sand that has been lost over last 20+years, new groynes, offshore structures or an artificial reef, dredging of the channel, or a large redevelopment scheme with new development such as housing/businesses providing funding to provide improvements to the beach, although the future options have funding and other challenges that would need to be overcome.

The cabinet unanimously recommended to the full council that an Exmouth Beach Management Plan Steering Group be established, and that they progress work towards developing a new beach management plan for Exmouth.

Cllr Jack Rowland added: “In view of the urgency, it is important the steering group meet as early as possible.”

Education secretary described as ‘venomous’ and ‘self-serving’ by Alan Duncan in newly released diary entries.

And Boris as Foriegn Secretary was: “Harold Wilson’s George Brown without the alcohol.”

(But no one yet described as “Toilet Seats”)

Kevin Rawlinson www.theguardian.com

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has been described as self-serving, venomous and in a rush to ascend the greasy pole by the former Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan in the latest extracts from his diaries.

“In quite the most extraordinary cabinet appointment I can think of, Gavin Williamson has been appointed defence secretary. It is absolutely absurd. He seems to have pushed himself forward for this undeserved promotion. It is a brazenly self-serving manoeuvre that will further embed the view of him as a sly schemer, which he undoubtedly is,” Duncan wrote in November 2017.

“He is also ludicrously unqualified for the heavyweight job of defence secretary, having never run anything. His experience amounts to having been a fireplace salesman, then bag-carrier for two PMs, then chief whip for a year. What on earth was the PM thinking?

“If I were more precious, I’d be pretty damned annoyed that I didn’t get it myself. But, as ever, scheming triumphs over loyalty and suitability.”

In other passages, Duncan says Williamson is suspected of briefing journalists against Conservative colleagues for his own gain and says he is “universally detested” as defence secretary – a role from which he was sacked in 2019 – having “seriously overplayed his hand” as he rushed to “ascend the greasy pole” and get the job.

Duncan calls Williamson “over-ambitious, claiming he was pushing for the position of home secretary when Amber Rudd resigned over the Windrush scandal, and denounces him as a “venomous, self-seeking little shit” as he accuses him of working against the then prime minister, Theresa May.

Elsewhere in the diaries, published by the Daily Mail, Duncan says the Foreign Office in which he served had “lost its way” and the man leading it – Boris Johnson, now the prime minister – “adds nothing to it”.

Duncan writes: “Amid a long succession of characterful foreign secretaries, he is Harold Wilson’s George Brown without the alcohol.”

While he insists May must be supported by MPs, he offers a pessimistic assessment of her character, saying she lacks charisma and, even in private conversation, appears “frightened to express an opinion on anything in case it comes back at her later”.

He writes: “Nothing illustrates the weakness of the prime minister more than the visual awkwardness with which she joined [a] photo op [for the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage]. Gangly, looking around as if lost, no poise or presence. Charisma bypass. No personality.”

• This article was amended on 6 April 2021 to correct Gavin Williamson’s title.

“And on Monday 12, I will be going to the pub myself and cautiously but irreversibly raising a pint of beer to my lips.”

From a correspondent:

You may be aware that Burrington Estates are in the process of a submission of the Reserved Matters application to East Devon District Council, with an expectation of a determination in the summer of 2021 and commencement on site towards autumn/winter 2021, for the new 80 homes (40 houses in Zone A (ex Plymouth Brethren field) and the 40 apartments in Zone D (Car park next to Winslade Manor).

It is baffling to see such vague plans accompanying the consultation that creates far more questions than answers! The plans are so unclear and obscure that they are not fit for the purpose of a consultation on this density of 80 more homes in a small, rural village. At present, these plans continue to represent indicative, outline proposals not detailed, reserved matters plans which is, surely, the next stage in the planning process?

The plans for Zone A are missing crucial information such as the heights of the ridge line of the roof, the location of the windows etc. The plans displayed for Zone D have already been likened by residents to 3 ‘blocks of Lego’, giving no details of design, height, layout and appearance, making it impossible to make any constructive comments. There now appears to be more than two storeys shown on the ‘sketch plan’ for Zone D (the outline application approved 3 storeys in the central apartment block and two storeys on the two blocks either side)

The woodland has a Tree Preservation Order but is primarily deciduous, so for 6 months of year Zone D homes will overlook existing houses in Clyst Valley Road. Unlike traditional homes with first floor bedrooms (usually only used for sleeping) – 40 apartments will have all main living areas at each level, resulting in greater over-looking and loss of privacy. 

We have already seen Burringtons plans are possible to change having been shown 14 traditional homes in Zone D at the Public Consultation in the Village Hall which were replaced with 40 two-three storey apartment blocks resembling ‘container shipping units’!

Consequently, at this stage we can only make you aware of this consultation and await full information on Zones A and D that we are able to read and understand. I have attached the link below to the consultation for you to see what has been submitted.

https://www.winsladepark-consultation.co.uk/

In Plymouth, the city council is setting up what would be the UK’s first national marine park, covering 400 sq km (154 sq miles), with 70 groups involved and a lottery bid for £12m. More than 1,000 species have been identified in Plymouth Sound.

But no mention of Lyme Bay which was used as a case study in another report last year.

Is this another example of the continuing legacy of the  lack of interest in “Conservation” from past “Conservative” administrations in EDDC? – Owl

Fiona Harvey www.theguardian.com 

National parks should be created in the waters around the UK coast to help conserve fragile marine habitats and give people access to more of Britain’s natural heritage, a marine conservation group has said.

Blue Marine Foundation has identified 10 areas around the coast that it said could be designated national parks within the next 10 years. Designation could bring greater protections for habitats, help attract funding, and would require local authorities to make access easier for people.

Charles Clover, executive director of the charity, said: “It is remarkable that we have no parks in the sea, after 70 years of national parks on land. Our natural heritage is right there, just off the beach, but paradoxically the public is hardly involved in the enjoyment or the stewardship of this island nation’s greatest asset.”

The first national park was created on land in 1951, in the Peak District. The designation imposes rules on what can be done within the national park boundaries, and guarantees access for people. In law, national parks in England and Wales have a duty to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area, and to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the public.

England’s 10 national parks on land contribute up to £4bn to the economy, with 90 million visitors a year and 22,500 businesses employing 140,000 people.

Clover said creating national parks at sea would bring similar benefits. He pointed to a project in Plymouth, where the city council is setting up what would be the UK’s first national marine park, covering 400 sq km (154 sq miles), with 70 groups involved and a lottery bid for £12m. More than 1,000 species have been identified in Plymouth Sound, which also boasts a significant maritime history, as the launch place of the Mayflower and the Beagle.

In Plymouth, the amenities planned include an underwater webcam network, including a virtual underwater tour showcasing marine life; wild swimming and snorkelling trails; land-based marine observation posts; and improved public access to the sea. There will be community involvement in marine rewilding projects, such as seagrass restoration, while local young people will be trained as marine park rangers, and an involvement campaign will be launched in the most deprived wards of the city.

Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth city council, said: “It’s not about more regulation, it’s about users and stakeholders working collaboratively to increase knowledge, opportunities and understanding of the sea.”

Luke Pollard, the shadow environment secretary who is the Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said: “Just as the postwar government was ambitious to establish national parks, so too must we be ambitious for more national marine parks. In the middle of a climate crisis, this is a perfect response to growing public interest in our oceans.”

Blue Marine Foundation said marine parks could pay for themselves through attracting visitors. It has estimated that seed funding of about £200,000 to £500,000 would be enough to get a national marine park started in the other areas it has identified, which are: the greater Thames London Gateway; East Anglia Suffolk, the Wash and north Norfolk; north-east England, Tyne to Tees, Northumberland and Berwickshire; north-west England, Cumbria and the Solway Firth; the Severn estuary; Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Wales, Pembrokeshire; the Argyll coast and islands in Scotland; and the crown dependency of Jersey.

The conservation group said marine parks would complement the marine protected areas that the government has set up around the coast. These have attracted controversy as a Guardian investigation established that damaging fishing methods such as bottom trawling was being used in nearly all such areas, with supertrawlers also given access, though some protections have since been proposed. In marine national parks, trawling could still be allowed in some areas.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our seas provide great economic opportunities for our world-leading marine sector, but they also need our protection. We are already leading the rest of the world by protecting over 30% of our waters around the UK and our overseas territories. We’ve also created 91 marine protected areas, expanding the national ‘blue belt’ so that it protects more than 40% of English waters.”

The government is facing a legal challenge over claims it funnelled cash to Tory areas with its “levelling-up” fund.

www.independent.co.uk

The leafy market town constituencies of Rishi Sunak and Robert Jenrick are among areas to benefit from an unusual funding formula that critics accused of amounting to “pork parallel politics”.

Now legal campaigners from the the Good Law Project will take the government to court contending that the design of the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund is unlawful.

They cite an investigation by the National Audit Office, which found that the government’s list of targets for the cash had been published without supporting information to explain why they had been chosen.

The House of Commons’ cross party Public Accounts Committee had also said the lack of transparency had left to concerns of “political bias” in the allocation of funds.

Forty out of the first 45 schemes to be approved in March had at least one Conservative MP.

In a letter of claim sent last week, the campaigners argue that the project is unlawful on four counts.

They say ministers appear to have breached their duty under the equality act to carry out an equalities impact assessment, breached their common law duty of transparency, acted irrationally because of flaws in their methodology, and that “decisions were tainted by irrelevant considerations/improper purpose, namely the electoral advantage (or potential electoral advantage) of the Conservative party”.

Jolyon Maugham, the barrister who founded the campaign group, said: “If you think that it’s coincidence that Tory marginals are huge beneficiaries I have a fine bridge to sell you. To ensure the Tories don’t use public money for party purposes, the Good Law Project is suing.”

The campaigners cite Chris Hanretty, Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, who looked at the funding formula and evidence presented by the National Audit Office and government.

“On the basis of the data collated by the ministry and published by the NAO, there is robust evidence that ministers chose towns so as to benefit the Conservatives in marginal Westminster seats,” he wrote.

“This evidence is robust in the sense that the effects persists even when controlling for other town characteristics that might justifiably affect selection.

“Choosing towns to benefit a particular party goes against the seven principles of public life (the ‘Nolan principles’), and in particular the obligation to ‘take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias’.”

The Good Law Project has previously challenged the government to court over alleged cronyism in PPE contacts, clean air, and access to remote education during the pandemic.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund is open to all places in Great Britain and will play a vital role in helping to support and regenerate communities.

“The published methodology makes clear the metrics used to identify places judged to be most in need. It would not be appropriate to comment on potential legal action.”

the 'no racism in the uk' report team meeting pic.twitter.com/LZyglWuc5D

— Michael Spicer (@MrMichaelSpicer) March 31, 2021

(Remember how the “Old Guard” at EDDC blithely cancelled the Annual Meeting last May, blocking the transfer of power? – Owl)

What a strange moment of ambivalence this is. The vaccination programme seems to have so far worked its expected wonders, the lifting of key restrictions looms, and a fragile sense of optimism has been boosted by balmy weather. But there is a slowly rising unease about something that may yet cut across that increasingly upbeat mood: the fact that this is a dangerous moment for both our democracy, and the relationship between the state and society.

John Harris www.theguardian.com

Everywhere you look, there are high-ranking Conservatives blithely evading scrutiny, and the government is thereby slipping free of meaningful constraints. From the prime minister’s relationship with the “technology entrepreneur” Jennifer Arcuri and her access to public funds and favours, to the stink given off by David Cameron’s efforts on behalf of the financier Lex Greensill, recent headlines have confirmed that old-fashioned ideas of probity now count for very little at all. Much the same applies to the way Covid-related contracts and jobs have been brazenly handed to associates of senior Tories.

An associated theme that has run through Boris Johnson’s time in office has been the sidelining of parliament: the attempt to suspend it for five weeks during the Brexit contortions of 2019, the pitiful levels of debate and scrutiny allowed on coronavirus rules and legislation, and the shameful rushing-through of the new police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. The latter, of course, was at the heart of protests and disturbances in Bristol – and, as a matter of implication, those awful scenes on Clapham Common. And in the images of the police being so reckless and Tory high-ups seemingly acting with impunity, you see the same thing: power unchecked, doing what it wants because it knows it can.

At the heart of all this is something awkward and difficult. Both this government’s ingrained arrogance and the tendency of the British state to turn nasty and authoritarian were obviously present before the pandemic. But Covid has proved to be the perfect pretext for both to balloon.

To point that out does not turn you into Laurence Fox. It seems perfectly reasonable to reluctantly believe that lockdowns have been necessary, but also to worry about the nature of many of the restrictions, the way they have been railroaded through, and the precedents that have been set. As the worst of the pandemic recedes, moreover, unease about these things ought to rapidly take the form of sustained vigilance. Whatever Johnson may say, restrictions are not likely to shrink to nothing by the end of June, and thanks to Covid variants lockdowns could yet return. But we also need to think about what kind of long-term future we have unwittingly been creating for the past 13 months.

That period has seen the collective sacrifice of individual wants and needs for the collective good, something that people on the left have understandably cheered. But viewed from a slightly different perspective, the UK’s Covid experience has also amounted to a huge trial of people’s willingness to accept mind-boggling extensions of the state’s reach, in which predictions of mass “fatigue” have failed to materialise.

People in positions of authority are hardly likely to forget such a basic lesson in the balance between power and consent. So, when another crisis materialises, what then? The high-profile human rights lawyer Adam Wagner, one of the past year’s most questioning voices, has a possible answer: “Come the next great threat, we have set the marker: parliament will not have a say and will hardly raise a whimper; decisions will be made on a whim by whichever person, however capricious, happens to be behind a particular ministerial desk.”

What is already happening actually suggests something even worse: as we saw in the era of the “war on terror”, even as the current panic dies down, powers that were initially presented as temporary look set to endure. As the civil rights pressure group Liberty puts it, the restrictions on protest in the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill amount to a brazen quest to “use this public health crisis as cover to make emergency measures permanent”. There is a similar flavour to the bill’s proposed crackdown on “unauthorised encampments”, and what it will mean for Gypsy and Traveller communities – another attempt to sustain the politics of enforced conformity, with yet another Covid resonance: the fact that in a country that has been endlessly told to “stay home”, being nomadic is now close to being simply deemed criminal.

And there is the prospect of vaccine passports (or, to use officialspeak, a “Covid certification scheme”), something Johnson will talk about on Monday. Initial briefings have emphasised the idea’s supposedly in-built limitations, and framed it as the key to reviving festivals, sport events and nightclubs. The scheme’s opponents will presumably be maligned as overheated killjoys. But there are obvious reasons to feel uneasy. In the context of Tory politics, restricting certain people’s participation in everyday life is hardly new: for almost 10 years it has defined the Home Office’s miserable “hostile environment” doctrine. Any such system will collide with awkward social facts – such as the fact that vaccination rates have been comparatively low in many communities of colour. And given the tools to do so, wouldn’t ministers sooner or later want to push similar logic into criminal justice, the “conditionality” of benefits, and much more besides?

For the past year, the UK’s attempt at a culture war has encouraged people on the left to zealously argue for lockdowns and restrictions, against elements on the right who have often opposed not just those measures, but any insistence that Covid-19 was a grave threat. Now, there are signs of a possible realignment: the Labour leadership’s switch from abstaining on the aforementioned bill to voting against it, Keir Starmer’s recent opinion that vaccine passports would be “un-British”; the fact that 21 Labour MPs – largely drawn from the party’s dissident left, but with a few names from elsewhere – recently defied the whip and opposed the renewal of the draconian Coronavirus Act 2020. But the debate about democracy, the state and civil liberties remains weakened by the decline of the Liberal Democrats, the smallness of the Green party – and, in an age when “liberal” often seems to have become an insult, a broader sense that that element of progressive politics has been mislaid.

It needs to return, so we can at last tackle hugely increased state power, and the people at the top who clearly think they can get away with just about anything. The fusion of the two threatens an immediate future that could be grim: ice-creams, picnics and “normality” amid sirens, searches and a model of government that’s devoid of any real checks and restraints. Whatever we endured the past year for, it was surely not that.

• John Harris is a Guardian columnist

More than 60 members of David Cameron’s administration have taken up private-sector jobs with some link to their Government portfolio within two years of stepping down, official records reveal.

By Dean Kirby, Hugo Gye inews.co.uk

An analysis by i of decisions published by the watchdog, which polices appointments taken up by former insiders, shows at least 66 ministers and special advisers have been given the green light to accept a paid position in an industry connected to the job they held in Government.

These are the ministers and the jobs about which they sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments:

George Osborne

Chancellor 2010-16

Adviser at investment manager Blackrock, editor of the Evening Standard, visiting fellow at Stanford University, chair of advisory committee at investment firm Exor. David Cameron’s closest ally was widely ridiculed for the number of jobs he took on after leaving office, and has also been given a number of unpaid positions. The roles with finance firms are most likely to overlap with his former work at the Treasury.

Philip Hammond

Transport Secretary 2010-11, Defence Secretary 2011-14, Foreign Secretary 2014-16, Chancellor 2016-19

Partner at fund manager Buckthorn, senior adviser at fintech bank OakNorth, non-executive director at packaging company Ardagh Group. Lord Hammond has notified the appointments watchdog of 13 different jobs or consultancy appointments in less than two years. Some of his new employers, including Buckthorn and OakNorth, had dealings with the Treasury when he was in charge.

Amber Rudd

Energy Secretary 2015-16, Home Secretary 2016-18, Work and Pensions Secretary 2018-19

Senior adviser at consultancy Teneo, chair of energy firm Equinor, senior adviser at cyber-security firm Darktrace. The former Cabinet minister who resigned from the Home Office over Windrush before being brought back has held a number of positions some of which are directly linked to her work overseeing energy and security policy.

Michael Fallon

Energy minister 2013-14, Defence Secretary 2014-17

Chair of housebuilder Avanton, consultancy work with engineering company Wilton Engineering Services. Sir Michael was allowed to work for Wilton despite having met the company’s boss when he was energy minister and awarded a contract for an offshore wind farm which the firm was involved in building.

Chris Grayling

Justice Secretary 2012-15, Leader of the Commons 2015-16, Transport Secretary 2016-19

Strategic adviser to Hutchison Ports Europe As Transport Secretary Mr Grayling met with Hutchison and took part in a “ground-breaking ceremony” at its site in Felixstowe. He took up a job with the company last year.

Nicky Morgan

Treasury minister 2013-14, Education Secretary 2014-16, Culture Secretary 2019-20

Senior adviser to PR firm Grayling, consultant at law firm Travers Smith. Baroness Morgan told Acoba she met with a representative from Grayling when she was Culture Secretary. Her role at Travers Smith involves advising on tech policy, part of her portfolio in Government.

Priti Patel

Employment minister 2015-16, International Development Secretary 2016-17, Home Secretary since 2019

Strategic adviser at communications company Viasat. After being sacked from Cabinet by Theresa May and before being brought back by Boris Johnson, Ms Patel advised Viasat on its work in Asia. She insisted there was no crossover between the company’s work and her previous position in the Department for International Development.

Greg Hands

Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2015-16, trade minister 2016-18 and again since 2020

Political consultant to French bank BNP Paribas. In between his two stints as trade minister, Mr Hands advised BNP Paribas on “UK and European politics”. He said he had not met with the bank as a minister but had participated in discussions about the financial industry in general.

Sajid Javid

Culture Secretary 2014-15, Business Secretary 2015-16, Housing Secretary 2016-18, Home Secretary 2018-19, Chancellor 2019-20

Senior adviser to JP Morgan. Shortly after resigning from the Treasury last year, Mr Javid was appointed to a £150,000-a-year post advising the US-based investment bank JP Morgan. He said he had met with the company’s executives while in office but promised not to use his insider information to give it an advantage.

Jo Johnson

Cabinet Office minister 2014-15, Transport minister 2018-18, Minister for London 2018-18, Universities, Science Research and Innovation minister 2019-19

The brother of Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned from the Cabinet in September 2019 and announced he would stand down at MP for Orpington, south-east London. Now Baron Johnson of Marylebone. Has taken appointments as a member of the board at Seminal Capital Holdings, advisor to Skyrora Ltd, non-executive director of Tech Nation, chairman of Access for Creative College, as council member and non-executive director at Dyson Institute of Technology Engineering, chair of Applyboard, senior fellow of Harvard Kennedy School, president’s professional at Kings College London, non-executive director and chairman of the board at TES TopCo Ltd and advisory board member for Noric Swiss GmbH.

Lord O’Shaughnessy

Baron O’Shaughnessy of Maidenhead, a life peer since 2015. Government whip 2016-17. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health 2016-18

Has sought advice on appointments as external advisor, Bain and Co, non-executive director of the board, Health Data Research UK, member of the advisory council at the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge, non-executive director at Albion Development VCT Plc, advisory board member and report writer for Onward Thinktank Ltd, the advisory council of Portland Communications, a speaker at Chartwell Speakers, a member of the project steering committee for Price Waterhouse Coopers,  advisory member and patron of Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission and director of Mayforth Consulting.

Richard Harrington

Under-Secretary for Syrian Refugees, 2015-16, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Pensions, 2016-17, Under-Secretary for Business and Industry, 2017-19

Left his role in the Department of Business in 2019. The committee wrote to him about his failure to seek advice in relation a role with APCO Worldwide.

Stephen Hammond

Under-Secretary for Transport, 2012-14, Vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for London 2017-17, Health minister 2018-19

Had the whip removed and later restored after voting for a bill ruling out leaving the EU without a deal. The committee wrote to him about his failure to seek advice in relation to work as joint chairman of Public Policy Projects Ltd in 2020. He has sought advice about setting up and independent consultancy and taking commissions with Darwin Alternative Investment Management Ltd and OptiBiotix Health Plc.

Anne Milton

Deputy chief Government Whip, Treasurer of the Household, 2015-17, Minister for Women, 2017-18, Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships 2017-19

Left her role in 2019. Has taken up appointments as an advisor for City and Guilds Group and an advisor and mentor for Pearson UK.

Mark Lancaster

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury 2012-15, Defence Under-Secretary 2015-17, Armed Forces minister 2017-19

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton left his role as Minister of the Armed Forces in 2019.  Took up an appointment as a member of the Global Advisory Board, GFG Alliance, in August, 2020, and sought advice on setting up an independent consultancy and taking commissions with Pepper Shackleton Wellard.

David Lidington

Justice Secretary 2017-18, Minister for the Cabinet Office, 2018-19, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 2018-19

Left his role in 2019 and has sought the committee’s advice on setting up an independent consultancy and taking on commissions with Mitie Group Plc, Cicero/AMO, Finito Education Ltd.

Alistair Burt

Minister for Community and Social Care 2015-16, Minister for International Development 2017-19, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa 2017-19

Appointed Pro-Chancellor of Lancaster University in 2020. Has sought the committee’s advice about establishing an independent consultancy and commissions with GK Strategy Ltd, the Ambassador Partnership LLP, Global Partners Governance and Pall Mall Communications.

Alun Cairns

Under-Secretary for Wales, 2014-16, Welsh Secretary 2016-19

Appointed as senior advisor to the board of Veezu Ltd and advisor to BBI Group in 2020.

Mark Field

Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific 2017-19

Took up appointments in 2020 as a consultant to the Government of the Cayman Islands, non-executive chairman of Capital International Group and director of business development at the London School of Commerce.

David Gauke

Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2016-17, Work and Pensions Secretary 2017-18, Justice Secretary, 2018-19

Appointed head of Public Policy at Macfarlanes LLP in May 2020.

Gavin Barwell

Minister for London, 2016-17, Housing and Planning minister 2016-17, Downing Street Chief of Staff, 2017-19

Sought the committee’s advice about setting up an independent consultancy and taking up commissions with PricewaterhouseCooper, Arcadis NV, Avonhurst LLP and Barratt Developments. Appointed non-executive director of the Clarion Housing Group in 2019.

Mr Javid was appointed to a £150,000-a-year post advising the US-based investment bank JP Morgan (Photo: JESSICA TAYLOR/UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty)

John Hayes

Minister Without Portfolio 2013-14, Social Security Minister 2015-16, Transport Minister 2016-18

Sought advice on taking up appointments as an advisor with the Chartered Institution of Further Education, president of the Highbury Burton Saudi Arabia and with BB Energy Trading and Esharelife Ltd.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Energy and Intellectual Property Minister, 2016-16. Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, 2016-17

Life peer since 2013. Appointed chairman of Assured Food Standards Ltd in 2017. The committee also gave advice on appointments as a non-executive director to Capita Plc, an adviser at Bridge Farm Group, non-executive director at Health Data Research UK, non-executive director of Secure Trust Bank and as a trustee of Thomson Reuters.

Lord Prior

Baron Prior of Brampton. Under-Secretary National Health Services Productivity 2015-16, Under-Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 2016-17

The committee gave advice to Lord Prior on being a senior advisor to Carnall Farrar, a senior adviser at Lazard and chairman of the University College of London Hospital Foundation Trust.

Ben Gummer

Paymaster General 2016-17, Cabinet Office Minister 2016-17

Advice was given on appointments as a fellow of practice at Blavatnik School of Government in 2018, and senior advisor on a research project for McKinsey and Company looking at government transformation projects around the world, also in 2018.

Lord Barker

A life peer since 2015. Climate Change Minister, 2010-14

Sought advice on becoming chair of global sustainability practice at Gyro Ltd , director of the European Board of the Environmental Defense Fund Ltd, senior advisor to Powerhive Inc, and senior advisor to Equinox Energy Capital Ltd, and chairman of the international advisory board of Innasol Group Ltd, and director of Pont Street Capital. Also sought advice on setting up an independent consultancy and took up a commission with Ras Al Khaimah Development LLC, and non-executive Director of llioss Group, non-executive director of Dragon Harvest Group and non-executive Director, Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd.

Baroness Blackwood

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Science, 2019-2020

Baroness Blackwood sought the Committee’s advice about taking up an appointment as chair with Public Policy Projects and took up the appointment in 2020.

Sir Julian Brazier

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Reserves 2014-16

Sought advice on being a non-executive director at Samson DVM Limited, chairman at Pathway Risk Management, a member of a Reference Group at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, a member at the South East Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association, as a trustee at the Summer Camps Trust and a member of the Council of the Air League.

Lord Bridges

Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Exiting the EU, 2016-17

Took up the role of senior adviser to the Group Executive Chairman, Banco Santander S.A (Santander) in 2017.

Lord Deighton

Baron Deighton. Served as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury 2013-15

Appointed non-executive director at Square Inc in 2016, executive chairman of Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, non-executive director of Holdingham Group, and the chair of a governance review for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

James Duddridge

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury 2010-12, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Brexit 2019-20 and currently Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Africa

Asked for advice on roles as an advisor to TLG Capital Investments Ltd and as an advisor to Brand Communications Group.

Alan Duncan

International Development minister 2010-14, Minister for Europe and the Americas 2016-19

Took up a role as non-executive director of Fujairah Refining Ltd in 2016.

Lord Hague

Lord William Hague of Richmond. Foreign Secretary, 2010-14, Leader of the House of Commons, 2014-15, First Secretary of State 2010-15

Appointments since 2014 have been non-executive director, Intercontinental Exchange Inc, chairman of the Royal United Services Institute, chairman of the International Advisory Group at Linklaters LLP, senior advisor at Teneo Holdings and a consultant at Citigroup.

Grant Shapps ought the committee’s advice about taking an appointment with Avanti Communications Group in 2017 (Photo: David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty)

Mark Harper

Minister of State for Immigration, 2012-14, Minister of State for Disabled People, 2014-15, Chief Whip, 2015-2016

Announced his appointment as senior adviser to the law firm DWF LLP in February 2017. The watchdog pointed out to Mr Harper that his new employer “has an existing relationship with your former department” but allowed him to take up the appointment. He remains MP for the Forest of Dean.

Mark Hoban

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 2010-12, Employment Minister 2012-13

He was advised on positions as a senior adviser at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), chair of Flood Re and senior adviser to Markit Limited.

Lord Lansley

Secretary of State for Heath, 2010-12, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, 2012-14, Leader of the House of Commons, 2012-14

Was given advice on positions as chair of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, associate at Low Associates, an adviser for UK Active, a consultant at Bain & Company, an adviser/consultant at The Blackstone Group International Partners LLP, and as a speaker at Dod’s Training.

Lord Maude

Lord Maude of Horsham. Former Chairman of the Conservative Party, Minister for the Cabinet Office 2010-15, Minister for Trade and investment. 2015-16

Sought advice on the following positions: As a member of the International Consultative Council of the Astana International Financial Centre, a senior adviser at Stephens Europe Ltd, advisory board member, Fine Instrument Fund, advisory board member, IFM Investors, chair of the board of Brighton College International Schools, advisory board member, GPW, chairman, Cogent Elliott Group Ltd, senior adviser, Covington & Burling LLP, advisory board member, OakNorth Bank, non-executive director, Scale-Up Institute, advisory board member at Anvest Partners and about establishing an independent consultancy.

Sir Bob Neill

Under-Secretary for London, Local Government and Planning, 2010-12. Chair of the Justice Select Committee

Sought advice about taking a part-time, paid appointment as an independent consultant with HDG Ltd and Kilbride Group in 2014. Also advised about accepting a commission with Cratus Communications, a communications firm specialising in local government and planning, as a non-executive director on the board in 2014.

Owen Paterson

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, 2010-12. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, 2012-14

Took up a role as consultant at Randox Laboratories Ltd in 2015.

Grant Shapps

Conservative Party Chairman 2012-15, International Development Minister 2015-15, currently Secretary of State for Transport

Sought the committee’s advice about taking an appointment with Avanti Communications Group in 2017. Avanti is a provider of satellite data communications services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The committee considered there was a risk he could be seen to offer Avanti an unfair advantage as a result of contracts gained in office and set a number of conditions. The appointment was taken up in 2017.

Baroness Shields

Baroness Shields was Under-Secretary for Internet Safety and Security at the Home Office under David Cameron from 2015-17 and went on to become Theresa May’s Special Representative on Internet Crime and Harms from 2016-18

Took up an appointment as non-executive chairman at CognitionX in 2018, and as a commissioner at the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity in the same year. She also took up an appointment as Chief Executive Officer at Benevolent AI in 2018.

Mark Simmonds

Under Secretary for Overseas Territories, 2012-14. Under-Secretary for Africa 2012-14

Took up appointments as vice president and trustee of the British Institute in Eastern Africa in 2016, strategic adviser at Farallon Capital in 2016, adviser at Bechtel in 2015, Honorary Vice President, Fauna and Flora International in 2015, non-executive director at African Potash in 2015, senior strategic adviser to the International Hospitals Group in 2015, managing director of Kroll in 2015, chief operating officer at the Counter Extremism Project in 2015, chairman of the advisory board of Invest Africa in 2014, Strategic Adviser at First in 2014, non-executive deputy chairman at the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council in 2014, and chief executive officer of Mortlock Simmonds Ltd in 2014.

Lord Vaizey

Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy 2010-16

Since leaving the Government, Lord Ed Vaizey of Didcot as taken up appointments as consultant with LionTree Europe in 2016, chair of the advisory board of Creative Fuse North East in 2016, chairman of the advisory board at the International eGames Committee, trustee at BRITDOC Charitable Trust, trustee of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain in 2017, as a member of the advisory board at the Sunday Times Short Story Award in 2017, president of the Advisory Board, British Esports Association Limited in 2017, adviser of International Group Management in 2017, judge of the Indigo Index Prize in 2017, adviser of Digital Theatre Plus in 2017, and member of the advisory board, NEC Europe Ltd (NEC) in 2018.

Baroness Warsi

Faith and Communities Minister 2012-14, South Asia and Central Asia 2012-14

Took up an appointment as Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bolton University in 2016. She also sought advice from the committee for becoming a speaker at Specialist Speakers and a role as adviser at Rupert’s Recipes Ltd. She took up a role as adviser to the Shire Bed Company in 2015. She also sought advice about a role as adviser to M&C Saatchi World Services in 2016.

Lord Willetts

Universities and Science Minister, 2010-14

Took appointments as non-executive director at the Biotech Growth Trust in 2015, honorary president of the International Student Foundation in 2016, independent trustee director, Francis Crick Institute in 2015, non-executive board member of the National Council for Universities and Business (NCUB) in 2015, board member of the Biotech Industry Association (BIA) in 2015, executive chairman of the Resolution Foundation in 2015, chair of the British Science Association in 2015, senior non-executive director at Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd (SSTL) in 2015, education investment adviser for Silvertown Partnership in 2014, member of the Higher Education Strategic Management Board at TES in 2014, and as visiting professor at King’s College London in 2014.

After being sacked from Cabinet by Theresa May and before being brought back by Boris Johnson, Priti Patel advised communications company Viasat on its work in Asia (Photo: Matt Dunham – WPA Pool/Getty)

Lord Garnier

Solicitor General for England and Wales 2010-12

Lord Edward Garnier asked for the committee’s advice about accepting a paid retainer to DLA Piper through his private practice, One Brick Court, in 2014. The application was approved by the committee subject to conditions.

Charles Hendry

Minister for Energy and Climate change, 2010-12

Sought advice on appointments as chairman of Forewind Ltd in 2013, for a commission with Atlantic Supergrid Corporation LLP in 2013, for an appointment as the chairman of the advisory board of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce in 2013, as a consultant for Vitol Services Ltd and as visiting professor at the University of Edinburgh in 2012. The applications were approved subject to conditions.

Sir Peter Luff

Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology 2010-12

Took up roles as chairman of the oversight board at the Royal United Services Institute and the University of Roehampton in 2014, and as chairman of the board of directors at the Pub Governing Body in 2014.

Lord Marland

Minister for Intellectual Property in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2012. David Cameron’s trade envoy from 2011 to 2014

Sought advice on a part-time, unpaid appointment as non-executive director with Three Jays Ltd, director/chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council in 2013, as director of testmatchextra.com Ltd in 2014, as non-executive director of Tamara Mellon Inc and as chairman of his own personal investment company Herriot Ltd, in 2013. The application were approved with conditions.

Andrew Mitchell

International Development Secretary 2010-12. Chief Whip 2012

Asked for advice on a paid appointment to the advisory board of The Foundation in 2013, as strategic advisor with Montrose Associates in 2013 and a part-time paid appointment as senior advisor to East End Foods Plc, and as a senior advisor to Investec in 2013. The applications were approved by the committee subject to conditions.

Sir James Paice

Minister for Agriculture and Food 2010-12

After he left the Government in 2012, applications were approved for a part-time role as non-executive chairman of First Milk and non-executive director of Camgrain.

Michael Prisk

Business and Enterprise Minister 2010-12. Minister for Housing and Local Government 2012-13

Took up an appointment in 2014 as an advisor to Essential Living, a private property developer.

Lord Bellingham

Under-Secretary for Overseas Territories, United Nations and Climate Change, 2010-12, Under-Secretary for Africa, 2010-12

Sought advice on taking a paid appointment as non-executive director of Developing Markets Associates Ltd in 2013, and as non-executive director of Pontus Marine Ltd, and non-executive chairman of Pathfinder Minerals Ltd in 2014. The applications were approved with conditions.

As each new revelation about Cameron’s long association with the disgraced banker Lex Greensill has surfaced – the lobbying, the stock options, the private jets, Lex’s Downing Street business card, the boys’ camping trip with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the stench has become harder to stomach.

Ben Wright 2 April www.telegraph.co.uk (Extract)

…..The problem is that he went to work for the very same man he had invited into the heart of government. He blurred the demarcation line between his public and private careers to the point of non-existence. If it didn’t break the rules, we need new ones. 

This isn’t just about one man and his weapons-grade sense of entitlement. The points on the sliding scale between chumocracy, sleaze, crony capitalism and outright corruption can too easily elide. Where, for example, should we place the dealings of housing secretary Robert Jenrick with property developers, or contracts issued by health secretary Matt Hancock to certain PPE suppliers? 

This stuff is deeply insidious. Sure it further undermines trust in politicians. More importantly it will make it harder for future governments to draw on the expertise of private companies – either in shrinking the state to make it more efficient or, as during the pandemic, scaling up at speed to deal with an emergency. 

What we really need is more self-aware politicians and a greater sense of probity in public life. In the meantime we should redouble our efforts to lampoon those who, just for example, attack Silicon Valley companies for not paying enough tax, say they’re “not especially bedazzled by Facebook” and then scuttle off to become Mark Zuckerberg’s bag carrier as soon as they’ve been booted out by the electorate. 

There must be far greater transparency of government contracts. It can’t be right that civil servants were asking questions about the mechanics of Greensill’s pharmacies scheme and unable to get straight answers. If these deals are not comprehensible to a layperson then the assumption must be that there’s something nasty hiding in the small print……. 

Parents and play experts are turning to crowdfunding to rebuild and maintain playgrounds as cash-strapped local authorities cut their budgets across England.

Harriet Grant www.theguardian.com

Despite calls by child development experts for a “summer of play” for children as the pandemic ends, there is a funding crisis across all parts of the play sector – from park playgrounds to new spaces built by housing developers.

In Coggeshall, Essex, Jemma Green and her neighbours got the idea for crowdfunding their playground from others. “It’s incredibly common now. We have got £110,000 and nearly all of that has come from fundraising. The parish council saved for two years to give us £30,000 – we are lucky they could do that. And we had £25,000 from Enovert, a local landfill company. But all our other grant applications were turned down – National Lottery, things like that.

“It’s very expensive work. Our playground was over 30 years old and it was half-empty most of the time – but without this fundraising we just wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

The Association of Play Industries (API) has warned of a continued decline in the funding of park playgrounds. Using freedom of information requests it found that since 2014 347 playgrounds have been shut down across England. For those that survive, the API estimates there will be a decrease in spending of over £13m a year on average.

Mark Hardy, who chairs the API, says: “The steady decline in funding started during austerity but what is worrying now is that in the last 18 months or so funding is not going back to normal. Play is not a statutory provision and local authorities have a lot of priorities.”

He says that while larger “destination” playgrounds do sometimes still get funding, many local spaces are in effect abandoned.

“Neighbourhood playgrounds are becoming rather sad things. We need doorstep play, particularly in deprived areas.

“The issue is far more acute at parish council level. Unitary authorities or towns might have funding but it doesn’t reach the very local level. We lose pocket parks, swings, sandpits. And it’s not just capital. The big issue is often maintenance.”

Another pressing issue in many communities is the need to update playgrounds that go unused because of what locals say are unappealing designs.

Louise Whitley and Sarina da Silva made headlines two years ago when they spoke out against a segregated playground at the Baylis Old School development in south London. Now they are campaigning again, this time for funding for the play area built next to the social housing on the site.

“The playground is poor quality. Nobody has used it much since the development was built. It’s always empty,” says Da Silva. “It has a very dirty flooring that you wouldn’t want a toddler on, and basic equipment that would not entertain any child for even a few minutes.”

The original developers, Henley Homes, say the upkeep is now the responsibility of Guinness, which manages the social housing. Guinness says it is willing to help maintain the playground or support efforts by the community to fundraise for structural changes.

But Whitley says the quality of play areas should be more of a priority when they are built.

“Developers are building huge amounts of housing and community space with it across the country. They build sites with promises of being family friendly but despite lovely artists’ impressions the reality after planning permission is given is very different.

“We are left looking for ways to replace them with equipment children actually want to use.”

Many of her local playspaces need help. Just across the road is the Lollard Street adventure playground, built in 1955 on the philosophy of risky play.

On a sunny day as the Easter holidays start, director Adrian Voce is welcoming back children from nearby tower blocks after the long lockdown. There is a happy buzz in the air as children leap across the site on ropes and clamber up huge wooden structures. But this much-loved space is at risk of closing.

“It’s pretty bleak. We have enough money left for a year, digging into reserves,” Voce says. “After that, if more money doesn’t start coming in, we will have to close. I’ve been turned down for seven grants in a row in the past few weeks, including the mayor of London’s Covid recovery fund. In all the years I’ve worked in play it’s never been this bad.

“People think, ‘Oh play, that happens anywhere,’ but actually it’s about the space. Children need space where they aren’t in the way of cars or adults.”

Some adventure play sites have turned to crowdfunding, but Voce says this isn’t always ideal. “What we really need is long-term investment for staff and maintenance.”

Over lockdown people have used parks and local spaces more than ever. But the need for play investment comes at a time when parks are struggling for funds more widely.

In parliament last month, the housing minister Luke Hall confirmed parks and green spaces received £16m between 2017 and 2019.

Anita Grant, head of the charity Play England, points out how little this is. “£16m over three years on 27,000 parks is £200 per park. The abysmal funding of parks right now means the degradation of the play areas will continue and get worse.”

Grant manages adventure play spaces in Islington, north London, that have been promised 15 years of funding in what she says is an “amazing” commitment from the council. But she worries that in this atmosphere children are not going to be prioritised.

“What children need and benefit from is often inconvenient to adults. It’s messy, noisy, they want to take risks, but even when there is money it goes on railings and pathways, not children and their play.”

Devon and Cornwall Police have thanked everyone involved in peaceful and lawful protests today across the two counties.

Lee Trewhela www.devonlive.com

The force took to social media to thank organisers and participants following peaceful Kill the Bill protests in Plymouth, Exeter, Truro and Newquay as well as a protest against development at the Carbis Bay Hotel, which will host the G7 Summit.

Three hundred people protested in Truro against the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill with hundreds more in Plymouth and Exeter, and 200 people demonstrating against landscaping work being carried out at the Carbis Bay estate which will host world leaders in June.

The events took place without any significant reports of public order incidents and with no arrests made.

Leading up to the protest officers liaised with the organisers to ensure compliance with the current law and to protect the communities. Following changes to Covid-19 regulations, there is now an exemption to allow peaceful protests. However, this exemption only applies if the organisers take the required precautions to ensure people’s safety is not put at risk.

A police spokesperson said: “The right to protest is well established in this country and police forces have a long history of upholding this by policing by consent and ensuring the safety of all those exercising that right.

“Protest policing is challenging and complex – and even more so during these unprecedented times. Public safety is, and always will be, police’s top priority and this hasn’t changed throughout our approach to the pandemic.”

Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, protest commander for Devon and Cornwall Police, added: “I would like to thank the organisers and participants for adhering to the current restrictions while protesting today.

“Those attending engaged positively with our officers, exercising their right to protest in a peaceful and lawful way.

“We have always sought to find the right balance between the rights of protesters and those of residents and businesses, while also considering the very real risks from the spread of the virus.

“Coronavirus is a deadly disease and the current legislation in relation to it aims to prevent its spread. At this time officers are trying to strike a balance between established rights and policing of Covid restrictions in an effort to maintain the confidence of all groups of our communities.”

“We must remember that the threat of Covid remains and we must do all we can to stick within the restrictions to help keep people safe.”

“As the current restrictions begin to lift over the coming months, we are asking the public to continue to play their part so that we do not undo all of the good work.”

Clean up work is under way after huge crowds gathered in Cardiff Bay on Friday evening, despite coronavirus restrictions still being in place.

www.bbc.co.uk 

The morning after the night before… a tide of rubbish was left behind by partying crowds on Friday night

Cardiff council said a significant amount of rubbish had been left by “large groups of people intent on breaking Covid-19 restrictions”.

Covid rules state six people from two different households can meet outdoors.

media captionHundreds seen partying in Cardiff Bay

Cardiff council leader Huw Thomas said people who took part should be “deeply ashamed of themselves”.

The council said the trail of litter left a “huge task” for clean-up staff as “bins were left unused and the ground was littered with rubbish”.

Street cleaning outside the Welsh Parliament on Saturday morning

“Despite the preventative measures put in place by the council, in partnership with South Wales Police, the Welsh government’s coronavirus regulations were again broken by a significant number of people illegally gathering in Cardiff Bay,” the authority said.

“The rules are clear, six people, from two households are allowed to meet outdoors, maintaining two metre social distancing.

“Breaking these rules significantly increases the chances of Covid-19 cases rising in the city.”

BBC Wales has attempted to contact South Wales Police for comment. It is not known if any arrests have been made.

Volunteer litter picker Claire Heat helped with the clean-up for more than two hours on Saturday morning

Volunteer litter picker Claire Heat, who has been helping with the clean-up since about 06:00 BST, said “there’s broken glass everywhere” along with unopened bottles and cans of alcohol.

“I live down the road and you get used to the fact that you know it is going to be awful when you wake up,” she said.

“The quicker we can get cleaned up and swept away the better it is for all the people that want to come down and enjoy the bay during the day.”

Clean again: the steps of the Senedd had been tidied up by 08:30 BST on Saturday

Supervisor Tony Tobenas said the area had been “obliterated” by the revellers overnight, which was “demoralising” for the clean-up crew who had been called in to deal with the mess from about 04:30.

“They shouldn’t be here today – they should be home,” he said.

“We’ve had to call them in to do this. This is additional [work] and got to be paid for.”

He said the mess had become worse since the restrictions allowing wider travel across Wales had been lifted.

“We are supplying bins for them and they just aren’t using them. They’re throwing things on the floor,” he said.

Clean-up supervisor Tony Tobenas said the area had been “obliterated” overnight

Cardiff council leader Mr Thomas said police had taken over from council marshals, who had been patrolling the site in the day, after the situation “escalated”.

“The clear-up will mean an unnecessary cost to the council and so the taxpayer,” he said.

‘We’re just not ready to party’

Lena Ciric, a microbiologist from University College London, said it was not safe to “party” due to the threat of Covid.

“Not only are there lots of people together in a particular space but, also, they’re drinking so they probably won’t be wearing masks… inhibitions will be lowered and they’ll be closer together,” she said.

“We’re just not ready to party.

“It’s been really difficult for all of us and, you know, I absolutely understand that we want to see our friends and we want to let our hair down because it has been a really, really difficult year.

“But, ultimately, I don’t think anywhere in the world, really, we’re ready to party.”

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: “This can’t continue.

“If people are ignoring the rules on the very steps where they are made then we have a big issue.

“It’s time Labour ministers viewed licensed premises as part of the solution, not the problem.”

In response to the scenes at Cardiff Bay, Welsh Labour Leader and First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The pandemic hasn’t gone away.

“We need to keep coronavirus rates low so we can keep relaxing restrictions.

“We’ve come so far since the winter when rates were incredibly high – no one wants to see those sacrifices wasted.

“Stay focused and we can all enjoy the better times ahead.”

Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have been asked to comment.

With quotes from Alison Hernandez (as might be expected) and from Chris Woodruff, the manager of East Devon AONB (someone who seldom finds the time to comment on planning applications on his patch) – Owl

Steven Morris www.theguardian.com

The Greenhalgh family had begun travelling from the Midlands just after first light and three hours later were to be found 150 miles from home on The Esplanade in Woolacombe, north Devon, gazing out at the sweep of the sandy beach and a sun-speckled Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen the sea for a year,” said the dad, Simon. “It’s like: ‘Wow.’ We’ll have the day here, walk the dog and go home this evening. We’ve got everything we need in the van. We won’t disturb anyone.”

Another visitor, Richard, who had spent the night sleeping in his van with his canine companion, Gus, said he had been harangued by one local who had told him in no uncertain terms to go home. “I didn’t take any notice,” he said. “Look at this view – you’d pay £500 a night for that if you were in a hotel. I’ll be moving on tomorrow.”

Good Friday is typically the first day of the holiday season proper in Woolacombe, a spot popular with families, walkers and surfers. Over the bank holiday weekend the M5 is usually jammed with people heading to Devon and Cornwall from Bristol, south-east England and the Midlands.

This Easter, police, health officials, local authority and tourism chiefs in south-west England are urging people to steer clear.

Devon and Cornwall police asked people to not just stick to the law but to the spirit of the rules and said extra officers would be out to try to clamp down on egregious breaches of the regulations.

Alison Hernandez, the police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, said: “We’re asking people not to drive for hours to get here. We really want everyone to be responsible.”

The “stay at home” rule in England was lifted on 29 March but the UK government stipulates that people should “minimise” the number of journeys they make and not remain away overnight on holiday. Self-contained accommodation such as holiday lets and campsites are not allowed to open until at least 12 April – and then with restrictions.

Alistair Handyside, the chair of the South West Tourism Alliance, expressed frustration at how many visitors were arriving in places such as Woolacombe on Friday.

“The roads are busier than we’d have hoped for,” he said. “The holiday and hospitality sector is not open yet. This is a really unnatural thing for us to say but the message at the moment is: ‘Please don’t come, we’re still in lockdown.’ After all the good work done to contain Covid-19, it’s worth waiting a few more weeks before travelling.”

 ‘We won’t disturb anyone’: the Greenhalgh family travelled from the West Midlands for a day trip to Woolacombe. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The Guardian

Many car parks and toilets are still closed and food and drink is only available from essential shops and takeaways.

Rescue organisations are also concerned. Alec Collyer, the chair of Dartmoor Rescue Group, said: “We will always do our utmost to help people who get into trouble on the moors, but there is no getting away from the fact that Covid-19 puts rescuers at additional risk. People shouldn’t be putting unnecessary additional strain on the emergency services just as the country is fighting its way out of the pandemic.”

Chris Woodruff, the manager of East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, said: “It’s vital we reopen the countryside in a careful way which respects the environment and complies with all the rules to keep us safe from Covid-19. It’s more important than ever that visitors wait until they can book somewhere to stay rather than just turn up.”

But not all could resist. Some people clearly stayed overnight in vans on The Esplanade and one person pitched a tent. By noon on Friday there were no parking spaces on the road and visitors had begun to light stoves and barbecues. While by no means packed, the beach was busier than it has been for months.

 Rich and his dog, Gus. ‘I’ll be moving on tomorrow,’ he said. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The Guardian

Mark Baxter, who was sprucing up the Summertime beach shop, said some local people were nervous at the prospect of visitors returning. “But we need a good, long season this year,” he said. “If we don’t, some businesses here will go under.”

Bill Buckley, of Fudgies Bakehouse, said Good Friday was usually one of the busiest days of the year. “It feels a little odd this year so far but we’ll be glad when the visitors return. The place needs them.”

Justine Adderley, a weaver who lives in the village, said it was wonderful to see the place beginning to come back to life after lockdown. “We look forward to people coming with a mixture of dread and excitement,” she said. “But I wouldn’t judge anyone for coming here. You never know what people have been through.”

Oh, no, minister! ALAN DUNCAN’s gloriously wicked diary spills the vitriol on Boris ‘the buffoon’

Alan Duncan www.dailymail.co.uk (Extract)

Today, we begin a blockbuster serialisation of one of the most explosive political diaries ever to be published. Alan Duncan, a well-respected Tory MP for nearly three decades, used them to let off steam in private about the ‘monstrous egos’ that surrounded him.

The diaries cover his final four turbulent years in Parliament, when Brexit split the Conservatives apart. Once a Eurosceptic, Duncan made many enemies himself by deciding to support Remain.

By turns outrageously bitchy, funny and despairing, the diaries eviscerate many of his colleagues — not least Boris Johnson and Theresa May. The ultimate political insider, Duncan had known Mrs May since Oxford University and in 2016 lent her his house for her leadership campaign. Later, as a minister at the Foreign Office, he became Boris’s deputy.

Oh, no, minister! ALAN DUNCAN’s gloriously wicked diary spills the vitriol on Boris ‘the buffoon’, ‘frightened rabbit’ Theresa May, her ‘walking dead’ Cabinet… via random episodes of Hawaii Five-0. Alan Clark, eat your heart out!

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Tory councillor says £500 isolation payment is ‘incentive’ to catch Covid

www.independent.co.uk

A Tory council leader has sparked outrage after suggesting self-isolation payments were an “incentive” for people to catch coronavirus.

John Fuller, who leads South Norfolk Council and is a friend of Boris Johnson, told Newsnight that the cash could encourage people to contract Covid-19. The deadly illness has killed 130,000 across the UK since February last year.

The comments came as the BBC show investigated whether access to the payments – made to people who otherwise could not afford to take time off work – needed to be increased to reduce transmission of the virus.

“Let’s flip it the other way around,” said Mr Fuller, an OBE. “Let’s not have a system whereby if you catch Covid you get £500. That’s an incentive to actually spread the disease and that’s not in anybody’s interest.”

Apparently stunned by the suggestion, host Kirsty Wark intervened for clarification. “Are you really saying that?” she asked.

“What I’m saying is that let’s not have the incentive,” he replied. “I didn’t say it was. Let’s not have an incentive that would encourage people to catch the disease.”

He went on to argue that local councils were more effective at running test and trace operations than NHS Test and Trace – the government’s £37bn behemoth, which critics describe as failing.

But his comments about the self-isolation payments were immediately criticised by the Thursday night show’s other guest, Labour mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram, who pointed out that 70 per cent of people who apply for the support are rejected.

“Nearly 130k people have died of Covid in the last year alone because of his party’s handling of the pandemic,” he later added on Twitter. “What an insult.”

Others were even blunter. “Tories think its all about money because that is all they care about,” wrote one person on Twitter.

It is not the first time Mr Fuller has caused controversy. In November last year the 53-year-old was reported to the RSCPA after it emerged he had posted photos on social media of apparent attempts to set fire to moles in retaliation for the creatures digging up his back garden.

In Facebook images, Mr Fuller, 52, could be seen with a propane can in a wheelbarrow, firing flames into burrows. “A great day to be killing moles,” he wrote.

Academy trust bosses in England are being paid “eye-watering” salaries that are “verging on criminality”, according to the incoming president of one of the country’s leading teaching unions.

Sally Weale www.theguardian.com

Phil Kemp, the new national president of the NASUWT, will accuse some academy leaders of taking advantage of the increasing deregulation of the education system to pay themselves excessive sums of money from the public purse.

In a speech on Friday, on the first day of the union’s annual conference, which is being held virtually this year because of the Covid pandemic, Kemp is expected to criticise academy governance, saying: “Increasingly we hear of corrupt or nepotistic practices.”

He will say: “The salaries being paid to individuals in some of these academy trusts is not just eye-watering, it’s verging on criminality in my view. So many salaries, paid for from the public purse, rising over the £200,000 mark, and some well publicised, almost reaching half a million pounds.”

Kemp, who manages a programme of alternative provision in North Tyneside for children who have been or are in danger of being excluded from mainstream education, will call for a national pay scale for all teachers and leaders to be reintroduced to curb excessive pay.

“The snouts have to come out of the trough and the public purse protected from those who will take advantage of the increasing deregulation of our education system,” he will tell members. “Those taking these huge salaries should hang their heads in shame.”

Multi-academy trusts are charities that run chains of state schools that have converted into academies and have been taken out of local authority control.

In 2019 the Department for Education (DfE) wrote to 94 trust leaders whose pay was regarded as excessively high to ask them to justify their inflated salaries, but excessive pay continues to be a concern and unions say the government’s powers to intervene are “utterly feeble”.

Research by Tes last month found that at least seven senior leaders within academy trusts were earning more than £250,000, while Sir Dan Moynihan, the chief executive of the Harris Federation, remains the top earner with his salary increasing to between £455,000 and £460,000 in 2019-20.

While the focus over the last year has been on the challenges of the pandemic to education, last month the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, revealed the government was pursuing its academies agenda and wanted to see more schools in multi-academy trusts by 2025. The DfE has been approached for comment.

The NASUWT has also released figures showing that members were paid almost £12m in compensation last year, among them a primary school teacher from Cheshire who was awarded more than £150,000 after she was assaulted by one of her pupils.

The boy had been misbehaving so she asked him to get on with his work, but when she turned away he jumped up and grabbed her neck and right hand, the union said. The teacher sustained severe injuries, causing lasting ligament damage to her wrist, hand and fingers, and was awarded £155,000 in personal injury compensation.

In another case, a whistleblower was dismissed after raising concerns about bullying and intimidation of staff, as well as child protection issues, at her school. The deputy headteacher in the school in the north-west of England was awarded £60,000 for unfair and wrongful dismissal. Separately, more than £8,000 was paid out for three cases involving breaches of maternity rights.

Dr Patrick Roach, the NASUWT general secretary, said the cases were just the tip the iceberg. “There is no doubt that many other teachers will have been driven out of the profession without proper redress for poor, discriminatory or unfair treatment because they were too fearful to come forward or believed nothing could be done.

“Too many employers believe they can act with impunity as the government fails to take any action to secure compliance with employment law, allowing poor employment practices to flourish as a result of the excessive freedoms and flexibilities it has given to schools.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said the overwhelming majority of academy trusts set reasonable levels of pay for their leaders, adding: “We consistently challenge trusts where we deem executive pay to be too high, and will continue to do so when it is neither proportionate nor directly linked to improving pupil outcomes.”