EDF has raised its energy prices in France by just 4%, compared to the 54% increase consumers in UK have now been hit with.

Max Channon www.walesonline.co.uk

While it is largely owned by the French state, EDF – which stands for Électricité de France – is one of the largest electricity suppliers in the UK. The UK’s regional electricity companies were privatised in 1990, following the privatisation of British Gas in 1986.

Like all other energy suppliers in the UK, EDF has raised its prices on this side of The Channel after the UK price cap was increased by £693 – or 54% per cent – due to the record increase in global gas prices. However, in France, EDF has been forced to take a £7billion pound hit to protect French households from the price rises.

France’s Government capped the domestic price rises at just 4%. French president Emmanuel Macron – who faces elections later this month – also cut tax on electricity and has pledged to subsidise petrol by 15c a litre.

Ofgem, Britain’s independent energy regulator, announced the 54% energy price cap rise back in February. It said that the increase, that came into force on April 1, saw an increase of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 per year for UK customer’s on default tariffs paying by direct debit. Prepayment customers saw an increase of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017.

“The price cap is updated twice a year and tracks wholesale energy and other costs,” said Ofgem. “It stops energy companies from making excessive profits, ensuring customers pay no more than a fair price for their energy.”

In a statement released when the UK increases were announced, EDF said: “We know this news will not be welcome and we want to be fully transparent, giving our customers as much notice as possible.

“We will be writing to customers on standard variable tariffs in the coming weeks to explain how these changes affect their own household bills. We’re working with the Government on how the support schemes announced yesterday will be implemented. Customers with questions about these schemes should check our website where updates will be provided, helping to keep our phone lines free for those in need of urgent support.

“At EDF, we have continued providing support to customers, delivering £2.1million of support to customers last year. We are helping customers monitor and reduce how much energy they need through provision of smart meters and online tools and donations of energy efficient white goods such as washing machines and fridges.

“However, all suppliers are struggling in the face of unprecedented energy market conditions with global gas prices having increased by 500% over the past year. Since last summer around 30 energy suppliers have failed. EDF stepped in last year to rescue more than 500,000 customers of failed suppliers, at a significant financial cost.”

Philippe Commaret, Managing Director of Customers at EDF, said at the time: “We know that these changes, driven by global gas prices, will not be welcome news for customers, but we want to be fully transparent and give our customers as much notice as possible. We’ve never stopped offering our customers help and will continue to do so, although the scale of the global problem means we are constrained in how much we can do.

“It is good to see Government acting now to take some of the sting from the forthcoming rise in April, although we know many customers will continue to struggle. We will work with Government to implement the schemes in the best way possible for customers.

“The market also needs longer term reform to ensure we don’t end up here again and Britain needs more of its own nuclear and renewable power generation and greater energy efficiency to reduce reliance on gas from other countries.”

Back in October last year, during a row over post-Brexit fishing rights, France’s Europe minister Clement Beaune had suggested France could cut off Britain’s imported energy supply. Mr Beaune told French radio station Europe 1 that the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) agreed as part of the Brexit divorce deal should be “implemented fully”, threatening action if it was not.

Asked what retaliations could be taken, Mr Beaune pointed to both UK exports to France and European energy exports to the UK.

He said: “The UK depends on our energy exports, they think they can live alone while also beating up on Europe and, given that it doesn’t work, they engage in aggressive one-upmanship.”

The UK Government has now promised to take back control of energy prices with its long-awaited energy strategy which aims to make 95% of electricity low carbon by 2030. Ministers are promising “cleaner and more affordable energy” to be made in this country by boosting wind, new nuclear, solar and hydrogen.

On April 6, Boris Johnson said the strategy, including new nuclear and offshore wind plans, would reduce the UK’s dependence on foreign sources of energy. There has been particular worldwide concern about the reliance on Russian oil and gas since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Under the Government’s fresh plans a new body, Great British Nuclear, will be launched to bolster the UK’s nuclear capacity with the hope of up to 24 gigawatts (GW) of electricity by 2050 coming from the source of power, 25% of the projected electricity demand. It is hoped the focus on nuclear will deliver up to eight reactors, equivalent to one reactor a year instead of one a decade.

Prime Minister Mr Johnson said yesterday: “We’re setting out bold plans to scale up and accelerate affordable, clean and secure energy made in Britain, for Britain, from new nuclear to offshore wind, in the decade ahead.

“This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control, so we can enjoy greater energy self-sufficiency with cheaper bills.”

The team behind the Eden Project is still interested in development at junction 27 of the M5, councillors have been told. In 2020, Mid Devon’s local plan outlined how a visitor centre, hotel, outdoor adventure zone and outlet shopping could be among the facilities to be considered at the 71 hectares of land near Uffculme.

Ollie Heptinstall www.devonlive.com

It comes after initial plans were revealed years ago for a £200 million surf lake and a ‘mini’ Eden Project, backed by the Cornwall landmark’s co-creator Sir Tim Smit and other business partners. However, a new report says the covid pandemic and market changes mean no further plans have progressed, raising the question of “whether changes are required to some elements of the scheme in order to support delivery.”

Eden was recently awarded £250,000 from the UK Community Renewal Fund to allow it to refine and develop proposals for the site, with the report stressing that “interest in the scheme does remain” from the company. This work began recently and is expected to be completed later this year, according to the update, presented this week to a meeting of Mid Devon District Council’s (MDDC) ruling cabinet.

The council is also likely to start ‘enabling discussions’ in the coming weeks “with and between landowners and prospective occupiers” to get further clarity and consider what action is needed to progress work.

“The outcome of such discussions will clearly be important and will allow all parties to better understand the timescale of any development,” the report said. An update was also provided on development around junction 28 at Cullompton., which Mid Devon’s local plan identifyies as “the principal focus of development within the district.”

Up to 5,000 homes could be built at Culm Garden Village, east of the town, while work is progressing well on the proposed new Cullompton railway station, located off junction 28. Councillors were told that a lack of commercial premises in Devon and high demand means that “opportunity does therefore exist for further commercial development to progress – driving economic growth and job creation within the district.”

As part of the Culm Garden Village project, the council has instructed an employment and skills study to consider how the village can contribute to further employment growth in and around junction 28. It will see how this can be done in a way which supports new development, while reducing car ownership and longer commuting. Provisional findings are expected soon.

Councillor Richard Chesterton (Conservative, Lower Culm), cabinet member for planning and economic regeneration told the meeting: “Whilst progress may have been slower than anticipated in the recent time, work is underway in relation to development opportunities at our motorway junctions and they do continue to offer opportunities for further economic development and growth within the district.”

Deputy leader Bob Evans (Conservative, Lower Culm) said: “I think one of the really vital key elements here, to the opportunities that definitely lie at both junctions for this authority, is that engagement is key and listening to the key stakeholders – that includes residents and local businesses – to what they would see as the key opportunities.”

But Councillor John Downes (Lib Dem, Boniface), chair of the council’s economic policy development group, is concerned that both junctions, due to their close proximity, “could offer similar services to the detriment of each” and wanted them to be viewed “in the whole.” He said the council should be thinking “outside the box” about what to do at both sites, in particular junction 27, and is concerned that the Cullompton site could end up “confused and piecemeal” because of what is already there and what is planned.

“Things could happen in blocks, and the overall objective of making that a destination junction with not just services for motorists but also for the community, like incubator spaces and start-up spaces, [should] get considered in the whole,” Cllr Downes said. He asked for the council’s economic team to commission a review of the two junctions.

“We want the developments to become part of the community so that we’ve got people working locally, living locally, being employed locally, travelling locally – not being a satellite for Exeter,” he said. “Public engagement is essential because I think these two junctions really are the jewels in our crown. They can offer resource and money to the council and they could be destination places and they could benefit the community.”

Leader Bob Deed (New Independent, Cadbury) replied: “I appreciate that dealing with these two junctions holistically is the way forward, but realistically we’re dealing with silos, and it’s not as easy as getting everybody together and knocking their heads together for the benefit of all parties of the end of the day.” Councillor Ben Holdman (Lib Dem, Castle) is worried that “places like Cullompton, Tiverton and Willand are going to get left behind if we concentrate solely just on the junction.”

“They need to be encompassing of the surrounding areas and we need to encourage people back into our town centres and to include Willand’s village centre as well as the other villages.” In reply later in the meeting, Cllr Downes said there was “no intention whatsoever” to do anything at the junctions that would be “to the detriment of the economy of any of our market towns. The idea is to encourage growth, which those communities could be part of.”

Looks to Owl like a corporate and political failure. Dr Norrey has apologised, step forward Cllr Hart it’s now your turn.

Council chief to take control

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

A lack of sufficient leadership allowed Devon’s inadequate children’s services to “bumble on in a rather pathetic way,” a councillor has claimed.

The comments came at a special meeting of the county council’s children’s scrutiny committee on Wednesday to discuss a recent Ofsted monitoring visit after the service was rated inadequate in 2020.

The visit found many of Devon’s vulnerable children: “remain in unsafe and neglectful circumstances for too long” but that some improvements were being made, especially within the department’s new leadership team.

During the meeting, opposition councillor Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Kingsbridge) delivered a scathing attack on the council’s management for “failing” in its children’s services for years.

“I’ll put my head above the parapet and say I have full confidence in the leadership team within that department that we have at the moment and I’m sure we will see changes, but I think what disappoints me is I think that both corporately and politically we have allowed this situation to occur,” he said.

It was announced at the meeting that the council’s chief executive, Dr Phil Norrey, would be chairing an ‘improvement board’ for the service.

Cllr Brazil said: “I find it amazing that the chief executive has at last – better later than never I suppose – decided to take a proper hands-on approach to this problem.

“What was happening before? Did they think it was just something else?

“It’s all very well when everything’s going well, but the reason why we have these people in senior leadership positions is that when something goes wrong, they can step in and sort it out and obviously that has not happened. And we have allowed it to bumble on in a rather pathetic way that we find ourselves in this sad position.

“Children’s social services [is] probably the most important thing we do as a council. I accept its complicated and difficult, but how we allowed ourselves to be in a position where our social workers had worse terms and conditions than our neighbouring authorities is an absolute disgrace.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had an apology from the senior leadership team that they’ve allowed this to happen. I don’t think there’s ever been an apology to the children of Devon, to the people of Devon.”

He continued: “Personally, I’m embarrassed and I’m ashamed that I’m part of an institution that has allowed this to happen for so long”

But Cllr Brazil said the new team running the children’s department should be “given the opportunity to turn this around and make it better.”

Dr Norrey admitted it was “really disappointing” that the Ofsted visit in January 2020 concluded that: “we weren’t where we thought we were.

“I think we had a general view of our children’s services, that it was in a better place than it turned out to be. We thought we’d made improvements, we thought [the previous team] had helped move things forward.

“That didn’t turn out to be the case in some critical aspects of our performance, which we were unsighted on and I hold my hands up, and I’m happy to apologise for that from a senior leadership position. That I didn’t see it, that a number of us other senior leaders didn’t see it, that – to some extent – scrutiny didn’t see that we were in a worse position than we thought we were.

“Now we’ve just got to put our shoulder to the wheel and make sure that we don’t get back there.”

Dr Norrey said it “wasn’t normal” for a chief executive to chair an improvement board following an inadequate Ofsted inspection, a role usually given to an ‘improvement advisor,’ appointed in conjunction with the Department for Education.

“We’ve taken a view at this stage that actually, we would get more value out of me taking that on and directing the work of the improvement board, at least in the short term until we find a new improvement advisor.”

He said after slipping behind in terms of pay and conditions, Devon was now “ahead of the game” which would lead to improvements in recruitment and retention of staff.

The councillor responsible for children’s services, Andrew Leadbetter,(Conservative, Topsham) thanked Cllr Brazil for “being honest” but said: “I don’t think we could lay blame at [Dr Norrey’s] door.”

He added: “We’re now moving forward with a new team and let’s be optimistic about that.”

Cllr Leadbetter pointed to the recent Ofsted monitoring report which stated: “Importantly, elected members and corporate leaders are embracing the need to change after a long period of poor outcomes for families in Devon and are progressively prioritising children in the council’s plans.”

Published in February, the latest report found there was a surge in referrals during the pandemic about children who may be in need or at risk of harm, though it has now begun to “plateau.”

But it said the increase, combined with staff shortages and high caseloads, “are all contributing to many children and families not yet receiving the help they need at the time they need it most.”

The report by Ofsted inspector Steve Lowe pointed to some improvements – particularly within the leadership team and its importance at county hall. However it is clear that further work needs to be done.

“In particular, many children for whom there are concerns of significant harm are not seen quickly enough,” the report stated.

On the positives, it said the introduction of a new practice model: “has become increasingly understood by social workers and they are enthusiastic about the future.”

In addition: “Elected members and corporate leaders now prioritise children and families and acknowledge the need to make changes more quickly.”

The visit came after the previous one in May 2021, to assess the quality of social work during the pandemic, concluded that the service was still “at the start of its improvement journey” and “nothing is completely fixed.”

The meeting heard about a number of detailed improvements that were being carried out across the service, including a reduction in the number of days to see a child following a referral.

Across the county it has dropped to four days after being given “priority focus,” down from between five to 16 days in December 2021.

When asked when all the necessary improvements would be made by, Cllr Leadbetter said: “I don’t have a crystal ball.

“I mean, we’re making real improvements. The rate of progress is accelerating, but I’m not prepared to put my head on a chopping block and give a definitive date; I really can’t.”

He later clarified: “I didn’t want to sound flippant when I said about the crystal ball, but a lot of it’s going to depend on our referral rates for example. We’re coming out of this pandemic at the moment, so that’ll make a big difference.

Also, it’s very dependent on our recruitment of staff. If the measures we’ve put in place to increase our staff numbers work, and obviously we hope they do, then that’ll make the improvements a lot quicker.”

An officer added the improvement plan has “some specific measurable time-scales” as well as a “roadmap of the transformation journey” that goes up to 2024.

As Devon gets less than half the money bid for bus improvements.

Hollow catchphrases, signifying nothing. Boris is just kicking sand in the faces of loyal (misguided) Tory voters, taking them for granted. The only way to grab the attention of a Tory politician is to stop voting for them. – Owl

Government funding for Devon buses less than half original bid despite ‘desperate need’

Ollie Heptinstall, Local Democracy sidmouth.nub.news 

Devon is to receive £14 million towards bus improvements – less than half the amount the county council originally bid for.

A £34 million bus improvement plan, described as “ambitious,” was submitted at the end of October. It aimed to make buses cheaper to use, greener, more frequent, and more reliable.

Developed in partnership with Devon’s bus companies, the plan included regional zone tickets to simplify fares in collaboration with neighbouring councils and to bring in ‘young person’ tickets for 16 to 18 -year-olds, an age group most heavily reliant on buses.

However, the £3 billion of government funding available for the ‘Bus Back Better’ programme was then slashed by more than half, with the long-awaited grants being announced by the Department for Transport this week.

While the county council got less than it asked for, Plymouth and Torbay’s bids were snubbed altogether, despite neighbouring Cornwall being chosen as a pilot area with fares to be “slashed” by as much as 40 per cent, thanks to an extra £23.5 million for the county.

A Devon County Council spokesperson said: “We are yet to receive confirmation of this funding settlement from the Department for Transport, so unfortunately we do not have details of whether the money is being awarded for improved services, fares, or bus priority.

“Until we do, we cannot comment further at this stage on what it will mean for our local bus services.”

The new funding comes at a turbulent time for Devon’s bus services, which have been disrupted recently mainly because of a shortage of drivers, which has led to cancellations and reduced timetables.

Councillor Rob Hannaford, leader of the Labour group who will ask for further updates at next week’s cabinet meeting, said in response to the funding announcement: “It’s very good news that Devon has received this substantial funding award, particularly as last week it was rumoured that we had not been successful at all.

“However, it is still less than half of the original bid, and Devon is a very big county, and there is a desperate need to invest in and improve our failing bus service.

“The original bid was a detailed costed initiative, to roll out greener, cheaper environmentally friendly buses, in tandem with more regular services in rural areas to help with connectivity, and drastically reduce commuter car journeys and pollution.

“We will now have to see how far this funding can be stretched in a strategic way across Devon, that has a real impact, which may well mean prioritising some areas of the county, over others, which could mean some hard choices.”

Councillor Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Kingsbridge) told BBC Radio Devon: “We’re always happy with money, but it’s a drop in the ocean.”

“I mean, when you say we bid for £30+ million that was for £30+ million a year, not just a one-off. It’s all very well putting on new buses, but next year they’ll have to go because we don’t have the money, so it’s by no means a solution whatsoever.”

He said hourly buses into villages were “never going to come back, so we’ve got up with better ways of doing it with the information technology now that’s available.”

“We’ve got to start investing in ring-and-ride, as one example [and] a lot more community buses. Those are the sorts of ways I think – very bespoke individual solutions for individual areas.”

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said of the 31 regions across the country, including Devon, that are getting the cash: “Buses are the most popular way of getting around in this country, but for too long people outside of London have had a raw deal.

“The investment we’re making to ramp up the bus revolution will drive down fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England.”

Boris Johnson has said politicians’ families should be kept out of politics as he dodged the row over the non-domicile tax status of Rishi Sunak’s wife.

[Boris Johnson has good reason to want to keep families “out of politics”, especially any who may get issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for breaking Covid rules for holding parties in Downing Street- Owl]

Labour leader Keir Starmer said the chancellor was guilty of “breathtaking hypocrisy”.

Kevin Schofield www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

Akshata Murty has become embroiled in a major controversy after it emerged she does not pay UK tax on her foreign earnings.

She has a stake in her billionaire father’s IT services company Infosys, from which she receives a multi-million pound annual dividend.

A spokesperson for Murty said her so-called “non-dom” status was a direct result of her Indian citizenship.

“So, according to British law, Ms Murty is treated as non-domiciled for UK tax purposes,” the spokesperson said. “She has always and will continue to pay UK taxes on all her UK income.”

Labour has demanded Sunak reveals how much UK tax his wife has avoided as a result of being a non-dom.

Asked about the row, Johnson said: “I think it is very important in politics if you possibly can to try and keep people’s families out of it.”

Speaking on a visit to Hinkley Point C as the government launched its energy security strategy, the prime minister said: “What I will say is that Rishi and I are working very hard on a massive long-term British energy security strategy, that is what we are focused on.”

But Labour leader Keir Starmer said the chancellor was guilty of “breathtaking hypocrisy”.

He said: “The chancellor has imposed tax rise after tax rise on working people and has said time and again there’s no alternative, we’ve got no option.

“If it now transpires that his wife has used schemes to reduce her own tax, then that is breathtaking hypocrisy and is more evidence of just how out of touch this chancellor is and I think he’s got serious questions to answer in relation to these schemes.”

Plus estimates on how much the Chancellor’s wife may have saved.

The “non-domicile” tax exemption regime was originally introduced in 1799 to shelter those with foreign property from the swinging taxes introduced by prime minister William Pitt the Younger.

Pitt introduced new taxes In 1786 to try to reduce the debt incurred by the American War of Independence. With the country still in debt, Pitt was also forced, in 1797,  to introduce Great Britain’s first-ever income tax. The Napoleonic wars followed almost immediately and Pitt may have seen these coming.

“Non-Dom” status, then, is an echo of our colonial past. 

It is subtly different from nationality and residence and roughly equates to the concept of “homeland”. “Non-Doms” are supposed to have strong links to that “homeland” and demonstrate intent, not to remain in Britain, but to return there. A further curiosity is that you can also inherit the status from your father.

However, if eligible, you still have to make a conscious decision to claim this status. It’s a choice.

Having lost America, the aim of the perk was to keep the new colonial rich, happy. Those who were now left propping up the empire, for example sugar farmers in Jamaica. 

It is, therefore, appropriate to consider this quirk in the light of the current debate on the legacy of slavery.

Slavery was only outlawed completely, though not entirely stopped, in the “Empire” in 1833 and emancipation was not fully achieved in the USA until 1865.

Now is surely the time to abolish this anachronism. – Owl

(Sources – various)

Akshata Murty may have avoided up to £20m in tax with non-dom status

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com (Extracts)

Rishi Sunak’s wife has potentially avoided up to £20m in UK tax by being non-domiciled and pays £30,000 a year to keep the status – revelations that come amid growing political pressure on the chancellor……

……Murty has collected about 5.4bn Indian rupees (£54.5m) in dividends from Infosys, the Indian-headquartered IT business founded by her father, over the past seven and a half years, the period for which there is public data. Non-dom status for that whole period could have saved her about £20m in UK taxes.

Last year she collected dividends of £11.6m. As a higher rate UK taxpayer she would have been expected to pay 38.1% tax on the payout, which works out at £4.4m. Before 2016, the rate was 30.6%. It rose to 39.35% this week.

One factor which could reduce the total Murty would have been eligible to pay would be any reduction under double tax treaties between the UK and India, tax experts said.

Murty’s spokesperson said they had no comment on the £20m figure beyond reiterating she paid relevant taxes on UK and overseas incomes. They accepted that people with such tax arrangements could theoretically minimise payments using tax havens, while saying they had no comment as to whether Murty did this.

Murty has previously collected other dividend income via the tax haven of Mauritius, which does not tax dividends. The spokesperson also declined to elaborate on the initial explanation for Murty’s non-dom tax status – the fact she has Indian citizenship – when this would still mean such a tax arrangement was a choice……

Government industrial strategies are often derided as attempts to pick winners. The UK’s Conservative government has taken a different approach with its new energy strategy. In terms of dealing with the energy bill and climate crises, it’s picking losers.

Damian Carrington www.theguardian.com 

It is crystal clear that transforming the energy efficiency of the nation’s draughty homes should be the No 1 priority. After all, the cheapest, cleanest energy is the energy you no longer use and nothing can be installed faster than insulation.

There are huge opportunities – for example, just 40% of UK homes have sufficient loft insulation. But there is nothing new in the strategy beyond an advice website. Former Tory energy minister Charles Hendry calls this a “major misjudgment” that will “force large numbers of very vulnerable people to be cold next winter when they need not be”.

The next priority should be renewable electricity, now six times cheaper than that from gas-fired power stations. There are 649 wind and solar projects that already have planning permission. These would save more gas than the UK imports from Russia. But the strategy promises nothing to cut the planning regulations that David Cameron used to strangle onshore wind development and large-scale solar farms.

The vast majority of people, including Tory voters, back more wind power in their areas, polling consistently shows. But your future energy bills now will be even higher than they need to be because ministers are worried a tiny minority of people can’t cope with looking at turbines. There is a boost to offshore wind, a genuine British success story, but it is unavoidably more expensive than onshore wind.

The “big bet” Boris Johnson has chosen to take is on nuclear power. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said this week that “there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK” by 2050. That world is never-never land.

Nuclear power is the only major energy technology that has increased in cost in the last decade and routinely suffers from massive time and budget overruns. Even Kwarteng acknowledges that France’s large nuclear fleet “cost a fortune”.

The gamble Johnson is making, with taxpayers’ money, is that nuclear power is a more reliable wager to secure clean future power than renewables and fast-developing energy storage technologies. It’s a long shot. Renewables and storage will develop much faster and get much cheaper due to the rapid learning that comes with small-scale technologies, unlike colossal projects like nuclear.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on Monday, produced by scientists from across the globe and signed off by 195 governments, mentions renewables, wind, solar and efficiency 67 times in its summary. It cites nuclear once (in brackets), as an example of a technology with high upfront costs.

The UK energy strategy also backs more drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea – which flies in the face of its own net-zero climate targets. Furthermore, the dwindling reserves that remain cannot lower the price of commodities, which is set by a global market. Don’t just take that from me; Kwarteng, energy minister Greg Hands and COP26 president Alok Sharma all agree.

On Monday, after the IPCC report, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said: “The truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness.” That is the UK he is now talking about. The only good news is that shale gas has been sidelined, with a review of safety a sop to the small group of noisy frackheads on the Tory back benches.

Another of Johnson’s “big bets” is on hydrogen, apparently in the hope that it can be used to heat a third of UK homes as an alternative to fossil gas by 2050. That is folly, not least as heat pumps will be much cheaper and less polluting.

Using fossil fuels could produce lots of hydrogen, but also cement our dependence on oil and gas, while belching out CO₂. Green hydrogen – produced from renewables – will be very expensive for years, and the limited supply should be reserved for sectors that are really hard to decarbonise.

Why has the government got this so wrong? It’s partly short-term politics. An “ally” of the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is reported to have defended the refusal to fund more energy efficiency by saying: “We have to be scrutinising every extra penny of taxpayer money that is proposed for spending because ultimately we want to do the Conservative thing and cut taxes for people.” That is, just before the next election.

It is also partly the adherence to the dogma that the only solution to problems is “our treasured free-market economy”, as Kwarteng described it on Tuesday. That is despite the warning in 2011 from the government’s own climate adviser that “leaving [energy efficiency] to the market has never worked anywhere in the world”. He was right. The first of two big failed efficiency schemes saw loft insulations plunge by 93%.

Most depressingly, the energy strategy’s failings seem also partly due to Johnson’s penchant for big, shiny projects, rather than the hard graft of thousands of smaller ones. But the six or seven nuclear power plants he dreams of are likely to follow the same fate as his island airport, garden bridge, and tunnel to Northern Ireland.

Helen Clarkson, at the business-focused Climate Group, said: “We have tools and technologies already available which can radically reduce our energy needs and our carbon emissions now. Energy efficiency measures can deliver immediately in cutting people’s fuel bills and get us on the path to net zero in the longer term. There’s a huge opportunity for a win-win here which the government is passing up.”

First the railways and now the national grid to be effectively (re)nationalised by the Tories!

Owl has always been indoctrinated by them to repeat the mantra: private ownership good, public ownership bad.

Rob Davies www.theguardian.com 

The job of keeping the UK’s electricity and gas flowing will be returned to public control by 2024, under government plans for the effective nationalisation of a division of National Grid.

A new public body, the “Future System Operator”, will have responsibility for planning and managing energy distribution, with a focus on the challenges posed by decarbonisation.

The government said the plan, announced on the eve of the publication of its long-awaited energy strategy, would “drive progress towards net zero while maintaining energy security and minimising costs for consumers”.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said the National Grid, a stock market-listed company since 1995, would be “appropriately compensated” in a transaction that will see the government take control of its Electricity System Operator (ESO), the part of the business that keeps the lights on. Gas distribution assets will also be taken into state ownership.

The National Grid’s chief executive, John Pettigrew, said National Grid “has a critical role to play in the decarbonisation of the economy to reach net zero, while continuing to ensure security of supply at the lowest cost to consumers”.

He said: “We have been working closely with government, industry and the regulator to create a Future System Operator that enables long-term holistic thinking, drives progress towards net zero, and lays the foundations for the regulatory reform necessary to deliver a clean, fair and affordable energy transition.

“We will continue to work closely with all relevant parties to ensure a smooth transition, subject to parliamentary approval and conclusion of the transaction process.”

The Prospect union said it was vital that the skills and experience of people who worked in the National Grid ESO division were retained.

“Workers need certainty on exactly what the new ownership model will look like, and on their future prospects,” it said.

“The government and National Grid should engage with unions to provide commitments and certainty as soon as possible.”

The effective nationalisation of the ESO division comes just three years after it was formally separated from the rest of National Grid, albeit within the same corporate group.

The ESO manages supply and demand on the grid to prevent interruption of supply, keeping the lights on.

The grid houses the infrastructure assets that support the system.

Decision made public after the House went into Easter recess and Ministers not giving interviews.

Especially not Nadine Dorries, famed for her “car crash” interviews. (Owl posts a You Tube of her appearance, last November, at the DMCS Committee: Nadine Dorries still not knowing what Channel 4 actually is.)

Sean O’Grady www.independent.co.uk 

There are many puzzling, not to say troubling, aspects to the government’s proposal to privatise Channel 4, but the most disturbing is the thought that it is a dry run for the crushing of the BBC.

Legislating the move will test the arguments, probe the strength of opposition, preview tactics in the Lords and by the opposition parties, construct a new looser regulatory framework, and construct bogus or flimsy public service obligations that will more than likely be safely ignored by any new owners.

Losing Channel 4 is bad, but it will embolden and educate ministers about the best way to kill the BBC’s journalism. All have profoundly damaging consequences for democratic debate in a country where much of the print and web-based media is in the hands of right-wing interests.

Everything about the Channel 4 privatisation is deeply disquieting, and suggestive that it is only the first of a number of moves to shift the media landscape in the government’s interests. The ultimately doomed attempt to install ex-Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre to neuter Ofcom was another, as was the creation of GB News and the forthcoming new Rupert Murdoch-backed channel. The new boss of Ofcom, Michael Grade, does at least understand broadcasting and business, but he has made disparaging remarks about “woke” Ofcom staff.

One overarching problem is that no minister from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been on the media to answer the many questions privatisation raises. The secretary of state, Nadine Dorries, once proudly declared that she doesn’t do news interviews unless she’s forced to (as if she were the head of MI5 or the Pope, rather than a workaday politician). There is also little chance of immediate parliamentary scrutiny. The decision was made public just after the House of Commons had gone into recess for Easter. Handy. So there’d be no pesky urgent questions from the opposition or invitations from the DCMS Select Committee to explain what’s up. Like with the earlier announcement on freezing the BBC licence fee, parliament has been ignored.

The £1bn that it is hoped will be raised from the sale will be placed in a sort of foundation for British independent production – even though Channel 4 disbursed this amount every year to its regional hubs in Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow. No longer: so, it’s problematic for “levelling up” too. Goodbye, creative hubs.

It also looks petty. Channel 4 is routinely accused (without much foundation) by Tories of being biased against them and against Brexit, even though Channel 4 News dutifully invites them on and they always refuse. Surely Jon Snow wasn’t that frightening? It was just such a no-show, by the prime minister for their 2019 climate debate, that saw him replaced with a globe fashioned from ice and visibly melting during the show, with Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon, Jo Swinson and other party leaders looking on.

It was a bit bold for Dorothy Byrne, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, to call him a “known liar” and a “coward” at the Edinburgh Television Festival, though there is some evidence for both claims. Julian Knight, chair of the DCMS Committee, was honest enough to suggest that privatisation did indeed look like revenge.

The ostensible justification for the move – that it’s necessary to compete with Netflix and the like – is the most pernicious feature of this policy. Not only because it is nonsensical, given that Channel 4 has a different remit to Netflix and many of its hit shows feature on Netflix; but because it suggests that the privatisation of Channel 4 is a dry run for the much more ambitious project to crush the BBC. All the same arguments about the need to attract private sector capital and talent, to compete with streaming services and to neutralise perceived “woke” bias, can be applied to the corporation, and indeed Ms Dorries has referred to the “modernising” argument when she said that the abolition of the licence fee should be put out for debate. The privatisation of Channel 4 is the dress rehearsal for a much more important primetime battle.

It is difficult to believe that ministers are planning a wilful destruction of the nation’s most powerful soft power asset, and something cherished and admired the world over, just because they didn’t like the way the BBC covered the referendum. But the spiteful treatment of Channel 4 suggests that they really are that vindictive. “Cultural vandalism”, as the shadow culture secretary, Lucy Powell, calls it, doesn’t allow for how conscious and carefully thought through an act of destruction it all is.

“And… so… although it’s… yeah… and… the… and the.”

Tom Peck www.independent.co.uk (Extract)

This is the verbatim quote, in its entirety – not a word more or less – issued by Nadine Dorries, the actual secretary of state for culture, when, on live TV, she’d got to the end of a weird rant about Channel 4 not providing value for taxpayers’ money, only to be told, by fellow Conservative MP Damian Green, that it had never received any.

By the time she had got to the second “and the”, all she could do was frantically waggle her open palm at a civil servant sitting next to her, desperate for somebody else to start doing the talking before the entire room simply died of embarrassment.

It is, even by the new (and never lower) standards of today, rare for a cabinet minister to so obviously reveal that they do not know anything – anything at all – about the vast area of public life over which they yield significant power.

Nadine Dorries’ “car crash” appearance before the House of Commons DCMS committee meeting November 2021, not entirely on top of her ministerial brief but par for the course for the Boris Cabinet – Owl

Taxes are for the little people – Owl

by: Sarah Wilson www.bigissue.com 

While millions of UK households face huge energy bill increases, Shell’s annual report shows the oil giant paid no tax on its North Sea production in 2021 – and even got a £92m tax refund from the government.

Shell paid no tax on its oil and gas production in the North Sea for the fourth year in a row despite soaring global energy prices and record company profits, new documents show. 

The oil giant instead received $121m (£92m) in tax refunds paid by the UK Treasury for the decommissioning of old oil platforms, its 2021 annual report revealed.

The reports have led climate and environment groups to call for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to combat the cost of living crisis. Millions of workers in the UK face a hike in national insurance contributions, energy bills and a squeeze on daily essentials like grocery shopping.

The threshold at which income tax must be paid has also been frozen, meaning more people will pay income tax while pay rises could take employees into new tax bands. 

Dustin Benton, policy director at Green Alliance, said: “Oil and gas multinationals are making supernormal profits in the UK while ordinary people are struggling to pay their heating bills.

“Windfall taxes have been introduced before, including by Conservative governments. The case for a rethink grows stronger by the day”.

Oil and gas companies have made record profits during the energy crisis thanks to oil and gas prices soaring worldwide. During the first nine months of 2021, the largest companies made a combined $174bn (£132.8bn) in profits. Shell’s profits for the year totalled $19.3bn (£14.7bn).

Shell’s annual reports reveal this is the fourth consecutive year it has not paid UK tax on its oil and gas production in the North Sea, thanks to refunds for decommissioning platforms offsetting tax obligations. 

Since 2016, when then-chancellor George Osborne changed tax rules, oil companies have received bumper tax refunds for decommissioning oil projects, with Shell receiving annual payments of between $99m (£75.5m) and $141m (£107.6m) since 2017, when it paid $95m (£72m) in taxes. 

Shell’s largest decommissioning project is the Brent oil and gas field, which is made up of four oil platforms. 

Shell has been taxed for operations in other countries, with documentation revealing the oil giant paid $4.5bn (£3.4bn) in taxes, fees and production entitlements in Norway in 2021.

While countries such as Spain, Italy and Romania have implemented windfall taxes on oil and gas companies to ease the costs of energy for ordinary households, the UK government has repeatedly resisted calls to do the same.

Instead, consumers are now shouldering the burden of higher energy prices, with bills rising by up to 54 per cent this month as the energy price cap was raised. 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement was widely condemned by poverty charities for failing to deal with the cost of living crisis. The Resolution Foundation warned the “poorly-targeted” package will push more than one million people into poverty as prices rise. 

Danny Gross, energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Big oil and gas companies can’t go on raking in record profits and paying zero tax at the expense of people across the country, not when energy bills have jumped by 50 per cent and are expected to rise higher still later this year.

“People want to see the government proving it’s not at the whim of corporate greed. It must seize its upcoming energy review as an opportunity to introduce a Windfall Tax on profiteering fossil fuel giants.

Shell has been approached for comment.

Thirty-seven households in East Devon have so far come forward to offer homes for Ukrainian refugees.

JOE IVES Exmouth Journal

East Devon District Council (EDDC) says its private housing team is undertaking property inspections and Devon County Council (DCC) is carrying out safeguarding checks.

Under the Government-run Homes for Ukraine scheme, upper-tier local authorities will be paid £10,500 for every Ukrainian refugee housed in their area, with a top-up to help support children’s education. Individuals who provide accommodation to Ukrainian refugees will be paid £350 per month for up to a year. Speaking at an EDDC cabinet meeting, John Golding, the council’s strategic lead for housing, health and the environment, said: “We are totally committed to playing our part in the scheme and are fully engaged in what is quite a rapidly developing project. “We are also appreciative of the generous offers from sponsors or host households that have come forward in East Devon to provide a home for people fleeing from the horrendous violence that we’ve been seeing in Ukraine.” Addressing cabinet, Trevor Leahong from the Ottery Refugee Response Group said his organisation was working to set up a local community support system to help arrivals. He also asked for an update on what EDDC was doing to help Afghan refugees, many of whom are still without homes after fleeing the Taliban last year.

Mr Golding said 55 Afghan refugees were still at a `bridging’ hotel in Exmouth, organised by the Home Office. He added: “Our housing responsibilities as a district council are pretty much limited to providing a safety net if arrangements fail in the bridging hotel. We work closely with Devon County Council, Exmouth Town Council and local voluntary community groups to settle Afghan evacuees into Exmouth. I think that’s gone particularly well.” However, EDDC has very few suitable properties and has directed the Home Office to housing association partners. Leader of the council Paul Arnott described the situation as ‘absolutely heartbreaking’. He said, despite EDDC’s own housing crisis and the long waiting lists for homes, ‘this council will do everything it can to help people from Ukraine and the existing and potentially future Afghan refugees’.

April Fools Day saw the biggest rise in gas and electricity prices in living memory. On average, we are now paying almost £60 a month extra. 

Martin Shaw, Chair East Devon Alliance www.midweekherald.co.uk

Even before this huge hike, many people in East Devon were finding it very difficult to keep their homes warm. 

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis had warned that some people could ‘freeze or starve’ as soaring fuel prices combine with relentless general inflation – likely to reach 10 per cent this summer – to make life impossible for those on modest incomes.

Just imagine you’re trying to keep a family with young children together on low wages, like too many people in Devon, or on benefits, which Rishi Sunak – a multimillionaire married to a billionaire, who own together three huge homes and four cars – already cut by £20 per week last year. 

Or a widow or widower relying on the state pension to keep your retirement home comfortable.

Sunak has chosen to give people only minimal protection from the energy price rise, offering only a one-off grant of £150, i.e. a couple of months’ increases, to people living in lower council-tax-band properties. 

Boris Johnson has defended oil and gas producers like Shell and BP who are making huge windfall profits, and is refusing to take the obvious step of taxing these gains to subsidise people’s bills. 

Compare France, where the government has restricted rises to 12 per cent, not the astronomical 54 per cent we are having to pay.

On top of this, Sunak and Johnson have chosen to go ahead with this week’s National Insurance tax rise and have forced local government to implement council tax rises to pay for social care. 

Despite the Ukraine war making energy prices even worse, Sunak offered no further relief on energy bills in his recent statement. It seems as though he has no conception of what these rises mean for so many people.

Meanwhile the energy providers are doing their own bit to add to the misery. 

I wrote a couple of months back about British Gas trying to flog me a ‘cheap deal’ which was even worse than the price-cap rate. 

Now I find that, even though my account is substantially in credit, their app won’t let me reduce my monthly payments. 

Effectively they’re forcing me to pay up front for the energy they think I’m going to consume at the monstrous new prices.

Possibly, energy providers are worried that by the time of the next scheduled increase in October – which is likely to be closer to another £100 per month on top of this month’s rise – customers simply won’t be able to afford to pay if the companies haven’t collected extra money in advance. 

The government’s offer for October, when the weather gets colder again, is a ‘loan’ of £200, to be repaid when gas prices fall. By then, £200 is likely to be less than one month’s energy bill for the average household.

East Devon Conservatives are also adding insult to injury, pushing out a glossy leaflet to households (paid for with Russian oligarch money, one wonders?) which fails to even mention the cost of living. 

Instead of pressing their government to do more about the £60 per month people are having to pay, MPs Neil Parish and Simon Jupp are bravely hammering East Devon District Council for putting an extra 50p or £1 on parking charges – modest increases which most Conservative councillors supported!

Local businesses are indeed under threat, but not from EDDC. As well as facing the same increased energy costs as consumers, they are worrying that their customers simply won’t have cash to spend, or even to fill up their cars to drive into town.

This is the worst cost of living crisis in a century: when will our MPs take notice and make sure the government acts?

Staggering – Owl

Anna Isaac www.independent.co.uk 

Rishi Sunak’s millionaire wife has claimed non-domicile status in order to save on her tax bill while her husband was chancellor, The Independent understands.

Akshata Murthy, whose family business is estimated to be worth around £3.5bn, has continued to use the valuable tax status even after Mr Sunak was put in charge of setting taxes for the country in February 2020, according to two people familiar with her financial arrangements.

It is not known exactly how much has been saved by Ms Murthy but sources told The Independent it could have saved her millions of pounds in tax on foreign earnings over several years.

The Treasury declined to comment. A representative for Mr Sunak did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In a statement issued after publication, a spokesperson for Ms Murthy claimed that she had to use non-dom status because of her Indian citizenship.

The spokesperson said: “Akshata Murty is a citizen of India, the country of her birth and parent’s home.

“India does not allow its citizens to hold the citizenship of another country simultaneously. So, according to British law, Ms Murty is treated as non-domiciled for UK tax purposes. She has always and will continue to pay UK taxes on all her UK income.”

The decision to pay less tax through non-dom status is optional.

So-called “non-dom” status is entirely lawful and can save an individual from paying UK tax on income from dividends from foreign investments, rental payments on property overseas or bank interest. The status also means that you avoid UK inheritance tax.

Meanwhile, most people who live in the UK must pay tax on all their income, wherever it comes from. Unlike non-residents, non-doms can live in the UK for 365 days a year.

Tulip Siddiq, Labour’s shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, called for Mr Sunak to “urgently explain how much he and his family have saved on their own tax bill” at the same time as raising taxes for millions of people during the cost of living crisis.

She said: “The chancellor has imposed tax hike after tax hike on the British people. It is staggering that – at the same time – his family may have been benefitting from tax reduction schemes. This is yet another example of the Tories thinking it is one rule for them, another for everyone else.”

The news comes as Mr Sunak’s popularity with voters plunged amid continuing debate over the government’s reaction to surging living costs.

A YouGov poll found more than half of Britons now have an unfavourable opinion of the chancellor, compared with 28 per cent who view him in a positive light.

Mr Sunak raised the tax burden on UK taxpayers to its highest level since the 1940s in his spring statement last month, even as living standards face their sharpest decline on record.

In the latest evidence of the chancellor’s personal wealth it was revealed on Tuesday that the couple donated more than £100,000 to Winchester College, the exclusive private school he attended.

Ms Murthy, who met Mr Sunak while the pair studied at Stanford University in the US, holds investments in a range of companies, and is the daughter of an Indian billionaire, Narayana Murthy.

The No 11 resident is also a director of Catamaran Ventures UK, which is described as “a family office” venture capital and private equity business that operates out of Bangalore and London. Her father is the chair of Catamaran’s Indian arm.

Alongside an MBA, Ms Murthy has a range of business experience and speaks four languages, according to her LinkedIn profile.

One of Ms Murthy’s investments is in Infosys, an Indian company founded by her father that is listed in New York, which generated billions of dollars of revenue last year and has drawn fresh media attention in recent weeks.

The company recently closed its operations in Russia. The step followed criticism about the contrast between its ongoing presence in the country and Mr Sunak’s public call on all companies to “think very carefully” about maintaining any investments in Russia, following the Putin regime’s violent invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Sunak has not declared his wife’s shareholdings on the Register of Members’ Interests and previously said he has ”followed the ministerial code to the letter”.

The ministerial code states that ministers “must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise”. It adds that on appointment, ministers have to provide a list of all interests that “might be thought to give rise to a conflict”, this should also cover “interests of the minister’s spouse or partner and close family”.

Dividends from Infosys calculated from Ms Murthy’s stake in the company, of 0.93 per cent suggest the payments could have totalled around £11.6m in the past year.

As a non-dom, Ms Murthy would not have had to pay tax on these dividend payments in the UK. That compares to an ordinary UK resident, who, paying tax on dividends at the so-called “additional rate” (for all dividend payments over the personal allowance) would have to pay tax of 38.1 per cent on the payouts.

The special status could therefore have saved her a bill of around £4.4m in tax, although she may have incurred tax liabilities overseas. There is no suggestion the chancellor minimised his own tax bill.

Yet despite the huge economic reward it can offer individuals, there is no statutory definition of what non-dom means. Instead, HMRC makes a determination taking into account whether they or their father was born outside the UK, or they have lived outside the UK for a number of years.

Notable examples of non-doms in public life have included former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who is Canadian. Lord Goldsmith, minister for the Pacific, who faced controversy over his non-dom status when he ran in the London Mayoral elections in 2016, and Tory peer Lord Ashcroft who gave up his status to remain in the House of Lords.

Among those aged 55 and over, the estimated prevalence on 31 March stood at 8.31%. “This is around 20 times higher than the average for that group across the whole period from May 2020 through to March 2022, so these are absolutely unprecedentedly high levels.” 

Overall the south-west had the highest infection rate at 8.13%.

These findings come from the REACT study that the government will no longer fund.

In the absence of any viable Public Health “test, track and trace” system, random studies such as this, and the ONS study, provide vital data on the spread of the disease. 

Remember, very early in the pandemic, on March 12, 2020, Public Health ceased Covid testing in the community and retreated to testing principally within hospitals. 

It seems that this government doesn’t like to be bothered with facts and figures, especially inconvenient ones that get in the way of policy making. – Owl

Covid deaths in England may rise as cases in over-55s increase

Linda Geddes www.theguardian.com

A rise in Covid infections in the over-55s could see an increased number of hospitalisations and deaths in the coming weeks, experts have warned.

Imperial College London’s latest React-1 study found that while infections appeared to be slowing down or plateauing in most younger age groups in England, they were rising in over-55s, with no clear sign of when they will peak.

According to their latest data, the average prevalence of Covid-19 across England stood at 6.4%, based on swabs collected between 9 and 31 March from a random sample of nearly 100,000 people. “That’s by far the highest we’ve seen at any time since [the study began] in May 2020,” said Prof Paul Elliott, who led the research.

The south-west had the highest infection rate at 8.13%, and West Midlands the lowest at 5.28%, with reliable increases in infections observed in all English regions apart from London.

Among those aged 55 and over, the estimated prevalence on 31 March stood at 8.31%. “This is around 20 times higher than the average for that group across the whole period from May 2020 through to March 2022, so these are absolutely unprecedentedly high levels,” Elliott said.

“Obviously there’s the vaccination programme, which has been hugely important in protecting us as a population, but if you see more infection, you would generally expect to see more severe outcomes [such as hospitalisations and deaths],” added Prof Christl Donnelly at Imperial College London, who was also involved in the study.

“We don’t yet know when we’ll see a peak in the over-55 age group, and because those people are at higher risk of severe outcomes that is a particular worry.”

The team also identified eight cases involving “recombinant” forms of the coronavirus, which can occur when a person is infected with two variants at once, including five of the XE variant, a combination of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. Separate data has suggested this is spreading about 10% faster than BA.2 in the UK, with 637 cases identified as of 22 March.

The figures came as the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that Covid-related deaths in England have jumped to their highest level since mid-February.

There were 780 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate in the seven days leading up to 25 March – up 14% on the previous week. This increase follows several weeks where deaths appeared to have levelled off.

Coronavirus infections have been rising across the UK since early March, driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant. Prevalence of the virus is currently at a record high, with ONS figures suggesting approximately 4.9 million people had Covid in the week to 26 March. This increase may now be having an impact on the number of deaths, which typically lag behind infections by several weeks.

The death toll is the highest since 18 February when 863 deaths were recorded – although this is still lower than at the peak of the first Omicron wave when 1,484 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week to 21 January. It is also well below the 8,433 deaths registered at the peak of the second wave of coronavirus in the week to 29 January 2021.

In total 190,053 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the ONS. The number of people in hospital in the UK with coronavirus is close to the total reached at the start of this year but is still far below levels recorded in early 2021.

This relatively low number of deaths and hospitalisations largely reflects the success of the vaccination programme – in particular the rollout of booster doses at the end of 2021. A fourth “spring booster” dose of vaccine is being offered to people aged 75 and over, care home residents and those aged 12 and over with weakened immune systems.

Wednesday’s React-1 figures are the last that will be published by the study group, as the government has now axed funding for the project. Throughout the pandemic, it has played a key role in tracking the spread of Covid-19 infections in the community, alongside the ONS study, which will continue.

Elliott said he was “extremely proud” of what the study had achieved, providing “very rapid, real-time information that we endeavoured to report very quickly to the public, to the press, as well as to the government.

“There will be a bit of a loss. But I’m very hopeful that with the [ONS study] continuing we will still be ahead of other countries in terms of population level surveillance.”

We paid for them but we can’t see them, what do they show? – Owl

Rowena Mason www.theguardian.com 

Ministers are refusing to disclose any pictures taken by official No 10 photographers of illegal gatherings held inside Downing Street, prompting Labour to call on Boris Johnson to “come clean and release these photos”.

The Cabinet Office refused to confirm or deny the existence of any photographs of events in the cabinet room, leaving parties, and a party in the prime minister’s Downing Street flat, after official pictures of the gatherings were requested under freedom of information laws.

It said disclosing such information could prejudice the investigation, and contravene the principle of “fairness” under data protection regulations.

It has been reported that photographs taken by taxpayer-funded official photographers for No 10 are among the evidence handed to Sue Gray for her investigation into the parties, including one of Johnson’s birthday gathering on 19 June 2020, where he is allegedly holding up a beer towards the camera in a toast.

“The Downing Street photographer is funded by the taxpayer. The public have every right to see the photos that their hard-earned money has paid for,” she said. “By blocking their publication, Boris Johnson is trying to cover up his own rule breaking.

“As this government inflicts crippling tax hikes on working families during a cost of living crisis, the least they can do is be honest about what that money is being spent on. Boris Johnson must come clean and release these photos.”

It comes as the government is under fire over its lack of transparency over who has been issued with fines over the Partygate scandal. The government is not requiring civil servants to disclose to the Cabinet Office if they receive penalties after a police investigation. Only Boris Johnson and Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, have committed to revealing whether they are hit by fines.

Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank, wrote on Tuesday that Partygate “should not degenerate into a Whitehall version of Cluedo … the Met should stop dribbling out fines; there should be a commitment to name the most senior civil servants and all ministers fined”.

Helen MacNamara, the former head of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office, issued an apology after a leak named her as one of the 20 people issued with fines as part of the Met investigation.

A leaving party for Kate Josephs, who ran the Covid taskforce, has also attracted fines in the first wave of penalty notices. Josephs is now on paid leave from her job as chief executive of Sheffield city council pending an investigation and it is not known whether she has personally received a fine.

Gray has the power to name senior civil servants in her report although she may choose not to use it. In her interim report, she named no names and referred only to the “senior official whose principal function is the direct support of the prime minister” – thought to be an allusion to Martin Reynolds, the principal private secretary.

The number of deaths involving coronavirus registered each week in England and Wales has jumped to its highest level since mid-February.

By Ian Jones, PA www.inyourarea.co.uk 

A total of 780 deaths registered in the seven days to March 25 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is up 14% on the previous week and follows several weeks where deaths appeared to have levelled off.

The latest figures could signal the start of a new upwards trend.

Coronavirus infections have been rising across the UK since early March, driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant, and prevalence of the virus is currently at a record high.

This increase may now be having an impact on the number of death registrations.

The total for the week to March 25 of 780 is the highest since 863 deaths in the week to February 18.

During the previous surge of infections at the start of this year, which was caused by the original Omicron variant, Covid-19 deaths registered in England and Wales peaked at 1,484 in the week to January 21.

But this was well below the 8,433 deaths registered at the peak of the second wave of the virus, in the week to January 29 2021.

The relatively low number of deaths during recent months reflects the success of the vaccination programme, in particular the rollout of booster doses at the end of last year.

A fresh campaign is now under way to give a “spring booster” – a fourth dose of vaccine – to people aged 75 and over, residents of older adult care homes, and those aged 12 and over who are immunosuppressed.

Fourth doses of vaccine can be given to people who are at least six months on from their most recent jab.

Figures published last Friday by the ONS showed prevalence of Covid-19 in the UK is at a record high, with an estimated 4.9 million infections in the week to March 26.

The number of people in hospital in the UK with coronavirus is close to the total reached at the start of this year, but is still far below levels seen during the second wave in early 2021 – again reflecting the impact of the rollout of vaccines.

Overall, 190,053 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.

The highest number on a single day was 1,487 on January 19 2021.

During the first wave of the virus, the daily toll peaked at 1,461 on April 8 2020.

Around nine in 10 deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate since the start of the pandemic have coronavirus as the primary cause of death, with a minority listing the virus as a contributory factor.

Households in rural areas will be worst affected by rising energy bills, according to new Labour analysis. The party found that rural households will pay around a third more to heat their homes on average as prices rise, partly due to a higher proportion of low-energy-efficiency homes in those areas. Shadow DEFRA Secretary Jim McMahon said the government’s £200 energy discount/loan would “do nothing to tackle the bill hikes people in rural communities have been facing every year.”

POLITICO London Playbook Tuesday 5 April

A suitable post for the day taxes go up for many – Owl

British MPs have charged taxpayers £420,000 for energy bills in their second homes over the last three years, openDemocracy can reveal.

Martin Williams www.opendemocracy.net 

The government has refused to step in to curb record high energy costs as millions in the UK face bill hikes of 54%. Senior Tories also blocked proposals for a windfall tax on energy firms.

Yet government ministers are among the 405 MPs who have claimed expenses for their heating bills since April 2019. They include foreign secretary Liz Truss, two senior Treasury ministers, and even a minister from the department for energy.

Meanwhile, ordinary consumers have been hit with an extra £700-a-year cost for heating their homes. Official figures show 40% have already been finding it difficult to afford gas and electricity.

George Freeman, who is a minister in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, claimed £1,565 for electricity and other fuel.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, claimed £1,548 for gas and electricity.

Treasury ministers Simon Clarke and John Glen also claimed expenses for household energy.

Meanwhile, the government’s attorney general, Suella Braverman, racked up a £3,945 energy bill, which she charged to taxpayers.

And the disgraced former health secretary, Matt Hancock claimed a staggering £4,800 on energy costs – mostly during the pandemic.

But Labour MP Liam Byrne claimed the most on energy in his second home, charging taxpayers some £7,808 over three years.

Under the expenses system, MPs are allowed to claim for utility bills at their second homes if their constituencies are outside London.

Last week, MPs also got a £2,212 pay rise, bringing their standard salary up to £84,144 a year.

In reality, many MPs earn far more than this, as they are often paid extra for taking on additional roles like being a minister or chairing a select committee.

In November, openDemocracy also revealed that MPs had earned £6m from second jobs since the start of the pandemic.

But outside Westminster, the UK’s poverty crisis is deepening – and the government has faced calls to rein in energy companies by introducing a windfall tax.

Last month, openDemocracy revealed that the Big Six energy companies had made more than £1bn in profit ahead of the bill hike.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng dismissed proposals for a windfall tax, saying it would be “completely the wrong message to send investors”.

“We believe a windfall tax would be a tax on jobs, would destroy investment and would add to the uncertainty in oil markets,” he said.

Speaking in a Commons debate on the issue, Tory MP Andrew Bowie said the tax proposals were “stunts”. But records show that he has claimed expenses for almost £1,300 of electricity bills since 2019.

The energy price rise has sparked fresh concern about the UK’s spiralling poverty crisis, with low-earners, elderly and disabled people being hit the hardest.

The total cost to taxpayers for MPs’ energy bills is expected to rise even further as not all claims for last year will yet have been made.

(Tweets in text below)

1. Grant Shapps (who has more identities than Jason Bourne, somebody else people would travel halfway round the world to punch) was ooooh, livid about P&O, and demanded workers be reinstated.

2. He tweeted “P&O Ferries has ripped up 800 workers’ rights and hung them out to dry”.

3. P&O’s owners pointed out that they’d told Shapps they were going to do this a year ago, and he’d implicitly given them the go-ahead for the sackings, telling them “you will need to make commercial decisions” that are best for P&O.

4. Boris Johnson told parliament P&O had broken the law – and he hates that kind of thing – so “We will take them to court to defend British workers”.

5. This week the government dropped plans to take P&O to court, leading experts to say “it looks like they’ve got away with it”.

6. Last month’s relaxation of public health measures has been so successful that this week Covid infections reached a record high, and hospitalisations of older people are 15 per cent up on the last Omicron peak.

7. So, obviously, from today, free Covid testing has been scrapped too

8. And funding for tracking Covid has been axed, cos if you don’t look, it isn’t really happening.

9. When presented with the option of reintroducing basic public health measures, the health secretary instead went with advising primary school children to “socialise a bit less”.

10. The “protective ring” thrown around care homes was breached (again) as the cost of tests for visitors rises to £73 per month, and becomes voluntary.

11. And then, to thank health staff for their work, sacrifices and avoidable deaths, Sajid Javid scrapped their free parking.

12. So, sad news for the NHS, but fabulous news for Tory peer Michelle Mone.

13. She was reported to have directly lobbied government ministers to place orders for PPE from a company she was secretly involved in, via a tax haven – cos you wouldn’t wanna pay tax on your profiteering.

14. The Mone-adjacent company bought PPE for £46m, then sold it to the government at three times the price, and pocketed the difference.

15. And the PPE was never used cos it failed inspections.

16. And it looks like the PPE was somehow – surely by accident – issued with fake approval certificates.

17. And the entire thing had been negotiated between Mone and ministers using private email accounts, so there would be no papertrail.

18. Government guidelines forbid the use of private emails for government business. But they also forbid illegal profiteering, and look where that got us.

19. Rosa Klebb tribute act Priti Patel didn’t want to miss out, so made a “flagrant breach” of ministerial code by intervening to get a PPE contract for a company represented by her friend and former advisor.

20. Startled turbot Michael Gove was involved in granting the contract.

21. That company’s profits jumped from £38m to £166m.

22. After the last lobbying scandal – and I know it’s hard to keep track – the PM said he would “crack down” on the practice, and put a cap on MPs’ earnings from second jobs.

23. This week he quietly scrapped those promises.

24. And so ex-social care minister Caroline Dinenage immediately took a lucrative second job at a social care business owned by a Tory donor.

25. The Met continued their Cosmo-questionnaire-based approach to crimefighting, and issued 20 fines for people involved in PartyGate.

26. The fines coincided with the opening of the Covid Memorial wall, and also with the day Tory MPs chose to throw a jolly party for themselves; what larks!

27. Tories entered the shindig via a line of mourners from Covid deaths, and not one Tory MP looked at them. Not one. [Another question for you Neil and Simon: did you “avert your eyes”?- Owl]

28. Follicular fire-hazard Michael Fabricant, having experienced this, was moved to tweet his outrage – not about the flatly ignored mourners, but about the wine at the party being merely a “passable” House Merlot, and not up to his usual standards.

29. On the way in he said “We’re going to have a lot of fun”.

30. On the way out, clearly briefed by somebody smarter, such as the animal corpse on his head, he said it “wasn’t a party, just colleagues having dinner and drinks”, which is exactly what they just got fined for.

31. Months ago, as PartyGate kicked off, Solicitor General Alex Chalk put it in writing that he would resign if there was “a scintilla of a suggestion” anyone had broken the law over Downing St parties.

32. Alex Chalk has not resigned as Solicitor General. I know! I’m amazed, too

33. Boris Johnson suggested the fines simply showed that he was being honest when had told parliament “There was no party and no rules were broken”.

34. The ministerial code says “Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation”.

35. Dominic Raab, the kind of Justice Minister you’d expect to find on Gumtree, admitted laws had been broken.

36. Johnson listened politely, then said he would remain “pretty firmly on his position” that no laws were broken.

37. And then Number 10 said laws had been broken.

38. But Johnson refused to admit laws were broken.

39. To help out, the police said laws had been broken.

40. Number 10 then had some sort of episode, said “we do not formally accept laws were broken”, and began denying Raab had said laws had been broken. Which he had said. On TV.

41. Number 10 then claimed the PM denying parties wasn’t a lie, even though police had fined 20 people for those parties.

42. Faced with a paradox hard for any mind to handle, let alone his, Raab said the PM’s bullshit was merely him “telling the truth, to the best of his ability”.

43. And then, in a magisterial challenge to irony, Raab complained we “can’t believe a word that comes out of Putin”.

44. So, off to the NATO summit, where our world-leading PM, Sir Plankton Churchill, was ignored by everybody, and ended up alone, gazing forlornly at the ground.

45. The government boasted it had sanctioned 18 oligarchs, cos we don’t want dodgy Russian money queue-jumping honest visa-applicants.

46. 8 of those 18 got into this country via the Tory policy of “golden visas”, using dodgy Russian money queue-jump honest visa-applicants.

47. Rishi Sunak, the rejected first-draft of an Aardman sidekick who is pretending to be a chancellor, said “I want to make it clear that there is no case for UK business investing in Russia”.

48. His family has a £727m stake in Russian business, but he blamed his wife for that.

49. He said anyone blaming his wife should be ashamed, but at least he hadn’t gone all Will Smith on their ass.

50. He’ll go slap-happy when he finds out the ministerial code says ministers “must ensure no conflict arises between their public duties and their private interests”.

51. Sunak told MPs he was a “tax-cutting chancellor”, and to prove it he introduced the biggest rise in taxes since the 1950s.

52. Energy bills rose 54%, so his brilliant plan for people with terrifying fuel debt was to force them into deeper debt, with a mandatory £200 loan.

53. He then – and bear in mind he’s supposed to be an expert on this stuff – said just because he was lending money to people who then had to repay it, that didn’t mean it was a loan.

54. David Davis – so good they named him once – said Sunak is “making the economy worse”

55. To celebrate this glowing review, Sunak, who’s primary skill appears to be taking his jacket off, got his official photographer to snap him (jacketless) posing as he filled up his very own Kia Rio.

56. Except he’d borrowed the Kia from a supermarket worker.

57. But he paid for the fuel, bless him, although it wasn’t easy. Footage showed the guy in charge of our nation’s money battling heroically as he got confused between a credit card and a can of coke, while desperately attempting to negotiate a till at a petrol station.

58. After his wily Kia Rio ploy fell through in about 4 seconds, he told MPs he really drives a “battered old Golf”.

59. He seems to have forgotten about the Range Rovers and 3 other luxury cars he owns, some of which he keeps at his modest, man-of-the-people pad in Santa Monica.

60. He told MPs it was impossible to say whether Brexit had hurt the economy, mainly cos he didn’t give a shit, what with him being massively rich.

61. Then, seemingly having cleared the cache in his brain, he told MPs it was “always inevitable” that Brexit would hurt the economy.

62. At the last general election Rishi Sunak had campaigned for a party promising their Brexit would make every person in Britain £993 a year richer.

63. It’s made every household £3,600 a year poorer.

64. That’s very nearly enough money to fill up a Kia Rio.

65. Research found the £20 Covid increase in Universal Credit lifted 400k children out of poverty, so, naturally, Sunak scrapped it.

66.And then, in a major shock to those who have been observing his levelling up plans, it was shown his changes to student loans hurt the poor most.

67. He’s clearly holding his levelling-up-o-meter upside down.

68. Economists said his plans leave one fifth of the UK in poverty.

69. He said “I am comfortable with the choices I made”.

70. 3 hours later, he was reported to be “panicked” into considering throwing his entire plan away.

71. As previous Tory decisions to scrap green investment added £190 a year to energy bills, an SNP MP asked Johnson in parliament how people in Scotland could afford to heat their homes.

72. Johnson – the actual Prime Minister – responded by calling him a fatty. In parliament.

73. Priti Patel, the Gnome of Sauron, promised a “fairer, more compassionate” Home Office after a report found her department was cruel, incompetent, and badly managed.

74. This week the report’s author said in 2 years since then, Patel had done almost nothing to fix her department.

75. Only 8 of 30 recommendations have been even partly implemented, and the report said it was “disappointed” 13 times.

76. So Patel, stalwart in her adherence to reality, said she was “pleased the report says significant progress has been made”.

77. She also designed a scheme for EU citizens to keep living in the UK, which is so good it means 2 million of them now face deportation.

78. A new independent (but Tory) head of Ofcom was announced, responsible for overseeing social media regulation and protecting broadcasting.

79. He immediately said he wants to privatise Channel 4 and scrap the BBC funding model.

80. The man now in charge of regulating social media ,proudly stated that he’s never used social media, but “is aware of it” because his children told him about TikTok.

81. He went on to say how much he admired Laurence Fox, that waxy, lurching manifestation of entitlement and stupidity, because “I know his family”, which I think we can all agree is a GREAT reason to support Fox constantly undermining public health in a pandemic.

82. Nadhim Zahawi, a child’s drawing of pure greed superimposed onto a competitively evil gonad, announced he would force all schools to become academies by 2030.

83. This was because “evidence” showed academies “deliver the best possible outcomes”.

84. The “evidence” actually shows academies perform 23 per cent worse than council-run schools.

85. Then Zahawi proudly announced a bold new idea – never tried before, not at any parents’ evenings ever – of getting teachers to tell parents if their kids were doing badly in school. Cool.

86. Local elections are coming, and the public need honest communications about what they’re voting for.

87. So the government was found to have illegally spent £100,000 of public money on “Tory Propaganda” ads on Facebook, targeted on areas where they are defending small majorities.

88. Etch-a-sketch thunderc*nt Dom Raab was back, with a new bill of human rights to guarantee free speech.

89. But you have to exercise your free speech in monastic silence, cos Priti Patel has simultaneously banned any protests that is loud enough for anybody to hear.

90. Patel, the Shetland Pony of the Apocalypse, was also found this week to have breached human rights by her policy of literally stealing phones off asylum seekers.

91. More human rights news, as Johnson promised to ban conversion therapies that claim to “cure” gayness.

92. He then did a U-turn on that promise.

93. Then he did a U-turn on the U-turn… do we need to coin the phrase “W-turn”?.

94. But he hasn’t banned conversion therapy for being transgender.

95. And then Tory MP Jamie Wallis came out as transgender.

96. And so, as a consequence all this, Jamie Wallis is now a member of a political party with a stated policy – at least for the next 10-15 minutes – of “curing” Jamie Wallis of being Jamie Wallis.

Stressed Out Community GIF

OK, so… first, an apology, cos that must have been a nightmare.

But if you like nightmares, consider supporting my forthcoming book, which has more jokes and less stress, and at least you can burn it for heat when you run out of furniture.

Originally tweeted by Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) on 01/04/2022.