And what have we got in our rivers: serious pollution!

Owl doesn’t have to work too hard to see a connection. Yet more evidence of the effectiveness of “light touch” regulation.

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

England’s Environment Agency has downgraded 93% of prosecutions for serious pollution over four years, despite recommendations from frontline staff for the perpetrators to face the highest sanction, a leaked report seen by the Guardian reveals.

Between April 2016 and December 2020, investigators within the agency gathered evidence and prepared case files on 495 serious incidents, involving the worst type of pollution of rivers and coastal waters as well as serious waste crimes, according to the internal document.

They recommended that the agency prosecute in all the cases. But the document shows that after intervention by managers just 35 cases were taken forward to prosecution, the rest being dealt with via a lower sanction such as a warning letter, or dropped all together and marked for no further action.

Officers investigating the highest categories of waste pollution, including those perpetrated by individuals involved in serious organised crime, recommended prosecution in 386 cases. But only 4% of cases were pursued, while the rest were downgraded to a caution, enforcement notice or warning letter, or marked for no further action. The scale of dropped prosecutions was revealed as the government claimed it was engaged in a crackdown on waste criminals.

When it came to investigation of serious pollution incidents in rivers and coastal waters, investigating officers said 109 cases should be prosecuted. These are likely to have involved breaches of permits by water companies leading to illegal discharges of raw sewage, as well as other serious water pollution. Only 21 cases, however, were pursued to a prosecution; just 19%.

The information supports claims from within the EA that it has been cut back to such an extent investigating pollution incidents has been deprioritised and the regulator was no longer a deterrent to polluters.

The report suggests that EA officials will be ignoring serious waste crime involving organised crime group.

Recent instructions to staff, according to a previous Guardian report, are to ignore pollution incidents that are considered lower level; so-called category 3 and 4 incidents.

But the internal report reveals that most waste offences are listed under current guidance category 3 and 4, and therefore, under the new guidance would no longer investigated, “even those that are part of major or serious operations dealing with organised crime”.

The leaked document says the agency “cannot underestimate the significance of large proportions of cat 3” for waste and water quality pollution incidents.

“These include chronic cat 3 impacts associated with priority offenders and long running high risk waste sites that can be deliberate and committed by offenders with enforcement history,” states the document.

“In many instances these are more appropriate for an upper tier [stronger enforcement] response than some cat 1 or 3, depending on circumstance,” it said.

The report suggests that one reason for the wholesale downgrading could be that the agency’s “resources and our ability to evidence offences and pursue cases to prosecution has reduced over recent years”.

Miscategorisation of pollution incidents or permit breaches as low impact when their consequences were actually high impact, is something that concerns the angling community.

Campaign group Fish Legal has details of a pollution incident in which building rubble was dumped into a tributary of the River Tamar. It was initially deemed to be category 2 and was later downgraded to category 3 without any inspection or sampling. The perpetrator was sent a warning letter.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said the regulator does not comment on leaked documents. However, they said it does “consider, record and prioritise all incidents – with all breaches and offences reported to us undergoing a robust initial assessment”.

They added: “We have a wide range of enforcement options, including civil sanctions, enforcement undertakings, and in some circumstances, advice and guidance. Where prosecution is appropriate, we pursue robustly and in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, which sets out that the evidence must provide a realistic prospect of securing a conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.”

The spokesperson added: “Over 90% of our prosecutions are successful, and recent outcomes such as the £90m fine of Southern Water Services show a clear and welcome trend towards much bigger fines against offenders in appropriate cases.”

The truth, they say, is the first casualty of war, more so at a time when misinformation spreads so rapidly. But with correspondents on the ground on both sides of the Ukraine-Russia border, in Kyiv, Moscow, Brussels and other European capitals, the Guardian is well placed to provide the honest, factual reporting that readers will need to understand this perilous moment for Europe and the former Soviet Union.

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“Second homes are a symptom of a wider problem – a market that treats property, not as a home, but as a way of making a profit.”

www.itv.com

The Welsh Government has announced an increase to the limit on council tax premiums for second homes across Wales.

The maximum level at which councils can set council tax premiums on second homes and long-term empty properties will be increased to 300% from April 2023.

The changes are part of a wider package of measures intended to ensure people can find an affordable home in the place they have grown up, as set out in the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

The commitment is to take immediate and radical action using the planning, property and taxation systems, and also includes, new local tax rules for holiday lets.

Rebecca Evans, minister for finance and local government, said: “These changes will give more flexibility to local authorities and provide more support to local communities in addressing the negative impacts that second homes and long-term empty properties can have. 

“They are some of the levers we have available to us as we seek to create a fairer system.

“We will continue to make every effort to increase the supply and availability of houses, as shown by the £1 billion of funding to build 20,000 low carbon social homes, contained in the budget I published at the end of last year.”

Plaid Cymru’s Sian Gwenllian said: “It is clear that we as a country are facing a housing crisis. So many people cannot afford to live in their local areas, and the situation has worsened during the pandemic. 

“These changes will make a difference, enabling councils to respond to their local circumstances, and start to close the loophole in the current law. It’s a first, but important, step on a journey towards a new housing system that ensures that people have the right to live in their community.

“Through the Co-operation Agreement, we are committed to introducing a package of measures to tackle the injustices in the housing market. Today’s announcement is just one part of that wider package. 

“Second homes are a symptom of a wider problem – a market that treats property, not as a home, but as a way of making a profit. By working across the parties in the Senedd, we will introduce more measures, as soon as we can, to make house prices and rents genuinely affordable for people.”

The changes will enable councils to decide the level that is appropriate for their individual local circumstances. Councils will be able to set the premium at any level up to the maximum, and they will be able to apply different premiums to second homes and long-term empty dwellings.

Premiums are currently set at a maximum level of 100% and were paid on more than 23,000 properties in Wales this year. 

Local authorities opting to apply premiums have access to additional funding, and the Welsh Government has encouraged councils to use these resources to improve the supply of affordable housing.

Julie James, the Welsh Government’s minister for climate change which includes the housing brief, added: “We want people to be able to live and work in their local communities. But we know rising house prices are putting them out of reach of many people, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis we are facing.

“There is no easy answer or quick-fix solution. This is a complex problem that requires a wide range of actions. 

“We continue to carefully consider further measures that could be introduced, and these changes are the latest steps we are taking to increase the availability of homes and ensure a fair contribution is made.”

Last summer the Welsh Government outlined a three-pronged approach to address the impact of second home ownership faced by Welsh communities. 

This seeks to address the affordability and availability of housing, amend the regulatory framework and system, and ensure second homeowners make a fair and effective contribution to the communities in which they buy.

The criteria for self-catering accommodation being liable for business rates instead of council tax will also change from next April.

Currently, properties that are available to let for at least 140 days, and that are actually let for at least 70 days, will pay rates rather than council tax. The change will increase these thresholds to being available to let for at least 252 days and actually let for at least 182 days in any 12-month period.

The change is intended to provide a clearer demonstration that the properties concerned are being let regularly as part of genuine holiday accommodation businesses making a substantial contribution to the local economy.

Both changes follow a consultation process that has included businesses, the tourism industry and local communities.

However, there is not universal support for the proposals within the Senedd, with the Welsh Conservatives in long-standing opposition to a hike on second homes.

Commenting on the news of the council tax rises, the party’s shadow minister for housing, Janet Finch-Saunders, said: “It is deeply concerning that Labour ministers are pandering to their nationalist coalition partners and punishing aspiration and investment in Wales.

 “The housing crisis is a direct result of years successive Labour-led governments failing to provide opportunities and build enough houses with housebuilding falling below levels before devolution. What we see is a Labour Government desperately trying to act long after the horse has bolted.

 “This Labour Government is failing to tackle the root issues of the housing crisis failing to address the fact that, until recently there have been more empty homes in Wales than there are second homes.

“Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay need to get a grip, address the housing shortage in Wales and provide an environment where hard work can be rewarded.”

Owl hopes that the Honiton town council can now get off to a new start.

Philippa Davies www.midweekherald.co.uk 

A by-election for four Honiton Town Council seats, representing the St Paul’s ward, will no longer be held. 

 Only three candidates have put themselves forward for the seats – Joseph Furneaux-Gotch, Debra Hulin and Caroline Kolek – and they have been elected unopposed. 

There will still be an election on March 10 for four vacancies on St Michael’s ward. Six candidates are standing: Lisa Beigan, Jenny Brown, Robert Fowles, Cathy Maunder, Andrew Pearsall and John Taylor. 

A spokesperson for Honiton Town Council said: “The role of Town Councillor is as important as ever. The Town Council makes decisions that affect everyone in Honiton and the town’s economy, environment and community.  

“Voters have the opportunity to be represented on the Town Council by councillors for whom you have voted. By voting you are expressing your hard-won democratic right to Vote. Democracy is best served by a good turnout of people voting. Councillors are an essential link to and work closely with the community, representing people at the Council.” 

For more information visit the Elections page of East Devon District Council’s website.

Liz Truss is facing mounting questions over why the Foreign Office will take “weeks and months” to sanction Russian oligarchs, with the UK lagging behind the US and EU after targeting just eight individuals with links to Vladmir Putin.

Rowena Mason www.theguardian.com 

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has for days been promising to target a “hit list” of oligarchs but refuses to say when the names will be ready, despite warnings from MPs that billionaires will already be taking their assets out of the country.

Senior Tory MPs have been growing increasingly frustrated by what they see as a lack of preparation on the part of the Foreign Office, with some having warned Truss months ago that the UK should be ready with a response against London-based oligarchs with links to Putin if Russia were to invade.

Labour also raised concern about “asset flight” by oligarchs who fear they may be hit by sanctions soon and worries that the UK is “off the pace” compared with the US and EU.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, claimed on Tuesday there were “legal reasons” for the time being taken, with officials trying to make sure sanctions are watertight against legal challenge.

Cabinet sources insisted the UK had been going further on hitting banks and financial operations with sanctions than other countries, with more than 120 entities targeted to date.

Asked whether more oligarchs would be blacklisted this week, a Foreign Office source said on Tuesday: “We will be sanctioning more oligarchs over the coming weeks and months.”

But David Davis, the Tory former Brexit secretary, said the financial industry sanctions “were not going to hit Putin where it hurts most”.

“We need to target many more of his allies and facilitators that have frankly bought their way into British society and that’s what’s really missing,” Davis said.

“We need to target those owning businesses on our stock exchange. We need to target those owning London homes that we can no longer afford because of Russian operations in London. We need to target oligarchs who own football clubs that many of our citizens can no longer afford to attend.”

He added: “I do worry about the government moving so slowly that its prey escapes it.”

In the House of Commons, Davis named Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire with property in London, saying “according to the Spanish national intelligence committee, he is one of the men who manages Putin’s business affairs. That is a really important issue about whether he should be on our target list.”

Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who recently passed stewardship of Chelsea FC to a charitable foundation, has vehemently disputed reportsalleging he is close to Putin or that he has done anything to merit sanctions.

Bob Seely, a Tory MP and member of the foreign affairs committee, said oligarchs needed to be under the spotlight as they were “not just obscenely rich people who are mates with someone” but part of the Kremlin’s “structure of control and power whether it is in east Ukraine or in the UK”.

The EU announced a list of sanctions against Russian businessmen on Monday night, including billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven. They have vowed to contest the restrictions.

Fridman is a Ukrainian-born energy tycoon who owns AlfaBank with his partners, including Aven. He bought and still owns Athlone House in Highgate, north London, for £65m in cash in 2016, according to the Land Registry.

The billionaire, who is one of Russia’s richest men, controls private equity firm LetterOne, which owns Holland & Barrett. In a letter to his employees this week, he called for an end to the “bloodshed” in Ukraine and stated that “war can never be the answer”, without directly criticising Putin.

Others to be sanctioned by the EU, but not the UK, include Alexei Mordashov, a major shareholder in TUI, the London-listed travel company. Alisher Usmanov, who has sponsorship links to Everton, also had his assets frozen as part of sanctions imposed by the European Union in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Uzbekistan-born billionaire’s USM Holdings sponsors Everton’s training ground, with an initial five-year deal announced in 2017.

Another Russian oligarch not sanctioned by the UK is Oleg Deripaska, who has been on the US sanctions list since 2018 over his alleged links to the Russian government, which he has taken legal action to challenge.

This week, Deripaska called for peace talks to begin “as fast as possible” in a post on the messaging app Telegram. “Peace is very important,” wrote Deripaska, who founded the Russian aluminium giant Rusal, in which he still owns a stake through shares in its London-listed parent company EN+ Group.

The British government strongly defended the sanctions it has already put in place. The Foreign Office source added: “Liz has been clear we have a hit list and we’ll be working our way through that as part of a rolling package. Nothing – and no one – is off the table.”

Robert Jenrick, another former Tory cabinet minister, also argued that the most important sanctions were those that have a “systemic impact on the Russian economy”.

He said parliament “should not be going down the rabbit hole of interest in individuals and oligarchs – important though that is – as that is not going to make a material difference in the short term”.

He added that many of those business people left Russia many years ago and are not currently close to Putin.

Britain has long been a haven for people of negotiable integrity to stash their cash, often via property deals made with the help of an army of lawyers, PR advisers and bankers.

By Lawrence Booth vervetimes.com 

Not only are super-mansions in London and the home counties a safe bet from an investment point of view, but the ability to disguise ownership via a labyrinthine network of shell companies offers a degree of anonymity to those who prefer their financial dealings to remain secret.

On top of that, the Companies House database – the repository for details of UK-registered businesses – has become almost a punchline to a pretty bad joke.

Information is often missing, incomplete or obviously fake. Directors have been registered in the name of Adolf Tooth Fairy Hitler and Judas Superadio Iskariot, without anyone batting an eyelid. Information can be hard to search for and the website crashes or times out on a regular basis.

On Monday, amid pressure to crack down on the billions of pounds in Russian “dirty money” flowing through London, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, brought forward measures designed to clean up the mess. They include a register of properties owned by overseas investors, in theory preventing them from disguising their identities.

“By legislating now, we’ll send a clear warning to those who have or are thinking about using the UK property market to launder ill-gotten gains,” Kwarteng said.

Companies House will also be “upgraded” to improve the quality of information available from its database and there will be measures to strengthen “unexplained wealth orders”, which give law enforcement bodies the power to seize assets where they suspect criminality may have occurred.

Long-time anti-corruption campaigners are relieved, if frustrated at how long it has taken Britain to relinquish its role as obsequious financial butler to what the business department now calls “corrupt elites”.

“It’s about bloody time,” said Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption.

She said campaigners had “been waiting six years” for measures like these, ever since an anti-corruption summit in 2016, adding: “These measures are a good start but on their own will not be enough to plug the loopholes in our defences against dirty money.

“We need a massive investment in law enforcement capability so they can get on with investigating unexplained wealth, and with investigating and prosecuting money laundering breaches and sanctions evasion.”

Already, there is scepticism about whether the super-rich and super-nefarious will be able to flout the rules. For instance, while the “ultimate beneficial owner” of a property will have to be disclosed, that could still be a legal entity or a company. If that entity is itself in a jurisdiction that permits corporate secrecy, there will be no way to unravel the final links in the chain to the person at the very top.

Graham Barrow, of the Dark Money Files podcast, has consistently exposed some of the more ludicrous failings of Companies House to provide legitimate data. He pointed out that these rules are similar to those for “persons of significant control” disclosures that, in theory, tell you who owns a company.

“We know from experience that they can be circumvented by declaring that there is no one who meets the definition of a ‘beneficial owner’,” he said. “Whilst there are penalties for making a false declaration, knowing who is behind an entity in a location like the Marshall Islands, the Seychelles or BVI is not a straightforward task.

“Without adequate human and financial resources, along with cooperation from overseas territories, the requirements look difficult to enforce effectively”.

Hawley raised misgivings about measures to target those trying to evade sanctions, a hot-button topic as ministers target Russian oligarchs and Kremlin officials. “It isn’t clear that this bill goes far enough in giving law enforcement the real tools to bring criminal cases for sanction evasion,” she said. “There hasn’t been a criminal sanctions evasion case for over 12 years.”

Barrow also declared it “deeply disappointing” that the government was not acting faster. “Companies House continues to be abused on a daily basis and further delay simply opens the door to more and more criminals.”

One campaigner, who asked not to be named until he had spent more time analysing the detail, was more sanguine about the prospect of the financial chicanery that may go on as the corrupt and secretive hide their assets elsewhere in the period between the proposals being announced and implemented.

“The gate will be open for a while,” he said. “But I’d rather get a decent piece of legislation than try to pass it in three hours. We can’t turn back the clock. We are where we are.”

Tory peer Lord Moylan demands police ‘butt out’ of ‘farcical’ Partygate investigation saying Boris Johnson is being unfairly targeted for Covid rules ‘punishment’ usually reserved for ‘egregious acid house parties’ – as PM awaits his fate

• Lord accused cops of treating the PM like the hosts of ‘acid house parties’
• Peer was an adviser on transport to Mr Johnson when he was mayor of London
• Senior politicians are awaiting the results of the Metropolitan Police probe 
• Mr Johnson could be fined for breaking laws preventing social gatherings  

Details from the Daily Mail here

These remarks follow his derogatory comments about Yorkshire made in a recent tweet:

Worzel has asked for this comment to be withdrawn because it dwells too much on personal angst with regards to the unfolding tragedy instead of concern for others.

Split opposition leads to Conservative gain from Independent – Owl

Philip Churm, Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

By-election was tense, but efforts paid off  

West Devon’s newest councillor says he is passionate about the local area and is determined to help tackle the housing crisis.  

Cllr David Turnbull (Conservative, Tavistock North) was elected in a by-election on 17 February with a majority of 42 in a win that bolsters the Tory group on the borough council which now has 17 councillors. 

The election was called after the resignation of independent councillor Steve Hipsey earlier this year. 

Cllr Turnbull, who has been elected for a 15-month term ahead of full council elections in May 2023, says the by-election was tense at times but that his efforts paid off.   

“I didn’t really know which way it was going to go,” he says.

“I know we’d worked really hard. I got out to meet and speak to as many people as I could but up to the day, it was quite close.” 

Cllr Turnbull describes how his decision to stand for election was made after speaking to other councillors and locals. 

“I’ve always been interested in local politics. I’ve had a few conversations with [Cllr] Debo Sellis (Conservative, Tavistock South East) when she’s been canvassing me at my home address in Tavistock and had some really good conversations. 

“I’ve told her my interests and she followed through with that. 

“So when Steve Hipsey stepped down, she approached me. 

“I went out for coffee had a conversation with a couple of guys. Everything led from there, really.” 

But Cllr Turnbull says his greatest strength on the council will come from living and working locally for many years. 

“I’m born and bred in Tavistock, albeit I moved to Tavistock, I think, when I was about 18 months old,” he explains. “I’ve spent the vast majority of my life in Tavistock. 

“I’m very passionate about the area and do whatever I can to help to deal with anyone’s area of concerns locally. 

“I live within the ward that I represent, so I’m on the doorstep if anyone needs me.  Ultimately I adore Tavistock and it’s very close to my heart.

“I’m beginning to take note of things that might need to be improved and I’m looking forward to finding out what I can do to deal with those issues.  

In mid-February West Devon Borough Council agreed a motion to declare a housing crisis.  

It follows concerns that house prices in the borough are the least affordable in Devon with average housing costs standing at over 12 times the average salary. 

There is also a severe lack of long-term rented accommodation.

Cllr Turnbull is an estate agent with a business based in the borough.  He says his knowledge of the housing market may help the council tackle the housing crisis but acknowledges there are several challenges. 

He says it is “very difficult for first time buyers to get on the ladder. 

“They’ve obviously got to save up large deposits which is very difficult for a lot of them to do.”

But Cllr Turnbull says many existing schemes should help ease the problem. 

“Help-to-Buy and shared-ownership affordable housing is another important part that needs to be more available, I think, so that people who have got smaller deposits, that’s their leg up to get onto the housing ladder, albeit they’ll be buying up a share of the property rather than 100 per cent of it.”

The result in the by-election were:

Susan Bamford (Green Party) – 163 votes

Doug Smith (Labour) – 85 votes

Peter Squire (Liberal Democrats) – 337 votes

David Turnbull (Conservative) – 379 votes

The Conservatives now hold 17 of the borough’s 31 seats, giving them a majority on the council.

The remaining seats are held by the West Devon Alliance group, which has 12 representatives.

West Devon Alliance is made up of one Liberal Democrat, two Green Party councillors and nine independents. 

A further two councillors sit as non-aligned independents.

He said he broke the social distancing guidelines but “by then, they weren’t actually rules, they weren’t the law.” – So that’s quite clear isn’t it? – Owl

It came after host Steven Bartlett, the entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den investor, asked the former minister about Covid rules during the height of the pandemic which prevented couples in different households from kissing, holding hands or any other type of touching.

www.independent.co.uk

Matt Hancock has said he broke social distancing guidelines at the height of the Covid pandemic because he “fell in love” with his married aide.

The former health secretary resigned from his ministerial role in disgrace and left his wife of 15 years after CCTV images emerged of him kissing close friend Gina Coladangelo inside the Department of Health last summer.

In a tell-all interview with The Diary of a CEO podcast, Mr Hancock has now revealed he “fell in love with somebody” and it “all happened very quickly” – but insisted he did not break the law.

He said: “I resigned because I broke the social distancing guidelines.

“By then, they weren’t actually rules, they weren’t the law. But that’s not the point.

“The point is they were the guidelines that I’d been proposing. That happened because I fell in love with somebody.”

Mr Hancock quit in June last year after The Sun published images taken on 6 May 2021 showing him in an embrace with Ms Coladangelo.

Two-metre social distancing guidance was in place at the time, while a ban on hugging between people in different households wasn’t lifted until two weeks later.

Ms Coladangelo, whom Mr Hancock met when they both worked in student radio at Oxford University, was a non-executive director at the Department of Health at the time, earning at least £15,000 a year.

Mr Hancock told the podcast Ms Coladangelo, whom he has known “for more than half [his] life”, was brought in to help with public communications.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock has said he broke social distancing guidelines at the height of the Covid pandemic because he ‘fell in love’ with his married aide

“We spent a lot of time together – ironically trying to get me to be able to communicate in a more emotionally intelligent way – and we fell in love,” he said.

“That’s something that was completely outside of my control and I of course regret the pain that that’s caused and the very, very, very public nature … but I fell in love with someone.

“It actually happened after the rules were lifted, but the guidance was still in place.

“I hold no bitterness about this because I broke the rules, I ’fess up. I broke the guidance.”

Mr Hancock was also keen to stress that his and Ms Coladangelo’s relationship was not “casual sex”.

It came after host Steven Bartlett, the entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den investor, asked the former minister about Covid rules during the height of the pandemic which prevented couples in different households from kissing, holding hands or any other type of touching.

The then-health secretary had warned people to “be careful” about the risk of coronavirus when those rules were relaxed in September 2020 for couples in “established relationships”.

A visibly uncomfortable Mr Hancock asked Mr Bartlett to start the section of questioning again without the reference to casual sex.

“I haven’t had casual sex with anybody,” he said. “I fell in love with somebody.”

The podcast comes after the High Court ruled Mr Hancock broke equality law when appointing Conservative peer Dido Harding to an emergency health job during the Covid crisis.

Judges ruled the then-health secretary failed to comply with public sector equality duty in the process of appointing Baroness Harding and her ex-Sainsbury colleague Mike Coupe to senior posts in 2020.

• Erection of a general purpose farm building Land At Home Farm Nutwell LympstoneRef. No: 22/0377/AGR | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of existing garage and erection of a replacement garden studio/garage. 50 Ashleigh Road Exmouth EX8 2JZRef. No: 22/0376/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed front and side ground floor pitched roof extensions 41 Fulford Way Woodbury Exeter EX5 1PDRef. No: 22/0374/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Copper beech : fell tree to leave a three metre standing deadwood column Mount Pleasant Hotel Hillside Road Sidmouth EX10 8JARef. No: 22/0379/TCA | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension Stone Cottage Tolcis Axminster EX13 7JFRef. No: 22/0375/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single-storey side and rear extensions. 14 Pines Road Exmouth EX8 5NJRef. No: 22/0380/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replace the existing windows to the rear with doors. Construct steps to access the aforementioned doors, internal alterations, loft conversion to front remaining front space and roof lights to front.13 Underhill Crescent Lympstone Exmouth EX8 5JFRef. No: 22/0366/CPL | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 – Larch crown lift removing 4 lowest branches, 7 metre max length max diameter 15cm T2/T3 – 2 x Oaks crown lift by 4 metres max maximum cut 15cm diameter length of branch max 5 metres T4 – Oak leaning reduce branch by 10 metres to the vertical branch (see picture) 35cm max diameter cut – Tree is growing with bad form with significant lean. T5 – Pine crown lift remove 2 lower branches back to stem 13 metres long 25cm max diameter T6 – Oak remove 3 lowest branches 6 metres max length 15cm max diameter Reason (all above) – Safety to give clearance from ground for users of the garden T7 – Beech remove all smaller branches growing on shed and growing towards house 10 metres length 15cm diameter – Reason – to prevent damage to house and shed and to prevent repetitive pruning work. 5 Clyst Hayes Gardens Budleigh Salterton Devon EX9 6BERef. No: 22/0363/TRE | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed single storey side and rear extensions along with part conversion of existing garage to provide an annexe. 6 Grindle Way Clyst St Mary Exeter EX5 1DFRef. No: 22/0365/FUL | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Red Oak : shorten back second order branches over roof by 2m to a suitable side branch to leave a natural form; shorten back remaining side branches by a similar amount to leave a radial spread of approximately 8m; remove dead wood over 75mm. Lime Tree House Muttersmoor Road Sidmouth EX10 8RHRef. No: 22/0371/TCA | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Erection of single rear extension. 24 Burnside Exmouth EX8 3AHRef. No: 22/0361/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• 5Adaptation of existing window openings, lean-to roof structure, and external garden walls, to provide flood defence protection for dwelling. North Mill Farm Membury Axminster Devon EX13 7TNRef. No: 22/0341/LBC | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Adaptation of existing window openings, lean-to roof structure, and external garden walls, to provide flood defence protection for dwelling. North Mill Farm Membury Axminster Devon EX13 7TNRef. No: 22/0340/FUL | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of proposed development for a single-storey rear extension2 Greenpark Road Exmouth EX8 4JLRef. No: 22/0425/CPL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Existing outbuilding associated with The Mowhay used as a domestic garage and for domestic storage The Mowhay Clyst Honiton Exeter EX5 2HRRef. No: 22/0337/CPE | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a roof over existing slurry store and cow yard Trebblehayes Farm Membury Axminster EX13 7UARef. No: 22/0345/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Lawful Development Certificate for Proposed single storey lean-to rear extension19 Coleridge Road Ottery St Mary EX11 1TDRef. No: 22/0348/CPL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of greenhouse Yew Tree House Musbury Axminster EX13 8ARRef. No: 22/0346/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of a single storey dwelling accessed from Marlpit Lane following demolition of an existing car port; and construction of a parking bay accessed from Seaton Down Road. (Outline application with all matters reserved.)77 Seaton Down Road Seaton EX12 2HARef. No: 22/0353/OUT | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Withdrawn
• Construction of a single storey dwelling accessed from Marlpit Lane following demolition of an existing car port; and construction of a parking bay accessed from Seaton Down Road. (Outline application with all matters reserved.) 77 Seaton Down Road Seaton EX12 2HARef. No: 22/0352/OUT | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Two storey side extension and relocation of parking 16 Ladymead Sidmouth EX10 9XNRef. No: 22/0334/FUL | Validated: Mon 14 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Various works to 28 trees to include felling, deadwood removal and crown raising over highway. Please see attached tree reports and application form for full details. Along The B3165 Between Wareham Road And Pound Road. HawkchurchRef. No: 22/0331/TRE | Validated: Mon 14 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of the existing poultry rearing agricultural building to flexible commercial use being Class B8 – Storage or distribution. Rosamondford Farm Perkins Village Exeter EX5 2JGRef. No: 22/0355/PDR | Validated: Mon 14 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Yew tree – all over crown reduction of 1.5 to 2 metres to blend it into a natural shape. Attached photograph shows the yew tree with a red line indicating the required work to achieve the crown reduction. Reason – The branches are now overhanging garden and shed and in parts almost touching it, as well as our neighbours garden and shed of St. Kilda Lodge and the garages of Salcombe Court, causing excessive moss on the garage roofs and dampness. 3 St Kilda Alma Lane Sidmouth EX10 8JPRef. No: 22/0328/TRE | Validated: Mon 14 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed lean-to extension to the existing agricultural building. Oak Leaves Clyst Hydon Cullompton EX15 2NDRef. No: 22/0329/FUL | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey rear extension and two storey rear extension. 92 Woolbrook Road Sidmouth EX10 9XDRef. No: 22/0335/FUL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of existing use for valid commencement within three years of permission granted under 19/2594/FUL issued on 27/01/2020 for the construction of two storey extension to side and replacement front porch Grange View Broadhembury Honiton EX14 3LWRef. No: 22/0315/CPE | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Windows replacement on front, render on road side, re-nail roof & new driveway The Laurels Lyme Road Axminster EX13 5AZRef. No: 22/0320/LBC | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey front extension, two storey side extension and two storey side/rear extension 57 Foxholes Hill Exmouth EX8 2DHRef. No: 22/0324/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of replacement dwelling Oak Tree House Old Ebford Lane Ebford Exeter EX3 0QRRef. No: 22/0318/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Windows replacement on front, render on road side, re-nail roof & new driveway The Laurels Lyme Road Axminster EX13 5AZRef. No: 22/0319/FUL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of roof space to habitable use to include a rear dormer and a rear roof light. Single storey rear extension. 2 Fountain Cottage Fore Street Beer Seaton EX12 3EGRef. No: 22/0310/FUL | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Two detached buildings for use as holiday accommodation Larkbeare Grange Talaton Exeter EX5 2RYRef. No: 22/0302/FUL | Validated: Mon 14 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Lawful Development for a Proposed Replacement of existing garage with a garden studio/garage.50 Ashleigh Road Exmouth EX8 2JZRef. No: 22/0295/CPL | Validated: Mon 14 Feb 2022 | Status: Withdrawn
• Demolition of existing conservatory structure and construction of rear two storey extension Sandover The Meadows Beer Seaton EX12 3ESRef. No: 22/0281/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single storey home office and wood-workshop. 25 Phillipps Avenue Exmouth EX8 3HZRef. No: 22/0265/FUL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Retrospective Full Planning Application for the erection of an agricultural building. Land East Of Lower Marlpits Farm HonitonRef. No: 22/0274/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• First floor garage extension, to provide additional incidental use room Garden House Bonfire Lane Woodbury Exeter EX5 1HTRef. No: 22/0273/FUL | Validated: Fri 18 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey rear extension 70 Rosebery Road Exmouth EX8 1SQRef. No: 22/0231/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Lawful Development for a proposed mobile home for ancillary use.44 Lovelace Crescent Exmouth EX8 3PRRef. No: 22/0240/CPL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Erection of a timber single storey granny annexe for ancillary use to the main dwelling 44 Lovelace Crescent Exmouth EX8 3PRRef. No: 22/0239/FUL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of water tank, stable block sheds and water culvert and erection of utility/store building on agricultural land. Torswood Combe Raleigh Honiton EX14 4TGRef. No: 22/0225/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Lawful Development for a hip-to-gable extension, side dormer and 4 roof lights with alteration to fenestration.32 Essington Close Exmouth EX8 4QYRef. No: 22/0229/CPL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension with rear pagoda, first floor rear balcony, conversion of roof space to habitable use with a rear balcony and solar roof panels with alteration to fenestration. 12 Camperdown Terrace Exmouth EX8 1EHRef. No: 22/0208/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of a static caravan. 9 Garratt Close Exmouth EX8 5PJRef. No: 22/0189/FUL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed erection of replacement classroom St Peters School Harefield Lympstone Exmouth EX8 5AURef. No: 22/0163/LBC | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed erection of replacement classroom St Peters School Harefield Lympstone Exmouth EX8 5AURef. No: 22/0162/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of existing residential annexe (shepherds hut) to form C3 holiday let accommodation. Court Place Farm Lower Way Harpford Sidmouth EX10 0NQRef. No: 22/0128/FUL | Validated: Wed 16 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• New enclosed porch with alteration to fenestration and internal alterations 4 Upland Chase Honiton EX14 2FTRef. No: 22/0117/FUL | Validated: Tue 15 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Re-thatch roof from wheat straw to water reed Little Slades Rockbeare Exeter EX5 2EGRef. No: 22/0034/LBC | Validated: Thu 17 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

Ex-Tory energy minister Lord Barker is urged by Ben Wallace to quit the Lords over £6million-a-year links to Russian aluminium giant EN+ which boasts a sanctioned oligarch as a major shareholder

• Ben Wallace said Lord Barker must sever ties with EN + and quit House of Lords
• Lord Barker retains his seat in the Lords while working full-time for the company 
• EN+ boasts Oleg Deripaska – a sanctioned oligarch – as a major shareholder

(One time business pal of our ex-MP Hugo Swire)

But all is now well as Sir Hugo Swire starts making films with Johnson’s former mistress

Council budget expected to pass at second attempt despite anger

Adam Postans www.bristolpost.co.uk 

Marvin Rees’s reworked budget is set to be approved despite criticism that he has “disregarded” the will of councillors.

Bristol City Council’s Conservatives have thrown their weight behind the Labour mayor’s spending plans after he incorporated several of their proposals, including restoring Kingsweston Iron Bridge and slashing the cost of bulky household item collections. This is despite councillors voting to reject the Tories’ amendments at the first, aborted attempt to set the budget, on Tuesday, February 15, which ended in “stalemate” when Mr Rees chose to take his permitted five working days to review the changes.

If Labour and the Conservatives now join forces as expected at the second full council meeting on Wednesday, March 2, it would be enough for it to gain the simple majority required. But Cllr Heather Mack, leader of the main opposition Greens, says that while the mayor has accepted some of her party’s amendments, other proposals that were likewise approved by full council last week, including reopening public toilets, have been quietly ditched, while the Tories’ ideas thrown out by councillors have been taken on.

Full council voted in favour of five opposition amendments at the first meeting – four from the Greens, one by Knowle Community Party but neither of the two sets of alterations from the Conservatives. Cllr Mack said the changes agreed would already have been adopted if Bristol had a committee system but that under the mayoral model Mr Rees had “free reign to reject the will of a majority of elected councillors”.

Residents get to decide which of the two systems they want in a referendum in May. Cllr Mack said: “In last year’s local elections Bristol voted Green in record numbers – and this year Greens used our increased power in the council to make a significant difference to the mayor’s budget.

“We put forward sensible amendments to reverse some of the worst cuts proposed by Labour, including cuts to union support, charging for disabled parking bays and scrapping 30 minutes’ parking in residents’ parking areas. So I’m glad that our influence on the budget has led to the administration U-turning on these proposed cuts, and that Green amendments have also been accepted which will mean more investment in tackling illegal parking and more funding for residents’ parking schemes (RPSs) and ‘school streets’ projects that Bristol needs.

“However, it is disappointing to see the mayor disregard some amendments passed by full council at the budget meeting, which would have funded new public toilets across the city, invested millions of pounds into parks and neighbourhoods and supported Jubilee Pool’s community transfer. Under a committee system the council would have already adopted these amendments, but under the Mayoral system one person has free reign to reject the will of a majority of elected councillors.”

Cllr Andrew Brown, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, whose amendments were voted down, said: “We are disappointed that the mayor chose not to engage with groups from across the council chamber when deciding on alternative proposals. However, we note that he has adopted a number of proposals from amendments brought to council.

“We will be examining the detail over the next few days and deciding how to vote. Our preference would be for the budget, as democratically amended by last week’s council, to pass in the first vote of the night.”

The second budget meeting will begin with a debate and vote on the budget as amended by full council last time. But this requires a two-thirds majority to pass because it does not have the mayor’s approval so is classed as an alternative budget, and Labour would have enough votes to block it even without the help of other groups.

If it falls, members will then vote on the mayor’s revised budget, which has 17 changes to the original version but still includes £19.5million of cuts in 2022/23 and £33million over the next few years. Unlike before, it includes at least one new RPS with community support, more traffic wardens, one-off funding for Queen’s Jubilee fruit-tree planting, more money for parks and play equipment, and upgrades to local shopping centres and road junctions impacted by the massive Cribbs housing development, plus the Iron Bridge repairs.

The combined £205,000 cost of reducing fees from £25 to £15 for collecting three bulky household items and scrapping plans to charge residents for private disabled parking bays will be met from cuts to a non-staffing budget to the mayor’s office, with the intention to reinstate that money in future from an as-yet unidentified source. Mr Rees has otherwise protected funding for the mayor’s office, City Office and the authority’s public relations.

But among the budget amendments passed at full council that Mr Rees has not included in his revised proposals are reopening public toilets, reducing £5.5million cuts to the council’s workforce by £1million and creating a loan facility for the new community management at Jubilee Pool in Knowle. Absences aside, Labour’s 24 councillors, plus Mr Rees’s vote, combined with the Conservatives’ 14 members, not including lord mayor Cllr Steve Smith whose ceremonial role as full council chairman traditionally sees him vote only to split a tie, gives them 39 votes out of 70 – passing the 50 per cent threshold.

Conservative group leader Cllr Mark Weston said: “Whilst very disappointed that our amendments fell at the first budget-fixing meeting thanks to opposition from the mayor and Green Party, we have had a productive exchange with the administration over the best way forward and made clear what our red lines would be in return for backing a revised proposal. My colleagues were particularly adamant over the need to resolve the stalled restoration of the Iron Bridge.

“However, it is pleasing to see that a lot of our other major asks have also been included in the altered budget proposals. Here, the increased funding for transport improvements linked to the Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood and extra investment in high streets and our parks are significant and welcome. These changes, together with other incorporated content such as the retention of 30 minutes’ free parking in RPSs, have been endorsed by my group so I would expect to see this new consensus to be reflected in the final voting next week.”

Ukrainians can apply to pick fruit & veg says MP in deleted tweet

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

Torbay MP Kevin Foster has come under fire for a now-deleted tweet in which he said Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion can apply for jobs picking fruit and veg.

The Conservative MP was responding to Plymouth’s Labour MP Luke Pollard to explain that there are a ‘number of routes’ for refugees from the war.

The Tory government has come under pressure to allow Ukrainians refuge in the UK as the invading Russian forces surge toward Kyiv and other key objectives, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson stating that ‘of course’ the UK would help, the Mirror reports.

Labour had slammed the the Government’s refusal to relax visa restrictions for those seeking sanctuary in the UK was “immoral” at a time when the country was under fire, but Home Secretary Priti Patel has accussd the opposition of “appalling misinformation” and saying the claims were “simply untrue”.

Mr Foster, an immigration minister under Priti Patel, had tweeted on Saturday evening: “Hi Luke, as you are well aware there are a number of routes, not least our seasonal work scheme you will recall from your shadow DEFRA days, which Ukrainians can qualify for, alongside the family route for those with relatives here.”

The tweet was later deleted.

Kevin Foster’s now deleted tweet

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper reacted by tweeting: “My God. People are fleeing war in Europe, the like we haven’t seen in generations, in search of swift sanctuary.

“Yet the immigration minister says the answer is they should put in an application to pick Britain’s fruit & veg.”

The tweet was widely criticised on social media, with Labour and Co-op MP for Leeds, Alex Sobel, replying: “Kevin this is beneath you. I hope you can apologise to the people of Ukraine fleeing for their lives and join the voices calling for the UK to match what our European friends are offering the oppressed masses of Ukraine.”

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon responded to Mr Foster’s words, saying: “I hope we get clarity ASAP from Priti Patel that this is not a Home Office position.

“Migrant seasonal workers make a valued contribution to our economy – but this is not the route to the UK that we should expect those seeking refuge from war to rely on.”

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said: “Torbay MP & Tory Home Office Minister Kevin Foster seems to have lost the plot with this tweet. Saying Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s bombs should apply for the “seasonal workers scheme”, when other countries are welcoming the mainly women & children refugees with open arms.”

A Government spokesman said the priority was supporting British nationals and their dependents who are resident in Ukraine who wanted to get out.

“We are working around the clock to process visa applications and are processing many applications in a matter of hours,” the spokesman said.

Application fees had been temporarily waived for those eligible for entry by the family route while those who did not meet the requirements were being allowed entry for 12 months.

While the main UK visa application centre in Kyiv has been closed, the one in Lviv remained open for family members of British nationals in Ukraine. Staff had been “surged” to the centres in nearby countries, including Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary, to help those who made it across the border.

“Ukrainian nationals are able to apply for visas from these centres and we have announced concessions for Ukrainians currently in the UK, to extend or switch their visa,” the spokeswoman said.

A record number of more than 400 workers in England have left the NHS every week to restore their work-life balance over the last year, according to a new analysis of the workforce crisis hitting the health service.

Michael Savage www.theguardian.com 

The flood of departures comes with staff complaining of burnout and cases of post-traumatic stress disorder following two years of battling the Covid pandemic. There are now concerns that the exodus is impacting the quality of care, with more than a quarter of adults saying they or an immediate family member had received poor care as a result of the workforce problems.

The findings emerged in an assessment of the health service compiled by John Hall, a former strategy director at the Department of Health and Social Care, for the Engage Britain charity. Concerns over the state of the workforce came top of its list as it investigated the public’s attitude towards health and social care services, which remain under pressure in the wake of the pandemic.

“The workforce crisis in the NHS has clearly penetrated the public consciousness,” Hall writes. “The UK has long had significantly lower numbers of doctors and nurses per capita than comparable systems … More recently, the impact of working conditions is showing an increasing impact on the ability of the NHS to retain staff. Around 50 in every 10,000 staff working in hospital and community health services in June 2021 left the service within the next three months, citing work-life balance as the reason. This was a new record.”

Analysis of NHS Digital figures found that at least 400 staff a week in England are leaving to improve their work-life balance. It comes alongside evidence of high turnover among social care workers. Recent estimates show more than a third (34%) of care workers left their roles in 2020-21.

Earlier this month, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the government it had “missed an opportunity” to alleviate the workforce crisis in the NHS and social care, after rejecting the Commons health select committee’s recommendation to overhaul workforce planning. Staff shortages were the main driver of worker burnout, he said

Engage Britain gathered a panel of people from across the country to identify attitudes and concerns towards health and social care services. Patient treatment, support for mental health issues and preventative healthcare were among the main issues identified.

Care work and nursing were named as some of our most undervalued professions, with 69% saying more NHS staff are needed.

One senior occupational therapist, speaking anonymously to the project, said she decided to pay for an expensive operation after injuring her knee because she had seen how overwhelmed the NHS had become. “Waiting for eight weeks might become 12 weeks, or more. Living on my own, I didn’t have anyone to help me, and relying on friends just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t a difficult decision to go private. I just felt lucky I was in the position where I could choose when others can’t.

“I think people generally feel overworked and undervalued in the NHS. There are problems with recruitment and retention of staff. Some vacancies are unfilled for more than a year. The stress levels on staff in under-resourced teams is massive and it’s a major contributor to them struggling with their mental health and wellbeing. Ultimately, people make the decision to leave, or to take early retirement, or seek other careers.”

Jenny Bevan, 74, from Bath, said she was left fearful of returning to hospital after she sought treatment for a hiatus hernia in 2018. She said she felt staff shortages and other stresses on the NHS had played a major role. “The surgery went well, but afterwards I was left in the recovery room for hours. There appeared to be only one nurse and, as the day wore on, the number of patients grew and grew.

“I was anxious because my granddaughter had all my personal belongings and didn’t know where I was. But the nurse wouldn’t let her in to see me. She seemed stressed and clearly needed more help.

“When I had to go to the toilet, I was not allowed to get out of bed so I had to use a bedpan which spilled over and it was just awful. I was eventually transferred to a ward for dementia patients. I was in considerable pain but was told I’d have to wait for the doctor as the nurse wasn’t qualified to give strong painkillers.”

Julian McCrae, Engage Britain’s director, said frontline health and care workers were now “running on empty” and a plan for boosting the workforce was overdue. “NHS workers across the country have spoken to us about feeling overstretched, undervalued and struggling to get support in a chaotic system,” he said. “We can’t allow staff to burn out, while putting patients at risk of mistakes or spiralling downwards as they wait months for treatment. The government must act quickly to expand its promise of reform, based on listening to the people who use or work in the system every day. Only answers rooted in real experiences can deliver health and care that works for us all.”

One of Boris Johnson flagship “green” pledges – to provide 4,000 new zero-emission, British-built buses by the end of 2024 – has been cast into serious doubt by UK manufacturers who say they have yet to receive any orders for new vehicles.

Toby Helm www.theguardian.com 

MPs and campaigners are pressuring ministers for information on when money will be committed to allow the manufacture of the zero-emission buses, which the prime minister promised would form part of a green transport revolution in his first term in Downing Street. He made the pledge in February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, when he was keen to promote his environmental credentials and show how green policies could benefit people’s lives whileboosting British businesses.

Since then, only a fraction of the necessary funds has been allocated, with £320m being committed by chancellor Rishi Sunak in last autumn’s spending review, towards an estimated total of £4bn needed to put 4,000 green buses on the road.

UK manufacturers say that unless the funds are committed and orders made soon, there will not be time to get the new vehicles into service in time to meet Johnson’s promise.

Paul Davies, managing director of bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, which is Britain’s biggest bus builder and the world’s largest manufacturer of double-decker buses, said: “The problem is that we are running out of time to deliver on what was promised. If everything is left until the last minute, the danger is we have to look to overseas companies for quicker and cheaper options when the intention was that they would be British-made.”

Buta Atwal, chief executive of another major bus manufacturer, Wrightbus, said he had been encouraged by Johnson’s announcement two years ago but had been left disappointed not to have heard any positive news about orders since. “We invested heavily in zero-emission technology on the basis of the government’s plans. so we are looking forward to the first order.”

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “It’s clear from our work with bus operators, local authorities, utility companies and others involved in providing bus services that we are not currently on target to deliver nearly enough zero-emission buses anywhere near fast enough.

“Government must step in to offer more support to the industry in the long term and do more to boost passenger numbers in the short term to give operators the confidence to invest.”

Shadow buses minister Sam Tarry MP said ministers had misled parliament about the programme. “British manufacturers tell me they haven’t received a single order. We’re now more than two years on from when the prime minister promised there’d be 4,000 zero-emission buses on our roads by 2025.

“They’re clearly well off target and this is yet another sign that they’re not serious about their commitment to decarbonise our economy and meet our net zero target by 2050, and they’re not serious about supporting British manufacturing and jobs.”

The Campaign for Better Transport said that of the 38,000 buses nationally, currently only 12% are hybrid and 2% are zero-emission (4% in London and 1% in the rest of England).

In the recent levelling up white paper, ministers said that “over £500m is being spent this parliament on delivering zero-emission buses.”

Labour says this shows that the government is already backing away from its previous commitments, as this would only allow a tiny proportion of the promised number to be manufactured.

Last year, announcing his bus strategy, Johnson said: “I love buses and I have never quite understood why so few governments before mine have felt the same way,” adding that “better buses will be one of our major acts of levelling up”.

A DfT spokesperson said: “The government remains committed to supporting the introduction of 4,000 zero-emission buses and achieving an all zero-emission bus fleet. This will support our climate ambitions, improve transport for local communities and support high quality green jobs.”

It’s all about Boris Johnson’s lack of judgement and shallow grasp of events – Owl

Poke Staff www.thepoke.co.uk 

News

This clip of Boris Johnson giving evidence to MPs last November went wildly viral for reasons that are about to become obvious.

It’s the prime minister responding to concerns about defence cuts from Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP and chairman of the Commons’ defence select committee.

“The old concepts of fighting big tank battles on European land mass are over,” said Boris Johnson last November, as he mocked the idea of armed conflict returning to Europe. pic.twitter.com/81uUyOcSDJ

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) February 25, 2022

Not just what he was saying, you might think, but the way that he said it.

And here are just a few of the things people said in response to the clip, which (at the time I write this) has been watched nearly 2.5 million times.

Watch this and tell me we are in safe hands. https://t.co/4AhUbmJAYa

— Deborah Meaden 💙 (@DeborahMeaden) February 25, 2022

This recent argument between @Tobias_Ellwood and @BorisJohnson is absolutely jaw dropping, and shows how little the prime minister and his advisors understood Putin and his ambitions https://t.co/OftEEuu3lW

— Robert Peston (@Peston) February 25, 2022

This is the man who calls his opposition: ‘Captain Hindsight’. https://t.co/MdNqatzjZM

— Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews) February 25, 2022

Winston Churchill served in the military. The only service associated with Boris Johnson is that of drinks served at “work” events. We can do better. The world is too dangerous to have a buffoon in Downing St https://t.co/vWuavZcKN1

— Gavin Esler (@gavinesler) February 25, 2022

In one word.

Wow. https://t.co/ZhULu9yJ4j

— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) February 25, 2022

Back to living with the virus “blindfold”, as we were at the beginning in March 2020, not good when a new mutation appears – Owl

Chris Smyth www.thetimes.co.uk 

Most people say they will stop checking themselves for Covid once tests are no longer free.

Just one in four say they will carry on taking tests if they have symptoms once they have to pay, a finding that is likely to intensify fears that infections could rebound now all restrictions are lifted.

In a YouGov poll for The Times one in six people in England said they would no longer bother to isolate if they were confirmed to have the virus, after a legal requirement to do so was dropped this week.

Public health guidance continues to urge people to stay at home if they have Covid and the poll found that 78 per cent said they probably or definitely would isolate if they tested positive.

Young people are far less likely to stay at home, with 22 per cent of those aged 18-24 saying they would not isolate if they had Covid, compared with 7 per cent of over the 65s.

The poll raises the question of whether people will actually know that they have Covid once free tests end in spring. From April 1, only the most vulnerable will be eligible for free tests in England, with ministers saying they will work with companies to establish a market so that people can pay for tests themselves.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, pressed for the end of free tests, which cost £2 billion a month, and won out over Sajid Javid, the health secretary, who wanted wider eligibility.

The poll found just 24 per cent of people would pay to take a test if they had Covid symptoms. The elderly were most likely to do so, but still just 35 per cent of over 65s said they would and 17 per cent of the under 25s.

Even among those who said they would be willing to pay, most would not pay more than £5, with 23 per cent saying £1 was the most they would hand over for a test, and 52 per cent saying up to £5. Just 4 per cent said they would pay more than £10. Officials expect that tests will sell for a few pounds each, with Boots saying this week that it will be selling individual tests for £5.99 or in packs of four for £17.

Internal government debates are still raging over the extent of NHS staff testing and the size of a test stockpile to be kept in readiness for future variants, after Sunak insisted they had to be paid for out of existing health budgets.

Javid has warned this could delay plans for social care reform and bringing down waiting lists.

With masks no longer compulsory in England, fewer people say they will carry on wearing them in shops or public transport than when face-covering rules were similarly relaxed last summer. Some 60 per cent say they will carry on wearing masks, compared with 70 per cent last July.

Rising numbers are also relaxed being around others who are not wearing masks, with an even split between those saying they would and would not be comfortable travelling on public transport when others were not wearing face coverings. This week 43 per cent said they would be comfortable, up from 31 per cent in July. YouGov interviewed 1,504 adults in England on Thursday and Friday.

While government science advisers have largely accepted the argument for returning to normality, they are concerned by the imminent end of widespread testing. Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, told The Times that while England was “in a good position to ease restrictions”, widely available lateral flow tests were “particularly useful when the prevalence is high and I would prefer to see them in place for the time being”.

Boris Johnson could not have been more clear. “I just think it’s very important that the house understands: we do not raise money from Russian oligarchs.” Some opposition MPs laughed, and it very much is the case that the prime minister was accurate only in a strict legalistic sense.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

It would be impossible for someone with only Russian nationality, however rich, to donate legally to a UK political party. What has undoubtedly happened is that a series of people with dual UK-Russian nationality, or with significant business links with Russia, have donated heavily to the Conservatives in recent years.

A Labour party calculation based on Electoral Commission information estimated that donors who had made money from Russia or Russians had given £1.93m to either the Tory party or constituency associations since Johnson became prime minister.

Others put the sum higher. Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, to whom Johnson was replying in the Commons on Wednesday, said the Tories had raised £2.3m “from Russian oligarchs”.

Oligarch is a loose term but is often associated in this context with very rich people who generally made their money amid the financial free-for-all of the post-Soviet and Putin era, and who often keep close links to the Russian president.

Those who have donated to the Tories since Johnson entered No 10 in July 2019 deny either that any of their wealth has murky origins, or that they are under any sort of Russian influence over how they use it.

The biggest single donor of this group is the financier Lubov Chernukhin, who has donated £700,000. A British national since 2011, she is married to Vladimir Chernukhin, a former deputy finance minister under Putin. Documents published in the Pandora papers in October suggest he was allowed to leave Russia in 2004 with assets worth about $500m (£366m) and retain Russian business connections.

The couple’s lawyers say that none of Vladimir Chernukhin’s wealth was acquired in a corrupt manner, and that none of his wife’s donations were funded by improper means or affected by the influence of anyone else.

What is certain is that Lubov Chernukhin is a generous donor and something of a presence in Tory circles; she had the winning bid at the party’s 2020 fundraising ball for the prize of a game of tennis with Johnson.

Shortly before Johnson became PM, Liz Truss, then international trade secretary, posted a photo to Instagram of what she termed a “ladies’ night”, posing alongside Theresa May and a series of other female Tory MPs, plus Lubov Chernukhin.

The industrialist Alexander Temerko, also a UK national, has donated £357,000 since Johnson took office. He is a minority shareholder and co-owner of a company called Aquind. Its majority investor is the Russian-born oil tycoon Viktor Fedotov.

Another big Tory donor in the Johnson era is the businessman Mohamed Amersi, who has given £258,000 over the period.

Amersi advised on a lucrative telecom deal in Russia in 2005 with a company that a Swiss tribunal subsequently found to be controlled by an associate of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Amersi told the Financial Times in July he had made $7m in the country, but only prior to 2008. “Not a penny that I earned in Russia … has even remotely come close to being invested in the UK political system,” he said.

Under electoral laws for Great Britain – they vary slightly in Northern Ireland – donations to parties can be made only by people on the UK electoral register, or from UK-registered companies and other organisations such as unions.

The only people allowed to go on the electoral register in England are British citizens, people with EU citizenship living in the UK, and Commonwealth citizens who can live in the UK.