Boris Johnson accused of ‘hypocrisy’ over Trident

In a leaked video, the foreign secretary Dominic Raab suggested that the UK should trade “liberally” around the world – including with countries that do not meet European standards of human rights.

Amnesty International said the comment threw human rights campaigners living under repressive regimes “to the wolves”.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:

Dominic Cummings will be questioned by MPs on Wednesday morning about the “high-risk” scientific research agency he promoted during his time as Boris Johnson’s top aide.

In his first public appearance since leaving the role, Mr Cummings will speak about the Advanced Research & Invention Agency (Aria) before the Commons Science and Technology Committee.

Critics have said the new agency is opaque and needs to be more transparent.

The business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who is in charge of setting Aria up, will also be questioned by the committee.

Labour has criticised ministers for lacking the ambition needed to address the climate crisis, after the business secretary outlined £1bn of spending to reduce emissions from businesses, hospitals and schools.

Shadow environment secretary Ed Miliband said: “Once again, the government talks a big game on green but doesn’t deliver with nearly the scale or ambition that’s necessary. None of this money is new — these announcements simply allocate money already announced.” 

Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the details:

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has defended Dominic Raab’s comment that the UK should trade with regimes that flout human rights.

Mr Kwarteng said the country needed to be “flexible” and should not refuse to engage with “whole countries”.

The minister told Sky News: “I think the foreign secretary is right, we should be trading with countries.

“But at the same time we have to make very strong representations as we do when we think that countries are mistreating minorities, using torture and not sharing our values.

Large companies operating in Britain could have been “complicit” in the forced labour of Uighurs in China, MPs have said.

The Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee named Walt Disney and Tik Tok among companies linked to Xinjiang, where more than a million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have been interned in what Beijing terms “re-education” camps.

The committee released a report condemning the government for not taking firm enough action to stamp out business links to human rights abuses in China and elsewhere.

“Given the government’s admission that the situation facing the Uighur people in Xinjiang is harrowing and that international supply chains are likely to be complicit in the perpetuation of forced labour in the region, we are disappointed by the lack of meaningful action that has been taken in relation to these crimes,” the committee said.

As usual, Adam Forrest has our daily politics round-up.

Today’s look at Westminster focuses on the prime minister’s review calling for deeper trade links with China. Sir Julian Lewis, chair of the intelligence and security committee, hit out at the decision, saying it showed Downing Street’s “grasping naivety”.

The Conservatives have reduced funding to their mayor candidate Shaun Bailey over his poor performance and his inability to fundraise, according to a report in the Daily Mirror.

A Tory spokesperson told The Independent that “operational and fundraising decisions are a matter for the Shaun Bailey campaign, which continues to have our full support”.

Mr Bailey currently lags 26 points behind Sadiq Khan in the latest poll, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:

Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief aide, is being questioned by MPs about the “high-risk” scientific research agency he championed.

A flagship programme to help pupils catch up on learning missed during the pandemic may not be reaching the poorest children, the public spending watchdog has warned.

Fewer than half of the children who received tuition through the scheme last month were eligible for pupil premium, the National Audit Office found.

My colleague Zoe Tidman has more on this story:

Dominic Cummings has discussed the deal he struck with Boris Johnson before he accepted the role of his chief aide.

According to Mr Cummings, his conditions were that the soon-to-be prime minister must deliver Brexit, double the science budget and create a scientific research agency like DARPA in the US.

In response to these stipulations made the Sunday before he became prime minister, Mr Johnson is alleged to have replied “deal”.

Mr Cummings recalled the conversation while speaking to the Commons Science and Technology Committee on Wednesday morning in his first public appearance since leaving Downing Street.

Russia has condemned the UK government’s decision to expand its nuclear arsenal, saying the move will harm international stability.

As part of the prime minister’s foreign policy and defence review on Tuesday, it was announced that the UK’s nuclear warhead stockpile will be increased by 40 per cent.

Mike Hill, the Labour MP for Hartlepool, has stood down from parliament amid allegations of sexual harrassment which he denies.

Elected as the northeast town’s MP in 2017, he was suspended from Labour in 2019 after the allegations came to light.

A by-election in the potentially vulnerable “red wall” seat will take place soon. Although no date has been fixed, it is most likely to happen on 6 May.

Dominic Cummings told MPs on Wednesday morning that he only accepted the job of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser in July 2019 after some stipulations were met.

These included a promise from Mr Johnson that Brexit would happen, that the science budget would be doubled and that a scientific research agency like the US’ DARPA would be created in the UK.

Here’s Ashley Cowburn with more on the “deal” Dominic Cummings struck with Boris Johnson before he became prime minister:

The Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish government’s botched handling of harassment allegations made against Alex Salmond should be allowed to run its course, the SNP has said.

John Swinney, the party’s deputy leader, made the comment the day after Tory MP David Davis used his parliamentary privilege to share messages released by a whistleblower.

Mr Davis claimed on Tuesday that these messages showed a “concerted effort by senior members of the SNP to encourage complaints” against Mr Salmond.

In response, a spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said: “As with Mr Salmond’s previous claims and cherry-picking of messages, the reality is very different to the picture being presented.”

Eddie Hughes, a local government minister, has said that no targets will be set to assess whether the government is successful in its “levelling-up” agenda.

This comes more than a year afterThe Independent was told by No 10 to “wait for the Budget” to hear how the effectiveness of the levelling-up policy would be measured.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports:

Shadow education secretary Kate Green has criticised the government after the National Audit Office (NAO) released a report suggesting that the poorest children were missing out on catch-up tuition.

The NAO said that fewer than half of those receiving extra tuition in February were on pupil premium, a grant given to schools to help disadvantaged children.

Ms Green said: “The government has failed children throughout this pandemic. A step change is needed to ensure they are not also left behind in our recovery.”

Dominic Cummings has said Brussel’s recent actions over coronavirus vaccines prove that the arguments he made during the Vote Leave campaign were justified.

Speaker to MPs on the Science and Technology Committee, the former No 10 aide said he had argued that it would be “very dangerous to let the EU continue to regulate science and technology in this country”.

Mr Cummings referred to the recent decision by many European countries to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine over safety concerns – despite experts suggesting there is no certain link between the jabs and blood clots.

“Just this week we’ve seen what happens when you have an anti-science, anti-entrepreneurial, anti-technology culture in Brussels married with its appalling bureaucracy in its insane decisions and warnings on the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.

Watch Boris Johnson face Keir Starmer in this week’s PMQs: