Shapps says claim he wrecked strike negotiations "a total lie" Transport secretary Grant Shapps has accused Mick Lynch of “wasting time making false claims in the media” after the union boss accused him of wrecking negotiations. He said in a statement: “This is a total lie from the RMT and its general secretary. I have had absolutely nothing to do with either the issuing of a letter from Network Rail, the employer, to the RMT - or any request to withdraw it. “I understand that the letter makes no mention of 2,900 redundancies, but I do know it confirmed Network Rail would be introducing desperately needed reforms for the industry after the union chose strike action instead of further talks. “The RMT continues to deflect from the fact that the only people responsible for the massive public disruption this week is them. “I want to urge Mick Lynch and his members to stop wasting time making false claims in the media and instead return to the negotiating table so an agreement can be reached.” A Labour MP has warned antisemitism is rife even at junior level in football, with reports of seven-year-old Jewish players being hissed at by their opponents as a way to replicate the noise of the gas chambers. Christian Wakeford urged the government to do “much more” to ensure that British football players can play their “beautiful game” without being subjected to unacceptable abuse. Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on antisemitism and other forms of racism in football, the Bury South MP warned there are examples of antisemitism everywhere in football, even at junior level. Conservative former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who led the debate, said the idea of people making hissing noises at seven-year-old Jewish footballers is “just revolting” and “profoundly disturbing”. She insisted it is a “real illustration that antisemitism remains a serious problem in football”. Culture minister Nigel Huddleston acknowledged there is “still more to do” but assured MPs the government is committed to continue to work with football authorities to “combat racism, discrimination and antisemitism both in person and online, from grassroots to the boardroom”. The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford should “get some proper HR advice” to understand what went wrong in the handling of a complaint against Patrick Grady, one of his MPs said. The Glasgow North MP was suspended from the Commons for two days and the SNP for a week after an independent investigation found he had acted inappropriately towards a member of party staff in 2016. Grady apologised in the Commons over the incident, which the report said happened while he was under the influence of alcohol. But a recording that surfaced on Friday of an SNP group meeting drew criticism for the leader, who could be heard saying Grady deserved the group’s support upon his return, despite the complainer saying his life had been made a “living hell” and he had not been supported through the process. The man who complained, who still works for the party, said he was considering legal action against the SNP. In a response to the leaked recording, Blackford said he “deeply regrets that a member of staff was subject to inappropriate behaviour”. He added that he was initiating an external review of “support available to staff, to sit alongside the independent advice service and independent complaints process”. Joanna Cherry, SNP MP for Edinburgh South West, called for Blackford to ensure he took “proper HR advice” on Thursday, after repeating claims that the party had issues in dealing with complaints. Sajid Javid has said NHS workers deserve “fair” pay in the face of soaring prices. The health secretary told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “Of course, part of showing the value we attach to whether it’s nurses or other health workers is, of course it is pay and so along with the thanks we’ve got to make sure that we are fair in pay. “And that is why for example last year, whilst there was a freeze on all public sector pay, there was no freeze on NHS pay; it went up by 3% despite the challenges at the time. Now this year’s pay rise, I can’t tell you right now what it’s going to be but what I can tell you is that we will listen carefully to the independent pay review body, which by the way, rightly also, as well as inflation, takes into account retention and many other sensible factors. “And it will report back to me as Secretary of State, we will take that into account and we will respond.” Johnson to hold talks with Prince of Wales over Rwanda policy Boris Johnson will hold talks with the Prince of Wales in Rwanda after the latter’s reported criticism of the policy of sending asylum seekers to the country on a one-way ticket. The prime minister will join Charles on Thursday in the east African country’s capital Kigali, where they are attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm). The meeting between the prime minister and Charles will be the first time they have spoken since the service for the Queen’s platinum jubilee. It was subsequently reported that Charles has described the policy of sending asylum seekers who arrive in the UK after unauthorised journeys as “appalling” in private remarks. “They are due to meet, obviously they will encounter each other during the summit but they are due to have a bilateral discussion as well,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said. The first flight removing people to Rwanda was due to take off last week but was grounded by successful legal challenges ahead of a full hearing on the scheme’s legality in UK courts. During today’s Scottish parliament debate on cost of living support, public finance minister Tom Arthur announced plans to look at ways of recouping money from owners of second homes and empty homes who have received the £400 payment from the UK government’s energy bills support scheme. Arthur said: “In this cost of living crisis, it is vital resources are directed at those who need it most, so it is clearly wrong that second home owners or those who own long term empty homes benefit from a second £400 energy rebate. “The Scottish government will work with COSLA and local government to examine how to recover this money, including through a council tax levy. “We will also work them to examine how to use the funds raised to support local cost of living responses on a fair and equitable basis across Scotland.” Labour has accused the Conservatives of not being fully up-front with pensioners as the government today appeared to add a “get-out clause” to the triple lock policy. Thérèse Coffey, secretary of state for work and pensions said in March “yes, I do make that commitment” when asked about whether the state pension will rise by the Triple Lock for the remainder of this parliament. The chancellor Rishi Sunak also committed to the triple lock in his cost of living statement earlier this month. However, during a debate in the House of Commons today, Coffey said she “cannot make any declaration about the rises in benefits […] and that is because I am required by law to undertake a review of the benefits once a year”. Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, had asked the secretary of state whether she would “resile from her position to uprate pensions and benefits in line with September’s inflation”. The chairman of the justice select committee has expressed concerns over “restrictions” on the way parliament is able to interpret cases in the government’s plan for a British bill of rights. Conservative MP Sir Bob Neill told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that “some change” to the Human Rights Act “is appropriate”. He said: “There are some sensible things in it. Having a filter process in our UK legislation to prevent unmeritorious claims getting off the ground at a very early stage is sensible. “When those cases eventually get to Strasbourg, there is no reason why we shouldn’t do it earlier on. “And I think, you know, protecting the public, making sure that’s there is sensible, but I do have concerns about undue restrictions on the way in which parliament is able to interpret cases on an individual basis.” Shapps says claim he wrecked strike negotiations "a total lie" Transport secretary Grant Shapps has accused Mick Lynch of “wasting time making false claims in the media” after the union boss accused him of wrecking negotiations. He said in a statement: “This is a total lie from the RMT and its general secretary. I have had absolutely nothing to do with either the issuing of a letter from Network Rail, the employer, to the RMT - or any request to withdraw it. “I understand that the letter makes no mention of 2,900 redundancies, but I do know it confirmed Network Rail would be introducing desperately needed reforms for the industry after the union chose strike action instead of further talks. “The RMT continues to deflect from the fact that the only people responsible for the massive public disruption this week is them. “I want to urge Mick Lynch and his members to stop wasting time making false claims in the media and instead return to the negotiating table so an agreement can be reached.” Sir Keir is understood to be waiting until the end of the industrial action before instructing chief whip Alan Campbell to deal with any disciplinary issues relating to the strike, PA reports. Following PMQs, a Labour spokesman said Campbell would make a decision in the “next few days”. He would not be drawn on what form any action might take, but said “the chief whip is aware of Keir’s wishes”. “I think the right way is for the process to go ahead as it should, and that is for the chief whip to speak to the individuals concerned,” he added. Afternoon summary Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of being more interested in “blaming everyone else” rather than expending any effort to resolve rail strikes, as the Labour leader repeatedly lambasted the prime minister for not doing his job. Train operators and passengers face more disruption on Thursday after talks between rail industry bosses and the RMT union failed to head off a second national 24-hour strike. Downing Street has said it would be “reckless” to give public sector workers pay rises in line with inflation. (See 2.49pm.) Leaders of the country’s largest teaching union say they will ballot their members on strike action later this year unless the government agrees to an “inflation-plus” pay rise. Government plans to raise the state pension by 10% while forcing real-terms pay cuts on public sector workers have been attacked as “ludicrous” by Jim O’Neill, a former Conservative Treasury minister. Labour has claimed that the bill of rights bill announced today amounts to an “attack on women”. (See 12.51pm.) Three-day court hearing set for July to decide if Rwanda deportation policy lawful A three-day high court hearing has been agreed to determine whether the Home Office’s controversial plans to remove some asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful. The hearing will take start on 19 July, a high court judge confirmed today. Representatives for those involved in the case urged the judge, Mr Justice Swift, to delay the hearing to allow more time for evidence to be gathered and to allocate more than three days for the hearing. He refused. The Home Office is hoping to get the European Court of Human Rights to change its mind about an interim ruling against a decision which led to the grounding of the inaugural flight to Rwanda last week. In written submissions to the high court this week about the Rwanda deportation case the home secretary wrote: “The UK has informed the ECtHR that it intends to submit representations imminently.” However, ECtHR told the Guardian that certain criteria would need to be met before a ruling of the kind made last week could be set aside. These issues are unlikely to be resolved before the full high court hearing next month which will examine the lawfulness of Home Office’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. “An interim measure would usually only be lifted if the court was satisfied that there was no imminent risk of irreparable harm to the applicant. That test would normally be satisfied in an expulsion case if either there was no imminent risk of expulsion, or if the court was satisfied that if expelled, there would no longer be a real risk of irreparable harm,” a spokesperson for ECtHR said. Lawyers have now had time to read the text of the bill of rights bill. Here is the start of a thread by Mark Elliott, professor of public law at Cambridge University. And here are his conclusions. Here is the start of a thread on the same topic by David Allen Green, the lawyer and legal commentator. Rees-Mogg dismisses report setting out economic cost of Brexit as "regurgitation of Project Fear" As the i’s Paul Waugh reports, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, has dismissed a report from the Resolution Foundation today setting out the damage that Brexit has done to the economy as a “regurgitation of Project Fear”. The Resolution Foundation report is here. And here is our story about its conclusions. MPs have formally approved moves to allow the UK government to directly commission abortion services in Northern Ireland, PA Media reports. PA says: The House of Commons voted 215 to 70, majority 145, in favour of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2022. Abortion legislation in Northern Ireland was liberalised in 2019 following laws passed by Westminster at a time when the power-sharing government at Stormont had collapsed. But while individual health trusts in Northern Ireland currently offer services on an ad-hoc basis, the Department of Health has yet to centrally commission the services due to a political impasse at Stormont on the issue. The DUP, which is opposed to abortion, had refused to agree to the issue being tabled on the agenda of the ministerial executive. The government laid regulations at parliament last month that removed the need for the Department of Health to seek the approval of the wider executive to commission the services. They have now been approved by MPs and peers. The division list shows that 61 Tories, all eight DUP MPs and one Labour MP voted against the regulations. Returning UK"s stockpile of weapons to pre-Ukraine levels could take several years, peers told Returning the UK’s stockpile of weapons to pre-Ukraine war levels could take years, the head of the armed forces has said. Giving evidence to the Lords international relations and defence committee, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who took over as chief of the defence staff in November 2021, said even replacing less sophisticated weapons sent to Ukraine could take “several years” due to constraints on the UK’s industrial capacity. As PA Media reports, the UK has provided a wide range of weapons to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February, including anti-tank rocket launchers, armoured vehicles, anti-aircraft systems and Brimstone missiles. But replacing those weapons has become a concern for some in parliament. Radakin told the committee that the “rate of expenditure” of weapons in Ukraine and the “industrial capacity to backfill” had already become “a significant issue”. Increased demand for weapons, both in the UK and Europe, along with Britain’s decline in industrial capacity over recent decades and current supply chain problems have added to those issues. Radakin said the government needed to work with defence suppliers, and had already invited 12 leading companies to Downing Street for talks. But he added: We are then talking in years, because you cannot whistle up with modern weapons a quick production line. Yes, you can churn out shells and artillery, but even at the not super-sophisticated end, even at the modest end of an NLAW [anti-tank] weapon, then that’s going to take several years to get back to our original stocks.