Gavin Williamson could face investigation over "I now own him" payment as chief whip to Tory MP, committee told Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, also hinted that Sir Gavin Williamson is being investigated. Chris Bryant, the Labour chair of the committee, asked what about the rule saying MPs cannot accept a bribe that might influence their behaviour. If a chief whip were to give money to an MP, and they said they owned the MP, would that be a breach of this rule, he asked. Bryant was clearly asking a recent revelation from Anne Milton about Williamson, who was chief whip when she was deputy chief whip. Milton said that on one occasion he gave her a cheque to give to an MP with financial problems, telling her that she should tell the MP from Williamson that “I now own him”. Stone said she could not reply to that question because she had to consider whether it might prejudice a live investigation. In a separate development, Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair, has written to Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative party chair, about the same case. She says that if a Tory MP was in such financial difficulty, they might have been vulnerable to blackmail by a foreign power. She is asking Zahawi to say who the MP was, whether the gift was declared, who paid for it, whether the PM knew, if further money has been paid, and whether any other Tory MPs have been helped in the same way. Dodds said: While Gavin Williamson has rightly resigned for his shocking behaviour, the public will be very concerned about the potential for financial control over other MPs. This is a matter of national security. Rishi Sunak has already appointed a home secretary sacked for security breaches. The public has a right to know what other potential security risks are on the government benches. Afternoon summary Sir Gavin Williamson, the former Tory minister, may face an inquiry over claims that, when he was chief whip, he provided money to a colleague in financial trouble, saying that he would now “own” the MP. The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, suggested an inquiry might be launched when she was asked about the allegation by the Commons standards committee. (See 4.08pm.)Williamson is not on the list of MPs currently under investigation, but while the commissioner is deciding whether a complain merits formal investigation, MPs are not included on this list. Rishi Sunak has urged officials and aides who may have concerns about Dominic Raab’s behaviour to “come forward” and make a complaint after a top civil servant said Raab was so “demeaning and abrasive” to junior colleagues and that many were “scared” to enter his office. Sunak has refused to apologise for the impact the Tory government has had on the economy – but he has claimed much of the damage caused by the mini-budget has now been reversed. (See 12.20pm.) The House of Commons has backed a Labour motion saying Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng should lose some of their severance pay because of the mess they made of the mini-budget. (See 3.55pm.) Government MPs abstained, and the vote is not binding – although in the past previous governments would have considered themselves morally-bound, if not legally-bound, to implement the result of a vote of this kind. Lucy Frazer, the levelling up minister speaking on behalf of the government, said Truss and Kwarteng were entitled to severance payments because they had served in government for a long time. She said, as individuals, they could decide to waive their severance payments. But “the government doesn’t regard it as appropriate to make arbitrary demands of individuals in relation to their entitlements”, she said. Sunak has rowed back from officially recategorising China as a “threat”, saying he views the country as a “systemic challenge”, despite concerted pressure from Conservative MPs. Jeremy Hunt is reportedly preparing to hit electricity generation companies with a 40% windfall tax on their “excess returns” as he attempts to fund measures to ease the cost of living crisis. Speaking in the Commons, Hunt has also hinted that his autumn statement on Thursday will change the rules to make it easier for councils to raise council tax without the need to hold a local referendum. Gove says central government not to blame for death of child in flat with mould Michael Gove, the housing secretary, has said that he does not accept central government was to blame for the death of a two-year-old as a result of exposure to mould in a social housing flat. Responding to the finding of an inquest, which found Awaab Ishak died in 2020 in Rochdale as a direct result of black mould in the flat he lived in, Gove told broadcasters: We all know that local authorities are facing challenging times when it comes to finance but, frankly, that is no excuse. When you have got a situation where you have a young child in a house that is unfit for human habitation, it is a basic responsibility of the local authority – but particularly the housing association – to make sure that people are in decent homes. All this what-aboutery, all this ‘Oh, if only we had more government money’ - do your job, man. My colleague Mark Brown’s story about the case is here. Boris Johnson will return as Tory leader when MPs get "desperate", former party chair Jake Berry claims Boris Johnson will return as Tory leader because at some point Conservative MPs will conclude that he offers them their best chance at the next election, one of his key allies has claimed. Sir Jake Berry, a Johnson loyalist who was party chair under Liz Truss but who was sacked by Rishi Sunak, made the prediction in an interview for Matt Forde’s Political Party podcast. As Ned Simons reports for HuffPost UK, Berry said: I think Boris will come back. I wouldn’t say when. I think he will come back. He’s a bit like the Conservative party’s mistress – something he knows about. The tempting other woman. The king over the sea. Berry said a comeback was likely “when we are desperate”. He went on: I just think – knowing my Conservative colleagues in parliament – – there will come a point when they go: “Yeah, but if he comes back I might keep my job.” Berry has been identified as one of several Johnson supporters who seem to be actively destabilising the Sunak administration. As Kevin Schofield reports in another HuffPost story, Berry made public comments about both Suella Braverman and Sir Gavin Williamson that cast doubt on the wisdom of Sunak giving them ministerial jobs when he took office. Cleverly tells MPs deal with EU on Northern Ireland protocol not imminent James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, has said reports of an imminent deal between the UK and the EU on reform of the Northern Ireland protocol are premature. In evidence to the Commons European scrutiny committee, Cleverly said sometimes he and European Commission vice president, Maroš Šefčovič, see reports in the British media that “we are about to literally kiss and sign” but they are inaccurate. He went on: I don’t want people to be defeatist, but also don’t want people to run away with the idea that we are on the cusp of some amazing breakthrough that was there all the time if only we had looked a bit harder. We shouldn’t rush to the conclusion that therefore everything is about to come good. There is still serious work to do, there are still big gaps. Cleverly said Šefčovič’s mandate had not changed. The Tory Brexiter David Jones suggested the best way forward was for Šefčovič to get a new mandate and for the government to fast track the Northern Ireland protocol bill. But Cleverly resisted this. He said: I don’t feel, having had the opportunity to reset the tone of my relationship vice president Šefčovič and the UK relationship with the EU, that defaulting to a position that they might perceive to be one of a more confrontational nature is where I want to go to at the moment. Cleverly also warned three times that the alternative, a hard border on the island of Ireland was a non starter. “We are not having a hard border in Northern Ireland,” he said. Committee chair Sir Bill Cash (Con) pressed him on the government’s commitment to ending the protocol, saying progress was so slow it was like “watching the Mary Celeste”. Gavin Williamson could face investigation over "I now own him" payment as chief whip to Tory MP, committee told Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, also hinted that Sir Gavin Williamson is being investigated. Chris Bryant, the Labour chair of the committee, asked what about the rule saying MPs cannot accept a bribe that might influence their behaviour. If a chief whip were to give money to an MP, and they said they owned the MP, would that be a breach of this rule, he asked. Bryant was clearly asking a recent revelation from Anne Milton about Williamson, who was chief whip when she was deputy chief whip. Milton said that on one occasion he gave her a cheque to give to an MP with financial problems, telling her that she should tell the MP from Williamson that “I now own him”. Stone said she could not reply to that question because she had to consider whether it might prejudice a live investigation. In a separate development, Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair, has written to Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative party chair, about the same case. She says that if a Tory MP was in such financial difficulty, they might have been vulnerable to blackmail by a foreign power. She is asking Zahawi to say who the MP was, whether the gift was declared, who paid for it, whether the PM knew, if further money has been paid, and whether any other Tory MPs have been helped in the same way. Dodds said: While Gavin Williamson has rightly resigned for his shocking behaviour, the public will be very concerned about the potential for financial control over other MPs. This is a matter of national security. Rishi Sunak has already appointed a home secretary sacked for security breaches. The public has a right to know what other potential security risks are on the government benches. MPs pass motion saying Truss and Kwarteng should have their severance pay cut because of mess they made of mini-budget In the Commons MPs have just passed by acclamation the Labour motion saying Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng should each lose at least £6,000 from their ministerial severance payments because of the mess they made of the mini-budget. (See 1.51pm.) There was no division, because government MPs were abstaining. The government argues that it can ignore votes of this kind because opposition motions are not binding. But Labour says the Commons has not passed a censure motion like this since the 1970s, and in the past votes like this were considered binding. Parliamentary commissioner for standards suggests Hancock"s I"m a Celebrity appearance has demeaned politics Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, has suggested that Matt Hancock’s decision to take part in I’m a Celebrity has demeaned politics. She is giving evidence to the Commons standards committee about her work and Chris Bryant, the chairman, started by asking her to set out what she found frustrating about her job. She said one problem was people complaining about matters that fell outside the code of conduct, and she said Hancock was an example. She had received dozens of complaints about his appearance on the reality TV show, she said. She said she could not deal with them because what he was doing was not in breach of the code of conduct for MPs. But she suggested she sympathised with the points people were making. She told the committee: [The case] raises really important questions about members’ proper activities while they’re supposed to be fulfilling their parliamentary duties, and representing their constituents. If I may, I’d like to share some correspondence that I heard from a member of the public on this matter. One member of the public contrasted the dignity of veterans on Remembrance Sunday with a former secretary of state, and they said this individual was “waiting for a buffet of animal genitalia” and they wondered what had happened to the dignity of public office. Stone said the case did raise the question as to what activities MPs should engage in when parliament is sitting. She suggested that was something the committee should consider. Stone said another aspect she found frustrating was the large number of complaints she was getting about ministers. She suggested this was linked to the absence of an independent adviser on ministers’ interests. And she said the largest volume of complaints she received – just under 1,500 – were about the Partygate fines issued to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. She said these were outside her remit, but people complained to her because they had nowhere else to go, she said. Rightwing Tory MPs should stop portraying concerns over the climate and nature as “woke”, and understand that voters are deeply concerned about the crisis, the Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith has warned. My colleague Fiona Harvey has the story here. Environment Agency staff have voted to strike over pay for the first time in the organisation’s 26-year history, PA Media reports: Unison said 72% of the 2,800 employees balloted by the union across England - including river inspectors, flood forecasting officers, coastal risk management officers and sewage plant attendants - voted to take action. Earlier in the year staff - who also work on the Thames Barrier, maintain coastal defences and manage the risk of flooding from rivers, reservoirs and the sea - rejected what they described as an “insulting” 2% pay offer plus a £345 one-off payment. In her speech in the Commons debate on Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, Lucy Frazer, the levelling up minister, said ministers were entitled to receive severance payments when they left office. She said: Ministerial changes and departures are part of the fabric of government. All administrations experience them and they are a routine part of the operation of government. The payments being discussed today exist because of the unpredictable nature of ministerial office. Unlike in other employment context, there are no periods of notice, no consultation and no redundancy arrangements. The statutory entitlement has existed for several decades and been implemented by all governments over that period. Frazer also said that, when Labour left office in 2010, severance payments worth a total of £1m were paid to outgoing ministers. Minister claims global factors, not mini-budget, to blame for rise in interest rates Lucy Frazer, the levelling up minister, was speaking for the government in the debate on the Labour censure motion about Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. (See 1.51pm.) She accused Lisa Nandy of not being honest with people. She opened by saying: I’d like to be recognising, as the prime minister has said, that mistakes were made. Indeed, no government is immune from mistakes. But to suggest, as the opposition has done, that these mistakes are the cause of a particular average increase in monthly mortgage rates is simply, wholly inaccurate. Moreover, to say that is simply failing to be honest with the British people, because the economic downturn and consequent rise in interest rates rise interest rates has been caused by two major global events – the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. Although most of the mini-budget has now been reversed, Frazer is ignoring the impact the mini-budget definitely did have on borrowing costs before it was abandoned. In October, after Liz Truss had reversed the corporation tax cut in the mini-budget but before almost all the rest of the mini-budget was abandoned, Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said the mini-budget would lead to interest rates going up. And even after the mini-budget was almost entirely consigned to the bin, and after Truss resigned, Bailey said what had happened continued to affect the attitude of financial markets. MPs to vote on Labour motion saying Truss and Kwarteng should lose some of severance pay over "disastrous" mini-budget In the Commons, Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, has just opened the debate on the Labour censure motion about Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. This is what it says: That this house censures the former prime minister [Liz Truss] and the former chancellor of the exchequer, [Kwasi Kwarteng] for their mismanagement of the economy while in office, which has resulted in an average increase of £500 per month in mortgage payments for families across the UK; and believes that, if they have not already done so, both right honourable members should waive at least £6,000 of their ministerial severance payments. As the fact-checking website, Full Fact, has explained, the claim that the mini-budget was wholly responsible for mortgages rising by £500 per month is misleading. But in her speech Nandy said that it was “no coincidence” that 40% of mortgage products were withdrawn after the “disastrous’ mini-budget and she said she was “angry” about the impact it had had on her constituents. She said that Truss and Kwarteng, who were not in the chamber, had treated Britons as “lab rats for their own ideology’” with the measures in the mini-budget, and that they had “crashed the economy and let working people pay the price”. And she said 113,000 people had to remortgage between the mini-budget and the U-turn that saw most of its measures abandoned (at which point borrowing costs started to come down again). Nandy said that Truss was in line for a severance payment of around £19,000, and Kwarteng for one worth around £17,000. She said when the vote on the division came, Tory MPs would face a choice. They can stand up for people whose hopes and dreams have been broken and shattered, or they can stand with the former prime minister and former chancellor who have profited from a situation with families across the country paying the price for years and years and years to come. They cannot possibly turn up in this place on Thursday, and tell us that this is about fairness and that they are on people’s side if they don’t back this motion today. There are millions of people who are affected by this, not just people who are paying more on their mortgages for years and years to come, but the millions of people stuck in rented accommodation, including the thousands who saw their dreams of homeownership shattered as their mortgage offers were withdrawn in the days after the mini-budget. Opposition day motions are not binding on the government, whereas in the past governments always tried to vote them down, this government increasingly tells its MPs to abstain in these votes, and simply ignores motions passed by the Commons that it finds embarrassing. But Labour’s Chris Bryant, a historian of parliament, intervened during Nandy’s speech to say there was no precedent for a government ignoring a motion like this. When censure motions like this were passed, ministers either resigned, or lost part of their salary, he said. Tory MPs are reportedly on a one-line whip today, which means they are not likely to vote against the Labour motion and it will be passed. According to the Labour party, the last time the Commons passed a censure motion saying a minister should lose some of their salary because of incompetence was in 1976, when Eric Varley, the Labour industry secretary, was the minister involved. The government reluctantly accepted the vote could not be ignored, but it subsequently passed another motion reversing the original vote saying Varley should have his salary cut. A woman wearing a scarf in suffragette colours has been asked to leave a session of Holyrood’s equalities committee. She posted on Twitter that she had been asked by Scottish parliamentary staff to remove the scarf as she sat in the visitors’ seats of the committee room this morning, listening to MSPs discussing amendments to the gender recognition reform bill. She refused and was asked to leave. “The Scottish parliament is now policing clothing colours,” she wrote. On the face of it, this does appear to be an extremely narrow interpretation of the parliament’s code of conduct for visitors, which states: “The display of banners, flags or political slogans, including on clothing and accessories (such as face coverings), is not permitted.” Context is all of course – the purple, green and white of the suffragette flag has in recent years been adopted by women who oppose some reforms to transgender rights and raise concerns about how these reforms impact on women’s legal protections. During a committee hearing in June, which I attended, a woman wearing a T-shirt that read: “Nicola Sturgeon, destroyer of women’s rights” was asked to leave – that was clearly an instance of a political slogan (the same slogan was later worn by JK Rowling, an active opponent of the current plans to introduce self-declaration for transgender people wishing to change the sex on their birth certificate). But are we now at a point where the colours themselves are considered unacceptably political? Respondents to the original Twitter post point out that at least one committee member is wearing a rainbow lanyard, showing support for LGBT+ equality. The Scottish parliament has been approached for comment. Sunak says he will take time over future trade deals, after ex-minister says Truss botched Australia deal by rushing it And here are some remaining lines from Rishi Sunak’s round of interviews. Sunak said he wanted the UK to take time over future trade deals to get them right. Asked by the BBC’s Chris Mason about the trade deal with Australia, which George Eustice said last night was bad for the UK because Liz Truss negotiated it in a rush, Sunak refused to endorse what Eustice said. But he said he did not want to rush in future. He said: In trade deals there’s always a degree of give or take and there are many positives from this deal [with Australia]. But it is right, going forward, that we don’t sacrifice quality for speed. I want to take the time to get trade deals right for Britain. I think that’s the right approach and that’s what we will do going forward. Sunak refused to answer a question about whether he has private health insurance. Asked about this by ITV’s Anushka Asthana, he said that he had overseen record increases in NHS funding, but that he did not think it was appropriate to talk about his family’s healthcare arrangements. He said that he wanted to reduce net migration figures – but he refused to back Suella Braverman’s call for the annual net migration figure to be brought below 100,000. Asked by GB News if he agreed with this target, Sunak said he did not want to attach an “arbitrary number” to the goal of getting immigration down. He said he was in favour of the government telling people to save energy this winter. When Liz Truss was PM, she did not want the government to be telling people to save energy, because she thought it was not the role of government to interfere in decisions people could take for themselves. But Sunak told GB News that he would encourage people to save energy, because that was “helpful for reducing bills”.