Labour"s Lucy Powell says suspension of Gary Lineker for anti-government tweet like something from "Putin"s Russia" Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, is asking her supplementary question now. She says ministers have got their “fingerprints all over” the BBC’s decision to suspend Gary Lineker. She says the BBC capitulated to “a Tory cancel campaign” and took Gary Lineker off air. She goes on: What does [Lopez] think it looks like to the outside world – that a much-loved sports presenter is taken off air for tweeting something that government doesn’t like. It sounds more like Putin’s Russia so me. Powell says Richard Sharp, the BBC chairman, no longer has credibility. And she urges Lopez to “call off the dogs” behind her who are attacking the BBC’s integrity. UPDATE: Powell said: Her government has pursued a deliberate strategy of undermining the BBC to keep it over a barrel to get themselves more coverage. It was on full display overnight and I’m sure it will be on full display here today. Threaten the licence fee, cut its funding, undermine its credibility. All in pursuit in keeping their foot on the BBC’s throat. That’s it for today. Thanks for following along. Afternoon summary The suspension of Gary Lineker from his BBC presenting duties has echoes of “Putin’s Russia”, MPs have heard, as calls for the corporation’s chair to resign continue to mount. Greg Hands, the Conservative party chair, has been forced to apologise to the civil service after an email sent out in Suella Braverman’s name said public servants had frustrated plans to curb small boats crossings. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, has expressed her “deep concern” about how unaccompanied children will be treated in the UK under the government’s heavily criticised illegal migration bill. Boris Johnson will give his first televised evidence next Wednesday on whether he misled parliament over Partygate, the privileges committee has announced. A ban on the forced installation of prepayment meters by energy companies has been extended beyond the end of March, Ofgem has said. It is budget day tomorrow, and Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, is expected to announce a big incrase in the tax-free allowance for lifetime savings. (See 9.34am.) In a Twitter thread starting here, James Kirkup, who runs the Social Market Foundation thinktank, says this is a “regressive giveaway to a very small, rich minority”. Tories on course to lose all red wall seats, but Sunak"s ratings with these voters rising sharply, poll suggests There are two polls out today which go beyond voting intention and are interesting for the Conservatives and Labour. Ipsos has released a poll focusing on Keir Starmer’s five “missions”. It suggests that on all five of them people think Labour would do a better job than the Conservatives (not that surprising, perhaps), and that the issue where Labour’s lead is biggest is also the one which is by far the most important to people (the NHS). And Channel 4 News has released some polling by JL Partners in the 45 “red wall” seats won by the Tories from Labour at the general election. It has been polling these seats since 2020 and it finds the Tories on course to lose them all. In its write-up of the survey, which was mostly carried out before the illegal migration bill was published, JL Partners says: Once more, Labour claims a majority of the electorate in the red wall and the party holds a 25-point lead over the Conservatives with no significant change to this margin from a month ago. On a uniform swing assuming an election tomorrow, this would mean the Conservatives would be set to lose all of the 45 seats they gained from Labour in the north and the Midlands in 2019. The Conservatives are now only retaining one in two of their 2019 voters. Those Conservatives have gone in two directions: 15% of 2019 Tories have directly switched to Labour and 28% have shifted to don’t know. Though in one sign of change since February more voters are now saying ‘don’t know’ (up six points) than those directly defecting to Labour (down two points). But the Tories now only lead Labour by one point amongst leave voters. But it is not all bad news for the Conservatives. The polling suggests many voters could change their minds, Rishi Sunak’s approval ratings have risen considerably among voters in these seats in the past month and these constituencies also back his “stop the boats” strategy. The JL Partners analysis says: Six in 10 red wall voters support “stopping migrants in small boats from illegally crossing the Channel using any means necessary” – with support extending to multiple groups including remain voters, 18-45s, and 2019 Labour voters. There is similar support – by a margin of almost three to one – for the withdrawal of the right to appeal against deportation for those who cross the Channel in small boats. Support is also present for leaving the ECHR, breaking international laws, and the Rwanda scheme, but these margins are narrower. James Johnson, the former pollster for Theresa May who co-founded JL Partners, has a good Twitter thread on the findings starting here. Gove names 11 firms that face being "out of housebuilding business" because they"ve refused to fund fire safety repairs Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has said that 11 housebuilding companies face being put out of business because they have refused to sign a contract agreeing to fund the removal of dangerous cladding. In a statement to MPs, Gove said that 39 developers, including the 10 largest housebuilders in the UK, all signed the developer remediation contract ahead of yesterday’s deadline. Under this, they have agreed “to fix all life-critical fire safety defects in all English buildings over 11 metres they had a role in developing or refurbishing”. Gove said these agreements would raise at last £2bn for repairs required since the Grenfell Tower fire highlighted problems with dangerous claddings on buildings across the country. But he said that 11 firms refused to sign the deals in time for the deadline. He told MPs: While the overwhelming majority of major developers have signed, some regrettably have not. Parliament has made clear what this means, and so have I. Those companies will be out of the housebuilding business in England entirely unless and until they change their course. Next week I will publish key features of our new responsible actors scheme – a means of ensuring that only those committed to building safety will be allowed to build in the future. Those developers that we’ve invited to sign the remediation contract who have not agreed to live up to their responsibilities will not be eligible to join the responsible actors scheme. They will not be able to commence new developments in England or receive building control approval for work that is already under way. Gove said the 11 companies that had not signed were: Abbey Developments, Avant, Ballymore, Dandara, Emerson Group (Jones Homes), Galliard Homes, Inland Homes, Lendlease, London Square, Rydon Homes and Telford Homes. Jeffrey Donaldson says NI protocol deal in its current form is "insufficient" to address needs of DUP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, has said that his party does not support Rishi Sunak’s “Windsor framework” deal to revise the Northern Ireland protocol in its current form. Speaking on a visit to Washington before St Patrick’s Day, Donaldson did not reject the deal. But he said: What is in this Windsor framework is insufficient. It does not meet all of our requirements, it does not go as far as we need, in terms of our tests and in terms of restoring fully Northern Ireland’s place within the internal market of the United Kingdom … It is my current assessment that there remains key areas of concern which require further clarification, reworking and change, as well as seeing further legal text. Donaldson also issued a statement setting out five concerns the DUP has with the deal in its current form. The UK government has said that it is happy for the DUP to take its time considering the deal before it comes to a final conclusion. The party is divided, with some members concerned that backing the agreement could see the DUP lose votes to the more hardline Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), which has opposed it, while others fear that if the party permanently boycotts power-sharing at Stormont because of the protocol, it will be heading down a political cul-de-sac. The US president, Joe Biden, is due to visit Northern Ireland soon to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement. The UK government would like the DUP to decide in favour of the protocol deal, and to resume power sharing, before Biden arrives, but Donaldson said his party would not be rushed. He said: Whether the president visits or not, I have no arbitrary deadline here. I am not under any pressure in terms of timelines. I want to get this right. However long that takes is how long it will take. Although Rishi Sunak wants the DUP to endorse the Windsor framework, the government has also signalled that it intends to implement the new agreement anyway regardless of what the DUP says. The BBC UQ is now over. Although Julia Lopez, the culture minister, was doing her best to argue that it was for the BBC, not the government, to police what Gary Lineker says on Twitter, some Conservative MPs criticised the presenter more aggressively. Paul Waugh from the i has some highlights. And here is a clip of Sir John Hayes condemning Lineker and his colleagues. Hayes is chair of the Common Sense group of Tory MPs, which organised a letter saying Lineker should apologise “at the very least” for his tweet. Chris Bryant (Lab) says he has been told that Rishi Sunak wants the inquiry into Richard Sharp, the BBC’s chair (and Sunak’s former boss at Goldman Sachs), to be “kicked into the long grass”. Lopez says that is not true. The inquiry is under the control of the government, she says. Rob Butler (Con) says he used to work for the BBC. In the era of social media, impartiality is more important than ever, he says. Bob Blackman (Con) says Gary Lineker has a duty to tweet information that is accurate. He claims Lineker did not do this in December in a tweet about the death of a Palestinian footballer claimed by Hamas as a martyr. Lopez says she does not know about this case, but suggests it might be included in the BBC review of social media guidelines. Jamie Stone (Lib Dem) says Lopez has said the government will not tell Richard Sharp to set down as BBC chair. But will she accept that if he stays in office that is not helping the reputation of the BBC. Lopez says the circumstances of Sharp’s appointment are the subject of an investigation. Lopez tells MPs there was "no pressure applied to BBC by ministers" over Gary Lineker Lopez says there was “no pressure applied to the BBC by ministers” over Gary Lineker. Sir Bill Cash (Con) says the BBC social media guidelines do not work. He says an adjudication body should be set up, alongside Ofcom, to consider complaints about it. Lopez says he looks forward to engaging with Cash further on his ideas in this area. Public support for BBC licence fee is falling, Lopez tells MPs Sammy Wilson (DUP) says people should no longer have to pay the licence fee. It is a “poll tax on propaganda”, he says. Lopez says the government is concerned the licence fee is losing public support. It is considering how the BBC should be funded in the long term. UPDATE: Wilson said: The only disaster this weekend has been for the BBC in the despicable way it handled the Gary Lineker affair and then caved in to this man and his friends who rallied around him. The BBC has shown once again it’s impossible, because of the bias inherent in it, to be impartial and it is now time that people are no longer forced to finance the BBC through the licence fee, especially when every week 1,000 people are taken to court by the BBC – 70% of them women – for refusing to pay this poll tax on propaganda. And Lopez said: [Wilson] is right to highlight the importance of impartiality to the trust in which licence fee-payers hold the organisation and the importance in relation to the future of the licence fee. It’s something we’re considering, not least because there are fewer people paying the licence fee. We’re concerned the public is losing support for the licence fee, but also fundamentally the way in which people consume television is changing very rapidly and we need to make sure the BBC has a future that is sustainable in the years ahead. Andrew Percy (Con) says Lucy Powell should reflect on her comparision of the government to Putin’s regime. Putin is engaged in war crimes, he says. He says that was “beneath her”. He also says Gary Lineker’s comparison of the government’s asylum language to Nazi language was disgraceful. Lopez agrees on both points. Referring to what Powell said, she say that was a “disgraceful comparison to make”, and “way off the mark”. In response to Lucy Powell, Julia Lopez said that Tim Davie, the BBC director general, said himself yesterday that it was not true to say that the corporation suspended Gary Lineker in response to political pressure. Labour"s Lucy Powell says suspension of Gary Lineker for anti-government tweet like something from "Putin"s Russia" Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, is asking her supplementary question now. She says ministers have got their “fingerprints all over” the BBC’s decision to suspend Gary Lineker. She says the BBC capitulated to “a Tory cancel campaign” and took Gary Lineker off air. She goes on: What does [Lopez] think it looks like to the outside world – that a much-loved sports presenter is taken off air for tweeting something that government doesn’t like. It sounds more like Putin’s Russia so me. Powell says Richard Sharp, the BBC chairman, no longer has credibility. And she urges Lopez to “call off the dogs” behind her who are attacking the BBC’s integrity. UPDATE: Powell said: Her government has pursued a deliberate strategy of undermining the BBC to keep it over a barrel to get themselves more coverage. It was on full display overnight and I’m sure it will be on full display here today. Threaten the licence fee, cut its funding, undermine its credibility. All in pursuit in keeping their foot on the BBC’s throat. Culture minister Julia Lopez tells MPs it is for BBC, not government, to decide how it implements impartiality In the Commons the HS2 UQ is now over, and Julia Lopez, a culture minister, is responding to the UQ on BBC impartiality. She says the BBC’s first purpose is to provide accurate and impartial news to people. The BBC is also independent, she says. That means the government has no say in how the BBC chooses to implement its impartiality obligations. She says the regulator has accepted that implementing impartiality is challenging. She says the BBC is respected around the world. No other country has anything like it. The government is clear it must emphasis accuracy, impartiality and diversity of views. Sturgeon launches memorial book scheme for parents who want to commemorate loss of baby before 24 weeks Nicola Sturgeon has announced that the Scottish government will set up a voluntary memorial book scheme for parents who want to commemorate the loss of a baby before 24 weeks. In a statement, the first minister said her personal experience of miscarriage had taught her how valuable this might be for some parents. She said: The loss of a pregnancy or a baby is always painful. I have spoken in the past about my personal experience of miscarriage, and I know the sense of grief will stay with me and my husband forever. I also know that we would have drawn comfort at the time if there had been a way for us to mark the loss and formally recognise the child we were grieving. Launching this memorial book with the National Records of Scotland will give parents an opportunity – if they wish it - to commemorate their loss with a physical record, and to have their child recognised.