Kemi Badenoch criticised by Nigerian vice president for "denigrating" his country Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has been criticised by the Nigerian vice-president for “denigrating” his country. As the Financial Times reports, Kashim Shettima said in a speech that Nigerians were proud of Badenoch’s achievements – even though she regularly talks down the country where she was brought up. In a speech yesterday celebrating Nigeria’s contribution to the global economy, he said: Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Conservative party. We are proud of her in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin. She is entitled to her own opinions; she has even every right to remove the Kemi from her name but that does not underscore the fact that the greatest Black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria. Here is a clip from the speech. In his story, Aanu Adeoye also quotes a “senior presidential adviser” as saying: “Many Nigerians don’t appreciate her [Badenoch] denigrating the country and making it sound like a leper colony. We live here and don’t have that impression of our country.” Badenoch was born in London, after her mother came to the UK for care in a private maternity hospital, but she was brought up living with her middle-class Nigerian family in Lagos. As a teenager her parents sent her to continue her education in the UK, at a time when military rule made Nigeria an increasingly unattractive option, and Badenoch has lived in the UK ever since. In speeches Badenoch regularly talks about her Nigerian upbringing, saying that her commitment to conservative and libertarian values is influenced by her horror at what was happening in Lagos when she was growing up – something she associates with the politics of the left. In her speech to the Conservative party conference earlier this year, Badenoch said: I was born here, but I grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it. Triple-checking that all the doors and windows are locked. Waking up in the night at every sound. Listening as you hear your neighbours scream, as they are being burgled and beaten, and wondering if your home will be next. When you’ve experienced that kind of fear, you’re not worried about being attacked on Twitter. You appreciate how rare and precious it is to live in a country with security, democracy, equality under the law and above all else freedom. And in a speech only last week in Washington she said: I was lucky in my experiences. I was born to a relatively wealthy family and had a decent education. But I also know what it is like to be poor. I watched my family become poor as their wealth, income and savings were inflated away by destructive government policies. But they didn’t call it socialism – but it definitely was. Capital controls, no freedom of movement, government owning the means of production. There was no freedom either, the government deciding which school your child went to, it decided which businesses could or could not operate all the way to arrests with no trial and state-sanctioned murder. So I know what freedom looks like. It is what I had in the UK. I know the values that can make citizens wealthier and happier and how without them, they become engines of misery and despair. Asked about Shettima’s comments, a spokesperson for Badenoch said: Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR, she is the leader of the opposition in the UK. Early evening summary Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said she has “no doubt” government deparments can find efficiency savings worth 5%. (See 10.38am.) The Conservatives have said the government cannot be trusted to cut spending, the Liberal Democrats are saying Reeves should be investing in social care (see 10.33am) and the Green party has said Reeves’s announcements means services face cuts (see 12.22pm). Kashim Shettima, the Nigerian vice-president, has criticised Kemi Badenoch for “denigrating” his country. (See 4.43pm.) Nick Candy, a billionaire former Tory donor, has announced that he is joining Reform UK as its treasurer. He claims he can raise more than £40m for the party, and has said he will donate more than £1m himself. (See 10.16am, 12.15pm and 2.28pm.) Birmingham city council has reached an agreement to settle historical equal pay claims that left the authority with liabilities estimated at £760m and pushed it into effective bankruptcy. The Northern Ireland protocol and Windsor Framework mitigate against the worst excesses of Brexit, MLAs have been told. As PA Media reports, Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan made the claim as the Stormont assembly began a debate on whether to continue with the region’s post-Brexit trading arrangements. However, a DUP MLA stated that the debate and vote is an “illusion of democracy”. The debate is still going on. As the BBC reports, “the motion [to keep the Windsor Framework in place] was tabled jointly by Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP. But controversially, unlike other votes at Stormont, there is no requirement for cross-community support for the motion. A simple majority will suffice.” No 10 declines to back bill from Tory MP to make first-cousin marriage illegal Downing Street has declined to back a bill from Conservative MP that would make first-cousin marriage illegal. Asked about the government’s stance, a No 10 spokesperson said the expert advice, which is against first-cousin marriages on the grounds of the health risk to any children conceived, was clear. But, asked if the government would support the bill, the spokesperson said “the priorities for the government are very clear”. The spokesperson was responding to a question about a bill introduced today under the 10-minute rule procedure by Richard Holden, the former Conservative party chair. MPs did not vote against the bill today, but it has no chance of becoming law because no further time is set aside for it. Holden said he was proposing the bill for reasons of “health, freedom and national values”. He said some people probably assumed first-cousin marriage was already illegal. But, he told MPs, some communities had “extremely high rates of first-cousin marriage, with Irish Travellers being 20% to 40% and higher rates still among the British Pakistani community”. The independent Iqbal Mohamed spoke against Holden’s plan. He said rather than “stigmatising” cousin marriages, a “much more positive approach” should be adopted to respond to health concerns linked to the children of those relationships. He said: The matter needs to be approached as a health awareness issue, a cultural issue where women are being forced against their will to undergo marriage. In doing so it is important to recognise for many people that this is a highly sensitive issue and in discussing it we should try to step into the shoes of those who perhaps are not from the same culture as ours, to better understand why the practice continues to be so widespread. Mohamed said cousin marriages were “extremely common” in the Middle East and south Asia and he said that, rather than a ban, “a much more positive approach would be to facilitate advanced genetic test screening for prospective married couples, as is the case in all Arab countries in the Persian Gulf”. Nandy tells peers not to filibuster bill setting up independent football regulator Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has urged peers not to filibuster the bill setting up an independent football regulator. Yesterday the former Labour cabinet minister Lord Blunkett accused opponents of the football governance bill of acting on behalf of the Premier League and trying to hold up its passage the House of Lords. Asked about the apparent filibustering operation, Nandy told the Commons culture committtee: This is a bill that has had cross-party support consensus for a long time, it was a manifesto commitment from this government and it is high time we got on with it. It is not acceptable to use parliamentary procedures to try to block a piece of legislation on which so many hopes and dreams rest, which was clearly something that we committed to before the election and which my counterpart Stuart Andrew and the Conservative front bench fully support still. So my message would be that we need to get on with this for the sake of football and out of respect for the fans. Kemi Badenoch criticised by Nigerian vice president for "denigrating" his country Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has been criticised by the Nigerian vice-president for “denigrating” his country. As the Financial Times reports, Kashim Shettima said in a speech that Nigerians were proud of Badenoch’s achievements – even though she regularly talks down the country where she was brought up. In a speech yesterday celebrating Nigeria’s contribution to the global economy, he said: Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Conservative party. We are proud of her in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin. She is entitled to her own opinions; she has even every right to remove the Kemi from her name but that does not underscore the fact that the greatest Black nation on earth is the nation called Nigeria. Here is a clip from the speech. In his story, Aanu Adeoye also quotes a “senior presidential adviser” as saying: “Many Nigerians don’t appreciate her [Badenoch] denigrating the country and making it sound like a leper colony. We live here and don’t have that impression of our country.” Badenoch was born in London, after her mother came to the UK for care in a private maternity hospital, but she was brought up living with her middle-class Nigerian family in Lagos. As a teenager her parents sent her to continue her education in the UK, at a time when military rule made Nigeria an increasingly unattractive option, and Badenoch has lived in the UK ever since. In speeches Badenoch regularly talks about her Nigerian upbringing, saying that her commitment to conservative and libertarian values is influenced by her horror at what was happening in Lagos when she was growing up – something she associates with the politics of the left. In her speech to the Conservative party conference earlier this year, Badenoch said: I was born here, but I grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it. Triple-checking that all the doors and windows are locked. Waking up in the night at every sound. Listening as you hear your neighbours scream, as they are being burgled and beaten, and wondering if your home will be next. When you’ve experienced that kind of fear, you’re not worried about being attacked on Twitter. You appreciate how rare and precious it is to live in a country with security, democracy, equality under the law and above all else freedom. And in a speech only last week in Washington she said: I was lucky in my experiences. I was born to a relatively wealthy family and had a decent education. But I also know what it is like to be poor. I watched my family become poor as their wealth, income and savings were inflated away by destructive government policies. But they didn’t call it socialism – but it definitely was. Capital controls, no freedom of movement, government owning the means of production. There was no freedom either, the government deciding which school your child went to, it decided which businesses could or could not operate all the way to arrests with no trial and state-sanctioned murder. So I know what freedom looks like. It is what I had in the UK. I know the values that can make citizens wealthier and happier and how without them, they become engines of misery and despair. Asked about Shettima’s comments, a spokesperson for Badenoch said: Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR, she is the leader of the opposition in the UK. Scottish government announces consultation on plan to stop MSPs also sitting as MPs or peers The Scottish government is backing a move to bar politicians from holding dual mandates – by sitting in the Commons and Holyrood at the same time – after the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn prompted an almighty row when he proposed doing just that after the next Holyrood elections. The backlash against Flynn was fierce and practically universal last month when he announced he planned to stand for a Holyrood seat – potentially knocking out the incumbent woman MSP – while maintaining his Westminster seat. Not least because of the implication that working as an MSP is not a full-time job. He was forced to u-turn, admitting: “I got this one wrong.” Now the Scottish government has announced it will support MSPs being disqualified from also sitting in the Commons or Lords, but will first hold a public consultation first, as Holyrood considers amendments to an election reform bill next and after the Scottish Conservatives led calls for a ban. Reeves refuses to say if assisted dying would be free at point of use for patients using law if it passes Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has refused to say whether the government would be willing to make assisted dying free at the point of use for any terminally ill person wanting to take advantage of the legislation. Last month MPs voted to give the private member’s terminally ill adults (end of life) bill a second reading. But the legislation does not explain who would cover the costs, including time spent by doctors and judges, and the medication needed for someone to end their life. In an interview with Matt Chorley on Radio 5 Live, Reeves said she was “not convinced” that the bill was going to lead to “higher costs on the public purse”. But when Chorley said that some costs were inevitable, and asked for details of how those would be funded, Reeves repeated sidestepped those questions. Reeves voted in favour of the bill. But she stressed that the government was neutral, and she said that the bill was still going through the Commons. Asked directly if, as chancellor, she was willing to fund an assisted dying scheme using taxpayers’ money, Reeves replied: The assisted dying bill has only just started going through the parliamentary process. I voted for it at a second reading. I think it is right. It now goes through the next stage, but the government is neutral. Asked if people wanting to take advantage of the legislation might have to pay for the assisted dying process themselves, she replied: The committee stage and the scrutiny of the bill will answer those questions, the government is neutral on the issue. Starmer sends email to civil servants praising their work, saying they should be happy "upsetting apple cart" if needed Keir Starmer has sent an email to civil servants praising them for their “dedication and professionalism” and saying they should not worry about “upsetting the apple cart” if that is needed to push through change. The tone of the email is overwhelmingly positive and complimentary, suggesting it is being sent at least in part to repair the damage cause by the line in his speech last week implying civil servants were comfortable embracing declinism. Unions representing civil servants strongly criticised Starmer for what he said. As Civil Service World reports, Starmer says in today’s email: From all I have seen during my first five months as prime minister, my appreciation of your service to this country has only grown. It is not just because I know how hard you work. It is because I understand something of what drives your dedication and professionalism. You have this strong sense of public service in everything you do. For you, it’s not just a job. You want to change the country and make Britain a better place. Put simply, I believe we all share the same goal – we have all followed a path towards public service to serve our country. But if we are honest, we all know that there are far too many obstacles in your way. Too often, needless bureaucratic impediments, silos, processes about processes, all impede your ability – and therefore also my ability – to deliver for the people we are here to serve. And from the conversations that I have had with many of you over the past five months, I know these barriers frustrate you every bit as much as they frustrate me. Adam Bienkov from Byline Times has posted the full text on social media. Nandy sidesteps questions about Observer sale at culture committee hearing, citing quasi-judicial responsibilities At the committee Labour’s Paul Waugh, a former political correspondent, asked Nandy about the sale of the the Observer to Tortoise Media. He asked about the concerns about the deal raised by staff, including the speed at which it was going through, the fact that rival bidders were not considered and what it might mean for the long-term future of “one of the few progressive newspapers left in the UK”. Pointing out that Nandy’s predecessor, Lucy Frazer, issued a public interest intervention over the proposed sale of the Daily Telegraph, Waugh asked if Nandy had any concerns about this sale. Nandy said that she could not answer, because as secretary of state she has to act in a quasi-judicial role in matters like this. She said that meant she was “prohibited in law” from talking about some of these matters. Waugh then asked Nandy to comment on the principles involved. With the sale of a paper like this, what factors would she take into account when assessing the public interest? Nandy again was reluctant to answer. She turned to her permanent secretary, Susannah Storey, appearing alongside her at the hearing, and Storey said the Enterprise Act included criteria for a public interest test. But she said Nandy should not be discussing specifics in relation to this case. But Nandy said she was happy to talk about “how we want the media landscape to operate”. She went on: Plurality is obviously a really important principle. We want to make sure that there are a range of views and voices that can be heard. One of those elements is national media, but there is also local and regional media as well, which I’m particularly exercised about. I’m shortly to have land on my desk the terms of reference for our local media strategy, which we intend to kick off early in the new year, to make sure that we do have that range of voices reflected in our in our local and national conversation. As we devolve far more power to communities and to regions, it’s absolutely essential that there’s the ability to hold that power to account. We’ve seen far too many local and regional publications collapse in the last few years. So plurality is the thing that I am most focused on. Waugh then said transparency was an important issue too. He asked if the public deserve to know who the financial backers were for any bid to take over a national newspaper. (He did not mention the Observer, but this has been a concern with the Tortoise Media bid.) Nandy said that, under the current regime, some information was put in the public domain, but not all information. (She was talking in general terms, not about the Observer sale.) Storey then repeated the point about the Enterprise Act covering public interest issues. And she said the culture department has just launched a consultation on expanding the legislation around media mergers to include online publications. Nandy says "no option off the table" when asked if BBC charter review could lead to licence fee going Back at the culture committee, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, is being asked about the BBC, and the future of the licence fee. She says that “no option is off the table” for the BBC’s charter review, both in terms of the structure of the BBC and its funding model. She says the government is “not in the business of reform for reform’s sake”. But she says it is clear that there are limits to what the BBC can raise through commercial sources. So the government is going to have to look “in the broadest sense” at the options, she says. Nandy says she knows that 75% of people proscecuted for non-payment of the licence fee are women. She says the government is extending the simple payment plan to make it easier for people to pay in instalments. And she says she wants to hear what the committee recommends on the future of the BBC. During the election Keir Starmer said the licence fee would stay in place at least until the BBC’s current charter runs out at the end of 2027. Candy says it will be "game changer" for Britain if Reform UK"s membership overtakes Tories" in 2025 Nick Candy has given an interview to GB News about his new role as treasurer for Reform UK. (See 10.16am and 12.15pm.) Here are the main points. Candy said that he hoped to raise more than £40m for Reform UK. He said: I think for past general elections, £25m to £40m has been raised for previous parties, and I think I will do significantly better than that, more than £40m. He claimed that he had already taken calls from people offering large sums. But he wanted money from small donors too, he said. Already this morning, I’ve had millions of pounds worth of donations from people that have never donated to a political party in this country. But it’s not just about getting rich donors and billionaire people or whatever, or millionaire people. Today, we need the guys that have got £1, £5, £10, £25, to be a member of Reform. He claimed that Reform UK would overtake the Conservative party in membership numbers in 2025 and that this would be a “gamechanger”. Reform has 100,000 members now. The Tories have 130,000 members. I’m sure in the next six months Reform will go past the Tory membership and that will be a gamechanger in this country … Once they start winning some of these local elections and these byelections, it’s going to be a complete gamechanger. My only job is raising the funds to do it properly. He said that Farage was “a close, close friend” and that his children called him “Uncle Nigel”. He said that, despite saying before the election that it was time for a change and that Keir Starmer was “a decent man”, he did not vote Labour this summer. Birmingham city council agrees deal over equal pay claims Birmingham city council has reached an agreement to settle historical equal pay claims that left the authority with liabilities estimated at £760m and pushed it into effective bankruptcy, Jessica Murray reports. Councils could be driven to bankruptcy without reforms to special educational needs system, says IFS thinktank Councils in England could be driven to bankrupty because the costs of dealing with children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) are rising at an unsustainable rate, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said in a report. Summarising the problem, the report says: The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in England has faced unprecedented pressure over the past decade, and without substantial reform it will likely become unmanageable for local authorities over the coming years. Fundamentally, this is due to the rocketing number of children and young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs). Children with EHCPs are those with the highest needs and local authorities are statutorily obligated to cover the costs of provision set out in EHCPs. The reasons behind this rise in EHCPs are complex, but potential explanations include increased severity of needs, expanded recognition and diagnosis of needs, and stronger incentives to seek statutory provision. Meaningful reform is likely to be “complex and costly”, it says. It is likely to require a significant expansion of the core SEND provision available in mainstream schools, an expansion of state-funded special school places, a geographic redistribution of funding, and maybe reducing the statutory obligations currently attached to EHCPs. At the moment, there are huge delays in getting assessments, forcing many parents to get private assessments or go to legal tribunals. Building parental confidence in a new system will therefore be challenging. Any transition to a new system would also be costly as it would likely entail some double funding to cover current obligations. Although difficult, substantial reform is necessary to create a financially sustainable and equitable SEND system. The default is spending an extra £2–3bn per year on an unreformed system by 2027–28. But, without reform, councils could go bankrupt, the report says. It is important to restate that the default is for continued rises in numbers of pupils with EHCPs, extra spending of £2–3bn per year and local authority deficits of £8 billion in three years’ time, pushing many to the point of bankruptcy. Nandy tells MPs, if creative sector does not do more to stop workplace harassment, she is ready to "take further action" Back at the culture committee, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, says she has seen too many examples of people in the creative industries who are victims of mistreatment at work feeling that they cannot complain because of the power wielded by stars who misbehave. Referring to the Gregg Wallace allegations, she says there have been too many cases of complaints being “swept under the rug”. She says she is meeting the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) tomorrow. She goes on: I instinctively think that it is better if the industry grips this, but if they don’t, I will be prepared to take further action. She says she has looked at various examples of misconduct cases and she is worried that nothing seems to change. One of the things that has really concerned me is that when we’ve looked across the board at repeated instances of where people have spoken up, made complaints that have been swept under the rug, and it’s only ended up in resulting in action when they’ve gone to the media – you can look at the inquiries into all of those occasions, and every time the recommendations are the same. And yet here we still are, with these things happening on a regular occurrence. UPDATE: Nandy said: Having spoken with the BBC in recent weeks about the Gregg Wallace allegations, I am really clear that we’re seeing too many of these cultures of silence and issues being swept under the rug. People who cannot advance through the current complaints system because it would have an impact on their career, potentially ending their career. And I am clear that people need to be heard, action has to be taken and perpetrators have to be held to account … [The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority] think, and I instinctively think, that it is better if the industry grips this, but if they don’t I will be prepared to take further action. Nerissa Chesterfield, who served as Rishi Sunak’s director of communications when he was prime minister, has been cleared to take up a job as director of corporate communications and affairs at Chelsea FC. In line with government rules intended to stop former ministers and former senior civil servants misusing inside knowledge of government, she has sought clearance for the job from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. ACOBA has said it is happy for Chesterfield to take the job provided that she does not “become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or any of its arm’s length bodies, on behalf of Chelsea FC Holdings Limited (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients)” for two years from the date she left No 10. Caroline Dinenage, the culture committee chair, asks Lisa Nandy where she will start looking for the 5% efficiency savings the Treasury is requesting. Nandy says she has not started that process yet. She says money is tight, and there is a lot of “fragility” in sectors like arts, music and museum. She says she has already taken the decision to cancel the seaside heritage fund set up by the last government. There was no funding for it, she says (which implies she won’t have saved any money by axing it).