A three hour emergency debate on foreign aid cuts is taking place in the Commons
Andrew Mitchell says MPs opposed to aid cut have been described as rebels, "but it is the government that is rebelling" against its manifesto promise to keep the 0.7pc target
Boris Johnson's foreign aid cut is an "unlawful and unethical betrayal", says Andrew Mitchell
Mitchell says aid cut is like shaking hands on the price for a car, then doing a runner after handing over only part of the money

"It's not proper, it's fundamentally un-British and we shouldn't behave in this way"
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay says aid cut decision is "not easy" but country faces "a hugely difficult economic and fiscal situation"

He says coronavirus emergency packages have led to highest levels of peacetime borrowing on record
Barclay argues that loading ourselves with more debt now might well damage our ability to spend on aid later
1p would need to be put on income tax to cover cost of reversing aid cut, claims Chief Secretary Steve Barclay
Barclay: "For now, the tough choice is the right choice"
SNP's Ian Blackford says government minister "knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"
Theresa May says she opposes aid cut as she stood on manifesto at last election to "proudly maintain" 0.7pc target

She says government is "taking pride" in the idea our economy will "bounce back this year" so Treasury argument doesn't make sense
Theresa May: "People don't listen to the UK because we are the UK, they listen to us because of what we do... cutting this will have an impact on our standing"

She says damage done to our reputation will make it harder to argue for change the country wants, including at Cop 26
Anthony Mangnall says to tackle terrorism, asylum and climate change "we have to be out there cooperating" at an international level
Mangnall says it is a "staggering miscalculation to ignore our international obligations and moral duties because we cannot protect ourselves at home if we do so"

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More from @johnestevens

7 Jun
🚫 Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle announces he has *NOT* selected the foreign aid amendment to be voted on
Hoyle tells Government that MPs *SHOULD* get a vote on foreign aid cut
Hoyle suggests he will allow an emergency debate tomorrow

“We are the elected members, this House should be taken seriously, and the Government should be accountable here”
Read 5 tweets
16 Dec 20
EXC: Tory MP Tobias Ellwood attended a Christmas dinner with *27 guests* at a private members club in Mayfair on Tuesday🎄🍴
The Iraq Britain Business Council on its website described the event at the Cavalry and Guards Club in Piccadilly as its "Christmas party" 🎅

But Mr Ellwood insists it was a "business meeting" so was allowed under Tier 2 restrictions that applied at the time
Mr Ellwood gave a speech at the event and then says he was "introduced to business people... It was a proper business function"

The Commons defence committee chair says there were no Christmas crackers and when asked if turkey was served for the meal said: "No I don't think so"
Read 11 tweets
16 Nov 20
💉Exclusive: Volunteers without previous medical experience are being recruited to help with the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine
💉St John Ambulance is offering to train those who are not first aiders how to administer injections, according to leaked documents
💉Vaccine regulations have been quietly re-written to allow those who are not healthcare professionals to give the Covid-19 jab
Read 5 tweets
24 Jun 20
My beginner's guide to the Robert Jenrick/Richard Desmond planning row in 8 tweets 👇
🏗️Richard Desmond, the billionaire former newspaper tycoon, applied for planning permission to build a £1bn development, including 1,500 homes, on the site of the old Westferry printworks on the Isle of Dogs
🍽️ In November, Desmond sat next to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick at a Tory fundraising dinner at the Savoy Hotel and played him a video about the scheme on his mobile phone
Read 9 tweets
11 Jun 20
Understand that Robert Jenrick is refusing to answer Urgent Question in the Commons this morning on this

Junior minister Chris Pincher is being sent in his place
Housing minister Simon Clarke on Sky News earlier insisting Robert Jenrick is a “good man and a good minister” who has done nothing wrong

Unclear why he doesn’t want to answer Qs in the Commons if nothing to hide
Timeline of what happened 👇

November 2019: Jenrick & Desmond sit together at Tory dinner 🍽️

14 January: Jenrick overrules Planning Inspectorate & local council to approve £1bn Desmond development a day before £40m charge came in 🏘️

28 January: Desmond gives Tories £12k 💸
Read 9 tweets
18 Apr 20
Robert Jenrick refuses to apologise for moving between his homes in London and Herefordshire. Government guidance is that people should not be living in their second homes
A reminder for those saying he's not broken the rules by shifting to his home in Herefordshire:
+ the govt has told people not to stay in their 2nd homes
+ he and his wife work in London
+ his children go to school in London
+ his own website says he lives in London and Newark
Government on 23 March told people staying in second homes to return to their primary residence asap
Read 4 tweets

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