Brexit news – live: UK meat industry hit by labour shortages as ‘sausage war’ trade dispute intensifies

The Home Office is being urged to commit to welcoming a specific number of refugees under its new resettlement programme in line with international norms after it scrapped a previously pledged target, writes May Bulman.

The Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), which ended in March 2021, committed to welcoming 20,000 refugees from Syria between 2015 and 2020.

Two years ago, the then home secretary Sajid Javid announced a new “global resettlement scheme”, which he said would resettle in the region of 5,000 refugees in its first year, once the VPRS ended.

Proposed reforms that would strip the election finance watchdog of its prosecutorial powers could hamper its ability to sanction wrongdoers, the body has claimed.

The Electoral Commisson said its independence should be preserved as ministers announced the plans on Thursday.

Constitution minister Chloe Smith said the commission would become accountable to parliament and that the reforms would provide law-based clarity that the commission ought not to run criminal prosecutions.

Senior Tory MPs have criticised the watchdog while it investigates the Conservative Party over the refurbishments of Boris Johnson’s official flat.

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of the commission’s activities are essential in ensuring the commission commands trust and confidence.

“It is important, however, that the commission’s independence is preserved and that it is able to continue to deliver all duties within its remit, including effective enforcement.

“Some changes announced today place a fetter on the commission which would limit its activity. We will work with the government to explore these areas.”

As well as the block on prosecutions, concerns have also been stoked over the plan to introduce a strategic statement of priorities for the commission.

Ms Smith, in a written statement to the Commons, said the watchdog had in recent years sought to “develop the capability to bring criminal offences before the courts”, which had not been agreed by the government or parliament.

Ms Smith wrote: “Having the Electoral Commission step into this space would risk wasting public money as well as present potential conflicts of interest for a body responsible for providing advice and guidance on electoral law to initiate proceedings which might depend on the very advice that was given.

“We will therefore maintain the status quo by providing clarity in law that the Electoral Commission should not bring criminal prosecutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

She said that the planned reforms “do not seek to interfere or inappropriately influence the investigative, operational or enforcement decisions of the Electoral Commission” .

And she insisted the proposals, to be brought in the upcoming Elections Bill, “predate any current inquiries”.

“The reforms would not in any way affect the ability of the commission to undertake enforcement activity as it sees fit, but they will ensure greater accountability to parliament on how the Electoral Commission discharges its wider functions,” she added.

Additional reporting by PA

As when blood returns to frozen limbs there is bound to be some stiffness, pain and difficulty; so there is when the economy returns to normal after a shock, writes John Rentoul.

Most of the figures suggest that Britain is bouncing back quickly from the coronavirus recession, but there are increasing signs that labour shortages are starting to be a problem.

This is where leaving the EU could complicate the recovery, because – unlike other countries that shut down during the virus – the UK made fundamental changes to its labour market at the same time.

Dido Harding has applied to become the next head of NHS England, Health Service Journal reports.

The baroness left her role leading the government’s widely criticised test and trace programme in April and last week said she was “thinking about” applying to succeed Sir Simon Stevens in the role of chief executive of the health service when he steps down later this year.

Her appointment to the head of NHS England would be highly controversial, given the heavy criticism she has faced over the test and trace system – set to cost £37bn over two years.

“Crisis” is a term that’s never far away in Northern Ireland, but the current storm in Stormont is building up more quickly and more ominously than usual.

If the situation continues to deterioriate then the province will, in effect, be governed by civil servants and ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.

Sean O’Grady explains why the ultimate losers will be the Northern Irish voters:

Five years on from the UK referendum that would see us leave the EU and what have we learned?

The Independent’s political commentators John Rentoul and Andrew Grice will be joined by two guest speakers, David Gauke and the Rt Hon Lord Adonis, to discuss this and many other Brexit related issues.

The event will be held on June 23 at 6.30pm. To sign up for free to the Zoom panel discussion, and submit a question to the panel ahead of the event, click here.

The UK’s new trade deal with Australia should be subject to a vote in the House of Commons and Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Scotland’s First Minister has repeatedly raised concerns over the deal, which she says will hurt Scottish farmers and food producers as cheaper imports undercut them.

Speaking during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood today, Ms Sturgeon said the final deal should be voted on by elected representatives.

“The detail of this should be published in full, it should be put to a vote,” she said.

“I would suggest it should be put to a vote not just in the House of Commons, but a vote in this Parliament as well, so that we can represent the interests of the farming community across Scotland.

“I am deeply concerned about the implications of this trade deal and future trade deals on our farming sector in Scotland.”

All over-18s are to be invited to receive coronavirus jabs from Friday, health secretary Matt Hancock has announced.

Mr Hancock said that the move came as the UK passed the milestone of giving a first dose of vaccine to four out of five adults, writes Andrew Woodcock.

He told the annual conference of the NHS Confederation that the speed and scale of protection offered to people across the country was “an incredible achievement”.

Police, security staff and the operators of Manchester Arena missed numerous opportunities to prevent the 2017 bombing or significantly reduce the death toll, a public inquiry has found.

A report published on Thursday listed numerous failings, including the “inadequate” actions by security guards after a man raised concerns about Abedi because he feared he was a terrorist.

Sir John Saunders, chair of the inquiry, said that despite the 2015 attack at the Bataclan in Paris and “severe” national terror threat level at the time, no-one responsible for security at the arena “believed it could happen to them”.

He added: “I am satisfied that there were a number of missed opportunities to alter the course of what happened that night. More should have been done.”

More than one in five pupils in England are now eligible for free school meals following a surge during the pandemic, according to new government figures.

Data released by the Department for Education (DfE) shows an additional 300,000 children became eligible for free school meals over a year, making up 20.8% of pupils in England. This is an increase from 17.3% in January 2020.

In total, 1.74 million children in England are now eligible. The north east saw the highest rates but the DfE said all regions saw some increase from the previous year.