‘We’ll stop our judges meddling in politics’
JUSTICE Secretary Robert Buckland yesterday claimed Britain needs some “constitutional plumbing” to stop judges interfering in political decisions.
Mr Buckland warned that change is needed because courts have become increasingly involved in politics in recent years.
He said: “This is all about taking a calm and considered approach to what has been a very febrile time in our constitutional history.
“I think it would be a missed opportunity for us as a government not to look carefully at the issues and to get that outside expert opinion as well.
“That can help inform policy and allow us to do a bit of constitutional plumbing in a way that I think is in the best traditions of Conservative governments.” Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay last night rebuked Brussels negotiator Guy Verhofstadt for “scaremongering” about the rights of EU citizens staying in the UK after we depart the bloc.
Officials said Mr Barclay “reiterated the extensive protections offered to EU citizens living in the UK”.
He was also said to have reminded the European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator “of the impact of scaremongering which feeds the anxiety of EU citizens we are seeking to reassure”.
lRebuked
COMMONS chiefs were last night refusing to allow Big Ben to bong for Brexit, despite campaigners raising more than £144,000 in two days to reactivate the famous chime.
Yesterday cash from more than 9,000 donors poured into an appeal set up to fund the maintenance required to makeWestminster’s iconic bell ring as the UK leaves the EU at the end of the month.
The bell is currently refurbishment work on Elizabeth Tower.
Sources in the campaign are expecting even more money to surge into the fund today as news of the appeal spreads.
But Downing Street indicated that silenced by Parliament’s
Boris Johnson had given up hope of Big Ben ringing in Brexit at 11pm on January 31 because the House of Commons Commission was insisting it could not accept the cash.
A Government source blamed “intransigence” from the administrative committee for the debacle, while senior minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said parliamentary officials “shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth”.
Officials have claimed reactivating Big Ben could cost up to £500,000, although the precise sum is disputed by Brexit supporters and ministers.
In an extraordinary cash surge, the appeal set up by the Stand Up
For Brexit campaign group on the GoFundMe website raised more than a quarter of its £500,000 target within 24 hours. It became the fastest-growing fund on the site.
Money flooded in after the Prime Minister earlier this week suggested that members of the public could “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong”.
But Mr Johnson’s spokesman yesterday said the Government was now concentrating on separate plans to mark Brexit because the Commission indicated that public funding rules could ban accepting the cash.
The spokesman said: “The PM’s focus is on the events he and
URGENT action to “turn the tide” on knife crime was pledged by the Government yesterday as figures showed offences have reached a 10-year high.
The number dealt with in the year ending September 2019 reached 22,286 in England andWales.
The total was up three per cent on the previous year and the highest the Government are planning. It’s a significant moment in our history and we want to ensure it is properly recorded.”
Later, another spokesman for the PM said: “This is a matter for the House, who have indicated they will not accept the money were the public to fundraise for this.”
However, Commons Leader Mr Rees-Mogg told MPs in the House yesterday: “It seems to me one shouldn’t look gift horses in the mouth. If people wish to pay for things I think that should be considered as part of their public spiritedness, rather than everything always
Senior Political Correspondent
since September 2009, the Ministry of Justice statistics showed.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said yesterday: “The Government is taking urgent action to tackle knife crime and keep people safe.” And Justice Minister Chris falling on the hard-pressed taxpayer.” Tory MP Mark Francois, who had helped set up the appeal and donated £1,000 himself, said: “What should have been an extremely simple decision is evolving into the British Establishment’s last stand before Brexit. As in all previous examples, in the end the people will win.”
He added: “As the Prime Minister effectively initiated this campaign live on TV two days ago, and as we are clearly going to hit the target, he would be mad to back away from it.”
A Government source said: “We are aware there is a lot of frustration that the House of Commons
Philp pledged the new administration will “turn the tide” on knife crime.
He said: “We are recruiting 20,000 more police officers, extending stop and search and making sure the most violent offenders spend longer behind bars.”
The MoJ figures show that for 71 per cent of offenders this was their first crime of this kind.And according