September 20, 2024

Robert Jenrick says commissioners will help run Liverpool city council to fix mismanagement – live

Robert Jenrick #RobertJenrick

11.39am EDT 11:39

Darren Jones (Lab), chair of the business committee, goes first.

Q: Will you give the Cop26 unit more resources before the summit?

Boris Johnson says the Cop26 unit is will staffed. But it will be beefed up during the year.

He lists all the countries that are now committed to net zero carbon targets. They are following the UK, he says.

Q: In the last few weeks we’ve had the coal mine in Cumbria, and cuts to our aid budget. Will other countries listen to us on this?

Johnson thinks they will. The UK has delivered considerable cuts already to C02, he says.

He says in 1970, when he doubts Jones was even born, 90% of emissions were from coal. Now it is less than 1%.

Q: Did you negotiate the £400m OneWeb deal?

Johnson says the government was involved at all levels.

Q: Which budget did the £400m come from?

Johnson says the business department is in charge of space policy.

Q: Did David Cameron contact one of your special advisers to secure support for Greenshill?

Johnson says that is news to him. Any contacts will be disclosed, he says.

11.31am EDT 11:31

Here is the batting order for the committee, according to a press notice it send out a few days ago.

UK’s place in the world

Sarah Champion, Tobias Ellwood, Angus Brendan MacNeil, Darren Jones

Covid Response

Yvette Cooper, Meg Hillier, Jeremy Hunt, William Wragg, Stephen Crabb

The Economy

Julian Knight, Huw Merriman, Mel Stride

Closing question

Karen Bradley

11.28am EDT 11:28

Boris Johnson’s evidence to the Commons liaison committee

Boris Johnson is about to give evidence to the liaison committee.

He will be asked about Covid, the economy and global Britain.

11.27am EDT 11:27

These are from Alf Dubs, the Labour peer and campaigner on behalf of child migrants, on Priti Patel’s plans to tighten the rules for asylym seekers.

11.17am EDT 11:17

UK singled out for failing to export Covid vaccines to EU

Britain has been singled out for failing to export Covid vaccines to the EU as Brussels empowered officials to prohibit shipments of doses to countries where a large part of the population has been vaccinated, my colleague Daniel Boffey reports.

11.15am EDT 11:15

The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. Jessica Elgot and Rafael Behr discuss calls for a public inquiry into the UK government’s handling of coronavirus, as well as the ongoing vaccine battle with the EU. Plus, Jessica speaks to Heather Stewart, Rosena Allin-Khan, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, and Dan Jarvis about their memories of when the prime minister announced the first national lockdown.

11.13am EDT 11:13

Here is the 69-page report (pdf) on Liverpool council published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government today.

Here is the letter (pdf) from Max Caller, who led the inspection, to Robert Jenrick summarising his findings.

And here is Jenrick’s letter (pdf) to the council setting out his intervention plans.

11.06am EDT 11:06

I didn’t have time for a PMQs verdict today, but the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy has a good one here.

11.03am EDT 11:03

This is from the Times’s Steven Swinford, on the 29m doses of AstraZeneca vaccine found “hidden” in Italy mentioned earlier. (See 11.44am.)

10.39am EDT 10:39

In its response to the Jenrick announcement, Liverpool city council has put out a statement saying it takes the findings of the report about its failings “extremely seriously” and that it will be publishing an improvement plan after the local elections.

It includes a joint statement from Wendy Simon, the acting mayor, and Tony Reeves, the chief executive, who said:

This is a difficult day for our organisation and we take the report findings extremely seriously.

The inspector’s report has highlighted several failings, but there is a collective commitment from both councillors and officers to learn from these mistakes.

We would like to reassure all residents and businesses that we will take action to address all of the issues highlighted. We know we need to rebuild your trust.

It is reassuring that the inspector believes we have made progress in starting to deliver the wholesale changes needed.

A detailed improvement plan is being drawn up and will be implemented in full.

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