The billionaire Tesla owner has continued his attacks on the prime minister overnight, and suggested he will be gone “soon”. Farage, the leader of Reform, has responded to Musk’s criticism of his leadership. Meanwhile, Health Secretary Wes Streeting is taking questions in the Commons.
Tuesday 7 January 2025 12:35, UK
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The prime minister’s official spokesman has been taking questions from the media this morning, and he was asked if the announcement yesterday of the implementation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendations is because of the current row on the issue.
He replied: “The government has been working since it came into office on measures to protect children, to halve violence against women and girls.”
Specifically on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, the spokesman noted that the PM and home secretary “called for these changes 10 years ago”.
He said work on implementing it “kicked off last year”, and “just concluded ahead of the announcement yesterday”.
The spokesman also said that given the ongoing row, it is “important the government explains to the public how seriously the government is taking this issue”.
“So I think it’s natural in response to the recent coverage the government explains what the government’s been doing in this space,” he said.
But asked how long it will take for all 20 recommendations from the inquiry to be implemented, he could not give a timescale.
He said the inquiry reported in 2022 and was “not acted on by the last government”, so this one is “working at pace” and “will provide any updates in due course”.
It’s a busy day in parliament today, with plenty happening in the chamber, in Westminster Hall, and in various committees.
In the Commons
In Westminster Hall
Committees
The Liberal Democrats are calling on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch to sack her shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, over comments made to the media this morning.
Mr Jenrick has been speaking about grooming gangs, and claimed Pakistani men are “over-represented in those who are involved in the grooming gangs”.
The Lib Dems’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper said in a statement: “Robert Jenrick’s attempt to exploit this appalling scandal for his own political gain is completely shameless.
“He didn’t lift a finger to help the victims when a minister, now he’s jumping on the bandwagon and acting like a pound shop Farage.
“Kemi Badenoch should sack him as shadow justice secretary and condemn his divisive comments, instead of letting him run a leadership campaign under her nose.”
Mr Jenrick defended his and the Tory party’s records when speaking to Sky News this morning – read more here.
Here’s a quiz question: how much would you say the supply of non-Russian gas to Europe (including the UK) has gone up since the invasion of Ukraine?
It’s a pretty important question. After all, in the years before the invasion, Russian gas (coming in mostly through pipelines but, to a lesser extent, also on liquefied natural gas [LNG] tankers) accounted for more than a third of our gas.
If Europe was going to stop relying on Russian gas, it would need either to source that gas from somewhere else or to learn to live without it. And while there might, a few decades hence, be a way of surviving without gas while also nursing important heavy industries, right now the technology isn’t there.
For decades, Europe – especially Germany, but also, to a lesser extent Italy and other parts of Eastern Europe – built their economic models on building advanced machinery, with their plants fuelled by cheap Russian gas.
All of which is why that question matters. And so too does the answer. The conventional wisdom is that Europe has shored up its supplies of gas from elsewhere. There’s more methane coming in from Azerbaijan, for one thing. And more too in the form of LNG from Qatar and (especially) the US.
But now let’s ponder the actual data. And it shows you something else: in 2024 as a whole, the amount of gas Europe had from non-Russian sources was up by a mere 0.5% compared with the 2017-21 average.
This isn’t to say that there wasn’t more gas coming in, primarily from LNG tankers, most (but not all) of them from the US. But that extra LNG was only enough to compensate for a sharp fall in gas produced domestically, for instance by the UK and the Netherlands. The upshot was that to all extents and purposes, the non-Russian part of the European gas mix was basically flat.
That’s a serious problem, given the amount of gas coming in from Russia has fallen by 37% over the same period. Essentially, Europe’s total gas consumption has fallen by an unprecedented amount without being supplemented from elsewhere.
By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter
A new council has been set up by the government in an effort to secure the long-term future of the UK’s steel industry.
It comes after the closure of Tata Steel’s blast furnaces in Port Talbot last year, as the company looked to transition to greener production methods.
Its closure meant nearly 3,000 job losses across South Wales.
The government says the council will bring together Tata Steel representatives, trade union leaders, as well as experts on the British steel industry.
The first meeting of the council will be chaired by Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Tuesday.
Council members will advise the government on its steel strategy, which the government says will be supported with £2.5bn of investment.
By bringing representatives of devolved governments on board, the government hopes the council will secure the future of the industry across the UK.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said steel communities had “had enough of lurching from crisis to crisis”.
He said the government was “committed to driving growth and innovation in the sector”.
Gareth Stace, director-general of UK Steel, said the formation of the council marked “a defining moment for the future of steelmaking” and was a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for the industry.
The government is expected to launch its steel strategy in the spring.
It’s the first week back after Christmas, and ministers are getting down to business.
Sir Keir Starmer is right now chairing his first cabinet meeting of the year, where he is no doubt impressing on his top team the need to deliver amid crashing poll ratings and Reform UK surging.
Here are some photos of key ministers arriving in Downing Street this morning…
The Conservatives’ shadow justice secretary has defended his party’s record on tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation amid criticism that they are calling for a national public inquiry, but did not initiate it when in government.
Robert Jenrick told Sky’s Wilfred Frost that they did “a great deal”, pointing to the inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay, reforms to data collection, and the creation of the Grooming Gangs Taskforce.
But he said that “all of us should do more” which is “why we need this full national inquiry”.
“When Alexis Jay did her first inquiry, she only looked at six places. We now think this may be happening in 50 places across this country. That’s why we’ve got to get to the truth,” he said.
Frost asked Mr Jenrick why the Tories did not implement Professor Jay’s recommendations immediately, and he replied that they “did begin to do that”, but the bill to implement two key measures “fell away at the general election”.
“Now it’s going to go through parliament with our fulsome support,” he added, and said that “clearly more needs to be done”.
The top Tory went on to say that it is “inexplicable the Oldham Council asked the Labour government to conduct a review supported by the Home Office, and Yvette Cooper and Jess Phillips, two ministers there, said no”.
“Why wouldn’t you want to get to the truth to support the victims, to stop this ever happening again?”
Pushed by Frost, Mr Jenrick admitted that “not enough has been done”, but insisted that it is “wrong” to say the Tories did not do work on this issue.
He also denied that Elon Musk’s tweets have led to his sudden calls for a national inquiry, claiming it’s a media obsession instead.
Asked if he should have pushed for a national inquiry when he was a minister in the Home Office, Mr Jenrick said: “No, I think things have developed since then.”
Nigel Farage has been speaking to media this morning, and he has been asked extensively about his relationship with Elon Musk, which appeared to crumble last week when the billionaire said he “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead Reform UK.
Asked about the comment by LBC’s Nick Ferrari, the Reform UK leader said: “Despite what Elon said when he woke up the other morning […] yesterday he retweeted me twice with positive messages, so I don’t know.”
Mr Farage went on to say that he will be speaking with the X owner at Donald Trump’s inauguration in two weeks time, for which he will spend four or five days in the US.
“I have no desire to go to war with Elon Musk, and I’m not going to,” Mr Farage said.
“I’m a huge admirer of him, I think he’s a heroic figure.”
His purchase of X has “brought a lot of free speech back, even if some people don’t like what’s being said”.
There is “no way I’m going to fall out” with him, Mr Farage added.
“Not having Elon’s support would damage us with that younger generation because he kind of makes us look cool, so I’m being frank about that, and I am confident that whatever has been said, we can mend. I really think we can.”
But he went on to criticise jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), whom Mr Musk has endorsed, saying he has “a criminal record – a list as long as your arm”.
He made clear that Reform UK is “totally separate” from Robinson, and that he is not welcome in the party.
Elon Musk has been firing shots at the government for the last week, but overnight he turned his ire on another party leader.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, had tweeted that “people have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain”.
He called on the government to summon the US ambassador “to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown”.
Mr Musk is set to head a new “Department of Government Efficiency” under Donald Trump’s new administration.
The Lib Dem leader’s tweet was in reference to a poll that Mr Musk posted asking if the US should “liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government”.
In response to Sir Ed, the billionaire owner of X replied: “What exactly do I fail to understand about your failure to stop the mass rape of little girls in Britain, you sniveling (sic) cretin?”
There have been vast calls for a statutory public inquiry into the grooming scandal following Elon Musk’s social media onslaught, and the Tory party is set to force a vote in the Commons on launching one.
But Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, has said this morning that she does not agree that one is needed.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have learned a lot from those reviews that have already been undertaken.
“Locally, people need to step up to the mark and do the things that have been recommended.”
She continued: “I think that the time has passed for more inquiries. We’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions and especially for those victims and survivors who’ve had the courage to come forward, and they clearly want action.
“We have set out what action is required and people should just get on with it. Locally and nationally.”
Professor Jay also said the row over a new inquiry is “distraction from the issues”.
She refused to answer when asked whether she felt US billionaire Elon Musk knew what was going on in Oldham, where the council has been refused a public inquiry.
But she told the programme: “I have heard very little in the last few days about the appalling and lifelong effects that child sexual abuse can have on people.”
Professor Jay went on to say that she is “pleased that the subject matter and the inquiry recommendations are finally getting the attention they deserve”.
But she added: “This is definitely not the way I would have chosen for it to happen, but it has had the effect of moving on the agenda.”
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