Robert Halfon quits as minister and MP quoting Lord of the Rings

Thank you for joining me for today’s politics live blog. 

I will be back tomorrow morning. 

Rishi Sunak insisted earlier this afternoon that keeping the state pension triple lock in place for the whole of the next Parliament would be affordable (see the post below at 13.40) after Jeremy Hunt said it will be a pledge in the next Tory manifesto. 

Telegraph readers have been weighing in on the promise, and its affordability, in the comments section of today’s politics live blog: 

The BBC is to consider making the wealthy pay more for the licence fee, Tim Davie has said, acknowledging that the current system “needs reform”.

The corporation will also look at licence fee non-payment and whether criminalisation is the best option to enforce compliance.

“There is no doubt that the market has changed hugely since the licence fee was introduced, and I think it is right to ask fundamental questions about its longevity,” the BBC director-general told the Royal Television Society.

You can read the full story here. 

Grocery inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two years as the cost of living crisis finally eases.

The price of supermarket goods rose 4.5 per cent in the year to mid-March, according to data analytics firm Kantar – the slowest increase since February 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed up the costs of energy and many food ingredients. 

You can read the full story here. 

These are the top lines from Rishi Sunak’s appearance in front of the Liaison Committee this afternoon: 

• He insisted that keeping the state pension triple lock in place for the whole of the next parliament would be affordable.
• The PM defended the UK’s approach to dealing with China as he argued it is “undoubtedly more robust” than “most of our allies”. 
• He would not be drawn on when the UK will hit his ambition of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence. 
• He would not say if the Government had done a deal yet with an airline to provide Rwanda migrant deportation flights. 

Rishi Sunak’s appearance in front of the Liaison Committee has now concluded. 

The Prime Minister was due to stay for 90 minutes but he ended up staying for a little bit longer, clocking in at about 101 minutes in total. 

The Government remains committed to reducing the size of the civil service, Rishi Sunak told the Liaison Committee this afternoon. 

He told senior MPs: “Yes. I alluded earlier to efficiency savings. I am not going to, what the Chancellor said is the statement of policy. But more broadly I would just refer back to the earlier comments that we have seen a five per cent decline in public sector productivity since before the pandemic. 

“That is worth £20 billion. I think everyone should be focused on recovering pre-pandemic productivity, unlocking that money to reinvest in public services...”  

Rishi Sunak would not be drawn on when the UK will hit his ambition of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence. 

The Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee that “I believe that we are investing in our defences”. 

Asked directly when the 2.5 per cent number would be hit, Mr Sunak said: “We have said we will do that when the conditions allow but it is worth saying that defence spending is already on an upward trajectoiry and we are already due to hit 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence spending.” 

Asked if the 2.5 per cent defence spending pledge could be in the next Tory manifesto, Mr Sunak: “I think we will try not to write too much of the manifesto in the here and now.” 

Rishi Sunak has defended the UK’s approach to dealing with China as he argued it is “undoubtedly more robust” than “most of our allies”. 

The Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee that China had engaged in behaviour which the UK and its allies “won’t stand for”, referring to cyber attacks. 

He said: “The first thing to say is China represents the greatest state-based threat to our economic security and as we have seen recently, we have seen behaviour that we just won’t stand for. 

“Their actions in relation to our and our allies’ democracies are deeply concerning which is why recently we have taken a retaliatory action and we will continue to address their behaviour with tough action.” 

He added: “Where we identify risks and threats the track record is clear that we will take action.” 

It was suggested to Mr Sunak that the UK had talked tough on China but had not actually taken any significant action. 

He rejected the suggestion and said: “Our approach to China is undoubtedly more robust than I’d say most of our allies.” 

Rishi Sunak said he believed the Government’s Rwanda migrant deportation plan will act as a deterrent to small boat Channel crossings. 

Joanna Cherry, the SNP chairman of the Human Rights (Joint Committee), asked Mr Sunak at the Liaison Committee: “If Rwanda is as safe as you say and if you have no concerns about human rights protections in Rwanda... in what way do you expect the scheme to be a deterrent?” 

Mr Sunak replied: “Because people will not be able to reside and remain in the UK and what we have seen from the situation with our Albania deal is that once we have a functioning returns agreement... you see the arrivals drop, as they have done by over 90 per cent from Albania...” 

Dame Diana Johnson, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, asked Rishi Sunak if the Government had agreed a deal with an airline to carry out Rwanda migrant deportation flights or if the RAF would be providing the flights instead.

The Prime Minister refused to be drawn. 

He told the Liaison Committee: “The Home Office are making all the appropriate arrangements. There is a range of options that they are considering. You wouldn’t expect me to get into the detail of those because they may well involve, as you would expect, commercial conversations...” 

He added: “What I can say is the preparations are all being made and have been made for a while to operationalise the Bill.”

Sir Bob Neill, the Tory chairman of the Justice Select Committee, grilled Rishi Sunak on pressures in the legal and prisons systems. 

Mr Sunak said the Government is “absolutely committed to reducing the outstanding case load in the crown court”. 

The Prime Minister said he wanted to “speed up justice and improve the experience of court cases”. 

Rishi Sunak has insisted that keeping the state pension triple lock in place for the whole of the next parliament would be affordable. 

Jeremy Hunt recently pledged that keeping the triple lock will be in the next Conservative Party general election manifesto. 

The lock ensures that pensions rise by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent every year but critics have questioned the long term affordability of the policy.

Asked if the triple lock would be kept for the whole of the next parliament if the Tories win the election, Mr Sunak told the Liaison Committee: “I think you can safely assume that is what he [Mr Hunt] meant, without wanting to write the entire manifesto now.”

Asked if he believed the pledge was affordable, Mr Sunak replied: “I do because the track record of the Government is that we make priorities and making sure that if you have worked hard all your life you have the dignity you deserve in retirement is important to me, it is important to the Government and the triple lock is an expression of that.”

Rishi Sunak said he is thinking “a lot” about whether the Government could do more to protect children from the impact of mobile phones and social media. 

The Prime Minister pointed to new guidance for schools, published in February, which effectively banned mobile phones from classrooms. 

Asked if there was more that could be done to protect children in that area, Mr Sunak told the Liaison Committee: “As a parent of two girls at mobile phone age, or there or thereabouts, it is something I think about a lot.

“I have been struck by how many teachers and parents speak to me when I am around the country about the particular issue at schools and I am glad that our new guidance has been warmly welcomed by lots of different people.”

Turning to education, Robin Walker, the Tory chairman of the Education Select Committee, asked Rishi Sunak about what he believed the approach to financial education in schools and colleges should be. 

Mr Sunak said that the Government had not “done a good enough job at it in the past”, with too many children leaving school with poor numeracy skills. 

The Prime Minister said that making children study maths to 18 was not about making everyone get an A-level in the subject but more about ensuring “people having a decent degree of familiarity with mathematical concepts”. 

Clive Betts, the Labour chairman of the Levelling Up Select Committee, told Rishi Sunak that things in recent years have “got worse for councils in terms of their finances”. 

He asked why some councils were going bankrupt. 

Mr Sunak said that local authorities are the “backbone of their communities” and “significantly more funding has gone into local government” with him in No 10.

The Prime Minister said that “of course there are challenges, particularly with inflation” but over this Parliament the grant to councils in cash terms had “more than doubled”. 

Rishi Sunak said he “deplored” pre-Budget leaks after he was asked if there had been an inquiry into how the 2p cut to National Insurance got out ahead of time earlier this month.

Mr Sunak said that he “can’t recall specifically” if there was a leak inquiry into that specific leak. 

But he said leak inquiries “are instituted when there has been a breach in the confidentiality we expect”, suggesting that there may have been. 

The next question Rishi Sunak faced was about levels of national debt and his pledge to get it falling in the coming years. 

The Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee this afternoon that it is “very important that we have debt under control”. 

He argued it is important not just now but it is also “important for the future of our public services”. 

Mr Sunak said that delivering on his pledge to get debt falling will require “constant discipline” on public spending.

Rishi Sunak’s appearance in front of the Liaison Committee is now underway. 

The first area of questioning is on the economy and public services. 

Mr Sunak was asked by Harriett Baldwin, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, to give an update on his economic strategy. 

The Prime Minister said that the fall in inflation has been “very encouraging” and the Government is “on track to meet our fiscal rules”. 

Rishi Sunak is set to face a grilling in front of the Liaison Committee. 

The Prime Minister will answer questions from senior MPs from 1pm for about 90 minutes. 

Appearances in front of the committee can be awkward for premiers given that its members can ask questions about anything they want. 

But Mr Sunak escaped his last appearance in December without any bruises and he will be hoping to do the same again. 

The Blackpool South by-election has been formally triggered and looks set to take place on May 2, the same day as local elections. 

Simon Hart, the Tory Chief Whip, issued the writ for the vacant seat at the start of proceedings in the House of Commons this morning following the resignation of Scott Benton yesterday. 

The by-election has to take place between 21 and 27 working days from the issuing of the writ, suggesting it will take place on May 2. 

Chinese cyber attacks were not discussed at today’s meeting of the Cabinet, Downing Street said. 

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that while the hacking issue wasn’t raised this morning, Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, had provided MPs with a “full update” in the House of Commons yesterday. 

The Government faced a backlash from Tory MPs after the UK helped pass the first UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, was challenged by four Conservative MPs behind closed doors at a 1922 Committee meeting, The Telegraph understands.

Some of those who spoke up questioned why the UK had been among the 14 out of 15 members on the UN Security Council to vote for the motion. The US had abstained.

You can read the full story here. 

Labour’s poll lead over the Tories fell by six points in one week, according to a new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey.

The poll, conducted on March 24, put Labour on 42 per cent of the vote and the Conservatives on 22 per cent, giving the former an overall lead of 20 points. 

Labour was down by five points and the Tories were up by one point when compared to the company’s previous poll conducted on March 17. 

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats were up by four points to 12 per cent and Reform UK was unchanged on 14 per cent.

One in five 2019 Tory voters are now planning to vote for Reform UK, according to a new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey. 

The poll, conducted on March 24, found 22 per cent of 2019 Conservative voters now say they would vote for Reform if a general election were held tomorrow. 

Redfield & Wilton Strategies said that was a new record high in its polling in terms of Tory backers switching to Reform. 

Just 44 per cent said they would vote Conservative again - the joint lowest recorded since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister - and 20 per cent said they would now vote for Labour. 

Michael Gove has apologised for failing to register VIP hospitality he enjoyed at three football matches between 2020 and 2022.

The Communities Secretary had been placed under investigation in February after he disclosed the hospitality provided by Queens Park Rangers following a report in The Guardian that he had failed to register the gifts.

In a letter to the Standards Commissioner, Mr Gove said this had been “due to an oversight on my part” and offered his “profuse apologies”.

In a report published yesterday, Daniel Greenberg, the Standards Commissioner, found Mr Gove had breached Commons rules by failing to declare the hospitality within 28 days.

Mr Greenberg noted that the breaches “could be fairly described as being minor in nature” and therefore proposed no further penalty.

Jonathan Ashworth said Rishi Sunak should name the date for the general election when he appears in front of the Liaison Committee this afternoon (see the post below at 09.47). 

Asked what MPs on the committee should ask the Prime Minister, the shadow paymaster general told Sky News: “He should name the date of a general election because after 14 years of Tory failure I think the British public are yearning for change.”

Rishi Sunak will face a grilling in front of the Liaison Committee of MPs this afternoon, just before the House of Commons rises for its Easter break. 

The Prime Minister will be questioned for about 90 minutes, starting at 1pm. 

The topics due to be covered are: scrutiny of strategic thinking in government, economy and public services, and global issues.

Labour has called for a “full audit” of UK-China relations in the wake of yesterday’s hacking announcement. 

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, told Sky News there needed to be a “full audit of all UK-China relations then we can fully understand what is going on”. 

He said cyber attacks were “really, really serious and we should never compromise with national security”. 

He also argued the UK has been “naive” in the recent past in its approach to relations with Beijing. 

“I think the way in which we were so excitable 10 years ago talking about this golden era, I think that is naive in retrospect,” he said.

The public and parliamentarians need to remain “vigilant” in order to prevent cyber attacks, the Education Secretary has said.

Gillian Keegan told Sky News: “We all have to do everything we can to make sure that we use what we know is the best practice, which most of us don’t do.

“So I think that is an important thing, that includes parliamentarians as well. Every single one of us has got access to this service where we get reviewed what we do and by and large they will tell us that we need to do more.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith suggested that online retailers should help customers choose not to buy products from China.

Speaking on LBC, the senior Tory MP said: “If you go onto an online website like Amazon and try to buy something, you don’t know where it comes from until it arrives in the package, and of course it’s too late to deal with it then.

“Lots of people in my constituency and elsewhere have said ‘we’d like to say we’ll try and buy less from China because of the use of slave labour but we don’t know until that thing arrives’.

“I want [the Government] to do more, but the UK is no different from others around Europe in this regard.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the Government needed “to show China we mean business”.

He told LBC: “The reality is sadly we have looked unprepared to challenge China over their terrible abuses.”

“We need to show China we mean business. There’s no good watching America do that and we don’t do the same.

“We’re massively dependent on China now, the universities are so dependent on them for their students and students fees. We’ve got huge dependency in what we buy from China.”

The UK’s new cyber hacking sanctions against China are “really pathetic”, Sir Iain Duncan Smith said. 

The former Tory leader, who was sanctioned by China in March 2021 along with a handful of other parliamentarians over their criticism of Beijing, also said the Foreign Office had been “very slow and very hopeless”. 

He told GB News: “Really pathetic and very small when we know very well that… I’ve been sanctioned, six other of my colleagues in Parliament have been sanctioned and all of our families at the same time and that does cause difficulties.

“We have no idea from the Foreign Office whether we face red notices; that’s arrest on sight if we enter a country that has an extradition agreement with China or Hong Kong.

“They’ve been very slow and very hopeless. But since we were sanctioned three years ago, tomorrow, what’s actually happened over sanctioning is nothing.”

Gillian Keegan said the UK will always be “vigilant” in its dealings with China following yesterday’s announcement on cyber attacks. 

The Education Secretary told GB News: “We are always vigilant and we are always aware and looking and working with others and our allies.

“But of course it is a complex problem as well because we do get a lot of our imports from China.” 

The UK wants to avoid “trade issues” with China, Gillian Keegan said this morning as she defended the Government’s cyber attack sanctions on Beijing amid a backlash from prominent Tory MPs. 

Ms Keegan, the Education Secretary, said the UK would be “firm” in its dealings with China but said there also needed to be an appreciation of the complexity of Britain’s relationship with Beijing. 

The Government announced yesterday that China state-affiliated actors were behind two cyber attacks - one on the Electoral Commission and one against parliamentarians - as it sanctioned two individuals and a company. 

Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, labelled the sanctions “feeble” while Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said they were “pathetic”. 

Ms Keegan told GB News this morning: “It is a complex issue, clearly. What they’ve said is there are sanctions obviously for what the National Cyber Security Centre have said have been breaches and there are two individuals that have been sanctioned and there is some other travel restrictions as well. 

“And what Oliver [Dowden] has said is that is the first step along the way. I will be going to Cabinet after this morning round so we will be, I guess, talking about it there. But I do recognise the complexity because clearly starting some sort of trade issues is what we want to avoid as well.

“So it is complex but we do need to be firm as well and we have been working with our allies both to understand the threats that we face, either as parliamentarians or to our electoral system or to other things as well…”