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       Related video: Government wants to ‘deter’ migrants from making Channel crossings, says minister

       Priti Patel is set to anger France by moving ahead with plans to forcibly redirect migrant boats back across the Channel, despite warnings about the impact such a tactic would have on Anglo-French relations.

       The home secretary is said to have ordered officials to rewrite maritime laws to allow Border Force to turn boats around before they reach England.

       It follows a G7 interior minister's meeting on Wednesday when Ms Patel told her French counterpart that the UK public "expect to see results" from French efforts to prevent ongoing migrant crossings.

       Elsewhere, Northern Tories have criticised Boris Johnson’s plans to introduce a health and social care levy as “un-Conservative”, as they urged ministers to consider regional disparities in regard to the proposals.

       Recommended Priti Patel set to deepen rift with France by sanctioning Channel migrant boat ‘pushbacks’ When it comes to migrant Channel crossings, Priti Patel cannot win ‘Un-Conservative’: Northern Tories criticise Boris Johnson’s social care tax hike as plans clear Commons vote

       Key Points Northern Tories criticise Boris Johnson’s social care tax hike Priti Patel ‘orders officials to rewrite maritime laws to deter migrant boats' Care minister defends breaking manifesto pledge on NI rise

       Show latest update 1631176633 London mayor urged to make road junctions safer after cyclist deaths

       Hundreds of people took part in a protest in central London on Wednesday calling for the mayor of London and the council leaders to take immediate action to make deadly road junctions safer after a number of cyclists were killed and injured along a single stretch of road.

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 09:37

       1631176508 How much extra tax will you have to pay?

       Boris Johnson’s UK-wide national insurance hike kicks in from next April to pay for health and social care reforms.

       Employees, the self-employed, and employers will have to pay the increase of 1.25 percentage points on NI contributions.

       A typical basic-rate taxpayer earning ￡24,100 will contribute around ￡180 more in NI in 2022-23, while someone on a ￡50,000 salary would see their annual contributions rise by more than ￡500.

       A typical higher-rate taxpayer earning ￡67,100 will contribute ￡715 more.

       More on the calculations here:

       How will Boris Johnson’s plan to hike national insurance affect you? A basic-rate taxpayer on a ￡24,100 salary could expect to pay ￡180 more per year

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 09:35

       1631175788 NHS must explain why managers on six-figure salaries, says minister

       Asked about reports that some NHS managers were being hired on salaries of up to ￡270,000, care minister Helen Whately told Times Radio she would not be drawn on individual roles, but said she was concerned about it.

       She said: “I think the NHS does really need to set out its arguments for when it is paying higher-than-expected levels of pay, there has to be a really good reason.

       “But I also recognise you do clearly need to pay people the appropriate amount for roles that involve a lot of responsibility.”

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 09:23

       1631175068 ‘Mistake’ to use permanent tax hike for ‘temporary problem’, claims Tory peer

       A Conservative peer and former shadow chancellor has said it was a “mistake” for his party to introduce the national insurance rise to tackle the NHS backlog.

       Lord Peter Lilley, a Conservative MP until 2017, told LBC: “It was a mistake to introduce a permanent tax rise to deal with a temporary problem, the backlog, and to try and deal with some problem of potentially catastrophic costs of social care by taxation, rather than bringing in an insurance option for people if they wanted to avoid that.

       “So I think it’s a double mistake from that point of view.”

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 09:11

       1631174348 Minister defends breaking manifesto pledge on NI rise

       Care minister Helen Whately has defended increasing taxes to tackle the NHS backlog.

       She said: “We made a difficult decision last night clearly, and as a Conservative voting for a tax rise, it’s not something you do lightly. We want people’s money to be in their pockets.

       “So of course, I don’t want us to raise tax, but we had a really difficult choice here. So we have, at the moment, we’ve got over five million people on NHS waiting lists, that’s projected to potentially get to 13 million - that’s about one in five people waiting for an operation - that’s a terrible position to be in.

       “Coupled with me as care minister, we know we desperately need to do social care reform, and governments for decades have not been able to work out the way to fund that, to move that forward. So what we’ve got here is a package that means we can both treat all those people who need treatment under the NHS, and we can embark on those once-in-a-generation social care reforms.”

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 08:59

       1631173688 Minister promises to keep ‘really close eye’ on how ￡12bn tax hike will be spent

       The government will be keeping a “really close eye” on how extra funding will be spent by the NHS, care minister Helen Whately has said.

       Amid fears that the money will not be apportioned wisely by ministers, she said: “The government keeps a really close eye on making sure that NHS money is spent carefully and appropriately because we want as much of the funding as possible to go to the front line.”

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 08:48

       1631173088 When it comes to migrant Channel crossings, Priti Patel cannot win

       Priti Patel is spending substantial sums of taxpayers’ money on something that cannot be delivered, by the French or anyone else, without any specific targets for success, and which is behind her ability to enforce, writes Sean O’Grady.

       She is on a hiding to nothing. First, she can no more prevent the refugees and migrants fleeing across the channel than she can stop the tide coming in.

       Nor, more to the point, can the French do much about it.

       Read his analysis here:

       When it comes to migrant Channel crossings, Priti Patel cannot win The home secretary is spending substantial sums of taxpayers’ money on something that cannot be delivered, writes Sean O’Grady

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 08:38

       1631172188 Ministers looking at ‘all the options’ to tackle migrant crossings

       Care minister Helen Whately has said the government was considering “all the options” when formulating a plan to prevent people from crossing the Channel.

       Asked repeatedly whether the government was looking to turn boats around, she told Sky News: “The government looks at all the options, but a really important thing, of course, is you wouldn’t want to put people in any greater danger, they’re taking a dangerous journey as it is, and what we want to do is actually deter them from starting that journey in the first place.”

       “We want to deter people from embarking on that kind of dangerous journey,” she said.

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 08:23

       1631171468 Priti Patel ‘orders officials to rewrite maritime laws to deter migrant boats'

       The home secretary has reportedly sanctioned new tactics to redirect migrant boats in the Channel back to France amid crunch talks over crossings.

       According to reports, Priti Patel has ordered officials to rewrite maritime laws to allow Border Force to turn boats around, forcing them to be dealt with by French authorities.

       Read the full report here:

       Priti Patel set to deepen rift with France by sanctioning migrant boat ‘pushbacks’ Home secretary warned turning back boats would have ‘negative impact on co-operation’

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 08:11

       1631170988 Social care tax hike plans clear Commons vote

       Boris Johnson saw off a Tory rebellion to secure MPs’ backing for his controversial ￡12bn tax hike to deal with the NHS Covid backlog and reform social care funding on Wednesday evening.

       The Commons voted by 319 to 248 in favour of the 1.25 percentage point increase in national insurance contributions.

       Five backbenchers voted against the measure while another 37 did not vote - although not all would have deliberately abstained, as some would have had permission to be away from Westminster.

       The five rebels included former cabinet ministers Sir John Redwood and Esther McVey along with Sir Christopher Chope, Philip Davies and Neil Hudson.

       At least another five - Jake Berry, Steve Baker, Dehenna Davison, Richard Drax and Sir Roger Gale - indicated that they were deliberately abstaining.

       Tom Batchelor 9 September 2021 08:03

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