Boris Johnson has been told to "bang ministerial heads together" to resolve the energy crisis and stop factories having to cease production, after a row broke out between two critical departments.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, was accused of making misleading claims about Treasury plans to offer an energy bailout to factories struggling with soaring costs. The fallout emerged as the Prime Minister began a holiday with his wife, Carrie, and son, Wilfred, in Spain.
Gareth Stace, the director general of UK Steel, told LBC radio that now was "not the time" for Mr Johnson to be on holiday.
"This is a critical time. The Business Secretary has also said it's a critical situation, and therefore why is the Government just sitting on its hands and doing absolutely nothing at the moment?
"From my point of view, today, with the reported government infighting between the Treasury and Beis, the Prime Minister now needs to bang ministerial heads together, take control and remember that if he does nothing, then his levelling-up ambition will be left in tatters."
But Damian Hinds, the new security minister, tried to play down the row, saying departments "talk to each other all the time" and that both Beis and the Treasury were "monitoring the situation".
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One of the Conservative party's leading "Red Wall" MPs says she is bisexual but had not wanted to say so earlier as it is no "big deal".
Dehenna Davison, elected as MP for Bishop Auckland in 2019 as she won the seat from Labour for the first time since its creation in 1885, is thought to be the first female Tory MP to come out as bisexual.
In a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast on GB News on Monday, the rising Conservative Party star, says: "If anyone were to explicitly ask me, I certainly wouldn't try and hide it because I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of. The reason I haven't done a kind of, 'by the way, guys' is because I don't want being bi to be considered a big deal. "
Read more here.
Boris Johnson might be on holiday, but that hasn't stopped him speaking to Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, this morning.
Number 10 issued a statement revealing the call as the Prime Minister faces criticism for going abroad as the energy crisis builds.
"They discussed the strength of the UK-India relationship and welcomed the progress made on the 2030 Roadmap since it was agreed by the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi in May," a Downing Street spokesman said.
The pair discussed trade, defence and climate change ahead of next months' Cop26 summit, as well as the "shared fight against coronavirus and the importance of cautiously opening up international travel".
The Treasury's denial of any bailout for factories grappling with soaring energy costs is "very alarming", a trade body has said.
Dave Dalton, chief executive at British Glass, said a meeting with the Department of Business, Energy and Innovation (Beis) on Friday had started the process of asking for support.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, : "It seemed to prick the ears of the Secretary of State to asking a civil servant to work with us quickly and closely to build an ask to go to Treasury.
"We didn't get to specifics, the meeting was very much an introductory one, and we had rather hoped over the weekend and today that that dialogue would be extended.
"It's very alarming to hear the Treasury are making denials over the approach, let alone anything else. We need immediate action."
Boris Johnson is coming under fire for going on holiday this week, in the midst of the ongoing energy crisis.
Gareth Stace, the director general of UK Steel, told LBC radio that now was "not the time" for Mr Johnson to be on holiday.
Labour's Bridget Phillipson, a shadow Treasury minister, said the Government has "put its out of office on" and accused the Prime Minister of "incompetence" - although one of her colleagues suggested it made little difference where he was (see 9:01am).
But Damian Hinds, the security minister, said it was "good for the whole country" for the PM to have some "downtime" (see 8am).
So is it right that Mr Johnson get away this week - or should he be leading from the front in Downing Street? Have your say in the poll below.
Simon Coveney has questioned the UK Government's motives in talks about the Northern Ireland protocol, saying people are asking if ministers are seeking "a continuing source of tension between the UK and the EU".
Ireland's foreign affairs minister said: "I've spoken to many Unionists and I've spoken to many business people in Northern Ireland, and none of them are raising the issue of the ECJ jurisdiction in terms of the interpretation of the EU single market on the implementation of the protocol.
"They are raising practical issues around freedom to trade without checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland," he added. "The European Commission is trying to solve those issues as much as they can within the confines of the protocol.
"The British Government seems to be shifting the playing field now away from solving those issues, which they presume they have compromised on, and now opening up this red-line issue of the jurisdiction of the ECJ."
The UK Government is dismissing EU solutions to the Northern Ireland protocol before they are even published, Ireland's foreign minister has said.
Ahead of a speech Lord Frost is to give on Tuesday, in which he say removing the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Northern Ireland a red-line issue, Simon Coveney suggested the UK was being deliberately obstructive.
"Each time that the European Union comes forward with new ideas and new proposals to try and solve problems, they are dismissed before they are released, and that's happening again this week," Mr Coveney said.
It was "more serious" this time because Maros Sefcovic had spent "weeks, if not months" readying a set of proposals to break the sausage war deadlock.
Ireland's foreign affairs minister has hit out at Lord Frost for having criticised him for raising Brexit issues on social media.
The pair were embroiled in an online spat this weekend - ahead of a key week for the Northern Ireland protocol - with the Brexit minister posting a series of late-night tweets about the UK's stance, saying that he preferred "not to do negotiations by twitter, but since Simon Coveney has begun the process".
This morning Mr Coveney said: "David Frost accuses me of raising issues on social media. It's a bit rich, quite frankly, because he is briefing British media effectively to say 'Well, the EU can make the changes that they need to make, but actually it's not enough, we want more' and now it's the ECJ is the main issue."
He added: "This is being seen across the EU as the same pattern over and over again - the EU tries to solve problems, the UK dismisses the solutions before they're even published and asks for more."
Welsh nightclubs and large events will require a Covid pass from today- but Mark Drakeford, the First Minister, has conceded that the system is "vulnerable to abuse".
As well as showing their vaccine status for these settings, people will also be able to show they have had a negative lateral flow test result within the last 48 hours. But Mr Drakeford acknowledged there was a "vulnerability in the system" in which people could falsify lateral flow test results.
"We have created a specific offence which will mean that if someone deliberately falsifies the result of a lateral flow test they will be breaching the law in Wales," he told Good Morning Britain.
"I'm quite sure that the huge bulk of people who are attending a rugby match or visiting a nightclub will use the lateral flow devices.... not to get round the rules, but to make sure they're keeping themselves safe from this dreadful disease."
He added: "The law will be there and there will be a reckoning."
A Labour MP has said things are "just as chaotic" whether Boris Johnson is on holiday or not.
Pat McFadden, a shadow Treasury minister, told Sky News: "I honestly don't care where he is. What I want is grip from the Government.
"Whether he's in Spain, whether he is in the UK, it seems just as chaotic when the Prime Minister is here.
"So, frankly, I'm not concerned whether he's on holiday or not. What I want is grip from the Government, and we haven't got that at the moment."
The average GP is now working a three-day week following a "significant" drop in working hours, government research shows.
The research, commissioned by the Department of Health, is from before the Covid pandemic – during which concerns have grown that it is getting harder to see a GP.
There are particular tensions over access to face-to-face appointments, with Boris Johnson intervening last month to say every patient has the right to see a GP in person.
Read more on that story here.
The briefing row between the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is "extraordinary", a Labour frontbencher said.
Pat McFadden, a shadow Treasury minister, told Sky News: "We've got jobs crises facing a number of energy-intensive industries like steel, ceramics, papermaking and so on. They're asking the Government for help.
"Instead of their concerns being addressed, what we've got is this unseemly squabble between the Treasury and the Business Department."
He added that if Treasury officials are not involved in talks "they should be".
Labour has attacked the Government for being too distracted by internal "squabbles" over the energy crisis to get the country out of "this mess".
Ed Miliband, shadow business secretary, said: "Yet again we see that in the face of their failed energy policy, the Government has nothing to offer businesses or consumers to help them with the crisis they are facing. For firms and families waiting to hear how the Business Secretary might help, there is a total absence of a plan and no extra help.
"The Government is squabbling amongst itself, with the Treasury even denying they are talking to BEIS about providing help for large, energy intensive industries.
"It is becoming clearer by the day that the Government that got us into this mess because of a decade of inaction is now paralysed by the scale of the crisis and cannot get us out of it. All the while, it is businesses and families who are paying the price of government denial, failure and an appalling refusal to understand what our country is facing."
The police feel "more let down than anybody" about the murder of Sarah Everard, the security minister has said.
Damian Hinds told Times Radio: "I think everybody is shaken by this terrible case. It is also really important to take a moment once again to pay tribute to all the men and women who serve in our policing service who feel more let down than anybody by this terrible sequence of events.
"They put themselves in danger day after day and in protection of the rest of us and they deserve our support. It is actually more important even for them than for anyone else that this inquiry gets to the bottom of this."
He added: "This case goes to the heart of that question of trust."
The security minister has refused to confirm whether Russia has stolen the blueprint for the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.
Damian Hinds told LBC: "We live in world, I am afraid, where there is state activity seeking to engage in industrial espionage and economic espionage, there are cyber attacks that happen and so on.
"I won't comment on the specific case that you mention because that wouldn't be right to do in detail, but it would be fair to say, correct to say, that we face threats of this type that are different, they are more sophisticated, they are more extensive than they ever have been before.
"The face of espionage, the face of spying, is very different from when you and I were growing up and we need to constantly upgrade our capability. These are very serious matters."
Introducing plans to shift green surcharges from household electricity bills on to gas bills during the current energy crisis would be "unfortunate" timing, the chief executive of the Chemical Industries Association has said.
The plans — to be announced next month — form part of the Government's efforts to nudge consumers towards lower-carbon alternatives and meet its net zero target by 2050.
But Stephen Elliott, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The timing would be unfortunate... I just don't think that is a helpful intervention now."
Mr Elliott said he had been "reassured" by comments from Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, that it "was not something that would be happening in the short-term", urging the rest of Government to follow suit.
"We have a short term requirement to solve this issue to get us through this winter and a bit beyond," he added.
There is "no cap" to the surging cost of energy, with prices "continuing to rise on an almost weekly basis", the head of one of the UK's largest glass manufacturers has said.
Adrian Curry, managing director of Encirc - who was one of the Energy Intensive Users Group that met with Government on Friday, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme price rises were "quite incredible", and were being passed onto brands, retailers and consumers.
But he warned, "without intervention it is going to be extremely difficult for a lot of companies and it is going to really affect supply chains", with several companies already "on the brink" or having to stop production because it's no longer economically viable.
Energy costs for his firm alone had risen from ￡40m a year to ￡100m, Mr Curry noted.
The energy price cap is "not fit" for the current crisis and the Government must do more to protect vulnerable people, the head of a fuel poverty charity has said.
Adam Scorer, chief executive of National Energy Action, told LBC the price cap and other mechanisms were intended "for a well-functioning, competitive, energy market".
But he added: "They're not fit for the challenge of the cost-of-living crisis that we face at the moment.
"What we need to see, in the short term is the Government, through the Treasury, stepping in at the Budget and saying, 'we will take measures to put some more cash, either in the pockets of the most financially vulnerable households, or find some rebates to reduce the exposure of the prices'."
He added that in the long term, the industry needed to see action from the Government to prevent homes from continuing to lose heat.
The UK's promised ￡54m pot of money to help support France's immigration controls will be transferred "in the coming weeks", a minister has said.
Paris accused the UK Government of not paying the "one penny" of the agreed money to prevent migrants and asylum-seekers from crossing the Channel this weekend. The deal was struck in July to help increase police patrols of French beaches, deploy surveillance technology and improve security at key border crossings.
Damian Hinds, the security and borders minister, told Sky News "this remains the arrangement" and stressed the delay was simply because of "administrative arrangements to work through".
He added: "It will happen in the coming weeks... These things will be worked out."
"The work we do in partnership with the French authorities is incredibly important and we would like it to be more successful still, because there are still too many people attempting that life-threatening journey."
Jersey's lights will "stay on", a minister has said, despite threats from France to cut the island's energy supply amid the ongoing row over French fishing licences.
Clément Beaune, France’s EU affairs minister, said last week that action would be decided on within days and discussions were already in motion.
But Damian Hinds, the security and borders minister, said: "France and ourselves are some of the strongest allies in the world. I have absolute confidence in our relationship, the strength and depth of our relationship with France."
Asked if the lights will stay on, he said: "Yes."
Boris Johnson's decision to take a holiday now is good "for the whole country", a minister has said, despite criticism about the timing.
The Prime Minister has travelled to Marbella with his wife and son, as the energy crisis continues to unfold.
Asked by Sky News if now was the right time, Damian Hinds replied: "When is the right time? I think it is important that people do have an opportunity to be with their families to have some relaxing, unwinding,
"But I wouldn't want to overstate the amount of unwinding and relaxing you get to do as Prime Minister because as I say you are constantly in touch, you are constantly being briefed and you remain in charge of the Government."
The security minister added: "What is important for the rest of us actually, for the whole country, is that the Prime Minister does get to have some family time, does get to have a break."
A minister has insisted there will be no return to a three or four day week, after steel manufacturers and other factories said they were already having to pause production because of the energy crisis.
Following a series of meetings with officials and ministers last week, UK Steel boss Gareth Stace told the BBC: "We're pausing production already in terms of some steel producers in the UK.... and it's going to happen more often unless something is done, or the energy market corrects itself and I don't think that will happen any time soon."
Damian Hinds, the security minister, said these warnings were "of concern", but tried to downplay suggestions the UK could return to a Winter of Discontent-type situation.
"We live in a country where the Government doesn't set the pattern of the working week," he told Sky News. "Thank God we have moved past the 1970s."
A minister has been forced to defend his colleague from accusations that he was lying about government plans to offer an energy bailout to struggling factories.
Asked if Kwasi Kwarteng was "telling porkies" about the support, Damian Hinds, the new security minister, told Sky News "of course not".
He tried to play down the briefing as having come from "one of those unnamed sources" and stressed that both sides were in discussion about the situation and had been for some time.
"Government departments and ministers talk to each other all the time," he added. "Of course that is something the Business Secretary - and Energy Secretary - is totally focused on.
"The Treasury is also very focused on the economic management of the situation."
The Treasury has accused Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, of making misleading claims about government plans to offer an energy bailout to struggling factories.
The row was sparked when Mr Kwarteng said he was in talks about support for businesses making products including steel, glass, ceramics and paper – only for Treasury aides to insist there were no discussions.
The latest row involving Mr Kwarteng comes days after he was criticised by fellow Cabinet ministers for failing to act more quickly to tackle petrol shortages.
One source told The Telegraph that the "Treasury is not in talks with anyone", adding: "We just haven't seen any proposals. We haven't been engaged in discussions – BEIS are the ones in discussions."
Major factories are now said to be just days from closure.
Read more on that story here.
Temperatures might be dropping outside, but in Westminster the heat is on.
A bizarre briefing war appears to have erupted between the Treasury and Beis, with sources suggesting that Kwasi Kwarteng has "made things up in interviews".
Meanwhile the Prime Minister is coming under fire for having gone on holiday as the crisis unfolds.
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