Thank you for joining us on the Politics Hub for a busy day in Westminster.
Here’s what happened:
Join us from 6am for the latest political news and follow Matt Hancock’s testimony as part of the COVID investigation on Sky News from 10am. m.
The COVID investigation is a busy day today, with 3 key witnesses testifying.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries, former Health Secretary Sajid Javid and former First Secretary of State Dominic Raab spoke to give their perspectives on government decision-making during the pandemic.
So what revelations have we heard from those key players?
Our political correspondent Tamara Cohen has all the main points from her report here:
By Josh Gafson, Journalist
A London city council has scrapped plans to erect a Hanukkah menorah due to “rising tensions” amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Havering City Council had planned to commemorate the upcoming Jewish holiday by installing a symbolic design on the outside of City Hall, but has since abandoned the proposal, saying it could “risk escalating tensions” within communities.
Instead, the council said there would be a “temporary installation” and an occasion held to mark the start of Hanukkah.
In a letter to Council leader Ray Morgon, Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell expressed “grave concern” about the decision.
“If it were true, it would be a grave insult to the Jews of Romford,” he said.
“This is fundamentally a question of freedom and has nothing to do with the circumstances in the Middle East. “
Rosindell went on to say that the Havering Council had allowed public birthday parties from other festivals, adding Diwali, and said he hoped the council would also allow the public Hanukkah birthday party.
Read the full story here:
A special guest appeared in Parliament today: the legendary artist, philanthropist and activist Sir Elton John.
On Friday, World AIDS Day, Sir Elton attended an event at Parliament along with her husband David Furnish.
It comes as the government announced an expansion of the emergency HIV testing programme; Virus regimen testing will be rolled out in 46 more hospitals in a bid to prevent all new transmissions through 2030 (see message at 6:14 p. m. ).
In a statement, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “Tonight I had the privilege of welcoming Sir Elton John and recognising his remarkable contribution to the global fight against HIV and AIDS – and through Elton John’s campaign against AIDS. Base.
“His paintings embody the solidarity and kindness that define our common humanity. “
On tonight’s show, Sophy Ridge joined in via Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow secretary of state, on the party’s plans for small businesses, bankrupt councils and the dispute with Elgin Marbles.
Environment Minister Mark Spencer also touched on the timetable and asked about the Elgin Marbles dispute, the search for a new national park before the COP summit and the COVID investigation.
Conservative MP and former minister Andrea Jenkyns also gave her perspectives on migration as Rishi Sunak’s supporters continue to push for action to curb it.
And tonight, Ash Sarkar, editor-in-chief of Novara Media, and James Starkie, a former adviser to the Home Office, were part of his panel.
Watch the full screen below:
After the Chancellor delivered his fall last week, experts from our Data and Forensics team updated our ballot tracker with the most recent polls.
The tracker aggregates polls to give an indication of what the electorate thinks of other political parties.
Labour has 44. 5 per cent to the Conservatives’ 25. 1 per cent, a lead of around 19 points.
This means that the Conservatives have suffered a slight setback from the measures announced through Jeremy Hunt, but they are still far behind.
In third place are the Liberal Democrats with 10. 8%, followed by the Reformed with around 8. 0% and the Greens with 6. 2%, and the SNP with 3. 3%.
Check out the most recent update below and you can read more about the tracker method here.
By Tim Baker, political reporter
Dominic Raab said he was right to give him “five minutes’ notice” to lead the UK when Boris Johnson was hospitalised with COVID in the spring of 2020.
The former first secretary of state was the latest user to testify as part of the UK’s COVID investigation.
Raab replaced Johnson in April during the first lockdown, when the then-prime minister became seriously ill with coronavirus and had to remain under intensive care.
His written testimony showed that, if Johnson had died, Raab would have taken over as caretaker prime minister while a successor was selected in a leadership election.
The then Foreign Secretary said that, in his role as First Secretary of State, it had been demonstrated that he would update Mr Johnson if he was unable to perform the duties of Prime Minister.
He said this is discussed more in the context of a national security scenario, rather than a pandemic.
When asked about the readiness point to be able to take command in an emergency, Raab replied that it was “scarce. “
Check out all the main takeaways that emerged from the COVID survey here:
There are many prominent politicians: you can tell if they really are, if you can refer to them by a single name; then Boris, Trump or Thatcher.
But in general, politicians are real stars.
Elton John, on the other hand, is world-famous and tonight he is in Parliament lobbying MPs to do more to fight HIV.
This allowed the Politics Hub team to think about when politicians encounter stardust and are even a little dazzled.
Watch some of the moments below and listen to our panelists recount the times they met superstars. . .
That concludes tonight’s edition of Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge: scroll down for key moments and highlights.
Next, we asked Labour’s Steve Reed about the dispute between the UK and Greece over the Elgin Marbles.
Mr Reed says that we only talk about this “because the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom refused to receive the Prime Minister of Greece on his stopover in London”.
He goes on to describe Greece as a “very close ally”, adding: “It is possible that he simply sat down and talked to him about the disorders we have on immigration, on security, on so many disorders that we have in a not unusual way and that talk later.
“But instead, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needs to make headlines. “
He compares this to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who “sat down and held this meeting” on issues such as security and immigration.
He added: “It’s just that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has become so small that he would rather make headlines than do business with one of our closest allies. “
Reed also said it was “absolutely insane” for Rishi Sunak to say in his circle of relatives that Sir Keir had sided with an EU country against Britain before the Greek prime minister.
He added: “This is surely absurd. It just shows how this prime minister has arrived. “
The next guest on tonight’s edition of Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge is Labour’s shadow secretary, Steve Reed.
He says the party needs to take on the demanding situations faced by small businesses, saying, “We’re going to pass a law to make businesses pay faster so they can keep operating.
“Second, business pricing has long been the bane of small businesses, especially since the emergence of online giants that don’t have to bear the same costs. So, we’re going to eliminate trade tariffs to save businesses. “
When asked how much demolition taxes will charge businesses, he replies that they will be replaced by “a choice that grades the playing field between physical outlets on our high streets, businesses on our high streets, and online giants. “
However, he can’t give details on the price of the change, but reiterates that it’s “just unfair that there are online giants who pay next to nothing, while your local hairdresser will pay a lot more money. “
The other area Labor will turn to to make a difference for small businesses, Labor. Reed says, is the party’s plan to create GB Energy, which will invest in electricity and energy costs.
Mr Reed is then told that Nottingham City Council has gone bankrupt due to a £38m debt through Robin Hood Energy, an example of public sector involvement in an energy sector that has done so well.
He says he doesn’t know the details, but advocates for sustainable energy like nuclear: “We just haven’t invested in that. “
“The government has not granted any licenses for onshore wind farms since about 2016.
“If we take the opportunity of this blank power, if we produce it here at home, we will be subject to the whims of foreign dictators like Vladimir Putin, who cut off energy materials and increased our costs.
“We’re taking back control, so to speak, here in the U. K. , of blank energy. “