“Strike-busting legislation to allow agency workers to cover for industrial action to be tabled within days. Boris Johnson has backed the plan and will challenge Labour to show it is on the side of passengers and back him. The new law will come too late to stop this week’s travel strike misery. But it could be passed within weeks. It will apply across the whole economy and will clip the wings of powerful unions. A Whitehall source said: “We can’t have a situation where trade unions are holding the country to ransom by grinding crucial public services and businesses to a halt. “If employers want to bring in temporary, skilled workers to fill gaps, they should be able to.” Mick Lynch’s RMT will walk out on three days from tomorrow, costing the hospitality industry £500m.” – The Sun

“Grant Shapps last night urged Keir Starmer to finally condemn the rail strikes that will cause chaos for millions of travellers tomorrow. The Transport Secretary called on the Labour leader to issue a last-minute appeal for the unions to reopen their negotiations with bosses. Sir Keir stopped short of denouncing the action yesterday…Services on the railways will be crippled from tomorrow in the biggest walkout for more than 30 years in a row over pay, jobs and conditions. Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will also strike on Thursday and Saturday…RMT and Unite are holding a 24-hour walkout on London Underground tomorrow, which will cause further disruption. Mr Shapps yesterday accused the unions of resisting the ‘modernisation of some very antiquated working practices’.” – The Daily Mail

“Ministers will this week repeal laws banning businesses from using temporary workers to replace striking staff amid concern that walk-outs are spreading across the economy. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, presented plans enabling agency staff to be used to perform the roles of striking workers to cabinet colleagues for agreement last week. The statutory instrument making the change is expected to be tabled this week. It would take effect in mid-July, after the current round of rail strikes, and would apply across all sectors. The ban on agency workers has been in place since 1973, when Edward Heath’s Conservative government feared that workers breaking strikes would be attacked on picket lines. David Cameron promised to change the law in his 2015 election manifesto but later abandoned the proposal amid intense union opposition.” – The Times

“Nadine Dorries has ordered the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) to “make up its mind” as Brits brace for commuter chaos later in a dispute about pay and redundancies. The Culture Secretary took to social media to voice her frustration about the RMT’s upcoming rail strike. Ms Dorries said: “Weeks ago, union said it would never negotiate with a Tory Government. “Now, complaining that there haven’t been talks with ‘the Government’.” The Mid Bedfordshire MP accompanied her tweet with #makeyourmindup. Members of the RMT Union confirmed 40,000 workers from Network Rail and 13 train firms will take action on June 21, 23 and 25 over both pay and redundancies. The action is expected to leave only half of Britain’s rail network open on strike days and there will be very limited service on lines which remain available.” – Daily Express

“This week I will go to Rwanda for a Commonwealth summit and around the table will be 54 countries encompassing about a third of humanity. You could point out that Commonwealth members are vastly different in just about every way and of course you would be right. The Pacific archipelago of Tuvalu (population 11,000) will be at the same table as India (population 1.3 billion).Yet for all the differences between us, we are joined by an invisible thread of shared values, history and institutions and of course the English language… If you retort that this all sounds vague and whimsical and no job was ever created and no parsnip buttered by invisible threads or shared values I would have to point out that you are mistaken – demonstrably and provably mistaken. It is an amazing fact that those invisible threads – particularly a common language and familiar legal and administrative systems – are of immense practical value for trade.” – The Daily Telegraph

“Boris Johnson could usher in a new generation of grammar schools under plans being considered in Downing Street. The prime minister is considering backing a campaign by Conservative backbenchers to lift the ban on new selective schools imposed by Tony Blair in 1998. There are 164 grammar schools in England at present. “There’s more of an open door on grammar schools than there has been in years,” a minister said. “It’s now something that there is a conversation about in Downing Street.” The government is bringing a Schools Bill to the Commons later this year, and Sir Graham Brady, a campaigner for grammar schools and the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, will table an amendment that would lift the ban. Brady said: “After 12 years of Conservative-led government it is really very odd that we still have a statutory ban on any new selective schools. At the very least lifting that ban would provide freedom and flexibility for people where there is demand.”” – The Times

“Businesses who invest by buying products or services from other British firms could receive tax breaks under new plans. Some in government are pushing for the idea as a way to get UK businesses back on their feet after Covid and the fuel crisis. One source told the Daily Mail: ‘Tax breaks are being looked at for companies that invest. ‘But also, one thing being considered is tax breaks for firms that buy British. We want to boost business here at home. ‘It is not for certain. But it is being talked about.’ Another source said that while the idea was being considered, there could be problems around World Trade Organisation rules. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has tried a number of incentives to boost investment in the wake of the Covid pandemic.” – The Daily Mail

“The government minister in charge of sport has backed swimming’s world governing body Fina after it voted to restrict transgender athletes from competing in elite women’s competitions if they have experienced any part of male puberty. Nadine Dorries, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said she has been in talks within government to implement such a policy in UK sporting bodies. The new policy means transgender competitors must not have entered puberty by the age of 12 in order to be able to compete in the competitions. Puberty blockers, which can prevent the onset of puberty, are not provided to children under that age. Fina ruled female-to-male transgender athletes (transgender men) are fully eligible to compete in men’s swimming competitions.” – The I

“On Saturday, the Times reported claims that Boris Johnson had tried to hire his now wife as his chief of staff when he was foreign secretary. But almost as soon as the article hit the printers, it was withdrawn, without explanation or clarification. The piece…appeared on page five of some early print copies of Saturday’s Times newspaper but was dropped for later editions. It does not appear that the article was ever published on the Times’ website. The story expanded on claims in a biography of Carrie Johnson by the Tory donor and peer Lord Ashcroft that Johnson had tried to appoint her to a £100,000-a-year government job when he was foreign secretary in 2018. It said the idea had fallen apart when his closest advisers learned of the idea to hire the Tory press chief, then known as Carrie Symonds, whom he later married. Johnson was then still married to Marina Wheeler, a barrister.” – The Guardian

“The Government’s top lawyer risks ending up providing misleading advice to ministers for political reasons, the former Justice Secretary has warned after a string of legal controversies embroiling No 10… Attorney General Suella Braverman, an MP who sits in Cabinet but also provides legal advice to the Prime Minister, has sometimes been relied on to give a legal sign-off to contentious plans. But Sir Robert Buckland…has launched a coded warning about Ms Braverman’s role in a new paper for the Institute for Government (IfG). He wrote that the “politician-lawyer, who prioritises being a politician” is in danger of undermining their own legal expertise, adding: “Law officers who prioritise politics fall into the immediate and more grave danger of not being true to their ethos, and their professional conduct as a lawyer. They adapt their advice to reflect the political priorities of their ministerial colleagues.”” – The I

“Bidding strongly for that gold medal in the ‘Brexit Derangement Syndrome’ contest is the owner of the country’s largest private arboretum, former deputy prime minister Lord (Michael) Heseltine.Last week, he proclaimed: ‘The gardener’s instinct in me has detected a new spring for those who know Brexit to be a disaster.’ And in a column for the Financial Times, the President of the European Movement UK — who will be 90 next year — painted the effect of Brexit on the economy as though it were a blight that had destroyed all his trees. Heseltine described it as ‘the loss of our closest market’. So, according to him, we don’t sell any more in the EU…Fact check: in the most recent figures (for April), our exports to the EU were above the level of the same month in 2019 — before we finally left.” – The Daily Mail

“President Emmanuel Macron failed to win a majority in the French Parliament today as the Far-Right National Rally was expected to fill a record 89 seats, according to early projections. Instead, it was Marine Le Pen of the National Rally who was celebrating a massive victory, according to an early IPSOS poll. French President Emmanuel Macron’s alliance lost its majority in the French parliament, winning 245 seats in the 577-member chamber in elections, according to full results published by the interior ministry early Monday. The results mean that Macron’s Together alliance is well short of the 289 seats needed for an overall majority. The NUPES left-wing coalition won 135 seats and the far-right National Rally 89 seats. National Rally’s seats will turn them into a serious parliamentary group capable of challenging the government at every opportunity. Previously they only had eight seats.” – The Daily Mail

“Sir Keir Starmer is preparing a speech about immigration in which he will rule out bringing back free movement with Europe if Labour wins the next election, The Times has learnt. Under the free movement of labour principle of the single market, citizens of EU member states were able to live and work in the UK while Britain was part of the bloc. Although Starmer has been adamant that Labour will not campaign to rejoin the EU under his leadership, some of his MPs want him to seek a closer relationship with Brussels which could include a new immigration pact. As part of his leadership campaign in 2020 Starmer promised Labour members he would “defend free movement as we leave the EU”. However, he now wants to scotch any suggestion that he would agree to a return of free movement as he tries to win back voters the party lost to the Conservatives at the last election.” – The Times

“Nicola Sturgeon has accused opponents of ‘running scared’ of a debate on Scotland’s future – as she was claimed to be eyeing a ‘legal wheeze’ in order to bypass Boris Johnson and hold a second independence referendum..The SNP leader, as she kicked off a new campaign for another vote, pledged her Scottish Government would ‘forge a way forward’ if the Prime Minister refuses to grant Edinburgh the powers to hold a fresh referendum. Ahead of the 2014 referendum…former PM David Cameron granted a section 30 order to Holyrood to allow the vote to be held. But Mr Johnson has shown no indication he is willing to do the same and repeatedly told Ms Sturgeon that an independence vote should be a ‘once-in-a-generation’ event. It has now been claimed that Ms Sturgeon is preparing to hold a consultative or advisory referendum, in order to bypass Mr Johnson and the UK Government.” – The Daily Mail

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