Boris Johnson news: France says submarine deal is ‘huge mistake’

France’s foreign affairs minister has agreed with his Indian counterpart to work on a programme to promote “a truly multilateral international order,” the French foreign ministry has said.

Jean-Yves Le Drian and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also agreed during a call to deepen their strategic partnership, “based on a relationship of political trust between two great sovereign nations of the Indo-Pacific”.

Michael Gove’s decision to review controversial planning reforms has been greeted with dismay by campaigners for affordable housing, who warn the move will lead to more young people living in overpriced rented homes.

Within hours of arriving at his new department, Mr Gove ordered a pause on legislation which had been due to be published next week – billed as the biggest shake-up of the planning system for 70 years.

Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:

Planned cuts to Universal Credit (UC) will hit women hardest and lead to billions of pounds being lost from their annual incomes in total, a charity has warned.

Some 5.9 million people in the UK are currently receiving UC payments – with women making up 54 per cent of those claiming the benefit as of August 2021.

Our women’s correspondent, Maya Oppenheim, has the full story below:

The government’s Covid taskforce, which plays a key role in decisions on lockdowns, PPE and emergency planning, is facing a “brain drain” as the country prepares for a potentially challenging winter, The Independent can reveal.

As the department is to be disbanded in the spring, members of the taskforce are already reportedly heading for the exit.

Our reporter, Anna Isaac, has the full story below:

Sir Keir Starmer shares some characteristics with a former leader of the Labour Party, John Smith, but he faces an even tougher challenge to win the next general election, according to our commentator John Rentoul.

Ahead of Labour’s annual conference, John writes:

“Keir Starmer doesn’t like being compared to previous Labour leaders, but the Smith one is more apt than most. Like Smith, Starmer trades on his competence as a lawyer to present a reassuring face to the voters. Like Smith, Starmer places himself at the centre of the party, emphasising unity above all, while offering baubles to both left and right to keep them happy.”

You can find his full piece below:

Wholesale gas prices have surged by 250 per cent since January, with a 70 per cent rise since August alone, the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry body has said.

OGUK, which represents the industry, said that the crisis had coincided with discussions on whether to open new gas fields in the North Sea, with the body predicting that UK North Sea output would roughly halve by 2027 unless new fields are opened.

“This price surge shows how we continue to need UK gas,” OGUK energy policy manager Will Webster said.

“Letting production fall faster than we can reduce demand risks leaving us increasingly dependent on other countries, and at the mercy of global events over which we have no control.

“While the UK continues to use oil and gas, we should make the most of the resources in our control while working for a low-carbon future.”

Voters in the Tory Party’s southern seats could turn on Boris Johnson because they do not believe he’s a “decent man”, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has claimed.

Sir Ed Davey told the Daily Mirror that he believed such voters were up for grabs in the next general election as the Conservatives focus their attention on retaining the “Red Wall” seats in Labour’s former northern heartlands.

“He has been proven to not tell the truth time and time again, I think he plays to people’s prejudices,” Sir Ed said.

“There’s something that a prime minister should have – even if you disagree with them, they should be able to command respect, that they tell the truth, they work hard and they do the very best they can.

“He doesn’t recognise the truth, he’s completely incompetent and I don’t think he works hard.”

He added: “This is what Conservative voters are telling us – they don’t think he’s decent.”

The government must recognise the “severity of the cost of living crisis” facing families following a sudden rise in wholesale gas prices, former Labour leader Ed Miliband has said.

The shadow business secretary said on Saturday that ministers needed to do more to put in place “more robust, resilient and diverse energy infrastructure” across the UK.

“It is a fundamental failure of long-term government planning over the last decade that we are so exposed and vulnerable as a country and it is businesses and consumers that are paying the price,” Mr Miliband wrote on Twitter.

“If we had been investing at sufficient scale in diverse, secure, zero carbon energy supplies and making energy efficiency a much bigger priority, we would not be in such a precarious position.”

He added: “Ministers must recognise the severity of the cost of living crisis now facing families and cancel the cut to Universal Credit.

“They must also ensure security of supply and take the long term action to put in place a much more robust, resilient and diverse energy infrastructure.”

Despite the UK’s role in the new AUKUS alliance, France notably chose not to recall its British ambassador on Friday when it told its envoys for the US and Australia to return home in a major diplomatic rebuke.

The reason for that may be due to the French government not viewing the UK as an active party in the defence contract that sparked the row.

According to a French diplomatic source for Reuters, the UK acted in an “opportunistic” manner in the deal struck between the US and Australia which ended a $40bn submarine contract deal between Canberra and Paris

“The UK accompanied this operation opportunistically,” the French diplomatic source said.

“We do not need to consult in Paris with our ambassador to know what to think and what conclusions to draw from it.”