Brexit news – latest : Labour vow to ‘relax immigration rules’ as Rishi Sunak sticks by swiss style EU deal

Royal Mail workers will hold a series of meetings today to vote on whether they have confidence in the company’s chief executive ahead of fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is organising meetings where its members will be asked to vote on whether they have confidence in the way the company is being managed.

The CWU said Royal Mail Group’s senior management have presented a “take-it-or-leave-it” proposal, which was rejected by the union’s national leadership, reported PA.

The union’s national postal executive has made proposals to help resolve the dispute, including an improved 18-month pay deal, a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies and a joint review of agreements and the relationship between the CWU and Royal Mail Group.

CWU members will be striking on Thursday and Friday ahead of more walkouts next month.

A CWU spokesperson said: “Britain’s postal workers are hard working, decent people – every day, they go the extra mile in keeping our country connected and safe.

“They don’t deserve to have their pay smashed, their conditions ripped up and their lives wrecked by Simon Thompson, who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

Schools struggling with teacher recruitment issues are having to use non-specialists for maths, physics and language lessons, a report has found.

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said the use of non-specialist teachers in schools struggling with recruitment could have a negative impact on learning for pupils.

The research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found that the use of non-specialists was more prevalent in schools facing teacher supply challenges.

MPs have criticised both the FA and FIFA after England and Wales decided not to wear OneLove armbands at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar over the threat of sporting sanctions.

Politicians and fans groups have also expressed “contempt” for FIFA after plans to wear the armbands were dropped under threat of yellow cards for captains Harry Kane and Gareth Bale.

Former Tory minister Simon Clarke said: “The England or Welsh captains being ordered to leave the pitch over a moral stance would have been the defining image of this World Cup. A challenge ducked by FA and FA Wales.”

My colleague Adam Forrest reports:

Conservative MP David Warburton has been found to have breached code of conduct rules over a £150,000 loan he received from Russian-born businessman Roman Joukovski.

The MP, currently suspended by the Tories, failed to properly register the loan received via an off-shore trust in the Seychelles, according to the commissioner for parliamentary standards Kathryn Stone.

The watchdog said he also failed to declare the loan when lobbying in favour of Mr Joukovski in a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

An Icelandic fish company has announced plans to “exit” from the UK market, citing Brexit red tape and the impact of Covid.

Iceland Seafood UK said its processing factory in Grimsby, employing almost 200 people, was no longer deemed “a strategic fit” for the company.

The potential job losses follow a merger of its Bradford operation into the Grimsby site as part of a decision to invest in new facilities in March 2020.

Labour’s shadow levelling-up secretary said the government must end the “Hunger Games style competition” for funds – calling Mr Gove’s levelling up department the “biggest loser” from the autumn Budget.

“Only a third of the levelling up funds have been allocated and after wasting our time with the short-lived investment zones, the second round is months behind schedule,” Ms Nandy said.

My colleague Adam Forrest has more:

Rishi Sunak is registered with a private GP practice that guarantees same-day appointments for all patients with urgent concerns, according to reports.

The prime minister last week refused to say whether he had private healthcare, as he thought it was “not appropriate” to talk “about one’s family’s healthcare”.

But The Guardian reports that he is registered with a west London clinic which charges £250 for a half-hour consultation and offers appointments in the evenings and at weekends.

The Conservative party will be “destroyed” at the next election if it pursues a so-called Swiss-style Brexit, Nigel Farage has said.

The former Ukip leader said “Remainers” were back in control of the Conservative Party and that “Brexit has been betrayed already to a certain extent”.

Mr Farage was responding to reports over the weekend that some in government want to bring the UK closer into the EU’s orbit and build a relationship resembling the one Switzerland has.

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:

Labour will relax immigration rules to boost growth in a renewed push for business support, Sir Keir Starmer is set to say, after Rishi Sunak rebuffed the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) call for greater access to overseas workers.

In a speech to business leaders on Tuesday, the Labour leader will put his party at odds with the government on the key battleground issue, saying his government would be “pragmatic” on migrant workers as part of a national “strategy for growth”.

But he will tell the CBI that any easing of restrictions must be matched by commitments from employers on better training, pay and conditions for homegrown staff – to end the “cheap labour” model for growth and wean Britain off its “immigration dependency”.

Read the details in this joint report from Andrew Woodcock and Adam Forrest: