Nandy denies government pressured into grooming gang review by social media
Lisa Nandy has claimed “we’re not a government that governs by social media” despite it appearing that home secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday announced an urgent national review of the scale of grooming gangs after pressure on internet platforms driven by US-based tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, the culture secretary said:
We’re not a government that governs by social media. We govern for the real world.
Victims have been warning over and over again, telling the same story about the systems that were supposed to protect them, protecting themselves, and young women who weren’t believed because they were young, they were female, and they were working-class.
We know what needs to be done, and as a government we are wasting no time in getting on and making sure that we deliver for those young women.
Nandy said there was “far too much heat on social media [and] not enough light,” adding “I don’t agree for a moment that this government is being driven by what happens on social media.”
On Thursday, Cooper said Louise Casey, who produced a report into sexual abuse in Rotherham, would lead a three-month review into what was known about the scale and extent of grooming gangs.
Cooper said Casey would examine data not available to the initial national inquiry into gangs led by Prof Alexis Jay, and would look into the ethnicity and demographics of abusers and victims, as well as “the cultural and societal drivers for this type of offending, including amongst different ethnic groups”.
Key events
Mark Sweney
The government has announced a £60m funding package for the creative industries, including investment in British film and TV, grass roots music and start-up video game companies.
The government said that the investment, £40m of which will be spent over the next financial year, will benefit hundreds of creative businesses “marking the first step of the government’s sector plan for the creative industries.
The announcement was made as Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, is holding a creative industries summit in Gatehead attended by more than 250 businesses and cultural leaders.
The government has also formally announced the creation of a Soft Power Council, which will advise the government on driving growth and investment at home and abroad.
The Liberal Democrats have attacked Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch over her comments on potential means-testing of pensions.
When asked during an LBC phone-in whether she would “look at” the triple lock, Badenoch said: “We’re going to look at means testing. Means testing is something which we don’t do properly here.”
Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson, said “bungling Badenoch” had come up with a policy of slashing the state pension. “The Conservatives urgently need to clarify what she meant and how many pensioners would lose out,” she said. “The Liberal Democrats are proud we introduced the triple lock and will fight tooth and nail against Conservative attempts to weaken it.”
Promoting a poster of Badenoch also highlighting her previous comments on maternity pay and support for talking points raised on social media by US-based tech billionaire Elon Musk, a Liberal Democrat source said:
First Kemi Badenoch came for the mothers and now she has set her sights on the grandmothers.
Millions of pensioners felt betrayed by Labour’s cut to the winter fuel payment, now it’s clear their pensions aren’t safe with the Conservatives.
We will be reminding pensioners at every opportunity that Kemi Badenoch wants to take an axe to the triple lock.
Nigel Huddleston, the co-chair of the Conservatives, was representing the party on the media round this morning, and he accused Labour of lying to the public at the general election last year.
Speaking on Sky News, the MP for Droitwich and Evesham said:
[Labour] deceived the British public by going back to type of absolute massive increases in taxing and massive increases in spending. They didn’t tell the British public that in advance of the election.
And this is key to British politics at the moment. We understand why the British public were angry with us at the last election and booted us out. The problem is they are now angry with Labour as well, because they lied to the British public, and they are not doing the things they said before the election. They’ve gone back to type.
So the British public are still angry with us, and they’re angry with Labour, and there’s other parties out there promising things that are really popular.
Over the next few months and years, we need to build our credibility, get the British public back on our side by being honest and straight with them and developing policies that are credible, not just saying popular things.
Daniel Boffey
A ban on UK employers using non-disclosure agreements to hush up cases of sexual misconduct and harassment is being considered as part of the government’s overhaul of employment rights.
After a slew of high-profile cases and years of campaigning by activists, it is understood that ministers are prepared to back a change in the law to prohibit the misuse of gagging clauses.
Labour’s flagship employment rights bill does not contain provisions on NDAs but Justin Madders, the workers’ rights minister, has indicated the government is ready to amend the legislation in the coming months.
A change to the bill proposed by the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran was rejected this week but the minister told a parliamentary committee that the government wanted to “look more closely at what we can do in this area”.
Madders said: “I have met some of the interested parties and there are other proposals to deal with this issue that might be slightly more workable than those in the new clause proposed by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.”
Read more of Daniel Boffey’s report here: Labour considering ban on use of NDAs to hush up sexual misconduct at work
The House of Commons is sitting today, but as it is a Friday the items down to be debated are all private members’ bills. Included on the list are Labour MP Sarah Owen’s attempt to amend legislation around fireworks in Great Britain, and Conservative MP Christopher Chope’s bill to privatise the BBC.
Nandy defends Starmer over far-right bandwagon grooming gang comments
During her interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning, culture secretary Lisa Nandy robustly defended prime minister Keir Starmer’s comments about politicians amplifying the far-right over grooming and rape gangs.
In a terse exchange, presenter Nick Robinson said to her “Keir Starmer originally said no need for any inquiries. In fact, he insulted the people who were calling for them”.”
Nandy replied “I really reject the idea that the Prime Minister insulted people who were calling for inquiries. He was making a very specific point about people who were jumping on bandwagons and reacting to noise on social media rather than putting victims first. And I utterly stand by him on that.”
She continued, with reference to Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch in particular, saying:
The fact is that if you, say for eight years, you don’t raise once the issue of a national inquiry, and actually you’re part of a government that welcomes the Prof Alexis Jay inquiry, that says that that is sufficient, and then a few months later, when you’re in opposition, change your mind because of things that are happening on social media, I would say that is opportunist, and I don’t think it’s putting the victims first.
As a reminder, Starmer’s exact words were:
What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention, when those politicians sat in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it. Now, so desperate for attention that they’re amplifying what the far-right is saying.
Nandy: BBC licence fee income is ‘insufficient’ and ministers considering ‘whole range of alternatives’
Lisa Nandy has said government ministers are considering a “whole range of alternatives” to the BBC licence fee, criticising it as “regressive” but also saying it raises “insufficient money to support the BBC.”
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Nandy appeared to rule out raising money for the BBC from general taxation. She said the licence fee was “not only insufficient, it’s raising insufficient money to support the BBC, but it also is deeply regressive.”
The culture secretary continued:
We’ve seen far too many women prosecuted over recent years for being unable to pay it, and it’s a flat fee that means that poorer people pay proportionately more than anybody else. I think that doesn’t help the BBC, it doesn’t help the government, and it doesn’t help people in this country.
PA Media reports Nandy said she has “already started initial discussions with the BBC leadership about the charter review”, that she hopes will “future proof our national broadcaster until well into the latter half of this century. I think the one that has been speculated about is general taxation. That’s not something that we are considering.”
The BBC has stated that the BBC’s total income from the licence fee in 2023 was £3.74bn, which accounted for about 65% of the a total income of £5.73bn.
Rowena Mason
Rowena Mason is the Guardian’s Whitehall editor
Rachel Reeves has said she is not going to let her critics get her down after a bruising week of speculation about whether she could be ousted as chancellor.
Reeves said she is qualified for the job and has the ideas to turn things around, amid worries about falling business confidence and the rising cost of government borrowing.
“I haven’t taken it personally this week. It’s political,” she said on the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson. “Some people don’t want me to succeed. Some people don’t want this government to succeed. That’s fair enough. That’s their prerogative. But I’m not going to let them get me down. I’m not going to let them stop me from doing what this government has got a mandate to do, and that is to grow the economy, to make working people better off.
“People have been through a tough time the last few years. The cost of living crisis has taken its toll. Our economy has not been competitive enough. People’s wages have stagnated. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Read more of Rowena Mason’s report here: I won’t let critics get to me, says Reeves after speculation about her future
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy this morning said the government would accept a “majority” of the recommendations set out by Prof Alexis Jay aimed at preventing future child sexual abuse, but stated that “There are a few where we looking at whether at the way in which we implement them.”
Ministers have previously asserted that the government was planning to implement the 20 recommendations “in full.”
Nandy denies government pressured into grooming gang review by social media
Lisa Nandy has claimed “we’re not a government that governs by social media” despite it appearing that home secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday announced an urgent national review of the scale of grooming gangs after pressure on internet platforms driven by US-based tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, the culture secretary said:
We’re not a government that governs by social media. We govern for the real world.
Victims have been warning over and over again, telling the same story about the systems that were supposed to protect them, protecting themselves, and young women who weren’t believed because they were young, they were female, and they were working-class.
We know what needs to be done, and as a government we are wasting no time in getting on and making sure that we deliver for those young women.
Nandy said there was “far too much heat on social media [and] not enough light,” adding “I don’t agree for a moment that this government is being driven by what happens on social media.”
On Thursday, Cooper said Louise Casey, who produced a report into sexual abuse in Rotherham, would lead a three-month review into what was known about the scale and extent of grooming gangs.
Cooper said Casey would examine data not available to the initial national inquiry into gangs led by Prof Alexis Jay, and would look into the ethnicity and demographics of abusers and victims, as well as “the cultural and societal drivers for this type of offending, including amongst different ethnic groups”.
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics. Here are your headlines.
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Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has defended the government decision to call a three-month review into what was known about the scale and extent of grooming and rape gangs, and said “We’re not a government that governs by social media”
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On the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast the chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is not going to let her critics get her down
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Opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has criticised the Labour government decision to remove the winter fuel payment in favour of a means-tested benefit, has said the Tories will consider means testing the triple-lock on pensions
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Retailers in Great Britain experienced a surprise fall in sales last month, as supermarkets and food stores had their worst Christmas since 2013, according to official figures
Prime minister Keir Starmer is expected to be in Poland. Former business secretary and now Conservative peer Alok Sharma is appearing at the Covid inquiry.
It is Martin Belam with you today. You can reach me on email at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
