Swinney says he will 'of course' work with Burnham on devolution
We should be hearing from Andy Burnham shortly, as Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, said he will “of course” work with the prime minister if he wants to devolve more powers to Scotland.
“The prime minister is very welcome in Scotland and I’ll be interested to hear what he’s got to say,” the SNP leader said, according to the Press Association.
He added: “I’ve got a track record throughout my political life of working to make sure as many powers as possible are exercised here in Scotland.”
Scotland first minister John Swinney at the SNP annual conference on Thursday. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is also in Scotland today, where she is visiting the Malcolm Group logistics company near Glasgow and browsing its collection of trucks. Here she is in front of one such truck adorned with a giant mural of Braveheart:
Leader of the Conservative party Kemi Badenoch on a visit to the Malcolm Group in Paisley, Scotland. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
Also today, the Ofsted schools inspectorate has offered schools a new complaints review service, in an effort to placate critics who say its inspections place headteachers and staff in England under immense stress and excessive workloads.
Ofsted’s proposal unveiled today comes after the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the National Governors Association (NGA) separately called for changes in Ofsted’s leadership and culture.
The two groups were adding their voices to those calling for an overhaul of Ofsted and its school inspection regime, including the Association of School and College Leaders and the National Education Union.
In the wake of the death of headteacher Ruth Perry after an Ofsted inspection, Labour pledged to reform school inspections. But the new framework introduced by Ofsted last year has been criticised for making matters worse.
A survey by the NGA reported one governor as saying they saw their school’s senior staff “break down routinely throughout the two days” of inspection, while another said: “The outcome was fair but the process was brutal.”
The NAHT’s national executive said in a statement:
This is no longer about further amendment to a bankrupt framework.
The leadership and culture of Ofsted must change so that the government and the sector can engage, in an atmosphere of restored trust and good faith, to create an inspection system that is trusted by the sector, valued by parents and the government.”
Ofsted said it will establish the new independent complaints review next year to hear challenges from schools dissatisfied with the outcomes of Ofsted’s existing internal complaints service.
But Andy Jordan, the Association of School and College Leaders’ inspection and accountability specialist, said “much more” needs to be done to restore confidence in Ofsted.
“It’s important to realise that this will not address the central issue of why so many schools feel compelled to complain in the first place,” he said.
Scottish independence is “bigger than any party”, the Scottish Green co-leader, Gillian Mackay, said. But she cautioned that votes from Green and SNP supporters will not be enough to win a second referendum.
Mackay is due to speak at the SNP’s annual party conference in Aberdeen tomorrow on a panel discussion about Scottish independence, which has not gone down well with some SNP members, according to the Press Association.
Gillian Mackay co-leader of the Scottish Greens, will address the SNP conference on Saturday. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
Still, Mackay said she was “delighted” to be speaking at the SNP conference, adding she would be “discussing how we can best take the independence movement forward”.
But she stressed: “Independence is bigger than any party. SNP supporters and Green supporters alone are not enough to secure a sustained pro-independence majority and to secure the referendum that we need.
“We need to reach beyond our own parties, bring more people with us and build the broadest possible movement for Scotland’s right to choose our own future.”
John Healey is poised to tax Britain’s banks in his 28 October budget, to help offset the damage inflicted on the public finances by war in the Middle East, the Guardian understands.
The chancellor is in Bangkok, where the International Monetary Fund has praised the UK’s progress towards balancing the books, urging him to “stay the course”.
To keep the Treasury’s deficit reduction plans on track in the face of rising government borrowing costs, the Guardian understands Healey has decided to tap the financial sector for additional revenue.
One option understood to be under discussion – reversing cuts to the bank surcharge made by Jeremy Hunt – would raise upwards of £2bn a year.
Lenders have been logging strong earnings on the back of rising interest rates, with the UK’s four largest lenders – HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group – alone having generated £200bn in pre-tax profits over the past five years.
Thinktanks and trade unions have repeatedly urged Healey to tax Britain’s banks more heavily, an option considered but rejected by his predecessor Rachel Reeves, who was wary of deterring future investment.
Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said: “Britain’s big four banks are making a billion pounds a week, while bonuses have hit a post-crash record. These are bumper profits, driven by high interest rates and households’ mortgage misery. It’s time to make sure banks pay their fair share.”
Burnham in Scotland as SNP minister accuses PM of 'hypocrisy' over indyref stance
Good morning and welcome to our UK politics live blog. Prime minister Andy Burnham is in Scotland today where he is expected to invite Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, to collaborate on devolving decision-making powers away from both Westminster and Holyrood and pushing control further down to Scottish regions and towns.
The newswires have reported an extract of his speech, which he is expected to deliver in Lanarkshire around midday:
During my first week in office, I told the first minister that I wanted to work with him to spread opportunities to communities across Scotland’s regions and cities.
Through No10 North, we are rewiring the state and I want to make sure regions in Scotland are fully part of this.
This is me making an offer to the Scottish government. With us working together, there is no limit to what we can achieve for the Scottish people.”
Burnham’s visit coincides with the SNP’s annual party conference in Aberdeen, which the party has said will launch the biggest pro-independence campaign since the 2014 referendum.
Andy Burnham’s visit to Scotland coincides with the SNP’s annual party conference in Aberdeen. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
The prime minister has repeatedly ruled out another independence referendum, but he has been accused of hypocrisy by the SNP for proposing to reopen the debate on Brexit and re-examining the UK’s relationship with the EU.
“That hypocrisy is there for all to see and I think the Scottish electorate will take a pretty dim view of it,” SNP minister Stephen Flynn told the Press Association.
He added: “Mr Burnham wants power pushed out of Westminster – so do we.
“But let’s make sure that power and that decision making is taken by the Scottish people and they have the opportunity to do so in an independence referendum.”
In other news:
Young people who rely on benefits will be given less money in exchange for more intensive health and employment support under plans for a separate youth welfare system, the Financial Times reported. Alan Milburn, who is leading a major review into Britain’s youth jobs crisis, will recommend benefits for young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) be delivered through a different process, sources told the newspaper.
Reform’s Robert Jenrick has responded to claims made by his colleague Sarah Pochin that the party is “chauvinistic”, after she was caught by an undercover ITV news reporter complaining about the party’s culture. “That’s not my experience of Reform,” Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
John Healey is planning to increase taxes on the UK banking sector in his 28 October budget, the Guardian understands. One option on the table is reversing former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s 2023 cut to the bank profit surcharge, from 3% back to 8%. You can read more on this story here: