Dear John,

Just when we thought Wesminster might start to wind down ahead of Christmas, we were proved wrong. No rest for the wicked and all that. So let’s dive straight in.

The wrong crisis or the wrong Prime Minister?

The Covid Inquiry shot to the top of the news agenda this week with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s  highly anticipated evidence. 

In a first, and probably last, for Johnson, he arrived early, sneaking into the inquiry at the crack of dawn to avoid facing families who had lost loved ones during the Pandemic. However, as he quickly found out from within the courtroom - facing signs that read “the dead can’t hear your apologies” - he couldn’t hide from the devastating consequences of his actions for long. 

What followed over the next two days was exactly what we expected from Johnson. There were bumbling obfuscations, awkward denials, an extraordinary - not to mention convenient - degree of amnesia and, of course, a lot of lying. 

In a particularly humiliating moment, Johnson claimed nobody told him directly that there was a problem with the working environment in his administration, only then to be read a WhatsApp telling him directly that nobody wanted to work for him. Ouch.

But if there is one real take-away from the past two days, it is that three years on, Johnson still either doesn’t understand the gravity of his catastrophic mismanagement, or just doesn't care. For when pressed to specify what he was apologising for, he seemed to draw a blank. 

The Price of Love

Rivalling the Covid Inquiry for this week’s front pages was the Government’s 5-point plan to bring down legal migration, which included raising the salary threshold for a spousal visa from £18,600 to a whopping £38,700. 

This cruel measure - which will apply to those yet to come and those already here - means that three quarters of Britons are now officially too poor to marry a foreigner. But as Tom Peck points out, this won’t matter to the Cabinet, all of whom comfortably make enough money to marry who they want. Thank god for that! As usual, it’s one rule for us and another for them.

The 5-point plan also included a measure to raise the minimum salary for a skilled worker visa (for those not in health or social care), from £26,200 to £38,700; a problematic policy that will make it increasingly difficult to recruit the people we so desperately need for roles like teachers and construction workers. 

When will the Government be straight with the public, that migration is not only good for the UK, but essential?

Mad about migration

And that wasn’t all on the migration front this week. In a last ditch effort to revive the Government’s unlawful Rwanda plan, Sunak unveiled his new Rwanda Migrant Bill. 

Published on Wednesday evening, the Bill declares Rwanda a safe country and overrides parts of the Human Rights Act in an attempt to avoid blanket legal challenges from domestic courts. But as our CEO Naomi Smith points out, “the Government can’t pick and choose when human rights apply. We either all have them at all times, or no one does.”

To make matters worse, on Thursday night the Home Office admitted that the cost of the policy had doubled - with the UK paying Rwanda £100 million this year, on top of £140 million taxpayers have already forked out and £50 million agreed next year. Some seriously scandalous spending if you ask me.

A Rash Resignation

Rishi’s Bill didn’t go down well with many. But in particular, with his best - soon to be former - pal Robert Jenrick who resigned as Immigration Minister in protest, arguing that the Bill’s contents were a “triumph of hope over experience” and didn’t go far enough.

Jenrick’s resignation - a serious blow to the PM’s authority - has led MPs on the right to mull their next steps, and much of the press to speculate that Sunak could be facing a serious challenge to his leadership. 

Many are now betting on an earlier rather than later general election. Either way, you can make sure you’re prepared when the time comes by signing up to get alerts for the launch of our tactical voting campaign, Get Voting.

Brexit Corner

And now for some more cheerful news; much needed after an otherwise rather gloomy week.

Hurrah for Horizon: On Monday, the UK and EU finally signed the agreement confirming the UK’s association to the EU’s science research programme, Horizon Europe. A  win-win for both sides.

Ecstatic for EVs: After months of lobbying by both industry and the UK Government, the European Commission has proposed to delay the introduction of tariffs on electric vehicles traded between the UK and EU by three years. 

Opportunities galore: On Tuesday the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly adopted a recommendation on Youth Mobility Schemes. 

Psst..The introduction of a new Youth Mobility Visa scheme with the EU is one of the key recommendations made by the UK Trade and Business Commission in their report published in May this year. 

Tom’s Top Tips: As B4B’s Director of Policy and Research, Tom Brufatto explained,  “having recognised the mutual cultural, social and economic benefits that a youth mobility scheme would bring, it is vital this is now formalised as part of a rapprochement of relations with our european neighbours.” 

No more politicians

Finishing on a high for once! This week Ant and Dec backed calls for next year’s I’m a Celeb to be free of populist politicians like Farage. 

After over 5,000 B4B supporters wrote to the pair directly to register their opposition to the booking - and lost the popular show millions of viewers - Ant and Dec went on Instagram Live to declare: “I think we do a year without any politicians”...”agreed, agreed, agreed”. 

A big thank you to all those who got involved.

And that’s all we have time for this week. Make sure you catch next week’s instalment of Weekend Wire from my fellow Press Manager Cameron. 

Until next time. 

Martha Harrison 
Press Manager (print/online)
Best for Britain