Vital bus services will be protected from sudden cuts under new legislation, theDepartment for Transport(DfT)has announced. As PA Media reports, councils in England will put strict requirements in place before “socially necessary” routes can be changed or cancelled, the department said. PA says:
The “deep-rooted, systemic” problems in the UK water industry are the fault of companies, the government and industry regulators, according to a much-anticipated review, which was immediately criticised for failing to recommend bold action by sewage pollution campaigners.Sandra Lavillehas the story here.
Good morning. Public spending is still the dominant issue at Westminster, with the spending review taking place a week tomorrow, and debate still raging about how the government will fund its defence and welfare plans (although the debate is now not so much whether there will be tax rises, ratherhow big they will be). But the Conservatives are now trying to revive a culture war issue, accusing Labour of in effect using blasphemy legislation to protect Islam.
Kemi Badenochhas been responding to the case of Hamit Coskun, who was found guilty and fined £240 yesterday for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he set fire to a Qur’an outside the Turkish consulate inLondon.Sammy Gescoylerhas the story here.
As Sammy reports, the judge,John McGarva, said that Coskun’s actions were “highly provocative” and said he was “motivated at least in part by a hatred of Muslims”.
But, incommentswritten up supportively by the Daily Mail intheir splash,Badenochsaid the case should go to appeal. She said:
Not for the first time,Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has pushed this even further,telling the Daily Telegraph:
John Healey, the defence secretary, was on media round duty for the government this morning. Asked about the Tory claims by Sky News, Healey did not want to talk about the case itself, saying this was a matter for the courts. But he rejected the claim that blasphemy laws were coming back,telling Sky:
TheNational Secular Societyis backing Coskun, andHumanists UKhave also said they are concerned about yesterday’s verdict.
But, in his ruling, the judge said that burning a religious book and making criticism of Islam or the Qur’an are “not necessarily disorderly”.McGarvawent on: “What made [Coskun’s] conduct disorderly was the timing and location of the conduct and that all this was accompanied by abusive language.”
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am:Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.
10.15am:Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, gives evidence to the Treasury committee.
11.30am:Shabana Mahmood, justice secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Noon:Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm:Yvette Cooper, home secretary, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
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