Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 25 September 2022

1. Truss aide paid through lobby firm

The prime minister’s chief of staff is being paid through his lobbying company in a “highly unusual arrangement,” said The Sunday Times. Mark Fullbrook is refusing to explain the agreement that lets him direct government strategy without being directly employed by the government, but insists he is not being paid through his company for tax reasons and has obtained no tax benefit from the arrangement. A Whitehall source said it was “unheard of” for a No 10 official of his stature to be employed in this way.

2. Truss wants more immigration

Liz Truss is facing cabinet dissent as she prepares to increase immigration to boost economic growth. The new PM wants to raise the cap on seasonal agricultural workers and make changes to the shortage occupations list, which will allow key sectors to recruit more overseas staff. She has told colleagues that she is keen to recruit overseas broadband engineers and wants to ease the English-language requirement to enable more foreign workers to qualify for visas. However, said The Sunday Times, the proposed easing of immigration restrictions faces strong resistance from cabinet Brexiteers.

3. Starmer pledges zero carbon by 2030

Sir Keir Starmer said achieving zero carbon energy by 2030 will be a top priority if he wins the next general election. The Labour leader has set out plans to make the UK the first major economy in the world to generate all of its electricity without using fossil fuels, claiming it would boost economic growth, create more than 200,000 jobs and cut energy bills for good. Writing for The Observer, he said the move would release the British people from the mercy of “dictators” such as Russian president Vladimir Putin.

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4. Lynch hopeful after meeting minister

Mick Lynch has said talks with the new transport secretary were a “good start” to solve issues that have led to a series of strikes on the railways. Anne-Marie Trevelyan held talks with Lynch and Aslef’s Mick Whelan last week, within days of getting the job, in a change of approach from her predecessor, Grant Shapps, who refused to meet union leaders. “That’s a good start but we have got to see some concrete change,” said Lynch.

5. Truss warned she’ll lose ‘red wall’

Liz Truss has been warned that she risks losing “red wall” voters as she pursues “cavalier” tax cuts. After it was revealed that Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget disproportionately benefitted traditional Conservative heartlands, several Tories said they feared the new PM has dropped the levelling up agenda. Households in London and south-east England will gain three times as much as those in the north from tax cuts next year, according to the Resolution Foundation, but Chris Philp, chief secretary to the Treasury, said the government was not concerned about the “politics of envy”.

6. Hundreds of arrests in Russia

More than 730 people have been arrested in Russia after protests against the new “partial mobilisation” continue across the country, said independent rights OVD-Info. Widespread demonstrations have broken out since Vladimir Putin announced plans to draft 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine, noted the BBC. A new law signed by Putin says troops who refuse to fight, desert, disobey or surrender to the enemy could now face a jail sentence of up to 10 years, according to reports in Russia.

7. ‘Baby island’ in Pacific

A ‘baby’ island has appeared in the Pacific Ocean after an underwater volcano erupted. Just eleven hours after the volcano began to erupt, a new island emerged above the water’s surface in the Central Tonga area. On September 14, researchers at Tonga Geological Services estimated the island covered just 4,000 square meters - around one acre, but within a week it had grown to cover 24,000 square meters, or around six acres. However, said NASA, islands created by underwater volcanoes “are often short-lived”.

8. Pincher won’t face watchdog

Chris Pincher, the former deputy chief whip at the heart of the scandal that led to the downfall of Boris Johnson, will not be investigated by the parliamentary watchdog over claims that he groped a young man. Johnson was forced to quit as PM in July after more than 50 MPs, including Rishi Sunak, his chancellor, and Sajid Javid, his health secretary, resigned from government in the wake of the affair. However, parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme has dismissed the victim’s complaint against Pincher because the alleged incident did not occur on the parliamentary estate.

9. North Korea fires missile

North Korea has fired a short-range ballistic missile on towards its eastern seas. South Korea said the missile launched from the western inland town of Taechon flew 600km (370 miles) cross-country on a maximum altitude of 60km (37 miles) before landing in waters off North Korea’s eastern coast. It described the launch as “an act of grave provocation that threatens the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and international community”. The Observer said the launch extended “a provocative streak in weapons testing”.

10. Nostradamus Queen prediction boosts sales

A book about Nostradamus has topped bestseller charts after people noted his prophecy of the Queen’s death. Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies for the Future, by Mario Reading, has topped the general paperbacks chart after selling almost 8,000 copies in the week of the monarch’s death. In the book, published in 2006, Reading says Nostradamus said” “Queen Elizabeth II will die, circa 2022, at the age of around 96”. Nostradamus, born in Provence in 1503, is said to have predicted the Great Fire of London and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.