Month: September 2022

“Maga forces are determined to take this country backwards,” he said in a primetime speech in Pennsylvania.

Top Republican Kevin McCarthy hit back that Mr Biden had “severely wounded America’s soul”.

The duelling speeches come two months before mid-term elections, which will decide the power balance in Washington.

The Democratic president delivered his speech on Thursday night from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the US Declaration of Independence was signed. He picked up his 2020 campaign theme of restoring the “soul of America”.

He said he was not condemning all 74 million Americans who voted for Mr Trump two years ago. “Not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, are Maga Republicans,” he said.

“But there’s no question,” Mr Biden continued, “that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”

The president said Trump supporters thought of the mob who stormed the US Capitol last year as patriots rather than insurrectionists.

“For a long time,” he continued, “we told ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed. But it’s not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us.”

Throughout the speech someone was heard heckling and sounding a bullhorn, according to a BBC reporter at the scene.

Mr Biden addressed the disruption twice, saying the second time: “They’re entitled to be outrageous. This is a democracy.”

The president, who came into office pledging to unite the country, has recently sharpened his rhetoric against supporters of Mr Trump.

Last week Mr Biden equated what he called “extreme” Republicans with “semi-fascism”.

Mr McCarthy, who is Republican minority leader in the US House of Representatives, spoke shortly beforehand from Mr Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The California congressman said the president “has chosen to divide, demean, and disparage his fellow Americans”.

“Why? Simply because they disagree with his policies. That is not leadership.”

He called on Mr Biden to “apologise for slandering tens of millions of Americans as fascists”.

The top Republican said the Biden presidency had saddled America with soaring inflation, open borders, Covid school shutdowns that damaged children’s learning, the “botched” withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the deadliest national crime wave in two decades.

“In the past two years,” he said, “Joe Biden has launched an assault on the soul of America, on its people, on its laws, on its most sacred values. He has launched an assault on our democracy. His policies have severely wounded America’s soul, diminished America’s spirit and betrayed America’s trust.”

For the first time in nearly a year, the president’s political fortunes appear to be on an upswing. His approval ratings have rebounded from truly abysmal to merely bad.

What’s more, Mr Biden’s personal struggles don’t seem to be translating into ballot box poison for Democrats. Time and time again in recent months, Democrats have over-performed in head-to-head matchups with Republicans.

Mr Biden has frequently been a bystander to this reversal of fortune – because of his recent Covid infection and the inherent limits of presidential power – but taking credit for good news out of one’s control has never stopped a politician before.

Thursday’s speech is as much about setting the conditions to get credit if things continue to go well as it is to highlight the threats to American democracy or to frame the debate for the home-stretch mid-term campaigns.

And if things go bad once again, he was going to get the blame anyway.

But voters the BBC heard from in the small town of Newfoundland, 120 miles (190km) north of where President Biden spoke, did not sound worried about a purported threat to democracy.

The price of petrol was the main concern for Americans at the county fair there. Several voters directly contrasted the economy under President Trump with the situation now.

But another self-described lifelong Republican said he would never vote for Mr Trump or any of the candidates he has endorsed.

Mr Trump’s name will not be on any ballots in November, but his presence is inescapable.

He will be headlining a rally in the Scranton area this weekend. Several of the Republican candidates in this state won their nominations thanks to the former president’s support.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon intervened in the pay dispute between unions and council leaders, after a series of bin strikes across Scotland.

Her meetings with council chiefs and union representatives continued late into Thursday night without a deal.

The Scottish government said it had encouraged all sides to “seek a fair and sustainable settlement”.

Ms Sturgeon was trying to broker a deal to stop school and nursery closures next week and another round of strikes by bin workers.

These are due to be held in 19 councils areas from 6-13 September.

On Thursday, union sources said the talks at St Andrew’s House were positive and the discussion was moving in the right direction.

Shona Morrison, president of local government body Cosla, said discussions were still active and she was “really keen to find a solution as soon as we can”.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Detailed negotiations took place on Thursday afternoon and carried on late into the night.

“We are grateful to all parties and would encourage all sides to continue to seek a fair and sustainable settlement.”

Unite, the GMB and Unison had rejected an increased pay offer earlier this week.

Cosla had said it was disappointed that they turned down a deal that was at the “absolute extremes” of affordability.

The unions are seeking an agreement similar to the one made to council workers in England – which included a £1,925 flat rate pay increase.

Cosla’s £1,925 offer matched the deal for council workers in England – but only part of this payment would be consolidated into staff salaries. The rest would be given as one-off cost-of-living payments.

Unions said this meant lower-paid staff would not benefit as much as those on higher wages.

The bin strikes began in Edinburgh on 18 August after unions rejected an initial pay offer equivalent to a 3.5% increase.

The action then escalated last week when workers at a further 20 local authorities walked out despite a revised 5% offer.

This walkout ended on Thursday, with a second wave of strikes due to begin.

The Scottish government has given an additional £140m to councils to help fund a pay deal for council staff.

It has also offered a further £200m over two years to provide the cost-of-living payments to workers earning below £39,000.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said there was no more money for further pay increases as government finances were “finite”.

In a speech at Sizewell, he said he was “confident” the plant would go ahead.

The project, which is being developed by French energy company EDF, is estimated to cost about £20bn overall.

Critics have argued Sizewell C will be hugely expensive and take years to build.

The government gave the go-ahead for the plant in July with negotiations on raising funds continuing.

It is not expected to begin generating electricity until the 2030s.

“We need to pull our national finger out and get on with Sizewell C,” the outgoing PM said.

“That’s why we’re putting £700m into the deal, just part of the £1.7bn of government funding available for developing a large-scale nuclear project to final investment stage in this parliament.

“In the course of the next few weeks I am absolutely confident that it will get over the line.”

Mr Johnson said the war in Ukraine, which has pushed up gas prices, had demonstrated the need for new nuclear generation capacity in the UK.

In his final major policy speech before he leaves office, he argued the reluctance of previous governments to back nuclear energy had helped drive up bills.

The PM described the problem as “myopia”, adding: “It is called short-termism. It is a chronic case of politicians not being able to see beyond the political cycle.”

“Let’s think about the future, let’s think about our kids and our grandchildren, about the next generation,” he said.

“And so I say to you, with the prophetic candour and clarity of one who is about to hand over the torch of office, I say go nuclear and go large and go with Sizewell C.”

Tom Greatrex, head of the Nuclear Industry Association, called the announcement an “important step toward cutting gas, cutting bills and creating stable, secure well-paid jobs for people up and down the country”.

However, former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said that Sizewell C was “massively costly, achingly slow, and carries huge unnecessary risks”.

She added that the “enormous upfront cost” would be passed on to consumers.

The Stop Sizewell campaign group said: “When every penny matters, it’s totally wrong to shackle the next prime minister and billions in taxpayers’ money to this damaging project, whose ballooning cost, lengthy construction, failure-prone technology and long term water supply are so uncertain.”

The group urged Mr Johnson’s successor to review the project and focus on “cheaper, quicker renewables and insulation”.

Labour said the government had an “appalling legacy” on clean power, accusing it of blocking onshore wind and delaying the expansion of solar and nuclear power.

Mr Johnson’s speech was made against the backdrop of an energy crisis which looks set to worsen over the winter, with household bills soaring.

The war in Ukraine has pushed up the price of gas and renewed concerns about energy security.

The crisis is likely to dominate the agenda for whoever succeeds Mr Johnson as PM.

Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss – who pollsters have tipped to win the contest – hinted on Wednesday she would look at providing further support to businesses and households. She also ruled out energy rationing – unlike rival Rishi Sunak, who said it should not be taken off the table.

Today’s speech from Boris Johnson would have been significant had he been able to announce the deal to build a new nuclear power station had been sealed.

But he can’t, and the £700m he is pledging is considered to be too small a sum to guarantee the participation of private investors and EDF.

So why do it? The £700m comes from a £1.7bn fund for nuclear already agreed by the cabinet – so he can’t be accused of entering into new financial arrangements which would bind the hands of his successor.

Whether the project goes ahead will be up to the new occupant of No 10.

But he was issuing a statement of intent – and making it more difficult, should his successor wish, to back out.

While his speech largely blamed Labour for “myopia” on energy, it seemed to contain a coded message to the next PM not to put new domestic projects on hold while dealing with the short term, but severe, challenge of soaring bills.

Both candidates are committed to new nuclear.

But if they are tempted to delay, Boris Johnson can make it clear that is one thing that he can’t be blamed for.

The Sizewell C project is expected to generate about 7% of the UK’s electricity needs and operate for 60 years.

It would be built next to the existing Sizewell B, which is still generating electricity, and Sizewell A, which has been decommissioned.

EDF has said the plant could generate 3.2 gigawatts of electricity, enough for about six million homes.

His legal team said the FBI search this month was “unprecedented, unnecessary, and legally unsupported”.

Their filing comes on the eve of a court hearing about Mr Trump’s call for a third-party official to oversee the evidence taken from Mar-a-Lago.

Officials say the search was necessary due to obstruction by the Trump team.

The 19-page legal filing posted by the former president’s team on Wednesday night did not respond to the justice department claims of obstruction.

Upon leaving office, US presidents must transfer all of their documents and emails to the National Archives, which maintains historic White House records.

Mr Trump’s legal team contended he had been engaged in a “standard give-and-take” with the National Archives over the return of his files when the search warrant was executed.

“There is no question… that the matters before this court centre around the possession, by a president, of his own presidential records,” says the court filing.

His lawyers argue: “The notion that Presidential records would contain sensitive information should have never been cause for alarm.”

The court filing came less than 24 hours after the justice department alleged that Mr Trump’s aides had probably tried to conceal secret documents inside the West Palm Beach estate.

A National Archives team visited the seafront golf club in January and retrieved 15 boxes of White House records that contained “highly classified reports”, said the filing.

The justice department began investigations which found evidence that “dozens of additional boxes” probably containing sensitive material still remained at Mar-a-Lago.

On 3 June, three FBI agents and a justice department lawyer arrived at Mar-a-Lago to collect materials, but were “explicitly prohibited” by Mr Trump’s representatives from searching any boxes inside a storage room at the property, according to the 54-page filing.

Evidence was also found that records were “likely concealed and removed” from the storage area and that efforts were “likely taken” to obstruct the investigation, officials said.

On Thursday, a judge will hold a hearing on whether an independent legal official known as a special master should be appointed to oversee the evidence and determine whether any of it is protected under executive privilege – a rule which shields some presidential documents.

The justice department has argued that a special master is not necessary, given that it says most of the evidence has already been inspected by investigators.

In Wednesday’s court papers, Mr Trump’s lawyers accused the justice department of “gratuitously” including a photograph in its Tuesday filing of “allegedly classified materials” that had been “pulled from a container and spread across the floor for dramatic effect”.

“Left unchecked, the DOJ will impugn, leak, and publicize selective aspects of their investigation,” Mr Trump’s lawyers wrote, arguing why a special master was necessary.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, founder of Ovo Energy, wants the help to taper off for high earners who use more electricity.

He said a plan was needed now before the winter, otherwise the poorest households would be cold and hungry.

The government said it was preparing to deliver any extra support as soon as a new prime minister is in place.

A typical household gas and electricity bill will rise by 80% to £3,549 a year from October, Ofgem announced on Friday.

The UK is already grappling with 10.1% inflation – the fastest price rises in 40 years – driven by soaring food, energy, petrol and diesel costs

The chief executive of Ovo, which has 4.5 million customers, has published a 10-point plan to address the crisis.

The centrepiece is a plan to limit the rise in bills through a government-backed fund which energy companies could borrow from to subsidise bills.

A similar proposal by Scottish Power to freeze energy bills for all at their current level was dismissed by the Treasury for giving the same relief to richer and poorer households.

Under Mr Fitzpatrick’s plan, everyone would get some assistance, but higher earners would see the amount of help taper off as they used more energy.

This is a similar way to how the tax system works with a tax-free allowance and increased levels of taxation for those on higher incomes.

He is also urging the government to bring forward existing support measures.

Currently all households will see £400 knocked off bills over a six-month period starting from October, with households on qualifying benefits getting up to an additional £650.

Mr Fitzpatrick argues those payments should be made in full before Christmas.

He said the higher charges faced by pre-payment customers amounted to a poverty penalty and should be abolished.

Mr Fitzpatrick also advocates abolishing the standing charge – which customers pay regardless of their energy use.

Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss – who pollsters have tipped to win the contest – hinted on Wednesday she would look at providing further support to businesses and households. She also ruled out energy rationing – unlike rival Rishi Sunak, who said it should not be taken off the table.

It comes as a report by think tank the Resolution Foundation suggested typical households are on course to see their real incomes fall by £3,000 over the next two years.

It also forecasted absolute poverty to rise by three million over the next two years, from 11 million in 2021-22 to 14 million in 2023-24. Absolute poverty is when household income is below a certain level that is necessary to meet basic living standards including food, housing and healthcare.

Lalitha Try, researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said: “With high inflation likely to stay with us for much of next year, the outlook for living standards is frankly terrifying.

“No responsible government could accept such an outlook, so radical policy action is required to address it. We are going to need an energy support package worth tens of billions of pounds, coupled with increasing benefits next year by October’s inflation rate.”

Meanwhile, growing up in cold homes will have “dangerous consequences” for many children now and into adulthood, a review by the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE) suggested.

IHE director Professor Michael Marmot warned thousands of extra deaths could occur and the health and development of up to 10 million children could be affected directly or indirectly.

Last winter in England there were an estimated 63,000 excess deaths, including deaths from coronavirus, with around 6,000 estimated to be as a result of fuel poverty. The IHE said it fears numbers this winter will be “much higher”.

And the National Housing Federation is urging ministers to help around 400,000 households in England whose heating costs are not covered by the energy price cap. It says many of those who are losing out are elderly or disabled and live in sheltered housing complexes.

Mr Fitzpatrick said helping low income families with energy bills “has to be the first order of business” for the new Conservative leader.

He said: “If we don’t use every available moment over the next 12 weeks to solve this, we are going to see a winter like never before with people going hungry and going cold and the NHS being overwhelmed by the health impacts of the energy crisis.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Health said: “As the public would rightly expect, we are working closely with the NHS to ensure we are ready for extra pressures this winter, including providing an extra £79 million last year to significantly expand our mental health services, enabling more children and young people to get help.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said there was “almost nothing that we can do right now that’s going to be in time for 1 October when prices go up.”

There were lots of short, medium and long-term changes to the energy system that would make it work better for customers, he said.

“It is incredibly important that we have a plan that will get us through the winter no matter what. We can’t wait for the cold weather to come to try to figure out what we’re going to do about it.”

Mr Fitzpatrick also wants to create a “national obsession” with energy efficiency including a medium term plan to insulate the UK’s energy-leaky homes.

Longer term, he suggests the UK should establish a single strategic buyer for all the UK’s energy needs.

He argued this would mean the UK could secure its energy on a multi-year basis rather than individual companies buying their energy three to six months in advance.

“Over the past 10 years, the free market approach has worked to deliver affordable energy for the UK but we should accept that the next 10 years are going to look very different,” he said.

“We are entering into an era of global competition to secure energy supplies and we need to think strategically, long term and at a national level.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business said: “Officials are making the appropriate preparations in order to ensure that any additional support or commitments on cost of living can be delivered as quickly as possible when the new prime minister is in place.”

The foreign secretary also hinted she would look at providing further support to businesses and households with soaring energy costs.

She also ruled out energy rationing – unlike her rival Rishi Sunak, who said it should not be taken off the table.

The pair were speaking at the final hustings of the leadership contest, with the winner announced next week.

Economic questions have dominated the race in recent weeks, amid rising inflation and soaring energy costs for households and firms.

Both candidates have come under pressure to spell out what they would do to help with energy if they replace Boris Johnson in Downing Street.

Ms Truss, tipped by pollsters as the favourite in the contest, has said she would reverse April’s National Insurance rise and temporarily ditch energy levies to help people cope with increased costs.

She has not given details of any further help for households, but said her chancellor would look to “address the issue of household support” in an emergency Budget she would reportedly hold next month.

Speaking at the hustings in London, the last and twelfth of the contest, she said she would “absolutely be looking to act on business energy costs”.

Asked if she could pledge not to introduce new taxes if she wins power, she replied: “Yes, no new taxes.”

She also ruled out any new windfall tax on energy firm profits – something demanded by opposition parties to pay for support to help households with bills.

Asked whether he would do the same, Mr Sunak – who introduced such a tax as chancellor in May – did not say whether he would extend it.

But he said it had been “absolutely the right thing” to introduce a windfall tax when he did, saying firms had made billions in profits due to the effect on energy markets of the war in Ukraine.

Asked if he would rule out energy rationing, he replied: “We shouldn’t rule anything out, because the challenges that we face with this crisis are significant.”

Ms Truss also said she would take action to boost the UK’s domestic energy supplies, saying “short-term decisions” had left the UK “dependent on the global energy price”.

She also said she would conduct a “full review of our tax system” – including business rates paid by firms and the tax burden on families.

Elsewhere at the London hustings:

Mr Johnson’s successor will be announced on Monday, and he or she will then take over as the new occupant in Downing Street the next day.

In a break with tradition, the winner will travel to Balmoral Castle in Scotland to be appointed by the Queen. She has been suffering from mobility issues and it is understood the change was made to prevent the need for any last-minute rearrangements.