Rishi Sunak news latest: Therese Coffey defends PM’s climate summit snub as ‘standard practice’

The security services still trust newly-reinstated home secretary Suella Braverman, a security source has said – despite her mishandling of sensitive documents and embroilment in another leak inquiry

The home secretary will still be receiving intelligence briefings from MI5 despite ex-Home Secretary Lord Blunkett and a host of Tory MPs speaking out with concerns over her reappointment just six days after she resigned for sending sensitive government information via her personal email account.

A security source told the Times that it was “completely untrue” that MI5 could withhold information from the Home Secretary and said they had “a strong and trusted working relationship”, adding: “She will continue to receive regular intelligence briefings.”

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone has the full report:

Pressed on her claim – in defence of Rishi Sunak’s snub – that the “big political” Cop summits generally take place every five years, environment secretary Therese Coffey said that “the annual meetings have always been important”.

“This year in particular we’re seeing also the convention on nature, it’s called the Convention on Biodiversity [Convention on Biological Diversity], as well as one on the illegal trade of endangered species. So there’s a number of different things coming together, so it’s an important year for the environment,” she told Sky News.

“We have held the presidency for the last year, and it’s important that we hand that over for now to Egypt. But we will continue to do as we are doing, working towards different ways of how we meet our carbon budget domestically, but also our support that we give around the world to different countries.”

She added: “And we certainly showed leadership last year when we really set ourselves challenging targets.”

Therese Coffey has refused to be drawn on reports suggesting that Rishi Sunak expand the windfall tax on energy companies – potentially to include renewables firms.

The environment secretary told Sky News: “I’m sure that he is working with his chancellor Jeremy Hunt to explore all the different elements in the run-up to the medium-term fiscal plan, which has been put back by a couple of weeks.”

Pressed on whether she would like to see this happen, she said: “I think I’m not going to get into a discussion about tax because that really is a matter for the chancellor and the prime minister.”

Liz Truss is “enjoying a well-deserved break” after becoming the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister, her former deputy and close political ally Therese Coffey has said.

“I have of course been in touch with Liz. She’s a good friend,” Ms Coffey told Sky News. “She’s with her family. I think she’s enjoying a well-deserved break.”

It is up to the King whether he attends the Cop27 summit in Egypt, the environment secretary Therese Coffey has said, after the former prime minister – and her close political ally – Liz Truss asked the monarch not to do so.

Speaking after Egypt’s lead negotiator Mohamed Nasr told Sky News that Cairo hoped the King would be in attendance, Ms Coffey told the broadcaster: “I’m conscious that King Charles has always taken a very deep interest in the environment and climate change.

“Of course, it would be up to him to decide how he chooses where to put his priorities in his reign as King.”

Asked if she would like to see him attend Cop27, she said: “I think it’s up to him. I know that he takes an interest in this particular issue, but it’s up to him”, adding: “Normally the big Cops tend to be every five years.

“The United Kingdom hosted that last year where we had attendance for many members of the royal family, but in between it tends to be more of a – I’m not going to say low key – but not quite the same level of heads of state and prime ministers attending.”

Environment secretary Therese Coffey has defended Rishi Sunak’s decision not to attend the Cop27 climate summit, saying that the “big political” summits take place every five years.

She insisted the climate issue is “very much a priority” for the new government despite climate minister Graham Stuart and Cop26 President Alok Sharma being stripped of their Cabinet seats.

“The big push happened last year in Glasgow,” she told Sky News. “I am not aware of, say, President Biden or President Macron or any of those other people will be there. It is quite standard practice that every five years is the big political gathering.”

She herself will be among “several senior government ministers” who will be attending the summit in Egypt next month, Ms Coffey said.

In his speech at the Valdai Club, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the UK’s former prime minister Liz Truss was a “little out of her mind” for openly making nuclear threats against Russia.

“How can you say such things in public? They could correct her. Washington could publicly say, “We have nothing to do with this”,’ said Mr Putin.

At one point he called her “crazy” in his wide-ranging speech.

In his address, the Russian president suggested that the US and its allies were trying to dictate their terms to other nations in a “dangerous and bloody” game of domination.

Labour has called for a windfall tax after Shell doubled its third-quarter profits with Britons facing soaring energy bills and the threat of blackouts.

The energy giant recorded profits of £8bn, double those for the same period as last year. The company made big gains from selling expensive gas, which offset the fall in oil prices.

Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband called for a “proper” windfall tax to make energy companies “pay their fair share”.

“Rishi Sunak’s existing plans would see billions of pounds of taxpayer money go back into the pockets of oil and gas giants through ludicrous tax breaks,” he wrote on Twitter.

Read Thomas Kingsley’s report.

Northern Ireland is set to have a pre-Christmas Assembly election as the deadline to restore devolved government at Stormont has elapsed.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is expected to call the election today, following the failure of a last-ditch effort to restore the multi-party executive.

The DUP is blocking the restoration of powersharing as part of its protest against the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

A six-month legislative timeframe to form an administration expired in the early hours today.
With no ministerial executive in place, the UK Government assumes a legal responsibility to call another election.

While Mr Heaton-Harris has not yet laid out the details, there has been speculation the poll would be held on 15 December.

Rishi Sunak also urged the DUP to get back to Stormont just hours before the deadline to restore devolution expired.

His official spokesman said: “There’s still time for the DUP and executives to get back to Stormont and we urge them to do so because the people of Northern Ireland deserve a fully functioning and locally elected executive which can respond to the issues facing the communities there.”

India’s acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has said his only intentions were to “portray Mr Rishi Sunak through my sand art” after several suggested that the art piece more closely resembles former Labour prime minister Tony Blair.

“I would like to clarify, My sand sculpture was on newly appointed UK PM @RishiSunak,” Mr Pattnaik tweeted.

“As an Artist I have tried my best to portray Mr Rishi Sunak through my sand art. It was my only intention to congratulate Mr Sunak and nothing else.”

Mr Pattnaik, who is often in headlines in India for marking world events with his unique talent of making sand sculptures, congratulated Mr Sunak by drawing his portrait on Puri Beach in Odisha, India, this week.

But people commenting online said the sculpture looked more like Mr Blair, who was the UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007.