Rishi Sunak latest news: Pressure on PM to attend Cop27 climate summit amid Tory backlash

Liz Truss’s trips abroad as foreign secretary and international trade minister saw her make demands resembling a rock star “rider”, according to a new biography of the ex-prime minister.

Labour has questioned expenses claims made on behalf of Ms Truss for her overseas travel following extracts from the book Out of the Blue: the Inside Story of the Unexpected Rise and Rapid Fall of Liz Truss.

Ms Truss asked bottle of sauvignon blanc in the fridge of any accommodation, and wanted Bagels or sushi for lunch – with “absolutely no mayonnaise on anything, ever”.

My colleague Adam Forrest reports:

The “overly centralised” and “opaque” system of government in England means people lose out on policies and services adapted to their local area, MPs have warned.

The Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (Pacac) called for an urgent overhaul of governance arrangements to “empower local decision-making and restore public faith in accountable local governance”.

The main reason for “over-centralisation is a prevalent culture in Whitehall that is unwilling to let go of its existing levers of power”, the committee said in a new report.

Demand for new homes from first-time buyers has dropped by a third since the former chancellor announced his mini-budget, according to measurements from property company Zoopla.

As mortgage rates soared to highs of 6 per cent, it put the biggest squeeze on new buyers since the late 1980s.

The company warned that “mortgage rates of 4 per cent to 5 per cent are likely to be the new norm” even after rates have dropped back in recent days.

Britain may be facing a “perfect storm” over the next six months with the risk of a new wave of far-right lone wolf terrorists competing to be “saints and martyrs” on a computer game-style leader board, an expert has said.

Professor Matthew Feldman, who has given evidence in 40 convictions of radical right extremists in the UK, warned of a heightened threat this winter amid the cost-of-living crisis and political instability.

In an interview with the PA news agency, he identified at least five lone wolf attacks over the last seven years, while highlighting counter-terrorism police officers’ continuing success in foiling more plots.

Political decision-making in Westminster during the coronavirus pandemic will come under the spotlight during the second preliminary hearing of the public inquiry.

Today more details will emerge on how political decisions and actions in relation to the pandemic will be scrutinised throughout module two of the probe.

This will cover a period between early January 2020 until February 2022, when the remaining Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

According to a draft scope, it will “pay particular scrutiny to the decisions taken by the prime minister and the cabinet, as advised by the civil service, senior political, scientific and medical advisers, and relevant cabinet sub-committees, between early January and late March 2020, when the first national lockdown was imposed”.

Home secretary Suella Braverman has been told that creating safe routes for refugees and dealing with a backlog in migrant claims is “worth dreaming about”.

More than 110 refugee charities have signed an open letter to the cabinet minister, calling for a “kind and effective system” for those seeking asylum in the UK.

It referred to comments made by Ms Braverman at a fringe event during the Conservative Party conference earlier this month, that her “dream” and “obsession” is seeing a plane taking off to Rwanda with migrants.

She has also said the only way for refugees to get into the UK is through a “safe and legal route”.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak heads into his first full week in office with pressure mounting over his Cop27 snub and reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary.

He is considering a U-turn on his decision not to attend the United Nations climate conference in Egypt next week, according to reports.

His earlier insistence that he must focus on the “depressing domestic challenges” rather than go to the summit sparked a backlash in the Tory ranks.

The government’s climate tsar Alok Sharma said he was “disappointed” by the move, while Tory former chancellor George Osborne asked why Mr Sunak would “trash” the party’s record on the environment.

Read the details in this report:

Welcome to The Independent’s UK politics blog for Monday, 31 October 2022, where we provide the latest on everything buzzing in Westminster.