Key events
China must show ‘responsibility’, says Cleverly ahead of trip
Foreign secretary James Cleverly will visit China tomorrow as part of efforts to ease tensions between the west and Beijing.
He will hold talks with China’s foreign affairs minister Wang Yi and vice president Han Zheng, PA Media reported.
The UK believes that engagement with Xi Jinping’s administration is essential given its important economic and political influence around the world.
Cleverly has promised he will raise concerns over human rights and the treatment of Hong Kong during his trip.
And he will argue that with China’s global significance comes a responsibility on international security – helping to end Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, calming tensions in the South China Sea and ceasing malign activity in cyberspace.
Cleverly said:
It is important we manage our relationship with China across a range of issues.
No significant global problem – from climate change to pandemic prevention, from economic instability to nuclear proliferation – can be solved without China.
China’s size, history and global significance means they cannot be ignored, but that comes with a responsibility on the global stage.
That responsibility means China fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.
Cleverly follows in the footsteps of US counterpart Antony Blinken, who visited Beijing in June, and his trip will be the first by a UK foreign secretary since 2018.
England’s rivers at risk as Gove rips up rules on new housing
Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog. We start with news that Michael Gove is planning to rip up water pollution rules that builders have blamed for exacerbating England’s housing crisis but which environmental groups say are essential for protecting the country’s rivers.
The housing secretary, alongside Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, will announce the move on Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the plans, alongside hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of extra funding to mitigate the potential impact on England’s waterways.
The decision will spark anger among environmentalists, who say it will further add to water pollution, as water companies are already dumping raw sewage into rivers and seas. Political advisers say water pollution has already become a major political issue in coastal areas, and has the potential to cost the Conservatives important seats at the next election.
Doug Parr, policy director at Greenpeace UK, said:
Who would look at our sickly, sewage-infested rivers and conclude that what they need is weaker pollution rules? No one, and that should include our government.
Scrapping or weakening limits on chemicals from sewage and farm run-offs would be a sure sign that ministers have completely given up on saving our great waterways and the precious wildlife they host.
Meanwhile, Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats’ environmental spokesperson, said:
Not content with the levels of pollution in our rivers already, scrapping nutrient neutrality is a disgraceful act from the government. The Conservatives seem happy for Britain’s rivers to get even worse.
We’ll bring you more on that throughout the day, with prime minister Rishi Sunak expected to speak to the media on a visit later this morning.
Elsewhere, there is continued chatter about the Mid Bedfordshire by-election following Nadine Dorries’ long-awaited resignation and the government is also expected to confirm it is delaying post-Brexit border checks on food coming from the EU later today. Stay tuned.
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