Fuel duty cut and NI changes expected – but will Sunak be forced to go further?

“They didn’t even turn up.” As Labour’s transport spokesperson Louise Haigh highlighted, the opposition day motion calling on the government to take action against the parent company of P&O Ferries was passed by the House of Commons – but only because Conservatives abstained. The 800 staff sacked with immediate effect via a video last week are reportedly being replaced by agency crew paid £1.80 an hour. Haigh has called ministers “complicit” as it emerged that they knew of the mass redundancy in advance and Labour says the government “should have moved to stop it”. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned that the company could face criminal sanctions, said P&O would be asked to rename their ships if they hire non-Brits, and commented that customers may “wish to vote with their feet”. But demands for a new emergency employment bill outlawing P&O-style conduct have not been met so far.

Another Labour story in parliament yesterday: Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, hosted a press conference on the parliamentary estate to mark the return of her constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Siddiq called for an inquiry by the foreign affairs select committee into the case and the wider issue of hostage-taking by Iran. It is understood that the committee will likely agree to undertake it. Zaghari-Ratcliffe received criticism, however, after she disagreed with her husband’s thanks to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. “How many Foreign Secretaries does it take? Five?” she asked. “What happened now should have happened six years ago.” One former Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, tweeted to defend her: “Those criticising Nazanin have got it so wrong. She doesn’t owe us gratitude: we owe her an explanation”.

Ahead of the Spring Statement tomorrow, James Murray of Labour’s Treasury team has written for LabourList. “On Wednesday, the Chancellor has a choice. He can show he has now listened and understands the struggle that people are facing. This week, he must change course,” he writes. Treasury sources are downplaying the chances of any big moves such as the ones being urged by Labour, however. If that is accurate, Rishi Sunak’s statement will be even further away from the ‘Radical Recovery Programme’ proposed by John McDonnell, who has used his own LabourList piece to reject “half-hearted measures” and set out what he would do in the face of inflation combined with wage cuts. A fuel duty cut is expected, and changes to the National Insurance threshold are rumoured, but will the Chancellor be forced to go further?