Dominic Raab bullying inquiry expanded to include new complaint, No 10 reveals – UK politics live | Politics

Downing Street has played down reports that the government could ban foreign students from attending non-elite universities.

Asked about the story in today’s Times (see 11.35am), Downing Street insisted that the government backed the university sector. But it did confirm that ministers are looking at whethe too many low-quality degrees are being awarded, and whether the rules on how many depedendent foreign students can bring with them should be changed.

At the lobby briefing a No 10 spokesperson told journalists:

Of course we support our universities. They’re some of the very best in the world. And of course will always act in the best interest of the UK.

We’re looking at the issue of student dependants and and the quality of degrees and we’re doing that following the figures released yesterday.

The spokesperson said she could not “pre-empt” any policy and she declined to define what constitutes a “low-quality” degree.

Earlier, in response to the Times’s story, Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK which represents vice-chancellors, said banning foreign students from non-elite universities would be “an act of economic self-harm”. She said:

Cutting international student numbers would run directly counter to the government’s strategy to rebuild the economy – given the huge financial contribution they make to every part of the country.

International students make a net positive contribution of at least £26bn per year to the UK economy and are the source of almost 70% of our education export earnings. They sustain jobs in towns and cities up and down the country. They also bring enormous benefits to university campuses. The financial contribution they make has been essential, given the long term decline in funding for teaching UK undergraduate students, and balancing the books on research.

Limiting international students would be an act of economic self-harm that would damage many parts of the country the government aims to make more prosperous.

Downing Street has confirmed that the inquiry into bullying allegations about Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, is being expaned to cover claims relating to his period as Brexit secretary, my colleague Pippa Crerar reports.

The inquiry was originally set up to consider two complaints, relating to his time as justice secretary and foreign secretary. But at the Downing Street lobby briefing a No 10 spokesperson said:

I can confirm that the prime minister has now asked the investigator to add a further formal complaint relating to conduct at the Department for Exiting the European Union and to establish the facts in line with the existing terms of reference.

The third formal complaint was received by the Cabinet Office on 23 November, the spokesperson said. She confirmed that Rishi Sunak still has confidence in Raab.

On Wednesday Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, tabled an amendment to the levelling up bill that would lift the ban on new onshore windfarms. The amendment did not receive a lot of attention because the government’s main problem with the bill is coming not from pro-development Tories like Clarke, but from the anti-development Tories backing the amendment that would abolish mandatory housing targets. Downing Street still has not decided whether to appease these rebels, or face them down.

But the Clarke amendment is now looking much more interesting because it has attracted the support of two high-profile backbenchers – Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

During her short premiership, Truss said she wanted to reverse the ban on new onshore wind developments, and so her decision to back the amendment is not surprising.

But Johnson did not lift the ban during his three years in No 10, which makes his decision to sign the amendment more intriguing. Perhaps he is attracted by a campaign that might destabilise Rishi Sunak, whom he blames for helping to end his premiership? Or it might just be that, as someone more committed to net zero than most senior Tory, he is genuinely in favour of more onshore wind – but just never wanted to push this as PM because he knew it would go down badly with the Telegraph-reading wing of the Conservative party (which includes a large chunk of its MPs).

Seventeen Tory MPs have signed the amendment. More than 50 Tories have signed the Theresa Villiers amendment to abolish mandatory house building targets, but, as the Daniel Martin points out in his Daily Telegraph splash on this story, the Clarke one is potentially more serious because Labour might vote for the Clarke amendment, whereas it will not vote for the Villiers one.

Pat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing general secretary, told the Today programme this morning “life-preserving services” and emergency care would not be covered by the RCN strikes in December. But she said exact details of what would be exempt were still being worked out. She told the programme:

What we will continue to provide is life-preserving services. And those essentially fall into emergency-type care …

We will have very, very detailed and worked-through plans that every single nurse that is taking strike action will be expected to adhere to.

And in each organisation that is subject to industrial action, we set up within that organisation a local strike committee, which is headed up by a senior member of my team, which will be a registered nurse and also then a number of clinical experts that will guide and direct all decisions that will be made.

Asked if nurses would be on cancer wards on strike days, she replied:

Services such as oncology will be derogated or exempt from any strike action. We have a number of services that we are working through at the minute that will be derogated on the day of strike, and we will release that list soon to employers.

Pressed on scans or cancer checks such as colonoscopies, she said:

All of the detail is being worked through. Those services that are not considered life-preserving or emergency services will not be derogated. Those that do fall into those particular descriptions will be derogated.

Royal Mail workers and university lecturers are again on strike today in long running disputes over pay, pensions, jobs and conditions, PA Media reports. PA says:

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and University and College Union (UCU) walked out on Thursday for 48 hours, with more action planned in the coming weeks.

Picket lines were again mounted outside universities and Royal Mail centres across the country on Black Friday – one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Good morning. Another day, another strike, because overnight the Royal College of Nursing has set the date for two 12-hour nursing strikes in December that will affect most of the UK. My colleagues Andrew Gregory and Jamie Grierson have the details here.

Pat Cullen, the RCN general secretary, accused Steve Barclay, the health secretary, of being intransigent. She said:

If Barclay wishes to meet with me, get round the table and stop the spin and start to speak, he can avert these strikes. My door is wide open night and day. I will make myself available, as will my team on behalf of our nursing staff. That option isn’t available to me at this time and consequently he has chosen strikes over speaking to me.

But in tweets this morning Barclay insisted that he was available for talks.

However, he also defended the pay offer already on the table as “fair”.

I’ll post more on this shortly. Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: MPs debate backbench bill, starting with Liam Fox’s electricity and gas transmission (compensation) bill.

10am: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, addresses the Poverty Alliance conference in Glasgow.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Lunchtime: Keir Starmer is doing a visit in Birmingham.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions and, if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com