Farage says Starmer ‘learning a great deal from Reform’ as PM defends immigration speech – UK politics live

Reform leader asks PM to declare a national emergency at the borders

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question at PMQs, which starts at noon.

In March Reform UK reported Rupert Lowe (at the time one of their five MPs) to the police, claiming he had threatened the party chair, Zia Yusuf, with violence. Reform UK announced the news shortly after Lowe gave a newspaper interview criticising Nigel Farage, the party leader,

Following a thorough and detailed review of the evidence in relation to an allegation of threats, we have decided that no criminal charges should be brought against a sitting MP.

Having considered a number of witness statements, we have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

If Farage were ever to control the vast power of the British state, I believe he would not hesitate to do to his adversaries what they have tried to do to me. With real power, I fear he would wield that immense responsibility to crush dissent - as he has done time and again over the years …

Please listen when I say this: For the good of our country, Nigel Farage must never be prime minister.

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Rising goods prices could delay UK interest rate cuts, says Bank policymaker

Bank of England’s Catherine Mann wary of firms looking to rebuild profit margins after a squeeze

Businesses will need to show they are keeping a lid on prices before there can be further interest rate cuts, according to the Bank of England interest rate-setter Catherine Mann.

In a warning to retailers and consumer goods companies to resist pushing up prices by more than the increase in their costs, Mann said she was wary of firms looking to rebuild their profit margins after a squeeze in recent years.

“I need to see the loss of pricing power, I need to see that firms are starting to be much more moderate in setting their prices,” she said.

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Prisoners to earn freedom after serving third of sentence under new plans

Offenders in England and Wales to have sentences cut for good behaviour and completion of work, training or education tasks

Prisoners will be able to earn their freedom after serving a third of their sentences under new minimum and maximum sentence plans released by the government to tackle the overcrowding in jails.

Offenders in England and Wales will be able to earn early release if they complete work, training or education assignments and demonstrate good behaviour.

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Trump meets Syria’s president after lifting US sanctions on country

Meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia seen as key towards recognition of new Syrian authority’s legitimacy

Donald Trump has met Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia and said that Washington is exploring normalising ties with Syria, a day after an announcement that all US sanctions on Syria would be lifted.

The US president met Sharaa, a former militant who fought against US forces in Iraq, before a conference of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), part of Trump’s four-day visit to the Middle East, where he is expected to court Gulf allies for investments in the US. Trump is due to land in Doha next, where he will meet the Qatari leader, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

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China issues warning to UK over terms of US trade deal

UK accused of aligning with US in move that could compel firms to exclude Chinese products from supply chains

China has warned the UK over its new trade deal with the US, accusing Britain of aligning with the US in a move that could compel British companies to exclude Chinese products from their supply chains.

The UK-US trade deal, signed last week, offers Britain limited relief from US tariffs on car and steel exports, but only if it complies with strict American security requirements. These conditions include scrutinising supply chains and ownership structures – a move widely interpreted as targeting Chinese involvement.

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Starmer ‘completely rejects’ suggestion he echoed Enoch Powell in immigration speech, No 10 says – as it happened

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David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has just started taking questions in the Commons. In response to the first question, Hamish Falconer, minister for the Middle East, said the UK has joined calls for an urgent meeting of the UN security council this afternoon to discuss the situation in Gaza.

After Foreign Office questions, Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, is asking an urgent question about the Mansion House accord – a deal with pension companies intended to get them to invest more in UK firms.

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Legacy of Diane Sindall’s murder lives on as 1987 conviction is overturned

As Peter Sullivan is released after serving 38 years for a crime he didn’t commit, efforts turn to finding the killer

People still lay flowers at the granite memorial stone close to the place in Birkenhead where Diane Sindall met her horrific, shocking death. It reads: “Murdered 2.8.1986 because she was a woman. In memory of all our sisters who have been raped and murdered. We will never let it be forgotten.”

On Merseyside, the killing has a legacy that is still felt today. For nearly four decades, many assumed justice had been served and the right man had been convicted. On Tuesday, that was turned on its head when the court of appeal ruled Peter Sullivan was an innocent man.

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Government seeks to disqualify Lex Greensill from managing a UK firm for 12 years

Lawyers tell high court the founder of Greensill Group made misrepresentations to insurers and investors that led to big losses

The government is seeking to disqualify the Australian financier Lex Greensill from managing a UK company for 12 years, the high court has heard.

Greensill, a former Australian sugar farmer, is the founder and chief executive officer of Greensill Group – which specialised in supply-chain finance – the UK wing of which entered into administration in March 2021.

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Give terminally ill people choice in how they die, MSP urges Scottish parliament

Liam McArthur opens debate on assisted dying, saying too many face ‘horrendous choices and bad deaths’

Scottish politicians have been urged to show terminally ill people compassion and choice in how they die as they began to debate a new law to permit assisted dying.

Liam McArthur, a Scottish Liberal Democrat MP, said too many dying people faced “horrendous choices and bad deaths”, including unregulated suicides or prolonged trauma because they were denied the right to an assisted death.

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Goodison Park saved from bulldozers to become home of Everton Women

US owners confirm it will become the country’s first major stadium dedicated to a women’s team next season

Goodison Park, one of the UK’s oldest football stadiums, has been saved from demolition and will become the country’s first major stadium dedicated solely to a women’s team next season.

Hailed as a gamechanging move for women’s football, Everton Women will kick off their first season at Goodison in September, 133 years after the men’s team started playing at the ground in Walton, Liverpool.

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Starmer faces opposition of Labour MPs and employers over immigration shift

Some backbenchers already thought PM had moved too far right on issue but aides say aim is to make system ‘fairer’

“We must never accept the Tory or media narrative that often scapegoats and demonises migrants,” Keir Starmer wrote in 2020. “Problems of low pay, housing and public services are not caused by migrants – they are caused by a failed economic model.”

Much has changed since Starmer was running to be leader of the Labour party – not least, that as prime minister he now has a broader electorate to keep on side.

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Starmer defends plans to curb net migration after backlash from MPs

Prime minister’s ‘island of strangers’ speech was likened to rhetoric of Enoch Powell

Keir Starmer has defended his plans to curb net migration after an angry backlash from MPs, businesses and industry to a speech in which he said the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers” without tough new policies.

The rhetoric was likened by some critics to the language of Enoch Powell, and the prime minister was accused of pandering to the populist right by insisting he intended to “take back control of our borders” and end a “squalid chapter” of rising inward migration.

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British man being held in Saudi Arabia jailed for 10 years, say lawyers

UK Foreign Office criticised by campaigners as Ahmed al-Doush given sentence for charges thought to relate to deleted tweet

A British national arrested in Saudi Arabia on charges that appear to relate to a deleted tweet has been jailed for 10 years, according to British lawyers and campaign groups representing the family.

Ahmed al-Doush was arrested in August and, while it is understood that UK Foreign Office officials were allowed into the Saudi court for his hearing, the British government has been criticised for a lack of action since his arrest.

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Liz Kendall to overhaul DWP’s assessment for disability benefits

Work and pensions secretary calls for groups to engage as she scraps capability assessment and overhauls Pip application

Liz Kendall is to begin an overhaul of the disability benefit assessment process long decried by campaigners as cruel, calling on groups to engage with the changes amid criticism of the government’s forthcoming welfare cuts.

The work and pensions secretary said on Monday she was beginning the process of abolishing the work capability assessment and overhauling the process to apply for the personal independence payment (Pip) – which can be paid to those in or out of work – to form a single assessment process.

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Green party must choose again between election-focused or activist leaders

Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns will be up against Zack Polanski, who is calling for ‘eco-populism’ mass movement

So here we are again. Much as was the case in 2021, the last time the Greens picked their leaders, members have a choice that could be broadly presented as the more sober, election-focused professionals versus insurgent activists.

On one side of the equation are Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, both MPs, and in the case of Ramsay, already a co-leader. Four years ago, he and Carla Denyer saw off Amelia Womack and Tamsin Omond with a self-stated mission to change the party and win elections.

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Adrian Ramsay to stand for re-election as Greens co-leader with Ellie Chowns

Exclusive: Waveney Valley MP and North Hereforshire MP likely to go up against party’s deputy leader Zack Polanski

Adrian Ramsay is to stand as Greens co-leader with another of the party’s MPs, Ellie Chowns, amid what the duo describe as an unprecedented fracturing of political allegiances that meant it was vital to have leaders in Westminster with a proven record of winning.

Ramsay has already been co-leader for four years, alongside Carla Denyer, who with Ramsay, Chowns and Siân Berry were elected to parliament last year in the party’s greatest electoral triumph.

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Taiwan ex-president Tsai Ing-wen to visit UK as China ratchets up threats against Taipei

Former leader had been due to visit in October but trip was cancelled when it coincided with David Lammy’s trip to Beijing

Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will visit Britain this week at the invitation of British politicians, a trip that comes as London is trying to improve ties with Beijing and China ramps up efforts to diplomatically isolate the island.

Britain, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the economic and political exchanges between the two sides have increased as Beijing ratchets up military threats to force Taipei to accept its sovereignty claim over the democratic island.

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UK food shops report ‘massive’ rise in pensioner shoplifting

Kingdom Services boss says retailers seeing ‘different sort of shoplifter’ with more theft by people ‘who just can’t afford food’

Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living.

John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”.

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Potential role for Chinese firm in key UK windfarm attracts government scrutiny

Exclusive: Decision on whether to work with turbine maker being overseen by ministers after British Steel rescue

Ministers are weighing up proposals for a Chinese company to supply wind turbines for a major offshore windfarm in the North Sea.

The government is in discussions with Green Volt North Sea over whether Mingyang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, should supply the wind turbines. Mingyang has emerged as the preferred manufacturer, but the company has sought advice from ministers on whether to proceed.

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Gerry Adams fights for peacemaker reputation in trial over BBC murdered spy claim

Former Sinn Féin leader denies claim made in 2016 documentary he sanctioned 2006 killing of MI5 informant Denis Donaldson

It is a small, compact courtroom with a digital clock that glows beneath the judge’s bench, but the evidence unfurled in the case of Gerry Adams versus the BBC is expansive and spans decades of Irish and British history.

The former Sinn Féin leader’s childhood and political awakening, the evolution of the Troubles, the IRA’s deadly campaign, the peace process, the murder of a British spy, all have been outlined – and contested – in the libel hearing at Dublin’s high court.

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