Keir Starmer speaks after European Political Community summit – as it happened

Prime minister says summit has been ‘successful and productive’ as world leaders discuss Ukraine and European security

Some more of the arrivals pictured at Blenheim Palace for a summit for the European Political Community (EPC) today, courtesy of the newswires:

Here are some of the discussions that have taken place at previous EPC summits, according to the gov.uk website:

At the last meeting in Granada, the UK led discussions on AI and illegal migration. In Moldova, the focus was on supporting the host country in the face of Russian hybrid threats, as well building energy resilience. While at the first EPC meeting in Prague, talks centred around Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the need for Europe to stand united against his aggression.

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EU biometric checks for foreign travellers delayed again

Digital border system that will require fingerprint and facial scans postponed until November

The date for the introduction of the EU’s new entry-exit system has been pushed back again until November, allaying fears of long queues at the border during the October half-term holidays.

The launch of the new biometric checks for foreign travellers, including Britons, entering the EU, has been delayed from 6 October until at least 10 November, with many smaller airports yet to have facilities in place.

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Lammy says Christianity and class give him common ground with JD Vance

UK foreign secretary says he has talked to Trump running mate as he seeks to build bridges with senior Republicans

UK politics live – latest updates

David Lammy has said he is already engaging with Donald Trump’s controversial running mate, JD Vance, and can identify with him because of their common working class and Christian backgrounds.

The British foreign secretary was speaking just hours after the possible future US vice-president reiterated his “America first” views, pledging to the Republican national convention (RNC) that he would not send US soldiers to war abroad unnecessarily.

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Starmer pledges to ‘fix the foundations’ of the country in Labour’s king’s speech

New PM promises ‘patient work and serious solutions’ to restore trust in British politics

Keir Starmer has pledged to “fix the foundations” of the country for the long-term by boosting economic growth with reforms to energy and planning in Labour’s first king’s speech in a decade and a half.

The new prime minister said the government would require “patient work and serious solutions” to restore trust in British politics and rebuild the country, with 40 bills in the government’s new legislative programme.

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Starmer meets taoiseach in effort to end strain in UK-Irish relations

PM meets Simon Harris at Chequers on eve of European Political Community gathering

Keir Starmer is hoping to reverse almost a decade of strained relations with Ireland over dinner with the taoiseach, Simon Harris, at Chequers on Wednesday on the eve of the biggest summit of European leaders in the UK.

Greeting Harris, Starmer said he was “very pleased to have this very early opportunity to, what I see as resetting, strengthening and deepening our relationship”.

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The king’s speech: can Labour keep the optimism going? – podcast

There were more than 35 bills in Labour’s first king’s speech. So what does it tell us about the party’s ambitions? And with world events turning darker, can the euphoria around the Labour party last? The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by political editor Pippa Crerar and political correspondent Kiran Stacey

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‘It’s put so many families in poverty’: people on the impact of the two-child benefit cap

As Labour backbenchers call for Keir Starmer to scrap the cap, families reveal their struggles as a result of the two-child limit

Keir Starmer has launched a cross-government taskforce to tackle child poverty, but backbench Labour MPs are calling for the government to go further and scrap the two-child benefit cap. Here people reveal how the limit affects their families.

Alicia* is a mother of four children in Newcastle, and is separated from their father. She does everything she can to avoid going to collect a parcel from a food bank. She will often buy a big sack of potatoes and cook them in different ways throughout the week – jacket potatoes, fried chips, wedges – so her kids get variation. She often skips breakfast and lunch herself.

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King’s speech reference to ‘disastrous’ mini-budget removed after Truss complaint

Official document updated after ex-PM writes to head of civil service Simon Case calling for investigation

The government has removed a reference to Liz Truss’s mini-budget as having been “disastrous” in an official king’s speech document after the former prime minister complained that this was incorrect and a “flagrant breach” of the civil service code.

Truss wrote to Simon Case, the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, calling on him to investigate the matter and for the wording to be removed.

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Mandatory housing targets at core of economy-focused king’s speech

Planning reforms and transport policies included in package of more than 35 bills as Labour prioritises growth

Local councils will have to adopt mandatory housing targets within months under planning reforms to be unveiled on Wednesday as part of Keir Starmer’s first king’s speech, which the prime minister says will be focused on economic growth.

Starmer will introduce a package of more than 35 bills on Wednesday, the first Labour prime minister to do so in 15 years, as he looks to put the economy at the centre of his first year in office.

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Priti Patel to enter Conservative leadership race, sources say

Former home secretary expected to be competing against candidates including Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat

Priti Patel has decided to enter the Conservative leadership race to succeed Rishi Sunak, sources have told the Guardian.

The former home secretary, who retained her seat of Witham in Essex earlier this month with a reduced majority of 5,145, has formed a campaign team funded by Tory donors who include former advisers and Conservative campaign headquarters staff.

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Vaughan Gething resigns as first minister of Wales

Resignation comes after four Welsh ministers stepped down in apparent attempt to force his hand

Vaughan Gething has announced he is quitting as first minister of Wales following a brief and turbulent period in the job after his fate was sealed by the resignation of four of his ministers.

Gething has faced a series of controversies, including over donations and claims he sought to delete sensitive messages, since he took over from Mark Drakeford as first minister and the leader of Welsh Labour in March.

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Vaughan Gething quits as Welsh first minister but hits out at ‘pernicious’ claims of wrongdoing – UK politics live

His resignation comes after four Welsh ministers stepped down from their posts in an apparently calculated move to force his hand

The JD Vance comment about Britain supposedly becoming an Islamist country under Labour (see 8.42am) is an example of the extreme political rhetoric that has coarsened politics on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years. Yesterday Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced that she will chair a meeting of the Defending Democracy taskforce to consider how election candidates are being exposed to more aggression and intimidation than in the past.

This morning Brendan Cox, whose wife, the Labour MP Jo Cox, was murdered by a far-right terrorist during the Brexit referendum in 2016, told the Today programme that he thought the problem was getting worse. He said:

There was a wide range of intimidation, but I do think it was another level.

Having spoken to lots of MPs about it, there was a sense that something had changed, that they felt hunted, that they felt unable to go about campaigning – that there were men in balaclavas, there were fireworks being thrown, there were tyres being slashed …

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Labour rejects JD Vance ‘first Islamist country with nuclear weapons’ remarks

Deputy PM Angela Rayner says she does not recognise Donald Trump running mate’s ‘characterisation’ of Britain

Senior Labour figures have rejected comments by Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, that the UK could become the first “truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon” under the party.

They were reacting to comments that were made by Vance, a junior senator for the state of Ohio who has been announced as Trump’s running mate, at a conference for US conservatives.

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Tuesday briefing: What David Lammy’s Middle East visit says about Labour’s foreign policy plans

In today’s newsletter: The new foreign secretary has met with officials from Israel, Palestine and relief agencies – but what do his actions and words mean for the conflict?

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Good morning. A few months before the election, David Lammy outlined his vision for Britain’s role on the international stage under a Labour government: “progressive realism”, or “the pursuit of ideals without delusions about what is achievable”. Just over a week into his tenure as foreign secretary, we have our first concrete indications of how he intends to operate those principles in practice.

On a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories over the last couple of days, his first international trip as foreign secretary, Lammy says he is sending a clear message: “We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza and a pathway towards a two-state solution”.

Republican national convention | Donald Trump named JD Vance, the Ohio senator who was once one of his fiercest critics and called him “America’s Hitler”, as his running mate at the Republican national convention on Monday. Trump, wearing a bandage over his wounded ear, shook hands with Vance in his first public appearance since the assassination attempt against him.

US politics | A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump has dismissed the case against him for illegally retaining classified documents, ruling that the special counsel who brought the prosecution had been improperly appointed. The stunning decision, in defiance of precedent going back to the Watergate era, is likely to be appealed.

UK news | Rescue teams on the Spanish island of Tenerife have discovered the body of a young man in the area where the British teenager Jay Slater disappeared four weeks ago. Police said it appeared that the person could have died after an accidental fall from a cliff.

UK-EU relations | Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy. Reynolds will say that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.

Defence | Britain and its allies are facing a “deadly quartet” of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea who are acting together against the west, the newly appointed head of Labour’s defence review said. The comments from former Nato secretary general George Robertson reflect concerns that the grouping are increasingly sharing arms, components and military intelligence.

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Prospect of Irish unification referendum remains remote despite Sinn Féin gains

Party’s advances in Northern Ireland contrast with slump in Ireland, while new Labour government is keen to bury issue

Sinn Féin has completed a historic hat-trick for Irish nationalism by becoming Northern Ireland’s biggest party in local government, the Stormont assembly and Westminster.

On 4 July it increased its majorities in several constituencies and whittled those of opponents, teeing up potential gains in the next general election. Meanwhile, the party’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, has made history as the first nationalist first minister.

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UK ready to build ‘closer, more mature’ trade links with EU

New business secretary set to tell international counterparts at G7 meeting ‘Britain is back on world stage’

Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.

In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.

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Yvette Cooper says ‘disgraceful scenes’ of election candidate abuse must end

Ministers will meet to address what home secretary calls an alarming rise in intimidation of politicians

An alarming rise in candidate intimidation during the UK’s general election campaign will be addressed next week at a meeting of ministers and civil servants, the home secretary has said.

Yvette Cooper said there had been “disgraceful scenes” in some areas in the run-up to the 4 July vote, as she announced she would chair a meeting of the defending democracy taskforce.

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Wes Streeting expected to tell parliament why he backs puberty blockers ban

Health secretary understood to be ‘minded’ to make ban permanent as Labour MPs criticise move to retain Tory policy

Wes Streeting is expected to tell MPs his reasons for supporting a ban on puberty blockers being prescribed to children for gender-based reasons, amid discontent in his own party.

After growing criticism among some Labour MPs, the health secretary used social media to defend his backing of an emergency ban on the drugs’ use, imposed by his Conservative predecessor Victoria Atkins, which is being challenged in the high court.

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EU leaders ‘open-minded’ about future relations with UK, says senior official

Bloc sources say ball firmly in UK’s court regarding reset of ties as leaders prepare to meet at Blenheim for EPC forum

European leaders are “open-minded” about how to reset relations with Britain and are not ruling rule out a UK-EU summit in the future, a senior EU official has said before a meeting of European leaders in Oxfordshire on Thursday.

But they have indicated the ball is firmly in the UK’s court and they expect an offer from London on issues such as youth mobility and citizens rights to get things rolling.

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Yvette Cooper to chair meeting of taskforce considering ‘alarming rise’ in candidate intimidation – as it happened

Home secretary to host meeting of government’s Defending Democracy taskforce after reported rise in harassment during election campaign

More in Common, the group that campaigns to reduce polarisation in politics, published a good slideshow presentation last week, based on polling it carried out, giving an analysis of the general election results. It has followed that up today with the publication of a 129-page report on the election, based on the same polling and on what it learned from focus groups.

One of the main interesting points it makes is that the government will be judged, above all, on whether it can bring down NHS waiting lists and the cost of living, polling suggests. The report says:

How does the public plan to judge the government on its delivery of change and what benchmarks will they use to evaluate progress?

First and foremost, the public will look to NHS waiting lists and the cost of living to judge Labour’s success or failure. These are top performance indicators for every segment, with the elderly tending to be more concerned than average about waiting lists and younger generations more so about the cost of living. As inflation falls and interest rates seem set for a summer cut, waiting lists are arguably the new government’s key challenge in maintaining public support.

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