Exclusive: Deputy leader and shadow housing secretary Angela Rayner says party would get tough on developers
The next Labour government will oversee the biggest boost in affordable housing in a generation by getting tough on developers and reforming planning rules, the party’s deputy leader has said.
Angela Rayner, also the shadow housing secretary, said she wanted to “increase, not decrease” the number of affordable new homes built every year, after it fell 12% last year.
Continue reading...Party’s victory may point to a change in Scottish political alignments that spells danger for Humza Yousaf
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, had used the word “earthquake” last week to foreshadow Labour’s remarkable victory in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, where its winning margin of 30 percentage points exceeded even its predictions.
He did it cheekily, stealing one of the favourite lines often used by the former Scottish National party leader Alex Salmond when the nationalists were crushing Labour at repeated elections in the past. That theft of Salmond’s phrase has additional resonance. It points to a change in Scottish political alignments that spells danger for the SNP and its current leader, Humza Yousaf.
Continue reading...Michael Shanks wins contest Labour considered a crucial test of apparent turnaround of its fortunes in Scotland
Scottish Labour’s Michael Shanks has won the Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection in an overwhelming victory over the SNP that his party leadership declared “seismic”, and a clear demonstration that Scotland could lead the way in delivering a Labour government at Westminster at the coming general election.
In a result that exceeded Scottish Labour expectation, Shanks beat his closest rival, the SNP’s Katy Loudon, by 17,845 votes to 8,399 – a majority of 9,446 and a resounding swing of more than 20 percentage points.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Mayor vows to make capital a better place to live to offset ‘shockwaves’ from EU departure
The mayor of London has urged EU citizens to “choose London” over other European cities, promising to make the UK capital a better place to live and work despite Brexit.
Sadiq Khan told the Guardian he had redoubled his efforts to attract EU citizens since the UK left the bloc, notwithstanding new barriers such as visa requirements.
Continue reading...Labour leader’s pledge for English primaries as part of a wider dental plan labelled ‘window dressing’ by union chief
School leaders have accused Labour of “window dressing” after Keir Starmer pledged to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in England’s primary schools.
While the policy has long been supported by the dentistry profession as a way of curbing decay, headteachers said it was not appropriate for their staff to check whether pupils had cleaned their teeth.
Continue reading...Prime minister’s move criticised as ‘salting the earth’ so Birmingham-Crewe line cannot be built
A future Labour government would not be able to easily reverse Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 as he has “spitefully” authorised the sale of properties that were subject to compulsory purchase orders on part of the route.
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, said the move killed HS2 “stone dead” and would “tie any future government’s hands and make the delivery of HS2 for the north all but impossible”.
Continue reading...Group says party ‘freed of the stain of antisemitism’ can promote two-state solution and reverse Tory apathy to Middle East
An incoming Labour government “freed of the stain of antisemitism” can seek an Israeli settlement freeze, promote a two-state solution and call out democratic backsliding not only by the Palestinian Authority, but also by the Israeli government, according to a pamphlet from Labour Friends of Israel.
The pamphlet is designed to mark a breakpoint from Labour’s debilitating debates about antisemitism, and promote a detailed policy solution to the Israel-Palestine question around which the majority of people in the party can gather.
Continue reading...Head of National Education Union says new qualification would need 5,300 additional teachers in England
Rishi Sunak wants to scrap A-levels and replace them with a single qualification that includes compulsory English and maths, bringing upheaval to sixth-form education in England that would last a decade.
The new baccalaureate-style Advanced British Standard, which Sunak announced in his speech to the Conservative party conference in Manchester, would also kill off the T-level vocational qualification the government launched just three years ago.
Continue reading...The two prime ministers have forced immigration onto the agenda at European Political Community summit in Granada
Giorgia Meloni has turned to the UK’s prime minister Rishi Sunak to take her battle against migration beyond the EU, it has emerged.
In what some are dubbing the Spanish framework, the prime ministers have forced migration on to the agenda at a historic meeting of about 50 European leaders in Granada on Thursday.
Continue reading...Statement at UN human rights council voices ‘disappointment’ after host country refuses to change restrictive laws
The UK has asked the United Arab Emirates, one of its closest Gulf allies, to explain how it will guarantee free speech around the UN Cop28 climate summit in Dubai after the country refused to change its restrictive laws.
The refusal came after a four-yearly UN review of the UAE’s human rights record.
Continue reading...Prime minister says HS2 move will release £36bn, that he will raise smoking age by one year, every year and announces five-subject qualification
Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, has been giving interviews about HS2 this morning. He told BBC Breakfast that cancelling the link to Manchester would show that the north of England did not get the same priority as the south. He said:
It just proves there’s still so many people in politics, many of them in the Tory party, that think they can treat the north of England differently to the way they treat other parts of the country. It’s just so wrong.
I’ve been in politics 30 years, I’ve never seen a party come to a conference and leave an axe hanging over the place they’re in for the whole week. And then actually drop it on that place.
I’ve had so many contacts over the past few hours from people who are concerned as I am that we are using this culture war battleground to no good effect at all and we’re actually hurting people.
And we shouldn’t be doing that as Conservatives. That’s not the Conservative party I joined and I think we’re better than that.
Luckily that’s not going to happen … because I believe in the ultimate common sense of the party. Also, I very much hope that Suella Braverman learns about the power of her words and moderates her tone.
Continue reading...West Midlands mayor says he remains committed to high-speed rail link to Manchester after suggestion he might quit over move
The Conservative mayor for the West Midlands has decided not to quit over HS2, after the prime minister confirmed he was scrapping the high-speed rail line from Birmingham to Manchester.
Andy Street had lobbied heavily to keep the northern leg of the project, and a spokesperson said on Wednesday morning he might quit if his campaign was unsuccessful.
Continue reading...PM dresses up HS2 cancellation as fresh start as he attempts to portray himself as candidate for change
It was just over an hour long, and comprised more than 7,500 words, but what did Rishi Sunak’s conference speech actually contain? In some ways, quite a lot – but in others, remarkably little.
Continue reading...PM’s aim to gradually increase age at which people can buy cigarettes described as ‘incredibly positive step forward’
Banning growing numbers of people in England from buying cigarettes is a bold move that will save lives and create the country’s first “smokefree generation”, health charities have said.
The plan, first reported in the Guardian and which Rishi Sunak formally unveiled in his leader’s speech at the Conservative party’s annual conference, will also help relieve the strain on the NHS, experts said.
Continue reading...Chief scientific adviser in 2020 found the ex-PM ‘completely inconsistent’ in his evidence to the Covid inquiry
Boris Johnson’s decision-making during the coronavirus pandemic was described as “bipolar” and “completely inconsistent” by Sir Patrick Vallance, the Covid inquiry has heard.
The government’s then chief scientific adviser acknowledged his frustration in his diary entries, which he has submitted to the panel as evidence, at the “chaos” in Downing Street and Johnson’s “flip-flopping” when making decisions about restrictions.
Continue reading...Prime minister faces claims that after 13 years in power, many of the problems he highlights are of his own party’s making
Britain’s political system is broken and voters are exhausted, Rishi Sunak will say on Wednesday as he struggles to wrestle back control of the agenda at a Conservative conference dominated by rival factions, leadership posturing and speculation about HS2.
However, the prime minister faces claims that, after 13 years of Tory government, many of the problems he diagnoses in Westminster, including social care, the housing crisis and the NHS, are of his party’s own making.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he will not make a ‘premature decision’ about where the high speed rail line will end
Nigel Farage has said that parts of the Conservative party are now like Ukip.
The former leader of Ukip and the Brexit party is attending the conference partly in his capacity as a GB News presenter. But he is also a popular figure with some Tories, and yesterday he was a prominent supporter in the audience as Liz Truss called for tax cuts at a rally.
I’ve been very consistent with the things that I’ve said over quite a long time. I’ve never really shifted from those views, whether it’s regards borders, increasing population, attitudes towards below small business, net zero, taxes. What’s interesting is there’s now a wing of the Conservative party that has woken up to these things and they’re now saying them.
Well, if you asked the delegates here, you might be surprised by the answer.
I think what people want from their prime ministers and their leaders is to do things that are going to make a difference to their lives.
I don’t think people are as interested in how much money is in my bank account. They’re interested in what I’m doing for them.
Continue reading...PM declines to reveal if Manchester to Birmingham line will be scrapped amid speculation over soaring costs
Rishi Sunak has insisted he is not going to be forced into a “premature decision” over the fate of the HS2 high-speed rail line as speculation about the multibillion pound project continued to overshadow the Conservative conference.
“I am not going to be forced into a premature decision because it is good for someone’s TV programme,” the prime minister told BBC Breakfast.
Continue reading...Exclusive: PM claims he has changed phone since running the Treasury and did not back up the messages
Rishi Sunak has failed to hand over his WhatsApp messages from his time as chancellor to the Covid inquiry despite the high court ruling that ministers should disclose their communications for scrutiny.
In his witness statement to the public inquiry, seen by the Guardian, the prime minister claimed that he did “not have access” to the messages during the period running the Treasury because he had changed his phone several times and failed to back them up.
Continue reading...Business secretary privately met media mogul in apparent breach of ministerial code of conduct
Kemi Badenoch failed to declare a meeting that she held with Rupert Murdoch days after she was appointed to the cabinet – in a breach of transparency rules.
The business and trade secretary reacted angrily on Monday on social media after it was revealed that she had privately met the media mogul and other executives from his News Corp company in New York in September 2022.
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