PM to set out plans for compulsory ‘Brit card’ but faces opposition from civil liberty groups over privacy concerns
Digital ID cards present “an enormous opportunity” for the UK, Keir Starmer has said, as the government braces for a civil liberties row over the proposals.
The prime minister will set out the measures on Friday morning at a conference on how progressive politicians can tackle the problems facing the UK, including addressing voter concerns around immigration.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Group warn coastal communities need greater investment to reduce inequality and fight off threat from Reform
A group of Labour MPs representing coastal areas will demand urgent action to tackle deprivation in their seats, warning a lack of progress could leave them vulnerable to Reform.
They will use the party conference this weekend to call for an equivalent of the London Challenge, which turned around failing schools in the capital under Tony Blair’s government, but with a focus on post-16 training and apprenticeships.
Continue reading...Response from leaders and key climate figures comes after PM’s aides advised non-attendance over concerns Reform may attack him
Leading climate figures and Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to attend the crucial Cop30 climate summit this November, after aides advised him not to attend for fear of attracting the ire of the Reform party.
Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, said: “Cop30 is where leaders are expected to come and roll up their sleeves, make deals to help their nation’s economy transition faster, creating more jobs, and guide the world on what next steps we take together.”
Continue reading...Khan’s comments come after US president used speech at UN to call London mayor ‘terrible’
Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump, accusing the US president of being “racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic” after he used a speech at the UN to call the London mayor “terrible” and claim the city was being steered toward “sharia law”.
Trump’s remarks on Tuesday night provoked anger among Labour figures, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, praising Khan as someone who “stands up for difference of background and opinion”.
Continue reading...Manchester mayor urges Keir Starmer to reveal plans to deliver reform but denies he is plotting to replace PM
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has described Nigel Farage over his comment implying Donald Trump might be right about paracetamol posing a risk to pregnant women. (See 10.23am.)
Dangerous and irresponsible.
This man is a snake oil salesman and it’s time people stopped buying.
Nigel Farage says Reform UK would scrap the main route that migrants take to gain British citizenship
Farage and Yusuf are now taking questions.
Q: [From the BBC’s Iain Watson] Will you withdraw the £230bn figure, because it has been withdrawn by the thinktank that produced it?
What we are attempting to do today is to make people realise that large-scale migration into Britain, where 50% at least of those that come, will never work and live off the British state, is actually making this country substantially poorer.
Continue reading...As well as being deeply symbolic, the move is also a major foreign policy shift for the Labour government
The UK’s formal recognition of Palestinian statehood is deeply symbolic on the world stage, but the major foreign policy shift is also a significant political step for the Labour government at home. The announcement followed mounting pressure on Keir Starmer from within the Labour party and beyond.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Ex-minister being tried in absentia in Bangladesh claims ID card and passport tendered as evidence not hers
The former City minister Tulip Siddiq has said she fears prosecutors could be planning to use “fake” documents to secure her conviction in her trial in Bangladesh on corruption charges.
The Labour MP, who is being tried in absentia, spoke out after images of a Bangladeshi national identity card and a passport said to be in her name were published in newspapers in the UK and in Bangladesh.
Continue reading...Deputy leadership candidate says party needs to be ‘clear that our objective is to lift children out of poverty’
Labour should consider raising taxes on gambling firms to cover the cost of lifting the two-child benefit cap, the party’s deputy leadership candidate Lucy Powell has suggested.
The Manchester Central MP, who is battling with the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, to succeed Angela Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader, also acknowledged the public was “exasperated” because of “some mistakes” Labour had made in office.
Continue reading...Calls for sanctions on Israel and ban on trade that aids international law violations among snubbed motions
Labour has ruled out motions about Palestine being debated at its party conference later this month, triggering accusations that it is trying to stifle debate.
The conference arrangement committee, made up of Labour elected reps and officials, has ruled about 30 motions about Palestine from local parties out of order.
Continue reading...Committee to conclude review of bill by 7 November. This live blog is closed
The UK is preparing to recognise the state of Palestine imminently, after Israel failed to meet conditions that would have postponed the historic step, including a ceasefire in Gaza, Patrick Wintour reports.
YouGov has relased polling today suggesting that Britons are in favour of this by more than two to one, although a large minority of people do not have a view.
Continue reading...Starmer says deals worth £250bn are ‘flowing both ways across the Atlantic’
President Trump is now leaving Windsor Castle. He will be flying to Chequers by helicopter.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has thanked King Charles for what he said at the state banquet last night strongly supporting the Ukrainian cause.
I extend my deepest thanks to His Majesty King Charles III @RoyalFamily for his steadfast support. Ukraine greatly values the United Kingdom’s unwavering and principled stance.
When tyranny threatens Europe once again, we must all hold firm, and Britain continues to lead in defending freedom on many fronts. Together, we have achieved a lot, and with the support of freedom-loving nations—the UK, our European partners, and the US—we continue to defend values and protect lives. We are united in our efforts to make diplomacy work and secure lasting peace for the European continent.
Our countries have the closest defence, security and intelligence relationship ever known. In two world wars, we fought together to defeat the forces of tyranny.
Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace. And our Aukus submarine partnership, with Australia, sets the benchmark for innovative and vital collaboration.
Continue reading...Politicians, dignitaries and high-profile tech entrepreneurs attend feast
Lucy Powell has hit out at the “sexist” framing of her deputy Labour leadership campaign, with people claiming she and her rival, Bridget Phillipson, are standing as “proxies” for two men, Aletha Adu reports.
Most of Donald Trump’s policies horrify progressives and leftwingers in Britain, including Labour party members and supporters, but Keir Starmer has said almost nothing critical about the Trump administration because he has taken a view that maintaining good relations with the White House is in the national interest.
I understand the UK government’s position of being pragmatic on the international stage and wanting to maintain a good relationship with the leader of the most powerful country in the world. Faced with a revanchist Russia, Europe’s security feels less certain now than at any time since the second world war. And the threat of even higher US tariffs is ever present.
But it’s also important to ensure our special relationship includes being open and honest with each other. At times, this means being a critical friend and speaking truth to power – and being clear that we reject the politics of fear and division. Showing President Trump why he must back Ukraine, not Putin. Making the case for taking the climate emergency seriously. Urging the president to stop the tariff wars that are tearing global trade apart. And putting pressure on him to do much more to end Israel’s horrific onslaught on Gaza, as only he has the power to bring Israel’s brazen and repeated violations of international law to an end.
Continue reading...Home Office says it will review modern slavery laws to save PM’s ‘one in, one out’ returns deal with France
Shabana Mahmood has accused asylum seekers of making “vexatious, last-minute claims” to avoid removal to France as the Home Office said it would review modern slavery laws to save Keir Starmer’s returns deal.
After an 11th-hour injunction that scuppered Labour’s “one in, one out” scheme, the home secretary said she would stop claimants “suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal”, adding that it made a “mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity”.
Continue reading...The 25-year-old claims to be trafficking victim and won high court challenge in what may prove major blow to Labour policy
An Eritrean man has had his deportation to France under Labour’s “one-in, one-out” scheme halted at the 11th hour after he won a high court challenge.
The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is the first to win a challenge in the high court against the removal scheme, which is itself new. The first removal flights were due to take place on Monday and Tuesday of this week but were cancelled. The man had been due to be on a flight to France at 9am on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey attack PM’s record over US ambassador during commons debate that was skipped by Starmer
Vikram Dodd is the Guardian’s crime correspondent.
Police expect to arrest 50 more people following Saturday’s large far-right-led march through London, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police said this morning.
If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform. The country is going to change a lot. The same people who thought that Brexit would not happen think that Reform will not happen. They are in for a shock.
Continue reading...Group of people who crossed Channel by boat understood not to have been on Air France plane after legal challenge
The first flight to France carrying people who crossed the Channel under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal has not taken place as planned, according to reports.
A small group of individuals were removed from an Air France flight on Monday due to travel from Heathrow to Paris after a legal challenge, according to multiple newspaper reports.
Continue reading...Chancellor hosting Downing Street talks with Treasury secretary, which are aimed at securing more US investment
Rachel Reeves will host the bosses of top US and UK financial firms in Downing Street on Tuesday morning, as Donald Trump begins his official state visit.
The meeting, which will be jointly hosted by US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, will be attended by senior figures from BlackRock, Barclays and Blackstone, who will have roundtable talks with officials hoping to highlight economic cooperation between the two countries.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage announces defection of MP for East Wiltshire and puts him in charge of preparing party for government
Nigel Farage has announced that Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK from the Tories. Kruger, MP for East Wiltshire, is a leading social conservative, and co-chaired the New Conservatives group in the last parliament with Miriam Cates.
Farage said that Kruger would be in charge of preparing the part for government.
Continue reading...Huge survey reveals employment rights policies are popular with public despite many not knowing about bill
Keir Starmer must make the “populist case” for workers’ rights reforms, unions have said, after a new mega-poll suggested the changes were the most popular of almost all policies but have extremely limited public recognition.
The employment rights bill will return to the Commons on Monday with a pledge by senior government figures not to water down changes to zero-hours contracts or new rights at work.
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