This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
Lindsay Hoyle starts by telling MPs that speakers from the parliaments in Fiji and Ukraine are in the gallery. And he says it is four years to the day since David Amess was murdered.
It’s PMQs. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Continue reading...Dan Jarvis accuses Tories of suggesting case was deliberately abandoned ‘without a shred of evidence’
The government made “every effort” to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China, a minister has said, as he accused the Tories of claiming the case was deliberately abandoned “without a shred of evidence”.
Dan Jarvis, the security minister, issued a robust defence of Jonathan Powell in the Commons after reports that Keir Starmer’s national security adviser played a role in the collapse of the case.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Acoba’s functions split between two regulators and new Ethics and Integrity Commission to oversee others
The much-criticised watchdog that scrutinises the jobs UK ministers can take after leaving office will be formally scrapped on Monday as part of a wider shake-up of the ethics structure in government.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), described by critics as fundamentally toothless, has been closed, a Cabinet Office announcement said, with its functions taken over by two existing regulators.
Continue reading...Bridget Phillipson says national security adviser was not involved in discussions before CPS abandoned its prosecution
The government’s national security adviser had no involvement in the prosecution being dropped against two British men accused of spying for China, a senior cabinet minister has said.
Jonathan Powell had no connection to discussions about the “substance or the evidence” of the case, Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday, adding that Keir Starmer had full confidence in him.
Continue reading...In an attempt to reset the relationship the government is refusing to describe China as a national security threat despite evidence to the contrary
Once, before the election, Labour’s approach to China was forthright. The party promised to declare China’s systematic repression of its Uyghur Muslim minority as a genocide. Its MPs united to support a genocide amendment to a 2021 trade bill, voting with Tory rebels and only failing to defeat Boris Johnson’s government by 11 votes.
But in the past week recriminations have swirled after the prosecution of two Britons accused of spying for China was dropped. A refusal by the government to describe China as a national security threat has reinforced Labour’s already softened approach to Beijing and sharpened focus on the figure at its heart: Keir Starmer’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell.
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Voting in the Labour deputy leadership election opens today. Lucy Powell, the former Commons leader, is seen as the favourite and, as Jessica Elgot reports, Powell told supporters yesterday that, if she is elected, she will use the post to argue for changes in the way the government is operating. “We can’t sugarcoat the fact that things aren’t going well,” she said.
Powell is no longer a government minister and, if she is elected deputy leader, she will do the job from the backbenches. In an interview on Newsnight last night, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary standing against Powell, said a Powell victory would be “destabilising” for the party. She said:
[Electing Powell] risks destabilising the party … we best achieve what we need to do together when we have those fierce conversations, including disagreements, behind closed doors.
Members need to understand that there’s a potential challenge around all of that – that if you’re not inside when the big decisions are being made, you’re not at that table, you’re not in those conversations.
Continue reading...Ex-DPP Ken Macdonald says prosecutors may have been ‘over-fussy’ in seeking further assurances from government
Legal experts have questioned the explanation given by the Crown Prosecution Service for its sudden decision to drop charges against two Britons accused of spying for China amid a political row over who was responsible.
The expert lawyers expressed surprise that the CPS thought it needed further assurance from the government that China was an enemy insofar as it posed “a current threat to national security” before the trial of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry could go ahead.
Continue reading...People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’
People granted asylum will no longer be given “the golden ticket” of resettlement and family reunion rights, Keir Starmer said, amid deepening concerns from charities that his words are demonising refugees.
As the prime minister prepared to discuss illegal migration with European leaders, No 10 outlined plans to strip successful claimants of the right to automatically invite spouses and children to join them.
Continue reading...Activist Jagtar Singh Johal has been held in Indian prison for nearly eight years without full trial
The sisters of the British-Egyptian human rights campaigner Alaa Abd el-Fattah have intervened for the first time since his release from prison in Egypt to call on Keir Starmer to push Narendra Modi to free a British Sikh activist when he meets the Indian prime minister next week.
Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, has been held in an Indian jail for nearly eight years without facing full trial in what his supporters say is an arbitrary and egregious denial of justice by a British ally.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Subdued vibes on the floor, poor polls and teetering party politics stand in the way of Keir Starmer’s plan to take Britain to the promised land
Good morning. Are you feeling the Blitz spirit?
The defining message of Keir Starmer’s conference speech pitches Labour at war for the soul of the country, engaged in a battle every bit as momentous as rebuilding Britain after the second world war. The assembled Labour ministers, staff and paid-up members of the public alternately clapped and waved their union jacks.
Gaza | Donald Trump has given Hamas an ultimatum of “three or four days” to respond to his proposed peace and reconstruction plan in Gaza, warning the militant group would “pay in hell” if it rejects the deal, as the Israeli offensive continued, inflicting further civilian casualties.
US politics | The US government shut down on Wednesday, after congressional Democrats refused to support a Republican plan to extend funding for federal departments unless they won a series of concessions centered on healthcare.
Afghanistan | Afghans are living under a near-complete communications blackout after Taliban authorities cut internet and mobile phone services for a second day as part of an unprecedented country-wide crackdown. The administration offered no immediate explanation for the blackout, although in recent weeks it has voiced concern about pornography online.
UK news | Police have responded to online speculation after a gang-rape in Banbury by saying that there is no evidence linking the crime to migrant accommodation. The force said that “any assumptions being made are unfounded and unhelpful”.
Inequality | Scientists have linked the impact of living in an unequal society to structural changes in the brains of children – regardless of individual wealth – for the first time. The findings suggest “inequality creates a toxic social environment” that “literally shapes how young minds develop”, researchers said.
Continue reading...Prime minister will focus on economic growth as an ‘antidote to division’ in address that will seek to strike a more combative, hopeful tone
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that Tony Blair could play a positive role in Gaza helping to lead the administration there proposed under Donald Trump’s peace plan.
In an interview on LBC, Streeting said that Blair’s decision to involve the UK in the Iraq war was “a catastrophic error” that had “devasting consequences”. He said that he personally opposed it at the time.
I also think about Tony Blair’s other legacy, great legacy, which is Northern Ireland, and there he showed that he could bring together sworn enemies to broker a lasting peace.
So if Tony Blair can put those skills to use, if he’s got the confidence of both the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the regional players, as seems to be the case, then great. If he can make that contribution, and that can be another legacy, a positive legacy under his belt, then so much the better.
Continue reading...Ministers signal Labour will take stronger approach to attacking Reform rather than just ‘respond to crazy things they’re saying’
Keir Starmer’s new No 10 enforcer has compared Nigel Farage to the influencer Andrew Tate, saying he is a “snake oil salesman” who is taking working-class boys down a dark path.
Darren Jones, the No 10 chief secretary to the prime minister, said Labour was going to take a more “muscular approach to attacking Reform” and it would be “more proactive than just responding to the crazy things they’re saying”.
Continue reading...Mayor of Greater Manchester says he would have to be ‘wrenched’ out of city and says he wants UK to rejoin EU. This live blog is closed
In her Today interview Rachel Reeves was asked about a FT report saying she will urge business leaders to highlight the risks of a Reform UK government in her speech later.
The FT say Reeves will tell the Labour conference.
Who is standing up for Britain’s stability. A Labour government that is resolute in cutting interest rates and borrowing or a Reform party that cheered on Liz Truss’ mini-budget?
Who is standing up for Britain’s businesses? A Labour government that is forging a closer relationship with our nearest trading partners or a Reform party that talks Britain down and is hungry to cut us off from the world?
Continue reading...PM says immigration proposals could tear country apart as Labour delegates gather for first day of party conference
Keir Starmer has decried Reform UK’s “racist” plans to revoke the rights of thousands of people to live in Britain, as a number of cabinet ministers escalated attacks on Nigel Farage on the first day of the Labour party conference.
The prime minister said Farage’s plans to revoke indefinite leave to remain for families who may have spent years working in Britain could “tear this country apart”, though he said he understood that many people tempted to vote for Reform were frustrated at the slow pace of change.
Continue reading...PM says immigration proposals could tear country apart as Labour delegates gather for first day of party conference
Keir Starmer has decried Reform UK’s “racist” plans to revoke the rights of thousands of people to live in Britain, as a number of cabinet ministers escalated attacks on Nigel Farage on the first day of the Labour party conference.
The prime minister said Farage’s plans to revoke indefinite leave to remain for families who may have spent years working in Britain could “tear this country apart”, though he said he understood that many people tempted to vote for Reform were frustrated at the slow pace of change.
Continue reading...PM calls Reform’s policy immoral but says people who want to vote for them are not racist but frustrated
Kuenssberg ended her interview by asking about Andy Burnham, and the leadership.
Starmer said Burnham was doing a very good job as mayor of Greater Manchester.
Comments about leaders and leadership are part and parcel of being in politics.
It is the bread and butter of politics, every leader get its, it always comes up, particularly at conference. It’s in the job description.
People are entitled to their views and I’m not sticking my fingers in my ear in the slightest.
What I am saying is that it is important to keep focusing on what it is that we are delivering, and saying, absolutely in clear terms, the difference it makes to people’s lives.
One, have we improved living standards? Do people genuinly feel better off? Two, have we improved public services? Is the NHS in a better place, and people can feel it. And, three, do people feel safe and secure in their home, in their neighbourhood, and that their country is secure.
It’s a five-year mandate, and I will be judged at the end of that five years, and quite right too.
I just need the space and get on and do what we need to do, and do those three things above all else.
I am saying we have got the fight of our lives ahead of us because we’ve got to take on Reform and we’ve got to beat them. So now is not the time for introspection or navel-gazing.
There is a fight that we are all in together, and every single member of our party and our movement – actually, everyone who cares about what this country is, whether they vote Labour or otherwise - it’s the fight of our lives for who we are as a country. We need to be in that fight, united not navel-gazing. I’m absolutely clear in my mind about that, and that’s what I will be talking about at conference.
Sir Keir Starmer gave land to his parents via a trust that meant their estates would never pay inheritance tax on the asset whatever its eventual value, according to legal experts.
The prime minister’s decision to place a seven-acre field within the structure meant its value was excluded from his parents’ estate, of which he was a beneficiary, when they died.
Continue reading...Prime minister says Reform proposal to abolish indefinite leave to remain could ‘tear this country apart’
Keir Starmer has attacked Reform UK’s plan to deport thousands of people already legally living in the UK as “racist” and “immoral”, as he said that Labour had a generational struggle ahead with the populist right.
The prime minister, in Liverpool for his party conference, said he did not think that Nigel Farage’s party was trying to appeal to racists, and that he understood people tempted to vote for Reform were frustrated and wanted change.
Continue reading...Exclusive: PM says history will not forgive his government if it fails to confront and defeat the populist right
Keir Starmer will warn the Labour party that it is in a “fight for the soul of the nation” and that history will not forgive his government if it fails to confront and defeat Reform UK and the populist right.
Speaking to the Guardian ahead of a vital conference for his leadership, he said he would tell disgruntled party members that now was “not the time for introspection” and infighting.
Continue reading...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...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...