Early evening summary
Keir Starmer claimed Kemi Badenoch is “not fit to be prime minister” as the pair clashed over national security and energy projects in the Commons. (See 2.43pm.)
Farage laughs off question about Trump's plan for Gaza, saying 'casinos, nightlife - very appealing to me'
At his press conference Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, was asked what he thought about President Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and make it the “Riviera of the Middle East”. He gave a light-hearted answer, saying:
I love that notion. The thought of that wealthy, wonderful thriving place with well-paid jobs, casinos, nightlife ... it all sounds very appealing to me.
Farage then went on to say he was “not here to answer for everything the Trump administration has to say”. He proudly counts Trump as a friend.
But, without referrring specifically to the Gaza plan, which has been condemned around the world as ethnic cleansing, Farage then praised Trump for what he had done in his first weeks in office. He said:
What I will say is he’s got the most extraordinary start as US president – promises made, promises kept, quite extraordinary …
So without being specific on Gaza, I would just say I think he’s off the most incredible start.
You witness international brinkmanship on the level perhaps never seen before, and the surrender after surrender that you get, whether it’s from Canada or South American countries, Panama, you name it, is amazing.
You use tariffs as a transactional tool, amazingly effectively – you can go back to the American people and say, ‘I’ve got a good deal.’
But Farage also claimed that, as a result of the Chagos Islands proposal, the UK might be subject to the tariffs that Trump says he will impose on the EU. And he claimed that those tariffs, unlike the Mexico and Canada ones, could be permanent, and not just a negotiating tool.
Updated
I don’t normally get asked by readers BTL for more Nigel Farage in the blog, but someone has requested a clip of Farage being jeered when he asked a question during PMQs, which I mentioned in the snap verdict. And so here it is for people who did not see it.
‘Nonsense!’
— LBC (@LBC) February 5, 2025
‘U-turn!’
‘Get on with it!’
Nigel Farage faces jeering and laughter as he struggles to get his point across at PMQs. pic.twitter.com/qqguHHVXT6
Four Labour MPs have whip restored, but John McDonnell, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana still suspended
Four Labour MPs who were suspended for voting against the Government on the two-child benefit cap have had the whip restored, PA Media reports. PA says:
Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long-Bailey were among seven Labour MPs who were suspended from the parliamentary party in July for backing an SNP-led amendment to scrap the cap.
It is understood that the whip remains suspended for the other three MPs, but it will be reviewed again in the future.
They are former shadow chancellor and Hayes and Harlington MP John McDonnell, Poplar and Limehouse MP Apsana Begum, and Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana. They will remain sitting as Independents.
John McDonnell, a former shadow chancellor, said on social media he was “relaxed” about not having the whip restored yet, because there is a reason for a delay.
Pleased my colleagues got whip back but disappointed Zarah & Apsana haven’t yet. Relaxed about my own position as I’ve made clear I don’t expect whip back until we know whether police are to charge me following recent Palestinian demo after which I was interviewed under caution.
Recently McDonnell told the New Statesman’s Andrew Marr that rejoining the PLP was his “greatest wish”.
Updated
Jim Blagden from More in Common has posted this chart on social media that to some extent backs up Nigel Farage’s claim that Reform UK will lose out as a result because of where elections are being postponed. (See 4.46pm.)
If these are the nine postponed local elections, there are some interesting implications for Reform
— Jim Blagden (@jim_blagden) February 5, 2025
This would be their first major test post-GE24, but key targets like Thurrock and Essex won't be voting in May
Will be harder to judge how "real" Reform's poll lead actually is https://t.co/KZhtpNMS0i pic.twitter.com/8vvRTKiLFQ
Farage claims local elections being cancelled in areas where Reform UK would have done best, like Essex and Norfolk
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has said that he is “really angry” about the government’s decision to postpone elections in nine council areas in England.
At a news conference in Westminster this afternoon, he claimed there was no justification for the move other than the “sheer cowardice over what Reform might do to them in those campaigns”.
And he claimed that some of the elections cancelled were in areas where Reform was set to make significant gains. He explained:
They are canceling elections in some of the calendars in which we’d expected to do the very, very best, Essex being, in a sense, number one on our hit list, Norfolk being not very far behind.
I’m not knocking our ability in Surrey or West Sussex or whatever it may be. I’m not. But certainly in Essex and Norfolk we have every right to feel seriously aggrieved.
Our internal polling shows were ahead in Essex, with maybe even a chance of winning enough seats to certainly be in a governing or coalition governing position in that county. So we are really angry about this.
Updated
British Palestinian Committee urges Starmer to take 'effective action' against Trump's plans to 'ethnically cleanse' Gaza
British Palestinians have fiercely condemned Donald Trump’s plan to forcibly transfer and “take over” the Gaza strip as ethnic cleansing and a crime against humanity. They say the plans highlight the need for an urgent rethink in UK government policies towards Palestine.
Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, said Trump’s plans were “an extension of the relentless dispossession and dehumanisation of Palestinians we have experienced for decades, in particular over the past 15 months of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza”.
Husseini called for a fundamental change in UK policy towards Palestine. She said:
Keir Starmer’s government must now take immediate, effective action against all attempts to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from their homeland, end the UK’s own complicity in measures that violate the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, and seek urgent accountability for Israel’s violations of international law.
Nimer Sultany, reader in public law at SOAS University and the editor in chief of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law, described Trump’s comments as “not merely a plan to commit war crimes but also a crime against humanity”. He said:
Instead of holding Israel to account for making Gaza uninhabitable, the US is aiding Israel in completing the genocide. Instead of enforcing the International Court of Justice’s July ruling by ending the Israeli occupation and dismantling the Israeli settlements, Trump is seeking to displace Palestinians demanding freedom. Instead of denouncing Israeli annexation, which is no less unlawful than in Crimea, the US plans to facilitate it.
Here is Peter Walker’s story about the government’s decision to postpone elections in nine English council areas.
And here is the government announcement.
During the Commons statement on the Prevent review, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, asked for an assurance that the government would not make it harder to detain people under the Mental Health Act just out of “racial sensitivities”.
Philp said:
In the King’s Speech, the government announced a new mental health bill, and in the notes accompanying that on pages 83 to 85, it said that the government has plans to increase the threshold for dentition under the Mental Health Act, that is to say, make it harder to detain people, and it goes on to note concerns about black people being more likely to be detained under mental health powers.
So, does the security minister [Dan Jarvis] share my worry, especially following these six murders committed by [Axel] Rudakubana and [Valdo] Calocane [the Nottingham killer] that making it harder to detain dangerous people under the Mental Health Act because of racial sensitivities is not the right thing to do?
I’m sure he would share my view that misplaced political correctness about racial quotas definitely can’t be allowed to end up endangering the public.
In response, Jarvis assured Philp that the government would “always do what is necessary and what is the right thing in order to safeguard the security and protection of the public”.
Updated
Here is a Guardian video of the key exchanges at PMQs.
And here are some pictures from the Commons photographer from PMQs.
Prevent review shows too much emphasis placed on Southport killer not having 'distinct ideology', Jarvis says
In his statement to MPs on the publication of the report into how Prevent handled the Southport killer, Dan Jarvis said too much emphasis was placed on Axel Rudakubana not having a “distinct ideology”. He said:
The review concluded that too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology, to the detriment of considering the perpetrator’s susceptibility, grievances and complex needs.
There was an under-exploration of the significance of his repeat referrals, and the cumulative risk, including his history of violence.”
The overall conclusion of the review is that he should have been case managed through the channel multi-agency process, rather than closed to Prevent. This would have enabled to co-ordinated multi-agency risk management and support.
Jarvis said that the government was accepting all 14 recommendations in the report and that an internal review of the thresholds applied by Prevent in assessing cases would be finished by April.
He also confirmed that the Prevent learning review into the 2021 killing of Southend West Conservative MP David Amess will be released next week.
Updated
Counter-terrorism chief says review of Prevent's handling of Southport killer highlights need for new approach
Matt Jukes, head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK, has said the review of Prevent’s handling of Axel Rudakubana (see 3.23pm) highlights the need for a single organisation to take charge of people like Rudakubana – who are drawn to extreme violence, with mental health issues, but not categorised as terrorists. He said:
We have taken the unprecedented step of publishing the review.
It describes decisions made in line with policy in place at the time, in a system that was not equipped to deal with emerging risks that were very different to those it had been built to address.
In this case, there were at least 15 contact points with public services – health, education and social care systems, and the police.
We want to see a system where every one of those contacts counts, and where the sum total of all of them taken together is seen as the red flag that it should be.
Jukes said that cases where young people are drawn into extreme violence online, combined with mental health and social challenges, should have “a clear home” rather than being passed between organisations.
Updated
The Mauritian government has denied it claimed the amount of money offered by the UK under the Chagos Islands deal had doubled. (See 2.06pm.)
In a statement about what the Mauritian PM told his national assembly yesterday, it said:
Mauritius has never said that the financial package in the agreement between Mauritius and the UK on the Chagos Archipelago had doubled, as alleged.
The communique issued by the Mauritian government also said the negotiations had also “clarified and firmed up the unequivocal understanding that any extension would need to have the consent of Mauritius and the UK”.
And it confirmed that following the renegotiation under Ramgoolam “the parties had agreed on an improved agreement on mutually acceptable terms”.
Southport killer's referral to Prevent was 'closed prematurely', MPs told
The Home Office has just published the review of Prevent’s dealings with Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer. It confirms that he was referred to Prevent, government scheme to deal with people being drawn towards terrorism, the three times.
In a Commons statement to mark the publication of the report, Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said:
I can update the house that the perpetrator was referred to Prevent three times between December 2019 when he was aged 13 and April 2021 when he was 14. Those referrals were made by his schools.
The first referral reported concerns about him carrying a knife and searching for school shootings on the internet. The second referral was focused on his online activity relating to Libya and Gaddafi. His third referral was for searching for London bombings, the IRA and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
On each of these occasions, the decision at the time was that the perpetrator should not progress to the Channel multi-agency process. But the Prevent learning review found that there was sufficient risk for the perpetrator to have been managed through Prevent.
It found that the referral was closed prematurely, and there was sufficient concern to keep the case active while further information was collected.
Starmer opts not to attend international AI summit in Paris
Keir Starmer has decided not to travel to Paris for next week’s international summit on artificial intelligence, despite the presence of other world leaders including Emmanuel Macron, Narendra Modi and JD Vance, Kiran Stacey and Dan Milmo report.
Starmer claims Badenoch 'not fit to be PM' because she is ignoring chance for national security briefings
Here is the PA Media story on Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
Keir Starmer claimed Kemi Badenoch is “not fit to be prime minister” as the pair clashed over national security and energy projects in the Commons.
The prime minister responded to criticism of his handling of the deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius by suggesting his Conservative counterpart had not requested a national security briefing on the issue as “she’s more interested in chasing Reform”.
Badenoch accused Sir Keir of an “immoral surrender” over the Chagos Islands and questioned how anyone could believe the prime minister is defending UK interests when he “bends the knee to anyone who asks him”.
The Conservative party leader repeatedly accused Starmer of providing “weak” and “waffly” answers and challenged him to give the go-ahead to new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
The UK government wants to give the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, to Mauritius and pay to lease back the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.
It argues it must cede the islands to Mauritius after international legal rulings.
Environmental campaigners were also successful last week in their legal challenge against decisions to give approval to the Rosebank oil field north west of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen.
Speaking at PMQs, Badenoch opened by saying “when Labour negotiates, our country loses” and said of the Chagos deal: “This is an immoral surrender so north London lawyers can boast at their dinner parties.”
Badenoch then asked: “Why did the energy secretary [Ed Miliband] withdraw government lawyers from defending the case against the eco nutters who want to obstruct Rosebank’s oil and gas fields?”
On Chagos, Starmer said the military base is “vital to our national security” and the legal certainty of it had been “thrown into doubt” in recent years.
He said: “Let me be clear, and I’ll pick my words carefully: without legal certainty, the base cannot operate in practical terms as it should. That is bad for our national security and it’s a gift to our adversaries.”
Starmer said the previous Tory administration was right to conduct 11 of the 13 rounds of negotiations, adding: “I will set out the details when they’re finalised and they will of course be presented to parliament.
“But if the leader of the opposition is properly briefed on the national security implications when she’s asking these questions, which she’s perfectly entitled to do, then she knows exactly what I’m talking about in terms of national security and legal certainty.
“If, on the other hand, she’s not properly briefed on the national security implications, she’s not doing her job, she’s not concerned about national security and she’s not fit to be prime minister.”
Badenoch countered: “How can anyone believe that this man is defending UK interests when he bends the knee to anyone who asks him? His answer was so weak and so waffly, it’s no wonder he needs a voice coach, but he didn’t answer the question I asked him: why the energy secretary was not defending our country.”
Assisted dying amendment requires doctors to raise all other options first
Doctors in England and Wales will not be permitted to raise assisted dying with patients without first explaining palliative care and other support options, Kim Leadbeater has said, tabling a series of new amendments to her bill before detailed scrutiny of it begins next week. Jessica Elgot has the story here.
At the Downing Street post-PMQs the PM’s press secretary said the voice coach who worked with Keir Starmer in December 2020 was a “core part of a small team” helping helping him with statements and press conferences during Covid.
Starmer believed it was not reasonably possible for her to have done the job she was carrying out from home, which is why they met face to face, the press secretary said.
But, at the Tory post-PMQs briefing, a spokesperson for Kemi Badenoch said:
The key question here is: is a voice coach a key worker who can travel from Tier 4 to Tier 3 during lockdown? It doesn’t matter if you’re part of a core team, that is the question. Now, Keir Starmer said that lawmakers can’t be lawbreakers. It is almost unimaginable to disagree that that was a clear breach of the Covid rules.
Asked if Badenoch thought police should investigate, he said: “Yes, she does.”
At the post-PMQs lobby briefing Downing Street declined to elaborate on what Keir Starmer said about how not having a sovereignty deal for the Chagos Islands could put national security at risk. (See 12.09am.) Asked what the risk was, the PM’s spokesperson said:
The legal advice, security advice, is very clear that the operation of this base will be at risk if there is not a deal which would directly impact our national security, US national security, and indeed the operation of a base that is important to regional security.
He did not say what the risk was or when or where the advice had come from.
Downing Street says Mauritian PM 'factually inaccurate' in what he said yesterday about Chagos Islands deal
Downing Street has accused the Mauritian prime minister of being “factually inaccurate” in what he said yesterday about the latest version of the proposed Chagos Islands sovereignty deal.
Navin Ramgoolam spoke about the deal in the Mauritian national assembly yesterday, and at one point he implied that his country would now get twice as much money from the UK as it would have done under the initial deal agreed by his predecessor last autumn. On the basis of what Ramgoolam said, it was reported that the final cost to the UK would reach £18bn – even though the PM himself did not use that figure.
Downing Street did not contradict Ramgoolam at its briefing yesterday afternoon, although at 11pm last night the Foreign Office finally issued a statement saying the figures being reported were wrong. (See 9.34am.)
Today No 10 rebutted Ramgoolam more forcefully. At the post-PMQs lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said:
There was some reporting on this yesterday in relation to the Mauritian prime minister.
He has got those figures, or at least the way he was characterising it, wrong.
His summary of the deal was clearly aimed at a domestic political audience, but it was factually inaccurate.
There has been no change to the cost of the deal or the terms of the lease.
It is unusual for Downing Street to contradict another prime minister quite so bluntly.
Elections scheduled for May for 9 council areas in England to be postponed for year pending reorganisation, Rayner tells MPs
Angela Rayner, the deputy PM, has confirmed that elections scheduled for May in nine council areas in England are being postponed for a year to allow local government reorganisation to go ahead, PA Media reports. PA says:
Rayner has announced six new potential devolution areas throughout England with “a view to mayoral elections in May 2026”.
These areas are Cumbria, Cheshire and Warrington, Greater Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton.
Speaking in the Commons, Rayner said: “These places will get a fast-track ticket to drive real change in their area.
“While devolution can sound techie, the outcome is simple – it’s a plan for putting more money in people’s pockets, it’s a plan for quicker, better, cheaper transport designed with local people in mind, a plan for putting politics back in the service of working people.”
Turning to a seventh area, Rayner said: “Lancashire is already deciding its mayoral devolution options and we will look at their proposals in the autumn in parallel with the priority programme.”
Home Office to release later today review of Prevent's handling of Southport killer
Later today the Home Office will release a review of Prevent’s handling of three referrals it received about Axel Rudakubana from 2019 to 2021, the last being three years before he murdered three school girls at a dance class in Southport in July 2024.
The review is expected to be critical and Prevent, the official scheme to stop people becoming terrorists, declined to adopt Rudakubana’s case because it saw no signs his interest in violence was linked to terrorism.
Prevent learning reviews are not usually made public.
The Guardian has learned Prevent will soon face even further pressure with the government intending to also release the review into the anti-radicalisation scheme’s handling of the man who went on to murder the MP Sir David Amess as he held a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021.
Ali Harbi Ali was referred to Prevent who adopted his case, and after working with him cleared him of being a terrorist threat in 2015, some six years before the attack of Amess in a church.
The Prevent learning review into Ali’s case may be released as soon as next week.
PMQs - snap verdict
Keir Starmer faced questions from the leaders of both main rightwing opposition to him today. Nigel Farage’s party may be ahead in the polls. But he has little authority in the Commons chamber, where ‘smooth insider’ goes down better than ‘insurgent bloke’, and where not having dozens of MPs to cheer him is a handicap, and today he fluffed his question by pausing for too long, which meant the jeering became excessive. The scripted question from Farage was fine.
What do I say to 25,000 constituents in Clacton, including 99-year-old Jim O’Dwyer, who flew a full set of missions on Lancaster bombers as a tail-end Charlie, as they’re losing winter fuel allowance, feeling the pinch, while at the same time they’re willing to give away a military base and pay £18 billion for the privilege of doing so.
But Starmer replied:
He talks of panic, the only panic is people using the NHS who know that under his policy he wants to charge them for using the NHS.
What he should say to the people of Clacton – when he finally finds Clacton – is that they should vote Labour because we are stabilising the economy.
And this worked better.
As expected, Kemi Badenoch started by talking about the Chagos Islands, which she claimed was “an immoral surrender so north London lawyers can boast at their dinner parties”. But this was almost a feint because she ended her first interention with a question about “the eco nutters who want to obstruct Rosebank’s oil and gas fields” and then, for the rest of the session, she carried on with Rosebank before widening that to ask about Great British Energy, AstraZeneca and potential job loses. It was punchy – there were references to taking the knee and the voice coach stories, two rightwing obsessions – but it was unfocused and, while it may have delivered okay soundbites for social media, none of them sounded like a clinching argument in the chamber.
Starmer was more interesting because he rolled out what seems like a new attack line against Badenoch. He may even have been inspired by Badenoch herself, because last week she seemed to joke about claims that she is lazy. In response to the first question, which included a reference to the Chagos Islands, Starmer went into a lengthy answer that implied, if Badenoch had attended a security briefing on privy council terms, she would know that the UK had no option other than to hand over sovereignty because – well, he couldn’t say, because it’s secret. (See 12.09am.) And then, in response to the second question, he made the point again.
She didn’t say that she was briefed about the Chagos issue. This is important. When she became Leader of the Opposition, I said to her that I would give her a briefing on any national security issue if she asked for it – that’s very important to the way we run our democracy – she has not asked for a briefing on the Chagos Islands.
Later Starmer made further references to Badenoch not being properly briefed on other issues.
In one respect, this was just Starmer throwing an accusation against Badenoch that she has used against him. But when Badenoch accused Starmer of not knowing the details of the schools bill or the employment rights bill, that was never particularly convincing because, while Starmer has plenty of flaws as a politician, not doing the work and not knowing the detail is not one of them.
It is easier to believe that Badenoch can be cavalier about detail. And Starmer is not the first person to suggest she has missed a crucial national security briefing. In his column in the Sun last week, Harry Cole said she has skipped a briefing on the Southport attacks. He wrote:
The leader of the opposition was invited by the PM on Monday to a briefing on the Southport attack, yet sources say she did not attend.
The top-level update, done occasionally on secret privy council terms, was due to be given by the deputy national security adviser – pointing to how serious No 10 was about keeping the opposition in the loop.
This line of attack may have seemed a bit obscure to non-politicos watching, because lots of people don’t know much about how privy council briefings operate. But MPs understand all of this, and believe they matter, and Starmer’s claim that Badenoch is neglecting this side of her job may have concerned some of her MPs.
Badenoch is also getting negative write-up from Tory commentators this afternoon because she did not say more about the claim that Starmer broke lockdown rules when he got his voice coach to help in person. The rightwingers are also claiming it is significant that Starmer chose not to answer yes when asked if he was confident his staff did not break the rules. (See 12.31pm.) But this is probably just the sound of a dead horse being flogged yet again. Despite their best efforts, the Tory papers have not been able to find any evidence that Starmer broke the rules and, if he did not reply yes, it might have been because the answer he did give was better.
What Starmer says about need for Palestinians to be allowed to return home to Gaza, and for two state solution
This is what Keir Starmer said in response to Ed Davey when asked about President Trump’s Gaza plan. (See 12.21pm.)
The most important issue on the ceasefire is, obviously that it’s sustained, and we see it through the phases. And that means that the remaining hostages come out, and the aid that’s desperately needed gets into Gaza at speed and at the volumes that are needed.
I have from the last few weeks two images fixed in my mind. The first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving.
The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking, literally walking through the rubble, to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza.
They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two state solution.
Michael Wheeler (Lab) asks Starmer if he agrees the government should listen to the experience of job centre staff when reforming welfare.
Starmer does agree. He says the government is planning the biggest reform to employment support for a generation.
Danny Chambers (Lib Dems) asks about maternity services, and what is being done to make them safer.
Starmer says the government is committed to recruiting thousands more midwives.
Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance) refers to Hilary Benn’s speech yesterday. She says she agrees with Benn about the need to reform public services. Will this governent reform the institutions in Northern Ireland so it can operate properly.
Starmer says devolution has been very valuable in Northern Ireland. He says the restoration of the executive was an important milestone, and he says the goverment will continue to work with the parties there.
Dave Doogan (SNP) asks if Starmer agrees with Prof Sir John Curtice, who has said Starmer is the worst thing to happen to Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader. He says Starmer has been catastrophic for Scottish Labour’s polling.
Starmer says he can remember when the SNP had so many MPs they said on the front benches (where the Lib Dems are now).
Joanna Baxter (Lab) asks about council funding in Scotland. She criticises the Scottish government for the way it is withdrawing money from council workers’ pay to cover pension costs.
Starmer says the Scottish government has got the money it needs.
Claire Hughes (Lab) asks what the government is doing about shoplifting.
Starmer says for far too long this has not been taken seriously. Under the Tories, offences involving the theft of goods worth less than £200 were not investigated. He says the government has changed that.
Starmer defends meeting with voice coach during lockdown, says he was working while Tories were partying
Gagan Mohindra (Con) asks about the claim that Starmer broke lockdown rules when he got a voice coach to visit him before Christmas in 2020. He says he believes Starmer is an honourable man and he asks him to repeat his assurance that the rules were followed, not just by him, but by his team.
Starmer replies:
In December 202o I was in my office working on the expected Brexit deal with my team. We had to analyse the deal as it came in at speed, prepare and deliver a live statement at speed of one of the most important issues for our country in recent years. That’s what I was doing.
What were they [the Conservatives] doing? Suitcases of booze into Downing Street, partying and fighting, vomiting up the walls, leaving the cleaner to remove red wine. States. That’s the difference. I was working. They were partying.
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, says the UK shoudl stop funding Unwra, because some of the Hamas hostages were held in Unwra facilities. He goes on:
The British people do not want our aid being stolen by Hamas. So will the prime minister agree with me that we should stop funding Hamas, follow the example of other nations and divert our aid to other, more trustworthy agencies.
Starmer recalls a conversation with one of the hostages after she was released. He spoke to her about the conditions in which he was held.
Then he angrily goes on:
To be absolutely clear, and [Tice] knows this, we are not funding Hamas, never will, we condemn Hamas, and everybody in this house should condemn Hamas.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, says his party believes in a health service free at the point of delivery. (Earlier a Labour MP criticised him for being in favour of an insurance system).
But his question is about the Chagos Islands. He asks how he could justify spending £18bn on this to the people of Clacton.
Starmer says under Reform policy, people would have to pay to use the NHS. If Farage can find the people of Clacton, he should tell them to vote Labour, he says.
Starmer says Palestinians must be allowed to return to Gaza - but ducks opportunity to criticise Trump
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks about the carer’s allowance scandal. He mentions a carer caught up in it, even though the sanctions policy is being reviewed. Will the government look at this?
Starmer says he will arrange for the DWP to look at this.
Davey says he has raised it with the DWP already, but did not get a good reply.
He asks about Gaza, and asks if Starmer will raise with President Trump the concerns MPs have about his “dangerous statements”.
Starmer says Palestinians must be allowed to return home, and the UK shoud be supporting them in that, he says.
But he does not refer to Trump, or agree to Davey’s suggestion to pass on the concerns of British MPs.
Badenoch says 200,000 jobs in the energy sector at at risk.
Starmer says Badenoch needs to check how energy licences are granted. He says she is not being briefed on the relevant issues. He says the Tories presided over the worst fall in living standards on record.
Badenoch says it is hard to believe anything Starmer said. He needed emergency voice coaching on Christmas Eve, she says.
This government is so clueless it is borrowing £8bn pounds. It is so clueless it is borrowing £8bn pounds for GB energy, a vanity project that is not great, not British, and does not produce any energy.
She says it won’t produce 1,000 jobs.
Starmer says Badenoch has not been briefed on Great British Energy. What matters is not the jobs in HQ, but the jobs it creates in the industry.
Badenoch says last week Labour lost the AstraZeneca investment, on the same day the Rosebank investment was put in jeopardy. She says:
Business is abandoning the North Sea because of his decisions. What signal does he think he is sending to investors?
Starmer accuses Badenoch of talking the country down.
Badenoch asks again about Rosebank. Starmer accuses her of playing student politics.
Badenoch asks if donations from eco-zealots had an influence on the government’s decision not to defend the Rosebank decison.
Starmer says he offered her briefings on any topic she wanted. He says, again, she should have asked about the Chagos Islands.
Starmer suggests Badenoch has missed chance to have private, national security briefing on Chagos Islands issue
Kemi Badenoch says:
When Labour negotiates, our country loses.
Yesterday it was reported the Chagos deal would cost £18bn. She says this is money that belongs to us and our children. It is so north London lawyers can boast at dinner parties.
Why did the energy secretary stop fighting the Rosebank case.
Starmer says Diego Garcia is “vital for our national security”.
But the legal certainty was thrown into doubt some years ago.
He goes on:
Let me be clear, and I’ll pick my words carefully. Without legal certainty, the base cannot operate in practical terms as it should.
That is bad for national security, and is a gift to our adversaries.
Some within the party opposite know exactly what I am talking about.
That is why the last government started negotiations.
Starmer says, if Badenoch is “properly briefed” on the national security aspects, she will know what is is talking about.
If Badenoch is not properly briefed, she is not fit to be PM.
(Starmer seemed to be alluding to a recent report saying Badenoch missed a recent national security briefing – although that was about the Southport killings.)
Yasmin Qureshi (Lab) asks about the rail services in her Bolton constituency.
Starmer says the Tories left the railways in a terrible state. “You cannot grow the economy if you can’t grow the railways,” he says.
Neil Hudson (Con) asks about the “three dads walking” campaigners for better suicide prevention measures.
Starmer says this is a really important issue. He says he has met the three dads, and he praises them for their work.
Keir Starmer starts by saying MPs will be appalled by the knife crime killing of a boy in Sheffield.
And he says he met EU leaders on Monday to discuss how they could make the post-Brexit relationship work better.
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After PMQs there will be an urgent question on the Chagos Islands. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has tabled it. A Foreign Office minister will reply.
This is from Max Kendix from the Times.
EXCLUSIVE: More than five million lose the chance to vote in local elections this year. Elections cancelled in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Thurrock, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Hampshire and Isle of Wight - replaced with elections to new unitary councils in 2026
Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
PMQs is starting soon.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
At Westminister some opposition parties have also condemned President Trump’s plan strongly.
This is from Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader.
When we desperately need a fragile truce to hold, Trump’s ramblings on Gaza risk having the effect of a bull in a china shop.
The UK needs to make clear that these proposals must be rejected, and that we support international law and a two state solution based on 1967 borders.
And these are from Adrian Ramsay, the Green party’s co-leader.
Trump’s horrific comments amount to the start of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
This demands immediate action; politicians from across the house must make it clear that Trump’s actions are morally unacceptable.
The government must bring legislation to recognise Palestinian statehood as a matter of urgency.
It is imperative that we stand firm in support of the principles of international law. We must be very clear that Palestinians and Israelis have a right to statehood.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who is not normally slow at sharing his views on social media, has not commented on his X feed yet. He is proud of his friendship with Trump and almost never says anything critical about him.
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And Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, whose parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza for a number of weeks in 2023 after the 7 October Hamas massacre tiggered war, has also described President Trump’s plan as “ethnic cleansing”.
In a post on social media commenting on what Trump said during his White House press conference, Yousaf said:
Why is it a living hell? Who bombed it, killing tens of thousands of people, including children, and reduced Gaza to rubble?
Also, what Trump calls “permanent resettlement” is what the rest of the world should call ethnic cleansing.
Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza. Period.
John Swinney calls Trump's Gaza plan 'unacceptable and dangerous', saying 'there must be no ethnic cleansing'
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has condemned President Trump’s plans for Gaza as “unacceptable and dangerous”, saying there “must be no ethnic cleansing”.
In a post on Bluesky he said:
After months of collective punishment and the death of over 40,000 in Gaza, any suggestion Palestinians should be removed from their home is unacceptable and dangerous.
There must be no ethnic cleansing.
Only a proper two state solution will bring lasting peace.
Lammy says Trump 'right' about need for rebuilding in Gaza - while rejecting his proposals for Palestinians to be removed
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has said that President Trump is “right” to say Gaza must be rebuilt – while confirming that the government is oppose to his suggestion that they should be forced to leave their homes.
At a press conference in Kyiv in Ukraine, where he is on a visit, Lammy was asked what the government thought of Trump’s plan for a US takeover of Gaza, and whether such a plan would comply with international law.
Lammy replied:
Donald Trump is right. Looking at those scenes, Palestinians who have been horrendously displaced over so many months of war, it is clear that Gaza is lying in rubble.
We have always been clear in our view that we must see two states and we must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza, in the West Bank. That is what we want to get to.
That is why it’s important we move out of phase one of this hostage deal, to stage two and then to phase three and reconstruct Gaza. We will play our part in that support for reconstruction, working alongside the Palestinian authority and Gulf and Arab partners. That’s the guarantee to ensure that there is a future for Palestinians in their home.
In rejecting the plan while at the same time using Trump-positive language, Lammy was adopting the approach adopted by his cabinet colleague Steve Reed earlier (see 9.55am). The Conservative party is also adopting a similar tone. (See 10.16am.)
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Danish PM praises UK as one of their 'biggest allies' after talks with Starmer covering 'threats' in Arctic and High North
Keir Starmer praised the “important role” Denmark plays in defending the security of the Arctic region as he met his Danish counterpart last night, amid a diplomatic row with the US over the sovereignty of Greenland, PA Media reports.
The PM hosted Mette Frederiksen for a working dinner in Downing Street evening as her country faces a dispute with Donald Trump, who has said he wants to acquire the Nordic island. In public No 10 has signalled its support for Denmark, while trying to avoid saying anything that might antagonise Trump or escalate the dispute.
Last night, in a readout of the talks, Number 10 made no specific mention of Greenland but said the two leaders agreed to “step up joint cooperation to address threats” faced in the High North region.
Starmer welcomed a new military package announced by Denmark to defend the Arctic from “hostile activity”, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
It comes after the Nordic country said it would spend 14.6 billion kroner (£1.6bn) to boost security in the region following renewed interest from Trump in controlling Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, PA says.
Speaking outside Number 10 following her meeting with Starmer, Frederiksen said they had agreed to “work closely together” on ensuring the security of the High North, which includes the island.
Asked whether she had received support from the UK prime minister on the issue of Greenland during their meeting on Tuesday, Frederiksen said:
We had a very good meeting.
I consider UK as one of our biggest and most important allies, and he is a close friend and colleague to me and to Denmark.
We have agreed tonight that we will work closely together on the Arctic region and the need for ensuring the security environment in what we call the High North, including Greenland and the Arctic region in general.
So it was a very good meeting, and not only looking at the Arctic region, we have agreed to work closer together on defence and deterrence and on the different security issues that are surrounding us in these years.
In its readout, a No 10 spokesperson said:
Turning to security in the High North and Arctic region, the prime minister paid tribute to the important role Denmark was playing and welcomed their recent announcement of a new military package to defend the Arctic from hostile activity.
Both leaders agreed to step up joint cooperation to address threats in the Arctic and High North, working with allies through Nato and JEF [Joint Expeditionary Force] Partners.
The High North is a term used in defence circles covering the Arctic and North Atlantic. It includes Greenland.
Priti Patel declines to back Trump's vision for Gaza, saying 'it's not for one country' to dictate its future
Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, was also doing a media round this morning. She is arguably the most pro-Israeli Tory holding the Foreign Office brief for years, but she would not endorse President Trump’s plan for Gaza.
Like Steve Reed in his interviews (see 9.55am), she made a point of sounding postive about Trump – while rejecting the substance of what he was proposing.
In an inteview on the Today programme, she said:
We’re still in a ceasefire with three phases. We’re not through the first phase.
Coming to the rebuilding is, of course, phase three. Having a vision – and what we heard overnight absolutely sounds like a vision in terms of rebuilding, creating hope, opportunity, prosperity for the people of Gaza – that is obviously an end state.
But how to get there?
Patel said that the UK should be working with its partners, “Arab countries in the Middle East”, on a long-term solution. These countries are opposed to the Trump plan, although Patel did not spell that out.
She also said that she was interested in having a “reformed PA [Palestinian Authority]” running Gaza – which is not part of what Trump seems to be planning at all.
And she stressed the need for international agreement on Gaza’s future. She said:
I think we are a long way, if I may say so, from even speaking about new governance, new structures.
Clearly, this is an aspiration. These are discussions that must, must absolutely happen. But they’ve got to happen collectively. It’s not for one country to dictate what that’s going to look like. This is going to be a negotiation.
By contrast, Trump does seem to want to dictate unilaterally what will happen in Gaza.
UK would oppose Trump plan to stop Palestinians returning to Gaza, says minister - while praising president for ceasefire role
The UK government would oppose any plan that would stop Palestinians returning to their home in Gaza, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, said this morning.
In an interview on the Today programme, asked about President Trump’s proposal for a US take-over of Gaza, and the implicit ethnic cleansing of Palestinians who have been living there, Reed stated the government’s opposition to the idea – while at the same time trying to avoid direct criticism of Trump. Reed even praised him for the role he played in securing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Reed said:
I think it’s right that I should share with you the UK Government’s view of what should happen.
It would be inappropriate for me to provide a running commentary on what Donald Trump says, or indeed any other world leader.
While we’re talking about Donald Trump, I think he deserves credit for his role in securing this ceasefire in the first place. That was clearly the important staging post towards getting the longer term peace that will want to see.
But … the UK government’s view is, and will remain, that Palestinians must be able to return to their homes and rebuild their shattered lives.
Government rejects claim Chagos deal to cost £18bn amid growing Labour backlash
Good morning. PMQs is normally mostly about domestic politics, but today – despite the government doing its best to promote an announcement about a £2.65bn investment in flood defences – foreign policy may well dominate. That is partly because of President Trump, and his desire to leave office with the US territorially bigger than it was when it arrived (something that went out of fashion in most parts of the respectable world around the end of the 19th century).
Last night Keir Starmer had dinner with the prime minister of Denmark, the country that has sovereignty over Greenland, and late last night No 10 put out a statement that slightly firmed up Starmer’s support for Denmark in its determination to see off Trump’s plan to buy/annex the vast, frozen island. More on that soon.
Now it turns out Trump wants to add Gaza to the US property porfolio too. Or something like that. At a press conference in the White House he said he wanted to “take over” the Palestinian territory, but the exact details are hazy and, as ever with Trump, it is quite hard to know where this plan sits on his deadly serious/wild fantasy spectrum. Steve Reed, the environment secretary on broadcast duty this morning, has already politely expressed the UK government’s opposition to the idea, but Starmer is almost certain to be asked about it too.
But at PMQs Kemi Badenoch may well decide to focus on the Chagos Islands – one place that Trump has not decided he wants to conquer for the US, at least not yet. You can imagine, though, why Starmer might be tempted to just hand it over. Britain has sovereignty, as a colonial-era hangover, and is in the process of giving it to Mauritius. Increasingly, the deal is getting mired in controversy.
Last night they were also working late in the Foreign Office on a media statement. Yesterday afternoon, after the Times ran a story, prompted by comments from Navin Ramgoolam, the Mauritian prime minister, in his national assembly, saying the UK was now prepared to hand over around £18bn to Mauritius as part of the deal, No 10 refused to deny the story. The UK is planning to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, because it keeps losing cases in international courts over ownership, but it is planning to pay for the giveaway too so it can carry on running the UK/US airbase on Diego Garcia for another 99 years. There was some government background briefing to the effect that the £18bn figure was not accurate, but the No 10 line left journalists with the impression that the Times story was broadly accurate.
Finally, at 11pm last night, the Foreign Office put out a statement rebutting the Times story a bit more strongly. It also claimed the Times was wrong to say the deal has been revised so that Mauritius will have a veto over any UK request to extend the 99-year Diego Garcia lease which it did not have in the original version of the deal agreed last autumn. A Foreign Office spokesperson said:
This reporting is incorrect.
The figures being quoted are entirely inaccurate and misleading.
There has been no change to the terms of extension in the treaty.
The UK will only sign a deal that is in our national interest.
This will be of some use to Starmer if Badenoch raises the question at PMQs.
But what is much more significant is the news that some senior Labour figures are privately aghast at the deal. In a report for Bloomberg last night, Alex Wickham said that two cabinet ministers are against it. Wickham said:
A person familiar with the views of one cabinet minister said they did not understand why the UK was agreeing to pay large sums of money to Mauritius at a time when the Treasury was telling UK government departments to prepare for spending cuts.
A second person familiar with a different cabinet member’s views said Starmer should cancel the deal. Both suggested Starmer was acting on legal advice from attorney general Richard Hermer.
On the Today programme this morning Henry Zeffman, the BBC’s chief political correspondent, said he was hearing the same thing. He said:
Making calls on this story to contacts in government last night, it became clear to me that some of the most senior people in government are opposed to this deal … Just looking through the words in my notebook, “terrible”, “mad”, “impossible to understand” – those are the words I can use, at least at this time of day on air. But there are other words in my notebook. And these are from very senior government sources.
In their London Playbook briefing for Politico, Sam Blewett and Bethany Dawson say Labour backbenchers are unhappy too.
One MP who fears Nigel Farage’s outfit could be closing in on their marginal seat told Playbook the treaty would be “Reform rocket fuel.” “How am I supposed to tell my constituents that we took away their winter fuel allowance to pay a foreign country to take our sovereign territory?” they messaged to say.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is due to hold a press conference in Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
After 12.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, is due to give a Commons statement on which English councils are being allowed to delay elections so they can reorganise into unitary authorities.
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