Afternoon summary
Keir Starmer has angered the farming lobby by suggesting the public would prefer the government to spend money on the NHS than on “tax breaks for farmers”. (See 4.55pm and 5.30pm.) He was speaking after farmers disrupted a visit he was making to publicise the government’s plans for new towns (see 11.11am).
Rachel Reeves has “dealt with any issues that arise” from her career in retail banking, Keir Starmer has said, after claims the chancellor misused expenses and made inaccuracies on her CV. (See 12.48pm.) In response to the expenses allegations, Jayne Wayper, a former HR business partner who worked with Reeves at HBOS, said:
I do not recognise any of the accusations or claims that have been made against Rachel Reeves.
In my role, I would have been made aware of any investigation which concluded there was a case to answer. I would have been required to organise and oversee a disciplinary process. This did not happen. Under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules, any such accusations would have to have been properly investigated.
Under the company’s then expenses policy, birthday gifts and Christmas presents could be purchased using motivation cards. Indeed, staff were encouraged to do so for their teams.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said the UK will continue engage in “robust and constructive” talks with Beijing as he met his Chinese counterpart in London. (See 3.26pm.)
Farmers to Action, the group that organised the protest that disrupted a visit by Keir Starmer near Milton Keynes today, has put out a statement criticising him for his response (see 11.11am) and for not discussing the inheritance tax issue directly with farmers. Referring to the response, and Starmer’s claim the nation had to choose between higher NHS spending and “tax breaks for farmers”, the campaigners said:
The demonstrates PM Keir Scarpers complete disconnect with and contempt for everyday working people and shows extreme irresponsibility while in the seat of power. Our food security is paramount and that is why the majority of British people are opposed to these attacks on our farmers businesses and veterans, amongst others.
While farmers are grappling with the existential issues facing them caused by the new IHT rules imposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the last budget, it seems it is too much for the British Prime Minister to address their concerns.
The Conservative party has issued a statement in response to claims that Kemi Badenoch abused her government-provided car by using it in a party political broadcast. (See 2.45pm.) A Tory spokesperson said:
The leader of the opposition is a security-protected individual, and is provided with secure transport for official and party political use.
Similar arrangements apply to ministers, who are able to use ministerial cars for party business.
Starmer suggests public would rather see government spending money on NHS than on 'tax breaks for farmers'
Keir Starmer has responded to the farmers who disrupted his visit this morning. In an interview with Sky News, he said that the government had to make a choice in the budget last year and he suggested that the public at large would rather spend money on the NHS than on “tax breaks for farmers”. He said:
These are political choices, but what you can’t have is interest rates coming down, the growth we need in the economy, your waiting lists coming down, and maintain the tax break for farmers.
People watching this will understand that that is a choice. They will know what they would prefer.
Do they want their waiting lists to come down, do they want their mortgages to come down, the economy to start working for everyone? That is what we are trying to achieve.
Or do we want to give tax breaks for farmers? We can’t have both.
"...Or do we want to give tax breaks for farmers? We can't have both."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 13, 2025
Sir Keir Starmer reacts to the farmer's protest in Buckinghamshire that forced him to leave a visit to a housing development early.https://t.co/DrG6ZAFWfc
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/N3IRkCWq8y
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has been in India this week talking to counterparts about clean energy. He says India is taking net zero “incredibly seriously”, creating massive opportunities for British firms.
The global race for clean power is on.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) February 13, 2025
British businesses can play a vital role in the clean energy transition, by using our world-leading innovation and technology to create jobs, drive investment and tackle the climate crisis.
Great to be in India earlier this week 🇬🇧🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/vdzOtByg5Y
Reform MP installed solar to cut bills but party calls renewables ‘massive con’
The Reform MP Rupert Lowe installed solar panels on his farm to save money on energy bills, despite his party pledging to tax solar energy and claiming renewables are more expensive, Helena Horton and Peter Walker report.
Ministers to review how public inquiries work, saying there is 'serious and growing criticism' of their cost and effectiveness
Ministers have accepted the need for an overhaul in the way public inquiries in the UK are carried out.
In a statement this week to a Lords committee, the government said that public inquiries cost the country more than £130m in the 2023/24 financial year and that there is growing criticism of the process. It said:
The government recognises … that there is serious and growing criticism of their cost, duration and effectiveness. In the financial year 2023/24, the direct public cost of live UK inquiries was more than £130m.
Statutory inquiries that have produced their final report in the last five years took on average nearly five years to complete their work. Too often, there has been insufficient transparency and accountability for implementation of inquiry recommendations that have been accepted by previous governments.
The government was responding to a report from the Lords statutory inquiries committee published last year. The committee said that the system “must be improved” and the government said it agreed.
In a statement issued alongside the government response, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, said that he would hold “a wider review of the policy and operational framework around public inquiries” and that an update would be issued in due course.
The government has accepted many of the committee’s recommendations, including in part the proposal that ministers should set deadlines when they announce inquiries. The government said it agreed “in some circumstances, including an indicative deadline in the terms of reference may be appropriate”.
Lord Norton of Louth, chair of the Lords committee, said:
Calls for new public inquiries have grown louder and more frequent in recent years, and while these demands are entirely understandable, the current system is increasingly seen as being unfit for purpose.
In particular, he welcomed the fact that the government was “committed to exploring changes that will enable inquiries to deliver outcomes more quickly and at a lower cost, all while preserving public trust”.
Lammy says UK should have have 'robust but constructive' talks with Beijing, as he meets Chinese foreign minister
The UK will continue to engage in “robust and constructive” discussions with China, David Lammy said as he welcomed Beijing’s foreign affairs minister to London. As PA Media reports, Wang Yi met with the foreign secretary in central London, as the Government seeks a warmer relationship with China in order to drive investment into the UK.
Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, was said to have joined part of the meeting to discuss economic growth.
Speaking as he welcomed Wang, Lammy said:
Since my visit to Beijing, the prime minister and President Xi met at the G20, of course, and the chancellor travelled to China for a wide-ranging visit including an economic and financial dialog and conversations which have brought tangible benefits and progress to both of our countries.
I look forward to a broad set of discussions today including following up on areas of bilateral economic co-operation as well as important issues for UK national security.
Lammy aslo addressed British concerns about China as he met his counterpart, saying:
We will also discuss issues where the UK and China do not always see eye to eye. In some cases the UK does have significant concerns.
It is important that we use channels such as this for robust but constructive discussions, as we are both members of the UN security council.
We will be better able to understand each other and each other’s perspectives.
Commons modernisation committee to consider how MPs could get more certainty about timings of votes and debates
The Commons modernisation committee has said it wants to give MPs more certainty about when they will have to be in parliament to vote.
It has identified this as one of three areas where it wants to draw up plans for reform, after it received almost 400 responses to a wide-ranging consultation asking for suggestions as to how parliament can be modernised.
In a “next steps” memorandum published today, it says it is going to focus in particular on: making the Commons more accessible, particularly for disabled people; changing the way time is allocated in the Commons; and giving MPs more certainty about the timing of votes and debates in the chamber.
It says:
Among MP responses [to the consultation], in particular, there was a sense that the lack of certainty made it hard for them to use their time as effectively as they might otherwise be able to do.
The nature of being an MP has changed. Demands on their time are arguably greater and more varied than they have ever been, with MPs balancing their roles as legislators with increased casework and constituency commitments. This makes providing certainty where possible more crucial than ever.
Multiple responses called for more to be done to encourage a family friendly culture in the House of Commons. This was cited as an important part of encouraging a wide variety of people to become MPs.
Uncertainty about parliamentary business was regarded as particularly difficult for those with caring responsibilities and smaller parties who are outside the formal communication channels.
The committee is already looking at the issue of whether the rules on MPs having second jobs need to be tightened.
Labour says Badenoch should apologise for filming part of party broadcast in parliament, and from government-funded car
Kemi Badenoch is facing a call to apologise for filming part of a Conservative party political broadcast in parliament.
The Commons leader Lucy Powell said the Tory leader should issue a “full and speedy apology” after she heard allegations the Tory leader also used a government-funded car in the four-minute video.
The broadcast, which aired on BBC One yesterday, features a brief clip of Speaker’s Court, part of the Palace of Westminster.
During business questions in the Commons Labour’s Julie Minns said the Tory PPB “not only extensively featured the use of a taxpayer-funded ministerial car but also was filmed in part on the parliamentary estate in Speaker’s Court, in direct contravention – as I understand it – of the rules of this house”. She asked Powell for an investigation.
Powell replied:
She’s absolutely right. This is against protocol. It is against protocol of this House to speak without permission, particularly in Speaker’s Court, and I think the leader of the opposition, if she is hearing this today, should offer Mr Speaker a full and speedy apology for that.
But also we have high standards that we’re all judged by, and using ministerial, Government-paid-for, publicly paid-for cars for party political campaigning purposes is not allowed, and rightly so because our constituents wouldn’t expect that to be the case.
So, I hope the leader of the opposition has heard this question today and takes action to put this right.
In the video, Badenoch, who gets the use of a government-funded car as leader of the opposition, described Westminster as a “bubble”, adding:
I find that people end up just talking about themselves, talking about Westminster – who’s up, who’s down, who did this, who did that – rather than people out in the country. It’s very easy to be in Westminster and lose touch.
The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment
Updated
Starmer says Ukraine must be in 'strongest possible position', either for talks or for onging fighting
Keir Starmer has told broadcasters that it is “really important that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position, whether that’s in discussions or whether its continued fighting”. That was why the UK had to “ramp up the money, the capability that we are putting into Ukraine”, he said.
He also said any discussion about Ukraine’s future had to be done “with Ukraine”.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson also confirmed that the UK remains in favour of Ukraine joining Nato. He also sought to play down the extent to which the UK is not at odds with the Trump administration, which says that is not realistic option.
Asked if the UK’s position had changed, the spokesperson replied:
No that’s not changed. Nato has made a long-term commitment to Ukraine.
There will have to be a clear process for that, it will take time, but the important thing at the moment is that we are ready to support Ukraine now.
We’re putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to ensure peace can be achieved.
Asked if the UK agreed with the US that Ukraine should not be allowed to join Nato, the spokesperson replied:
We share President Trump’s desire to bring this barbaric war to an end. We’ve said repeatedly that Russia could do this tomorrow by withdrawing its forces and ending its illegal invasion.
Starmer defends Reeves, saying she has 'dealt with' questions raised about her career before she became MP
Keir Starmer has defended Rachel Reeves, saying she has “dealt with” any questions raised about career before she became an MP.
Asked if he was “comfortable that she exaggerated her relevant experience”, Starmer replied:
Rachel Reeves has dealt with any issues that arise.
She delivered a really important budget for the country that balanced the books, gave us stability, that is beginning to see those interest rates come down, those mortgages coming down as a result; beginning to see some of the growth we need.
She is determined that we go further with that.
So she can deal with the issues that arise out of this report many years ago.
What I am concerned with – what she is concerned with, we get up every day to do – is to make sure that the economy in our country, which was badly damaged under the last government, is revived and we have growth, and that is felt in the pockets of working people across the country [so] they feel better off.
No 10 says Starmer does not have concerns about Reeves, and has confidence in her, despite BBC investigation
Downing Street has defended Rachel Reeves following the publication of the BBC stories about allegations she approved excessive expenses when she worked at HBOS before she became an MP, and overstated how long she worked for the Bank of England. (See 12.48pm.)
Asked whether Keir Starmer thought Reeves was someone who could be trusted, the PM’s spokeserson replied:
Yes, the chancellor is working with the whole of cabinet deliver the Plan for Change.
Figures out this morning showed growth numbers coming in higher than expected.
Asked whether it would be right to say the PM did not have any concerns about Reeves’, he said: “Correct.”
The spokesperson said that he could not answer questions about ministers did in previous jobs before they joined the government, but he pointed out that the chancellor’s team had responded to questions from the BBC.
The spokesperson also confirmed the PM has confidence in Reeves.
Updated
Badenoch claims BBC investigation into Rachel Reeves' work at HBOS and her expenses 'raises serious questions'
This morning the BBC has published two lengthy articles on its website which are the result of a long investigation into what happened when Rachel Reeves was working for Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) before she became an MP.
The investigation may have been prompted by the revelation that Reeves had overstated her role at HBOS in her profile at HBOS. She said that she had worked there as an economist, even though she was doing a management job. Given that she had worked as an economist at the Bank of England, and that she has a master’s degree in economics from the LSE, the controversy did not cause serious reputational damage because no one seriously argued that she was not qualified to be chancellor, or that she only got the job in the first place by over-stating her skills.
Reeves was also critcised for saying at various points that she had spent a decade working at the Bank of England when in fact it was more like six years, including almost a year studying.
The BBC has two new revelations.
It has written a news story saying that Reeves’ “online CV exaggerated how long she spent working at the Bank of England” because she had been there for even less time than previously acknowledged. The BBC says she left the bank in March 2006 not December 2006, as it said on her LinkedIn profile, meaning she only spent five and a half years at the bank, including almost a year at the LSE.
This is just a slightly stronger version of one of the criticisms made last year. Reeves said a member of her team had put the dates on her LinkedIn profile, and that they had made a mistake.
The second allegation is potentially more serious. But it is also contested by Reeves, and it relies on information from sources who mostly have not gone on the record, and the BBC has written it up as an investigation feature.
It says that, when Reeves was working at HBOS, she and two other managers (one of whom was her immediate boss), were investigated over allegations of excessive expense claims.
At the time HBOS managers could use a “motivation card” to pay for items to reward people for good work. They were meant to pay for items like flowers, or wine. The allegation is that Reeves and her colleagues used them to pay for items like birthday and Christmas presents when they were not meant to, and that they paid for items worth more than £25, which was the limit for some expenses. But the BBC report also suggests there was some uncertainty at HBOS about what exactly was allowed.
According to the BBC, there definitely was an investigation.
We have learnt that there was an expenses investigation into Reeves and two other senior managers.
A detailed six-page whistleblowing complaint and dozens of pages of attached evidence, which we have seen, raised concerns that the three managers were using the bank’s money to “fund a lifestyle” with allegedly inappropriate spending on dinners, events, taxis and gifts, including for each other.
We have not been able to establish what the final outcome of the investigation was. Indeed it may not have concluded.
A spokesperson for Reeves told the BBC that the chancellor had no knowledge of the investigation when she was at HBOS, that she always complied with expenses rules and that she left the bank on good terms.
In one respect, the story just implies that Reeves was a generous manager who may have been a bit free-and-easy with the company’s money. We’d all like a boss like that, and that happened a lot in the corporate world pre-financial crash, especially in banking. If Reeves was found to have deliberately broken the rules, that would be different. But she denies that, and the BBC is not directly making that claim.
Kemi Badenoch has posted a message on social media within the last hour claiming the investigation “raises serious questions” for Reeves and that she needs to come clean about the circumstances in which she left HBOS. But in the message Badenoch does not directly accuses Reeves of any wrongdoing.
The BBC’s investigation raises serious questions for Rachel Reeves.
Keir Starmer said “restoring trust in politics is the great test of our era”.
Until she comes clean - not just about her CV but about the circumstances in which she left HBOS, no one will take him seriously
Updated
Eagle confirms UK still supports Ukraine joining Nato, even though Trump says that's not realistic
During the urgent question on Ukraine, Maria Eagle, the defence minister, said the UK remains committed to Ukraine joining Nato in the long term.
Yesterday Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said: “The United States does not believe that Nato membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.” President Trump said he agreed with Hegseth, adding:
[The Russians have] been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into Nato, and I’m OK with that.
In her reply to Johanna Baxter (see 11.40am), Eagle said:
We’ve always said that Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato, and our position is that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to Nato membership. But we’ve also always been clear that this is a process which takes time.
Trump accused by MPs of adopting appeasement-type policy towards Russia
During the Commons urgent question on Ukraine, President Trump was accused at least twice of adopting an appeasement-type policy towards Russia, by Conservative and Labour MPs.
Julian Lewis, a former chair of both the defence committee and the intelligence and security committee, said:
Will the government impress on President Trump at every possible opportunity that the reason why appeasement led to world war two was that it left a vacuum in Europe? Whereas the reason why the occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of that war did not lead to world war three was the United States filled any possible vacuum and contained further aggression.
So if he is going for a settlement against the wishes of the Ukrainian people, the least he can do is to guarantee directly the security of that part of Ukraine which remains unoccupied.
And the Labour MP Johanna Baxter said:
If reports of the call between President Trump and Moscow are to be believed, then this is less the Art of a Deal and more a charter for appeasement. So can the minister state whether we will be working with Nato allies to establish a clear roadmap with defined timeframes for Ukraine’s membership, ensuring long-term deterrence against further, inevitable Russian aggression.
Here is some video of the farmers’ protest this morning, posted on social media by pro-farming account.
Farmers To Action in Milton Keynes are greeting @Keir_Starmer as he’s arrives for the opening a new housing development…
— Farmers To Action (@FarmersToAction) February 13, 2025
Our Farmers will not back down.
Abolish IHT for ALL - @RachelReevesMP pic.twitter.com/VrYkadiYAo
Starmer forced to cut short visit to housing development after protest by farmers
Keir Starmer has been forced to cut short a visit to a housing development after a protest by farmers, PA Media reports. PA says:
A group of tractor-driving protesters staged a noisy demonstration as Keir Starmer visited a housing development in Buckinghamshire.
The vehicles could be heard sounding musical horns while the prime minister spoke to workers at the site.
Farmers have staged a series of protests following the inheritance tax changes in the budget.
Starmer was forced to cut short his visit to a housing development after the protest.
Around a dozen tractors and agricultural vehicles blocked the road near the Eastbrook development in Milton Keynes.
The prime minister abandoned planned media interviews due to the protest.
Updated
Sunak says UK should be willing to provide troops on ground to protect Ukraine to ensure 'any peace will endure'
Rishi Sunak, the former PM, intervened during the urgent question. He has spoken very little in the Commons since the general election, but he used his question to ask Maria Eagle if she agreed that “in this new world” Britain and its European allies “must lead in providing Ukraine with military support and potentially military presence across land, air and sea, to give Ukraine confidence that any peace will endure”. And if the government did that, it would have his support, he said.
Eagle said the govenrment was committed to putting Ukraine in the strongest position to negotiate. That would involve giving them the arms they needed to fight, she said.
She said most support for Ukraine is now coming from European nations.
Eagle says she is glad support for Ukraine remains cross-party after Tory spokesperson broadly backs government's stance
James Cartlidge says all MPs want to see peace.
He says President Trump wants to see an end to the war.
But Cartlidge says his party, like the government, stands by Ukraine.
We remain 100% steadfast in our support for Ukraine, in our backing for the government, in delivering that as they did when in opposition.
And we agree in principle with them that, as we also stressed repeatedly in government, it is for the Ukrainians to decide the timing and terms of any negotiations on any war.
Cartlidge says Trump is right to say Europe needs to spend more on defence.
He says that, if President Putin is seen to win, “that may bring a temporary end to the conflict, but it will not make the world a safer place”.
And he says the case for higher defence spending is stronger than ever.
In response, Eagle welcomes the fact that the Tories are backing the government and that support for Ukraine remains a cross-party position.
(In some aspects of policy, the Conservatives are saying the UK should align with the US and not Europe. But, on Ukraine, that does not seem to be happening.)
Defence minister Maria Eagle answers Commons urgent question on Ukraine
In the Commons James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, is asking his urgent question about Ukraine.
Maria Eagle, a defence minister, is responding.
In her opening statement, she says the UK will “step up” its support for Ukraine. It wil spend £4.5bn on military support for Ukraine – more than every before.
And only yesterday new firepower was announced, she says.
She says Ukraine’s security matters for all countries, because if one country’s borders can be redrawn by force, everyone will be affected.
UPDATE: Eagle said:
We all agree that 2025 will be the critical year for Ukraine. At this crucial moment we will not step back but step up our support to Ukraine. President Trump and President Zelensky have both spoken of their desire to achieve peace through strength. The commitments made yesterday provide the collective strength we need to achieve peace.
Ukraine’s security matters to global security. It’s why the vital UDCG coalition of 50 nations and partners stretches from the Indo-Pacific to South America because this war was never about the fate of just one nation.
When the border of one country is redrawn by force it undermines the security of all nations. The US is serious about stability in the Indo-Pacific, as are we – that’s why the Prime Minister announced that the carrier strike group will go there next year. If aggression goes unchecked on one continent, it emboldens regimes on another.
So on stepping up for Ukraine, we are and we will. On stepping up for European security, we are and we will.
Updated
NHS England hospital waiting list falls for 4th month in row
The NHS England hospital waiting list has fallen for the fourth month in a row, PA Media reports. PA says:
An estimated 7.46m treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of December, relating to 6.24m patients – down from 7.48m treatments and 6.28m patients at the end of November.
These are the lowest figures since April 2023.
The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77m treatments and 6.5m patients.
This chart, from an NHS England news release, shows the trend over the past decade.
Defence secretary John Healey says there must be 'no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine'
John Healey, the defence secretary, won’t be responding to the urgent question on Ukraine because he is in Brussels for the meeting of Nato defence ministers. As Jakub Krupa reports on his Europe live blog, Healey told reporters this morning that there must be “no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine”. He said:
[Ukraine] are the frontline of freedom, and our job is ... to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for any talks.
We will be continuing these discussions as Nato allies, and you will see new announcements of support for Ukraine through Nato.
We have seen the calls from president Trump overnight. We all want to see a durable peace and no return to conflict and aggression, and let’s not forget. Russia remains a threat well beyond Ukraine.
My message will be there can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.
Updated
There will be an urgent question on Ukraine in the Commons at 10.30am. It has been tabled by James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, and a defence minister will respond.
Later, after the business statement, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, will make a statement on progress on compensation payments to victims of the infected blood scandal.
The Conservatives have used the new towns announcement to criticise Labour over immigration. In the CCHQ response to the overnight announcement from the governmnent about new towns, Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary, said:
By voting against Kemi Badenoch’s plan to double the amount of time it takes to get indefinite leave to remain and get British citizenship, Labour’s housebuilding plans will do nothing to address the shortage of housing because immigration will just keep piling on the pressure.
UK economy grows by 0.1% in unexpected boost for Rachel Reeves
Britain’s economy unexpectedly picked up in the final three months of 2024, official figures have shown, easing pressure on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, after flatlining during the summer. Richard Partington has the story.
Some new towns in England to be built on greenfield sites, housing minister says
Good morning. At PMQs yesterday Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said that 80 years ago “British, Canadian and American soldiers were fighting shoulder to shoulder to defeat fascists” but that President Trump “seems to have forgotten all that” as he takes foreign policy decision.
It turns out that Davey was wrong. Trump has a very strong sense of who was on America’s side during world war two. “We both reflected on the Great History of our Nations, and the fact that we fought so successfully together in World War II, remembering, that Russia lost tens of millions of people,” Trump said yesterday, in his readout of his call with President Putin.
That was the call with ominious implications for Ukraine, as America in effect called time on the era when it used to guarantee the security of western Europe. Keir Starmer is doing a visit this morning and, as is normal at these events, he is expected to take brief questions from broadcasters on the main stories of the day. Stories don’t get any more “main” than this one.
We will be covering the Starmer interviews here, but this is primarily an international story and Jakub Krupa is leading the coverage of it on his Europe live blog.
Starmer may also be asked about the economy, and the growth figures out this morning, showing that the economy grew by a modest 0.1% in the final quarter of 2024. That’s not gangbusters territory, but it is an improvement on the previous quarter, when the economy was flat. There were fears they economy might even shrink in the final three months of the year.
Graeme Wearden is leading on this on his business live blog.
There is a slight chance that Starmer may even be asked a question about the government’s plans for new towns, which is ostensibly the reason for the visit. As Pippar Crerar reports, the government is announcing that up to 12 new towns will be under construction in England by the next election after 100 potential locations were identified for them.
Full details of the announcement are here. Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, has been giving interviews about the plans this morning, and he told Sky News that some of the new towns will be build on greenfield sites.
Asked whether some of the construction would be on greenfield land, Pennycook replied:
There will be some, I’m sure, recommended standalone greenfield sites.
There will be a number of other, what are called urban extensions, but big expansions of existing towns and cities where that is appropriate.
There’s got to be sustainable places, as I say, they’ve got to be well-connected, well-designed.
We’ll see what the taskforce recommend in its final report in the summer … ministers will then take the final decision on which ones go forward.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: NHS England publishes its monthly performance figures.
9.30am: Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Morning: Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are on a visit in the south-east England to promote the government’s plans for new towns.
Morning: David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has a meeting in London with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Also, Nato defence ministers are meeting in Brussels today. John Healey is there for the UK and he is due to speak to reporters this afternoon.
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