Afternoon summary
Kemi Badenoch has claimed the government’s proposed education reforms are a “tragedy in the making” for pupils, parents and teachers. As PA Media reports, Badenoch raised concerns over the impact of changes to academy freedoms, including on teacher recruitment and pay, contained in the children’s wellbeing and schools bill. She used PMQs to describe the bill as “pure educational vandalism” and the “worst of socialism”. But Starmer countered by insisting the bill benefits children and parents with its support for free breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school in England, making school uniforms more affordable and introducing safeguarding measures. He added Badenoch had “got a nerve” to bemoan the impact of the reforms on special educational needs provision, adding the Government would “fix that mess” left by the Tories.
AI in schools could help restore teaching as profession 'that sparks joy', Bridget Phillipson says
Using technology in schools could give teachers more time to focus on what matters and enjoy their work, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has said.
In a speech at the British Educational Training and Technology, Phillipson said:
Using AI [artificial intelligence] to reduce workload will help unlock the recruitment and retention crisis that we face so that once again teaching can be a profession that sparks joy, not burnout, where teachers can focus on what really matters, teaching our children.
Developers to be allowed to use nature payments to stop environmental concerns blocking specific projects
The government has now published details of changes to planning rules (see 10.44am) that will make it easier for developers to address the environmental concerns that often stop projects going ahead. In a news release, the government says the new rules will “help to deliver on the government’s commitment to make 150 major infrastructure project decisions by the end of this parliament”.
The government says:
Under current rules, infrastructure projects must secure mitigation or compensation for environmental harm to some protected sites and species before being granted planning permission, adding costs and delays to the planning process. Developers are required to identify and meet environmental obligations, typically on a project-by-project basis, and this misses opportunities to find strategic solutions with the greatest benefits for nature
The government will set up a Nature Restoration Fund enabling infrastructure builders to meet their environmental obligations faster and at greater scale by pooling contributions from developers to fund larger strategic interventions for nature.
This approach will mean the burden of individual site-level assessments and delivering mitigation and compensation is reduced. In many cases, a single payment will enable development to proceed.
A delivery body such as Natural England will then look at the actions needed to drive protected site and species recovery at a strategic, not site-by-site, scale. They will then take responsibility for securing positive environmental outcomes that infrastructure developers are not in a position to implement independently. These could be delivering a reduction in pollution affecting the water environment or securing nesting habitats to increase the population of a protected species for example.
Updated
Police officer numbers in England and Wales at lowest level for two years, figures show
The number of police officers in England and Wales has slipped to its lowest level in two years, PA Media reports. PA says:
The headcount of officers employed by 43 forces stood at 148,886 at the end of September 2024.
This is down 883 from a peak of 149,769 at the end of March and the lowest total since the end of September 2022 (144,346), according to Home Office data published today.
There has been a similar drop in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) officers, which stood at 146,868 at the end of September. This is down 878 from a record 147,746 six months earlier and the lowest since September 2022 (142,146).
The figures indicate the challenge the government faces in its vow to boost police numbers, with both measures previously on a rising trend since 2019.
Last month, Keir Starmer promised a named, contactable police officer for every neighbourhood in England and Wales as he laid out his “plan for change”.
Suella Braverman says Tories should form some sort of pact with Reform UK
Suella Braverman, the former Tory home secretary, has said that the Conservative party and Reform UK should form some sort of pact.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Braverman, who is regarded as one of the most rightwing MPs in her party, said:
I like Nigel Farage … there isn’t space in British politics for two conservative parties.
We do need to unite the right. We need to come to some kind of accommodation. I don’t know what the precise form looks like – whether that is a merger, whether that is a coalition, whether that is a supply and confidence agreement, whether that is a non-aggression pact. I don’t know what it looks like.
In general, I am in favour of unifying the right.
When the coalition government set up the Leveson inquiry to investigate the phone hacking scandal, and press conduct in general, it was decided that the inquiry would come in two parts. The first part would consider standards, and relations between the press, politicians and the police in general. But the phone hacking scandal was at that point being investigated by the police, and so it was agreed part two of the inquiry, covering those events, would take place later.
The report from part one was published in 2012. The Conservatives had no interest in moving to part two. For some years Labour toyed with the idea of going ahead with part two, but Keir Starmer made it clear before the general election that he did not want to happen.
As Joshua Mortimer reports for Byline Times, Downing Street has confirmed that it still does not want an inquiry, even though News Group Newspapers admitted today in its settlement with the Duke of Sussex that the Sun engaged in “illegal practices”. The PM’s spokesperson said:
Newspapers play a vital role in a functioning democracy. Clearly, they must operate within the bounds of the law and certain codes. You’ve got the government’s plans as set out in the manifesto [on] not going ahead with a new inquiry.
OBR confirms Treasury estimate about £500m raised from inheritance tax on farms subject to 'high' uncertainty
The Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed that there is considerable uncertainty about how much the Treasury will raise from its decision to extend inheritance tax so some farms are covered.
When Rachel Reeves announced the move in her budget in October, the Treasury said that by 2029-30 the measure would be raising £520m a year.
Today the OBR has published a briefing with a more detailed analysis of how much the policy will raise. It confirms the headline Treasury figures, but it says there is a “high” uncertainty rating to the figures.
The OBR says:
The central estimate for the costing is an increase in revenue of £0.5 billion by 2029-30, with the behavioural response reducing the static yield by around 35 per cent.
There are upside and downside risks to the degree of attrition in the long term, and the yield from this measure is not likely to reach a steady state for at least 20 years. Any increase in gift-giving will increase attrition and reduce receipts after at least a seven-year period, while the potential proliferation of new tax planning strategies will do likewise.
The OBR also said it will be difficult for older farmers to restructure their finances to avoid the tax.
More generally. individuals tend to structure their affairs with a view to inheritance planning in their 50s and 60s, which will primarily affect the costing over the longer-term. In the medium term, it is likely to be more difficult for some older individuals to quickly restructure their affairs in response to the measure.
Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said in a statement:
Ministers have repeatedly said that the OBR had certified their claims, but the truth is that the OBR themselves say there is a high degree of uncertainty as to how much money will be raised, if any at all.
The National Education Union posted this on social media about Kemi Badenoch attacking Labour at PMQs over legislation which she claimed could threaten teachers’ pay.
It’s a bit rich for the Conservatives to talk about teachers’ pay. They had 14 years in power and, over that time, teachers in England saw their pay decline by a fifth. Kemi Badenoch should apologise for the recruitment and retention crisis her party created. But children only get one chance at education. Now it is Labour’s duty and responsibility to deliver the change people are crying out for and #FundFairPay
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has criticised Kemi Badenoch for not asking about the Southport killings at PMQs.
Not a single question on Southport from @KemiBadenoch at PMQs today. What is the point of the Tories?
(When politicians offer advice to their rivals about what they should be saying, it’s not because they are trying to be helpful. Farage would like the Tories to keep going on about Southport because it’s seen as a Reform UK issue, where the party has been getting favourable coverage on GB News etc.)
Was Badenoch right to say she went to school 'that did not care about standards'?
Prompted by my PMQs verdict, and Kemi Badenoch telling Keir Starmer that she knew “what it is like to go to a school that did not care about standards”, a reader asks:
I did a cursory check on BadEnochs education, it would be great if you could get it fact-checked too, She returned to the UK aged 16 and studied for her A levels at Phoenix College, her only other pre Uni education was at a private International school in Nigeria?
There are at least two schools Badenoch may have been referring to when she talked about knowing what it is like going to a school with poor standards.
In the UK Badenoch did her A levels at Phoenix College in south London. She got two Bs (in biology and chemistry) and a D (in maths). In his biography of her, Lord Ashcroft says these results may have been “perfectly respectable” at the college, which implies it was not a place with high academic standards. Badenoch herself has also complained about the teachers there tolerating bad behaviour, and having low aspirations for their pupils (including her).
In Nigeria she did attend a two private schools which, from the account in the Ashcroft biography, sound reasonably good. But she also spent a brief period at the Federal Government Girls’ College Sagamu, “a state-run boarding school in a rougher town about 40 miles north of Lagos”. While she was there, she had to do “manual labour”, cutting the grass with a machete at 5am. She did not like it, and I presume she does not rate that as a place with high standards either.
Updated
MPs approve money resolution for assisted dying bill, meaning debate on it can continue in committee
In the Commons the money resolution for the private member’s assisted dying bill has just been passed without opposition.
Any legislation that might require public spending needs a money resolution and, without a money resolution, the end of life (terminally bill) bill cannot continue its passage through parliament.
In the debate Stephen Kinnock, a health minister, said the government remained neutral on the issue of assisted dying, but was supporting the money resolution so the bill, which passed its second reading, can be debated in committee.
He also said that the debate will publish an impact assessement for the bill before MPs debate the bill at its report stage, which will not happen before the end of April.
Healey also told MPs that the government is taking a close interest in cable-cutting technology being developed by the Chinese.
Asked by the Labour MP Blair McDougall about a Newsweek report saying that a review of patent applications show Chinese engineers have developed devices to cut underseas cables quickly and cheaply, Healey replied:
I am aware of [the report]. I am aware of the pace of development of many aspects of Chinese technology and equipment.
Much of it may be for civilian use, but I can assure [McDougall] also that we, with allies, are keeping a very close eye on what they’re developing.
Russian ships cannot be banned from UK waters, Healey tells MPs
John Healey, the defence secretary, told MPs that it was not possible for the government to ban Russian ships from UK waters.
In response to a question from Tan Dhesi, the Labour chair of the Commons defence committee, who asked what could be done to exclude these vessels, Healey replied:
We defend more fiercely than perhaps any other nation in the world the freedom of navigation in our seas, and the ships of all states may navigate through our territorial waters, they are subject to the right of innocent passage.
So some of the steps that he might wish upon the government and urge us to take are simply not available to us under the United Nations law of the open seas.
And so it’s for that reason that we take such steps, and we take the actions that I’ve reported to the house in order to make sure that we monitor, we watch, we track, and that those who may enter our waters with malign intent … know that they will face the strongest possible response.
James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, told the Commons the Tories stood “shoulder to shoulder” with the government in its response to Russia.
He also said that he welcomed Healey’s decision to tell MPs what was happening.
We welcome that transparency because it is critical for our war readiness … that as far as we are able, and without compromising our national security and operational security, we tell the British public the truth about the serious nature of the Russian threat and what that will inevitably mean for public expenditure on defence.
Cartlidge also said Healey was right to change the terms of engagement for Royal Navy ships dealing with Russian vessels. (See 1.44pm.)
Russia 'most pressing and immediate threat to Britain', John Healey tells MPs
John Healey, the defence secretary, told MPs that “Russia remains the most pressing and immediate threat to Britain” and that “any threat will be met with strength and resolve”.
He said:
Russian aggression will not be tolerated at home or in Ukraine. It’s why one of the first acts of this government was for the prime minister to launch the strategic defence review. It’s why the government has increased defence spending next year by almost £3bn and why we will set a path to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP in the spring.
Royal Navy ships mobilised to respond to Russian spy ship in North Sea, defence secretary tells MPs
Royal Navy ships have been mobilised to respond to a Russian spy ship in the North Sea, John Healey, the defence secretary, told MPs.
In a statement to the Commons, he said he wanted Vladimir Putin “to hear this message – we see you, we know what you’re doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”
Describing what happened, Healey said:
The foreign ship Yantar is currently in the North Sea having passed through British waters. Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.
Yantar entered the UK exclusive economic zone about 45 miles off the British coast on Monday. For the last two days the Royal Navy has deployed HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne to monitor the vessel every minute through our waters.
I changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar. So far, the ship has complied with international rules of navigation.
Healey also said this was the second time the Russian spy vessel had entered UK waters in recent months. He said it was closely watched in November, when it was spotted “detected loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure”. He went on:
To deter any potential threat, I took measured steps then as part of a clear direct response to the Russian vessel. RAF maritime patrol aircraft alongside HMS Cattistock, HMS Tyne and RFA Proteus were deployed to shadow Yantar’s every movement.
Today, I also wanted to confirm to the house that I authorised a Royal Navy submarine, strictly as a deterrent measure, to surface close to Yantar to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move. The ship then left UK waters without further loitering and sailed down to the Mediterranean.
Healey added:
I also wanted President Putin to hear this message: we see you, we know what you’re doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.
PMQs - snap verdict
It is a low bar, but that was probably Kemi Badenoch’s best PMQs yet. Avoiding the temptation to follow Robert Jenrick and Nigel Farage (see 11.41am), she asked about the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, which had its second reading in the Commons two weeks ago. On that occasion she also mentioned the bill, but only because her party had tabled an amendment trying to turn it into a vote on a grooming gangs inquiry. Today she focused instead on the impact of the bill on academies – not something that Elon Musk has been tweeting about, but an area where even mainstream Labour MPs have concerns about what the legislation might do.
Academies, which were set up by Labour, first just as a niche option for schools failing under local authority control, and then mainstreamed by the Tories, are widely thought of as one of the better public sector reforms of recent years (even though educationists argue that they have not raised standards anything like as much as people like Michael Gove claim). In Tory circles they are regarded as the perhaps the greatest policy success of the last 14 years. The schools bill will curtail some of their freedoms, and the Tories have been arguing for some time that in particular it could lead to some academy teachers facing pay cuts, because the legislation removes the right of academies to diverge from national pay rates.
Badenoch attacked the bill for its overall impact on educational standards, but she focused in particular on the pay issue, even citing the clause of the bill that she said was causing all the problems. In some respects, she was a week too later. Starmer told her that the government has just tabled an amendment to the bill that will ensure that academy teachers don’t face pay cuts, because academies will be bound by a pay floor (the minimum they have to pay), not a pay ceiling. This effectively answered Badenoch’s attack. But the very fact that an amendment has had to be tabled does show that the opposition were right when they started raising this as a loophole. Two weeks ago Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, told MPs that academy teachers were not at risk of pay cuts under the bill, but the tabling of the amendment suggests that assurance was not robust.
Badenoch’s wider point was about standards. She told Starmer:
It’s about the reforms that [Starmer] is changing. We have an example of where these reforms were not introduced, Wales, which has been under Labour control for two decades.
Welsh educational outcomes have tumbled down international league tables, poor children in England now do better than wealthier children in Wales. This bill denies children the guarantee that their failing schools will be turned into a better academy.
It is an attack on excellence. It is an attack on higher standards. It is an attack on aspiration. This bill is the worst of socialism and isn’t it deprived children in England who will pay the price?
Talking about schools also enabled Badenoch to say that she knew what it was like to be educated at a school with low standards. By itself that does not mean that she would be a good PM, but it does make the point that she is someone who did not have the privileged education enjoyed by most of her Tory leader predecessors.
In the exchanges Badenoch did not win the debate on academies and standards, some of her language was absurdly over the top (“worst of socialism”) and it is hard to what extent curbing academisation may have an impact. But what was obvious was that Starmer was not willing to engage with the standards argument at all. He hammered Badenoch quite effectively by highlighting the positive and non-contentious aspects of the bill, and he was able, rightly, to condemn the Tories for leaving schools understaffed and underfunded. On standards, though? If he is convinced that school standards really won’t suffer, he should have been able to make that case more confidently.
Had Starmer had listened to the second reading debate a fortnight ago, he would have heard Siobhain McDonagh, a loyalist and Blairite MP, warn that good academy schools in her constituency were going to lose out under this bill. “I struggle to see how removing this right to a carefully tailored education will benefit the students that need the additional support that this provides,” she said. At the moment Starmer probably needs to worry more about McDonagh than Badenoch, but at least today the Tory leader was focusing on an issue where the government has questions to answer and where it did not sound like she was just regurgitating Faragism.
Rebecca Smith (Con) says mortgages have hit a five-year high, borrowing is up, and sales have slumped. Does the PM still think she is doing a good job?
Starmer says he thought Smith was reading out the record of the last Conservative government.
Updated
Alison Bennett (Lib Dem) asks about the strike by teachers in sixth form colleges. They have not had the same pay rise as secondary school teachers. Did Starmer intend to set up a two-tier education system.
Starmer says the money has gone into sixth form colleges. It is up to the colleges to decide how they spend it, he says.
Iqbal Mohamed (Ind) says Israeli forces have launched a large offensive in Jenin. At least nine people have been killed. What is the government doing to protect Palestinians, and prevent atrocities in the West Bank.
Starmer says he is “deeply concerned” by what is happening in the West Bank. He has raised this several times with the Israelis, he say.s
Sarah Owen (Lab) asks about violent crime in Luton, and says Bedfordshire police should not be funded as a rural police force.
Starmer says the government is tightening the law on knives. It is unacceptable that knives can be brought with “two clicks”.
Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem) says the APPG on eating disorders is publishing a report on how to improve treatment for them. Will the government consider it seriously?
Starmer says it will be considered “very seriously”.
Andrew Snowden (Con) says this was supposed to be a honeymoon period for the goverment. Does Starmer accept that he is the root cause of the government’s problems?
Starmer says he had a landslide victory. And the Tories were regularly losing ministers, he says.
Mike Martin (Lib Dem) says Lord Robertson, the former Nato secretary general leading the strategic defence review, told the defence committee that he could not guarantee the review’s recommendations would be fully funded. Will they?
Starmer says the review will be fully funded. He has committed to lifting defence spending to 2.5%, he says.
Bernard Jenkin (Con) says cutting taxes and cutting regulation are the only way to promote growth.
Starmer says forecasters are revising their growth forecasts for the UK upwards.
The Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reprimands Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, for heckling too loudly. Starmer says Philp was “Liz Truss’s righthand man, so we should not expect any better”.
Starmer ducks question about whether he has dropped his previous opposition to building third runway at Heathrow
Adrian Ramsay, the Green party co-leader, says Starmer voted against a third runway at Heathrow in 2018. What is his position now?
Starmer says he will not comment on speculation. But he says he won’t take lectures from an MP opposing vital infrastructure (pylons for offshore energy) in his constituency.
Updated
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, starts echoing what Starmer said about the Southport killings, Holocaust Memorial day and the release of hostages.
He says Starmer told him it would take Louise Casey three years to finish the inquiry into adult social care. Davey asked for it to be finished more quickly. But Casey has now been asked to do a review into grooming gangs. How does she have the time?
Starmer says the social care review does not start until April, so Casey has time for the grooming gangs work first.
Davey asks for an assurance that the government will not sell out British farmers in a trade deal with the US.
Starmer says the UK will never lower its standards.
Updated
Badenoch says she visted the Harris academy recently. The bill will take education back by decades, she says. She says knows what it is like to go to a school without standards.
Starmer says Badenoch has a nerve, particularly referring to special needs. He says the government is fixing the mess led by the Tories.
Badenoch asks who is benefiting. It is the unions, she says.
Starmer says the bill benefits children who do not get breakfast, and parents who cannot afford uniforms, and children who are not safe when taken out of class.
Badenoch says the new amendment does not protect pay. She quotes the head of the Michaela academy, which she calls the best school in the country, as saying she would not be able to hire some of her best teachers under this bill.
Starmer says Badenoch is wrong. He says there is a need for more qualified teachers in schools.
Badenoch says 20,000 teachers will have their pay cut under the bill. She says the government claims there will be no ceiling on teachers’ pay. But clause 45 says there will be, she says.
Starmer says Badenoch is ignoring a government amendment tabled today. She should spend less time on social media, he says.
Badenoch says the bill deprives parents of the assurance that a failing school will be turned into academies. It is “the worst of socialism”, she says.
Starmer says, again, academies will stay.
And he says the bill will set up breakfast clubs, and help parents with the cost of uniforms.
Badenoch says schools bill is 'act of vandalism' because of its impact on academies
Kemi Badenoch welcomes the release of the hostages from Gaza.
She says there are important questions to answer about the Southport killings. She will return to those after the sentencing.
Turning to education, she says the schools bill is “an act of vandalism” because it wrecks a cross-party consensus (on academy freedoms) that lasted for decades.
Starmer says Labour introduced academies, and they will stay.
The bill includes safeguarding measures. The Tories voted against it, he says.
Updated
Keir Starmer starts by referring to the “senseless, barbaric murder” of three girls in Southport. There must be fundamental change, he says.
He says next Monday is Holocaust Memorial Day. He says his visit to Poland last week strengthened his determination to build a memorial centre near parliament.
He welcomes the release of hostages from Gaza
And he says Cheryl Korbel, the mother of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, is in the gallery. He says the government will legislate to ensure offenders have to be in the dock for sentencing after her campaigning.
Updated
Badenoch losing support amongst Tory members, survey suggests
Conservative party members are less impressed by Kemi Badenoch than they used to be, according to the lastest ConservativeHome survey of party members. It says she has dropped to seventh place in the shadow cabinet ranking. In his write-up, Henry Hill says:
This is a dramatic shift however you slice it. Badenoch has led every shadow cabinet league table since the very first one after the election, and normally by a margin of about 20 points over her next-most popular colleague – and that’s not counting her extended run in the cabinet league table.
Upon winning the leadership her positive rating shifted up to north of 70, and remained there before Christmas. Her score today is a 39-point fall since the New Year.
Meanwhile despite a strong showing from Jenrick, it’s actually the shadow chancellor [Mel Stride] who has emerged as something of a sleeper hit amongst the Tory grassroots – aided, no doubt, by the ample opportunities Rachel Reeves is creating to attack the government’s economic record.
After PMQs there will be an urgent question in the Commons on the government’s decision to remove the head of Competition and Markets Authority.
And then, after 1pm, there will be a statement from John Healey, the defence secretary, on “Russian maritime activity” and the government’s response.
UK rail passengers to get new government-backed train ticket website
A new online train ticket retailer backed by the UK government is to be created, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced, with the aim of simplifying the process of buying tickets from different rail operators. Joanna Partridge has the story.
Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
PMQs is almost with us.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Robert Jenrick claims it's 'no wonder public suspect cover-up' over Southport killings
Keir Starmer has now made a series of announcements in the light of the Southport attack, following the surprise decison by the killer, Axel Rudakubana, to plead guilty on Monday to murdering three girls. The PM’s response has gone quite a long way to quash the alternative narrative around the killings, which is that the government was involved in some sort of cover-up, or at least unholding information unnecessarily from the public.
Nigel Farage and his Reform UK colleagues have been pushing this line aggressively (although yesterday it was notable that they were more keen to engage in cover-up talk on social media and in TV studios than in the Commons chamber, where three Reform MPs all asked questions without sounding conspiracy-theoryist). But in the Commons yesterday Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, was also indulging in what Emilio Casalicchio yesterday described as a “Nige-lite approach”.
Last night Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, went a bit further. In a post on social media that was more ‘full Nigel’, he said: “No wonder the public suspect a cover-up.”
He explained:
The prime minister’s statement today raised more questions than it answered.
If Starmer withheld information from the public because he was concerned about prejudicing the case, why did Angela Rayner take to the media on 31st July and say the suggestion the Southport attack was terror-related was ‘fake news’ and a ‘conspiracy theory’?
The standard response in that situation would be to say ‘I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation’ but Rayner and others deliberately chose to guide the public away from this. By the prime minister’s own standard, these comments risked prejudicing a jury.
Of course, Rudakubana later plead guilty to two terror-related offences. It was Rayner’s comments that turned out to be ‘fake news’.
You can read the statement in full here.
Jenrick is a member of the shadow cabinet and speaks for the party on justice issues. But he was also the runner-up to Kemi Badenoch in the leadership contest, and it is widely assumed that his public comments (which often stray beyond the justice brief) are part of an effort to position himself for another tilt at the leadership if Badenoch falters. So it is possible that, when posted this on social media last night, there was an element of freelancing. At PMQs it will be interesting to see if Badenoch leans into all of this, or goes on something completely different.
As for why Rayner said it was “fake news” to describe the attack as terror-related, the answer to theat seems to fairly clear; the police did not regard Rudakubana as a terrorist. He was interested in terrorist weapons and terrorist techniques, but that seems to have been because he was obsessed with killing (an area where terrorists have a lot of expertise), not because he had the ideological motive associated with the traditional definition of terrorism.
Vikram Dodd has a good article here on what it takes for something to be described as a terrorist incident.
Danny Shaw, the former BBC home affairs correspondent who at one point worked as an adviser to Labour, has sided with the government on this. He posted this on social media in response to a claim that ministers should have called the Southport attack a terrorist incident because that is what happened after the murder of Tory MP David Amess.
Police declared it a terrorist attack. Ministers took their lead from them, as in 2017. The Southport attack wasn’t declared a terrorist attack by police. No one, in those circumstances, should make public information that hints at a terrorist motivation. Highly prejudicial.
Updated
Environmental quangos will lose their ability to delay major housebuilding and infrastructure developments under government planning reforms, Oliver Wright reports in a story for the Times. Wright says:
Regulators will no longer be able to demand that developers mitigate the environmental damage caused by new buildings before construction can start.
Instead, they will be required to pay into a new national “nature restoration” fund to “offset” any potential damage, and continue with projects without delays …
The changes will be included in the new planning and infrastructure bill due to be introduced in parliament later this year.
UK borrowing jumps unexpectedly, piling pressure on Reeves
UK government borrowing jumped unexpectedly to £17.8bn last month, piling pressure on Rachel Reeves to plan budget cuts before a spending review in the summer, Phillip Inman reports.
Commenting on the figures, Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said:
Labour are already losing control of the finances.
Figures out today show borrowing is higher than forecast. So far this financial year it has been almost the highest since records began, second only to the pandemic.
The Chancellor needs to get a grip.
Only 4% of alleged domestic abusers in police dismissed, survey finds
Just 4% of alleged domestic abusers in the police were dismissed over a 12-month period, according to new data from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales. PA Media says:
Dame Nicole Jacobs called for “structural change” to both protect victims and rebuild public confidence in policing.
Launching her criminal justice report today, the commissioner revealed a survey of forces by her office found there had been 1,294 allegations of police-perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA) in the 12 months to the end of March 2024.
These allegations related to 899 individuals, who make up 0.4% of the police workforce which covers roles such as officers, staff and police community support officers.
All but two forces across England and Wales were able to provide information on outcomes for such allegations, according to the commissioner’s report, with most allegations ending in a ‘no case to answer’, a suspension or what is known as a learning outcome.
Just 4% ended with a worker being dismissed from their role, Jacobs said.
Rundown buildings in public sector need repair work costing at least £49bn, says National Audit Office
The government needs to spend at least £49bn repairing rundown buildings in the public sector, like schools and hospitals, the National Audit Office has said.
Here is the NAO summary of what its report says.
Having good-quality property that is properly maintained, utilised and adaptable to future needs is fundamental to delivering public services. However, the condition of government property has declined over the last decade.
The government has accumulated at least £49bn of maintenance backlog. The government will need to consider the optimal way to manage its assets alongside its long-term investment plans, in addition to the cost of ongoing maintenance, to bring property condition to a satisfactory level.
The scale of the challenge will become intractable unless the Office of Government Property (OGP) urgently addresses strategic planning gaps across government, so it and departments can understand what the full picture of maintenance requirements is across government, ahead of the next and subsequent spending review periods.
Here is the full report. And this chart from the report shows where the main problems are.
UK to offer new visas for AI and life science workers, says Reeves
The UK government will publish an immigration white paper later this year including proposals to introduce visas aimed at high-skilled workers as part of its push to kickstart growth, Rachel Reeves has announced. Heather Stewart has the story here.
DWP crackdown could see people banned from driving if welfare debts go unpaid
People could be banned from driving if they repeatedly fail to repay money they owe under a new government crackdown on welfare fraud, Nadeem Badshah reports.
Talking about these proposals on the ITV’s Good Morning Britian this morning, Alison McGovern, the employment minister, said that, if the government needs to recover money from benefit cheats, it can already take money back through the benefits system if the person is still on benefits or through PAYE if the person is paying tax that way. She went on:
If somebody’s not doing either of those things, then we need more powers to be able to get the money back.
So the new powers will be to get that money back through banks.
And then, finally, as a backstop power, if after all of that they still don’t want to give us the money back, like currently happens with the child maintenance service, we want to be able to apply to a court to say ‘disqualify this person for driving.
And that is a backstop power to make sure that we get this money back.
Starmer pledges to end 'shockingly easy' teenage access to knives
Keir Starmer gave a speech yesterday on the government’s reaction to the Southport killings, and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, followed that up with a long statement to MPs. There were various announcements alongside the public inquiry proposed and we cover them here.
This morning there is more. After Cooper told MPs yesterday that it was a “total disgrace” that the killer, Axel Rudakubana, could buy a knife on Amazon at the age of 17, the government is today announcing that it is going to require tougher checks for people buying knives online, which could involve a two-step verification. As the BBC reports, “online retailers will be forced to ask anyone buying a knife for two types of identification under government plans, with buyers asked to submit an identity document, such as a passport, and record a live video to prove their age.”
Starmer has written about this in an article for the Sun. He says:
It remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives. The lessons of this case could not be clearer.
Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.
And yet tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off the internet without any checks or barriers. A two-click killer. This cannot continue.
The technology is there to set up age-verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online.
We must now use it to protect our children from future attack and I will ensure that this happens.
Amazon says that currently, when people buy a knife online, they have to supply details, including their date of birth, and their age is verified by the delivery driver when the goods are handed over.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The Home Office publishes figures on police numbers in England and Wales.
9.45am: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, gives a speech on immigration and economic growth.
11am: The Office for Budget Responsibility will publishes figures on the impact of extending inheritance tax to cover farms.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
Around 1pm: MPs have a short debate on the money resolution for the assisted dying private member’s bill. Any legislation that would involve public spending requires a money resolution, and normally these are passed as a formality. But it is possible opponents of assisted dying could force a vote. The Treasury minister James Murray will open the debate, which will only last 45 minutes at most.
Also, Rachel Reeves is in Davos, where she is doing a series of media and speaking events. She has already taken part in a Bloomberg Q&A. Graeme Wearden is there, and is covering it all on his business live blog, Davos edition.
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