Summary of the day …
The Labour government has said it had “no plans” to send prisons to Estonia due to prison over-crowding in England and Wales amid widespread media reports it had made the plans. A no 10 spokesperson said the Estonia plan had been considered by the previous Conservative administration. Data showed the prison population in England and Wales reached a record level this week
Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper, other senior ministers and leading figures from security and law and order agencies met to discuss cross-Channel small boat crossings. Cooper said “In the first half of the year, the number of crossings that we inherited from the previous government were at a record high for spring crossings. The numbers for July and August have been lower than in previous years”. She criticised the level of deportation under the Conservatives, saying they had been lower than under the previous Labour administration
Green party of England and Wales co-leader Adrian Ramsay has criticised the new Labour government’s track record on climate policies, saying that “Labour’s obsession with growth at any cost” shows they “are becoming the party that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing”. He urged the prime minister to attend COP29 in person, and said Labour was “weak” on the climate crisis because they “don’t seem to understand that the climate crisis is no longer something distant on the horizon”
Claire Hanna looks set to replace Colum Eastwood as SDLP leader unopposed, after she was the only candidate to have declared her interest before the deadline. She said “I’m looking forward to getting stuck in if that’s what the members decide”. The appointment will be ratified on 5 October
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, has called on Kemi Badenoch to retract her comments that independent MPs were elected in July “on the back of sectarian Islamist politics” and promoting “alien ideas that have no place here”. He said her comments were “deeply offensive”
Security minister Dan Jarvis has welcomed a nine year sentence for a man who participated in violent disorder propagated by the far-right last month. Jarvis said it “reflects the very serious nature of the criminality that we saw on that day,” after 27-year-old Thomas Birley was found guilty of arson with intent to endanger life
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has reacted strongly to a letter he has received from first minister Eluned Morgan, and said that “any notion that having two Labour governments working together would benefit Wales has been blown out of the water”. Morgan had said she would press the government in Westminster for “a fair approach to the application of the Barnett formula”. Ap Iorwerth said the formula was outdated and unfair, and “The notion that a ‘fair approach’ can be adopted to the application of it is a ludicrous contradiction in terms”
Robert Jenrick, who is vying to be next leader of the opposition, has said the resignation overnight of Northern Ireland’s veterans commissioner is “deeply concerning”
UK house prices hit a two-year high last month, in the latest sign that the property market has recovered from the aftermath of Liz Truss’s infamous mini-budget that sent borrowing costs soaring
Jonathan Powell has been appointed as a special envoy for negotiations between the UK and Mauritius over the Chagos Islands
Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby & Wigston Neil O’Brien has described it as “unbelievable” and “shameful” that the government is not able to provide a constituency-by-constituency breakdown of how many people will lose their winter fuel payment under the new policy being introduced by Keir Starmer’s government.
UNBELIEVABLE. Ahead of Tuesday's big debate on the Winter Fuel Payment govt are refusing to reveal how many people will lose out in each constituency. PQ answer I just got just says how many currently get it (on old boundaries). They know the truth, but won't admit it. SHAMEFUL. pic.twitter.com/r0AX498141
— Neil O'Brien (@NeilDotObrien) September 6, 2024
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, has criticised Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch for the language she used to describe recently elected independent MPs.
Badenoch had described the group of independent MPs as having been elected “on the back of sectarian Islamist politics” and promoting “alien ideas that have no place here”.
Revealing that he had received a death threat sent to his parliamentary office, Khan said he had frequently been referred to as a “terrorist” on social media, and that Badenoch’s rhetoric “encourages this type of attitude”.
Writing for Hyphen, Khan said:
I am not saying Badenoch’s statement resulted in the sending of this letter or any of the other comments I have received. But I am saying that rhetoric such as hers encourages this type of attitude. Comments such as hers are deeply offensive not only to me and my independent colleagues, but to every voter in our constituencies that supported and voted for us.
We must confront and challenge rhetoric that seeks to divide us. Our democracy thrives on inclusivity, mutual respect, and the understanding that our diversity is our strength. It is imperative that we speak out against language that promotes intolerance and work together to build a society where everyone is valued and treated with dignity.
He called on Badenoch to retract the comments.
PA Media is carrying some words from Claire Hanna, who looks set to replace Colum Eastwood as SDLP leader unopposed, after she was the only candidate to have declared her interest before the deadline.
The 44-year-old, who has been an MP since 2019 and before that was MLA for Belfast South said:
I’m not someone who thinks they have all the answers, it is daunting but I have been involved in the SDLP for many, many years and I have learnt a thing or two about the things that work in terms of organising people and in terms of motivating. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in if that’s what the members decide.
PA reports that Hanna received the nomination of every eligible SDLP constituency branch and support group.
Adrian Ramsay has finished his speech at the Green party of England and Wales autumn conference in Manchester. In it he paid tribute to the party’s first MP, Caroline Lucas, who stood down at the last election. She received a lengthy ovation.
Ramsay finished by thanking people who had voted Green, “Whether you were a first time Green voter or have voted Green every time you had the opportunity.”
He said to delegates in the hall:
Together we can keep on making history, keep on doing politics better and keep on delivering a brighter, fairer future. The ambitious, positive, inspiring future you have all helped demonstrate it’s possible to choose. This is what real change looks like – it looks like you.
His co-leader Carla Denyer is unwell and was unable to deliver the speech alongside Ramsay.
Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has criticsed the new Labour government’s track record on climate policies, saying that “Labour’s obsession with growth at any cost” shows they “are becoming the party that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.”
Speaking at the party’s conference in Manchester he was warmly applauded by delegates when he said:
We want them to stop the huge new Rosebank oilfield going ahead. There is no justification for this. Letting existing oil and gas wells run for a few more years until the transition is complete is one thing. But opening the UK’s biggest undeveloped oil and gas field will result in nearly 500m barrels of oil being burnt.
It’s another example of Labour’s obsession with growth at any cost. They really are becoming the party that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. The climate science is super clear – there must be no new oil and gas.
He urged the prime minister to attend COP29 in person, and criticised Labour as “weak” as they “don’t seem to understand that the climate crisis is no longer something distant on the horizon.”
“Climate breakdown is affecting people’s lives right now,” Ramsay said.
He said the party “must not let the positive story around climate action be left untold”, saying it should not cede ground to “those who falsely claim it will make life more expensive for the poorest or deny us our freedoms.”
Adrian Ramsay, the Green Party of England and Wales co-leader, has told the party’s autumn conference that politicians need to challenge “the kind of inflammatory language which has given a green light to those racist views” which he said led to violent disorder last month.
He said “The rioting and disorder on our streets this summer was organised political violence fuelled by racism and Islamophobia,” and said the party will “stand in solidarity with all those in our communities who have united peacefully against this hate and we will continue to do that and call, at every opportunity, on others to do the same.”
Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has said the reason his party did so well in the July election was not only because people “desperately wanted to see the back of the Conservatives” but also because “they were uninspired by the lacklustre offers and u-turns coming from the Labour party.”
Speaking to the party conference in Manchester, he said the party went into the election “clear that only the Green Party was offering the real hope and real change that people want to see.”
He repeated the party’s promise to work with the new government “where they are heading in the right direction”, but hold them to account “where we think greater ambition is needed.”
He singled out “winter fuel payments”, “airport expansion” and “the cruelty of the two-child benefit cap” as areas where he said Labour were already getting things wrong.
He said “In a few weeks we will see the first budget from this new government and we expect to predictably hear that there is no money. I will stand up … and tell the chancellor that she’s not looking in the right place.”
There was a warm response in the room as he continued “We need to invest in defending public services and protecting our environment – and we can do so with some changes to the tax system to ask the wealthiest in society to pay a little more. I proudly championed a wealth tax during the general election campaign, and I will do the same on budget day.”
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer has given a brief address to her party’s conference via video, as she is, in her own words “holed up in a hotel room with flu-like symptoms.”
She said it was not how she hoped to address conference, especially when the party had enjoyed such a momentous year with four MPs elected for the first time. She also joked that one of the advantages of having co-leaders was that Adrian Ramsay could still do the speech in person. He is speaking now.
Claire Hanna set to become new SDLP leader unopposed
PA Media reports that South Belfast and Mid Down MP Claire Hanna is set to become the next leader of the SDLP after she was the only candidate for the role when nominations closed.
A party statement said Hanna had received the required nominations from SDLP constituency branches and support groups. She will now proceed for ratification by party members at the SDLP conference on 5 October.
Outgoing leader Colum Eastwood announced last week he was leaving the role after nine years. He and Hanna are the party’s two representatives in Westminster after the 2024 general election.
The Green Party’s Hannah Spencer is introducing the co-leader’s speech by co-leader Adrian Ramsay at their conference. I will bring you any key lines.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has spoken to broadcasters ahead of a planned meeting with the prime minister, senior ministers and law and order and security officials to discuss small boat crossings of the English Channel.
She told the media:
We have this dangerous situation. The criminal gangs are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.
In the first half of the year, the number of crossings that we inherited from the previous government were at a record high for spring crossings.
The numbers for July and August have been lower than in previous years, but we have also seen lives being lost and we still see these criminal gangs operating along the north French coast.
Those gangs should not be able to get away with it and that’s why we are determined to go after them.
We have seen this really shameful increase in the asylum backlog under the Conservatives that we inherited.
We also saw much lower returns, way lower returns, than under the last Labour government.
So, the action that we have immediately taken is to significantly increase the number of returns since the general election, and we are also working now to close the backlog so that we can end these very costly asylum hotels
The Green Party of England and Wales is holding its autumn conference in Manchester, which started today. My colleague Peter Walker is there. He has just posted to social media suggesting that the co-leaders speech by Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer is in fact going to be delivered only by Ramsay, as Denyer is unwell. We will bring you key lines from the speech which is due to start shortly.
Security minister Dan Jarvis has welcomed a nine year sentence for a man who participated in violent disorder propagated by the far-right last month.
27-year-old Thomas Birley was sentenced to nine years in prison after being involved in incidents outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, including adding wood to a fire in the large industrial bin which had been pushed against an exit and helping place a further bin on top of the one ablaze. The hotel was housing asylum seekers.
PA Media reports Jarvis told Sky News:
Of course, sentencing is very much a matter for the courts and a matter for the judge, but it reflects the seriousness of the crime.
I think most of us will remember the events of that particular day. I’m a South Yorkshire MP and Rotherham is not far away from my own constituency.
So, the sentence that has been imposed today, I think, reflects the very serious nature of the criminality that we saw on that day and I think it sends a very strong message that that kind of vile behaviour is completely unacceptable, it’s illegal and it won’t be tolerated.
Judge Jeremy Richardson KC and the court were told that 22 staff inside the Holiday Inn had barricaded themselves into the hotel’s panic room and “thought they were going to burn to death”, and that about 200 people were trapped inside the building.
Birley, of Rotherham, was found guilty of arson with intent to endanger life.
Mark Brown, the Guardian’s North of England correspondent, has visited England’s snowiest village to speak to people about the winter fuel payment cut …
Downing Street: Estonia prison place plan was from former government and Labour has 'no plans' to follow it
A Downing Street spokesperson has said that reports the government were planning to send prisoners from England and Wales abroad to Estonia due to over-crowding were plans laid by the previous Conservative administration, and that it has no plans to implement the policy.
PA Media reports the spokesperson said:
The justice secretary has been clear that we have to bring in reforms to tackle the prison capacity crisis.
That’s why, alongside our commitment to build more prisons, we will be publishing a 10-year strategy in the autumn to set out how we will ensure that we always have the places we need to keep dangerous offenders behind bars.
On those reports specifically, I would point out that this was the policy of the former government and that this government has made no such plans or announcements with regard to Estonia.
Official figures published on Friday showed that the prison population in England and Wales had reached a record high, with 88,521 people behind bars, 171 more than the previous record set at the end of last week.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Ministry of Justice was investigating “all viable options” to increase capacity after the Baltic state said it had offered to rent out spare capacity to other countries.
Earlier, Angela Eagle, a minister in the Home Office, did not comment directly when asked on Sky News whether the government was considering the plan.
Lord Moylan has described Labour’s plans to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords as “spiteful”.
Former councillor and transport adviser Daniel Moylan, who was appointed to the Lords by disgraced former prime minister Boris Johnson, posted to social media to say:
We are all up for a discussion of reform of the House of Lords with a view to making it more democratic. But Labour don’t want that. They just want the spiteful, partisan move that will clear out opponents.
During 14 years of being in power between 2010 and 2024, Conservative prime ministers appointed over 400 people to the House of Lords. There are over 800 members of the House of Lords currently, of which 92 are hereditary peers.
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has reacted strongly to a letter he has received from first minister Eluned Morgan, and said that “any notion that having two Labour governments working together would benefit Wales has been blown out of the water”.
In the letter, Morgan had set out that should would press the government in Westminster for “a fair approach to the application of the Barnett formula”.
Publishing the letter, ap Iowerth said:
The new first minister has reaffirmed Labour’s commitment to the unfair and outdated funding model which takes no account of Wales’s needs.
The Barnett Formula is not only outdated but also unfair – putting Wales at a significant disadvantage. The notion that a “fair approach” can be adopted to the application of it, as suggested by the new Labour first minister, is a ludicrous contradiction in terms.
It is estimated that non-ringfenced Welsh government spending departments will see a funding shortfall of £248m by 2025/56 and rising to £683m by 2028/29.
In light of these extreme pressures and their impact on public services, it’s beyond comprehension why the Labour party continue to be wedded to a funding formula which they themselves have promised to scrap in the past.
Plaid Cymru has always made the case for fair funding and a new need- based formula that would put our public services on a sustainable footing.
It is clear that Labour, like the Tories, have no interest in making sure that Wales gets a fair deal from Westminster.
The new First Minister has reaffirmed Labour’s commitment to the unfair and outdated funding model which takes no account of Wales’s needs👇
— Rhun ap Iorwerth (@RhunapIorwerth) September 6, 2024
❌ Any notion that having two Labour governments working together would benefit Wales has been blown out of the water.
🧵 1/5 pic.twitter.com/7RPowCZmU0
Updated
By most accounts Rishi Sunak has been rather low-key as leader of the opposition since leading the Conservatives to their election defeat in July.
He has just said he spent this morning meeting “leading business representatives” in order to “better understand how the Conservatives in opposition can support them”, adding “I will always champion business as a force for good.”
Sunak is due to remain leader of the party until it selects one of Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride to replace him in November.
Priti Patel was eliminated from the contest earlier this week, and another candidate will be voted out of contention by MPs next week.
Former lord chief justice John Thomas has told Sky News that the government needs to look at the length of sentencing for offenders, rather than seek to outsource prison capacity abroad.
Lord Thomas, who held the lord chief justice role from 2013 to 2017, told viewers:
We have been changing sentencing legislation on and off over the last 15 to 20 years without really looking at the effect as a whole. People have been required to spend longer in prison. All of these have a cumulative effect.
We need to stand back and ask, have we got the resources balanced correctly? Has the increase in sentencing reduced crime? Has it had the right effect.
He also suggested that the mooted proposal to rent additional prison space in Estonia – a policy not ruled out this morning by minister Angela Eagle – would “cut prisoners off from what is critical to them, which is staying and being in touch with their families.”
Figures this morning showed that the prison population in England and Wales has reached a record high. Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has been sharply critical of the situation the government inherited from Rishi Sunak’s time in office, when, she said, Sunak and “his gang in Number 10 [were] too weak to heed the warning signs that were flashing.”
Mark Sweney and Graeme Wearden report for the Guardian:
UK house prices hit a two-year high last month, in the latest sign that the property market has recovered from the aftermath of Liz Truss’s infamous mini-budget that sent borrowing costs soaring, according to the latest figures from Halifax.
The lender said that the cost of an average house increased by 0.3% last month, after rising 0.9% in July, pushing the average cost of a property to £292,505.
This is the highest level since August 2022, the month before Truss’s disastrous mini-budget. On an annual basis, house prices were up 4.3% in August, the strongest rate since November 2022, which Halifax said largely reflected weaker prices a year ago.
Read more here: UK house prices hit two-year high as market recovers from Truss mini-budget
Robert Jenrick, who is vying to be next leader of the opposition, has said the resignation overnight of Northern Ireland’s veterans commissioner is “deeply concerning”.
He called on the Labour government to “urgently demonstrate the same commitment” he claimed that former veterans minister Johnny Mercer had given to the role.
This is deeply concerning.
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) September 6, 2024
As the dedicated veterans Minister, @JohnnyMercerUK fought tirelessly for veterans, and particularly veterans who served in Northern Ireland.
Labour must urgently demonstrate the same commitment. https://t.co/F9J0IDtwaE
In a statement released yesterday evening, Danny Kinahan confirmed his departure from the role in Northern Ireland. The former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP, who was appointed to the job in 2020, said:
Following an open and frank conversation with the secretary of state, I have sadly concluded that I cannot provide the independent voice that veterans require.
There is a feeling among some veterans in Northern Ireland that they have been forgotten and that they do not enjoy the same protections as their counterparts in Great Britain.
In response to the resignation, secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, said:
I would like to thank Danny Kinahan for his dedicated work on behalf of veterans and families living in Northern Ireland.
Over the last four years, he has worked on a range of important issues that affect veterans in everyday life, including health, housing and welfare and we will continue to engage with him on these issues.
We are committed to continuing to support veterans in Northern Ireland through the Veterans Welfare Service NI and the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.
Shadow minister for veterans affairs, the Conservative MP Andrew Bowie, has said that Alex Burghart, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, will be meeting with Kinahan “as soon as possible to discuss his decision to stand down”, and described it as “a worrying development”.
The government has announced that Jonathan Powell has been appointed as a special envoy for negotiations between the UK and Mauritius over the Chagos Islands.
Foreign secretary David Lammy said:
Negotiations with Mauritius over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) / Chagos Archipelago are critical to the UK’s security. We are determined to protect the long-term, secure and effective operation of the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia.
Jonathan Powell’s experience working with governments of all colours in the most sensitive international negotiations makes him uniquely qualified to serve as the prime minister’s special envoy.
I look forward to working with him as we endeavour to reach a settlement that protects UK interests and those of our partners.
Powell was previously a chief of staff to prime minister Tony Blair, and David Cameron’s special envoy to Libya between 2014 and 2016.
In January, acting in his then-role as foreign secretary, Cameron provoked fury by abruptly ruling out the resettlement of former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands, months after his predecessor revealed that the UK was discussing their potential return. In March 2023, James Cleverly had confirmed that talks between the UK and Mauritius over the future of the Indian Ocean islands included “resettlement of the former inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago”.
Today’s government announcement of Powell’s appointment says:
Working in close coordination with the US, the UK government will continue the previous government’s policy of aiming to reach an agreement that protects the UK’s security interests, respects Chagossian communities, enhances environmental cooperation and builds a long-term strategic relationship with Mauritius as a close Commonwealth partner. The UK-Mauritius negotiations began in November 2022. To date, 12 rounds of talks have taken place.
Peter Walker and Geoffrey Lean report for the Guardian that campaigners have accused ministers of making misleading promises about protecting green belt sites from development:
Huge expanses of green belt land in England could be built on to meet government housing targets, it has emerged, with guidelines saying that councils lacking enough brownfield sites will be expected to offer untouched plots for construction.
The proposals, set out in consultation documents for the revised planning rules across England, prompted condemnation from campaigners, who accused ministers of making misleading promises about protecting the green belt.
There is also concern that the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) waters down targets for affordable homes, with a previous stipulation that at least 10% of new homes having to be affordable being scrapped.
When the draft NPPF was unveiled in July, part of a pledge to build 1.5m new homes over five years, it was announced that councils that failed to meet construction targets could be forced to use “grey belt” sites, low-quality areas of the green belt such as former car parks and petrol stations, and sites on the edges of towns and villages.
But within the consultation document for the NPPF, totalling 15 chapters and nearly 30,000 words, it says that if there is not enough grey belt land councils should be pushed into building on “higher performing” green belt sites – which would include previously untouched land integral to the green belt’s purpose.
Read more here: England’s green belt at risk amid pressure to meet housing targets
Former chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick appeared on the media this morning, and said that recently visiting prisons for the first time he felt concerned about his own personal security.
He told listeners of the BBC Today programme:
I’ve been in a lot of prisons, what I’ve noticed in some I’ve visited recently is for the first time I’ve felt concerned for my own personal security – they’re dangerous and frightening places, and staff are struggling to keep control.
He said he didn’t think the government had any alternative to its planned early release scheme, but it came with problems. PA Media quotes him saying:
That will remove the immediate pressure, I don’t think the government had any alternative in the short-term other than to do these releases.
But it’s a bit like squeezing a balloon – you release the pressure in one place but the bulge goes somewhere else – and the real problem now is, first of all, some of those released will re-offend for certain, and some of those released, a lot of those released, I fear will end up homeless because there simply isn’t the accommodation for them.
A government minister has refused to deny reports that officials are looking at sending criminals convicted in England and Wales to Estonia to serve their prison sentences.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Ministry of Justice was investigating “all viable options” to increase capacity after the Baltic state said it had offered to rent out spare capacity to other countries.
Angela Eagle, a minister in the Home Office, did not comment directly when asked on Sky News whether the government was considering renting cells for British prisoners in Estonia as it was “not directly my ministerial responsibility”.
She said: “I’m sure that colleagues are considering all sorts of actions to deal with the crisis that we’ve been left by the previous government in prison places and the prison service, and the criminal justice system generally.”
She added: “The last government closed loads of prison places and didn’t replace any of them, so I think that colleagues in the MoJ will be considering anything that they can to alleviate the problem.
“What we cannot have is people who are convicted of perhaps violent or serious crimes not being able to be in jail.”
Read more here: Minister won’t deny UK government may rent prison space in Estonia
Prison population in England and Wales reaches new record high
The prison population has reached a new record high, PA Media reports. Official figures showed there were 88,521 people imprisoned on Friday, 171 more than the previous record set at the end of last week.
The prison population has risen by 1,025 people over the past four weeks and now stands at its highest level since weekly population data was first published in 2011.
The latest figures come days before the government’s temporary early release scheme is due to come into effect on 10 September.
Our deputy political editor Jessica Elgot has this piece today suggesting there will be a diminished presence from the left of the Labour party at this year’s conference:
Senior leftwing Labour figures have said the left will have a greatly diminished presence at this year’s party conference.
The conference in Liverpool is likely to be dominated by delegates from the party’s centrist wing, though there will be moves to force votes on issues such as the two-child benefit cap and the winter fuel allowance.
Momentum and other leftwing grassroots groups are also fighting to save their last remaining seats on the party’s governing body, which now has a significant majority for the centrist faction, organised by Labour to Win.
One Corbyn-era shadow cabinet minister said members who were dissatisfied with Keir Starmer’s leadership – especially his policies towards parliamentary selections and party discipline – would probably steer clear this year. “I think future years to come there will be more space to put pressure on from the left,” they said.
Seven prominent leftwing MPs, including the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and the former shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, are suspended from the Labour whip for rebelling on an amendment to abolish the two-child benefit limit.
A Momentum spokesperson said there were still areas where leftwing members would be active:
While the balance of delegates at conference is likely to be favourable to Starmer, the Labour party is beset with major internal disagreements between the majority of members and trade unionists – who support commonsense progressive policies such as the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap and want to see an end to austerity policies after 14 years of Tory misrule – and a small grouping around the leadership, who remain obsessively focused on control freakery and are happy to have economic policy dictated by the Treasury.
The World Transformed, the leftwing political festival that has acted as a fringe event to the conference for the past eight years, will not return to the conference in Liverpool this year.
Read more from Jessica Elgot here: Left’s presence at Labour conference will be diminished, say leftwing figures
Former immigration minister Jenrick accuses Labour of having 'surrendered to smuggling gangs'
Robert Jenrick, the Conservative former immigration minister and candidate for the party’s leadership, has accused the new Labour government of having “surrendered to the smuggling gangs”.
Jenrick, whose party while in government oversaw record numbers of people crossing the English Channel in order to seek asylum, told Sky News “We have seen thousands of people crossing the Channel illegally since Labour came to power. They got rid of the one credible deterrent, which was the Rwanda policy.”
Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda deportation policy never reached the statute books, and not a single asylum seeker was forcibly deported there.
Speaking about home secretary Yvette Cooper’s planned meeting today on small boat Channel crossings, Jenrick said:
Yvette Cooper will meet the National Crime Agency and police chiefs today, and they’ll tell her what they told me when I was the minister, which is that although it’s important that we do that work, it is not sufficient. You have to have a deterrent. Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have surrendered to the smuggling gangs.
Jenrick claimed that scrapping the failed Rwanda scheme had made it “open season” for people smugglers to attempt to move asylum seekers across the English Channel.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, prime minister Keir Starmer told MPs:
Unlike the Conservative party, we will not waste money on gimmicks. That is why, within days, we ended the Rwanda scheme and announced the launch of the border security force, and we have been preparing legislation to introduce counter-terrorism powers to tackle gangs. In the first two months, we have removed on planes more than 400 people who had no right to be here. Compare that with the four volunteers sent to Rwanda, which cost £700m. This is a government of service, not a government of gimmicks.
The former head of the British Border Force, Tony Smith, has said that tackling people-smuggles using the English Channel as a route was like playing “Whac-A-Mole”.
He said that a concerted effort was needed in Europe and in the countries organising the trade, telling listeners of the BBC Today programme:
This is a very lucrative business for the smugglers. Putting a smuggling gang out of business, there’s usually another one waiting in the wings because the money is there. It’s a bit like Whac-A-Mole, really. So you do need a very concerted international attempt, both in Europe and beyond.
Smith left the British Border Force role in 2013.
Minister: government will announce head of new border security command 'shortly'
Angela Eagle has said that the government will announce the appointment of the head of its new border security command “very shortly”.
The much-touted policy aiming to cut people crossing the English Channel to seek asylum in the UK has been at the centre of the new Labour government’s promise to smash people-smuggling gangs.
Speaking on Sky News, Eagle said:
We are very close to making that appointment. You have to go through certain processes to make sure you get the right person, give people time to apply. You can’t wave a magic wand. There’ll be announcements about that very shortly.
The border security minister would not be drawn on whether it would be as soon as next week.
Minister: 'difficult' and 'complex' to tackle cross-border smuggling gangs
Border security minister Angela Eagle has said that tackling criminal people smuggling gangs will be “difficult” and “complex” to do, but that should not stop the government attempting to tackle it.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme she said “I think that any state has got to ensure that criminal gangs who are profiting off human misery are tackled, disrupted, dealt with, put out of business – and if you have to put one out of business and another springs up, you have to spend your time having a go at that one as well.”
She continued “Just because something is very, very difficult to do, complex to do – something that you have to do by cooperation across borders, by a lot of communication along these supply chains of misery and exploitation - that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be doing it, and that is what today’s summit is about, really.”
Here is a snippet from Rajeev Syal’s report on today’s forthcoming summit on English Channel crossings:
Yvette Cooper will chair a summit aimed at apprehending criminal gangs involved in smuggling people across the Channel in small boats, as the Home Office disclosed that MI5 officers had been given a key role in operations.
Intelligence officers, Border Force staff and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) representatives will be present at the meeting on Friday at the National Crime Agency’s headquarters.
Cooper, the home secretary, will be joined by David Lammy, the foreign secretary, Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, and Richard Hermer, the attorney general.
On Tuesday 12 people died attempting the perilous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. Another 257 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Wednesday.
Cooper said: “Women and children were packed into an unsafe boat which literally collapsed in the water this week. At least 12 people were killed as part of this evil trade.”
Read more here: Yvette Cooper to chair summit on tackling Channel smuggling gangs
Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics for Friday. Recently appointed home secretary Yvette Cooper will chair a summit of senior ministers and members of the intelligence services and the National Crime Agency aimed at tackling criminal gangs involved in smuggling people over the English Channel in small boats. More of that in a moment, but here are your headlines …
Five of the most senior former judges in England and Wales have warned “radical solutions” should be considered to ease the prison overcrowding crisis
Robert Jenrick is outperforming other Conservative leadership hopefuls in fundraising efforts
Great Britain’s electricity system has recorded its greenest ever summer
Health campaigners are calling for hard-hitting cigarette-style warning labels to be put on everyday foodstuffs
A City taskforce has said the UK needs £1tn of fresh investment over the next decade if the government is to hit its economic growth targets
UK house prices have risen close to the record high set two years ago, a new survey this morning shows
What else is in the diary for today? Not much. The Lords are sitting, but the Commons isn’t, and there is nothing scheduled in Holyrood, Stormont or the Senedd. It is Martin Belam with you here. You can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com. I find it helpful if you gently point out typos, errors or omissions you spot.
