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Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government is set to resume funding to UN Palestine relief agency UNRWA for Palestinians escaping the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Conservative government stopped the money alongside the US in January following accusations from Israel that staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks. But the UN investigation into the allegations is still ongoing.
During the King’s Speech debate, foreign secretary David Lammy said Britain is “absolutely committed” to a two-state solution for Palestine but he claimed the plan must guarantee the security of Israel.
Following the major IT outage hitting airlines, train companies and banks, government officials held a Cobra emergency meeting to address the chaos in trains, GPs and TV channels.
It comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the British government to help Kyiv’s lift restrictions on how the coutnry can use weapons supplied by western allies.
Addressing ministers in Downing Street, Mr Zelensky discussed the situation in Ukraine and called for the need to expand Europe’s defence industrial base, as well as agreeing a £3.5bn defence export finance deal with Sir Keir.
Can Keir Starmer take the brakes off Britain’s railways?
Renationalising the railway fulfils Labour’s election promise. Sean O’Grady takes a closer look at how the new government plans to do it:
More than 5,000 early-career nursing staff quit profession in one year
A fifth of the nursing and midwifery professionals who left the register in the last year did so within 10 years of joining, figures show.
Nursing leaders described the statistic as “deeply alarming” and called on ministers to “grasp the nettle and make nursing an attractive career”.
The latest Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) annual report on its register of nurses, midwives and nursing associates in the UK shows 27,168 staff left the profession between April 2023 and March 2024, a slight decrease on the previous 12 months.
However, 20.3% of the total – or 5,508 – did so within the first 10 years.
This is compared to 18.8% in 2020/2021 and “reflects a rise over the last three years”, according to the report.
Mr Streeting is also expected to enter formal talks with junior doctors in a bid to end the 20-month row over pay and confitions leading to strikes.
Labour peer to introduce bill to allow assisted dying
A fresh bid to legalise assisted dying for people with six or fewer months left to live will be laid before Parliament next week.
The private member’s bill seeking to allow terminally ill adults to end their life will be introduced by Labour former justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton to the upper chamber next Friday.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer doubled down on a pre-election commitment to allow a free vote on changes to assisted dying laws, but declined to put a timetable on it.
Lord Falconer was chosen second in the ballot to introduce the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill.
It is likely to be debated over the coming year and if it receives sufficient support, it could become law.
Assisting someone to end their life is currently a criminal offence in England and Wales.
Education charity boss to lead Government’s curriculum and assessment review
The Government has appointed an education charity boss to lead its curriculum and assessment review – aimed at ensuring a child’s background does not prevent them from receiving a high standard of education.
Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), will be seconded from her role at the charity to lead the review as it is launched on Friday.
It will listen to the views of parents, teachers and school leaders once a call for evidence is launched in September and will undertake a national roadshow to meet and hear from frontline staff, according to the Department for Education (DfE).
It comes after Labour said in its manifesto that it would “modernise” the school curriculum and reform assessment if the party won the General Election.
The independent review will comprise five key stages and look closely at the challenges young people face to achieve their goals and the barriers which hold children back from opportunities they deserve – in particular, children who are socio-economically disadvantaged or who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
The Government set out plans in the King’s Speech to legally require all state schools – including academies – to teach the national curriculum up to age 16 to give every child a “broad and rounded education”.
It confirmed that the duty will start after its curriculum and assessment review has concluded.
Anneliese Dodds says UNRWA funding ‘will save lives’ in Gaza
The international development minister has met UNRWA commissioner general Phillippe Lazzarini following the government’s decision to allow aid funding to the UN Palestine relief agency.
Posting on social media, Ms Dodds said the body will deliver aid in a scale “desperately needed in Gaza”.
She wrote: “Only UNRWA can deliver aid at the scale desperately needed in Gaza. That’s why the UK is lifting the pause on UNRWA funding with immediate effect.
“Today I met @UNLazzarini to discuss this lifesaving decision and offer condolences for the 197 UNRWA staff who have been killed.”
Leader of Belarus marks 30 years in power after crushing all dissent and cozying up to Moscow
His longevity is due to a mixture of harshly silencing all dissent, reverting to Soviet-style economic controls and methods, and cozying up to Russia, even as he sometimes flirted with the West.
Lukashenko, 69, was dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” early in his tenure, and he has lived up to that nickname.
On Saturday, he marks 30 years in power — one of the world’s longest-serving and most ruthless leaders.
Poll reveals popularity of Keir Starmer after first week as PM
Sir Keir Starmer ended his first week as Prime Minister as popular as Boris Johnson was at the height of the vaccine rollout, a poll has found.
Some 36% of the public told pollster Ipsos they thought Sir Keir was doing a good job as Prime Minister, the highest rating for a premier since February 2021 when 37% said the same about Mr Johnson.
But conversely, just 14% of the public think the new Prime Minister is doing a bad job, well below the 41% that thought negatively of Mr Johnson in February 2021 – and the 57% that thought badly of Rishi Sunak just before he called the election.
Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos, said: “Looking at Keir Starmer’s poll ratings there are increasing signs of the new Prime Minister enjoying something of a honeymoon period during his first few days in office.”
National borrowing rose to highest levels in 60 years
UK state debt remained at levels last seen in the early 1960s in June, the Office for National Statistics said.
Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was provisionally estimated at 99.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of June 2024, 2.8 percentage points more than at the end of June 2023.
UK state debt rose to levels not witnessed for more than 60 years in May.
Meanwhile, public sector borrowing was £14.5 billion in June, £3.2 billion less than in June 2023.
The figure marks the lowest June borrowing since 2019, the statistics watchdog said.
Victoria Atkins reprimanded during the King’s speech debate
Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins has been reprimanded by the deputy speaker for behaving “abominably” during the King’s speech debate.
As the Commons discussed the greenbelt and rural economy, the shadow secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Steve Barclay said: “This King’s speech does nothing for the farming and fishing communities and the decisions we’ve seen so far are ones that take vast amounts of farmland out of food production in order to prioritise the eco-zealotry, which we’ve heard so often in this house.”
During his response Defra Secretary Steve Reed declined interventions from Mr Barclay as well as Conservative front-benchers Kemi Badenoch and Ms Atkins.
Ms Atkins stood at the despatch box as Mr Reed continued to speak and Tory members continued to call for interventions.
Deputy speaker Christopher Chope called for order, saying: “(Ms Atkins) has behaved abominably.”
Closing the debate for Friday, Mr Reed said: “After 14 years of chaos, there is once again hope for our environment, hope for our countryside and hope for our rural communities. I welcome the King’s speech, I recommend it to this House.”
