UK Politics

Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes to secure his much vaunted “one in, one out” migrant deal with France were hanging in the balance on Wednesday night.Anglo-French talks on the scheme, which would return some illegal migrants back across the Channel, continued just hours before the start of a bilateral summit to be held on Thursday.The British prime minister had hoped he would be able to announce the migration deal before the French president’s three-day state visit ended at the end of Thursday, with some speculating it would be unveiled at the summit.However, discussions were reported to be deadlocked the night before, with the question of how much the UK will pay towards policing small boat crossings a particular sticking point. Beyond money, further obstacles reportedly cited by aides on both sides included possible legal challenges in France as well as potential opposition from other European countries.In response to reports that a deal had already been agreed and was set to be announced on Thursday, a government source told The Independent: “It’s speculation and talks are ongoing.”Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer at No 10 on Wednesday More

Bridget Phillipson has spoken of her anger over revelations of vulnerable children being placed in squalid homes including one youngster forced to live in a caravan at the cost of £75,000 for the taxpayer.The education secretary has spoken to The Independent ahead of announcing a £53 million to create up to 200 high quality places for children in care to live.The senior minister has vowed to end the practice of vulnerable children being sent to live in care in illegal homes including caravans and dirty bedsits.She warned that the practice of sending children to “illegal accommodation” would be brought to an end.Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) More

Britain and France will join together to use nuclear weapons against any “extreme threats” towards Europe, Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have declared. A newly-signed declaration by the leaders will state that the two countries’ nuclear deterrents are independent but can be co-ordinated in a joint attack on Europe’s enemies. Officials warned that any adversary threatening the interests of Britain and France would be confronted by the nuclear arsenals of both nations simultaneously. Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron said they would use nuclear weapons jointly More

Kemi Badenoch is poised to unveil a controversial plan to restrict health benefits to only the most severely ill, as she warns of a “ticking time bomb” in the UK’s welfare system.In a speech scheduled for Thursday, the Tory leader will highlight government forecasts suggesting annual spending on health and disability benefits could soar to £70 billion by 2030. Other projections indicate this figure could even reach £100 billion, while the Office for Budget Responsibility has cautioned that a failure to curb the rate of benefit uptake could incur an additional £12 billion in costs.Calling for tougher action on welfare, Ms Badenoch is expected to state: “We should be backing the makers – rewarding the people getting up every morning, working hard to build our country. Our welfare system should look after the most vulnerable in society – not those cheating the system.”As well as restricting benefits to “more serious conditions”, Ms Badenoch is expected to reiterate her policy of preventing foreign nationals claiming welfare.She will say: “It is not fair to spend £1 billion a month on benefits for foreign nationals and on handing out taxpayer-funded cars for conditions like constipation.”Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch More

Former Tory education secretary Gillian Keegan has said that she meant what she said about people needing to be grateful for the “f*****g good job” she had done while others had “sat on their a***s and done nothing” before. Ms Keegan, who was a senior member of Rishi Sunak’s government before losing her Chichester seat in last year’s general election, was reflecting on her life in politics with ex-Labour MPs Jon Ashworth and Gloria De Piero on their Politics Inside Out podcast.The interview, which will be available from Thursday morning, addressed an embarrassing moment in 2023 when she thought the camera was off after speaking to ITV News about the Raac concrete scandal and crumbling schools.Former education secretary Gillian Keegan (Danny Lawson/PA) More

A deal with Google will see the tech giant provide free technology for UK government services from the NHS to local councils.Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he is determined to “break free” from the “ball-and-chain” technology used in more than a quarter of public sector systems and some 70% of police forces and NHS trusts.He said Google could invest hundreds of millions into Britain’s public sector technology under the partnership, which will not see the Government pay.The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said Google would not have access to public sector data.The agreement comes as part of a shift away from outdated computer technology to cloud systems with security integrated into their design.The aim is to make sure information on services is more easily available and to save up to £45 billion of Government cash.“We are looking to the sector to help shake off the legacy technology that costs the taxpayer an absolute fortune and leaves us vulnerable to outages and to cyberattacks,” Mr Kyle told Google Cloud’s London summit.Google Cloud is also looking into developing a single platform to monitor and respond to cybersecurity issues across the UK Government amid increasing cyber threats.Mr Kyle also urged other tech companies to bid for contracts “bring us your best ideas, bring us your best tech, and bring it at the best price”.“For too long, too many governments haven’t done enough to build the positive business relationships that Britain needs to prevent the taxpayer being short-changed when it comes to procuring tech – from healthcare services, policing systems right through to benefits processes, and bin collections, right down to street sweeping,” he told the summit. More

Sir Keir Starmer has failed to rule out extending so-called “stealth taxes” – as well as the introduction of a wealth tax – as his government struggles to balance the books following his recent U-turns. The prime minister reiterated that Labour would stick to its manifesto pledge and ruled out increases to income tax, VAT and national insurance, but he did not confirm whether the government was planning to lift the freeze on income tax thresholds in 2028.Sir Keir and chancellor Rachel Reeves are seeking to find billions of pounds in savings after the government’s recent U-turns on welfare and winter fuel payments left a black hole in the nation’s finances, while a report out this week from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) gave a damning verdict of the state of Britain’s “vulnerable” public finances.Asked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch whether he could guarantee he would keep the manifesto pledge of not increasing income tax, VAT or employee national insurance contributions, Sir Keir gave a one word answer: “Yes!”But when she asked if it is still the government’s policy to unfreeze income tax thresholds, Sir Keir said: “No prime minister is going to write the budget in advance, but we are absolutely fixed on our fiscal rules”.At the last budget, Ms Reeves promised to end the freeze on income tax thresholds after 2028. But if it were extended to the end of the parliament it could £9bn-10bn a year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, as workers are dragged into higher tax bands as earnings rise. The think tank says extending the freeze would mean an additional 400,000 people would be eligible to pay income tax, while another 600,000 would be pulled into higher and additional rates by 2029-30.Pressed on the issue after PMQs, the prime minister’s spokesperson repeatedly refused to say whether the government plans to go back on the chancellor’s promise to unfreeze tax thresholds.( More

Macron’s first state visit: Highlights from day one of French president’s UK tripEmmanuel Macron has arrived at No 10 for crunch talks as Sir Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” migration deal hangs in the balance.Mr Macron smiled as he stepped out of the car before being greeted by the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon on the second day of his state visit to the UK.The pair shook hands and posed for photographs accompanied by their wives in front of the press, before entering Number 10.Their spouses, Brigitte Macron and Lady Victoria Starmer, will have tea and a tour of Downing Street together, followed by all four having lunch.The prime minister hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link.The meeting comes before a full UK-France summit on Thursday involving ministerial teams from both nations.Sir Keir Starmer faced questions on the issue of migration in the Commons earlier, as the UK presses for tougher action from the French authorities on the beaches along the Channel coast.Coming up…Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer are currently holding talks on issues including illegal migration at No 10.Here is a look at what we’re expected for the rest of today and tomorrow:- We should be getting some more information on how the talks in No 10 went shortly.- This afternoon, Sir Keir and Mr Macron are expected to attend a reception with UK and French businesses and an event at the British Museum on Wednesday to announce the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry and other items to England.( More