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We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreSir Keir Starmer says he wants to close a “loophole” that allowed a Palestinian family the right to remain in the UK after they applied through a scheme designed for Ukrainian refugees. The prime minister and Kemi Badenoch clashed at PMQs after the Tory leader criticised a judge’s decision to allow the family to live in the UK.After claiming that Ms Badenoch “hasn’t quite done her homework, because the decision in question was taken under the last government”, the prime minister accused the Tory leader of repeating the same question without listening to his initial response that ministers were seeking to tighten the rules in response to the case.The Home Office has issued new guidance stating that anyone who enters the UK illegally “having made a dangerous journey, will normally be refused citizenship” – just days after ministers were accused of trying to outdo Reform by publishing migrant raid videosLabour MP Stella Creasy said the changes “can’t be right” and would leave refugees “forever second-class” and without “a place in our society”, while former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas warned that “such performative cruelty won’t see off Reform – it’s more likely to strengthen them”.Watch: Murdered MP David Amess’ daughter calls for public inquiryMurdered MP’ daughter speaks out as report finds failings in counter-terrorism reviewMurdered MP Sir David Amess’ daughter has spoken out as a damning report found vital chances to stop his killer were missed. The Prevent Commissioner will review the programme’s interaction with Ali Harbi Ali, who killed Sir David, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said today (12 February), as he promised support to the former MP’s family. A review into the handling of Sir David’s murderer under the Government’s counter-terror programme Prevent found assessments were “problematic” and his case was closed too early, security minister Dan Jarvis has told MPs. Ali Harbi Ali had been referred to Prevent seven years before he killed the veteran MP on October 15 2021, but his case was closed in 2016.12 February 2025 14:50PMQs was 6-0 to Starmer, says GB News political editorThe political editor of GB News has suggested that Sir Keir Starmer scored a 6-0 victory over Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.Mail on Sunday commentator Dan Hodges said: “That wasn’t just Kemi Badenoch’s worst performance as leader. It was one of the worst performances ever from a leader of the opposition. “She had no capacity to readjust after Starmer gave her a clear and direct answer on the Gaza family. It was embarrassing to watch.”Meanwhile, The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole noted that the “Tory benches look like someone has p***ed on their chips”.Andy Gregory12 February 2025 14:43Courses for low-risk offenders cancelled to ease probation service pressuresAround 13,000 offenders did not complete rehabilitation courses as part of their sentences because the Probation Service was unable to deliver them in time under an “impossible” workload, the Justice Secretary has revealed.Shabana Mahmood said thousands of accredited programmes ordered by the courts were not fulfilled before their sentences expired in three years to March 2024.She announced courses for low-risk offenders would be cancelled in a bid to “confront the reality” of the pressures on the service.The Lord Chancellor said: “Now is also a moment about the challenges that the service faces, and the simple fact is this, the service this Government inherited was burdened with a workload that was quite simply impossible.”When we took office, we discovered that orders handed out by courts were not taking place in the three years to March 2024, around 13,000 accredited programmes, a type of rehabilitative course, did not happen.”Ms Mahmood added that the problem had been years in the making.They will still receive supervision from a probation officer and any breaches of a licence condition could mean they returned to prison, she added.”We will ensure those offenders who pose a higher risk and who need to receive these courses will do so,” Ms Mahmood said.12 February 2025 14:30Small boats crackdown ‘would deny Paddington Bear refuge in the UK’, Labour MP saysA new government crackdown on refugees travelling to the UK by small boat is so harsh it would mean turning away Paddington Bear, a Labour MP has said.Jabed Ahmed reports:Andy Gregory12 February 2025 14:16Starmer vows not to abandon steelworkers in face of Trump tariffsSir Keir Starmer insisted he would “always put our national interest first” as the government weighs up its response to Donald Trump’s steel tariffs, with a 25 per cent tax on imports to the US set to come into effect next month.The European Union has promised to retaliate over US tariffs, but Sir Keir said he is still assessing what the UK response will be. With Sir Keir hopeful of a visit to see Mr Trump in the coming weeks, the government will be reluctant to start a trade war with the US.Sir Keir told MPs: “British steel is an essential part of our heartlands, and we will not abandon our skilled workforce, and it needs a level-headed assessment of the implications, which is what we’re going through at the moment.”But we will always put our national interest first, and steelworkers first.”Andy Gregory12 February 2025 14:00Give Chagos Islands to Trump, ex-army chief urges as he lays into Starmer’s dealSir Keir Starmer should scrap his plans to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and consider ceding control to the US instead, the former head of the British army has said.Lord Dannatt, former chief of the general staff, said it is “very hard to find good news” in the prime minister’s deal to cede control of the Indian Ocean archipelago, and raised questions about how the agreement would be paid for.Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:Andy Gregory12 February 2025 13:46Veteran MP’s killer had Prevent case closed ‘too quickly’ – ministerA review of the handling of Sir David Amess’ murderer Ali Harbi Ali under the Government’s counterterror programme Prevent found assessments were problematic and his case was closed too quickly, security minister Dan Jarvis said. He told the Commons: “The reviewer found that from the material reviewed, the assessment in terms of the perpetrator’s vulnerabilities was problematic, and this ultimately led to questionable decision-making and sub-optimal handling of the case during the time he was engaged with Prevent and Channel.”It identified that the vulnerability assessment framework was not followed with the perpetrator’s symptoms being prioritised over addressing the underlying causes of his vulnerabilities.”The reviewer ultimately found that while Prevent policy and guidance at the time was mostly followed, the case was exited from Prevent too quickly.”Sir David Amess More
