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Nigel Farage has called for a “cultural change” at NatWest and within the wider industry, as he promised to continue to campaign on account closures.Mr Farage said NatWest “ought to go back to being a bank, rather than being a moral arbiter for political positions”.He hit out at the wider NatWest Board in wake of the resignation of Dame Alison Rose. He said: “Anybody on that Board that backed that statement that was put out at 17.42 yesterday, a totally unsustainable and untrue statement, anybody that backed that behaviour, should be gone.” More

A former adviser to Boris Johnson has become the youngest peer in the House of Lords after taking her seat in the unelected chamber.Charlotte Owen was nominated to the Lords in the former prime minister’s controversial resignation honours list released in June. The 30-year-old will be known as Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge and will sit as a Conservative peer.Lady Owen’s introduction was followed by that of Conservative Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, who will be known as Lord Houchen of High Leven.The pair wore the traditional scarlet robes for their short introduction ceremonies. More

Sir Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of “giving up on government” after two by-election defeats, as he set out the party’s priorities ahead of next year’s general election.Addressing Labour’s national policy forum in Nottingham on Saturday 22 July, Sir Keir vowed his party can deliver a “Britain that truly serves working people”.“The Tories are watching us – looking for us to slip up. Make no mistake, they have given up on government, they have got no record to defend,” he said.“All they can do now is oppose Labour, attack our plans.” More

Footage shows the inside of the Bibby Stockholm barge which is set to house 500 asylum seekers at Portland Port in Dorset.The barge’s capacity has been upped from 222 to 506 people.But The Independent understands that migrants will have less living space than an average parking bay.An official brochure released by owner Bibby Marine shows there are only 222 “single en-suite bedrooms” on board, meaning that at least two people may have to be crammed into every cabin for the government to achieve its aim. More

Conservative losses in Thursday’s (20 July) by elections were because Tory voters stayed at home, Greg Hands has said.The Tory party chairman spoke to TalkTV after his party lost two safe seats as Labour gained Selby and Ainsty and the Liberal Democrats won in Somerton and Frome.A 24 per cent swing towards Labour was “largely driven by Conservative voters staying at home,” Mr Hands said.“The result in Uxbridge reflects something wider.”The Tories managed to narrowly cling on to Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat. More

New Labour MP Keir Mather will become the youngest MP in the Commons after overturning a 20,137 majority in the North Yorkshire constituency of Selby & Ainsty.In a speech after he was declared the winner of the by-election, Mr Mather said he “understood the enormity of what has just happened”.“We have rewritten the rules on where Labour can win. People have opened their doors to us and embraced our positive vision for the future,” he said.“The people of Selby & Ainsty have sent a clear message. For too long, Conservatives up here and in Westminster have failed us, and today that changes.” More

Veterans minsiter Johnny Mercer has made a jibe at Labour’s newest and youngest MP Keir Mather following his historic by-election win.Keir, 25, won the previous Conservative stronghold of Selby and Ainsty for Labour by overturning a majority of 20,000. He will now become the ‘Baby of the House’ – the youngest member of the House of Commons.Asked by Sky News deputy political editor Sam Coates whether he welcomed “an injection of youth into parliament”, Mr Mercer said: “I think it’s always good to get new people in politics, but I think we mustn’t become a repeat of The Inbetweeners”. More

James Cleverly has warned Rishi Sunak that he wants to remain as foreign secretary, amid speculation over an imminent cabinet reshuffle.The senior cabinet minister, who has been tipped in some reports as a contender to replace Ben Wallace at the Ministry of Defence, made clear his desire to remain at the Foreign Office during a relaxed interview at the Aspen Security Forum in the US.Mr Cleverly made it clear that he wants to “stay put” in the job, as he joked that he was speaking directly to the prime minister from across the Atlantic. More