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Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak welcomed the new Labour MP for Tamworth to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 25 October, after the Tory candidate for the seat told food bank users to ‘f*** off’.Andrew Cooper reportedly shared a Facebook post saying that people should only seek help if they give up basics like TV and mobile phone contracts.“Is the prime minister as relieved as I am that [Tamworth] constituents are not burdened with his defeated candidate who told them… to f-off if they’re struggling with the cost of living?” the Labour leader said. More

Sir Keir Starmer urged Rishi Sunak to call a general election as he criticised a Conservative by-election candidate who shared a Facebook post suggesting some parents using food banks to feed their children should “f*** off”.“Will he just call the general election and give the public a chance to respond?” the Labour leader asked during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 25 October.“They’ve heard the government telling them to ‘f-off’ and they want the chance to return the compliment,” Sir Keir added, referencing Andrew Cooper’s social media post from 2020.Mr Cooper, the Tory candidate in Tamworth, lost out to Labour’s Sarah Edwards in last week’s by-election. More

Rishi Sunak was scolded by the House of Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, for asking questions of Sir Keir Starmer during PMQs on Wednesday 25 October.After Mr Sunak asked Sir Keir to explain why he “stood in the way” of Tory plans to “unlock 100,000 new homes”, the speaker halted proceedings.“Just to say, it’s Prime Minister’s Questions, not opposition questions,” Mr Hoyle said.After Mr Sunak appeared to sarcastically nod after the reminder, the speaker then added: “I’m sorry, prime minister. It is Prime Minister’s Questions, I don’t need you nodding against my decision.” More

Sir Keir Starmer welcomed parliament’s newest MPs to a Labour Party crowd at Westminster Hall on Tuesday 23 October, after the party inflicted a double by-election defeat on Rishi Sunak last week.The prime minister saw two healthy Conservative majorities disappear in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire in results that Labour leader Sir Keir said “made history”.Sarah Edwards (Tamworth) and Alistair Strathern (Mid Bedfordshire) were cheered by their new colleagues during the celebratory gathering.Both contests were triggered by the high-profile departures of their previous MPs. More

Kate Garraway clashed with Mark Harper over the reallocation of HS2 funding after the northern leg of the scheme from Birmingham to Manchester was scrapped.The government has said that £150m of redirected HS2 funding will be used to improve bus services across the North and Midlands next year.“25 million more bus miles this will lead to apparently, 175 million lost in the last five years… so actually you’re 150 million miles down… what are the correct numbers?” the host said.Rishi Sunak, who announced the northern leg had been scrapped weeks after The Independent revealed he held secret talks, has said the reallocation will “[keep] fares down.” More

Rishi Sunak told reporters that sending humanitarian aid to Gaza is his “immediate priority” as he prepared to leave Cairo following meetings with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders on Friday, 20 October.The prime minister held talks with president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.Downing Street said Mr Sunak expressed his “deep condolences” for the loss of civilian lives in Gaza, including in the blast at the Al Ahli hospital earlier this week. Speaking to Sky News, Mr Sunak said: “We all share a vision of a future where Palestinian people can live with dignity, freedom, and security.” More

Labour’s double by-election victory is the “second coming of Blairism,” The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul has said.Huge Tory majorities were overturned in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire, the latter of which was the biggest in British by-election history.“These are the sort of results Tony Blair got as leader of the opposition,” Mr Rentoul told TalkTV on Friday, 20 October.“It suggests that Labour is heading for that kind of swing in a general election… We’re not talking about an absolutely huge Labour majority… but it’s certainly looking pretty good for them.” More