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Suspended Labour MP Brian Leishman was defiant in his promise that he could not guarantee he would rebel againThe MP for Alloa and Grangemouth was suspended alongside Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchcliff and Rachael Maskell on Wednesday (16 July).They led a backbench rebellion over planned welfare cuts.Mr Leishman’s office confirmed he had had the whip “temporarily suspended”.On whether he would rebel again, Mr Leishman told LBC on Wednesday evening: “I can’t give [Sir Keir Starmer] that promise… we don’t know what’s going on down the line.” More

Former MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger is backing calls for digital ID cards to help deter small boat crossings.It was reported last month that Downing Street is exploring a proposal to introduce digital ID cards for every adult in Britain to check an individual’s right to live and work in Britain.“It’s absolutely obvious to me that people should have a digital identity,” he told BBC Newsnight on Thursday (10 July).“Let’s stop shouting at the French; a lot of this is on us,” he added.It comes as Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron agreed a “groundbreaking” one-in, one-out migration deal at the end of a historic three-day state visit by the French president. More

Brexit made it harder to tackle illegal migration across the Channel, Emmanuel Macron said as he and Sir Keir Starmer unveiled a “one in, one out” migrant returns scheme on Thursday (10 July).The French president told a joint press conference with the British prime minister: “It’s in fact since Brexit [that] the UK has no migratory agreement with the EU.”It creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit had promised.”The pair have agreed on a plan to send back small boats migrants, with an asylum seeker being sent to the UK in exchange. More

Watch as Sir Keir Starmer takes a swipe at Nigel Farage whilst announcing a migrant deal with France.Speaking with Emmanuel Macron in a joint address on Thursday (10 July), the British prime minister said dealing with migration requires a “serious, pragmatic response, not the performative politics of the easy answers”.He said that it is that himself and Mr Macron who have been “working hard to get a returns agreement” whilst “others have simply been taking pictures”.The prime minister appeared to reference the Reform UK leader, who earlier on Thursday went to Dover with GB News where he witnessed a migrant boat crossing the English Channel.The British and French leaders have agreed to a pilot “one in, one out” plan to send back small boats migrants, with an asylum seeker being sent to the UK in exchange. More

French president Emmanuel Macron took a swipe at Brexit during his state banquet address at London’s Guildhall on Wednesday (9 July).Macron said: “I’m very respectful of the voice of the people and the choice your country made nine years ago. But I have to say, the European Union was stronger with you, and you were stronger with the European Union.”The French president and Sir Keir Starmer will round off the three-day state visit with a press conference in London on Thursday (10 July) at which they are expected to announce new plans to tackle small boat crossings. More

Nigel Farage was drowned out by hecklers as he criticised Emmanuel Macron during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 9 July.As the Reform UK leader stood up, jeers rang out across the House of Commons.He went on to say that the reason the UK voted for Brexit was because “we wanted to take back control of our borders”.Mr Farage told Sir Keir Starmer that the country demands “that you are not dictated to by an increasingly arrogant, anti-Brexit French president.”The prime minister responded by insisting that Labour are “fixing the mess that we inherited.” More

Labour’s Transport Secretary Hedi Alexander has refused to rule out a wealth tax when pressed on whether it is being considered.“We’ve always been clear as a government that those with the broadest shoulders should carry the greatest burden,” the minister told Sky News on Tuesday morning (8 July).Ms Alexander added that scrapping the non-dom tax status is one example of measures taken to tax the most well-off, along with imposing VAT on private school fees and introducing higher taxes on private jets.“We believe that even if you are born elsewhere, but you live in the UK, you should be paying your fair share of tax,” she said. More

Sir Keir Starmer celebrates his first year as prime minister with the largest parliamentary majority in a quarter of a century — a commanding mandate that has brought both opportunity and scrutiny. His tenure so far has been defined by cautious reform and major international resets.From securing a landmark US-UK trade deal with Donald Trump and a string of policy U-turns that have tested party discipline, here are the 10 most significant moments to reflect on his first year. More