UK

Home secretary dismisses Starmer leadership speculation as ‘Westminster bubble tittle tattle’The home secretary has said she will end the UK’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers as part of a major immigration crackdown which she claims will prevent division in Britain. Shabana Mahmood has outlined a raft of radical measures, including introducing a 20-year wait for those who arrive in Britain by means such as small boats or lorries to qualify for a permanent stay. But her big announcement, which will be finalised in the Commons on Monday, has been overshadowed once again by Labour leadership rumours after a turbulent week for the government involving anonymous briefings about an alleged coup against Sir Keir Starmer. Ms Mahmood described the row, which centred around disputed claims that Wes Streeting is vying to be prime minister, as “deeply mortifying” and referred to it as a “tittle tattle”.It comes after allies of former deputy leader Angela Rayner were forced to deny claims she is eyeing up a leadership bid after she said she had “not gone away” when asked about a return to frontline politics.SNP says the government’s asylum policy is ‘outrageous’ The SNP has called the government’s changes to asylum policy “outrageous”.Instead, the Scottish party said the government should focus on “helping people with rising costs and investing properly in public services,” Sky News reported. Pete Wishart, the SNP’s deputy leader in the Commons, said: “It is outrageous that Labour is considering kicking people out who have been in the country for up to 20 years.”That would mean families torn apart, communities destabilised, and people denied the chance to contribute – and Labour can’t even offer reassurance to Ukrainians who have become part of every community across the country.”Pete Wishart called the government’s changes to asylum policy “outrageous”. (PA) More

Sending BBC licence fee money “over to Mar-a-Lago” would not be a “smart” thing to do, the shadow home secretary has said after Donald Trump threatened to sue the corporation for up to $5bn. Chris Philp said he believed the president is the “wronged party” in his battle with BBC, but that he did not think that using licence fee money to settle the matter would be a good idea. Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One over the weekend that he would sue the corporation for “anywhere between $1bn and $5bn probably sometime next week”.His comments followed an apology from the BBC on Thursday in which it said the Panorama edit of Mr Trump’s Capitol speech on 6 January 2021 had given the “mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”.The broadcaster apologised and said the splicing of the speech was an “error of judgment” but refused to pay financial compensation after the US president’s lawyers threatened to sue for $1bn in damages unless a retraction and apology were published.Donald Trump has indicated that he will speak to Keir Starmer about the potential legal action More

A cross-party group of MPs has warned that the government risks missing both its housing and nature targets under proposed reforms.The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) found measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently before Parliament, are insufficient to meet either goal. The EAC’s report, published on Sunday, argued nature is not a “blocker” to housing but essential for resilient neighbourhoods.The committee also concluded that without addressing skills shortages in ecology, planning, and construction, the government will miss its housebuilding goal.The Bill overrides existing habitat and nature protections, which the government has suggested to be a barrier to its target to build 1.5 million houses by the end of this Parliament as well as wider economic growth.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have previously argued that current nature rules have gone too far, often citing the example of a £100 million bat tunnel for the construction of the HS2 railway route.The government wants to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament More

Asylum seekers could lose their automatic right to housing and financial support under Labour’s radical immigration crackdown.Home secretary Shabana Mahmood will indicate a move away from EU law as she announces plans to scrap the UK’s statutory duty to provide support to asylum seekers – with migrants also facing stricter requirements to receive and retain benefits. It is part of a major overhaul of the immigration system, inspired by the Danish model, and comes as Labour battles to restore public trust in the asylum system to see off the threat of a Reform UK government. But Ms Mahmood may face objections from some Labour backbenchers, with immigration reform seen as a divisive issue within the party. Ahead of a speech by the home secretary laying out the reforms on Monday, the Home Office said that support will “no longer be a given” for asylum seekers, vowing that automatic handouts for those seeking refuge “will end”. The announcement is being billed by the government as the largest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times and a move to “restore order” to the rules. Shabana Mahmood will give a speech laying out the reforms on Monday More

The decision to rip up plans for the Budget has left Keir Starmer even further “weakened” and more likely to face an imminent bid to oust him, Labour MPs have claimed.Ministers and backbenchers reacted with despair to news that plans to hike income tax had been abandoned, claiming that is showed “nobody is in charge” of the government.The Independent has been told that supporters of health secretary Wes Streeting still want him to replace Sir Keir in a coronation to get the Labour government back on track. One MP said the U-turn made a coup more likely while a minister described the PM’s position as “weakened”. It is being claimed that Downing Street overruled the Treasury over the planned income tax rise in a bid to buy Sir Keir time and see off an attempted coup.But the move may have backfired again with one senior minister complaining: “It has just added to the sense of directionlessness.” Another minister said: “It feels like nobody is in charge any more.”Morgan McSweeney More