UK Politics

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

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to fire his Downing Street chief of staff by former Labour home secretary David Blunkett.Lord Blunkett said the prime minister should dismiss his top adviser Morgan McSweeney and replace him with someone who can “manage people well”.The intervention by Lord Blunkett comes days after anonymous briefings by unnamed Downing Street sources claimed that health secretary Wes Streeting was plotting to replace the prime minister.Mr Streeting denied the allegation and said it was proof of a “toxic culture” in No 10.Sir Keir apologised to Mr Streeting. He later said he had been assured the briefings “didn’t come from Downing Street”, adding: “I will absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers, cabinet ministers or any other ministers.” Lord Blunkett said: “If I was Keir Starmer I would say to Morgan McSweeney, ‘You have got great skills, you helped enormously with me in building a winning team before the election. Now is the time for me to find you another role that you are good at and I will bring in someone with the overall experience that we need to be the chief of staff’.”He went on: “It is a particular role – it is about knowing about government and having been in a senior position where you have had to not only run the show but manage people well. It is not rocket science but it is a particular skill.”Mr McSweeney has been blamed by some within Labour for the fallout from the attacks on Mr Streeting, which were an apparent ploy to warn off potential leadership contenders.The prime minister has also faced calls to sack Mr McSweeney over the row. But sources who have spoken to Mr McSweeney told the BBC on Thursday he would remain in his post.They said: “He’s done absolutely nothing wrong. He’s not going anywhere.” They added: “I can categorically say he was not involved indirectly or directly.”Speaking to the Newsagents podcast, Lord Blunkett said if the government did not improve its performance it would pave the way for Nigel Farage to take power.He said: “We will be in serious trouble if we don’t get our act together, because the opinion polls are awful and the feeling of bewilderment in the electorate is palpable.”The unrest at the top of the party comes as Labour’s poll ratings have plummeted since Sir Keir delivered a landslide general election victory in July 2024.It precedes Rachel Reeves’s 26 November Budget, in which the party could rip up its manifesto promise not to increase income tax, and what MPs fear could be a bloodbath in elections next May in English councils and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. More

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to intervene in the row between Donald Trump and the BBC after the US President ramped up threats to sue the corporation.Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday night, Mr Trump said he would sue the corporation for “anywhere between 1 billion dollars (£759.8 million) and 5 billion dollars (£3.79 billion), probably sometime next week” after the BBC apologised over the Panorama speech edit. Mr Trump also said that Sir Keir had asked to speak to him, and indicated that they would talk over the weekend. The prime minister has now been urged to “demand” that Mr Trump “drops his ludicrous lawsuit” with the BBC, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey saying Sir Keir has a moment to “stand up for Britain”. He said on Saturday: “This is Keir Starmer’s moment to stand up for Britain, for every TV licence fee payer in the country and for a free press that can hold the powerful to account.“When he speaks to Trump, Keir Starmer must demand that he drops his ludicrous lawsuit and stops interfering in our country. “The prime minister has spent months cosying up to the president. If he can’t stop him attacking one of our most precious institutions and hitting millions of licence fee payers in the pocket, what was it all for?”The BBC apologized, admitting that editing the speech in a documentary by its show Panorama was an ‘error of judgment’ More

Your Party has been hit by fresh chaos after an MP pulled out of the Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana-led project, citing “veiled prejudice” against Muslim men. Adnan Hussain also hit out at the “persistent infighting” in the group.It comes as the party’s founding has been marred by internal division, including rows over financing and leadership. Mr Hussain, the independent MP for Blackburn, said on Friday that he is withdrawing from the “steering process” of the party, and comes barely two weeks before the founding conference in Liverpool. He said he had initially agreed to support the founding of the party because he believed in “building a political home with mass appeal” and “a force capable of challenging the rise of far-right rhetoric”. Adnan Hussain said he had been disillusioned by ‘persistent infighting’ in the party More

Creaky, idiosyncratic, mice in the basement and with “doors that lead nowhere” – Number 10 Downing Street may be one of the most famous addresses in the world, but for many of its staff, conditions in the warren of poky rooms behind the famous door represent the perfect metaphor for the running of the state. While other countries’ executive branches of government are usually run from considerably grander buildings – for example the US’s White House, Germany’s enormous Federal Chancellery or Italy’s Palazzo Chigi – in Britain, the prime minister is expected to live, work and host official state meetings in a rather tired Georgian townhouse. After 300 years of near-continual use by prime ministers, their staff, and an army of civil servants, it is perhaps unsurprising that the “crumbly” building is reportedly held together with gaffa-tape, has fraying curtains, a lack of showers and has toilets which occasionally emit “a stench”.This is according to a report by Politico, which interviewed former staffers at number 10, and sets out a damning rundown of how the building’s age and (lack of) design at 10 Downing Street impacts staff. It raises concerns about efficiency, but also alludes to how the layout and the constrictions inherent in working in the building could even influence policymaking and inter-governmental communication. One particular issue singled out was the building’s poor mobile phone reception, which combined with the noise of soldiers on Horse Guards Parade, has meant people sometimes have to hang out of windows, or move rooms to find a place quiet enough, and with sufficient signal to hold a conversation.‘Keir hates it’ – working at Number 10 that is, – not the recent Christmas party the PM hosted for children More

Ex bank boss hits out at Rachel Reeves over economic growthUK borrowing costs have jumped and the pound has dropped after Rachel Reeves’ sensational U-turn on plans to raise income tax at the Budget.Ms Reeves had been expected to hike income tax in the face of a yawning gap in her spending plans, hinting as recently as Monday that the alternative would be “deep cuts” to public investment.But the Financial Times has reported that she has now abandoned introducing those plans at the 26 November Budget over fears they could anger both voters and backbench Labour MPs. Improved economic forecasting has also been cited as the reason behind the move.The tax rise would break Labour’s election manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance, or VAT.Following the reports on Friday, yields on 30-year gilts jumped by up to 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July. The yield moves counter to the price of bonds, meaning that prices fall when yields rise.The pound also felt an initial shock as the markets opened, but then started to recover.Sarwar urges Reeves to scrap two-child cap in BudgetThe leader of Scottish Labour has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the two-child benefit cap when she announces her Budget this month.Anas Sarwar said on Friday he wanted to ensure the Budget would not see a “return to austerity”, reduced energy bills and tackled child poverty – which he said could be done by ending the cap.Speaking during a visit in Glasgow, the Scottish Labour leader said: “I think three things have to come from that Budget.“It has to be a budget that confronts child poverty, and that’s why I want to see the end of the two-child benefit cap.“It has to improve living standards, that’s why we’ve got to have a package to lower energy bills.“And third, we can’t return to austerity like we had under the Conservatives.“That has to be the fundamentally different approach this Labour Government takes.”Anas Sarwar More