UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKemi Badenoch stumbled over how her plans to overhaul equality laws would work if the Conservatives win the general election.The women and equalities minister has promised to redefine the legal definition of the term “sex” to mean biological sex and not “redefined meanings of the word”. She has said the shakeup will improve the safety of women and girls in single-sex spaces.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign. But, grilled over the specifics of how the changes will be implemented, a tetchy Ms Badenoch floundered and accused BBC presenter Mishal Husain of “trying to trivialise what is a very serious issue”.Kemi Badenoch faced questions about what paperwork would be needed to assign prison places to transgender people More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDiane Abbott has deleted a tweet accusing Sir Keir Starmer of lying about how much respect he has for her.The veteran Labour MP, who has been at the centre of a storm over whether she would be allowed to stand for the party at the general election, accused Sir Keir of being dishonest in claiming that he has “more respect for Diane than she probably realises”.In an interview with The Observer, the Labour leader said: “Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she’s been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I’ve actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises…Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign“She was the first Black woman MP and has always had to fight for everything. She’s not like any other candidate.”Sharing the article in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Abbott said: “More lies from Starmer.”Diane Abbott has said she intends to ‘run and win’ as a Labour candidate More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Sir Keir Starmer spoke to pitch Labour as the “party of national security” as he sought to draw attention to defence matters during the general election campaign on Monday, 3 June.The Labour leader is expected to meet with forces veterans and party candidates when he campaigns in north west England.He is expected to reaffirm his pledge of a “nuclear deterrent triple lock” and a proposal to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).Rishi Sunak has said that he wants to meet the 2.5 per cent target by 2030 although the opposition party has not outlines its timeline, only clarifying that they will do so when economic conditions allow. The nuclear deterrent triple lock involves a commitment to construct the four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent, and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarines to patrol the waters, Labour said. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe BBC will host the final head-to-head general election debate between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the corporation has confirmed.The two party leaders will face each other on 26 June in what will be the final televised debate of the campaign.The debate will be hosted by BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth and take place in Nottingham, airing on BBC One and BBC News on 26 June.It comes as Mr Sunak and Sir Keir prepare for their first televised leaders’ debate of the election campaign, which will air on ITV on Tuesday,  4 June.Elsewhere on the BBC, Mishal Husain will host a 7 June debate between leading figures from the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru, Green Party and Reform UK.Final head-to-head between Sunak and Starmer to be broadcast on BBC One More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDonald Trump has thanked Boris Johnson for defending him in the wake of his hush money conviction.The former president, who last week became the first to be convicted of felony crimes, shared a column by the ex-prime minister calling the trial “a machine-gun mob-style hit-job on Trump”.“Thank you Boris Johnson!” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.In his Daily Mail article, Mr Johnson said a second term in the White House for Mr Trump was “more likely, not less” as a result of the conviction.A New York jury found Mr Trump guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who said the two had sex.Mr Trump insisted he was a “very innocent man” and claimed without evidence the trial was “rigged”.And, jumping to his defence, Mr Johnson wrote: “The American people have looked at this case, and in spite of all the portentous claims about its HISTORIC importance, they have concluded that it was, by and large, a load of stunted-up old nonsense.“The vast mass of American voters could see what I believe was really happening: that the liberal elites were just appalled at Trump’s continuing popularity and his ability to connect with voters – and they were using anything they could find to derail his campaign.“If you look dispassionately at his time in office, both on the domestic and international front, it was far more successful than his Left-wing critics allow. They should not be using legal tricks like this to prevent him from receiving the judgement that really matters – the verdict of the people.“By pursuing these cases, they have helped to make his victory more likely, not less.”Mr Johnson’s successor Rishi Sunak refused to comment on the ex-president’s conviction last week when asked by reporters.“You wouldn’t expect me to comment on another country’s domestic politics or judicial processes,” the prime minister said.His rival Sir Keir Starmer said the guilty verdict was an “unprecedented situation” but promised to “work with whoever is elected president”.Mr Trump intends to appeal the convictions.Several of Mr Sunak’s Conservative MPs have backed Mr Trump to return to the White House, including former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.Sir Jacob said Mr Trump is “better disposed” towards the United Kingdom and that he would rather have the Republican candidate than President Biden.Former prime minister Liz Truss claimed the “world was safer” when Mr Trump was in the White House. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSeeing the Online Safety Act as a “job done” would be a “disaster”, a bereaved father has said as he called on the next government to commit to updating legislation to tackle harms affecting children.Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life, said bold measures are needed to reassure parents of “real change” when it comes to internet safety and their children.In 2022, a coroner ruled schoolgirl Molly, from Harrow, north-west London, died from “an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content” in November 2017.The Online Safety Act passed into law in October, and regulator Ofcom is working on codes of practice to help it enforce the rules, although they will not begin to take effect until next year.The legislation requires social media companies to curb the spread of illegal content on their platforms and protect children from seeing potentially harmful material, with large fines among the potential penalties for those who breach the new rules.But Mr Russell said while the Act has laid “really important” foundations, a new government will need to work out how to “keep on top” of developments in the fast-changing world of tech.The Molly Rose Foundation – the suicide prevention charity set up in his daughter’s memory – has published a five-point plan which it said would build on regulation and fast-track “much-needed” change.It would just be a disaster if the next government starts to regard the Online Safety Act as a job done. This isn’t finished, they need to complete the work and need to work out how to keep on top of itIan Russell, Molly Rose Foundation Mr Russell told the PA news agency it would be “wrong to forget about the Online Safety Act, or to think of it as a piece of legislation that only hit the statute books towards the end of 2023 and so it’s done”.He added: “It’s not done because it’s so new, it’s not done because it will need revising, it’s not done because tech moves at such a pace that, even if we were to catch up in terms of legislation and regulation, tech would have moved on and we’d have to adapt it to catch up with tech again.“So this is a constantly evolving thing and it would just be a disaster if the next government starts to regard the Online Safety Act as a job done. This isn’t finished, they need to complete the work and need to work out how to keep on top of it.”He said it must be made clear to tech firms that “the cost of entry to the UK market is children’s safety” as he called for a “fundamental reset of the relationship” between such companies and children.The plan laid out by the foundation includes calling for tech companies to have an overarching duty under the Act, and a requirement that the regulator focuses on measurable harm reduction – with Mr Russell giving an example of annual surveys to track the amount of harm found online and how individual tech platforms’ algorithmic systems promote harmful content.It also calls for tech giants to have a legal duty to report on exposure to online harms in their corporate accounts, a one-off harm reduction windfall tax, a statutory code for app stores and operating systems leading to “high-quality, well-designed age assurance and parental controls on children’s devices”, and investment in education and mental health support.The foundation does not support calls for phone or social media bans, saying these would “risk a slew of unintendedconsequences and may cause more harm than good”.Mr Russell said: “Political parties should commit to bold measures that can reassure parents real change is on the way.“Regulation is evidently the best solution to a complex issue, not bans or restrictions that would punish children for the failure of Big Tech.“Politicians should commit to transform children’s lives with a new Online Safety Act and a set of ambitious measures to take on Big Tech’s harmful business model.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The Tories have pledged to overhaul equality laws to redefine what the term “sex” means in law.The Conservatives say amending the Equality Act to define the characteristic of sex as biological sex and not “redefined meanings of the word”, will improve the safety of women and girls in single-sex spaces.The party claims that the act, passed by Labour in 2010, has not kept pace with evolving interpretations and is not sufficiently clear on when it means sex and when it means gender.It says the proposed change to the law will not remove the existing and continuing protections against discrimination on the basis of gender reassignment provided by the Equality Act.The sex of those with a Gender Recognition Certificate will still align with their acquired gender in law outside the Equality Act.Under the new scheme the Conservatives will also establish in law that gender recognition is a reserved matter, as they say “this will mean that an individual can only have one sex in the eyes of the law in the United Kingdom”.Rishi Sunak, who issued the pledge after his party fell further behind Labour in the latest poll, said: “The safety of women and girls is too important to allow the current confusion around definitions of sex and gender to persist.“The Conservatives believe that making this change in law will enhance protections in a way that respects the privacy and dignity of everyone in society.“We are taking an evidence-led approach to this issue so we can continue to build a secure future for everyone across the whole country.”Last year, the minister for women and equalities Kemi Badenoch wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) seeking further guidance on the issue.Ms Badenoch said public bodies are acting out of “fear of being accused of transphobia”.She said: “Whether it is rapists being housed in women’s prisons, or instances of men playing in women’s sports where they have an unfair advantage, it is clear that public authorities and regulatory bodies are confused about what the law says on sex and gender and when to act – often for fear of being accused of transphobia, or not being inclusive.“That is why we are today pledging that, if we form a government after the election, we will clarify that sex in the law means biological sex and not new, redefined meanings of the word.“The protection of women and girls’ spaces is too important to allow the confusion to continue.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer will pitch Labour as the “party of national security” as he seeks to switch attention to defence matters during the general election campaign.The Labour leader is expected to meet with forces veterans and a group of his party’s candidates when he campaigns in the North West of England on Monday.Sir Keir will reaffirm his commitment to a “nuclear deterrent triple lock” as well as his ambition to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the size of the economy.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made clear he wants to meet the 2.5 per cent target by 2030 although Labour has so far declined to outline its timeline, only noting they would do so when economic conditions allow.Labour says its nuclear deterrent triple lock involves: a commitment to construct the four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness; maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent; and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarines to patrol the waters.For updates on the general election – follow our live blog by clicking hereThe Vanguard-class nuclear deterrent submarine HMS Vengeance is among those to be replaced with bigger Dreadnought-class submarines More