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Starmer and Sunak clash over transgender rights and NHS waiting lists during PMQsSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe father of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey has demanded an apology from Rishi Sunak, saying he was “disgusted” with the prime minister’s comments.Peter Spooner told Sky News Mr Sunak’s remarks during PMQs had been “degrading” and “absolutely dehumanising”. He said: “Identities of people should not be used in that manner, and I personally feel shocked by his comments.”Mr Spooner added that Mr Sunak “should apologise for his remarks”.Earlier Keir Starmer met with Brianna Ghey’s mother in a parliament after Rishi Sunak made a “crass” joke about trans people at PMQs.In an ill-tempered exchange, Mr Sunak accused Labour leader Keir Starmer of U-turning on his definition of a woman, saying it was “a bit rich” to hear about promises from someone who had broken every single promise he was elected on.Mr Sunak listed “pensions, planning, peerages”, among others, before adding that that the Labour leader had u-turned on “defining a woman, although, in fairness, that was only 99 per cent of a U-turn.”Mr Starmer replied: “Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame.”Show latest update 1707350460ICYMI: Not the first time Sunak has attacked Labour on trans issuesThis is not the first time the prime minister has attacked Labour over the issue of gender identity policies, which have been a frequent subject of debate in Westminster in recent years.LGBT+ campaigners have condemned some of the language used by politicians to discuss trans people, with the issue often drawn into the so-called “culture war” by right-wingers.In his Tory conference speech last year, Mr Sunak told Conservative delegates in Manchester: “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be.“They can’t – a man is a man and a woman is a woman.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced criticism Wednesday after seeking to mock the position of the Labour Party’s leader on the definition of a woman, less than two minutes after lawmakers heard that the mother of a murdered transgender teenager was in Parliament.In response to a question from Keir Starmer, Sunak listed a series of issues that he said showed the Labour leader making about-turns, ending with a quip about his stance on “defining a woman, although in fairness, that was only 99% of a U-turn.” His remark was intended to embarrass Starmer, who Sunak’s Conservatives have accused of vacillating on the issue of self-identification, and who have pounced on his comment last year that “99.9% of women haven’t got a penis.”Starmer, who had welcomed the mother of Brianna Ghey, Esther Ghey, was visibly furious in response. He said the comments were inappropriate, and Sunak later acknowledged Ghey. “Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame,” Starmer said. “Parading as a man of integrity when he’s got absolutely no responsibility.”Last Friday, the two 16-year-old convicted murderers of Brianna a year ago were handed life sentences with minimum prison terms of 20 and 22 years.The horrific murder shocked the nation. Brianna, who was 16, was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in broad daylight after being lured to a park in the town of Warrington in northwest England on Feb. 11, 2023.Brianna’s mother has been widely praised for her dignified response, calling for the families of the convicted pair to be shown some empathy and compassion. In an interview Sunday with the BBC, she said she would be open to meeting the mother of Scarlett Jenkinson, one of Brianna’s two killers who according to the judge in the case was the ringleader.Esther Ghey is campaigning for restrictions on what under-16s can access on their cell phones and for the wider use of mindfulness in schools, as a way to help teachers and children to look after their mental health.At the end of Sunak’s weekly — and often rowdy — questioning in Parliament, he acknowledged the presence of Brianna’s mother in the chamber.“If I could just say also to Brianna Ghey’s mother who is here, as I said earlier this week, what happened was an unspeakable and shocking tragedy,” he said. “As I said earlier this week, in the face of that, for her mother to demonstrate the compassion and empathy that she did last weekend, I thought demonstrated the very best of humanity in the face of seeing the very worst of humanity.“She deserves all our admiration and praise for that,” he added.Stonewall, a group that stands for LGBTQ+ rights, urged Sunak to apologize for his “cheap, callous and crass” use of trans people as a “punchline.” The exchange has stoked concerns about the level of debate in the run-up to a general election later this year. With his Conservative Party trailing the main opposition Labour Party heavily in the opinion polls, Sunak has come under pressure from some of his own lawmakers to put so-called “culture war” issues on the agenda, in an attempt to create dividing lines that could begin to dominate the public debate. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightThe chairman of Asda hit out at Brexit “lies” as the deputy prime minister was forced to deny Rishi Sunak was misleading the public. Oliver Dowden claimed Mr Sunak was simply using “robust language” when he suggested Keir Starmer was a terrorist sympathiser earlier this week.Labour reacted with fury at the incendiary claim. Mr Dowden said Mr Sunak was highlighting the fact that when he was a lawyer Sir Keir had represented the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the government has proscribed.“I would say that is the use of robust language. I wouldn’t say that was the prime minister misleading,” he said, as he also denied the government lied.His claims come just weeks after Rishi Sunak was rapped by the official statistics watchdog for repeatedly claiming to have “cleared” the asylum backlog. The UK Statistics Authority told the prime minister his assertion risked eroding trust in the government.Meanwhile, Lord Rose, the boss of the retail giant, attacked what the British people were told about leaving the European Union. Following reports Brexit has cost the UK economy £140billion so far, Lord he told LBC: “The short answer is, we were lied to, we were gullible. We voted for it. And we now have to pay the consequence.”He added: “I don’t want to say I told you so, I was a very minor voice in a very difficult campaign when frankly, we were lied to. Where is the £300 million for the National Health Service? Where is the membership of Turkey to the EU, which was going to flood the EU with immigrants? Now we’ve got an immigration problem, which was caused by different things.” Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (Stefan Rousseau/PA)The prime minister said the “the facts speak for themselves” when asked if Sir Keir Starmer is a terrorist sympathiser. Mr Dowden said he believed in “robust political discourse” but added “what I don’t believe in and have never believed in is lying or misleading people. Because in the end, I think you damage yourself and you do damage politics at large.”Asked “so you don’t think at the moment your party is doing that?”, the deputy PM replied: “No, I don’t, no.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as health minister Victoria Atkins was questioned on NHS funding and the state of dental care in England on Wednesday, 7 February.Under plans to boost services, dentists will be offered cash to take on new patients and given £20,000 “golden hellos” to work in communities with a lack of NHS dental care.It came after Rishi Sunak faced Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions, after sources said Downing Street is planning a general election for October.A source told The Independent that the prime minister is looking at an election in early October, rather than waiting until November as it has previously been reported, as the timing would clash with the US presidential election.Mr Sunak had previously ruled out a vote in the spring, indicating he would like to go to the polls later in 2024.He told broadcasters at a visit to a youth centre in Nottinghamshire earlier this month that his “working assumption” was that the UK would have a general election “in the second half of this year.”The Sun reported that Mr Sunak’s fears over “global insecurity” triggered by Donald Trump potentially winning the US election mean he is “moving away” from a November election. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is planning a general election for the first two weeks of October, The Independent understands. Sources say Downing Street is eyeing an election earlier in the month with the PM unlikely to wait until November, as has been mooted in some quarters, because it would clash with the US presidential election.One source said a November election was a “non-starter” because of the noise a US election would generate likely drowning out any Tory messaging in the final weeks of campaigning. Yesterday, The Sun reported that the prime minister is “moving away” from a November election, in part over fears of “global insecurity” triggered by the controversial Mr Trump winning the US presidential election.The former US president has publicly sowed doubts on the legitimacy of the 2020 US presidential election which saw Joe Biden take the presidency from Mr Trump. He is now being indicted for the mishandling of official information and conspiracy to defraud the US government.However, Mr Trump is currently leading in the race for the Republican nomination and is ahead of Joe Biden, the Democrat’s candidate and incumbent president, in many opinion polls across the US. Donald Trump has been charged with incitement of insurrection against the US government Mr Sunak has to call an election by January 2025, but it is up to him what date he chooses. He recently told reporters that the election would be this year, leading many to predict it would fall in Spring or the Autumn.A polling day of November 14 had been widely tipped, but with the US going to the polls on November 5, multiple Conservative figures have now suggested that has been ruled out.Latest polling shows the prime minister is 20 points behind in the polls – leading many to suggest the prime minister would push the election to the last possible date.Meanwhile Labour officials are preparing to to fight an election as soon as May, and have been ordered to submit their policies for the party’s manifesto by Friday.Labour are preparing for an election as early as May An October general election would disrupt party conference season – a time which has typically been used by parties to bring in cash for campaigns.But the Conservatives are unlikely to be concerned about their finances after having brought in £16.5 million in donations in the last few months.Downing Street have declined to comment on the claims. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMore than £25 million in new funding has been unveiled for British scientists working on computer chips that could power advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and tech to help the UK reach net zero.The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced the new cash injection to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the department’s creation.It will see research centres in Southampton and Bristol given £11 million each to aid scientists in their work on computer chips, including semiconductors, which are a key component in nearly every electrical device in the world, from mobile phones to medical equipment.The increasing global reliance on technology has seen semiconductors become recognised as an area of global strategic significance.Currently, the semiconductor production sector is dominated by Taiwan.This isn’t just about fostering growth and creating high-skilled jobs, it’s about positioning the UK as a hub of global innovation, setting the stage for breakthroughs that have worldwide impactTech and digital economy minister Saqib BhattiDSIT said the new investment will help convert UK-based scientific findings into business realities by supporting promising research and projects, and giving researchers access to state-of-the-art technology for testing prototypes.Minister for tech and the digital economy Saqib Bhatti said: “This investment marks a crucial step in advancing our ambitions for the semiconductor industry, with these centres helping bring new technologies to market in areas like net zero and AI, rooting them right here in the UK.“Just nine months into delivering on the National Semiconductor Strategy, we’re already making rapid progress towards our goals.“This isn’t just about fostering growth and creating high-skilled jobs, it’s about positioning the UK as a hub of global innovation, setting the stage for breakthroughs that have worldwide impact.”Elsewhere, an additional £4.8 million of funding has been pledged for 11 semiconductor skills projects around the country, with the aim of raising awareness of the semiconductor industry and addressing skills gaps in the UK workforce.The latest investment is part of the Government’s £1 billion National Semiconductor Strategy, a 20-year plan to grow the UK’s semiconductor sector. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has compared himself to the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, suggesting they have both turned around brands which have seen better days. The Labour leader said his party “lost its way” under previous leader Jeremy Corbyn but that it has been changed permanently under his leadership. After defeating Liverpool at the weekend, Arteta said his team had turned a corner and were back in the race for the Premier League title. Asked to pick which football manager he is most like, Sir Keir, a lifelong Arsenal fan, was quick to point to the Spaniard.Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “That’s actually an easy one for me at the moment because I feel an affinity with Arteta, the Arsenal manager, because again, if you look at his journey, he was appointed, it was hard to turn that Arsenal team around.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer“To start with, people said he can’t do it, there was talk about whether he should continue, and look what he’s done now.”The Arsenal manager was seen high-fiving fans after Arsenal defeated Liverpool at the weekend. It came as Sir Keir said £28bn is “desperately needed” to achieve clean power by 2030 amid confusion over the party’s commitment to the pledge.The Labour leader insisted he had been “unwavering” when it came to the party’s green energy plans and denied it was “scaling back” policies as this year’s general election looms.But he again insisted he would only spend the money if it was available under his party’s “fiscal rules”.Sir Keir originally announced £28bn a year would be invested in sustainable projects if the party wins power but has since said the figure will instead be a target for the second half of a first parliament.Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after his side’s win over LiverpoolAsked about the pledge in an interview aired on Tuesday, Sir Keir told Times Radio: “We’re going to need investment, that’s where the £28bn comes in. That investment is desperately needed for that mission.“You can only understand the investment argument by understanding that we want to have clean power by 2030 … We need to borrow to invest to do that.“That’s a principle I believe in and I’m absolutely happy to go out and defend. And of course, what we’ve said as we’ve got closer to the operationalisation of this, is it has to be ramped up, the money has to be ramped up, the £28bn et cetera, and everything is subject to our fiscal rules.”It comes after shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves last week promised “iron discipline” in sticking to Labour’s fiscal rules, which include getting debt falling as a percentage of GDP. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLiz Truss’ attempt to restart her political career with the launch of a new right-wing Tory faction was hit by chaos – as some of her closest former allies stayed away.The launch event for Popular Conservatism – also known as the PopCons – was rocked by former Truss chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s announcement that he was quitting parliament at the general election.Close Truss associate Sir Simon Clarke was forced out of the event because of his call for Rishi Sunak to be replaced – with Ms Truss keen to avoid looking too disloyal.There was a further blow when Ranil Jayawardena, another key Truss ally and ex-environment minister in her short-lived government, decided to pull out of the event at the last minute.It came as Nigel Farage – a star guest at the PopCons launch – dismissed the new group by insisting Mr Sunak would completely ignore all their ideas.Ms Truss hit out at Mr Sunak’s government for failing to take on “the left-wing extremists” at her launch event speech, attended by allies like Dame Priti Patel, Lee Anderson, and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.The former PM – who spent only six weeks at No 10 before announcing her resignation in disgrace – said Britons want to see lower immigration and want illegal immigrants deported, but efforts are “constantly being stymied”.Former PM Liz Truss during the launch of Popular ConservatismShe also hit out at the Sunak government for allowing people to choose their gender and for “pandering to the anti-capitalists”, while ordinary people believe “the wokery that is going on is nonsense”.Ms Truss also claimed the ideology of leftists disguising themselves as environmentalists is about “taking power away from families and giving it to the state”.Using the conspiratorial rhetoric of Donald Trump, she said the left “have been on the march” in government institutions and corporations around the world.As well as talking up a shadowy left-wing cabal, Ms Truss also claimed that Britain was “full of secret Conservatives”, saying there were plenty of people who “agree with us but don’t want to admit it because they think it’s not acceptable at their place of work, at their school”.Ms Truss also said she never got invited to dinner parties. “Too many of our colleagues are looking at what jobs they get when they leave parliament, they want to be popular at London dinner parties … I never get invited to these parties.”But Mr Kwarteng – once Ms Truss’s once-closest friend in politics – overshadowed Monday’s launch event by revealing on X that he will be standing down in his Surrey seat of Spelthorne.The chancellor responsible for the mini-Budget debacle has fallen out with his former boss – saying she was “not wired” to ever be PM and would have “blown up” something even if they had survived the economic disaster caused by their unfunded tax cuts.Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg during the launch of Popular Conservatism Ms Truss’ closest ally Mark Littlewood, the leader of Popular Conservatism, insisted that he was not interested in ousting Mr Sunak – claiming “this isn’t about the leadership of the Conservative party.”The right-wing economist – handed a peerage in the Truss resignation honours – also said it was not about seeking to “replicate or replace” any of the many existing right-wing caucuses of Tory MPs.Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg also launched an attack on “unaccountable” officials and courts, as he sought to draw parallels with the anger of British voters and the protests by farmers in France and Germany.In his headline speech, Sir Jacob said: “The age of Davos man is over, of international cabals and quangos telling hundreds of millions of people how to lead their lives.” He also railed against an “activist judiciary” and an “out-of-touch oligarchy”, as he and other right wingers push to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).Fellow right-winger Lee Anderson used his speech to claim that only “odd weirdos” care about achieving net zero in the battle against climate change.Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mhairi Fraser, Lee Anderson and Liz TrussThe Tories’ former deputy chairman – who quit his role because he rebelled on Mr Sunak’s Rwanda bill – claimed net zero “never comes up” the doorstep and urged the PM to ditch green levies.Meanwhile, new right-wing favourite Mhairi Fraser, a prospective Tory candidate, attacked Mr Sunak’s “ludicrous” youth smoking ban and other “nanny state policies”.Mr Farage was largely dismissive of the event – insisting that he was only there to cover it for GB News – as he denied he was interested in joining the Conservative party in future.“I’m not looking to join the Tory party,” said the Reform UK president. “Not at the moment, given what they stand for. And as far as this group’s concerned – I’d rather be part of Reform because that’s the real thing.”Nigel Farage listens to Tory speakers at Popular Conservatism launchMr Farage said none of the PopCons’ ideas will make it into the Tory manifesto, arguing that the party is now “so far away from the centre of gravity of most Conservative voters it is almost untrue”.Other senior Tories at the PopCons launch were staunch Boris Johnson allies and leading Sunak critics like Andrea Jenkyns and Lord David Frost – the peer thought to be behind a push to get rid of the current PM.Other right-wingers in attendance were Truss loyalists Sir Jake Berry, and ex-Truss whip Wendy Morton, and the new Tory deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith.Polling published on Monday suggested Ms Truss is the very least popular politician with the British public, despite her claim to be in touch with “popular” ideas. Her net favourability score is minus 54 per cent, compared with Mr Sunak’s minus 27 per cent, a survey by Savanta found.The mini-Budget debacle masterminded by Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng saw a collapse in the pound and a spike in interest rates as markets betted against Britain. The staggering episode cost the country £30bn, according to the Resolution Foundation, and saw poor Tory poll ratings plummet further. More