‘Put them up anywhere’ – Cooper backs flying of England flags
In an interview with Times Radio this morning Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said that she was in favour of flags going up “everywhere”.
Under the label Operation Raise the Colours, people have been putting up England flags all over the country this summer. While some of those involved are probably just motivated by benign patriotism, others seem to be influenced by far-right hostility to asylum seekers, as John Harris explained in a recent column.
If any Labour ministers are inclined to agree with John’s column (headlined “Flags as symbols of prejudice, not pride – and a distinct air of menace. Welcome to England 2025”), they are not saying so in public. Yesterday, Keir Starmer strongly endorsed flying the flag. And, in an interview this morning, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, went further. She told Times Radio:
I’m going to confess I have not just the St George’s flag, I have St George’s bunting. I have also union jack bunting which is currently still hanging up in my garden shed. I have union jack flags. We have Yorkshire rose flags and bunting as well. I actually even have some Yorkshire Tea bunting but that’s probably going a bit far for your question as well.
So I do I think flags are really important. It’s what brings us together. I do think that people should be coming together around our flags and using the flags to come together and not being used for division.
Asked if people should be putting up flags on motorway gantries, Cooper replied:
Oh, put them up anywhere. I would put them up anywhere.
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Updated at 15.14 CEST
Key events
1m ago
Badenoch calls for ban on oil companies getting export credit agency help, imposed by Tory government, should be lifted
36m ago
Farage complains about not being invited to state banquet held to honour Trump
52m ago
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips tells MPs 1,273 grooming gang cases that were closed now being reviewed
2h ago
Corbyn says he looks forward to working with Polanski ‘to create fairer, kinder world’
2h ago
Asylum seekers could be housed in ‘modular buildings on industrial sites’ when hotels close, No 10 says
2h ago
No 10 says Starmer wants to go ‘further and faster’ in tackling illegal migration
3h ago
‘Put them up anywhere’ – Cooper backs flying of England flags
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Polanski’s election as leader shows ‘hard-left activists’ have taken over Green party, say Tories
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Labour condemns Polanski for not being committed to UK remaining in Nato
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Polanski says it’s ‘no-brainer that we need to be nationalising public industries’
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Polanski says Starmer’s politics ‘despicable’, and says he can’t imagine Greens working with him in hung parliament
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Polanski praises Jeremy Corbyn, saying he’s doing ‘strong, principled work’ with his Gaza inquiry
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Polanski says he would like Greens to win at least 30 seats at next election
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Polanski says policies he supports deemed radical and leftwing are popular with voters
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Polanski’s Q&A with journalists
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Polanski praises migrants as ‘very much backbone of this country’, saying Greens must defend marginalised groups
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New Green party leader Zack Polanski tells Labour ‘we’re here to replace you’, not just ‘be disappointed by you’
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Zack Polanski wins Green party leadership contest by landslide
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Cooper suggests asylum seekers being moved out of hotels could be housed in warehouses instead
7h ago
Cooper plays down risk of French government’s confidence vote scuppering returns deal with UK
7h ago
Home Office to warn foreign students off making asylum claims when courses end to extend stay in UK
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Cooper rejects claims Reeves has been sidelined on economic policy by No 10 mini-reshuffle
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Badenoch calls for ban on oil companies getting export credit agency help, imposed by Tory government, should be lifted
The Conservatives have now released the full text of the speech that Kemi Badenoch gave in Aberdeen this morning.
As reported at the weekend, the Tory leader said that her party was now committed to “maximising extraction” of oil and gas from the North Sea. This marks a big difference from the government, which has ruled out issuing new oil and gas licences.
But Badenoch went further. She also said that the Tories would lift the rule saying companies in the fossil fuel sector cannot get access to export credit through the UK Export Finance agency. This is a rule introduced by the last Conservative government in 2021, when Badenoch was a minister.
In her speech Badenoch said:
It is time to overturn the absurd, anti-prosperity, anti-business, anti-oil and gas, anti-British ban on supporting UK companies who export their world leading technologies overseas. A ban that has done nothing but see business destined for British businesses go to companies from overseas.
Kemi Badenoch speaking at the Society of Petroleum Engineers Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen this morning. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesShare
Farage complains about not being invited to state banquet held to honour Trump
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has complained about not being invited to attend the state banquet planned for Donald Trump when he makes his state visit to the UK later this month.
Farage expressed his anger about the snub in an interview with the Daily Express where he also claimed he could turf Keir Starmer out of office.
Referring to the state banquet, he said:
They wouldn’t invite me. Hey, we’re only 15 points ahead of the polls.
I’ve only known him personally as a friend for over a decade, but that shows you the attitude of this Labour government.
They’re insulting. They talk down to me. They don’t invite me to that.
I wrote to [Starmer] about members of the House of Lords. I haven’t even had a reply. And I’d remind Keir Starmer, I got rid of David Cameron, I got rid of Mrs May, if you go on being rude to me I’ll get rid of you.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who are well behind Reform in the polls but who have almost 20 times more MPs (72, compared to Farage’s 4), has been invited to the state banquet. But Davey has said he won’t attend as a protest against Trump’s support for Israel and its war in Gaza.
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Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips tells MPs 1,273 grooming gang cases that were closed now being reviewed
Hannah Al-Othman
Hannah Al-Othman is a Guardian North of England correspondent.
The safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, has told MPs a new statutory national inquiry into group based child sexual exploitation and abuse “will place victims and survivors firmly at its heart”.
In June, the Home Office said the government would adopt all 12 recommendations made by Louise Casey after her audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse.
In a statement to the Commons today, Phillips said a new operation, Operation Beaconport, led by the National Crime Agency would “for the very first time” bring together “all of the relevant policing partners under one operation to ensure a swift and specialist law enforcement response to grooming gang offending”.
Detectives are using AI-assisted technology to help bring perpetrators to justice, Phillips told MPs, including tools that facilitate bulk translation of foreign-language text from seized mobile devices.
She also said data collection around ethnicity and nationality by police forces is “unacceptable and that this data must be improved”, adding that the government was “also looking at legislative options to drive forward these improvements”.
In January, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, asked police forces to identify cases involving grooming and child exploitation that had been closed with no further action to pursue lines of inquiry and to reopen investigations where appropriate. Phillips told MPs 1,273 cases have now been identified for formal review, with 216 deemed highest-priority cases, which are those that involve an allegation of rape.
She also said that in the government’s first year in office, 827 arrests had been made nationwide, which marked an 11% increase on the previous year.
She said:
The government remains unwavering in its commitment to ensure that this inquiry is robust, transparent and capable of delivering truth, accountability and meaningful change.
We are determined to ensure that every survivor of grooming gangs gets the support and justice they deserve, that every perpetrator is put behind bars, and every case historical current has been properly investigated, and that every person or institution who looked the other way is held accountable.
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Updated at 16.59 CEST
Raphael Boyd
Raphael Boyd is a Guardian reporter.
Police have launched an inquiry into possible electoral malpractice amid claims that a Reform UK councillor had handed out ice-cream to would-be voters from a van located outside a polling station in May.
The act of ‘treating’, which is defined as providing ‘any food, drink, entertainment or provision to corruptly influence any voter to vote or refrain from voting’, is an offence during active election cycles.
Joseph Boam, 22, was one of 25 Reform UK candidates elected to Leicester county council in May. The van reportedly belongs to Boam’s family, who have had it since an ancestor set up an ice-cream company.
Deborah Taylor, the leader of Leicestershire Conservatives, claimed the episode “brings the county council into serious disrepute” and urged Reform to suspend Boam.
Reform UK were previously accused of serving up a “plate of chaos” in late August by Conservative members of Leicestershire council when Boam was abruptly removed from his role as deputy council leader, just three months after his appointment.
Boam has been approached for comment and is reported to deny any wrongdoing, having yet to be contacted by the police.
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Updated at 16.12 CEST
Severin Carrell
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Alison Johnstone, the Scottish parliament’s presiding officer, has told MSPs she is “absolutely appalled” about allegations that a former Labour MSP, Colin Smyth, hid a covert camera in a toilet at Holyrood.
Smyth, the then Labour list MSP for South Scotland, was arrested in early August for allegedly possessing indecent images of children. After that came to light on 20 August, it then emerged he also allegedly held images recorded from a toilet used by MSPs close to the parliamentary chamber.
He was suspended by Scottish Labour and in effect banned from Holyrood after his parliamentary pass was deactivated by officials.
In a statement to MSPs on Tuesday, Johnstone said:
We all feel shock and hurt at the recent allegations relating to an elected member, and reports of an invasion, a shocking invasion, of privacy. The safety and welfare of everyone who works in this building is our priority. These circumstances are unprecedented for this parliament, and it has been and continues to be a highly complex situation to navigate, but it is an ongoing live criminal investigation.
She said Holyrood had not been notified of the exact charges against Smyth, but officials were reviewing physical and digital security.
Police Scotland swept the facilities in the building and no devices were found. Enhanced security checks of the building will also continue as we seek to provide further reassurance to you and to each and every person who works or visits the Scottish parliament.
After the alleged covert camera allegations surfaced, Smyth said:
This allegation came as an utter shock and one I strongly refute.
For legal reasons, I can’t respond to specific matters or speculation, and I appreciate there is a process to go through which I am, of course, fully cooperating with. But I sincerely hope it can be concluded quickly and fairly.
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Updated at 16.00 CEST
Corbyn says he looks forward to working with Polanski ‘to create fairer, kinder world’
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who is now forming a new, leftwing party with Zara Sultana, has congratulated Zack Polanski on his election as Green party leader. In a post on social media he said:
Congratulations to @ZackPolanski on your stunning victory.
Your campaign took on the rich and powerful, stood up for the dignity of all marginalised communities, and gave people hope!
Real change is coming. I look forward to working with you to create a fairer, kinder world.
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A reader asks:
@Andrew are we getting a snap analysis of Polanski’s speech and Q&A?
Not from me, but that is because Peter Walker has filed one already. This went up as soon as the result was announced. It was written before the result was announced, and before Zack Polanski delivered his victory speech, but I don’t think there is much that Peter would want to change.
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Asylum seekers could be housed in ‘modular buildings on industrial sites’ when hotels close, No 10 says
In an interview this morning, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, sounded not quite 100% certain that the first small boat asylum seekers would be sent back under the returns deal with France before the end of this month. (See 10am.)
The interview was raised at the Downing Street lobby briefing where the PM’s spokesperson was asked if returns would definitely go ahead this month. He replied:
We fully expect that to happen. That is obviously the basis on which we’re working with the French. As [Cooper] said this morning, these are new arrangements. They’ve not been done before. These are groundbreaking arrangements.
When you recall when the previous government struck a deal with Rwanda that never got the scheme up and running over the course of two years, we signed this deal, it came into force on August 6, we’ve detained individuals already, and the first returns from the pilot will take place later in the month.
Asked about Cooper’s suggestion that asylum seekers could be housed in warehouses when asylum hotels are closed (see 10.26am), the spokesperson said the government was looking at housing migrants “using modular [ie, pre-fabricated] buildings, on industrial sites, ex-military sites”.
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No 10 says Starmer wants to go ‘further and faster’ in tackling illegal migration
Keir Starmer will hold a ministerial meeting on Tuesday afternoon aimed at going “further and faster” to get a grip of illegal migration, Downing Street said.
As PA Media reports, the PM’s spokesperson said Starmer stressed migration is “a central issue” to his government at cabinet this morning.
Starmer told senior ministers there was a need to “go further and faster” on tackling migration, the spokesperson added, as he gave a readout of the cabinet meeting.
The spokesperson said:
[Starmer] said it was easy to understand the frustration people feel at the level of illegal crossings and the site of asylum hotels in their communities.
He will be chairing a ministerial meeting later today to consider how we can go further and faster to combat illegal crossings.
This includes continuing to work with the French authorities, cracking down on pull factors and illegal working, including exploring options around digital ID, accelerating the closure of hotels and looking at better forms of accommodation, and driving further progress returning people with no right to be here.
ShareAngela Rayner arriving at Downing Street ahead of the cabinet meeting this morning. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PAShare
Updated at 15.17 CEST
‘Put them up anywhere’ – Cooper backs flying of England flags
In an interview with Times Radio this morning Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said that she was in favour of flags going up “everywhere”.
Under the label Operation Raise the Colours, people have been putting up England flags all over the country this summer. While some of those involved are probably just motivated by benign patriotism, others seem to be influenced by far-right hostility to asylum seekers, as John Harris explained in a recent column.
If any Labour ministers are inclined to agree with John’s column (headlined “Flags as symbols of prejudice, not pride – and a distinct air of menace. Welcome to England 2025”), they are not saying so in public. Yesterday, Keir Starmer strongly endorsed flying the flag. And, in an interview this morning, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, went further. She told Times Radio:
I’m going to confess I have not just the St George’s flag, I have St George’s bunting. I have also union jack bunting which is currently still hanging up in my garden shed. I have union jack flags. We have Yorkshire rose flags and bunting as well. I actually even have some Yorkshire Tea bunting but that’s probably going a bit far for your question as well.
So I do I think flags are really important. It’s what brings us together. I do think that people should be coming together around our flags and using the flags to come together and not being used for division.
Asked if people should be putting up flags on motorway gantries, Cooper replied:
Oh, put them up anywhere. I would put them up anywhere.
Share
Updated at 15.14 CEST
We Deserve Better, the group (backed by Guardian columnist Owen Jones among others) calling for independents, the Greens and the new leftwing party being set up by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana to unite against Labour, has welcomed Zack Polanski’s election as Green leader.
In a statement its chair, Hilary Schan, said:
Through his powerful campaign, Zack has already inspired hundreds of thousands up and down the country. His bold vision of fighting inequality and his principled defence of migrant and minority rights against the rising far-right tide show the way forward. Only by working together can we build an economy working for people and planet, not profit.
We are heartened by Zack’s support for unity on the left and his embrace of all those willing to fight Reform, and offer a clear alternative to this rotten Labour government. We look forward to working with Zack and the newly-elected Green executive to build this strong and united left, and turn the tide of British politics.
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Updated at 15.02 CEST
Kemi Badenoch in the port of Aberdeen today, where she was giving a speech on Tory plans for oil and gas extraction from the North Sea to continue. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The GuardianShare
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