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Peers resume second reading debate on assisted dying bill

Peers have just their debate on the second reading of the assisted dying bill. There are 75 of them down to speak (the speaking list is here), and there is a live feed here.

The bill has passed the Commons and, while peers take the view that they are entitled to amend Commons legislation, they generally operate on the basis that it is not their job to block passed by elected MPs.

But this is a private member’s bill, not a government bill enacting a manifesto commitment, and some peers think they they have a lot of latitude in terms of how far they can “amend” the legislation that emerged from the Commons.

The Hansard Society has produced an excellent briefing on the current state of play, and what we can expect from the debate today.

I won’t be covering the debate in detail, but I will cover any highlights, and the result of any votes, which should come at about 4pm.

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Share your views on the Corbyn/Sultana ‘Your Party’ split

As Aletha Adu reports, a split has opened between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in the formation of their new leftwing party, with the former Labour leader confirming a referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office over an unauthorised membership portal promoted by his co-leader.

Here is Peter Walker’s analysis.

And here is an extract.

It is something of a political cliche that leftwing politicians are prone to splits, and not entirely without truth, even if this does ignore the Conservatives’ recent fondness for toppling leaders and forming themselves into increasingly atomised “tribes”.

But the seemingly irreconcilable split demonstrates that, much like a political right in which Conservatives MPs are defecting to Reform and some Reform MPs are quitting to go solo, the British left is less a coherent force than a semi-allied collection of micro-groups, often with competing interests.

On top of what might be called traditional Corbynism, with its left-tilted economics and populist tendencies, we now have the more explicitly Gaza-focused independents, an increasing threat to Labour fuelled by public disquiet about Israel’s actions.

We would like to hear from Guardian readers about what they think about all this.

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British and Irish governments to present new Troubles legacy proposals

The British and Irish governments are to announce a new framework to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, in an effort to resolve an issue that has bedevilled politics in the region and relations between London and Dublin, Rory Carroll and Lisa O’Carroll report.

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In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Peter Kyle, the business secretary, was also asked if the government agreed with Donald Trump about involving the military to tackle illegal migration.

Kyle said there was already an option for military involvement (which is true – although not in the way Trump was suggesting). Kyle said:

Well, what he suggested was the military are used, but we have the UK Border Force that is now established and has been reinforced and bolstered and have new powers under this government.

The Navy actually does have a working relationship with the UK Border Force, and the Navy can be called upon if needed.

So we do have the functional relationship that we need between our military and keeping our borders safe and secure but what we really need at the moment is our military focused on all of those really key issues around the world, directly relating to our national defence.

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Good morning. Donald Trump has gone, but his voice and his impact haven’t. Although Keir Starmer got through their joint press conference without mishap, the president’s comments at Chequers about illegal migration are being reported this morning very prominently – in part because they resonate with the big chunk of political opinion in the UK inclined to agree.

Telegraph splash Photograph: Daily TelegraphSun splash Photograph: SunMail splash Photograph: Daily MailExpress splash Photograph: Daily ExpressTimes splash Photograph: The TimesGuardian splash Photograph: The Guardian

For Trump, who he seems to judge success almost entirely by how much media attention he can command, this is a triumph.

Peter Kyle, the business secretary, was on the media round for the government this morning and inevitably he was asked about this. No 10 has a minor slither of good news on small boats this morning – a second person has been returned to France under the “one in, one out” deal.

But interviewers wanted to know what Kyle thought about Trump’s comments. At Chequers the president claimed illegal migration “destroys countries”. Trump said:

I think your situation is very similar. You have people coming in and I told the prime minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use

It destroys countries from within and we’re actually now removing a lot of the people that came into our country.

Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain if he agreed with Trump about this, Kyle replied:

No. What I do believe is that illegal migration is something that is impacting our politics here in the UK. It is something that the British public expect this government to get a grip on.

That is why today, when we have the second flight taking off with a migrant who doesn’t have the right to stay here being returned as part of the new returns agreement with France, this is a pilot. This is something we’re trialling.

You can see that we’re pushing the boundaries of the law, but we are straining at the bit to do it. If we have to change the law, we will change the law, as you’ve seen with this government as well.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Peter Kyle, the business secretary, and Liz Kendall, the science secretary, attend an event in London to discuss the “tech prosperity deal” with the US.

Morning: David Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy PM, visits a prison in London.

10am: Peer start the second day of the second reading debate on the assisted dying bill.

2pm: Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, and Simon Harris, the Irish deputy PM, unveil plans for unveil a new framework to deal with the legacy of the NI Troubles in Belfast.

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.

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