Jarvis says Tories should stop ‘throwing mud’ over China spy case and accept their mistakes contributed to case collapsing
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claims the government has changed its story on this.
He says the PM told MPs last week minnisters and special advisers were not involved in handling the prosecution. But yesterday the Sunday Times claimed that, when the home secretary heard the case might be dropped, she made representations to ensure the evidence was as strong as possible.
He asks when the home secretary heard the case might collapse.
He says the Sunday Times reported yesterday on a meeting organised by Jonathan Powell, the national security minister, to discuss this in September. He claims the government originally denied this took place. He asks if the meeting discussed the case, and the possibility of further evidence being provided.
He asks if the attorney general spoke to the CPS after that meeting.
Jarvis says the Tory position on this is “confusing”. He says at first they accused the government of intervening with the prosecution. Then, when the government said it did not intervene, they said it should have done, he says.
He says the Tories should show “some humility” and accept the fact that they made mistakes. They should have updated the Official Secrets Act earlier, he says.
I gently say to the opposition front bench, they need to stop throwing mud and start coming to terms with what happened upon their watch.
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Updated at 17.03 CEST
Key events
22m ago
Early evening summary
42m ago
Nandy suggests some independent MPs backing Maccabi fans ban are being antisemitic
1h ago
Zarah Sultana says many Maccabi fans are Israeli soldiers, and should be arrested for genocide if they come to UK
1h ago
Ayoub Khan, independent MP representing Aston, says Maccabi fans should be excluded for their hooliganism
2h ago
Nandy says police risk assessment based ‘in no small part’ on fear Maccabi fans would be attacked because they are Israeli
2h ago
Nandy says government will ensure lack of police resources does not prevent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending match
2h ago
Nandy says it was wrong to exclude Israeli fans as safety option for Maccabi match given ‘context’, and rising antisemitism
2h ago
Relationship with China cannot be summed up in single word, Jarvis says
2h ago
Jarvis sidesteps question about whether the government would back private prosecution of alleged China spies
2h ago
Jarvis rejects claim made by Dominic Cummings about Jonathan Powell writing red box note for PM on China case
3h ago
Jarvis says Tories should stop ‘throwing mud’ over China spy case and accept their mistakes contributed to case collapsing
3h ago
Security minister Dan Jarvis answers urgent question on China spy case
3h ago
No 10 rejects claim match rioting in Israel yesterday justifies Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from Aston Villa match
3h ago
N0 10 rejects suggestions government ‘scared’ of letting MPs debate legislation to remove Prince Andrew’s titles
3h ago
National grooming gangs inquiry must be headed by a judge, say Tories, after oversight panel hit by resignation
4h ago
Starmer will attend Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, No 10 says, following weeks of criticism over reports he would miss it
4h ago
Reform UK reviews if it underpaid VAT on tickets and merchandise
4h ago
Cooper suggests Russia is helping people smuggling gangs because it wants to use illegal migration ‘to destabilise Europe’
5h ago
Ministers to respond to Commons urgent questions on China spy case and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban
6h ago
SNP and Plaid Cymru says they would back legislation to remove Prince Andrew’s titles
6h ago
Neil Kinnock says Starmer has to swiftly show government has ‘direction and purpose’
6h ago
Reform suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce infighting
6h ago
DfE says white working class pupils in particular will benefit from plan to replace compulsory maths/English GCSE resits
7h ago
Phillipson says she wants to stop vocational education being ‘afterthought’ as she announces plan for V-levels in England
7h ago
Grooming gang victim quits inquiry panel over candidates for chair
7h ago
Starmer urged to apologise as MP says Maccabi Tel Aviv rioting justifies their fans being banned from Aston Villa match
8h ago
British troops to get powers to shoot down drones near military bases
9h ago
Minister suggests it should be for king, not government, to decide if he wants MPs to remove Prince Andrew’s dukedom
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Early evening summary
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has defended the government’s decision to intervene to try to get the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending an Aston Villa match in Birmingham next month overturned. Answering an urgent question in the Commons, she said that the decision raised a wider issue of principle, and that people should not be excluded from a match just because they are Israeli and Jewish. She accepted that there were concerns about the behaviour of some Maccabi fans. But she said the police decision to exclude fans was taken “in no small part” because the police feared they might be attacked in Birmingham just because they were from Israel. She said the government was offering extra resources to the police in the hope they would find a way of ensuring the fans can safely attend. (See 4.46pm and 5.03pm.)
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson leaving cabinet today.
Photograph: Aaron Chown/PAShare
The Labour deputy leadership contest concludes this week, and the winner will be announced on Saturday. Here is Jessica Elgot’s account of how it has unfolded.
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During the urgent question on Maccabi Tel Aviv, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said rejected claims that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had a record of hooliganism. He said that they had played a match in Turkey, where there is a lot of anti-Israel sentiment, and that this would not have been allowed to go ahead if they were disruptive. This was a claim made in an interview on Friday by Jack Angelides, the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
After the UQ was over Labour’s Ian Byrne used a point of order to point out that this was wrong. In fact, the Maccabi Tel Aviv match against Turkey’s Besiktas was moved to Hungary, and played behind closed doors, because of the security risk.
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Nandy suggests some independent MPs backing Maccabi fans ban are being antisemitic
Iqbal Mohamed, another indepedent MP, said he and others had received abuse on social media for supporting the Maccabi Tel Aviv ban. He said Keir Starmer presented the ban as antisemitism. But he and others taking this view were not antisemitic. And he asked if the Israeli police who cancelled a matching involving Maccabi were antisemitic.
Nandy said the police in Israel took an operational decision. But Mohamed “revealed himself” in his decision to talk about hooligans being banned. This was not just about hooligans being banned; it was about all fans being banned. And they were banned not just because of the risk they posed; they were being banned “in no small part” because of the risk posed to them, because they were from Israel and Jewish.
Nandy went on:
I would just gently say to him that if he is conflating everybody who supports an Israeli team, the vast majority of whom, by definition, will be Jewish, with being violent football hooligans, then he should consider whether he can really stand in front of this house and say that he is not behaving in a way that is antisemitic.
Earlier Nandy explicitly accused Zarah Sultana, who, like Mohamed, is one of the Independent Alliance group of MPs, of being antisemitic. (See 5.40pm.)
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Zarah Sultana says many Maccabi fans are Israeli soldiers, and should be arrested for genocide if they come to UK
Zarah Sultana, who was elected as a Labour MP but who is now setting up a new leftwing party with Jeremy Corbyn, said:
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s racist fan hooliganism cannot be separated from Israeli militarism.
Many of these fans are active or former solidiers who have part in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
They should be investigated for war crimes the moment they set foot onto British soil, not welcomed into our stadiume.
And let’s be clear, this Labour government is no innocent bystander. It has armed Israel’s genocide, it has provided diplomatic cover, and it shamefully denied that genocide is even taking place.
Nandy said Sultana was doing the people of Birmingham no favours with that kind of rhetoric.
When it when it comes to the conflation that she makes between all of the Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters and the actions of the Israeli government, that is precisely … blaming, in many cases, British citizens who happen to support Maccabi Tel Aviv for actions that are taking place in the Middle East.
Conflating being Jewish and Israeli, I have to say, I’m afraid is itself antisemitism.
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Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who is now an independent MP, asks Nandy to confirm that the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned because of their record of hooliganism, not just in Amsterdam last year but on many occasions. He says people should be free to walk the streets safely.
Nandy says she agrees with that. But she claims some of Corbyn’s new colleagues do not support that principle.
(She is referring to the fact that Corbyn now sits with four independent MPs elected at the election because of their pro-Gaza stance, and she is implying that some of these campaigners support protests that are intimidating to Jewish people.)
She says the police did consider what happened at other Maccabi matches, including the one in Amsterdam last year, where “a small element caused the most appalling disorder”.
But she says the police also included that there were “very real risks” of fans being attacked because they were Jewish.
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Ayoub Khan, independent MP representing Aston, says Maccabi fans should be excluded for their hooliganism
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, the constituency where the Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League match is due to take place says he knows the situation on the ground and he thinks there has been a “deliberate, disingenuous move by many … to conflate matters of policing with those of religion”.
He says there have been Jewish community leaders agreeing that the Maccabi fans should be banned.
He says the Maccabi fans have long history of “violence and violent racism”. They have chanted slogans like “f… all the Arabs”, ‘“we will rape their daughters”, “there are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left in Gaza”.
He says it is hooligans who are not welcome.
Nandy condemns the chants quoted by Khan.
But she claims it is “entirely disingenuous to say that you respect cohesion and inclusion when you’re seeking to devide and exclude”.
(Khan wants all Israeli teams banned from international football. See 11.10am.)
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Nandy says police risk assessment based ‘in no small part’ on fear Maccabi fans would be attacked because they are Israeli
Paula Barker (Lab) says safety concerns were raised before the match that led to the Hillsborough disaster, but they were ignoreed. She says thinks it is unprecedented for safety advice like this to be overturned. She asks if Nandy has seen it. And, if she disagrees with it, on what grounds does she disagree.
Nandy acknowledges that Barker represents a constituency where families of Hillsborough victims are living.
She says they should never treat safety as a secondary consideration.
And says says it is “absolutely” not the case that the government is trying to overturn the decision.
She says this would be the first time since the early 2000s that that all away fans would be banned from attending a match. She says she has discussed the risk assessment with the police. She goes on:
That the risk assessment is based in no small part on the risk posed to those fans that are attending who support Maccabi Tel Aviv because they are Israeli and because they are Jewish. Now we should be appalled by that and never allow it to stand.
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Updated at 18.03 CEST
Nigel Huddleston, the Conservative culture spokesperson, and Anna Sabine, the Lib Dem culture spokesperson, both supported Nandy in opposing the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on attending the match and in wanting to ensure the police get the resources they need to allow the ban to be overturned.
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Nandy says government will ensure lack of police resources does not prevent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending match
Nandy said the government was speaking to West Midlands police and to Birmingham city council to discuss what resources they need to police the match safely.
She said it was ultimately for local agencies to take the safety decisions. But the government would ensure resources were not the problem, she said.
This fundamental principle, that nobody in our country will be excluded from participating in public life because of who they are, must be upheld.
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Nandy says it was wrong to exclude Israeli fans as safety option for Maccabi match given ‘context’, and rising antisemitism
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, is responding to an urgent question on the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban.
She says the safety advisory group, which proposed the ban, is operationally independent. They take decisions based on safety, she says.
She goes on:
However, this decision has far wider implications. In any situation, there is a risk that must be assessed, but in this case, prevention is in no small part down to the risk inherent in where the away fans come from and who they are.
It is in that context that the solution that is proposed to exclude a group from attending is wrong. It chooses exclusion, rather than looking at the options available to manage that risk. This is about who we are as a country.
A lot of the public discussion around this game has focused on events in the Middle East. Let me be clear, it is perfectly legitimate to hold and express strong views about what is happening in Israel and Gaza. People are free in this country to protest peacefully.
They are free to lobby government and event organisers about which countries can participate in tournaments, and they are free to choose not to attend events, or purchase products that they find unacceptable.
But they are not entitled to dictate who can participate in competition, attend a football match or walk the streets for fear of threats or reprisals, whatever your view on the events overseas.
This is a fundamental principle this government will fiercely defend.
And let me be clear, this decision was not made in a vacuum. It’s set against the backdrop of rising antisemitism here and across the world, and an attack on a synagogue in Manchester in which two innocent men were killed. It has a real world impact on a community who already feel excluded and afraid.
It is therefore completely legitimate to support the independence of the police to conduct that risk assessment and to question the conclusion that follows when it excludes the people at the heart of that risk.
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Updated at 17.47 CEST
Relationship with China cannot be summed up in single word, Jarvis says
Ben Spencer (Con) points out that Jarvis is refusing to say China poses a national security threat. He asks how China would describe the relationship.
Jarvis says:
No one who’s wanting to be considered as being serious thinks that the nature of our relationship with China can be defined by a single word …
This government says that China poses – and I said this a week ago – a series of threats to UK national security, from cyber attacks, foreign interference and espionage targeting our democratic institutions, the transnational repression of Hong Kongers.
Yet we are also alive to the fact that China does present the UK with opportunities as the world’s second largest economy.
We have to be clear-eyed, both about the challenges but also about the opportunities.
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Llinos Medi (Plaid Cymru) asks about Nathan Gill, the former Reform UK leader in Wales, pleading guilty to accepting bribes to make pro-Russian statements in the European parliament. She asks what is being done to “to ensure that Russian networks cannot continue to influence UK politics”.
Jarvis says the government is taking this “incredibly seriously”, and he says he can give Medi the assurances she wants.
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Graham Stuart (Con) says Jarvis still has not answered the question raised by the Sunday Times story yesterday – when the home secretary first learned the spy trial was about to collapse, and what she did to ensure the CPS had the strongest evidence possible.
Jarvis does not answer directly, but says he has already addressed the points raised by Chris Philp when asked the urgent question.
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Jarvis sidesteps question about whether the government would back private prosecution of alleged China spies
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, says he has had legal advice saying the two alleged spies could be prosecuted via a private prosecution if the attorney general were to approve that process. Would it do that?
Jarvis says the government was disappointed about the case being dropped. He says he cannot speak on behalf of the attorney general, but would be happy to take this up with him.
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Jarvis rejects claim made by Dominic Cummings about Jonathan Powell writing red box note for PM on China case
Graham Leadbitter (SNP) asks if Keir Starmer received a note in his ministerial red box after the September meeting organised by Jonathan Powell, his national security adviser, to discuss China, and the spy prosecution.
His question was inspired by this tweet from Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser.
Simple question for the lobby to ask No10 press office:
Can you confirm J Powell wrote a box note for the PM on the China spy case and will the PM give this note to Parliament so MPs can see whether the PM misled the House?
(I’m told by officials in No10/CO that JP was prepared to let the case collapse in pursuit of his broader goals viz China, there *was* such a box note, and the PM ticked the box note in the normal way, i.e approved it. I.e the official story from No10 is lies & they’ve disgracefully tried to blame a good official, Matt Collins, for *political* decisions)
Jarvis says that normally the government does not comment on the contents of the PM’s ministerial red box.
But he says on this occasion he is happy to confirm there wasn’t a note.
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Jeremy Wright, a former Tory attorney general, says as far as he is concerned, the issue is not whether the government tried to get the CPS to change its mind. He does not think it did. But he wants to know why, when the CPS asked for extra evidence, the govenrment could not give it what it needed.
Jarvis quotes from what was said in the deputy national security adviser’s third witness statement. That set out the government’s position, he said. As for whether that met the evidential hurdle, that was a matter for the CPS, he says.
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Jarvis says Tories should stop ‘throwing mud’ over China spy case and accept their mistakes contributed to case collapsing
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claims the government has changed its story on this.
He says the PM told MPs last week minnisters and special advisers were not involved in handling the prosecution. But yesterday the Sunday Times claimed that, when the home secretary heard the case might be dropped, she made representations to ensure the evidence was as strong as possible.
He asks when the home secretary heard the case might collapse.
He says the Sunday Times reported yesterday on a meeting organised by Jonathan Powell, the national security minister, to discuss this in September. He claims the government originally denied this took place. He asks if the meeting discussed the case, and the possibility of further evidence being provided.
He asks if the attorney general spoke to the CPS after that meeting.
Jarvis says the Tory position on this is “confusing”. He says at first they accused the government of intervening with the prosecution. Then, when the government said it did not intervene, they said it should have done, he says.
He says the Tories should show “some humility” and accept the fact that they made mistakes. They should have updated the Official Secrets Act earlier, he says.
I gently say to the opposition front bench, they need to stop throwing mud and start coming to terms with what happened upon their watch.
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Updated at 17.03 CEST
Security minister Dan Jarvis answers urgent question on China spy case
Dan Jarvis, the security minister, is responding to an urgent question on the China spy case in the Commons.
He say the decision to drop the prosecution was taken by the CPS. He says the PM was only told about that a few days before the decision it was announced, and at that point there was nothing that he or other ministers could do to stop that.
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No 10 rejects claim match rioting in Israel yesterday justifies Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from Aston Villa match
At the No 10 lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson said that the UK’s Football Policing Unit is making inquires as to what happened in Israel yesterday, where a match involving Maccabi Tel Aviv was called off after rioting. (See 11.10am.)
But the government does not accept that the rioting means West Midland police were right to ban Maccabi fan from a match with Aston Villa in Birmingham next month, the spokesperson indicated. He said discussions were still underway with the police to find out what resources they might need for the ban to be reversed, and for the match to go ahead with Maccabi fans attending. The government wanted all fans to be able to attend the match safely, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said West Midlands police were due to come back to the government with an update proposal “shortly”.
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Updated at 16.46 CEST
N0 10 rejects suggestions government ‘scared’ of letting MPs debate legislation to remove Prince Andrew’s titles
At the Downing Street the PM’s spokesperson sidestepped questions about whether the law should be changed to remove Prince Andrew’s dukedom from him.
Asked about this issue, the spokesperson said this was primarily a matter for Buckingham Palace – echoing the line taken by Bridget Phillipson this morning. (See 9.48am.)
The spokesperson claimed the government welcomed debate on this – although he did not propose a parliamentary debate, and he did not explain how MPs would be able to raise this in the Commons given the conventions in place that restrict criticism of members of the royal family in the chamber.
When a reporter put it to the spokesperson that the government seemed to be “scared” of legislating on this issue, the spokesperson replied: “The government isn’t scared of anyone or anything. But clearly this is a matter for the Palace.”
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National grooming gangs inquiry must be headed by a judge, say Tories, after oversight panel hit by resignation
Ministers must appoint a judge to head the grooming gang inquiry, the Conservatives have said.
The Tories said it would have to be a judge-led inquiry after Fiona Goddard, a prominent survivor, resigned from the inquiry’s oversight panel saying she disagreed with the decision to shortlist a former chief constable and a former social worker as potential chairs.
Goddard said this amounted to a conflict of interest because the police and social services were the “very two services that contributed most to the cover-up of the national mass rape and trafficking of children”.
Commenting on this development, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said:
Survivors will never get justice from the same institutions that failed them in the before. This inquiry must be led by a sitting or recently retired senior judge, not ex-police officers or social workers marking their own homework.
The Conservatives are demanding a full, statutory, judge-led inquiry into the rape gangs and the cover-ups that protected them. Every official, police officer, and councillor who enabled these crimes must face prosecution for misconduct in public office. No more delays, no more excuses, no more cover up.
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Starmer will attend Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, No 10 says, following weeks of criticism over reports he would miss it
Keir Starmer will attend the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil next month, Downing Street has said.
Last month it was reported that Starmer had no plans to attend, which led to the PM facing fierce criticism from environmentalists.
At the lobby briefing today the PM’s spokesperson told reporters:
The prime minister will attend the Cop30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, next month because net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century, one that has the potential to reignite our industrial heartlands, create good jobs for the future … That’s why we’re restoring the UK as a global leader on climate action and green growth, and you can expect to see the PM driving forward that agenda at the Cop30 summit next month.
In response to claims that No 10 had implied Starmer would not be going, the spokesperson said they had always said ministerial attendance would be confirmed in due course.
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Updated at 16.31 CEST
Reform UK reviews if it underpaid VAT on tickets and merchandise
Reform UK has launched an investigation into whether it underpaid VAT on thousands of pounds of ticket sales and merchandise, Richard Partington reports.
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Cooper suggests Russia is helping people smuggling gangs because it wants to use illegal migration ‘to destabilise Europe’
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has suggested that Russia is trying to help people smuggling networks because it wants to use illegal migration to destablise Europe.
She gave a statement on this topic to the Times to back up comments it had received from Daniel Mitov, Bulgaria’s interior minister, who told the paper his government had evidence Russia’s foreign intelligence service has links with people smuggling gangs.
Bulgaria is one of the countries invited to attend a summit in London on Wednesday which the UK government has convened to discuss what further measures European countries can take to stop illegal immigration through the western Balkans.
Cooper told the Times:
It is clear that illegal migration into Europe and beyond is being driven not just by organised crime networks seeking to make a profit, but by hostile state actors seeking to destabilise Europe.
That threat is real, growing and very serious, and I have made clear that we need to expand and strengthen our international cooperation to tackle it together.
We will therefore continue to support Bulgaria and our other Nato allies in securing Europe’s external frontiers, and tackling every different type of threat we face from the Putin regime, including providing the specialist equipment, intelligence and training that will help our Bulgarian counterparts to defend their borders and disrupt these criminal operations.
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Ministers to respond to Commons urgent questions on China spy case and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban
There will be two urgent questions in the Commons this afternoon, followed by a statement. Here is the running order.
3.30pm: A Home Office minister will respond to a UQ from Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, about the China spy case.
Around 4.15pm: A culture minister will respond to a UQ from Nigel Huddleston, the shadow culture secretary, about the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the Aston Villa match.
Around 5pm: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, makes a statement about the post-16 education and skills white paper.
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Updated at 14.34 CEST
SNP and Plaid Cymru says they would back legislation to remove Prince Andrew’s titles
The SNP and Plaid Cymru have both said they would back legislation to strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, said:
The family of Virginia Giuffre, whose life was destroyed, are angry and aghast. The public across these isles are angry and aghast and they both deserve to know that some MPs share their outrage.
So I won’t sit silent. If an act of parliament is required to strip the likes of Peter Mandelson and Prince Andrew of their titles then there can be no justification from this Labour government as to why that is not immediately happening.
And Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid leader at Westminster, said:
Public funds, police protection and royal privilege have long buffered Prince Andrew from the consequences of his actions. And we’ve paid for all this.
I will support any efforts to hold royals to the same standards and laws as everyone else – parliament must have the power to remove privileges from abusers of position.
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Neil Kinnock says Starmer has to swiftly show government has ‘direction and purpose’
Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, has said that Keir Starmer needs to swiftly show that the government has “direction and purpose”.
In an interview with the BBC’s Westminster Hour last night, Kinnock said:
The reality is that he [Starmer] has got to act quickly in order to clearly establish a direction and purpose. Now, I know he’s got it. He’s a man of high intelligence and deeply rooted principles. There’s no doubt at all about that.
But, what he’s got to do is, if you like, demonstrate that he is authentically very Labour with a set of principles that are practical in their application, under determination to put them into full effect.
Kinnock said the government was doing plenty of “progressive” things, but was not getting credit for them because of “basic errors”.
There is any amount of evidence over the last 15 months of progressive developments taking place. They are unheard because they’ve been obscured by basic errors that the government has made like the withdrawal of the winter heating allowance.
Now that has got to be attended to by effective management by the prime minister. There’s nobody else to do it. What he’s got to do in the coming months – and I mean months, not over years, is demonstrate that very clearly.
Kinnock also suggested that some of the aides working in Downing Street lacked ‘“basic political skills”. Without naming anyone, he said:
I’ve got reservations about the capability of some of the people who appear to be there. I know some of them to be extremely able and effective, and they’ve demonstrated that historically, but something is not connecting effectively with the Labour party or with basic political skills and I hope it will very rapidly.
This is likely to be seen as a reference to the PM’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.
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Reform suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce infighting
Reform UK has suspended four councillors on its flagship county council after a leaked video showing bitter divisions in their ranks, Ben Quinn reports.
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DfE says white working class pupils in particular will benefit from plan to replace compulsory maths/English GCSE resits
Another proposal in the white paper on post-16 education and skills is for a new system to replace the current one for pupils in England who fail maths or English at GCSE. The Department for Education says this reform will particularly help white working class pupils.
When Michael Gove was education secretary, he ruled that pupils who fail to achieve at least a grade 4 in maths and English at GCSE should have to carry on resitting the exams until they leave school.
But, as Richard Adams reported last week, there is a growing consensus that these compulsory resits are counter-productive.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is announcing a new approach. In its news release, the DfE says:
Young people will also be supported to get the vital pass they need in English and maths GCSEs. A new qualification will be targeted at students with lower attainment as a stepping stone to better prepare them to resit these GCSEs.
This will support white working class pupils in particular. More than six in ten white British pupils eligible for free school meals do not achieve a grade 4 or above in English and maths by the end of Key Stage 4, meaning they are more than twice as likely to need to resit these exams post-16 than their more affluent peers.
The DfE says its data shows that 64% of white British pupils eligible for free school meals (ie, from poor families) do not achieve grade 4 or above in English and maths by the end of key stage 4, compared with 28% of white British pupils not eligible for FSMs.
It also says pupils from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families are also far less likely to achieve a grade 4 or above in these qualifications by the end of key stage 4.
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Updated at 13.08 CEST
Phillipson says she wants to stop vocational education being ‘afterthought’ as she announces plan for V-levels in England
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, was giving interviews this morning to promote the government’s plans to a create a new V-level qualification to simplify and improve vocational education in schools in England. The proposals will be set out in a white paper on post-16 education and skills being published later.
In a new release explaining how the system will work, the Department for Education says:
These are new vocational qualifications tied to rigorous and real-world job standards. They will replace other qualifications to sit alongside T Levels and A levels, providing a clear option for young people who want to get on in the world of work, university or apprenticeships but want to explore different key sectors, which could include engineering, agriculture, digital or creative, before choosing where to specialise. Unlike T-levels, which are equivalent to 3 A-levels, young people will be able to take a mixture of V-levels and A-levels – offering more choice and flexibility.
For example, a student wanting to get into either the creative arts or media industry could choose to do a mixed V-level and A-level study programme, by taking two V-levels (one in Craft and Design; and one in Media, Broadcast and Production) and one A-level in Music. Or, a student wanting to get into either the health or fitness industry – but also wants to learn more about digital – could do three V-levels (in Sport and Exercise Science; Digital; and Health and Care services).
The new qualification will streamline the confusing landscape of approximately 900 equivalent vocational qualifications at level 3 currently available to 16 to 19-year-olds which mean learners and employers are unclear about the purpose and value of some qualifications.
Phillipson said:
Technical and vocational education is the backbone of this country’s economy and central to breaking the link between background and success, helping hundreds of thousands of young people get the skills they need to get good jobs.
But for too long it has been an afterthought. Young people have been left to navigate an overcomplicated landscape and repeatedly labelled as ‘failures’ by a system that has held them back from all-important English and maths grades.
Through our Plan for Change we are turning the tide. Our reforms are building a post-16 education system that truly matches young people’s aspirations and abilities, delivering the opportunity and growth our economy needs.
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Grooming gang victim quits inquiry panel over candidates for chair
Keir Starmer’s national grooming gang inquiry has suffered a blow after a prominent survivor resigned from its overseeing panel saying she disagreed with a shortlist of two possible chairs, Rajeev Syal reports.
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Starmer urged to apologise as MP says Maccabi Tel Aviv rioting justifies their fans being banned from Aston Villa match
The independent MP Ayoub Khan has called for an apology from Keir Starmer for his criticism of West Midlands police at the end of last week after it proposing banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from an Aston Villa match in Birmingham next month. Starmer suggested this amounted to capitulation to antisemitism, and the government is now trying to ensure the police get the resources they need to ensure the Maccabi fans can attend.
Khan was speaking after a match in Tel Aviv was cancelled yesterday after rioting involving Maccabi fans.
Last week West Midlands police said they did not want Maccabi fans attending because of the risk of violence. The police did not say whether they were primarily worried about protecting the fans from protesters opposed to their being there, or whether they were primarily worried about protecting Aston residents from the fans, but all the main party leaders interpreted the move as the police admitting that they could not protect Jewish football supporters and West Midlands police has not contested this.
(In truth, reading the police statement, officers may have been worried about violence breaking out as a result of provocative behaviour on both sides. But we don’t know for sure; they have not given a detailed explanation.)
Khan had been campaigning for the match to be cancelled and last week he welcomed the decision. He was vilified on social media for this, and more or less the only political support he got came from fellow independent MPs and from the Green party. (Unusually, this was an issue where the Westminster consensus was out of step with public opinion, which backed the police decision by 42% to 28%, according to one poll.) Khan had launched a petition to get the match cancelled because he thinks Israel should be banned from international football because of events in Gaza. But he also said the match should not go ahead because of the “track record of violence by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans”.
In a statement released late last night, Khan said:
Shame on you, Keir Starmer. And shame on you, Kemi Badenoch and all the other politicians and news anchors that sought to conflate matters.
Contrary to Keir Starmer’s disgraceful comment labelling our West Midlands police and the safety advisory group as antisemitic, this was never about religion. It was always about hooliganism. And I’m confident that you know this deep down.
We have now yet had another taste of these hooligans, people who show no mercy, not even on their own turf, let alone ours.
The riots [at the derby in] Tel Aviv have left police officers and civilians injured. I will continue to support the chief constable and the decisions he makes, even when everyone else chose to throw him under the bus. It was shameful that not a single politician here in Birmingham, bar me, stood by his decision and that of the safety advisory group.
The disgraceful and libellous and irresponsible comments made by some politicians have put me and my family in danger.
Those that seek to sow division know this. You will never succeed. I will always stand up for what is just and right without fear or favour.
Keir Starmer, you owe an apology to our chief constable. And to all the others, wait for my letter before action.
The final line implies Khan is going to sue some of his critics for libel.
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Updated at 12.11 CEST
British troops to get powers to shoot down drones near military bases
Soldiers are to be given new powers to shoot down unidentified drones believed to be threatening UK military bases in response to a recent spate of incursions and sightings in Europe, Dan Sabbagh reports.
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Minister suggests it should be for king, not government, to decide if he wants MPs to remove Prince Andrew’s dukedom
Good morning. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and candidate for deputy Labour leader, has been doing an interview round this morning. She was meant to be talking about V-levels, a government plan to simplify and improve vocational education in schools in England. It is an important topic, albeit not an exciting one to people who don’t have children who might be affected. Instead, this being Britain, rather than a sensible, modern country, she ended up talking about the royal family.
To recap: on Friday Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Andrew is going to give up using the title Duke of York in response to the revival of the controversy about his friendship with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the claim (which Andrew denies) that Epstein arranged for him to have sex with Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre died by suicide in April, aged 41, but her posthumous memoir is being published tomorrow.
On Friday this was seen as a significant sanction, and further evidence that Andrew is being disowned by the royal family over the Epstein links.
But, over the weekend, the controversy escalated as people increasingly focused on the fact that Andrew has not lost his dukedom, because that can only be removed by an act of parliament, and that all that has happened is that he has agreed not to go round calling himself a duke. That does not sound like much of a punishment at all. After all, there are also 70 million of us in the UK who also don’t go round calling ourselves a duke, or a duchess.
Given that parliament is the only body that can strip Andrew of his dukedom, this has now became a matter for politics. As the Guardian reports, some MPs want parliament to legislate.
That is why Phillipson got bumped from the 8.10 slot on the programme, which instead went to Rachael Maskell. In 2022 she introduced a private member’s removal of titles bill that would allow the king to removal any hereditary title from anyone, either on his own initiative or following a recommendation from parliament. (It is not just dukedoms that can’t be taken away easily; people calling for Michelle Mone to lose her peerage over the PPE scandal also run into the problem that this requires an act of parliament, and no law has been passed removing a peerage since the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 that was used to punish peers who were supporting Germany in the war.) Maskell used the interview to make the case for this legislation.
One problem is that Maskell is not even a Labour MP at the moment. She was suspended in the summer for rebelling on various welfare issue.
(Another objection might be that, if a progressive government does want to legislate on hereditary titles, it should probably be getting rid of all of them, which would stop all sorts of people growing up with the sort of entitlement that led Andrew to think, in Giuffre’s words, “having sex with me was his birthright”. But that is probably a debate for another day.)
In her interview, Phillipson was asked if the government was in favour of the sort of legislation proposed by Maskell that would allow the king to remove Andrew’s dukedom. She said this was not a matter for the government, but that it supported the action taken by the royal family at the end of last week.
When it was put to her that the government does get involved in royal matters sometimes, she replied:
We would be guided by the royal family in this, and I imagine the royal family would want parliament to dedicate our time to our wider legislative programme. But we will be guided by them on it.
Asked again why this was not a matter for the government, she said:
Because the government, by long-standing convention, doesn’t involve itself in matters concerning the royal family. The royal family don’t involve themselves in the business of government, in terms of inserting themselves into the discussion. And it’s right that we respect that going the other way as well.
This sounded very much like Phillipson saying the government’s reluctance to get involved was at the ‘not with a bargepole’ level. But she did not categorically rule out the government allowing legislation on this to go ahead – if the king were to back the idea.
Phillipson also said that “parliamentarians will always have mechanisms within parliament to find ways in which they can air any issue, including this issue”. Some news outlet have taken that as Phillipson saying she would be happy for MPs to have a debate on this. But that might be an over-interpretation. Direct debate on the conduct of members of the royal family is normally banned under Commons rules, unless a substantive motion on the topic is tabled (which almost never happens).
We will get a line from Downing Street at the lobby briefing.
Here is the agenda for the day.
10.30am: Prof Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, gives evidence to the Covid inquiry as part of its module looking at the impact of the pandemic on children and young people. Martin Hewitt from the National Police Chiefs’ Council is giving evidence in the afternoon.
11am: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.
Noon: Tory MP Nick Timothy gives a speech free speech and Islam at Policy Exchange. Words planned
1.30pm: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 3.30pm: MPs debate the remaining stages of the bill approving the deal giving sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
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Updated at 12.14 CEST
