Closing summary
That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Here is a summary of the day’s news:
Keir Starmer has told MPs that “hanging on to President Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship” after criticism of his stance on the Iran conflict. A day after Donald Trump dismissed Starmer as “not Winston Churchill”, angry that the US was denied use of British bases for initial strikes, the prime minister’s handling of the UK response to the conflict came under attack by Kemi Badenoch, the opposition leader, at prime minister’s questions.
Starmer said it was “obviously an extremely serious situation” and the “whole country is worried about the potential for escalation”. He added: “They’re worried about the impact on their lives, particularly when they see what’s happening with energy, the family and friends of those who are caught in the region will be worried sick and, of course, we’ve got civilians and military personnel at risk in the region.”
Starmer also told MPs: “What I was not prepared to do on Saturday was for the UK to join a war, unless I was satisfied there was a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan.”
Badenoch said it had been left to the US to destroy Iranian bases that were believed to have launched drones at an RAF base in Cyprus, telling the Commons: “Our bases have already been attacked. Iran is trying to kill our servicemen and women. He is catching arrows rather than stopping the archer.”
Badenoch also said “this crisis goes beyond defence spending” and that Labour was “pathetic” to spend on welfare instead of defence. “They’re not just pathetic, they are also weak,” she said. “This war is interrupting the supply of oil and gas. That is driving up the cost of petrol and making it more expensive to heat our homes.”
Britain cannot become embroiled in a war “without a clear end point”, a former senior Nato commander has said, as he defended Keir Starmer after Donald Trump’s jibes that he was “not Winston Churchill”. Trump was “another American president who had launched a war of choice,” said Gen Sir Richard Shirreff, as a minister insisted that the UK prime minister had acted “with a cool head” by not allowing British bases to be used for initial strikes.
Britain has not ruled out participating in future strikes against Iranian ballistic missile launch sites, officials have indicated. US heavy bombers are expected to reach UK bases at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands and Fairford in Gloucestershire in the next few days, from where they are expected to attack Iran’s underground “missile cities”.
One of the three men arrested on suspicion of spying for China is David Taylor, the husband of a Labour MP. Joani Reid, MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, told Sky News in a statement: “I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law. I am not part of my husband’s business activities, and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation, and we should not be treated by media organisations as though we are.”
Andy Burnham has launched a withering attack on UK central government, claiming that Whitehall no longer appeared to want to “share growth” with regions such as the north of England. The mayor of Greater Manchester, regarded as a rival to Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, also attacked what he described as the “bankruptcy” of his party’s campaigning approach, which he said prevented it from connecting with other voters and parties such the Greens.
A new ban on students coming to the UK from four countries where there is war and human rights abuses will drive more people use small boats, campaigners have warned. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced a bar on student visas from Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Cameroon on Tuesday evening. It will come into force on 26 March.
The Middle East crisis could trigger an energy price shock that more than wipes out the £300 rise in living standards a typical working-age household could otherwise expect this year, a leading thinktank has warned. The Resolution Foundation said a “decent” one-off increase in average living standards in 2026 and a bumper rise for lower-income households could be reversed by rising oil and gas prices as the Iran conflict disrupts supplies.
Almost 60% of Welsh voters are unaware of how the new system will work in May’s Senedd elections and there is confusion over devolution powers, a report has found. Polling research released on Wednesday by Cardiff University and YouGov suggested that 26 years since devolution began, many voters remain unsure about which policy decisions sit with Cardiff Bay, and which with Westminster.
A Scottish Labour MSP has denounced a decision to block a landmark bill to criminalise environmental destruction after a Holyrood committee decided there was not enough time to handle it before the May election. Monican Lennon said she was “profoundly disappointed” after Scottish National party and Conservative MSPs on Holyrood’s net zero committee voted to stop her Ecocide (Scotland) bill from going to a vote.
A new ban on students coming to the UK from four countries where there is war and human rights abuses will drive more people use small boats, campaigners have warned.
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced a bar on student visas from Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Cameroon on Tuesday evening. It will come into force on 26 March.
The home secretary said it is an “abuse” for people from these countries to claim asylum “in country” after finishing their studies. Home Office sources say that study routes should not be the mechanism for claiming asylum. But critics say that very few safe and legal alternatives exist.
Sudan is currently being torn apart by war and Afghanistan is accepted to be a repressive regime where women and girls are routinely persecuted and denied their rights and any opponents of the ruling Taliban regime are punished. According to Amnesty International’s most recent country reports, Myanmar has seen a surge in atrocities by the ruling junta in the five years since the military coup took place and arbitrary detentions and crackdowns on human rights in Cameroon have been documented.
According to the Home Office’s own data, the number of people from each of these countries who are granted student visas and go on to make asylum claims are only in the hundreds, in some cases fewer than the number who cross the Channel in small boats on a moderately busy day. Just 13% of total asylum claims last year came from people who had previously come to UK on a study visa.
Kemi Badenoch said the government must “treat China as the threat we all know it is”, after the arrest of three men on suspicion of spying for Beijing.
In a video posted on X, the Tory leader said: “The spouse of a sitting Labour MP has reportedly been arrested for spying alongside the partner of a former Labour MP. These men were arrested under the National Security Act, suspected of assisting a foreign intelligence directly targeting our democracy.
“China is targeting Britain, targeting our MPs. Enough.
“Keir Starmer chose to go to Beijing and boasted about opening a direct channel to president Xi without getting anything in return. That was a mistake.
“His government has approved China’s mega-embassy in London. Worse than that, he’s making us even more reliant on Chinese goods for our energy security.
“The government needs to stop being naive, grow a backbone and treat China as the threat we all know it is.”
Andy Burnham has launched a withering attack on UK central government, claiming that Whitehall no longer appeared to want to “share growth” with regions such as the north of England.
The mayor of Greater Manchester, regarded as a rival to Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, also attacked what he described as the “bankruptcy” of his party’s campaigning approach, which he said prevented it from connecting with other voters and parties such the Greens.
Burnham was speaking in London a week on from Labour’s loss of its once safe seat of Gorton and Denton to the Greens after Starmer and his allies blocked the mayor from standing to be the party’s candidate. Labour’s deputy leader and a Burnham ally, Lucy Powell, has said he would have won.
While repeatedly lambasting “Westminster and Whitehall culture,” Burnham avoided commenting on that controversy.
But he prompted laughter from an audience at the British museum when he said he wanted to turn Manchester into Britain’s “leading green city” before adding “Some might say it took a step that way recently.”
Burnham used a speech organised bv the Centre for Cities think-tank to lay out for the first time in detail his vision of what he described as “Manchesterism” – a way of governing which has become associated with the former MP’s apparent pitch for the Labour leadership but which he identified as “the opposite of Westminsterism.”
However, he also projected a frustration with Whitehall, railing against what he said was “the resistance of the system to free us up more.”
“After 10 years of devolution they are still pushing us away as if they know all the answers and still they hold on and refuse to devolve,” he told the audience.
“I am getting to the point where I refuse to spend more of my time making the case. It just makes you think they don’t actually want growth everywhere. They just want to hold on to things down here. We need Whitehall reform but we also need Westminster reform.”
MSP condemns blocking of Ecocide vote
A Scottish Labour MSP has denounced a decision to block a landmark bill to criminalise environmental destruction after a Holyrood committee decided there was not enough time to handle it before the May election.
Monican Lennon said she was “profoundly disappointed” after Scottish National party and Conservative MSPs on Holyrood’s net zero committee voted to stop her Ecocide (Scotland) bill from going to a vote.
The bill, the first of its kind in the UK, would have made it a criminal offence for people to cause reckless or deliberate damage to the environment, putting it on a similar legal footing to murder. Similar legislation is in force across the EU and in other countries.
The bill won 90 votes from across the parliament and backing from the Scottish government when it was first tabled last year, but the five SNP and Tory MSPs on the net zero committee said two weeks ago they did not have enough time to scrutinise the bill in sufficient detail, and their decision was accepted yesterday by Holyrood’s presiding officer, Alison Johnston, a former Scottish Green MSP.
Holyrood rises on 28 March for the Scottish parliament election on 7 May. The two Scottish Labour and Scottish Green MSPs on the committee voted to push the bill through to a vote.
Lennon said time constraints were not preventing other bills being pushed through at a late stage, and this committee actually had a “light agenda” at its next meeting.
She urged parties to commit to resuscitating the bill after the election:
“Scotland cannot afford more delays. The evidence heard by the committee from legal experts, youth activists, and environmentalists was clear: Scotland needs a new offence to deter the most serious crimes against nature. By effectively shelving this bill now, the committee has ignored the will of the Parliament and the urgency of the nature, climate, and pollution crises.”
Updated
Keir Starmer has told MPs that the protection of UK nationals in the Middle East was the government’s “number one priority”.
Speaking during PMQs, he also said that “hanging on to Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship” after criticism of his stance on the conflict.
Labour MP Joani Reid's husband arrested on suspicion of spying for China
One of the three men arrested on suspicion of spying for China is David Taylor, the husband of a Labour MP.
Joani Reid, MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, told Sky News in a statement:
I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law.
I am not part of my husband’s business activities, and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation, and we should not be treated by media organisations as though we are.
Above all I expect media organisations to respect my children’s privacy.
Andy Burnham has said the Gorton and Denton by-election “revealed the full depth of the chasm between people and Westminster politics”.
The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester suggested during a Centre for Cities think tank event in central London that the by-election, won by the Greens, demonstrated that Westminster was not focused on the priorities of ordinary people.
At the start of the event, Burnham said:
From my point of view, I’m definitely not here to talk about my career plans, other than to say I wrote a book as you might know, with the mayor of the Liverpool City region Steve Rotheram about leaving Westminster and establishing devolution across England.
It’s called ‘Head North’. All I can say today is that the sequel ‘Head South’ is currently on hold.
He added:
What I want to say today is that the time has most definitely come for a serious conversation about our political system and its pervading culture, particularly so in the aftermath of the Gorton and Denton by-election.
It revealed the full depth of the chasm between people and Westminster politics. I don’t think anybody can seriously dispute that statement.
Philip Rycroft, who is leading a review into foreign financial interference in the UK’s political and electoral systems, will have “time and space for him to reflect on any events that have taken place recently”, Dan Jarvis said.
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice asked whether the Rycroft review “can take account” of recent arrests.
Jarvis, the security minister, replied:
The review itself, of course, is being conducted independently by Philip Rycroft.
He will report by the end of this month which means - and of course, it is independent - that is absolutely time and space for him to reflect on any events that have taken place recently.
The Rycroft review “will inform government policy, not least in terms of cracking down on some of the foreign money - all of the foreign money - that should not be” in UK politics, Jarvis added.
Conservative MP Gregory Stafford has called for the release of all correspondence related to China between the Home Office and the Labour MP whose partner has been arrested.
He suggested that the MP “sits on a select committee that would have information which is sensitive, maybe even secret” and will have visited defence sites across the UK.
Stafford, the MP for Farnham and Bordon, asked security minister Dan Jarvis: “Has there been and will there be an urgent review of what sensitive information that Member of Parliament might have been party to?
“And, at the appropriate juncture, would he release any correspondence between his department and that Member of Parliament around things like the Chinese embassy and other matters related to China?”
Call to name MP whose partner has been arrested
Conservative MP Kieran Mullan has said the name of the MP whose partner has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China should be revealed to colleagues so they might be able to help the investigation.
The Bexhill and Battle MP said in a point of order in the Commons:
There are rumours online that the arrests of individuals for spying include the partner of a Labour MP.
“I don’t make any suggestion that that Labour MP has done anything wrong, and it could have been any of us potentially.
“But we all know across this house, we’ve worked with other MPs within parties, across parties, share information, campaign together. We may well have been subjected to activities that we could volunteer to the House authorities and other, but unless we actually get a confirmation as to who that individual is, that isn’t an easy position to be in.
“So can the House give consideration to actually letting us know who this individual is, that we might reflect on whether we can offer any helpful information.”
Updated
Arrested man 'did not have parliamentary pass'
The partner of a Labour MP who was reportedly arrested did not have a pass to access the parliamentary estate, the Speaker said.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, asked whether “the partner of the sitting Labour MP arrested” had such a pass.
As Press Association reports, security minister Dan Jarvis replied: “He will understand I have come here at extremely short notice in order to provide an update to the House.
“I can’t get into the operational details of matters that took place just a few hours ago.”
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “Just to reassure you, the answer is ‘no’.”
Alex Barros-Curtis, Labour MP for Cardiff West, has asked for a meeting with the security minister after the arrest of three men on suspicion of spying for China.
Barros-Curtis told the Commons he understood one of the arrests was in his constituency.
Calls to review Chinese mega-embassy approval after spying arrests
The Liberal Democrats have questioned whether the government will review its decision to allow a Chinese mega-embassy to be built in London after the arrest of three men accused of spying for Beijing.
Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem’s Cabinet Office spokeswoman, said:
“How many times must we all come to this House to hear a report of further rounds of arrests under counter terrorism legislation for this government to take this action?”
Security minister Dan Jarvis responded that he “understands” why she would raise the embassy, insisting there is “a strong national security case for the embassy”.
Tory Sir Edward Leigh, the Father of the House, said the embassy should be paused until China “learn to behave” and called for the Chinese ambassador to be summoned.
Responding to the Tories’ Burghart, Jarvis said charging decisions were for the CPS but said the previous case was being brought under the Official Secrets Act, but he said of the legislation under which today’s charges were brought:
I confident that the National Security Act of 2023 provides the robust legislation we need to address the threats that we undoubtedly face.”
Jarvis also said no “final decisions” had been made about countries being placed in the enhanced section of the foreign interference registration scheme (FIRS).
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: “Here we are again, another year, another Chinese spy scandal, and the backdrop to it is this government’s failed policy of appeasement.”
Burghart asked Jarvis for the government not to let the case collapse, for ministers to summon the Chinese ambassador and whether China would be placed on the “enhanced tier” of the foreign influence registration scheme (FIRS).
He said: “Here we are again, and we will, unless this government finally steps up, be back here time and time again.”
Today’s arrests follow the collapse of a previous alleged spying case which included a former parliamentary researcher and a teacher who denied charges under the Official Secrets Act. The collapse of the trial sparked a prolonged blame game over who was responsible for it not proceeding.
It also comes amid continued concern over the approval for China’s mega-embassy in London.
Jarvis told MPs: “Let me be clear, if there is proven evidence of attempts by China to interfere with UK sovereign affairs, we will impose severe consequences and hold all actors involved to account.”
He said of this morning’s arrests.
The National Security Act provides our intelligence agencies and law enforcement with the modern legal tools they need to deter, detect and disrupt the full range of state threats.
The action counter-terrorism police have been able to take this morning is an example that that legislation is working well.”
Dan Jarvis said: “The government has been consistent and unambiguous in our assessment that China presents a series of threats to the United Kingdom.”
The security minister added: “We remain deeply concerned by an increasing pattern of covert activity from Chinese state-linked actors targeting UK democracy.”
Now PMQs has finished, security minister Dan Jarvis is giving a statement on the arrest of three men – including the partner of a sitting Labour MP – on suspicion of spying for China.
Partner of sitting Labour MP among three arrested on suspicion of spying for China
The partner of a sitting Labour MP is among three men who have been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, the Guardian understands.
The Met Police took the men into custody on Wednesday morning on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, and as part of a wider investigation into national security offences related to China.
Detectives from counter-terrorism policing London, which is leading the investigation, arrested a 39-year-old man in London, a 68-year-old man in Powys, Wales, and a 43-year-old man in Pontyclun, Wales. The police have not identified the men, who remain in custody.
However, sources told the Guardian they included the partner of a Labour MP. A second person is understood to be the partner of a former Labour MP. The identity of the third, or whether they have any links to parliament, is unknown.
The police said the arrests were part of a “proactive investigation” and that there is not an “imminent or direct threat to the public”.
As well as searches at the addresses where the arrests were made, counter-terrorism detectives are carrying out searches at what it understood to be residential addresses in London, East Kilbride in Scotland, and Cardiff in Wales.
Security services have been investigating foreign interference in UK democracy, including attempts to obtain information on policymaking and interfere with sovereign affairs.
Previous cases of alleged spying within parliament have caused deep concern in Westminster, prompting warnings of a serious “systemic challenge” to British democracy.
PMQs - snap verdict
As expected, much of the time at today Prime Minister’s Questions was used to grill Keir Starmer over his response to Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran.
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch made the early running, demanding the Starmer explain why the RAF is not following the US in attacking Iranian missile sites. She also called out the Labour government for not acting hard or fast enough, with HMS Dragon still in Portsmouth and unlikely to be in a position to defend Cyprus for at least one week.
Starmer, however, appeared calm and composed when he said he was not prepared to involve the UK in a war “unless satisfied there was a lawful basis and a viable, thought through plan”, a thinly-veiled suggestion that Trump had maybe not thought his war plans through.
And Trump was to rear his head once again, later in the session, when Tory MP Gareth Bacon thought he was setting some sort of trap in asking whether the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and US was stronger or weaker this week.
Starmer reeled off the copious ways Britain is assisting its American allies – including allowing them to use air bases and shooting down drones in the Middle East – before concluding:
Hanging on to president Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship in action.
A lesson there perhaps that some of the Trump acolytes on the opposition benches would do well to heed. The prime minister also reinforced several times over that everyday people watching PMQs were concerned how Trump’s latest war would hit them financially.
Badenoch, gracelessly, claimed Labour is “pathetic and weak” to spend money on welfare instead of defence, while Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey warned households could face a £500-a-year increase in energy bills.
Commentators have claimed throughout the week that the prime minister has essentially been caught between a rock and a hard place over how to respond to Trump’s war. Although choosing his words carefully and pragmatically, Starmer doubled down on his previous assertion that he does not believe in “regime change from the skies”.
Given that, according to a YouGov poll today, just one in 10 Britons believe the UK should join the US in attacking targets in Iran, perhaps the prime minister is more in tune with the public than the likes of Nigel Farage, who earlier advocated for Britain to join the war (see post 10.42).
Special relationship is not 'hanging on to Trump's words', says Starmer
Tory MP Gareth Bacon asks if the prime minister’s “dithering response” over Iran has made the special relationship with US stronger or weaker.
Starmer says American plans are operating from British bases, UK jets are shooting down drones and missiles to protect US lives in the Middle East and intelligence is being shared.
“Hanging on to president Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship in action,” he says.
Updated
Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan asks if Starmer agrees that an urgent review is needed into children living in temporary accomodation.
“Every child deserves a safe and secure home,” the prime minister says, adding the government has invested £950m in the local authority housing fund.
The DUP’s Gavin Robinson calls on Starmer to increase defence spending, saying getting to 2.5% by 2027 “is not enough”.
The prime minister says it is being increased to 2.6% of GDP during this parliament, which amounts to £270bn.
He adds that the government is going to “have to spend more and faster” after years of underinvestment under the Tories.
Labour’s Sam Rushworth, MP for Bishop Auckland, asks Starmer if he backs renewable energy as a way of ensuring food and energy security.
The prime minister says:
The sprint to clean energy is the only way to get off the volatile international fossil fuels markets, cut bills and deliver energy security.
He says over £90bn has been invested in clean energy under this Labour government.
Davey says Iran has previously plotted several failed terrorist attacks in the UK, targeting Jewish people, journalists and politicians.
“Now they are more desperate and dangerous than ever,” he says.
He asks if Starmer will table emergency legislation this week to proscribe to IRGC.
The prime minister says the government is working 24/7 to protect the country from terror threats.
He says the government does not comment on proscription, has put sanctions in place and is looking at the need to deal with state-backed terrorism.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey says experts are warning Trump’s “illegal war” on Iran could cost each household £500 a year.
He asks for a “cast-iron guarantee” that will not happen.
Starmer says he is glad to have brought energy bills down by £150 and will keep a close eye on the situation.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch asks if the prime minister is prioritsing his own job security over national security, in the wake of Labour’s humiliating byelection defeat last week.
Starmer responds:
Moments like this define a leader of the opposition, they can either up, act in the national interest and show they are fit to be prime minister or they can expose their utter irrelevance. She has chosen the second.
Updated
Labour 'pathetic' for prioritising welfare spending over defence, claims Badenoch
Badenoch says “this crisis goes beyond defence spending” and says Labour is “pathetic” to spend on welfare instead of defence.
“They’re not just pathetic, they are also weak,” she says. “This war is interrupting the supply of oil and gas. That is driving up the cost of petrol and making it more expensive to heat our homes.”
She says Starmer is blocking drilling in the North Sea and importing the same gas from Norway.
Starmer says “we are keeping in close contact with our allies and key industry players” but adds that if Ukraine and the last few days have taught us anything, it is that relying on the international market leaves the UK vulnerable which is why it is investing in renewable energy.
Updated
Starmer says that yesterday more than 1,000 Britons arrived back in the UK on commercial flights from the UAE, with another eight flights due to leave today.
The first charter flight is expected to leave Oman later today, as well as two more in the coming days.
“Family and friends are worried sick about people who are caught up in this,” he says.
British Airways are laying on an extra flight from Oman, he says.
Badenoch says she was asking about defence spending, not evacuations and tells him to focus on the question, “not the statement prepared in the bunker”.
Badenoch is attacking chancellor Rachel Reeves for giving more money to welfare, rather than defence.
“The country is not going to be distracted by Labour MPs moaning – the fact of the matter is the war in Iran is happening now,” she says.
She says the OBR says the government won’t hit 3% spend on defence for five years and accuses Starmer of a lack of urgency.
The prime minister appears angry at this and accuses the Tories of cutting the defence budget, “hollowing out” the armed forces according to former defence secretary Ben Wallace.
Starmer says that the UK has been liaising closely with the US to pre-deploy radar systems, ground-based air defence, counter-drone systems and F35 jets.
“That is why, since Saturday morning, multiple F35s and Typhoons have been in operation not just in the Middle East but across Cyprus,” he says.
Helicopters with anti-drone capabilities will be in Cyprus this week, while HMS Dragon will be sent to the Mediterranean, he adds.
Badenoch says this is not enough and that HMS Dragon is still in Portsmouth, while F35s cannot take out incoming missiles.
Starmer: Not prepared to join a war without lawful basis and viable plan
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch starts by asking why Starmer will not allow the RAF to attack Iranian missile sites, when the US is already.
He says the whole country is worried about the potential for escalation and the impact on their lives in relation to energy.
“We need to act therefore with clarity, with purpose and with a cool head,” he says, adding that the “protection of UK nationals is our number one priority”.
He says the government is taking action by sending reinforcements to Cyprus and allowing the US to use British airfields.
“What I was not prepared to do on Saturday was for the UK to join a war unless I was satisfied there was a lawful basis and a viable, thought through plan,” he says. “That remains my position.”
Starmer begins PMQs by telling the Commons that his thoughts are with Sarah Everard “on this very painful anniversary” of her death.
He says the government is working hard to prevent boys and men from becoming abusers.
Labour’s Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) is now asking the prime minister if the new growth and skills levy will support manufacturing jobs.
Starmer says it will allow more investment in short courses and apprenticeships.
Prime minister Keir Starmer is in position for Prime Minister’s Questions, which is about to begin imminently.
I’ll be bringing you all the latest lines, so do follow along here.
Updated
The government has announced details of its review of antisemitism in England’s schools and colleges, with the Department for Education naming its former permanent secretary David Bell to lead the independent inquiry.
Bell, a former Ofsted chief inspector and currently vice-chancellor of the University of Sunderland, is to look at how schools and colleges “identify, respond to and prevent antisemitism,” and issue a report in autumn.
Bell said:
I will come at this review with an open and independent mind. I will review both policy and practice to ensure that everyone can learn free from prejudice and hate. I am also keen to know more about those institutions who are tacking antisemitism effectively so that lessons can be shared widely across the education system.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary for England, first announced the review in January after reports that a school in Bristol postponed a visit by a local MP, Dan Eggan, who is vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, following opposition from some members of staff and a pro-Palestine group.
A snap Ofsted inspection of the school, Bristol Brunel academy, found “no evidence of partisan political views” and said that the school’s curriculum and teaching were politically impartial.
The DfE said the review followed evidence that school-related antisemitic incidents have doubled since 2023. More than a fifth of British Jewish parents say their children have experienced antisemitism in or around their school.
The review will look at how schools and colleges handle incidents of antisemitism, as well as what they are doing to prevent antisemitism and the influence of external factors such as protests and international events.
The DfE said the review “will not look to blame, or place undue burdens on schools and colleges, but rather to identify areas for improvement in the prevention, identification and response to incidents of antisemitism.”
Keir Starmer’s efforts to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU are lacking in “direction, definition and drive”, parliament’s foreign affairs committee has said.
A report based on months of expert witness testimony found the summit between the UK and the EU at Lancaster House last May had “substantially improved the overall political relationship” after years of Brussels-bashing by the Conservatives.
But it concluded the UK “lacks clear strategic priorities”, which in turn results in “the appearance that the EU has achieved more concrete progress towards their most pressing demands than the UK”.
Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and chair of the committee, said: “Sadly, we found that despite progress in some areas, the government’s reset is languishing, suffering from a lack of direction, definition and drive. It feels as though we are on a journey with no clear destination.
“In many areas, the government has failed to provide timelines, milestones or priorities, and it does not appear to have an ambitious, strategic vision for the UK’s new relationship with the EU.”
The report said that unless the government provides a structure and clear vision with goals, it will repeat “these mistakes” when it enters the second set of negotiations after a second bilateral summit due to be held in early July.
Starmer set to face first PMQs since US attack on Iran
Keir Starmer will face a Commons grilling over his decisions on the Middle East war after Donald Trump launched a personal attack against him over the refusal to allow initial US strikes on Iran from British bases.
In his latest broadside against the prime minister, the US president said on Tuesday he was “not happy with the UK” over the extent of its support and that “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with”.
Starmer had later on Sunday agreed to allow America to use British military bases, but only for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites to protect countries being targeted by Tehran.
He is yet to respond personally to the president’s latest rebuke but will face MPs for Prime Minister’s Questions in about an hour’s time, when the conflict is likely to dominate the agenda.
Downing Street has insisted the US remains a “staunch” ally despite the remarks from Trump, who criticised the prime minister in interviews with the Telegraph and Sun newspapers.
PMQs is coming up in just under an hour’s time and I will be bringing you all the news lines that emerge. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has this morning been making the case for dragging Britain into another Middle Eastern conflict.
He suggested that Britain joining the US in its war on Iran was a different situation to the Iraq war.
Farage, who has criticised the UK joining the Iraq war alongside the US, told a central London press conference:
There are times to say no to the Americans, absolutely. We should have said no a couple of times in the last 25 years. Of course, because Saddam Hussein didn’t pose any direct threat to this country, they had to invent a threat.
I would argue in the case of Iran, since 7 October this country has fundamentally changed as a result of terrorism funded by Iran. Frankly, if this operation stops Iran getting a nuclear weapon, it would have been worth it. I believe that very, very strongly.
I’m really incredibly nervous about intervening in foreign wars, I believe it’s the right one.
Ex-Nato commander defends Starmer after Trump’s ‘no Winston Churchill’ jibe
Britain cannot become embroiled in a war “without a clear end point”, a former senior Nato commander has said, as he defended Keir Starmer after Donald Trump’s jibes that he was “not Winston Churchill”.
Trump was “another American president who had launched a war of choice,” said Gen Sir Richard Shirreff, as a minister insisted that the UK prime minister had acted “with a cool head” by not allowing British bases to be used for initial strikes.
The US president launched a deeply personal attack on Starmer over his refusal to let Washington launch initial strikes on Iran from British bases, telling reporters on Tuesday in the White House: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Trump also said he was not happy with the UK even though Starmer eventually agreed the US could use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.
Shirreff, who was Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander Europe, was among those who supported Downing Street’s approach, saying: “Britain has to do what is right for Britain.
“There is absolutely a case for getting involved but it should not get involved in any shape or form with an operation where the end stage has not been made clear, there is not a clear strategy and yet again where we have an American president who has launched a war of choice with no clear understanding of how this thing is going to end,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We have been here before with Iraq in 2004 and we don’t want to be going back again into a situation like that.”
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A bit more now from chief secretary of the Treasury James Murray’s media round from this morning.
Speaking to Sky News, he said it was “early days” in terms of what is happening in the Middle East and that the government is “monitoring very closely” as he faced questions about the effect on oil and gas prices.
Asked whether he was worried, Murray said:
I can understand because people have been concerned about the cost of living for a long time, so when people see what they do on the news, they will wonder ‘what does this mean for us?’
He added:
What I would say to people is that it’s early days in terms of what’s happening in the Middle East.
We’re all very concerned about what’s happening and, as a government, we’re monitoring very closely, but it is early days, and in terms of how people will experience their energy bills in the immediate future, they will see that reduction come through via the price cap on 1 April.
UK puts emergency brake on study visas for four countries’ nationals
The government has imposed an emergency brake on visas for the first time on nationals from four countries, as Shabana Mahmood accused them of exploiting Britain’s generosity to claim asylum.
Study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan have been halted, in addition to work visas for Afghans.
The home secretary claimed a growing number of people from these countries were using legal migration routes as a back door to claim asylum in the UK.
Mahmood said on Tuesday: “Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused.
“That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity. I will restore order and control to our borders.”
According to Home Office figures, 39% of the 100,000 people who claimed asylum in 2025 did so after arriving in the UK through a legal migration route such as a study visa.
Minister dismisses Trump's claim that Keir Starmer is 'no Churchill'
Hello and welcome to the UK politics live blog.
A government minister has dismissed Donald Trump’s claim that Keir Starmer is no “Winston Churchill”, arguing that the prime minister had approached the Middle East situation with a “cool head, a real clarity of purpose” and “a determination to do the right thing for the British people”.
In his latest extraordinary salvo, the US president said he was not happy with the UK even though the prime minister eventually agreed the US could use Diego Garcia for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.
It was the third time in 24 hours that Trump had criticised Starmer for the UK’s refusal to aid the initial strikes, underlining his frustration at western allies for not unequivocally backing the action.
Asked whether the US president was right, chief secretary to the Treasury, James Murray told Times Radio:
No, look, president Trump has expressed his disagreement with the decision that we took about joining those initial strikes on Iran over the weekend.
But I think what’s really important when we think about that decision is to recognise that the prime minister took the decision he did in the national interest, you know, and he’s approached this with a cool head, with a real clarity of purpose, with a real focus and a determination to do the right thing for the British people.
That’s why we took the decision we did not to join those offensive actions, the initial strikes, a few days ago, but then when it came to a defensive action in order to protect British citizens, we stepped up and made sure that we are doing what we need to do to keep British people safe.
Trump told the Sun on Monday that the “relationship is obviously not what it was” as a result of the decision, and in an interview with the Telegraph he said Starmer had taken far too long to allow the US to use UK bases.
Starmer has previously been praised for his ability to maintain a relationship with the volatile US president, but on Monday in the Commons, he expressed doubt about the US action in Tehran and its legality.
Asked whether he did not think Trump’s remarks were important, Murray said:
Well, I think, you know, the president has expressed himself using his words, but what’s important for me is that the prime minister is taking the right decisions for the UK, and, of course, that the special relationship between the US and the UK continues. You know, we work together with the US, day in, day out.
In other developments:
A Royal Navy destroyer is expected in Cyprus next week after Keir Starmer announced it would be sent to defend the country and British bases there after hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on Monday.
The UK government will charter a flight from Oman in the coming days, prioritising vulnerable British nationals in the region amid continued strikes by Iran, the foreign secretary has said. Yvette Cooper said the closure of the airspace and the threat of strikes from Iran, retaliating for US-Israeli attacks, meant the situation was “fast-moving”.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, insisted Labour had “the right economic plan” for a world that had become “yet more uncertain” as she delivered a spring forecast that downgraded growth for this year. The UK faces weaker economic growth and higher unemployment than previously expected.
A new YouGov poll showed a surge in support for the Green party, which climbed to second place (behind Reform) as Labour slumped to its lowest figure to date.
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