Jeremy Hunt fails to quash claims Treasury vetoed pay offer that may have averted rail strikes – as it happened

Train at Victoria station, London. Rail workers are striking over pay. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

4.15pm GMT

Afternoon summary

• Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has announced plans to reform and repeal a number of City regulations, including rules originally meant to protect the UK from another financial crisis, in order to “unlock” investment and “turbocharge” growth across the UK.

• Hunt has refused to quash claims that the Treasury intervened to block a pay offer to rail workers that may have ended their strike action. (See 1.47pm.)

• Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, has accused the government of cruelty in its asylum policy, and said that people-smuggling is as serious as slave trading in the 19th century. He has posted a link to the full text of his speech on Twitter.

When we fail to challenge the rhetoric that refugees are the cause of this country’s ills – that they are problems not people, or invaders to be tackled and deterred – we deny the essential value and dignity of fellow human beings.

🔗 https://t.co/TaDPsvMf1i pic.twitter.com/DprPWC6LH2

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) December 9, 2022

• Labour would rush through asylum applications for people from certain countries deemed “safe”, including Albania, in an attempt to clear the backlog of claims, Yvette Cooper has said.

• Britain will work to develop next-generation fighter jets with Italy and Japan, Rishi Sunak has announced.

• Water pollution goals are to be weakened by the government next week, the Guardian can reveal, as Environment Act targets will give farmers three extra years to reduce their waste dumping into waterways.

• Savanta has released a poll suggesting Labour has a lead over the Conservatives of 11 points – down 10 points from its lead in the middle of November.

🚨NEW Westminster Voting Intention

📈11pt Labour Lead

🌹Lab 42 (-5)
🌳Con 31 (+5)
🔶LD 10 (=)
➡️Reform 5 (=)
🎗️SNP 4 (=)
🌍Gre 3 (+1)
⬜️Other 5 (=)

2,106 UK adults, 25-27 Nov

(chg from 18-20 Nov) pic.twitter.com/lyGVqVsKsa

— Savanta UK (@Savanta_UK) December 9, 2022

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Savanta’s political research director, said:

Polls like this come with their typical health warning: it’s just one poll, we’d need to see more polls move in similar directions before claiming that this is a trend, and it could very much be an outlier.

However, Labour’s inflated lead in VI [voting intention] polls has been exacerbated by higher-than-usual proportions of 2019 Conservatives being undecided. In this poll, just 10% of those who voted Conservative in 2019 are undecided, compared to 15% last week, and therefore the Conservatives are retaining more of their 2019 vote and fewer are being removed from the headline VI numbers.

That is something to keep an eye on, because if Rishi Sunak can shore up more of the 2019 vote, he could at least save the party from the complete electoral oblivion that is making so many of its MPs decide to stand down rather than fall to an inevitable defeat at the next election.

Updated at 5.09pm GMT

4.01pm GMT

Sunak tells Ukrainian president that he will soon be getting more arms from UK

Rishi Sunak has told Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, that the UK will be providing his country with more anti-aircraft guns and air defence missiles in the coming week. The two leaders spoke this afternoon, and this is what No 10 said about the call:

The leaders discussed the fresh wave of Russian attacks on critical national infrastructure in Ukraine, and President Zelenskiy thanked the UK for its crucial support to help restore power through the supply of generators.

The prime minister paid tribute to the success of Ukraine’s armed forces in intercepting dozens of potentially devastating missiles this week, and said the UK was thinking of the Ukrainian people as they continued to defend their country through the winter.

Updating on the latest lethal aid deliveries from the UK, the prime minister said that more anti-air guns and further short-range air defence missiles would arrive in the coming weeks.

Both leaders agreed on the importance of pre-empting Russia’s insincere calls for a ceasefire, and the prime minister added that the Kremlin needed to withdraw its forces before any agreement could be considered.

Sunak also spoke to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president-elect of Brazil. It was their first call since Lula’s election victory at the end of October.

Updated at 5.05pm GMT