Afternoon summary
Donald Trump has threatened legal action against the BBC and welcomed the resignations of two of its most senior figures after a campaign against the broadcaster that reached fever pitch over criticism that its flagship documentary programme in 2024 used a misleading edit of a Trump speech. There is further coverage on our BBC live blog.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has suggested that she will get rid of the two-child benefit cap in its entirety in her budget, telling the BBC in an interview that no child should be “penalised because they are in a bigger family through no fault of their own”. (See 3.16pm.)
The Tories have accused the government of allowing the Channel to become “a revolving door for illegal immigration”. In a statement responding to the Home Office confirming that a second migrant who had been sent from the UK to France under the “one in, one out” deal has returned to the UK, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said:
The Channel is now a revolving door for illegal immigration, and Keir Starmer is waving them through with taxpayer-funded hotel keys. Since the French returns deal was announced nearly 18,000 illegal immigrants have arrived and only a handful removed. Allowing 99.5 per cent of illegal Channel immigrants to stay is no deterrent at all, which is why they continue to flood in.
In an article for the Guardian, Zack Polanski, the new Green leader, says the many personal attacks levelled against him show that the establishment is alarmed by the success of his party. He says:
It’s obvious to me why these attacks have become so ferocious: it’s because more and more people are backing a party with policies that will dismantle the economic consensus and focus relentlessly on the cost of living. Three-quarters of people support a wealth tax – yet none of the establishment parties will touch it. So parts of the media close ranks when the vast wealth of their owners and the policies of their friends in Westminster come under threat.
Here is the full article.
