End of day summary …
We will shortly be closing the blog. Here are the day’s headlines …
Keir Starmer has defended his handling of the controversy surrounding Labour’s candidate in Rochdale, who was suspended by the party on Monday night after days of revelations about remarks he made about Israel soon after the Hamas attacks. The Labour leader said on Tuesday he had taken tough and decisive action against Azhar Ali, who will now campaign for the Rochdale seat with no official support from the party.
Foreign secretary David Cameron has claimed he has personally challenged the Israeli government over specific incidents in Gaza, and said that a two state solution would not be a “reward” for Hamas. Cameron was speaking in the House of Lords. Cameron is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this weekend for the first time since unexpectedly becoming British foreign secretary.
The UK government has confirmed details of a £3.3bn funding package to support the restored powersharing administration in Northern Ireland. However, Stormont’s finance minister Caoimhe Archibald has said it was “not acceptable” for the Treasury to make the write-off of a £559 million debt conditional on the publication and implementation of a sustainability plan at short notice.
The parliamentary commissioner has found Conservative MP David Duguid failed to declare his wife’s £50,000 shareholding in BP while speaking in debates about windfall taxes on the oil and gas industry.
Housing minister Lee Rowley refused to say how many more homes the government hopes will be built under its new building plans – telling the BBC he wasn’t going to get into “a numbers game”. Under the proposals, councils would have to approve new development on brownfield land unless they can offer a good reason why they cannot.
Pay growth slowed less than expected in December. Earnings growth, excluding bonuses, fell only modestly to 6.2% in October to December 2023 from a revised 6.7% in the previous three months, as workers continued to bid up their wages amid skills shortages and a record number of people with long-term sickness.
The ONS has published data showing that the current government has presided over the highest total number of working days lost to strikes during a 19 month period for 30 years.
The much-delayed CalMac ferry Glen Sannox had her first sea test in Glasgow.
Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster Francie Molloy has announced he is stepping down at the next election.
Thank you very much for reading and all your comments, which I always appreciate. I will be back with you bright and early tomorrow, which will be the last day of campaigning in Kingswood and in Wellingborough ahead of Thursday’s byelections.
Stormont’s finance minister Caoimhe Archibald has said it was “not acceptable” for the Treasury to make the write-off of a £559 million debt conditional on the publication and implementation of a sustainability plan at short notice.
In a letter to chief secretary to the treasury Laura Trott, the finance minister said
Ministers are united and speak with one voice in the need to invest and reform our public services. Making the write off of the £559m for debt repayment conditional on the publication and implementation of a sustainability plan is not acceptable. It is our strong view that these debts exist primarily due to the underfunding of public services.
The executive has already given a commitment to the British Government to develop a sustainability plan with a pre-requisite that the right level of funding is provided.
The government’s timescale requiring this to be published by May 2024 is completely unrealistic. It is essential that the executive is afforded adequate time to give proper consideration to this important matter.
Earlier the UK government announced a funding settlement plan now that the Northern Ireland asssembly and devolved government has been restored. [See 13.37 GMT]
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