Summary of the day …
Downing Street has hinted that Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he arrived in the UK after an international arrest warrant was issued for him. The prime minister’s official spokesperson said they would “not get into hypotheticals” but added “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law”
Home secretary Yvette Cooper had earlier said “That’s not a matter for me as home secretary” when asked about the prospect of an arrest if Netanyahu visited the country. Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel labelled the international criminal court’s decision to issue the warrant for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war “deeply concerning and provocative”
Keir Starmer defended what he called “difficult budget” appeared on six regional BBC Radio stations over a 45 minute period. He was interviewed about farmers and inheritance tax, winter fuel payments, local government financing, whether there will ever be a public inquiry into the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, pylons and solar panels among other topics
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has declared his opposition to the legalisation of assisted dying, saying the death of his newborn daughter in January 2002 convinced him of the “value and imperative of good end-of-life care”. In an article for the Guardian, Brown says the debate on assisted dying is moving too fast given the “profound ethical and practical issues” and that instead of a yes/no vote in parliament he suggests a commission to devise a “fully funded, 10-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care”
Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, is proposing to cap bus fares in the region at £2.50 next year when the existing Tory £2 cap in England expires and is replaced by the Labour government’s £3 cap
Large parts of England’s adult social care market face collapse as a result of tax and wage rises announced in the budget, with devastating consequences for vulnerable and older people who rely on care services, a leading thinktank has warned
An average annual energy bill in England, Scotland and Wales will rise by 1.2% to £1,738 from January, regulator Ofgem has said. Energy secretary Ed Miliband said “Every wind turbine and solar panel we install, every home we insulate will help to protect consumers and bring down bills once and for all”. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called on the government to freeze people’s energy bills, saying it was “time for government to live up to their word” on energy bills
People who persistently demonstrate antisocial behaviour will face up to two years in jail under Labour’s new “Respect” orders, the home secretary said
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has u-turned on his plan to “double job” by sitting in Holyrood and the Commons after a furious backlash
Edinburgh Liberal Democrat councillor Louise Spence has stood down just over a week since being elected, after telling the party her “familial work circumstances” had changed suddenly, which meant they had to sell-up and move overseas
Supporting Brexit is not a belief that is protected from workplace discrimination, an employment tribunal has ruled
Gordon Brown: improve end-of-life care rather than allow assisted dying
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has written for the Guardian today about the proposal for assisted dying that will be discussed in parliament next week, arguing the debate is moving too fast and calling for a commission into palliative care.
Writing about both the death of his baby daughter Jennifer in 2002 when he was chancellor and later volunteering in a hospice, Brown argues that what is needed is not assisted dying, but better end-of-life care.
You can read his piece in full here: Spending time with people in their final days showed me that we need not assisted dying, but better end-of-life care
My colleague Harriet Sherwood has this report on his intervention into the debate:
The former prime minister Gordon Brown has declared his opposition to the legalisation of assisted dying, saying the death of his newborn daughter in January 2002 convinced him of the “value and imperative of good end-of-life care”.
In a rare and poignant glimpse into the tragedy, he says the time he and his wife, Sarah, spent at their baby Jennifer’s bedside “as her life ebbed away” were “among the most precious days of [our] lives”.
In an article for the Guardian, Brown says the debate on assisted dying is moving too fast given the “profound ethical and practical issues”, and the state of the NHS means this is not the right time for a far-reaching decision.
Instead of a yes/no vote in parliament, Brown writes that a commission to devise a “fully funded, 10-year strategy for improved and comprehensive palliative care” should be set up. He cites unpublished polling showing that half the public are not confident of the government’s ability to fund specialist end-of-life care, and that more than two-thirds back a commission on the issue.
You can read Harriet Sherwood’s news report here: Gordon Brown says improve end-of-life care rather than allow assisted dying
The Conservatives, whose own prime ministers didn’t always exactly flourish when being interviewed on BBC local radio, have clipped up what they are describing as the five worst moments from Keir Starmer’s effort at it today.
It mostly consists of questions being posed to him – “Do you have a problem with Lincolnshire?”, “What are you for?” – rather than Starmer’s answers, although they have clipped some moments of him sounding flustered. The clips chosen arrow in on the issue of winter fuel payments and energy bills.
You can have a listen to what Tory HQ thought were the key moments here …
5 of the worst moments from Keir Starmer's disasterous local radio round 👇 pic.twitter.com/u7qbxbQkA0
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) November 22, 2024
PA Media has a little more here on the prime minister’s official spokesperson suggesting that the UK would arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to visit the country, after the international criminal court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes relating to the war in Gaza.
Downing Street said that the domestic process linked to ICC arrest warrants has never been used to date by the UK, because no one wanted by the international court had visited the country.
The relevant provisions are set out in the International Criminal Court Act 2001.
The Act states that the secretary of state must, on receipt of a request for arrest from the ICC, “transmit the request and the documents accompanying it to an appropriate judicial officer”.
Downing Street, PA Media reports, would not specify which Cabinet minister would be responsible for doing so.
In 1998 Gen Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, became the first former head of state travelling on a diplomatic passport to be arrested on British soil. That, however, was after an extradition request by Spanish judges, and was four years before the ICC was founded in 2002. He was released in March 2000.
The changes to winter fuel allowance announced by the Labour government earlier this year were the subject of quite a bit of questioning during prime minister Keir Starmer’s series of interviews with BBC regional radio stations this morning.
It is also the focus of this piece today by our north of England correspondent, Robyn Vinter. She has visited Copley, near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, which is known as the snowiest place in England.
You can read the piece here: England’s snowiest village feels the chill of winter fuel allowance cuts
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been left ashen-faced after a newly-elected councillor who pulled off a shock byelection victory over Labour last week has been forced to stand down.
Louise Spence unexpectedly triumphed in a byelection in Colinton last Thursday to replace Labour’s former transport convenor, Scott Arthur, after he became the new MP for Edinburgh South West.
To Labour’s embarrassment, it came third behind the Tories, with 1,441 first preference votes, nearly half the 2,683 votes won by Spence.
But on Thursday she told her new comrades that her “familial work circumstances” had changed suddenly, which meant they had to sell-up and move overseas. Her suggestions of becoming a long-distance commuter, flying in for a week a month, were rebuffed.
“Having campaigned as being the local candidate, she instead offered her resignation, and said this wouldn’t be the right thing to do,” a party source said.
The contest for her seat is expected to coincide with another byelection in the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward scheduled for January after a Scottish National party councillor, Marco Biagi, quit to become a special adviser to John Swinney, the first minister.
This contest offers the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar another chance to redeem the party, which despite a handful of council byelection victories, has seen its popularity slip significantly in Scottish opinion polls.
It raises tensions too in Edinburgh City Chambers.
Despite being the third largest party in the council, Labour runs Edinburgh as a minority administration with the goodwill of the second-placed Lib Dems, and often the Tories, working as an anti-nationalist block to lock out the SNP – the city’s largest party.
Downing Street: UK would comply with the law on Netanyahu ICC arrest warrant
Downing Street has hinted that Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he arrived in the UK after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said they would “not get into hypotheticals” when asked if the Israeli prime minister would be detained if he arrived on British soil.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the process or provide commentary on individual cases,” he said.
But, PA Media reports, asked if the UK would comply with the law, he said: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.”
Home secretary Yvette Cooper was coy on the subject during her morning media round appearances earlier. She told viewers of Sky News “That’s not a matter for me as home secretary. What I can say is that obviously the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme she expanded on the position, saying:
The international criminal court is obviously independent. We respect the court, its independence, and we are clear of its role, which is different from the UK government’s role.
The vast majority of international criminal court cases do not become a matter for the UK legal processes, law enforcement processes, or for the UK Government.
In the event that they ever do, there are both proper legal processes that have to be followed and also proper government processes that have to be followed – and Foreign Office processes that have to be followed.
So for that reason, you would not expect me to, and I can’t, as home secretary, comment on how those legal processes would be implemented in any individual case. That would be speculative, because I have to respect that legal process.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said earlier today that Irish police would arrest Netanyahu if he arrived in Ireland, adding during an interview on RTÉ that “We support international courts and we apply their warrants.”
Alongside Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy and Spain are among EU states that have said they would meet their ICC commitments. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, however, has said he would invite Netanyahu to visit the country in defiance of the warrant.
Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel labelled the ICC’s decision “deeply concerning and provocative”, while defeated Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick, now shadow justice secretary, said “The UK should not enforce this farcical arrest warrant from a politicised court.”
Yesterday, Green party of England and Wales Carla Denyer said that the arrest warrants “make clear that to continue selling arms to Israel is to aid and abet war crimes” and that “the Government must recognise that their approach to the war in Gaza has failed.”
She said the government “must consider far more direct measures to incentivise a ceasefire,” including an “end to arms sales, [and] the introduction of divestments, boycotts and sanctions.”
The Liberal Democrats also backed the court, with foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller MP saying on Thursday “The previous Conservative government denigrated the international criminal court and undermined the UK’s standing on the world stage. It is vital that the new government complies with our obligations under international law by committing to upholding this ruling, including enforcing arrest warrants.”
Updated
Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, is proposing to cap bus fares in the region at £2.50 next year when the existing £2 cap in England expires.
The former Labour MP said the proposal was “devolution in action,” adding:
More affordable and simpler fares are the only way to get more people using public transport, reducing congestion, improving air quality and tackling the climate emergency.
Improving our bus network and bringing it back under public control is central to our plan to build a greener, better-connected region that works for all.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves extended the Tory £2 bus fare cap in England, which had been due to expire, for another year, but at the higher rate of £3.
West Yorkshire’s Mayor’s Fares scheme will see the £2 cap retained until March 2025, with the £2.50 rate for single fares and a capped £6 day ticket introduced from then until December.
The proposals will be presented at a meeting of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority on 12 December.
Promoting the proposal on social media, Brabin said “We’re taking action to make sure bus passengers in West Yorkshire continue to pay some of the lowest fares in the country.”
It is Friday, and so often a day when politicians chirrup on social media about byelections held the day before – well if they’ve won, anyway.
Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland, is celebrating three local council byelection wins for Labour. He was also named Scottish politician of the year by the Herald last night, as “a unanimous choice for the independent judging panel.”
John Swinney and Kate Forbes were also up for the gong.
Accepting the award, Sarwar said:
Whilst I may have received this award, the reality is that it is a team effort. This year has been one of seismic change in our politics with the election of a UK Labour government, with Scotland at its heart, seeing us also win the election here in Scotland and return 37 Scottish Labour MPs.
Also celebrating on social media is Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, boasting of two local byelection victories in Kent.
Not celebrating, it would seem, are Liberal Democrats in Edinburgh, where councillor Louise Spence, who won a seat on 14 November, has stepped down. It appears, according to this Daily Record report, that having campaigned stressing her local roots, she put her house on the market the day after the election. It means a third byelection will take place in the Colinton and Fairmilehead ward in just a few months, the paper reports.
Updated
Across the six BBC local radio the most obvious common themes were farmers and inheritance tax, and winter fuel payments and energy prices. As expected Keir Starmer defended the budget decisions by saying more money was needed for the NHS, and pushed more renewable energy as the solution to rising energy costs.
Probably the most uncomfortable exchange was Starmer’s unwillingness to commit, or even commit to a timetable for making a decision, about a public inquiry into the 1974 Birmingham Pub bombings, during a long section of the BBC Radio WM interview with Kath Stanczyszyn.
Keir Starmer will be grateful that after 45 non-stop minutes of interview, the last question is a bit of a softball. John Darvall of BBC Radio Bristol asks him about the introduction of “Respect” orders, which is Downing Street’s media grid policy launch today, allowing Starmer to trot out pre-prepped lines on antisocial behaviour being a blight, and how the previous government weakened powers to deal with it.
Duvall signs off cheerfully “Enjoy the football of the weekend!”
Starmer’s Arsenal are at home to Nottingham Forest.
And that’s a wrap!
John Darvall of BBC Radio Bristol has said a lot of people work in defence in the area, and will be worried about reports of Storm Shadow missiles being used against targets inside Russia by Ukraine.
“Very brief answer to a very brief question,” he says to Keir Starmer. “Are we at war?”
“No, we’re not at war,” the prime minister replied “but Ukraine certainly is, because Ukraine has been invaded by Russia”
Keir Starmer is on more confident ground here, and is able to effectively restate what he said in parliament earlier in the week, that he is proud of the UK’s support of Ukraine.
He adds “in the general election, wherever we went, it was clear that people absolutely understand why Russia cannot be allowed to win this war.”
Keir Starmer continues on the theme of local councils:
After 14 years at the last government, they’re in a real mess. They’ve been underfunded for years. We’ve had four-and-a-half months. We’re beginning to turn this around, and I’m determined that local people have the services that they need from their council.
John Darvall of BBC Radio Bristol has asked the prime minister what is he going to do to stop local councils going bankrupt.
Starmer says “by going to multi-year settlements so that they can make much better use of the money that’s available.”
John Darvall of BBC Radio Bristol has said that due to changes in national insurance a local publican is saying they will have to raise the price of a pint from £4.50 to £4.70-£4.80.
“I’m no economist,” says Darvall, “but that sounds like inflation to me.”
Keir Starmer again says he is happy to look into the individual case, saying:
There are a number of provisions we put in place for small businesses, particularly those employing four or so employees on the living wage and that therefore their national insurance bill shouldn’t go up, and in many cases, will go down. So it is worth looking just at some of the small detail on this.
Keir Starmer is being asked about farmers and inheritance tax on BBC Radio Bristol, and this is a slight retread of the way the same topic was handled on BBC Radio Lincolnshire earlier, i.e a local case study and then Starmer saying he’s happy to look into the individual case and getting into a wrangle about the combined £3m limit for couples. [See 11.28 GMT]
John Darvall of BBC Radio Bristol is up next.
His opening salvo is:
You’re not for millions of hard working farmers or owners of shops, pubs, bars, restaurants, small businesses who are going to see huge [tax] increases. You’re not for keeping millions of pensioners warm. So prime minister, who are you for?
Dominic King from BBC Radio Kent is up next. His first question is about immigration. “You made a promise to smash the gangs. They lead people to the shores of Kent in small boats. Now there have been quite a few prime ministers before you. They failed to sort it so far. Why do you think you can?”
“The last government lost control of the borders,” says Keir Starmer. “And Kent is particularly impacted.”
The prime minister cites an arrest in the Netherlands and says “That happened because our National Crime Agency, which is based in the UK, worked with others in other countries.”
He is quizzed on the low level of fines imposed on people smugglers, but Starmer insists “when we’re able to carry out the arrest at a high level like this, then they result in very significant prison sentences.”
He repeats his line “I refuse to accept the only gangs that apparently can’t be broken are these gangs.”
Starmer says he accepts the situation is “too much for any council to deal with” when asked, and says people are “still waiting because the last government didn’t process any of the claims.”
Kayleigh Poacher from BBC Radio Norfolk has asked the prime minister if the government is “running roughshod all over Norfolk” by imposing solar farms on local land and overruling council planning.
Starmer repeats his earlier lines from the interview with Radio Lincolnshire about the need to move to renewables.
He says:
The prize here is cheaper energy for people across Norfolk. This will be families, businesses, who’ve had a dreadful time of their energy bills over the last two or three years, we’ve got to end that.
Kayleigh Poacher from BBC Radio Norfolk is up now. The first question is about the Norwich Western link road. You can insert your own Alan Partridge pedestrianisation punchlines in the comments.
The broader point Poacher makes is the follow-up question, asking “Is Norfolk going to get the same attention as the Manchesters, as the Londons, when it comes to these kind of big projects and this kind of investment can can we trust on you for that?”
Keir Starmer says he appreciates how important infrastructure is all across the country.
I should point out, by the way, that the prime minister is getting no more than ten or fifteen seconds in between one interview ending and him being moved on to the next one. There isn’t much time for him – or the Guardian live blogger – to even draw a sip of coffee.
“I have a message here,” Kath Stanczyszyn says, “‘I can’t remember Sir Keir promising to terrify and freeze to death the elderly in his manifesto’. That is what people are feeling.”
Keir Starmer, as he did on Radio Merseyside, urges the take-up of pension credit. For the first time in this round of interviews Starmer mentions the £22bn black hole figure which has so irked the opposition. He attempts to sell pensioners losing winter fuel payments as a policy that will improve their experience of the NHS, telling Radio WM listeners:
I also need to make clear … we had to raise money for in this budget is to pay for the NHS, which is on its knees, and many, many pensioners and older people will be on the waiting list for operations which has a huge impact on their lives. And my job is to make sure we’re putting the money into the NHS, which we did at the budget, to bring those waiting lists down and to make sure we’ve got an NHS which older people can absolutely rely on, and that’s not the case at the moment.
Kath Stanczyszyn at Radio WM in the West Midlands is up next. The first question is about the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, asking why there has never been a public inquiry about it. The question is played in via a clip of a relative of someone killed aged 18 in the bombing.
Keir Starmer says “we’ll continue to engage with them.”
Stanczyszyn presses further “how long will it take?”
“We’ll try to come to a decision as quickly possible,” Starmer says.
“I don’t want to commit to a date until I’m sure, in my own mind, that we can keep to it,” he replies when pressed on whether he could give a date before the 51st anniversary.
This has been quite sticky for Starmer because he clearly doesn’t want to give a definitive answer, but he gets an easier get out at the end, when asked if he is one of those politicians who is worried about evidence coming out, as it allows him to fall back on his history as the DPP. He says:
No, I’ve fought for justice all my life. Before I was a politician, I was a lawyer, and was very often representing victims and campaigners in any number of injustices. And therefore I bring that approach to it, we must always get to the bottom of what has happened in awful incidents, and there should be nothing that stops us getting to the bottom of those questions.
The next question is about plans for pylons on rural land. Keir Starmer is asked wouldn’t it be better with underground cabling?
Starmer says:
Yes, in the sense that they’re not obviously overground, but the cost, then, is very, very high. People listening to this will want to know that their energy bills are coming down. And what I don’t want to do is to say to them, well, we’ve gone to renewable energy, but we’ve taken the most expensive route to get there, so I’m afraid your bill is going up.
The prime minister is now being challenged about whether he would be happy having 1,000 solar panels in his garden. As I said, these kind of interviews are pretty tricky to prepare form the questions can be quite unpredictible.
Sean Dunderdale on BBC Radio Lincolnshire is next and the opening question is “Do you have a problem with Lincolnshire, have the people of Lincolnshire upset you in any way? Because you seem to have upset an awful lot of people in the county since you’re elected back in July.”
The first question is about farmers and family farms and inheritance tax.
Keir Starmer begins his reply by saying:
Firstly, in the budget, we allocated £5bn pounds over the next two years to farming. That’s the single biggest amount of money into sustainable food production. That’s hugely important for farmers. Plus money for dealing with flooding, which is always a problem, and the outbreak of disease.
Starmer is trying to argue about the £3m threshold, saying “I do understand the concern.”
A clip is played in of a local farmer asking Starmer to commit to an independent review of the Treasury figures around IHT on farmland. Starmer offers to look into her individual case.
On this issue I very much defer to my colleague Helena Horton’s explainer …
Keir Starmer defends 'difficult budget'
In his first of several interviews on BBC local radio this morning, prime minister Keir Starmer has said “it was a difficult budget.”
“We had to balance the books, and we had to find the money to make sure that we can put our money into our NHS,” saying he thought most people would say it didn’t make sense that the winter fuel payment went to wealthy pensioners who didn’t need it.
Starmer also tried to shoehorn in his messaging on “Respect” orders in a question on energy prices. On the actual issue of energy pricing, Starmer said “in the long term, the way out of this problem is renewable energy, which we can have here in the UK, which is cheaper, and then there’s consistent pricing.”
“When was the last time that you lay awake at night worrying about your bills?” he is asked by Tony Snell of BBC Radio Merseyside. Starmer says he accepts he is in a privileged position and well paid.
Snell brings up Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice, and pensioners dipping into their own pocket to raise £6m for it. “Shouldn’t hospices like this be funded by government, not by cake sales and sponsored walks?” Starmer is asked.
Starmer praises the fundraising effort and says “Sometimes there’s a shortfall, and I’m very grateful to those that have raised money in this particular case.”
Updated
If you want to listen to these Keir Starmer regional radio interviews, the BBC appears to have helpfully gathered them altogether in one stream. The first question is about winter fuel payments.
Keir Starmer to face regional BBC radio interview round
Keir Starmer will shortly be appearing across a range of different BBC local radio stations. This can sometimes be a tricky assignment to prepare for, with the possibility he will get ambushed with local case studies on any number of contentious issues from the first few months of his government.
The prime minister arguably performs better in interviews when faced with tricky questions channelling the public than his predecessors Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss did, but we can probably expect to hear a lot about “the tough choices” Labour are making as a result of the financial situation and state of public services they inherited from the Tories. I will listen in and bring you the key lines as they emerge.
Tony Snell will be interviewing him first on BBC Radio Mersyside. He’s currently playing Material Girl by Madonna.
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent, based in Glasgow
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has u-turned on his plan to “double job” by sitting in Holyrood and the Commons after a furious backlash.
In a statement released on Thursday evening Flynn said bluntly “Hands up, I’ve got this one wrong and won’t be pursuing a dual mandate.”
The ambitious Aberdeen South MP had faced fierce criticism from his colleagues as well as opposition MSPs after he announced that he was planning to stand for the Holyrood seat of Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, held by his SNP colleague Audrey Nicoll. Flynn also confirmed he would aim to hold his Westminster seat until the next general election, due in 2029, but would not accept two salaries.
The SNP has previously been highly critical of the last Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross for holding seats in both parliaments, and Flynn’s colleagues were privately angry at the implication that a Holyrood position does not amount to a full-time job as well as what many see as the high-handed way he’s attempting to oust a respected female colleague.
As we reported yesterday, first minister John Swinney warned the row was becoming a distraction and last night Flynn saw the writing on the wall, insisting his aim was “to save the public purse from unnecessary strain by potentially overlapping the role of an MP and an MSP for a short period” and that he would now consider his options. It’s a pretty embarrassing climbdown and misjudgement for someone considered a future leader by some in the party.
On assisted dying, YouGov has published some polling this morning, and says its data has “consistently shown strong, bipartisan, support for legalising assisted dying for the terminally ill.”
Our study shows that 73% of Britons believe that – in principle – assisted dying should be legal in the UK, compared to only 13% who say it should not.
Firm majorities across all demographic groups are in favour of legalising assisted dying, with relatively little difference between them. Reform UK voters and Conservatives are more likely to be opposed (17-20%) than Labour and Lib Dem voters (8-10%), but more than two-thirds of each voting group are in favour.
My colleague, senior political correspondent Peter Walker, notes on social media that “It’s quite rare to get such broad and strong support for any political measure, particularly something as controversial as this. Wonder if it could influence some undecided MPs ahead of next week’s vote, who are otherwise facing the noise of their email inbox.”
MPs will have a free vote on assisted dying in the Commons, and this morning home secretary Yvette Cooper has indicated she supports a change in the law on assisted dying, but will follow debate on this particular bill closely.
She told Good Morning Britain viewers:
I have voted for change in the past. These are important and difficult issues, and I haven’t changed my view on the principles of this issue.
But I do also recognise that there is a detailed debate to be had on the detail of legislation on the kinds of safeguards and things that need to be in place.
I think I last voted on this about 20 years ago and so I have supported the principle in the past and continue to believe that change is needed. But we do need to have that debate on the detail, and I’ll continue to follow that debate next Friday.
My colleague Graeme Wearden on our business live blog has some bad news for Chancellor Rachel Reeves:
UK business output is contracting this month for the first time in over a year, as the tax increases announced in last month’s budget hit companies.
Data firm S&P Global says British firms are giving “a clear thumbs down” to the measures in Rachel Reeves’s first budget, such as the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions.
Its flash UK PMI Composite Output Index, which tracks activity across the UK economy, has dropped to a 13-month low of 49.9 this month, down from October’s 51.8. That shows a marginal contraction (50 points = stagnation).
You can follow developments with that with Graeme …
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has also reacted to those figures about social care in England from the Nuffield Trust that Patrick Butler has reported on.
Davey said:
These damning figures lay bare the devastating impact of the national insurance hike on social care. The government must immediately do the right thing and exempt care providers from this ill-thought through tax hike.
This hit is creating a perfect storm for a care sector already damaged by the Conservative party’s neglect. Now there is a real danger small care providers will simply not survive.
Ultimately, it’s people in care who will suffer the consequences. The Chancellor must urgently act to help our social care sector before it’s too late.
Patrick Butler is the Guardian’s social policy editor
Large parts of England’s adult social care market face collapse as a result of tax and wage rises announced in the budget, with devastating consequences for vulnerable and older people who rely on care services, a leading thinktank has warned.
The Nuffield Trust said that while the government has consistently spoken of its long term ambition to reform the social care sector, there may be “little of it left” to reform unless it takes urgent action to stabilise the care market financially.
The care sector faced an extra £2.8bn cost burden from next April, the trust estimated, adding most care providers will struggle to shoulder their share of the bill, and at least £1bn extra was needed to keep the market afloat.
Read more of Patrick Butler’s report here: Large parts of adult social care market in England face collapse, thinktank warns
During her interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Yvette Cooper stressed that greater international cooperational was needed to tackle people smugglers.
She said what was being seen was “the complex network of criminal gangs operating right across Europe.”
She continued:
That is why we have set out an approach with new border security commands, with also a big increase in international cooperation and the work that we are doing with other countries. I think that is immensely important.
She argued that after a large increase in Channel crossings in the first half of the year under Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, “that has stabilised now” and “is still down compared to two years ago, 2022.”
Of the crossings, she said they are “really dangerous” and “deeply damaging,” continuing:
It undermines border security, puts lives at risk, and that’s why we’ve been so clear about needing to take action against these criminal gangs, but also to work with other countries right across Europe on the issues that countries are facing.
Co-leader of the Green party of England and Wales, Adrian Ramsay, has been critical of the rise in energy bills. He said:
This energy price cap news will fuel winter fears for millions, including those set to lose their winter fuel allowance. We need more than ever to cut energy use and bills with a nationwide home insulation programme.
Polly Toynbee has written today about this week’s farming protests, asking how will we ever make tax fairer amid such grumbling?
Incidentally, we are anticipating that Keir Starmer, between 11am and noon, will be facing interviews on six different BBC regional radio stations. These media rounds have historically turned out a lot trickier than people often expect – Liz Truss in particular came unstuck.
The prime minister has been posting to social media this morning to promote Labour’s new “Respect” orders. Keir Starmer said:
As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw the terrible effect of antisocial behaviour first-hand - and fought for justice for victims. As prime minister, I am delivering on my promise to tackle it with new respect orders, so people face the consequences of their actions.
He added in a later post:
People say that antisocial behaviour is ‘low-level crime’. They don’t get it. With my government, the perpetrators creating havoc won’t be able to get away with it any more.
Yvette Cooper: Tories had 'weakened the powers that were available for action on antisocial behaviour'
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said Labour’s new “Respect” orders are a modernised version of the Asbo, accusing the Conservatives of having “weakened the powers that were available for action on antisocial behaviour.”
She told viewers of Sky News:
This is a modernised version of Asbos, because we think we have to have stronger action on antisocial behaviour that particularly is blighting town centres.
We’ve seen the collapse of neighbourhood policing in many of our town centres and communities, we’ve also seen the increase in things like shoplifting and street theft and also antisocial behaviour - real problems that are completely unfair on communities.
What the respect orders would do is mean that repeat offenders could be, for example, banned from town centres, that you can put stronger restrictions in place on adults who are repeatedly causing real harassment and havoc in the community, and then make sure that you can take proper arrest action.
PA Media reports she said “The Conservatives weakened the powers that were available for action on antisocial behaviour. We’re strengthening the powers, and also were putting neighbourhood police back on the beat.”
She adds:
You’ve got to have that combination though, the stronger powers, and also the additional neighbourhood police which we have committed to as well, because I think communities feel really let down at the moment by persistent antisocial behaviour.
Ed Davey: 'time for government to live up to their word' on energy bills
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called on the government to freeze people’s energy bills, after Ofgem’s announcement of a rise in the energy price cap in England, Scotland and Wales.
He said:
Enough is enough. This further rise in energy prices cannot go ahead. As we enter another cold and difficult winter, many people simply can’t afford to see their heating bills go up yet again.
The disastrous government cuts to the winter fuel payments coupled with this energy price rise will be a hammer blow for millions of vulnerable pensioners this winter.
The new government must step in now, cancel this bill rise and reinstate winter fuel payments to stop families and pensioners being left out in the cold this winter.
This is a government that has pledged to bring down energy bills, it is time for them to live up to their word.
After energy cap rise, Ed Miliband says 'every wind turbine and solar panel' will bring down prices
An average annual energy bill in England, Scotland and Wales will rise by 1.2% to £1,738 from January, heaping further pressure on household finances.
The energy regulator Ofgem said its quarterly price cap would go up by £21 a year, or about £1.75 a month, for a typical household’s gas and electricity use.
The increase for the January-to-April cap comes on top of a 10% rise for the period between October and December, when it was £1,717 a year.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said:
The rise in the energy price cap will cause concern for families struggling with the cost of living. That is why the government will do all we can to help people.
We are taking action to insulate homes, providing the warm home discount to three million families [a one-off £150 discount off your electricity bill], driving increased take up of pension credit, and working with suppliers to ensure there is help available for the most vulnerable customers.
As long as Britain remains exposed to the rollercoaster of global fossil fuel markets, we will be vulnerable to energy price rises over which we have no control.
Every wind turbine and solar panel we install, every home we insulate will help to protect consumers and bring down bills once and for all.
Supporting Brexit is not a belief that is protected from workplace discrimination, an employment tribunal has ruled, as a former Ukip councillor lost her claim that she was bullied and harassed by her charity employer because she supported the UK’s departure from the EU.
Colette Fairbanks was sacked from her job at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity Change Grow Live after sharing “offensive” posts about immigrants on social media, a tribunal hearing was told.
Fairbanks argued that her political views were philosophical beliefs protected by the Equality Act. These included a belief the UK should be outside of the EU, an opposition to illegal migration and being happy to leave the European convention on human rights.
However the tribunal found that these were not beliefs that were protected by the Equality Act. Wanting to leave the EU was an opinion rather than a philosophical belief
Read more from Jamie Grierson here: Pro-Brexit views not protected from workplace discrimination, tribunal rules
Yvette Cooper: UK needs 'stronger action' on people able to work illegally
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has told listeners of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that she believes stronger action is needed on the ability for people to work illegally in the UK.
Asked about criticism from mayors in northern France that it is very easy for people crossing the Channel to find work and homes in Britain, which acts to draw them, Cooper said:
I think some of the points they’ve been making is about illegal working in the UK. I have to say, I do believe that we do need stronger action on illegal working in the UK.
We’ve seen employers exploit migration, and that’s why, since the Labor government was elected, we’ve increased some of the immigration enforcement visits by around 20% over the summer.
We are increasing returns. So enforced returns again up nearly 20% since the election compared to the previous year. Eeturns have gone up to around 10,000 since the election. And this is about really saying that the rules should be respected and enforced.
Yvette Cooper: Labour having to tackle 'chaos in the UK asylum system'
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has faced a long interview on the BBC Radio 4 about the government’s immigration plans, and said the government is having to tackle “chaos in the UK asylum system.”
Cooper says she believed that Labour’s policies could make a difference. She said:
If you go back five or six years, we didn’t have these dangerous boat crossings happening in the Channel. What’s happened is criminal gangs have been allowed to take hold and create an entire criminal industry.
So we are determined to go after the supply chains, to go after the boats, to go after the engines, but also to go after the gangs themselves. They’ve been allowed to get away with it for too long.
She said the government was “strengthening the enforcement arrangements around the rules, strengthening systems around returns and tackling the chaos in the UK asylum system.”
“We think that can make a difference,” she said, and said there was international co-operation, adding:
I think what people really, across the UK, but also across Europe, want to see is strong border security and also a properly controlled and managed, fair asylum system.
So that those who fled persecution do get support, but those who actually have no right to be in different countries do face proper enforcement of the rules
And we don’t have any of those systems in place at the moment, both here and across Europe, and that’s the action we’re determined to take.
Welcome and opening summary
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics for Friday. Here are the headlines …
An average annual energy bill in England, Scotland and Wales will rise by 1.2% to £1,738 from January, heaping further pressure on household finances
The coronation of King Charles in May 2023 cost taxpayers at least £72m, official figures have revealed
People who persistently demonstrate antisocial behaviour will face up to two years in jail under Labour’s Respect orders, home secretary Yvette Cooper has said
A social media ban for under-16s is “not on the cards at the moment”, minister Peter Kyle has said
More than 5,000 civil service jobs are set to go at the Ministry of Defence in a drive to cut costs, prompting alarm among trade unions
New inheritance tax rules for farmers could be changed to make it easier for those 80 and over to hand down their farm without it incurring the tax
It is Martin Belam with you today. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
