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.
