Early evening summary
The Iranian regime and Vladimir Putin’s Russia are “brothers in hatred”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told MPs and peers. As the Press Association reports, the Ukrainian president highlighted co-operation between Tehran and Moscow on Shahed kamikaze drones which had targeted Ukraine and countries across the Gulf. He said Ukraine’s bitter experience had resulted in expertise in combating drone warfare which was now being offered to help countries in the Middle East. Zelenskyy suggested the technology developed in his country could have helped protect RAF Akrotiri from the drone strike which hit it earlier this month. Speaking in a Westminster committee room, Zelenskyy said:
The regimes in Russia and Iran are brothers in hatred and that is why they are brothers in weapons.
And we want regimes built on hatred to never, never win in anything.
And we want no such regime to threaten Europe or our partners.
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Cabinet secretary confirms leak inquiry underway into report about national security council's Iran policy debate
Antonia Romeo, the new cabinet secretary, has confirmed that a formal leak inquiry is taking place into how Tim Shipman, the Spectator’s political editor, was able to obtain information from a national security council meeting about the Iran war.
In his report, published days after the war started, Shipman said that, the day before the war actually started, Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper ganged up to insist that the UK should initially refuse the US permission to use British military bases. Shipman said that Starmer was more keen on allowing the US to use British bases to attack Iranian military bases – a position the UK later adopted, after the war started, after the US submitted a formal request and after Iran started attacking other Gulf states where British citizens are based.
Romeo has disclosed that a leak inquiry is taking place in a letter responding to one sent by Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, who wanted to know if the leak was being taken seriously.
When Theresa May was PM, she sacked Gavin Williamson as defence secretary after he was accused of leaking from a national security committee meeting – a claim he denied.
In a post on social media, Shipman said holding a leak inquiry was an over-reaction.
That the prime minister is in hock to the soft lefties in his cabinet is hardly a state secret
In all seriousness nothing I was told was remotely sensitive from a security point of view. It was politically embarrassing, that’s all. How pathetic
Updated
British military team shoots down five drones in Iraq in one night, defence sources reveal
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor.
A British counter drone team operating near Erbil, Iraq, shot down over five drones last night, the highest number destroyed by a single unit since the start of the Iran war at the end of last month.
Defence sources indicated it was the same unit that last Thursday had shot down two drones during overnight attacks on bases used by western forces in Erbil. A French soldier was subsequently reported killed.
Further details about the latest air raid were limited, though it is understood there were no casualties. The origin of the attack was not identified but it is most likely to have been conducted by pro-Iranian Iraqi militias.
Western forces have long been based around Erbil as part of a counter Islamic State operation that dates back over a decade.
RAF F-35 and Typhoon pilots also conducted air patrols over Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and the Eastern Mediterranean overnight, the Ministry of Defence said. The UK’s Space Command was monitoring Iranian missile launches, it added.
Irish PM Micheál Martin defends Starmer in White House as Trump revives his 'no Churchill' diatribe about him
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Donald Trump has once again criticised Keir Starmer, repeating a jibe that he was “no Winston Churchill” - before the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, stepped in to defend the prime minister during an encounter in the Oval Office.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said:
[Starmer] hasn’t been supporting the United States … I went out of my way [to help the UK with a trade deal]. As you know they couldn’t a deal with Biden because they had no real administration to make a deal. But we went out of our way. We made a deal, We made a good deal for them and frankly probably wasn’t appreciated.
It fell to the Irish leader, in Washington DC for the annual St Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, to engage in a rare moment of public disagreement with the US president, by crossing him not just on his characterisation of Starmer but of other issues including European immigration policies and Ukraine.
“I was disappointed because Keir was willing to send two aircraft carriers after we won,” said Trump, who pointed at a bust of Winston Churchill, adding “Keir is not Winston Churchill.”
Martin was allowed by Trump to interject amid interrupted shouted comments by the press, telling Trump that Starmer was an “an earnest, decent person” who the US president had the capacity to get on with.
Martin said:
Notwithstanding what has happened, the transatlantic relationship between Europe and the US is very, very important on a number of fronts. I think we have had issues over the last year or two but we have settled them …
Keir Starmer has done a lot to reset the Irish British relationship. I just want to put that on the record. I do believe he is a very earnest sound person who I think you have a capacity target on with.
Trump said he agreed with “almost everything” Martin had said, but launched back into fresh criticism of Starmer after being told by a GB News journalist that Starmer was not making the case to the British people for why the UK should join the US in its operations in the Middle East.
Zelenskyy ends speech saying Europe is 'global force' that can stand against any other power
Zelenskyy suggests Ukraine is also protected by its values.
We believe in people, in their rights and freedom. We believe in culture and we want nations to live in real peace, strong peace and communities in respect together.
Europe is a global force – one the world cannot do without and that no one can stand against.
Zelenskyy says European leaders must protect it so “that the future generations will say these leaders acted when it mattered and that people lived in safety.”
He goes on to urge the UK to work with Ukraine, so that in future in Kyiv and in London people will never have to “hide under a drone nest, or live under the concrete without a safe sky, safe land or safe seas, in a world where drones rule instead of people”.
He says that Britain needs “tools like this iPad” (the one he has been talking about them, used by the Ukrainians to coordinate their air defences and monitor attacks and the damage being caused in real time).
He ends by saying he met King Charles this morning, and presented him with one of the iPads. He says the king asked if he had another one. Unfortunately, he didn’t. So the king told him, in that case, he would share his with Starmer.
Zelenskyy says the “dignity of our people” is one of Ukraine’s great strengths.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine did not become expert in technology by chance.
It was a response to war lasting for year, and the result of hard work.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine is winning back territory from Russia.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine will be able to help its allies with its mastery of drone technology
Zelenskyy says Ukraine now has the technology to stop the cheap Shahed drones, used by Russsia. It can stop them in Europe, and in the Gulf, he says.
He explains how this could help Ukraine’s allies.
The evolution of threats never stops. For example, your military bases in in Cyprus. This is what our security proposal could look like. Our experts would place interception teams and set up radars and acoustic coverage, and these would all war if Iran launched a large scale attack similar to Russian attacks. We would guarantee protection. This is the kind of reinforcement we offer, and it may soon be needed across Europe.
And drones can be launched not only from land but also from ships at sea. Such long range strikes are no longer rare. Different countries already use them, and since European seas still have many targets, from Russia’s shadow fleet, launching drones from such vessels is no longer something unexpected.
Ukraine didn’t have a strong navy like Britain or some of our other partners, but we have pushed what is left of Russia’s fleet into distant base in the Black Sea, where the ships hide from Ukrainian sea drones. This is a completely new security reality in our sea. The Russian fleet, which was powerful, has no effective way to counter our drones.
Zelenskyy says soon weapons will run on AI, which can operate more quickly than any human.
He says, if Putin had been pushed back in 2022, the world might have avoided “mass drone warfare”, which is a threat to mankind.
He says some countries think missiles are enought to protect them from drones.
But, on their own, they are not enough. There are has to be a system in place, not just interceptors.
Ukraine needs about 1,000 interceptors per day. And it can produce them at this rate too, he says.
He says Ukraine also has radar that can keep working while signals are being jammed.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine can watch every Russian attack on its cities in detail using technology.
There are almost no nights in Ukraine without Russian attacks, he says.
He says the two main shortages for his country are petrol and drone missiles.
He recalls a night when there were almost 500 attacks on Ukraine. Using iPads, they could see how the Ukrainain defences were performing.
He says they could look at each individual attack to see how it worked. This happens after every attack, he says.
Interceptor drones are the latest defence. They use hundreds of them every day, he says.
He says he is glad there is a project with the UK to produce them.
There are Patriot air defence systems in the Gulf. But these are not enough, but Iran’s offensive systems have developed more quickly.
Zelenskyy warns that cheap drone technology has increased risks of attack
Zelenskyy says Iran started its drone programme years ago. And about three years ago it started supplying them to Russia.
He says the drones being used by Iran now have Russian components.
Ballistic missiles can strike targets thousands of miles away.
If evil wins, it will be able to strike targets on the other side of the world. No oceans or mountains will keep people safe.
That is why security matters, he says.
He says Ukraine tried to live alongside Russia. But it has had two invasions within 10 years.
And regimes like Russians are finding new wars of fighting.
He says an Iranian drone costs about $50,000. Opponents are shooting them down with missiles costing $4m, he says.
With the spread of drones, mass attacks are much cheaper.
And that means it is not just the rich madmen like Putin who pose a threat.
Zelenskyy says there are some Ukrainians already in the Gulf protecting countries from Iranian missiles, and others read to deploy.
This was part of a drone deal he offered to the US, he says.
And Ukraine will offer similar deals to other countries.
He says it would not be wise for people to ignore what Ukraine can offer.
And he says he is glad Ukraine has signed a new security deal with the UK. (See 10.45am.)
Zelenskyy says, in this great building, they are “calm and safe”.
He says people here do not have to worry about drones, or about the reliability of their wifi.
People do not have to live underground for their protection.
He says, with life like this in London, it is almost impossible to imagine life like this ending.
But in Ukraine ordinarly life has ended, he suggests.
He says it is hard to know where modern warfare will end up.
But governments have to stay ahead of this technology, he says.
And they have to be able to tell people that “tomorrow, at least, will be safe”.
He says the duty for this generation of leaders is to deliver real safety.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is speaking now.
He thanks the MPs and peers for their support for Ukraine, and for the support given by the British people.
Together, they have saved many lives.
UK is one of the countries Ukrainians trust most, he says.
Hoyle says the UK won’t be secure until Ukraine is secure.
He says he looks forward to being able to welcome Zelenskyy to the UK when his country is free.
In the meantime, the UK will stand with Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the Commons committee room where he will speak to MPs and peers.
He is being introduced by Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, who says that, although Zelenskyy is welcome, there will be nothing to celebrate until a just peace is in place.
Zelenskyy to address MPs and peers in parliament
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, is about to address MPs and peers in a committee room at the Houses of Parliament.
MSPs to vote on assisted dying bill for Scotland this evening, with supporters worried it has lost majority support
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Proposals for Scotland to be the first part of the UK to legalise assisted dying hinge on a knife-edge vote in the Scottish parliament tonight, following a bruising campaign by critics of the bill.
Expectations are growing that MSPs at Holyrood will reject the assisted dying for terminally ill adults (Scotland) bill by a narrow majority in a free vote at 10pm, despite several years of consultations, drafting and redrafting led by the Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur.
The bill was initially passed in principle by 70 votes to 56 in May 2025; it is thought at least seven of those supporters have switched sides in recent weeks. McArthur said on Tuesday he accepted the final vote at 10pm was on a knife edge. He said:
I’m nervous, and anxious to get this over the line. But I’m absolutely certain if parliament doesn’t grasp this opportunity, that’s not going to make these issues go away. Public support for a change in the law will continue to intensify.
Religious groups and opponents played a large part in tabling more than 320 amendments during the bill’s third and final stage last week, forcing Holyrood to debate them over four days.
Those amendments, some of which were accepted by McArthur, such as introducing fixing a six-month terminal prognosis for eligibility, gave opponents a platform to attack the bill’s primary goal, to legalise self-administered assisted suicide.
Critics argue the bill has insufficient protections against coercion of vulnerable people, including the disabled or infirm, and also claimed the UK government could not be trusted to honour its promises to introduce legal protections and conscience clauses for medical professionals, including pharmacists.
Supporters of the bill believe that strategy echoed the filibustering by peers in the House of Lords which has prevented Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying proposals for England and Wales from being approved before the end of this Westminster session, despite winning majority support in the Commons.
Several royal medical colleges, including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, registered their opposition to the Scottish bill last week after rejecting repeated assurances from the UK government that it would approve all the legal changes to UK legislation needed.
Earlier this month, the pro-choice group Dignity in Dying released an MRP poll from Opinium based on polling 5,000 people which found significant levels of majority support for assisted dying in every constituency in Scotland, including 77% support in John Swinney’s constituency of Perthshire North, 72% in Anas Sarwar’s Glasgow region. Both Swinney and Sarwar oppose the bill.
More than 100,000 UK nationals have returned from Middle East since Iran war started, Cooper tells MPs
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
The number of UK nationals flown back from the Middle East since the start of the conflict with Iran reached 100,000 on Tuesday, Britain’s foreign secretary has said.
This is a third of the 300,000 who were in the region at the outset of hostilities, Yvette Cooper told parliament. Many were stuck when airspace was closed while the figure included tourists and Gulf residents who have temporary left.
However, she was urged by fellow MPs to help many British citizens who were still stuck in the region and those who were said to be struggling to get extensions for visas in the countries where they had gone on holiday before the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Cooper also provided an update on Britain’s part in discussions which could see an international coalition involved in opening the strait of Hormuz, adding that this was “separate from the conflict”.
She said:
The focus at the moment is what the practical measure might be to ensure shipping can be restored as the conflict subsides and so Iran cannot continue with the long term ability to hold hostage the global economy ….
Because it is an international shipping lane, multiple nations need to be involved in planning the way forward. And our discussions will continue to reflect serious, expert military and commercial assessments about what is credible and feasible so that commercial shipping can return as soon as possible as the conflict subsides.
Cooper said Britain was in talks about this with European allies including Germany, Italy and France, as well as with the US and Gulf states.
The Conservative shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, pressed Cooper on what specific commitments Britain had made to Gulf states about helping them protect British bases and allies in the region. She said:
The way in which our friends and close security partners who host British armed forces have been subject to outrageous, unprovoked aggression has been painful to watch. Britain cannot stand by while our allies do the heavy lifting to protect us all.
Cooper replied the UK was providing Gulf countries “with direct military defensive support”, with F35 and Typhoons in the region.
The behaviour and comments of Donald Trump was cited by the Conservative MP and committee chair, Simon Hoare, who asked Cooper if she agreed with him that the US president was becoming “an increasingly unreliable and erratic partner”. He asked her if it was right for the UK to be strategically skeptical and questioning of his motives and pronouncement.
Cooper replied: “Our focus needs to be on the substance of that relationship and the real issues, not on rhetoric or statements.”
Updated
Badenoch calls Trump's recent criticism of Starmer 'very childish'
Kemi Badenoch has described Donald Trump’s recent criticism of Keir Starmer as “very childish”.
Speaking to journalists today, she said:
I’m Keir Starmer’s biggest critic. He’s done a lot of things wrong, but I think the words that were coming out of the White House were wrong.
It’s very childish, this war of words and these spats. They might think that they’re entertaining, but I think the western alliance being involved in a public spat at a time when there’s war in Ukraine, [Volodymyr] Zelensky in the country, there’s a war in Iran.
It’s just unseemly. I think people need to grow up.
There is another version of the soundbite in this clip.
I’m Keir Starmer’s biggest critic, but the war of words coming from the White House is childish. pic.twitter.com/8Gax3Jhwn3
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) March 17, 2026
Given that Badenoch herself is not a politician noted for always being measured, civil and reasonable in what she has to say, it is rather surprising to find her giving lectures to Trump on decorum. It is also unusual because, under her leadership, the Conservative party has become more ‘Maga-adjacent’ than it was in the past, and until now Badenoch has mostly avoided saying anything critical of Trump.
But she may have noticed that Trump’s war in Iran is very unpopular in the UK – and that Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have risen noticeably over the past two months (when he has been in disputes with Trump over Greenland, Nato, the Chagos Islands and Iran), albeit from a very low base. This is from Ipsos polling out two days ago.
Badenoch also said that, unlike Emily Thornberry (see 9.26am), she did want the state visit to the US to go ahead. She said:
The relationship is between the US and the UK, not between Donald Trump and Keir Starmer.
The king is our head of state and actually, he’s going for a very significant anniversary, the 250th anniversary of American independence.
So I do think that makes sense and it also reminds people that there are some people who are above this diplomatic row.
I think the King is a huge asset to our country. He is very much loved. He represents so much about our country – history, tradition – and I think the standards which both Keir Starmer and Donald Trump could actually learn from.
Being in Sinn Féin not the same as being in the IRA, Gerry Adams tells high court
Gerry Adams has told the high court that opponents of Sinn Féin have repeatedly sought to conflate the political party he led with the IRA, as he denied ever being a member of the Irish Republican Army, Haroon Siddique reports.
Zelenskyy thanks UK for standing by Ukraine through 'difficult winter'
In his public remarks at the start of his talks with Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, thanked the UK for its ongoing support.
He said:
Thanks to the UK. You have stood with us all through this difficult winter … God bless, it’s in the past.
Zelenskyy said he would update Starmer on battlefield developments and energy security, saying: “Of course, we can’t sleep, we must move quickly.”
He added: “Also not to forget about our diplomatic efforts and negotiations and where we are with the Americans and with the Russians.”
And he said they would discuss the war in Iran, which he said was having a “big influence” on Ukraine and Europe.
Starmer tells Zelenskyy that he won't let Iran war distract attention from need to keep backing Ukraine
In opening remarks on camera, before their talks started in private, Keir Starmer told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he would not let the war in Iran distract attention from Ukraine.
And Russia should not be allowed to gain from the Iranian war (which has pushed up oil prices and let to the US partially lifting sanctions on Russia), Starmer said:
Starmer told Zelenskyy:
Our resolve is unbreakable.
I think it’s really important that we are clear that the focus must remain on Ukraine.
There’s obviously a conflict in Iran going on, in the Middle East, but we can’t lose focus on what’s going on in Ukraine and the need for our support.
Putin can’t be the one who benefits from a conflict in Iran, whether that’s oil prices or the dropping of sanctions.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at No 10 for talks with Starmer
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has arrived in Downing Street for talks with Keir Starmer.
Cooper tells MPs that Lebanon conflict on brink of widening with 'disastrous humanitarian consequences'
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has told MPs that Lebanon is on the brink of a conflict with “disastrous humanitarian consequences” after Israel’s bombing campaign against Hezbollah.
In a statement to MPs, she said:
I am extremely concerned the country is on the precipice of a widening conflict that risks disastrous humanitarian consequences.
Cooper called for “urgent” diplomatic talks to prevent more escalation. She condemned attacks by Lebanese Hezbollah who have fired rockets into northern Israel, said she supported the sovereignty of Lebanon and and raised concerns about the impact of Israeli Defence Force attacks on Lebanon on civilians.
She said an estimated 1,000 people have been killed and one in seven Lebanese civilians have now been displaced from their homes.
This scale of humanitarian displacement is unacceptable and risk devastating consequences. So this weekend I announced the UK would provide an additional £5 million of essential humanitarian aid.
Today I can announce a further £10m of humanitarian support to provide emergency medical care, shelter and other life saving assistance in Lebanon and the region to prevent further displacement and instability that would risk escalating the regional problems with wider impact on other countries beyond the region too.
Cooper also said that by the end of today the number of British nationals who will have “flown back” from the Middle East since the start of the war against Iran will have reached 100,000.
Reeves asks officials to draw up plans for fiscal devolution
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has been delivering her Mais lecture. On his business live blog, Graeme Wearden says she announced she has asked officials to draw up plans for fiscal devolution.
Graeme says:
This plan will be published at this year’s budget.
It will set out plans to give regional leaders control of a share of some national taxes – which Reeves points out have long been allocated by central governments. It will include income tax, she suggests.
The chancellor says these reforms will begin with places which have the greatest capacity to deliver them and the greatest potential to benefit.
She insists that it is “not about new taxes, and it’s not about higher tax”, promising “I will not ask taxpayers to pay more”.
These reforms will be fiscally neutral, focused on sharing and retaining a portion of existing revenues with the places that generated them, she says.
Reeves promises: “These reforms will represent a permanent transfer of power and resources, not another exercise in local ambition.”
Taxpayers will be able to see what is being delivered with their money and hold local leaders to account for the results, she insists.
She calls it “a genuine break with the past”.
Graeme has more here.
Newly unearthed Nigel Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogans
Nigel Farage has sold videos in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, repeated extremist slogans and supported a man convicted over his involvement in a far-right riot, Henry Dyer and Michael Goodier report. The videos are among several highly questionable clips identified by the Guardian in an investigation into the Reform UK leader’s use of the personalised video platform Cameo.
Helen Whately, the Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent (and shadow work and pensions secretary), said Juliette was a year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school in her constituency. She died from meningitis this weekend. Whately went on:
Her head teacher said of her she was incredibly kind, thoughtful and intelligent and treasured.
I am also a parent of a year 13 student, and my heart goes out to Juliette’s family and the family of the university student who has died.
She asked why schools where pupils may have been affected were not contacted until Monday.
Streeting said he agreed that the government had to look “really hard” at whether more could have been done to notify schools more quickly.
Streeting says he's 'particularly concerned' about childhood vaccination rates, saying NHS not doing well enough
Layla Moran, the Lib Dem chair of the Commons health committee, said her committee has urged the Department of Health to do more to promote vaccine update generally. She said the letter it sent the department about this at the start of March was one of the strongest interventions it has made.
She was referring to this letter, which said:
Vaccinations are one of the most effective public health interventions for protecting the population from serious illness and death. Yet over the last decade, we heard from witnesses that routine vaccination uptake in England has been stagnant or declining. This winter flu vaccination rates for frontline healthcare workers remains low. We were struck by the complacent responses from those witnesses leading the public vaccination system to the ongoing failure to deliver comprehensive, accessible, timely and equitable vaccination services to boost vaccination uptake and protect the public from serious harm.
The failure to ensure 95% coverage for routine childhood immunisations has seen the return of infectious diseases like measles and whooping cough. In January 2026 the WHO announced the UK had lost its measles elimination status due to low vaccination rates and outbreaks of the disease, while a current measles outbreak in Enfield has seen children hospitalised and rapid transmission through communities with low vaccination rates.
In response, Streeting said Moran was right to press the government on this issue. He said this winter’s vaccination campaign was better than the one the year before. But, he went on:
I still don’t think we are doing well enough as a country when it comes to vaccination rates. I’m particularly concerned about childhood vaccine.
He also said he would take the committee’s recommendations on this very seriously.
Streeting explains meningitis symptoms to MPs, and explains how it's spread
In response to a question from Sojan Joseph, Labour MP for Ashford in Kent, Streeting explained how meningitis is spread, and what the symptoms are. He said:
Transmission requires close and prolonged contact to spread. This may be if you live in the same household as someone and, there’s intimate contact, such as kissing, sharing of vapes, drinks, those sorts of things. That’s where the risk exists of spread.
So this is not like some of the other respiratory conditions that we’ve seen more recently. And it is important people understand how this disease has spread because I think people may find that reassuring.
We’ve got a range of symptoms that can present. That can include a rash that does not fade when pressed with a glass, sudden onset of high fever, severe and worsening headache, stiff neck, vomiting and diarrhoea, joint and muscle pain, dislike of bright lights, very cold hands and feet, seizures, confusion or delirium, and extreme sleepiness or difficulty waking.
Those symptoms could also apply to a wide range of other conditions. So as ever, if in doubt, the best thing to do is to seek medical advice.
Streeting backs Lib Dems in condemning anti-vaccine 'political postioning' by some MPs, in jibe at Reform UK
Alison Bennett, the Lib Dem health spokesperson, asked Streeting if he agreed that “all politicians and all political parties have a moral duty to support science over conspiracy theories”.
In comments that seemed to be aimed at Reform UK, she said “it is deeply regrettable that certain parties have not been responsible in this respect in recent months”.
Streeting agreed. He said it was “wonderful” to live in an age when vaccines protected people from diseases that were regular killers in the past. He went on:
There is also a real risk of return to those Victorian conditions because of that misinformation, anti-science, irresponsible political positioning, that we see in certain corners of even this house.
So I really hope that politicians in particular will think carefully and responsibly about our shared duty to the public to help people be protected.
Updated
In response to questions from Stuart Andrew, his Tory shadow, Streeting told MPs that two schools whose pupils were at risk of being affected by the outbreak, Simon Langton grammar school in Canterbury and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham, were contacted first thing on Monday. He said that the government would “look carefully” at whether they should have been contacted earlier.
Streeting says JCVI being asked to consider case for older children to be given MenB vaccine
As for wider cohorts, Streeting said he had asked the Joint Comittee on Vaccination and Immunisation “to re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines”.
He said he was doing this “without prejudicing their decision”.
Streeting says Kent students being offered MenB vaccine in response to meningitis outbreak
Streeting said the vaccine against MenB has only been available on the NHS since 2015. That means students in Kent will not have been covered.
He went on:
Given the severity of the situation, I can confirm to the House that we will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent in Canterbury, which will begin in the coming days.
Updated
Streeting sets out health advice for anyone at risk from current outbreak
Streeting said MenB was uncommon, but “a serious and potentially lethal strain of meningococcal disease”.
He went on:
The onset of illness is often sudden, and early diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics are vital. It doesn’t spread very easily. The bacteria is passed to others after a long period of close contact, for example living with someone in shared accommodation, through prolonged kissing or sharing vapes and drinks.
However, the symptoms are also easily mistaken for other common conditions, even for something like a hangover.
Streeting went on to set out the current health advice.
Anyone who attended Club Chemistry on 5, 6 or 7 March, and anyone who believes they were in close contact with someone who’s confirmed or suspected to have meningitis, should attend a treatment centre and receive antibiotics.
There are four centres open in Canterbury today, with 11,000 doses available on site.
Details about the location of these centres are available on the UKHSA website, and are being promoted by the UKHSA … There is no need to book an appointment.
A single course of antibiotics is highly effective in preventing the contraction and spread of this disease in 90% of cases.
If you become worried about yourself, your child, or a friend, particularly if symptoms are getting worse, please seek medical help urgently. Anyone with symptoms should call NHS 111 or, in an emergency, dial 999 to seek medical attention.
Updated
Streeting said he's confident UKHSA 'acted as quickly and comprehensively as possible' in response to outbreak
Streeting said UKHSA activated a full-scale response on Sunday, when the full scale of the outbreak was recognised.
Antibiotics were issued and by 6pm on Sunday a public health alert had been issued.
Streeting said he was confident UKHSA “acted as quickly and as comprehensively as possible”.
Updated
Streeting said on Saturday evening hospitals reported that several young people were presenting with symptoms suggestive of meningococcal disease.
All those traced were offered precautionary antibiotics, he said. So far, 700 doses have been administered.
Streeting said UKHSA was notified about the first case on Friday 13 March. It began tracing close contacts of the patient’s.
On Saturday UKHSA was in touch with the University of Kent to ensure they had the necessary support.
And on Saturday it was contacted by the French authorities, who “alerted UKHSA to a second confirmed case in France from an individual who had attended the University of Kent”.
Streeting says meningitis outbreak 'unprecedented', with 2 deaths, 4 cases confirmed and 11 under investigation
Wes Streeting starts his statement by saying his thoughts are with the families of the two young people who have died.
He says, given the sensitivity of this issue, it is important to stick to the facts.
He says this is “an unprecedented outbreak”.
He says, as of 9.30am this morning, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed four cases of group B meningococcal disease (which is known as MenB). And 11 cases are under investigation, he says.
He goes on:
The two deaths are associated with this cluster. The majority of cases linked back to the Club Chemistry nightclub over the dates of 5, 6 and 7 March and their associated networks. Club chemistry is currently closed voluntarily.
Streeting says these figures will be updated by UKHSA every morning at 9.30am.
Streeting to make statement to MPs about meningitis outbreak
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is about to make a statement to MPs about the meningitis outbreak.
Here is a Q&A on this by Nicola Davis published yesterday.
And here is our latest story, by Matthew Weaver.
After the Streeting statement, Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, will make a statement about the Middle East. And then Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, will make one about youth employment, covering the plans announced yesterday.
Farage say king's visit to US 'absolutely must go ahead'
Q: Do you think the king’s visit to the US should still go ahead?
Farage replied:
There are considerable tensions between the American president and the British prime minister, that is true. And they appear to be worsening, frankly, by the day. I would say that makes the king’s visit even more imperative.
And later he said “the king’s visit absolutely must go ahead”.
Q: [From the Sun] The amount of rubbish on the streets in London is “disgusting” and “feral”. What are you going to do about that?
Farage says he is going to ask all 450 branches of Reform UK to organise litter-picking days in their local communities. He says some branches have already done this, wearing Reform UK tabards. He claims he was planning to announce this later, but says he is mentioning it now in response to the question.
Q: Can you guarantee that, under a Reform UK government, pensions who only get the state pension won’t pay income tax?
Farage says Robert Jenrick, the Treasury spokesperson, will make an announcement about pensions policy soon, which will also cover the pensions triple lock.
Q: Do you agree with Rachel Reeves that we need closer alignment with the EU to increase growth?
Farage choked, or pretended to choke, as if the idea that he might think this was preposterous. He went on:
The world has changed. Quite how you help the British economy by aligning more closely with a group of other economies, some of whom are doing even worse than we are, I just don’t know.
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Q: Do you think Donald Trump made a mistake by not anticipating that Iran might close the strait of Hormuz?
Farage said he did not know what the US intelligence assessment was.
But he said that he thought Trump launched the attack because he genuinely believed the Iranians were on the verge of obtaining a nuclear bomb.
Farage claims Starmer has made 'big strategic mistake' by not backing US over Iran
In response to another question about Donald Trump and the way, Farage claimed that UK foreign policy was “now being being governed by domestic concerns about a growing number of people with radical Islamic views who’ve actually been out bemoaning the death of the ayatollah”.
This is a claim the Conservatives have also been making.
Farage also claimed that not supporting the US in the war was a “big strategic mistake” by Keir Starmer. He repeated his point about how the UK could have backed the US without having to join the bombing missions.
Farage claims there is now 'no chance' of US agreeing Chagos Islands deal in light of Iran war developments
Q: Is what Trump is doing in Iran right or wrong?
Farage said that, in the light of the UK’s response to President Trump’s war, there was now “absolutely no chance now of the Americans agreeing to the Chagos handover”, because Mauritius said they would not approve of Diego Garcia being used as a base for an attack on Iran.
He said he would have “aided and assisted the Americans from day one” in the war against Iran.
But that was not the same as the UK joining in those attacks, he said. He said Britain did not have the capacity to help in a significant way.
Farage said Reform UK would impose 'very, very tough' benefit cuts to help fund higher defence spending
Q: [Forster’s second question] How will you find extra money for defence spending?
Farage said that Reform UK would save money by cutting net zero policies. But he went on:
But look, the brutal truth is that we just can’t go on with the benefits bill. Over £300bn. And that is going to involve some very, very tough choices.
And there will be people that don’t like what needs to be done. But I’m afraid it has to be done and we will have the courage to face up to that, however loud some of the screams may be.
Farage defends Tice's tax avoidance scheme, rejecting claims it flouts Reform UK 'stop offshore taxpayer rip off' pledge
At the Reform UK event they are now taking questions. Farage says he will take most of them himself.
Q: [From Katherine Forster from GB News] In your 2024 manifesto you said you would “stop the offshore taxpayer rip off”. How does that square with Richard Tice using offshore arrangments to minimise his tax bill?
Farage says that manifesto commitment referred to companies operating in the care home sector.
But he defends Tice. He says:
I want to be clear about this on tax. Richard Tice has obeyed the law. He’s filed his accounts on time. He’s obeyed the law in every way, and no one pays more tax than they have to. You don’t I don’t. No one does.
He claims criticism of Tice is unfair, and comes from people who do not undertand how businesses operate.
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Nigel Farage is speaking now at the Reform UK event.
The website promoting the lottery is up. It is called nigelcutmybills.com.
Reform UK announces lottery, with winner getting energy bills paid for year, to promote announcement about VAT cut on energy
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, Robert Jenrick, his Treasury spokersperson, and Richard Tice, his business spokesperson, are holding their press conference now. As the BBC reports, they will commit the party to getting rid of VAT and green levies on energy bills.
There is a live feed here.
They are also announcing a lottery prize draw, open to anyone, with Reform UK paying energy bills for the winner, and their whole street, for a year.
This sounds illegal – buying votes is against the law in the UK – but the party insists that this stunt is allowed, presumably because it is open to anyone to take part and potential winners do not have to commit to voting Reform UK.
But, still, it is unusual in Britain for a party to use giveaways like this as a campaigning strategy. The party staged a similar stunt last week when it paid to cut the cost of petrol by 25p a litre for a day for drivers using a petrol station near Buxton. It was doing this to promote a policy announcement about cutting fuel duty.
Today’s ploy is reminiscent of Elon Musk’s decision to set up a lottery with a prize of $1m for voters registering to vote in swing states ahead of te 2024 UAS presidential election. This was deemed legal, even though it was seen as a move to help Donald Trump.
The lottery sounds like a costly commitment from the party. But Reform UK is swimming in cash at the moment, and this will probably end up as a successful data-harvesting exercise; people will have to provide contact details to end, and this is hugely useful for parties for campaigning purposes.
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Funding for community radio stations to double under local media strategy announced by Lisa Nandy
Funding for community radio stations will double (to £1m per year) and the government will spend more of its advertising budget with local media (including “hyperlocal news titles”), under a local media strategy being announced today. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, will speak about it at a conference this afternoon. In a news release, she says:
This strategy will provide unprecedented funding for local media outlets to invest in innovation and infrastructure, almost tripling the size of funding for community radio, harnessing the power of local and national government and giving more young people access to high quality journalism and the opportunity to pursue careers in it.
Because local media was and always has been a ladder of opportunity to help new voices break into journalism. This is not a nice to have. It is essential to a cohesive country. Our debate is too narrow and too small. We will change that. The strategy we publish today is the start – not the end point – and we recognise there is more to do. But it is the start of a new approach to local media, which nurtures it and places it directly at the heart of our government’s support for our country. Because the future of news is local.
UK to fund AI team in Ukrainian Ministry of Defence as part of new partnership agreement
Downing Street has announced a new defence partnership with Ukraine as President Zelenskyy is visiting London today.
In its news release, it says:
The UK and Ukraine are set to agree a new world-leading partnership to boost global defensive capability against the the proliferation of low cost, high tech military hardware, including drones …
As part of the agreement, the UK and Ukraine will also look at opportunities for increased defence industrial and technological cooperation with third countries, boosting international security and ensuring the latest defence technology is in the hands of those who need it most.
The UK will also fund a new AI Centre of Excellence that will sit within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. This team of experts, backed by £500,000, will ensure AI is being utilised to its fullest to deliver a battlefield advantage. The UK will then in turn benefit from the lessons learned for our own defence - another example where our collaboration brings advantages for both countries.
Streeting urged to make Commons statement about meningitis outbreak in Kent
The Tories want Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to make a statement to MPs later about the meningitis outbreak in Kent. Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary and MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, told Sky News this morning that she had told Streeting that she thought it would be “very good” to have a ministerial statement.
Here is our latest story about the outbreak, which has already killed two young people.
Here are pictures of some of the ministers arriving at No 10 for cabinet this morning (and Lucy Powell, who is not a minister but who is attending political cabinet as deputy Labour leader).
UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says Liz Kendall
The UK will not let quantum computing talent slip through its fingers and must learn lessons from US dominance of the AI race, Liz Kendall, the technology secretary has said, as the government announced a £1bn quantum funding pledge. Dan Milmo has the story.
Government defeated in Lords on pensions bill as peers vote down plan to let ministers tell pension schemes where to invest
The House of Lords last night inflicted three defeats on the government over its plans to reform private pensions, the Press Association reports. PA says:
The pension schemes bill aims to increase benefits for members of defined contribution schemes by providing them with more information about their pensions and retirement options, consolidating savings pots and securing better returns.
Controversially, the bill includes a reserve power that would force pension schemes to invest in productive assets meant to benefit the UK economy.
This has raised concerns that this could interfere with the duty of trustees to act in the best interests of their members, known as fiduciary duty.
Conservative backbench peer Lady Noakes tabled an amendment that would ensure that this mandation could not apply to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
Noakes said: “I’ve tabled amendment four to ensure that the power cannot be used to tell local government schemes to invest in particular assets, asset classes or location of investment. I firmly believed that fiduciary duties are paramount and should never be interfered with by the government, whether in relation to public sector schemes like the LGPS or private sector ones.”
Responding, Labour frontbencher Lord Katz said the bill “allows the government to make regulations specifying matters that administering authorities must or may cover in their investment strategy”.
He said: “It is not designed to permit government to dictate what that strategy says.”
Lord Katz said the provision will be used to require LGPS investment strategies to include an approach and target range for local investment, high level funding objectives and an approach to responsible investment, and a strategic asset allocation.
However, it remains for LGPS administering authorities to determine what those objectives, approaches, asset allocations and target ranges will be.
Peers backed the amendment by 276 votes to 165, a majority of 111.
The government was also defeated on a Tory amendment to improve transparency around the assumptions and level of prudence applied in LGPS actuarial variations (by a majority of 24), and on a Tory amendment to make interim reviews of employer contribution rates more accessible and transparent (by a majority of 27).
Trump says he's expecting king's state visit to US to go ahead
Yesterday Donald Trump confirmed that he expects the king’s state visit to the US to go ahead at the end of April. As the Mail reports, speaking about his plan to build a new, mega ballroom on the east wing of the White House, Trump said he needed a facility like this because of the weather in Washington. He explained:
And you know the land in Washington was built on a swampy wetland.
And when it rains, and you have the King of Saudi Arabia ... the King of the UK, I would say King of England, a great guy, he’s coming in very soon. And when it rains, you know what happened? And the rain would go over their feet.
Labour's Emily Thornberry backs calls for king's state visit to US to be postponed given Iran war and US rift with its allies
Good morning. Keir Starmer is chairing cabinet this morning, and government business is still dominated by foreign policy. Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is in the Commons later where she will give an update on the UK’s response to the US-Israeli war against Iran, doubtless firming up the line set out by Starmer yesterday.
And Starmer himself is meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, and Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general.
European leaders are not enthusiastic about fighting Tehran, but they are very committed to supporting Ukraine, and alarmed that about the only country that has gained from the Iran war at no cost is Russia. This is bound to come up this afternoon.
Starmer has largely resisted the temptation to hit back at Trump’s endless provocations, which escalated yesterday when the president accused the PM of dithering and being over-reliant on his advisers. But this morning Starmer is being encouraged to engage in some soft power retaliation – by cancelling the king’s state visit to the US planned for next month.
Until now calling for the state visit to be postponed has primarily been an Ed Davey obsession – and once an idea becomes a Lib Dem policy, the chances of Starmer endorsing it tend to plummet. But this morning Emily Thornberry, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, also endorsed the idea, which means it has a toehold in Labour mainstream thinking, and makes it a bit more credible as a potential option.
In an interview on the Today programme, asked if she favoured postponing the visit, Thornberry said:
If it was to go ahead next month – the dates haven’t been confirmed, but everybody seems to think it’s going to be next month – it would go ahead against a backdrop of a war and that, I think, is quite difficult. The last thing that we want to do is to have Their Majesties embarrassed.
The visit is meant to be taking place at the end of April. It is possible, of course, that the war could be over by then, but there is no guarantee of that, given that Trump does not seem have have an exit strategy, and the Iranian regime is intact and committed to keeping the fight going.
In the inteview Thornberry went on:
I think it needs to be thought through very carefully as to whether or not it’s appropriate to go ahead now, or maybe have a limited program, or delay it. But we can’t just pretend that there isn’t a background of war.
When pressed as to what she thought should happen, Thornberry said:
I suspect it would be safer to delay it, but I don’t know the details.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Keir Starmer chairs a meeting of the cabinet, including a political cabinet.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in east Surrey.
11am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, and Robert Jenrick, his Treasury spokesperson, hold a press conference. As the BBC reports, they are going to proposing getting rid of VAT and green levies on energy bills – as well as announcing a lottery prize draw, open to anyone, with Reform UK paying energy bills for the winner, and their whole street, for a year.
11.30am: David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
After 12.30pm: Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, makes a statement to MPs about the US-Israel war against Iran.
1.30pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, delivers the Mais lecture. As Graeme Wearden reports on his business live blog, she will identify innovation and AI, closer ties with Europe, and regional growth as three big opportunities for economic growth in the UK.
Afternoon: Starmer meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, in Downing Street. Starmer is also meeting Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general.
Afternoon: MPs debate all stages of the ministerial salaries (amendment) bill, which will increase the number of government ministers who can be paid a salary from 109 (the limit set in an act passed in 1975) to 120.
3.40pm: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, gives a speech at the Society of Editors conference.
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