Labour dismisses Badenoch's proposed 'national pothole patrol' as 'gimmick'
If you vote Conservative in the English local elections, Kemi Badenoch will come out personally and fix the pothole at the end of your road.
That, of course, is not true. But it is the impression given by the photocall she has taken part in this morning. She was promoting Tory plans for what they call a “national pothole patrol”.
This is what the party says about how it would work.
Under the plan, a new national pothole patrol will be backed by £112.5m to deploy hundreds of modern, specialist road-repair machines directly to councils, fixing potholes faster, at scale, and where they are worst. This will cost £225m in total with our golden economic rule where at least half of every pound we save will go towards cutting the deficit. This is funded by savings made from the government’s communications contracts with external consultants.
It comes as Britain’s roads reach breaking point under Labour. 12.8 million drivers suffered pothole damage last year, while the repair backlog has hit a record £18.6bn.
The Conservatives will also introduce a single national reporting platform, replacing the current mess of local websites so drivers can report potholes quickly and repairs can be targeted where they are needed most.
This will end the current patchwork approach and deliver a coordinated national effort to repair Britain’s roads properly.
Badenoch was wearing a personalised jacket with the slogan ‘Kemi’s pothole patrol’ on the back. Earlier this week she was wearing another personalised jacked in Scotland. Badenoch’s approval ratings are higher than her party’s, and the Tory campaign seems to be prioritising her ‘brand’.
Responding to the Tory announcement, a Labour spokesperson said:
The Tories spent 14 years failing to fix our roads, leaving drivers to deal with a pothole crisis on their watch. Now they’re offering gimmicks instead of taking responsibility for the mess they created.
After years of Tory neglect, this Labour government is delivering the biggest-ever investment in road maintenance, with a record £7.3bn boost to local roads – enough to fill millions of potholes every year – alongside a new traffic light rating system to hold councils to account.
And this is was Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminster, has said about Keir Starmer’s press conference.
Today’s update from Keir Starmer will offer little comfort to families and businesses across Wales who are already paying the price of rising energy costs. For many, this crisis is not on the horizon. It is already here.
People who are not protected by the price cap because they are off-grid are being hit first and hardest, with government support leaving the vast majority without help. Many more now face an anxious wait ahead of a likely rise in the price cap in July.
This crisis is driven by global instability, including the conflict in Iran, but its impact is falling unevenly. In Wales, higher standing charges and poorer energy efficiency mean people are paying more as a baseline. Combined with the fact that many households rely on heating oil and LPG, a one size fits all approach simply does not work when costs are so different.
Plaid is calling for a four-nations summit to agree a policy on energy support.
Here is a statement from Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, that the Conseratives have put out in response to the Keir Starmer press conference.
Keir Starmer’s Labour blame everyone but themselves.
Britain is weaker because of Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband’s choices. Tax hikes and Labour’s net zero obsession are driving up costs and hitting families in the pocket.
Reeves offers nothing but more borrowing, more taxes, more welfare – and working people are paying for Labour’s spending spree. Hardworking families are almost £1,000 worse off this year, while those on benefits get ever more cash.
Only the Conservatives will Get Britain Drilling in the North Sea, axe the fuel tax hike, cut bills by £200, lower taxes, and deliver a stronger economy and a stronger country.
This is routine political boilerplate which, of itself, is of no real interest at all.
But what is interesting is that the Tories have cobbled together four paragraphs without once addressing the key point of the press conference – Starmer’s suggestion that the UK must align more closely with the EU.
In the past the Tories would vocally condemn any attempt to unwind Brexit. And, while Starmer argued the UK did not have to choose between the US and Europe, the Tories were happy to make a choice – Washington.
Stride’s statement today suggests that they are less confident in both of those positions. They are also mindful, of course, of public support for closer relations with the EU.
Reform UK and Nigel Farage have also not, as yet, responded to what Starmer said about Europe on their social media feeds. Farage says relatively little about Brexit these days, for reasons that are fairly obvious.
(The Mail, though, has not given up fighting for Brexit. The MailOnline story about the press conference is headlined: “PM declares war on Brexit.”)
Scottish Greens call for king to lose tax breaks
The Scottish Greens are calling for the king to lose the tax breaks he gets in Scotland. They are opposed to the monarchy as an institution, but they are saying that if they were in power in Holyrood they would end the exemption that allows the king to buy property in Scotland without paying the land and buildings transaction tax.
Most taxes were the monarchy enjoys an exemption are controlled by the UK government, but this is one that is devolved to Holyrood.
In a statement, Ross Greer, the Scottish Green co-leader, said:
With costs soaring and people being priced out of everyday essentials, it is ridiculous that so much public money is given to one super-rich and scandal-ridden family based on who their ancestors were.
The king is one of the richest men in the world and one of the biggest landowners in Scotland. He doesn’t need even more perks, and he shouldn’t be given a free pass from paying taxes simply because of the wealthy family he was born into.
Swinney declines to back calls for SNP candidate to quit over complaints about how she handled council sexual assault case
The SNP’s selected candidates “will go forward for election”, first minister John Swinney has said, amid calls for a Central Scotland list candidate to resign, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Tracy Carragher, leader of the SNP group on North Lanarkshire Council, is being urged to step down over her handling of sexual assault allegations against former council leader Jordan Linden.
Linden was convicted of 10 separate offences following a trial at Falkirk sheriff court. The convictions included five sexual assaults.
Carragher, who is a list candidate for Central Scotland at the May election, is facing calls to resign after audio clips from a 2022 meeting were made public in which she voiced support for Linden after reports of his crimes.
Swinney has announced an independent review of the SNP’s complaints process.
Speaking to PA. Swinney said: “It’s really important that in all of these situations, we listen to the voices of those who complain and that we address those issues, and that’s exactly the approach that the SNP is taking.
“The review that I have set out will explore and examine all the ways in which these issues have been handled and those issues will be resolved by the SNP.”
When asked by PA if he had confidence in Carragher, Swinney responded: “The party selected its candidates and its candidates will go forward for election.”
On US v Europe, has Starmer finally made his choice? Snap verdict on his press conference
Keir Starmer made two announcements at his press conference this morning. With both, it is hard to tell how significant they will turn out to be – although “questionable” and “potentially, very” might serve as a useful, initial guess.
The PM started by announcing that Britain is convening a meeting of up to 35 nations that are willing to play a role in keeping the strait of Hormuz open. (See 10.18am.) This sounds like an important initiative, and the fact that the meeting is going ahead does show that the UK still exercises some diplomatic clout. But it is very hard to see what this might mean in practice. These 35 countries are not joining the war to support the US. Starmer is talking about some sort of operation to get the strait open after the main conflict has finished, which might be necessary because Trump has suggested he could halt the war with the strait still closed. But if the Iranians are still determined to attack shipping in the strait, the UK and other countries are not likely to dispatch navy ships that might end up as targets, or to launch their own bombing raids against Iranian missile sites. And if the Iranians have lifted the threat to attack shipping, what is there left to do? Mine clearing, perhaps – with Iranian consent? The government may give more details soon, but at the moment it is hard to see how this could make a big difference.
More significant, potentially, was what Starmer said about Europe. As the Sun’s Jack Elsom pointed out, Starmer has always insisted that the choice between the US and Europe is a false one, and that it is in Britain’s best interests to hug them both. (See 11.03am.) But today it sounded like Starmer was choosing; he did not explicitly say that the Trump presidency made the US an unreliable ally, but it obviously has, Starmer knows this as well as anyone, and today he clearly implied that he will respond accordingly. (See 10.24am.)
He also implied that he wants more alignment with EU standards (see 10.57am), in what might be seen a single market membership-lite (assuming the EU allow it – which is by no means certain given their concerns about cherrypicking).
This was not a Harold Macmillan-style ‘Europe is our destiny’ speech. If Brexit does get reversed, it won’t happen in a big, handbrake turn, but in small, incremental shifts. But this is a shift; Elsom was right; although Starmer denied it, he did sound like someone who has made a choice – Europe, not the US.
Quite where this will go, who knows? It is not just a matter of what Trump does, and what Starmer thinks. How the Uk’s relationship with the EU will evolve will depend on domestic politics too, and it may turn out that Brussels offers very little in terms of closer alignment. But, potentially, this could turn out to be meaningful day for post-Brexit policy.
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Starmer describes Trump's Nato threats as 'noise', and says they won't stop him acting in national interest
Q: How seriously do you take President Trump’s threat to withdraw from Nato?
Starmer repeated the suggestion that this was Trump using a threat as a negotiating tactic. (See 10.32am.) He said:
There’s been a good deal of pressure on me to change my position in relation to joining the war. And I’m not going to change my position on the war.
So, whatever the pressure, whatever the noise, I’m the British prime minister, and I have to act in our national interests.
I should say that on defence and security and intelligence, we’re obviously working closely with the US, as we always do.
And in relation to the planning on the strait of Hormuz, of course, that involves talking to the Americans, as well.
That was the last question at the press conference.
Starmer does not accept that he is choosing Europe over America as UK's best long-term partner
Q: [From Jack Elsom from the Sun] Do the manifesto commitments not to join the single market or the customs union still stand? And in the past you said you would not be forced to choose between the US and the EU. But are you now choosing Europe over America?
Starmer said the manifesto commitments remain. But the manifesto also said Labour wanted a closer relationship with the EU, he said.
He went on:
I’m not going to choose, because I think it’s in our interest to have a strong relationship with the US and with Europe.
But I do think that, when it comes to defence and security, energy emissions and the economy, we need a stronger relationship with Europe.
I actually think that will help strengthen our relationship with the US because, successive presidents have said that Europe needs to do more on their defence and security.
I’ve long argued that with European colleagues that we should be doing more. And that’s not just, for example, on defence spend; it’s also on how we spend, how we collaborate, cooperate.
And that’s why I’ve focused on deals, for example, that we’ve done with Norway in relation to frigates. Really good deal, very good for trade, very good jobs in the Clyde.
But really importantly, the inter-operability of the frigates. We can have our crews on their frigates, they can have their crews on our frigates. That to me is the future of a stronger European defence, which is bringing together the capability that we’ve had.
Starmer says he is 'ambitious [to] do more' in relation to alignment with EU single market
Q: [From the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot] You have ruled out joining a customs union with the EU. Are you planning something more like rejoining the single market? Would that be good for the economy?
Starmer said that the UK and the EU have already taken “steps … in relation to the single market” and he said he was “ambitious that we can do more in relation to the single market, because I think that’s hugely in our economic, interests”.
(Starmer seemed to be referrring to alignment with EU standards – rather than formally joining the single market.)
He went on:
Obviously, this is a matter of negotiation and discussion with the EU. but, the summit we have this year will not be just be a stock-take summit where we look at actually the 10 strands that we put in place last year.
It will be a deliberate, ambition on our part to go further than that and to cooperate more deeply, including in the economic sphere.
Starmer ducks question on whether king should meet Epstein victims on state visit
Q: [From Natasha Clark at LBC] Do you support calls for the king to meet victims of Jeffrey Epstein when he goes to the US? And why do you think polls show that only 10% of the public think you are doing well on the cost of living?
On the cost of living, Starmer said he does not think everybody knows that fuel bills are coming down this quarter as a result of decisions taken by the government.
I want as many people as possible to know that that’s the case, because I know they’re going to be anxious.
And, on the king, Starmer just said it was a long-planned visit. He did not address the Epstein question.
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Q: People say you have been dithering. When will you give details of the energy support package that you will set out?
Starmer says:
A lot of the measures on the cost of living were measures that were taken at the budget last year. So we were ahead of this.
On energy, Starmer says fuel bill are far less of a problem for people during the summer.
He says the energy bill people get for the summer accounts for only 7% of the annual cost.
It doesn’t mean [people are] not worried about it, but I think most people would be looking to watch the one that comes when it gets colder later in the year.
He says the government is working on contingency plans that would cover the autumn energy bills.
A lot of it will depend on how long the conflict goes on, how quickly the straits are opened, because it’s very difficult to assess at the moment what might be needed …
In the end, the focus has to be on de-escalation.
Q: [From Andy Bell from 5 News] Isn’t it time to tell people they need to start changing their behaviour because of this crisis?
Starmer repeats points he has already made, saying the government has a five-point plan, it is monitoring the situtation, and de-escalation is neeed.
Starmer declines invitation to tell drivers to use less petrol
Q: [From Sky News’ Lucy McDaird] Do you think people should change their behaviour now, in terms of using petrol?
Starmer says the government is monitoring the situation carefully. He says the best thing that could happen for petrol prices would be de-escalation in the Gulf.
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Starmer suggests Trump's Nato threat an attempt to put pressure on UK and other allies
Q: [From ITV’s Harry Horton] Donald Trump says today he might pull out of Nato. Is your reference to a closer relationship with the EU an acknowledgment that the relationship with the US is changing?
Starmer replies:
Firstly, Nato is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen. And it has kept us safe for many decades. And we are fully committed to Nato.
Secondly, that, whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions that I make.
And that’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war, and we’re not going to get dragged into it.
But I’m equally clear that, when it comes to defence and security and our economic future, we have to have closer ties with Europe.
Starmer is now taking questions.
Q: [From the BBC’s Henry Zeffman] No one thinks the government will push ahead with the fuel duty rise in the autumn. Can you confirm it won’t happen?
Starmer says fuel duty is frozen until September. The government will keep this under review, he says.
Starmer says summit with EU later this year will lead to 'more ambitious' plans for cooperation
Starmer says he will push for a closer relationship with the EU at a summit coming up later this year.
As the chancellor has rightly pointed out, Brexit did deep damage to our economy and the opportunities to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living are simply too big to ignore.
So in the coming weeks, we will announce a new summit with our EU partners.
And I can tell you that at that summit the UK will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year’s summit.
We want to be more ambitious, closer economic cooperation, closer security cooperation, a partnership that recognises our shared values, our shared interest and our shared future.
Starmer says, with global volatility, UK's long-term national interest requires 'closer partnership' with EU
Starmer rattles through a list of other measures taken by the government to help with the cost of living.
But he says, in the future, “it is not going to be easy”.
He goes on:
We will continue to stand up for the British national interest, and we continue to do what we must to guide our country calmly through this storm.
However, it is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union.
Starmer says he understands why people are concerned about the cost of living.
He says he has already set out a five-point plan to deal with the crisis.
And he says the government was already working on measures to make Britain more secure and resilient.
Just look at what’s happening today. Today your energy bills will be cut because of the action that we took at the budget. And whatever happens in Iran, that price is now fixed until July.
Starmer says UK to host meeting later this week with other nations willing to work together to reopen strait of Hormuz
Keir Starmer is speaking now.
He says the UK has been speaking to nations interested in helping to keep the strait of Hormuz open.
And he says Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, will chair a meeting later this week with counterparts from other countries who are interested in helping.
He says:
The most effective way we can support the cost of living in Britain is to push for de-escalation in the Middle East, and a reopening of the strait of Hormuz, which is such a vital route for energy.
To that end, we’re exploring each and every diplomatic avenue that is available to us.
The foreign secretary and the chancellor have met their counterparts in the G7. The defence secretary has been in the Middle East speaking to our partners, and the UK has now brought together 35 nations around our statement of intent to push as one for maritime security across the Gulf.
And today I can announce that later this week, the foreign secretary will host a meeting that brings those nations together for the first time, where we will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers, and resume the movement of vital commodities.
'You don't even have a navy' - Trump returns to taunting Starmer and UK
Here are some extracts from Donald Trump’s interview with the Telegraph’s Connor Stringer.
Asked if he would reconsider US membership of Nato, Trump said:
Yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration.
I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.
Referring to the UK, he said:
You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work.
Asked if he thought Keir Starmer should spend more on defence, Trump said:
I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof.
Trump claims he is considering taking US out of Nato
Keir Starmer’s press conference is now due to start at 10.15am.
To liven things up, the Telegraph has just published an interview with Donald Trump in which the president says that he is seriously considering pulling out of Nato, and suggests that the UK does not have a proper navy.
Peter Kyle, the business secretary, was telling people to carry on as normal this morning, in the light of concerns about fuel shortages. (See 9.24am.) In an analysis, Heather Stewart, the Guardian’s economics editor, suggests this might be the wrong message.
Here is an extract.
As the oil price surges once more, there are growing fears the government’s “don’t panic” messaging may be underplaying the scale of the challenges ahead and crowding out sensible advice on cutting consumption.
“It’s the wrong message,” says Andrew Sissons, the director of the climate programme at research foundation Nesta, referring to the government’s communications so far on the war’s impact. “The reality is that the global supply of oil and gas is going to be down by maybe 20%. It’s a supply crisis, which means everybody needs to consume less” …
Jill Rutter, of the Institute for Government thinktank, once a senior civil servant in the Treasury, says she would prefer a message that was more like “keep calm, but you can probably find some quite useful savings,” adding: “There are things you can do to manage down your consumption.”
Labour is understandably keen to avoid anything that might smack of the “nanny state”, let alone the dread word “rationing”. But the risk is that, as the conflict continues, “keep calm and carry on” sounds increasingly adrift from reality.
And here is the full article.
Iran war could drive UK food inflation to 9% this year, Food and Drink Federation warns
Food inflation could soar higher than 9% by the end of 2026 as war in the Middle East risks pushing up the cost of living for British households, a trade body has predicted. The Press Association reports:
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents 12,000 food and drink manufacturers, hiked its inflation forecast for the year in light of the conflict.
Economists for the trade body are now predicting that food inflation will reach at least 9% by the end of the year, up from the 3.2% that it had forecast in September last year.
The shift has been caused by the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz and disruption and damage to energy infrastructure in the Middle East.
The FDF said the situation is fast-changing, but its revision to the inflation forecast is based on the assumption that the strait of Hormuz opens to cargo traffic within the next two to three weeks and the majority of key facilities, such as oil, gas and fertiliser sites, return to normal within a year.
Oil prices have been falling, and the stock market rising, after Donald Trump signalled the Iran war would end within two to three weeks, Graeme Wearden reports. He has more on his business live blog.
Kyle defends government's decision to go ahead with king's state visit to US
In his interview Peter Kyle also defended the government’s decision to go ahead with the state visit to the US in April. (Although notionally the king is accepting an invitation from the president, the king acts on the advice of the government and ultimately it was Keir Starmer who took the final decision about the visit going ahead.)
Asked if he was worried about Trump insulting the PM in the presence of the king, Kyle told Sky News:
I think it is really important that the king, at this is very challenging time when it comes to rhetoric, is there showing that our two peoples have such affection for each other, despite all of the challenges in the relationship.
It is still a relationship where the deals that we signed have always endured.
Kyle also suggested that Trump’s insults should not always be taken at face value. Referring to the president’s increasingly aggressive comments about the UK and other Nato allies that have not fully supported his war in Iran, Kyle said:
We have a very unconventional president, he uses the bully pulpit on social media very effectively. He dominates a lot of debate. Let’s just see what actually happens …
He uses rhetoric to destabilise; he uses rhetoric in order to keep people on their toes. We are very much in touch with the American administration.
Business secretary plays down concerns about petrol shortages, saying people should 'right now carry on as normal'
Peter Kyle, the business secretary, has been doing an interview round this morning. He suggested that there was no need for people to worry now about fuel shortages related to the Iran war.
Speaking about petrol, he told Sky News:
The AA and the RAC have said that there are no challenges with supply at the moment, so they are encouraging people to continue as normal, and we as the government are backing up what they are saying and reassuring people that, right now, [they should] carry on as normal.
If that changes, we will be upfront and honest with the public.
Asked about jet fuel, he said that “right now there are no constraints”.
He went on:
Of course, if the strait of Hormuz [is] closed into the long term, there may well be supply constraints.
We are already looking at those scenarios, a whole range of different scenarios, and we are acting to make sure that we can have resilience in a different set of circumstances in the long term.
But it’s really key to reassure people that right now there are no constraints.
Kyle was also asked about the warning from NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey that the health service could run out of some medical supplies. Jamie Grierson and Denis Campbell have that story here.
Kyle said Mackey was worried about “live medicines, one very specific medicine type in the NHS”.
[Mackey] has raised that concern, and we will look at that concern. But he is not talking about all medicine and all parts of the NHS.
Rachel Reeves signals that support package for household energy bills won’t kick in until autumn
Good morning. Keir Starmer is giving a press conference this morning where, according to No 10, he will discuss the Iran war, and how the government is supporting people at home. Now we are in April, the new financial year is starting, and the government is highlighting measures it has introduced that will help people with the cost of living. The Conservatives have an alternative list, and they are claiming this morning that “Keir Starmer and his chancellor have piled on extra costs leaving families almost £1,000 worse off this year”.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been doing her own media too. She is on the Jeremy Vine show later, but she has already given an interview to BBC Breakfast in which she gave a marginally clearer idea of what she is planning to do to help people with energy bills than she did when she made a statement to MPs last week.
We knew that she has already ruled out a universal support package, and that she wants to target help towards poorer families. Now she has signalled that she will not intervene until the autumn, when the central heating starts to go back on.
She told the BBC:
From July to September, gas usage, especially by families and pensioners, is the lowest of any months of the year because it is the summer months …
It will be really from the autumn onwards that people’s gas usage starts increasing. So at the moment we are working on a range of contingencies. And we are looking at more targeted measures. We are looking at ways we can support people based on their household income.
Referring to the universal support package introduced by the last Conservative government after the invastion of Ukraine, she said:
I want to learn the lessons of the past because when Russia invaded Ukraine, the richest, the best-off third of households got more than a third of the support. That makes no sense at all.
Here is the agenda for the day.
10am: Keir Starmer holds a press conference in Downing Street.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is in Solihull to announce the Conservatives’ plan for a “national pothole patrol”.
10am: Reform UK is holding a press conference in Glasgow.
Lunchtime: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is interviewed by Jeremy Vine on Radio 2.
Afternoon: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is visiting south-west Hertfordshire.
Afternoon: Reeves is chairing a roundtable meeting with supermarket bosses.
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