No 10 says Badenoch’s claim PM should have intervened to stop China spy trial collapsing ‘absurd’ – as it happened

Police officers outside parliament today. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock

5.15pm BST

Afternoon summary

• MPs will hold an inquiry into the collapse of the caseagainst two men accused of spying for China, after No 10 published key evidence in an attempt to draw a line under the row.

• The MI5 director general, Ken McCallum, has acknowledged his frustration at the failure to put on trial two Britons who had been accused of spying for China, in an apparent rebuke to prosecutors who dropped the high-profile case last month.

• Rachel Reeves has said those with the “broadest shoulders” should pay their “fair share,” of taxes and promised new measures to tackle inflation, as she draws up next month’s crunch budget.

• The UK economy expanded by 0.1% in August, according to official figures, giving a lift to Rachel Reeves before next month’s crucial budget.

• Keir Starmer has ordered a review of antisemitism in the NHS, saying “clear cases” are not being dealt with adequately.

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.

4.58pm BST

Zack Polanski says he would welcome Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana joining Green party

Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has said he would welcome Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana joining his party.

Corbyn and Sultana are launching their own leftwing party, provisionally called Your Party. But, in an interview for the News Agents podcast, asked if he would welcome them into his party, he replied:

Yes, absolutely. I need to caveat that it’s not my decision. That’s up to the party.

Polanski said he did not think the Greens needed defections from MPs because, he said, the party has “clearly got the energy and momentum anyway”. This week its membership passed 100,000 for the first time.

But, when asked if he was talking to Labour MPs who might want to defect, he claimed he was.

The Greens are also celebrating a Find Out Now poll that puts them level pegging with Labour, with both parties on 15% (behind the Conservatives on 17% and Reform UK on 32%).

(On Bluesky Sam Freedman has a good thread explaining why Reform and the Greens do particularly well in Find Out Now polls because of the methodology the firm uses.)

Polanski is leader of the Green party of England and Wales. Today the Scottish Greens said their membership has risen by 10% in the last six months, taking it to 8,279, its highest level since 2016.