Early evening summary
The economic and security benefits of a closer relationship with the EU are “simply too big to ignore”, Keir Starmer has told parliament as the British government prepares for more rapid alignment with European rules. As Peter Walker and Alexandra Topping report, updating MPs on the Iran conflict and his visit to the Gulf last week, the prime minister was explicit about what he argued was the need for renewed ties with Europe given the chaotic global situation and Donald Trump’s unpredictable US administration.
Axel Rudakubana was able to carry out the Southport atrocity because of “catastrophic” failures by multiple agencies and the “irresponsible and harmful” role of his parents, a damning inquiry has found. And Josh Halliday has a summary of the key points in the report here.
The Liberal Democrats have written an open letter to the Financial Conduct Authority asking it to investigate Nigel Farage’s purchase of £2m in bitcoin for Stack, the cryptocurrency business chaired by Kwasi Kwarteng. (See 1.08pm and 5.26pm.) In a separate development, Labour has written to HM Revenue and Customs asking it to investigate the tax affairs of a company owned by Richard Tice, Farage’s deputy. (See 1.08pm.) Farage has dismissed the allegations, saying he is satisfied with Tice’s explanation. (See 12.22pm.)
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.
Updated
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp says Southport report shows danger of downplaying risks for fear of seeming racist
For the Tories, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, accepted the report identified multiple state failings.
But he also said the report showed that concerns about the killer’s behaviour were played down because of his ethnicity. Philp quoted this passage in the report – a direct quote from the teenager’s former head teacher. She said:
My efforts to include this information [about the risk the teenager posed] within the EHCP draft were met with hostility by AR’s father and also by Samantha Steed (CAMHS [child and adolesent mental health services]). Ms Steed even went as far as to accuse me of racially stereotyping AR as “a black boy with a knife”. Nothing could be further from the truth. We wanted to support AR and his family in finding a suitable education provision. Withholding relevant information was not going to assist him or us in that process. The statement on risk assessment remained in the EHCP. However, in the end the wishes of the family prevailed and the wording of the EHCP was re-written in many places to change the emphasis of some of the concerns in the original EHCP.
Philp said the same issue cropped up in the inquiry into the Nottingham murders. He went on:
The fixation with ethnic disproportionality is deeply damaging. Ethnicity should never be a consideration when an agency is taking steps to protect the public.
