Tories claim No 10 admission UK won’t avoid new US tariffs shows Starmer has failed to protect British business – as it happened

Keir Starmer speaks at the Border Security Summit at Lancaster House in London. Photograph: Jason Alden/EPA

5.30pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Ministers expect the Sentencing Council to suspend plans for new sentencing guidelines that could have led to criminals getting different sentences depending on their age, sex and ethnicity.

• Downing Street says it expects the UK to be hit by more tariffs when Donald Trump announces his latest round of trade barriers on Wednesday, and said it “reserves the right” to respond to protect the national interest. The Conservatives claim that shows the government has failed to protect British business. (See 4.17pm.)

• Keir Starmer has said Britons are “right” to be “angry about illegal migration”. (See 8.53am.)

• The Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has said his party can replace the Conservatives as the part of Middle England. (See 11.11am.)

5.18pm BST

Minister backs Birmingham city council in declaring major incident over bin strike

Birmingham city council says it is declaring a major incident over the impact of the ongoing bin strike, as it estimates 17,000 tonnes of waste remains uncollected around the city, PA Media reports. PA says:

Members of the Unite union in Birmingham are holding an all-out strike in a long-running dispute, after the scrapping of waste collection and recycling officer roles, which has led to rubbish piling up in the streets and residents complaining about rats.

The council says daily blocking of its depots by pickets has meant workers cannot get their vehicles out to collect waste.

It said declaring a major incident will initially increase the availability of street cleansing and fly-tip removal, with an additional 35 vehicles and crews around the city.

It will also allow the council to explore what further support is available from neighbouring authorities and the government, to help manage the situation, and work with partners to better manage health and fire risks that the build-up of rubbish is causing.

A focus of the major incident will be on making sure bin lorries can safely enter and exit the council’s waste depots.

Speaking in the Commons, Jim McMahon, communities minister, said the government did not have the power to intervene in the strike, but that he backed the council in declaring a major incident. He said:

We encourage all parties to redouble their efforts to get around the table and to find a resolution.

To do this, any deal to end industrial action must maintain value for money and ensure fit-for-purpose waste collection services without creating or storing up liabilities for the future.