Starmer urged to apologise to Epstein victims over Mandelson appointment — as it happened

MPs are conducting a debate on Peter Mandelson’s appointment Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

5.15pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Donald Trump has hailed the “great honour” of being hosted by his “friend” King Charles at “the ultimate” Windsor Castle for his second state visit, and hinted at possible tariff relief for UK steel. (See 3.01pm.) Speaking to reporters before his departure, Trump said:

I’m there also on trade. They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit.

We’ve made a deal, and it’s a great deal, and I’m into helping them.

Our country is doing very well. We’ve never done this well. We’re having trillions of dollars come in because of the tariffs.

They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them.

• Keir Starmer’s standing on the world stage has been “diminished”, parliament has heard, as MPs scrutinised the prime minister’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson. As PA Media reports, Kemi Badenoch accused Starmer of “hiding from parliament” because he was not present for the emergency debate on the former US ambassador’s dismissal and his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Conservative former minister David Davis argued there are double standards applied to those of “Labour royalty”, with Mandelson retaining the Labour whip.

• Downing Street has denied that the government’s returns deal with France is in chaos after plans to forcibly remove from the UK people arriving in small boats were abandoned for a second day.

• The UK faces “the fight of our times” against the division exemplified by the Tommy Robinson-led far-right march in London on Saturday, Keir Starmer has told his cabinet in a robust if arguably belated response to the scenes in the capital.

• Wes Streeting has called it “laughable” that rising racism and homophobia is a sign of free speech in a strongly worded intervention suggesting Labour needed to step up its defence of minorities.

• Maria Caulfield, a former Tory health minister, has defected to Reform UK, with the former health minister Maria Caulfield saying she signed up to Nigel Farage’s party a month ago.

• Google has said it will invest £5bn in the UK in the next two years to help meet growing demand for artificial intelligence services, in a boost for the government.

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 at 5.18pm BST

5.00pm BST

UK public has paid £200bn to shareholders of key industries since privatisation

The public has paid almost £200bn to the shareholders who own key British industries since they were privatised, a report from the Common Wealth thinktank says. Matthew Taylor and Sandra Laville have the story.