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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Rishi Sunak refuses to criticise Tory MP who said struggling children in his town were ‘products of crap parents’ – UK politics as it happened

John Curtice United Kingdom ​​Rishi Sunak Sir Keir Starmer LBC
Rishi Sunak during a visit to La Dolce Vita cafe in Marple, Stockport.
Rishi Sunak during a visit to La Dolce Vita cafe in Marple, Stockport. Photograph: Jacob King/PA

Afternoon summary

  • Keir Starmer has indicated that he would guarantee government time for MPs to debate a private member’s bill to allow assisted dying. (See 9.26am.) He also said MPs should have a free vote, and that he would be in favour. The offer of making government time available is significant because, without that, it is relatively easy for MPs opposed to a backbench bill to use filibustering to ensure it never passes.

  • Rishi Sunak has declined an invitation to criticise the Conservative MP who said most of the children struggling in the MP’s town were “products of crap parents”. (See 12.49pm.)

I am deeply sorry to hear of the death of Derek Draper. He was someone of deep intelligence, values and wit who was the life and soul of the many worlds he inhabited, including politics.

I first met Derek 30 years ago and like anyone who met him I was drawn into his orbit by his charisma and love of life. He was a loyal and good friend to so many. The last few years have been a living nightmare for him and his family. All of my deepest condolences go out to Kate, Darcey and Billy and all his family.

Updated

Rishi Sunak has also been visiting Altrincham and Sale West, where the Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, is standing down at the next election. Brady had a majority of 6,139 at the last election. Even in 1997 it stayed Tory.

Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak walk along a cobbled street with others around them
Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak on a visit to Altrincham market. Photograph: Reuters
Sunak smiling while looking at a stall
Sunak at Altrincham market. Photograph: Reuters
Sunak sits at a table with several other people in a cafe area
Sunak at Altrincham food market. Photograph: Reuters
Sunak poses for a selfie with a woman in a pink beanie.
Sunak poses for a picture at Altrincham market. Photograph: Reuters

Updated

Reeves says NatWest boss who said it was not hard to get mortgage is 'out of touch' with reality

In her GB News interview, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, also criticised Sir Howard Davies, the chair of NatWest, for saying it is not hard to get a mortgage now.

As Mark Sweney reports, Davies told the Today programme this morning it was not “that difficult” to get on the property ladder, despite the number of first-time buyers with a mortgage falling to the lowest level in a decade.

“I don’t think it is that difficult at the moment,” Davies said. When pressed about this assertion, he added: “You have to save, and that is the way it always used to be.”

When asked for her response, Reeves said:

I don’t think those comments are in tune with the reality faced by millions of people in Britain. There are many people who do own their own home but are struggling with the higher mortgage costs. And there are many people who are struggling to get on the housing ladder because of higher interest rates, which were brought about because of Liz Truss and the Conservative party’s management of the economy. So, I know that many, many people will find those remarks quite out of touch with the situation that they and their family face.

Rachel Reeves shakes a man's hand in a crowd of people
Rachel Reeves meeting Labour supporters in Wellingborough today. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Updated

Reeves says she would like taxes for working people to be lower

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has been campaigning in Wellingborough today ahead of the byelection triggered by the recall petition against Peter Bone, who won the seat for the Tories in 2019 with a majority of 18,540.

In an interview with GB News she said she would like to see taxes lower. Asked if she would cut taxes as chancellor, she replied:

My instinct is that taxes on working people should be lower than they are today. We’ve had 25 Tory tax rises in this parliament and this year an average working family is going to be paying £1,200 more in tax. That doesn’t sit comfortably with me. I would like taxes on working people to be lower.

But this is one thing I’m not going to do, I’m not going to make any unfunded commitments to reduce tax because that’s what Liz Truss and the Conservatives did just over a year ago and that ended up pushing up mortgage rates, which meant that working people are worse off, not better off as a result.

Asked if Labour would reduce taxation as a proportion of GDP by the end of its first term in office, she replied:

I would like taxes on working people to be lower. I’d like people to have more of their own money in their pockets to spend in the way that they choose. But to be able to do that in a way that’s affordable, sustainable and fair, you’ve got to grow the economy. And that’s why all of my plans, all of Keir [Starmer’s] plans, are focused on getting that economic growth.

This is more or less exactly what Keir Starmer said at his Q&A with journalists yesterday.

Rachel Reeves campaigning in Wellingborough today before the byelection.
Rachel Reeves campaigning in Wellingborough today before the byelection. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Updated

Sunak booed by members of public as he leaves meeting with Tory activists in Stockport

Rishi Sunak was booed as he left a cafe in Stockport, Joseph Timan from the Manchester Evening News reports. There were also calls for him to resign and “leave now”.

Sunak had been in the cafe meeting Conservative activists from the Hazel Grove constituency, where the party is defending a 4,423 majority over the Liberal Democrats.

The video suggests only a very small number of people were shouting at Sunak. But they seem to be ordinary members of the public who were passing by, rather than political activists who had turned up especially to protest.

In his story about the visit, Timan quotes one of the people who booed as saying, when asked why he did it:

Because they’ve broken the country haven’t they? Public services crumbling, health service is crumbling, economy crumbling. We’ve had enough of them.

Timan also says Sunak received a warm reception from the Tory members he was meeting.

Updated

Gordon Brown pays tribute to 'brilliant, creative and multitalented' Derek Draper

Gordon Brown has joined Labour figures paying tribute to Derek Draper. The former PM posted this on X.

So sad that after such a brave struggle Derek Draper has lost his life as a result of Covid. I will remember him as brilliant, creative and multitalented, and our thoughts are with Kate, Darcey and Billy. RIP Derek

Sunak says people affected by flooding should be 'reassured' Environment Agency staff are addressing problems urgently

Rishi Sunak has said that people affected by flooding should be “reassured” that Environment Agency staff are working urgently on the problems.

The opposition parties have accused Sunak of not taking the crisis seriously enough. Labour said in a statement that Sunak had been “asleep at the wheel and must act now or risk further damage to lives and livelihoods”. The Liberal Democrats said Sunak should have been visiting flood victims today (see 10.59am).

In a broadcast interview this morning, asked about the government’s response to the flooding, Sunak said:

I spoke to people in the East Midlands yesterday who had been affected and talking to them about how devastating the impact of flooding is.

I just want people to be reassured that the Environment Agency has got people on the ground in all the affected areas, also hundreds of high volume pumps are in practice right now making a difference and it is important that people follow the advice that has been given in local areas where there are flood warnings that have been given.

People should be reassured. The Environment Agency have people on the ground everywhere, absolutely recognise the urgency of what is happening and they are responding appropriately and with all due haste.

Geneva Abdul has full coverage of the flooding on a seperate live blog.

Updated

Rishi Sunak speaking to people at La Dolce Vita cafe in Marple, Stockport, today.
Rishi Sunak speaking to people at La Dolce Vita cafe in Marple, Stockport, today. Photograph: Jacob King/Reuters

Updated

Sunak ducks invitation to criticise Tory MP who said most struggling children in the MP's town were 'products of crap parents'

Rishi Sunak has declined an invitation to criticise the Conservative MP who said most of the children struggling in his town were “products of crap parents”.

James Daly, the MP for Bury North, made the comment in a newspaper interview published last week.

Today, asked if he agreed with Daly while he was on a visit to Stockport, Sunak ignored the question and said:

No one wants to see any child grow up in poverty. I certainly don’t. The best way we can help families is to make sure that those parents are in great jobs and are well-paid and that we are cutting their taxes. That is exactly what we are doing, starting from tomorrow.

Asked what explanation he had for almost a quarter of children in Bury growing up in poverty, if it was not “crap” parenting, Sunak replied:

All the evidence and the research shows that the best way to ensure that children don’t grow up in poverty is to make sure that they are not growing up in a household where no one is working. A child where neither of their parents are working are five times more likely to grow up in poverty.

No one wants to see that. And that is why it is important that we create fantastic jobs for parents everywhere, that we make it easier for those parents to get those jobs, which is why we are investing in childcare and in particular the largest expansion of childcare that we have ever seen, and also to make sure that those jobs are well-paid.

The national living wage is going up an almost record amount in the spring, it has already gone up a record amount in the past year, and we are now cutting people’s taxes, a £450 tax cut for an average person in work, kicking in tomorrow.

Rishi Sunak speaks as two men look on
Rishi Sunak (left) during a visit to La Dolce Vita cafe in Marple, Stockport, this morning. Photograph: Jacob King/PA

Updated

Blair pays tribute to 'brilliant adviser' and 'ruthless political operative' Derek Draper

Tony Blair has also issued a tribute to Derek Draper. He said:

I am so sad to hear the news about Derek. My heart goes out to Kate and their children William and Darcey. It is extraordinary and remarkable that Derek survived so long after the ravages of Covid. And that was in large measure due to the love Derek had for his family and they for him. This also says something very special about Derek. He was a tough sometimes ruthless political operative, a brilliant adviser and someone you always wanted on your side. But underneath that tough exterior he was a loving, kind, generous and good natured man you wanted as a friend. He was an important part of the New Labour story, at the centre of things right at the beginning. But most important of all, he was a good colleague and great friend. And we will miss him deeply.

Alastair Campbell and other former colleagues pay tribute to 'huge character' Derek Draper

Labour figures and others have been paying tribute to Derek Draper.

From Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former communications chief

Very sad to hear the news about Derek Draper. He was a huge character, a giver not a taker, and had so much more to give before Covid took its toll. Sad above all for @kategarraway and the children. Their love and support was profound and unshakeable to the end. RIP

From John Mann, the former Labour MP

I have know Derek Draper since his early Chorley days as a teenage Labour activist. He was far more influential on New Labour than has ever been acknowledged. A brilliant and loyal friend.

From Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary

So sad to hear this news this morning.

When I was a student at Manchester Derek was still talked about around @ManchesterSU. When I met him I always found him thoughtful and kind, quite different to his public image at the time.

Prayers for him and his family

From Mark Ferguson, the former LabourList editor

Very sad to hear that Derek Draper has passed away. He was the founder and first editor of LabourList and he was always honest, friendly and kind to me. Thinking of his family and everyone who knew him today

From Adrian McMenamin, a former Labour adviser

Such terrible, awful news about Derek Draper. I think of the fun we had together, the arguments too and the sense that Derek could always bounce back. But sadly not this time.

From Nigel Evans, the Conservative MP and Commons deputy speaker

Saddened by the news of the death of Derek Draper. Derek had worked in the political arena for many years, and I knew him when I was first elected decades ago - public spirited and such a super guy. Deepest condolences to Kate…. My heart goes out to her.

From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire

From Matthew d’Ancona, the former Spectator editor

Derek Draper will always incarnate for me the upstart energy and vivid excitement of the Nineties. And a very nice guy. Condolences to @kategarraway and family.

From Joe Murphy, the former Evening Standard political editor

From my colleague Owen Jones

I’m so sad to hear about this.

Derek Draper came from a different Labour tradition to me, but he was always really charming, intellectually curious and mischievous.

All my thoughts with the really lovely Kate Garraway, who gave everything to care for him. They were clearly completely in love to the very end.

RIP

Updated

Former New Labour adviser and lobbyist Derek Draper dies after long illness caused by Covid

Derek Draper, the former political adviser and lobbyist who became a therapist, has died at the age of 56. The news was announced by his wife, the Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway.

Draper had been extremely ill ever since getting Covid soon after the pandemic struck. Although he was best known in recent years because of his marriage to Garraway, who cared for him through his debilitating illness, in the political world he first became prominent as a New Labour spin doctor, working for Peter Mandelson before the party won the 1997 election.

Subsequently he was embroiled in one of the party’s first lobbying scandals. At that stage he was a lobbyist, and he was caught boasting: “There are 17 people who count in this government, and to say I am intimate with all of them is the understatement of the century.”

Like his former boss, Draper staged a comeback as a political operative – only to resign from another post in 2009, after being linked to the Damian McBride smear scandal.

In a post on Instagram Garraway said:

I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away.

As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.

Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed.

I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible.

Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support. Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life.

Updated

Why does Starmer think assisted dying is best dealt with as a private member's bill?

A reader asks:

Genuine question. Why would a bill for assisted dying need to be a private member’s bill? Surely the government of the day can table it and then allow a free vote anyway?

That’s a good question. In practice, there is no reason why the government shouldn’t make it a government bill – subject to a free vote. In some respects that would be preferable because government departments are more inclined to work on government bills (although in practice they do help out with private members’ bills, when they are on matters that have government support) and this is an area where you would want to be sure the legislation was legally robust. That means you would want it drafted by parliamentary counsel, the lawyers who write government bills, not some random backbencher.

But Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak have both said recently any change on assisted dying should be via a private member’s bill. And that is what leaders normally say on proposals to change the law on “conscience matters” – matters traditionally subject to a free vote, normally because they involve moral choices problematic for some religious groups.

Partly they are saying this because, generally, this is what always happens. “This is the way we have always done it” is a surprisingly powerful argument in Westminster politics – despite, rationally, being a very bad one. The landmark liberal changes introduced by the Wilson government in the late 1960s – legalisation of abortion, divorce reform, partial legalisation of homosexuality etc – were private members’ bills.

(When the abortion law was revised in 1990, with the 28-week limit reduce to 24 weeks, it was still a free vote, but this time they were voting an amendment to a government bill.)

But the reason these were private members’ bills in the 1960s was because Harold Wilson was wary of adopting them as official government/Labour causes, and the same argument applies today. Starmer would be happy for MPs to back assisted dying. But he might be more nervous about Labour adopting that as a policy, because then anyone opposed to the idea would have a good reason not to vote for his party. In theory, making it a government bill subject to a free vote ought to neutralise that line of attack, but in practice it wouldn’t, because opponents would just say it was a government bill. If Starmer were to make it a government bill, it is not hard to imagine the Conservatives whipping their MPs against it, particularly if led by a social conservative like Miriam Cates. Then it would become fully party political, and the chances of it passing the Commons would be reduced.

Updated

Keir Starmer sits opposite Nick Ferrari at a studio desk with both wearing headphones
Keir Starmer doing his LBC phone-in earlier with the presenter, Nick Ferrari. Photograph: Ian West/PA

Updated

Rishi Sunak should be visiting flooding victims today, the Liberal Democrats are saying. Helen Morgan, the party’s housing spokesperson, said:

The prime minister should see for himself the devastation caused by these floods. People’s homes and businesses have been ruined yet again.

If Rishi Sunak actually met with people impacted by this annual carnage, then he might do something about it.

Israel alone should not decide what happens in Gaza after war with Hamas is over, says Starmer

During his LBC phone-in Keir Starmer said Israel alone should not be allowed to decide what happens to Gaza once its war with Hamas is over.

As PA Media reports, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has outlined proposals for Israel to keep security control of Gaza once Hamas is defeated, while a Palestinian body runs day-to-day administration.

Asked about the plans, Starmer said:

We cannot have Israeli occupation, we cannot have people displaced who cannot go back to where they came [from], because two million have been displaced in the last four months, that is intolerable.

I don’t think, frankly, it is for Israel to determine what happens in Gaza. There has got to be much more international agreement on this, otherwise it simply isn’t going to work.

Starmer cited the rulers of Qatar and Jordan as among those who should be involved in negotiating a peace solution.

He also reiterated his call for a humanitarian truce, saying he would like to see that lead to a ceasefire. He told LBC:

At the moment what we are seeing is a horror that has gone on for the last few months, far too many civilians being killed in Gaza, far too many people displaced, and not enough aid going in.

We all want to get to a ceasefire. So the question is: how do we get there?

I think we need a humanitarian truce. We did have a short truce earlier on, let’s get back to that immediately.

Let’s use that for intense diplomacy to deal with the obvious issues – Hamas has got to release the hostages, aid has got to get in – and to work our way to a political process for a two-state solution.

Updated

What Starmer said about why he supports changing law on assisted dying

This is what Keir Starmer said in his LBC phone-in about a Labour government making time for MPs to fully debate a private member’s bill to allow assisted dying.

When I was chief prosecutor, director of public prosecutions, I looked at every single case that the police investigated of assisted dying … So I’ve looked at probably more files or circumstances here than many others.

And I, as a chief prosecutor, drew up guidelines to try to make the law we’ve got work reasonably well, on the basis that we had to protect people from being exploited. But on the other hand, there were obvious cases of compassionate acts, usually by loving family members, in accordance with the wishes of somebody who wanted to end their own life.

We tried to make the current law work. I totally feel that we ought to actually change the law. It shouldn’t really be for the prosecutor to try and make the law work when it doesn’t really. It’d be better for parliament to actually change the law.

So I am an advocate of a change to the law. Obviously that change has to be very carefully crafted.

And I think the best route would probably be a private member’s bill, which is normally dealt with on a Friday in parliament. And yes, I would be open to making time for that. I think it should be a free vote.

Asked to confirm he would vote to change the law, Starmer said he would, “subject to it being the right change”.

Keir Starmer doing his LBC phone-in.
Keir Starmer doing his LBC phone-in. Photograph: Ian West/PA

Updated

Q: Do you think the police should investigate the sexual abuse allegations against Prince Andrew?

Starmer said he did not know the details of this, only what he had seen in the papers. But where credible allegations are made, they should be investigated, he said.

And that was the end of the phone-in.

Q: You want to impose VAT on private school fees. But why won’t you remove their charitable status too? If they keep that, they get tax relief on donations, funded by the taxpayer?

Starmer says Labour does not need to change the charitable status of schools to impose VAT on their fees. He avoids the point about how leaving it in place allows them to get tax relief on donations. And he defends the VAT policy, saying schools will not have to pass on the VAT charge.

Updated

Starmer says he is 'surprised' Met police gathering evidence about potential war crimes in Gaza

Q: Should the Metropolitan police be investigating potential war crimes in Gaza?

Starmer says he was “surprised” to learn about this. He did not know this was happening until Boris Johnson spoke about it in a Daily Telegraph story yesterday.

The Met told the Telegraph that it had a duty to support the international criminal court, which is investigating war crimes in Gaza.

Updated

Starmer urges government to speed up compensation payments to victims of Post Office Horizon scandal

Starmer said the brother of a close friend of his was involved in the Post Office Horizon scandal. He said it was a gross miscarriage of justice. The government should speed up the payment of compensation, he said.

UPDATE: Starmer said:

I did see a bit of the ITV programme [about the scandal]. It’s very powerful.

I should also say I know personally some of those caught up with this. One of them is the brother of a very close friend of mine, and I know the mental impact that has had on him and others.

So I feel this very strongly. It is a gross, very wide-ranging miscarriage of justice. Not only was it wrong in the first place, but the Post Office, when it began to be obvious that it was wrong, didn’t do the right thing, which is to say ‘We got this wrong, let’s sort it out’. And so I do think all of those involved at the time have questions to answer.

Asked if he thought Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader who was postal affairs minister between 2010 and 2012, had questions to answer, Starmer said he had not studied what Davey has said on this. But he said all those involved had questions to answer.

All of those who were involved do need to answer some basic questions.

Not everyone came through. Many of those who did come through severe mental health issues as a result. I know that personally.

Personal compensation has been set aside for them. It should have been paid in December. The Treasury have put the money aside but it hasn’t all been paid. I say to the government now get on with it, do at least that bit right.

Updated

Starmer indicates Labour would make government time available for private member's bill to allow assisted dying

Starmer says he would be “open” to making time available for a private member’s bill to allow assisted dying. He says this is the sort of matter that should be dealt with by a private member’s bill. There should be a free vote, he says. And he says he would vote in favour of changing the law, provided there were sufficient safeguards.

This is significant because, without the government being willing to make extra time available, private member’s bills on controversial issues like this can normally be talked out.

Starmer has said before that he favours a new vote on this, but he has not suggested Labour would guarantee time to allow it to pass (assuming a majority of MPs were in favour – which is not a given at this point.)

UPDATE: See the post at 9.52am for the full quote.

Updated

Starmer says he is 'troubled' by breakdown of NHS/BMA emergency cooperation deal during strike

Starmer says junior doctors have a “good case” when they say they deserve a pay rise.

He says Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, should be negotiating with them now.

Q: What do you think about the BMA saying junior doctors should not go back to work during the strike when hospitals call an emergency?

Starmer says he is “troubled” by this. Until now the system for an emergency override has been working well. He says he does not know why that has broken down now.

Updated

Starmer says he is 'confident' Labour will fulfil its £28bn green investment pledge

Q: How will you decide what level of borrowing is sensible?

Starmer says Labour will put money into its green energy plan, but it will be “an agile investment”. He says he wants to know what the money will be for. It is designed to bring in private sector investment.

Q: Can you guarantee that Labour will get investing up to £28bn a year at some point during the first term?

Starmer says that will be subject to Labour’s fiscal rules.

He says he is “confident” he can get to that figure. But the fiscal rules come first.

Q: So it’s a gold-plated ambition, not a pledge?

It’s a “confident ambition”, says Starmer.

Updated

Q: Will you raise the income tax threshold to help lower-paid people?

Starmer says he does want to lower the tax burden for working people. But he won’t make unfunded promises he cannot keep. That is what Liz Truss did. And the economy crashed, he says.

Q: The tax take is at its highest for 70 years. One paper says there will be no tax cuts for two years under Labour. Is that your plan?

Starmer says he does not accept that. He says he wants to bring the tax burden down, but he wants to do it by promoting growth.

He says there has been too much chopping and changing. The year before last, there were four chancellors, he says.

Updated

Keir Starmer is starting his LBC phone-in.

Nick Ferrari is presenting.

Q: You talked about Project Hope yesterday. Was the speech mission accomplished?

Yes, says Starmer. He says he wanted to weld together hope with the reassurance already provided.

Q: Some papers say the speech was thin on detail.

Starmer says every year people say this. Last year he set out five big missions in massive speeches. Then people complain he is being too ambitious, and ask if he can achieve what he wants.

And the following year – people ask what he stands for, he says.

He says, as an example, he has a mission to halve violence against women and girls. That will be hard to do, he says. But people cannot really complain that they don’t know what he stands for.

Updated

UK general election likely to be scheduled for 14 November, expert Sir John Curtice says

Good morning. Keir Starmer will be doing his “Call Keir” phone-in on LBC shortly. We heard quite a lot from him yesterday, but there is always more to ask, and he might have more to say about the timing of the general election. Despite Rishi Sunak saying yesterday that he does not expect to call a May election.

Labour sources, who spent the last few weeks talking up the prospects of a spring poll, almost certainly to roll the pitch for attacks on Sunak for “bottling” it, are claiming they are not convinced. In her London Playbook briefing for Politico, Eleni Courea reports:

Senior Labour strategists tell Playbook they still think that’s when it will take place. One senior party official bet £100 last night that the GE will happen between April and June.

But Prof Sir John Curtice, Britain’s leading elections expert, told the Today programme this morning that for a long time he has been planning his schedule on the assumption that he will need to be on duty for an election in October or November. He said:

Now, there is beginning to be a consensus it might be 14 November.

All the parties have decided to hold their party conferences rather early next autumn.

The prime minister will end the Conservative conference on 2 October. That might be the starting gun.

Starmer is on LBC at 9am. Otherwise, the diary looks quiet today, but Sunak is doing a visit in northern England in the late morning.

If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.

Updated

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