Early evening summary
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has been strongly criticised by refugee charities after announcing that she is suspending refugee family reunion applications – the system allowing people granted asylum to bring relatives to the UK – until new, tighter rules come into force next year. (See 5.33pm.) In a statement to MPs, Cooper said the current rules were designed for a different era and not sustainable. (See 4pm.) She made the announcement during a Commons statement lasting almost two and a half hours. Most Labour MPs welcomed her announcements, but Kim Johnson echoed the comments of opposition MPs like the SNP’s Pete Wishart (see 4.57pm) in urging the government to be more supportive of asylum seekers. Johnson said:
In the home secretary’s statement, she has stated that she will never seek to stir up chaos, hatred and division. Yet that’s what we’ve seen this summer, with the far-right emboldened because of racism and demonisation in the media and from politicians.
And instead of scapegoating refugees and asylum seekers, maybe the home secretary needs to be thinking about more humane policies, including safe routes employment and right to remain.
The Conservatives and Reform UK said they wanted all asylum seekers arriving in the UK illegally on small boats to be removed.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has been moved to a new senior role in Downing Street as Keir Starmer attempts to get a grip on delivery before what is likely to be a tumultuous autumn for the government. Commenting on the mini reshuffle, which also saw the former Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik becoming the PM’s chief economic adviser, Paul Johnson, the former head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, said the moves showed that Labour was “staggeringly unprepared” when it took office last year. Johnson told Times Radio:
It’s extraordinary, more than a year into this government, they’re only just working out that they might need some senior economic expertise within Number 10, both at a political level and at the advisor level.
It’s yet another example, I think, of how staggeringly unprepared this government was for government, despite the fact that they essentially knew they were going to win the election some considerable time out.
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.
Labour party sources are also (see 3.34pm) urging Kemi Badenoch to “come clean” about her contested claim to have been offered a place to study medicine at Stanford at the age of 16. One told PA Media:
Honesty and integrity aren’t optional qualities for those who serve as leader of His Majesty’s official opposition. The uncertainty surrounding Kemi Badenoch’s Stanford University claims raise important questions that the public deserve to know the answers to.
