Early evening summary
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Andy Burnham has said that he wants to ensure that the Makerfield byelection “changes British politics”, in an eve-of-poll speech to supporters. (See 5.30pm.)
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.
There is a lot more about the Makerfield byelection in this Q&A that Hannah Al-Othman, who has been covering the campaign, did earlier.
This is what she said in response to a question on whether the result would be close.
Election experts I’ve spoken to have said that Labour should win it, and the mood in the Labour camp in these last few days has definitely seemed optimistic, while the Reform side from what I’m hearing is more downbeat. However, nobody I’ve spoken to is anticipating an easy win, and it may be very close.
I actually think we didn’t see much tactical voting in Gorton and Denton – I live there and from speaking to people locally, I don’t think either Labour or the Greens had successfully convinced people on any large scale that they were the tactical vote to beat Reform. I think the Greens won here simply because they were more popular. However, you’re absolutely right that it was a factor in Caerphilly.
I think we’re definitely seeing evidence in Makerfield of Green and Lib Dem voters lending their voters to Burnham, so I think it will play a big role in this election too. (And what the evidence suggests is that Restore voters are not as likely to do the same for Reform, which will also help Labour.) I think those tactical voters have already been factored into a lot of the Makerfield predictions though, which suggest that Burnham will win, but with Reform not too far behind.
Lewis Goodall from the News Agents podcast has an interesting post on the Makerfield byelection on his Substack blog. While the Westminster consensus has it that Andy Burnham is on course for a comfortable victory, Goodall isn’t quite so sure. Here is his conclusion.
Reform have run a poor campaign and Labour a decent one. That, combined with Burnham’s unique candidacy may well be enough to get Labour over the line. But don’t be surprised if we wake up to a Reform win on Thursday. Labour fear that Reform are motivating non-voters, boosting turnout- voters about whom little is known and who may easily throw off both their targeting efforts and the pollsters’. As one Labour source put it to me after the locals: “for the first time Farage wasn’t just the beneficiary of people being pissed off with us, they were actively excited to go out and vote for him.” Whatever happens, the result will probably the pivotal moment of the parliament, with serious reorienting consequences for the left and right of British politics.
One other thing to bear in mind- if Burnham does triumph, Labour will never be able to run another campaign like it again. If he becomes Prime Minister, Labour’s brand will become his brand. The outsider campaign will have worked. But it will also be over.
Liberal Democrats have suffered cyber attack from 'hostile state', peers told
The Liberal Democrats have suffered a cyber attack by “a hostile state”, its chief executive has said. The Press Association said Lord Dixon made the revelation as he spoke in the House of Lords. Dixon said:
Earlier this week, the Liberal Democrats’ systems were – I’m reliably informed – attacked by a hostile state in a sophisticated attack on our systems.
Fortunately, our protections that were in place were robust against this attack and we had the full co-operation of the security services in helping us withstand that attack.
But given the way that that foreign state is particularly targeting political parties, does [the minister] think that the support given to all political parties across the spectrum is proportionate to the level of threat that we now face?
Ruth Anderson, a Cabinet Office, replied to Dixon. She said she did not know about this, but said the revelation showed how “every democratic institution is under threat every day from those people who wish to sow division and who wish to undermine our core values and indeed our United Kingdom.”
Burnham says he wants to ensure Makerfield byelection 'changes British politics', in eve-of-poll speech to supporters
In his speech Andy Burnham also said the Makerfield byelection would change British politics.
He started by apologising to the voters for the inconvenience the byelection had caused, and all the leaflets and the knocks on the door they were getting.
He went on:
It’s been a long month, and we’ve lived through it together, haven’t we?
But it’s all for a purpose. The inconvenience is for a real purpose. And that is to make sure that this byelection changes British politics.
And I believe that is what it’s about to do.
This byelection is going to put power where it should be in the hands of people here, in the hands of you, in the hands of 75,000 people across this constituency, a place that has been overlooked by Westminster in the past.
It’s right that this place decides what happens, the change that comes to British politics, because change is coming.
But the question tonight is what kind of change?
And I want to finish this byelection campaign [being] really clear with everybody about what kind of change I’m talking about, what kind of change I’m offering.
A vote for me is a vote to end 40 years of trickle-down economics that didn’t trickle down much at all to people here. It is a vote to bring down water bills, energy bills, to make life more affordable to people again, to give the British people a bit more money in their pockets, to give people a bit more breathing space in their daily lives. That is what a vote for me is all about.
It’s a vote to power up the north of England – about time that that happens – as well as to re industrialise the north.
And to give all young people growing up here good paths into secure jobs. That’s what this is all about.
Burnham urges supporters to vote for him 'to power up north of England'
Andy Burnham said a vote for him in the Makerfield byelection was “a vote to end 40 years of trickle-down economics that didn’t trickle down much at all to people here”.
He went on:
It is a vote to bring down water bills, energy bills, to make life more affordable to people again, to give the British people a bit more money in their pockets, to give people a bit more breathing space in their daily lives. That is what a vote for me is all about.
It’s a vote to power up the north of England. About time that that happens.
Andy Burnham is live streaming a speech to supporters in Makerfield.
I will post the highlights shortly.
Starmer warns against ‘looking backwards’ to Brexit after rivals back UK’s return to EU
The UK and the European Union should not waste time “looking backwards” to Brexit, Keir Starmer said today, as he comes under pressure to reconsider rejoining the EU. Alexandra Topping has the story.
The Labour MP Andy McDonald, who is on the left of the party, has welcomed the Cabinet Office’s announcement today about ending some government outsourcing. (See 11.24am.) McDonald said:
The government promised a wave of insourcing - and delivering that for government facilities management is the right thing for taxpayers and for staff. Removing the requirement to pay profits for core public service provision is the right thing to do and should ensure better pay and conditions, and trade union recognition.
I thank Rachel Reeves for the role she has played in this and pay tribute to both the TUC and to the PCS union whose members have led a long and very loud campaign for their members to secure insourced contracts. Today’s announcement is a testament to them and their work.
It should be the first step in a broader wave of insourcing across public services.
The government should set out an intent to see this approach expand into other sectors of the economy, including in education, health, local government, and in transport as it establishes Great British Railways.
MPs and peers pay tribute to Jo Cox
MPs and peers gather in Speaker’s House at parliament today for a “Great Get Together” in honour of Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered 10 years ago yesterday by a far-right extremist.
The speakers included Kim Leadbeater, Cox’s sister, who now represents the seat where Cox was MP, Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, his son Stephen, a health minister, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, Sarah Brown, wife of the former PM, and Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker. Guests wore white roses in recognistion of Cox’s strong Yorkshire links.
Neil Kinnock said Cox “had a gift and a power in death as well as in life for uniting people.”
Hoyle said Cox could have been a future prime minister, and that “democracy lost a superstar in the making.” And as MP for Chorley in Lancashire, he joked: “I would never wear a Yorkshire rose for anybody else.”
Updated
Driving test backlog to remain until autumn next year, transport secretary Heidi Alexander tells MPs
Britain’s driving test backlog will remain until autumn 2027, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has said. As the Press Association reports, Alexander said this in her evidence to the transport committee this morning. PA says:
The cabinet minister told MPs “I totally understand people’s frustrations” as she insisted “we have done a lot” to tackle the issue “but demand is still very high”.
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures show the average waiting time to book a test last month was nearly 22 weeks, compared with about five weeks in February 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic.
The agency initially had a target of reducing the average waiting time to seven weeks by the end of 2025.
Alexander pushed this back to summer 2026, but admitted last November even that would not be possible.
Giving evidence to the transport select committee she said: “Realistically, this is going to take a long time to sort this problem out, and I think by the autumn of next year we should be back down to the seven-week aspiration that we’ve got.”
The minister went on: “My aspiration is to get us back down to a point where, when someone is booking a test, they’re not having to wait months on end to get one, which is the situation for some people in some locations at the moment.”
Alex Wickham from Bloomberg has posted on social media a summary of Bloomberg’s take on the thinking in the Labour party about what will happen if Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield byelection. This is how it starts.
— Andy Burnham’s supporters expect senior members of Keir Starmer’s cabinet to tell him in the days after Makerfield to agree a handover of power, in an attempt to make it impossible for him to continue in post.
— Burnham would rather not directly launch a leadership challenge against Starmer, sources say. Instead, his allies are asking the cabinet to persuade the PM to agree an orderly transition and not to run in a contest. That showdown could take place on Friday or over the weekend.
— Some senior cabinet ministers now think it’s inevitable Burnham will replace this summer, a shift in sentiment against the PM. It’s likely some will tell him he should step aside, sources say, though they’re doubtful more than a handful are prepared to resign to force him out. The most loyal cabinet ministers accept Starmer won’t lead Labour into the next election but aren’t pushing for a quick change.
Anna Turley, the Labour chair, has urged Kemi Badenoch to sack Matt Vickers as deputy Tory chair over the interview where he joked about the arson attack on Keir Starmer’s home. (See 12.31pm and 1.40pm.) In a statement issued after PMQs (where David Lammy just said Vickers should apologise for his response), she said:
It is frankly sickening that anyone would seek to laugh and joke about an appalling attack on a fellow politician’s family home. To do so on the same day as we stood in unity to mark the anniversary of our dear friend and much missed colleague Jo Cox, is beyond the pale.
Matt Vickers is not fit to be an MP and if Kemi Badenoch had an ounce of integrity or respect for the safety of those who seek to serve the public, she would do the right thing and sack him today.
Updated
Burnham 'won't take job in Starmer's government', source says
Andy Burnham will not take a job in a Keir Starmer cabinet, his team is briefing.
This morning Starmer said that he wanted Burnham to have a “big role” in government if he wins the Makerfield byelection. (See 8.55am.) This was seen as an attempt to avert a leadership challenge, and Starmer has also suggested that Burnham should focus on helping Labour to win the Greater Manchester mayoral election in his first few weeks as an MP. (See 9.20am.)
It is unlikely that Starmer seriously expects Burnham to accept a job, and this afternoon the Manchester Evening News is reporting that Burnham has ruled out the idea.
In his story, Rob Williams said:
A senior source who spoke to the M.E.N. ruled out Mr Burnham taking a job in Starmer’s government telling us ‘the benefit Andy has is the wind of change for not having been associated with the government’s failings’.
The source also told us that the discussion of the Greater Manchester mayoral elections was an attempt to put ‘further challenges up’ and that if Keir Starmer stays it will give people ‘an excuse to vote against Labour’ in that election. If Mr Burnham wins the Greater Manchester Mayoral election is expected to take place at the end of July.
UDPATE: Here is the video of Starmer making his offer earlier.
Updated
Unison leader Andrea Egan says next Labour leader will 'crash and burn' unless they 'break with establishment consensus'
The next Labour leader will “crash and burn” unless they have the confidence to repair public services and stand up for progressive values, a union leader has warned.
Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, said fixing the country required huge investment in schools, hospitals, councils and transport, the Press Association reports.
Speaking at Unison’s annual conference in Brighton, she said:
Whoever the next Labour leader is will crash and burn just like this one unless they have the confidence to break completely with the establishment consensus.
The next prime minister must repair our broken public services through massive public investment and bringing everything back in house.
Major sectors brought back fully under national public ownership. Not just publicly controlled or regulated a bit more actively.
They must stand up for progressive values, end the attacks on migrants, protect hard-won freedoms and invest in our communities.
That means investing in schools, hospitals, councils and transport. Not spending more money on American weapons and wars abroad.
Egan also strongly condemned the plans from Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, to double, or even triple, the amount of time migrant workers have to wait until they can qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
She said:
I’m not sure if politicians like the home secretary thought we’d just look away when they decided to come for migrants.
When they decided to scapegoat them, strip away their rights and deepen exploitation.
Because if they did, they couldn’t have been more wrong.
An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
It doesn’t matter where we come from or what we look like.
Workers stick together and that’s why the entire union is four-square behind our migrant members in this fight.
Updated
Government to publish Timms review into future of Pip before summer recess, McFadden tells MPs
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, told the work and pensions select committee this morning that the review being led by Stephen Timms into the future of Pip (the personal independent payment – a disability benefit) will be published before the summer recess, which begins at the end of next month.
The government announced the review last year when it shelved plans to cut Pip in the welfare bill. At the time ministers said that it would report in the autumn. If it is going to report ahead of schedule, that may indicated a renewed enthusiasm in goverment to press ahead with a fresh attempt at reform.
This is from the Labour MP Phil Brickell, who has a different view from Rachael Maskell (see 2.23pm) as to what Andy Burnham should be prioritising if he wins the Makerfield byelection.
As a Greater Manchester MP, let me be clear.
If Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election tomorrow his immediate priority should be ensuring Labour goes on to also win the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election which has to take place by 6 August.
Andy is uniquely placed to lead that campaign.
List of 20 private members' bills presented to parliament today
Twenty MPs won the right to bring forward a private members’ bill in the ballot. They have now chosen the topics for their bills, and all 20 were formally presented to the Commons after PMQs today. This is just a formality and texts of the bills are not yet available.
Here is a list of all 20 bills issued by the Commons. But only the first seven on the list are guaranteed time for a second reading debate on a Friday, and so they are the only ones with a realistic chance of success. Bills lower down the list are only likely to get through if they are so uncontroversial that they might get approved with minimal debate.
1) Desmond Swayne, Conservative (New Forest West) - Infants, Parents and Carers Bill
2) Lauren Edwards, Labour (Rochester and Strood) - Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
3) Mike Wood, Conservative (Kingswinford and South Staffordshire) - Heritage Public Houses Bill
4) Andrew George, Liberal Democrat (St Ives) - Homes and Planning Bill
5) Luke Evans, Conservative (Hinckley and Bosworth) - First Cousins (Prohibited Relationships) Bill
6) John Whittingdale, Conservative (Maldon) - Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill
7) Jessica Toale, Labour (Bournemouth West) - Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (Amendment) Bill
8) Neil Shastri-Hurst, Conservative (Solihull West and Shirley) - Emergency and Life-saving Skills (Schools) Bill
9) Gareth Snell, Labour (Stoke on Trent) - Ceramics (Country of Origin Marking) Bill
10) Lincoln Jopp, Conservative (Spelthorne) - Northern Ireland Troubles (Criminal Investigations etc) Bill
11) Patricia Ferguson, Labour (Glasgow West) – Fireworks Bill
12) Robert Jenrick, Reform UK (Newark) - Group-based Child Sexual Offences (Mandatory Life Sentences) Bill
13) Damian Hinds, Conservative (East Hampshire) - Automated Online Software (Access and Transparency) Bill
14) Alistair Strathern, Labour (Hitchin) - Relationships and Sex Education (Further Education Sector) Bill
15) Clive Jones, Liberal Democrat (Wokingham) - Cancer (Reporting and Strategy) Bill
16) Victoria Atkins, Conservative (Louth and Horncastle) - Planning (Solar Power Generation) Bill
17) Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrat (Twickenham) - Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill
18) Steff Aquarone, Liberal Democrat (North Norfolk) - Coastal Communities (Health) Bill
19) Paul Foster, Labour (South Ribble) - Hospice Funding Bill
20) David Pinto-Duschinsky, Labour (Hendon) - Work Experience (Schools) Bill
Starmer says new assisted dying private member's bill won't get extra government help even though last one blocked by Lords
Alexandra Topping is a Guardian political correspondent.
Keir Starmer has dashed the hopes of assisted dying campaigners by confirming he won’t change tack and back a new private members bill on the topic.
As Jessica Elgot reports, the Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who came second in the ballot for private members’ bills, is introducing the assisted dying bill that was blocked by the House of Lords in the last session of parliament.
The government was neutral on the last assisted dying bill, despite supporters suggesting the PM should make government time available for it to be debated after a majority of MPs backed it at second reading and opponents resorted to delaying tactics.
Today Starmer said he would adopt the same approach again. He said:
I’m deeply conscious that there are different and strongly held views, not just in my party, but actually across parliament on this, as we’ve already seen.
But the approach of the government will be the same in relation to this bill as it was in relation to the bill that fell as a result of the king’s speech and the new session.
Updated
Burnham should launch leadership bid 'really quickly' if he wins byelection, says Labour MP Rachael Maskell
Josh Halliday is the Guardian’s North of England editor.
The talk in Westminster has turned to the timing of a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer if, as expected, Andy Burnham wins in Makerfield tomorrow. Will Burnham call immediately for Starmer to step down? Or should Labour focus first on fighting Reform UK in what would be a fierce contest for Burnham’s job as Greater Manchester mayor?
I was out all day in Makerfield yesterday and bumped into the Labour MP Rachael Maskell looking very upbeat as she headed out campaigning.
She was very clear that Burnham should launch a leadership challenge immediately, saying:
We need to move forward. This country is crying out for [Burnham’s] leadership. He needs to get sworn in and after that we need to look at the leadership and make sure we can form a good cohesive Labour government on the back of it.
Asked whether she wanted to see Burnham in No 10 before Labour conference in September, she hinted that it could be sooner than that: “I’m optimistic that can happen really quickly.”
Before any leadership challenge, Burnham has to win the Makerfield byelection. The polls suggest he is on course for a relatively comfortable victory, thanks in part to his own profile, the backing of an anti-Reform coalition of Lib Dem and Green voters, and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain splitting the vote on the right.
Maskell said the mood in the Burnham camp was “really positive”:
This whole campaign ... people are smiling in the party again and [feel] that Labour has found its values and purpose once again.
I’ve had people take down Reform posters and come behind Andy because they can see it’s become so divisive. People are now in the last minute of reaching a decision, turning to Andy because he’s bringing people together and doing politics in a different way.
The Labour adviser Damian McBride has some ace PMQs trivia.
By my count, Claire Coutinho was the 45th different person to stand at the despatch box for PMQs since the once-a-week era began in 1997, and the Lammy vs Coutinho match-up was the 26th different pairing since the 2015 election, seven of them coming in the past two years.
Tories defend Vickers laughing at homophobic jokes in TV interview, saying he was just 'trying to be polite'
Peter Walker is a senior Guardian political correspondent.
At their post-PMQs briefing, asked about Matt Vickers’ comments about the arson attack on the PM’s property in a TV interview yesterday (see 12.31pm), a Conservative spokesperson said the Tory deputy chair was just being “polite” when he laughed along with homophobic jokes on Talk Radio.
The spokesperson said:
If you listen to what Matt Vickers says, he doesn’t actually say anything wrong in the clip. He was trying to be polite.
Asked why Vickers did not challenge supposed humour about the case of two men convicted of arson attacks on property connected to Keir Starmer referencing “rent boys” and “back doors”, he added:
Matt didn’t say anything wrong in his commentary and was trying to be polite to the host of a programme where he was being interviewed.
You can watch the clip here and decide for yourself. While in his initial response Vickers did say that the arson trial illustrated a “serious point” about Russian influence, he also went on to jokingly dismiss the notion that “there’s some secret Russian effort to destabilise this country”.
PMQs - snap verdict
Come back next week. In seven days’ time, PMQs should be a moment of intense drama, where 30 minutes of questions in the cockpit of democracy, and how the PM responds, should tell us a lot whether he still retains authority, the currency of leadership. The jeers and jibes at PMQs can seem trite and pointless, but sometimes they function as the ultimate test of power, and that is a challenge Keir Starmer will face soon.
Today, though, it was one of those trite and pointless days.
Claire Coutinho is shadow energy secretary, and most of her questions were about the North Sea where, at least on Rosebank and Jackdaw, the internal Labour party argument is heading a bit closer to the Tory position. But you would not have necessarily guessed that from Coutinho, who seemed over-reliant on jokes and who ended with a very weird “Why is he here?” question. (See 12.17pm.) It was perfectly acceptable knockabout, but lightweight rather than commanding. Lammy was not much better in his responses, which lent heavily on whataboutery. But, later, he did produce some much more confident answers which enthused Labour MPs, particularly on Matt Vickers (see 12.31pm), on Reform UK (see 12.35pm) and on the Belfast pogrom rioting (see 12.22pm). It was job done, but nothing special.
Mark Pritchard (Con) said Lammy was looking very prime ministerial today. Pritchard said he would vote for him as PM.
He said Stoke Heath, a small settlement in the Wrekin, is getting 121 asylum seekers. That amounts to a 35% increase in its population. That was equivalent to 44,000 going into Lammy’s constituency, he said.
He went on:
Whilst this is a tolerant nation and a compassionate nation and an understanding nation, does the deputy prime minister agree with me that that level of dispersal into a small, isolated rural community is just isn’t fair?
Lammy said the government had reduced net migration. He said it was difficult if people called for illegal migrants to be removed, but then objected to them being detained. But he said he did not know the details of this case. An immigration minister would look at it, he said.
Josh Babarinde, the Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne, said Eastbourne pier was an iconic part of his town’s heritage. And it was also an iconic part of him, he said – he had a tattoo of it. He offered to show it to Lammy. And he asked what the government was doing to protect the pier.
Lammy said he never expected an invitation like that. But he said the government was allocating £20m to Eastbourne through the Pride in Place scheme.
Bradley Thomas (Con) asked what the government was doing to mitigate the impact of the steel tariffs being imposed by the US?
Lammy said this was a serious issue. He said the government had legislated to help the steel industry, and he said tariffs had come up as an issue at the G7 summit.
Louie French (Con) asked Lammy if he agreed that Sadiq Khan was wrong to stop the Met police giving a contract to Palantir. He said this would make Londoners less safe.
Lammy said he would take no lectures from the Tories on crime given Boris Johnson’s record on this issue.
Sarah Owen (Lab) asked Lammy about Robert Kenyon, the Reform UK candidate in Makerfield. She said he has said most abortions are for vanity purposes, and endorsed a sexually explicit comment about Carol Vorderman. She said this showed Reform UK’s hypocrisy on women. And they had also welcomed a woman-beater into their number, she said.
Lammy said Owen had made a powerful point. He went on:
The prime minister has rightly put tackling violence against women and girls at the heart of this Labour government.
By contrast, I’ve been utterly appalled by what we’ve heard from the Reform candidate in Makerfield, from vile sexist comments to saying Putin was within his rights to invade Ukraine.
When the Reform leader was asked about them, his answer was, ‘So what?’ This speaks volumes about Reform.
The only way to stop their politics of grievance is to vote Labour.
Lammy tells Tory deputy chair Matt Vickers he should apologise for joking on TV about arson attack on PM's home
Matt Vickers (Con) asked Lammy about youth unemployment. What was to blame? Was it business rates going up, the jobs tax, the Employment Rights Act, or all of the above?
In response, Lammy condemned Vickers, a deputy chair of the Conservative party, for remarks he made about Keir Starmer in a TV interview yesterday.
Lammy said:
[In the interview] he’s laughing and joking about the arson attack on the prime minister’s home … Not only that, he joined with promoting conspiracies about the attack and laughed along to demeaning homophobic remarks. He should be ashamed of himself. My advice to him is to grow up, apologise and do considerably better.
Daisy Cooper, the deputy Lib Dem leader, asked if the government would back the Lib Dem plan to fund more defence spending through bonds.
Lammy said the government was working with allies to improve defence procurement and funding.
Cooper asked if Lammy agreed it was time for Labour to rip up its red lines on getting closer to the EU.
Lammy said the government was sticking to its red lines, but wanted an SPS deal to improve trade and a youth experience scheme.
Claire Hanna, the SDLP leader, says loyalist paramilitaries were involved in the rioting in Belfast last week. They organised a pogrom, she says. She asks if the government will review how the Northern Ireland executive is handling this problem.
Lammy says what happened in Belfast was racism. He goes on:
We must never go back to 1950s Britain, where my father arrived to signs saying, ‘No blacks, no dogs, no Irish.’
We are focused on bringing people together and that includes providing a further £24m to help tackle paramilitarism and to tackle those inciting hatred online.
And our social cohesion plan is about bringing our communities together.
Coutinho asks, if everything is fine, “why is he here?” She says the government is on life support.
Lammy says he is here because he is standing in for the prime minister.
Coutinho says, if everything is going so well, why did half the defence team resign. And she claims Ed Miliband is out of control.
Lammy says defence spending is higher than it was under the Tories. And he says under the Tories two defence secretaries quit in disgrace (Gavin Williamson and Michael Fallon), and he says Ben Wallace admitted hollowing out the armed forces.
Coutinho says half the cabinet will be getting a pay cut soon. She asks why Ed Miliband ghosted the PM on a matter of national security. (See 11.11am.)
Lammy says Coutinho should not believe everything that she reads in the paper.
The energy department will contribute to the defence investment plan, he says.
And he says energy bills would be higher if the UK had followed Kemi Badenoch’s advice and got involved in the Iran war.
Coutinho claims 1,000 jobs are being lost in the oil industry a month.
She says people from the oil and gas industry are getting new jobs – but they pay only half as much.
Lammy says Coutinho has got her facts wrong.
Oil and gas is coming out of the North Sea 24/7. In the first three months of this year, 52 million barrels of oil came out. 44 million barrels equivalent of gas came out. We’re not turning off the taps. It’s part of a mixed economy.
Coutinho asks how many jobs have been lost in Aberdeen.
Lammy says Coutinho used to champion net zero when she was energy secretary.
He says the government has secured investment “to support more jobs by taking control with renewables, and there are over 100,000 jobs in Scotland, supported by clean power. We’re building on that, led by the Great British Energy, headquartered in Aberdeen.”
Claire Coutinho, who is standing in for Kemi Badenoch, also expresses condolences to the families of Roy Hattersley and Jo Cox, and to the families of the Grenfell Tower victims.
Turning to energy, she asks why Labour is happy to get its oil and gas from Russia or Qatar, but not Aberdeen.
Lammy says Coutinho was a Treasury minister during the biggest fall in living standards for decades.
He goes on:
Don’t believe everything you read in the papers. The prime minister and the energy secretary have been discussing cutting bills by over £100. We’ve got our warm homes plan lifting millions of families out of fuel poverty and securing enough energy projects to power 23m homes.
David Lammy starts by saying he is standing in for the PM.
He says he wants to pay tribute to two “giants of the Labour party”, Roy Hattersley and Jo Cox.
He also recalls the 72 lives lost at Grenfell Tower, saying a safe home for everyone in this country must be their legacy.
And he congratulates Scotland on their first World Cup win for 36 years, and wishes England luck for tonight.
This is from Tom Harwood at GB News on why Claire Coutinho gets the PMQs gig today.
No coincidence the Tories have put up shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho in place of Kemi Badenoch for DPMQs. The Aberdeen South by-election is tomorrow.
Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, is standing in for Kemi Badenoch, I’m told.
David Lammy to take PMQs
PMQs is starting soon. David Lammy, the deputy PM, will stand in for Keir Starmer, who is still at the G7 in France.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
England 'only win World Cups under Labour', says Starmer ahead of tonight's match
Alexandra Topping is a Guardian political correspondent.
Among the hard questions about the Makerfield byelection and the potential leadership challenge it may spark, Keir Starmer was also asked about the World Cup by reporters at the G7 this morning.
He broke out a smile, and may even have left the door open to giving the UK a bank holiday if England win the World Cup, saying he did not want to jinx Thomas Tuchel’s team ahead of their first game in Dallas on Wednesday. He said:
I’m not gonna jinx the World Cup but, you know, the last time we won the World Cup it was a Labour government.
And so it’s absolutely clear that we only win World Cups under a Labour government.
So let’s hope that this is the next opportunity. He’s got a great squad. This is going to be a good game tonight, probably the hardest in the group games this evening.
So we’re looking forward to seeing the starting lineup what it’s going to be.
And don’t take it that the lineups in the friendlies are going to be the starting lineup for tonight.
Government says 'age of outsourcing over' as ministers commit to bringing more services in-house
Ministers have said “the age of outsourcing is over” as the Cabinet Office set out a plan for bringing services like cleaning and security back in-house, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Central government departments will be required under new guidance to produce five-year roadmaps for how they will strengthen their in-house capabilities.
This will reverse years of contracting out functions to outsourcing giants such as G4S, Serco, OCS and ISS, which diminished the state’s capacity to carry out its own services, the Cabinet Office said.
Departments will have to apply a new public interest test before renewing contracts worth more than £1m, focusing on long-term quality rather than short-term cost savings.
Chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones said: “I want to end the era of ‘outsourcing by default’ and build stronger in-house capacity. The British people deserve value for their money – not just the cheapest, short-term option which may not deliver quality in the long-term.
“By introducing this public interest test, and leading the way by looking to bring our cleaners and security staff back in-house when major contracts end in 2028, we are rebuilding our national capacity to deliver high-quality services the British people deserve.”
There is more on the announcement in a written statement here.
Farage does not talk about Brexit because he knows it's damaged economy, attorney general Lord Hermer says
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, avoids talking about Brexit because he knows the damage it has caused, Lord Hermer, the attorney general, will say in a speech this afternoon.
Hermer is speaking at a European Movement conference and, according to an extract released in advance, he will say:
Strikingly, the politicians who were key proponents of Brexit, and major figures in the campaign to Leave, now appear reluctant to remind us of the promises that they made.
When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage proudly talk about Brexit? Or make the case for the benefits it’s brought Britain?
The reason he has become uncharacteristically quiet about what he used to describe as his crowning achievement is because he knows the damage it caused Britain, our standing in the world, and our economy.
Andy Burnham may have trouble getting through to Keir Starmer if he tries ringing him after the Makerfield byelection to urge him to set a timetable for his departure. Burnham reportedly wants to call Starmer this weekend. (See 9.47am.) But, in his interview with Sky News, Starmer said: “I’m sure I’ll talk to Andy after the weekend.”
If Starmer declines to take Burnham’s call, he may be following Ed Miliband’s example. In a Times story today, Patrick Maguire and Steven Swinford report:
Sir Keir Starmer’s relationship with Ed Miliband has broken down to such an extent that the energy secretary has been accused of “ghosting” the prime minister in recent weeks.
Senior government sources claimed that Miliband declined to take calls from the prime minister during a tense stand-off over defence spending.
Relations have deteriorated significantly since Miliband became the first cabinet minister to advise Starmer to set out a timeline for his departure.
But the story also quotes a source close to Miliband who “said that the pair did eventually speak and denied that Miliband declined to take the prime minister’s calls.”
The report also claims “several cabinet ministers are weighing up whether to resign after the by-election in an attempt to force Starmer’s hand”, including potentially Miliband.
I’m afraid we are not able to open comments today because the moderators do not have capacity. Hopefully normal service will resume tomorrow.
But comments are open on our Makerfield byelection Q&A.
Bridget Phillipson tells MPs government to issue formal apology to victims of forced adoption policy in last century
Earlier this year the Commons education committee said the government should issue a formal apology to victims of official policy in England in the mid-20th century to require some women to give up children for adoption.
Jessica Murray reported at the time:
Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales owing to a culture of shame surrounding pregnancy outside marriage. Religious organisations ran most of the mother and baby homes where pregnant women were sent to give birth, while charities and local authorities were also involved in funding the placements and finding adoptive parents.
Today Bridget Phillipson has said the government will deliver an apology for this. Giving evidence to the committee this morning, she said:
This government will very soon be making a full apology on behalf of the state to all of those affected by historic forced adoption in England.
The prime minister will have more to say on this shameful period in our history, reflecting the gravity of what has happened.
But here and now, let me say to all of those affected, you will get the apology that you so profoundly deserve.
Starmer says lifting two-child benefit cap is government decision he's most proud of
In his interview on Sky News this morning, Keir Starmer identified lifting the two-child benefit cap, a move that should lift almost 500,000 children out of poverty, as his best decision as PM.
Asked what he was most proud of, Starmer replied:
Lifting half a million children out of poverty by removing the two child benefit cap. That is something I’m proud of because that will be felt not just this year, next year, not just during the duration of this government, but for those children it will be felt for the rest of their lives.
In five years, 10 years, 20 years, they will have better, more enriched lives with better opportunities than they would otherwise have because of the decisions of this Labour government. I’m really proud of that.
Starmer’s answer implies a good understanding of the long-term, scarring effects of poverty.
But it is also noteworthy because getting rid of the two-child benefit cap was a significant U-turn. In opposition, Starmer did not just say the cap would stay; he even presented this decision as evidence of his fiscal responsibility. And, soon after Labour took office, he removed the whip from seven Labour MPs who voted for an SNP amendment saying the cap should go.
Asked to name his biggest mistakes, Starmer said he had “many regrets” because he had made mistakes. But everyone makes mistakes, he insisted.
There are plenty of things that we didn’t get right, and I regret the fact we didn’t get them right.
But I also, would point out, as a prime minister, as we take hundreds of decisions every single day. And it is inevitable, that you don’t get all of them right.
That’s the same in any walk of life and any business leader, anybody running any organisation, anybody running a media outlet, would know when you’re making that number of decisions, all of which matter, then some of them will turn out not to be the right decisions.
Everybody watching this, whatever they do, for a living, whatever they do in their lives will know that none of us get every decision right.
Starmer claims he does not feel angry or bitter about leadership turmoil he's facing
Keir Starmer has claimed that he does not feel angry about the leadership predicament he is in.
He made the comment in an interview this morning with Sky’s Beth Rigby. Asked if felt angry about the situation, and if he blamed himself, he replied:
No, I don’t feel angry, I don’t feel bitter, because I remind myself it is an incredible privilege to be the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to be here talking to world leaders about some of the biggest issues of the day, to be able to serve your country, to grapple with the difficult issues.
In his interview Starmer did sound calm. But there have been reports saying he does feel bitter about the way colleagues have turned against him. In an article for the Observer last month Tom Baldwin, Starmer’s biographer, said “those around [Starmer] describe his rage and anger over what he regards as ‘betrayal’ from some of his cabinet.”
Hannah Al-Othman, the Guardian’s North of England correspondent, has been covering the campaign in Makerfield and she will be taking part in an online Q&A at 1pm today. There are details about how to take part here.
We have not heard yet how Andy Burnham will respond to Keir Starmer’s offer of a “big role” in government (see 8.55am), but Dan Hodges, the Mail on Sunday columnist, has had a good guess at what the answer will be.
Burnham’s response to this will be that the best way for Labour to hold the Manchester mayoralty is for Starmer to announce he’s stepping down. Otherwise he will effectively be on the ballot, and will allow Reform to re-run their “Vote Reform, dump Starmer” slogan.
Keir Starmer says, the priority after Friday is winning the Manchester Mayoralty. So is it that easier for Labour to do if the message is:
a) “Keir Starmer is going to try and cling on as leader. Vote Labour”.
b) “Keir Starmer has agreed to step down. Vote Labour”.
The Mail is reporting today that Burnham “is planning to deliver the PM a private ultimatum this weekend, warning him that he must either set out a timetable for departure or face an imminent coup.”
That is a mainstream expectation at Westminster.
But we don’t know yet what Burnham would regard as a reasonable timetable for Starmer’s departure – before August? before or at party conference in September? by the end of the year? – and Burnham may not even have a settled view himself. A lot may depend on whether he wins Makerfield narrowly, or with a big, decisive majority.
Russian warship incident in Channel deeply concerning, says Starmer
Warning shots fired by a Russian warship sailing across the Channel on Tuesday morning were “deeply concerning and reckless”, Keir Starmer said this morning. Alexandra Topping and Dan Sabbagh have the story.
Starmer says Labour should not hold leadership contest when it should be fighting Greater Manchester mayoral byelection
Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, Keir Starmer said it would be wrong for Labour to hold a leadership challenge ahead of a likely election to replace Andy Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester.
If Burnham wins the byelection tomorrow (as all the constituency polls suggest he will), he will resign his mayoral job and there will be an election to replace him. It would probably take place on Thursday 30 July. Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council, is tipped to be Labour’s candidate. Burnham won easily in the last mayoral election two years ago, but he is personally very popular in the north-west in a way that Craig isn’t. Reform UK trounced Labour in the local elections in May, and holding the mayoralty will be a tough challenge for the party.
Asked about a potential leadership challenge, Starmer told reporters:
First and foremost, I want Andy Burnham to win, and that’s why I’ve encouraged activists and members to go up there during the course of the campaign, and they’ll be up there tomorrow helping to get the vote out.
Then what happens is we’re immediately tipped into a Manchester mayoral contest byelection, one of the biggest byelections that we’ve ever fought, because of the scale of it.
And it’s really important to my mind that the whole of the Labour party and Labour movement focuses on that, which is the next most immediate task.
I don’t think there should be a challenge. I think history, particularly the last government, shows that that isn’t a successful way for a government to behave.
But Starmer also did repeat his intention to fight a challenge if there is one.
If there is a challenge, then I intend to fight.
I’m not going to walk away from that, and I’ve been clear and consistent about that.
Starmer says he will offer Burnham ‘big role’ - as Streeting says he will challenge for leadership next week if PM won't quit
Good morning. Keir Starmer is still in France for the G7 summit but – as Margaret Thatcher discovered on a trip to Paris in November 1990 – acting as a statesman on the world stage does not protect a PM from a leadership challenge at home and, on that front, there has been a small development overnight; Starmer is now being told explicitly he will face a leadership challenge next week if he does not agree a timetable to stand down after the Makerfield byelection tomorrow.
This has always been implicit, but last night Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who wants to launch a leadership bid, said it out loud.
Streeting was doing media all day after giving a speech on his economic vision (which he calls progressive capitalism). Asked about the leadership at his speech event in the morning, he stressed that he wanted Starmer to set a timetable for his departure. By the time he came to speak to broadcasters in the evening, he was more explicit.
In an interview with Cathy Newman for on her Sky News show, asked what he would do if Starmer did not agree voluntarily to set a timetable for his departure, Streeting replied:
We can’t go on with this uncertainty. I think we will inevitably end up in a contest.
When Newman asked if he meant next week, Streeting replied:
I’ve given you my answer.
Newman pressed him again. “Next week the prime minister, you expect, will face a challenge?” And Streeting replied: “Yeah.”
A bit later, being interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire on Newsnight, Streeting gave a very similar answer. Asked about the timing of a challenge, Streeting said he was “not going get into, ‘is it Monday, is it Tuesday?’” But when Derbyshire asked if he meant “in the not too distant future”, Streeting replied: “We can’t go on with this.”
He also said he was confident he had the 81 names of Labour MPs he would need to launch a challenge.
This morning Starmer has responded. In an interview with Sky News, he said that he would offer Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor who is expected to win the Makerfield byelection tomorrow, a cabinet job. Burnham, of course, not Streeting, is the real threat to the PM, because he is the person with most support from Labour MPs, and Labour members, to replace Starmer.
Starmer told Sky’s Beth Rigby: “Yes, I want him to have a big role in government”.
He went on:
Well, I’m sure I’ll talk to Andy after the weekend, of course I will. I’ve spoken to him many times in recent weeks. And when I came into politics in 2015, it was Andy Burnham’s team that I joined, and we worked very well together.
He’s a huge asset, he’s been a fantastic mayor in Manchester and if he comes back into parliament – I hope he wins in the byelection – he’ll be a fantastic asset for our party and for the country.
This offer is almost certainly too late. Burnham does want “a big role in government”, but it is the one that Starmer is doing himself.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer is doing interviews with UK journalists at the G7 summit, which should start running on air and online throught the morning.
9.15am: Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee.
9.30am: Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, gives evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee.
9.45am: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, gives evidence to the Commons education committee.
Noon: David Lammy, the deputy PM, takes PMQs on behalf of Starmer. The Tories have not yet said who will stand in for Kemi Badenoch.
Afternoon: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, gives a speech to a European Movement conference where he will call for the UK to rejoin the single market. Richard Hermer, the attorney general, is also giving a speech to the conference.
5pm: Andy Burnham is due to give a speech to his supporters in Makerfield on the eve of tomorrow’s byelection.
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