UK politics live: Boris Johnson calls for referendum on UK’s ECHR membership
Ex-prime minister also brands Rishi Sunak’s ideas ‘zany’ and blames him for election drubbing
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Britain should hold a referendum on its membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, Boris Johnson has said.
The ex-prime minister told The Daily Telegraph there was a strong case to give voters a say on the ECHR, which critics say prevents Britain from having full control of immigration.
Mr Johnson suggested the ECHR did not “provide people with protections that they wouldn’t otherwise have”.
The UK’s membership is a key Tory leadership issue with Robert Jenrick saying the party must back an exit to survive. Earlier this week he also said he was open to Mr Johnson being in his shadow cabinet.
Mr Johnson’s comments come ahead of the publication of his memoir, Unleashed, in which he brands Rishi Sunak’s ideas in government as “zany” and laid the blame for the drubbing suffered by the Tories at this year’s general election at his feet.
He also writes that he regrets not sacking then-political adviser Dominic Cummings over the Barnard Castle row, dismissing the furore as “lefty journalists angry over Brexit”.
Mr Johnson will be questioned about the revelations in his memoir during an appearance on ITV set to air on Friday evening.
The BBC was forced to cancel its interview with him after presenter Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sent the former prime minister her briefing notes.
Starmer not in politics to be popular, says minister
Sir Keir Starmer’s personal ratings dropped while he was busy dealing with the row over ministerial donations.
A poll by Opinium revealed the prime minister’s ratings collapsed 45 points since July to -26 during the Labour conference weekend.
According to the survey, 24 per cent of voters approved of the job he was doing while 50 per cent disapproved.
Despite the damning results in only three months in government, industry minister Sarah Jones believes Sir Keir has nothing to fear.
Ms Jones said: “He is not going to be worrying about popularity. He hasn’t gone into politics to do that. But he is really clear that we need to build trust in politicians and politics.
“We are going to go govern in the way that we say we were, which is to drive up integrity, grow the economy and improve people’s lives, and make sure we listen to the public.”
Labour minister investigating whether she can repay Proms ticket back
Sir Keir Starmer’s move to repay more than £6,000 worth of freebies seems to have shaken a minister’s conscience.
During this morning media round, business minister Sarah Jones said she is investigating whether she can pay back a BBC Proms ticket she received as a gift.
The MP for Croydon West, told Times Radio: “If I looked at me being an MP for seven years, been to three events – one Selhurst Park, one the Capital Radio Summertime Ball which the owners LBC invited me to, and one was to the Proms.
“From a perspective of did I declare everything, was I doing this loads of times, was I kind of out and all the time taking freebies, was I giving anybody anything for these things? It was all completely above board.
“But if I look at it through the lens that the public is now looking at it and the question we’re talking about, for what purpose I’m going to those events, I’m not going to go to another event that I’m invited to.”
Asked if she will pay it back, Ms Jones said: “I’m not sure I could but I will certainly look at that, yeah. The issue of the Proms that I’ve been to, I am just investigating whether I could pay that back.”
Boris Johnson interview cancelled after Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sends notes
TV host Laura Kuenssberg has revealed she sent Boris Johnson briefing notes forcing the anticipated interview with the former prime minister to be axed.
The BBC’s political editor admitted the personal gaffe was “embarrassing and disappointing” and the error meant it “was not right for the interview to go ahead”.
Ms Kuenssberg tweeted on Wednesday: “While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow, by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team.”
The interview has now been scheduled for Sunday, when Mr Johnson will be grilled over his past leadership and his upcoming memoir ‘Unleashed’.
God morning
Welcome back to the Politics Blog.
The party conference season is over and while the Tory membership is busy choosing a new leader, Labour is trying to return to the normal routine of governing.
Sir Keir Starmer has ben splashed with spiralling criticism for accepting thousands of pounds in freebies.
The donations backlash followed him to Brussels, where he said it was “right” for him to repay more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality, including clothes donated by probed Lord Alli.
As the row rumbles on, we will bring you all the live updates and analysis throughout the day.
SKETCH | ‘Let’s be normal’ is now the rallying cry from a desperate Tory party
Finally, it was the climax of the week for the Conservative candidates; the chance to pose on stage with an audience of 1,900 and show their real selves. If only they hadn’t, writes Joe Murphy:
‘Let’s be normal’ is now the rallying cry from a desperate Tory party
Finally, it was the climax of the week for the Conservative candidates; the chance to pose on stage with an audience of 1,900 and show their real selves. If only they hadn’t, writes Joe Murphy
Axing two-child limit ‘most cost-effective move but no silver bullet on poverty’
Scrapping the two-child limit would lift more than half a million out of absolute poverty at an eventual cost to the government of £2.5 billion a year, but would “do nothing” for the poorest households caught by the remaining benefit cap, a think tank has said.
Doing away with the two-child limit would be the single most cost-effective way of reducing child poverty, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), but it said that such a policy change is “not a silver bullet”.
Scrapping both the two-child limit and the benefit cap would lift 620,000 children out of absolute poverty but would cost more than £3 billion annually, the organisation said.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been under pressure, since he came to power in July, to remove the two-child policy, and some of Labour’s own MPs were suspended after backing another party’s motion to do so.
The government has cited spending controls as a reason for not being able to immediately ditch the policy, indicating there would be no change to it without economic growth.
The two-child limit was first announced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect in 2017. It restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.
In a new report setting out estimates for the costs and effects of scrapping different policies, rather than recommendations, the IFS said reversing the two-child limit would lift 540,000 children out of absolute poverty.
Watch: Tobias Ellwood rules out Britain attacking Iran after missiles fired
Former defence secretary rules out Britain attacking Iran after missiles fired
Britain will play no part in attacking Iran, a former defence minister has said after Tehran launched around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, 1 October. When asked if he expects the US or UK to be part of any Israeli response, Tobias Ellwood - who lost his seat at the 2024 general election - said he was firm about his belief. “The move to actually attack Iran moves us into a very dangerous place indeed,” he said. British forces “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East” on Tuesday, defence secretary John Healey said. It came as Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran will “pay a price” after it fired missiles at Israel following an Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Two in five parents ‘educate disabled children at home due to lack of provision’
Nearly two in five parents have been forced to educate their disabled child at home because of a lack of suitable provision or funding, a survey has found.
A third (33 per cent) of parents of disabled children have had to go to tribunal to have their local authority agree to fund their child’s education, according to the poll for disability charity Sense.
Parents have been forced to give up their careers because their children’s needs are not being met, while others have had to spend their children’s savings to fight for support, the charity said.
The survey, of 1,001 parents and guardians of disabled children under the age of 18 in the UK, found 46 per cent struggled to get an education, health and care (EHC) plan in place for their child, and a similar proportion (45 per cent) said they had faced difficulties in getting the plan delivered.
The charity has estimated that around 200,000 disabled children in England are having problems getting the right support through an EHC plan.
An EHC plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.
These plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.
The poll, which was carried out by Censuswide in September, found that 39% of parents said they have had to educate their disabled child at home as there is not the funding or the right education provision available to them.
The charity is calling on the government to set out an improvement plan for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in its upcoming Children’s Wellbeing Bill.
Cleverly refuses to disown Truss tax chaos three times
Tory leadership contender James Cleverly refused three times to disown the economic chaos which took place under Liz Truss’ leadership after his plan to scrap stamp duty on house sales was likened to policies introduced by the former prime minister.
The pledge, which he said would cost £10 billion, was compared in a radio interview to the disastrous tax cuts introduced by Ms Truss’ government.
Mishal Hussain, host of BBC Radio 4 Today claimed the move was “the kind of thing” the former prime minister - who resigned just 49 days after taking office - had done.
You can read the full story below:
Cleverly refuses to disown Truss tax chaos three times
The Tory leadership contender declined to distance himself from Liz Truss’ disastrous economic policies
Councils warn Chancellor of widespread bankruptcies without funding boost
Councils say they are “staring down the barrel” financially, as new analysis suggests they will be limited to being “little more than care services” by the end of this Parliament without a boost to resources.
In another dire warning of the perilous state of local government finances, the study found that without extra funding, ministers will have to “radically rethink” councils’ statutory responsibilities, to prevent potentially six in ten county and unitary authorities in rural areas declaring bankruptcy by 2028.
Ministers have repeatedly warned of difficult choices because of a £22 billion black hole they say officials have discovered in the public finances, leading to concerns that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could stick with spending plans which would provide limited relief for under-pressure councils when she delivers her Budget on 30 October.
In its submission to the Budget and Spending Review, the County Councils Network (CCN) cited analysis showing all local authorities in England combined would experience a cumulative £54 billion funding shortfall over the five-year period of this Parliament, based on current projections.
For the 37 CCN councils, which serve nearly half of the population, the funding gap amounted to £20.3 billion.
The huge shortfall was identified as being largely driven by rising demand and costs in just three service areas: adult social care, children’s services and home-to-school transport for children with special education needs and disabilities (Send).
Together these services were found to account for 83 per cent of the total increase in projected costs by 2030.
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