UK politics live: Rosie Duffield slates Labour ‘sleaze and nepotism’ as Badenoch warns of Tory ‘stitch-up’
MP quits party, attacking Sir Keir Starmer over two-child benefit cap, winter fuel payments and freebies
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MP Rosie Duffield has resigned the Labour whip, accusing the prime minister of “hypocrisy” and pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies.
In a resignation letter, Ms Duffield attacked Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test winter fuel payments.
In her resignation letter, she wrote: “The sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale.”
Ms Duffield, who will sit as an independent, also slated Sir Keir’s acceptance of more than £100,000 of freebies including clothes.
Earlier, Kemi Badenoch warned that Tory members will be “very angry” if MPs take part in a “stitch-up” to lend votes to other candidates to keep her out of the top two in the leadership contest.
Allies of Ms Badenoch claim she is the victim of a “dirty tricks” campaign, with Robert Jenrick in effect lending votes to James Cleverly, which the former has strongly denied.
Asked whether she believed Mr Jenrick was taking this approach, she told The Times: “I think that may be happening. But what else is happening is that there is tactical voting.”
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Boris Johnson has revealed he considered a daring raid on the Netherlands to grab doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from an EU warehouse.
Serialised in the Mail +, he wrote: “We knew exactly where the target was: I could see it on Google Earth. It looked pretty easy to burgle, if you know what to do.
“It was the plant where the EU had stowed five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – doses that the company was trying, in vain, to export to the UK.
“As long as people in my country were dying of Covid, which I am afraid they still were in substantial numbers, I believed it was my paramount duty to secure those doses, which belonged to the UK, and use them to save UK lives.”
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Russell Findlay elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Russell Findlay has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, beating Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher.
The new leader won 2,565 votes, the party’s returning officer Leonard Wallace announced on Friday, with Murdo Fraser coming second with 1,187 votes and Meghan Gallacher in third with 403 votes.
The turnout was 60%, with Mr Wallace announcing the party has just shy of 7,000 members, 4,155 of whom voted in the leadership contest.
Theresa May denounces Trump, Farage and Le Pen over climate change ‘hoax’ claims
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Far-right leaders in Europe and the US are trying to wreck measures to save the planet, Theresa May warns. They want to ‘stir up a culture war’ to win votes, says the former PM, who criticises Trump for calling climate change ‘a hoax’ – and accuses Nigel Farage of ‘politicising’ the issue.
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Starmer admits mangling his words over ‘sausages’ blunder
Sir Keir Starmer has said he was prepared to be mocked over the “sausages” gaffe in his Labour conference speech.
The prime minister butchered a call for Hamas to release the hostages in Gaza, instead demanding “the return of the sausages” before swiftly correcting himself.
Asked about the mistake he told reporters: “I just mangled the beginning of the word.”
He added: “These things are there to give you all the opportunity to rib me.”
The blunder in his conference speech on Tuesday was swiftly picked up on social media.
The Conservatives posted on X: “Keir Starmer uses his first big speech as Prime Minister to call for the return of the sausages.”
ICYMI: UK leaders ‘shouldn’t pull our punches’ if they disagree with the US president, MP says
UK leaders “shouldn’t pull our punches” if they disagree with the American president, Emily Thornberry has said after Sir Keir Starmer met with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Ms Thornberry, House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Donald Trump may be the president of the United States in a couple of months’ time so of course, it’s important to have meetings with him and to build a relationship with him.
“Whatever criticisms one may have of Donald Trump, the point is that the office of president is one that needs to be properly respected and the Americans are very close friends of ours.”
The Labour politician added: “I think that this is an initial meeting, so there needs to be a certain amount of relationship building and we take it from there.
“I do think that if there are things the American president does or says that we disagree with, then we shouldn’t pull our punches.”
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Government provides £5 million for humanitarian emergency response in Lebanon
The government will provide £5 million to UNICEF in Lebanon to support humanitarian response efforts and enable the charity to distribute supplies.
The package includes essential medical supplies, hygiene kits and fuel for water stations, to help thousands of displaced civilians across Lebanon, the government said.
Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish Falconer said: “Today we are providing £5 million to UNICEF in Lebanon to support the urgent humanitarian response in Lebanon. The number of civilian casualties is unacceptable, and the UK is deeply concerned by the surge in numbers of displaced people.
“An immediate ceasefire is essential.”
Oxford University professor appointed as the UK’s Special Representative for Climate
Rachel Kyte, Professor of Practice in Climate Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, has been appointed as the UK’s Special Representative for Climate.
She will support ministers to increase senior international diplomatic engagement on climate and clean energy, the government said.
The role, previously left vacant for over a year, has been re-appointed as part of the government’s “ambitions to restore the UK’s role as an international leader on the climate”.
Ms Kyte’s previous roles include Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All and Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We cannot address the urgency of the climate and nature crisis without coordinated global action.
“This government is committed to boosting the UK’s climate leadership. Rachel Kyte will bring invaluable expertise and experience as we work together with partners to drive the energy transition, support those most vulnerable to the worst impacts of the climate crisis and meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.”
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