UK politics - live: Reform level with Labour in new poll as Treasury responds to gloomy economy update
New poll by FindOutNowUK marks a fresh political blow for Sir Keir Starmer who has overseen a rocky start to his leadership of the country
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir Keir Starmer has been dealt a further blow with a new poll predicting Labour would lose its overall majority if an election was held now.
The poll by FindOutNowUK has put Reform level pegging with Labour on 25 per cent and the Tories five points behind on 20 per cent. According to the calculations, if the result was repeated in a general election Labour would lose 173 seats but remain the largest party on 238.
Reform would leap into second place from the five MPs to 170, taking deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel’s seats. The Tories would be left with just 89 seats and a viable government could only be formed with a deal between Labour and the Lib Dems on 70 seats and SNP on 42.
The poll, which comes after a survey by think tank More in Common that also found Labour would lose its majority, marks a fresh political blow for Sir Keir who has overseen a rocky start to his leadership of the country.
There are also fears over the economy with the pound plunging to its lowest level for over a year after a rout in the bond markets. And with government borrowing costs also increasing, Treasury minister Darren Jones has warned that “public services will have to live within their means”.
ICYMI | Andy Burnham breaks with Starmer to back national inquiry into grooming gangs
Andy Burnham has broken with Sir Keir Starmer to back a limited national inquiry into child grooming gangs, so that “those who may have charges to answer are held to account”.
It comes after Labour MPs voted against Conservative demands for a national probe into the scandal.
The prime minister has insisted that another national inquiry would delay justice for victims, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year probe which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.
“I do think there is a case for limited national inquiry that draws on reviews like the one that I commissioned, the one I’ve seen in Rotherham, and the one we saw in Telford”, Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester.
ICYMI | Lammy agrees with Trump that Europe must spend more on defence
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that president-elect Donald Trump is “simply right” to say that Europe needs to do more on defence.
In a speech on Thursday, Mr Lammy said: “Donald Trump and JD Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent.
“It’s myopia to pretend otherwise with Russia on the march. So this Government will lay out a clear pathway to reaching 2.5% of our GDP on defence.
“A figure, lest we forget that the last Labour government met and was never met by the Tories since David Cameron’s cuts. And with John Healey, we will lead and we will change, to convince all of our Nato allies that rising defence spending is a strategic necessity.”
Exclusive: Religion, police and education leaders unite with grooming survivors to demand immediate government action
Religion, police, education leaders demand grooming action now
Exclusive: A coalition made up of 65 charities is pushing Yvette Cooper to act on key recommendations from child sexual abuse inquiry
Watch: Angry farmers disrupt Minister's speech with loud tractor tax protest in Oxford
Winston Churchill’s grandson warns Elon Musk to ‘come through me first’ in staunch defence of Jess Phillips
Churchill’s grandson warns Elon Musk to ‘come through me’ in defence of Jess Phillips
Labour safeguarding minister was described as ‘a rape genocide apologist’ by the tycoon and Donald Trump ally
Government will do ‘whatever it takes’ to clamp down on ketamine use
The Government will do “whatever it takes” to clamp down on the use of ketamine, a Cabinet minister has told MPs.
Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell said many members see the “real, dangerous impact” of increased use of the drug, as ministers seek advice as to whether it should be reclassified as a class A drug.
In the year ending March 2023, an estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 had reported use of the substance, which is currently controlled as class B, according to the Home Office.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson will write to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to ask whether its classification should be changed and will “carefully consider” its findings.
Labour MP for Bangor Aberconwy, Claire Hughes, told the Commons during Business Questions on Thursday that parents in her constituency are “deeply worried about the prevalence of ketamine” in the community.
Ms Powell replied: “I think many of us see the real, dangerous impact of the rise in use of ketamine across our constituents and with young people.”
ICYMI | Truss sends cease and desist to Starmer demanding he stop saying she crashed the economy
Truss sends Starmer cease and desist letter over claim she crashed the economy
Downing Street said the prime minister ‘absolutely stands by’ his comments on the previous government’s record
Ed Davey calls on Reeves to cancel China trip to focus on cancelling NI hike and rebuild with EU
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the Chancellor to cancel her trip to China and instead make an emergency fiscal statement to Parliament cancelling the national insurance hike planned for April, to boost economic growth and bring interest rates down.
Mr Davey said: “Instead of jetting off to China, the Chancellor should urgently come before the House of Commons to cancel her counterproductive jobs tax and set out a real plan for growth.
“The country is paying an ever-higher price for the total mess the Conservative Party made of our economy, and the Chancellor needs to realise that she’ll never dig us out of this hole without a far more ambitious plan to grow our economy, including rebuilding trade with Europe.
“The Government’s misguided jobs tax is hurting businesses and hitting investment badly, meaning it will hold back growth while failing to raise the funding the Chancellor claims for the NHS.
“The Chancellor should look instead at our plans to raise revenue without hitting jobs and growth, by raising taxes on the profits of the big banks, social media giants and online gambling firms – all of which are making eye-watering profits while ordinary families struggle.”
Jess Phillips sys she has not lost her ‘gumption’ after Musk attacks
Jess Phillips has said MPs can jump on the bandwagon of combating grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation – but “it is action that is needed”.
In an off-the-cuff speech, the safeguarding minister argued there was a lack of “actual fundamental change on the ground” when the Conservatives were in power and said accepting recommendations does not change people’s lives.
Ms Phillips also told the Commons she has not lost her “gumption” despite US billionaire Elon Musk describing her as a “rape genocide apologist” after she declined a request from Oldham Council for a Whitehall-led inquiry into child sexual abuse in the town.
In a reference to Mr Musk’s tweet, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Phillips and others received threats as a result of the “poison of the far right”.
Many MPs spoke out in support of Ms Phillips during a debate on violence against women and girls, including Conservative former minister Dame Karen Bradley, who said she had “immense sympathy for what she is going through”.
Comment | John Rentoul: Was this the moment David Lammy stepped up as a Starmer asset?
Was this the moment David Lammy stepped up as a Starmer asset?
When the foreign secretary delivered a speech declaring that ‘Trump is right’ about the need for Europe to raise defence spending, he cemented himself as one of the more impressive ministers in Labour’s troubled administration, says John Rentoul
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