We are now closing this blog but you can read all our politics coverage here.
Afternoon summary
Keir Starmer has attacked extremism in the Conservative party, telling Rishi Sunak at PMQS that he had allowed the Conservative party to become “the political wing of the flat earth society”. Starmer also said that Liz Truss, the former PM, should not be allowed to stand as a Tory candidate again after she spent last week at a conference in the US with far-right Republicans denouncing the “deep state”. (See 1.39pm.)
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has defended his decision to listen to the concerns of Tory MPs who want to water down the bill banning no-fault evictions. (See 5.06pm.)
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has rejected a suggestion from James Cleverly, the home secretary, that it should halt its regular demonstrations about the war in Gaza. (See 1.50pm.) Cleverly has also suggested that protest laws could be tightened, requirig groups to increase the amount of notice they give to police before large demonstrations.
Starmer defends Rayner as Labour's deputy leader dismisses attacks on right-to-buy purchase as 'smears'
Labour said Keir Starmer has “full confidence” in his deputy, Angela Rayner, following questions over an ex-council house sale she made after benefiting from former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy scheme, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Labour leader’s spokesperson batted away questions about the transaction during a briefing with reporters after PMQs.
Asked whether Starmer had full confidence in Rayner, the spokesman replied: “Correct. We have full confidence in all of the answers that she has given on this.”
Rayner, who is also the shadow housing secretary, has rejected claims in a book by Lord Ashcroft, a former Conservative party deputy chairman, due to be published in March.
She has called the reports a “constant stream of smears” and denied she was liable for capital gains tax on the property sale, which was finalised before she was elected in 2015.
Lord Ashcroft’s book alleges that the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne bought her former council house, in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with a 25% discount in 2007 under right-to-buy, a scheme introduced by former Tory PM Mrs Thatcher in 1980.
Rayner, who has committed to reforming the scheme, which she says has “helped fuel the housing crisis” by depleting publicly-owned housing stock, is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.
Those selling a right-to-buy home must wait five years before they can sell, or the seller has to pay back some or all of the discount they received.
Tory MP Jacob Young has accused Ms Rayner of staggering “hypocrisy” for wanting to reform Thatcher’s flagship policy after “personally benefiting from the right-to-buy discount”.
Rayner has said her proposed reforms, which she said will “review the unfair additional market discounts of up to 60% the Tories introduced in 2012”, are the “right thing to do”.
There are also questions about whether the property she sold was her main residence.
Government guidance says that a tenant can apply to buy their council home through the right-to-buy scheme if it is their “only or main home”.
According to an article by the Mail On Sunday (MoS), which is serialising Lord Ashcroft’s book, documents indicate that Rayner was registered on the electoral roll at her former council house for five years after she married Mark Rayner in 2010.
Her husband was listed at another address about a mile away, which had also been bought under the right-to-buy scheme.
In the same year as her wedding, Rayner is said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children, giving her address as where her husband resided.
Under electoral rules, voters are expected to register at their permanent home address. There are penalties for providing false information when registering to vote.
Rayner tweeted on Monday: “I bought my council house back in 2007.
“I owned my own home, lived there, paid the bills there and was registered to vote there, prior to selling the house in 2015. All before I was an MP…
“I’ve never been a ‘landlady’, owned a property portfolio or been a non-dom.
“As with the majority of ordinary people who sell their own homes, I was not liable for capital gains tax because it was my home and the only one I owned.
“My husband already owned his own home independently and I had an older child from a previous relationship.”
She added: “For all the unhealthy interest taken in my family by Lord Ashcroft and his friends, there is no suggestion any rules have been broken.
“Just a constant stream of smears from the usual suspects.”
Gove defends landlords after campaigners criticise his proposals to water down bill banning no-fault evictions
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has defended his decision to listen to the concerns of Tory MPs who want to water down the bill banning no-fault evictions.
In a response to the BBC report saying the government has drafted amendments to address their concerns, he dismissed complaints that he was appeasing “landlord backbenchers”. (See 9.47am and 10.46am.)
Gove told the Sun he knew landlords who were “thoughtful and serious people”. He went on:
The overwhelming majority of landlords do a great job. They they want to have a relationship with their tenant that goes beyond just cash.
They wants to make sure that they’re providing a service that the tenant appreciates.
So, of course I listen to landlords.
We just want to make sure that this bill works for them as well because you need a healthy private rented sector.
Updated
Who will win the Rochdale byelection?
A reader asks:
Any word on predictions for the Rochdale byelection tomorrow? I’ve seen Reform touring the constituency (I live here) in an open top bus, while Galloway has also stepped up his campaigning. We’re drowning in mailshots from the pair of them.
If you live in Rochdale you probably know better than I do, but my assumption (and the assumption of colleagues at Westminster) is that George Galloway will win quite easily. I don’t have any great insight into the contest, because I have not covered the campaign. But I have done a lot of byelection reporting in the past and I know that it helps a lot if you can turn a byelection into a referendum on a particular issue; if you are angry about X, vote Y. Galloway has done that; he has a message. He also seems to have an organisation campaigning on his behalf (an active bunch of supporters). He has got a track record of having won a byelection like this before. And, like him or loath him, he is a brilliant campaigner.
Simon Danczuk is standing for Reform UK, but if he has a message, I haven’t picked it up. Reform UK has never come close to winning a byelection, and I have not seen any evidence to suggest that in Rochdale their campaigning machine has suddenly got a lot better. As the incumbent party candidate, even without Keir Starmer’s endorsement, Azhar Ali ought to be in with a chance. But all the reporting I’ve read suggests his campaign has collapsed, and low turn-out byelections depend a lot on who can motivate their supporters. On this measure, Galloway seems miles ahead.
The bookies think the same. This is what Coral bookmakers sent me earlier today.
Leading bookmaker Coral makes the Workers Party (George Galloway) odds-on at 1-2 to win the Rochdale by-election, which takes place tomorrow.
Labour, who currently hold the seat, are second best in the betting at 6-4, while the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK are 33-1.
Labour says it would extend terms of office for head of armed forces and other military chiefs
John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, promised to extend the maximum tenure of the head of the armed forces and other military chiefs from three years to four on Wednesday but he avoided making any commitments on defence spending in the run up to the election.
The Labour politician said in a speech he wanted to start “appointing service chiefs for four years, reviewed for performance after two” if his party won the election, although aides declined to clarify whether that would apply to current chief of defence staff Adm Sir Tony Radakin.
Radakin became head of the military in November 2021, meaning a normal three year term would end around the time when prime minister Rishi Sunak is expected to call a general election, although it is possible he would remain in post longer to allow a new government to appoint his successor.
Healey was also pressed to see if Labour would commit to increasing defence spending in the light of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and greater uncertainty in the Middle East, but gave no firm commitment to go beyond the existing Nato target of exceeding 2% of GDP.
“Firm commitments on funding can’t simply be made in opposition. That’s the job for government,” Healey said. A Conservative pledge to lift defence spending to 2.5% when circumstances allow was first made by Boris Johnson in June 2022 “when interest rates were 1.25%” Healey said. Rates are now “5.25%, four times higher” and so the interest paid out by the Treasury was higher, impacting affordability, he added.
Updated
Amnesty clause for soldiers breaches human rights law, Belfast court rules
Legislation that gives conditional amnesties to soldiers and paramilitaries for Troubles-era crimes in Northern Ireland breaches human rights legislation, a high court in Belfast has ruled. Rory Carroll has the story here.
Labour announces plan for 'Raneem's law' to get police to offer more help to victims of domestic abuse
Police forces will be forced to provide more protection to victims of domestic abuse under a new Labour government, the party has said.
‘Raneem’s law’, named after Raneem Oudeh, killed by her ex-partner alongside her mother Khaola in 2018, will force police to respond to reports of domestic violence more quickly and consider immediate use of orders to protect women.
In a move widely welcomed by campaigners in the violence against women and girls sector, the new law would also see a dedicated police officer installed in every force to have oversight over all civil orders designed to protect women and girls against violence.
The law will put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms to make sure victims are responded to urgently, a policy already announced by the party following a successful pilot in Northumbria.
It also seeks to address technology and communication failings which leave women at risk. Forces will also have to provide data on police applications for civil orders to the NPCC and Home Office, while Labour said it would also push forward the national roll-out of an electronic link between the family court and police forces so civil orders and injunctions are widely shared.
Campaigners have long argued that orders designed to protect women from abuse – such domestic violence protection notices (DVPN) and domestic violence protection orders (DVPO) - are not used widely enough or are ineffective because breaches are not followed up.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the new law would mark a “step-change” in tackling violence against women and girls, which the party has pledged to halve within a decade. She said:
Missed opportunities cost lives and far too many have already been lost. We cannot stand by while more women, like Raneem and Khaola, are so badly failed by the system charged with keeping them safe.
Raneem Oudeh and her mother, Khaola Saleem, 49, were stabbed to death by Oudeh’s estranged husband, Janbaz Tarin, in August 2018, after he had subjected her to stalking, domestic violence and coercive control for more than a year.
In 2022 an inquest found that failings by West Midlands police “materially contributed” to the deaths of the 22-year-old woman and her mother. It heard that Oudeh had made at least seven calls to the emergency services in the run-up to her death. On the night she and her mother were killed, they called 999 four times, but despite the fact that Raneem had a non-molestation order against her former partner, no officers were sent to her home.
Chris Morris, chief executive of Full Fact, the fact-checking organisation, has criticised Rishi Sunak for failing to commit to PMQs to signing its honest campaigning pledge. (See 12.17pm.) The Green party, Plaid Cymru, the Alliance party and the SDLP have signed. Morris said:
With public trust in politics at its lowest levels for 40 years, the chance to take a stand for honest campaigning was brushed off in parliament today.
Party leaders need to take a hard look at their duty to restore trust in our democracy. Full Fact wants to rebuild faith in politics - don’t they?
Humza Yousaf welcomes analysis saying Scottish government policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty
Humza Yousaf has published an analysis which estimates 100,000 children will be kept out of relative poverty in 2024-25 as a result of Scottish government policies.
The first minister insisted that tackling poverty remains the “driving mission” of his government, despite ferocious criticism by homelessness and child poverty groups of yesterday’s Holyrood budget, which passed by MSPs yesterday.
The SNP leader, who has faced growing criticism from council and opposition leaders over his surprise decision to freeze council tax rates after the party’s crushing defeat by Labour in October’s Rutherglen byelection, said he “understood [charities’] frustrations” but hoped that they appreciated the constraints on his budget.
He suggested charities should also apply pressure to the incoming UK government. He said:
We will continue to take the actions as necessary within the powers that we have, but I would say to those charities … to equally exert pressure on the current and the incoming UK government to make the changes necessary to lift children out of poverty.
He suggested that a new Labour government could “at the drop of a hat” decide to scrap the two child limit and introduce an essentials guarantee to reform universal credit provision.
Responding to the analysis, John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said the projection made clear that the government’s existing policy package is insufficient to reach its own legally binding target of less than one in ten children living in poverty by 2030. He said:
That’s why it was so disappointing that the budget passed yesterday did nothing to build on current progress. There is far more the first minister can be doing with devolved powers – starting with delivering the increase to a £30 Scottish child payment that he himself said he wanted to see during his leadership campaign.
More than half of Tory members in poll say Islam a threat to British way of life
More than half of Conservative party members believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life, according to a poll that sheds light on the hostility with which large parts of the party view the country’s second biggest religion. Kiran Stacey has the story.
Thousands of farmers protest outside Welsh parliament
Thousands of people have descended on the Senedd (Welsh parliament) in protest at a proposed overhaul of farming subsidies they say threaten their industry, PA reports. PA says:
Protesters, who had travelled from across the country to attend the event, cheered, waved Welsh flags and held placards in Welsh and English reading: “No Farmers, No Food”.
They are objecting to proposals by the Welsh Labour government to require more land to be set aside for environmental schemes.
A series of protests have already taken place across Wales but the event in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday was the largest by far, attended by thousands of farmers.
South Wales police had previously asked those attending not to bring tractors, meaning a line of the vehicles were parked along a road leading to Cardiff Bay.
The event saw speeches from Senedd politicians from the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru, as well as from former international rugby union referee Nigel Owens.
He told the cheering crowds: “In 2015, I was very privileged to referee the World Cup final in Twickenham – the proudest moment of my career. But today I’m even prouder to come and speak in front of good, decent people. An honour to be here to speak and to support you today as a fellow farmer.”
During the urgent question in the Commons on the Post Office, despite criticising Henry Staunton, the former Post Office chair, for revealing confidential informaton about its chief executive, Nick Read, at a committee yesterday (see 2.01pm), Kevin Hollinrake did discuss Read’s attempts to get a pay rise.
The Conservative MP Jane Stevenson asked:
In yesterday’s select committee, Mr Staunton spoke about lobbying for a pay rise for Mr Read, which I know must have been quite galling to many of those subpostmasters. The minister was reported as refusing this pay rise. Can I ask him what sort of pay rise Mr Staunton thought would be a fair, equitable agreement at that time?
And Hollinrake replied:
I think on two occasions Mr Staunton sought to lobby or did lobby for a pay increase for Mr Read. He sought to double the overall package of Mr Read on those occasions.
As PA Media reports, MPs could be heard saying '“wow” in response.
Henry Staunton was 'highly unprofessional' in revealing Post Office chief executive under investigation, minister tells MPs
A government minister has criticised the former chair of the Post Office following his dramatic select committee evidence on Tuesday during which he revealed the company’s current chief executive is under investigation.
In response to an urgent question in the Commons, Kevin Hollinrake, the postal services minister, described yesterday’s revelations by Henry Staunton in front of the business select committee as “highly unprofessional” during an urgent question in the Commons.
Staunton revealed during his testimony that Nick Read, the chief executive of the Post Office, is currently under investigation - something Hollinrake said on Wednesday showed: “No one is untouchable and the Post Office culture is unchanging.”
Staunton has been at the centre of a public row with the business secretary Kemi Badenoch over a series of allegations he has made about the government’s handling of the Post Office scandal, including his claim that a civil servant instructed him to slow down compensation payments to victims. Badenoch was not in the country on Wednesday to respond in the Commons however.
Palestine Solidary Campaign rejects suggestion from Cleverly it should halt its regular protests
The Metropolitan Police has been accused of “politicised, heavy handed and violent” policing by the organisers of protests against Israel’s action in Gaza, who are to meet with Scotland Yard on Friday to hand over a dossier listing a series of complaints
A call by the home secretary, James Cleverly, to cease protesting and that they had “made their point” (see 11.19am) was also rejected by organisations including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) at a press conference inside parliament, which was told that any clampdown on protest was an attempt to insulate MPs from public opinion
“We know the demonising of protest for Palestinian rights is driven by pro Israel actors, including within the establishment,” said Ben Jamal of the PSC, who said that the campaign did not support protests outside of MPs homes but backed demonstrations outside of surgeries and parliament.
A dossier of complaints that will be handed by the PSC to the Met at a meeting on Friday accuses the force of “politicised policing” and of conducting a Twitter campaign against demonstrations using language that implies they are threatening or dangerous.
The event was also address by the Labour MP, John McDonnell, who said any clamp downs on protest “chips away” at basic rights. “That sort of thing pushes people to the extremes rather than maintaining confidence in our democratic system,” he added.
PMQs - snap verdict
Ahead of every general election in modern times it is usual for some commentators (or most of them, sometimes) to predict that this will be the ugliest, dirtiest contest ever. In historical terms, this is always wrong (18th an 19th century elections were a horrorshow compared to what is allowed now), but it it true that elections don’t bring out all that is best and noblest in politics, and today’s exchanges were muddier than a pig farm. Welcome to election 2024.
Starmer devoted all his questions to the Conservative party’s tin-foil-hat tendency. His first question was beautfully crafted.
Tory MPs spent last week claiming that Britain was being run by a shadowy cabal made up of activists, the deep state and, most chillingly of all, the Financial Times. At what point did his party give up on governing and become the political wing of the flat earth society?
He then attacked Liz Truss, who was elected PM by Conservative party members less than two years ago and who last week was in America spouting extremist deep state conspiracy theories that would have disbarred her from even being allowed on the CCHQ candidates list a decade ago.
[Truss] predecessor spent last week in America trying to flog her new book. In search of fame and wealth, she’s taken to slagging off … [As Tories heckled] They made her prime minister, now they can’t bear talking about her.
In search of fame and wealth, she’s taken to slagging off Britain at every opportunity. She claimed that as prime minister she was sabotaged by the deep state. She also remained silent as Tommy Robinson, that right-wing thug, was described as a hero. Why is he allowing her to stand as a Tory MP at the next election?
Starmer challenged Sunak to say that he did not want Nigel Farage back in the Conservative party. (Sunak dodged the question.) And Starmer concluded:
The truth is these are no longer the Tories your parents voted for and the public can see it. The prime minister has lost control of his party to the hordes of malcontents, the tin-foil-hat brigade over there, the extremists who wrecked the economy, all lining up to undermine him, humiliate him and eventually to get rid of him.
When will he ever stand up to them, and end the pathetic spectacle of a Tory party that used to try and beat Nigel Farage now giving up and dancing to his tune instead?
The slow transformation of the Conservatives from a mainstream, centre-right party into something more populist, Trumpian and far-right is one of the most interesting developments of our time, and it was good to see Rishi Sunak challenged on this ground. Voters increasingly see the party as extreme, and Starmer was reinforcing that. But, in chosing go “go low”, he authorised Sunak to do the same, and the prime minister hit back ferociously – and at times effectively.
Sunak’s strongest line probably came when he used the Farage queston to shoehorn in a spiel about the Conservative party and diversity.
In our party we have a proud tradition of diversity and accepting everyone from every background, it is a proud record that puts Labour to shame. This is the party that delivered the first Jewish prime minister, the first female prime minister, the first black chancellor, the first Muslim home secretary and is now led by the first British-Asian prime minister. While it seems he can only champion men from north London, it’s the Conservatives who represent modern Britain.
On Lee Anderson, Sunak claimed, falsely, that he had suspended him immediately (he waited 24 hours), but it took Labour even longer to disown Azhar Ali in Rochdale and so this comeback has some force.
When [Starmer] learnt of vile, antisemitic remarks made by a Labour candidate, what did he do? He instructed his team to defend him, he sent a shadow cabinet minister to campaign for him and he personally backed him for days, and that’s the difference between us. I act on my principles, he hasn’t got any.
And Sunak ended claiming that over the Gaza vote last week Starmer wanted to “bend to mob rule”, an argument widely accepted by Conservative MPs who think that voting arrangements should not have been decided by the desire not to provoke people who threaten parliamentarians. Sunak has been constantly on the back foot at PMQs recently, but today at least he put up a fight. Tory MPs seem impressed.
The lesson, perhaps, is that in a mud-slinging match, no one comes out clean. Perhaps Starmer would have been better off devoting one or two questions to Tory cranks, and then pivoting to policy, where he almost always wins quite easily these day.
My colleague John Crace thinks Sunak is actually much happier with a PMQs dominated by low insults (despite everying thinking Sunak was a sensible policy person when he became PM) because he has nothing to say on policy. John’s got a point. The government is so short of ideas that the main business in parliament this afternoon is a bill regulating pedicabs in central London.
Sophia Sleigh from the Sun has a good, and much shorter, summary of it all.
PMQs summary:
“You’re racist!”
“No, you’re racist!”
Holler, yell, groan, shout etc etc…
And repeat. You’re welcome.
PMQs summary:
— Sophia Sleigh (@SophiaSleigh) February 28, 2024
“You’re racist!”
“No, you’re racist!”
Holler, yell, groan, shout etc etc…
And repeat. You’re welcome.
Updated
This is from the BBC’s Henry Zeffman, who was watching PMQs from the press gallery. Those of us watching on TV never get to appreciate the full extent of the noise levels.
Incredibly noisy session of PMQs so far — normally Sir Lindsay Hoyle would have intervened at least once. But clearly feels he doesn’t have the authority to do so at the moment
Incredibly noisy session of PMQs so far — normally Sir Lindsay Hoyle would have intervened at least once. But clearly feels he doesn’t have the authority to do so at the moment
— Henry Zeffman (@hzeffman) February 28, 2024
Angela Eagle (Lab) says Sunak said it would be wrong to comment on allegation against Nick Read (see 12.29pm) even though he has allowed Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, to comment freely on these issues. Is he happy with what she has been saying?
Sunak says Badenoch has defended her handling of Post Office matters, and he says her account was backed up by some of those giving evidence to the business committee yesterday.
Anna McMorrin (Lab) asks Sunak why he posed for photographs with a group that shares extremist views on climate change and net zero.
That is a reference to Helena Horton’s story.
Sunak says that is no way to talk about Welsh farmers.
Sarah Owen (Lab) says the UK has had seven consecutive quarters of no growth. This recession has Sunak’s name all over it.
Sunak says Owen should check her facts.
(It is seven consecutive quarters with no growth in GDP per capita, not overall GDP. Owen’s question was ambiguous as to what measure she was referencing.)
Sunak declines to express confidence in Post Office chief executive Nick Read
Kevan Jones (Lab) asks about the revelaton that Nick Read, the Post Office chief executive, is being investigated over an 80-page complaint. Does the government have confidence in him?
Sunak says it would be inappropriate to comment on an inquiry until it is over.
He says the legislation about exonerating post officer operators will be published shortly.
Daniel Kawczynski (Con) says Shropshire council is struggling to deal with rising adult social care costs.
Sunak say the government provided an extra £600m for councils.
Diana Johnson (Lab) says 80 victims of the contaminated blood scandal have died since the inquiry recommendations were published last April. Why has the government not implemented those?
Sunak says he is acutely aware of the strength of feeling on this. The government will speed up its response to the inquiry, he says.
Alexander Stafford (Con) asks Sunak to help him end the war against cars in his constituency.
Sunak says Rotherham council has had extra funding for road safety measures.
Tulip Siddiq (Lab) asks if parents will actually be able to access the new childcare offer promised last year.
Sunak claims the government is delivering on this. He says Wales has had the funding to deliver this in Wales. But they have pocketed the money, instead of matching what is on offer in England.
Philip Dunne (Con) asks about the designation of new bathing water sites.
Sunak says the government is consulting on creating new bathing water sites, and says this should be welcome.
Alyn Smith (SNP) says last week the house united behind a call for a ceasefire in Gaza. But Sunak refused to commit to pushing this postion at the UN in his answer to Stephen Flynn. He says this suggests that there is no point to parliament.
Sunak says calling for a ceasefire that would collapse is not in anyone’s interests.
Sunak refuses to commit to Tories signing up to honest election campaigning pledge
Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru, says her party has signed the Full Fact pledge for honest campaigning at the election. But there is evidence that the Tories in Wales are not campaigning honestly. Will the PM sign this pledge?
Sunak says he was in Wales last week, and the NHS there is performing worst than anywhere else in the UK. And farmers are being decimated. He says the Tories will continue to point that out.
Jamie Wallis (Con) asks about the case for licensing AI.
Sunak says Wallis can meet with a minister to discuss this.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, says the horror of the situation demands the Commons has a say. And it should demand an immediate ceasefire. Does the PM share President Biden’s confidence that this could happen from Monday.
Sunak says there has been progress, and the government is urging all sides to seize the opportunity.
Flynn says we are almost five months from the start of this conflict. On three occasions the UK has abstained at the UN when it could have voted for a ceasefire. If it comes to the UN again, will the UK vote for a ceasefire.
Sunak says the UK supports the US’s draft motion at the UN. But a ceasefire that simply collapsed would not be worth having.
Starmer says the Tories used to try to fight Nigel Farage. Now they embrace him, he says.
Sunak accuses Starmer of bending to mob rule in the debate on Gaza last week. The Tories will stand up for British values, he says.
Starmer asks Sunak if Farage fits with Tory values.
Sunak says in Rochdale there are three ex-Labour candidates, two of them are antisemites. He claims the Tories throw out antisemites, while Labour makes them candidates.
Starmer asks if Sunak agrees with Truss that Nigel Farage should be allowed back into the Conservative party.
Sunak says the Conservative party has embraced diversity. It has had female leaders, and now the first British Asian PM. But all Labour leaders come from north London, he says.
Starmer renews his attack on Truss. Sunak claims that he suspended Lee Anderson immediately, unlike Starmer with his candidate in Rochdale.
Updated
Starmer says Sunak should ban Liz Truss from standing as Tory candidate because of her extremism
Starmer asks directly about Liz Truss, saying she has been running down Britain in the US to promote her book. And she seemed to back Tommy Robinson. Why won’t Sunak withdraw the whip from her?
Sunak says no one in the Commons backs Tommy Robinson. He claims that Starmer did not act when Labour had an antisemitism problem under Jeremy Corbyn. Unlike others in the party, Starmer was too “spineless, hopeless, utterly shameless” to do anything about it.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
[Truss] predecessor spent last week in America trying to flog her new book. In search of fame and wealth, she’s taken to slagging off … [As Tories heckled] They made her prime minister, now they can’t bear talking about her.
In search of fame and wealth, she’s taken to slagging off Britain at every opportunity. She claimed that as prime minister she was sabotaged by the deep state. She also remained silent as Tommy Robinson, that rightwing thug, was described as a hero. Why is he allowing her to stand as a Tory MP at the next election?
And Sunak replied:
I don’t believe a single member of this house supports Tommy Robinson. But if he wants to talk about former leaders and predecessors, the whole country knows his record because he sat there while antisemitism ran rife in his party and not once but twice backed a man who called Hamas friends.
Updated
Starmer says Tories have become 'political wing of flat-earth society' because they're promoting conspiracy theories
Keir Starmer says Tory MPs spent last week claiming the country was being run by a shadowy cabal, including the Financial Times. When did his party become “the political wing of the flat-earth society”.
Sunak says Starmer is just sniping from the sidelines.
Giles Watling (Con) says MPs should be able to speak and vote without intimidation, before going on to ask about dental services in Clacton.
Sunak says the government’s dental recovery plan should help.
Rishi Sunak starts with tributes to Lord Cormack, the Tory peer, and Ronnie Campbell, the former Labour MP, who have both died.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, says the speaker of the Swedish parliament is in the gallery.
Lee Anderson may have lost the Tory whip, but his colleagues are not expecting him to sit with the opposition, Peter Walker reports.
Lee Anderson has arrived for #PMQs and has sat comfortably on the Tory benches, next to Andrea Jenkyns. It’s like his loss of the Tory whip was a Dallas plot twist-like shower dream.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) February 28, 2024
Lee Anderson has arrived for #PMQs and has sat comfortably on the Tory benches, next to Andrea Jenkyns. It’s like his loss of the Tory whip was a Dallas plot twist-like shower dream.
This is not unusual. Other former Tories now technically sitting as independents sit on the government benches.
Rishi Sunak to face Keir Starmer at PMQs
PMQs is starting soon.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Michelle O’Neill has continued her outreach to unionists by standing for God Save the King during a Northern Ireland football match at Windsor Park.
The Sinn Féin first minister set a marker on Tuesday night by paying respect to an anthem, a team and a stadium that nationalists traditionally shun.
O’Neill beamed during the Uefa women’s nations league clash between Northern Ireland and Montenegro, which ended 1-1, and said it was a “thoroughly enjoyable” experience.
When O’Neill became the first nationalist first minister on 3 February she promised to represent all Northern Ireland, a state Sinn Féin in theory wishes to abolish.
A Sinn Féin sports minister, Carál Ní Chuilín, set the precedent by attending a Northern Ireland game at Windsor Park in 2011 but skipped the anthem.
O’Neill, in contrast, stood for God Save the King – for republican purists a recognition of British sovereignty in the region - and applauded at the end. She was accompanied by a Sinn Féin junior minister, Aisling Reilly, and the deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly. The DUP politician made her own symbolic journey last weekend by attending Ireland’s Six Nations rugby match against Wales in Dublin.
Home Office considering tightening restrictions on protests
James Cleverly, the home secretary, is considering further tightening the law around demonstrations, including a requirement for protesters to increase the amount of notice they give police before large demonstrations, Aletha Adu reports.
Two thirds of councils expect to cut services to residents because of funding pressures, LGA says
Two thirds of councils in England say they will have to cut services to residents this year, despite the government providing them with an extra £600m in January, the Local Government Association has said.
In a report giving the results of a survey of councils carried out after the extra funding was announced, the LGA says:
Two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents anticipated making cost savings in at least one neighbourhood service, despite the additional funding: more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of social care councils reported this, as well as three in five district councils (59 per cent). [Neighbourhood services means things like “waste services, road and pavement repairs, sport and leisure services, parks and green spaces, library services, museums, galleries, and theatres”, the LGA says.]
Of the respondent social care councils, three-quarters (75 per cent) reported that even with this funding, cost savings would be needed in their adult social care budget, and almost seven in 10 (69 per cent) reported that savings would be needed in their children’s social care budget.
Half (50 per cent) of all respondent social care councils reported that cost savings would be needed in four or more neighbourhood services.
In a statement Shaun Davies, chair of the LGA, said:
Extra government funding will help councils this year, but acute funding pressures remain and are forcing many councils to make stark choices about what popular services to cut.
This will not go unnoticed by our local communities. It means less potholes filled, more streetlights dimmed or turned off, and fewer library or leisure services.
The government has not denied the BBC story about ministers drawing up amendments that would weaken the renters (reform) bill. (See 9.47am.) Asked to comment, the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communites said:
Our landmark renters (reform) bill will deliver a fairer private rented sector for both tenants and landlords.
It will abolish section 21 evictions – giving people more security in their homes and empowering them to challenge poor practices.
We continue to meet regularly with a range of groups, representing all those in the private rented sector.
This is from the housing charity Shelter on the news that the government is considering watering down the renters (reform) bill.
📢 Watering down the #RentersReformBill will make a mockery of the government's promise to renters.
— Shelter (@Shelter) February 28, 2024
Every day, our phonelines take calls from families needing new laws to protect them from homelessness.
❌ Not a new system that's the same or even worse than the current one. https://t.co/rfj6LHc2cn
📢 Watering down the #RentersReformBill will make a mockery of the government’s promise to renters.
Every day, our phonelines take calls from families needing new laws to protect them from homelessness.
❌ Not a new system that’s the same or even worse than the current one.
Labour is now challenging Rishi Sunak to give an assurance that he won’t let Tory backbenchers with a vested interest water down the renters (reform) bill. (See 9.47am.) The party is highlighting research showing that almost a third of Conservative MPs who have signed amendments to the bill that would weaken protections for renters are landlords themselves.
Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader and shadow housing secretary, said:
Rishi Sunak must give cast-iron public assurances that he won’t give-in to vested interests on his backbenches and rip up his promises to renters.
This ban was promised five years ago, but renters are still being failed by this government. As always with this prime minister, it’s party first, country second.
Ex-Post Office chair Henry Staunton genuinely believed he had been told to slow compensation payments, Byrne says
In an interview with Times Radio this morning Liam Byrne also said that, based on the evidence he heard yesterday, he thinks Henry Staunton, the former Post Office chair, genuinely believed that he had been told by the permanent secretary at the business department at the time, Sarah Munby, to slow down compensation payments.
Referring to Staunton’s evidence on this, Byrne said:
I believe that he believed that [that Munby wanted him to go slow on compensation payments]. I’ve been a minister. I know how it all works. I suspect that he went to a meeting with the senior civil servant, and the conversation was in kind of civil service language, with a nod and a wink.
And the point is that Henry Staunton left that meeting with ambiguity in his mind. And on something like this, there’s no room for ambiguity. You need very, very clear instruction to deliver with deadlines and targets and incentives for actually delivering on time. And so none of that we found evidence for none of that.
MPs are normally inclined to accept that people giving evidence to committees are telling the truth, but the Department for Business and Trade has strongly rejected Staunton’s account of his conversation with Munby, and Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, has accused him of lying.
Liam Byrne says he's 'horrified' ministers have not instructed Post Office to speed up compensation payments
Liam Byrne, the Labour chair of the Commons business committee, has said that he was “horrified” to learn yesterday that ministers have not formally instructed the Post Office to speed up compensation payments to victims of the Horizon scandal. He posted these messages on X about his committee’s marathon evidence session on this topic, which was covered extensively on yesterday’s live blog.
1/. A few thoughts on #PostOffice scandal from yesterday’s 5 hour hearing…
— Liam Byrne MP (@liambyrnemp) February 28, 2024
Having been a minister in tricky jobs in Govt, I know the value of very clear ‘instructions to deliver’ with deadlines etc.
I was horrified that #PostOffice CX, Nick Read told me he didn’t have those https://t.co/xA3xI8Ppjv
1/. A few thoughts on #PostOffice scandal from yesterday’s 5 hour hearing…
Having been a minister in tricky jobs in Govt, I know the value of very clear ‘instructions to deliver’ with deadlines etc.
I was horrified that #PostOffice CX, Nick Read told me he didn’t have those
2/.
— Liam Byrne MP (@liambyrnemp) February 28, 2024
Why is that so important? Because at the current snail’s pace of paying redress, the claimants lawyers say it’ll take 1-2 more years to pay out. That’s totally unacceptable! https://t.co/1yXzevSnx3
Why is that so important? Because at the current snail’s pace of paying redress, the claimants lawyers say it’ll take 1-2 more years to pay out. That’s totally unacceptable!
3/.
— Liam Byrne MP (@liambyrnemp) February 28, 2024
The most generous characterisation of yesterday’s evidence from Mr Read & Mr Staunton is that bluntly, the #PostOffice board is in chaos. That’s the point I made @HouseofCommons earlier this week https://t.co/LEEm6Tonrx
The most generous characterisation of yesterday’s evidence from Mr Read & Mr Staunton is that bluntly, the #PostOffice board is in chaos. That’s the point I made @HouseofCommons earlier this week
4/.
— Liam Byrne MP (@liambyrnemp) February 28, 2024
This chaos has been compounded by what at best sound like ambiguous instructions to Mr Staunton https://t.co/qUbxJ8EPlg
This chaos has been compounded by what at best sound like ambiguous instructions to Mr Staunton
5/.
— Liam Byrne MP (@liambyrnemp) February 28, 2024
This is why we need to use the new Bill - which ministers will use to overturn convictions - to put legally binding timetables on the redress scheme, and take it away from the #PostOffice
Enough is enough. We cannot tolerate these delays a moment longer. https://t.co/MvIzf2l5sU
This is why we need to use the new Bill - which ministers will use to overturn convictions - to put legally binding timetables on the redress scheme, and take it away from the #PostOffice
Enough is enough. We cannot tolerate these delays a moment longer.
Updated
Labour accuses Sunak of betraying renters after it emerges bill to ban no-fault evictions could be watered down
Rishi Sunak has been accused of betraying renters after it emerged the government is planning to water down long-awaited legislation that would ban no-fault evictions.
The Conservatives promised to outlaw no-fault evictions and a bill that would do this, the renters (reform) bill, was published in May last year.
But the bill has still not cleared the Commons. It was stalled for months, carried over into the current session of parliament and given a second reading in November. The government has still not announced when the final Commons debates will take place, although Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has promised that it will become law before the election.
Ministers have been dragging their feet because the bill as it stands is unpopular with a cohort of Tory MPs, and today Harry Farley from the BBC is reporting that Gove is consulting them on compromise amendments that he is offering to get the bill through parliament.
The BBC says:
The draft government amendments include putting it in law that the ban on no-fault evictions could not be implemented until an assessment of its impact on the courts had been published by the Justice Secretary.
It comes after MPs on the housing select committee last year warned that abolishing no-fault evictions would lead to increased pressure on the courts, because landlords will have to give a reason to remove a tenant, such as rent arrears or antisocial behaviour …
The government is also promising to review the system by which councils can regulate landlords and enforce standards, known as selective licensing.
In the documents circulated to potential rebel Tory MPs, the government promised to announce a review of the scheme “with the explicit aim of reducing burdens on landlords”.
Among the other draft amendments the government is suggesting:
-Requiring renters to live in a property for a minimum of four months before they can give notice to end their tenancy
-Allow “hearsay” evidence in eviction claims for antisocial behaviour
Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader and shadow housing secretary, said:
This is yet another betrayal of renters by the Conservatives, and yet another example of Rishi Sunak’s weakness which means he always puts party before country.
Having broken the justice system, the Tories are now using their own failure to break their promises to renters in the most underhand way. The government must give a statement to Parliament today.
Fourteen years of Tory failure have failed renters. Labour will ban no fault evictions, no ifs no buts.
Campaigners have also denounced the move.
Tom Darling, campaign manager for the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said:
It is scandalous and farcical that the government are now outsourcing the writing of the renters (reform) bill to their landlord backbenchers. It reeks of desperation.
They don’t know want to be seen to have reneged on their promise to deliver a better deal for renters, but with the ban on section 21 even further into the long grass, and the suggestion they are looking to ‘lower the burden on landlords’ to provide safe housing, England’s 11 million private renters will struggle to come to any other conclusion.
In reality, the government’s initial proposals are the baseline of the change we need to the private rented sector. To actually fix the crisis in private renting we need a bill with longer tenancies, more time for renters to find a new home when evictions do happen, higher penalties for unscrupulous landlords, and a cap on rent increases to prevent unaffordable rent hikes becoming, in effect, no-fault evictions.
And Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said:
Weakening licensing schemes could compromise the safety of renters. These schemes give councils some of the strongest powers to tackle criminal landlords and sub-standard, dangerous homes ..
We have waited a very long time for this Bill, but it must genuinely offer to improve renters’ lives if it is to be worth the paper it’s written on.
Updated
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, has welcomed today’s announcement about extra security for MPs. (See 9.13am.) He said:
I warmly welcome the government’s announcement of additional funding to protect our elected representatives and our democracy. It will enable us to build on the improvements we have made over the past two years, working with the police and Home Office to enhance security at MPs’ homes and offices, and crucially when they are out and about meeting their constituents.
I am particularly pleased that this funding will make it possible for all MPs - and in the forthcoming election period, all candidates - to have a dedicated police contact to liaise with on security issues.
Home Office announces £31m package of measures to protect MPs facing threats
Good morning. A week after Sir Lindsay Hoyle up-ended Commons procedural rules in the Gaza debate, partly because he had been persuaded that not allowing a vote on the Labour amendment would increase the risk to MPs having to vote on the SNP’s motion but not theirs, the government has announced a significant package of measures to improve parliamentarians’ security. The details don’t seem to be on the Home Office’s website yet, but PA Media has a good summary.
Security measures for MPs will be bolstered with a £31m package that will include providing elected politicians with a dedicated police contact to liaise with over safety issues.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, who made the funding announcement, will meet with police chiefs on Wednesday to discuss what more can be done to improve the safety of MPs.
He said no MP should have to accept that threats or harassment is “part of the job”.
The extra funding follows fears about MPs being targeted and intimidated by demonstrators in recent months, particularly by those demanding action to bring an end to the fighting in the Israel-Hamas war.
Conservative backbencher Tobias Ellwood’s home was targeted earlier this month by pro-Palestine protesters, with the police warning his family to “stay away” from the property as “arriving through that crowd would’ve antagonised the situation”.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have also had their family homes set upon by environmental protesters in past months.
The Home Office said the latest funding package will provide increased security provisions for MPs.
The investment will be used to enhance police capabilities, increase private sector security provisions for those facing a higher risk and to expand cyber security advice to locally elected representatives.
It will also ensure all elected representatives and candidates have a dedicated named police contact to liaise with on security matters, officials said.
Cleverly’s department said the measures would significantly expand the support provided under current policing arrangements for politicians.
The home secretary will hold a roundtable with the National Police Chiefs’ Council today to discuss efforts to “protect democratic processes from intimidation, disruption or subversion”, his aides said.
The announcement includes the establishment of a communities fund to support the deployment of additional police patrols each week in England and Wales to help deal with “increased community tensions”, the Home Office said.
It is designed to increase support available to vulnerable communities, increase police visibility and boost public confidence, the department added.
Two serving MPs — Labour’s Jo Cox and Conservative Sir David Amess — have been murdered in the past eight years, with reforms to the security of parliamentarians having been introduced as a result of those killings.
Changes have included improvements to existing security measures at MPs’ homes and offices, and the bringing in additional private sector-delivered protective security where necessary.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Huw Merriman, the rail minister, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee.
10.30am: Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, holds a press conference on poverty.
12pm: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.
12.30pm: Farmers are staging a protest outside the Senedd in Cardiff against the Welsh government’s sustainable farming plans.
1pm: John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, gives a speech to the Policy Exchange thinktank.
If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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