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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