A string of Labour MPs have endorsed Lisa Nandy as the next party leader after a hustings at which she was said to have "nailed it".
The Wigan MP warned that the party would die and "deserve to die" unless it changed course, as leadership candidates pitched for votes.
She was praised as looking "more like a leader for the future every day".
But Jess Phillips also won widespread praise, after saying she wanted to be the next prime minister.
Earlier, one of Boris Johnson’s senior advisers claimed he hoped the UK would forge a “special relationship” with far-right leader Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary after Brexit.
Please see below for what was our live coverage.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster, as Boris Johnson chairs a meeting of the national security council – and brings his EU Withdrawal Bill back to the Commons.
Husband of detainee urges PM to pay £400m debt UK owes Iran
The husband of a British-Iranian woman jailed in Tehran has urged Boris Johnson to pay a £400m debt Britain owes Iran as concerns mount for the future of his wife and other British citizens in detention in the country.
Richard Ratcliffe says his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, midway through a five-year sentence, now fears receiving a second jail sentence as Iran seeks revenge on the west over the assassination of General Qassem Suleimani by the US last week.
Britain has owed the £400m since pre-revolutionary Iran paid it for 1,500 Chieftain army tanks in the 1970s. The deal was cancelled after the Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979, but while Iran has demanded the money back, Britain has so far refused.
“When he was Foreign Secretary, Mr Johnson indicated that this debt would be paid to secure the release of Nazanin and other British hostages,” he wrote in The Daily Mail.
“So far he has not kept his promise. He talks of protecting British interests, seemingly shipping routes and oil. That's all very well. But what about British citizens? What about protecting their lives?”
“I am urging the Prime Minister to show real leadership and ensure this crisis doesn’t get worse, for the sake of my wife and the other Western detainees illegally held in Iran.”
Rebecca Long Bailey vows to continue ‘socialist agenda’
Labour MP Rebecca Long Bailey has announced her candidacy for the Labour leadership pledging to continue the work started by Jeremy Corbyn and “go to war with the political establishment”.
Seen as a continuity candidate, the shadow business secretary must overcome scepticism inside the party rooted in its crushing defeat by the Tories in the recent general election, which many blamed on Corbyn.
Launching her campaign in the democratic socialist magazine Tribune, she stated: “Many candidates in the leadership election say they will not return to the triangulation and Tory-lite policies that held our party back before Jeremy.
“But we need a leader that can be trusted with our socialist agenda.”
Rebecca Long Bailey announces Labour leadership bid with pledge to wage ‘war on political establishment’
‘I don’t just agree with the policies, I’ve spent the last four years writing them,’ says CorbyniteChancellor to launch £100bn spending boost in March budget
The first post-Brexit Budget will be on 11 March, with chancellor Sajid Javid promising a spending spree to help “left behind” parts of the country.
The government is set to increase borrowing in order to fund promises made in the Tory election manifesto, with Javid pledging an “infrastructure revolution” – indicating there would be up to £100bn available.
Sajid Javid to launch £100bn spending boost aimed at North and Midlands in budget on 11 March
Investment to be directed to areas that voted Conservative at the election for the first timeIan Murray joins Labour’s deputy leadership race
Scotland’s only Labour MP has confirmed his bid to stand for deputy leader of the party.
Murray retained his Edinburgh South seat with a majority of more than 11,000 in the December election and said Labour would need to “beat the odds” to win again.
He said: “The architects of the party’s catastrophic failure in 2019 cannot be allowed to be the architects of the response.
“The next leadership team must turn us into an election-winning machine that uses the skills and talents of all our members and supporters to succeed.
“To win again we will need to beat the odds and I know how to win by building broad coalitions of support.”
In a piece for the Daily Mirror, Murray also wrote: “I never again want to feel like I did at 10pm on the night of the general election.”
Rosena Allin-Khan sets out stall for Labour deputy leadership
The Labour MP who says the party rescued her from a childhood in poverty to launch a career as a doctor has announced her bid to be its new deputy leader.
Allin-Khan came to prominence at the election with her parody video of the hit film Love Actually (an idea quickly nicked by Boris Johnson).
In an article for The Independent, she referenced her job as an A&E doctor to describe Labour as “on life-support”, writing: “This is no accident, but the result of a chronic failure to address symptoms that were visible for all to see.”
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan announces deputy leadership bid
Tooting MP joins crowded race already featuring three shadow cabinet membersPM’s adviser hopes for ‘special relationship’ with Hungary’s far-right government
One of Boris Johnson’s senior advisers has claimed the UK would forge a “special relationship” with far-right leader Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary after Brexit.
Tim Montgomerie, the PM’s social justice adviser, reportedly made the remarks at a meeting organised the right-wing think tank the Danube Institute in the Hungarian capital Budapest in December.
According to BuzzFeed News, Montgomerie said: “I think there will be very significant investment by Boris Johnson in relationships, particularly bilaterally, with key European states. I think the French relationship will be significant, and I think this relationship with Budapest will be significant as well.
“Budapest and Hungary have been home, I think, for an awful lot of interesting early thinking on the limits of liberalism, and I think we are seeing that in the UK as well. So I hope there will be a special relationship with Hungary amongst other states.”
Since he took power in 2010, Orban’s nationalist government has raised international concern by politicising Hungary’s courts, media and universities. The European Parliament has voted to punish him for his crackdown on the country’s democratic institutions.
Long Bailey breaks with Corbyn over pressing nuclear button
Asked about Labour’s general election defeat, leadership contender Rebecca Long Bailey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the party weren’t “trusted” on many issues.
Pressed on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Long Bailey said: “I supported Jeremy. I still support Jeremy because I felt that he was the right man with the right moral integrity to lead the party.”
But she did say he must take “ultimate responsibility” for the party’s election failure.
She also took a different tack on the nuclear issue. Asked whether she would be prepared to launch a nuclear strike as prime minister, she said: “If you have a deterrent you have to be prepared to use it.
“But I’m not going to be a warmonger foaming at the mouth and saying that I’m going to press a button, because any leader needs to ensure that they assess the situation … But, yes, a leader would need to be prepared to engage in that if they were going to use the nuclear deterrent going forward.”
The shadow business secretary also said: “I have not seen any economic evidence to suggest that the influx of workers from any country across the world at the moment has depressed wages in any way.”
Rebecca Long Bailey says immigration does not push down wages and breaks with Corbyn over pressing nuclear button
'If you have a deterrent you have to be prepared to use it' says leftwingerHope Not Hate: No 10 should ‘clarify’ Hungary stance
The anti-extremism advocacy group Hope Not Hate has called on No 10 to “urgently clarify” the policy towards Viktor Orban’s Hungarian government after the PM’s adviser Tim Montgomerie said he hoped there could be a “special relationship” after Brexit.
Long Bailey: Labour ‘won’t survive’ if internal wars continue
Shortly after her appearance on the Today programme, Rebecca Long Bailey tweeted at a Labour supporter, calling for an end to personal attacks within the party.
After the Twitter user described fellow Labour MP Alison McGovern as “basically a Tory”, Long-Bailey responded: “One thing I want to come from my leadership campaign: 4 years of attack and hurt within our party from all sides can’t continue.
“We will not survive. Be clear on what we believe but everyone MUST be clear we’ve got to do it together and do not attack anyone in our party.”
Foreign secretary heads to Brussels for Iran crisis talks
Dominic Raab is to travel to Brussels on Tuesday for talks with his European counterparts on the situation in the Middle East following the death of General Qasem Soleimani and on the escalating conflict in Libya, the Foreign Office confirmed.
The foreign secretary will have a bilateral meeting with the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, before they join their German and Italian counterparts and the EU High Representative for talks on Libya.
The so-called “E3” – Britain, France and Germany – will then meet to discuss the tensions between the US and Iran, with all three pushing for de-escalation, said a Foreign Office spokesman.
The talks are expected to cover the nuclear deal following Iran’s latest announcement on Sunday that it is withdrawing from further commitments in the deal.
Boris Johnson, meanwhile, will chair a meeting of the National Security Council as the government continues to urge all sides in the Gulf crisis to draw back from all-out conflict.
‘Extraordinarily dangerous’: PM’s special adviser condemned for praising Hungary’s far-right government
More responses on the remarks made by Boris Johnson’s special adviser Tim Montgomerie, who reportedly said he hoped for a “special relationship” between the UK and Viktor Orban’s Hungary after Brexit.
Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “Extraordinarily dangerous views close to the heart of government. Orban is as close to an open fascist as Europe has had for decades.”
The Green party peer Natalie Bennett said it was “disturbingly revealing of some of the thinking behind the Boris Johnson government”.
The spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain Miqdaad Versi pointed out some of Orban’s remarks – including a reference to “Muslim invaders.” Versi said: “Little wonder many fear our government will align with racists across the globe.”
Jess Phillips sets out opposition to indyref2
Labour leadership hopeful Jess Phillips has said that she “can’t see a circumstance” where it would be better for Scotland to leave the UK.
Phillips also said that not having a clear position on Scottish independence and Brexit is a key reason why the party has lost elections.
Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Tuesday, the Birmingham Yardley MP outlined her opposition to having another vote on independence.
“I think that some of the reasons that we lost in Scotland and have been losing in Scotland for some time – this isn’t wholly down to the last general election – is that we have, since the referendum up there, not necessarily had a clear position on the two big constitutional questions of the day,” said Phillips.
“I think that people, when they look at a political party, if they are not certain on what they are saying on any one thing, they lose trust with the public.”
She added: “I don’t think we should have another referendum on Scottish independence – 53 per cent of the Scottish public in the general election did not vote for a party that was promoting independence.
“I think that we should be talking about things that are relevant to the lives of people in Scotland. I can’t see a circumstance where I think it would be better for Scotland to leave the UK.”
Long Bailey: ‘I’m nobody’s continuity candidate’
Labour leadership hopeful Rebecca Long Bailey has rejected the idea she is the “continuity Corbyn” candidate.
“I’m nobody’s continuity candidate, that’s for sure,” she told Sky News. “I’m not driven my own personal ambition. I’m driven by my principals.”
Former deputy Tom Watson caused a stink on Monday when he claimed Long Bailey “stands for Corbynism in its purest sense”.
Endorsing her old flatmate, deputy leadership candidate Angela Rayner responded: “She is her own woman and she will say what she stands for.”
Big Ben celebratory bongs among Brexit bill amendments
MPs return to parliament today and Boris Johnson brings his Brexit bill back to the Commons. The EU withdrawal bill was supposed to be “microwave ready” – but have MPs forked enough holes in the plastic lid yet?
Labour are proposing amendments to make sure parliament and the UK’s devolved nations are properly consulted during trade negotiations with the EU.
MPs will also debate opposition amendments seeking to guarantee rights for around three million EU nationals in the UK.
And let’s not forget that all-important bell-ringing exercise. Brexit lovers Mark Francois and Nigel Evans have proposed an amendment which would legally require Big Ben to bong at 11pm on 31 January in celebration.
They’re not the only ones who want a party. No 10 is planning official events to mark our exit from the EU – with details to be announced “shortly”. Bunting and street parties? Fireworks and laser shows? We just don’t know yet.
Labour leadership contest: how does it work?
New members joining up to a “freeze date” of 20 January will be eligible to vote in the election to find Jeremy Corbyn’s successor.
People will also be able to get a vote by paying £25 to sign up as a registered supporter during a 48-hour window from 5pm on 14 January to 5pm on 16 January.
The timetable for the three-month race is as follows:
January 7-13 - Nominations for candidates open from members of parliament and members of the European Parliament.
January 14-16 - People can pay 25 pounds to become a registered supporter of the party to vote in the leadership election.
January 20 - Freeze date after which new members and affiliated supporters will not be eligible to vote.
January 15 - Second round of nominations opens, for local Labour Parties and affiliated organisations such as trade unions.
February 21 - Ballot opens.
April 2 - Ballot closes.
April 4 - Special conference to announce the result.
Dominic Raab: ‘Full blown war would be very damaging’
The foreign secretary, who is heading off to Brussels, has talked about the consequences of the Iran crisis turning into war.
“If we see a full blown war it would be very damaging and actually the terrorists, and particularly Daesh, would be the only winners,” said Raab.
“We working with our US partners, our EU partners, that’s why I’m travelling up to Brussels today – to make sure that we send a very clear and consistent message on the need for de-escalation and to find a diplomatic route through.”
Ian Murray: Labour doesn’t need ‘continuity candidate’
Ian Murray, Scotland’s only Labour MP who is standing for the deputy leadership, has attacked the idea of a “continuity” candidate – without naming Rebecca Long Bailey.
When asked who he was backing in the leadership contest, Murray told the BBC: “I don’t think it’s right for the deputy leadership candidates to be backing a particular leader because the deputy will have to work with anyone that’s put in place.
“But it’s quite clear that we don’t need a continuity candidate,” he added.
“What we do need is someone who can bring fresh ideas and a fresh approach because a new face and a new voice but the same direction is someone the party should be rejecting.
“This is about having a proper debate about the direction of the Labour Party and where it should go.”
Murray is up against shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, shadow sport minister Rosena Allin-Khan, shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, shadow equalities secretary Dawn Butler and shadow Europe minister Khalid Mahmood.
Costs of killing Soleimani outweigh benefits, says former foreign secretary
Two former foreign secretaries have joined debate over the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, with Jeremy Hunt saying it exposes cracks in the Western alliance and Jack Straw calling it a gamble by Donald Trump and linking it to his re-election bid.
Straw, Labour’s foreign secretary from 2001-06, said Trump had done what other major stakeholders had decided was not worth doing in ordering the killing of General Soleimani, saying predecessors George W Bush and Barack Obama, along with Israel, had “judged the costs of doing so far outweighed any benefits”.
“They were right,” Straw wrote in The Times. “Aside from any deaths of American, Israeli, or other westerners in reprisal for Soleimani’s killing, there will be wider consequences adverse to US and Israeli interests, and beneficial to Iran.”
Hunt, the Tory foreign minister for a year under Theresa May, said the killing of the Iranian general without consultation from the US to countries including Britain reflected a growing disregard toward Europe from Washington.
“American taxpayers still fund around one third of the cost of defending Europe, a massive subsidy to already-prosperous Europeans,” Hunt wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
“If the best the Europeans can manage is half the proportion spent by the US it hardly reassures the hawks in Washington.”
Hunt said many in Washington would happily abandon institutions such as NATO. If Britain did not want that, it had to behave “like a real ally” to the US and pull its weight in global affairs, including making “proper” contributions to world peace and security and persuading EU countries to do the same.
Corbyn carries out mini-reshuffle
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has conducted a mini-reshuffle of his top team, as he prepares for the final four months of his leadership.
Tracy Brabin replaces former deputy party leader Tom Watson as shadow culture secretary and Rachael Maskell takes over from Laura Pidcock, who lost her seat at the election, as shadow employment rights secretary.
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard takes Maskell’s position as shadow environment secretary.
Corbyn said: “I am pleased to appoint Tracy Brabin, Rachael Maskell and Luke Pollard to our shadow cabinet, and Tan Dhesi as my Parliamentary private secretary.
“Labour will be holding the Conservatives to account on their election promises, record of failure and performance in government every step of the way.”
