Afternoon summary
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Grooming gangs inquiry won't be 'squeamish' about looking at ethnicity-influenced offending, its chair tells MPs
The grooming gangs inquiry will not be “squeamish” about examining whether ethnicity-influenced offending or shaped the response of institutions, its chair has said. As the Press Association reports, the statutory independent inquiry has been tasked with looking into how grooming gangs operated and how the police, local authorities, health services, social care services and schools responded to the abuse.
Anne Longfield, the inquiry’s chair, told the home affairs committee today:
We’re setting out to understand and demonstrate what caused it, what allowed it to happen, and what allowed it to continue to happen.
We’re not squeamish … we recognise that there’s no single type of survivor or perpetrator here, but we also know that answers can be sought there and delivered.
Inquiry panellist Zoe Billingham added:
We just have to take the evidence to the conclusions it will draw us to.
We know that in terms of prosecutions, in some parts of the country the perpetrators are from Asian, Pakistani heritage, we’re not going to shy away from that, we’re not going to find excuses for that.
We’re going to be forensically looking at how religion, culture, heritage and background could or could not have been a driver.
Our inquiry has to get us to the truth.
In his campaign video, Robert Kenyon, the Reform UK candidate in Makerfield, claims he would be the first MP for the constituency actually born there. He also suggests that, as a genuine local, he would be unlike previous “career politicians” who have represented the seat. (See 2.15pm.)
In a series of posts on social media, Rob Ford, a politics professor at Manchester University, says Kenyon is misrepresenting the predecessor MPs. He also suggests that, as a line of attack against Andy Burnham, this won’t work.
By coincidence I was writing today about MPs elected here - all Labour since 1906. Here are their pocket bios: Stephen Walsh (1906-29) - orphan who left school to work in an Ashton-in-Makerfield mine at the age of 13
Gordon Macdonald (1929-42) - Welsh born, parents moved to area when he was a child, worked in an Ashton-in-Makerfield pit from the age of 13 Tom Brown (1942-64): born in Leigh next door, worked in (you guessed it) a local mine from the age of 12, called “the miners’ friend”
Michael McGuire (1964-87): Born in Ireland, parents moved to area for work when he was a baby, started working in a St Helens pit at the age of 13. Deselected in 1987 for siding with local miners when they voted against joining the Miners’ Strike of 1984-5
Ian McCartney (1987-2010): Born in Scotland, left school at 15, elected to Parliament after a number of years representing Abram ward in the seat on Wigan council. Founder of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League group
Yvonne Fovargue (2010-24): grew up in Sale, worked in St Helens as chief exec of the Citizens Advice Bureau, served on Warrington council for 6 years before becoming the MP.
Josh Simons (2024-6): Cambridge childhood, Cambridge University, Harvard University (PhD), Meta, Labour Together, then imposed as candidate by the NEC after Fovargue’s late retirement.
Given memories of Simons’ controversial appointment are fresh, I’m not at all surprised Reform have gone hard behind an “authentic local voice” message and both the candidate and the video make that case well. However, the claims about no previous locals seem overcooked.
It is *possibly* true that none of the previous MPs was born in the seat, because several migrated there (either from nearby or further afield) as children, but it is stretching things beyond breaking point to claim none of the previous (Labour) MPs were “local”
In framing himself as a true worker unlike the “career politicians” standing for other parties, Robert Kenyon is placing himself firmly in the Ince/Makerfield tradition - for over 80 yrs from 1906 to 1987 this seat was represented by miners who worked pits in the area
This would be a killer campaign vs Simons. But whetherframing will work against Burnham - who grew up in nearby St Helens, and has lived in neighbouring Leigh (the seat he represented) for over 20 years - is less clear. Burnham can make a strong local credentials case of his own.
Ford also points out that that is exactly what Burnham has been doing in his own video. (See 9.42am.)
Offord told by charity regulator to register private family trust
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Malcolm Offord, the Scottish leader of Reform UK, had been told he has to register his private family trust in Scotland by the country’s charity regulator.
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (Oscr) launched an investigation after a complaint was made that the Badenoch Trust was based in Scotland and focused on Scottish charities, yet was registered in England under English charity law. (See 2.45pm.)
This was a potential breach of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, putting the trust at risk of regulatory action.
In a new statement, an Oscr spokesperson said:
Based on the information the Badenoch Trust has provided to OSCR, it appears that the charity is managed and controlled mainly in Scotland and carries out ongoing administrative activities from premises in Scotland. As such, the charity meets the criteria for registration with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
In these circumstances, we have advised the charity to apply to register with OSCR at the earliest opportunity. Further guidance on cross-border charity regulation, including how to apply, can be found on the OSCR website.
Rhun ap Iorwerth tells Senedd he wants Wales to be seen as 'equal partner' in talks with UK government
Rhun ap Iorwerth, the new Welsh first minister, has said that he wants Wales to be treated as an “equal partner” in dealings with the UK government.
In a speech to the Senedd setting out his priorities for government, the Plaid Cymru leader, who is the first non-Labour figure to lead the government in Cardiff, said:
I was pleased to speak with Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week to set out the importance I place on a constructive relationship with the UK government, and to press the case for further discussion on how greater devolution and fair funding can improve the lives of the people of Wales.
As I have emphasised many times, I expect our nation to be treated as an equal partner in those discussions, and for the actions which follow from the UK government to reflect that in reality, not just in rhetoric.
Claiming that this is a union of equals is not enough because any analysis of the reality leaves such words ringing hollow.
Ap Iorwerth said his priorities in government would include cutting waiting lists, raising standards in schools, creating jobs, tackling child poverty, helping households with the cost-of-living crisis and “standing up for Wales”. He went on:
We only need to glance at the latest Westminster crisis to see how soon governments pay a heavy price when they stray from the path they promised to take.
My pledge to the people of Wales is that we will not waver because by realising these priorities, we are building the nation people deserve.
I will never stop pursuing fair treatment for my nation – on funding, the full benefits of our natural resources, and the powers we need to improve people’s lives.
Dan Thomas, leader of Reform Wales, which is now the second-largest party in the Senedd after the election, said he was “disappointed” to read reports saying ap Iorwerth had raised Welsh independence when he spoke to Starmer. Thomas said:
While the constitutional debates may excite politicians and commentators, most people in Wales are asking far more basic questions. Can I get a GP appointment? Will my child receive a decent education? Can I afford my bills?
While your statement today implies that these are your priorities, raising independence with the UK government suggests that you are distracted by constitutional issues.
John Swinney re-elected as Scotland's first minister
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
John Swinney has been re-elected Scotland’s first minister at Holyrood after an extended series of votes and speeches after every party leader stood for the post, to have a chance to speak on their favoured policies.
After winning his first election as Scottish National party leader on 7 May, Swinney was confirmed after 56 SNP MSPs backed him, after three rounds of voting where each leader was backed by their own MSPs.
The seventh Scottish parliament is slowly forming itself, after its presiding officer, Kenny Gibson, was elected on 14 May.
There will no business tomorrow while Swinney is formally sworn in by judges at the court of session. Swinney is due to name his cabinet tomorrow and ministers will be formally elected on Thursday. The inaugural first minister’s questions will take place on Thursday next week – three weeks after the election.
Anneliese Midgley, the Labour MP who is running the campaign in Makerfield, has sent a message to Labour MPs telling them that, in early canvassing in the constituency, the party has already contacted “lots of people who gave their vote elsewhere” in the local elections who say this time they are planning to vote for Andy Burnham. Max Kendix from the Times has the details.
Swinney defends plan for price caps on essential food items
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.
At Holyrood MSPs have just elected John Swinney to carry on as first minister.
Earlier today, he gave an interview to the Today programme where he defended his controversial manifesto pledge to cap the prices of up to 50 everyday food items.
Swinney said he has a “public health responsibility” to ensure people can afford to buy healthy food.
Throughout the election campaign, I heard loud and clear from members of the public just the difficulty they’re having in affording the most basic shopping items. That obviously has an impact on people’s nutrition, and that’s where the responsibilities of the Scottish government kick in.
The manifesto pledge resulted in an immediate backlash from retailers who branded it “unworkable” and said it puts undue pressure on farmers and producers as well as smaller retailers.
It also puts the SNP on a collision course with the UK government; although the SNP has insisted that it can legislate for the caps using devolved public health powers, this is likely to impact on the UK’s internal market rules, which could well result in another constitutional row with Westminster.
But Swinney insisted he would “work constructively” with the UK government and denied he wanted a fight with Westminster where he could say he was standing up for the poor.
I enter those discussions in the spirit of wanting to find a solution for people who are struggling to afford their shopping in Scotland today.
In her Guardian article today, covering the findings of her research into the views of voters in Reform UK-leaning, post-industrial towns in England (see 11.24am), Sacha Hilorst said she spoke to many people who would favour SNP-style price caps on essential food items.
Updated
Burnham says he wants to make life 'more affordable' as he welcomes confirmation he's Labour's Makerfield candidate
Andy Burnham has issued a statement following the confirmation that he will be Labour’s candidate for Makerfield.
Here is an extract from the statement.
I am glad that this by-election has finally put the places that make up the Makerfield constituency into the national spotlight. They have been neglected by national politics for too long. It is a good thing that all political parties are now on the hook to tell the voters here what they are going to do for them.
More than anything, people need life to be more affordable again. As Mayor, I have brought in changes which are helping, such as the £2 fare cap, free bus travel for our 16-18 year-olds and removing the 9.30am restriction from older and disabled people’s bus passes. But there is only so much I can do from Greater Manchester. If elected, I will have a relentless focus on reducing people’s everyday costs and bills and well as securing the investment these communities need.
Updated
Dear England playwright James Graham said he “may not have survived as an artist” if he “lived in a purely commercial environment” as he appeared in front of MPs to discuss the future of the BBC.
Giving evidence to the Commons culture committee this morning on BBC charter renewal, Graham said:
No one ever remembers the things I’ve done that didn’t work, but it’s the places where it didn’t work that I learned the most lessons as a creative. And if we lived in a purely commercial environment I may not have survived as an artist, particularly an artist from a background where I wasn’t given the training or I didn’t have the safety net of a subsidy from my parents.
I was allowed to fail and learn from that failing so that I can write a television drama.
Graham said his first ever play was supported by BBC Radio Nottingham.
We got a small budget from them, they gave us lots of publicity and chats as we opened in Nottingham, and I got both the confidence in talking about it, but also the empowerment and some of the resources and the training to do that.
He said the BBC did a “huge amount” of training, adding:
The drama programming budget at the BBC is under strain, and they probably are going to have to make cuts.
I worry about that, because I think it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle with the thing that you’re best at in the world and most admired at in the world, and you’re making cuts because of what I consider to be unnecessary funding pressures.
HS2 bill could rise to £102bn with first trains delayed until 2039, government admits
The HS2 high-speed railway will now cost up to £102.7bn and trains will not start running between London and Birmingham until as late as 2039, the government has admitted – £70bn more and 13 years later than originally promised. In the Commons, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said that the truncated railway would not be entirely completed until as late as 2043. Gwyn Topham has the story.
Malcolm Offord faces investigation over claim he failed to register family trust as Scottish charity
Severin Carrell is the Gaurdian’s Scotland editor.
Scotland’s charity regulator has opened an investigation into whether the Reform Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord, has wrongly failed to register his family trust as a Scottish charity.
Third Force News, the voluntary sector newspaper, has reported the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (Oscr) is investigating the Badenoch Trust because it is not registered with it, in contravention of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.
Offord pledged during the Holyrood election campaign to donate his MSPs salary to the Badenoch Trust, which is based and run from his family office suite on Charlotte Square in Edinburgh’s new town.
Despite stating it operates in Scotland, donating money to charities involved in young carers, mental health and education and the arts, amongst others, it is registered as a company and a charity in England.
Oscr told TFN:
Following an assessment of concerns raised about Badenoch Trust, we have opened an inquiry to gather further information and determine whether regulatory action is required. In line with our published policies, we are unable to comment further at this time.
Offord has been contacted for comment. TFN noted he refused to respond to its questions.
Reform UK chooses 'plucky plumber' Robert Keynon as its Makerfield byelection candidate
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Robert Kenyon, a plumber who was Reform’s candidate in Makerfield the general election, has been the party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election.
Born in Makerfield, he has served as an army reservist and previously worked for the NHS in Lancashire as a specialist technician.
He came within 5,399 votes of Josh Simons, who won won the seat for Labour.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said:
This by-election contest is now a David versus Goliath battle. This is the ‘plucky plumber’ taking on ‘open borders Burnham’. Only Reform UK can beat Labour in this by-election.
In the last Commons byelection, in Gorton and Denton, Reform UK lost to the Greens after the Greens put up Hannah Spencer, who is also a professional plumber, as their candidate.
Kenyon said in a statement released by the party:
Makerfield has never had a member of parliament who was actually born in Makerfield. This will be a tough fight but I am going to give this contest my best shot.
A number of candidates are understood to have been interviewed at Reform’s headquarters in London on Monday.
Here is Kenyon’s campaign video.
David Davis, the former Tory cabinet minister, raised a point of order after the Mandelson UQ was over. He said that refusing to comply in full with a humble address was a contempt of parliament and he said, if after publication of the files he thought the humble address had been ignored, he would table a motion accusing the government of contempt.
He said when Keir Starmer was shadow Brexit secretary, Starmer tabled a motion accusing the then Tory government of contempt on exactly those grounds. That motions was passed, he said.
Jones says Mandelson files to be published 'as soon as possible' after recess - but won't promise before Makerfield byelection
Back to the Mandelson files, and in the Commons SNP’s Dave Doogan asked when after the Whitsun recess the documents would be published.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, said the documents would be published “as soon as we’re able to secure the time in the house”.
Christine Jardine (Lib Dem) tried again, and asked Jones when after recess the documents would be published.
Jones said he wanted it to be be published “as soon as possible after the Whitsun recess” and he said he was arranging that with the business managers.
But when Alec Shelbrooke (Con) asked if the documents would be published before the Makerfield byelection, which is expected on 18 June, Jones just said the documents would be released after the Whitsun recess.
Mark Francois (Con) asked again if the documents would come before 18 June. Jones said he needed to secure time from the business managers, but he said the files would be released “as soon as we’re ready to do so”.
Later, on a point of order, Francois said Jones would not need to secure parliamentary time for the files to be published because it is the government that controls parliamentary time.
Labour confirms Burnham to be its Makerfield byelection candidate, after NEC declines to shortlist anyone else
Andy Burnham is Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield byelection, my colleague Jessica Elgot reports.
NEW – Andy Burnaham is the candidate for Makerfield.
After all that, the NEC didn’t shortlist anyone else. It’s done.
There were other people who applied to be the candidate, but they were not shortlisted.
Updated
Jones dismisses Mandelson cover-up claim as 'conspiracy theory'
Labour’s Kim Johnson told Jones she thought the government was “still continuing to cover up Mandelson’s dodgy dealings by redacting and withholding certain information”.
In response, Jones said the claim of a cover-up was “merely conspiracy theory”.
Richard Burgon (Lab) asked for an assurance that, when Morgan McSweeney was the PM’s chief of staff, he had the appropriate security clearance for all the documents he say.
Jones refused to give a direct answer, just saying that he had addressed this question in the past.
Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, said she was “disappointed” with Jones’ response to the concerns expressed by the ISC. She said that she thought the ISC should ge to see Mandelson’s vetting file, subject to “proper redactions”, so it could understand the mitigations that were put in place by the Foreign Office to deal with the concerns they had about Mandelson becoming US ambassador.
Jones said the ISC had been given documents about the advice given to the Foreign Office, and about the Foreign Office’s decision to approve Mandelson’s vetting.
But “the raw data collected as part of interviews undertaken with Peter Mandelson” had not been handed over, he said. He said that would not be disclosed for any appointment.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to PM, rejects Tory claim of 'cover-up' over Mandelson files
Speaking for the Conservaties, Neil O’Brien, the shadow minister for policy renewal, said it was unacceptable for the government to hold back information that should have been disclosed under the terms of the humble address. He said:
For [Jeremy Wright] to say that the government has applied redactions to the documents sent to the ISC beyond the scope agreed by the house, and has also withheld documents entirely from the ISC, is an extremely serious matter that completely undermines what this house agreed.
There may be legitimate reasons the government doesn’t want to place certain things in the public domain, but if the humble address motion doesn’t allow for redaction on those grounds, the government can’t just unilaterally decide to ignore the will of this house.
He suggested, as a way of resolving this dispute, that the government should discuss its concerns with the opposition on privy council terms.
He went on:
[Labour MPs] voted for a cover-up when they voted against referring the prime minister to the privileges committee over [comments Keir Starmer made to MPs about Mandleson.]
This house and the people of this country deserve better than yet another cover-up.
Jones rejected the cover-up claim. If the government was engaged in a cover-up, he would resign, he said.
Matt Western, the Labour chair of the joint committee on the national security strategy, asked Jones about the ISC criticism of the government’s reliance on WhatsApp and its failure to record decisions properly. (See 11.42am.)
Jones said the government had already announced a review “on the use of non-corporate communications channels” in government.
Minister says security vetting system would break down if Mandelson's answers to private questions were disclosed
Jeremy Wright, the Conservative deputy chair of the intelligence and security committee who tabled the Mandelson UQ, said the committee had “considerable sympathy” with the arguments used by the government to justify the redactions that went beyond the redactions allowed by the humble address.
He went on:
But we cannot accept that the government is entitled to ignore or to unilaterally alter the terms of the humble address. So does the Minister accept that if the government wants to argue that the humble address is too broad as drafted and needs to be refined, it must come to this house and make that argument and get the House’s consent for any alteration.
In response, Jones referred to his early comments justifying the redacting of information relating to personal data.
And referring to the government’s refusal to give the ISC informationn relating to Mandelson’s own security vetting, Jones said:
The raw data that is collected as part of those investigations, which, for example, might relate to how much money you have in a particular account or who you may have had a personal relationship with in the past, that raw data would never be published because if we did so, people would feel unable to answer those questions honestly and frankly in any UK security vetting investigation in the future, which would undermine the very basis of our national security system.
Updated
Minister rejects claim from ISC that too much personal data redacted from Mandelson files being released
In its statement on Friday, the ISC accused the government of redacting too much information from the files. (See 11.42am.)
In his opening statement, Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, rejected this claim.
He said that the government was redacting personal information (relating to things like the names of junior officials) in line with the rules that apply to responses to Freedom of Information requests, and in line with the rules in the ministerial code, and resolutions on ministerial accountability passed by the Commons.
These rules say material can be held back if publication is not in the public interest, he said. He went on:
I am sure members across the house will recognise there is no public interest in the government publishing the names and contact details of junior officials or their telephone numbers.
Mandelson files won't be published until June, and will be biggest release of documents since Chilcot inquiry, MPs told
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, is responding to the UQ about the Mandelson files. (See 11.42am.)
He says the government is complying with the humble address requiring the publication of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US, and also his communications as ambassador with ministers and officials.
He says that the government has referred more than 300 documents to the intelligence and security committee for vetting. (The committee, not the government, gets to decide what material will be withheld on th grounds that it could prejudice national security or international relations.)
He says, when the government checked, it realised that “a small number of further documents” had not been handed over. But those have now been given to the ISC, as it said in its statement on Friday.
He says the material is now being prepared for publication. He says this will be “one of the largest government publications ever laid in this house”.
He says, given the volume of material, it will be published after the Whitsun recess (ie, after the Commons returns from the half-term recess on Monday 1 June).
He says:
It could have been published this Thursday, but I felt that the house would deem that to be inappropriate, given it will be such a significant publication.
This will be the largest publication, other than, I think, the Chilcot Inquiry report ever published to the house.
World 'sleepwalking into global food crisis' because of closure of strait of Hormuz, Yvette Cooper warns
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has said that the world is “sleepwalking into a global food crisis” because of the ongoing disruption to shipping going through the strait of Hormuz. Gulf states are major global providers of fertilisers and, in a speech to the Global Partnerships conference, Cooper highlighted World Food Programme figures saying that “almost 45 million more people could fall into acute food insecurity if the [Iran] conflict does not end by the middle of this year”.
She said:
The world is sleepwalking into a global food crisis. We cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because one country has hijacked an international shipping lane. Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz while the agriculture clock is ticking shows why we need urgent global pressure to get the Strait reopened, fertiliser and fuel moving and ease the costs of living pressures. That is why we will continue to lead calls for the immediate and unrestricted opening of the Strait and advance plans for the Strait of Hormuz Multinational Mission to support any agreement.
This crisis is affecting developed and developing countries, the private and public sectors alike. It shows why we need a new approach to global partnerships, to drive international development to prevent crises in the first place.
Michelle Welsh, the Labour MP for Sherwood Forest, says she has been appointed national maternity adviser to the government.
Andy Burnham will give Josh Simons, who resigned as Makerfield’s MP to free up his seat for the Greater Manchester mayor, a top job in No 10 if he becomes PM, the i’s Kitty Donaldson reports. In her story, she says:
Party sources said if Burnham were successful in his bid for parliament, and then also unseated Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, Simons would be given the position of head of policy, and a role as a floating political secretary in No 10. The latter post acts as a link between the prime minister, their MPs and grassroots.
Simons told Donaldson the story was “gossip and tittle-tattle” – but he did not deny it.
Donaldson also says in a separate report that Labour expect Reform UK to pick Robert Kenyon as its candidate in Makerfield. Kenyon was the candidate in 2024, when he came second. Donaldson says: “Ten days ago, the Army reservist and plumber won his council seat with more than twice as many votes as his Labour rival. With Reform’s considerable spending power behind him, the Muay Thai kickboxing enthusiast would be a formidable opponent.”
Minister to answer urgent question about Mandelson documents being withheld from intelligence and security committee
On Friday parliament’s intelligence and security committee issued a damning statement about the government’s response to the humble address requiring the release of documents relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. It said the government was not fully complying with what is in effect an instruction from the Commons. For good measure, the committee also accuses the government of not keeping proper record of its decisions and of doing far too much business by WhatsApp. Here is our story, by Henry Dyer and Paul Lewis.
At 12.30pm Jeremy Wright, deputy chair of the committee and a former Tory attorney general, will ask a Commons urgent question about this. He is asking Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, to reply.
The UQ will be followed, about an hour later, by a statement from Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, on HS2.
Reform-leaning post-industrial towns 'more amenable to progressive politics' than people assume, thinktank says
Andy Burnham says he wants to return to parliament to make politics work for places like Makerfield. It is a traditional Labour, working class constituency where people are now voting Reform. Common Wealth, a progressive thinktank, has today published a report on the views of people living in communities like this and it says “while it is true that radical right parties have made headway, the real politics of post-industrial England is much more complex, and much more amenable to progressive politics than usually assumed”.
Sacha Hilhorst, one of the authors of the report, has an article about the findings in today’s Guardian. Here is an extract.
This is the political paradox of England’s post-industrial towns. While it is true that Reform is building its base in former mining and manufacturing areas, the local people who can be won over to progressive politics will only be convinced by being less like Reform, not more. Winning in post-industrial England requires connecting with its popular radicalism.
“A lot of working-class people, they don’t want a lot,” says Martin, the former miner. “They want enough to get by and to have nicer things in life. To go on holiday and to have good food and things like that. They are not bothered about yachts and aeroplanes – not in my eyes, anyway. They are just happy enough to get through in life with a job, a secure job to pay the mortgage and to look after their family … At the end of the day, that is what I think. When you have got peace of mind with that, you can’t beat it.”
And here is her article.
Here is the Common Wealth report. And here is an extract from the conclusion.
The principal challenge facing progressive parties in England’s former industrial areas is not that residents have somehow got the “wrong” views, but rather that many no longer believe in politics at all, that their everyday workplace hardships have come to feel inevitable, and that areas of popular radicalism do not lend themselves to immediate transformative action. These are the problems of scepticism, salience, and structural misalignment.
Progressives can begin to overcome these by taking decisive action on political corruption; by transforming declining town centres with new anchor institutions; and by taking the fight to some of the most notable examples of what many see as an excess of greed in society today.
Keir Starmer has arrived at a memorial service for those affected by the infected blood scandal at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, the Press Association reports. Ahead of the service, Starmer paid tribute to the victims of what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
Tories claim government borrowing costs would rise with Burnham as PM
Last night Andy Burnham firmed up his position on sticking to the government’s fiscal rules. Having last week told ITV that he supported the fiscal rules, his spokesperson confirmed that he was not proposing to change them and that he was now ruling out exempting defence spending from the fiscal rule borrowing limits.
But that has not stopped the Conservatives from attacking his stance on borrowing. In a speech this morning, previewed in the Daily Telegraph, Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, claimed that Britons were paying a “Burnham penalty” because government borrowing costs rose at the end of last week after it emerged that Burnham had a chance to return to parliament via the Makerfield byelection. Stride claims that if this rise was sustained over a five-year period, it would add £5.4bn to debt interest payments, or the equivalent of nearly £300 for every working family.
Stride said:
Markets do not care about personalities – they care about the fundamentals.
One is the prospect of a new prime minister coming in with a plan to borrow even more, to raise anti-growth taxes even higher than those baked into existing plans, and with an insufficient understanding of the connection between these actions and market movements.
Almost three quarters of children in poverty in UK living in working households, report says
Just under half a million children living in poverty in the UK are in households where there is at least one person working full-time, the Press Association reports. The data is from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank. PA says:
The IPPR said barriers related to work and childcare mean many families are still struggling and end up “watching their children grow up in poverty” despite their best efforts.
The IPPR analysed official figures published by the government earlier this year and found around 460,000 children were living in poverty in 2024/25 despite being in full-time working households, either in a two-parent or single parent household.
Its report, co-authored by Action for Children and published today, said: “Between 1999/2000 and 2024/25, the risk that a child in a full-time working family would grow up in poverty tripled for couples (from 2% to 6%) and rose by more than a half for single parents (from 9% to 14%).”
Households where income is less than 60% of the median national average, after housing costs, are considered to be living in poverty.
Government data, published in March, showed there were an estimated 4.03 million children in relative low income after housing costs in the year 2024/25.
The IPPR said the most recent statistics showed that almost three-quarters (72%) of children in poverty in the UK lived in working households.
This was an increase from fewer than half (44%) un 1996/97 and “reflects rising parental employment, particularly among women, alongside changes to social security and labour market shifts that have made work less effective at protecting families from poverty than in the past”.
Henry Parkes, principal economist and head of quantitative research at IPPR, said:
Parents are doing everything we’ve asked of them – working full time and juggling childcare – yet many are still watching their children grow up in poverty.
That’s not a failure of individual families, it’s a sign the system is no longer delivering on its basic promise.
This research shows that it’s not inevitable: when families are supported to progress, especially second earners, their finances improve quickly. The problem isn’t effort, it’s the barriers we’ve built into work and childcare, and those can be fixed.
Andrew Neil, the broadcaster and Daily Mail columnist, is not impressed by Andy Burnham’s video. (See 9.42am.) He has posted this on social media.
Except that it purports to claim that the area (Makerfield) has been a victim of 40 years of Thatcherism (that’s what Burnham seems to be running against, which means he’s also running against the Blair-Brown government, of which he was a part). Yet the backdrop to his wandering shows rows of neat, well-kept, substantial semi-detached homes, with plenty new cars in the driveways and a vibrant high street, despite all the road works improving it. Oh yes and a state school so good he sent his kids to it. Put simply — the pictures clash with his words of victimhood and deprivation.
Burnham replied to him with this message.
You need to get out of London, Andrew. You’ve clearly got no idea how much people here are struggling. And, yes, a lot of it can be traced back to Margaret Thatcher.
Burnham also spent last night on X sparring with Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson.
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Burnham says Makerfield byelection 'most consequential of our lives' in campaign video
Reform UK launched online attack adverts against Andy Burnham, depicting him as an opportunist and a carpetbagger in the Makerfield byelection.
These adverts might have worked if Burnham had ended up standing as a candidate in Norwich South (where the Labour MP, Clive Lewis, once casually suggested he might be willing to give up his seat for Burnham). But Burnham grew up in this area, he sent his children to school in the constituency and he lives just outside it. By any reasonable definition, he qualifies as a local candidate (one reason by Benedict Pringle, who writes a blog about political advertising, says these adverts are not particularly strong).
Burnham (who has yet to be officially confirmed as Labour’s candidate) launched his own campaign video yesterday, and it is much more impressive. In it, he persuasively stresses his links to the constituency.
In his video, Burnham also addresses the other part of the Reform UK critique; that the byelection is unnecessary, because it is all about his personal ambition.
Burnham says he is standing because he wants to change the way politics in the UK works, and he describes the byelection as “the most consequential of our lives”.
Updated
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Labour members think party likely to win next election with Burnham as leader, but not Starmer, poll suggests
Good morning. A week ago, at cabinet, Keir Starmer delivered a “put up or shut up” message to his critics. Wes Streeting, his leading opponent, decided to do neither – declining to launch a leadership bid, but going public with his lack of confidence in the PM and resigning. And then Andy Burnham found a potential seat, meaning that, if Burnham can win the byelection, a leadership challenge has not been averted, just postponed.
We don’t have any byelection polling from Makerfield yet. But last night YouGov released some detailed polling on what Labour members think about the leadership which is worth flagging up because the views of members will influence the way events pan out in the weeks ahead.
Here are the main points.
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Labour members would rather have Burnham than Starmer as leader. Here are the figures when members were asked to rank eight possible candidates.
When YouGov boiled it down to a choice between Starmer and Burnham, Burnham was ahead by a factor of 3 to 2.
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Labour party members believe the party is likely to win the next election with Burnham as leader, but not with Starmer as leader. Here are the figures. These are perhaps the most important findings in the whole report.
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Labour members want Starmer to stand down before the next election – even though generally they think he has done a good job as PM. Only 28% of members say Starmer should lead the party into the next election. But 66% say that Starmer has done either a fairly good (50%) or very good (16%) job as PM.
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Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, has the highest favourability ratings of any potential leadership candidate – despite not being the person members want to see as leader. This is a reflection of the (fairly obvious) point that you can like someone without thinking they would be a great PM. Rayner leads on the combined ‘very/somewhat favourable’ rating, but, on ‘very favourable’ alone, Burnham is most popular.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.
10am: James Graham, the playwright, and Marina Hyde, the Guardian columnist and entertainment podcaster, are among the witnesses giving evidence to the Commons culture committee on the BBC charter renewal.
11.30am: David Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy PM, takes questions in the Commons.
Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
12.10pm: Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, speaks at the Global Partnerships Conference where she is expected to say the blockade of the strait of Hormuz could lead to a “global food crisis”.
After 12.30pm: Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is expected to make a statement to MPs on HS2.
Afternoon: MPs resume their king’s speech debate, focusing on energy policy.
1.30pm: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Welsh first minister, gives a statement to the Senedd setting out his priorities for goverment.
2pm: MSPs meet to elect a first minister, with the SNP’s John Swinney due to be confirmed in the job.
2.30pm: Anne Longfield, chair of the grooming gangs inquiry, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
4pm: Birmingham city council, which is under no overall control, holds its first meeting since the elections. Councillors are due to appoint a leader.
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