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.
Former Tory minister Steve Baker says Kruger's defection is 'seismic' political event
Steve Baker, the former Tory minister and leading pro-Brexit organiser in parliament, has told the PM programme that the defection of Danny Kruger to Reform UK will have an impact on the whole nation. He explained
I regard this as a major seismic event, politically, one which will have long-term aftershocks, which will be felt by the whole nation.
For two reasons, if I may.
First, because Danny is a man of skill, talent, vision and experience, capable of making Reform fit to govern. He’s not to be underestimated. You can see that, if you listen to his speech and hear how he answered questions, it is for good reason that he’s worked for multiple prime ministers over 15 years.
Secondly, because I’m afraid none of this can be understood without realising that across the whole western world the major axis of politics is no longer economic organisation, it’s no longer capitalism versus socialism, it’s cosmopolitan globalists versus communitarian nationalists. You see that in the USA. You see here,
And what’s happening is that Danny is the Conservative party’s intellectual leader for the communitarian nationalists.
A reader asks:
In last week’s Liveblog you posted about Starmer’s PPS appointments, noting that the overall numbers had increased. Q: How big is Labour’s ‘payroll’ vote? How does it compare to previously and to previous governments? Given his network of ‘champions’, as well as ministerial appointments, is Starmer using prime ministerial patronage to shore up his position, especially after Rayner’s resignation, Mandelson’ sacking and some MPs effectively putting him ‘on notice’?
There are three questions there.
1) In August the Institute for Government said there were around 171 MPs who were part of the payroll vote (“89 ministers (including whips) in the House of Commons, 43 parliamentary private secretaries, 27 ‘mission champions’ (four of which were appointed to be PPS in March 2025), 16 Labour trade envoys”) and that number has probably gone up; there are nine more PPSs, but a few of the mission champions and trade envoys may have gone. I don’t have a precise count.
2) This is almost certainly a record. PPS numbers have been going up steadily over the past few decades, trade envoys are relatively new, and “mission champions” are a Starmerite creation.
3) Yes. But it only works up to a point. Being a “mission champion” is relatively meaningless, and if any of them are strongly minded to rebel, have a payroll non-job won’t hold them back.
Mandelson was never suited to be ambassador because of his 'chequered and murky' past, Davis tells MPs
In his speech requesting an emergency debate (see 4.44pm), the former Tory cabinet minister David Davis said the post of ambassador to the US was “of utmost concern” to the Commons. He said:
Our ambassador in Washington stands at the centre of Britain’s most vital bilateral relationship. It’s a role of exceptional sensitivity, with more classified intelligence crossing the ambassador’s desk than reaches most cabinet ministers.
The post carries immense responsibility. The ambassador represents Britain’s interests to our most powerful ally, and in so doing, shapes our reputation abroad.
His conduct, both prior to appointment and during, must reflect the highest standards of professionalism, discretion and integrity. Nothing less will do.
Davis said it should have been obvious Mandelson did not meet these standards.
What was public about Mandelson’s past is more than enough to disqualify him from consideration as ambassador. From his resignation from government, not once, but twice, first in ‘98 for not telling the truth about an interest-free loan, and then in 2001 for helping a wealthy businessman get a passport, to his links to the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a gangster capitalist who benefited to the tune of many millions of pounds from policies promoted and signed off by Lord Mandelson when he was EU trade minister, and his commercial links, defending China. All of this was in the public domain before the prime minister appointed Lord Mandelson as our ambassador … Why was it ever thought acceptable to appoint a man with such a chequered and murky background to such a vitally informed decision?
And Davis said the ministers had questions to answer.
The house needs to know what vetting was done and when, what was the opinion of the Foreign Office, the foreign secretary, the Cabinet Office and the security services? And when was the prime minister told?
We need to know who knew what and when. The government must take the house with it on these appointments. But their behaviour to date on this issue has been marked by obfuscation and delay, by recrimination and cover up.
And it’s not just a question of the prime minister’s political judgment, important as that is, it’s a question of ethics. It’s a question of what is deemed acceptable behaviour when in positions of power.
David Davis had the backing of Tory HQ when he applied for an emergency debate on Peter Mandelson and Kemi Badenoch has issued a statement welcoming the fact that a debate will take place tomorrow. She said:
There are too many unanswered questions around Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
No 10’s story keeps changing, meanwhile the public have a right to know the truth about what the prime minister and his chief of staff knew and when. If Keir Starmer won’t face the music himself, we will use this debate in parliament to pressure the relevant documents out of No 10 and the government.
The Tories claimed the emergency debate was the latest in a series of coordinated parliamentary moves intended to put pressure on Keir Starmer on this issue. As other examples, they cited Badenoch raising this at PMQs last week, Neil O’Brien tabling an urgent question on Thursday, and Gavin Williamson tabling an early day motion on Wednesday calling for Mandelson’s resignation.
Why Paul Ovenden's resignation matters
Paul Ovenden is not well known, but journalists and commentators familiar with how Downing Street works are saying that his departure (see 3.03pm) is highly significant. He was seen as one of the key figures in the operation.
From my colleague Jessica Elgot
Whatever you think of these messages, the reality is this story and Paul Ovenden’s subsequent resignation has provoked pure unadulterated fury from long-serving Labour aides. Many saying they do not believe Starmer should have accepted his resignation.
Even though he is the least well known, Ovenden’s resignation has the potential to be the most consequential of all because of the internal backlash it will cause among the most long-serving and loyal Starmer aides.
From Patrick Maguire from the Times
Hard to overstate the dismay within government at this – lot of discomfort that Ovenden has had to quit for recounting what he calls a “silly conversation” eight years ago. Leaves Starmer without a speechwriter, and many other things, ahead of conference
Senior government source attacks Starmer on Ovenden resignation: “You can tell all you need to know about a leader from who and what they fight for.
“The prime minister should have taken one look at one of his most skilful and loyal aides and torn up the resignation.”
From Kevin Schofield from HuffPost UK
Not many people outside Westminster will know who Paul Ovenden is, but his departure is arguably more significant than Angela Rayner’s, given the key role he played in No.10 and his importance to Keir Starmer.
From the House Magazine’s Sienna Rodgers, former editor of LabourList
Paul Ovenden going is big news. The highly influential director of political strategy, formerly in the comms team and then head of attack and rebuttal, was Morgan McSweeney’s main ally.
From the Sun’s Harry Cole
Bad news for No10 as Paul Ovenden was leading member of the reality based community left in Downing Street. Presumably why he’s been taken out now in a factional hit job.
Would anyone really enjoy their 8 year old leaked WhatsApps being made public?
From the BBC’s Henry Zeffman
Quite unbelievable the churn in government over just 15 days — remember the Downing Street shakeup which preceded the crises of the past 2 weeks?! But in terms of immediate proximity to Starmer and influence over his day to day work, Paul Ovenden’s arguably most significant
From the Sun’s Jack Elsom
Paul Ovenden’s departure from No10 has left many of his loyal colleagues reeling. One senior govt insider: “Paul is one of the good guys and the finest political mind in the country. The Labour landslide was in no small part down to his strategy and work ethic, and the damage to the project will be immense.”
From Alex Wickham from Bloomberg
Government source on Ovenden’s departure:
“He is one of the best. None of us would be working in this building without him - and this country wouldn’t have had the chance for a better future without him.”
Updated
MPs to hold emergency debate on Mandelson vetting process after Speaker grants SO24 application from David Davis
Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, has just announced that he has granted an emergency debate on the vetting procedures that were applied before Peter Mandelson was appointed ambassador to the US. The debate will take place tomorrow, before the Commons rises for the conference recess.
Hoyle was responding to an application for a debate from David Davis, the Tory former cabinet minister. Davis was applying for a debate under the SO24 (standing order 24) procedure.
Updated
Security minister says he's 'extremely disappointed' CPS has dropped charges against two men accused of spying for China
British prosecutors have said they are dropping charges against two men, including a former researcher for a senior UK politician, who had been accused of spying for China.
In a statement on the decision to MPs, Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said that he was “extremely disappointed” that the case was not going to trial. He said:
Members right across the house will be aware that the charges related to allegations of Chinese espionage within parliament, and they will want reassurance.
Now, many members will be as extremely disappointed as I am that there will now not be a trial. The decision not to proceed with this prosecution is an independent one for the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] to make in its role as the UK’s independent prosecuting authority.
However, I want to be clear that the government remains gravely concerned about the threat of Chinese espionage.
Parliament and our democracy are sacrosanct and any attempt by any foreign power to infiltrate or interfere with parliamentary proceedings is completely unacceptable.
Unusually, Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, also intervened at the start of the statement to say he was “very unhappy” about this outcome too.
We do not, of course, discuss the detail of security matters relating to parliament on the floor of the house, but given the very important issues raised by this case, I am asking officials to consider whether any further steps which should be taken, operational, strategic or legal, to ensure that all those who work in this parliament are able to undertake their activities securely and without interference.
I am a very unhappy Speaker with what’s happened. The fact that for two years, two years, and it’s taken ’til today for somebody to withdraw this case, that is not good or good enough.
Updated
Farage claims byelection not needed after defection because Kruger will be voting in 'same way' as when he was Tory
A reader asks:
Why does the defection of a sitting MP from one party to another not automatically trigger a byelection? Surely the electorate selected the person on the basis of the party they represent and not the individual?
The answer is – because parliament has never passed a law requiring that. Arguably, it should. But there are plenty of constitutional reforms that arguably it should have passed.
Of course, there is a long history of MPs saying that an MP who defects should resign and trigger a byelection as a matter of principle – only for them to take the opposite view when their party is the beneficiary of a switch like this. Here is Nigel Farage saying byelections should happen in a post on social media in 2022.
Christian Wakeford defects as an MP from Tory to Labour.
If he calls a by-election then that’s fine.
If not, he is the Dishonourable Member for Bury South.
At the Reform UK press conference this morning Danny Kruger said whether or not the party was going to trigger a byelection was really a matter for Farage, the party leader. But Kruger implied he did not see the need, saying that he would carry on speaking up for conservative principles as he said he would when he was elected.
Farage also claimed a byelection was not needed. He said:
I don’t think Danny is going go change any politics whatsoever. He’ll vote the same way. He’ll think the same way. He just happens to see that we are the vehicle through which he can achieve the things that he wants to see for the country, not the current, failing Conservative party.
To be honest with you, if he joined from the Labour party, and if he’d been elected on a Labour manifesto and come, then I think perhaps in that situation the voters in the constituency would say, ‘Well, hang on, surely we’ve got the right to have a say on this?’
Generally, the public don’t like byelections. Generally the public don’t like being asked to vote if I think it’s unnecessary.
And just as we’ve had defections in Wales, we’ve had defections in Scotland, and here, no, there’s no need for byelections. Other parties don’t do them either.
Commenting on Danny Kruger’s defection, the Green party co-deputy leader Rachel Millward said:
Let’s remember the Tories brought us 14 years of damaging austerity, climate inaction, a disastrous Brexit and the economic incompetence of Liz Truss. Having this lot join you is hardly anything to shout about. It is actually embarrassing. But it does serve as a loud alarm bell for the rest of us about the threats to this country if Reform UK were ever to form a government.
Starmer says he would never have appointed Mandelson ambassador if he had known at time full details of Epstein links
Keir Starmer has said he would never have appointed Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US if he had known at the time the full extent of Mandleson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
In his first public comments on Mandelson’s sacking, Starmer also said the peer had not helped his case by the way he responded to questions from the Foreign Office about his private emails to Epstein.
In an interview with broadcasters, Starmer said:
Peter Mandelson, before he was appointed, went through a due diligence process. That’s the propriety and ethics team. He went through a process, and therefore I knew of his association with Epstein.
But had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him, because what emerged last week were emails, Bloomberg emails which showed that the nature and extent of the relationship that Peter Mandelson had with Epstein was far different to what I had understood to be the position when I appointed him.
On top of that, what the email showed was he was not only questioning but wanting to challenge the conviction of Epstein at the time that for me, went and cut across the whole approach that I’ve taken on violence against women and girls for many years, and this government’s approach.
On top of that, what emerged last week, on Wednesday evening late, were Peter Mandelson’s responses to questions that have been put to him by government officials. I looked at those responses, and I did not find them at all satisfying.
And therefore, on the basis of those three things, the nature and extent of the relationship being far different to what I’d understood to be the position at the point of appointment, the questioning and challenging of the conviction, which, as I say, goes to the heart and cuts across what this government is doing on violence against women and girls and the unsatisfactory nature of responses from Peter Mandelson last week to the inquires made of him by government officials, I took the decision to remove him.
The Tories have claimed that Starmer should have known about the full extent of the Mandelson/Epstein relationship at PMQs last week, where he defended the ambassador, because at that point the Foreign Office had already taken media calls about the emails that were subsequently published after PMQs on Wednesday afternoon. (See 9.52am.)
But Starmer said he did not know the content of the emails obtained by Bloomberg when he answered questions from Kemi Badenoch in the Commons.
What I knew before PMQs was that there had been media inquiries. I didn’t know the content of the Bloomberg emails, and I knew that questions had been put to Peter that he had not yet answered, and he hadn’t answered them by the time I got to PMQs, there is, of course, a time lag in America, but I knew that there were questions that have been put to him, but I didn’t know what answers he was going to give to those questions.
That came later on Wednesday, and that’s why, at that point, I gave the answer I did at PMQs. And that’s the extent of what I knew at the time.
Starmer also said that Mandelson only responded “very late on Wednesday” to the questions government officials had asked him about the emails.
Updated
No 10 director of strategy resigns over revelation about sexually explicit comments about Diane Abbott in private email in 2017
Keir Starmer has been hit by a fresh Downing Street resignation. Paul Ovenden has resigned as director of strategy at No 10 over revelations, first published by the Mail, that in 2017 he made sexually explicit comments about Diane Abbott in a private email.
Ovenden was a Labour party press officer at the time.
In his story for the Mail, Dan Hodges reports:
The Mail understands that Mr Ovenden had exchanged emails with a former colleague in 2017 in which he retold a story about a game of ‘shag, marry, kill’ involving Ms Abbott he had overheard.
He then graphically recounted the conversation in which two women described performing sex acts on Ms Abbott, 71, the veteran MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
Mr Ovenden has resigned to avoid becoming ‘a distraction’.
Updated
Kruger defection shows Reform UK 'shapeshifting into the Conservatives', say Lib Dems
Like Labour (see 12.51pm), the Liberal Democrats are also arguing that the Danny Kruger defection shows Reform UK is turning Tory. In a statement Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:
The Conservative party is a shell of its former self. It is no wonder that lifelong Conservative voters who feel abandoned by Badenoch and appalled by Farage have turned to the Liberal Democrats in their droves.
Nigel Farage’s party is shapeshifting into the Conservatives in front of our very eyes. It is getting to the point where the only difference between them is just a slightly lighter shade of blue.
'Gutted' - how Tories are reacting to Kruger's defection
When Nadine Dorries defected to Reform UK at their conference just over a week ago, there were probably many in the party happy to see her go. Danny Kruger’s decision to jump is a much bigger deal in political circles, even if Dorries is better known. He is the first sitting Tory MP to join Nigel Farage’s party. (Or at least this Farage party – two sitting Tory MPs defected to Ukip, and won their seats again in byelections, which won’t happen this time because Kruger is not going to stand down.)
Here is some reaction to Kruger’s move from Conservatives, and Tory-linked commentators.
From Tory MP Jack Rankin
So sad to read this. Danny isn’t like the clowns they’ve accepted of late. He is smart and wise and good.
Whilst we share a similar analysis of the change the country needs, I disagree strongly about the vehicle with which to do so: But I respect his decision.
Gutted.
From Ben Houchen, the Tory Tees Valley mayor
I like Danny. He’s a good man. Principled, clear in his convictions, a deep thinker and not an MP that is driven by ego or self promotion. Sad to see him leave.
From Robert Colvile, head of the Centre for Policy Studies, a Tory thinktank
Does this make Danny Kruger the only person in British politics to have had David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage as their line manager?
(Speechwriter to Dave, political secretary to Boris, govt prep for Nigel.)
From Mark Reckless, who defected to Ukip when he was a Tory MP
Having done similar, I was impressed by @danny__kruger calm, measured and authoritative demeanour throughout the press conference. Key challenge is to prepare new structure of governance beyond traditional ‘policy’ brief.
When Reckless defected, he resigned a triggered a byelection, which he won as a Ukip candidate. Kruger is not doing the same.
From Tobias Ellwood, a former Tory minister
Sorry to see my good friend Danny Kruger go.
His comments resonate:
‘Conservatism is not over - far from it...But a failure of the Conservative Party has created space for an alternative.’
Arguably since Brexit, Tories have lost sight of where they sit the political spectrum.
From Robert Buckland, the former Tory justice secretary
Hey @danny__kruger, you are supposed to be my @Conservative MP. What on earth do you think you are doing? Local people did not vote for this!
From David Skelton, the former head of Renewal, a centre-right thinktank
He’ll be getting some partisan brickbats, but @danny__kruger is a good man and a superb mind. One of the few to understand that Toryism is a lot more than market liberalism. This is undoubtedly a coup for Reform.
From Ian Birrell, the journalist who once wrote speeches for David Cameron
Danny Kruger wrote the hug-a-hoodie speech for Cameron, says ‘a purely punitive approach to crime & disorder cannot work’ and argues ‘love is a neglected crime-fighting device.’ Sorry to see he’s joined Reform as it flirts with hate-fuelled far-right. But it’s a significant move
From Christopher Hope, political editor of GB News
What is unusual about Danny Kruger’s defection is that his career is very much in front of him, rather than behind him - as has been the case with some other Reform defections.
And here is an extract from an article that James Heale, deputy political editor of the Spectator, has written for the Telegraph on three reasons why the defection matters.
Kruger is likely a portent of things to come. His argument at the press conference this morning was less about ideology, more about practicality. He referred, several times, to Reform being the best “vehicle” to win the next election and save the country from decline. Others are likely to follow him both in parliament and at a grassroots level across the country. In speaking of Reform as “radical not a revolution” Kruger is speaking the language of many ordinary Conservatives who back the party last time, despite reservations.
He will now be used as breathing evidence to show that for decent Tories, Reform UK is the only viable hope at the next election.
There are no urgent questions in the Commons today, but one statement, at 3.30pm. It’s from Dan Jarvis, the security minister, on the Official Secrets Act.
Keir Starmer hosted a meeting with junior ministers in No 10 this morning, Ailbhe Rea from Bloomberg reports.
NEW Keir Starmer summoned junior ministers, PPSs and whips into Number 10 this morning to rally the troops after his worst week in office.
- No one mentioned Mandelson directly, but Darren Jones faced questions about improving comms and how not to alienate progressive voters
The PM said after protest this weekend it’s a battle for the soul of the nation, asking “are we a country that brings people together or pushes people apart?”
- Jonathan Reynolds (chief whip), PM and Jones addressed the meeting
- McSweeney did not attend
- Attendees still say privately they’re dismayed about Mandelson crisis and how No 10 handled it
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson confirmed that, although Peter Mandelson is no longer ambassador to Washington, he remains a government employee. The terms of his departure are an HR matter and will be set out later, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also declined to say why Keir Starmer was not told the detail of the Mandelson emails to Jeffrey Epstein ahead of PMQs last week.
As Jacqui Smith told the media this morning, the Foreign Office started getting questions about the emails on Tuesday last week and at that point asked Mandelson for his account. Starmer was not told the details until after PMQs, Smith said. (See 10.11am.)
The spokesperson backed up this account, but declined to give more information about exactly what Starmer had and had not been told ahead of PMQs.
No 10 accuses Musk of using 'dangerous and inflammatory' language at rally on Saturday
Downing Street has accused has accused Elon Musk of using “dangerous and inflammatory” language at rally in London on Saturday organised by Tommy Robinson.
Asked about Musk’s “fight back or die” speech, the PM’s spokesperson said:
The UK is a fair, tolerant and decent country. The last thing the British people want is this sort of dangerous and inflammatory language.
The spokesperson said the language threatened “violence and intimidation on our streets”.
Badenoch suggests her support for two-child benefit cap contributed to Kruger's decision to defect
Badenoch has also suggested that Danny Kruger defected to Reform UK at least in part because he disagreed with her decision to commit the Tories to keeping the two-child benefit cap.
In her GB News interview, Badenoch said;
One of the things that has caused concern is the strict policies I’m putting in on welfare. We need to live within our means. The Conservative party is the only party, for example, that wants to make sure that we have a two-child benefit cap.
I know Danny had written a paper about how that should be lifted, so there are policy disagreements.
If people are leaving because of policy disagreements, then that means that the message that I’m putting out there is clear.
Kruger was a leading figure in the New Conservatives group operating in the last parliament and believes that government should pursue measures that support family life.
Badenoch rejects claim from Kruger and Farage that Tory party is finished
Kemi Badenoch has rejected the claim from Danny Kruger and Nigel Farage that the Conservative party is finished. (See 11.22am and 11.50am.)
Asked about this in an interview on GB News, she said:
If it was finished, then we wouldn’t be seeing Labour in real trouble with the loss of their ambassador just before they have a state visit. The fact of the matter is the Conservative party is the only opposition. While we were out there pointing out that Labour was bringing in tax rises while the deputy prime minister wasn’t paying her taxes, where was Nigel Farage? In the US telling everyone that our country was North Korea.
I am here acting in the British national interest, not here just doing this because it’s showbiz or because it’s a game. I care about the people in this country. I care about the children that we’re bringing up, what sort of country they’re going to have, what sort of society they’re going to grow up in. And I’m very focused on those issues.
The Conservative party is the only party that can deal with this, and I’m making sure that we’re getting fit for the next election.
Updated
Labour says Kruger defection shows Reform UK are 'Tory tribute act'
The Labour party has said that the Danny Kruger defection shows Reform UK is a “Tory tribute act”. In a statement, a Labour spokesperson said:
Every Conservative who defects to Reform ties Nigel Farage more closely to their record of failure. Nigel Farage can recruit as many failed Tories as he likes – it won’t change the fact that he has no plan for Britain.
The Tories crashed our economy and left public services crumbling. Britain deserves better than Reform’s Tory tribute act that would leave working people paying a very high price.
Farage declines to say how his partner was able to afford £885,000 home in Clacton - but stresses proper stamp duty paid
At the start of the Reform UK press conference Nigel Farage was asked by the BBC’s Chris Mason where his partner, Laure Ferrari, got the money that enabled her to buy a house in Clacton. (See 12.07pm.) Farage replied:
My partner is a private individual. She purchased a house in the constituency. I was pleased that she did. I didn’t particularly want my name down living in the constituency for obvious security reasons.
Lots of questions were asked, which is why I went last week to an independent KC tax expert. I’ve got all the judgment.
The KYC [know your customer] checks were done. The money was legal, the purchase was legitimate, the right level of stamp duty was paid. There have been no laws of any kind broken whatsoever.
As for the source of the money. I’ve said previously what I’ve said, and I’m not going to say any more.
Farage claims there is 'almost a competition' among leftwing parties to be anti-Israel
The Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK has decided that it will not accept students from Israel from next year, the Telegraph has reported. Israel’s defence ministry has described the move as “a profoundly dishonourable act of disloyalty to an ally at war”.
At his Q&A Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, was asked about the story. He criticised the decision, suggesting that actions of this kind were close to antisemitism. And he claimed there was “almost a competition” among parties on the left to be anti-Israel.
I don’t think we should be doing that.
We’ve always been a great ally of Israel. It doesn’t mean we support every single thing they do, far from it.
But it seems to me that criticism of Israel, criticism of the Israeli army, criticism of Zionism – quite where that merges with outright antisemitism is perhaps a bigger intellectual debate than we can have right here right now, but it does seem to me that all the pressure is heading in that direction.
There’s almost a competition between the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, Labour, whatever Jeremy [Corbyn] is going to call his outfit – almost a competition, who can be the most beastly [to Israel] …
[There are] an awful lot of Jewish people scared to go out on the streets, given the situation we’re in.
So look, we should be critical friends of Israel, you might say deeply critical for some of the things they’ve done, but they’re in a very, very tight spot.
Updated
The last question at the press conference came from my colleague Aletha Adu.
Q: [To Kruger] Do you take back your claim that Reform UK would spend money like drunken sailors?
Kruger said he was confident that the party would be able to come up with fully-costed, workable plans.
He said when he criticised Reform’s spending plans recently, he was referring to their welfare plans. But at the Reform conference, Farage committed the party to welfare reform, he said.
Q: [To Farage] What is your message to the 26 police officers who were left injured after the rally in London on Saturday?
Farage said that was “horrendous”. He claimed it was not as bad as the Notting Hill carnival. He feared this might happen. He was not defending “any of it”, he said. But he said the “vast majority” of people attending the march were good, ordinary, decent people.
Farage ended by saying there would be a press conference next week where “we will show you how we propose to save huge amounts of money”.
Updated
Farage declines to repeat suggestion his partner was able to buy £885,000 home in Clacton because she was from wealthy family
At the start of the Q&A Farage said that the purchase of a house in his constituency by his partner was legal, and the correct amount of stamp duty was paid. He said he had a statement from a KC confirming this.
Asked if he was willing to repeat a statement he gave to the Mirror suggesting his partner, Laure Ferrari, was able to buy the home herself because she had family wealth, Farage said he was not going to add anything to what he said earlier.
But he said he would advise people “quite strongly” not to say he had broken the law in relation to stamp duty.
Farage is under pressure on this topic because there are suspicions that he gave Ferrari the money that she used to buy the £885,000 home without a mortage. There is nothing unlawful about this at all. But it has opened him up to the charge of hypocrisy, because he criticised Angela Rayner for underpaying stamp duty and if Farage had bought the Clacton home himself, the stamp duty charge would have been higher than it was for Ferrari (who, unlike Farage, does not own another home).
UPDATE: See 12.43pm for the quote from the start of the press conference.
Updated
Farage claims Starmer won't be Labour leader at time of next election, and Burnham would drag party to left
Q: Do you fear Keir Starmer or Andy Burnham more at the next election?
Farage says:
It’s a very hypothetical question. You know that Keir Starmer will not be leader of the Labour party at the next election. In fact, he might not even last the next year.
If it’s Andy Burnham, you might say he’s very personable, but he also would drag Labour way to the left, and that’s not the direction the centre of gravity in this country is going. It’s going in a different direction, and it’s almost as if Westminster now, this current parliament, is so far detached from where the country is going that it’s almost not true. So I’m not bothered.
Updated
Q: Danny, you wrote David Cameron’s ‘hug a hoodie’ speech. Do you still think that?
Kruger says he is still proud of that speech. He says it was profoundly conservative. It stressed that young people need care and support. But it was also strong on the need for proper crime to get a robust response.
Kruger criticises the way the speech was spun by Andy Coulson. He says he learned from that that you cannot expect to get two ideas in a headline.
Farage says he thinks the Conservative party is “nowhere near its electoral floor”. He thinks they will cease to be a national party after the elections next year.
Kruger says when Lee Anderson found out that Kruger was the Tory MP who was defecting, Anderson joked: “Which one of us is leaving?”
They were joking about it being ‘one in, one out”, he says.
Five Reform UK MPs were elected last year. Two of them have left (Rupert Lowe and James McMurdock), but two have now joined (Sarah Pochin and Kruger).
Kruger says, even if Robert Jenrick took over as Tory leader, he does not think they could now overtake Reform UK
Kruger said that that he supported Robert Jenrick for the Tory leadership, and he thought the party would be doing better now with Jenrick as leader. Jenrick wanted to take the fight to Labour immediately, he said; Kemi Badenoch thought the party needed to spend time working on a new policy platform.
But he said, if Jenrick took over now, “I don’t think he could succeed in overtaking Reform”.
Farage accuses police of not taking death threats against him on TikTok seriously
At the start of the press conference Farage said that he had received explicit death threats on TikTok. He said that he had reported them to the police, but had now been told that they were not taking any action.
Asked how worried he was by these, Farage said that he knew Charlie Kirk well. Getting death threats himself was “not a very pleasant experience”, he said.
So I did challenge the police to do something, but they’ve decided this does not meet the threshold. Gosh, imagine if I make I made some joke about the trans community, probably be in real trouble.
And that is at the heart of two-tier Britain, two-tier policing, two-tier justice and two-tier Keir, and it’s one of the reasons the flags are going up all over this country.
Updated
Kruger says he wants to ensure that if Reform UK wins the election, the civil service will implement real change.
Kruger says he was 'very disappointed' by Boris Johnson's record in government after Brexit
Q: Danny Kruger was political secretary to Boris Johnnson. But Reform UK is blaming him for letting immigration get out of control.
Kruger says he was political secretary to Johnson before the 2019 election. He is “enormously proud” of what Johnson did in terms of getting Brexit done.
He goes on:
I was very disappointed with what followed, firstly, with the failure to properly grip the system of Whitehall itself, which Brexit was only a prelude to. We needed to restore the government to the people. That was what people voted for in 2019 and I think we’ve failed to do that, particularly during Covid.
And then secondly, most obviously, with the wave of immigration that the government oversaw.
And while, as a Conservative MP, in a sense I bear some responsibility for that, in practice I was arguing strongly against the degree of both legal and illegal migration that the government was presiding over.
Updated
Q: What do you think Musk meant when he talked about overthrowing the government?
Farage says Musk has been “chucking abuse at me now for six months”. He says journalists want him to hit back, because that would make a good headline. He is not going to do that, he says.
I’m not going to abuse Musk or Tommy Robinson or anything. We’re going to get on with building what we’re trying to build.
Q: As an Old Etonian, can you really understand the experience of ordinary people?
Kruger describes that as a “cheap shot”.
And he points out that for 10 years he has run a charity working with ex-offenders.
Updated
Q: Danny, you say Britain is not broken. Do you realise Farage says it is?
Farage says Kruger is “more bullish” than he is.
Farage says vast majority of people attending Tommy Robinson rally in London were 'good, ordinary, decent people'
Nigel Farage and Danny Kruger now now taking questions.
Q: Do you expect more Tories to defect?
Kruger says the Tory party is not dead. It is just over as the main opposition. He says he does not think it will ever recover.
He says he would like to see other Tories follow him.
Farage says he keeps things under wraps. No one knew Kruger was defecting today.
He says the Tories have “zero chance” of winning the next election?
Q: What is your response to the Elon Musk?
Farage says:
As for Saturday, I think the vast majority of people that turned up were good, ordinary, decent people who are very, very concerned about what’s happening in this country,
I’ve noticed that the wave of flags that was that started about three weeks ago, going up around the country, far from subsiding, from what I can see this weekend, is accelerating massively.
There is, and it is a collective two fingers up to a British establishment that they feel utterly betrayed by in every single way.
As for the Musk comments, Farage says that Musk is generally rude about him.
He says it would be good to have some explanation from Musk as to what he meant by “fight”. He goes on:
We are radical, but we’re not revolutionaries.
If the fight that Musk was talking about was about standing up for our rights of free speech, if it was about fighting in elections to overcome the established parties, then that absolutely is the fight that we’re in.
And the reason you asked the question, I think the context of the way the word was used left a degree of ambiguity.
Updated
Kruger says Tories were 'failure' in office, they are finished as national party, but conservatism 'isn't over'
In his speech at the Reform UK press conference, Danny Kruger said that he was leaving the Conservative party because he had concluded it was over as a party. But conservatism wasn’t over, he said.
He said:
I have been variously a member, an activist, an employee of the Conservative party for over 20 years, and I have many friends in the party, many good and decent people, which is why it is so personally painful for me to be doing what I am doing today.
There have been moments when I have been very proud to belong to the Tory party. In 2010 I was inspired by the Big Society, by schools reform and welfare reform. I was thrilled by Brexit and by what Boris Johnson pulled off in 2019 but those were exceptions to the rule.
The rule of our time in office was failure, bigger government, social decline, low wages, high taxes and less of what ordinary people actually wanted.
And now our country is entering the most profound set of crises in my lifetime, under a government even worse, far worse, than the one it replaced.
Crisis in the economy, crisis at the border, crisis in our streets, crisis in our military, crisis for young people. Yes, we are still a great country, and there are good reasons that so many migrants want to come here, but there are also reasons so many entrepreneurs and young people want to leave. Britain is not broken, but it is badly damaged. And so, in this crisis, something has got to give.
I hoped, after our defeat last year, that the Conservative party would learn the obvious lesson that the old ways don’t work, that centrism is not enough, that real change is needed.
But now we have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial, and the result is [clear] in the polls, and those lost voters are not coming back. And every day, more and more people are joining them in deserting the party that has failed.
And so this is my tragic conclusion. The Conservative party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left.
But I am not despondent, because conservatism is not over. It’s never been needed more and actually never been more vibrant because the failure of the Conservative party has created space for an alternative.
The flame is passing from one torch to another … The new torch is already alight, already brighter than the one it is replacing, held aloft in firm and confident hands.
Updated
Danny Kruger defects to Reform UK from Tories, with Farage putting him in charge of preparing party for government
Nigel Farage has announced that Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK from the Tories. Kruger, MP for East Wiltshire, is a leading social conservative, and co-chaired the New Conservatives group in the last parliament with Miriam Cates.
Farage said that Kruger would be in charge of preparing the part for government.
Updated
Musk calls Ed Davey 'craven coward' after Lib Dem leader accuses him of 'dangerous interference in our democracy'
Elon Musk has called Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, a “craven coward” in a post on social media responding to Davey’s letter denouncing the speech Musk gave to the far-right rally in London. Davey responded with mockery.
YoU aRe A cRaVeN cOwArD https://t.co/fAoEknoVva pic.twitter.com/0sBErLriIR
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) September 15, 2025
In an interview on the Today programme, Davey was asked about the size of the far-right rally in London on Saturday, said to be attended by 110,000 people. Asked if mainstream parties could attract a crowd that sized, Davey replied:
I think people support Liberal Democrat views more than they support the views of Tommy Robinson.
Actually, I think our views on improving health and care, on dealing with the cost of living, our views on the environment, our views actually on having a closer relationship with Europe, our views on calling out Donald Trump and people like Elon Musk - I think the vast majority of people agree with us, not the extremes.
Updated
Reform UK is holding a press conference in London, promising “a major announcement”.
It is about to start. There is a live feed here.
Updated
Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, has dismissed the significance of Richard Burgon predicting that Keir Starmer might be gone within months. (See 9.37am). Asked about the comment in an interview with BBC Breakfast, Smith said;
Richard Burgon has never supported this prime minister. He actually had the whip removed from him for a period of time because of his failure to support the Government, so the fact that he now thinks the prime minister should go is not actually new news.
Asked if she thought Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham would do a better job as leader, she replied: “No. I think the prime minister is doing a good job.”
Mandelson should lose Labour whip in Lords if it is shown he was not 'frank' about Epstein relationship in vetting, MP says
Some of those briefing on behalf of No 10 have suggested that Peter Mandelson misled officials about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein before his appointment as ambassador to the US, although ministers have not said that explicitly. On Westminster Hour last night Helen Hayes, the Labour chair of the Commons education committee, said that if it shown that Mandelson was not “frank”, he should lose the Labour whip in the Lords.
She said:
I felt really devastated about Peter Mandelson. I spend a lot of my time as chair of the education select committee thinking about children, about safeguarding, about questions of abuse and how we support victims. I think there was a failure to centre the victims of Jeffery Epstein within that judgement [appointing Mandelson as ambassador] …
I share the view that he shouldn’t have been appointed, I share concerns about what was known.
I think there is a question about how frank he was in the original vetting process. If he was not frank about that association, then that should be dealt with and his ability to speak as a Labour peer should be taken away from him.
UK and US line up string of deals to build modular nuclear reactors in Britain
Labour’s plans for a massive expansion of nuclear power have been given a boost with a string of transatlantic deals for new modular reactors announced before Donald Trump’s visit, Gwyn Topham reports.
Smith sidesteps question about whether Mandelson should lose Labour whip in House of Lords
The publication of the Mandelson/Epstein emails has led to calls for Peter Mandelson to lose the Labour whip in the House of Lords.
In her Today programme interview, asked if Mandelson should lose the whip, Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, replied:
I think what Peter Mandelson said was disgusting. I am angry about it.
Peter Mandelson is currently on a leave of absence from the House of Lords and therefore doesn’t have the Labour whip. What happens in the future will be up to the whip.
Starmer did not see 'detail' of Mandelson's emails to Epstein until after PMQs, skills minister Jacqui Smith says
Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, was the voice of the government on TV and radio this morning. Asked about the Tory questions for Keir Starmer about the Peter Mandelson emails, Smith said Starmer did not personally see the relevant emails until Wednesday afternoon.
She told the Today programme:
What happened on Tuesday was that media sources came forward to the Foreign Office with extracts from the emails. The Foreign Office asked questions of Peter Mandelson.
It was on Wednesday, and in fact not until after prime minister’s questions, that No 10 and the prime minister saw the detail of those emails – as I’ve just outlined the particularly egregious things that were said and exposed in those emails.
And when Keir Starmer saw those, he took action to remove Peter Mandelson as our ambassador.
When it was put to Smith that No 10 reportedly knew at the start of last week that those emails showed that Mandelson had suggested Epstein’s first conviction was wrong and should be challenged, Smith repeated her point that, although the Foreign Office was aware of the emails on Tuesday, Starmer himself did not see the details until Wednesday afternoon.
In an interview with LBC, Nick Ferrari told Smith that, before the election, Keir Starmer was asked by the Financial Times what he felt about Mandelson saying in Epstein’s house after Epstein’s first conviction. Smith replied:
We did know, of course, about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. It was a relationship that Lord Mandelson had been clear that he regretted and that he’d apologised about.
What we didn’t know was the depth of that relationship, the nature of it, the fact that he was trying to coach Jeffrey Epstein to avoid the consequences of his actions, the impact that that understandably, therefore, had on the victims of Epstein’s terrible crimes.
And as soon as that became clear to the prime minister, he asked that he removed Peter Mandelson as our ambassador.
Starmer facing fresh questions over Mandelson emails to Epstein
Last night the Conservatives released the text of an open letter sent to Keir Starmer from Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, with five questions about the Peter Mandelson emails to Jeffrey Epstein. Here are those five questions.
1. On Monday, Bloomberg contacted Peter Mandelson with excerpts from the Mandelson/Epstein Files. These were then sent to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Downing Street. Were you aware before Prime Ministers Questions at midday on Wednesday, 10 September of the existence of the emails? Had you been briefed on their contents?
2. On Wednesday at 0809, in an interview with Harry Cole, Mandelson admitted that there was ‘a lot of traffic, correspondence changes between us [Mandelson and Epstein] absolutely. And we know those are going to surface’. You then told the House of Commons you had ‘confidence’ in Mandelson and ‘full due process’ was followed. Did you ask your staff at any point prior to appearing in the House of Commons for what more information might surface? Did you receive a briefing ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions regarding Mandelson and Epstein, and covering the Bloomberg emails?
3. Ministers have claimed new information came to light. What information did you find out as a result of reading the Bloomberg emails that you did not already know, and which was not already in the original vetting document?
4. It is understood that your chief of staff was in touch with Mandelson on Tuesday, whilst the permanent secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth was awaiting a response to official inquiries. When did your chief of staff speak with Mandelson this week and what did he discuss with him?
5. Will you appear before the House of Commons, including any committee? Will you direct your chief of staff and other officials including the cabinet secretary and the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office to give evidence? And will you publish all Mandelson/Epstein files held by the government, including details of vetting conducted by the Cabinet Office and your chief of staff, so there can be full transparency on this crucial matter?
Starmer urged to condemn Elon Musk's 'fight back or die' speech to London rally as Labour MPs question his leadership
Good morning. All governments face crises; something goes wrong, often someone gets sacked, and then they move on. Very occasionally, there is a proper leadership challenge, normally culminating in a vote. But there is also something in between, the permacrisis, where ongoing criticism of the leadership drowns out most other party/government activity, with no resolution. The Theresa May and Boris Johnson premiership were in permacrisis for months or years. After the last week, Keir Starmer is close to being stuck in this version of political purgatory too.
There are various strands to the Labour turmoil story, and I will unpack them as the day goes on, but here is a quick summary based on the state of play this morning.
Starmer is under intense pressure to explain what he knew ahead of PMQs last week about the emails from Peter Mandelson in which Mandelson strongly backed Jeffrey Epstein at the time of his first child sex offence conviction. The Tories have demanded an explanation in response to reports that officials did know full details before PMQs, even though Starmer subsequently justified defending Mandelson on Wednesday before sacking him on Thursday on the grounds that new information (ie, the full details of the emails) only came to light on Wednesday night. This claim has made the Mail splash.
This morning Kemi Badenoch posted this on social media.
If the PM really believes in accountability, he would stop hiding, face Parliament, publish the Mandelson/Epstein files and tell the truth about what he and his Chief of Staff knew and when.
It’s time to deliver the “transparency revolution” he promised. No more excuses.
The Mandelson/Epstein affair is a self-contained crisis. But, coming so soon after the resignation of Angela Rayner, and coming after a summer when No 10 was decisively beaten in the media attention air war by Nigel Farage and Reform UK, it has tipped the parliamentary Labour party into a panic about the Starmer leadership. That led to this on the Today programme this morning.
Starmer will be forced out as leader if next year’s elections are as bad for Labour as the polls predict, the leftwing Labour MP Richard Burgon has claimed. Burgon told today:
Lots of MPs are looking to the elections next May, the opinion polls suggest it’s going to be a complete disaster unfortunately. I think it’s inevitable that if May’s elections go as people predict, and the opinion polls predict, then I think Starmer will be gone at that time.
It feels like we are years and years into an unpopular government, rather than a year into a government that’s just got rid of the Conservatives. We’re losing votes to the left, we’re going to be losing seats to the right.
We face a real threat for the first time in our country’s history of what I would consider to be a far-right extremist government – it’s the prime minister’s duty to stop that happening. You can only do that by delivering for people who want real change, and if you can’t do that, then of course, there’s going to have to be change at the very top.
Burgon is one of the few Corbynites left in the PLP, and he is not representative. But, as Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot reported in a very thorough long-read at the weekend, serious conversations are now happening in the parliamentary party about how Starmer could be replaced.
But there is some evidence that Starmer is fighting back. Yesterday, showing a bit more willingness to take on the far-right over flags than we saw over the summer, Starmer condemned the use of the St George’s flag by the far-right, anti-immigration protesters who attacked the police in London on Saturday.
Starmer is now being urged to go further.
Starmer is being urged to condemn Elon Musk for his “fight back or die” speech to the far-right rally in London. The Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has issued this challenge to the PM in an open letter published on social media.
In January, when Musk was using posts on his social media platform X to accuse Starmer on an almost hourly basis of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” (because of grooming gangs), Starmer just ignored the billionaire, far-right provocateur. But at that point Musk was friends with Donald Trump, and a key figure in his administration. Now that Musk has fallen out with the president, Starmer may feel more comfortable denouncing him. We should be hearing from him later today, but this morning a minister has criticised Musk.
Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, has condemned Musk for his speech to the far-right rally in London on Saturday. Musk told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”. Asked if she condemned those words, Smith told the Today programme:
Absolutely I do. Those words were wrong and they were dangerous.
We’re a country that believes in the right to protest and the right to free speech, but we’re also a country that recognises and celebrates our diversity. That’s what our flag is actually about.
We will not have on our streets people being intimidated on the basis of their race or their background.
Smith was referrring to the fact that the union jack is a composite flag, made up of flags from three nations, thereby celebrating union, and the multi-national character of the UK.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in Hampshire.
11am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, holds a press conference, where the party says there will be “a major announcement”.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood takes questions in the Commons for the first time in her new role as home secretary,
Afternoon: Keir Starmer is expected to record a pooled broadcast interview.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And 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 BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Updated
