Afternoon summary
-
Chris Bryant, the trade minister, has told MPs that new sanctions imposed on Russia and its oil sales are tougher than what was in place before and that he is to blame for initial media reports wrongly suggesting some sanctions were being relaxed. (See 1.45pm.)
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.
Updated
With Andy Burnham as leader, Labour would be three points ahead of Reform UK in general election voting intention, not seven points behind as they are now, a poll for More in Common suggests.
Swinney appoints new cabinet for Scottish government, with Jenny Gilruth as deputy FM and majority women
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.
John Swinney has announced his new cabinet this afternoon, including the appointment of Jenny Gilruth as his deputy first minister, a former education secretary with a track record of taking tough decisions who will appeal to the more progressive wing of SNP members.
Gilruth will also take on the role of cabinet secretary for finance and local government, the closest position to that of chancellor at UK government level.
The streamlined cabinet, which faces serious and immediate spending challenges, is down from 12 to nine members, and suggests a focus on reining in public spending with the promotion of Ivan McKee to the position of cabinet secretary for public service reform, a new cabinet role.
McKee, considered one of the most economically literate of senior SNP figures, was a prominent supporter of Kate Forbes’s leadership bid in 2023, when she was narrowly defeated by Humza Yousaf. His appointment signals that a more business-friendly element continues to have a voice in cabinet.
Before the election, economists with the Fraser of Allander Institute, at the University of Strathclyde, warned that party manifestos failed to address the true scale of the “reckoning” now facing ministers because the last SNP administration consistently spent more money than it received from its core sources of funding. And the Scottish government itself has estimated it faces a £5bn gulf between its spending commitments and income by the end of this decade.
Swinney also appointed Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s most recent Westminster leader who is known to have leadership ambitions, as cabinet secretary for economy, tourism and transport.
Swinney, whose cabinet is majority women, said:
As a leaner, more agile government, our full focus will be on delivering on the things that matter most to the people of Scotland, including supporting people with the cost of living crisis, ensuring easier access to the NHS and delivering a fresh start with independence.
Updated
Three-quarters of Labour members want UK to at least rejoin EU single market or customs union, poll suggests
YouGov has released more polling on the views of Labour party members. Two findings are particularly interesting.
-
Three-quarters of Labour members want the UK to at the very least rejoin the single market or the customs union (33%) or fully rejoin the EU (40%), the poll suggests.
-
Only a quarter of Labour members want the government’s immigration policy to be more liberal, the poll suggests.
Reform UK advertises for vetting officer to help ensure 'highest standards' amongst candidates
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Reform UK is advertising for a “meticulous and highly organised vetting officer” after a period in which there has been no-let up in the controversies over the backgrounds of its candidates.
The advert is one of no less than 22 roles being advertised for by Reform, which was the biggest-funded party in Britain last year.
Last year the Guardian revealed that a Reform general election candidate who said Hitler was “brilliant” at inspiring people and described Bashar al-Assad as “gentle by nature” was in charge of its vetting process.
The advert for the vetting officer to join Reform’s campaigns and training team comes as Robert Kenyon, the party’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, faced immediate scrutiny of his social media activity.
Deleted posts on his X account – which as suspended before he was unveiled as the candidate – show he appeared to cast doubt on the efficacy of a vaccine, interacted with a Dutch far-right influencer and praised Donald Trump.
A string of candidates in the recent elections in England, Wales and Scotland were also identified as having posted racist and other offensive comments on social media accounts, in some cases leading to their resignation.
The advert for a vetting officer informs would-be applicants:
In this vital role, you will carry out background checks, social media audits, and reputational risk assessments on prospective candidates standing for election under the Reform UK banner.
You’ll play a key role in safeguarding the party’s reputation and ensuring we uphold the highest standards across our candidate pool, directly supporting the delivery of successful election campaigns across the UK.
As Reform moves to build on its election results, it is also recruiting 13 ‘creative’ roles including social media managers and graphic designers in Wales, Scotland and at its head office in London. Other roles being recruited for include a new policy adviser who will be based at the party’s Westminster headquarters.
Jakub Krupa writes the Guardian’s Europe live blog.
At a briefing earlier, the European Commission was asked about the US and UK decisions to relax strict sanctions on Russian crude oil as fuel prices rise.
The commission was pointedly asked if their decisions do not undermine the broader approach to put as much pressure on the Russian economy as possible.
The chief spokerperson, Paula Pinho, said:
We will not comment on what other countries are doing on sanctions regarding Russia.
We remain committed to our sanctions on imports of Russian oil and gas, and we need to reiterate the call for Russians not to be benefiting from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It’s too ironic.
Streeting's resignation speech - snap verdict
In many respects that was a very good speech – inspiring, emotional, well crafted. Many politicians have delivered speeches about how the generational contract has been broken, but few of them have been able to round it off with a line as good as the (Kennedy-inspired) “so the question isn’t whether young people would fight for their country, but when their country is going to fight for them”. (See 3.13pm.) Wes Streeting’s payoff line was terrific too. (See 3.24pm.) On the final day of a party conference, this would have been ideal.
And that’s what gives the game away. This felt like a speech that had been repurposed. It is unlikely that Streeting was drafting it for the Labour conference, but it sounded like a speech orginally written to be delivered at the opening of a leadership campaign – like the one that Streeting notable did not launch when he resigned from the government last week.
I’m the first to agree that you should never let good copy go to waste, but what we ended up with was a speech purportedly linked to Streeting’s resignation from cabinet that in fact told us almost nothing about why Streeting decided to go.
He said that he thinks Labour has been losing the battle against Reform UK (see 2.36pm), that he thinks it has been “treading water” (see 3.19pm) and that it is missing the chance to do “big things” and to deliver “real change” (see 3.24pm).
Apart from those assertions, there was nothing in the speech that Keir Starmer would not fully support. Much of the speech was just a celebration of patriotism, and Starmer would have been happy to deliver these passages word for word.
In his resignation letter last week, Streeting gave a fuller account of his reasons for quitting cabinet. He criticised Starmer’s leadership failings, and suggested these played a big role in Labour doing so badly in the local elections. He accused Starmer of offering “drift” and declared that it would be dishonourable staying in cabinet having decided he no longer had confidence in the PM.
But the letter did not clarify whether Streeting believes the main problem with Starmer is a presentational one (his communication skills), or whether it is to do with his policy agenda. And if Streeting does believe it’s Starmer’s policies that are wrong, what else is he proposing?
If he does have answers to that, he certainly did not reveal them today.
Streeting ends resignation speech saying Labour must deliver 'real change'
Streeting ended his speech quoting Deborah James, the “bowelbabe” bowel cancer campaigner.
Referring to his own experience of cancer, Streeting said:
Another member of the cancer club, the late great bowelbabe Dame Deborah James, famously said, ‘Take risks, love deeply, have no regrets, and always, always have rebellious hope.’
It is with that in mind, and with the belief that we can and must do better, with deep love for my party and my country, with no regrets and with rebellious hope, that I have left the government.
The Labour party was elected to deliver real change. We still can.
Updated
Streeting suggests Labour has been 'treading water', and says it must show Britain can still do 'big things'
Streeting said Labour had no time to waste.
Never waste a minute. That’s been my mantra in government, and it’s why I don’t believe our party has time to waste in government treading water.
Because the thing about emergencies is that they make the impossible possible.
Look back at the crises we’ve confronted. We couldn’t vaccinate against the deadly virus until we could. We couldn’t nationalise the banking system until we could. We couldn’t reorient our entire manufacturing base towards building aircraft until we could. We couldn’t build hundreds of thousands of homes fit for heroes until we could.
In times of greatest peril our country has been capable of doing big things. We still can.
Britain used to punch above its weight in the world. We still can.
Each generation needs to provide a better future for the next. We still can.
Updated
Streeting said spreading opportunity should be Labour’s mission.
This is the calling of the Labour party, brought into existence to champion the interests of the working man and woman, the many, not just the privileged few.
It gave this kid from a council estate in Stepney in east London the chance to realise my potential, to go to a great university and spend my career tackling the injustices that hold other kids from backgrounds like mine back. T
The greatest tragedy of Britain today is that the next generation, for the first time in our modern history, faces worse prospects than the last.
So the question isn’t whether young people would fight for their country, but when their country is going to fight for them.
Streeting said this was the generational challenge facing Labour.
Updated
Streeting says AI is particular threat to job prospects for young people
Streeting says job security is a particular threat for the young.
For generations, people believe there was a ladder of advancement, an entry level job, skills acquired over time, promotion, security, progress.
Now, many young people fear that artificial intelligence may remove the lower rungs of that ladder altogether.
They ask what skills will still matter? Will there still be roots into stable, middle-class lives for kids from working-class families like mine?
Streeting says young people have been let down by politicians
Streeting said the young have been betrayed by the political system.
And how did Britain repay [young people for their sacrifice during Covid]?
By short changing them on their education, layering on debt, making it harder to get on the housing ladder. Failing to protect them from the AI jobs apocalypse.
This generation is the first left totally exposed to the time sucking algorithms and perils of social media.
The education secretary and I have raised our concerns about the impact of this on their learning and their wellbeing.
I also wonder what it is doing to their sense of connection with community and country.
Streeting said the social contract no longer applied.
Patriotism isn’t a lecture the old deliver to the young. It’s a relationship.
For generations, Britain understood that relationship as a social contract. You work hard, you play by the rules, you contribute to society, and in return you can build a decent life, a secure job, home of your own, a family if you want one, and the hope and conviction that your children will do better than you did.
A generation ago the average home cost around four times average earnings.
In many parts of Britain today it is eight, 10, even 12 times earnings.
Private rents consume vast proportions of household income.
Millions of young people who work hard and do the right thing cannot see a path to home ownership or security.
Streeting says he believes young people would be willing to fight for their country
Streeting said he did not believe claims that young Britons would no longer be willing to fight for their country.
A nation draws its strength from the condition of its people.
A recent survey of 16 to 29 year olds suggested that around half of all young people in this country wouldn’t be prepared to fight for it.
I’m not so sure about that. I think they would be every bit as brave and self-sacrificing as their grandparents and great grandparents were. Or is their contemporaries holding back the Russians in Ukraine have been.
When the cause is just and the need is urgent, they will step up regardless of what they might have told opinion pollsters.
I know this because when this country was facing a dire threat from Covid, young people did step up. The generation least at risk gave up the most to help the rest of us keep safe.
Streeting said he welcomed the assurance from the government that sanctions against Russia are not being watered down.
The frontline in Ukraine is the frontline for our freedom and democracy, and we are meant to be the party of internationalism and solidarity. It is only too disappointing to see Reform counsellors taking down the Ukraine flag when the British people want to fly it in solidarity. It is truly, truly shameful.
Some Reform MP protested loudly about that.
Streeting said the Nato secretary general was right to warn about the dangers of “an unhealthy reliance on one ally” (meaning the US).
And he attacked the Tory record on defence, saying Labour did not need lectures from “the Conservative party who ran down our capability and now have the audacity to heckle from the sidelines like the arsonist complaining that the fire brigade hasn’t turned up fast enough”.
Streeting said the economy was on the right track before the Iran war started.
[Rachel Reeves, the chancellor] has been delivering the fastest growing economy in the G7, falling inflation and lower interest rates. Her hard work, undermined by the consequences of a war we did not choose. And I paid tribute to the prime minister for keeping us out of it.
Streeting said Britons have endured crisis after crisis. Some, like the Iran war, and Ukraine and Covid, were imposed on us. Others, like austerity, Brexit and Liz Truss, were self-imposed.
He went on:
When I gave my maiden speech 11 years ago, I argued that none of the problems facing our country would be solved by leaving the European Union.
Today, in the dangerous and volatile world we find ourselves in, dominated by an unpredictable superpower in the USA, a rising superpower in China, and a failed superpower in Russia, it is even more clear that we would have been better off leading Europe than leaving the European Union …
This is why I argue for a new special relationship
Streeting said Britain needs an inclusive patriotism, not “a brittle nationalism built on grievance”.
He went on:
British patriotism, decent, fair minded, internationalist, bound together in common endeavour with the conviction that our greatest strength has always been one another.
We need to mobilise that spirit as we face the gathering storm.
The war in Iran may be over for now, but this fragile peace does not resolve the crisis in the strait of Hormuz.
Even if it were resolved tomorrow, the long tail consequences for the global economy and the British people will be stark.
Streeting recalls the Good Friday agreement, and he says that is “a reminder that a bigger and better politics is possible when people have courage”.
That is why we must reject the politics that tries to divide us, whether it’s dividing the countries of the United Kingdom or the people who call Britain their home.
The nurse from Nigeria is not the enemy of the factory worker in Newcastle, the family, fleeing war is not responsible for the cost of living crisis.
Division is the oldest trick in politics and Britain deserves better than that because the future of this country will not be built by setting neighbour against neighbour, it will be built by renewing the bonds between us.
Streeting criticises nationalism of SNP and Plaid Cymru, as well as English nationalism of Reform UK
Streeting say he knows that the SNP and Plaid Cymru do not see themselves as similar to English nationalists like Reform UK.
He goes on:
But nationalism is not progressive, and nationalism and patriotism are not the same things.
Nationalism says look inward, protect your own, turn away from the others.
Patriotism says this country is strongest when we are confident enough to be outward looking, generous and united.
Yes, united, but not always the same.
On these benches we believe in a stronger Scotland and a stronger Wales as part of a fairer United Kingdom.
Streeting says for too long patriotism has been 'left to loudest voices and narrowest arguments'
Streeting says Labour’s fight, and the fight of Andy Burnham in Makerfield, is a “fight for the soul of our country”.
For too long and for too often, patriotism in Britain has been left to the loudest voices and the narrowest arguments, as though love of country belongs to one tribe, one party or one point of view.
But the Britain I believe in is bigger than that, because patriotism is not about who you exclude, it is about who you stand beside.
It is not rooted in fear of change or suspicion of difference. It is rooted in solidarity, in the belief that we rise or fall together.
That is the best of our country’s story. A Britain where people from different backgrounds, different faiths, different nations and regions still see themselves in one another.
A country where the son of Indian pharmacists can become our first Hindu prime minister without having his Englishness questioned.
A patriotism built not on blood and soil, but on shared values, shared institutions and shared responsibilities.
Updated
Streeting says he resigned because Labour 'in fight of our lives against nationalism', and it's currently losing
Streeting praises the people he worked with as health secretary, and before that as shadow health secretary.
Leaving the job was a wrench, he says. He did not do it lightly, he says.
I left the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing.
Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform.
And I do not want that on our consciences.
For the first time in our history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the United Kingdom, Scottish and Welsh.
Nationalism represents an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom, and Reform UK represent a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great, values and ideals that are written into the DNA of the National Health Service.
Streeting say that the creation of the NHS was “an act of courage, as well as conviction that health care should be provided based on what each of us need, not what any of us can afford. He goes on:
It is our responsibility to defend that promise and the values it represents, not just for the NHS or even for the survival of this government, but to win the battles we thought were long since won - of progressives against reactionaries, of patriots versus nationalists, of hope over hate.
Wes Streeting starts resignation speech saying he has left NHS 'on road to recovery'
Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, is giving his post-resignation “personal statement” now.
He says the test for any politician is, did you leave things in a better state.
And he highlights his achievement at health.
The test of any of us in politics is, did we leave things in a better place than we found them?
Thanks for the choices made by this Labour government, the NHS is on the road to recovery.
Waiting lists fell by 110,000 in March, the single biggest fall in a single month outside of the pandemic for 17 years.
Ambulance response times for heart attack and strokes are now the fastest in five years.
Patient satisfaction with access to general practice has gone from 60% to 75%.
And at a time when public trust in politicians is low, we hit our target of recruiting 8500 more mental health workers three years early.
Updated
We are expecting Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, to deliver his post-resignation “personal statement” in the Commons shortly.
At the post-PMQs lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said that the extension of the fuel duty freeze announced by Keir Starmer at PMQs (see 12.03pm) would just last until the end of 2026.
That would mean that, since 2024, the ongoing freeze would have saved the average driver £120, he said.
The spokesperson said further decisions about the future of fuel duty would be taken in the budget. He said it remained the government’s intention to return fuel duty rates to the equivalent of what they were, in real terms, in early 2022.
Ukraine's sanctions chief deletes social media post criticising UK's new policy
During PMQs Kemi Badenoch, referring to the UK’s new sanctions policy towards Russia, said:
This morning Ukraine’s sanction chief disagrees with what the prime minister’s approach is. That’s what Ukraine is saying.
She was referring to a post on X from Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions policy. Vlasiuk initially posted a message saying “we understand the rationale” behind the UK’s decision but “disagree with the approach.”
But Vlasiuk later deleted this post, the Press Association reports. He then posted another message saying:
To be clear, the UK has not lifted sanctions on Russian energy. The new measures overall significantly tighten restrictions, including on Russian LNG, refined oil products and uranium. Our concern relates specifically to temporary exemptions that may still generate additional revenues for Russia’s war machine.
Trade minister Chris Bryant says it's his fault sanctions announcement originally presented as rules being relaxed
During his responses to questions during the UQ on Russian sanctions, Chris Bryant, the trade minister, apologised for the way the government originally presented its new Russian sanctions policy. He said that he accepted the blame.
He told MPs:
We’ve handled this clumsily and that’s entirely my fault and I apologise to all honourable members. I think we’ve ended up giving the wrong impression of what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to strengthen the regime [of sanctions], not weaken it.
Bryant said that there had been a miscommunication between the Department of Business and Trade, which he represents, and the Foreign Office. He said:
That is entirely my fault and nobody else’s, so if anybody wants to have a go at anybody, they can just have a go at me.
He later told MPs:
The problems about the headlines this morning, where I think some journalists saw one half of the story and not the whole of the story, that’s entirely down to me and my fault.
Normally in circumstances like this, when a government policy gets misrepresented, ministers just blame the media. Whether Bryant was really entirely to blame, or whether he had chosen to be gracious and ‘take one for the team’, wasn’t entirely clear.
Trade minister says no existing sanctions on Russia being lifted, and sanctions policy 'as tough as any in world'
Chris Bryant, the trade minister, responded to the Conservative party’s urgent question about the new sanctions package for Russia. (See 11.39am.)
This is what he said in his opening statement.
Putin must never be allowed victory in Ukraine and we will do everything we can as a government and as a country to debilitate and degrade the Russian war machine. That is precisely what our sanctions regime is designed to do.
We sanctioned more than 3,300 individuals and organisations and hundreds of shadow fleet tankers. It’s as tough a sanctions regime as any in the world, and we are proud of it.
I want to make it absolutely clear that our sanctions regime today is tougher than it was yesterday or last week.
In fact, thanks to the Russia (sanctions) (EU exit) (amendment) regulations 2026 statutory instrument we will for the first time from today, for the first time, ban the import not only of uranium but also the import of Russian oil products processed in a third country.
We are not lifting any existing sanctions at all.
We are, like other countries, phasing in these sanctions, which is why, in the light of the situation in the Middle East, we have issued a targeted temporary licence to allow the continued import of diesel and jet fuel. These licences are temporary and targeted.
We will review them regularly and repeatedly and will suspend them as soon as we possibly can.
As a result of all of the measures that we have taken, and there will be less Russian oil on the market, not more. Russia will be poorer.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeking clarification from No 10 about sanctions package for Russia, his office says
Luke Harding is a senior Guardian international correspondent.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office says it is seeking clarification from Downing Street on the UK’s decision to lift sanctions on some Russian oil, amid accusations from the Conservatives that Keir Starmer is helping the Kremlin make money.
Ukraine’s president has not yet commented on the decision to issue a new licence for imports of diesel and jet fuel made from sanctioned Russian oil. The UK has also permitted the maritime transport of Russian liquefied natural gas.
Zelenskyy has previously urged Western partners to maintain a tough sanctions regime against Russian oil exports, pointing out that Moscow uses cash from hydrocarbon sales to fund its war against Ukraine.
In recent months Kyiv has intensified long-range strikes against Russia’s oil infrastructure, hitting ports on the Baltic and Black Sea, as well as targets in the Urals, more than 1500kms from the frontline. Zelenskyy has dubbed these remote attacks “long-range sanctions”.
“There is currently very active communication between our diplomats and the Office [of the President] and the British side to clarify the details,” an aide to Zelenskyy said today.
PMQs - snap verdict
Kemi Badenoch is now by far the most popular shadow cabinet minister with Conservative party members. That is not because her party is making great gains in elections, or in the polls. It is because she is confident, pugnacious and assertive in the Commons, especially at PMQs
Today was a good example. Badenoch always goes for the maximalist position when attacking Labour, and today she focused on the announcement about the new sanctions package for Russia. She claimed that Ukraine was being betrayed, that Starmer was approving sales that would help to fund the Russian war effort and – in her final question – she ended with a flourish (referencing the supermarket policy) that “it’s like the Soviets won”. Tory members will love it.
Confident, pugnacious and assertive? Sure. But persuasive and effective? Not so much. On the substance, on the narrow point about the rights and wrongs of the sanctions package, Keir Starmer was far more convincing. He made a strong argument about why it was wrong to present this as the watering down of sanctions that are already in place. (See 12.08am.) Assuming that he is right, many of the objections to the policy should fall away.
But Starmer should never have been on the defensive on this story in the first place. If it is the case that claims that sanctions were being relaxed were not accurate, the government should have been forcefully making that case (as Chris Bryant, the trade minister, is doing in response to an urgent question now) as soon as this story first emerged overnight. Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, was doing a broadcast round this morning and he did not challenge the framing of the story in the way that Starmer did at PMQs, and Bryant is doing now. A government running an effective news operation should not need 12 hours to kill a negative story.
Karl Turner, the former Labour MP who is currently suspended, tells Starmer that people in No 10 questioned his mental health when he started opposing the government’s plans to limit jury trials.
Starmer says nobody should be smeared on mental health grounds.
Sarah Olney (Lib Dem) asks the PM to congratulate all 54 Lib Dem councillors who won all 54 seats on Richmond council. But does he agree that it would be better to replace the first past the post system that produced this with a fairer PR system.
Starmer says he does not agree with the case for PR.
Esther McVey (Con) asks if Starmer agrees with what Andy Burnham said about wanting to rejoin the EU, or what he said about not wanting to rejoin the EU.
Starmer says he agrees with what was in Labour’s manifesto.
Uma Kumaran (Lab) asks about stroke prevention. What is the goverment doing to improve care for stroke victims? She says her husband had a stroke.
Stamer says he knows Kumaran’s husband, and thanks her for raising this. Ambulance response times are improving, he says.
Calum Miller (Lib Dem) asks about a polluted river in his constituency. He asks for a meeting with the Environment Agency.
Starmer says he will arrange a meeting.
Janet Daby (Lab) says more needs to be done to tackle flytipping.
Starmer says the government is cracking down on “disgraceful waste criminals”.
Hannah Spencer, the recently-elected Green MP for Gorton and Denton, says that as a new MP she was shocked to find that MPs are allowed to drink while they are at work. Does the PM agree that should not be allowed?
Starmer congratulates her on her election, since it is her first question at PMQs.
He says there are different views on whether MPs should be allowed to enjoy a drink in the Commons.
He goes on:
I know the Greens think that their leader walks on water. It turns out that he just lives on water and doesn’t pay his council tax.
Starmer says he has been told that he earlier wrongly referred to a trade deal with North Korea. He meant South Korea, he says. He says a deal with North Korea would have been news.
Dave Doogan says this is his first question as new SNP leader at Westminster. He asks if Starmer agrees with Andy Burnham about not wanting to join the EU, or with Wes Streeting, Peter Mandelson’s friend, about wanting to join.
Starmer congratulates Doogan on his new job, and sarcastically welcomes his “calm, reasonable” approach.
He says he favours a closer relationship with Europe.
Lloyd Hatton (Lab) says that if he had taken a £5m gift from a billionaire, his constituents would be wanting him to resign.
Starmer says Nigel Farage is not in the Commons today to defend the donation.
He says Farage needs to explain why he kept that donation secret.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asked Starmer to rule out further aid cuts.
Starmer said the government was committed to overseas aid.
Davey said he could not tell from that if Starmer was ruling out further cuts or not.
He asked if Starmer was relieved about agreeing with Andy Burnham about not joining the single market or the customs union during this parliament.
Starmer said, if he followed Davey’s policy, he would not be able to have the trade deal with the US that has saved jobs in the UK.
Badenoch says she was talking about Starmer blocking new licences.
She goes on:
[Starmer is] importing sanctioned Russian oil. He’s nationalising steel. He is imposing price controls in the supermarket. It’s like the Soviets won.
Starmer says Badenoch has missed what is happening.
She may have overlooked the fact that last week [it was announced] we’ve got the fastest growing economy in the G7.
Last week we had the biggest fall in NHS waiting list for 17 years.
Today, inflation has come down more than expected.
And if you’d offered me that and Arsenal becoming Premier League champions, I’d take it every day of the week.
Badenoch says she’s not playing politics.
It’s not playing politics. It’s speaking up for the people who are out there.
The fact is, more people are buying Russian oil because British oil isn’t being drilled.
He’s sanctioning British oil, but not Russian oil. And he should be ashamed.
Starmer says Badenoch said there was no drilling in the North Sea. She will have to refer herself to the privileges committeee, he says.
There is drilling. It’s 24/7 and oil and gas are coming out. And that will be important for many, many years to come. We are we are supporting those existing oil and gas fields throughout their lifespan.
Badenoch says Starmer should be ashamed of his policy.
Let me make it clear. I know it hurts him to hear it. He is now choosing to buy dirty Russian oil. That money will be used to fund the killing of Ukrainian soldiers. Isn’t he ashamed?
Starmer accuses Badenoch of misunderstanding and misrepresenting the policy.
And he says Russia is the only country that benefits when a party plays politics with Ukraine like this.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
I really think that to misunderstand and misrepresent what is happening, this is a very serious issue … these are new bans, they are new sanctions, they’re new bans on maritime services on LNG as of yesterday.
They are new bans on refined oil products from Russia, as of yesterday. They are being phased in, in the same way that previous sanction regimes have been phased in, exactly in the way the last government did and we have done.
Other countries do exactly the same, the EU has its own way of doing it. Australia and Canada have their own way of doing it. And to play party politics on Ukraine, on Ukraine, where we have stood firm, and the only people that benefit when we play party politics in here on Russia and Ukraine is Putin.
Updated
Badenoch claims Labour is helping Russia make money, Reform UK takes money from Russia, and the Tories are the only party standing up to them.
Starmer says this is a serious issue, and he accuses Badenoch of misrepresenting the policy.
He says:
These are new sanctions putting more pressure on Russia. And I think if she’d done her homework she should actually support us on this.
Starmer insists existing oil sanctions on Russia remain in place, and new, tougher measures just involve 'phase-in' exemptions
Badenoch asks why oil from Russia is acceptable, but oil from Aberdeen is not.
Starmer says the package yesterday involved new sanctions, going well beyond what was there before.
And he says there were two orders to phase these sanctions in.
He says the last government did the same thing when new sanctions were being phased in. And Labour backed them at all.
He goes on to say this is not about reducing existing sanctions at all.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
Let me address the sanctions head on, because we have been united across this house on these issues since the beginning of the conflict.
What we announced yesterday was a strong new package of new sanctions going well beyond existing sanctions, so it is a new package. This includes new bans on maritime services on LNG and new bans on refined oil products from Russia.
We also issued two targeted short-term licenses to phase the new sanctions in and to protect UK consumers. That is standard practice.
This government has phased in sanctions in this way before and the last government used exactly the same technique when they introduced sanctions. And when they did so, we supported them because we could see the sanctions were the right thing to do to bear down on Russia.
So, these are new sanctions being phased in. This is not a question of lifting existing sanctions in any way whatsoever, and we will continue to work with our allies on further sanction packages.
Updated
Kemi Badenoch says it was the Tories who called for the fuel duty freeze to be continued.
She asks why Labour voted against more drilling in the North Sea last night.
Starmer says Badenoch likes to claim credit for things nothing to do with her.
In her mind, she won the Eurovision on Saturday and scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final. But she’s never takes any responsibility for what they did for 14 long years.
Starmer says planned fuel duty rise for September to be scrapped, and hauliers to get 12-month road tax holiday
Kirsteen Sullivan (Lab) asks about the cost of living.
Starmer says he can today announce a 12-month holiday for hauliers on road tax.
And he says the government will not go ahead with the planned increase in fuel duty.
UPDATE: Starmer said:
I can announce today that we are giving our hauliers a 12-month road tax holiday, helping to keep prices down.
And we are backing drivers by extending the freeze in fuel duty for the rest of the year.
Updated
Keir Starmer starts by expresssing his condolences to the family of a solider killed in a tragic incident on Friday.
He says it would be remiss of him not be comment on one of Manchester’s great heroes moving on after a decade. So he will congratulate Pep Guardiola.
And he congratulates Arsenal on their win too.
Ben Quinn has an article in the Guardian today on how Nigel Farage seems to have vanished from the public eye over recent days, as Reform UK continues to dodge questions about his £5m donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne – and how Farage paid for a £1.4m home.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, seems to have been reading this. He said today the Reform UK leader’s “silence” suggested “he might realise he might get thrown out” of the Commons.
Davey told reporters:
The fact that Nigel Farage – he’s never been afraid of getting in front of the camera before, has he – has now disappeared, suggests that he might realise he’s guilty, he might realise that he has committed an offence, and that he might get thrown out by parliament.
But a Reform UK spokesperson said Farage would be appearing on camera later on Wednesday and had addressed the “non-issue” previously.
Starmer facing Badenoch at PMQs
PMQs is not far off.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Minister to respond to urgent question on some sanctions on Russian oil being lifted
There will be an urgent question after PMQs on the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil. It has been tabled by Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scottish secretary.
A business minister should be replying.
Labour is in a curious, transitional state at the moment. Officially Keir Starmer is committed to staying as leader and prime minister until the next election. There is no formal leadership contest underway. But, informally, it has already started, with Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting already setting out their offer to the Labour membership. We will hear more from Streeting this afternoon. But much of the parliamentary party is already working on the basis that a Burnham premiership is all-but-inevitable, and so Streeting’s interventions may turn out to be more about shoring up his position in a potential future Burnham administration than a rehearsal for an election that may never happen.
Here are some of the stories out today covering Starmer, Burnham and Streeting.
-
Ailbhe Rea in the New Statesman says an insider describes the atmosphere in No 10 now as “very, very odd”. She says:
Starmer and his remaining loyal cabinet ministers want to make every day that they are still in office count, and are determined to cut through the noise of the leadership drama. Many cabinet ministers, who may not survive long in their posts if Starmer is replaced as Prime Minister, are desperate to set a legacy and bank achievements in their briefs while they can. “Let’s get out there and make the case for what we’re doing,” has been Starmer’s message to colleagues. There is even a fleeting hope inside Downing Street that the leadership speculation “burns itself out”, that “Wes and Andy tearing chunks out of each other for weeks might just make Keir look better”. But even many loyalists accept that is wishful thinking. “The writing is on the wall, even if we don’t know exactly what form that takes yet,” one concludes.
-
Patrick Maguire, Geraldine Scott and Larisa Brown in the Times say Starmer could stay in Downing Street until early next year. They report:
Ministers familiar with Starmer’s thinking say he has no plans to step down before the Labour Party conference in September and is unlikely to relinquish office before Christmas.
They told The State of It, the political podcast from The Times and Sunday Times, that there were still significant obstacles ahead for Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who on Tuesday refused to rule out breaking Labour’s manifesto pledge against tax rises.
Sources close to Starmer argued that Burnham would be unable to take over as prime minister until November, after the mayoral by-election that will be triggered if he is elected MP for Makerfield next month.
Allies of the prime minister also suggested that Burnham’s candidacy for the leadership could yet be scuppered if Labour goes on to lose control of Greater Manchester. Some Starmer loyalists argue that Labour losing the mayoralty would fatally undermine Burnham’s appeal as an election winner.
-
Caroline Wheeler in the i says cabinet ministers are already angling for jobs in a Burnham administration. She says:
Senior ministers are preparing visits to Makerfield amid growing expectations in Westminster that Burnham could ultimately take the Labour leadership – and with it the power to appoint the next Cabinet.
“The equation cabinet ministers are making is that if they go and he wins they will get a plum job,” one senior source said. “If they don’t go and he wins, he will remember. And if they don’t go and he loses, he will remember.”
And Wheeler writes this about a possible Burnham cabinet.
Many now believe that Burnham is lining up to make Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, as his chancellor. It comes as Miliband’s special adviser was seconded to work with Burnham for the by-election campaign …
Burnham is also widely expected to make Lucy Powell, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, his deputy prime minister. Multiple sources said that other women likely to be given top jobs include Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, and Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary, who is also the co-chair of the influential soft-left Tribune group of MPs.
-
Sam Blewett at Politico has taken an in-depth look at the team supporting Burnham. He says the key figure is Kevin Lee, director of the Greater Manchester mayor’s office, who has been advising Burnham with little break since 2010.
Updated
John Swinney sworn in as first minister of Scotland
John Swinney has been sworn in as first minister of Scotland for the second time, the Press Association reports. Swinney went to the court of session this morning where he was sworn in to the role by Scotland’s most senior judge – the Lord President. He left the court just after 10am, flanked by his wife Elizabeth and teenage son Matthew.
Minister rules out mandatory price caps on supermarket food items - but does not deny voluntary measures being discussed
Dan Tomlinson, the Treasury minister, has said the government would not force supermarkets to impose compulsory price caps on food items.
As the Guardian and others have reported, the government has raised the idea of a voluntary cap in discussions with supermarkets.
Tomlinson insisted that there would no mandatory cap on food prices (as proposed by the SNP in Scotland).
But, when it was put to him on the Today programme that voluntary price caps had been discussed, he replied:
It’s right that the government looks across the board at what more we can do - both government levers but also talking to industry about the steps that they can take to support people with the cost of living.
Speaking on LBC, he also said that he thought the supermarket sector was “highly competitive” and the profiteering was generally a problem in businesses that were not competitive.
'Idiotic, dangerous and will never work' - Stuart Rose, former M&S chair, blasts voluntary price caps proposal
Business leaders have joined the Conservatives (see 8.55am) in attacking the government’s proposal for supermarkets to voluntarily impose price caps on some food items.
In an interview on the Today programme, Stuart Rose, a former chair at Marks & Spencer and at Asda, said:
I think the whole idea is the stuff of nonsense and it will never fly.
This smacks of state control, it’s idiotic, it’s dangerous and it’ll never work.
Rose, who is also a Tory peer, said that while supermarket profits may have gone up, “that’s because sales will have gone up because the business is efficient and it is attracting more customers, and therefore, it is doing the job that it should do – i.e. capitalism does work and customers get great choice.”
And, as the BBC reports, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:
The UK has the most affordable grocery prices in Western Europe thanks to the fierce competition between supermarkets.
Rather than introduce 1970s style price controls and trying to force retailers to sell goods at a loss, the government must focus on how it will reduce the public policy costs which are pushing up food prices in the first place.
Updated
Rachel Reeves to protect ‘critical’ clean energy projects from legal challenges
Rachel Reeves is preparing to announce a planning shake-up that would fast-track clean energy and infrastructure projects by curbing judicial reviews, the Treasury has said. Lauren Almeida has the story.
Minister defends relaxing some sanctions on Russian oil, saying 'time-limited' move will help family finances
Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, defended the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil in interviews this morning. He also insisted the move would be time-limited.
On the Today programme, asked why the government was putting keeping down the cost of flights abroad above the need to support Ukraine, he replied:
I reject the binary that you’ve offered me, there.
I think it is entirely possible, and plausible, and as in fact what the government is doing, to have one of the strongest sanction regimes in the world, to be leading the international effort to support Ukraine, and to make sure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t get what he wants from his things.
And at the same time, to take responsible choices that prioritise, rightly as we should, the domestic security, the family finances here in the UK, and the ability for important products to be available not just for holidays but for international movement of freight and goods and business activity as well.
And that’s why this time-limited change has been announced by the government.
Russian oil 'not solution to cost of living pressures', say Tories
Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, has also been posting on social media about the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil. She says:
Labour’s ridiculous energy policies have weakened Britain and must be reversed.
The British Government should not be in a position where it relaxes sanctions on Russian energy or helps to strengthen Putin’s energy revenues.
Yesterday Labour voted against our domestic oil and gas industry in Parliament. They must immediately change course and stop trying to shut down the North Sea.
Labour’s energy policies and their ideological approach has weakened our country’s energy security.
Russian oil is not the solution to cost of living pressures or the headwinds facing businesses.
Updated
Ed Davey reserves judgment on government plan to relax some sanctions on Russian oil
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said his party will look in detail at the plans to relax sanctions on some Russian oil products and has concerns about support for Ukraine being undermined.
But he has not condemned the announcement outright – unlike Kemi Badenoch, who argues it shows the government’s refusal to allow new drilling for oil in the North Sea is “insane”. (See 8.55am.)
Here is Caroline Davies’s story about the government’s announcement last night.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Davey said:
The government has a real challenge here, because this appalling war in Iran … is pushing up the cost of living, is pushing up diesel and petrol prices.
But we’ve also got to remember that we need to support our Ukrainian allies, they are fighting and paying a heavy, heavy price to beat that appalling Russian invasion, they’re on the front line of our defence and security, and the question is, has the government got that trade off right?
Davey said the Lib Dems wanted to consider the proposal in detail.
This proposal is complicated … because they’ve got some proposals where they’re tightening the sanctions at the same time, so it’s a package, and it only came up late last night. We will look at it. We’re really, really worried if there’s any undermining of our support for Ukraine.
Britain’s second most senior diplomat in Washington abruptly leaves post
Britain’s second most senior diplomat in Washington, who stood in as interim ambassador after the sacking of Peter Mandelson, has abruptly left his post, Ben Quinn reports.
Starmer to face Commons grilling at PMQs as Streeting plans resignation speech
Good morning. PMQs is back, and there are at least two obvious issues for Kemi Badenoch to raise when she faces Keir Starmer.
What Tories calls Starmer’s “Soviet-style” plan to curb supermarket prices
As Sarah Butler, Mark Sweney and Heather Stewart report, UK supermarkets have been asked by the government to consider freezing the prices of some essential foodstuffs to protect the public from inflation fuelled by the Middle East conflict.
This is not the same as the SNP’s proposal for mandatory price caps on essential food items in supermarkets. The UK government is looking at some sort of voluntary scheme.
On the Today programme, Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, did not deny the story, but he stressed that this was “not a government announcement”, just a story about what ministers might be looking at. He said it was right for ministers to consider ideas that could help people with the cost of living.
This is unlikely to impress Badenoch. This is what her shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith, said about the story last night.
This is more nuts than a squirrel convention!
I warned Rachel Reeves prices would go up if she raised taxes and drowned employers in red tape. She didn’t listen and now she’s proposing Soviet style measures!
What Tories call Starmer’s “insane” energy policy
Last night the government announced that it is relaxing sanctions on Russian oil that has been refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries. The technical details of the announcement are here.
This morning Badenoch claimed this showed that the government’s refusal to allow new drilling in the North Sea was “insane”.
After 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
Insane.
It is not just the Tories attacking the government over this. In an interview with the Today programme this morning, Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said people in Ukraine felt “very let down” by this. She said:
We are talking about our allies in Ukraine who have been fighting a war bravely against Russia for years and years with our support.
They have looked to Britain as one of their most important allies, and they don’t understand, given that we promised that we would stop this loophole in October, and we still haven’t done it. In fact, it seems to have got worse. People feel very let down.
Thornberry said Ukrainians view sanctions as vital because “they believe that every bit of joint pressure they make with their allies is pushing Russia ever closer to ending the war because this is absolutely crippling their economy”. She went on:
There was a G7 announcement on the 19 May which said that they, the G7, had an unwavering commitment to put pressure on Russia including sanctions on the energy sector and actions against entities in third countries that materially support Russia’s war effort but we’re still saying that we’re going to take sanctioned oil but so long as it goes to Turkey first and then it’s refined, we will use it.
After PMQs, Wes Streeting will give a resignation speech in the Commons. He is taking advantage of the convention that allows a cabinet minister who has resigned to make a “personal statement” in the Commons before the main debate of the day starts. Streeting resigned last week saying he no longer had confidence in Starmer as PM. He did not launch a leadership bid, but he has ambitions for the top job and we are likely to get some indication as to what his manifesto for the Labour leadership would be were he to be a candidate in a contest later this year.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister chairing the government review into young people and work, gives evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee on youth employment.
Morning: John Swinney is sworn in as Scotland’s first minister at the court of session in Edinburgh. Then he will appoint his cabinet, with announcements due before the end of the day.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
12.50pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is due to take part in a Q&A at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and Labour candidate in the Makerfield byelection, is also due to speak at the event at various meetings.
Afternoon: Wes Streeting is due to give a speech in the Commons following his resignation as health secretary.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), 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
