Keir Starmer to meet police leaders as Southport attack leads to violent unrest
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s latest UK politics live blog. I’m Amy and I’ll be bringing you the latest updates today.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, is to hold an emergency meeting with senior police officers in Downing Street after a second night of disorder and unrest in parts of England.
The meeting in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon comes after scenes of violent unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight while a demonstration in Aldershot saw a tense standoff with riot police. In London, more than 100 people were arrested as violence flared after the Southport stabbings.
Starmer will meet with senior police leaders in Downing Street to express his full support for their efforts to deal with the violence and is expected to praise their “bravery” in dealing with the incident in Southport and its aftermath. Starmer will also encourage them to use their powers to “stop mindless violence in its tracks”.
Elsewhere, the justice secretary, Angela Constance, will visit Stirling police station at an event to mark the national phased rollout of digital evidence sharing technology. She will meet justice partners collaborating on the £33m Scottish government initiative to share digital evidence across the justice system.
This morning, the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar will visit a community group, during which he will set out how the government’s plans to boost workers’ rights will deliver for Scots. Of the employment rights bill to be introduced to the Commons within 100 days, Sarwar said: “Labour’s transformative plans represent the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation – they will fundamentally reset our economy and make it work for working people.”
I’ll also keep an eye out for any reaction to the Guardian’s exclusive on Kemi Badenoch that was published last night. The Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar reported that Badenoch had asked officials to pay for a holiday flight with taxpayers’ money to the US while in government but was rebuffed by her former department’s top civil servant.
Officials at the department for business and trade (DBT) ended up booking her travel to Texas for a family holiday in February last year, sources claimed, although the former cabinet minister covered the cost herself.
I’ve been advised by the moderators that comments will not be open today for reasons of sensitivity, so if you want to get in touch then please email me at amy.sedghi@guardian.co.uk.
Key events
Responding to the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates to 5%, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Sarah Olney said:
There is finally light at the end of the tunnel for homeowners but sadly for millions the damage has already been done. Families across the country are already paying off sky high mortgage bills. The country is still reeling from Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget and years of economic failure under the Conservatives.
Today must serve as a reminder that governments should never treat budgets as an economic experiment for wild policies. We need a return to sound economics and stability after years of Conservative chaos and mismanagement.”
The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 5% at its August monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, the first reduction of the UK’s base rate in four years, reports the PA news agency.
In a finely balanced decision, five committee members voted in favour of cutting rates, versus four who preferred to keep them unchanged.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said: “Inflationary pressures have eased enough that we’ve been able to cut interest rates today.”
Bailey, alongside policymakers Sarah Breeden, Swati Dhingra, Clare Lombardelli and Dave Ramsden voted in favour, while Megan Greene, Jonathan Haskel, Catherine Mann and Huw Pill voted to maintain the base rate at 5.25%.
The MPC indicated that continued progress on slowing wage growth and reducing services price inflation helped prompt the decision.
The Bank of England also announced on Thursday that it expects the UK economy to grow 1.25% this year, higher than its last forecast. But, it has kept its outlook for 2025 the same at 1%.
For the latest episode of Politics Weekly UK, John Harris talks to the Guardian correspondent Hannah Al-Othman, who has been reporting from Southport.
Harris also speaks to political editor, Pippa Crerar, about her exclusive report on bullying allegations against the Conservative party leadership frontrunner Kemi Badenoch.
You can listen to the podcast here:
The British Medication Association (BMA) said action by GPs in England will be a “slow burn” rather than a “big bang”.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the BMA’s GP committee for England (GPCE), said:
This will not be a ‘big bang’. It will be a slow burn. It’s likely that impact may not be felt for some time. We hope this will give the new government time to consider our proposed solutions including fixing our contract once and for all.
General practice should be the front door of the NHS, not the doormat. We don’t want to have to take this next step, but must if we’re to stop our services from collapsing completely.”
She added:
We had a huge response to this ballot, and the results are clear – GPs are at the end of their tether. This is an act of desperation. For too long, we’ve been unable to provide the care we want to.
We are witnessing general practice being broken. The era of the family doctor has been wiped out by recent consecutive governments and our patients are suffering as a result.”
English GPs to stage industrial action over 1.9% budget increase
Andrew Gregory
GPs in England are to stage industrial action for the first time in 60 years amid a row over funding, a move that experts have warned could have a catastrophic effect on the entire healthcare system.
In a ballot run by the British Medical Association (BMA), family doctors voted in favour of taking collective action in protest at the previous government increasing their budget by only 1.9% this year.
The disruption is likely to begin immediately and could last months.
GP partners will be able to choose what form of industrial actions to take from a selection set out by the BMA, the Guardian understands, and could bring the NHS to a standstill.
One option is to limit the number of patients GPs will see each day to 25. They may choose to stop performing work they are not formally contracted to do, and they could ignore “rationing” restrictions by “prescribing whatever is in the patient’s best interest”.
The development poses an enormous headache for Wes Streeting, the health secretary, just three days after he resolved a long-running pay dispute with junior doctors.
Junior doctors’ leaders in England agreed to a new pay deal with the government on Monday, which could lead to their wages rising by 22.3% over two years.
The last time GPs took “collective action” was in 1964 when family doctors collectively handed in undated resignations to the Wilson government. This led to changes including the Family Doctor Charter of 1965.
The BMA has said the new GP contract, which will increase funding for services by 1.9% in 2024-25, means many surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable. Patient groups have said industrial action would be “selfish” and warned that GPs risked harming those in need of care and losing the public’s support.
You can read the full piece here:
The leader of Edinburgh city council has called on first minister John Swinney to intervene and prevent refuse workers from taking strike action during the Scottish capital’s busy summer festival period, reports the PA news agency.
Cammy Day warned the eight-day strike later this month, announced by three local government unions, will be a “tough time” for the council, adding “the impact will not be pleasant over the festival time”.
Having already warned strikes could lead to a “stinking Scottish summer”, the unions Unison, Unite and the GMB all announced waste and recycling staff will walk out over pay from 5am on Wednesday 14 August to 4.59am on Thursday 22 August, with 26 of Scotland’s 32 councils affected.
According to the PA news agency, the action comes after the unions rejected the 3.2% pay rise offered, which local government body Cosla insisted was at the limit of affordability for councils.
A similar strike in 2022 was only resolved when the Scottish government stepped in and provided additional funding for council workers’ pay.
With the unions insisting the offer is less than that being made to their counterparts in England, Day urged Scottish ministers to “find that little more to avert strike action”.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme:
It is now time for John Swinney or his cabinet secretary to intervene with a solution, that is what we are waiting for.
Twenty-six councils will have strike action in two weeks’ time, and the only resolution to that will be if Cosla and the Scottish government can work with the trade unions to find a solution.
What we’re asking is for Cosla and the Scottish government to get round that table and find that little more to avert strike action across the 26 councils all over Scotland.”
The Labour councillor insisted local authorities are not able to stump up more cash themselves, saying the 3.2% offer was already a stretch for many of them and “any more would mean reductions and cuts in services from local government”.
Talks took place on Tuesday involving Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison, Cosla leaders and the unions.
The PA news agency reports that while no new deal was agreed Robison said afterwards that her officials will work with local government to “understand what an improved negotiating envelope may look like”.
Day said his understanding is the unions “expect no less than the national settlement, which was around 4%”.
He added:
I think we are nearly there, but local governments across Scotland are stretched to their maximum and we need the government, as they have done the last few years, to support local government and our trade unions and Cosla to find that little bit more and avert strike action.”
Hartlepool’s Labour MP Jonathan Brash said he was “appalled” by the disorder in the town on Wednesday night.
Speaking on Murray Street, where a clean-up operation was taking place, he told the PA news agency:
Businesses had their windows smashed, cars burnt out, this behaviour doesn’t represent the Hartlepool people. I know people will wake up and be absolutely appalled by what they see on social media and elsewhere.
The police have done a fantastic job, I will speak again to them today about what we do going forward to ensure that this won’t happen again.”
UK must apply existing Brexit deals before any reset in relations, says EU
Lisa O’Carroll
Brussels has warned the UK that it must fully apply the existing Brexit deals on EU citizens and Northern Ireland before it will entertain a reset in the relationship with London.
A leaked document reported by the Financial Times lists eight demands of the new Labour government in order to “demonstrate the real UK government commitment” to a good-faith reset of the relationship with the EU.
EU leaders have said they are “open minded” about the future relationship with the UK, and Germany has said it is enthusiastic about a youth mobility deal.
They have also raised the possibility of a new EU-UK agreement that could encompass deals on mutual recognition of professional qualifications and other low-hanging fruit.
But the document, written by the European Commission and not diplomats, reflects the deep scars left by the previous government’s approach to the EU, with bloc sources telling the Guardian that the Brexit deal itself was not up for renegotiation.
The European Commission’s concerns were reportedly raised by the EU vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, at his first meeting with the new EU relations minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, in Brussels two weeks ago.
Brussels has specifically told the UK it must change the Home Office’s approach to EU citizens who had been in the UK for fewer than five years before Brexit.
You can read the full piece here:
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been sent an open letter by 22 charities calling on her to urgently review the change to the winter fuel payment for older people.
On Monday Reeves, announced a package of measures designed to close a £22bn hole in the public finances she said was “covered up” by the Conservative government. Among them was a surprise removal of winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
Reeves announced that the winter fuel payment would no longer be universal in England and Wales, and that only pensioners on means-tested benefits would qualify for it this winter. This would take it away from about 10 million people. The payments are devolved, so Scotland and Northern Ireland will make their own rules.
Reeves said the government would continue to provide winter fuel payments worth £200 to households receiving pension credit or £300 to households in receipt of pension credit with someone over the age of 80.
In the letter, the organisations say:
“Linking the qualification of the winter fuel payment to whether an older person receives pension credit could mean up to 1.2 million older people on low incomes miss out on even more vital financial support. As a result, many of them will inevitably be pushed further into poverty
Restricting the winter fuel payment this autumn does not give the UK government time to significantly boost pension credit take-up to a level that would reduce some of the side-effects of this measure. It will leave many older people on low incomes facing a cold and dangerous winter.”
Independent Age, one of the charities leading the call, argues that pension credit has a low take-up of just 63%, “meaning up to 1.2 million older people who are eligible will now miss out on this additional support”.
Morgan Vine, head of policy and influencing at Independent Age said:
It is not an overstatement to warn that, in its current form, this sudden change puts lives as risk. Too many people on a low income now face an uncertain winter where their budgets are even more stretched and will be forced to make dangerous and stressful decisions.
While we understand that the UK government must make difficult decisions, this is too much, too soon. We urge the chancellor to not make this change now, and instead ensure every older person has an adequate income to avoid financial hardship before removing the winter fuel payment. Any less risks serious consequences for older people in poverty.”
The charity has invited members of the public to email their MP to ask for a halt to the changes.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said there is “no place for criminality on our streets” as he described scenes in London last night as “completely unacceptable”.
Pledging his full support for the Metropolitan police to take action against those “intent on violence, causing disorder and spreading division in our city”, he added:
At this time of rising tensions, we all have a responsibility to pull together and reject hateful narratives, and ensure our towns and cities are safe and welcoming for everyone.
In London, our diversity is our greatest strength and we will always stand united against those spreading hate and division.”
The scenes of disorder and violence yesterday evening were completely unacceptable.
There is no place for criminality on our streets and I fully support the Met police taking action against those intent on violence, causing disorder and spreading division in our city.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) August 1, 2024
Kemi Badenoch asked to use taxpayers’ money to pay for holiday flight, sources claim
Pippa Crerar
Kemi Badenoch asked officials to pay for a holiday flight with taxpayers’ money to the US while in government but was rebuffed by her former department’s top civil servant, the Guardian understands.
Officials at the department for business and trade (DBT) ended up booking her travel to Texas for a family holiday in February last year, sources claimed, although the former cabinet minister covered the cost herself.
The ministerial code states that ministers are expected to uphold the highest standards of propriety and must not ask civil servants to act in conflict with their own code of conduct, including with public funds.
Badenoch had travelled to Mexico for an official visit to discuss the UK’s bid to join the CPTPP Indo-Pacific trade bloc, of which Mexico was a founding member, as well as bilateral trade with the country. Her business class flight there was covered by her department.
But before travelling, she asked the office of DBT permanent secretary, Gareth Davies, whether the department would pick up the bill for a flight to Dallas, where she was holidaying with her family, as the overall cost was lower than a business class return from Mexico.
Her request was refused amid concerns that a taxpayer funded detour would be hard to explain unless it was for official business, even if the flight was cheaper. The DBT said it was normal for permanent secretaries to advise on what was appropriate.
Sources close to Badenoch said she had been due to fly to Texas for an official visit with the state governor, Greg Abbott, to discuss a state-level trade agreement, but when the timings did not work out she covered the cost herself.
However, evidence seen by the Guardian suggests the former minister did ask the department to try to find a way to fund the flight even when there was no official reason for the trip.
Badenoch’s private holiday came within days of the trade department merging with the business department.
You can read the full exclusive report here:
Eleni Courea
Keir Starmer will host senior police leaders in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon after a second night of violent unrest across England.
The prime minister is expected to stress to police chiefs that those who perpetrate violence and “sow hatred” should be met with “the full force of the law”.
The meeting comes after a 17-year-old boy was charged with the murders of three girls. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, were fatally stabbed on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds, with five of them in a critical condition. Two adults were also critically injured.
The accused has been remanded in custody to appear on Thursday at Liverpool magistrates’ court.
The incident sparked violent unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight on Wednesday, while a demonstration in Aldershot led to a tense standoff with riot police. Far-right demonstrations were organised after false claims that the attack was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat gained traction on social media.
At the meeting Starmer is expected to praise officers’ bravery in dealing with the incident in Southport and its aftermath, and commit to working in partnership with police forces across the UK to stop “mindless violence”.
In London, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
You can read the full piece here:
Keir Starmer to meet police leaders as Southport attack leads to violent unrest
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s latest UK politics live blog. I’m Amy and I’ll be bringing you the latest updates today.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, is to hold an emergency meeting with senior police officers in Downing Street after a second night of disorder and unrest in parts of England.
The meeting in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon comes after scenes of violent unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight while a demonstration in Aldershot saw a tense standoff with riot police. In London, more than 100 people were arrested as violence flared after the Southport stabbings.
Starmer will meet with senior police leaders in Downing Street to express his full support for their efforts to deal with the violence and is expected to praise their “bravery” in dealing with the incident in Southport and its aftermath. Starmer will also encourage them to use their powers to “stop mindless violence in its tracks”.
Elsewhere, the justice secretary, Angela Constance, will visit Stirling police station at an event to mark the national phased rollout of digital evidence sharing technology. She will meet justice partners collaborating on the £33m Scottish government initiative to share digital evidence across the justice system.
This morning, the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar will visit a community group, during which he will set out how the government’s plans to boost workers’ rights will deliver for Scots. Of the employment rights bill to be introduced to the Commons within 100 days, Sarwar said: “Labour’s transformative plans represent the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation – they will fundamentally reset our economy and make it work for working people.”
I’ll also keep an eye out for any reaction to the Guardian’s exclusive on Kemi Badenoch that was published last night. The Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar reported that Badenoch had asked officials to pay for a holiday flight with taxpayers’ money to the US while in government but was rebuffed by her former department’s top civil servant.
Officials at the department for business and trade (DBT) ended up booking her travel to Texas for a family holiday in February last year, sources claimed, although the former cabinet minister covered the cost herself.
I’ve been advised by the moderators that comments will not be open today for reasons of sensitivity, so if you want to get in touch then please email me at amy.sedghi@guardian.co.uk.