James Heale

Whisper it, but there was some rather good lines amid the dross of today's PMQs. 'Mr Speaker, I asked the Prime Minister what he believes in', jibed Kemi Badenoch at one point. 'He had to look in his folder to find out the answer.' The Speaker responded in kind. 'Please', he said, during one of Keir Starmer's lengthier evasions, 'Let's listen to the answer even if you don't believe you're getting one.' But it was one word, repeated more than a dozen times, which emerged from today's session: chaos. Badenoch hit the PM with it at every chance, pointing to the winter fuel and two-child benefit U-turns as proof of the 'chaos, chaos, chaos' in which, she said, this government is now embroiled.

It has been another good week for Robert Jenrick. At a time when many of the shadow cabinet are struggling to make an impact, his video on fare-dodging in London has certainly caused a stir. The 58-second clip – in which Jenrick, like some Tory Batman, accosts Tube passengers walking through barriers – has now been viewed nearly 15 million times. It prompted a Newsnight discussion, acres of coverage and begrudging private praise from opposition politicians too. Such videos are not some mere fluke but rather, the product of much time and effort by Jenrick and his aides. He has learned from masters of the craft like Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Canadian Conservatives.

There are many justifiable criticisms of how the Tories ran candidate selection for the last election. On the day that Rishi Sunak headed to the Palace, scores of nominees were still to be chosen, prompting a mad scramble to find 160 candidates in 12 days. Some seats faced accusations of 'stitch-ups', including Basildon and Billericay, where the-then party chairman was controversially selected from a shortlist of one. Scores of unknown names had to be parachuted in elsewhere. The good news for long-suffering members is that this message appears to have been heard by senior Tory figures. An eight-page paper on candidate selection has now been drawn up as part of the Party Review into the 2024 election.

A 53-year-old man was arrested on Monday after a car ploughed into a crowd of Liverpool supporters during their Premier League trophy parade. Thousands were out on the streets to celebrate when the car drove through the crowds and collided with pedestrians, shortly after 6 p.m. The incident occurred in the heart of Liverpool city centre, with emergency services quick to arrive on the scene. Witnesses described a scene of panic as fans left the parade area, telling local media that the driver went past a police van before mounting the kerb. At a press conference at 11 p.m on Monday night, Merseyside emergency services provided an update on the victims affected by the crash. There were 27 patients taken to hospitals across Liverpool, including four children.

After months of negotiation, the UK has today signed a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the terms of the agreement, Britain will lease back the military base there for an annual rate of £101 million. The net value of the payments from the UK under the treaty will reach £3.4 billion. Keir Starmer insisted that the Chagos deal is in Britain's best interests The Prime Minister insists that the deal – which involves a lease on the base for 99 years ‘and beyond’ – is in the country’s national interest. It comes after an ‘advisory opinion’ by the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ), that the Chagos Islands belonged to Mauritius.