Joe Bedell-Brill

Pat McFadden: ‘There’s a whole lot of change coming’ to the civil service The government is set to announce big reforms at Whitehall which it hopes will save money and improve performance in a new ‘era of insecurity’. Among those changes are performance-related pay, a faster exit process for under-performing civil servants, and increased digitalisation with the use of AI. On Sky News, senior cabinet minister Pat McFadden told Trevor Phillips that ‘the state has to reform’, but was coy when asked to specify how many civil servants might be cut. McFadden suggested that the headcount might be lower at Whitehall but higher in other areas of the country, and refused to confirm that the overall number would be lower by the end of this parliament.

Trump launched a series of extraordinary attacks on President Zelensky this week, describing him as a dictator, and sidelined Ukraine in peace negotiations he began with Putin to end the war with Russia. In anticipation of a crucial meeting with Trump next week, Keir Starmer has insisted that Ukraine must be ‘at the heart of any negotiations’, and the UK has also announced new Russian sanctions. On Sky News this morning, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed that defence spending in the UK will be raised to 2.5 per cent of GDP, although she gave no timeline on when that might be achieved.

Jonathan Reynolds: ‘There will be no durable peace [in Ukraine] without European partners’ Keir Starmer will meet European leaders at an emergency summit in Paris next week, after Trump appeared to be sidelining Europe in the Ukraine peace negotiations. On the BBC, Victoria Derbyshire asked Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds why Starmer had called this a ‘once in a generation moment for our national security’. Reynolds said that ‘we should welcome the fact that the US president wants to see an end to the conflict’, but added that the peace process has to include European partners, ‘particularly the Ukrainians’.

Health Minister Andrew Gwynne has been sacked after he was found to have sent offensive messages in a Whatsapp group with other Labour figures. Gwynne had joked about hoping a constituent would soon be dead, and made sexist and racist comments about Angela Rayner and Diane Abbott. On Sky News, housing minister Matthew Pennycook denounced Gwynne’s comments, and told Trevor Phillips that Keir Starmer had ‘acted decisively’ to ‘uphold the highest standards of public office’. Phillips asked if other Labour politicians in the same Whatsapp group would be suspended. Pennycook said an investigation was taking place, and that if any other Labour MP was found to have fallen short of Labour’s standards, they would be suspended as well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Ahead of Keir Starmer’s meeting with European leaders tomorrow, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper joined Sky News and reiterated Labour’s ‘red lines’: no return to the customs union, the single market or to free movement. Cooper told Trevor Phillips that Labour wanted to get rid of some of the bureaucracy around customs arrangements, and said that the deal the Conservatives had with the EU ‘was not a good one’. Phillips asked if the government was still negotiating a youth mobility scheme. Cooper said net migration had to come down, and that a youth mobility scheme was ‘not the right starting point… at all’. Phillips also suggested that the government might consider joining the ‘Pan European Mediterranean Convention’ to take away trade frictions.

Rachel Reeves heavily hints at third Heathrow runway As part of her upcoming speech on economic growth, Rachel Reeves is expected to announce approval for a third runway at Heathrow. Reeves refused to confirm this in her interviews this morning, telling Laura Kuenssberg, ‘You will see the plans [for Heathrow] when we set them out’. However, Reeves emphasised that the government had already ‘signed off expansion at London City airport and Stansted’, and claimed Labour were ‘getting on and delivering’.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas tentatively came into effect at 9.15 a.m. UK time, following a three-hour delay caused by Israel not receiving the names of three female hostages to be freed later today. News of the imminent ceasefire emerged as Laura Kuenssberg interviewed Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones on the BBC. Among the names of the hostages due to be released today is British-Israeli Emily Damari. Kuenssberg asked Darren Jones what reassurance he could give to British families whose loved ones were captured. Jones said it would be an ‘increase in hope’ for the family of Emily Damari that her name was listed, but that families would ‘only be able to breathe’ when their relatives had been returned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Peter Kyle: Tulip Siddiq will lose job if inquiry finds her guilty of breaking ministerial code The Conservatives have called for the prime minister to sack anti-corruption Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq after she herself became part of a corruption investigation. Reports have emerged that Siddiq may have been living in properties linked to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who is being investigated for allegedly embezzling up to £3.9bn whilst serving as prime minister of Bangladesh. Siddiq has referred herself to the ethics advisor, but on Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Science Secretary Peter Kyle whether Siddiq should stand down while the investigation takes place.

Wes Streeting: Elon Musk’s attacks are a ‘disgraceful smear’ Elon Musk has spent this week calling for the release of the far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, and launching attacks at British politicians over a failure to prosecute gangs who groomed and raped young girls over a number of years in the north of England. Musk said Keir Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions when the scandal first came to light, was ‘complicit in the rape of Britain’, and also said safeguarding minister Jess Phillips should be in jail. On the BBC this morning, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Laura Kuenssberg that Elon Musk and other social media bosses could do more to protect women on their platforms.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper admits relations with China are ‘a complex arrangement’ An alleged ‘Chinese spy’ with links to Prince Andrew, who also met David Cameron and Theresa May, has been banned from entering the UK on national security grounds. On the BBC this morning, Laura Kuenssberg asked Home Secretary Yvette Cooper if the threat of sabotage and espionage is becoming more serious. Cooper admitted that the challenges around national security are more complex, with the prevalence of cyber attacks and the use of ‘criminal proxies’. The Home Secretary said the UK would ‘continue to take a very strong approach to our national security’, but admitted that the necessity of ‘economic cooperation’ meant that the UK’s relationship with China was complicated.

Deputy PM ‘welcomes the news’ that the Assad regime has fallen Rebel forces in Syria have captured Damascus, and Bashar al-Assad has reportedly fled the capital, ending a regime that begin in 2000. On Sky News this morning, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told Trevor Phillips she ‘welcomes that news’, but stressed that a political resolution is needed that protects civilian lives and infrastructure. Rayner said a plan had been in place to make sure any UK citizens were evacuated from Syria ahead of the weekend’s developments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMRmuCjXvq4 Priti Patel: ‘The Turkish footprint is relevant here’ Trevor Phillips also asked Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel about Syria, and the wider implications for the region.

Louise Haigh resigned as transport secretary this week after it emerged she had committed a fraud offence in 2013, falsely telling police that her work mobile phone was stolen in a mugging. In 2022, Starmer had declared to the Commons: ‘lawbreakers cannot be lawmakers’. On Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked cabinet minister Pat McFadden if Keir Starmer had known about the offence before appointing her to the cabinet. McFadden denied having any knowledge outside of the public domain, saying he didn’t know ‘who knew what and when’. He did imply that ‘new information’ regarding Haigh had come to light, but he claimed not to know what that was, saying he respected Haigh for choosing to resign because the offence would become ‘an enormous distraction for the government’.

The number of people not in work has increased significantly since the pandemic, and the government is preparing to cut costs through changes to the welfare system. On Sky News this morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall was keen to stress that it was the government’s ‘responsibility to provide… new opportunities’ for young people who were out of work, training or education. Kendall told Trevor Phillips there is a ‘lifelong consequence’ when young people do not gain skills or work experience. When pushed by Phillips, Kendall admitted that under the new system, those who ‘repeatedly refuse to take up the training or work responsibilities’ would have ‘sanctions’ on their benefits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Louise Haigh: ‘If we hadn’t taken the action, the fare cap would have been lifted entirely’ With the current £2 bus fare cap due to expire at the end of this year, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh defended Labour’s decision to guarantee an increased £3 cap until December next year. Haigh said the government’s new £1 billion subsidy would improve the frequency and reliability of buses, particularly in rural areas. Kuenssberg pointed out that bus fares would be going up for lots of people who would struggle to afford the change. Haigh said £3 would be the maximum, and in urban areas bus fares would only increase in line with inflation.

Rachel Reeves: ‘I was wrong’ to say no major tax rises would be needed In her first big interviews since last week’s Budget announced tax rises of £40 billion, Rachel Reeves claimed this morning that she had been unaware of the extent of the ‘huge black hole’ in public finances before the election. On Sky News, Reeves told Trevor Phillips: ‘I was wrong… I didn’t know everything’. The Chancellor said the Conservatives had hidden the reality of the situation from the country, and that she’d had to put public finances back on a ‘firm trajectory’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Jonathan Reynolds: Transport Secretary’s comments on P&O Ferries ‘not the government’s position’ This week, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh described P&O Ferries as a ‘rogue operator’ and encouraged consumers to boycott the company, leading parent company DP World to threaten they would pull out of the government’s investment summit on Monday, and put a reported £1bn worth of investment in the UK on hold. Keir Starmer said that Haigh’s comments were ‘not the view of the government’, despite previous government press releases using the same language, and DP World subsequently reconfirmed their attendance at the summit.

Israel won’t rule out strikes against Iranian nuclear capabilities Iran launched missiles against Israel this week, and the world is waiting anxiously to see how Israel will respond. On the BBC this morning, Laura Kuenssberg asked Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely if Israel would rule out a strike against Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which President Biden opposes. Hotovely said Israel had no interest in being attacked by Iranian missiles, and they would ‘dismantle the threat’. Hotovely implied that Israel were considering going against the US president’s wishes, telling Kuenssberg that the world needed to prevent ‘this regime of terror’ in Iran from having nuclear abilities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

At the Conservative party conference in Birmingham this morning, the Tory leadership candidates set out their stalls. Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch said it was essential that there was a ‘shared culture and a shared identity’ in the UK, and that it was important to choose ‘who comes into the country’. Asked which cultures in particular were less valid, Badenoch said: ‘lots… cultures that believe in child marriage.. or that women don’t have equal rights’. Pressed to be more specific, Badenoch told Kuenssberg: ‘I know what you’re trying to do. You want me to say Muslims. But it isn’t all Muslims.’ Badenoch argued that we need to emphasise ‘the thing that we share… British values'.

Angela Rayner: ‘I don’t believe I broke any rules… in fact I think I was overly transparent’ The Labour conference has got off to an awkward start, as senior figures continue to battle controversy around donations, Starmer’s approval rating plummets, and anger persists over the winter fuel allowance. Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner defended her holiday stay in a New York apartment gifted to her by Lord Alli. Rayner argued that ‘MPs have accepted gifts for years… all MPs do it’, and said that the important point was that the government was being ‘open and transparent’ about it.

This week the prime minister and Foreign Secretary David Lammy flew to the US for discussions involving whether to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory. Putin responded by warning he would view that outcome as ‘direct participation’ of Nato in the conflict. Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Lammy talked up the West’s increased support for Ukraine, but would not confirm any decision regarding the long-range missiles specifically, saying the UK’s allies were continuing to ‘discuss the detail’. Phillips pointed out that Zelensky keeps reminding the West that delays in support mean more Ukrainian lives are lost. Lammy said the UK has already repeatedly disregarded Putin’s warnings, and will continue to do so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?