✕
Close
Your support helps us to tell the story
Support NowMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Sir Keir Starmer has warned that a two-state solution is “the only viable long-term route through” the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as he said Britain’s thoughts are with the Jewish people on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks.
In a speech to the House of Commons, the prime minister called for an end to the “living nightmare” Palestinians are enduring, and vowed to use the “power of diplomacy” to try to minimise suffering on the ground, as he urged Israel to renew efforts for a ceasefire and called for more relief for civilians.
He took aim at Iran, saying the launching of 200 ballistic missiles at Israel last week “exposes, once again, Iran’s malign role in the region”.
His speech comes as David Lammy sought to reassure MPs the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar are “not up for negotiation” amid backlash over his decision to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius.
The Foreign Secretary told the Commons: “I want to reassure the House and all members of the UK family worldwide that this agreement does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories.”
Key Points
- PM marks anniversary of 7 October in House of Commons speech
- PM says two-state solution must be ultimate goal
- Starmer does not have a ‘woman problem’, says Downing Street
- Sue Gray accused of ‘control freaky’ and blamed for No 10 chaos
- Delaying Budget was ‘miscalculation’, warns Alastair Campbell
- Starmer’s government ‘completely lost grip’, says John McTernan
Scottish Government to give grants to projects that support impoverished people
The Scottish Government is awarding grants of up to £80,000 to 12 local projects that support families in poverty around the country.
The grant will help families access health services, budgeting advice, and support employees.
It comes as part of this year’s programme for government and ties in with Challenge Poverty Week 2024.
First Minister John Swinney is expected to welcome the announcement to CentreStage, a performing arts charity in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, on Tuesday.
He will also meet with people with experience of poverty at Bute House later in the day, before leading a parliamentary debate on the topic.
Government faces criticism for £22 billion spend on carbon capture projects
The Government has been criticised for spending billions on carbon capture and storage projects while it continues with its plans to means-test the winter fuel allowance.
Reform UK’s Richard Tice argued that millions of pensioners will view the decision to spend £22 billion on renewable energy as “absolutely extraordinary”.
Meanwhile, Tory former minister Andrew Murrison said the Chancellor’s decision to “magic” up money to fund the projects is surprising due to her recent focus on financial “black holes”.
This comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the plans to develop projects to capture and store carbon emissions from energy, industry and hydrogen production at a glassmaking factory in Cheshire last week, alongside Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves.
NHS needs to ‘reform or die’, Streeting says
The NHS needs to “reform or die”, Wes Streeting told a debate discussing a major report into the health service.
The Health Secretary said that the choice over provision in England was either “NHS reform or no NHS”, as he said the country was at a critical point in determining the service’s future.
Mr Streeting was speaking about the report published by surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi of Denham which had criticised the Conservative Party’s record over the NHS while in government.
Mr Streeting told the Commons: “The NHS now stands at a fork in the road. There is a choice before us, and there are different opinions on the best way forward held by parties represented in the house today.
“The first option is for the NHS to continue on its current path, heading down the road to ruin, mismanaged decline, a status quo so poor, that patients are forced to raid their savings to go private.”
He later added: “Just so we’re clear on this side of the house, over my dead body. This Labour Government will always defend our NHS as a public service free at the point of use, so that whenever you fall ill, you never have to worry about the bill.”
Minister pressed on pensioner death estimates linked to winter fuel payment cut
The Work and Pensions Secretary has declined to put a figure on how many pensioners the Government thinks could die this winter as a result of fuel payment changes.
When asked by her Conservative shadow Mel Stride about “premature deaths”, Liz Kendall instead suggested the Tories should “apologise” for facilitating an extra 200,000 pensioners into poverty.
The Government has ended the universal scheme and will instead issue winter fuel payments of up to £300 to pensioners who receive some means-tested benefits, including pension credit and universal credit.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Mr Stride pointed to Labour research from 2017, when his party mooted a means-tested winter fuel payment system in its manifesto, which suggested almost 4,000 pensioners would die as a result of the policy.
He asked: “Does (Ms Kendall) stand by that figure of around 4,000, if not, how many premature deaths does she believe will occur as a result of this policy?”
The Cabinet minister said: “In 2017, his party’s manifesto promised to means-test winter fuel payments.
“So I would just say to (Mr Stride), until party members opposite know that they have to apologise to the British people for the 200,000 extra pensioners in poverty over the last 14 years, and for a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, which we are now putting right, which has put the public finances at risk, they will remain on those seats and we will remain on these.”
Athena Stavrou7 October 2024 22:00 1728331282Ed Miliband gives update on green mission
Ed Miliband has said “we are in a hurry to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower”.
The Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary told the Commons: “I can confirm to the House, we have agreed commercial terms and £21.7 billion of funding over 25 years for five carbon capture usage and storage projects across two clusters – HyNet in the North West and the East Coast Cluster in the North East.
“This announcement will enable construction of two transport and storage networks that will underpin this new industry – the highways for carbon capture – and the deals we’ve agreed will also kick-start development of Net Zero Teesside, the world’s largest gas with CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) plant, Protos, a new CCUS energy-from-waste facility, and EETH, the UK’s first large-scale blue hydrogen project, indeed the cleanest in the world, both of them in Ellesmere Port.
“Crowding in £8 billion of private investment across these two clusters, creating 4,000 jobs in our industrial heartlands, and building an initial capacity to remove about 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each and ever year.”
Mr Miliband also said: “This is all part of a Government that in the last three months has shown we are in a hurry to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.”
Athena Stavrou7 October 2024 21:01 1728326733Mel Stride backs James Cleverly as next Tory leader
Mel Stride has backed James Cleverly to be the next Tory leader.
The ex-work and pensions secretary, who is now shadowing his former Cabinet role, was eliminated from the Conservative leadership contest in the second round.
Mr Stride posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The Conservative Party needs to rebuild trust on economic competence, cutting migration and reforming public services. Strong, clear and measured. James has what it takes.”
Former party chairman and foreign and home secretary Mr Cleverly was the “standout candidate” at the Conservative Party conference last week when the four remaining leadership hopefuls set out their pitches to members, Mr Stride wrote in The Telegraph.
“We need a leader who both gets the need for the rapid reform of our party machine but who can also reach across the party and appeal to our broad base.
“Someone who has experience in government, the party, and is an effective communicator,” he wrote.
Athena Stavrou7 October 2024 19:45 1728323854Corbyn calls government to apologise to displaced Chagossian people
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the British Government to formally apologise for the forced removal of the Chagossian people from the Chagos Islands in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mr Corbyn, who sits as an independent MP and has been a longstanding campaigner on the issue, said when he was Labour leader that he would give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
He told the Commons on Monday: “Will the Foreign Secretary take this opportunity to recognise that what happened to the Chagossian people in the 1960s and 1970s was abominable, abusive, illegal and disgraceful, and many of them lived in poverty for many years after that in the Seychelles and in Mauritius?”
Mr Corbyn asked the Government to pay tribute to the Chagossians who had campaigned for a return to the islands. He added: “An apology is due to the Chagossian people for the way that they were treated.”
He went on to ask Foreign Secretary David Lammy whether they would be able to return to Diego Garcia, now the site of a UK and US military base.
Mr Lammy replied: “In relation to whether they will have the right to visit Diego Garcia, I have got to tell him that they will not have such a right under this treaty.
“Any resettlement or visits will be to the outer islands.”
Athena Stavrou7 October 2024 18:57 1728322662Labour says Falklands and Gibraltar ‘not up for negotiation’ amid Chagos Islands backlash
David Lammy sought to reassure MPs that the deal with Mauritius “does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories”.
The Foreign Secretary told the Commons: “I want to reassure the House and all members of the UK family worldwide that this agreement does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories.
“British sovereignty on the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the sovereign base areas, is not up for negotiation. The situations are not comparable.
“This has been acknowledged across our overseas territories. Fabian Picardo, chief minister for Gibraltar, vocally supported this agreement, stating that there is no possible read across to Gibraltar on the issues of sovereignty.
“And similarly, the governor of the Falklands has confirmed that the historic context of the Chagos islands and Falklands are very different.
“The Government remains firmly committed to modern partnerships with our overseas territories based on mutual consent.
“After Mauritius’ elections, the Government will move towards treaty signature, and it is then our intention to pursue ratification in 2025 by submitting the treaty and the Bill to this House for scrutiny.
“This is a historic moment, a victory for diplomacy. We saved the base. We secured Britain’s national interest for the long term.”
Athena Stavrou7 October 2024 18:37 1728320462Giving up Chagos Islands ‘strengthens UK position on Ukraine’, says Lammy
Giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands “strengthens our arguments when it comes to issues like Ukraine”, David Lammy has said.
He told the Commons: “Under the previous government, there were 11 rounds of negotiations, the last one held just weeks before the general election was called, so in July this government inherited unfinished business where the threat was real and inaction was not a strategy.”
Mr Lammy added: “Inaction posed several acute risks to the United Kingdom. First, it threatened the UK-US base from countering malign Iranian activity in the Middle East to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“It’s critical for our national security. Without surety of tenure, no base can operate effectively nor truly deter our enemies. Critical investment decisions were already being delayed.
“Second, it impacted on our relationship with the United States who neither wanted nor welcomed the legal uncertainty and strongly encouraged us to strike a deal. I am a trans-Atlanticist. We had to protect this important relationship.
“And third, it undermined our international standing where showing what we mean is what we say on international law and our desire for partnerships with the Global South. This strengthens our arguments when it comes to issues like Ukraine or the South China Sea.”
Andy Gregory7 October 2024 18:01 1728320376British sovereignty on Falklands ‘not up for negotiation’, says Lammy
David Lammy has sought to reassure MPs that the deal with Mauritius to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands “does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories”.
The foreign secretary said: “I want to reassure the House and all members of the UK family worldwide that this agreement does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories.
“British sovereignty on the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the sovereign base areas, is not up for negotiation. The situations are not comparable.
“This has been acknowledged across our overseas territories. Fabian Picardo, chief minister for Gibraltar, vocally supported this agreement, stating that there is no possible read across to Gibraltar on the issues of sovereignty.
“And similarly, the governor of the Falklands has confirmed that the historic context of the Chagos islands and Falklands are very different.
“The government remains firmly committed to modern partnerships with our overseas territories based on mutual consent.
“After Mauritius’ elections, the government will move towards treaty signature, and it is then our intention to pursue ratification in 2025 by submitting the treaty and the Bill to this House for scrutiny.
“This is a historic moment, a victory for diplomacy. We saved the base. We secured Britain’s national interest for the long term.”
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
