Prime minister Keir Starmer is set to chair his cabinet this morning as Labour sits on the front benches for the first time in 14 years.
Sir Keir will meet with his cabinet from 9.30am following a roundtable with the UK’s metro mayors at Downing Street this morning.
A new cohort of 643 MPs is expected to gather on the green benches at 2.30pm, when they will elect a Speaker who is responsible for the House of Commons and the debates which take place inside the chamber.
Sir Keir Starmer is also set to say his first words at the despatch box as Prime Minister, having secured the keys to Number 10 Downing Street after last Thursday’s General Election.
It comes as Rachel Reeves has said the new government has inherited the “worst set of circumstances since the Second World War” as she sets out a raft of housing reform in her first speech as chancellor.
Meanwhile, Lord Cameron stepped back from frontline politics after last week’s election defeat but will keep his House of Lords seat for life.
Tory slogan ‘levelling up’ scrapped by government
The Tory slogan “levelling up” will be stripped out of Government departments and ministerial job titles, Jim McMahon has suggested.
The communities minister was asked by BBC Breakfast if the slogan would remain a part of his job title. He replied: “No, it was firmly tippexed out of the department yesterday, so we are now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
“Why that is important for me is levelling up was only ever a slogan, it wasn’t a thing that people felt in their communities.”
After adding that it was also important to ensure local government was included in the department’s title, he said: “It is a reshaping of the department. It is a refocus, but frankly it is also just grown up politics.”
Alexander Butler9 July 2024 08:03
‘I am not AI’: Reform UK candidate accused of being bot speaks out
Suffering from pneumonia, Reform candidate Mark Matlock checked social media after he missed election nightto find he was being accused of being an AI bot.
Looking at his glossy profile picture, online commentators had decided he was computer-generated and the inevitable Twitter pile-on ensued.
Fuel was added to the fire when he didn’t show up for hustings or even the election count after winning 1,758 votes for Brixton and Clapham Hill on a day of national success for Nigel Farage and his fledgling party.
Alexander Butler9 July 2024 08:01
Schedule for today
Good morning. As the House of Commons is to sit with Labour on government front benches for the first time in 14 years, prime minister Keir Starmer and his cabinet are set for a busy day.
This is the schedule for today:
7.30am: Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will meet metro mayors from around the country.
9.30am: Sir Keir Starmer chairs his Cabinet.
2.30pm: Parliament returns with Labour ministers on the Government frontbench for the first time in more than a decade.
Alexander Butler9 July 2024 07:48
Junior doctors to enter talks with Labour government
Negotiations between junior doctors in England and the new Government are expected to start today with a view to end the long-running dispute over pay.
Medics from the British Medical Association (BMA) are to meet with Department of Health and Social Care officials to try and hammer out a deal to see an end to strikes which have been causing widespread disruption across the health service.
Officials from the union have previously said that they expect the conversation could be “tough”. But the BMA’s junior doctors committee has said Labour comments about pay rises being a “journey and not an event” align with their pay restoration goals.
Health leaders urged the Government to resolve the dispute as a “priority” after it emerged that tens of thousands of appointments were postponed as a result of the latest strike.
NHS England said 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations were postponed as a result of the walkout from June 27 to July 2.
Alexander Butler9 July 2024 07:34
UK mayors arrive at Downing Street
UK mayors have arrived at Downing Street for a roundtable meeting with prime minister Keir Starmer as he pledged to loosen Whitehall’s “tight grip” over big cities and regions.
London mayor Sadiq Khan, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham were among those who walked into No 10 this morning.
Before entering No 10, Mr Khan said: “I’m looking forward to meeting the new Prime Minister.”
Alexander Butler9 July 2024 07:31
We are now pausing this liveblog. Thank you for tuning in!
Maryam Zakir-Hussain8 July 2024 20:36
Starmer confirms Rwanda policy to be scrapped
Rwanda “has fully upheld its side of the agreement”, its government said after Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the deportation policy is to be scrapped.
The Prime Minister announced over the weekend the previous Conservative government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda was “dead and buried before it started”.
In a statement, a Rwandan government spokesperson said: “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK Government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement, as provided for under the terms of the treaty passed by both our parliaments.
“This partnership was initiated by the Government of the UK in order to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK – a problem of the UK, not Rwanda.
“Rwanda has fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances, and remains committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain8 July 2024 20:30
Who is in Rishi Sunak’s shadow cabinet?
Rishi Sunak has named his shadow cabinet in the face of Conservative’s devastating election loss.
The party has named Jeremy Hunt, who narrowly held his seat on Thursday, its shadow chancellor, with James Cleverly shadow home secretary, mirroring the portfolios they held in government.
Former deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell will become the shadow foreign secretary as Lord Cameron stepped back from frontline politics, while Richard Fuller, the former economic secretary to the Treasury, has been made the new Conservative chairman.
Leadership frontrunner Kemi Badenoch has been shifted to become shadow levelling-up secretary, while Kevin Hollinrake will shadow her former Business Secretary post.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain8 July 2024 19:57
Breaking: David Cameron steps back from frontline politics after election defeat – but keeps Lords seat for life
But the ex-PM has tendered his resignation and will not serve in the shadow cabinet now the party is out of government.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain8 July 2024 19:41
Rachel Reeves scraps ‘absurd’ Tory onshore windfarm ban
The chancellor has ordered civil servants to compile a dossier on the state of the economy after 14 years of Tory rule.
In a speech at the Treasury, she said she had repeatedly warned about the dire state of the public finances during the general election and “what I have seen in the past 72 hours has only confirmed that”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain8 July 2024 19:30