Starmer claims government can reach new carbon target without people’s everyday lives being disrupted
Q: [From the Times] Is it really realistic to think you can hit your new carbon target without any change to how people live their everyday lives?
Starmer said this was realistic. He replied:
Yes, of course it is. And the target is my target, and the plan is my plan. I’m not borrowing from somebody else’s plan.
I don’t think that as we tackle this really important issue, the way to do it is to tell people how to run their lives and instruct them how to behave. I’m not going to do that.
I made a commitment before the election and shortly after the election that we’d be a government that trod lightly on people’s lives and I’m not going to now go around telling people how to live their lives.
I do think that the single most important milestone in hitting the target we’ve set out today is clean power 2030 which I know is tough … I’m absolutely sure we can do it.
Key events
Tim Farron, the former Lib Dem leader, is one of the MPs who has said they will vote against the assisted dying bill. He posted this on social media.
Given that we know that coercive control is something insidious and manipulative and that people often don’t realise they have been victims until years later, the Assisted Dying Bill is an enormous threat to vulnerable people. There are no adequate safeguards here.
More from my colleague Jessica Elgot on the assisted dying bill.
A lot of MPs are also trying to work out the numbers for assisted dying, without committing themselves. Suggests two things to me – a) people trying to work out if they can abstain b) trying to pick the “winning” side.
While MPs are debating the final stages of the House of Lords (hereditary peers) bill, peers are holding a general debate on Lords reform. As my colleague Henry Dyer points out, one chamber is a lot more interested in the topic than the other.
House of Lords is pretty packed for a debate on… House of Lords reform. The Commons is simultaneously debating at committee stage amendments to the government’s bill to abolish hereditary peers, but one house is clearly more interested than the other! pic.twitter.com/7JzhJm3PYa
— Henry Dyer (@Direthoughts) November 12, 2024
SNP calls for hereditary peers bill to be amended to ban political donors from getting peerages
Ellie Reeves, the Cabinet Office minister, has told MPs that amendments tabled to the House of Lords (hereditary peers) bill suggest there is no principled objection in the Commons to the government’s plan to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit in the Lords.
The last Labour government removed most hereditary peers from the Lords, but 92 were allowed to stay as a compromise. Under a peculiar rule, the legislation said that when any of them died, there would be byelctions to replace them, with only peers voting and only hereditary peers able to stand as candidates.
The new bill will abolish this system, and remove the right of the remaining hereditaries (currently 88 in number) to be in the Lords because of their hereditary peerage. Some of them may be offered life peerages.
Opening today’s debate, which will deal with its committee and remaining stages in the Commons, Reeves said:
This bill is a matter of principle. In the 21st century it cannot be right for there to be places in our legislature reserved for those born into certain families.
Having now seen all of the amendments tabled from parties from across the house, it is clear there is no principled objection to the aim of this bill, which is to remove the right of people to sit and make laws in our legislature by virtue of an accident of birth.
Alex Burghart, Reeves’ Tory shadow, said the bill was “an attempt to gerrymander the membership of the House of Lords undercover of a reform”.
Pete Wishart, the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster, said the bill did not go far enough. He said he hoped there would be a vote on an SNP amendment banning anyone who has donated more than £11,180 to a political party (the threshold at which a donation must be declared) from getting a peerage. He said:
114 years since the Labour party first promised to abolish the House of Lords and the best they can do is this quite frankly embarrassing bill. Unlike the Westminster parties, our position in the SNP is unequivocal – get rid of the House of Lords now.
At the very least Labour MPs must now back my amendment to end peerages being dished out to party donors – this murky practice should have ended with the Cash-for-Honours scandal. The only possible reason Labour MPs could have for not backing this amendment is that they want to keep stuffing the House of Lords with their millionaire donors.
Other SNP amendments, include one saying the Lords should be abolished and another saying peers should have to pay income tax on the daily allowance they receive, were not allowed because they were outside the scope of the bill.
MPs will vote on amdendments to the bill later this afternoon or early this evening.
My colleague Jessica Elgot says MPs are completely in the dark as to how the Commons will vote when Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill gets it second reading a fortnight on Friday.
Talking to a lot of backbench MPs today about assisted dying and absolutely no one I have spoken to has any idea how to vote. Have no idea how this is going to go…
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, considered plans to introduce road charging in the capital ahead of this year’s mayoral election, according to a report by Jim Waterson on his new London Centric Substack blog. But he says Khan dropped the idea in the face of Tory claims that he was anti-motorist. Waterson says:
The pay-per-mile scheme, known as Next Generation Charging but codenamed internally as “Project Gladys”, was expected to be introduced in September 2026, as a flagship policy of the mayor’s third and final term. In highly confidential internal documents seen by London Centric, TfL’s own modelling set out how the move would lead to a collapse in the number of cars on the roads.
Khan now insists he will never introduce a pay-per-mile scheme. He pulled the plug on the project ahead of his re-election campaign following claims by political opponents that Labour was pursuing a “war on the motorist”. This is despite huge pressure to reach the ambitious green targets he has set himself, which will require a substantial decrease in the number of vehicles on London’s roads.
A reader asks:
@Andrew – does Justin Welby keep his seat in the House of Lords?
It appears that it is very difficult to revoke a peerage, although I’m not sure if the ones given to the clergy are treated any differently.
There are 26 bishops in the House of Lords (including the two archbishops). Unlike other members of the House of Lords, bishops aren’t there for life. Their right to sit in the Lords is tied to being a bishop, and once they retire from that, they are out.
The situation is a different for archbishops because normally they get offered a life peerage when they stand down (just as a few other people with VIP establishment jobs do, like former cabinet secretaries, Met police commissioners and Speakers of the House of Commons). Given the circumstances of Welby’s resignation, he might have to wait a bit for a life peerage, or he might not get one at all. But I suspect it is more likely than not that he will get the customary peerage at some point.
Nandy scraps David Cameron’s National Citizen Service programme, as she unveils plan for national youth strategy
National Citizen Service (NCS), a flagship volunteering idea promoted by David Cameron when he became prime minister, is finally being scrapped, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has told MPs.
In a statement to parliament, Nandy confirmed the move as part of announcement about developing plans for a new national youth strategy.
Cameron originally proposed national citizen service when he was opposition leader as a modern version of national service – compulsory military service for young people, phased out in the UK in the early 1960s but still a popular concept with rightwing Tories.
Cameron’s version involved teenagers volunteering. Originally he suggested that all young people might take part, in an initiative that was part of his “Big Society” vision and that he hoped would break down class divisions. But when his government did launch the scheme after 2010 it was voluntary.
The government eventually passed legislation making the scheme permanent. But by then Cameron was out of office, and subsequently the scheme had its budget slashed. Nandy told the Commons today that from March next year NCS will be wound down for good.
She told MPs:
In 2011 when the National Citizen Service was established, Facebook and X had only 700 million users. Now they have over three billion. And TikTok had not even been dreamt of.
In 2011 an estimated one in eight 10 to 15 year olds had a probable mental health problem. Now that’s one in five. The world has changed and we need a youth strategy that reflects that.
Nandy also told MPs that the government would be developing a new national youth strategy, and that this would be backed by £85m from government, and a further £100m from the dormant assets scheme.
In a news release, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says:
The strategy will prioritise delivering better coordinated youth services and policy at a local, regional and national level. It will make sure decision-making moves away from a one-size-fits all approach, handing power back to young people and their communities, and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector. This will help deliver on the government’s missions, spreading opportunities, making our streets safer and taking pressure off health services.
To kickstart the process, the government is inviting young people to take part in a series of face-to-face engagements to ensure their perspectives and aspirations are at the heart of decision making. They will then be asked to share their views as part of a ‘Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Nation’ conversation on how best to help the next generation of young people …
More than £85m will be allocated in recognition of the urgent need for more youth facilities. This will include £26m of new funding for youth clubs to buy new equipment and undertake much needed renovations via the Better Youth Spaces programme.
The Financial Times is reporting that Sue Gray has decided not to take up the offer of a job at Keir Starmer’s envoy for the regions and nations. In her story Lucy Fisher says:
On Tuesday, her allies told the FT that she has rejected the offer. “Sue has taken a decision not to take the role. She’s going to focus on other things,” one said.
The person added: “She’s taken time to think about it properly, talking to stakeholders, but ultimately she’s decided she doesn’t want to do it.”
In her own story, my colleague Pippa Crerar says the job offer was being withdrawn anyway. She points out that Gray was offered the post almost six weeks ago, but this week was still on the “short break” we were told she was taking when she was dropped as Starmer’s chief of staff (a delay in turning up that would stretch the patience of most employers). Pippa says it looks like Gray jumped before she was pushed.
Has Sue Gray jumped before she is pushed?
Sources told me this morning that Starmer was planning to withdraw his offer of nations & regions envoy – but @LOS_Fisher reporting allies of Gray saying she no longer plans to take it up…
Keir Starmer poised to withdraw Sue Gray job offer
Keir Starmer is planning to withdraw the offer to his former chief of staff Sue Gray of the post of nations and regions envoy amid concerns over what exactly the role would entail, Pippa Crerar reports.
Miliband claims ‘the economics’ will push Trump in direction of clean energy
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, told the BBC this morning that he thought “the economics” would push Donald Trump in the direction of renewable energy.
Trump’s re-election has been widely seen as a disaster for global efforts to deal with the climate crisis because Trump has described climate change as a “hoax” and he is an unashamed support of more drilling for oil and gas
Asked about how the government would deal with this given its ambitious climate goals, Miliband replied:
It’s our job to work with the duly-elected US president. He has his own views.
I think what’s interesting about this – and you will see what decisions the new administration makes – is that the economics now point in the direction of clean energy.
If you think about lots of the decisions that companies and countries are making, they recognise this is the single biggest job creator of our era, and so people want to be ahead in that race.
So, we will seek to find common ground with Donald Trump, he will make his own decisions about what he wants to do. I obviously want him to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement, but that’s his decision.
In the interview, Miliband was also asked about a post he put on Twitter in 2016 about Trump saying “the idea that we have shared values with a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper beggars belief.”
Miliband replied:
Look, I’ve said things in the past. My job now as a government minister is to work with the new US administration.
I genuinely don’t think that Donald Trump is reading my tweets, I don’t have such a high opinion of myself.
Ministers step in to help run Tower Hamlets council after report criticises ‘toxic’ culture
Peter Walker
Ministers are to partially take over the running of Tower Hamlets council for at least three years after inspectors found the East London local authority had a secretive and “toxic” culture based around its controversial mayor, Lutfur Rahman.
In a written statement, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it would propose sending “ministerial envoys” to work with the council, and would instruct it to appoint at least two opposition councillors to its advisory board.
Rahman was originally the Labour leader of the council, and then its directly-elected mayor. He was re-elected as an independent but removed from office in 2015 after a specialist court concluded that he was guilty of vote-rigging, buying votes and religious intimidation. He returned in 2022 under the banner of his Aspire party, after a five-year ban from office had lapsed.
After new concerns about the running of the council, inspectors were sent in by the previous government. Today’s statement said they found a series of concerns, including a lack of trust between political parties, and a subsequent churn of top officials, with concerns that many had left “as a result of ‘speaking truth to power”.
They also found limited scrutiny, an internal culture described as “suspicious and defensive” and “toxic”, with key decisions taken by a small group of people around Rahman.
While the council had made some changes, the statement said, the leadership showed a tendency to reject criticism, adding: “On some issues, the inspectors are sceptical of the council’s capability to self-improve.”
Jim McMahon, the local government minister, said he was satisfied the problems were sufficiently serious that he was justified under the Local Government Act to impose a “statutory support pack” for at least three years, with the envoys regularly reporting back.
In its own statement, the council welcomed the plan, saying it was “committed to working with the government on our continuous journey of improvement”.
Starmer says he sees transition to green economy as opportunity to bring good jobs to UK
Q: What is your message for Donald Trump about whether he should stick to the Paris climate agreement?
Starmer ignored the Trump part of the question, but said he wanted to show UK leadership on climate issues at the Cop conference.
He went on:
I see this not just as a global challenge, but a global opportunity.
If you look at where global investors are investing, they are investing in renewables, and everybody knows there’s a transition, an energy transition.
These things happen quite rarely, once in a generation usually, perhaps a little bit longer than that, where there’s a global transition on energy.
And the lesson from history is to go into that transition with a clear plan for a just outcome, but also to take advantage of being a first mover in that. And that’s what I want us to be.
There’s a race on for the next generation of jobs. They’re good, well paid jobs. Other countries are in that race. I want to be in it, and I want to win it for the UK, because that will be measured in jobs, well paid, good, secure jobs in the UK for many years to come.
Q: [From the Daily Mirror] Would you support banning private flights for personal use?
Starmer said he is not going to tell people how to behave. But he said there were measures in the budget affecting private jets.
Q: [From Hugo Gye at the i] What is your message to Donald Trump about Ukraine?
Starmer said he was not going to start “sending messages to the president-elect”. But he said he was happy to state his own position “because it’s been my position since the very start, which is that we strongly support Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression”.
He said his discussions with other leaders in recent weeks have focused on putting Ukraine in the “best possible, strongest position” going forward.
Starmer claims government can reach new carbon target without people’s everyday lives being disrupted
Q: [From the Times] Is it really realistic to think you can hit your new carbon target without any change to how people live their everyday lives?
Starmer said this was realistic. He replied:
Yes, of course it is. And the target is my target, and the plan is my plan. I’m not borrowing from somebody else’s plan.
I don’t think that as we tackle this really important issue, the way to do it is to tell people how to run their lives and instruct them how to behave. I’m not going to do that.
I made a commitment before the election and shortly after the election that we’d be a government that trod lightly on people’s lives and I’m not going to now go around telling people how to live their lives.
I do think that the single most important milestone in hitting the target we’ve set out today is clean power 2030 which I know is tough … I’m absolutely sure we can do it.
Starmer disowns former Blair aide for saying government should treat farmers as Thatcher treated miners
Q: [From Christopher Hope at GB News] In relation to the controversy about the plan to subject farms to inheritance tax, John McTernan, a former adviser to Tony Blair, has said that farming is an industry the UK does not need and that the government should treat them as Margaret Thatcher treater the miners. Do you agree?
Starmer said he totally disagreed.
I totally disagree. I’m absolutely committed to supporting our farmers. I said that before the election, and I say it after the election. That is why, in our budget last week, I was very pleased that we’re investing £5bn of our budget over the next two years into farming … I think it’s essential that [farmers] not only prosper, but prosper well into the future. So I totally disagree with those comments.