David Lammy has warned that Donald Trump’s “intense” rhetoric over his ambitions to buy Greenland can be “destabilising”, but stopped short of condemning the US president-elect.
Trump has said that he would not rule out using military or economic action to acquire the overseas Danish territory after he takes office on January 20.
In response, Mr Lammy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that we know from Donald Trump’s first term that the intensity of his rhetoric and the unpredictability sometimes of what he said can be destabilising.”
Earlier, he told Sky News that the comments were “classic Donald Trump” and that he was “not in the business of condemning our closest ally,” adding that he believed his words were prompted by concerns about US economic security.
Meanwhile, Liz Truss has issued Sir Keir Starmer with a cease and desist letter, warning him to stop saying she “crashed the economy”.
The former prime minister’s lawyers have said the remarks - made since the lead up to the general election - are likely to “cause serious harm to her reputation”, claiming they are “false and defamatory”.
Key Points
- Lammy refuses to condemn Trump on Greenland ambitions
- Truss sends cease and desist to Starmer
- Winter flu figures to be revealed as ‘hospitals bursting’
- Environment secretary to address farmers
Environment secretary to address farmers
09:13
Athena Stavrou
Steve Reed is set to meet farmers on Thursday morning as he is expected to deliver a speech insisting that the primary purpose of farming should be food production.
In a speech to the Oxford Farming Conference on Thursday, the Environment Secretary will also say farmers must be supported to restore nature and diversify their incomes to achieve long-term food security.
The speech comes in the wake of a furious backlash to the new Government from farmers over measures in last year’s budget, including introducing inheritance tax for agricultural businesses worth more than £1 million and a faster phaseout of EU-era subsidies in favour of environmental payments.
Winter flu figures to be revealed as ‘hospitals bursting'
09:10
Athena Stavrou
This week’s report into the winter flu situation in the UK hospitals is set to be released at 9:30am.
The report will reveal figures including how many patients are in hospital with flu, norovirus or Covid-19. It comes after top NHS doctors warned the peak of the flu season is yet to come as hospitals wards across England are “full to bursting”.
This week, several NHS trusts declared critical incidents because of sustained pressure in A&E departments, with people being treated in corridors and a patient at one hospital forced to wait 50 hours to be admitted to a ward.
Truss sends cease and desist to Starmer demanding he stop saying she crashed the economy
08:55
Athena Stavrou
Liz Truss has issued Sir Keir Starmer with a cease and desist letter, warning him to stop saying she “crashed the economy”.
The former prime minister’s lawyers have said the remarks - made since the lead up to the general election - are likely to “cause serious harm to her reputation”, claiming they are “false and defamatory”.
They also suggest that assertions made by the Labour leader before the July general election contributed to Ms Truss losing her South West Norfolk seat.
Sir Keir has repeatedly claimed Ms Truss crashed the economy, referring to the weeks after her 2022 mini-budget, which sparked gilt market freefall and a run on sterling after she introduced unfunded tax cuts.
Read the full story by The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke:
Trump’s intense rhetoric ‘destabilising’, says Lammy
08:52
Athena Stavrou
The “intensity” of the “rhetoric” from US President-elect Donald Trump can be “destabilising”, the Foreign Secretary has suggested.
David Lammy told the BBC that he believed Mr Trump’s words on Greenland this week come from his concerns about US economic security.
Asked whether the US should be allowed to buy Greenland, Mr Lammy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that we know from Donald Trump’s first term that the intensity of his rhetoric and the unpredictability sometimes of what he said can be destabilising.
“He did it with Nato. But in fact, in practice, he sent more troops to Europe under his administration. He sent the first javelins and weapons to Ukraine under his administration.
“Here, I suspect on Greenland what he’s targeting is his concerns about Russia and China in the Arctic, is his concerns about national economic security.
“He recognises I’m sure that in the end Greenland today is a kingdom of Denmark. There is a debate in Greenland about their own self-determination. But behind it I think are his concerns about the Arctic.”
Jess Phillips says grooming gang national inquiry not ‘off the table'
08:33
Athena Stavrou
Jess Phillips has said “nothing is off the table” as she pledges to listen to what victims of the grooming gang scandal want in regards to a national inquiry.
On Wednesday night, a Conservative Party amendment calling for a national inquiry on grooming gangs was rejected in the Commons.
However, government figures have hinted Labour could U-turn on the decision, if a new victims panel called for an inquiry.
“Nothing is off the table,” Ms Phillips said. “If victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen.
“I don’t need to wait for a national inquiry to tell me there are people who should have lost their jobs, people who should probably go to prison.”
New plans to tackle people smugglers outlined
08:22
Athena Stavrou
The manufacturers of engines used on small boats to cross the Channel could be among those in line for financial sanctions under a new regime, the Foreign Secretary has suggested.
Speaking to Times Radio on Thursday morning, David Lammy said: “What I’m announcing this this morning and today is a new sanctions regime.”
He added: “Let’s go after the manufacturers of those engines, many of whom are in China. Let’s deal with the organised criminals who are not just trafficking people, but they traffic guns and other things.
“Let’s go after them and their bank accounts, freeze their bank accounts, freeze their assets, as we’ve been able to do with oligarchs, kleptocrats and others seeking, particularly to pursue this war in Ukraine.
“So this is a new tool that I am using, and it’s to cripple people smuggling people across our country.”
He said that is is the “first time in history” that this has been done, and believes that others could follow the example in the future.
“So that we can target the bank accounts, freeze the assets, and deal with the supply chains that equip those individuals who are smuggling, people across our borders, and across the Channel.”
Lammy defends Starmer’s record on tackling grooming gangs
08:14
Athena Stavrou
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has defended the records of the Prime Minister and Jess Phillips as he said that the Government is “moving forward” on dealing with the issue of grooming.
He was asked about the interventions of Elon Musk in the debate, and speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning, he said: “I’ve known Keir Starmer for a very long time, he led on this issue as chief prosecutor when he first brought the cases against those in Rochdale and reformed the CPS.
“Jess Phillips has done a considerable job standing up for women.
“We’ve had this debate. We’re moving forward and we’re dealing with the horrendous, horrific crimes of paedophilia against young people, young children – vulnerable young children often – and going after those who commit it, I’ve no doubt about that”.
Mistruths online unfair to grooming victims, says Lammy
07:58
Athena Stavrou
David Lammy has responded to Elon Musk’s role in the debate on the response to child sex abuse gangs in the UK.
The foreign secretary said that while the X boss is at “one end” of the free speech debate, much of what has been published online is “peddling mistruth”.
“I insist that we focus on the truth, we focus on the facts. I recognise that there is a heated debate about free speech and Elon Musk is at one end of that debate,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“But to have free speech it must be based on facts and truth and some of what we’ve seen online is peddling mistruth is creating bad faith and is very unfair to those victims.”
Lammy dubs US Greenland ambitions as ‘classic Donald Trump’
07:43
Athena Stavrou
The foreign secretary has taken a calm approach to Donald Trump’s recent comments that the US should acquire Greenland.
The president-elect siad he would not rule out using military or economic action to acquire the overseas Danish territory after he takes office on January 20.
But David Lammy would not condemn the comments and said they were “classic Donald Trump”.
He told Sky News: “I’m not in the business of condemning our closest ally. I am in the business of interpreting what sits behind this and there are some very serious national security issues and that is the basis in which Donald Trump has won his election.”
Lammy speaks on plans to tackle people smuggling gangs
07:36
Athena Stavrou
David Lammy has spoken about his plans to tackle people smuggling gangs to reduce Channel crossings.
Outlining the plans, he told Sky News: “I want to use sanctions now to go after particularly supply chains and the routes people are doing.”
When asked if he could sanction states who are inadvertently or intentionally harbouring criminals he said: “There may well be sadly leaders in countries who are behind this. Those who traffic don’t just traffic people they traffic drugs and they traffic guns and equipment as well.”
In Parliament today
07:25
Athena Stavrou
Here is what we are expecting to hear in Parliament today:
House of Commons:
09:30am: Transport questions
10:30am: Business questions to Commons Leader Lucy Powell
11:30am: A general debate on tackling violence against women and girls
House of Lords:
11am: Oral questions
11:45am: A debate on the Science and Technology Committee report titled “Long-duration energy storage: get on with it”
Journalist who uncovered grooming scandal hits out at claims story was neglected by media
07:15
Athena Stavrou
Andrew Norfolk, a journalist who helped uncover the grooming gangs scandal has voiced his frustration with claims that the media previously turned a blind eye to it.
“When we took the decision, The Times, in the summer of 2010 to look – genuinely look – and try and reveal what was happening and why, and to call for an inquiry – and this was 15 years ago, remember – that turned into four and a half years solidly of me working only on that story and nothing else,” he told Times Radio.
“Because the editor at the time, James Harding, decided that we were going to carry on writing about this story until he felt that every institution in this country that had a responsibility to protect children or to prosecute offenders had the understanding and systems and training in place to make sure that what was terribly wrong in this country would change for the better.”
He added: “What has happened this week has come entirely, it seems to me, because one rich man effectively playing with a train set who doesn’t give any great heed to the truth has decided to shoot his mouth off, scattergun attacks left, right and centre, and to my astonishment the British establishment, political media has just jumped to attention.”
Asked about claims that the scandal was neglected by the media, he said: “It no longer surprises me, I’m afraid – the easy, cheap, throwaway insults thrown in the direction of a mainstream media have obviously been going for years now. It is a tool the far right uses.”
Noting that the scandal is the far right’s “dream story”, Mr Norfolk said: “The narrative doesn’t work if it’s acknowledged that about the most mainstream media organisation you can get – the Times newspaper – was the organisation that actually carried on revealing what was happening.”
“About the most mainstream media organisation you could get, @TheTimes...was the organisation that actually carried on revealing what was happening.”
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) January 8, 2025
Andrew Norfolk, who spent years reporting on grooming gangs, is frustrated by the notion the press ignored the scandal. pic.twitter.com/CUI9tXUJw9
Jess Phillips faced ‘deluge of hate’ after Elon Musk attack
06:58
Athena Stavrou
Jess Phillips has described the “deluge of hate” she faced after X boss Elon Musk used his huge platform to launch an attack on her.
Mr Musk labelled the safeguarding minister a “rape genocide apologist” after she denied a request for a government led inquiry into child sexual abuse in Oldham.
Speaking to Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Phillips said: “On Friday, it was just a deluge of hate,”
She added that despite the “bullying” she had received support from young women and constituents.
“It became the deluge of ‘we know this isn’t true’, and I think that the vast majority of people in the country can see exactly what is happening,” she said.
Jeremy Corbyn: Keir Starmer needs reminding that the NHS is not for sale
06:00
Andy Gregory
In a piece for Independent Voices, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes:
Many of us warned the last Labour government about the dangers of PFIs. Under such initiatives, private funding was used to pay the upfront costs of new hospital infrastructure, leaving NHS trusts to foot the bill. Last year, NHS trusts spent almost half a billion pounds on interest charges alone; that’s the equivalent of 15,000 newly qualified nurses.
Then came the Conservative Party, which spent 14 years indulging in an ideological experiment of its own: combining privatisation with austerity. This was no coincidence. By starving the NHS of resources, the government tested what Noam Chomsky has described as the “standard technique” of privatisation: “Defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital.”
Watch: Shouts of ‘shame' as Badenoch claims grooming scandal one of worst in history
05:00
Andy Gregory
Political party funding rules may be reformed amid Musk interest, Starmer says
04:00
Andy Gregory
The government will look at potential reforms to political party funding, Sir Keir Starmer said, as the leader of the Liberal Democrats raised the “spectre” of Elon Musk’s possible donation to Reform UK.
Harry Taylor reports:
Need for social care reform ‘bleedin’ obvious’ but must get Starmer’s backing, MPs told
03:00
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer’s backing for reform of social care will be “absolutely critical” if much-needed change is to be made, a key figure has said.
Sir Andrew Dilnot described it as “blindingly… bleedin’ obvious” that something should be done in an area which remains “pretty invisible”.
The economist, who was the architect of plans for a care costs cap more than a decade ago, welcomed the fact that a newly announced commission would be “another chance to try to raise this set of issues up the agenda”.
But he insisted it should not take three years to produce a final report and recommendations, suggesting it is “perfectly feasible” for the Government to set out by the end of this year what it is going to do.
Former Tory schools minister backs Robert Jenrick in race row
02:00
Andy Gregory
Former Tory schools minister Jonathan Gullis – who lost his seat in July’s election – has backed Robert Jenrick over his controversial remarks about grooming gangs and immigration.
Mr Gullis said on X: “It’s completely accurate for [Mr Jenrick] to say some immigrants (legally and illegally) coming to the UK have medieval attitudes to women. Any Conservative MPs anonymously moaning about Robert speaking out about grooming gangs need to give their heads a wobble.”
Kemi Badenoch was urged on Tuesday to sack Mr Jenrick after he suggested the Tories could cap immigration from “alien cultures with medieval attitudes towards women”:
British state has become a ‘greedy master of the people’, Reform MP claims
01:00
Andy Gregory
The British state has become a “self-serving, greedy master of the people”, a Reform UK MP said on Wednesday as he called for quantitative easing to be prohibited.
Rupert Lowe argued that MPs should be given the right to block the introduction of new money into the supply by the Bank of England, under his Quantitative Easing (Prohibition) Bill.
As he walked to present the Bill in the Commons, Mr Lowe was jokingly dubbed “future leader” by another MP in the chamber who could be heard shouting out. It came after US billionaire Elon Musk appeared to endorse Mr Lowe as a replacement for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The Great Yarmouth MP was also heckled on Wednesday by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who said “absolute shambles” after Mr Lowe stumbled through the list of MPs supporting the Bill before having to repeat the names.
In Focus | The child abuse cover-ups that Musk is conveniently not getting outraged about
Wednesday 8 January 2025 23:59
Andy Gregory
Journalist and author Rowan Pelling writes:
It’s a bit astonishing to wake up and find that – hallelujah! – the sexual abuse of young women is the number one story in the UK. And that the government has finally acted to make the reporting of child sex abuse mandatory. God knows, enough campaigners, like inquiry head Professor Alexis Jay, veteran journalist Julie Bindel, and Lucy Duckworth from the Survivors’ Trust, have strived for years to propel their life’s work to the top of the political agenda.
It’s just a shame that so many zealous new converts to the cause (yes, Elon Musk and his X-bro army) appear to believe that the rape perpetrated by men of Pakistani origin was a unique evil unparalleled in the annals of history.
No one denies that what happened in Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford is a huge, gutwrenching scandal; that some officials hesitated to investigate in the name of “race relations” and that much of the police force who are paid to protect us dismissed the abuse of white working-class girls – often in and out of care – who they regarded as unreliable witnesses.
In fact, there’s now a race to proclaim these oft-reported tidings loudest, by many who didn’t seem to give a monkey’s as recently as last week. But if you’ve ever looked into the sheer scale of sexual abuse against innocent young people in this country and the scandals that were covered up within living memory (not just Jimmy Savile), then you’ll be left reeling.
Tory MP warns education bill will make it ‘as if Blair had never been PM'
Wednesday 8 January 2025 23:00
Andy Gregory
During the debate on the government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, Tory former education secretary Damian Hinds warned the legislation will make it “as if Tony Blair had never been prime minister”.
He told the Commons: “I’m sure Labour MPs today will cheer what they will see as the final demise of the Gove/Gibb reforms, but what we have before us today reverses far further back than that.
“If this Bill passes anything close to its current form, it will be as if Lord Adonis was never the schools minister, as if Lord Blunkett had never sat in the secretary of state’s chair, it will be as if Tony Blair had never been prime minister and had never made central to his pledge and contract to the British people in 1997 those famous three words, ‘education, education, education’.”
Brexiteer meltdown as Starmer makes May’s chief EU negotiator Foreign Office chief mandarin
Wednesday 8 January 2025 22:00
Jabed Ahmed
Conservative MP calls for Lucy Letby retrial
Wednesday 8 January 2025 21:00
Jabed Ahmed
Conservative former minister Sir David Davis has called for a retrial of child serial killer Lucy Letby.
During an adjournment debate in the Commons he told MPs: “There is case in justice, in my view, for a retrial. But there is a problem: one of the problems we face is that much of the evidence was available at the time.
“What I have described is an expert analysis of the case notes, which were there at the time, but it was simply not presented to the jury. This means the Court of Appeal can dismiss it, basically saying the defence should have presented it at the initial trial.
“It is in essence saying, ‘if your defence team weren’t good enough to present this evidence, hard luck, you stay banged-up for life’.
“Now that may be judicially convenient, but it’s not justice.”
Sir David said earlier in the debate: “There was no hard evidence against Letby, nobody saw her do anything untoward. The doctor’s gut feeling was based on a coincidence she was on shift for a number of deaths, and this is important, although far from all of them, far from all of them.
“It was built on a poor understanding of probabilities, which could translate later into an influential but spectacularly flawed piece of evidence.”
Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Farage says Reform will host inquiry after Tory amendment loses
Wednesday 8 January 2025 19:53
Jabed Ahmed
Nigel Farage has confirmed that Reform UK will “absolutely” work to set up its own inquiry into grooming gangs.
He told GB News: “Oh, absolutely yes. If the Government does not give in, we don’t get a proper inquiry into this, and goodness knows, we do need one, then we will raise the money and we will appoint or find some sort of independent retired judges to run the thing.
“Yeah, no, no, we’re not going to back off from this. The country deserves to know the truth about, firstly, the extent of what happened, and secondly, the extent of the cover up, and who was involved in that cover up.”
All Labour MPs respect whip on vote
Wednesday 8 January 2025 19:40
Jabed Ahmed
The division list showed no Labour MPs voted in favour of the Conservative amendment.
The 111 MPs who supported the amendment included 101 Conservatives, five Reform UK, two DUP, the TUV’s Jim Allister, UUP’s MP Robin Swann and Independent Alex Easton.
Chris Philp says Tories will not let Labour ‘forget this act of cowardice’ after amendment loses
Wednesday 8 January 2025 19:29
Jabed Ahmed
The Tories accused Labour MPs of having “turned a blind eye to justice for the victims” of grooming gangs after a Conservative bid to launch another national inquiry was rejected in a Commons vote.
The Opposition amendment, if approved, would have prevented the Government’s Bill aimed at protecting children from making progress.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “It is disgusting that Keir Starmer has used his supermajority in Parliament to block a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.
“Labour MPs have put their party ahead of getting to the truth and turned a blind eye to justice for the victims. Labour MPs will have to explain to the British people why they are against learning the truth behind the torture and rape of countless vulnerable girls.
“We will not let them forget this act of cowardice.”
Labour’s flagship education bill to get second reading
Wednesday 8 January 2025 19:28
Jabed Ahmed
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has cleared its first hurdle after MPs gave it a second reading.
A Conservative amendment designed to block the Bill, and including a call for a national inquiry on grooming gangs, was rejected by by 364 votes to 111, majority 253.
The Bill later received a second reading without the need for a further formal vote.
Shouts of “no” could be heard when MPs were asked if the Bill should receive a second reading and a division was initially called but it was later cancelled.
The Bill will undergo further scrutiny at a later date.
MPs reject Tory bid to launch another grooming gang inquiry
Wednesday 8 January 2025 19:21
Jabed Ahmed
MPs have rejected a Conservative bid to push for another national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The amendment to the Government’s draft child protection legislation was put to a Commons’ vote on Wednesday following a bitter Prime Minister’s Questions in which Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said failing to back a probe would fuel concerns about a “cover-up”.
The Conservatives had tabled the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill demanding a new national inquiry into gangs which, if approved, would have prevented the legislation from making progress.
But MPs voted rejected the motion by 364 votes to 111, majority 253.
Everything you need to know as MPs vote on new grooming gangs inquiry - and why it will fail
Wednesday 8 January 2025 18:29
Jabed Ahmed
Labour MP expresses disgust at remarks in Commons by Reform MP
Wednesday 8 January 2025 18:15
Andy Gregory
Labour’s Rotherham MP Sarah Champion became visibly emotional in a speech to MPs as she expressed “disgust” at remarks in the Commons by Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
Praising the children’s safety bill as addressing “a lot of the underlying problems that we have within our schools, education and indeed protection of children”, Ms Champion said: “I’ve got to say, I feel disgusted by what the honourable gentleman has just said.
“Can you imagine if you are a victim or survivor listening to that? I’m sure his intent is to get to the truth and get justice, but the language – please think about who hears our words.”
In a lengthy tirade during which he refused to give way to other MPs, Mr Lowe had urged the government to deport foreign nationals found guilty of grooming crimes, and claimed that female family members who were aware of relatives’ crimes “are just as guilty as the rapists themselves”.
Kemi Badenoch urged to retract PMQs claim over definition of Islamophobia
Wednesday 8 January 2025 17:59
Andy Gregory
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called on Kemi Badenoch to retract her claim that a proposed definition of Islamophobia included “talking about sex groomers” as an example.
Zara Mohammed, secretary-general of the MCB, said: “Let me be absolutely clear – British Muslims unequivocally support the thorough investigation and prosecution of all child abusers, regardless of background. The MCB will support yet another investigation if proponents can explain why previous inquiries costing millions have not given them the answers they are looking for.
“Those who seek to weaponise this issue against Muslims have already received answers they didn’t want from previous inquiries. Yet they persist in pursuing a divisive agenda rather than focusing on protecting children through evidence-based approaches.
“What we will not accept is the cynical exploitation of child protection issues to demonise British Muslims. Mrs Badenoch’s comments represent a new low in the Conservative Party’s persistent refusal to tackle anti-Muslim prejudice within its ranks.
“The Opposition leader should retract her misleading claims and focus instead on supporting evidence-based approaches to protecting all children in our society.”
Watch: Starmer takes swipe at Nigel Farage over Elon Musk snub
Wednesday 8 January 2025 17:40
Andy Gregory
Farage suggests Reform UK will fund inquiry into child sexual abuse
Wednesday 8 January 2025 17:26
Jabed Ahmed
Nigel Farage has suggested Reform UK will fund an inquiry into child sexual abuse if the Government fails to do so.
The Reform UK leader said his party will raise the money and appoint “independent arbiters” to conduct the national inquiry.
As MPs debated the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Clacton MP told the Commons there is “overwhelming” support across the political spectrum for an inquiry.
He said: “If the Government won’t do this – and I do believe there is now overwhelming support on all sides of the political spectrum for this, and Parliament should not be in denial about this – if it doesn’t, then we will raise the money at Reform UK and appoint independent arbiters, because we need the truth to be out there.”
Scotland’s first minister voices concern at Meta changes and will ‘keep considering’ use of X
Wednesday 8 January 2025 17:13
Andy Gregory
SNP leader John Swinney has said he is concerned by the moderation changes at Facebook and Instagram, while signalling that he may reconsider the Scottish Government’s use of X, formerly Twitter, in future.
Meta has announced that Facebook and Instagram will move away from using third-party fact checkers to flag misleading content in favour of user-based notes similar to X.
Exclusive: Tories refuse to restore whip to Warsi despite clearing her over Sunak coconut tweet
Wednesday 8 January 2025 16:55
Andy Gregory
Kemi Badenoch has refused to restore the whip to Sayeeda Warsi, despite her being cleared of wrongdoing over a tweet calling Rishi Sunak a coconut.
The former party chair resigned the Tory whip in the Lords in September when it emerged she was being investigated over the tweet.
The Independent has now learned that the disciplinary panel cleared Baroness Warsi of being “divisive” and “bringing the party into disrepute”. But despite this, the Tory chief whip has written to the peer, who was UK’s first Muslim cabinet member, saying she is not welcome back in the party.
Baroness Warsi said she was being targeted for warning of rising levels of Islamophobia in the party.
Our political editor David Maddox has the exclusive report:
Exlcusive: Starmer urged to scrap funding for Musk’s firms after billionaire receives £190m from UK taxpayers
Wednesday 8 January 2025 16:50
Jabed Ahmed
The Independent’s Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Tories accused of using grooming scandal to fundraise
Wednesday 8 January 2025 16:39
Andy Gregory
Labour has accused the Tories of using the child sexual abuse scandal to raise funds for the party, after it launched a campaign website and sent out emails to supporters asking them to sign a petition on the site which calls for a national inquiry into child grooming.
The party also includes a link for donations at the bottom of its email.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Kemi Badenoch has stooped to a new low, fundraising for the Conservative Party by playing politics with the safety of vulnerable children. This shows breath-taking disrespect to brave victims who are being used as a political football by the Conservatives.
“The Tories failed to implement the Jay recommendations to protect vulnerable children. Any money raised by the Conservatives must be donated to victims of child sexual abuse: this attempt to fill their party bank account off the back of such a sensitive subject is a disgrace.
“This Labour Government is taking action with landmark reforms to safeguarding and children’s social care. No more empty words or ‘lessons learned’, but real action to keep children safe.”
Elon Musk sends wild message to British public ahead of Commons vote
Wednesday 8 January 2025 16:23
Alex Ross
The political storm over calls for new inquiry on grooming gangs started after Elon Musk used his social media platform to launch a barrage of attacks at Sir Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips.
Mr Musk called for a national probe, while sharing wild and baseless claims about Labour ministers.
Ahead of vote on Tory leader Kem Badenoch’s amendment to the child safety Bill, calling for ministers start a statutory inquiry on grooming gangs, Mr Musk has shared a message on his social media platform.
He wrote: “Please call your member of parliament and tell them that the hundreds of thousands of little girls in Britain who were, and are still being systematically, horrifically gang-raped deserve some justice in this world. This is vitally important or it will just keep happening.”
Mr Musk has also been sharing clips of Reform UK MPs speaking at the debate which comes before the vote, set to take place at around 7pm.
Please call your member of parliament and tell them that the hundreds of thousands of little girls in Britain who were, and are still are, being systematically, horrifically gang-raped deserve some justice in this world.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2025
This is vitally important or it will just keep happening. https://t.co/W5pxLsLdaz
New Labour reform an ‘additional measure’ which could have helped Sara Sharif, MPs told
Wednesday 8 January 2025 16:20
Andy Gregory
A register of children not in school – as mandated in Labour’s new children’s safety bill – is an “additional measure” which could have helped improve the safety of murdered 10-year-old Sara Sharif, the Lib Dems’ education spokesperson has said.
Munira Wilson told the Commons: “All the evidence points towards the fact that education and schools – and that’s why it’s in the Bill – have to be a key safeguarding partner, so where a child is at risk and has been identified as being at risk, ensuring that that child is in school, as this Bill seeks to do, will help to safeguard them.
“But we saw too tragically in the recent case of Sara Sharif the fact that she was taken out of school and then being abused at home and tragically died, but the point is this is just an additional measure to make sure that she is safe.”
Kemi Badenoch has not met any grooming gang survivors
Wednesday 8 January 2025 16:06
Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent
In a damning admission, Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson confirmed she has not yet met any victims of the grooming gangs scandal and that she currently has no plans to do so.
Her spokesperson said her calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs are based on what she has read in the media and other reports.
Starmer open to u-turn on grooming gangs inquiry, Downing Street says
Wednesday 8 January 2025 15:50
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer has opened the door to a u-turn on his refusal to hold an inquiry into grooming gangs, Downing Street has confirmed.
After safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said a new national probe into the scandal was still on the table, the prime minister’s official spokesman said the government would grant one if victims’ groups called for it.
“Jess Phillips has been engaging extensively with victims, and what we have heard loud and clear from victims is that they do not want to see more inquiries,” he said.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Comment | Andrew Grice: Will Tulip Siddiq be the next ministerial scalp for Starmer?
Wednesday 8 January 2025 15:32
Jabed Ahmed
Badenoch condemns abuse towards Jess Phillips
Wednesday 8 January 2025 15:09
Jabed Ahmed
Kemi Badenoch condemns the abuse directed at Home Office minister Jess Phillips following Elon Musk’s social media attacks on her, her spokesman said, but the Tory leader remains a fan of the billionaire’s work.
Asked about the abuse faced by Ms Phillips, a spokesman for the Leader of the Opposition said: “Any abuse directed towards MPs is obviously disgraceful and should not happen, and as a black, Conservative woman, Kemi gets more than her fair share.”
Press whether she remained a fan of Mr Musk, the spokesman said: “She is a fan of what he has done with his companies.”
Shadow minister says new education bill will see loss of progress over the past decade
Wednesday 8 January 2025 14:53
Jabed Ahmed
The shadow education secretary has said planned reforms to the education system will see the loss of any progress made in the last decade in school standards.
Speaking against the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in the Commons, Laura Trott said: “The very policies that saw our schools rise up the international league tables are being reversed.
“I guarantee you, just as we went up as a result of this Bill, we will come down those very same rankings. And who will be the ones that will suffer? The poorest pupils in society.”
She said moves to ensure academies teach the national curriculum were being brought in as the Government disagreed with headteachers such as Katharine Birbalsingh, who is headteacher at the Michaela Academy in Brent.
Ms Trott said: “The academy programme was expanded 50 times under the last government, and that we went up in terms of actual rankings, not down.
“The Bill is abolishing academies in all but name, and for what? Because education ministers think they know better than Katharine Birbalsingh and Sir John Coles.”
APPG on British Muslims hits back at Badenoch claims
Wednesday 8 January 2025 14:42
Jabed Ahmed
Kemi Badenoch was wrong to claim that a cross-party group of MPs included “talking about sex groomers” in its definition of Islamophobia, the group has said.
Responding to the Tory leader’s comments at Prime Minister’s Questions, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims said: “If the Leader of the Opposition thoroughly read the report, she would understand the report speaks about the collective smear and trope being used against all British Muslims, a point which she accepted in her own words, and does not speak about legitimate concerns about criminal activity committed by specific individuals.
“There is nothing racist or Islamophobic about addressing any crime or protecting victims, regardless of the ethnicity or faith of the perpetrator.”
The group added: “The whipping (up) of far-right conspiracies on this issue has already taken lives, including in this country.
“The APPG’s definition of Islamophobia is not there to stop free speech or curtail such freedoms, but politicians must act responsibly and understand that by whipping up far-right narratives to support their political interests can lead to dangerous ramifications that do have consequences.”
The group also pointed to the case of Mushin Ahmed, an 81-year-old Muslim man who was murdered on his way to the mosque in Rotherham in 2015 by a man who accused him of being a “groomer”.
Starmer to meet with Macron on Thursday
Wednesday 8 January 2025 14:24
Jabed Ahmed
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will meet with the French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters on Wednesday: “Tomorrow the Prime Minister will meet French president Emmanuel Macron.
“The meeting will focus on areas of cooperation and shared global challenges including support for Ukraine, tech and AI, growth and tackling illegal migration.”
The meeting will take place at Chequers.
Government approach on grooming is ‘what the victims want’, No10 says
Wednesday 8 January 2025 14:09
