Former prime minister Liz Truss has been mocked for issuing 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”.
One X (Twitter) user joked the former PM has “thrown a new year bone to all the Truss satirists who miss her terribly.”
Sir Keir has repeatedly claimed the former prime minister 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.
Meanwhile, environment secretary Steve Reed apologised to farmers at the Oxford Farming Conference that actions such as changes to inheritance tax taken by the new Government had “shocked” the industry.
A host of tractors rolled up outside the conference continuously honking their horns in protest, which could be heard inside the venue as Mr Reed answers questions from farmers.
Key Points
- Lammy declares ‘post Cold War peace is well and truly over’ as he takes aim at Putin
- Markets functioning in ‘orderly way’, Treasury minister insists
- Truss sends cease and desist to Starmer
- Farmers will have profits ‘wiped out’ by IHT rises, association leader warns
- Winter flu figures to be revealed as ‘hospitals bursting’
Father of the House asks if Reeves will use her “sticky fingers” to increase borrowing or taxes
12:49
Jabed Ahmed
Senior Conservative MPs have pressed the Government on whether the Chancellor will increase taxes or borrowing.
In the Commons, former Treasury minister John Glen said: “This Government have either got to cut spending, increase taxes or borrow mor, and if the cost of borrowing is increasing, that moment is going to come sooner. Which of those choice is he inclined to make and when is he going to tell the British people honestly what this Government has done?”
Treasury minister Darren Jones replied: “The fiscal rules are non-negotiable, public services will have to live within their means, we’ve set the budget.”
“We have the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) forecast coming in March, those are the numbers departments are working to in this spending review, those are the numbers we will hold public services to when we conclude the spending review in June,” he added.
Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh asked if Chancellor Rachel Reeves would be using her “sticky fingers” to increase borrowing or taxes, adding: “Will the minister give an absolute assurance, no more tax increases or borrowing?”
Mr Jones said the spending review is “on the basis of the envelope that was set at the budget”, adding: “The OBR forecast will come in March which will then give us the latest set of information which we will work to with departments.”
Exclusive: Religion, police and education leaders unite with grooming survivors to demand immediate government action
12:31
Jabed Ahmed
Our Social Affairs Correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:
Public will not have to change lives ‘radically’ for climate goal, MPs promised
12:13
Jabed Ahmed
Lammy agrees with Trump that Europe must spend more on defence
12:00
Jabed Ahmed
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that president-elect Donald Trump is “simply right” to say that Europe needs to do more on defence.
In a speech on Thursday morning, Mr Lammy said: “Donald Trump and JD Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent.
“It’s myopia to pretend otherwise with Russia on the march. So this Government will lay out a clear pathway to reaching 2.5% of our GDP on defence.
“A figure, lest we forget that the last Labour government met and was never met by the Tories since David Cameron’s cuts. And with John Healey, we will lead and we will change, to convince all of our Nato allies that rising defence spending is a strategic necessity.”
Lammy warns ‘Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely'
11:51
Jabed Ahmed
Speaking in the Locano room in the Foreign Office on Thursday, the foreign secretary said that Russian aggression had ripped up the established world order from the 1990s.
Underlining his policy thrust of “progressive pragmatism” he also took aim at the previous Tory governments for undermining Britain’s place in the world. He tipped his hat to repairing some of the damaged relationships not just with the EU.
Mr Lammy told an invited audience: “We and our allies must relearn the Cold War manual, long-term thinking, not short-termism.
“Consistent deterrence, not constant distraction. Adapting as emerging technology reshapes the strategic environment. Securing strategic stability in an unstable world.”
And he warned: “Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely.“With Iranian drones fired at Ukrainian cities and North Korean troops now fighting against Ukraine.”
Tories ‘panicked and mothballed’ over HS2 leading to spiralling costs, committee chairwoman says
11:47
Jabed Ahmed
The Government has faced calls to ensure the HS2 route between London and Birmingham is connected to the wider rail network north of Birmingham.
Chairwoman of the Transport Select Committee Ruth Cadbury said: “The original vision for HS2 was to link London with the Midlands and the north and also to address the growing capacity challenge on the West Coast Main Line with a whole new rail line.
“The last government panicked and mothballed much of the project over cost overruns on phase one, thus incurring yet further costs. And I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to get a grip on the phase one cost overruns.
“But what I want to know is does the Government plan to deliver a rail solution linking phase one north of Birmingham to the rest of the country, and thus delivering the Government’s vision to drive growth for the whole country.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “I’m pleased that she raises the question of the mess that we inherited from the Conservative government on HS2 and rail connectivity in the north. When we entered government in July we did find that ragtag collection of half-baked, unfunded spending commitments for rail schemes up and down the country.”
She added: “We have started the hard work of identifying a realistic pipeline of schemes that is affordable and will deliver better connectivity in partnership with local leaders.”
Lammy declares ‘post Cold War peace is well and truly over’ as he takes aim at Putin
11:37
Jabed Ahmed
Our Political Editor David Maddox reports:
Farmers will have profits ‘wiped out’ by IHT rises, association leader warns
11:26
Jabed Ahmed
Environment Secretary Steve Reed has finished his speech at the Oxford Farming Conference.
Responding to his remarks, Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) warned farm businesses faced having profits “wiped out” by inheritance tax bills.
“Capping vital inheritance tax reliefs will threaten their viability and not deliver the growth and investment the government says it wants to achieve.
“Farmers are playing their part in enhancing the environment and delivering public goods, but they also need to be able to run viable, profitable businesses.
“The Government’s freezing of the farming budget and lack of ambition for the rural economy is hitting confidence,” she said as she urged the Government to invest in productivity, strike new trade deals and defend farms from drought and flood.
Mel Stride asks ‘Where is the Chancellor?’ as he delivers urgent question on the economy
11:17
Jabed Ahmed
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Treasury minister Darren Jones had delivered a “slightly anxious and breathless” response to the urgent question, adding: “Where is the Chancellor? It is a bitter regret that at this difficult time with these serious issues she herself is nowhere to be seen.
“In the last 48 hours borrowing costs have reached a 27-year high and it is the Chancellor’s decisions that have led us here. Before the election (Rachel Reeves) promised that Labour would get debt falling, they would not fiddle the figures, they would not raise taxes and they would grow the economy, but the economy is now flatlining.
“Survey after survey is showing business confidence has simply evaporated and at the budget the Chancellor hiked up taxes, increased borrowing by an average of £32 billion-a-year across the forecast and conveniently adjusted her fiscal rules to allow her to do it.
“Higher debt and lower growth are understandably now causing real concerns among the public, amongst businesses and in the markets. And despite what (Mr Jones) says about international factors, the premium on our borrowing costs compared to German bonds recently hit its highest level since 1990.
“With these rising costs, regrettably the Government may now be on course to breach their fiscal rules and the Chancellor has committed to no further tax rises, so does (Mr Jones) stand by her commitment not to increase taxes even further and, if so, does this mean that the public should expect cuts to public service spending if the OBR judge her fiscal headroom has evaporated?”
What rising government debt costs mean for you: Mortgages, employment and the economy
11:08
Jabed Ahmed
Read the full report from my colleague Howard Mustoe:
Treasury minister: ‘Government does not comment on specific financial market movements'
11:05
Jabed Ahmed
Treasury minister Darren Jones, responding to an urgent question on borrowing costs from shadow chancellor Mel Stride, told the Commons: “Financial markets are always evolving as the shadow chancellor knows so it is a long-standing convention that the Government does not comment on specific financial market movements and I will not be breaking that convention today.
“Financial market movements, including changes in Government bond or gilt yields, which represent the Government’s borrowing costs, are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors.
“It is normal for the price and yields of gilts to vary when there are wider movements in global financial markets, including in response to economic data.
“In recent months, movement in financial markets has been largely driven by data and global geopolitical events, which is to be expected, as markets adjust to new information.”
Conservative MPs had shouted “where is she” in reference to Chancellor Rachel Reeves as the urgent question was directed at her, but Mr Jones was sent by the Government to respond.
Markets functioning in ‘orderly way’, Treasury minister insists
10:50
Jabed Ahmed
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has said the situation in financial markets is “always evolving” as he addressed an urgent question by Mel Stride on the turmoil in financial markets.
Mr Jones said the surge in bond yields had been “largely driven by data and geopolitical events”.
He insisted the gilts market “continues to function in an orderly way” and that there remained “strong demand” for UK debt.
Watch: David Lammy dubs US Greenland ambitions as ‘classic Donald Trump’
10:49
Jabed Ahmed
ICYMI | Mapped: How your MP voted on the grooming gangs inquiry amendment
10:29
Jabed Ahmed
Pictured: Farming protest in Oxford outside conference where environment secretary Steve Reed is giving speech
10:15
Jabed Ahmed
Full report: Lammy laughs off Trump threat to grab Greenland: ‘It’s not going to happen’
10:09
Jabed Ahmed
The Independent’s Political Correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Coming up in Parliament today:
09:49
Jabed Ahmed
House of Commons
- 0930 Transport questions
- 1030 An urgent question to Rachel Reeves on the public finances: borrowing costs
- 1115 Business questions to Commons Leader Lucy Powell
- 1215 A general debate on tackling violence against women and girls
- An adjournment debate on the provision of debt advice services
Westminster Hall
- 1330 Impact of conflict on women and girls
House of Lords
- 1100 Oral questions
- 1145 A debate on the Science and Technology Committee report titled “Long-duration energy storage: get on with it”
- A debate on requirements for civil servants to work in government offices following a vote for possible strike action over compulsory office attendance at the Land Registry
- A debate on the International Relations and Defence Committee report titled “Our friends in the North: UK strategy towards the Arctic”
Lammy ignores calls from Trump ally for return of British Isis members
09:34
Jabed Ahmed
Shamima Begum will not be returning to the UK, David Lammy said following calls from Donald Trump’s incoming counter-terrorism chief for the repatriation of British members of so-called Islamic State being held in Syrian prison camps.
Sebastian Gorka said any nation which wishes to be seen as a “serious ally” of the US should commit to the international fight against the extremist group by taking back citizens currently languishing in Syria.
But the Foreign Secretary told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the Government would “always put British security interests first and the safeguarding of our population”.
He said: “Shamima Begum will not be coming back to the UK. It’s gone right through the courts. She’s not a UK national.
“We will not be bringing her back to the UK. We’re really clear about that.
“We will act in our security interests. And many of those in those camps are dangerous, are radicals.”
Some of them, if they were to return to the UK “would have to be, frankly, jailed as soon as they arrived”.
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.”
