Angela Rayner brutally snubbed by Sir Keir Starmer as she's kept off key security committee

Keir Starmer reaffirms support for Ukraine and Nato in sleek video

Our support for Ukraine, and for NATO, remains unshakeable 🇬🇧🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/SChwaCF8tE

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 10, 2024

Foreign Office congratulates British Nobel Prize Winner

Congratulations to Sir @demishassabis and his colleague Dr John Jumper for being awarded the @NobelPrize in Chemistry for their work in Artificial Intelligence.

Their AI model helped crack the code of proteins, which is now being used across the globe. https://t.co/7qu3yDR6uE

— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) October 10, 2024

King Charles approves the appointment of Poppy Gustafsson as Minister for Investment

The King has approved the appointment of Poppy Gustafsson OBE as Minister of State (Minister for Investment) jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury.

Gustafsson will head up a bolstered Office for Investment, as part of a wider Whitehall ‘shake up’ to strengthen the Government’s offer and partnership with businesses and investors.

The appointment comes ahead of the government’s inaugural International Investment Summit which will bring together global business leaders, Local Mayors, First Ministers and Cabinet Ministers to discuss deepening partnerships with businesses to drive forward the Government’s growth agenda.

The Minister for Investment is expected to join the Prime Minister at the Council of Nations and Regions meeting tomorrow.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I am delighted to welcome Poppy Gustafsson OBE as our new Investment Minister – an accomplished entrepreneur who brings invaluable experience to the role.

“We’re upgrading the Office for Investment to ensure it is fit for purpose and has the capability it needs to make the UK the first choice for investment and the best place in the world to do business, which is central to our mission to drive growth and make people better off.

Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds said: “Poppy has shown she knows firsthand what it takes to start and grow a successful international business.

“Her private sector expertise will be vital in ensuring we attract more valuable investment into Britain and these changes show this Government's growth mission will prioritise what businesses need to thrive in the UK and boost our economy."

Poppy Gustafsson OBE said: “It is a huge privilege to be appointed as the Minister of Investment and I am excited to get started.

“I have first-hand experience of building and scaling a business here in the UK and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share with the international investment community what I already know to be true; the UK is a great place to do business.”

Rachel Reeves considering major hike to capital gains tax as chancellor's plans in ‘complete disarray’

Rachel Reeves is considering a major hike to capital gains tax (CGT) as the Chancellor's plans are in "complete disarray", according to senior Whitehall officials.

She is considering rates as high as 39 per cent in an attempt to find money to fund public services across the country.

The Treasury is testing out new rates between 33 per cent and 39 per cent for CGT, which is paid by approximately 350,000 of the tax-paying population.

The tax is imposed on the sale of assets, such as second homes, stocks and bonds.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

EXCLUSIVE: Tory 1922 Committee to double 'no confidence' threshold to make it harder to force out new leader

The new leader of the Conservative Party will only face a vote of no confidence if at least 30 per cent of Tory MPs are demanding one, the chairman of the 1922 Committee has told GB News.

The move will make it harder for MPs to force out the new leader, who will be either Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch.

Bob Blackman said that the threshold to force a vote of no confidence in the party's new leader is likely to be lifted from 15pc to "at least 30pc" of the backbench party.

This means that 36 Tory MPs out of the party's 121 MPs will have to sign letters of no confidence to Blackman to force a new vote.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Nigel Farage overtakes Keir Starmer in popularity 

Keir Starmer is now as unpopular as Nigel Farage

Net favourability scores
Nigel Farage: -35
Keir Starmer: -36
Rishi Sunak: -42

Select cabinet ministers
Angela Rayner: -25
Rachel Reeves: -29
Yvette Cooper: -16
David Lammy: -19https://t.co/DCP4HQ2h6T pic.twitter.com/YarKmvRkux

— YouGov (@YouGov) October 10, 2024

​Prisoners serving a less than four-year sentence in Scotland to be released earlier

Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance told MSPs prisoners serving short sentences will be released after 40% of their sentence as opposed to the current 50% and similar to a UK Government change.

The MSP for Almond Valley said: "I intend to pursue a similar policy to change the point at which most short-term prisoners are released from the current 50 per cent to after 40 per cent of their sentence has been served.

"This proposal would come with statutory exclusions in relation to domestic abuse and sexual offences, recognising the particular concerns which will arise in relation to such offences.”

A new Bill will be required in Holyrood to make the changes, which Constance said would be taken forward on an emergency basis, which could allow it to be passed in just three days by MSPs.

 Spain issues Gibraltar threat just days after Labour capitulated on Chagos Islands

Spain has threatened the UK with a hard border on Gibraltar unless it accepts their post-Brexit deal. The country's foreign minister, José Manuel Albares gathered regional authorities and journalists in Andalusia, which is on the border with Gibraltar, just weeks before the introduction of the European Union’s digital border system.

A proposed deal between the EU and the UK would result in Gibraltar being included within the Schengen area, therefore removing the land border. However, Madrid has insisted that its security forces would have to be present to police arrivals to Gibraltar’s airport and port.

Albares warned the system would mean non-EU citizens, including Britons residing in Gibraltar, would only be able to spend 90 days in Spain every 180 days, unless a deal was reached. He added residents would also have to explain to border guards why they wanted to enter.

Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo has insisted he would not accept "Spanish boots on the ground." His government previously warned it could retaliate with its own new controls if no deal was agreed with the EU, raising the risk of delays on the land border.

Spain views Gibraltar as a colony, a status that is incompatible with international law as laid down by the United Nations. Madrid also disputes the British territory’s occupation of the 800-metre isthmus that links the Rock with Spain.

Starmer, Zelensky and Rutte meet in Downing Street

Zelensky presented his "victory plan" to Sir Keir Starmer as pressure mounted on the UK to give Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets in Russia.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the Ukrainian president and Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte met in Downing Street to discuss the state of the war.

Rutte, the former Dutch PM, said there was no legal reason preventing the use of Western-supplied weapons against targets within Russia, but decisions had to be made by individual states.

Labour backbencher met with chants of 'shame' over defence of Free Speech bill

Mark Ferguson said that the Conservative Party’s Bill meant universities had limited ability to stop speakers who wanted to promote hate or conspiracy theories.

The MP for Gateshead Central and Whickham said he voted to block Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir from speaking at universities when he was head of Cambridge University Students Union in 2006. The National Union of Students voted to add the group to a "no platform" list.

Ferguson said: "It was the right thing to do. Clearly the party opposite agrees because in January this year they proscribed Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation. Would the minister agree with me that the party opposite’s position is a charter for Hizb ut-Tahrir, Holocaust deniers and vaccine deniers to wander our universities freely?"

Conservative MPs shouted “shame” at his question.

Education minister Catherine McKinnell said: “That is why we are taking the time to make sure that we get this right, that we do uphold lawful freedom of expression… but that we do not give space for unlawful speech that it goes beyond robust debate.”

MPs debate anti-semitism on University campuses

Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who is the chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Israel, said that academics’ and students’ rights need protecting when the Government reintroduces the Bill.

The MP for Harrow East, who is also the chairman of the Backbench Business Committee, said: "The sad reality is that Jewish students, Jewish academics feel threatened right now by antisemites, let’s call them out for what they are, antisemites. They must be free to exercise freedom of speech. So will she in this consideration, make sure those rights are going to be absolutely upheld with whatever the Government comes forward with."

The Liberal Democrats’ universities spokesman and MP for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire Ian Sollom said: “We should take legitimate concern seriously and should not ignore those that exist within Jewish communities, including universities. What work is the minister undertaking to ensure that Jewish staff and students feel safe and welcome in our communities?”

Education minister Catherine McKinnell said: “The rise in antisemitic abuse on higher education campuses is deeply concerning and something that this Government takes extremely seriously.

"We regularly meet with Universities UK to discuss what support they are offering to Jewish students on campus and how they are tackling antisemitic abuse. We also meet regularly with the Union of Jewish Students, University Jewish Chaplaincy and the Community Security Trust and we will continue to do so to make sure that we get this right."

Businesses slam Rayner's workers rights revolution which will be 'bad for jobs'

Business leaders said they are "outraged" over Labour's landmark employment reforms. The new law, which ministers will unveil later today will give nine million workers the right to launch unfair dismissal claims from their first day. Flexible working, including working from home, will also be made the "default for all" where possible.

However, there are fears that while the Bill has "good intentions" it could tie small firms up in red tape, causing bosses to "freeze employment."

National chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Martin McTague: "With all the good intentions, this [Bill] will inject fear into that employment relationship. It makes most small businesses very nervous."

Policy chair at the FSB Tina McKenzie called the bill: "A rushed job, clumsy, chaotic and poorly planned...Beyond warm words, it lacks any real pro-growth element and will increase economic inactivity, seriously jeopardising the Government's own 80 per cent employment target."

President Zelensky arrives at Downing Street 

The Ukrainian president has met Sir Keir Starmer and Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, with the Prime Minister expected to underline the UK’s commitment to the defence of Ukraine. President Zelensky is likely to once again press for permission to use long-range Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia.

The UK and US have so far stopped short of explicitly giving Kyiv permission to fire Western-supplied missiles at targets within Russia over concerns about further escalating the conflict, but President Zelensky has likened his position to having to fight with his hands tied.

Downing Street said on Wednesday that the UK’s position on using Storm Shadow had not changed. Sir Keir was expected to meet with the leaders of France, Germany and the US at the weekend to discuss Ukraine, but the meeting has been postponed as Joe Biden remains in America to deal with the impact of Hurricane Milton.

SNP urges Chancellor to deliver £1.6bn in extra funding for Scotland’s NHS

The party said its research found the UK Government has spent less on healthcare than nearly every other country in north-west Europe since the start of the millennium.

The analysis, based on data from the OECD, found on average the UK spent around £1,045 (19 per cent) less per person than its neighbours between 2000 and 2023. Westminster spent £7,963 per capita in 2022, which amounted to 40% less than Norway, 29 per cent less than Germany and 11 per cent less than France.

The only country which spent less than the UK was Finland, on £7,420 per capita. For the eight countries where data was available for 2023, the UK spent 19 per cent (£1,986) less than other nearby nations.

SNP’s health spokesperson at Westminster Seamus Logan said: "The UK Government has chronically underfunded the NHS for more than a decade and as a result it has restricted the funding available for healthcare in Scotland and every part of the UK. There is no escaping the fact that the NHS needs more money.

“The Chancellor must deliver a major funding boost of at least £16 billion a year for the NHS at the UK budget, which would deliver an additional £1.6 billion for NHS Scotland."

Liberal Democrat councillor suspended by party over 'pro-Hamas' social media post

Leena Sarah Farhat, a member of Llanfairfechan town council in Conwy county, was also her party's candidate in Ynys Môn at the general election.

The message which Farhat shared was posted from a different social media account on the anniversary of the attack on October 7, which Hamas named Operation Al-Aqsa Flood

It read: "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is one of the most important, valiant, ground-shaking anti-colonial uprisings of our time. At the crack of dawn they flew over & burst through the colonial wall, outsmarting and striking a lightning rod blow to the tyrant Goliath. Long live the resistance."

She told BBC Wales she had made a mistake in reposting the message on X, formerly known as Twitter. The party said the original message was "deeply offensive and unacceptable".

Reynolds rejects suggestion pensioners would have to 'hide behind the sofa' under Labour

The Business Secretary told Sky News: “This is a Government that is going to make everybody better off. Specifically for pensioners, we already have the commitment to the triple lock, that’s a guarantee that pensioners will be better off this year, next year, the year after that.

"That is a significant pledge from this new Government, so people should be reassured from commitments like that.

"Yes, it is a challenging situation, but we are serious on delivering on our objectives, which is an economy that works better for everyone, better growth, better investment and to make sure everyone benefits from that."