Keir Starmer fast-tracking honours nominations to reward those who 'made sure targeted groups felt safe' during riots
Starmer has been accused of creating a "two-tier honours system"
PA
The Prime Minister has urged Government departments to fast-track honours nominations for "community leaders" who "made sure targeted groups felt safe" during the country-wide riots.
Sir Keir Starmer has pushed on officials to track down members of the public who showed "community spirit", as well as public sector staff who went "above and beyond" in their response to the unrest, according to Guido Fawkes.
The move has been labelled an "urgent commission" - and civil servants have been told to file nominations as soon as tomorrow, before permanent secretaries push them through over the weekend.
Despite officials being told to work to "extremely tight timescales", they've also been informed that "citations are not expected to be as detailed as usual, given the time frame".
One Westminster insider told the blog: "Typical... Starmer has created a two-tier honours system, rushing it through for political advantage.
"The King could end up handing a gong to a wife-beater!" they added.
Labour DROPS plans to oppose Greenpeace court case with North Sea Oil now on the brink
Labour has dropped its plans to oppose Greenpeace's court case to stop the development of oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Climate change groups Greenpeace and Uplift brought judicial reviews to halt the development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.
Operators could be forced to resubmit environmental assessments if the review backs the claim, adding enormous costs to the project.
The Rosebank, which is owned by Equinor and Ithaca Energy, oil field was approved by the previous government in September 2023.
It is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil.
Shell-owned Jackdaw gas condensate field is being developed 155 miles east of Aberdeen and is expected to start production in 2025.
However, Sir Keir Starmer campaigned to respect the approval of the fields while banning new ones.
Responding to the latest development, Mel Evans, UK climate team leader at Greenpeace, said not defending legal action brought against the new oil and gas sites is “absolutely the right decision”.
They said: “These permits should never have been granted without being properly assessed for their impact on the climate, and following the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, conceding these cases is the logical course of action.
“The two new fields combined would generate a vast amount of emissions while doing nothing to lower energy bills.
“The only real winners from giving them the green light would be multibillion-pound oil giants. Shell and Equinor should respect the Supreme Court’s decision and the Government’s position that their permits are illegal, and not waste time and money in greedy tactical legal battles.
“The Government must now make sure they prioritise public investment to support green jobs growth, that workers affected will be properly supported, and that the funding is ring-fenced for them to switch or retrain into sustainable jobs in renewable energy.”
Energy minister Michael Shanks also said: “This Government is committed to making Britain a clean energy superpower, helping to meet our first mission to kick-start economic growth.
“While we make that transition, the oil and gas industry will play an important role in the economy for decades to come.
“As we support the North Sea’s clean energy future, this Government is committed to protecting current and future generations of good jobs as we do so.
“We were elected with a mandate to deliver stability, certainty and growth. Every action we take will be in pursuit of that.
“We will consult at pace on new guidance that takes into account the Supreme Court’s ruling on Environmental Impact Assessments, to enable the industry to plan, secure jobs, and invest in our economy.”
Starmer bins portrait of Margaret Thatcher as he redecorates No10
Sir Keir Starmer has been labelled "petty" after removing a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from Downing Street - just months after praising the Iron Lady to win over Tory voters.
The PM's biographer, Tom Baldwin, said Starmer had found the portrait of his decades-past predecessor "unsettling", ordering it to be taken down in his new home.
Majority of Britons BACK smoking bans, new polling says - while only Reform voters stand against Starmer
The majority of Britons - regardless of age, gender, class, politics or location - back the Government's proposed smoking crackdown, fresh polling says.
In figures released just minutes ago, pollsters at YouGov have found that some 58 per cent of surveyed Britons either strongly support or tend to support the measures - with just 35 per cent either tending to or strongly opposing them.
The data is consistent across different regions of the UK, has a near-equal gender split, and shows that 18-24-year-olds have the lowest level of support for the slated ban - and even then, that sits above 50 per cent.
YouGov also split their figures between Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Reform voters - out of those four, only the latter group has come out against the ban.
Some 67 per cent of Labour voters supported the measures, which also saw majority support from Tories and Lib Dems.
But followers of Nigel Farage's party were the only demographic - age, class, and gender included - to express an overall opposition to the ban, with 54 per cent of those surveyed opposing it.
Labour's proposed smoking ban will 'kill pubs and hospitality', blasts pub owner
Labour has sparked fury among Britons after leaked documents suggest that the Government could be set to implement a ban on outdoor smoking.
The proposed plans are expected to be unveiled as part of a tougher Tobacco and Vapes Bill, with outdoor restaurants and open-air spaces at clubs to be most affected by the move.
Keir Starmer's approval rating drops to record low as No10 embroiled in cronyism row
Sir Keir StarmerPASir Keir Starmer's No10 honeymoon period appears all but over, a new opinion poll has suggested.
The Prime Minister's approval rating slumped to a record low of minus 16, down from a positive 27 per cent rating after his landslide victory on July 4.
The survey by More in Common also revealed more than two-thirds of voters think Starmer's Government is more interested in serving its own interests than those of ordinary people.
It comes after Labour was hit with a cronyism row over appointments of several Starmer loyalists to senior roles within the Civil Service.
Luke Tryl, the UK director of More in Common, said: "Part of the challenge for Labour surrounds perception of corruption in politics.
"The mood remains very much one of a pox on all your houses."
Labour is facing significant pressure from older voters following Starmer's decision to means-test Winter Fuel Payments.
However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the decision, arguing: “It was a decision that I had to make in incredibly challenging circumstances to put our public finances on a firm footing.”
Starmer warned releasing prisoners early is 'roll of the dice' - 'Things will go wrong!'
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned Labour are “rolling the dice” by releasing thousands of banged up Britons next month in a bid to tackle overcrowding in prisonsPASir Keir Starmer has been warned Labour is “rolling the dice” by releasing thousands of banged-up Britons next month in a bid to tackle overcrowding in prisons.
Ex-Parole Board Chief Executive Martin Jones, who now heads up the probation service, also claimed staff monitoring ex-convicts do not have the resources to cope with the move.
Jones accepted there were “no risk-free options” but argued the move would put further strain on the probation service.
“I think it’s inevitable, being realistic about it, that things will go wrong,” he told The Times.
Angela Rayner earmarks 200 sites for 300,000 house building boom
Angela Rayner
PADeputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has earmarked 200 sites across England which will have to build 300,000 homes in Labour's construction boom.
Rayner said the Government had a “moral obligation” to unblock tens of thousands of new homes and would “intervene where we need to”.
She added: “For far too long, the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes has been held back by a failure to make sure the development system is working as it should.
“This Government has a moral obligation to do everything within our power to build the homes that people desperately need and we won’t hesitate to intervene where we need to.
“Our New Homes Accelerator will quickly identify blockages, fix problems and support local authorities and developers to get shovels in the ground.”
Tory leadership hopeful warns Labour will inflict 'ideological vandalism' on UK
Tom Tugendhat
GettyTory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat will today accuse Labour of seeking to commit "ideological vandalism" by proposing to scrap successful education reforms.
The former Security Minister will also accuse Labour of dishonesty after Sir Keir Starmer claimed the Tories left a £22billion black hole in public finances.
Tugendhat is expected to say: "The so-called fiscal black hole the Chancellor has invented since the election consists of normal in-year spending pressures… and her own decisions on public sector pay.
"And this is the point. Labour are pretending they have no option but to do what they are doing.
"But this is untrue.They are doing what they are doing because they have made a choice to do it – and a choice to be dishonest about it.”