Jeremy Corbyn leads new ‘Independent Alliance’ parliamentary group as he teams up with pro-Gaza MPs

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Yvette Cooper commits to ‘rapid review of extremism’ after Southport riots

The Home Secretary accused the rioters, who were embroiled in disorder after the fatal stabbings of three young girls in Southport, of "hijacking" grief.

She also pledged "thousands more" neighbourhood police officers and community support officers as part of five "next steps" to improve community cohesion and ensure sufficient public order policing for the future. In a statement to the Commons on Monday, she said: “While millions of decent people across the country were praying for bereaved families, a criminal minority of thugs and extremists saw only an opportunity to hijack a town’s grief.

“I’ve been concerned for a long time not enough is being done to counter extremism, including both Islamist extremism and far-right extremism, and there’s been no proper strategy in place since 2015.

“I have ordered a rapid review of extremism to ensure we have the strongest possible response to poisonous ideologies that corrode community cohesion and fray the fabric of our democracy.”

Southport MP slams 'grotesque lie' that rioters were acting on behalf of the people of town

Patrick Hurley told MPs: "It’s one of the most appalling aspects of the disorder that we saw across the country last month that we continually heard the claim from the thugs involved that they’ve been driven to commit their acts of violence by the killing of little Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice. That claim is a grotesque lie, and no one is more furious about that lie than the people of Southport.”

He added: "I’d like to ask the Home Secretary [Yvette Cooper] to please reiterate that what happened in Southport provides no justification at all for anyone throwing bricks at the police, for anyone attacking people in their own cars or burning down buildings with people inside them, and that for anyone to pretend otherwise is too horrific for words."

The Home Secretary replied: "I am so sorry that the families he represents and the community he represents has had to endure not just the original attack, but also people claiming to be doing things in the name of Southport, when clearly they have not been doing and it is simply crime."

Liberal Democrat MP urges Government to 'go further' following the suspension of some arms exports licences to Israel

MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran said: "I urge the Government to go further. Will they not ban goods produced in the legal Israeli settlements? If the settlements are illegal, why are we allowing trade with them?

"And will they sanction Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, as the EU’s Josep Borrell is considering, or can (Foreign Secretary David Lammy) at least say that when it comes to violent extremists, nothing and no one is off the table?"

Lammy replied: "We condemn the settler expansion, the record levels that we’ve seen this year, particularly, and of course, the increase in settler violence. And I condemn the language that’s been used by ministers in the Israeli government, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, particularly in relation to this. It’s entirely unacceptable language and should be condemned by the Israeli government as a whole.

"(Ms Moran) raises important issues, and she recognises that, of course, in terms of labelling, we do label in relation to goods from settlements alongside the 1967 borders particularly, but the issues are very, very complex."

David Lammy suspends Israel arms licences after months of pressure from pro-Palestine activists

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced the Government is suspending arms export licences to Israel.

In a statement in the House of Commons, the Labour politician said: "Facing a conflict such as this it is this Government’s legal duty to review Britain’s export licences."

It comes after months of pressure from pro-Palestine protesters to suspend weapons sales to Israel.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Yvette Cooper to give speech on UK riots

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is to address MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon, giving a statement on the Government's response to violent disorder.

Parliament returned from summer recess today, making this week the first opportunity for the Labour MP to update parliamentarians formally.

The Government rejected calls over the summer for Parliament to be recalled early to hear about how ministers were dealing with violent disorder.

Starmer defends controversial Ofsted move

The scrapping of single-phrase inspection headline grades for schools in England will be a relief for parents, the Prime Minister has said as he visited a primary school and chatted with students on their first day back.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke with pupils at Perry Hall Primary School in Orpington on Monday, telling one class that it is his Government’s job to “make sure that you get the best education you can”.

He, along with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, sat and quizzed Year Ones on their summer holidays before Starmer was grilled by Year Fours on why he wanted to be prime minister, on his values and on what he is going to do to help the environment.

Speaking to the media on the visit, the Prime Minister insisted the change in grading was “about driving up standards”.

“Making sure we’ve got a richer picture so parents can see in a more accountable way the real strength of a school and making sure we’ve got the improvements in to catch schools quickly,” he said.

Starmer added: “We’ll be absolutely pressing schools on standards and I don’t accept that parents will be confused.

“I’ve got two children in secondary education and so we have ourselves had to look at schools, and I have to say, from our point of view, the single grade didn’t work very well because we want to know what about the other areas, what about this aspect?”

James Cleverly compares Farage to STARMER as he takes aim at 'declinism'

James Cleverly has compared Nigel Farage to Sir Keir Starmer in an extraordinary swipe at the Tories' rivals from the left and right as he launched his Conservative leadership bid.

The former Home Secretary claimed the Reform and Labour leaders were "declinist", and pledged that "our best years can be ahead of us" in a message of optimism as he addressed crowds at the Old War Office in London.

He said: "I don't accept the shared declinism of Starmer and Farage, who both believe that our best days are behind us.

"Starmer thinks it was better before we left the EU, Farage thinks it was better before we joined the EU... They're both wrong.

"I know that our best years can be ahead of us, but only if we replace this useless Labour government... And in order to win again, we need a leader who can unite the party, and I'm the best placed to do that."

Cleverly, who has lamented the Government's dropping of his Rwanda plan on its first day in power, also told attendees: "When we deal with illegal migration - I stand by what I have always said, we need to have a deterrent.

"As leader, as Prime Minister, I will use my contacts and my reputation with Rwanda to resurrect that incredibly important partnership.

"We must, of course, tackle the drivers of mass movement: War, famine, persecution, economic failure - because in this portfolio, as in so many others, prevention is better than cure.

"And to those people who we do welcome into our country, we must make it clear our welcome comes with modest but non-negotiable conditions."

Labour to REFUSE Commons vote on stripping Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners

Labour is set to block a vote on cancelling pensioners' winter fuel allowance in Parliament this week - prompting fury from across the benches and within the party itself.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has hailed the controversial paring-back of the payments as the "right choice" in order to fill the so-called "black hole" in public finances after 14 years of Tory rule.

Writing in The Observer, Reeves said: "They were not the choices I wanted to make or expected to make but they were the right choices to put our country on a firmer footing."

And the Leader of the Commons, Lucy Powell, claimed that if the payments - expected to save taxpayers some £1.5billion annually - were kept in place, Britain could be forced to endure a run on the pound.

Despite both Conservatives and Lib Dems urging ministers to consider holding a parliamentary vote on axing the payments, Government insiders have shut down the idea.

Across the benches, MPs say the scale of the winter fuel cuts mean the measures should be given airtime in the Commons.

But a Government source said succinctly: "We are not going to do that".

Shadow Treasury Minister Laura Trott slated the plans to push through the allowance cuts, saying: "This simply shows how desperate the Labour government is to run from responsibility for the tax rises they always planned but hid from the public during the election.

"After handing billions in inflation-busting pay rises to their union paymasters, no one believes Labour's 'Chicken Little' strategy.

"They should stop trying to deceive the public with ridiculous fantasies and instead have the courage to let Parliament debate cuts to winter fuel payments for the sake of those pensioners who will lose out thanks to the decisions of this Government."

The plans to axe the payments - despite the fact they'll be kept open to pensioners taking home less than just under £1,000 per month - have seen wide-ranging condemnation, not least at the hands of Age UK, which has written to the Chancellor in a push to make her reconsider, and whose petition has reached almost half a million signatures.

Labour's own Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Ageing and Older People, said: "This is not going to go away - the Government cannot run away from it."

Badenoch warns Britain's future 'not as bright as it once was' as leadership favourite lashes out at 'clueless' Labour

Kemi Badenoch has warned that Britain's "future is not as bright as it once was" because "we have lost control" in her pitch for Conservative leadership.

The MP for North West Essex, despite facing a string of campaign warnings in recent weeks, delivered a series of cutting remarks as she weighed into the race.

Badenoch said she understood why people from abroad would want to come to the UK to build their own lives - but issued the dire warning over the country's future before launching into a series of barbs against Labour - which she labelled "clueless, irresponsible and dishonest".

She told attendees that Starmer's party was "already making worse mistakes than we did" but warned the Tories could not simply sit back and highlight the Government's errors.

In a driven pledge to Tory members, Badenoch concluded by saying: "Our party has principles - the very best principles. They are the principles of the British people, the principles not of the centre ground but of the common ground.

"They are the source of our country's strength, its heritage and its future. With the right engineering, there is no limit to what we can do.

"So it is time to begin this work... It is time to give new hope, it is time to renew."

SNP brands net zero a 'Scottish people's priority'

The SNP is putting net zero front and centre of its legislative agenda for Scotland.

First Minister John Swinney is expected to address the Scottish Parliament later this week when he will say that delivering the eco pledge, along with eradicating child poverty and growing the economy are his priorities.

He said there were “tough decisions ahead” but his Government plans to “improve people’s lives by focusing on clear priorities that make the biggest difference”.

Swinney said: "The Scottish Government will continue to prioritise action to eradicate child poverty, to grasp the opportunities of delivering net zero and to grow the economy by investing in public services and infrastructure.

“While we will work with the UK Government wherever we can, we will continue to urge them to drop the damaging cuts and set new spending rules that support investment.”

One-word Ofsted school ratings deemed 'inhumane' to be replaced by 'report cards'

One-word Ofsted school ratings have been scrapped across the UK state sector with "immediate effect", Labour has announced.

As of September next year, parents will no longer be told whether the schools to which they're sending their own children are "outstanding", "good", "requiring improvement" or "inadequate" by the ratings body - with the one- or two-word ratings axed in favour of so-called "report cards".

Teaching unions had given the single-word Ofsted ratings their own single-word descriptors, slamming them as "simplistic, reductive, unreliable and inhumane" - and the Government's apparent bowing to their demands has been met with condemnation by Conservatives.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Britain's wealthiest FLEEING the country in fear of Labour's tax raids

Entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals are starting to leave the UK over fears of Labour's impending tax hikes.

Ahead of a much-rumoured ramping-up of Capital Gains Tax, business bigwigs, financial advisers and bankers have taken flight - with Labour's election victory and Keir Starmer's pledge to place tax burdens on those with the "broadest shoulders" key drivers in pushing the rich abroad.

Ceri Vokes, a partner at law firm Withers Worldwide - which works with private equity personnel and entrepreneurs - said numerous clients had already left Britain, with Italy, Switzerland and the UAE among the top destinations for those fleeing tax rises.

Spain and Ireland also maintain favourable tax rates on foreign capital gains - and have attracted business leaders including Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins.

Mullins said: "I know quite a few millionaires and billionaires who have left the UK, set up in Monaco or Dubai. Italy are offering a good deal now.

"I know a lot of people have moved their money from the UK. Not just because of tax, but because of Labour's policies on workers' rights, and on most things."

David Lesperance, of advisory firm Lesperance and Associates, said Britain's wealthiest have been "getting out while the going is good".

A Treasury spokesman said: "Following the spending audit, the Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22billion hole in the public finances left by the last government.

"Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget in the round."

Kemi Badenoch to say Tories too focused on attacking Labour

Kemi Badenoch will lash out at Labour and call for change in the Conservative Party as she launches her Tory leadership campaign in Westminster later today.

The shadow communities secretary, the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Rishi Sunak, will say her party has to “focus on renewal” to be ready to return to power.

She will say the Conservatives “can’t just sit around pointing out how terrible Labour are” and must not “keep having the same policy arguments from the last parliament”.

Cleverly vows to ABOLISH 'perverse' stamp duty as Tory leadership race heats up

James Cleverly has pledged to abolish stamp duty on all homes if he wins the Conservative leadership contest - and the 2029 General Election.

The ex-Home Secretary has pushed for what he labelled the "perverse" "bad tax" to be eventually canned for all residential property-buyers in a move to push more people on to the housing ladder, writing in The Telegraph.

In the newspaper, Cleverly wrote: "The truth is, too many young, aspirational, hard-working people have deserted us and our ideas.

"Just as Thatcher gave council tenants the right to buy, we need to give young people a bigger stake in our society.

In a warning to Tories following July's historic election washout, Cleverly called the leadership race a "survive or die moment", writing: "For the Conservative Party to win the next election, we need to resell our Conservative values, be the party of prosperity, and remake the argument for capitalism."

One candidate will drop out of the race on Wednesday after the first round of voting by Tory MPs.