Policing minister makes assertion on anti-migrant protests – UK politics reside | Politics
Polanski faces problem to be Greens’ candidate for Holborn and St Pancras, as most Greens on native council again rival
Peter Walker
Peter Walker is a senior Guardian political correspondent.
Zack Polanski is going through surprising inside opposition in his bid to battle the Holborn and St Pancras byelection for the Greens, with an area councillor saying he’s additionally in search of the nomination and that the seat wants an area MP, not “a politician you’ll solely see on a leaflet”.
Hamza Chowdhury, a Green councillor on Camden council in north London, mentioned in a put up that he had obtained nomination from six different Greens, that means seven of the ten Greens on the council oppose Polanski being chosen.
Among these backing him is Lorna Russell, the group chief in Camden for the Greens, who’re the official opposition to Labour.
Polanski, the chief of the Greens in England and Wales, announced on Thursday that he would search the nomination to battle the seat vacated by Keir Starmer, establishing a high-stakes byelection in opposition to Labour.
Local get together members will vote later this week to pick a candidate, and the Guardian has been told that they’re broadly supportive of Polanski standing.
But such high-profile opposition is notable, particularly given Chowdhury argued that Polanski, who presently lives in east London, could be unable to correctly symbolize the realm if he received.
Chowdhury wrote on Instagram:
I do know Camden as a result of I reside it daily. I do know the challenges going through our communities, our estates, our damaged lifts, our unpicked bins, our unclean roads and limitless housing register ready checklist as a result of these are the locations I’ve grown up and proceed to name dwelling.
We don’t want one other MP who arrives throughout an election marketing campaign, places out a couple of leaflets, makes a couple of guarantees and disappears as soon as the votes are counted. We want an MP who’s current, accessible and visibly a part of the group all yr spherical.
I’m asking Green get together members for the chance to symbolize your own home really and correctly. I’m not asking you to vote for a politician you’ll solely see on a leaflet. I’m asking you to decide on somebody who’s already right here.
Key occasions
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Council leaders say reorganisation U-turn will create ‘significant uncertainty’ for staff
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Lib Dems claim local government reorganisation could put ‘essential services and vulnerable people at risk’
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Farage claims Reform UK triggered council reorganisation U-turn by using judicial review court challenges
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List of counties and areas in England where local government reorganisation plans have been cancelled or shelved
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No 10 refuses to deny report saying the Sun won’t be getting any favours from Burnham while he’s PM
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Labour moves writ for Holborn and St Pancras byelection to be held on Thursday 8 October
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Rayner cancels some local government reorganisation plans for England, and delays others, after Burnham requested rethink
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MP calls for circumcisions by non-health professionals to be banned, as Commons debates amendments to health bill
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Polanski faces challenge to be Greens’ candidate for Holborn and St Pancras, as most Greens on local council back rival
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Policing minister Sarah Jones to make statement to MPs on Portsmouth anti-migrant disruption
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No 10 hits back at US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, after he accuses UK government of ‘Jew hate’
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Opposition parties accuse Healey of offering ‘more of the same’ in his first major speech as chancellor
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Healey’s speech – snap verdict
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Ministers told to axe many consultations, and tolerate more legal risk, so they can drive through change more quickly
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Healey says he cannot comment on budget be because responding to speculation will ‘only fuel more speculation’
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Healey declines to rule out tax rises in budget
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Healey says he wants to cut burden of business regulation by 25%
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Healey says changes to Treasury’s green book rules will ‘skew investment to projects with more long-term potential’
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Healey allocates £150m from British Business Bank for start-ups in north of England
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Healey says he will set out ‘roadmap to fiscal devolution’ in budget
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Healey says he wants to ‘draw the line’ under ever-rising costs for business
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Healey says making ‘Great Britain growth Britain again’ is ‘central’ to his mission as chancellor
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Healey says there’s ‘nothing progressive’ about paying debt interest, and being ‘true to our values’ means controlling spending
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‘Even Reeves had more vision’ – opposition parties not impressed by advance briefing on Healey’s speech
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Healey says he wants growth story ‘written in more places’
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Minister condemns ‘thuggish’ far-right, anti-migrant protesters in Portsmouth
Sarah Jones, the policing minister, instructed the Commons that the federal government “stay alert” for small boat crossings on lesser used stretches of the Channel.
“The gangs are by no means going to go quietly”, Jones mentioned. “They are responding to the affect our work is having and we’ll adapt in flip.”
Some protestors confirmed “intimidating and thuggish behaviour” this weekend, Sarah Jones, the policing minister mentioned.
But she added she didn’t search to “minimise” respectable considerations individuals had about small boat crossings.
“This authorities has taken motion to repair the damaged system we inherited and crack down on the individuals smugglers,” Jones mentioned, mentioning that system-wide arrests have been up 70%.
Sarah Jones added that “work is ongoing to ascertain any classes and to make sure that intelligence is shared at tempo” throughout regulation enforcement methods.
Jones mentioned the protestors had started to disperse at 4am and no arrests have been made on the night time.
“There might be no excuse for threatening behaviour or severe disruption,” Jones mentioned. “Disorder of any variety won’t ever be tolerated.”
Sarah Jones, the policing minister, mentioned “investigations are ongoing” into the dysfunction in Portsmouth.
“Where criminality is recognized, these accountable ought to anticipate to face the implications”, Jones added.
She mentioned on Sunday a ship carrying roughly 120 individuals reached British shores “considerably additional west” than most boat crossings.
At 8pm, Jones mentioned, a gaggle of greater than 200 protestors reached the harbour, in search of to dam the coaches from leaving.
Andrew Sparrow
In the Commons Sarah Jones, the policing minister, is making an announcement in regards to the anti-migrant disruption in Dover and Portsmouth. I’m ending now, however Charlie Maloney is taking on to cowl the assertion.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s dwelling affairs spokesperson, has been in Portsmouth right this moment. In a statement on social media, he claimed Andy Burnham was guilty for the dysfunction within the metropolis as a result of individuals have been responding to the implications of the federal government’s asylum coverage.
While he was there, Yusuf was confronted by Daniel Thomas, a far-right agitator carefully linked to Tommy Robinson. Thomas helped to organise the protests and he instructed Yusuf that he was not blissful about Nigel Farage condemning the protesters for sporting balaclavas. Sky News has video of the encounter.
As Sky reports, Thomas instructed Yusuf:
You have to inform Nigel [Farage], he can not – he did this earlier than, after we had one million individuals on the streets of London … he known as us knuckledraggers … Nigel must be very cautious together with his phrases.
From my colleague Jessica Elgot
New – Marc Stears, the director of UCL Policy Lab, is becoming a member of Number 10 as a particular advisor to Andy Burnham.
Close to Ed Miliband, Stears has finished a variety of work and analysis lately on the splintering progressive vote, particularly stressing the significance of local weather.
Sarah Jones, the policing minister, will likely be making an announcement in regards to the far-right, anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth shortly. Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are speaking about them on the newest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast. It’s simply out.
Council leaders say reorganisation U-turn will create ‘vital uncertainty’ for employees
But different native authorities leaders have criticised the reorganisation U-turn on the grounds that it’s creating uncertainty.
This is from the Local Government Association, which represents all councils in England.
Councils throughout the nation will maintain completely different views on the native authorities reorganisation (LGR) programme, for what it means for his or her areas, and the announcement of right this moment’s overview. But there isn’t any excuse for the federal government’s mishandling of this course of.
Today’s announcement, nevertheless, could have induced vital uncertainty, after councils have invested scarce public cash and numerous hours within the authorities’s LGR programme. People’s jobs, lives and wider commitments have been affected. Staff, councillors and their households can’t be anticipated to place their lives on maintain whereas ministers undertake a overview which is a large number of their very own making. Particularly at a time when native companies stay below actual strain, that is no technique to deal with native authorities.
The LGA represents all events in native authorities. Normally it reaches a consensus view earlier than it feedback on political points. On this event, it mentioned it couldn’t attain a consensus, and it mentioned this was a “majority view” of its management.
Mike Short, head of native authorities at Unison, the union representing many native authorities staff, made the same level. He mentioned:
This pause prolongs the uncertainty felt by native authorities workers. Their jobs, futures and the companies they ship are in even larger limbo.
And Jonathan Carr-West, chief govt on the LGIU (Local Government Information Unit), a council thinktank, mentioned:
What started as essentially the most formidable change to native authorities in a technology now seems at risk of changing into a colossal white elephant – an enormous drain on time, assets and goodwill.
Those councils present process native authorities reorganisation have been making an attempt to implement a massively advanced undertaking, below intense strain and to very difficult timescales. LGIU’s concern isn’t the benefit or in any other case of the LGR choices – many others have made well-argued circumstances each for and in opposition to the numerous proposals that have been submitted.
Our overriding concern is that native authorities leaders, workers and councillors have strained each sinew to fulfill the deadlines set by MHCLG. Today’s announcement – regardless of the causes behind it – rides roughshod over hundreds of hours of labor.
County councils in England have been notably against the proposed native authorities reorganisation as a result of county councils function in a two-tier system (with district councils), and the principle objective of the plan was to exchange two-tier councils with unitary councils (on the grounds they’re supposedly extra environment friendly).
Today the County Councils Network issued a broadly constructive assertion in regards to the reorganisation U-turn. Its chair elect, Sean Matthews, mentioned:
Many of our members had severe considerations [about the reorganisation] and felt the selections taken during the last six months wouldn’t ship any of those goals – with the earlier Starmer authorities shifting considerably from its personal standards to create new authorities masking populations of 500,000 or extra. Others have been involved how choices have been made, the robustness of the method and the underpinning proof.
The CCN known as on the brand new administration in authorities to take possession of the programme – reviewing the selections made and solely continuing with proposals that may ship sustainable councils and shield companies. We are happy they’ve taken ours, and our councils’ considerations on board by asserting a pause and overview of the programme right this moment.
Many of our members will likely be relieved that the selections they considered as damaging to native companies and financially unsustainable have been withdrawn or are being reviewed. For our councils that do need to proceed with reorganisation of their space, we’ll help them of their subsequent steps and we will likely be in search of additional readability from authorities within the coming days.
Lib Dems declare native authorities reorganisation may put ‘important companies and susceptible individuals in danger’
The Tories have described the federal government’s native authorities reorganisation U-turn as a “whole humiliation”. David Simmonds, the shadow native authorities minister, mentioned in an announcement:
This is one more whole humiliation for this Labour Government, who’ve as soon as once more been uncovered breaking the regulation in an try to drive their top-down programme of native authorities reorganisation on communities.
Ministers are solely backing off as a result of they’ve been discovered within the face of relentless Conservative opposition to their gerrymandering. Their behaviour reveals that [Andy] Burnham and [Angela] Rayner’s promise to empower native communities is totally hole: their intention was at all times to dictate downwards.
And, in her assertion, Zöe Franklin, the Lib Dem native authorities spokesperson, says companies are in danger.
This is an embarrassing and chaotic climbdown, which has resulted in already cash-strapped councils losing enormous sums on plans the federal government instructed them have been legally watertight.
Many native authorities, on the frontline of delivering important companies reminiscent of grownup social care and Send help, have been counting on this reorganisation to outlive financially. Many at the moment are left with nothing, doubtlessly placing important companies and susceptible individuals in danger.
Farage claims Reform UK triggered council reorganisation U-turn through the use of judicial overview courtroom challenges
Reform UK politicians are usually the primary to complain in regards to the courts getting used to hinder the needs of an elected authorities. But Reform councils in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex launched judicial overview proceedings to dam the native authorities reorganisation plans that have been going to abolish these county councils and Nigel Farage, the get together chief, has claimed that it was these strikes that triggered the federal government U-turn introduced right this moment.
In an announcement, Farage mentioned:
Reform UK not solely argued that this authorities’s plans for native authorities reorganisation have been an unmitigated catastrophe, however we as soon as once more put our cash the place our mouth is.
Earlier this yr we took on the federal government and compelled them to present the vote again to hundreds of thousands of individuals after Labour tried to cancel democracy. Now, because of our judicial opinions in affected Reform-led councils, the federal government has backed down on their plans but once more.
Only Reform had the spine to face as much as these reckless plans. This is one more embarrassing defeat for Labour. Only Reform backs actual democracy.
List of counties and areas in England the place native authorities reorganisation plans have been cancelled or shelved
Here is the checklist of the 4 counties the place native authorities reorganisation plans have been scrapped: Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
And listed below are the 14 counties and areas the place native authorities reorganisation plans have been placed on maintain pending a overview.
Derby and Derbyshire
Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
East Sussex and Brighton
Gloucestershire
Hertfordshire
Kent and Medway
Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool
Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire and West Berkshire
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
Warwickshire
Worcestershire
There are two different areas the place the federal government was contemplating reorganisation however had not but taken a choice over a proposed method forward: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and West Sussex. In these areas, reorganisation can also be on maintain.
In the Commons, Angela Rayner, the communities secretary, has simply given an announcement about her plans to cancel some native authorities reorganisation plans, and to delay others. (See 2.20pm.) Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, mentioned it was aid to have an announcement that had not been briefed to the media prematurely.
On the topic of Liverpool, the Department for Transport has confirmed that Liverpool metropolis area is getting £86m to carry its bus companies below public management. In a news release, the DfT says:
Millions of passengers throughout the Liverpool metropolis area are set to profit from higher, extra dependable bus companies as the town turns into the primary to carry its community below public management below this authorities.
In an enormous enhance for native development, the federal government will present £86.3m of funding till 2029 to ship higher companies for passengers, in addition to a share of a brand new one-off £3m pot to assist mayors take management of their companies.
This funding will give the mixed authority the facility to plan bus networks to run companies the place they’re wanted most. Like in London and Greater Manchester the place bus companies are franchised, this additionally means native leaders in Liverpool could have extra say over routes, branding and fares, which may imply cheaper journeys throughout the town.
No 10 refuses to disclaim report saying the Sun will not be getting any favours from Burnham whereas he is PM
Downing Street had refused to disclaim an Observer story saying that Andy Burnham intends to make sure that the Sun newspaper doesn’t get any particular editorial favours from him as PM.
That suggests Rupert Murdoch’s favorite tabloid received’t be getting unique interviews, or particular articles for publication carrying Burnham’s byline.
The Observer report was written by Tom Baldwin, a former Labour communications director, who defined:
Although neither Burnham nor his official spokespeople have mentioned something specific since he entered No 10 about ending cooperation with the newspaper, three separate sources near him have privately mentioned he intends to take care of a stance of granting the tabloid “no particular favours”.
His place is known to be inflicting “consternation” inside the headquarters of the newspaper’s proprietor, Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, the place executives have lengthy since been used to the Sun getting entry and securing affect on the very highest degree of presidency.
Burnham’s resolution is known to narrate to the Hillsborough tragedy. He grew up close to Liverpool and had pals who have been on the Hillsborough match, and campaigning for justice for the households of victims turned one of many huge causes of his political profession. As a younger tradition secretary, Burnham gave a speech on the Hillsborough twentieth anniversary memorial in 2009 which was instrumental in persuading him that the federal government needed to redouble its efforts to make sure the complete reality got here out.
No paper did extra to smear the Hillsborough followers than the Sun, which falsely claimed that their behaviour was guilty for the crush that led to 97 individuals being killed. Although the paper has apologised, and all these concerned in that reporting have lengthy since moved on, the paper continues to be reviled on Merseyside.
Asked in regards to the Observer story on the Downing Street foyer briefing, the PM’s spokesperson didn’t deny the declare that the Sun wouldn’t be getting particular favours from the brand new PM. Asked repeatedly in regards to the story, the spokesperson simply mentioned that Burnham could be participating “with a variety of media, together with new types of media”, as he has been doing already.
Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour chief, has issued this assertion following the shifting of the writ for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. (See 2.41pm.)
Labour has hit the bottom working in Holborn and St Pancras. We’ve been out daily talking to native residents about their priorities and it’s clear that Andy Burnham’s message of hope is basically slicing by way of. Since this byelection was introduced we’ve had hundreds of conversations on the doorstep proper throughout the constituency and Labour activists and supporters will likely be talking to hundreds extra within the coming days.
While others speak, Labour is delivering the progressive change individuals in Holborn and St Pancras need to see. We’ve taken early motion to present individuals important respiration area on the price of dwelling, and we’re taking up the long run challenges individuals actually care about, like ending tough sleeping, tackling youth unemployment and ensuring we lastly repair our social care system.
