Minister says Tories should stop ‘throwing mud’ over China spy case and accept their role in its collapse – UK politics live

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Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claims the government has changed its story on this.

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He says the PM told MPs last week minnisters and special advisers were not involved in handling the prosecution. But yesterday the Sunday Times claimed that, when the home secretary heard the case might be dropped, she made representations to ensure the evidence was as strong as possible.

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He asks when the home secretary heard the case might collapse.

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He says the Sunday Times reported yesterday on a meeting organised by Jonathan Powell, the national security minister, to discuss this in September. He claims the government originally denied this took place. He asks if the meeting discussed the case, and the possibility of further evidence being provided.

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He asks if the attorney general spoke to the CPS after that meeting.

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Jarvis says the Tory position on this is “confusing”. He says at first they accused the government of intervening with the prosecution. Then, when the government said it did not intervene, they said it should have done, he says.

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He says the Tories should show “some humility” and accept the fact that they made mistakes. They should have updated the Official Secrets Act earlier, he says.

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I gently say to the opposition front bench, they need to stop throwing mud and start coming to terms with what happened upon their watch.

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Dan Jarvis, the security minister, is responding to an urgent question on the China spy case in the Commons.

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He say the decision to drop the prosecution was taken by the CPS. He says the PM was only told about that a few days before the decision it was announced, and at that point there was nothing that he or other ministers could do to stop that.

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At the No 10 lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson said that the UK’s Football Policing Unit is making inquires as to what happened in Israel yesterday, where a match involving Maccabi Tel Aviv was called off after rioting. (See 11.10am.)

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But the government does not accept that the rioting means West Midland police were right to ban Maccabi fan from a match with Aston Villa in Birmingham next month, the spokesperson indicated. He said discussions were still underway with the police to find out what resources they might need for the ban to be reversed, and for the match to go ahead with Maccabi fans attending. The government wanted all fans to be able to attend the match safely, the spokesperson said.

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The spokesperson said West Midlands police were due to come back to the government with an update proposal “shortly”.

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At the Downing Street the PM’s spokesperson sidestepped questions about whether the law should be changed to remove Prince Andrew’s dukedom from him.

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Asked about this issue, the spokesperson said this was primarily a matter for Buckingham Palace – echoing the line taken by Bridget Phillipson this morning. (See 9.48am.)

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The spokesperson claimed the government welcomed debate on this – although he did not propose a parliamentary debate, and he did not explain how MPs would be able to raise this in the Commons given the conventions in place that restrict criticism of members of the royal family in the chamber.

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When a reporter put it to the spokesperson that the government seemed to be “scared” of legislating on this issue, the spokesperson replied: “The government isn’t scared of anyone or anything. But clearly this is a matter for the Palace.”

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Ministers must appoint a judge to head the grooming gang inquiry, the Conservatives have said.

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The Tories said it would have to be a judge-led inquiry after Fiona Goddard, a prominent survivor, resigned from the inquiry’s oversight panel saying she disagreed with the decision to shortlist a former chief constable and a former social worker as potential chairs.

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Goddard said this amounted to a conflict of interest because the police and social services were the “very two services that contributed most to the cover-up of the national mass rape and trafficking of children”.

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Commenting on this development, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said:

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Survivors will never get justice from the same institutions that failed them in the before. This inquiry must be led by a sitting or recently retired senior judge, not ex-police officers or social workers marking their own homework.

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The Conservatives are demanding a full, statutory, judge-led inquiry into the rape gangs and the cover-ups that protected them. Every official, police officer, and councillor who enabled these crimes must face prosecution for misconduct in public office. No more delays, no more excuses, no more cover up.

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Keir Starmer will attend the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil next month, Downing Street has said.

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Last month it was reported that Starmer had no plans to attend, which led to the PM facing fierce criticism from environmentalists.

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At the lobby briefing today the PM’s spokesperson told reporters:

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The prime minister will attend the Cop30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, next month because net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century, one that has the potential to reignite our industrial heartlands, create good jobs for the future … That’s why we’re restoring the UK as a global leader on climate action and green growth, and you can expect to see the PM driving forward that agenda at the Cop30 summit next month.

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In response to claims that No 10 had implied Starmer would not be going, the spokesperson said they had always said ministerial attendance would be confirmed in due course.

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Reform UK has launched an investigation into whether it underpaid VAT on thousands of pounds of ticket sales and merchandise, Richard Partington reports.

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Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has suggested that Russia is trying to help people smuggling networks because it wants to use illegal migration to destablise Europe.

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She gave a statement on this topic to the Times to back up comments it had received from Daniel Mitov, Bulgaria’s interior minister, who told the paper his government had evidence Russia’s foreign intelligence service has links with people smuggling gangs.

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Bulgaria is one of the countries invited to attend a summit in London on Wednesday which the UK government has convened to discuss what further measures European countries can take to stop illegal immigration through the western Balkans.

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Cooper told the Times:

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It is clear that illegal migration into Europe and beyond is being driven not just by organised crime networks seeking to make a profit, but by hostile state actors seeking to destabilise Europe.

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That threat is real, growing and very serious, and I have made clear that we need to expand and strengthen our international cooperation to tackle it together.

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We will therefore continue to support Bulgaria and our other Nato allies in securing Europe’s external frontiers, and tackling every different type of threat we face from the Putin regime, including providing the specialist equipment, intelligence and training that will help our Bulgarian counterparts to defend their borders and disrupt these criminal operations.

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There will be two urgent questions in the Commons this afternoon, followed by a statement. Here is the running order.

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3.30pm: A Home Office minister will respond to a UQ from Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, about the China spy case.

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Around 4.15pm: A culture minister will respond to a UQ from Nigel Huddleston, the shadow culture secretary, about the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending the Aston Villa match.

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Around 5pm: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, makes a statement about the post-16 education and skills white paper.

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The SNP and Plaid Cymru have both said they would back legislation to strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom.

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Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, said:

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The family of Virginia Giuffre, whose life was destroyed, are angry and aghast. The public across these isles are angry and aghast and they both deserve to know that some MPs share their outrage.

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So I won’t sit silent. If an act of parliament is required to strip the likes of Peter Mandelson and Prince Andrew of their titles then there can be no justification from this Labour government as to why that is not immediately happening.

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And Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid leader at Westminster, said:

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Public funds, police protection and royal privilege have long buffered Prince Andrew from the consequences of his actions. And we’ve paid for all this.

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I will support any efforts to hold royals to the same standards and laws as everyone else – parliament must have the power to remove privileges from abusers of position.

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Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, has said that Keir Starmer needs to swiftly show that the government has “direction and purpose”.

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In an interview with the BBC’s Westminster Hour last night, Kinnock said:

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The reality is that he [Starmer] has got to act quickly in order to clearly establish a direction and purpose. Now, I know he’s got it. He’s a man of high intelligence and deeply rooted principles. There’s no doubt at all about that.

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But, what he’s got to do is, if you like, demonstrate that he is authentically very Labour with a set of principles that are practical in their application, under determination to put them into full effect.

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Kinnock said the government was doing plenty of “progressive” things, but was not getting credit for them because of “basic errors”.

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There is any amount of evidence over the last 15 months of progressive developments taking place. They are unheard because they’ve been obscured by basic errors that the government has made like the withdrawal of the winter heating allowance.

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Now that has got to be attended to by effective management by the prime minister. There’s nobody else to do it. What he’s got to do in the coming months – and I mean months, not over years, is demonstrate that very clearly.

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Kinnock also suggested that some of the aides working in Downing Street lacked ‘“basic political skills”. Without naming anyone, he said:

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I’ve got reservations about the capability of some of the people who appear to be there. I know some of them to be extremely able and effective, and they’ve demonstrated that historically, but something is not connecting effectively with the Labour party or with basic political skills and I hope it will very rapidly.

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This is likely to be seen as a reference to the PM’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.

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Reform UK has suspended four councillors on its flagship county council after a leaked video showing bitter divisions in their ranks, Ben Quinn reports.

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Another proposal in the white paper on post-16 education and skills is for a new system to replace the current one for pupils in England who fail maths or English at GCSE. The Department for Education says this reform will particularly help white working class pupils.

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When Michael Gove was education secretary, he ruled that pupils who fail to achieve at least a grade 4 in maths and English at GCSE should have to carry on resitting the exams until they leave school.

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But, as Richard Adams reported last week, there is a growing consensus that these compulsory resits are counter-productive.

","elementId":"b4e6d64e-09ce-428c-a629-fe7a9636cf05"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"Compulsory maths and English GCSE resits too inflexible, says curriculum chief","elementId":"1bba6254-7bd7-41a7-9742-47b1326cb7ba","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/oct/17/compulsory-maths-english-gcse-resits-inflexible-curriculum-chief-becky-francis"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is announcing a new approach. In its news release, the DfE says:

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\n

Young people will also be supported to get the vital pass they need in English and maths GCSEs. A new qualification will be targeted at students with lower attainment as a stepping stone to better prepare them to resit these GCSEs.

\n

This will support white working class pupils in particular. More than six in ten white British pupils eligible for free school meals do not achieve a grade 4 or above in English and maths by the end of Key Stage 4, meaning they are more than twice as likely to need to resit these exams post-16 than their more affluent peers.

\n

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The DfE says its data shows that 64% of white British pupils eligible for free school meals (ie, from poor families) do not achieve grade 4 or above in English and maths by the end of key stage 4, compared with 28% of white British pupils not eligible for FSMs.

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It also says pupils from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families are also far less likely to achieve a grade 4 or above in these qualifications by the end of key stage 4.

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Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, was giving interviews this morning to promote the government’s plans to a create a new V-level qualification to simplify and improve vocational education in schools in England. The proposals will be set out in a white paper on post-16 education and skills being published later.

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In a new release explaining how the system will work, the Department for Education says:

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\n

These are new vocational qualifications tied to rigorous and real-world job standards. They will replace other qualifications to sit alongside T Levels and A levels, providing a clear option for young people who want to get on in the world of work, university or apprenticeships but want to explore different key sectors, which could include engineering, agriculture, digital or creative, before choosing where to specialise. Unlike T-levels, which are equivalent to 3 A-levels, young people will be able to take a mixture of V-levels and A-levels – offering more choice and flexibility.

\n

For example, a student wanting to get into either the creative arts or media industry could choose to do a mixed V-level and A-level study programme, by taking two V-levels (one in Craft and Design; and one in Media, Broadcast and Production) and one A-level in Music. Or, a student wanting to get into either the health or fitness industry – but also wants to learn more about digital – could do three V-levels (in Sport and Exercise Science; Digital; and Health and Care services).

\n

The new qualification will streamline the confusing landscape of approximately 900 equivalent vocational qualifications at level 3 currently available to 16 to 19-year-olds which mean learners and employers are unclear about the purpose and value of some qualifications.

\n

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Phillipson said:

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Technical and vocational education is the backbone of this country’s economy and central to breaking the link between background and success, helping hundreds of thousands of young people get the skills they need to get good jobs.

\n

But for too long it has been an afterthought. Young people have been left to navigate an overcomplicated landscape and repeatedly labelled as ‘failures’ by a system that has held them back from all-important English and maths grades.

\n

Through our Plan for Change we are turning the tide. Our reforms are building a post-16 education system that truly matches young people’s aspirations and abilities, delivering the opportunity and growth our economy needs.

\n

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Keir Starmer’s national grooming gang inquiry has suffered a blow after a prominent survivor resigned from its overseeing panel saying she disagreed with a shortlist of two possible chairs, Rajeev Syal reports.

","elementId":"158de3ca-71bc-4f6c-8a68-20e725a7974c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"Grooming gang victim quits inquiry panel over candidates for chair","elementId":"b6ed7154-02d9-47f8-b2a0-ffce9a8a7ce4","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/20/grooming-gang-victim-quits-inquiry-panel-fiona-goddard"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1760955857000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"06.24 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1760955894000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"06.24 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1760955894000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"06.24 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"06.24","title":"Grooming gang victim quits inquiry panel over candidates for chair","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 20 Oct 2025 11.10 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 20 Oct 2025 04.48 EDT"},{"id":"68f5ff098f089fcc1d8cfd64","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

The independent MP Ayoub Khan has called for an apology from Keir Starmer for his criticism of West Midlands police at the end of last week after it proposing banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from an Aston Villa match in Birmingham next month. Starmer suggested this amounted to capitulation to antisemitism, and the government is now trying to ensure the police get the resources they need to ensure the Maccabi fans can attend.

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Khan was speaking after a match in Tel Aviv was cancelled yesterday after rioting involving Maccabi fans.

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Last week West Midlands police said they did not want Maccabi fans attending because of the risk of violence. The police did not say whether they were primarily worried about protecting the fans from protesters opposed to their being there, or whether they were primarily worried about protecting Aston residents from the fans, but all the main party leaders interpreted the move as the police admitting that they could not protect Jewish football supporters and West Midlands police has not contested this.

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(In truth, reading the police statement, officers may have been worried about violence breaking out as a result of provocative behaviour on both sides. But we don’t know for sure; they have not given a detailed explanation.)

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Khan had been campaigning for the match to be cancelled and last week he welcomed the decision. He was vilified on social media for this, and more or less the only political support he got came from fellow independent MPs and from the Green party. (Unusually, this was an issue where the Westminster consensus was out of step with public opinion, which backed the police decision by 42% to 28%, according to one poll.) Khan had launched a petition to get the match cancelled because he thinks Israel should be banned from international football because of events in Gaza. But he also said the match should not go ahead because of the “track record of violence by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans”.

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In a statement released late last night, Khan said:

","elementId":"cb52ea9b-2e9c-4d4b-80d3-e7b0721c2676"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"

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Shame on you, Keir Starmer. And shame on you, Kemi Badenoch and all the other politicians and news anchors that sought to conflate matters.

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Contrary to Keir Starmer’s disgraceful comment labelling our West Midlands police and the safety advisory group as antisemitic, this was never about religion. It was always about hooliganism. And I’m confident that you know this deep down.

\n

We have now yet had another taste of these hooligans, people who show no mercy, not even on their own turf, let alone ours.

\n

The riots [at the derby in] Tel Aviv have left police officers and civilians injured. I will continue to support the chief constable and the decisions he makes, even when everyone else chose to throw him under the bus. It was shameful that not a single politician here in Birmingham, bar me, stood by his decision and that of the safety advisory group.

\n

The disgraceful and libellous and irresponsible comments made by some politicians have put me and my family in danger.

\n

Those that seek to sow division know this. You will never succeed. I will always stand up for what is just and right without fear or favour.

\n

Keir Starmer, you owe an apology to our chief constable. And to all the others, wait for my letter before action.

\n

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The final line implies Khan is going to sue some of his critics for libel.

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Kier Starmer you owe an apology! And to all those that have been libellous wait for my letter before action! pic.twitter.com/ZQPt6UvFNk

&mdash; Ayoub Khan MP (@AyoubKhanMP) October 19, 2025

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Soldiers are to be given new powers to shoot down unidentified drones believed to be threatening UK military bases in response to a recent spate of incursions and sightings in Europe, Dan Sabbagh reports.

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Good morning. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and candidate for deputy Labour leader, has been doing an interview round this morning. She was meant to be talking about V-levels, a government plan to simplify and improve vocational education in schools in England. It is an important topic, albeit not an exciting one to people who don’t have children who might be affected. Instead, this being Britain, rather than a sensible, modern country, she ended up talking about the royal family.

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To recap: on Friday Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Andrew is going to give up using the title Duke of York in response to the revival of the controversy about his friendship with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the claim (which Andrew denies) that Epstein arranged for him to have sex with Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre died by suicide in April, aged 41, but her posthumous memoir is being published tomorrow.

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On Friday this was seen as a significant sanction, and further evidence that Andrew is being disowned by the royal family over the Epstein links.

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But, over the weekend, the controversy escalated as people increasingly focused on the fact that Andrew has not lost his dukedom, because that can only be removed by an act of parliament, and that all that has happened is that he has agreed not to go round calling himself a duke. That does not sound like much of a punishment at all. After all, there are also 70 million of us in the UK who also don’t go round calling ourselves a duke, or a duchess.

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Given that parliament is the only body that can strip Andrew of his dukedom, this has now became a matter for politics. As the Guardian reports, some MPs want parliament to legislate.

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That is why Phillipson got bumped from the 8.10 slot on the programme, which instead went to Rachael Maskell. In 2022 she introduced a private member’s removal of titles bill that would allow the king to removal any hereditary title from anyone, either on his own initiative or following a recommendation from parliament. (It is not just dukedoms that can’t be taken away easily; people calling for Michelle Mone to lose her peerage over the PPE scandal also run into the problem that this requires an act of parliament, and no law has been passed removing a peerage since the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 that was used to punish peers who were supporting Germany in the war.) Maskell used the interview to make the case for this legislation.

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One problem is that Maskell is not even a Labour MP at the moment. She was suspended in the summer for rebelling on various welfare issue.

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(Another objection might be that, if a progressive government does want to legislate on hereditary titles, it should probably be getting rid of all of them, which would stop all sorts of people growing up with the sort of entitlement that led Andrew to think, in Giuffre’s words, “having sex with me was his birthright”. But that is probably a debate for another day.)

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In her interview, Phillipson was asked if the government was in favour of the sort of legislation proposed by Maskell that would allow the king to remove Andrew’s dukedom. She said this was not a matter for the government, but that it supported the action taken by the royal family at the end of last week.

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When it was put to her that the government does get involved in royal matters sometimes, she replied:

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We would be guided by the royal family in this, and I imagine the royal family would want parliament to dedicate our time to our wider legislative programme. But we will be guided by them on it.

\n

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Asked again why this was not a matter for the government, she said:

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\n

Because the government, by long-standing convention, doesn’t involve itself in matters concerning the royal family. The royal family don’t involve themselves in the business of government, in terms of inserting themselves into the discussion. And it’s right that we respect that going the other way as well.

\n

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This sounded very much like Phillipson saying the government’s reluctance to get involved was at the ‘not with a bargepole’ level. But she did not categorically rule out the government allowing legislation on this to go ahead – if the king were to back the idea.

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Phillipson also said that “parliamentarians will always have mechanisms within parliament to find ways in which they can air any issue, including this issue”. Some news outlet have taken that as Phillipson saying she would be happy for MPs to have a debate on this. But that might be an over-interpretation. Direct debate on the conduct of members of the royal family is normally banned under Commons rules, unless a substantive motion on the topic is tabled (which almost never happens).

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We will get a line from Downing Street at the lobby briefing.

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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10.30am: Prof Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, gives evidence to the Covid inquiry as part of its module looking at the impact of the pandemic on children and young people. Martin Hewitt from the National Police Chiefs’ Council is giving evidence in the afternoon.

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11am: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.

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Noon: Tory MP Nick Timothy gives a speech free speech and Islam at Policy Exchange. Words planned

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1.30pm: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

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2.30pm: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

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After 3.30pm: MPs debate the remaining stages of the bill approving the deal giving sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

","elementId":"63dfabe8-bb0d-4b1e-8fba-6da4a3cb8919"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

","elementId":"08a32a07-f5f5-43d2-85e2-8ec2d1bcb933"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

","elementId":"a33b5c0b-60b9-46a5-8b9d-33a599fdb777"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.

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Key events

The Guardian