From 51m ago
Starmer refuses to rule out freezing tax thresholds in budget
Badenoch asks Starmer to confirm he won’t break another promise by freezing thresholds.
Starmer does not answer that, saying the budget is next week.
But Labour won’t return to austerity, he says.
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Lee Anderson (Reform UK) accuses Labour of “dog whistle politics”. That generates laughter from MPs. Reform is cracking on with the day job, he says. He says Reform councils are working, he says. He asks Starmer to confirm the government won’t cancel local elections again.
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Starmer says he did not realise Anderson was good at stand-up comedy. He says last week Nigel Farage said he did not have time to talk about Sarah Pochin’s racism. He says Farage should find to address the revelations about him in today’s papers. (See 10.43am.)
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Badenoch asks how the country can trust Reeves if she breaks a promise next week.
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Starmer says the Tories have no credibility on the economy. Badenoch was a Treasury minister when living standards fell. And she says Liz Truss got the mini budget 100% right.
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Badenoch asks Starmer to confirm he won’t break another promise by freezing thresholds.
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Starmer does not answer that, saying the budget is next week.
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But Labour won’t return to austerity, he says.
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Kit Malthouse (Con) says there are fears the Lords may block the assisted dying bill. Wil the government stop that? He says the government is neutral on the bill, but it should not be neutral on the Lords not being allowed to block a bill passed by the elected chamber.
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Starmer says the governmnet is neutral on the passage of the bill.
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And it is for parliament to decide on any issues.
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Scrutiny is a matter for the Lords.
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But the government must ensure legislation is workable.
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Keir Starmer will be facing PMQs soon.
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Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question. The Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has a question, which means Starmer might find an excuse to mention the Guardian report about his party leader. (See 10.43am.)
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Yesterday Starmer told his cabinet that he wanted them to focus on delivering and move on from “distractions”. But there does not seem much chance of that happening. In the Times today Stefan Boscia says the Tribune group, which represents soft left MPs and is being revitalised under new leadership, believes it has the numbers to forces a leadership contest. He says:
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Senior MPs in the Tribune Group said they had the 80 MPs required to put a candidate into a leadership contest against Starmer, although they have yet to coalesce around a single candidate …
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One leading member of the group said Starmer “has shown he doesn’t have the ability” to turn his premiership around after lurching from crisis to crisis during the first 16 months of government.
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Another Tribune MP said: “It’s all about the polls. We can’t be below 20 per cent at the polls for much longer. We can’t carry on like this past May if the [local] elections are as bad as the polls show.”
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In a post summarising what he and his colleagues are saying on the Times’s the State of It podcast, Steven Swinford, the paper’s poltical editor, says ministers believe Starmer will eventually have to go.
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Ministers believe it is inevitable Starmer will go. They say spreadsheets are underway ahead of formal challenge but problem is there is more than one of them – there is as yet no clear alternative
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The former BBC journalist Mishal Husain has said the current crisis at the corporation feels “existential”, as executives prepare to be questioned about it in the House of Commons early next week. Robyn Vinter has the story.
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Yesterday the Guardian published a long investigation into Nigel Farage’s time as a schoolboy at Dulwich College, a private school in south London, and it quoted multiple contemporaries (mostly on the record) who call him being racist and antisemitic. Reform UK says the claims are without foundation.
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This morning Michael Crick, who published a biography of Farage three years ago, is urging Farage to apologise.
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Crick, who is a very distinguished investigative reporters and biographer, looked into the claims about Farage’s racism in his youth in some detail. He quoted people who recalled Farage saying deeply offensive things. But, in the book, he said the pictured was “confused”. He explained:
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Old Boys from his time probably divide fairly equally. For everyone who recalls Farage voicing extreme views, another will say they heard nothing untoward.
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Today Crick says he has revised his view in the light of the Guardian investigation, which he says builds on his work and goes further. He says Farage should apologise.
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Today’s Guardian feature on Farage’s anti-semitism & racism at Dulwich College is largely based on my book One Party After Another & my past films for C4News, but they’ve got more witnesses, & more detail, so it’s not credible to deny his vile pattern of behaviour at that time.
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Rather than completely deny his behaviour – which Farage didn’t entirely do back in 2013 – he & Reform UK would do better publicly to make a genuine heartfelt apology to the Dulwich boys who suffered his anti-semitic & racist bullying. Farage & Reform’s denials aren’t credible.
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Q: What are the chances of the UK and the EU getting a deal on UK being admitted to the EU’s Safe (Security Action for Europe) fund, which will provide loans to finance defence investment, given the two sides are so far apart?
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(It has been reported that the EU wants the UK to contribute €6bn to participate, and that the UK is only willing to pay a fraction of that.)
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Healey says he hopes there will be a deal. The UK has been waiting for weeks for details from Europe. The UK is ready to be part of the scheme, but not “at any price”. The British defence industry is “second to none” in Europe.
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Britain will play its part in the defence of Europe, “in or out of Safe”.
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At the start of his speech Healey said a Russian spy ship called Yantar is on the edge of British waters. He said it had been mapping undersea cables, and shining lasers at RAF pilots, which he said was “highly dangerous”. He said:
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My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing. And if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.
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Asked about this in the Q&A, Healey says this is the first time Yantar has done this. The government is taking it extremely seriously. He says he has changed the terms of engagement, so that the UK can follow it more closely when it is in British waters. He says he will not give details, but he says the government has “military options ready”.
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The last time Yantar was there, the MoD surfaced a nuclear-powered submarine that had been tracking it, which it did not know about, he says.
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UPDATE: Healey said:
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On the Yantar, this is the second time in a year that it’s entered UK waters.
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It is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and hold our undersea infrastructure and those of our allies at risk.
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It isn’t just a naval operation. It’s part of a Russian programme driven by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and this is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.
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That is why we’ve been determined, whenever the Yantar comes into British wider waters, we track it, we deter it and we say to Putin we are ready, and we do that alongside allies.
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You saw this last year in the way that Britain led the response to attacks on critical infrastructure with other Baltic and Nordic nations, and then Nato stepped in as well with their operation.
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So, it’s a demonstration, if you like, of a British readiness to act, a British capability to act, because, make no mistake, we will not tolerate a threat to the British people’s essential connections under water.
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And, asked specifically about the ship shining lasers at RAF pilots, Healey said:
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Clearly, anything that impedes, disrupts or puts at risk pilots in charge of British military planes is deeply dangerous.
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This is the first time we’ve heard this action from [Russian ship] Yantar directed against the British RAF. We take it extremely seriously.
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I have changed the Navy’s rules of engagement so that we can follow more closely, monitor more closely the activities of the Yantar when it’s in our wider waters.
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Somerset (front) shadowing the Russian spy ship Yantar near UK waters in January this year.","caption":"HMS Somerset (front) shadowing the Russian spy ship Yantar near UK waters in January this year.
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In an interview on LBC this morning Luke Pollard, a defence minister, was asked about Tan Dhesi’s claim that MoD officials have been told not to discuss secrets in Chinese cars. (See 9.05am.)
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Pollard said the MoD was “looking into Chinese vehicles within our fleets”. But security was an issue in all modern cars, he said.
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We have a fleet of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and those vehicles [Chinese ones] represent a very small number.
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\n
But whether you’re driving a Chinese car or a non Chinese car, what we’ve asked our people to do is not plug Ministry of Defence technology into their vehicle, not to have conversations at a secret classification in any vehicle, due to the increasing threats of surveillance that exist in every single vehicle, to only have those secret conversations in secure locations. That’s a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone concerned about [security].
\n
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When it was put to him that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using all Chinese vehicles, Pollard replied: ‘That’s precisely what we’re investigating at the moment.”
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Keir Starmer is failing to make major improvements to public services partly because he did not plan properly while in opposition, according to a report from the Institute for Government (IfG).
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Kiran Stacey has the story here.
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Here is the IfG report.
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And here is its scorecard on how the main public services are performing.
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The references are all to England, except the ones about the police, courts and prisons, which cover England and Wales.
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scorecard on public services","caption":"IfG scorecard on public services","credit":"Photograph: IfG"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1763543132000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"04.05 EST","blockLastUpdated":1763552072000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"06.34 EST","blockFirstPublished":1763543369000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"04.09 EST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"04.09","title":"Lack of planning has hit Labour’s efforts to fix public services, says thinktank","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Wed 19 Nov 2025 07.42 EST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Wed 19 Nov 2025 03.50 EST"},{"id":"691d777d8f08255fbad7436d","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Good morning. Rachel Reeves will be unveiling her budget a week today, but the rollout of budget-related news has already started and this morning John Healey, the defence secretary, will hold a press conference to announce that the government has identified 13 sites for new munitions factories.
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In a news release, the Ministry of Defence says Healey will commit to “building the factories of the future in Britain” and expects industry to break ground on the first energetics factory in the next year. The MoD says:
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\n
The defence secretary will confirm that MoD has now funded a number of feasibility studies for the new energetics factories to kickstart high-volume energetics production at scale for the first time in nearly two decades. The engineering design work on the first of these factories has been commissioned with a view to start production for UK armed forces and to enable our continued support to Ukraine. Potential sites include Grangemouth in Scotland, Teesside in Northeast England, and Milton Haven in Wales. The factories will produce the components essential for bolstering the UK’s weapons arsenal including propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics.
\n
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“Energetics” are weapon parts, including propellants, explosives, and pyrotechnics.
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Healey will also say that the decisions in the budget will ensure there is no return to the “hollowed out and underfunded” armed forces of the past.
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And about time too, the Commons defence committee says (sort of). In a report out today, it says Britain does not have a plan to defend itself from attacks. It says:
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\n
The UK’s defence industrial base is not yet configured for sustained collective defence. It faces challenges in capacity, skills, innovation, procurement, and financing. The SDR [strategic defence review] and defence industrial strategy outline a reform agenda, but implementation will be key. The government must ensure that defence finance is accessible, predictable, and resilient— including for SMEs and start-ups.
\n
The UK lacks a plan for defending the homeland and overseas territories with little progress on the home defence programme. The prime minister’s ‘national conversation on defence and security’, highlighted in the SDR, is yet to start. The proposed defence readiness bill, vital to empower government in the event of crisis or conflict, has not yet been written. The government must improve cross-departmental coordination, clarify responsibilities, and engage the public meaningfully in preparedness efforts.
\n
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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9.15am: Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, gives evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee.
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10am: John Healey, the defence secretary, holds a press conference in Downing Street to announce investment in armaments production.
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Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
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2pm: John Swinney, the Scottish first minister, speaks at an Institute for Government event.
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Afternoon: Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, holds a press conference in Berlin with her German counterpart, Johann Wadephul.
","elementId":"a47cc108-3e79-43ba-bf05-fa600b3cbef3"},{"_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 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":"7ee21242-4df9-437a-ac59-ed815f17267a"},{"_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":"afb33a66-99b3-4bdb-89ee-d17c926b1db8"},{"_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 Scottish MP Torcuil Crichton, referring to the World Cup, asks Starmer if he can ask Donald Trump if he knows any reasonably priced hotels near the venue for the World Cup final. And he asks about reducing US tariffs on Scotch whisky.
Starmer says the goverment is doing what it can to help the whisky industry.
Perran Moon (Lab) asks if the government will enshrine Cornish national minority status in the devolution bill.
Starmer says Cornwall’s national minority status will be protected in future devolution arrangements.
Mike Wood (Con) says people who care about media freedom are glad the RedBird bid for the Telegraph has been dropped. But there is a risk that the paper will build up an intolerable debt burden. Will the government ensure this does not happen?
Starmer says he is not sure what Wood is proposing. He says he does not think nationalising the Telegraph would be the right approach.
Liam Byrne (Lab) asks if the government will support a public inquiry into the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974.
Starmer says the government thinks the best way of dealing with this is through the independent commission for reconciliation and information recovery.
Jack Rankin (Con) asks Starmer to say how much he received in donations from David Kogan before he was appointed as the new independent football regulator.
Starmer says those have all been declared.
Josh Babarinde (Lib Dem) asks about a consituent with a problem with her bank.
Starmer does not really address the question, but he congratulates Babarinde on his engagement announced last week. He jokes about not knowing what questions you might be asked in parliament, and wishes Babarinde and his partner a lifetime of happiness.
💛 𝗔 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 🎉
Last Thursday, I asked a very special question in Commons after official business had finished for the day – not to the Prime Minister, but to my partner Connor (on his birthday!)
…and his answer was YES! 🤩
(1/4) pic.twitter.com/UBRxL0v4ro
— Josh Babarinde OBE MP (@JoshBabarinde) November 17, 2025
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💛 𝗔 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 🎉
Last Thursday, I asked a very special question in Commons after official business had finished for the day – not to the Prime Minister, but to my partner Connor (on his birthday!)
…and his answer was YES! 🤩
(1/4) pic.twitter.com/UBRxL0v4ro
— Josh Babarinde OBE MP (@JoshBabarinde) November 17, 2025
Babarinde was recently elected as the new president of the Lib Dems.
Starmer urges Farage to find time to address questions raised by Guardian report with evidence of his schoolboy racism
Lee Anderson (Reform UK) accuses Labour of “dog whistle politics”. That generates laughter from MPs. Reform is cracking on with the day job, he says. He says Reform councils are working, he says. He asks Starmer to confirm the government won’t cancel local elections again.
Starmer says he did not realise Anderson was good at stand-up comedy. He says last week Nigel Farage said he did not have time to talk about Sarah Pochin’s racism. He says Farage should find to address the revelations about him in today’s papers. (See 10.43am.)
Andrew Pakes (Lab) asks what the government can do to ensure young people get better training.
Starmer says the government inherited a situation where almost one million young people were not earning or learning. The youth guarantee will address that, he says.
Caroline Voaden (Lib Dem) says she hosted a roundtable this morning with head teachers who talked about the postive effects of a complete ban on smartphones in their schools. So why won’t the government ban them in all schools?
Starmer says the vast majority of schools ban smartphones.
Some MPs shout that they don’t.
Starmer says schools ban phones in lessons.
He agrees with the sentiment of Voaden’s question, he says.
Luke Charters (Lab) says he wants to talk about his own mental health problems. A “dark cloud” hung over him when his wife almost died when their first son was born. Does the PM agree that being honest about problems is an important part of being a man?
Starmer does agree. And he says he is proud the government is publishing a men’s health strategy.
Jim Allister (TUV) says France, Germany and the US have all got compensation from Libya for the victims of Libya-linked terrorism. But the UK has not been able to do this. Why? And will the PM meet families affected?
Starmer says Allister is right to ask about this. He will organise a meeting.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says there are more than 300 suicides every year relating to problem gambing. But gambling companies make more than £7bn a year. One of them has move abroad, to avoid UK taxes. Will the government change the law so they cannot avoid tax like this?
Starmer says it is men’s health day. MPs will want to prevent this. It is something that touches almost all MPs, he says.
He says the government will do what it can to reduce suicide.
Davey says next to the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire is a field is covered by a big pile of rubbish. This is happening in other places now. Will he tell the Environment Agency to clean it up now?
Starmer says these are appalling scences. The Enviroment Agency will use all available powers to make sure the perpetrators pay, he says.
Badenoch says she had a rountable with energy executives recently. What they said about the government was “unprintable”, she says.
She says Reeves U-turned on a U-turn with the budget. Doesn’t the country deserve something better than “government by guesswork”.
Starmer says the Tories left NHS waiting lists at a record live, child poverty going up and public services wrecked. Labour are sorting that out, she says.
