The Independent.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to bring forward a deadline to close all asylum hotels.
The current Labour plan is to have all the hotels closed by the end of the current Parliament.
But Sir Keir has said he is keen to bring that deadline forward, though he has not gone into detail about when that might be.
Tom Watling1 September 2025 14:19
Sir Keir Starmer says today’s changes to positions in his team are about making it “more powerful to drive through the changes we need”.
He told the BBC: “I want to go further and faster and I am frustrated.”
Tom Watling1 September 2025 14:15
The Prime Minister has confidence in Angela Rayner, No 10 has said, as criticism continues over her purchase of an £800,000 flat in Hove.
Asked if Sir Keir had confidence in his deputy, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Yes, the Prime Minister works closely with the Deputy Prime Minister … on delivering on the public’s priorities.
“There is a court order which restricts her from providing further information, which she’s urgently working on rectifying in the interests of public transparency.”
The spokesman rejected a suggestion that Darren Jones, who has been appointed to the new ministerial role of chief secretary to the Prime Minister, would be a de facto deputy prime minister.
Tom Watling1 September 2025 14:14
Ministers are not looking at leaving a major human rights agreement or suspending how it applies in UK law to crack down on illegal migration, Downing Street has said.
Asked whether the Government would consider leaving the ECHR as it seeks to grapple with migration, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “As we said last week, this is one of the first governments that’s actually set out plans to take action on the ECHR through the plans that the Home Secretary will reiterate again in her statement to the house on tightening the application of article eight.
“This will set out new reforms so that it is Parliament rather than ad hoc court decisions that determines who can stay in this country.”
Article eight of the agreement, the right to family life, has been used during court cases to justify illegal migrants remaining in the UK.
The spokesman added the Government “will be bringing forward new legislation on tightening the application of article eight”, adding: “The Government has been clear that Britain will remain a member of the ECHR and that shutting ourselves off from the international stage will make it harder, not easier, to return people, and you do not strike international agreements by tearing up international agreements.”
Asked if ministers were considering suspending elements of the treaty as it applies to UK law, the spokesman replied: “That’s not what we’re looking at. We’re looking at, as the Home Secretary will reiterate this afternoon, the action that we’re taking to tighten the application of article eight, bringing forward new legislation.”
Tom Watling1 September 2025 14:03
Exclusive: A YouGov poll has revealed attitudes to Brexit may be changing – even among Nigel Farage’s supporters
Tom Watling1 September 2025 13:44
James Regan had joined demonstrators outside The Bell Hotel and had described Islam as an ‘evil criminal cartel’
Tom Watling1 September 2025 13:33
A new royal book has made a number of claims about the late Queen Elizabeth, including that she was a Remainer and that Boris Johnson tried to meet her while he had covid.
You can read a breakdown of the book’s claims below.
Claims the late Queen was a remainer and was more outspoken than expected have surfaced in Power And The Palace
Tom Watling1 September 2025 13:14
The prime minister has reiterated his commitment to the ECHR as pressure grows on the UK to quit the convention, with his spokesperson warning that "tearing up international agreements would make it harder not easier to deport people".
It comes after a number of high profile figures, including former Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett, called for the government to rethink its relationship with the ECHR.
"As we said last week, this is one of the first governments that has actually set out plans to take action on the ECHR, plans which the home secretary will set out in the House on tightening the application of Article 8".
The government said earlier this year that it would seek to reduce the number of people claiming “exceptional circumstances” over the right to family life in order to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the ECHR, the right to private and family life.
"We’ll be bringing forward new legislation on tightening the application of article 8 but the government has made clear that Britain will remain a member of the ECHR", the spokesperson added. "Tearing up international agreements would make it harder not easier to deport people."
Millie Cooke, Political Correspondent 1 September 2025 13:01
Darren Jones has been pictured arriving in Downing Street after Sir Keir Starmer appointed him to a new role as chief secretary to the Prime Minister, a new ministerial role in which he will attend Cabinet.
Mr Jones was previously chancellor Rachel Reeve’s right-hand man.
Tom Watling1 September 2025 12:44
Sir Keir Starmer’s shake-up of his Downing Street operation and the appointment of Darren Jones as his chief secretary reflects the shift into a “second phase” of government, No 10 has said.
“It reflects the Prime Minister’s view that phase one of this government was about fixing the foundations and the second phase has to be about a relentless focus on delivery,” Sir Keir’s official spokesman said.
Asked if the shake-up was an implicit acknowledgement that delivery has not gone as the Prime Minister might have hoped, his press secretary added: “The Prime Minister came into government with commitment to deliver change for working people. He spent the first year getting on with that job.”
She later said: “Of course, the Prime Minister is always determined to make sure that we are straining every sinew to deliver for the British people.
“That is what they rightly expect and what he comes to work and focuses on every single day.”
Tom Watling1 September 2025 12:33