Journalist and broadcaster. UK Editor of ITV News, Presenter of ITV’s flagship Tonight programme, Good Morning Britain, LBC. 6 x Royal Television Society Award winner.
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Mahmood goes from tackling ECHR in Justice to continuing that project in Home Office. And Lammy goes from Foreign engagement to focusing on Justice. Obviously there are many other important issues for govt, but in many ways immigration remains shared between same three secretaries of state.
What does reshuffle mean for number one issue govt is trying to grapple with - immigration/asylum? Well in some ways PM has simply rotated the three most relevant secretaries of state. Cooper goes from negotiating deals in Home Office to schmoozing nations for returns deals in Foreign Office.
Rayner’s departure poses several problems for Starmer. One, he promised integrity. Voters will see ‘more of the same’. But two, Rayner’s much-stated bridge to working classes. One Labour MP: “I’m devastated… many who wanted to leave under Starmer have stayed because of her.”
In Rayner’s resignation letter she accepts she has fallen short of the highest standards expected of ministers, if unintentionally. “For a teenage mum from a council estate in Stockport to serve as the highest level of government has been the honour of my life.”
In PM’s very personal - and handwritten - letter, he says Rayner has been a trusted colleague and friend, but that it’s right for her to resign. He says she is the embodiment of social mobility and signs off with “real sadness” that she’s having to leave his government.
NEW: Here is the full verdict from the PM’s ethics advisor. - Rayner acted with “integrity”, but.. - She did not seek *expert* tax advice - As such she must take responsibility for failing to pay enough stamp duty - She therefore fell short of standards and broke ministerial code
In the short term, Rayner’s perceived threat to Starmer’s authority is gone. But medium-long term she may become a formidable force on the backbenches.
We now expect her resignation to precipitate quite a significant reshuffle of the cabinet.
BREAKING: Angela Rayner has resigned as Deputy Prime Minister
BREAKING: Angela Rayner is expected to leave government imminently. Sources won’t confirm, but the mood music is fairly obvious.
What do we reckon the chances are of Nadine Dorries saying she’d only defect back to the Conservatives if Boris Johnson returned to lead the party. One Tory MP raises the prospect of her being a plant for later down the line. Wild, but not unimaginable?
Absolute gift for Badenoch this morning, who asks why Angela Rayner is in post. Starmer stands by her: “She’s gone over and above in setting out the details I am very proud to his alongside the Deputy PM…who has come from a working class background to become Deputy PM.” #PMQs
Angela Rayner is sitting right next to Keir Starmer at PMQs. Clearly he’s standing by her despite her admission this morning that she did not pay the correct amount of tax on her second home.
NEW: Chancellor has confirmed that the date of the much anticipated Budget will be Wednesday 26th November.
NEW: The Court of Appeal has refused Epping Forest District Council permission to appeal to the Supreme Court over the Bell Hotel. The council says no reasons were given. The Council still intends to go to a full hearing in October.
In practical terms, this means that the Greens will embrace a more radical, populist left-wing agenda, rather than primarily focusing on Green issues. That means direct competition with Corbyn’s new party. Will be an interesting dynamic on the left of UK politics.
Have you been saving that one?
Pretty extraordinary victory for Zack Polanski, as he becomes the new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. Polanski: 84.6% Chowns & Ramsay: 15.4% Turnout: 24,265 (37.6%)
Home Secretary says "when we wave the union flag, when we wave the St George's cross" it is to represent the values of Britain, which include compassion towards asylum seekers. Yvette Cooper trying to give the recent flag-waving a different slant.
BREAKING: Yvette Cooper says she is suspending all applications to bring family members to the UK under the asylum system.
Home Secretary updating MPs now on measures to tackle small boat crossings / asylum backlog...
You might well ask whether the current political climate is creating a permissive environment for this kind of racist abuse. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
NEW: The government has announced that this session of parliament will last until spring 2026. Among other things, that means that the assisted dying bill has another 7-8 months to complete its passage through the Lords, increasingly the likelihood of it becoming law.
Reform UK: “Free speech! You can’t say anything these days!” Also Reform UK: “You’re banned from reporting on our council because we don’t like what you said.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BREAKING: Latest figures show the number of asylum seekers in hotels is now 32,059. That’s a slight fall on earlier this year, but represents an 8% increase since June last year, just before Labour came into government promising to end the use of hotels.
I think you misunderstand. Have a read into the ruling.
Make that 23 councils who say they are considering the implications of yesterday’s High Court judgement and what they might do next…
Yes and others believe they have grounds under planning law too
EXCL: We have interviewed an asylum seeker living at the Bell Hotel who says none of the men have been told where they will be moved to. 'Please don't move us': Epping asylum seeker speaks to ITV News. www.itv.com/news/2025-08...
NEW: Research by @itvnews, based on 223 councils, finds 19 are considering taking legal action over asylum hotels in their area. Some are still digesting yesterday's High Court judgement, others are keeping legal action up their sleeve, while some have started work on a case.
NEW: The Conservatives have written to the Home Secretary asking her to rule out moving asylum seekers to housing needed by locals. …”that none of the illegal immigrants currently in the Bell Hotel will be moved into hotels, HMOs, apartments, or social housing which are needed for British people.”
Suspect it is politically impossible to come up with a palatable answer. If housing, then accusation arises that asylum seekers are jumping the queue over locals. If bases, well those have been politically toxic in the past too.
Govt source tells me the reason why Dan Jarvis won’t set out the alternative to asylum hotels is because of security concerns - they claim far right could use locations as a recruitment tool. But not sure that position can hold. People want to know where asylum seekers will be housed.
Inflation rising to 3.8% means there has been virtually no real terms wage growth since Labour came to power, according to @jrf_uk. Just a paltry 0.2% improvement in people’s living standards.
I think fair to say the government does not think this judgement is helpful, but they stress that it is an interim judgement which will be tested again in Oct/Nov.
They say councils will waste tax payers money fighting a govt that is already working to end use of hotels by asylum seekers. Govt says no. of hotels being used is down from 402 to 210 under them and this is a political move by Tories who opened Bell Hotel on their watch.
🔥 Home Office is absolutely fuming at High Court decision on Epping, with a source calling it “dangerous”. They accuse judges of meddling in asylum policy, as with immigration cases where criminals have been allowed to stay in the U.K. under human rights rulings by judges.
Nigel Farage hails the injunction as a victory and says he hopes it will inspire others to oppose hotels housing asylum seekers in other parts of the country. That is where the story moves next…
BREAKING: Epping Forest District Council has won its High Court bid to temporarily block asylum seekers from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Essex. This potentially sets a very significant precedent and could be a real nightmare for the govt.
Seeing as someone else started this trivial commentary back in February, I’d just like to add that Zelensky is one of the best dressed leaders on the planet. Look at that fit 👌
Weirdly Trump and Putin take no questions. Very odd indeed. Perhaps most significant development was Putin saying he accepts Ukraine needs guaranteed security. Aside from that not clear what progress is yet.
BREAKING: President Putin lavishes flattery on President Trump, saying if Trump had been President instead of Biden then the war in Ukraine would not have happened. Trump says there’s been progress but ceasefire “not quite there” and “there’s no deal until there’s a deal”.
This must be an impossible image for Ukrainians to look at. The US president applauding and joking with the man accused of illegally slaughtering their fellow countrymen, women and children. Putin must be in his element.
NEW: Donald Trump confirms that President Zelensky won't be attending the Trump/Putin meeting in Alaska on Friday. Trump says there will be 'swapping of land', especially focusing on 'ocean-front property' on the Black Sea.
Lib Dem leader @EdwardJDavey accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in Gaza. “Netanyahu's plans to occupy the whole of Gaza are utterly abhorrent - and it's increasingly clear that his goal is ethnic cleansing.”
BREAKING: Keir Starmer condemns Israeli plans to further occupy Gaza. “The Israeli Government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately.” Full statement ⬇️
BREAKING: Homelessness Minister Rushanara Ali has resigned following a scandal over housing she was renting out. She tells the PM she doesn’t want to be a distraction.
NEW: Home Office releases the first video - filmed by the government - of migrants being detained on arrival at Dover as part of the new ‘one in one out’ agreement with France to deter small boat crossings.
NEW: The first migrants have been detained under Britain’s ‘one in one out’ agreement with France. The were detained on Wednesday in Dover after arriving on a small boat across the Channel. www.itv.com/news/2025-08...
BREAKING: A 76-year-old man has been charged with alleged child cruelty offences following a police investigation into a summer camp held at Stathern Lodge, Leicestershire. The charges relate to the alleged treatment of three boys.
NEW: Police officers across England and Wales are set to receive an above-inflation 4.2% pay rise, the government has announced. Police Federation says it “barely treads water” and will ask members whether to accept it.
A reminder of how huge this judgement is… The Supreme Court says they are handing down their judgement on car finances on a Friday afternoon to avoid “market disorder”.
My thoughts today are with Bebe, Elsie and Alice’s families. I know every journalist who covered events in Southport last year was deeply affected - we won’t forget them.
NEW: Am told over the weekend that Sarah Champion’s letter calling on the PM to recognise a Palestinian state has now been signed by 254 MPs.
I’m not even English, but can we use the Lionesses’ victory as an excuse to all be nice to each other for 24 hours?
15% tariffs will still be imposed on EU goods entering the US.
“It’s the biggest of all the deals” says President Trump. “We made it”, adds von der Leyen.
BREAKING: The US and EU have reached a trade deal - lauded as a “huge deal” by both sides.
You have to admire Ursula von der Leyen’s DO NOT REACT face.
A *third* of the Commons has called on the PM to recognise Palestine as a state. Never seen anything quite like this.
Government sources still insist a ban will be brought forward, but they admit to me that there is no timeframe for one. After 7 years of delay, campaigners say Labour are delaying over the same issues as previous Conservative administrations. Some now doubt No10's resolve.
I understand sticking points include: - religious freedoms - young people - the issue of 'consent' And of course... trans people/women's rights. The Supreme Court ruling is still being digested and applied to various issues, including conversion therapy.
We are now on to the 4th Prime Minister who has promised - and then delayed - a ban on conversion therapy. I am told that a draft bill has been submitted to No10, where it has failed to progress any further. Labour promised a ban in its manifesto and last year's King's Speech.
Matthew was paid substantial damages by St Thomas Philadelphia Church in Sheffield, who have refused to respond to us. An independent investigation by Barnardo's substantiated his claims that he'd been given an 'exorcism' for being gay. He was told to rid himself of 'Satan'.
EXCL: "They said demons were coming out of my mouth". Matthew Drapper tells me about his 'exorcism' of 'gay demons', after winning the first case against a church for harm caused by 'conversion therapy'. I'm told there's still no timeframe for a ban… www.itv.com/news/2025-07...
I did read it. Did you? Because it doesn’t say register to decide the party’s name.
It also has the potential to complicate Labour's electoral strategy. How to counter Reform on the right, while also seeing off this new party on the left (as well as the Greens). It will be impossible to please both camps.
It's easy to focus on names, but the establishment of a left-wing challenger to Labour is a serious threat. In other nations (see France, Germany) the hard left has cost social democratic parties dearly. In a fragmented party system, just a couple of percent could cost Labour the next election.
OK so apparently both Corbyn and Sultana are right. This name won’t be registered with the Electoral Commission and isn’t THE name, it’s just a working title for now. Got it?
Hang on, now Jeremy Corbyn’s team say Your Party is an ‘interim name’. Not the clearest of launches.
BREAKING: Jeremy Corbyn has officially launched his new party, called Your Party.
BBC NEWS / AFP / BBC NEWS / REUTERS JOINT STATEMENT: “We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. "They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering. "
The building opposite Labour HQ has been covered with a large scene of devastation from Gaza, in protest at both the war and the approach to protest in the UK. Stunt by ‘Led By Donkeys’.
A reshuffle of the Conservative front bench is under way. Kemi Badenoch’s leadership rival James Cleverly will return to a major role. But what about that other rival Robert Jenrick? All eyes on whether she moves / promotes him, given his soaring profile.
That, at times, is a different kind of terror!
I have never felt this kind of terror before. #weakestlink
NEW: The government has announced that 16 and 17 year-olds will be able to vote at the next general election. But do they want to? Some interesting polling here by @itvnews might surprise you. www.itv.com/news/2025-07...
Rachael Maskell - who led the welfare rebellion - becomes the fourth MP to be suspended by Labour. This is a full-on war with the rebels now.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Emma last month. Whatever your position on assisted dying, this is incredibly sad news. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...
Top two stories on BBC One o’Clock News: 1. BBC’s internal report into its own Gaza documentary controversy 2. BBC / Banijay report into Gregg Wallace Both bad news for BBC, but no other institution holds itself to account quite like the BBC does.
Representing Wales at the @attitudemag.bsky.social Pride Awards 2025 🏴 🏳️🌈 ❤️
Jeremy Corbyn says on @itvpeston tonight that he thinks independents in parliament and across councils will form a new party and offer an alternative to Labour from the left. He doesn’t rule out leading it himself. Another potential nibbling of the Labour vote.
The bond market is not happy following yesterday’s welfare u-turns and today’s scenes in the Commons 😬
I am told that there were cross words between the Speaker and the Chancellor shortly before PMQs. Some MPs wonder whether that precipitated Rachel Reeves’s upset. On top of everything else that’s going on of course.
A spokesperson says of the Chancellor’s apparent upset that: “It’s a personal matter, which - as you would expect - we are not going to get into. The chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.”
I am loathed to jump to conclusions given the inherent sexism in politics about female ministers ‘crying’ etc, but much of Westminster is wondering if that was a moment of genuine upset for Reeves.
A tear just rolled down the Chancellor’s cheek at #PMQs as the PM refuses to answer whether or not she’ll stay in her job. Hayfever, or something else?
Did the nursery drop-off in a t-shirt in the pouring rain just because the novelty was so damn refreshing. #heatwave
The latest concession essentially makes the government’s welfare reforms completely impotent. The rebels didn’t need to vote it down - the package of reforms was defeated before it got that far.
Culture Secretary says the Jewish community has raised further concerns about imagery and slogans at Glastonbury festival more widely. She says a ‘safe space’ had to be set up in response.
NEW: Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says after the chants by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury there remain questions for BBC about why the set was streamed live and why it wasn’t cut. “This government will not tolerate antisemitism… it is a poison and a cancer that must be rooted out.”
BREAKING: Avon and Somerset Police launch criminal investigation into sets by Kneecap and Bob Vylan at Glastonbury. “We have received a large amount of contact…from people across the world” they say, and “There is absolutely no place in society for hate.”
I understand the Home Secretary still intends to lay the order in Parliament today, with debates / votes in the next few days, before proscription on Friday if parliament agrees.
The hearing may take place on Friday - we are waiting to find out. That’s when govt was hoping the process would conclude and Palestine Action would be officially proscribed.
NEW: The High Court has granted Palestine Action an urgent hearing to challenge its impending proscription by the government. Birnberg Peirce submitted the claim on behalf of Huda Ammori, a 31-year-old of Palestinian/Iraqi heritage and a founder of Palestine Action.
We broadcast the first evidence in May 2020 that care homes had been block booked to make way for patients discharged from hospital, many of whom were not tested until the policy was changed weeks later. t.co/hM8UZWDKoX
The Covid Inquiry begins examining the Covid crisis in care homes today. On Wednesday the former Health Secretary Matt Hancock will appear. He claimed to have put a protective ring around care homes. 46,000 residents died.
Labour MP Cat Eccles still thinks Starmer could be defeated in Tuesday’s welfare vote. My interview with her for @LBC. www.lbc.co.uk/politics/uk-...
