\n<\/p>\n
Davey is also calling for a review of the law which has seen Palestine Action supporters arrested at demonstrations across Britain in recent weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n He said that, while Palestine Action<\/strong> have committed criminal acts and \u201care a very worrying organisation\u201d, people are being arrested \u201cen masse\u201d.<\/p>\n The Lib Dems<\/strong> have written to the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation \u201cto try to see if there are changes that can be made \u2026 so that it doesn\u2019t happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n He told BBC Breakfast:<\/p>\n In the House of Commons, we abstained [from the decision to make Palestine Action a proscribed organisation] because we didn\u2019t think the government had made that case.<\/p>\n We absolutely accept that criminal acts have happened against British military assets and that is deeply worrying.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.13 EDT<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Ella Creamer<\/span><\/p>\n The Irish novelist Sally Rooney could be arrested under the Terrorism Act after saying she intends to use proceeds from her work to support Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK last month, a legal expert has warned.<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, No 10 said that supporting the group was an offence under the act, after Rooney had made her pledge. It comes as Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey<\/strong> called for a review of terrorism legislation following hundreds of arrests in relation to the proscribed group (see post at 9.06am<\/strong>).<\/p>\n Royalties from Rooney\u2019s books, including Normal People and Conversations with Friends, along with BBC adaptations of them, would be used to support Palestine Action<\/strong>, she wrote in the Irish Times over the weekend.<\/p>\n The legal expert also said that the bestselling writer could face prosecution if she were to express her views at, for example, a UK book festival, underscoring the proscription\u2019s \u201cgross disproportionality\u201d.<\/p>\n While the prime minister\u2019s spokesperson would not respond to the author\u2019s comments specifically, they said that there was \u201ca difference between showing support for a proscribed organisation, which is an offence under the Terrorism Act, and legitimate protest in support of a cause\u201d, according to the Press Association.<\/p>\n Asked what message No 10 would give to people considering donating money to Palestine Action, the spokesperson said: \u201cSupport for a proscribed organisation is an offence under the Terrorism Act and obviously the police will, as they have set out, implement the law as you\u2019d expect.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 700 people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in relation to the group since it was proscribed in early July, many of whom were detained at a peaceful protest on 9 August in Parliament Square, London.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Keir Starmer has returned to Scotland after his family holiday was interrupted by crunch talks on Ukraine in Washington DC.<\/strong><\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s plane flew from the US to Glasgow overnight following the White House discussions, landing on Tuesday morning, PA reported.<\/p>\n The bloke just can\u2019t catch a break when it comes to getting away for a bit of sun \u2013 or \u201clight cloud\u201d, as per today\u2019s forecast for Scotland.<\/p>\n This is the second summer in a row that his holiday plans have been disrupted after he cancelled a European trip last August when rioting broke out in the UK and tensions escalated in the Middle East.<\/p>\n The prime minister also delayed his departure for a trip last Christmas following the death of his brother aged 60 who had been suffering from cancer.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Keir Starmer is a \u201cpatriot\u201d who supports the public displaying of the England flag, his official spokesperson claimed amid an apparent row over councils removing flags from lamp-posts.<\/strong><\/p>\n Downing Street said that the prime minister sees national pride as \u201can important thing,\u201d in response to controversy over recent decisions by two councils to remove English and British flags, The Telegraph reported.<\/p>\n In the past two weeks, local authorities in Tower Hamlets, east London, and Birmingham have announced plans to take down Union and St George\u2019s flags from lamp-posts. Meanwhile, Worcestershire county council \u2013 notably led by (checks notes)<\/em> Reform UK \u2013 claimed on Monday that hanging such flags from lamp-posts could pose a risk to life.<\/p>\n The No 10 spokesman said:<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t asked him about specific cases of specific councils. But what the prime minister has always talked about is pride in being British, his patriotism in that \u2013 not least with the Lionesses in the Euros \u2013 and patriotism will always be an important thing to him.<\/p>\n Asked whether Starmer thought people should put up English and British flags, he said:<\/p>\n Absolutely. Patriotism, putting up English flags \u2026 we put up English flags all around Downing Street every time the English football team, the women\u2019s and men\u2019s, are around.<\/p>\n <\/span>British prime minister Keir Starmer, with a Union flag in the background.<\/span> Photograph: Andy Rain\/EPA<\/p>\n Worcestershire became the third council to express opposition to the flags when a spokesman said St George and Union flags hung from lamp-posts in Wythall risked endangering pedestrians and motorists.<\/p>\n Karl Perks, Worcestershire\u2019s Reform UK cabinet member for highways, said the flags could be \u201cdangerous\u201d, adding: \u201cClimbing up lamp-posts and attaching flags to them may not be the best thing to do, mostly because it\u2019s dangerous and could cause damage. There are no specific plans to remove the flags.\u201d<\/p>\n He advised that people would be better off displaying their flags \u201cin your own front and back gardens, on your cars, in your windows and on community buildings where agreed by the whole community\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Sally Weale<\/span><\/p>\n Parents in England are skipping meals and turning to buy-now-pay-later services such as Klarna in order to afford school uniforms before the autumn term, according to a survey.<\/strong><\/p>\n Almost half (47%) of the 2,000 parents who took part in the poll said they were worried about uniform costs, which can run into hundreds of pounds due to expensive branded items, while more than a quarter (29%) said they had forgone food or heating to pay for uniforms.<\/p>\n The survey by the parenting charity Parentkind showed struggling parents being forced into debt. Nearly half (45%) of those polled planned to use credit cards to pay for their children\u2019s school uniform and a third (34%) said they would rely on Klarna-style delayed payment services.<\/p>\n The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, urged schools to help struggling parents by reducing the number of branded items of uniform that pupils are required to wear as a matter of urgency, before a forthcoming change in the law.<\/p>\n A limit of three branded items, plus a branded tie for secondary and middle schools, will be enforced from September 2026 after the government\u2019s children\u2019s wellbeing and schools bill becomes law, but Phillipson wants schools to act sooner on a voluntary basis.<\/p>\n \u201cSchool uniform matters but it shouldn\u2019t break the bank. No family should have to choose between putting food on the table and buying a new blazer,\u201d she said. \u201cParents have told us they want fewer costly branded items \u2013 and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re delivering. Schools can help ease the pressure on families right now by reducing the number of branded items they require.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, schools can require parents to buy multiple items branded with a school logo, often from specialist suppliers, with many asking for more than five and in some cases 10 items, pushing total uniform costs up to \u00a3400 including PE kit.<\/p>\n Under the new legislation, parents will be able to buy cheaper uniform staples such as shirts or trousers from general retailers including Aldi and Marks & Spencer.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n David Cameron\u2019s \u201cbonfire of the quangos\u201d decision to abolish England\u2019s council spending watchdog has left a broken system that is costing taxpayers more money than it was promised to save.<\/strong><\/p>\n In a highly critical report, academics at the University of Sheffield said the coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had promised savings of \u00a3100m a year by abolishing the Audit Commission.<\/p>\n However, replacing the public body with a private-sector model had resulted in \u201cchaos\u201d and soaring costs to audit councils amid the financial crisis hitting England\u2019s town halls.<\/p>\n Several councils have declared effective bankruptcy linked to years of austerity, soaring costs amid pressure on services, as well as local missteps. They include Birmingham, Nottingham and Woking.<\/p>\n The Audit Reform Lab at Sheffield said the average cost of external auditors checking a local authority\u2019s finances was now at least \u00a350,000 higher in cash terms than when the Audit Commission was disbanded in 2015.<\/p>\n Private-sector accountancy firms took over the job of auditing local government accounts in England after the agency was abolished, in an austerity-driven push by Tory and Lib Dem ministers to find savings and efficiencies.<\/p>\n \u201cTen years on, however, it now seems clear that these reform ambitions have failed,\u201d the authors of the report wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly 1% of audits were delivered on time in 2022-23, with many audits delayed by several years. Audit costs have risen dramatically in response. An unwieldy, but ultimately operational centralised bureaucracy was replaced by market chaos. The \u00a3100m per annum savings heralded by the UK government in 2014 are now a distant memory.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Keir Starmer will co-chair a call of the so-called \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d on Tuesday morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n The prime minister and French president Emmanuel Macron<\/strong> have been leading the talks between nations looking to assist Ukraine.<\/p>\n Starmer and several European leaders travelled to Washington for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong> and Donald Trump<\/strong> on Monday.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.56 EDT<\/p>\n The UK has climbed down from its controversial demand that Apple provide access to encrypted customer data, following pressure from the Trump administration, according to US officials.<\/strong><\/p>\n The reversal ends a diplomatic standoff between London and Washington, after it was reported last month that the former was likely to withdraw its request following pressure from US<\/strong> vice-president JD Vance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Tulsi Gabbard<\/strong>, director of national intelligence under President Trump, told the Financial Times that the UK had \u201cagreed to drop\u201d its request for Apple to unlock encrypted data belonging to American citizens \u2013 an action Trump had previously compared to surveillance practices in China.<\/p>\n She said:<\/p>\n I\u2019m happy to share that the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a \u2018back door\u2019 that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.<\/p>\n <\/span>Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), speaks during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US.<\/span> Photograph: Shutterstock<\/p>\n Although the UK has agreed to rescind the request, it has not yet been officially withdrawn, according to a source familiar with the situation, the FT reported.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past few months, I\u2019ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside president Trump and vice-president Vance, to ensure Americans\u2019 private data remains private and our constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,\u201d Gabbard added.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.50 EDT<\/p>\n Ben Quinn<\/span><\/p>\n Robert Jenrick has been severely criticised by Labour after the shadow justice secretary was pictured at an anti-asylum rally in Essex attended by a veteran far-right activist.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jenrick posted photos on X showing himself visiting the protest outside the Bell hotel in Epping, where police have been attacked and police vehicles vandalised by groups of men taking part in the demonstration. The MP met protesters including a woman with a T-shirt bearing the message: \u201cSend them home.\u201d<\/p>\n Eddy Butler, a well-known figure in far-right circles who was a key strategist in the rise of the British National party, can be seen wearing sunglasses in the background of one of the photos Jenrick shared after the visit.<\/p>\n It is not clear whether Jenrick met Butler, but the photo was seized on by far-right figures eager to exploit the protest, which they have heavily promoted.<\/p>\n Butler boasted to friends about Jenrick\u2019s appearance in a post on his Facebook account: \u201cAt the Bell Hotel, riding shotgun for Robert Jenrick, pretender to the Tory leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Robert Jenrick visiting an anti asylum protest at the Bell Hotel, Essex.<\/span> Photograph: @RobertJenrick\/Twitter\/X<\/p>\n A Labour party spokesperson described Jenrick as \u201ca disgrace\u201d for attending a protest \u201corganised by a far-right party\u201d, which was also attended by someone with \u201ca long history of involvement with neo-Nazi groups\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cJenrick once proudly boasted about ramping up the procurement of asylum hotels when he was immigration minister. It shows, at best, a staggering lack of judgment,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cKemi Badenoch must show some leadership, explain what action she\u2019s going to take against her shadow justice secretary, and demonstrate that she is strong enough to stand up against this challenge to her authority and to basic decency.\u201d<\/p>\n A source close to Jenrick insisted that the MP had \u201cno idea\u201d who the former BNP strategist was and did not speak to him at the protest rally.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Here\u2019s some reaction to our scoop yesterday that the UK Treasury is considering a new tax on the sale of homes worth more than \u00a3500,000 as a step towards a radical overhaul of stamp duty and council tax.<\/strong><\/p>\n Read the full story here:<\/p>\n Meanwhile, David Fell<\/strong> from Hamptons<\/strong> told the Times:<\/p>\n Who is better off will come down to how closely the government chooses to follow any recommendations. But I think in response to the general principle, the shift would probably cut the cost of buying the most expensive homes, but add to the annual cost of ownership, particularly given the artificially low levels of council tax charged by many places that have the most expensive house prices.<\/em><\/p>\n The impact of a change to the system would probably depend on the level at which the rates were set, and the length of time it takes for the higher ownership charges to outweigh existing stamp duty and council tax bills.<\/em><\/p>\n Head over to my colleague Julia Kollewe\u2019s business live blog for more reaction on this story throughout the day:<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n It is \u201cabsolutely essential\u201d for the US to be part of European security guarantees for a potential Ukrainian peace deal, but there is \u201clots more work to be done\u201d on what they will entail, a minister has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe really important progress yesterday was on the security guarantees, these issues that the prime minister and president Macron have been leading on within Europe, with 30 countries involved in planning with a coalition of the willing to make sure we can provide those guarantees.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the important news yesterday is that the United States will be part of those guarantees. That\u2019s absolutely essential, because the people of Ukraine can\u2019t be expected to rely on the word of president Putin,\u201d pensions minister Torsten Bell<\/strong> told ITV\u2019s Good Morning Britain.<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n Those guarantees are really important. You\u2019re right to say that there\u2019s now lots more work to be done on the nature of those guarantees. That\u2019s what is now under way.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve seen that happening immediately. It was already under way, as I say, across 30 countries, and now the United States is going to be involved in that.<\/p>\n He said it was \u201cpremature\u201d to talk about whether British troops could be on the ground as part of a Nato force to guarantee security.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Davey is also calling for a review of the law which has seen Palestine Action supporters arrested at demonstrations across Britain in recent weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n He said that, while Palestine Action<\/strong> have committed criminal acts and \u201care a very worrying organisation\u201d, people are being arrested \u201cen masse\u201d.<\/p>\n The Lib Dems<\/strong> have written to the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation \u201cto try to see if there are changes that can be made \u2026 so that it doesn\u2019t happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n He told BBC Breakfast:<\/p>\n In the House of Commons, we abstained [from the decision to make Palestine Action a proscribed organisation] because we didn\u2019t think the government had made that case.<\/p>\n We absolutely accept that criminal acts have happened against British military assets and that is deeply worrying.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.13 EDT<\/p>\n The prime minister has \u201cdone a good job\u201d to help keep Europe united in its support for Ukraine, according to the Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, Davey praised Keir Starmer\u2019s<\/strong> approach along with fellow European leaders but said the UK needs to do more to strengthen Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s<\/strong> negotiating position, ahead of a potential one-to-one meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n We need to make sure that European alliance is holding and, to be fair to the prime minister, he has done a good job in keeping that coalition of the willing together with European allies.<\/p>\n But \u2026 we are not doing enough to help Ukraine and strengthen its negotiating hand.<\/p>\n Further support would be providing British Typhoon jet fighters and for frozen Russian assets to be seized and used to \u201csupport the Ukrainian defence effort\u201d. He also said US president Donald Trump\u2019s reversal on calling for a ceasefire is a major concession to the Kremlin.<\/p>\n Asked whether last night\u2019s White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy could be considered a success, he said:<\/p>\n We have this idea of some sort of security guarantee with American involvement, it\u2019s a little bit vague but I fear with what they are talking about with land deal is a price that we cannot let Ukraine pay. Ukraine won\u2019t want to pay it.<\/p>\n I think if you appease an aggressor like Vladimir Putin, we know in history that it ends in a bad way.<\/p>\n I just hope the media, here in the UK and internationally, don\u2019t fall for any of the spin coming out of the Trump White House and really analyse what actually has been achieved or not achieved.<\/p>\n Readers will recall that this is not the first time Davey has pleaded for better media scrutiny of right-wing politicians on the BBC.<\/p>\n Last month, he told the same show: \u201cThe BBC needs to do a better job, needs to hold Nigel Farage<\/strong> to account and if I have to come on your programme to do that, I\u2019ll do just that \u2026 you cover the tittle tattle around Reform, you don\u2019t cover their policies.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.17 EDT<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I\u2019ll be bringing you all the latest news from Westminster (and beyond) throughout the day.<\/p>\n We start with news that environment secretary Steve Reed has ordered direct oversight of major transport, energy and housing schemes<\/strong>, enabling the government to intervene early to prevent projects being set back by environmental concerns.<\/p>\n Ministers plan to step in earlier on developments, such as the expansion of Heathrow airport in London, to resolve issues earlier and avoid spiralling costs, according to a report this morning in The Times.<\/p>\n Reed will set up a new board to track more than 50 major infrastructure projects, \u201ccovering roads, railways, airports and power stations\u201d, a nod to the fact that the likes of Hinkley Point C and the Lower Thames Crossing are two schemes which have been blighted by years of delay.<\/p>\n The move is likely to concern environmental campaigners, with the board aiming to spot potential challenges such as the \u00a3100m HS2 \u2018bat tunnel\u2019, developed to protect wildlife and nature, but criticised by senior government figures including the prime minister and chancellor Rachel Reeves as an example of over-regulation.<\/p>\n Senior Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) officials will meet with civil servant colleagues from the transport and energy departments on a monthly basis to discuss various infrastructure projects, flagging potential roadblocks to ministers at an earlier stage.<\/p>\n Reed told The Times that \u201ccomplex planning rules\u201d had blocked the development of new homes and businesses, while direct ministerial oversight would \u201ccut through the delays and get development moving faster\u201d.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Sadiq Khan<\/strong> said Labour supporters would be \u201cdelusional\u201d if they did not recognise the difficulties the party had had since winning power in July 2024, as he admitted its first year in office has been difficult. The London mayor told an audience at the Edinburgh festival fringe that Labour needs to \u201creally pick things up\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Keir Starmer<\/strong> has been urged to recall parliament to \u201cimpose immediate sanctions\u201d on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The letter urges the prime minister to \u201cact now\u201d to exert pressure on Israel to end its war in Gaza and for an end to arms sales to Israel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Downing Street has suggested that <\/strong>Keir Starmer would back a Ukraine peace deal without a ceasefire as a precondition as the UK\u2019s prime minister and other European leaders join Volodymyr Zelenskyy <\/strong>in Washington for Ukraine talks with Donald Trump<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The watchdog that monitors government ministers\u2019 professional appointments after leaving office has been criticised for clearing Grant Shapps<\/strong>, a former Conservative defence secretary, to join Cambridge Aerospace as long as he promises not to work on defence matters.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Alex Salmond\u2019s <\/strong>niece has accused Nicola Sturgeon <\/strong>of tarnishing her uncle\u2019s reputation when he is no longer able to defend himself in order to promote her memoir.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n More than \u00a3300m given to English councils to help Ukrainian refugees into accommodation has not been spent, while thousands of them face homelessness.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Patients in England now have greater access to important tests such as MRI scans and endoscopies in the evenings and weekends, the government has said, after increasing the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offering out of hours services.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ed Davey calls for review of terrorism legislation after Palestine Action arrests Davey is also calling for a review of the law which has seen Palestine Action supporters arrested at demonstrations across Britain in recent weeks. He said that, while Palestine Action have committed criminal acts and \u201care a very worrying organisation\u201d, people are being<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[919,4402,680,9923,2639,132,1240,124,1085,9924],"class_list":{"0":"post-16608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-action","9":"tag-arrests","10":"tag-calls","11":"tag-davey","12":"tag-legislation","13":"tag-live","14":"tag-palestine","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-review","17":"tag-terrorism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Parents in England skipping meals to afford school uniforms, survey finds<\/h2>\n
UK backs down on demand for backdoor access to Apple users\u2019 encrypted data – FT<\/h2>\n
Labour condemns Robert Jenrick\u2019s visit to rally attended by far-right activist<\/h2>\n
‘Absolutely essential’ for US to be part of Ukraine security guarantee, says minister<\/h2>\n
Ed Davey calls for review of terrorism legislation after Palestine Action arrests<\/h2>\n
Environment secretary to intervene earlier on environmental challenges to major schemes<\/h2>\n
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