{"id":37520,"date":"2025-12-15T14:42:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=37520"},"modified":"2025-12-15T14:42:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:42:53","slug":"keir-starmer-faces-questions-from-commons-liaison-committee-on-his-record-as-prime-minister-uk-politics-live-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=37520","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer faces questions from Commons liaison committee on his record as prime minister \u2013 UK politics live | Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Karen Bradley<\/strong> (Con), chair of the home affairs committee, goes next.<\/p>\n

Q: When will the government publish its violence against women and girls strategy?<\/em><\/p>\n

Very soon, says Starmer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: But ministers have been discussing some measures already.<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> repeats the point about wanting it out very soon.<\/p>\n

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Q: Are you willing to meet victims of press intrusion like Kate and Gerry McCann to discuss their calls for further measures to bring the media under control.<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says he will have a meeting with them.<\/p>\n

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Starmer says court backlogs are ‘stain on our criminal justice system’ and he won’t ignore problems<\/h2>\n

Andy Slaughter<\/strong> (Lab), chair of the justice committee, is asking questions now. He says the plans to limit jury trials would affect half or more of all cases. He urges the government to reconsider.<\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> accepts that, on its own, restricting access to jury trials won\u2019t cut the courts backlog.<\/p>\n

But it would help, he says.<\/p>\n

He says 60% of victims of violence against women and girls drop out from giving evidence at some point.<\/p>\n

That is not acceptable, he says.<\/p>\n

He says this is not a recent problem. He has been looking at this for 20 years.<\/p>\n

Q: Magistrates used to only deal with cases with a maximum sentence of six months. That will go up to three years. Won\u2019t this plan lead to more people going to jail?<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says the most serious cases will still go before juries.<\/p>\n

Cases are still taking too long to go to court.<\/p>\n

He says he is not prepared to walk past what has been \u201ca stain on our criminal justice system\u201d for far too long.<\/p>\n

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Starmer agrees to get Treasury to review rules that stop FE colleges reclaiming VAT<\/h2>\n

The committee has finished the standards in public life part of the hearing, and the rest of the questions will be about the \u201cPlan for Change\u201d.<\/p>\n

Helen Hayes<\/strong> (Lab), chair of the education committee, goes next.<\/p>\n

In response to her first question, Starmer agrees to speak to the Treasury about rule that stops FE colleges claiming back VAT on expenditure.<\/p>\n

Starmer says he will do that.<\/p>\n

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Simon Hoare<\/strong> (Con), chair of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, says his committee is looking at the extent to which appointments still follow the \u201cgood chaps\u201d principle.<\/p>\n

Q: Have you considered putting some of these appointments on a statutory basis, such as the ethics adviser?<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says he has beefed up the ministerial code, and given the ethics adviser new powers.<\/p>\n

He does not see the need for further change, he says. But he would not close his mind to that, he says.<\/p>\n

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Starmer says he does not accept appointment of Labour donor David Kogan as football regulator amounts to cronyism<\/h2>\n

Costa<\/strong> turns to cronyism.<\/p>\n

He says Starmer regularly criticised this when he was in opposition.<\/p>\n

Q: You admitted that you should not have been involved in the appointment of David Kogan as football regulator. What is happening to the internal inquiry that you said you were setting up in the light of this?<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says Kogan was originally approached for the job by the last government. He says he does not accept this was a case of cronyism.<\/p>\n

He says he was not the decision maker in this case.<\/p>\n

Kogan has been a Labour donor.<\/p>\n

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Costa<\/strong> is asking questions again.<\/p>\n

He asks about the No 10 briefing against Wes Streeting.<\/p>\n

Q: Why didn\u2019t you sack the person responsible? You said you had been assured that the briefing did not come from No 10. Who gave you that assurance?<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says he had that assurance from different people in his team?<\/p>\n

Q: From who?<\/em><\/p>\n

From special advisers, says Starmer<\/strong>. He says he won\u2019t give names. He goes on:<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t just take everything at face value. I looked at other bits of evidence to assure myself about what I was then saying publicly to the media.<\/p>\n

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Starmer says he has sacked people for leaking before, and is determined to find source of pre-budget FT tax U-turn leak<\/h2>\n

Starmer<\/strong> is now being asked about leaks. Meg Hillier, the committee chair, asks about the leak to the FT saying the government had abandoned plans to put up income tax.<\/p>\n

Q: Could that have come from No 10?<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says a leak inquiry is under way.<\/p>\n

He says he has no reason to believe there was a leak from No 10.<\/p>\n

In the past, he has taken action, \u201cwhich has led to the removal of individuals\u201d, over leaks.<\/p>\n

He says he will get to the bottom of leaks. In any organisation, they are \u201cintolerable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Q: So you will be ruthless?<\/p>\n

Starmer says: \u201cI want to stop these leaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Starmer dismisses claim he misled MPs with answer about teacher numbers at PMQs last week<\/h2>\n

Costa<\/strong> is now asking about a Full Fact factcheck saying that one of Starmer\u2019s replies during PMQs last week about teacher numbers was inaccurate.<\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> defends what he said, saying:<\/p>\n

What I was putting before the House is the fact that we are committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new teachers. And we\u2019ve got record numbers of trainees coming into the system, and therefore that number is going up.<\/p>\n

If you look at secondary schools, further education colleges, the number of teachers has gone up. That\u2019s absolutely clear.<\/p>\n

Referring to primary schools, Starmer says pupil numbers have gone down, so fewer teachers are needed.<\/p>\n

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Starmer brushes off complaints from Tory MP about announcements being made on final day of Commons session<\/h2>\n

Costa<\/strong> asks about announcements being made outside the House of Commons. He claims this is another standards issue, because the ministrial code says ministers should make announcements to the Commons too.<\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says he regularly discusses this with the speaker.<\/p>\n

Q: On Thursday you will publish a progress report on the Grenfell inquiry. That is the last day of the session. Why is this important progress report being made then?<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> says he will discuss this with the speaker.<\/p>\n

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Alberto Costa<\/strong>, the Tory chair of the standards committee, gets to ask the first question.<\/p>\n

He starts by asking about a tweet from Starmer saying the government has capped bus fares. He questions if this was accurate, and hence in line with with the Nolan principles on honesty, given the Tory government imposed a cap.<\/p>\n

Starmer<\/strong> defends his tweet, saying funding for the Tory cap had run out.<\/p>\n

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Starmer says Bondi beach attack not isolated incident, because antisemitic attacks taking place on Jewish holy days<\/h2>\n

The hearing is starting.<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer<\/strong> begins by condemning the Bondi beach attack as an \u201cappalling antisemitic\u201d terrorist attack.<\/p>\n

He says he knows that Jewish communties in the UK will feel more insecure.<\/p>\n

This is not an isolated incident, he says. And he says these incidents are focused on some of the holiest days in the Jewish calender. He cites the Heaton Park attack in Manchester as an example.<\/p>\n

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Who will be questioning Starmer at liaison committee, and what they will cover<\/h2>\n

Keir Starmer is appearing before the Commons liaison committee, which comprises the chairs of all the select committee, at 2pm. He will take questions for 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Here is the list of topics being covered, and the MPs who are down to get a question.<\/p>\n

Meg Hiller, the committee chair, will also get some questions.<\/p>\n

Standards in Public Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alberto Costa MP, Standards<\/p>\n

Simon Hoare MP, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs<\/p>\n

Cat Smith MP, Procedure<\/p>\n

The Plan for Change: one year on<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dame Karen Bradley MP, Home Affairs<\/p>\n

Alistair Carmichael MP, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs<\/p>\n

Ruth Cadbury MP, Transport<\/p>\n

Tan Dhesi MP, Defence<\/p>\n

Bill Esterson MP, Energy Security and Net Zero<\/p>\n

Patrica Ferguson MP, Scottish Affairs<\/p>\n

Helen Hayes MP, Education<\/p>\n

Simon Hoare MP, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs<\/p>\n

Andy Slaughter MP, Justice<\/p>\n

Cat Smith MP, Procedure<\/p>\n

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Badenoch urges Starmer to condemn Labour donor over Israel comment she describes as ‘morally repugnant’<\/h2>\n

Kemi Badenoch<\/strong> has urged Keir Starmer to condemn a Labour donor who said that Benjamin Netanhayu, the Israeli prime minister, \u201cwants antisemitism to be a thing\u201d because it validates what his government is doing.<\/p>\n

In a post on social media last night, Dale Vince<\/strong>, the green entrepreneur who has been called Labour\u2019s biggest corporate donor, said:<\/p>\n

Commenting on the shootings in Australia today Netanyahu said – Antisemitism spreads when leaders stay silent. Nothing to do with Isreal committing Genocide in Palestine then. Netanyahu wants antisemitism to be a thing, it validates him – he acts to make it so.<\/p>\n

In response, Badenoch<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n

Hours after the biggest massacre of Jews since Oct 7th, the Labour Party\u2019s largest donor tweeted \u201cNetanyahu wants antisemitism to be a thing\u201d. A morally repugnant statement.<\/p>\n

Will Keir Starmer condemn his big financial backer? Staying silent implies he sees nothing wrong.<\/p>\n

Starmer will be giving evidence to the Commons liaison committee shortly, where some of the questions will cover standards in public life, so there might be a chance for an MP to bring this up.<\/p>\n

Vince<\/strong> subsequently posted this statement clarifying what he meant.<\/p>\n

My words on this subject were not intended to excuse or legitimise terrorism, or any form of racism – what happened at Bondi beach is an atrocity. My words are aimed at the intervention of Netanyahu who in my opinion overlooks the impacts of his own terrorism. If anti semitism is rising in the world today then surely on any rational analysis, the biggest single cause of that will be the genocide in Palestine. I condemn all acts of violence and all forms of racism.<\/p>\n

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Labour says it is ‘staggering” Reform UK is not taking action against ‘racist’ mayoral candidate<\/h2>\n

Labour says that it is \u201cstaggering\u201d that Reform UK is refusing to do anything about racist comments from a mayoral candidate.<\/p>\n

Responding to what Danny Kruger said when was asked at his press conference about Chris Parry, Reform\u2019s candidate for mayor of Hampshire and the Solent (see 1.13pm), Anna Turley<\/strong>, the Labour chair, said:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s staggering that 10 days after these racist comments were first reported, Nigel Farage is still refusing to take action.<\/p>\n

No matter what Reform\u2019s senior leadership say, telling a black British man from London to \u2018go home to the Caribbean\u2019 is racist, and no \u2018context\u2019 can excuse it. Nigel Farage should stop turning a blind eye to racism in his party and sack his candidate immediately.<\/p>\n

Reform want to drag our politics to a dark place and this inaction shows why they are not fit for high office.<\/p>\n

Parry\u2019s comment was originally reported by the Daily Telegraph. Parry did not respond to the paper\u2019s requests for a comment, and Reform UK has ignored calls from Labour for Parry to be sacked as a candidate.<\/p>\n

When Kruger<\/strong> was initially asked about Parry at the press conference, he said that he did not know the details of this case but that the party condemned \u201cany expression of racism\u201d and that the party had taken action against the \u201csmall\u201d number of members who had \u201cdisgraced\u201d the party in these cases.<\/p>\n

Asked about this again by a Telegraph reporter, who said the party had refused to say if Parry was being kept on as a candidate, Kruger said that this was a matter for Farage, but that Parry was \u201ca very distinguished public servant\u201d and that it was good to have his support.<\/p>\n

Kruger also pointed out that Hampshire and the Solent is one of the four areas where mayoral elections have been delayed for two years.<\/p>\n

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Tories claim resident doctors strike going ahead because government has been ‘weak’ with unions<\/h2>\n

The Tories have claimed that the BMA\u2019s decision to go ahead with the resident doctors strike in England is a result of the government being \u201cweak\u201d with unions.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the announcement (see 1.18am), Stuart Andrew<\/strong>, the shadow health secretary, said:<\/p>\n

The BMA rejecting Labour\u2019s offer just shows how weak this government is in the face of militant unions.<\/p>\n

We Conservatives repeatedly warned Labour that by giving inflation busting pay rises last year they would set a dangerous precedent. And now we see the consequences of their capitulation, with more disruption, more demands and no end in sight.<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a008.25 EST<\/p>\n

Resident doctors in England vote to go ahead with strike<\/h2>\n

Resident doctors in England will strike as planned this week after they voted to reject the government\u2019s latest offer to end the long-running pay and jobs dispute, Denis Campbell<\/strong> reports.<\/p>\n

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Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Karen Bradley (Con), chair of the home affairs committee, goes next. Q: When will the government publish its violence against women and girls strategy? Very soon, says Starmer. Q: But ministers have been discussing some measures already. Starmer repeats the point<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[3052,785,2395,1346,20730,132,1354,124,1353,1226,1099,1347],"class_list":{"0":"post-37520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-committee","9":"tag-commons","10":"tag-faces","11":"tag-keir","12":"tag-liaison","13":"tag-live","14":"tag-minister","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-prime","17":"tag-questions","18":"tag-record","19":"tag-starmer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37520","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=37520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}