Starmer to unveil 35 bills in King’s Speech and to break football barriers – live

Starmer to unveil 35 bills in King’s Speech and to break football barriers - live
Commons leader condemns Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to unveil 35 new bills into the King’s Speech next week.

The new laws will hand greater powers to local leaders and to economic watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), with growth a key part of the prime minister’s agenda, the government has said.

He described the measures, to be announced on Wednesday, as the “down payment” on the change his government is seeking to deliver.

The prime minister has said his Government will aim to break down “barriers of opportunity” to playing football as he seeks to capitalise on the England team’s success in Euro 2024.

But the SNP has urged Labour to abolish the two-child benefit cap at the King’s Speech, Stephen Flynn has said.

It comes as Sir Keir announced his government will work to ensure the legacy of Gareth Southgate’s team reaching the Euro 2024 final and that of the Lionesses at the Women’s World Cup last year.

The plans are expected to include support for grassroots football clubs and improving access to sport in schools.

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Watch: Farage ‘not shocked’ by Trump shooting due to ‘liberal narrative’

Farage ‘not shocked’ by Trump shooting due to ‘liberal narrative’

Nigel Farage said he was “very upset” but “not shocked” at Donald Trump being shot at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, 13 July. The former president, 78, was shot in the ear as he spoke on stage. A person in the crowd was killed and two others were injured during what the FBI has described as an assassination attempt. The Reform UK leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “The narrative that is put out there about Trump by the liberals that oppose him is so nasty, so unpleased, that I think it almost encourages this type of behaviour.”

Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:59

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David Lammy calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire in talks with Benjamin Netanyahu

In meetings with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Lammy made the case for working towards a two-state solution to the conflict.

The foreign secretary was also expected to announce that the UK will provide another £5.5m this year to UK-Med to fund its work in Gaza.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:

Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:50

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Keir Starmer leads UK condemnation of ‘appalling’ assassination attempt on Donald Trump

The prime minister said he was “appalled” and that there was “no place” for political violence, while one of his ministers said the UK stood “shoulder to shoulder” with America.

Sir Keir spoke with Mr Trump on Sunday afternoon and is understood to have condemned the violence, expressed his condolences for the victims and their families, and wished the former president and those injured a quick recovery.

A bloodied Mr Trump was rushed from the stage to a hospital after the attempt on his life.

He said on his Truth Social media platform that a bullet had “pierced” his ear before he was dragged to the ground by Secret Service agents.

The suspected gunman was killed while the Secret Service confirmed one person in the crowd had died and two others had been “critically injured”.

Our politics team has the full story:

Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:41

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Shadow foreign secretary condemns ‘appalling and wicked’ Trump’s attack

Andrew Mitchell, the shadow foreign secretary, has condemned the shooting during Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.

Reacting to the events in the US, Mr Mitchell told Sky News: “Obviously it is an appalling act of violence and wickedness and has been rightly condemned by everyone for what it is.”

He added: “We’ve had our election here and we’ve seen the coarsening of political debate. The reports back from candidates on all sides in Britain talked about that coarsening and now we see this horrific act in America so rightly condemned by President Biden and by everyone else and by our Prime Minister, too.

“And I think there are issues to be addressed on that. In Britain, it’s certainly coarsened because of social media and there are issues as I say which we need to address as a society.”

(Sky News)
Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:36

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Ousted Ben Habib calls Reform UK to be made more democratic

Reform’s former deputy leader Ben Habib has said the party should be made more democratic after being ousted.

Mr Habib was fired and replaced last week by Richard Tice in Nigel Farage’s shake-up he had “long held concerns about the control of the party and the decision making processes”.

He told Times Radio: “It is not about me. I couldn’t care less about the position I hold. The bigger criticism, if I have got a criticism, of the party is its own lack of democratic set up.

“It is a limited company, substantially controlled by Nigel Farage, Richard Tice has a stake in it, but as you know, in a limited company if you have got more than 51 per cent of the shares you control it.

“And I think that now that we have got seats in Parliament, we have got 4.1 million people voting for us and many more, I am sure, who would have voted for us if they’d had the courage to do so, I think it is very important that the party democratises.

“It is something I was saying to Richard actually before I joined the party and continued to say to him through the general election.”

Ben Habib was replaced by Richard Tice
Ben Habib was replaced by Richard Tice (Getty/Getty)
Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:28

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SNP urges Labour to scrap child benefit cap at King’s Speech

The SNP is urging Labour to abolish the two-child benefit cap if it does not move to do so itself, Stephen Flynn has said.

Mr Flynn has written to Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, urging him to instruct his party’s MPs in Scotland to support the SNP move.

The cap, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, prevents parents claiming Universal Credit or child tax credits for a third child, except in very limited circumstances.

The SNP Westminster leader will table an amendment to the King’s Speech, which will be made on Wednesday setting out the Government’s legislative agenda. MPs then have the opportunity to debate the contents of the speech in the following days, at which point they can lay amendments to it.

Power over which amendments are selected is in the gift of the House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

In his party’s first major intervention since the general election, Mr Flynn said the two child cap is “pushing thousands of Scottish children into poverty” and ending it is “the bare minimum” required of the new Government.

In the letter, Mr Flynn said it would be “simple” for the Government to scrap the cap “immediately” but added this was “a political choice and it requires politicians, across parties, to demand better”.

(PA Wire)
Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:21

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Culture secretary hints at return of Football Governance Bill

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has hinted a possible return of the Football Governance Bill as part of the new policies unveiled at the King’s Speech on Wednesday.

The legislation aims to reform the governance of men’s football to put fans back at the hart of the game,

Asked about football legislation including scrutiny for club finances, she told Times Radio: “Well obviously, I don’t want to pre-empt what the King is going to announce.

“But I’ve been at the football twice this week and at Bury FC, my first visit to Gigg Lane where campaigners worked so hard to save their club but couldn’t manage it and are now having to rebuild – my promise to them was that this was in our manifesto, it will be a top priority for me, so I think you can read into that that there’ll be early action from this Government.

“And I’ve already discussed that with Tracey Crouch, who was the Conservative sports minister whose review was the inspiration behind this. I’m very keen that it becomes an issue that we take party politics out of and that we get behind the fans, we get behind grassroots football, and we get behind kids in this country who deserve the right standards so that those kids who were watching the game last night dreaming that one day it might be them – my job is to make sure that we put rocket boosters under that, whether it’s through more action at grassroots football which we’re announcing today or through protecting those middle-tier clubs.”

Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 08:11

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Minister warns ‘poison spreading into politics’ after Trump attack

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has said the attack on Donald Trump was “incredibly concerning” to Americans and the world.

The Labour warned it was “extremely worrying when you consider that we’ve had a lot of division, and hatred and poison spreading into politics on both sides of the Atlantic – and across Europe as well in recent times”.

Ms Sandy said the UK’s relationship with the US “matters” regardless of who is in the WhiteHouse.

She added: “It’s our intention as the newly elected government here in the UK, that whoever wins that election, that that relationship continues.”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy speaking on Sky News Breakfast
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy speaking on Sky News Breakfast (Sky News)
Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 07:59

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Parliament and Congress ‘to combine to combat threats to politicians’

The Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle is to write to his American counterpart stressing the importance of sharing expertise on security measures, The Independent has learned.

Kim Leadbeater, the sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, said the attack on Mr Trump raised questions about “what a civilised democracy looks like”.

The Labour MP for Spen Valley told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We are back again having that conversation about what democracy looks like, what our politics looks like. I sadly feel that we are not making a huge amount of progress in this country.”

House of Commons leader Lucy Powell also said that there was a “growing sense of … hate and attacks” towards UK politicians which was “something that we need to take action on”.

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has more:

Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 07:53

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Labour slated for ‘holes’ in animal-welfare and green policies

Labour’s animal-welfare and environmental policies may be better than the Tories’ – but they contain disappointing gaps, experts say.

In a YouGov poll last year, a third of voters said animal welfare was one of their top three issues.

So new environment secretary Steve Reed will come under pressure from lobby groups – and in some cases, from opposing countryside and farming factions.

It pledged a Labour government would “champion British farming whilst protecting the environment”.

Our reporter Jane Dalton has the full story:

Salma Ouaguira15 July 2024 07:51

Source: independent.co.uk