UK military sites may be used to house asylum seekers, says defence secretary

Military sites may be used temporarily to house people seeking asylum as Keir Starmer is “absolutely determined” to end the use of hotels earlier than planned, a senior cabinet minister has said.John Healey, the defence secretary, said military planners were looking at possible sites for accommodation on defence bases, as the prime minister wanted to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers sooner than the promised date of 2029.Healey told Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “With the Home Office, I have been putting military planners into their border command and into their planning for the future.“We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here or need to be processed rapidly before we can decide whether or not they should stay or whether or not we deport them, like we have done in record numbers over the last year.”Speaking later on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Healey was pressed on whether the military could play a bigger role in patrolling the border

The most significant moves ​in Starmer​’s reshuffle​d cabinet after Rayner exit

Angela Rayner’s departure has precipitated a wide-ranging reshuffle that means some of the government’s biggest names will be moving jobs. Here are the most significant changes.Justice secretary to home secretaryThe big move of the reshuffle. As home secretary, Mahmood, the daughter of immigrants, faces the daunting task of fronting the government’s approach to immigration and Channel crossings. The issue has been relentlessly pursued by Reform UK over the summer, boosting its polling numbers in the process and spooking Labour at all levels

Reshuffle of junior ministers raises fears over future of Labour’s workers’ rights bill

Keir Starmer has sought to tighten his grip on his government with a wave of junior ministerial changes that has sidelined allies of the unions, raising questions over the future of Labour’s workers’ rights package.The reshuffle has been used by Downing Street to signal a tougher stance on immigration in an apparent bid to take on Reform UK, with Shabana Mahmood – a self-described social conservative rising star – now in charge of the Home Office, supported by Sarah Jones who returns to her former policing brief.Justin Madders, the employment rights minister, was one of the first on the junior benches to be sacked on Saturday. Despite being seen as one of the architects of Labour’s “new deal for working people”, Madders’ departure was not formally announced in No 10’s list of appointments. Instead, he revealed the news himself

Keir Starmer confirms first batch of junior ministers in post-Rayner reshuffle – as it happened

Downing Street has now confirmed the first swathe of junior ministers appointed in the reshuffle.The list is as follows:Jason Stockwood has been appointed investment minister jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and the TreasuryDan Jarvis joins the Cabinet Office as a minister, while remaining security minister in the Home OfficeLady Jacqui Smith has taken up the role of skills minister in the Department for Work and Pensions. She will remain as both the skills and women and equalities minister in the Department for EducationLord Patrick Vallance as a minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. He will remain minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and TechnologyMichael Shanks as a minister jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroAlison McGovern has been appointed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentDame Angela Eagle will join the Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsDame Diana Johnson has moved to the Department for Work and PensionsSarah Jones MP has been appointed to the Home OfficeLady Poppy Gustafsson, Jim McMahon and Daniel Zeichner have left the government.Downing Street has confirmed the first swathe of junior ministers appointed in the reshuffle

Doctor uses Reform conference speech to link king’s cancer to Covid vaccine

A controversial doctor given top billing at the Reform party conference has used his main-stage speech to air a claim the Covid vaccine caused cancer in the royal family.The speech by Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who was appointed as a senior adviser to the US health secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy, drew sharp intakes of breath in the Birmingham auditorium where he was handed a prime speaking slot.After setting out what he said were findings showing that vaccines “created havoc” in the human body, Malhotra said he had been asked to share something by a doctor who he described as one of Britain’s most eminent oncologists.“He thinks it’s highly likely that the Covid vaccines have been a factor, a significant factor in the cancer of members of the royal family,” said Malhotra, who had previously said: “This isn’t just his opinion many other doctors feel the same way.”The remarks drew immediate condemnation from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and others