Commenting on the government’s deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants, the prime minister said on X:I am determined to smash the business model used by people smugglers, and I’m taking joint action with our allies to make it happen.Building on our deal with France and renewed international cooperation, our strengthened partnership with Iraq will deter small boat arrivals and secure our borders.This live blog will be closing shortly.Thank you for reading the updates and commenting below the line.You can keep up to date with the Guardian’s UK politics coverage here.

Here is a summary from today’s blog:A government deal with Iraq to return illegal migrants “will deter small boat arrivals” and “secure our borders”, Keir Starmer has said.The deal, signed by Home Office minister Dan Jarvis, will set up a formal process to return Iraqis who have arrived in the UK with no right to stay in the country.Jarvis described the deal as a “positive move” and “part of the jigsaw” to tackle small boat Channel crossings.He also told LBC that the government is “not paying” Iraq for the deal but had offered “specific financial support” to help the country tackle people smuggling.Jarvis signed the agreement during a visit to the UK by Iraq’s deputy foreign minister Faud Hussein.

The government is looking at a “range of appropriate accommodation” in which to house asylum seekers in England, the Home Office minister Dan Jarvis told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday.He refused to specify what kind of accommodation was under consideration, although he acknowledged that “nobody really thinks that hotels are a suitable location” after this week’s high court ruling.Councils across England are weighing up their own legal challenges after a high court ruling blocked people seeking asylum from being housed in an Essex hotel.The Conservative-run Broxbourne council in Hertfordshire said it was taking legal advice “as a matter of urgency” on whether it could follow the example of neighbouring Epping Forest district council, which successfully applied for an injunction to stop asylum seekers being accommodated at the Bell hotel in the town.The ruling has been seized on by Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, who said the party’s 12 councils would also consider such challenges.

Conservative former Home Office minister Damian Green has said the government should “go back to the idea of camps” for housing asylum seekers.Green, who lost his seat in the general election last year, told the World At One: “What they should now do is actually toughen up the accommodation that we offer people to make it clear that it’s a deterrent as much as anything.”UK inflation rose again last month to a higher-than-expected 3.8% amid higher food prices and travel costs, adding to fears that the Bank of England will delay further interest rate cuts.Figures showed the annual rate as measured by the consumer prices index climbed from June’s 3.

6% reading, sitting above the central bank’s 2% target for the 10th consecutive month.Responding to the latest figures, chancellor Rachel Reeves said there was “more to do to ease the cost of living”.Rachel Reeves is considering plans for a tax on expensive homes in an effort to raise billions of pounds and close a large hole in the public finances.The UK chancellor has ruled out increases to income tax, VAT and national insurance, but Treasury officials have been tasked with exploring other options to boost revenue.During the media rounds on Wednesday Jarvis said he believes “the very worst politicians” try to drive people apart, when asked on Sky News about Farage’s opinion piece in the Telegraph about hotels housing asylum seekers.

Jarvis said: “I haven’t read Mr Farage’s op-ed, but I’ve always thought that the best politicians try and bring people together, and the very worst politicians try and drive them apart.”Jarvis said talks in recent days have “brought the prospect of peace much closer” in Ukraine, but insisted that Russia should not have a veto on Ukraine’s Nato membership.He told Times Radio that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s Alaska summit, plus talks in Washington over the previous days, had “brought the prospect of peace much closer than they had been previously”.Scotland Yard’s plan to widen the use of controversial live facial recognition technology is unlawful because it is incompatible with European laws, the equalities regulator has claimed.As the UK’s biggest force prepares to use instant face-matching cameras at this weekend’s Notting Hill carnival, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said its use was intrusive and could have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights.

The shadow home secretary has called for an emergency cabinet meeting “to establish plans for the deportation of all illegal immigrants upon arrival”.In a letter to home secretary Yvette Cooper, Chris Philp claimed the “migration crisis” was due to “the catastrophic decision to cancel the Rwanda deterrent just before it was due to start, with no replacement plan”.Philp also told Cooper that flats are “sorely needed by young people”, as he called for assurances that asylum seekers would not be moved from Epping’s Bell hotel into apartments.The head of the British armed forces will tell his American counterparts the UK is prepared to send troops to defend Ukraine’s skies and seas but not to the frontline with Russia, as planning intensifies for a postwar settlement.Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, will on Wednesday attend meetings at the Pentagon designed to finalise what 30 different countries are willing to commit to Ukraine’s national security.

Train fares in England are now expected to rise by a higher-than-expected 5.8% next year, causing concern among passenger groups.Rail ticket increases are usually calculated by adding one percentage point to July’s inflation reading on the retail prices index (RPI), which came in 0.2 points above forecasts on Wednesday at 4.8%.

The government has not yet confirmed how it will calculate rail fare increases for 2026 regulated fares, which account for about half of rail journeys,The Liberal Democrats have called for rail fares to be frozen to “avoid another hit to the cost of living and encourage more people on to trains”,Paul Kohler, MP for Wimbledon and Lib Dem transport spokesperson said: “To increase rail fares at all in the midst of a cost of living crisis would be nothing other than a slap in the face to ordinary people,”Scotland’s justice secretary has said she wants a consultation on the parole process to help make the system “fair, transparent and trusted”,Angela Constance spoke as the Scottish government launched a consultation on possible changes to how the current system works.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is to be absorbed by Whitehall as the government seeks to cut the cost of bureaucracy,The agency will merge with Peter Kyle’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in April 2026, in a move the government said would cut “duplication” and ensure “clear ministerial oversight”,The government has lined up special managers to run Liberty Steel’s South Yorkshire operations if it is put into administration, according to a dramatic revelation at London’s high court,London’s high court heard on Wednesday that creditors to Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), part of Liberty Steel, were seeking a compulsory winding up order,The company asked to adjourn the hearing in order to try to agree a “pre-pack” administration that would allow its owner, metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, to keep control of the insolvent company.

The Scottish Greens will seek to change the law to give councils new powers to charge the owners of derelict land and buildings.MSP Ross Greer said the move will help tackle “landbanking”, a practice which can see companies buy vacant plots in a bid to prevent rival firms from developing them.The average UK house price increased by 3.7% to £269,000 in the 12 months to June, according to official figures.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a slight slowdown in price growth after a 3.

9% rise was reported in the 12 months to May.Labour is preparing to kick off a new wave of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in England to build the neighbourhood health centres at the heart of its NHS 10-year plan.Ministers will make a final decision in the autumn budget about whether to use the funding approach, which was put on pause eight years ago.But critics say lessons have not been learned about the pitfalls of PPPs, and point to the chaos unleashed by the 2018 collapse of the mega-contractor Carillion, with its complex portfolio of projects.While it was originally conceived under the Conservatives, Tony Blair’s Labour government made significant use of the private finance initiative (PFI), a form of PPP used to build schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure, without adding to the national debt.

Backers of PFI say this approach allowed public infrastructure to be built that otherwise would not exist; but opponents say the taxpayer was often left footing huge bills for inflexible contracts that ran for as long as 30 years.Treasury data shows that 560 PFI contracts are outstanding in England, for projects including schools, hospitals, libraries and road maintenance.Hundreds of these contracts will end in the coming years, raising questions about the state of the assets being inherited by the taxpayer, and potentially triggering legal battles about the precise conditions of “handback”.A report last year from the Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships (AIIP), chaired by the Labour peer and former frontbencher John Hutton, warned of the risk of “serious disruption” as these deals come to an end, amid what it called “mistrust between the parties to some PFI contracts”.Labour councillor Carol Dean, leader of Tamworth borough council, said the council did explore similar legal avenues when the Home Office first started using the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth to house asylum seekers, but did not end up pursuing them.

She said:I want to be transparent with our community – when the Home Office first began using the hotel in 2022, we did explore similar legal avenues.However, we did not pursue this route at the time because temporary injunctions, while initially granted in other cases nationally, were not ultimately upheld by the courts.The situation at Epping Forest represents a potentially important legal precedent, and we are carefully assessing what this might mean for our circumstances here in Tamworth.We fully recognise the UK government has a statutory duty to accommodate people seeking asylum.However, we have consistently maintained that the prolonged use of hotel accommodation may not represent the best approach – either for our local community or for the asylum seekers themselves.

We will continue to work constructively with government departments and all relevant agencies while making sure the voice of our community is heard at the highest levels of government.We will keep residents informed of any developments and will make further announcements as our legal review progresses.Our priority remains ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all people in Tamworth, while working towards a sustainable long-term solution that serves everyone’s interests.Missiles including fireworks, a petrol bomb, bricks, chunks of concrete and lamp-posts were hurled at the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth and Staffordshire police officers by rioters during scenes of disorder after the Southport stabbings in August last year.Dean said she understands the “strong feelings within our community regarding the use of the Holiday Inn to house those seeking asylum”.

She said:I want to reassure residents that we are listening to their concerns and taking them seriously.Nationally Labour came to power just over a year ago.The use of hotels has halved from 402 at their peak to 210 now, with a national pledge to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament.However, following the temporary high court injunction granted to Epping Forest district council, we are closely monitoring developments and reviewing our legal position in light of this significant ruling.The government has lined up special managers to run Liberty Steel’s South Yorkshire operations if it is put into administration, according to a dramatic revelation at London’s high court, report Jasper Jolly and Priya Bharadia.

London’s high court heard on Wednesday that creditors to Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), part of Liberty Steel, were seeking a compulsory winding up order.The company asked to adjourn the hearing in order to try to agree a “pre-pack” administration that would allow its owner, metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, to keep control of the insolvent company.Counsel representing the creditors showed the judge a letter from the Department of Business and Trade detailing that the government had said its official receiver was ready to carry out a sales process if the company entered administration.The insolvency and companies court judge Sally Barber said she was minded to give two weeks of extra time to decide what the consequences of each course would be.However, after a short pause, the creditors’ counsel then disclosed that lawyers for the government were present in the court.

The barrister said he had just been informed that an application for the appointment of a special manager to carry out the administration had already been prepared in draft form.The existence of a draft application suggests that the government is ready to step in immediately to secure the continued operations of SSUK.SSUK employs 1,450 people at the group’s operations at an electric arc furnace in Rotherham and another plant in Stocksbridge, both in South Yorkshire.The court is expected to grant a short adjournment of a to give the parties time to provide evidence to the court of what will happen in either case.Conservative former Home Office minister Damian Green has said the government should “go back to the idea of camps” for housing asylum seekers, reports the PA news agency.

Green, who lost his seat in the general election last year, told the World At One:What they should now do is actually toughen up the accommodation that we offer people to make it clear that it’s a deterrent as much as anything.So, go back to the idea of camps, whether purpose-built Nightingale hospital-style buildings on parts of the land that the government owns, or using existing military camps, all those sorts of things, so that is not seen as offensively luxurious by the people who have watched this happen in their communities over the past few years.When he was asked about the “difficulties” that have been run into when this has been attempted before, for example at Napier barracks, RAF Scampton, Wethersfield and the Penally camp, he said:Some of them were genuine, some of them weren’t.A lot of the problems are indeed legal problems, where the courts say you can’t keep people there.And I do think the government is going to have to confront the legal issue if they want to be effective in having a deterrent.

Scotland Yard’s plan to widen the use of controversial live facial recognition technology is unlawful because it is incompatible with European laws, the equalities regulator has claimed,As the UK’s biggest force prepares to use instant face-matching cameras at this weekend’s Notting Hill carnival, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said its use was intrusive and could have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights,The development will be a blow to Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police commissioner, who has backed the use of the technology at mass events such as this weekend’s carnival, when 2 million people are expected to descend upon west London,The EHRC has been given permission to intervene in an upcoming judicial review launched last month by the anti-knife campaigner Shaun Thompson,Thompson, a Black British man, was wrongly identified by live facial recognition (LFR) as a criminal, held by police, then faced demands from officers for his fingerprints.

Data seen by the EHRC shows that the number of black men triggering an “alert” while using the technology is higher than would be expected proportionally, when compared with the population of London, it said,A letter last week from 11 anti-racist and civil liberty organisations, disclosed in the Guardian, urged the Met to scrap the use of the technology over concerns of racial bias and the impending legal challenge,The EHRC said that the claim brought forward by Thompson “raises issues of significant public importance” and will provide submissions “on the intrusive nature of LFR technology” which focus on the way in which the technology has been used by the police,The Met’s policy on LFR technology is unlawful because it is incompatible with articles 8 (right to privacy), 10 (freedom of expression), and 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European convention on human rights, the watchdog says,The Scottish Greens will seek to change the law to give councils new powers to charge the owners of derelict land and buildings, reports the PA news agency.

MSP Ross Greer said the move will help tackle “landbanking”, a practice which can see companies buy vacant plots in a bid to prevent rival firms from developing them.With the owners of unused sites having previously benefited from reduced rates bills, the west Scotland MSP said this had resulted in “greedy companies and wealthy individuals sitting on derelict land and treating it as a personal cash cow”.Greer argued:These sites could be used for the benefit of local people, for example as housing, rather than feathering the nests of people who are already very wealthy.Far too many town and city centres are being held to ransom by land owners who are more interested in maximising their own profits than creating thriving high streets and local environments.It’s time to bring abandoned and neglected land and properties back into community use.

That would be good for local businesses and for communities.Greer said he will put forward amendments to the land reform (Scotland) bill going through Holyrood to make the change.If backed, his proposals could give councils the power to apply an extra charge on derelict sites instead, raising money for local services and pushing the owners to either use the land or sell it.The Green MSP, running to be his party’s co-leader, said:I hope that MSPs will back my proposals, which would be a crucial step towards improving our town centres, freeing up land for affordable housing, supporting community regeneration and taking power back from the super-rich who are hoarding land and wealth.Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has told Yvette Cooper that flats are “sorely needed by young people”, as he called for assurances asylum seekers will not be moved from Epping’s Bell Hotel into apartments.

In his letter to the home secretary, the Conservative MP wrote:Up and down the country people are furious about the number of illegal migrants being housed in hotels - which rose in the nine months following the election under Labour.People are also concerned that you are now moving people from hotels into apartments and other accommodation which is sorely needed by young people here who are struggling under this Labour government.Philp also claimed that “illegal immigrants housed in hotels have been charged with hundreds of crimes”.Scotland’s justice secretary has said she wants a consultation on the parole process to help make the system “fair, transparent and trusted”.Angela Constance spoke as the Scottish government launched a consultation on possible changes to how the current system works, reports the PA news agency