Jeremy Corbyn has said that “discussions are ongoing” after former Labour MP Zarah Sultana said that she would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with the ex-Labour leader,In a post on social media, the independent MP and former Labour leader said:Real change is coming,One year on from the election, this Labour government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved,Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable,Our country needs to change direction, now.

Congratulations to Zarah Sultana on her principled decision to leave the Labour party,I am delighted that she will help us build a real alternative,The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape,Discussions are ongoing – and I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve,Together, we can create something that is desperately missing from our broken political system: hope.

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:Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is in discussions about creating a new leftwing political party, hours after the MP Zarah Sultana announced she was quitting Labour to co-lead the project.Sultana, the MP for Coventry South who had the Labour whip suspended last year for voting against the government over the two-child limit on benefits, said on Thursday night she was quitting Labour and would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with Corbyn.

The home secretary, Yvette Cooper told Sky News on Friday that she rejected Sultana’s accusation that Labour was failing to improve people’s lives, saying: “I just strongly disagree with her,” Responding to the former Labour MP’s announcement, Cooper said: “I think she has always taken a very different view to most people in the government on a lot of different things, and that’s for her to do so,”Migrants arriving on small boats where a child has died should face prosecution, said Cooper,The home secretary told the BBC’s Today programme that increased overcrowding of boats was part of the reason that the number of arrivals had increased this year and that those who crowd on to boats should face “responsibility and accountability”,Cooper welcomed reports that French police had intervened in French waters to stop a small boat setting off across the Channel.

Responding to a report from the BBC’s Today programme that officers had slashed at a boat with a knife while it was in shallow waters off the French coast, the home secretary said: “That is a different strategy, and that is welcome that it’s taking action in the shallow waters, but we want broader action.”Keir Starmer said he has a good relationship with US president Donald Trump because they both “care about family”.The prime minister told the BBC Radio 4 podcast Political Thinking With Nick Robinson it was “in the national interest” for the two men to connect.Downing Street has welcomed new French tactics to tackle small boat crossings, saying it is a “significant moment”.Downing Street also said on Friday that Starmer’s efforts to “reset” relations with Europe have helped bring about a change in French tactics in the Channel.

Alastair Campbell said he would not “underestimate” how much the government’s handling of the situation in Gaza has led people to question “what is Labour about?”.He was speaking after Sultana announced she was resigning from Starmer’s party and accused the government of being an “active participant in genocide” in Gaza, in her statement posted on X.Additionally, John McDonnell, independent MP for Hayes and Harlington and former shadow chancellor for Labour from 2015 to 2020, said Labour needs to “ask themselves” why someone like Sultana would choose to leave.Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.Bean, who is also a former member of the OBR’s budget responsibility committee, told Radio 4’s Today programme the chancellor had chosen fiscal rules that give her a “very small margin” of headroom.

Critics of the UK’s role in the Gaza war are considering setting up an independent tribunal if, as expected, Labour blocks a bill tabled by Corbyn backing an official inquiry,Government whips are expected to object to the former Labour party leader’s bill in the Commons on Friday, leaving him with few practical options for his legislation to pass,A hearing to decide whether the move to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation should be temporarily blocked has begun in London,Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, is asking the high court to temporarily block the government from proscribing it under the Terrorism Act 2000, pending a potential legal challenge against the decision to ban the direct action group,The housing minister has promised to crack down on unfair service charges and what he called the “wild west” of property managing agents as he launched the next stage of the government’s reforms of the leasehold system.

Matthew Pennycook told the Guardian he wanted to stop a number of unfair practices undertaken by some companies, including overcharging and imposing large, unexpected repair fees.Ministers have agreed to pay £1.6m in compensation after a data breach exposed the personal information of Afghan nationals seeking to flee the Taliban takeover.In a written statement to parliament on Friday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the MoD had agreed to pay up to £4,000 to each person affected, with the total cost expected to be “in the region of £1.6m”.

Starmer and Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting of the coalition of the willing when the French president visits the UK next week.The prime minister and France’s leader will dial into a meeting with allies on Thursday, as Macron makes his first state visit to the UK, it is understood.The technology secretary has demanded an overhaul of the UK’s leading artificial intelligence institute in a wide-ranging letter that calls for a switch in focus to defence and national security, as well as leadership changes.Peter Kyle said it was clear further action was needed to ensure the government-backed Alan Turing Institute met its full potential.Liberal Democrat candidate Terry Rooney won the Benfieldside ward byelection on Thursday to unseat Reform UK’s Andrew Kilburn – who was elected during the county-wide elections on 1 May but stepped down after it was discovered he already worked for the council.

The Lib Dems won with a total of 824 votes, as Reform slipped to third in the byelection, getting 747 votes, behind Labour, who got 800.The Conservatives have won back their Newark West seat in Nottingham county council, defeating Reform UK by just eight votes in Thursday’s byelection.The seat, which was held by Keith Girling for 18 years before being lost to Reform’s Desmond Clarke in the May election earlier this year, was reclaimed by the councillor with a total of 680 votes, with Reform’s candidate Caroline Hinds receiving 672.Liberal Democrat MP Danny Chambers’ private member’s bill has passed through the House of Commons today, with the government backing the bill.Chambers, who is also a veterinary surgeon, said the animal welfare (import of dogs, cats and ferrets) bill will help improve the UK’s “biosecurity”.

Former deputy prime minister Thérèse Coffey has claimed she was advised by civil servants to knowingly break the law.Coffey, who also held several other cabinet positions, including work and pensions secretary, health secretary and environment secretary, became a Conservative peer earlier this year.Llamas and alpacas should receive legal protections from dog attacks, MPs have agreed.Dog owners already face a fine if their pet attacks or worries farm animals listed in the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, such as cattle, sheep, pigs and horses.But after a Commons debate, MPs have agreed to add “camelids” to this list, giving llamas and alpacas in England and Wales similar protections as they have in Scotland.

The Conservatives have won back their Newark West seat in Nottingham county council, defeating Reform UK by just eight votes in Thursday’s byelection,The seat, which was held by Keith Girling for 18 years before being lost to Reform’s Desmond Clarke in the May election earlier this year, was reclaimed by the councillor with a total of 680 votes, with Reform’s candidate Caroline Hinds receiving 672,Desmond Clarke stepped down from the position less than a week after being elected, due to what the party said were “personal circumstances,” He originally won with a 35,9% share of the vote, and a majority of 153.

Girling told the BBC he was happy with the byelection result,He said:It’s showing the Conservatives aren’t dead,We’re alive and kicking and we’re going to work hard for our communities,He continued:We’ve knocked on a lot of doors and some of those that voted Reform [in May] were very angry at the fact he resigned,It’s cost about £25,000 to run this election, from a party that said they’re going to save money.

The Conservative win did not impact who controlled the county council because Reform already had enough seats for a majority, with 41 of the 66 seats.Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party, congratulated Girling on his win in a social media post.It read:Huge congrats to Cllr Keith Girling on winning Newark West – a fantastic result, a Conservative gain from Reform, and all credit to our brilliant team of Newark Conservatives on the ground.Llamas and alpacas should receive legal protections from dog attacks, MPs have agreed, reports the PA news agency.Dog owners already face a fine if their pet attacks or worries farm animals listed in the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, such as cattle, sheep, pigs and horses.

But after a Commons debate, MPs have agreed to add “camelids” to this list, giving llamas and alpacas in England and Wales similar protections as they have in Scotland,The dogs (protection of livestock) (amendment) bill, which now faces further scrutiny in the House of Lords at a later date, will also see unlimited fines rolled out in dog attack cases, lifting a £1,000 cap,“They’re no laughing matter, alpacas and llamas,” Labour MP Peter Lamb said, adding:The Inca empire never developed the wheel,The entirety of that empire was built off the back of alpacas and llamas and, as a result, they are an animal that’s worthy of great respect,Lamb spoke about “pretty harrowing cases”, including an attack on a sheep, at a centre in Tilgate Park in Crawley, West Sussex, where he was the borough council leader.

“While the bill does not directly deal with that, I think some of the mentality that goes into disrespecting these animals is worthy of note,” he said.Conservative MP for Chester South and Eddisbury Aphra Brandreth, who proposed the private member’s bill, told the House of Commons:Livestock worrying, as we know, has devastating consequences for both animals and farmers.The damage of a livestock attack can be horrific, causing brutal injuries which are tragically often fatal.There are instances of stress causing pregnant livestock to miscarry, and separation of mothers and young leading to hypothermia or starvation.I’ve seen pictures from farmers in my constituency where attacks have mutilated their calves beyond any hope of keeping them alive.

The consequences, no matter what the scale of an attack, are profound.According to the PA news agency, as part of the draft new law, authorities would get the powers to treat attacking livestock as separate to “worrying”, which includes chasing farm animals in a way which could cause injury, suffering or loss or “diminution in their produce”.The bill would also expand the 1953 Act’s scope, which applies on agricultural land, to roads and paths, where animals might be herded.Labour MP Mike Reader praised Brandreth for her “responsible and balanced approach”.The Northampton South MP said it was “positive that this expands that definition to roads and paths, because it sets clear requirements that when someone is accessing land, particularly throughout Northamptonshire where there’re so many paths that run through farmland, there’s a clear definition in the law to both protect farmers but also to set clear boundaries for those who are perhaps walking their dogs … when they access farmland”.

Environment minister Emma Hardy said the government was “fully committed to supporting this important bill as it progresses through the other place”, before the bill cleared the Commons at third reading,Ministers have agreed to pay £1,6m in compensation after a data breach exposed the personal information of Afghan nationals seeking to flee the Taliban takeover, reports the PA news agency,The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already been fined £350,000 over the breach, which saw the details of 265 people mistakenly copied into emails sent by the government in September 2021,Announcing the fine in December 2023, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the breach could have led to a “threat to life” if the data had fallen into the hands of the Taliban.

According to the PA news agency, in a written statement to parliament on Friday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the MoD had agreed to pay up to £4,000 to each person affected, with the total cost expected to be “in the region of £1.6m”.Pollard said he could not “undo past mistakes”, but sought to reassure MPs that he would “drive improvement in the department’s data handling training and practices”.He added:Defence’s record on these topics must improve and I am determined to ensure it does.The breach involved the MoD’s Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap), which was responsible for relocating Afghan nationals who had worked for or with the UK government and were therefore at risk of reprisals once the Taliban returned to power in Kabul.

In its ruling, the ICO found Arap had not taken steps to prevent personal information being disclosed, which came to light after two people “replied all” to an email, with one providing their location to the entire distribution list.The original email was sent on 20 September 2021 to vulnerable people left behind after the British airlift from Kabul.The MoD then launched an internal investigation that revealed two similar breaches on 7 September and 13 September that year, the ICO said.Former deputy prime minister Thérèse Coffey has claimed she was advised by civil servants to knowingly break the law, reports the PA news agency.Coffey, who also held several other cabinet positions, including work and pensions secretary, health secretary and environment secretary, became a Conservative peer earlier this year.

She told the House of Lords on Friday:There were several occasions when I was advised by civil servants to knowingly break the law.Now, they may have only been minor infringements, but I challenge about how is that possible under the civil service code that, in your advice and in your inaction, you are advising me to knowingly break the law? And I wasn’t prepared to do it.Coffey went on to recall another situation when she felt the civil service code was not adhered to.She said:I learned that my shadow secretary of state had written to me on Twitter, and I knew it because he also published my response to him on Twitter.I’d never seen the letter from the shadow secretary of state.

I had never seen the letter written in my name, but there it was: my response and my signature.And these sorts of things, unfortunately, in the civil service code should be more serious than it was.The Tory peer added:Sometimes people try and suggest it’s just politicians trying to do this, that and the other.I’m not accusing the civil service, but their job is to try and manage and, ultimately, I could go on about another legal case where I was named as the defendant.I didn’t know until a ruling had come against me, formally.

These things, I’m afraid, do happen,Her comments came as peers debated a report from the constitution select committee entitled executive oversight and responsibility for the UK constitution,Coffey was deputy prime minister in the Liz Truss government in September and October of 2022,After her brief premiership, Truss took swipes at the civil service and blamed the deep state for “sabotaging” her,Speaking at a conference in the US in 2024, the former prime minister said:I wanted to cut taxes, reduce the administrative state, take back control as people talked about in the Brexit referendum.

What I did face was a huge establishment backlash and a lot of it actually came from the state itself,Truss added:Now people are joining the civil service who are essentially activists,They might be trans activists, they might be environmental extremists, but they are now having a voice within the civil service in a way I don’t think was true 30 or 40 years ago,Jeremy Corbyn has said that “discussions are ongoing” after former Labour MP Zarah Sultana said that she would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with the ex-Labour leader,In a post on social media, the independent MP and former Labour leader said:Real change is coming