At the post-PMQs lobby briefing the PM’s press secretary said that Keir Starmer does have confidence in Morgan McSweeney, his chief of staff.The press secretary also said that Starmer was not contemplating standing down.She said:He has always been very clear that he will continue to serve as prime minister at the next election, that this is a project which is about a decade of national renewal, because that’s what it takes to turn the country around after 14 years of failure from the Tories.She also said Starmer valued the views of Labour MPs.Our Labour MPs are fantastic champions of the work that the government is doing to deliver for the British people.

They are fantastic representatives of their communities, and the prime minister highly values hearing their perspectives.Asked if anyone would be sacked for the briefings against Wes Streeting, the press secretary said: “As he set out previously, any unauthorised briefing against cabinet ministers would be dealt with.”Keir Starmer is facing intense pressure over the future of Morgan McSweeney after the prime minister’s chief of staff was blamed for No 10’s pushback against a possible leadership challenge.As Peter Walker and Pippa Crerar report, after Starmer dodged a question from Kemi Badenoch at prime minister’s questions about whether he had full confidence in his key aide, Downing Street later clarified that he did.Starmer was speaking after a No 10 briefing operation that suggested Starmer was preparing to face down a potential leadership challenge from Wes Streeting backfired badly.

(See 11.16am.)Starmer has declined to back a call from Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, for President Trump to drop his proposed $1bn lawsuit against the BBC.There are full details on our BBC live blog.The Liberal Democrats are calling for a 5% cut to VAT for hospitality businesses in the upcoming budget to make going out to the pub and restaurants more affordable.

(See 10.40am.)Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, has died after a short illness, her office has said.The latest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast is out.It features John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talking about the Labour leadership, with Jane Martinson joining to discuss the BBC.

Most health secretaries end up getting fed up with the BMA, but for Wes Streeting the relationship has broken down unusually quickly.Speaking at the NHS Providers conference in Manchester, he described them as a threat to the future of the NHS.On Friday resident doctors in England (the hospital doctors previously known as junior doctors) are due to start a five-day strike over pay.Streeting has refused to negotiate on higher pay, arguing that resident doctors have already had a pay rise worth 28.9% since 2023, and an offer involving alternative concessions has been rejected.

In a Q&A after his speech, Streeting said he could think of “no precendent in British trade union history where, after that level of pay rise, people have then chosen to walk out on strike”.He also said the turnout in the ballot meant that more half of resident doctors did not vote for strike action.Streeting went on to say there were a “few things” the BMA should remember.The first is, I’m responsible for 1.5 million people in the NHS, not just resident doctors – many of whom have not had a pay rise anything like what resident doctors have had, and many of whom, at the height of their career earnings, will never earn as much as the lowest-paid doctor.

The second thing I’d say is that this strike action causes untold misery and disruption to patients who could do without it.Thirdly, it is always true, and especially during winter, it puts untold pressure on other NHS staff who are picking up the pieces for the damage and disruption that resident doctors and the BMA are inflicting on the service.And finally, I think the leadership of the BMA need to really consider whether, at this time, with green shoots of recovery, they want to set the system back, because there isn’t a more pro-doctor, pro-NHS health secretary or government waiting in the wings.There is Nigel Farage and the Reform party.And finally, you look at the state of the public finances and the sorts of choices we’re making, especially for the NHS.

Let me tell you, when we ask some of the wealthier to pay more, some of the most effective lobbyists against paying higher tax are the BMA consultants committee and the BMA pensions committee,So what they effectively do is say, ‘We want other people to pay the higher salaries for doctors’ and, as much as a cancer survivor I think my surgeon is worth his weight in gold, we have to be honest and realistic about the challenges in the system, the challenges of public finances and the challenges facing every family, and it’s time for the BMA to get real,One way or another, we’re not going to be held to ransom,We are going to plough on regardless,And I think it’s become increasingly clear that the BMA is no longer a professional voice for doctors.

They are increasingly behaving in cartel-like behaviour, and they threaten not just the recovery of the NHS under this government, they threaten the future of the NHS full stop.And I think that is a morally reprehensible position to be in.Streeting was applauded, including by NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey.In his main speech, Streeting confirmed plans to cut the headcount in integrated care boards in England by 50%.He said this, and reintegrating NHS England into the Department of Health and Social Care, would save £1bn a year by the end of this parliament.

Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner, has died after a short illness.She was 63.In a statement, her office said:We are deeply saddened to share that Lady Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, has passed away following a short illness.Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.Helen was a committed and passionate advocate for victims, drawing on her own experience of the criminal justice system.

She was determined that all victims should be treated with compassion, decency and respect – and she consistently led by example.Under her leadership, the role of victims’ commissioner was transformed – growing in stature, influence and authority.She reshaped the office into a trusted voice and genuine force for victims: one that stands firmly on their side, champions their rights, and holds the justice system to account.Paying tribute, David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, said:As both victims’ commissioner, and deputy speaker in the House of Lords, Helen brought unparalleled experience and dedication to her roles.She championed the rights of victims and witnesses and held agencies to account.

Her leadership shaped the victims’ code, strengthened victims’ voices in the criminal justice system, and ensured that the Victims and Prisoners Act progressed with victims’ interests at its heart.A reader asks:According to the list of Qs, Farage isn’t down to ask a question.How come he’s being allowed to speak?The leader of the opposition (Kemi Badenoch) and the leader of the third largest party (Ed Davey) are the only MPs guaranteed a question at PMQs.But the Speaker also operates a policy of allowing leaders of smaller parties (the SNP, Reform UK, the Greens etc) a question roughly every four or five weeks, so they are not completely shut out.In addition, the smaller party leaders can enter the ballot for a question (though Nigel Farage often doesn’t bother.

)The Speaker also has the discretion to call other MPs not on the list.Often he does this when there is constituency reason why it might be appropriate for an MP to get a question.If, say, there were a terrible tragedy in Clacton, and Farage told the Speaker’s office he wanted to raise it at PMQs, there is a good chance Lindsay Hoyle would squeeze him in.Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has just delivered a speech to the NHS Providers conference in Manchester.In his main speech he did not mention the No 10 briefing controversy, but it came up briefly in the Q&A afterwards.

Asked if he would be fighting alongside Keir Starmer as he takes on any attempts to oust him, Streeting replied: “Yes.”He described the briefing as “juvenile”, and he said that briefing that Starmer was fighting for his job was not just not helpful, but also not true.What Starmer was doing was fighting to turn the country around, Streeting said.Asked if he still wanted to be prime minister, as he said he did in 2024, Streeting said that he had “a harder job” already and that he was enjoying being health secretary.He said he would not say anything “that adds to the silly season going on down south”.

Streeting’s ambitions to be PM go back far beyond 2024.The Spectator’s James Heale has today posted this intriguing video from 2018.Flashback to 2018 when MPs were asked who would be Prime Minister in ten years’ time pic.twitter.com/vpVQL4jiGmLisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has restated her apology for failing to meet “the highest ministerial standards” around the appointment of David Kogan as the chair of the new independent football regulator.

Nandy proposed Kogan for the post before declaring that he had in the past donated money to her.She said she was not aware of this, but she was reprimanded by the commissioner for public appointments for breaching the governance code.In response to a Commons urgent question on this, Nandy said:The commissioner was clear that the breach around donations to my campaign was unknowing, but I recognise that the highest standards were not met.As the secretary of state for the department that ran the appointment, I take full responsibility for that, and it is for that reason that I wrote to the prime minister and apologised for this error.Reform UK’s only member of the Senedd faces a two-week ban over a racial slur she used in an exchange of messages, PA Media reports.

PA says:In a report, the Senedd’s standards committee has recommended Laura Anne Jones, who defected from the Conservatives earlier this year, is given a 14-day ban from the Siambr (Senedd debating chamber) over the remarks.MSs (members of the Senedd) will have to rubber stamp the suspension next week.Jones used a slur about Chinese people in a WhatsApp group, during a discussion of the Chinese-owned app TikTok in August 2023.She has previously apologised for the remark but the Senedd standards committee said her conduct “fell far below the standards expected” of an MS.In its report, members of the committee said: “The committee is clear that inappropriate and offensive comments have no place in our Senedd, or society more widely.

These messages were contained within an office group WhatsApp chat, rather than a public forum.However, the code is clear that it applies to members at all times.”The committee also looked into allegations that Jones had fraudulently made false expenses claims but found “no breach of the code of conduct” in relation to that.In a statement released after the committee’s report was published, Jones said: “I am delighted to have finally been cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the malicious accusation of fraudulent activity.I am now looking forward to drawing a line under this after nearly two years of being hounded over it, and the detrimental impact that it has on both me and my young family.

“I have apologised, and I apologise again, for the regrettable comments that I made in a private message,I never meant to cause offence to anyone,“I would like to thank both the police and standards commissioner for their thorough investigation, and I accept their conclusions,”At the post-PMQs lobby briefing the PM’s press secretary said that Keir Starmer does have confidence in Morgan McSweeney, his chief of staff,The press secretary also said that Starmer was not contemplating standing down.

She said:He has always been very clear that he will continue to serve as prime minister at the next election, that this is a project which is about a decade of national renewal, because that’s what it takes to turn the country around after 14 years of failure from the Tories.She also said Starmer valued the views of Labour MPs.Our Labour MPs are fantastic champions of the work that the government is doing to deliver for the British people.They are fantastic representatives of their communities, and the prime minister highly values hearing their perspectives.Asked if anyone would be sacked for the briefings against Wes Streeting, the press secretary said: “As he set out previously, any unauthorised briefing against cabinet ministers would be dealt with.

”Here is Peter Walker’s story from PMQs.At one point during PMQs the Labour MP Gill German invited Keir Starmer to visit Rhyl, a seaside town in Wales where, he said, the PM would find “miles of golden sand”.Starmer said that was “a very appealing invitation just at the moment”, which was one of the most candid things he said during the whole session, and a clue as to how awkward things are for him.PMQs is roughly 70% context, and 30% performance, and Starmer arrived in the Commons today with Labour backbench opinion running against him and the media on the warpath.He presented an easy target for Kemi Badenoch, and she bashed it effectively.

Her critique of the No 10 operation was fair, and her joke about Wes Streeting and waiting lists was a good one.She also ellicted a half interesting non-answer from Starmer about having full confidence in Morgan McSweeney.At the post-PMQs briefing No 10 did express full confidence in Starmer’s chief of staff, but these answers can be formulaic, not meaningful, and Labour MPs may be left wondering if some sort of reshuffle may be on the cards.Starmer did not make his position much worse with PMQs, but he did not improve it either, and it was obvious why Badenoch was enjoying herself so much.Her only possible mistake was not to stick with the No 10 briefing wars for longer than she did.

One other notable feature of PMQs was Rupert Lowe calling for the return of the death penalty (for foreign and domestic offenders, not just foreign as I misheard and posted earlier – see 12.34pm.) It won’t happen any time soon, of course.But that fact that this is even being raised is an indication of the extent to which liberal norms are being eroded.Lowe said he wanted a referendum on this topic.

And only two days ago Reform UK was proposing a mechanism that would allow people to trigger referendums on exactly this sort of populist proposal.Rupert Lowe, who was elected as a Reform UK MP but who now sits as an independent, asks if Starmer would support holding a referendum on the return of the death penalty for foreign criminals and domestic criminals where the guilt is “undeniable”.Starmer says the UK had the death penalty in the past, and it did not work.He says there must be a criminal justice response.UPDATE: Lowe said he was proposing the death penalty for both foreign and domestic criminals