Keir Starmer has said he “of course” retains full confidence in his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, PA Media reports.I will post the full quote shortly.At PMQs yesterday Starmer dodged a question about whether he had full confidence in McSweeney, although No 10 subsequently said he did.Some ministers and MPs want to see McSweeney sacked.We’re closing this blog now, here’s a summary of the day’s main developments:The prime minister has attempted to draw a line under the briefing row, saying he has “been assured that no briefing against ministers was done from No 10” and that he has “full confidence” in his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeneyWes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that he doesn’t know and doesn’t care whether Starmer is trying to identify the No 10 figure briefing against him.

Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, ruled out standing to be next Labour leader, saying having done it before was the ‘best inoculation’ against wanting it.He also said Starmer will sack whoever was responsible for the briefing against Wes Streeting if they are identified.Hundreds of thousands of homeowners will lose their right to subsidies for eco-friendly heat pumps as a result of government plans to bring down energy bills at the budget.Scotland’s auditor general has warned that the Scottish government can spend far less tax than it raises because Scotland’s earnings and employment growth has been much more sluggish than in the rest of the UK.The controversial system of police and crime commissioners is to be abolished by the government.

London’s congestion charge will rise by 20% in January to £18 and electric vehicle drivers will be liable to pay to enter the heart of the capital for the first time.The government’s planning reforms will contribute to a “knockout blow” for housebuilders, the Tories have claimed.Shadow minister David Simmonds said the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will limit community say, encourage development on greenbelt land, and hammer homeowners while “duffing up developers”.However, ministers said the Bill, which restores mandatory housing targets, legislates for a generation of new towns and revamps the planning system to make it harder to reject developments, will help unlock 1.5 million homes by 2029.

Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, was not involved “directly or indirectly” in briefings against cabinet ministers, the BBC reports,People who have spoken to McSweeney have told the BBC: “He’s done absolutely nothing wrong,He’s not going anywhere,”They added: “I can categorically say he was not involved indirectly or directly,”In another headache for the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, the Conservatives have called for an investigation into whether his communications chief Tim Allan should be allowed to hold shares in a lobbying firm and discuss politics with one of its consultants.

A No 10 spokesman said a rigorous process had been followed in Allan’s appointment in September.PA Media understand that Allan has waived his rights to dividends and decision-making from his shares in the company, and will not be involved in the business’s operations while in Government.🚨Another Downing Street scandal.Tim Allan, the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications, still holds shares in a lobbying firm while serving at the very centre of Government.After days of turmoil in No 10, this situation demands an immediate investigation.

I’ve written… pic.twitter.com/ish1wM9udPHundreds of thousands of homeowners will lose their right to subsidies for eco-friendly heat pumps as a result of government plans to bring down energy bills at the budget.Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is planning to announce a series of measures to bring down energy bills amid concerns the country’s stubbornly high cost of living is driving millions of voters to Reform UK.Among those measures, according to sources briefed on the budget preparations, is a plan to take energy efficiency levies off bills and fund them through the government’s existing warm homes plan.

The move will mean restricting heat pump subsidies so that only those receiving certain benefits will be allowed to claim them, sharply bringing down costs to the government.Read more here:It’s the worst game of Cluedo in town.Four players dealt a hand of cards.Without turning them over, player one makes the first guess.“Just one question.

Does the suspect wear glasses?” he asks.“Yes,” replies player two.“But he doesn’t have to pay for them.”“OK,” says player one.“It’s Keir Starmer in the Cabinet Office with the suicidal tendencies.

” Yup.Keir had managed to sneak up on Keir inside No 10 and club himself to death with the lead pipe.It had been a long and agonising end.Every time Keir had shown signs of regaining consciousness, he had somehow found the strength to inflict further damage on himself.You could only admire his determination.

Players two, three and four throw their cards on the table in disgust.If only they had got there first.The prime minister’s short-term memory is shot to pieces.Just who could be behind these dastardly briefings? Read more here:The Conservatives have claimed that women might be particularly badly hit from a potential budget VAT extension affecting taxis.In a story for the Times, Ben Clatworthy says Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is considering putting 20% VAT on all private hire vehicle journeys in the budget.

He says this would particularly affect people using rider apps like Uber and Bolt because black cab drivers are usually self-employed, and don’t reach the threshold where they have to pay VAT.Responding to the story, Richard Holden, the shadow transport secretary, said:Reeves is about to make every ride home, every school run, every late-night journey significantly more expensive for millions of people.Labour can pretend this is some technical tweak, but it’s a straight VAT hike on the people who rely on private hire the most.Women trying to get home safely at night, workers on early shifts, families in rural towns - they’ll all be hit.And the chancellor knows it.

That is all from me for today.My colleague Charlie Moloney is taking over now.Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, authorised colleagues to brief journalists that Starmer would fight any potential leadership challenge – but not to attack Wes Streeting, the Telegraph is reporting.In his story, Ben Riley-Smith says:The Telegraph understands Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, as well as senior Downing Street communication figures, agreed to brief journalists that the prime minister would fight any challenge to his position and that ousting him could undermine the economy.But Mr McSweeney is understood to be insistent that neither he nor senior No 10 staff briefed specifically against Wes Streeting, the health secretary and Sir Keir’s supposed challenger.

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has said that the No 10 briefing operation this week that suggested Wes Streeting was plotting against the PM was not helpful to Labour.Speaking to journalists after FMQs at Holyrood, Sarwar said:I think it has undermined the message of the government and, particularly going into the budget period, I don’t think it’s helpful.I know how hard the prime minister is working, I know how committed he is to change the country, I know how hard the UK cabinet is working and how committed they are to change the country.We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a government in Scotland that is working just as hard to change our country and in six months’ time, people have the chance to do that by getting rid of the First Minister, and only I and Scottish Labour can do that.Asked if Starmer would be visiting Scotland ahead of next year’s Holyrood elections, Sarwar refused to say.

He said:There’ll be an involvement from people in terms of campaigning – we’re a Labour family.But let me be really clear, I am leading the campaign in the Scottish elections next year, I am the candidate for first minister, Keir Starmer is not standing to be first minister.Sexual behaviour including sexual jokes, leering and unwanted touching are widespread in the armed forces and more likely to impact on women, a report has shown.PA Media says the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) first military-wide sexual harassment survey found female full-time personnel – referred to as regulars in the report – are almost twice as likely to experience sexualised behaviours than men.The department has now launched a prevention programme for young recruits at Army and Navy bases in a bid to “prevent and address” unacceptable behaviour.

The report showed 67% of female regulars experienced at least one sexualised behaviour in the last 12 months, compared with 34% of men, PA says,Of these women, 93% said they believed the behaviour amounted to sexual harassment,London’s congestion charge will rise by 20% in January to £18 and electric vehicle drivers will be liable to pay to enter the heart of the capital for the first time, Gwyn Topham reports,