New home secretary Shabana Mahmood says she will not run for deputy leader after Labour accused of ‘stitch-up’ over contest – UK politics live
The Labour MP Stella Creasy has urged the government to get rid of the law making it an offence to “recklessly express support for a proscribed organisation”.In a Commons urgent question, triggered by the arrest of almost 900 people in London on Saturday for protesting against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, she said she thought the current law was flawed.Under the Terrorism Act, once an organisation is proscribed, it is not just illegal to be a member; just expressing support for it is an offence.Creasy said she was not speaking as a supporter of Palestine Action, and she said the case to act against them was “strong” because of their use of violence.But she said the current situation, which has led to hundreds of people being arrested for holding up banners saying the support Palestine Action, was “just not sustainable”.
She explained:There is a difference between people protesting using violence and people protesting the use of proscription.If we don’t get right the response, if we continue to arrest those in that second category, the seriousness the term terrorism risks losing its meaning, becoming diluted rather than strengthened.Proscription was supposedly about stopping those inciting direct harm and violence.Going after somebody with a poster testing the boundaries of liberty – many of whom are clear they don’t support Palestine Action and feel strongly about Palestinian rights or free speech – confuses rather than clarifies the government’s intention..
Legislation on public order focuses on specific acts,Proscription orders target specific terrorist groups,Nothing sits in between this,Creasy said the police should be focusing on people who actually are members of Palestine Action,If the government was not willing to abolish the offence of recklessly expressing support for a proscribed group, it should at least give the police guidance on when the offence should be used, she said.
In response, Dan Jarvis, the security minister, cited a recent Observer article by Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, in which he defended the use of the legislation against Palestine Action,Hall said:There is no way ordinary criminal law would be effective against funding, training and recruitment [by Palestine Action] …The motives of those who say “I support Palestine Action” are not always easy to discern,Rather than saying “I support Palestine” or “I oppose the proscription of Palestine Action”, a small number of demonstrators have gone out of their way to invite arrest,I am not sure that this makes the law ridiculous or heavy-handed,Shorn of the power to arrest and prosecute those who display support in public, the police’s role in preventing the growth and operation of Palestine Action would be that much harder.
Jarvis quote an extract from the article and said the government had a duty to ensure public safety.Earlier today Creasy did not rule out standing to be Labour’s deputy leader.(See 1.50pm.)Keir Starmer has reportedly told a private meeting of Labour MPs that the government will “fight with everything we’ve got” to oppose Nigel Farage, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch.
The meeting is still taking place, and a fuller briefing will be available later.Starmer also praised Angela Rayner for what she achieved with the employment rights bill.Labour MPs hoping to replace Angela Rayner as the party’s deputy leader have until Thursday afternoon to gather the 80 MPs’ nominations they will need to stand, with the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, ruling herself out of the race.The Labour MP Stella Creasy, who has not ruled out running for the deputy leadership, has urged the government to get rid of the law making it an offence to “recklessly express support for a proscribed organisation”.(See 4.
34pm.)Countries that refuse to take back rejected asylum seekers from the UK could face visa suspensions, Shabana Mahmood said on Monday, as she promised to move “further and faster” as home secretary.Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has issued a warning to the government, saying it should enact full reforms of workers’ rights in order to fulfil a “promise to the British people”.Dawn Butler has told Sky News that she is not interested in becoming Labour’s deputy leader.She is more interested in becoming mayor of London, she said.
Lucy Powell, who was leader of the Commons until she was sacked on Friday, is an early frontrunner in the contest to be Labour’s next deputy leader, Kitty Donaldson from the i reports.NEW: As of this evening, support in the Labour deputy leadership race is coalescing around Lucy Powell, the Cabinet minister sacked by Sir Keir Starmer on FridayLabour MP: “Everybody is currently testing the waters.Obviously, you’ve got some of the people everyone’s known about already.So, Lou Haigh, Lucy Powell, Emily Thornbury, and Rosena Allin-Khan..
.” BUT“There’s a broad consensus it’s got to be a northern woman.As northerners, the people out ahead with the Parliamentary Labour Party are Lucy and Lou, and I would think that from those two, Lucy wins.”Keir Starmer is addressing Labour MPs in the Commons at a private meeting of the PLP.John McTernan, who was political secretary in No 10 to Tony Blair, told Radio 4’s PM programme that he did not think the deputy leadership election would be a proxy leadership election.
Instead, it would be about finding “a very strong figure who can speak to and for and on behalf of the party”.He said he thought Alison McGovern would be a “perfect” candidate for that role.(See 3.49pm.)Stormont’s deputy first minister has called on the government to act over the Windsor Framework’s “bureaucracy for bureaucracy sake”, PA Media reports.
The DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly said some companies will not supply to Northern Ireland because they do not understand the rules put in place following the UK’s exit from the European Union.The Windsor framework, which was agreed in 2023, requires checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules.Little-Pengelly told the Northern Ireland assembly today there is currently “very little regulatory divergence”, but despite that she said there is “unnecessary checking at the behest of the deal”.As an example, she cited the experience of a man she called Roy from Mid-Ulster who was trying to bring a tractor from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
He was requiring four certificates.He couldn’t give the haulage company a specific date as to when he was to get that, and therefore he missed that window and those tractors were stuck in Scotland for four to six weeks despite being paid in full, despite the fact that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.That is not acceptable.It is bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake.We need to tackle that.
The biggest frustration that people have about governments – should it be here, across the United Kingdom or across the globe – is the fact that it’s so difficult to get things sorted because of this unnecessary, disproportionate, non-risk based nonsense that people are putting in place.They need to get rid of it.It doesn’t serve any purpose.Get it sorted.Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, is definitely not running to be Labour’s deputy leader, Pippa Crerar reports.
Lisa Nandy has ruled herself out from running for deputy leader of the Labour party,Despite speculation, I’m told it was never her plan to do so, and she remains fully focused on her role as Culture Secretary,Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a Labour MP on the left of the party, has joined those saying the timetable for the Labour deputy leadership contest is too short,In a message on social media she said:There is a clear attempt underway to rush the deputy leadership contest,After the missteps of the past year, we need a proper debate about the future direction of our party; not a coronation.
It must be a full and fair contest with a genuine Left candidate on the ballot paper,Dan Jarvis, the security minister, told MPs that it would have been “highly irresponsible” for the government to have ignored expert advice saying Palestine Action should be proscribed,Responding to the urgent question tabled by Stella Creasy (see 4,34pm), Jarvis said advice given to the Home Office said the group had met tests to be banned under the Terrorism Act 2000,He went on:These are not the actions of a legitimate protest group.
And for a government to ignore expert security assessments, advice and recommendations, would be highly irresponsible.Were there to be further serious attacks or injuries, there would rightly be questions asked about why action had not been taken.Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the Conservatives “fully support, unequivocally, the right to peaceful protest”, but that violence is “never acceptable”.The Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours asked why arrests were not stopped – as he said he believed that the convictions for displaying proscribed group’s names were “extremely rare”.Jarvis said decisions were down to police judgments made under pressure.
Peter Walker has written mini profiles of some of the potential Labour deputy leadership candidates.Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, Rosena Allin-Khan, the Tooting MP who resigned from a shadow cabinet job before the election, Anneliese Dodds, the former international development minister, Sarah Owen, chair of the women and equalities committee and Alison McGovern, the local government minister, are all seeking nominations for the deputy Labour leadership election, or have got people doing it on their behalf, Aubrey Allegretti from the Times reports.Of these, Allin-Khan would be probably be the most problematic for No 10.She lost her role as a trade envoy after voting against the government on welfare reform in July.But she was runner up to Angela Rayner in the contest in 2020, which should make her a strong candidate if she can get enough support to get her name on the ballot paper.
Richard Burgon has said the Labour leadership will “move heaven and earth” to stop a leftwing candidate being on the ballot for deputy leader.In an interview with the Left Foot Forward website, Burgon, a leading figure on the Labour left, said:They don’t want Gaza on the ballot paper.They don’t want the winter fuel payment cuts on the ballot paper.They don’t want disability benefit cuts on the ballot paper …I think it will be very hard for a left candidate to get on the ballot paper.And the reason for that is because the leadership are making it deliberately very difficult for a left candidate to get on the ballot.
The long-promised cross-party talks on reforming the adult social care system have started, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has announced.In a statement today, he said:There’s still a long way to go to guarantee dignified care for all.Our ageing society demands fundamental reform in social care which why the prime minister appointed Baroness Louise Casey to lead an independent commission on adult social care and build consensus for a new National Care Service fit for the 21st century.I thank Baroness Casey for arranging today’s meeting, and to cross-party representatives for putting politics aside to find a way forward.I am determined that this government will build a National Care Service worthy of the name.
The cross-party talks were meant to start in February, but the process was held up after Casey, who is reviewing social care for the government, was asked to carry out an audit of grooming gang investigations.
Sweet-and-sour figs and roast chicken: Ben Lippett’s savoury fig recipes
There are a handful of moments on the culinary calendar that feel like striking gold: rhubarb in January, peas and broad beans in spring, summer cherries and tomatoes, and, for just a few short weeks in late-summer, figs. Typically, they might be torn over yoghurt and granola for breakfast or baked into a tart with frangipane, but they belong in the savoury kitchen, too. Combined with salt, savoury ingredients and a little vinegar, a good fig will bring a gorgeous sweet-sour note to your dinner table.As the warmer months come to an end, I like to cook with both comfort and freshness in mind. Rich, buttery, warming polenta is offset with a vibrant, bright, jammy topping of onions, rosemary and torn figs
How to make perfect nanaimo bars – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …
Canadians are famously nice – think laid-back Keanu Reeves, sunny Pamela Anderson, the charmingly incompetent Inspector Gadget – except when it comes to their beloved nanaimo bars. Get the ratio of this three-tier national treasure wrong, as the New York Times stood accused of doing in 2021, when its Instagram account posted a picture of squares that one user described as “an insult to Canadians everywhere”, and you’ll discover you can push them only so far.The Times is not alone in attracting ire. So popular are nanaimo (pronounced nuh-NYE-mo) bars, named after the British Columbian town where they are said to have originated, that Canada Post put them on a stamp in 2019 … only to face similar howls of outrage, albeit in Canadian: “One hesitates to be critical,” Nanaimo’s mayor explained carefully, “but it’s not a very accurate depiction.”In short, Canadians, who in 2006 voted the nanaimo bar the “nation’s favourite confection”, feel very strongly about these sugary little treats, a mainstay of kids’ birthday parties, wedding buffets and funeral teas from Nanaimo to Nova Scotia, though if Justin Trudeau had any problem with the version served up by White House chefs during his state dinner with Barack Obama in 2016, he was too polite to say so
The Duck & Rice, London SW11: ‘Filling, but largely unmemorable’ – restaurant review
Not really your typical bowl-of-noodles stopgap jointThe Duck & Rice, the Chinese gastropub in Soho, London, has opened a second site in Battersea power station’s shopping precinct. To be fair, my use of the word “precinct” to describe this lovingly titivated landmark feels a bit shabby, as does “retail experience”. And plain old “mall” definitely won’t do, because Battersea’s collection of 150-odd shops is very much in the la-di-da, aspirational, lululemon, Mulberry and Malin+Goetz range of money-frittering, all set over multiple floors with dramatic mezzanines. This is a sumptuous paean to industrial chic, with pleasing air-conditioning and polished floors, and there is currently no more jocund and luxurious a place in London to spend money you don’t have on things you don’t need.In keeping with all this luxury, Battersea’s flagship restaurant right now is the new Duck & Rice, created 10 years ago by the renowned Hong Kong-born British restaurateur Alan Yau OBE, who also founded the likes of Wagamama, Yauatcha and Hakkasan
From Vietnam to Costa Rica, putting ice in beer is nothing new | Letters
In the tropics, ice in your beer is normal (Ice cubes in beer: is this popular pub order atrocious – or ingenious?, Pass notes, 2 September). In Vietnamese restaurants, servers wander around taking partially melted ice blocks out of your glass and replacing them with new ones. Of course, this is fine with low-cost options such as 333, Bia Saigon and even Tiger. The beer stays cold, and in any case it is drunk rather quickly with little chance of any meaningful dilution. Would I put ice in a pint of Pasteur Street Jasmine IPA or Heart of Darkness Dream Alone pale ale? I would not
Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for chocolate and malted buttercream cake | The sweet spot
Being a twin, I’ve always shared a birthday cake. Each year, I ask my sister what I should bake and the answer is almost never chocolate, despite it being one of my favourite cake flavours. However, this year, I’ll be changing that and making this lovely, fudgy two-layer chocolate cake filled and topped with a luscious, malty buttercream that I could eat by the spoonful. If you want to make it extra celebratory, swap the chocolate shavings for sprinkles.Prep 10 min Cook 1 hr Serves 12315g plain flour 150g caster sugar 120g light brown sugar 50g cocoa powder 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda ¼ tsp fine sea salt 3 large eggs 60ml neutral oil 225g plain yoghurt 115g unsalted butter, melted170ml hot brewed coffeeFor the malted buttercream250g unsalted butter 1 tsp vanilla bean paste 40ml whole milk 50g malted milk powder (eg, Horlicks)175g icing sugar¼ tsp fine sea salt Milk chocolate, shaved, to finishHeat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and grease and line two 20cm loose-bottomed cake tins
Losing the taste for vegan restaurants | Letters
Isobel Lewis’s article on vegan restaurants suggests two reasons that they may be closing: general problems in the hospitality industry and a shift in cultural values (The plant-based problem: why vegan restaurants are closing – or adding meat to the menu, 2 September). Surely, it’s missing the real reason? I am vegetarian, but I rarely eat in vegetarian or vegan restaurants because I rarely dine out alone.People usually want to dine with their partner, or their friends. Quite a few people are vegan, but far fewer couples are likely to both be vegan. Even fewer friend groups are all vegan
Tanni Grey-Thompson received ‘abusive’ emails over opposition to assisted dying bill
Don’t leave social care out of the equation | Letters
Women in UK with polycystic ovarian syndrome facing widespread failures in treatment, report finds
Emergency alert: millions of UK mobile phones to receive test message on Sunday
A new dream man has dropped – the laid-back, confident beefcake | Emma Beddington
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