Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has told an American audience she does not know why they went to war against Iran.Reviving criticisms of Donald Trump she has already stated, she said that she was “not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place” and that Trump seemed to have ended up in a worse position than he was before the war started.Speaking at a CNBC event in Washington, where she is attending IMF meeting, Reeves said:double quotation markThere were diplomatic negotiations happening before this.So if the aim is to now to get diplomatic negotiations, well, they were already happening before the conflict started …We’ve never been clear about what the goals of this conflict is, which is why the impacts in our economy, but also here in the US economy and around the world, and particularly for our allies in the Gulf, like Saudi and Qatar and the UAE, are so immense.Reeves said that it was important to reopen the strait of Hormuz to reduce energy prices.

But, she pointed out:double quotation markIt was open at the beginning of this conflict, and that’s what I mean about being clear about what the objectives of this conflict is.We are willing to play our part [keeping it open], but the strait of Hormuz was open.There was no tolling a few weeks ago.Yes, we want to get back there, but I’m not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place.Referring to yesterday’s IMF downgrade of its growth forecasts, particularly for the UK, Reeves said: “We beat the forecasts for the UK economy last year.

I’m confident that we will beat them again,”But de-escalation was vital, she said,double quotation markA lot of long term damage has also been done to oil and gas facilities in the Middle East, so even if this conflict does come to an end tomorrow, there are longer term impacts of it, and until capacity and refining capability is back up at full strength,So damage has been done for beyond the duration of this conflict, but the sooner it can de-escalate, and that we get back to the diplomatic negotiations, which were happening before the conflict began, the better for the global economy, including here in the US, where of course, inflation is also going to be higher, and oil and gas prices, including for consumers and businesses in the US, is going to be higher,That’s the last thing the global economy needs.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has told an American audience that she does not know why their country went to war against Iran.(See 16.32pm.) She was speaking at an event in Washington hours after Keir Starmer told PMQs that he would not alter his stance on the war, despite President Trump threatening to rip up the US-UK trade deal because of what he perceives as the lack of support he has received from Britain.(See 12.

19pm,),Starmer said:double quotation markI’m not going to change my mind,I’m not going to yield,It is not in our national interest to join this war, and we will not do so.

Starmer has said he does not agree with George Robertson’s comments about the government’s “corrosive complacency” on defence funding, as the prime minister faced sustained pressure on the issue.Anas Sarwar has dismissed as “a desperate lie from a desperate man” a claim by Reform UK’s Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord, that he offered to do a deal with the rightwing party to keep the Scottish National party out of power.For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.Campaigners who won a legal case in the UK’s highest court on the definition of a woman said they are “quietly confident” long-awaited guidance on single-sex spaces has not been watered down, the Press Association reports.PA says:double quotation markFor Women Scotland (FWS), who celebrated a landmark legal victory a year ago, described their meeting with women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson today as “positive”.

The campaigners pressed for detail on changes made to draft guidance and what date they expected it to be published ahead of parliamentary scrutiny.The updated draft code of practice – aimed at guiding businesses and other organisations on provision of single and separate-sex services such as toilets and changing rooms – had been handed to ministers by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) last September.Despite having been described by the watchdog’s chair as “legally sound”, the government gave “feedback” and it was confirmed this week that some changes have been made to the earlier version.FWS director Susan Smith told PA they had been “a little nervous” amid reports about it having been toned down, but – while they were not given specifics of the changes that had been made – they understood this included adding more examples for service providers on how to implement the updated code.She told PA: “I don’t think the guidance can be watered down in the sense that whatever the EHRC comes up with has to adhere closely to the supreme court’s ruling.

In an interview on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour this morning, Wes Streeting said that the new guidance could not be published until after the elections in May because it covered the whole of the UK and purdah rules for the Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections meant it could not be published now.Asked why it had taken so long, he said:double quotation markOn one level, this is really simple.Sex matters, biology is immutable, and the women who have not been heard in terms of their rights, voices and spaces are now not only being listened to but have been vindicated in law.Some of the complexity arises especially when thinking about the protection of women’s spaces on the basis of sex, where that then presents some practical challenges in also making sure that we protect the rights and the dignity and the safety of trans people …If we have got someone who is biologically female but a trans man, looks, sounds, acts, presents like a man, placing him in a women’s ward would be degrading, distressing, humiliating for him, and would also be of enormous concern to women.So we have to make sure that there are appropriate spaces for him to be treated, in an appropriate space that protects his rights and dignity as well.

And right across public sector and workplaces, across the land, that has got to work in practice, not just in principle,And that’s where some of the complexity has arisen,A reader from East Sussex asks:double quotation markReform are spending a fortune here,I have received 4 letters from them via Royal Mail in the past few weeks,I have posted the latest one to your Newsroom.

The others went straight into the recycling unread I’m afraid.Someone I have spoken to says that they have had six.Are you aware of any polling to assist those of us who would like to vote tactically?This website, StopReformUK.Vote, says it will be providing tactical voting advice for the May elections.But I don’t know how reliable it will be.

I have just had a look what it has to say about my ward in London, and it says they are still researching that contest,I am not aware of any others yet,There were several operating at the time of the last general elections,But providing tactical voting advice is much, much harder for the English local elections (because of the number of wards and candidates) and for the Scottish and Welsh elections (because of their PR voting systems),Steve Reed, the local government secretary, has announced changes designed to help people having difficulty paying their council tax bills on time in England.

In a news release explaning this, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says:double quotation markUnder the current system, missing one monthly payment can leave people facing financial ruin as they become liable to pay the entire outstanding sum in a single payment just two weeks later.This will change from next year with households given 63 days, roughly two months, to settle their bill and a requirement for councils to work with them on a sustainable repayment plan.Billing for council tax will also be shifted to 12-month payments by default, rather than the current 10 months, and capping the costs which councils can charge when seeking a liability order – how councils recover overdue bills – to £100.The Conservative party described this as “little more than window dressing in the context of Labour’s soaring council tax bills.”Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has told an American audience she does not know why they went to war against Iran.

Reviving criticisms of Donald Trump she has already stated, she said that she was “not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place” and that Trump seemed to have ended up in a worse position than he was before the war started.Speaking at a CNBC event in Washington, where she is attending IMF meeting, Reeves said:double quotation markThere were diplomatic negotiations happening before this.So if the aim is to now to get diplomatic negotiations, well, they were already happening before the conflict started …We’ve never been clear about what the goals of this conflict is, which is why the impacts in our economy, but also here in the US economy and around the world, and particularly for our allies in the Gulf, like Saudi and Qatar and the UAE, are so immense.Reeves said that it was important to reopen the strait of Hormuz to reduce energy prices.But, she pointed out:double quotation markIt was open at the beginning of this conflict, and that’s what I mean about being clear about what the objectives of this conflict is.

We are willing to play our part [keeping it open], but the strait of Hormuz was open,There was no tolling a few weeks ago,Yes, we want to get back there, but I’m not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place,Referring to yesterday’s IMF downgrade of its growth forecasts, particularly for the UK, Reeves said: “We beat the forecasts for the UK economy last year,I’m confident that we will beat them again.

”But de-escalation was vital, she said.double quotation markA lot of long term damage has also been done to oil and gas facilities in the Middle East, so even if this conflict does come to an end tomorrow, there are longer term impacts of it, and until capacity and refining capability is back up at full strength.So damage has been done for beyond the duration of this conflict, but the sooner it can de-escalate, and that we get back to the diplomatic negotiations, which were happening before the conflict began, the better for the global economy, including here in the US, where of course, inflation is also going to be higher, and oil and gas prices, including for consumers and businesses in the US, is going to be higher.That’s the last thing the global economy needs.Chris Osuh is a Guardian community affairs correspondent.

Two leading UK Jewish organisations have urged the foreign secretary to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),In a statement on Wednesday, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said representatives from the organisation and the Jewish Leadership Council had met with Yvette Cooper to discuss “global affairs including their impact on the Jewish community here and around the world”,The statement added: “As part of this, we reiterated the need for the government to move with urgency to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,”Operating independently of the army, the IRGC protects and promotes the interests of Iran’s clerical regime, at home and abroad with military and intelligence capabilities,Iranian dissidents have previously called for the UK to proscribe the IRGC.

Proscribing the IRGC would mean it would be banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation and make it a criminal offence to be a member or invite support for it.The call to proscribe it in the UK comes amid concerns it sponsors terrorism across borders and antisemitic offending in western countries.The European Union proscribed the IRGC in January, following Iran’s crackdown on anti-regime protesters, while Australia proscribed the IRGC in November last year after linking it to antisemitic attacks in Melbourne and Sydney in 2024.The US proscribed the IRGC in 2019, and Canada followed suit in 2024.The Electoral Commission has announced that it is monitoring election material for AI deepfake audio and video content.

Offending items could be reported to the police.The commission says that there is no evidence yet of deepfake material having a material impact on a UK election, but the threat is growing.Around a quarter of people said they say deepfake material during the 2024 general election, a survey by the commission found.During these elections, online material will be monitored under a pilot project involving a team from the Home Office.Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive at the commission, said:double quotation markVoters want accurate information.

Deliberately misleading or abusive video of candidates must not be shared.Deepfakes are becoming more sophisticated and more accessible, as we have seen in elections around the world.A deepfake is yet to meaningfully affect a UK election, and we are determined to keep it that way.This pilot means we can identify deepfakes quickly, track their impact, work with parties and candidates to take down or correct misleading material.This will give voters confidence that accurate information about how elections work is available.

We will share our findings after the May elections,The commission says, where it finds material raising ‘“serious concerns”, it will refer it to the police or other relevant bodies, and request its removal by social media companies,Journalists were originally briefed on these plans in January,The elections in May will be the biggest set of UK elections ahead of the next general election,Voters are electing a new parliament in Scotland, a new Senedd in Wales, and six mayors and around 5,000 councillors in England.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has said that the government will prioritise aid for frontline responders in Sudan, as she confirmed £146m in humanitarian funding for the country.In an announcement to coincide with her arrival at the International Sudan Conference, she said:double quotation markToday, in Berlin, I will call for the international community to join in a shared resolve: to secure a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution – to stop the suffering and allow the people of Sudan to determine their own peaceful future.In a news release about the aid, the Foreign Office said:double quotation markThe foreign secretary confirmed the UK will protect its £146m humanitarian package for Sudan, including more than doubling support for frontline responders and local aid groups, including Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), to reach over 1.8 million people in need, helping fund lifesaving work to those impacted by violence and starvation.ERRs work neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood to deliver food, water, medicine, sanitary supplies and psychological support in some of the hardest to reach areas.

The UK has also doubled funding to local human rights defenders to ensure they can play a crucial role in the documentation and investigation of violations,Mark Townsend has more in his story about the conference, which marks the third anniversary of the war,Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has said that the cost of living crisis is “totally avoidable” and down to decisions made by governments,Highlighting figures which he said illustrated the “normalisation” of food back use, Polanski said:double quotation markThe affordability crisis is something affecting nearly everyone, from the most vulnerable to people in work and comfortable, where any change in circumstance can push people over the edge into requiring a food bank,This crisis is totally avoidable and down to choices made by this Labour government and previous Tory governments.

The Greens have a plan which would make different choices, taking on corporate power and vested interests to give ordinary people a way out of this crisis.The Greens highlighted five measures that they said they would use to deal with the affordability crisis.They are:double quotation mark-universal support with energy bills this winter-the extension of free school meals to all primary and secondary pupils-the introduction of rent controls – because housing costs are one of the greatest impacts on household poverty-the UK to join a customs union with the EU to reduce costs to businesses-the introduction of a 10:1 pay ratio which would help increase wages for those on lower incomes while limiting the salaries of high-paid executives.Britain’s largest housebuilder is planning to dramatically cut back on buying new land, blaming the impact of the conflict in the Middle East and putting Labour’s ambitious housebuilding target under more pressure, Mark Sweney reports.Anas Sarwar has dismissed as “a desperate lie from a desperate man” a claim by Reform UK’s Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord, that he offered to do a deal with the hard-right party to keep the Scottish National party out of power.

As Libby Brooks and Severin Carrell report, Offord made the claim on Channel 4’s Scottish leaders’ debate on Tuesday evening, alleging the Scottish Labour leader came “bouncing up” to him at an event in December last year, suggesting they “work together to remove the SNP”.Here is the full story.Eluned Morgan, the Welsh first minister, has urged the government to drop plans to site a joint radar base with the US in Wales.In an interview with the Times, she said that the government should “pause” its involvement with the project in the light of Donald Trump’s conduct during the Iran war.In 2023, as part of the Aukus defence pact between the Australia, the UK and the US, plans were announced for the creation of a Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) programme to track objects orbiting around Earth