Lammy made deputy PM and Cooper foreign secretary after Rayner’s exit

David Lammy has been made deputy prime minister and Yvette Cooper has taken over as foreign secretary as Keir Starmer embarked on a massive reshuffle sparked by the forced departure of Angela Rayner from government.Immediate changes were required due to Rayner’s resignation as deputy PM and housing secretary after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat.But the extent of the changes, with only a handful of cabinet ministers staying in the same job, indicated concern inside Downing Street that the government is faltering, and the need for a reset.Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has taken over from Cooper at the Home Office, with Lammy becoming justice secretary as well as his deputy prime minister role.Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, has been made work and pensions secretary, overseeing an enhanced department, which will take over Angela Rayner’s housing and communities brief

Nige takes to the stage offering empty promises and anger – and the crowd love it | John Crace

“Up for an adventure” a sign declared outside the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre. You certainly need to be. After navigating a half-hour queue to get through security, a group of us were told we needed to go back outside, walk 10 minutes and then go through security again to reach the media centre.Which would have been fine except the staff at the new entrance had been given instructions not to admit the media, and told us to go back to where we had started and queue for security a third time. The theme for this year’s Reform party conference is “Ready for government”

Reform conference shows a party keen to present itself as normal | Peter Walker

One of the most important unwritten rules of politics is that for a party to become a government it must first look like one. In the UK that involves holding not just rallies but a proper conference. Could Reform pull this off? Well, yes – in part.Previous Reform gatherings have, in effect, been rallies where every speaker was a support act for Nigel Farage.This is fine for grabbing attention and building support, but at some point voters want reassurance that there is a proper, functioning party machine in place, one capable of populating a cabinet of 20-plus people

The seven Labour MPs who have left Starmer’s government since election

Seven MPs have now left Keir Starmer’s government since Labour won power in 2024. Here is a rundown of those who have left since Labour came to power on 4 July 2024.The housing and communities secretary, as well as the deputy prime minister, resigned on Friday in the biggest exit yet for Starmer’s government.Rayner stood down after the prime minister’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on an £800,000 seaside flat, even though Magnus said she had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service”.The homelessness minister resigned after it emerged tenants of a property she owns who had not had their lease renewed because she planned to sell the property had seen the same property back up for let with a substantial rent increase shortly afterwards

UK children face barriers to outdoor play due to poor planning, says study

Children in cities across Britain face barriers to playing outside because urban planners are prioritising housebuilding over parks, a study has found.The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cities and Health, found that planners were prioritising the approval of new homes ahead of outdoor play spaces due to a combination of policy misalignment, financial constraints and pressures stemming from a lack of housing.Emily Ranken, from the University College London Institute for Education and corresponding author of the research, said: “Our study offers a deep analysis of the challenges in embedding play into urban policy and our recommendations offer a blueprint for councils, developers, and public health leaders to make play a priority.”She added: “Well-designed play space has so many positive knock-on effects. For children, it takes them outside, away from screens and develops their cognitive and physical skills

Reform UK could strip FCA of power to regulate banking if elected

Nigel Farage could strip the City watchdog of its power to regulate the banking industry under a sweeping overhaul to undo changes made after the 2008 financial crisis if Reform UK was elected to government.The leader of the party at the top of opinion polls has said he wants to prepare for the potential for an early general election in 2027.A metals trader before entering politics, Farage has told allies that a Reform UK government would sweep away rules governing the City of London as a priority to boost economic growth, the Financial Times reported.This would include stripping the Financial Conduct Authority of its role in regulating banks, with control handed instead to the Bank of England. “Nigel thinks the FCA is a disaster and banking regulation needs to go back to the Bank of England,” a source close to Farage told the paper