Keir Starmer sets out changes to education, health and courts in king’s speech
Keir Starmer attempted to reassert his authority over his restive party on Wednesday, announcing his plans for the next parliamentary session even as speculation grew that he would be challenged for his job as soon as Thursday.Starmer announced his second king’s speech as prime minister, promising a package of measures with bills to abolish NHS England, overhaul the provision of special educational needs teaching, limit trials by jury, introduce digital ID and end the leasehold system in England and Wales.The prime minister is promising to begin work on his legislative agenda immediately, bringing forward a bill to curb the ability of people in England to buy their own social homes in a effort to boost the country’s stock of affordable housing.The changes will exempt social homes from the right-to-buy scheme for 35 years, while only tenants who have been living and paying rent there for 10 years will be eligible.However, his plans risk being derailed almost immediately, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, expected to resign on Thursday in an attempt to trigger a leadership contest.
Starmer appealed to his MPs to stay the course, promising changes that would make Britain “stronger and fairer”.He told the Commons: “It is an agenda of radical reform across our major public services, an urgent activist Labour government that tilts power back to workers.”He faced criticism from his own MPs however for elements of the package, including changes to the migration system to make it harder to appeal against asylum rejections.The bill forms part of a wider plan by Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, to curb legal and illegal migration, including doubling the length of time it will take for some people to be granted indefinite leave to remain in the country.Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said: “I implore the government maintain the rights of those with indefinite leave to remain, as new communities work alongside established communities.
”Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said: “Today’s offering pales in comparison [with what is needed], both because we have heard so much of it before but definitely because it lacks the urgency and the radical transformation we need.”There were few surprises in the king’s the 11 and a half-minute speech, which marked the formal opening of the government’s second parliamentary session.The king said in the speech: “My government believes that the United Kingdom’s economic security depends on raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom.My ministers will support measures that maintain stability and control the cost of living.”The speech included several measures that ministers hope will boost economic growth, including a bill to lay the ground to adopt European regulations, which is part of the prime minister’s plan to move closer to the EU.
Another will force regulators to consider growth when making and enforcing rules for business,Starmer is promising two major changes to housing in England and Wales: a bill to make it harder for people to buy their own council houses, and another to all but end the leasehold system,The leasehold bill will introduce a ban on new flats being sold as leasehold properties, though the housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, recently said the ban would not be enacted until after the next election,On public services, the package will bring in several bills aimed at repairing major problems, including long NHS waiting lists, major courts backlogs and the escalating costs of providing special educational needs support,Streeting is due to follow through with his pledge to legislate to abolish NHS England, something the health secretary promised last year and the process for which has already begun.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, will enact the changes to special educational needs provision that she outlined in a speech earlier this year.Under the changes, fewer people will be eligible for education, health and care plans than would otherwise be the case, but schools will have more responsibility for deciding how pupils with special educational needs should be taught.Ministers will also legislate to bring in a digital ID for the first time as a way to check people’s immigration status when they get a new job, although the ID will not be mandatory after the prime minister backed down on a key element of his plans.
Joseph Fiennes on parenting, politics and banning children from social media: ‘Stand up, Keir, this is your kids’ generation’
He’s played English titans from William Shakespeare to Gareth Southgate, but what does the actor really think about the country today?The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.We are at a corner table in a breakfast place in Chelsea, Joseph Fiennes opposite me on the banquette with his jack russell, Noa. “Dog duty,” he says, apologetic
From The Sheep Detectives to Rivals: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson star in a farmyard mystery, while the spirited bonkbuster returns for a smutty second outingThe Sheep DetectivesOut now Few can claim a writing career as varied as Craig Mazin, creator of TV’s Chernobyl, co-writer of several Scary Movie and The Hangover films, and co-creator of The Last of Us. Here, he turns his hand to a comedy-mystery about sheep, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson. Adapted from a novel by Leonie Swann.KokuhoOut now Two-time Japan Academy film prize best director winner Lee Sang-il directs this prestige adaptation of Shuichi Yoshida’s novel. It holds the record for the highest-grossing Japanese live-action release ever in Japan – an impressive feat for a nearly three-hour-long period drama set across five decades in the kabuki theatre world
Historic Oxford cinema under threat as Oriel College refuses to extend lease
The survival of one of the UK’s oldest independent cinemas is under threat while its landlord, the University of Oxford’s Oriel College, refuses to extend its lease to allow what its director says are vital renovations.The Ultimate Picture Palace in east Oxford opened in 1911, and has entertained generations of students and residents, including the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. It sells tickets for its 106 seats through an old-fashioned box office window to patrons queueing on the street, and its screen is behind a manually opened curtain.After decades of instability, the UPP, as it is known by locals, recently became a community-owned business when more than 1,200 supporters raised funds to keep the cinema operating in the Grade II-listed building.But plans to secure its long-term future have been dashed by Oriel College’s reluctance to approve an extension that would allow further investments and renovations to take place
Arthur Miller opens up about marriage to Marilyn Monroe in newly unearthed recordings
He was one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century and she was one of the greatest actors. In newly unearthed recordings made over a period of nearly three decades, Arthur Miller opened up about his short-lived marriage to Marilyn Monroe, saying she wanted a husband who was a “father, lover, friend and agent,” and the child she longed for would have been an “additional problem”.In taped conversations with his friend and biographer Prof Christopher Bigsby, Miller said he had felt “death was always on her [Monroe’s] shoulder – always”. He had believed that if he did not “take care of her life” she would come to a “catastrophic end”.“One time I brought doctors to pump her out because she had swallowed enough stuff [drugs] to kill her,” he said
Man charged over bomb hoax after Peter Kay show evacuated
A man has been charged over a bomb hoax after a live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham was stopped when a “potentially suspicious bag” was found around the venue.The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening.On Saturday, the force said: “A man has been charged in connection with the events which led to the evacuation of the Utilita Arena in Birmingham last night.“Omar Majed, 19, has been charged with false communications relating to a bomb hoax,” a police spokesperson said. “Majed, of Washwood Heath, Birmingham, has been remanded to appear before magistrates in Birmingham on 4 May
Royal Opera House calls for release of Georgian bass singer jailed over democracy protests
The Royal Opera House in London has urged Keir Starmer to intervene in the case of Paata Burchuladze, a world-renowned bass singer who has been imprisoned in Georgia since October on a charge of leading a coup against the country’s authoritarian leader.The 71-year-old has performed at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and collaborated with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. He was arrested after joining a protest outside the presidential palace in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Last week he was given a seven-year jail sentence which Burchuladze suggested to the court was equivalent to a life sentence given his age.Burchuladze became a rallying figure at nightly demonstrations against the government’s perceived pivot away from the west last autumn
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