Starmer sets out changes to education, health and courts in king’s speech

Keir Starmer has put long-promised changes to education, health and the courts at the heart of his agenda for the next year, as the embattled prime minister looks to prove he can enact the scale of change being demanded by Labour MPs and voters.The prime minister unveiled his legislative programme for the next parliamentry session on Wednesday, a moment he hopes will persuade wavering Labour MPs he should remain in office.Wednesday’s king’s speech included 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.It also includes measures to make it harder for migrants to gain settled status in the UK, which lie at the centre of the home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s immigration changes, but which could trigger a backlash from Labour MPs.There were few surprises during the 11 and a half-minute speech, which took place against the backdrop of a bitter Labour party battle over whether Starmer should be allowed to stay in Downing Street

Starmer holds 16-minute meeting with Streeting amid leadership crisis

Wes Streeting has held talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street as an ally of the health secretary renewed calls for the prime minister to resign, saying his authority had “irretrievably ebbed away”.Streeting arrived in No 10 on Wednesday morning amid intense speculation over Labour’s leadership crisis and his own future within the party. He left approximately 16 minutes later without commenting to the media.The health secretary’s allies had sought to portray Wednesday’s meeting as a moment for Streeting to speak candidly about his concerns. But No 10 insiders suggested Streeting was playing down speculation that he was on the brink of declaring his candidacy for the leadership

Easy as ABC: voters in England tend to pick names nearer top of ballot, data suggests

Fancy your chances in politics? Then perhaps you should change your name to Aaron Aaronson or Aaliyah Aardvark, figures from last week’s local elections in England suggest.A Guardian analysis of election results compiled by the website Democracy Club points to a striking alphabet effect. In wards where a party fielded three candidates, those listed nearer the top of the ballot paper – with a surname nearer the start of the alphabet – finished ahead of their party colleagues in 2,200 cases, or 65% of the time.By contrast, candidates listed third out of their party’s list – with a surname nearer the end of the alphabet – topped their party’s slate only 382 times, or 11%. If ballot order had no relationship with performance, the figures would be expected to fall much closer to one-third in each position

Labour-supporting unions predict Starmer will not lead party into next election

Keir Starmer will not lead his party into the next general election, Labour-supporting unions have predicted, in an intervention that threatens to further destabilise the prime minister after a damaging few days.The 11 Labour-affiliated unions – which include Unite, Unison and the GMB – are expected to issue a joint statement on Wednesday saying “at some stage” the party will have to put a plan in place to elect a new leader.At a private meeting on Tuesday, the unions were divided over whether to call for Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, with one source telling the Guardian there had been a “big fight” among union officials.However, they are understood to have agreed to issue a statement saying they expect there to be a change of leadership, despite GMB and Community arguing it was not in the unions’ best interests to get involved in leadership wrangling.In a leaked copy of the statement, the unions said it was clear to them that Labour “cannot continue on its current path”, and despite some progress it was not doing enough to deliver the change people voted for at the last election

Starmer hopes to regain momentum with unveiling of dozens of bills in king’s speech

Keir Starmer will attempt to regain the political initiative on Wednesday as his government announces a package of 35 bills for the next parliamentary session, covering everything from housing to immigration.The embattled prime minister will release details of dozens of bills that he intends to pass over the next 12 months, even as his own MPs line up to demand his resignation.Starmer, who insisted on Monday that he wanted to oversee radical change over the next few years, will announce a bill to move closer to the EU, one to strengthen the immigration system and one to all but end the leasehold system.He said on Tuesday night: “The British people expect the government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better. Cutting the cost of living, bringing down hospital waiting lists and keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world

Streeting to meet Starmer on Wednesday as the prime minister defies calls to step down – as it happened

This is from Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor.double quotation markEXCL: Zubir Ahmed, health minister and another close ally of Wes Streeting, quits calling for Keir Starmer to step aside.Feels like the Streeting bid could be onHere is the letter..