Cutting aid for disease fund would be moral failure, Labour MPs tell Starmer

A group of seven Labour MPs who served as ministers under Keir Starmer have written to the prime minister warning that an expected cut to UK funding for aid to combat preventable diseases would be both a “moral failure” and a strategic disaster.With ministers and officials expected to decide the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria within days, the letter renews pressure on Starmer to pull back from an expected 20% cut.Dozens of other Labour MPs have already expressed alarm at the idea of the UK slashing its contribution to the Global Fund, especially as this would be announced on the sidelines of next month’s G20 summit in South Africa, which Starmer is attending.There is wider concern about Starmer’s apparent reluctance to involve the UK in development projects, with his government deciding on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit to not contribute to a fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests.Aid groups have said that if the UK contribution to the Global Fund for 2027-29 is cut from £1bn to £800m, as has been discussed by senior government officials, it would badly hamper the work of one of the most cost-effective aid programmes of modern times, and could cause up to 340,000 avoidable deaths

A rats to riches story: Larry the Downing Street cat finds place in TV spotlight

He’s on his sixth prime minister, has watched presidents and princes walk through the black door of No 10, and will soon become the longest continuous resident of Downing Street since Pitt the Younger.The landscape of British politics has changed a lot in the past 15 years, but Larry the cat has remained a reassuring constant. Now his enduring popularity – the like of which some of his temporary owners would kill for – is to feature in a new Channel 4 documentary series presented by David Baddiel, ‘David Baddiel: Cat Man’, exploring Britain’s love of cats. For Larry’s fans, the spotlight has been a long time coming.“Larry’s totally the guy to meet in No 10,” one Westminster source said, adding that – as police officers stationed outside the entry of No 10 who regularly open the door for him will attest – he “has the run of the house”

Remaining four ‘rebel’ Labour MPs have whip restored

Four Labour MPs who lost the party whip in July for being “persistent rebels” have had the sanction removed, the last of a series of penalised backbenchers to be allowed back into the fold.Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell spoke to the party’s chief whip, Jonathan Reynolds, and were allowed to hold the whip again after a review of how they had behaved since the suspension, it is understood.The decision to strip the four of the whip came as a surprise and dismayed a number of their colleagues, who saw it as a heavy-handed attempt by Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation to impose discipline following a humiliating government climbdown on welfare reform the month before.All four MPs had been openly critical of several government policies. Maskell, the York Central MP, and Duncan-Jordan, who represents Poole, had spearheaded opposition to the cut to the winter fuel allowance and welfare reforms

Boris Johnson trying to undermine BBC leadership, insiders fear after leak

Boris Johnson and figures linked to him are engaging in an effort to undermine the BBC’s leadership, insiders fear, after the leaking of a memo criticising its reporting of Donald Trump, trans rights and Gaza.Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, and other senior editorial staff are under pressure after the criticisms made in the document by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to its editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC).Parliament’s culture, media and sport committee has demanded to know the BBC’s response to the memo, setting Monday as a deadline. The BBC’s board is compiling its response.However, insiders believe the leaking of the memo to the Daily Telegraph and the criticisms that have followed from Johnson are part of a concerted attempt to undermine the organisation, which is heading into crucial talks with the government over the renewal of its charter

Greens’ ‘undeliverable’ promises will let voters down, says Labour minister

The Green party is offering “simple solutions to complex problems” and making “undeliverable” promises to voters ahead of the next election that could leave them disappointed, the prime minister’s chief secretary has said.Darren Jones, one of Keir Starmer’s most powerful ministers, said the resurgent Greens were “a bit like the populist left version of the populist right” of Reform UK, and that both were in danger of letting down voters.Labour has fallen to record lows in the polls, losing support to parties on its progressive wing as well as to Reform. A YouGov poll this week put it just four points ahead of the Greens, which were on 16%, more than double the 6.7% share the party won at the last election

Lammy promises ‘tough new release checks’ as missing prisoner arrested – as it happened

Justice secretary David Lammy has commented on the arrest of Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.“We inherited a prison system in crisis and I’m appalled at the rate of releases in error this is causing. That’s why I’ve ordered tough new release checks, launched an investigation, and started overhauling archaic prison systems,” he posted on X.Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick earlier tweeted a graph showing the increase in mistaken releases of violent and sexual offenders this year.In a reply to Lammy, Jenrick said: “That’s one down - where are the other 262 prisoners that have been accidentally released? And how many prisoners have been mistakenly released this year? Calamity Lammy is hiding an even bigger scandal