Rayner’s return gives a lift to Labour’s gloomy backbenchers

The chamber had been almost empty at the start of the ministerial statement on Heathrow airport. But by the end, the Labour benches were almost full. Though this was nothing to do with the pull of the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander. It was Angela Rayner who was the main attraction.The former housing secretary hasn’t been heard from since her resignation in early September

Tory plans to deport some people who are legally in UK are ‘grotesque’, says Labour – as it happened

Labour is now saying that it is “utterly grotesque” that the Conservative party is proposing to deport people from the UK who have previously been told they have indefinite leave to remain.The party issued a statement after Conservative HQ confirmed that Katie Lam’s comments on this topic in an interview at the weekend are in line with official party policy. (See 5.06pm.) The Tories published proposals in the form of a private member’s bill earlier this year and clause 3 of the bill says indefinite leave to remain (ILR) should be revoked from some categories of migrants, including people who have been in receipt of benefits and people earning less than £38,700 a year

Deporting legally settled people is ‘broadly in line’ with Tory policy, says Badenoch’s office

The Conservative MP Katie Lam was “broadly in line” with party policy when she called for very large numbers of legally settled people to be deported from the UK, Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson has said.Setting out Tory plans to retrospectively strip the right of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from people who claim benefits, the spokesperson said this would not be the case for people getting the state pension, but he was unable to say whether someone could be deported if they received statutory maternity pay or shared parental leave.Speaking after prime minister’s questions, he said the key to whether or not someone was deported was if they were a “net contributor” in terms of tax and benefits, even though the party’s policy says this would happen if someone on ILR receives “any form of social protection”, an official term covering most benefits.In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lam, a Home Office shadow minister and Tory whip, said many people would need to lose their ILR status in order to ensure the UK is mostly “culturally coherent”, prompting criticism from other parties.Asked about Lam’s comments, Badenoch’s spokesperson said some had been “pulled out of context”

Chancellor hoping shift in tone on Brexit will ring true for key groups of voters

Rachel Reeves’ decision to pin the blame for the UK’s ailing economy on Brexit a month before a difficult and potentially unpopular budget could be considered high-risk given the lingering divisions and bitterness over the UK’s decision to leave the EU.But political analysts say she is aiming to appeal to voters who opted to leave but have changed their minds on this issue, young people who have joined the electorate in the nine years since the referendum, and remainers who are asking: what took you so long?In a speech on Tuesday, the chancellor said Brexit had caused more damage to the UK economy than official forecasters had previously outlined. She said costs had been “needlessly added to businesses” since the UK formally exited in 2021.Supporters of Brexit swiftly accused Reeves of attempting to “shift the blame for the dire state of Britain’s economy” ahead of November’s anticipated tax-raising budget. Some said she was “hunting for scapegoats”

Caerphilly byelection could signal ‘fundamental realignment’ of Welsh politics

When he steps out of the byelection campaign office opposite Caerphilly castle, the Plaid Cymru candidate, Lindsay Whittle, tends to hear a couple of different cries from passing motorists.“Some of them shout: ‘Good luck Linds!’ I love that,” Whittle said. “It implies we’re old friends even though I may not know them personally.” Others are rather less positive. “They yell: ‘Stop the boats!’ You hear that all the time

Scotland demands £24.5m from Westminster for Trump and Vance visits

The UK government needs to “step up” and reimburse the £24.5m cost of Donald Trump and JD Vance’s recent visits to Scotland, Holyrood’s public finance minister has said.Provisional costs of almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been published by the Scottish government.Ivan McKee said it was “ridiculous” that the UK government had so far refused to provide funding, framing both trips as private visits, despite the fact that the US president held meetings with the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, as well as the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, during his time in Scotland in July