Britain will ‘never surrender flag’ to far-right protesters, Starmer says

Britain will “never surrender” to far-right protesters who use the English flag as cover for violence and to instil fear, Keir Starmer has said, condemning attacks against police officers and racist harassment.The prime minister said the St George’s flag “represents our diverse country” and he would not tolerate people being “intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin”.MPs and anti-fascist groups had urged the prime minister to speak up against some of the rhetoric of the largest nationalist protest in decades, held in London and organised by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.The pressure on Downing Street to be more proactive in defence of diversity came after 10 days of widespread dissatisfaction from MPs over the handling of Angela Rayner’s resignation, the ensuing reshuffle and the sacking of the ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, over links to Jeffrey Epstein.The prime minister will host Donald Trump for a state visit this week, during which Starmer is likely to be questioned by journalists about his handling of Mandelson and on rightwing talking points

Nigel Farage admits breaching parliamentary rules over Trump event

Nigel Farage has admitted breaching parliamentary rules by failing to register a trip to Florida to headline a fundraising event for Donald Trump.The Reform UK leader was the main speaker at the $500-a-head Republican party dinner in Tallahassee in March.Guests could pay $25,000 (£18,445) for a VIP ticket, which included having a photograph with the Clacton MP, according to promotional material.Farage said on Sunday that he had failed to declare the trip in parliamentary transparency logs due to an error by his office. It came after details of the appearance were published by the Sunday Times

Phillipson and Powell kick off Labour deputy race with very different visions for role

Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell fired the starting pistol in Labour’s deputy leadership race on Sunday, with the education secretary saying now was not the time to “look backward” on mistakes made by the party in its first year of government.The pair set out strikingly different approaches to the role of deputy leader, with Powell saying she would be an independent voice who would speak truth to senior leadership including Keir Starmer.Phillipson is widely seen as No 10’s choice for the role, with Powell recently ousted from the cabinet as leader of the House of Commons.Powell, in her first message to members, promised to be a “full-time deputy leader” and an “independent voice” as opposed to Phillipson’s potential dual role as education secretary.“I really want this Labour government to succeed, and sometimes that means having the difficult conversations,” she said in her email to constituency Labour parties

Labour MPs will hope Starmer’s words after far-right rally signal shift in tone

If there is a cause that could be said to unite almost all Labour MPs and members from left to right, it would be equality and anti-racism. Many of them will have spent their early political lives in trade unions, student movements or charities – or working as human rights lawyers.Over the summer, MPs have agonised about their political futures and that of progressive politics. Missteps on the economy, welfare, Gaza and relations with the parliamentary party have been part of that.But what has crystallised the sense of crisis for many has been the rapid rise in far-right rhetoric and violence, as well as Nigel Farage’s perma-presence in the media and his plans for mass deportations

NHS will die under Reform unless doctors stop striking and work with Labour, says Wes Streeting

Unless doctors stop striking and help Labour fix the damage inflicted by the Tories, the NHS will end up dying under a government led by Reform, Wes Streeting has warned.Speaking at a special meeting of the British Medical Association’s representative body on Sunday, the health secretary said hospitals and GP surgeries were “hanging by a thread” after more than a decade of neglect by the Conservatives.Progress was being made at rescuing the NHS from the biggest crisis in its history, Streeting insisted, but he said it required “a team effort” and would only be successful if medics became “friends, not foes”.“The alternative is strikes continue to hold back the NHS’s recovery, the costs of industrial action slow down investment in new technology, equipment and additional specialty places, the changes that we all agree need to be made are blocked, and patients continue to be failed,” he said.“From there, the public will conclude that Labour has failed on the NHS and they will elect a Reform government instead – a party that has openly said it will replace the NHS with an insurance-based system

UK politics: Scale of ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march shows free speech ‘alive and well’ in UK, says minister – as it happened

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.At least 25 people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured – including four who were seriously hurt – at Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest in London yesterday, the Metropolitan police said.The protest, thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades, saw between 110,000 and 150,000 people turn out, significantly exceeding the estimates of organisers. Elsewhere, about 5,000 anti-racism campaigners mounted a counter-protest.The crowds were addressed by Elon Musk, who dialled in via video link and spoke of “the rapidly increasing erosion of Britain”, before calling for the dissolution of the UK parliament