No 10 says it will produce ‘emergency’ bill to show Rwanda safe country ‘in coming weeks’ – UK politics live | Politics

Nandy says Labour would stop ‘constant raiding’ of aid budget by other Whitehall departments

Ben Quinn

Labour in government would end the “constant raiding” of the aid budget by other departments, Lisa Nandy has said, as the party’s shadow overseas development minister pledged it would spend aid for the reasons that the public supported it.

This would include a rebalancing again towards spending more on humanitarian aid – after a decade under the Conservatives had seen this spending reduce as a proportion while money has been diverted towards financial instruments or spending by the Home Office in the UK.

Speaking at a lunch for journalists in Westminster, Nandy said:

The cynicism that motivated Boris Johnson, to take the axe to one of the greatest contributions that Britain has ever been able to make to the world is based on a view of people in the so called red wall that is deeply offensive, and profoundly wrong. And when we’re in government, I’m gonna prove it.

Nandy defends Labour not voting for ceasefire in Gaza, saying to Israel that sounds like telling them to accept threat

Ben Quinn

Lisa Nandy has mounted an unrepentant defence of the party’s refusal to brook dissent on Gaza by saying that there was a “realistic possibility” Keir Starmer will be in the region in a year’s time as prime minister and its frontbenchers needed to speak with the authority of a united government.

The shadow international development minister, who chaired Labour Friends of Palestine for a decade, said the party “would not apologise” for refusing to call for the word ceasefire, which she said would be seen by Israelis as an instruction to lay down their arms while hundreds of hostages were in Hamas tunnels and rockets were being fired from Gaza.

Speaking to journalists at Westminster the day after eight Labour frontbenchers resigned as Labour was hit by a major rebellion over Gaza, Nandy said:

There are heartfelt and genuine views in every part of the Labour movement about this, as there are in every part of the country. In the end, as a member of parliament, you have to be able to live with yourself looking at the decisions that you’ve made, and live with your own conscience.

But Nandy said that she “would not apologise” for a number of things, adding:

Firstly, the decision that we’ve reached that actually calling for a ceasefire at a time when you’ve got 200 hostages potentially sitting in tunnels in Gaza, and Hamas rockets flying into Israel. And you’ve got leaders of Hamas still at large, still talking about amassing weapons.

To many people in Israel, including the Israeli government, when they hear the term ceasefire, it is simply an instruction that they should lay down their arms, and just allow that situation to continue. I don’t see, first of all, how that’s a correct position to hold.

In a year’s time there’s a realistic prospect Keir, David [Lammy, shadow foreign secretary] and I will be in the region, not as the official opposition but as the government … and our international partners will need to know that we speak with the authority of the entire government.

Labour had been through “turbulent times” in recent years, she said, referring to the leadership of the party under Jeremy Corbyn, and had been in a position where it had allowed its MPs to have free votes and take their own decisions about matters of foreign policy. She went on:

That might stand in opposition. It doesn’t stand in government. And everybody in the Labour party understands that, they accept it. And I can’t apologise for saying that.

Lawyers have said that UK ministers’ latest plans to get their high-profile Rwanda policy off the ground are unlikely to overcome the legal obstacles that defeated them in the supreme court, Haroon Siddique reports.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow international development miniser, has defended her support for transgender rights after JK Rowling criticised her as “one of the biggest reasons many women on the left no longer trust Labour”. Asked about the comment at a press gallery lunch at Westminster, Nandy said:

It breaks my heart actually, we’re re-reading Harry Potter at the moment in my house with an eight-year-old who is absolutely Harry Potter obsessed.

And I don’t think we should end up in an oppositional relationship where we’re talking about some of the most marginalised, discriminated against women and girls on the planet, and we can’t have that debate – because there’s a genuine conversation to be had about the rights of transgender people and the protection of safe spaces and hard-fought rights for women.

Nandy also complained that the debate on trans right was “based on fear, and creating fear about a group of people who are having a very, very tough time”. She went on:

When we look at the way we reduce the debate to things like bodily parts, I think when we look back in history we will be utterly ashamed of ourselves.

Sixty senior women at the UK’s Ministry of Defence have described a “hostile” and “toxic” culture at the department in a letter that alleges sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues, Harry Davies, Dan Sabbagh and Rowena Mason report.

Keir Starmer has said that having the right policy for people in Gaza is more important to him than Labour unity. In an interview with ITV News, asked about the vote last night that saw 56 Labour MPs defy the party whip, Starmer said:

Of course, I want us to move forward as united as we can as a party, but you wouldn’t expect me to stand here today and say my concern is the Labour party management rather than the hostages and the innocent civilians and children that are dying in Gaza.

My focus and attention is there, and that’s where it is and where it will always be.

Labour frontbenchers who voted with the SNP in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza last night have paid the consequences, losing their shadow roles as a result.

But some of those who stayed loyal are also feeling the heat today, not least Rushanara Ali, the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow.

Hundreds of students are marching today to her constituency office to protest at her decision, while more are expected to turn up later.

Ali is receiving abuse and veiled threats on X.

Bethnal Green and Bow is, of course, the “safe” Labour seat which the party unexpectedly lost to George Galloway in 2005 following the Iraq war – a seat where 41% of voters are Muslim. Ali will hope last night doesn’t trigger a repeat of that result at the next election.

Scottish health secretary apologises unreservedly for £11,000 iPad bill largely caused by son watching football abroad

Severin Carrell

Michael Matheson, Scotland’s embattled health secretary, has apologised “unreservedly” to the Scottish parliament after admitting he failed to properly disclose that his sons had largely rung up an £11,000 iPad bill he initially charged in full to taxpayers.

In a personal statement to MSPs after first ministers’ questions on Thursday, Matheson said he had referred himself for possible investigation by parliament for breaching its code of conduct, as he fought against mounting calls from opposition leaders for his resignation.

During first minister’s questions on Thursday, Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, called on Matheson to quit and came as close as parliamentary rules allowed to accuse him of lying to MSPs. Ross said Matheson had misled Holyrood: “It wasn’t just a mistake; it was dishonest.”

Matheson in his statement admitted one of his sons had watched football using his parliamentary iPad as a data hotspot: on Sunday 2 January, Celtic played Rangers in the Scottish Premier League. According to figures released by Holyrood officials, nearly 3.8Gb of data was used that day, at a cost of £8,666.

Fighting back tears at several points, Matheson said:

Mistakes have been made by me and mistakes have been made by my family, and mistakes have been made in the way I have handled this.

The scandal erupted last week after it emerged he had racked up an £11,000 roaming charges bill on his parliamentary iPad during a week-long Christmas holiday in Morocco, and refused to explain why.

He insisted to Holyrood’s authorities and to Humza Yousaf, the first minister, those charges were legitimately incurred on parliamentary business: Holyrood officials accepted his assurances and agreed to pay nearly £8,000 of that bill and allowed him to put the remainder on his parliamentary expenses.

After days of intense pressure on Matheson and parliamentary authorities to explain how that bill was incurred, Holyrood released his daily data charges, revealing that usage spiked on Sunday 2 January. It also emerged Matheson had ignored repeated requests to update his sim card, which was by then out of contract, and his iPad data settings, and had failed to tell officials he was taking it overseas.

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said this had raised “serious questions” over his judgment, in part because Matheson’s attention was diverted during this crisis from tackling the NHS’s significant crises, and whether this meant his iPad had not been kept secure.

David Cameron could end up taking questions from MPs in his new role as foreign secretary in special sessions in Westminster Hall, a cabinet minister hinted this morning.

Because he will be doing the job as a menber of the House of Lords, MPs will not be able to question Cameron in the Commons chamber. Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, will take the lead in answering questions there on behalf of the Foreign Office.

During business questions in the Commons this morning Lucy Powell, the shadow leader of the Commons, said a mechanism must be set up to allow MPs to question Cameron.

She said that, when Gordon Brown was prime minister and he gave senior cabinet jobs to two peers, Lord Mandelson and Lord Adonis, the Commons procedure committee drew up a plan to allow them to be questioned by MPs in Westminter Hall, the Commons annex used for minor debates. Those sessions never took place, because the 2010 election came first, but Powell said the government should adopt the same policy for Cameron now.

Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Commons, implied the government would be open to this. She said Powell should be “reassured” that this was being considered and went on:

Mr Speaker has taken advice on the matter. My understanding is that the procedure committee will be consulted on the best way forward. [Powell] alluded to some of the options that may be required of the new foreign secretary, who I know will want to be accountable to this house.

Downing Street has said that the “emergency legislation” on Rwanda promised by Rishi Sunak yesterday will be produced “in the coming weeks”.

Speaking at the No 10 lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said the bill would “make clear Rwanda is safe on the basis of the work we have done” over the last 15 months and the “upgraded assurances we have secured to address the court’s concerns in our new treaty”.

The treaty will provide a “guarantee” that the risks of refoulement – the process of returning refugees to their origin countries – identified by the court will not materialise, the spokesperson said.

Yesterday Sunak said the legislation would make it clear that the UK regards Rwanda as a safe country. Boris Johnson has also called for this, implying it could be done by secondary legislation, but No 10 said there would be primary legislation – meaning there will be a bill that will have to go through the House of Lords as well as the Commons.

The spokesperson also claimed that that the new legislation prevent “systemic challenges” to the Rwanda policy. He said:

The approach we have seen where people challenge the principle of our Rwanda policy, that will be dealt with through the emergency legislation.

We think this is the fastest route through to getting flights in the air. We think by closing off these avenues of challenge it will help speed through the process.