Politics latest news: House of Lords votes to delay Sunak’s Rwanda treaty

The House of Lords has voted for a motion to delay ratifying the Government’s new treaty with Rwanda.

While the motion is not binding on the Government, support for it provides an indication of the uphill battle the Government faces over the next two months to get Rishi Sunak’s deportation plan through the Lords.

Some 214 Lords voted content in support of the motion, with a further 171 opposed.

The vote is unprecedented and seeks to delay the treaty with Kigali that paves the way for Mr Sunak’s scheme.

Lord Sharpe of Estom, a Home Office minister, said it was “critical to the Government’s plan to establish an effective deterrent to dangerous crossings, and to stop the boats”, before being laughed at by other peers as he began to recap “what this policy sets out to achieve”.

Criticism was led by Lord Goldsmith, a Labour peer and former attorney general who tabled the motion, but also extended to a bishop and even some Tory figures cast doubt on whether the policy would work in practice.

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07:58 PM GMT

That's all for this evening...

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07:52 PM GMT

Analysis: A blow for Sunak that conjures ghosts of Brexit past

While the motion passed by the House of Lords tonight is not legally binding, it is nonetheless a blow for Rishi Sunak that conjures up the ghosts of Brexit past.

Britain’s drawn out departure from the European Union saw parliamentary ‘ping pong’ between the Commons and the Lords.

Tonight’s result, which followed peers laughing at a Home Office minister who said he looked forward to their support, shows the scale of the challenge facing the Government in getting the legislation through the upper chamber.

Rishi Sunak and his ministers have insisted the Rwanda treaty and subsequent legislation are vital in order to stop the boats. In the wake of the outcome this evening, it is no wonder the Prime Minister has already called on the Lords to “do the right thing” by the public on migration - as it looks like they may need some convincing.

07:39 PM GMT

Breaking: Lords passes a motion to delay ratification of Rwanda treaty

Contents: 214

Not contents: 171

07:29 PM GMT

Breaking: Downing Street readout of Rishi Sunak call with Biden

07:28 PM GMT

Voting time

Voting is now open in the Lords after peers debated a motion to delay the ratification of the Government’s new Rwanda Treaty.

07:10 PM GMT

Government: We don't want to see any further delay to Rwanda scheme

Home Office minister Lord Sharpe said the Government did not want to see “any further delay” to the Rwanda plan, lauding the supporting evidence put forward by ministers.

He was laughed at when he said he looked forward to support from peers for the Rwanda Bill when it is debated next week in the upper House.

07:02 PM GMT

Home Office minister: Rwanda is key to stopping the boats

Lord Sharpe of Estom, a Home Office minister in the Lords, said he was “very grateful” for the debate on the Rwanda partnership.

He said it was “critical to the Government’s plan to establish an effective deterrent to dangerous crossings, and to stop the boats”, before being laughed at by other peers as he began to recap “what this policy sets out to achieve”.

“We must go further to fully solve this problem - we need a strong deterrent. As our work with the Albanian government shows, deterrence does work.”

Lord Sharpe said “significant and successful” work had taken place with Rwanda to respond to the concerns of the Supreme Court, dismissing claims by other members of the Lords that the Government was dealing in “alternative facts”.

06:56 PM GMT

Labour: Assurances are not enough on Rwanda deal

Lord Coaker, Labour’s home affairs spokesman in the upper House, said the Government “has not provided the evidence to support” its claims that Rwanda is a safe country to a Lords committee or the House as a whole.

“The Government has been assured that all is well,” he told peers. “My question to the Government - is assurance really enough when it comes to an international treaty? The Rwandan government says all is well.

“But as the committee says and I quote, ‘assurances in themselves are not proof of Rwanda’s ability to fulfil them’.”

Lord Coaker added that measures such as the Rwanda deal “do not help” Britain’s international reputation as he cited other examples in which the UK was “standing up for” international law.

06:44 PM GMT

National Trust 'into irrelevant and politicised territory'

Zewditu Gebreyohanes, a senior researcher at the Legatum Institute, accused Sir Keir Starmer of having appeared to “forget that it is the National Trust who have waged a culture war, not anyone else”.

“Many members are understandably frustrated by the National Trust’s recent forays into irrelevant and politicised territory. In contrast to Starmer’s claims, the government has not yet taken any action to quell the divisive identity politics the Trust’s current leadership has been pushing.

“One can only hope that the government will encourage Parliament, which has statutory oversight of the Trust, to put a stop to the Trust’s departure from its statutory and charitable aims and ethos.”

06:42 PM GMT

Lib Dem peer: Rwanda scheme would drag Britain's reputation through the mud

Lord Fox, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, said the Rwanda treaty “affects our international reputation”.

“We on these benches believe that the Rwandan scheme is a politically partisan, immoral proposal that is neither cost-effective nor achievable.

“We think the deterrence theory is unproven, and in any case too high a price for breaking the constitution and dragging our international reputation through the mud.”

06:34 PM GMT

'Is anywhere in Africa particularly safe?'

Tory peer Lord Balfe asked whether any African country was “particularly safe”, telling the Lords: “We can well ask: are they a safe country? Is anywhere in Africa particularly safe? I can’t think of any country in Africa that I would wish to go and live in.

“But maybe it is safe. We don’t know. But that is not the case. The fact of the matter is that even if it is declared safe, we are going to get what - 200, 300 people there? Out of thousands of who are coming to Britain.

“We need to realise that the whole international migration system has got out of hand. It’s not a case of whether or not people are any more vulnerable. It’s a case of the fact that in modern technology they can look at their iPads and work out that this would be a much better place to live than where many of them are at the moment.

06:08 PM GMT

Tories at lowest polling point since Sunak became Prime Minister

The Conservatives at their lowest point in the polls since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, new figures from Redfield & Wilton Strategies show tonight.

The Tories are down to a new low of 22 per cent with the pollster, while Labour leads on 45 per cent of voting intention and Reform UK increases its share of the vote to 12 per cent.

06:00 PM GMT

Lord Bishop: We cannot declare Rwanda safe ad infinitum

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester told parliamentarians: “It is remarkable for the executive to request that parliamentarians declare another nation state safe, and safe ad infinitum, on the basis that one drafted international agreement answers all the questions of the Supreme Court.”

She questioned how that tallied with the “constitutional precedent” of Supreme Court judgments, and also cast doubt on whether the scheme would work in practice.

05:38 PM GMT

Lord Alton: We too often pass laws in haste and repent at leisure

Lord Alton of Liverpool, a crossbench peer, said Parliament “too often [passes] legislation in haste and [repents] at leisure” as he voiced his concerns over the Rwanda Bill.

“It doesn’t do the process any good when we are seen to stampede legislation through both Houses,” he said.

Lord Alton added that he agreed with hte Government trafficking gangs should be “hunted down and jailed”, and commended the bilateral returns agreement that it has struck with Albania.

However, he went on to set out the scale of the global refugee crisis, and suggested ministers including Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, had sought to avoid accountability over the Rwanda plan.

05:30 PM GMT

We should not ratify Rwanda treaty 'at any time', says crossbench peer

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, a crossbench peer, also spoke to criticise the Rwanda Bill.

“I can’t debate this treaty without recording my profound objection to an arrangement that is incompatible with our responsibilities under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol and of course the European Convention on Human Rights.”

He added: “The considerations of international law and national reputation... convince me that it wouldn’t be right to ratify this treaty at any time. Arguments from history suggest that it would be very reckless to do so any time soon. But these are my personal views.

05:01 PM GMT

Lord Bishop of Gloucester joins Rwanda criticism

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester is currently speaking in the Lords to criticise the Rwanda Bill.

As far back as June 2022, the entire leadership of the Church of England united to condemn the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda as an “immoral policy that shames Britain”.

04:42 PM GMT

Baroness Chakrabarti condemns Rishi Sunak's 'sabre rattling'

Baroness Chakrabarti condemned Rishi Sunak’s “sabre-rattling about ‘the unelected House of Lords will have to do the right thing’”.

“If Parliament is to address the Supreme Court’s concerns, my noble and learned friend and his committee must be listened to,” she said.

“Because everything he has said, with all due respect to our Commonwealth friend and partner in Rwanda, is triggered not on what we say, what we deem with a flick of a pen, but the legitimate and totally noble aspiration... Perhaps we’ll all become safer, but it is that greater safety in the future that the Supreme Court - not a foreign court, let alone an international court - that our very own Supreme Court called for.”

She added: “Before all the lectures about unelected second houses et cetera, I do think on matters of the rule of law, your lordships have a part to play. And especially in a country with an unwritten constitution, a Human Rights Act, a modern Bill of Rights which is not entrenched - and even when the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, does not have the strike down powers that other democracies reserve for their highest courts.

“I do believe that noble Lords are entitled to be a little more muscular than usual in relation to matters such as this that were, my Lords, not in anyone’s manifesto, that risk being contrary to the domestic rule of law, including by ousting the jurisdiction of the law or indeed changing reality as it has been found by the Supreme Court on Nov 15. A little muscular in relation to matters that risk breaching international law.”

04:22 PM GMT

Parliament must be 'pretty sure' about safety of Rwanda

Responding to Rishi Sunak’s press conference last week, Baroness Chakrabarti said: “Much was said about ‘the will of the people’, which is this phrase which has gained so much currency in the very polarised and difficult recent years in our country... as if this is something that a charismatic or less charismatic leader has a direct telephone line to.”

She added: “In a constitutional democracy, it is Parliament that will reflect to the best of its ability the will of the people, and certainly represent people in this country but also champion the rule of law.

“In the Safety of Rwanda Bill itself, it is being suggested that Parliament is now of the view that Rwanda is safe...

“It seems to me that if Parliament is going to step up to that awesome responsibility, even more awesome than usual, the Lords being ousted from their usual position, Parliament better be pretty sure that Rwanda is safe.”

04:19 PM GMT

Baroness Chakrabarti praises 'clarity and succintness' of Rwanda report

Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti commended the International Agreements Committee for the “clarity and succintness” of its report on Rwanda.

“What is in the treaty is the suggestion that it would be for the republic of Rwanda to make a case-by-case judgment on accepting each individual asylum seeker,” she said.

“Amongst other things, that would mean that the republic of Rwanda would get to do a case-by-case assessment... which is not possible by any minister or official or court here in the UK, and I find that strange.”

04:12 PM GMT

Plan to delay ratification of Rwanda Treaty 'unprecedented'

Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, said the plan to delay the ratification of the Rwanda Treaty is “unprecedented”.

He said: “The section 20 motion I have tabled is unusual, in fact unprecedented. We are not saying that the treaty should never be ratified but we are saying that Parliament should have the opportunity to scrutinise the treaty and its implementing measures in full before it makes a judgement about whether Rwanda is safe.”

04:06 PM GMT

Lord Goldsmith warns of 'fait accompli' over ratification of Rwanda Bill

Lord Goldsmith sought to make the case for why ratification of the Government’s new treaty with Rwanda should be delayed.

The former attorney general said: “It would be constitutionally inappropriate for Parliament to seek through statute to overturn findings of fact by the Supreme Court… it is therefore important for Parliament to be clear that the facts have indeed changed before making its assessment.

“If the Government proceeds to ratify the treaty immediately after the end of the scrutiny period, it could enter into force without being fully implemented because the Government loses control of the timing of entry into force once it has ratified.

“Yet once the Bill is in force the judgement that Rwanda is safe is a fait accompli, regardless of whether the treaty has been implemented or not.” 

04:00 PM GMT

Ratification of Rwanda Treaty 'should not take place until certain conditions are met', says Lord Goldsmith

Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, said the ratification of the Government’s new treaty with Rwanda “should not take place until certain conditions are met”.

He told the House of Lords: “The Government should therefore abide by its usual practice of satisfying Parliament that all measures are in place before ratifying.

“That is why the committee has recommended that ratification should not take place until certain conditions are met.

“We considered that the Government should return to Parliament when it believes that the treaty is ready for implementation. It should then give Parliament a further opportunity for scrutiny of the treaty arrangements.

“Only at that point will parliament be able to assess properly whether Rwanda is safe.”   

03:51 PM GMT

Peers debate move to delay ratification of Rwanda Treaty

Peers are considering a motion this afternoon to delay the ratification of the Government’s new Rwanda Treaty.

For the first time in modern history, peers have exercised powers to lay a motion seeking to halt the ratification of the Treaty until the Government can show that Rwanda is safe for asylum seekers.

The motion has been put down by Lord Goldsmith, who was Sir Tony Blair’s attorney general during the Iraq War, in his capacity as chair of the international agreements committee which plays a critical role in the scrutiny and ratification of Britain’s new treaties.

Any vote in favour of the motion will not be binding but could be used by asylum seekers in future court challenges to deportation as evidence that Parliament did not regard Rwanda as safe.

03:39 PM GMT

Liz Truss helping to launch new 'Popular Conservatism' group

Liz Truss is helping to launch a “new movement” to deliver “popular conservative policies”.

The Popular Conservatism group is set to hold a launch event on February 6 with speakers including Ms Truss, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Sir Simon Clarke and Ranil Jayawardena.

03:13 PM GMT

Starmer: Labour would get ahead of storms like Isha

Labour would “get ahead” of storms, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he condemned the Government’s “sticking plaster” approach to Storm Isha.

The party’s leader said he feared for those with no insurance or high premiums whose homes have been flooded by the ninth storm of winter, which brought winds of up to 99mph and heavy rain to “everybody” in Britain on Sunday night.

You can read the full story here.

02:52 PM GMT

Labour poll lead over Tories widens to 17 points

The Labour Party’s poll lead over the Conservatives has widened to 17 points, according to a new Deltapoll survey.

The poll, conducted between Jan 19-22, put Labour on 45 per cent of the vote and the Tories on 28 per cent.

Labour were up by one point and the Tories were unchanged when compared to the company’s previous poll conducted between Jan 12-15.

02:30 PM GMT

Reader poll: Do you trust the BBC to be impartial?

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said this morning that she believed the BBC has “on occasion” been biased (see the post below at 08.51).

Do you agree? You can have your say in our reader poll:

02:11 PM GMT

No 10 ‘confident’ childcare plan will be delivered

Downing Street insisted it was “confident” that childcare places will be available for those eligible when the Government’s flagship plan starts to be rolled out in April.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are confident that the provision and capability is there, we are confident in the strength of the market place.”

The situation was about “switching from parents paying for this care to effectively the Government stepping in to ensure that provision is there”.

“So we’ve been working very closely with the sector on that,” the spokesman said.

01:57 PM GMT

Pictured: PM tries his hand at carpentry during visit to Pinewood Studios

01:23 PM GMT

Downing Street ‘disappointed’ by Netanyahu’s two-state solution comments

Downing Street said it was “disappointed” to hear of Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state as the UK Government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “It is disappointing to hear this from the Israeli Prime Minister.

“The UK’s position remains that a two-state solution with a viable and sovereign Palestinian state living alongside a safe and secure Israel is the best route to lasting peace.

“Clearly there will be a long road to recovery and lasting security in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel.

“But we will continue our long-term support for a two-state solution for as long as it takes.”

12:53 PM GMT

No 10: Sunak would not support axing Saturday Royal Mail deliveries

Rishi Sunak would not support Royal Mail no longer delivering on Saturdays, Downing Street made clear today.

Ofcom will reportedly unveil a consultation paper later this week which may include an option that ends Royal Mail’s legal obligation to deliver post six days a week.

No10 said Mr Sunak “would not countenance seeing Saturday deliveries scrapped”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister’s strong view is that Saturday deliveries provide flexibility and convenience that are important for businesses… the Prime Minister would not countenance seeing Saturday deliveries scrapped.”

12:51 PM GMT

Pictured: Rishi Sunak meets students during a visit to the National Film and Television School

12:45 PM GMT

‘Strong basis’ to restore powersharing at Stormont, says No 10

No 10 said it believed there is a “strong basis” to restore powersharing at Stormont amid ongoing efforts to finally get the institution back up and running.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We continue to believe there is a strong basis for the restoration of powersharing.

“We have consistently we remain hopeful it can be fixed and we will continue to speak to all parties in Northern Ireland to that end because the people of Northern Ireland expect, they deserve, locally-elected decision-makers.

“But obviously these are sensitive and complex areas and so we will continue to have further discussions with all parties.”

12:18 PM GMT

No 10 denies having 'agenda' against BBC

Downing Street declined to say whether Rishi Sunak believes the BBC is biased but denied the Government is pursuing an agenda against the corporation.

“It’s for Ofcom to hold the BBC to account against its responsibilities in the charter,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said when asked what Mr Sunak’s views were.

Asked whether it was right to say the Government was pursuing an agenda against the BBC, the official said: “No. As I say… this is rightly about ensuring the BBC is able to continue to thrive long into the future.”

11:55 AM GMT

Lib Dems accuse Culture Secretary of ‘attack’ on BBC

The Liberal Democrats accused Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, of “attacking” the BBC with her comments this morning about the broadcaster and impartiality.

Jamie Stone, the Lib Dems’ culture, media and sport spokesman, said: “The Culture Secretary clearly spends more time focusing on culture wars rather than supporting the BBC to provide the fantastic services it delivers.

“This attack on the BBC is yet another desperate distraction from a government in distress.”

11:25 AM GMT

'Impartiality is at the heart of what makes the BBC a strong institution'

Rishi Sunak said impartiality is an “important tenet of our media industry”.

Speaking at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, he said: “I think all elements of the media industry have to be subject to the same impartiality rules. I think that’s what people would expect and that’s what makes our media institutions so great.

“We have a free and fair press and impartiality is at the heart of what makes the BBC a strong institution.”

11:07 AM GMT

Sunak hits back at Starmer over 'culture war' jabs

Rishi Sunak claimed Sir Keir Starmer’s attacks in a speech this morning about the Tories becoming “tangled up in culture wars” were an attempt at a distraction.

The Prime Minister told broadcasters: “I obviously haven’t seen the speech so I can’t comment but it does sound to me like a distraction from the fact that Keir Starmer who has been Leader of the Opposition for four years, can’t actually say what he would do differently to run this country and that’s because he doesn’t have a plan.”

10:54 AM GMT

Hunt will be Chancellor at time of next election, insists Sunak

Jeremy Hunt will still be Chancellor at the time of the general election, Rishi Sunak said this morning.

Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to Buckinghamshire, the Prime Minister said: “Yes, and I’ve said that multiple times before, that’s not new information.

“What’s more substantively important is what the Chancellor is doing, and that’s why as I said, the fact that we managed the economy responsibly over the last year, bringing inflation down from 11 per cent to four per cent has meant that we can start cutting people’s taxes.”

He added: “We’d like to do more when it is responsible to do so, but as we saw with the latest inflation data, inflation doesn’t fall in a straight line, it isn’t a given, there’s work to do, and that’s why it’s important we stick to the plan so we can build a society where everyone’s hard work is rewarded.”

10:48 AM GMT

Sunak concedes flagship childcare plan has suffered 'practical issues'

Rishi Sunak conceded his flagship free childcare plan is experiencing some “practical issues” in its rollout but insisted eligible parents will be able to access services on time.

The rollout of the plan is due to start from April but there are fears of delays amid reports of setbacks in funding allocations and staff shortages (see the post below at 08.33).

The Prime Minister told broadcasters: “We are excited about our plans to expand childcare in a way that has never been done in our country before so this spring everyone with a two-year-old will be able to get 15 hours, that will be expanded to all those with nine-month-olds later this year and then obviously next year 30 hours for all of those, completing the biggest expansion of childcare, I think, in our country’s history.

“Many families have been able to sign up and it is all working fine but there are some practical issues that certain families are facing.

“I just want to reassure all of those people that those issues are being resolved as we speak, all of those families will get the childcare that they are eligible for and will be contacted as soon as possible.”

He added: “Our plan is to deliver the plans exactly as we said we would.”

10:43 AM GMT

Power now restored to almost 300,000 homes, says Sunak

Rishi Sunak said power had been restored to almost 300,000 homes after disruption caused by Storm Isha.

The Prime Minister told broadcasters during a visit this morning: “My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the storm over the past day or so. My thanks also to all the emergency responders who have been working incredibly hard to support people.

“I would urge people to just continue to monitor the travel advice to make sure they are doing everything to keep them and their family safe and regarding power, the progress we have made is almost 300,000 properties have had their power restored.

“Obviously there are still some where that is not the case but I just want to reassure everyone we are working as hard as we can with the relevant authorities to get those people’s power restored as quickly as possible.”

10:30 AM GMT

'If you serve others, this country should serve you'

Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to create a “society of service”.

Concluding his remarks as he addressed a Civil Society Summit in central London this morning, the Labour leader said: “In a society of service doing the right thing should be rewarded. Working hard should pay off for people and building caring, compassionate communities should make our country stronger, more prosperous, fairer for everyone.

“If you serve others, this country should serve you. This is a once-in-a-generation chance. A mission-led government, a partnership between government and civil society.

“Our door is open. We will welcome anyone who wants to make our national life better to take their place at the table, to shape the future with us, and I will be frank with you, it isn’t just an invitation to you, it is an ask because this is an opportunity for hope, a chance to protect those who are vulnerable... to rebuild our country... to create a society of service for a decade of national renewal, to get Britain’s future back.”

10:23 AM GMT

Labour will end Westminster 'soap opera', says Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer said a Labour government “will not write off the contribution of civil society” because “we know that you are often the link between the local and the national”.

The Labour leader said he did not want to just “tinker with the symptoms of this Government’s failure, we want to tackle the causes so that this country is fit to face the future”.

Sir Keir promised to deliver “a politics that serves others” and to stop Westminster operating like a “soap opera”.

10:18 AM GMT

Labour leader accuses Tories of 'weird McCarthyism' on 'woke' issues

The Labour leader accused the Tories of pursuing a “weird McCarthyism” to try to “find woke agendas in the very civic institutions they once regarded with respect”.

Sir Keir Starmer told a Civil Society Summit: “The Tories seem set on sabotaging civil society to save their own skins. They got themselves so tangled up in culture wars of their own making, that instead of working with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution – an organisation the late Queen was patron of for 70 years - to find real solutions to stop the small boats, their rhetoric has helped demonise them.

“Instead of working with the National Trust so more people can learn about - and celebrate - our culture and our history, they’ve managed to demean their work. In its desperation to cling onto power at all costs, the Tory Party has undertaken a kind of weird McCarthyism, trying to find woke agendas in the very civic institutions they once regarded with respect.

“Let me tell you, waging a war on the proud spirit of service in this country isn’t leadership. It’s desperate. It’s divisive. It’s damaging. It comes to something when the Tories are at war with the National Trust. That’s what happens when politics of self-preservation prevail over commitment to service.”

10:13 AM GMT

Starmer: Cameron's 'Big Society' was a 'great idea in principle'

Sir Keir Starmer said that David Cameron’s concept of a “Big Society” was a “great idea in principle” but that it had not been delivered.

The Labour leader told a Civil Society Summit this morning: “For too long your voice has been ignored between the shouts of the market and the state. One Conservative prime minister said there was no such thing as society.

“And then we watched individualism run rampant. Cameron talked about the Big Society, a great idea in principle. But when austerity kicked in we ended up with the poor society.

“Now we need a new vision for a new era. A renewed social contract. A new focus on those who build the bonds that connect us.”

10:08 AM GMT

Sir Keir Starmer delivering speech at Civil Society Summit

Sir Keir Stramer is delivering a speech at the Civil Society Summit in central London this morning.

The Labour leader started his address with a joke: “It is quite nice to be amongst civil society - you don’t get much of that in Westminster.”

10:00 AM GMT

Hunt accuses Labour of ‘dishonesty in the extreme’ over green investment pledge

Jeremy Hunt said he believed the choice at the next general election will be between the Tories “proposing a path to lower taxes, and Labour pretending they wouldn’t raise them”.

In a piece for the Conservative Home website, the Chancellor wrote: “Election year is the time when the choice between the two parties crystalises into its sharpest form. If I were forced now to predict where that will end up, I would submit this: Conservatives proposing a path to lower taxes, and Labour pretending they wouldn’t raise them.”

Mr Hunt took aim at Labour over its pledge to eventually spend £28billion a year on green investment.

He said: “There is simply no way to do that without hiking taxes, or leaving debt interest to be the single biggest thing the state spends money on, and being forced to hike taxes. To pretend otherwise is dishonesty in the extreme.”

09:30 AM GMT

Jeremy Hunt signals more tax cuts to come, fuelling Budget speculation

Jeremy Hunt has signalled there will be more tax cuts to come from the Tories as he fuelled speculation of fresh giveaways at the Budget on March 6.

The Chancellor said the Tories had a “track record” of cutting taxes “wherever and whenever we responsibly could” and voters will “see it as we emerge from the turbulence of recent years”.

Writing for the Conservative Home website today, Mr Hunt said: “I recently asked my Treasury officials to do a detailed analysis of the correlation between taxes and growth, and the answer came back clearly – something we Conservatives have always known.

“Across the G7, across the G20, across the last 10 years or last 25 years: lower taxed economies have seen higher growth, and higher taxed economies have seen lower growth.

“It’s why we’ve brought taxes down, wherever and whenever we responsibly could. You can see it in our track record after our repair job on the public finances from 2010, and you’ll see it as we emerge from the turbulence of recent years. Not just because it’s right, but because it’s the only path to a sustainably higher growth economy.”

09:19 AM GMT

Pat McFadden: Time for Labour to ‘break the pattern of defeat’

Labour must “break the pattern of defeat” in 2024 and win the general election, the party’s national campaign coordinator said.

Pat McFadded said that in the last century just three Labour leaders had won an election and now was the time to add to that tally.

He tweeted: “100 years ago today, the first Labour Government was formed. In the century since then only three more Labour leaders have won power at a general election.

“This is the year we must break the pattern of defeat and write a new chapter of renewal.”

09:14 AM GMT

Culture Secretary ‘satisfied’ Ofcom has ‘capability’ to oversee BBC online

The Culture Secretary said she is “satisfied” that Ofcom has the capacity to oversee the BBC’s online output - one of a handful of new measures to tackle perceived bias at the broadcaster.

“Yes I am satisfied,” Lucy Frazer told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

“Of course they provide a really important service and it’s important that we give them the necessary resources, and yes, I’m satisfied that they have that capability.”

09:01 AM GMT

General election poll tracker - how the main parties are faring

08:51 AM GMT

‘I think that on occasions it has been biased’

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said she believed the BBC has “on occasion” been biased.

The minister refused to say which other broadcasters she believed might be impartial, saying they were in “totally different positions” from the publicly funded corporation.

She told Sky News that “evidence” suggested there was a “perception amongst audiences” that there was some bias at the BBC.

When it was put to her that perceptions are not necessarily reality, Ms Frazer said: “There are only perceptions and perceptions are important.

“What’s important about the BBC is that it’s funded by the public, so the perception of audiences of the public are important.”

Asked whether she thinks the BBC is biased, Ms Frazer said: “I think that on occasions it has been biased”, citing its reporting of a hospital attack in Gaza.

08:33 AM GMT

Flagship free childcare plan will go ahead in April, insists Lucy Frazer

A Cabinet minister has insisted the Government’s flagship free childcare plan will go ahead as planned from April amid fears of a delay.

Setbacks in allocation of funding, staff shortages and IT problems are threatening the timeline of the scheme, The Times reported.

But Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, said the plan remained on track, telling Times Radio: “Yes, it will go ahead [in April] and I am pleased you talked about it as a flagship policy because what we are doing is this is the biggest reform of childcare that we have seen and we, the Conservatives and the Government, have a plan to enable parents to go back to work, where they want to, to get free childcare.

“This is really, really important to ensure that women and men and parents as a whole can go back to work if they want to and yes, there have been some issues but my understanding is that those are being resolved by temporary fixes.”

The childcare plan was announced at the Budget in March last year. Working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare from April. This will be extended to working parents of all children older than nine months from September.

From September 2025, working parents of children under five will be entitled to 30 hours’ free childcare per week.

08:17 AM GMT

Not appropriate for BBC to have 'criminal tools in its armoury' on TV licence prosecutions

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said it is not appropriate for the BBC to have “criminal tools in its armoury” to prosecute people for not paying their TV licence fee.

Asked about a series of cases brought against people by TV licensing, Ms Frazer told Times Radio: “I don’t think it is appropriate for the BBC to have criminal tools in its armoury in relation to prosecutions and that is something that I have said I will look at at the charter review.

“Of course it is for the BBC to consider with the tools that it has got how it enforces those and I am sure it is considering those very carefully.”

08:14 AM GMT

Culture Secretary: Audiences feel BBC impartiality ‘on a downward trajectory’

Trust in the BBC is falling and audiences feel like impartiality at the broadcaster is on a “downward trajectory”, the Culture Secretary said this morning.

Lucy Frazer made the comments as the Government announced proposals to increase scrutiny of the BBC to tackle perceived bias.

Asked if she believed the BBC was sometimes guilty of leaning in its coverage, Ms Frazer told Times Radio: “This isn’t about the Government, this is about impartiality and not just about politics. This is about impartiality as a whole and what we have seen… audiences are feeling like impartiality in the BBC is on a downward trajectory.

“We have heard that 39 per cent of complaints last year were about impartiality when the previous year only 19 [per cent] were. So trust in the BBC in relation to impartiality is going down and that is why the BBC rightly recognises it needs to do something about this and it is taking on board the recommendations that we are putting forward and have discussed with the BBC.”

Proposed changes will see the BBC’s website and social media policed by Ofcom while the BBC board will be legally bound to oversee the complaints procedure.

A spokesman for the BBC said that “no other organisation takes its commitment to impartiality more seriously” and it remained committed to “continuous improvement to ensure we deliver for all licence fee payers”.

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