UK politics news – live: Rebecca Long Bailey sacked, as Starmer questions Boris Johnson’s judgement over support for Jenrick

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Sir Keir Starmer has sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey from his front bench in a row over antisemitism. The former shadow education secretary tweeted her praise of Maxine Peake after the actor's views were revealed in an interview with The Independent.

The left-wing actor, who has since clarified that her assumptions were inaccurate, told The Independent: "The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services." The Labour leader described these comments as an "antisemitic conspiracy theory”.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir suggested Boris Johnson‘s judgement is now “in issue” after backing housing secretary Robert Jenrick, who faces calls to resign after releasing communications pertaining to his approval of a £1bn property development involving Tory donor Richard Desmond.

The 129-page bundle of documents concerning the Westferry Printworks site indicated that Mr Jenrick had personally sought to rush the project through, saving the former Daily Express owner millions in extra taxes in the form of a new Community Infrastructure Levy. While texts show Mr Desmond told the minister to act so that “Marxists” did not get “doe [sic] for nothing”, former Tower Hamlets council leader Andrew Wood has warned that “more will come out” yet.

It came as several councils across England, including those in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Wiltshire, warned they face effective bankruptcy, urging rapid government intervention, with Liverpool’s mayors describing a “profound crisis” ahead, having previously complained the government’s emergency pandemic funding favoured affluent areas.

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