Minister

O governo anunciou £25m para aumentar a segurança das comunidades judaicasManhã. A home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, disse que entende os temores enfrentados pela comunidade judaica no UK à medida que o governo anunciava financiamento extra para reforçar patrulhas policiais e proteções em torno de sinagogas, escolas e centros comunitários. Falando no BBC Breakfast, ela foi pressionada sobre comentários feitos pelo chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, de que pessoas no UK que são visivelmente judias não estão mais seguras, após dois homens judeus serem esfaqueados em um ataque em Golders Green no noroeste de London. Continue lendo...

Secretário de habitação e ministro da habitação são os mais recentes a criticar a ideia, que também foi descartada pelo No 10

• Matthew Pennycook afirma que o fim do sistema deve ser feito lentamente para evitar impactos na oferta de moradias e armadilhas jurídicas. • Uma proibição de novas propriedades sob o regime de leasehold na Inglaterra e no País de Gales dificilmente entrará em vigor antes da próxima eleição, afirmou o ministro da habitação, ao defender as tentativas graduais do governo de desmantelar o sistema. • O fim prometido levaria anos para ser implementado, disse Matthew Pennycook, embora a proibição de leaseholds em novas casas tenha sido aprovada em 2024 e o governo pretenda aprovar uma para novos apartamentos em breve.

PM will face Kemi Badenoch and other MPs at final PMQs of the 2024-26 parliamentary sessionGood morning. Originally Keir Starmer was hoping that there would not be a need for a PMQs today, but we have got one, and it will definitely be the last of the 2024-26 parliamentary session. It will be a chance for Starmer to reflect on all the legislation passed.There is some relief that the government won the vote on Kemi Badenoch’s call for Starmer to be referred to the privileges committee with ease. Here is our overnight story by Pippa Crerar, Ben Quinn and Jessica Elgot. Continue reading...

The regional bloc agreed to safeguard regional energy security through strengthened cooperation, timely policy responses and engagement with dialogue partners.

Chief minister Aminuddin Harun says he would continue in his post for now, even though he no longer enjoys majority support in the 36-seat state assembly in light of UMNO’s move over his handling of a crisis involving the state’s monarchy.

Education secretary says children will face restrictions and government will consider range of views on their formChildren in the UK will face restrictions on their use of social media but the government remains open-minded about what form the limits will take, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has said.Phillipson told broadcasters on Tuesday she had concerns about the content that under-16s were exposed to online and the length of time they spent staring at screens. Continue reading...

Military intelligence chief reportedly also killed in sweeping attacks by jihadists and separatist rebelsMali has been left reeling from sweeping attacks by jihadists and separatist rebels who seized several towns and military bases and killed the defence minister and military intelligence chief.The weekend assault on the west African state’s security architecture was coordinated by al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the separatist Tuareg-led movement Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) – former foes with distinct agendas. Continue reading...

Car bomb kills Sadio Camara at home during coordinated assaults by rebel groups including West African al-Qaida affiliateMali’s defence minister was killed in an attack on his residence, the government said on Sunday, a high-profile fatality during coordinated assaults staged the previous day by insurgents including the West African affiliate of al-Qaida.A car laden with explosives driven by a suicide attacker drove into Sadio Camara’s residence in the town of Kati, the spokesperson, Issa Ousmane Coulibaly, said in a statement read out on state television. A firefight ensued, and Camara sustained injuries from which he later died in a hospital, Coulibaly said, adding that Mali would observe two days of mourning. Continue reading...

Widely dispersed wind farms and solar panels are harder to target than fossil fuel power stations, Michael Shanks saysRenewable energy will boost the UK’s national security and make the country more resilient against potential aggression or sabotage, the government’s energy minister has said.Michael Shanks said widely dispersed wind farms and solar panels were much harder to target than large-scale fossil fuel power stations. They are also not vulnerable to supply shocks, such as the current oil crisis caused by the US-Israel war on Iran and the soaring gas prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Continue reading...

Darren Jones suggests cost of energy, food and flights will remain high after de-escalation and Hormuz strait reopensThe UK faces higher prices for food and fuel for at least eight months after the war in Iran ends, a minister has said. The closure of the strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane that carried a fifth of global oil and gas, has sent oil prices soaring since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran began in February. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said the conflict would probably continue to raise prices for energy, food and flights in the coming months as potential issues around energy supplies affect production, rather than lead to shortages on supermarket shelves. The UK government has urged motorists to fill up their cars as usual amid higher prices at the pumps and for air travellers not to change their plans over potential jet fuel shortages. Jones told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “You’re going to see prices go up a bit as a consequence of what Donald Trump has done in the Middle East. “That’s probably going to come online not just in the next few weeks, but the next few months. There’s going to be a long tail from this.” Asked how long higher prices might remain, Jones suggested it would be around eight months after the strait of Hormuz was unblocked and a de-escalation of the conflict had taken place. “I think our best guess is eight-plus months from the point of resolution that you’ll see economic impacts coming through the system,” he said. Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the US ceasefire with Iran last week that paused most of the fighting, but further efforts towards ending the conflict have been unsuccessful after the US president told his envoys not to travel to Pakistan for talks at the weekend. The UK government is stepping up planning for how to offset the impact, focusing on the live monitoring of stock levels and what plans are in place for addressing supply chain disruption. Jones said: “The government here in the UK, the work that I’m doing with the prime minister is looking at all of those things and saying, ‘What can we do within our power to help people to get through those difficult times?’” The government is also looking to secure stocks of carbon dioxide, which is used in the food industry and by breweries to make drinks fizzy, as well as for defence purposes and medical uses such as MRI scanning. Jones said he was seeking to ensure there was an adequate supply of beer for fans watching the men’s football World Cup which starts on 11 June. He said: “I raised this issue because if there is a problem with jet fuel on holidays and carbon dioxide on beer, the summer might be pretty depressing for people, but we’re doing everything we can to make sure that it’s not the case.” The Liberal Democrats have called for a bill to be included in the next king’s speech in May to put food security at the top of the government’s agenda. Continue reading...

Abbas Araghchi to visit Pakistan, Oman and Russia to see if talks can be reopened, with both sides still in stalemateMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is planning a tour of Pakistan, Russia and Oman in an effort to see if there is a basis to reopen peace talks that can end with a permanent US-Israeli commitment to cease its attacks on Iran, now one of Tehran’s key demands.Araghchi is also likely to discuss a potential permanent new arrangement on governing the strait of Hormuz with Oman, which oversees the south of the strait. Continue reading...

Auditor found Sarah Wedl-Wilson approved payments of public money to groups that had not been fully vettedBerlin’s top culture official, British-born Sarah Wedl-Wilson, has stood down over a funding scandal involving the the irregular distribution of €2.6m in public money for programmes to fight antisemitism.As culture senator for the Berlin regional government, Wedl-Wilson had already sacked a state secretary in her department, Oliver Friederici, over the affair this week, but the opposition called him a mere scapegoat. Continue reading...

Olly Robbins gave MPs a classic civil servant’s performance – and there are lessons from history about how ministers should respondThe Whitehall satire Yes Minister was said to be Margaret Thatcher’s favourite TV show due to its proximity to reality, as the programme’s loquacious top civil servant, Sir Humphrey, might have put it.Yes Minister had a familiar groove: there would be a problem in response to which the mandarin would artfully deploy the most astonishing sophistry to avoid blame or get his own way. Jim Hacker, the largely clueless yet ambitious politician played by the late Paul Eddington, rarely won the day. Continue reading...

More than 200,000 have signed petitions urging the government to break contracts, amid concerns about the company’s ‘supervillain’ manifestoOver 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils.Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the firm, whose software is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330 patient data contract with the NHS. Continue reading...

Special envoy to Donald Trump suggested the idea‘Firstly not possible … secondly not appropriate’The Italian sports minister, Andrea Abodi, has described a proposal for his country to replace Iran at the World Cup as “not appropriate”, rejecting any idea that the Azzurri will be granted a last-minute berth at this summer’s tournament.On Wednesday it emerged that Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy to Donald Trump, had suggested Italy should be fast-tracked to the World Cup despite their shock defeat by Bosnia & Herzegovina in last month’s playoffs. Zampolli proposed the four-time winners Italy replace Iran and said they would “have the pedigree to justify their inclusion”. But Abodi said that football’s showpiece tournament should remain meritocratic. Continue reading...

Sources say cabinet ministers warned PM against alienating civil service after firing of official over Mandelson scandalUK politics live – latest updatesCabinet ministers have expressed concern about Keir’s Starmer’s decision to sack Olly Robbins as the Foreign Office’s top official over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal as they warned him not to alienate the civil service, sources have told the Guardian.Several ministers spoke out about the decision to sack Robbins during a gloomy cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to multiple government sources. Continue reading...

Labor says cuts to disability scheme mean elderly will get more help. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will be your guide through the morning.Today the health minister, Mark Butler, will detail major changes to the NDIS including significant funding “savings”. The government says the savings, in part, from the national disability insurance scheme will go to funding improved aged care including showering and dressing. Continue reading...

A part suspension was tabled by Ireland, Spain and Slovenia but did not receive enough backing from other member statesThe EU remains split on imposing sanctions on Israel, despite some member states criticising the country over the plight of Gaza and violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said proposals for a part suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement remained on the table but required states to shift their positions to come into force. Speaking after a meeting between EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, she told reporters: “We didn’t see that today, but these discussions will continue.” Continue reading...

Washington reportedly limits satellite data after minister spoke publicly about suspected facility in North KoreaThe US has partly restricted intelligence sharing with South Korea after the country’s unification minister publicly identified a suspected North Korean nuclear site, according to reports in South Korean media.Chung Dong-young told lawmakers in March that North Korea was operating uranium enrichment facilities in Kusong, a north-western area that had not previously been officially confirmed as a nuclear site alongside the known facilities at Yongbyon and Kangson. Continue reading...

Representatives from EU countries are meeting in Luxembourg todayJust as expected.Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares has just confirmed that Spain, Slovenia and Ireland have requested a discussion on suspending the EU’s association treaty with Israel at today’s meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.“European Union has to say today very clearly to Israel that that change is needed. That’s not the right path, and that while Israel continues in that path of a permanent perpetual war, we will not be able to [run our relations] in the same way.” Continue reading...

Douglas Alexander says lessons need to be learned but he expects Keir Starmer will continue as PMIt was a mistake to announce Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US before he was security vetted for the role, one of Keir Starmer’s senior ministers has said before the prime minister’s statement to MPs about the scandal.With Starmer aiming to explain to the Commons on Monday afternoon why he did not know the Foreign Office had overruled a decision to refuse Mandelson vetting, some senior government figures believe the coming week could decide whether or not he remains in No 10. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: As questions mount over transparency and accountability in the ambassadorial appointment process, the political fallout continues to spread across ​Keir Starmer’s government Good morning. Today the prime minister will face parliament in the wake of the Guardian’s exclusive revelation that during the process of appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, the former New Labour “prince of darkness” failed UK security vetting – something Keir Starmer says he was not told about.On Friday, Starmer said he was “absolutely furious” and described the situation as “totally unacceptable”. But the episode has once again raised questions about his political judgment, with opposition parties – and some of his own MPs – calling for his resignation.Iran | Tehran is not planning to take part in new talks with the US in Islamabad, Iranian state media reported, as its military accused America of violating a fragile ceasefire by attacking a cargo ship.US news | At least eight children were killed and two adults wounded in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana. Police said the suspect, who died after a police pursuit, killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child.UK politics | Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday setting out how Peter Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting.Protest | Seven people from an activist group calling for higher taxes on the super-rich have been arrested by police on suspicion of conspiracy to steal after a plot to steal from high-end stores was uncovered.Crime | A woman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car hit pedestrians in central London in the early hours of yesterday morning. A woman in her 30s was in hospital in a critical condition and a man in his 50s suffered life-changing injuries. Continue reading...

Vulnerable children placed in caravans, Airbnbs and holiday camps, with children’s commissioner saying practice must stopMinisters must get to grips with the “national scandal” of England’s shadow child social care system, the children’s commissioner has warned, as a shocking new report reveals the number of children in unregulated settings has increased by more than 370% in five years.Some of the most vulnerable children in England are being temporarily placed in unregulated caravans, Airbnbs and holiday camps, which risk the “accumulation of increasing levels of harm for children who have already faced enough distress for several lifetimes”, according to a new report. Continue reading...

Whitehall officials are weighing up ‘unprecedented’ disclosure of documents in security clearance scandalStarmer did not gamble with national security over Mandelson, says ministerMinisters are under growing pressure to share the documents from Peter Mandelson’s vetting process with the parliamentary committee tasked with deciding if they should be made public.In February, MPs passed a binding parliamentary motion, known as a humble address, requiring the government to publish “all papers” relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US. Continue reading...

The prime minister’s leadership is still in the spotlight after Mandelson was appointed US ambassador after he failed security vettingLiz Kendall has repeated David Lammy’s claim the prime minister would have stopped Peter Mandelson’s appointment if he had known the peer had failed security vetting.Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News on Sunday, the science and technology said Keir Starmer was a “man of integrity”. Continue reading...

Meanwhile, as new 10-day truce in Lebanon enters its first full day, Trump claims Iran has agreed to suspend its nuclear programmeIran’s foreign minister has said that the strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, reinforcing hopes for an eventual end to the war in the Middle East and sending oil prices tumbling despite analysts’ warnings that there will be no immediate widespread resumption of passage through the vital waterway.In a barrage of social media posts, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!” Continue reading...