Starmer says he is ‘disappointed’ that Sentencing Council won’t change its guidelines
Keir Starmer has said that he is “disappointed” at the Sentencing Council’s refusal to agree to the government’s request to withdraw the guidelines that have led to claims it is promoting “two-tier” justice. (See 11.44am.) Asked about the Sentencing Council’s letter this morning, he said:
Look, I’m disappointed in this response, and the lord chancellor is obviously continuing to engage on this, and we’re considering our response.
All options are on the table. I’m disappointed at this outcome, and now we will have to consider what we do as a result.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked what the government would do next and whether the government would rush through emergency legislation, the No 10 spokesperson said he did not want to “get ahead” of the government’s response. But he said all options were on the table, and he pointed out that Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has described the current guidelines as “unacceptable”.
Key events
Keir Starmer has restated his willingness to consider retaliatory tariffs against the US. Speaking to broadcasters, he said he did not want a trade war, but that all option were on the table.
Obviously any tariffs are concerning and we’re working hard with the industries and sectors likely to be impacted.
None of them want to see a trade war, which is why we’re engaged in discussions with the United States about mitigating the impact of tariffs.
Now, that’s what we’re working hard on, but in answer to your question yes – in the end, our national interest has to come first, which means all options are on the table.
Starmer says he is ‘disappointed’ that Sentencing Council won’t change its guidelines
Keir Starmer has said that he is “disappointed” at the Sentencing Council’s refusal to agree to the government’s request to withdraw the guidelines that have led to claims it is promoting “two-tier” justice. (See 11.44am.) Asked about the Sentencing Council’s letter this morning, he said:
Look, I’m disappointed in this response, and the lord chancellor is obviously continuing to engage on this, and we’re considering our response.
All options are on the table. I’m disappointed at this outcome, and now we will have to consider what we do as a result.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked what the government would do next and whether the government would rush through emergency legislation, the No 10 spokesperson said he did not want to “get ahead” of the government’s response. But he said all options were on the table, and he pointed out that Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has described the current guidelines as “unacceptable”.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has joined his party’s attack on Nigel Farage over his comments about a UK/US trade deal. (See 11.12am.). In a post on social media Davey said:
Farage wants you to eat chlorinated chicken just so he can keep licking the boots of his idol Donald Trump.
It’s so pathetic and unpatriotic.
Minister revives threat to pass law overruling Sentencing Council after it refuses to change alleged ‘two-tier’ guidance
The Sentencing Council has refused a request from the government to change guidance that prompted a row over “two-tier justice”. PA Media says:
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, said “all options were on the table” and threatened to change the law if necessary after a “disappointing” response from the chairman of the council over new guidelines to judges relating to pre-sentence reports for ethnic minorities.
Instead, the Sentencing Council said it will clarify language around the relevant part of the guideline “in the hope that this would correct the widespread misunderstanding” which has emerged in the last few weeks.
Earlier this month the Sentencing Council published new principles for courts to follow when imposing community and custodial sentences, including whether to suspend jail time. The updated guidance, which comes into force from April 1, says a pre-sentence report will usually be necessary before handing out punishment for someone of an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.
Mahmood met with Lord Justice William Davis, the council’s chair, and set out in a letter that government policy opposes “differential treatment” based on race or ethnicity in the courts.
But, in correspondence published today, Davis said the guideline does not need changing.
The chair said: “The council concluded that the guideline did not require revision. The council respectfully disagreed with the proposition that the list of cohorts in the guideline represented an expression of policy. In providing a list of cohorts, the council was and is only concerned with judges and magistrates being provided with as much information as possible.”
He said the council agreed any systemic issue relating to ethnic groups is a matter for policy, adding: “Any judge or magistrate required to sentence an offender must do all that they can to avoid a difference in outcome based on ethnicity.
“The judge will be better equipped to do that if they have as much information as possible about the offender. The cohort of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups may be a cohort about which judges and magistrates are less well informed.”
Reacting to the Sentencing Council’s response on Friday, Mahmood said: “I have been clear in my view that these guidelines represent differential treatment, under which someone’s outcomes may be influenced by their race, culture or religion.
“This is unacceptable, and I formally set out my objections to this in a letter to the Sentencing Council last week.
“I am extremely disappointed by the council’s response. All options are on the table and I will legislate if necessary.”
My colleague Peter Walker has posted a picture on Bluesky of the Labour advert on the front of the Birmingham Mail attacking Reform UK.
Labour are on the attack against Reform UK in the run-up to the Runcorn by-election/local elections. This is their paid wraparound ad in today’s Birmingham Mail – Reform are holding their ‘biggest ever’ rally in Birmingham later. Expect a lot more of this to come.
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Lib Dems accuse Farage of wanting to ‘sell out’ farmers by allowing chlorinated chicken imports from US
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, also told Today that the UK should negotiate a wide-ranging trade deal with the US. This should include agriculture, he said. Farage acknowledged that in the past talks on this have been held up by Britain not wanting to allow food imports produced to America’s less rigorous standards, but he claimed the solution was just to give consumers a choice. He said:
Now there’s been some concern about chlorine-treated chicken etc, but there is an answer to that which is label things, let consumers decide …
I would allow consumers in America to buy our products and consumers here to buy their products, and provided we have the right labelling, that’s good.
The Liberal Democrats said this would amount to a betrayal of British farmers. Tim Farron, the party’s environment spokesperson, said:
It looks like Nigel Farage has had the full indoctrination at Mar-a-Lago. No one in this country wants chlorinated chicken on our supermarket shelves.
Farage wants to sell out our hard-working British farmers for a grubby trade deal that wouldn’t protect us from Trump’s damaging tariffs. He’s more interested in being a salesman for Trump than standing up for Britain and our rural communities.
Farage says he thinks Trump giving Putin ‘far too much’ in talks over Ukraine
In his Today interview this morning Nigel Farage also sought to address another electoral millstone for his party – his strong support for President Trump, and the perception that he is too sympathetic to Russia.
Farage normally defends Trump on almost everything. But, asked about Trump’s Ukraine policy, Farage replied:
I would say it’s quite right to aim for peace, but we can’t have a peace that turns Putin into a winner, so I would not be 100% with where his team is right now.
When it was put to Farage that in the past he, like Trump, has blamed the west for provoking Putin into invading Ukraine, Farage replied:
There’s no point looking back. We are where we are now. We want a peace deal. Surely everybody wants a peace deal, but it needs to be equitable. Right at the moment, it appears Russia is getting far too much.
Asked to confirm he was saying Trump was giving Putin too much, Farage said:
At the moment, that’s the way it looks.
Now, there may be things going on behind the scenes on the Russian side that we don’t know, but at the moment, that’s the worry.
Farage confirms he wants new NHS funding model, as Labour claims this would lead to patients paying ‘eye-watering’ bills
Nigel Farage has tried to fend off claims that Reform UK would force people to pay to see a doctor.
In an interview this morning ahead of big rally the party is holding in Birmingham later, Farage claimed that he had always been committed to healthcare being “free at the point of delivery” – even though in the past he has said he would be “open to anything” in terms of reforming the NHS funding model.
Speaking to the Today programme, Farage also confirmed that he was interested introducing a French-style insurance model for health funding in the UK – something that arguably would no longer make healthcare free at the point of delivery.
The exchange came as Labour, which increasingly has decided to attack Reform UK instead of ignoring it, has launched a campaign claiming Reform’s health policies lead to patients facing huge bills for treatment.
Farage told Today:
The NHS is something we believe in, or we used to believe in, but now doesn’t work, and everyone knows that.
Asked if he would be happy for people to pay a top-up fee to use it, he replied:
Well, they’re paying already. They pay through tax.
Asked again if he would be in favour of people having to pay “a little” to see a GP, or to go to a hospital, Farage denied this.
They’re two different things. I’m not asking people to pay to go to the doctor. We’ve never said anything other than healthcare should be provided free at the point of delivery.
When it was put to him that he had repeatedly talked up the case for a system requiring people to get health insurance, he replied:
Only if they can afford it. That’s the point. Only if they can afford it.
At the moment, they pay for their healthcare through taxes. Is there a better way of doing this?
Everyone knows we are not getting bang for buck. Everyone knows we’re not getting value. Let’s re-examine the whole funding model and find the way that’s more efficient.
In the past Farage has been much more explicit about favouring a health funding model that would require people to pay. Speaking to the Telegraph at the end of last year, he said:
The French do it much better with less funding. There is a lesson there. If you can afford it, you pay; if you can’t, you don’t. It works incredibly well.
Under the French system, people do pay upfront fees to see a doctor, although normally they can recoup the money through their insurance.
Labour thinks Reform is electorally vulnerable on health policy, and today Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is launching a campaign attacking Farage on this issue.
In a statement released in advance, Streeting said:
Nigel Farage’s plan to make hard-working families pay eye-watering sums to get treatment when they’re sick is enough to send a shiver down the spine of the nation. Everyone deserves a world-class health service, not just the wealthy.
Labour is investing in the NHS, Farage would cut it and give the money to the wealthiest. Labour is bringing waiting lists down, Farage would send them soaring. Labour is giving people their NHS back, Farage would give them a bill.
In a briefing note, Labour claimed:
If Reform brought in an insurance-based system, comparable international systems show that patients could be left paying over £120 for a GP appointment, with an A&E visit potentially setting people back by upwards of £1,300. Routine operations like hip replacements could cost an eyewatering £23,000.
Starmer’s communications chief to quit after nine months
Keir Starmer’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle, is standing down from his role after nine months in No 10, Pippa Crerar reports.
Tories dismiss Starmer’s transport plan for north of England as rehash of ideas they announced first
The Conservatives have dismissed the government’s north of England transport announcement (see 9.13am) as a rehash of plans they came up with first. This is from Gareth Bacon, the shadow transport secretary.
Keir Starmer is right that Labour mayors have neglected public transport in the north, but simply re-announcing projects the previous Conservative government had planned, set aside funding for, and announced is hardly a major step forward.
While we are glad that they are going to take forward the plans we conceived, Labour’s recklessly ideological rail reforms will give the trade unions the power to hold the north to ransom, condemning passengers to chaos, confusion, and cancellations.
On top of that, Labour’s decision to scrap vital road upgrades and axe the £2 bus fare cap will only worsen connectivity across the north. Under new leadership, the Conservatives will present practical solutions to improve transport links.
Starmer promises to fix north of England’s ‘Victorian-era’ rail and bus system
Good morning. Keir Starmer is today promising to improve the north of England’s “Victorian-era” public transport system. Anyone reliant on trains and buses north of Watford will know exactly what he is talking about, and will probably welcome Starmer’s intent – while also thinking they have heard this all before from central government, and wondering quite what’s new.
Starmer is on a visit near Huddersfield this morning and he is using it to announce what No 10 is describing as “a major transport package to improve the lives of people across the north of England”. It is worth at least £1.7bn, but the projects are not new, and Starmer is promoting a collection of measures already in the pipeline. The Conservatives claim he is talking about a series of initatives first announced when they were in office.
But what is striking is the language Starmer is using; he is admitting the transport experience for many northerners is dire.
In a statement released overnight he says:
The north is home to a wealth of talent and ingenuity. But for too long, it has been held to ransom by a Victorian-era transport system which has stifled its potential. I lived in Leeds for years, I get that this has real-world impacts – missed appointments, children late to school, work meetings rescheduled – all leading to insecurity and instability for working people.
My government won’t stand by and watch. We are rolling up our sleeves, and today’s downpayment for growth is a vote of confidence in the north’s world-beating industries …
After years of false promises and under delivery, this government is delivering real change for the north. We are spending double as much on local transport in the north than the south, all done hand-in-hand with our mayors and local leaders.
And Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, says:
For too long, the north has been left behind and relied on a crumbling transport system that’s not fit to serve the great towns and cities it’s home to.
The government’s Plan for Change will end that and schemes like the TransPennine route upgrade will bolster the region’s neglected potential and make travelling between these historic northern towns and cities quicker, easier and greener.
Summing up what is being announced, Downing Street says:
The prime minister will today set out plans to make the Liverpool-Hull corridor an economic superpower – rivalling the Oxford-Cambridge arc – kickstarted with £1.7bn this year …
This comes on top of funding announced today:
-For the key rail line between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York, which has been plagued by disruptions and delays for years without a plan to fix it. The route will now be supported with £415m in funding from government to restore its failing services.
-For local leaders to unleash their areas’ untapped potential with over £1bn for the north to improve the transport services people use every day – backing regional mayors and ensuring decisions about the north sit with those who call it home. This comes alongside £270m investment in bus services and £330m in road maintenance across the north.
Starmer is due to be taking questions on this (and many other things, hopefully) from workers and journalists at a Q&A at a factory later.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: MPs debate private members’ bills, starting with Clive Lewis’s water bill.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Morning: Keir Starmer is on a visit near Huddersfield, where he is due to hold a Q&A.
In the evening Reform UK are holding a big rally in Birmingham, but the blog may have closed before that gets going.
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