James Cleverly to return to Conservative front bench as Kemi Badenoch makes shadow cabinet reshuffle
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. James Cleverly will return to the Conservative frontbench as Kemi Badenoch reshuffles her shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
Cleverly, the former home and foreign secretary, who unsuccessfully stood to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, is an MP for Braintree and has used his position from the backbenches to warn his party against following a Reform style populist agenda.
It is not clear what position Cleverly will be appointed to but a Conservative source said it would be a “prominent” one on the frontbenches.
The source said:
The Leader of the Opposition will be making some changes to her frontbench team today.
The changes reflect the next stage of the party’s policy renewal programme and underline the unity of the party under new leadership.
Sir James Cleverly is expected to return in a prominent frontbench role to take the fight to this dreadful Labour government.
James Cleverly is expected to return to the Conservative front bench as Kemi Badenoch makes changes to her senior team. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
A full list of the changes Badenoch is making to her top team will be released this afternoon. There is deep dissatisfaction among the Tory ranks with what some MPs have described as Badenoch’s lackluster performance as leader of the opposition. This sense is also reflected in opinion polls, with the Conservatives often trialling way behind Reform (first place) and Labour (second place).
As my colleague Peter Walker notes in this story, Cleverly recently set out a broad policy pitch for the Conservatives similar to that of Badenoch, based around lower taxes and a smaller state, plus less regulation, reduced migration and more housebuilding, although he did argue that departure from the European convention on human rights, as raised by Badenoch, was not a “silver bullet” on migration and asylum.
Here is the agenda for the day:
Morning. Foreign secretary David Lammy on broadcast rounds.
0930. Latest homelessness figures for England from the housing ministry.
1130. Nigel Farage press conference at Royal Welsh Agricultural Show.
14:00. Rachel Reeves before Economic Affairs Committee for annual scrutiny session.
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UK strikes deal with private investors to build £38bn Sizewell C nuclear power plant
The construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk will cost around £38 billion, the government has announced as it struck a deal with a group of private investors.
The Sizewell C project in Suffolk will be jointly funded by Canadian pension fund La Caisse, UK energy firm Centrica and Amber Infrastructure.
The previous estimated cost for the project was £20bn, but Julia Pyke, the joint managing director of Sizewell C, said the earlier projections did not account for inflation or risk.
A general view of the construction site entrance to Sizewell C in Suffolk. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Reuters
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, signed the final investment decision to give the development the green light.
He said:
It is time to do big things and build big projects in this country again – and today we announce an investment that will provide clean, homegrown power to millions of homes for generations to come.
This government is making the investment needed to deliver a new golden age of nuclear, so we can end delays and free us from the ravages of the global fossil fuel markets to bring bills down for good.
You can read more about the government’s deal for the nuclear plant here.
ShareHaroon Siddique
Haroon Siddique is the Guardian’s legal affairs correspondent
An intelligence assessment before Palestine Action was banned under anti-terrorism laws found that the vast majority of its activities were lawful, a court has heard.
Raza Husain KC, appearing for Huda Ammori, a co-founder of the group, said Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group on 5 July was “repugnant” and an “authoritarian and blatant abuse of power”.
In written submissions for Monday’s high court hearing, Husain and Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC said: “On ‘nature and scale’, the home secretary accepts that only three of Palestine Action’s at least 385 actions would meet the statutory definition of terrorism (… itself a dubious assessment).”
Husain said it was for the court to consider “whether that’s sufficient or whether it’s de minimis (too small to be meaningful) for a group that’s been going for five years”.
He added that the vast majority of the group’s actions were assessed by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre to be lawful.
You can read the full story here:
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David Lammy has been interviewed on Good Morning Britain about Gaza. Here are the main takeaways from what he told Ed Balls:
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Lammy said the “grotesque spectacle of kids holding out their hand for food and being shot and killed as they wait” offends the “public consciousness” of the “global community”, which Israel is now putting itself beyond.
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Lammy said he has sanctioned ministers in the Israeli government, broken off discussions on a new free trade agreement and left the possibility open for further actions and sanctions if Israel does not change its “behaviour”.
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Lammy said much of the responsibility rests with Hamas, but Israel has to accept responsibility for the “loss of life and the lack of human dignity” we are seeing across the Strip because it controls access to Gaza and the humanitarian aid system.
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Lammy said once the Knesset – the Israeli parliament – rises on 28 July then we are more likely to see a US/Qatar/Egypt brokered ceasefire come into effect.
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Updated at 09.19 BST
David Lammy ‘appalled’ and ‘sickened’ by Israel’s conduct in Gaza
The UK and 27 other nations yesterday condemned the Israeli government and military for its “unacceptable” conduct in Gaza.
David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, joined ministers from Australia, Canada and France in urging Israel to lift restrictions on the flow of aid, arguing the suffering of civilians had “reached new depths”.
David Lammy calls Israeli aid system for Gaza ‘inhumane’ – video
Lammy has been asked by BBC breakfast this morning for his personal reaction to the horrifying scenes in Gaza, where hungry and desperate Palestinian people are regularly killed by the Israeli military while trying to collect aid or sheltering from bombardments.
He said:
I feel the same as the British public: appalled, sickened. I described what I saw, yesterday in Parliament, as grotesque.
These are not words that are usually used by a foreign secretary who is attempting to be diplomatic, but when you see innocent children holding out their hand for food, and you see them shot and killed in the way that we have seen in the last few days, of course Britain must call it out.
Of course Britain must lead others in the statement, as I did yesterday, to call it out.
Of course we must get on the phone and we must urge Israel to think again, as I did again yesterday.
We will continue to pressure, we will continue to act, we will continue to urge this Israeli government to listen to 83% of its public who are urging them now to move to a ceasefire so those hostages can come out.
More than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis and the entire population is at risk of famine, according to food security experts.
Israel imposed a total aid blockade for 11 weeks starting in March, and the trickle of food, fuel and medical supplies allowed in since May has not relieved extreme hunger.
Palestinian people wait to receive food in the al-Rimal neighbourhood of central Gaza City, Photograph: Xinhua/ShutterstockShare
James Cleverly to return to Conservative front bench as Kemi Badenoch makes shadow cabinet reshuffle
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. James Cleverly will return to the Conservative frontbench as Kemi Badenoch reshuffles her shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
Cleverly, the former home and foreign secretary, who unsuccessfully stood to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, is an MP for Braintree and has used his position from the backbenches to warn his party against following a Reform style populist agenda.
It is not clear what position Cleverly will be appointed to but a Conservative source said it would be a “prominent” one on the frontbenches.
The source said:
The Leader of the Opposition will be making some changes to her frontbench team today.
The changes reflect the next stage of the party’s policy renewal programme and underline the unity of the party under new leadership.
Sir James Cleverly is expected to return in a prominent frontbench role to take the fight to this dreadful Labour government.
James Cleverly is expected to return to the Conservative front bench as Kemi Badenoch makes changes to her senior team. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
A full list of the changes Badenoch is making to her top team will be released this afternoon. There is deep dissatisfaction among the Tory ranks with what some MPs have described as Badenoch’s lackluster performance as leader of the opposition. This sense is also reflected in opinion polls, with the Conservatives often trialling way behind Reform (first place) and Labour (second place).
As my colleague Peter Walker notes in this story, Cleverly recently set out a broad policy pitch for the Conservatives similar to that of Badenoch, based around lower taxes and a smaller state, plus less regulation, reduced migration and more housebuilding, although he did argue that departure from the European convention on human rights, as raised by Badenoch, was not a “silver bullet” on migration and asylum.
Here is the agenda for the day:
Morning. Foreign secretary David Lammy on broadcast rounds.
0930. Latest homelessness figures for England from the housing ministry.
1130. Nigel Farage press conference at Royal Welsh Agricultural Show.
14:00. Rachel Reeves before Economic Affairs Committee for annual scrutiny session.
Share