UK politics live: Starmer responds to Manchester police violence as Robert Jenrick enters Tory leadership race

A Cabinet minister has insisted the days of “waging culture wars” against civil servants are over.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said he and colleagues have spoken to Civil Service unions, describing it as a “very positive discussion” covering a range of issues.

He told the House of Commons: “I made it clear that the days of Government ministers waging culture wars against civil servants are over.

“Instead, we want a Civil Service that’s motivated, valued and helps the Government deliver its priorities. And on this specific issue of pay, the Government will have more to say on Civil Service pay before the summer recess.”

The House of Commons will break for the summer on July 30.

Earlier this month, FDA union general secretary Dave Penman criticised the approach of previous Conservative ministers, saying they had been “indulging in a culture war” rather than seeking to “motivate and inspire” staff to help improve services.

He criticised former Tory MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg as “crass and condescending” when as a minister he left notes on civil servants’ desks in an effort to encourage them to limit homeworking.

Scores of offenders from overseas have been returned to Vietnam and Timor-Leste from the UK on a charter flight, the Home Office has announced.

Yvette Cooper said the removal of 46 people on Wednesday showed the new Labour Government was taking “quick and decisive action” to “secure our borders”.

It is understood the plane carried offenders convicted of a range of crimes and some who had overstayed their visas or entered Britain without leave.

The flight was the UK’s first-ever charter return to Timor-Leste and the first to Vietnam since 2022.

The Home Secretary said: “Today’s flight shows the government is taking quick and decisive action to secure our borders and return those with no right to be here.

“We thank the governments of Vietnam and Timor-Leste for their co-operation, without which this could never have happened.

“Our strong diplomatic bonds with other countries have never been more crucial to our mission to bring order back into the asylum and immigration system, tackling irregular migration, and making sure the rules are properly respected and enforced.”

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer axed the previous Tory government’s flagship deportation scheme to send some migrants to Rwanda.

Ms Cooper told the Commons the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) had cost Britain £700 million and ending it would “immediately” save £750 million earmarked for the policy this year.

Home Office staff would instead be redeployed from the scheme to immigration enforcement and returns, she said.

Sir Keir Starmer said he stands by the figure from Labour’s manifesto suggesting that the party’s net zero energy plans would bring down household bills by £300 per year.

Delivering a speech on the Government’s clean energy strategy in Runcorn, he said: “I stand by everything in my manifesto and one of the things I made clear in the election campaign is because I wouldn’t make a single promise or commitment that I didn’t think we could deliver in government and that’s why we carefully costed and funded everything in our manifesto.

“That does depend on early firm decisions being made, which is why we’ve set up GB Energy, why we’ve announced the partnership today with the Crown Estate and why the energy secretary has already taken action in week one in relation to onshore wind, in relation to solar energy and also pushing on with nuclear. So I stand by that commitment.

“What this brings us is lower bills, energy security, the next generation of jobs and of course an important contribution to our obligations in relation to the planet.”

Shadow leader of the House of Commons Chris Philp has said the Government’s majority will be “gone by Easter” due to their “significant back bench rebellion” over the two child benefit cap.

During Business questions in the Commons on Thursday, Mr Philp derided Labour’s 167 majority, saying that former Prime Minister Theresa May’s minority Government had not “managed a rebellion within three weeks of an election”.

On Tuesday the Government comfortably defeated an SNP-led amendment to scrap the two child benefit cap, but seven Labour MPs had the whip suspended for defying the party line and backing the amendment.

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Zarah Sultana have been suspended from the parliamentary party for at least six months.

Mr Philp said: “The Government has sent mixed messages about plans to scrap or not the very reasonable two child cap on welfare payments, but then on Tuesday the Government whipped their MPs to vote against that.

“There was a significant backbench rebellion less than three weeks after the election, not even not even Theresa May managed a rebellion within three weeks of an election.

“So it’s a bit of a first and at this rate, the Government’s majority will be gone by about Easter of next year.”

Commons Leader Lucy Powell has spoken in the chamber about some of the challenges she faces juggling her job as a politician with her role as a parent.

Speaking during business questions on Thursday, Ms Powell said that missing out on certain occasions was part and parcel of working in the political sphere.

She told MPs she was unable to attend her daughter’s last day of primary school because of her new responsibilities as Leader of the House of Commons.

The MP for Manchester Central took up the role following Labour’s victory at the General Election, after acting as shadow Commons leader in the previous parliament.

Speaking in the Commons, she said: “Given my new duties, I did miss my own child’s very last day of primary school on Tuesday.

“So I would particularly like to thank teachers I didn’t get to see on that day. I’m a really bad mum, I’m afraid – just goes with the terrain.”

Later in the session, Conservative former minister Sir John Hayes said: “I’m sure she’s a very good mum actually, not a bad mum.”

Ms Powell replied: “My daughter, who is here today, might have a different view on whether I’m a good mum or a bad mum, but that’s another point.”

Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething has requested the Senedd be recalled on August 6 to allow Eluned Morgan to take over as leader of the Welsh government.

Baroness Morgan was named Welsh Labour leader on Wednesday but needs to be confirmed as first minister in a vote in the Senedd, which is currently on recess.

In a statement, Mr Gething said: “I have today written to the Llywydd (Presiding Officer), in accordance with Standing Order 12.3, to request arrangements are made to recall the Senedd on 6 August to nominate a new first minister.

“This is subject to receiving His Majesty the King’s acceptance of my formal offer of resignation.”

Sir Keir Starmer said he will not tell people what to do with their boilers as he answered questions after a speech on the Government’s clean energy strategy in Runcorn, Cheshire.

Asked if people should ditch their gas boilers and whether the Government would help them to do so, he said: “I’m not going to tell people what to do with their boilers.

“This is not about bearing down on individuals imposing a disproportionate burden on them. I don’t think that’s the way that we take anybody through a transition.

“So this is not about a government that’s going to go around the country saying ‘you can do this. You can’t do that.’”

He said the best approach is to “put in place the difficult decisions to make sure that renewable energy is a reliable source of energy and meet our mission which is to have clean power by 2030.”

The best selling point for the general public is that “their bills will go down and they will go down not just for a short time, but for the long term”, he said.

Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell has said MPs should “embody the highest standards of public service” as she proposed a motion to amend the members code of conduct relating to second jobs.

Ms Powell told MPs: “This new parliament offers a chance to turn the page, after the sorry and sordid record of the last. We face a crisis in trust in politics, politicians and parliament.

“As we know it’s a great privilege to sit in this house. To be an MP represents an opportunity to change the country for the better and underpinning that privilege is a set of solemn responsibilities.

“Chief among these is the responsibility we all have to embody the highest standards of public service.”

She added: “This Government was elected with a mandate for change and the Prime Minister pledged to return us to a politics of service.

“Today we take our first steps to deliver this. In line with the Government’s manifesto commitment I am proposing a tightening of the rules on second jobs for members of this House in the first instance.”

MPs voted 323 to 81, majority 242, in favour of approving legislation designed to allow thousands of prisoners to be released earlier than planned.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs that the prison population remains “within a few hundred places of collapse” and the Government will continue to monitor it closely in the coming weeks.

The legislation reduces the amount of time prisoners must spend in jail before they are automatically released from half of their sentence to 40%.

The move, which does not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences, is expected to result in 5,500 offenders being released in September and October.

A police officer has been suspended after a video which appeared to show a man being kicked as he lay on the floor sparked a protest.

Crowds gathered outside Rochdale Police Station late on Wednesday night after footage shared on social media appeared to show a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer kick and stamp on the head of a man who was lying face down on the floor, with a woman kneeling beside him.

The video, said to have been filmed at Manchester Airport’s terminal two on Tuesday, also appeared to show the officer strike a second man.

Asked about the video, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I’ve seen it myself. I understand that concern.

“There has now been the suspension of one police officer this morning and the Home Secretary is meeting the Mayor of (Greater Manchester) to discuss this as we speak now.”

The force had initially said on Wednesday the video was being “assessed” by its professional standards department, later saying an officer had been removed from operational duties.