David Lammy has waded into the row over St George's Crosses being flown as he said the nation flags are being appropriated by "hoodlums, hooligans and fascists".
The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary was speaking as flags were removed from a stretch of the A1198 near the village of Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire.
Mr Lammy told ITV News: "I understand it but I have been really clear. We cannot let any of our nations flags be proporiated by hoodlums hooligans and fascists.
"So I wear the flag very proudly, most often when I am supporting England in a football game or cricket.
"I remember the pride I felt when people like Daley Thompson, Linford Christie and Fatima Whitbread, would dress themselves in the flag.
"That's how I see my Britishness, my Englishness and I certainly want my children and their peers, whatever their background, to feel as confident about their flag and their country."
Lib Dems say rise in shoplifting is becoming 'worryingly normalised'
The Liberal Democrats have suggested a rise in shoplifting has become "worryingly normalised."
Shoplifting offences increased by 13 per cent (to 529,994 offences) and theft from the person rose by five per cent (to 145,860 offences) compared with the previous year.
The party's spokeswoman for justice, Jess Brown-Fuller MP said: "Frankly, our communities and our high streets deserve better than this.
"The Government has made big promises when it comes to tackling crime, but they are failing to deliver.
"The former Conservative government destroyed neighbourhood policing and left our communities to pay the price. Now this Labour government has done nothing to change the course.
"The Liberal Democrats will keep fighting for a return to proper community policing, with more bobbies on the beat and a staffed police desk in every community.
"That’s how we keep neighbourhoods safe and cut crimes like shoplifting."
Home Office findings ‘incredibly worrying’ as GB News guest paints bleak picture for Shabana Mahmood
A new report suggesting that the Home Office is "unfit for purpose" is "not remotely surprising", it has been claimed.
Speaking to GB News, Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange Rakib Ehsan said the findings are "incredibly worrying" for the Government.
A damning report has concluded that the Home Office, which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood took charge of last month, as having a "culture of defeatism" on immigration.
Liz Truss admits Green Party could become official opposition
Liz Truss has claimed the Greens could become the second biggest party in the UK, as she said Zack Polanski's party represented a "certain kind of honesty."
The former Prime Minister told Politico: "People don’t want this kind of technocratic managerial crap anymore. [Mr Polanski] might end up leader of the opposition at this rate.
"I think there’s a certain kind of honesty about the Green Party that you don’t see in the Labour Party...because there’s nothing for people to believe in."
Asked what she thought about Reform, she responded: "I’m not offering my services...I’m doing what I’m doing on an independent basis for now...reaching out to people, to network and to understand the lie of the land.
"I’m not going to say...my definite plans for the future."
Labour MPs brand Nigel Farage 'snowflake' after PMQs protest
Nigel Farage has been branded a 'snowflake' | PALabour MPs have taken aim at Nigel Farage after the Reform UK leader staged a protest at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday.
Mr Farage opted not to take his seat in the House of Commons during the weekly despatch box bout.
Instead, the Clacton MP sat alongside long-time ally Arron Banks in the public gallery
Reform and Green surge due to failure in status quo, argues Paul Embery
Trade unionist and author Paul Embery has argued the rise of Reform UK and The Green Party is due to a 'failure in the status quo.'
Writing for GB News members, Paul said: "Our country is slowly undeveloping; everyone knows it.
"The economy is shattered, public services are broken, our borders are being overrun, and our infrastructure is in a state of disrepair.
"We don’t build anything, and we don’t make anything. Meanwhile, there is a deepening sense of social disintegration in our communities."
WATCH: Kemi Badenoch gives reaction to PM saying he has 'full confidence' in Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips
Resident doctors to go on strike in November
NHS resident doctors and supporters outside St Thomas' Hospital
|PA
Doctors in England will go on strike for five days in November in an ongoing row over jobs and pay.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said resident doctors will strike on five consecutive days from 7am on November 14 to 7am on November 19.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the move as "preposterous" and accused the BMA of "blocking a better deal for doctors."
Resident doctors, previously named junior doctors, make up around half of all doctors in the NHS.
Chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee Dr Jack Fletcher said: "This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with Government, pressing the Health Secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed."
Robert Jenrick should apologise to judges, says David Lammy
Robert Jenrick should apologise to judges for attacks which have left them feeling "unsafe", Justice Secretary David Lammy said.
Shadow Justice Secretary Mr Jenrick has pledged to put ministers back in charge of judicial appointments, claiming the current system had allowed "political activists" to sit in courts.
The Deputy Prime Minister, said Mr Jenrick should "step back from some of the language he has been using" to criticise the judiciary.
In a statement earlier this month, organisations representing 250,000 lawyers said barristers, solicitors and judges "have been subjected to violence, death threats and rape threats" due to "politically motivated attacks" on the legal profession.
Mr Lammy said: "I take very seriously my constitutional responsibility to uphold the independence of the judiciary, and that is all of our judges.
"Robert Jenrick, if he wants to be lord chancellor, should really apologise for some of the language that he has been using that is actually making our judiciary feel unsafe in their day-to-day work.
"I know that he is shortly to meet with the Lord Chief Justice and I hope that he’s able to discuss these issues and step back from some of the language that he has been using and take seriously the concerns that our judiciary are raising about the environment in which we ask them to operate, recognising that in our system they are not able – and it would be inappropriate for them – to speak publicly.
"And that is why it’s important that we temper what we say about the work of an independent judiciary, who must rightly and properly go about their work with maximum integrity and do that every day on our behalf."
Keir Starmer denies small boat plans are ‘in tatters’
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted his approach to tackling small boats crossing the Channel remains on course despite an Iranian man re-entering the UK after being returned to France.
The Prime Minister said the man, who now claims to be a victim of modern slavery, would be "fast-tracked back out of the country”.
He said: "We know he hasn’t got a claim to make, therefore we’ll remove him very, very swiftly.
"So his return journey back to United Kingdom is completely pointless, and it’s really important I make that absolutely clear.”
The man had been returned from the UK to France in September under the "one in, one out” deal struck over the summer, but came back across the Channel in a small boat a month later.
WATCH: Keir Starmer visits arsoned Peacehaven Mosque
WATCH THE FULL CLIP ABOVE
WATCH: Sir Keir Starmer has 'full confidence in Jess Phillips'
Sir Keir Starmer has "full confidence in Jess Phillips".
WATCH THE FULL CLIP ABOVE
Keir Starmer REFUSES to rule out withdrawing support for hanging St George’s flags
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (right) during a visit to Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex
|PA
Sir Keir Starmer did not say whether he would withdraw his support for hanging St George’s flags up after an arson attack on an East Sussex mosque.
The Prime Minister visited Peacehaven Mosque on Thursday morning and was asked if he still supports flag hanging when local councils have called it "intimidating" in the wake of the incident.
He told the BBC: "I’m very proud of that flag, and it’s really important that we don’t surrender our flag to anyone. Those that use the flag to divide and are only using it to divide are devaluing our flag, and we mustn’t let that happen."
He added: "People will put out their flags for different reasons. So we can’t generalise all this. Very many people have a flag. We’ve got a flag in our flat in Downing Street. So many people will have a flag.
"But I think it’s very clear when some people, just like the people who attacked this mosque, some people, a minority, only want to use the flag to divide and that’s to devalue the flag. It undermines the values of the flag.
"But there’s a wider point here, because here we are in a mosque that was subject to an arson attack, a place of worship we had the terrible attack in the synagogue just a few weeks ago in Manchester, it’s really important at times like this that we demonstrate the real Britain, who we are as a country, and bring people together. And that’s why I’m here."
Keir Starmer pledges £10million to protect Muslim communities
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (right) during a visit to Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex
|PA
The Prime Minister has pledged an additional £10 million in security funding to protect Muslim communities from hate crimes and attacks.
On Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer announced the funding boost following a visit to the Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex which was targeted in a suspected arson attack earlier this month.
No one was injured in the fire, which damaged the front entrance of the mosque and a car, while the police said they are treating the incident as a hate crime.
The new investment for mosques and Muslim faith centres will provide security measures including CCTV, alarm systems, secure fencing and security staff, the Government said.
Sir Keir said: "Britain is a proud and tolerant country.
"Attacks on any community are attacks on our entire nation and our values.
"This funding will provide Muslim communities with the protection they need and deserve, allowing them to live in peace and safety.
"I want a Britain built for all and my Government is committed to delivering safer streets for everyone – and that means protecting places of worship from those who seek to divide us through hate and violence."
'We will do whatever it takes,' says Home Office after small boat crossing figures reach grim milestone
The Home Office has vowed to cut small boat crossings, as more migrants have now crossed the Channel so far this year than in the whole of 2024.
The grim milestone figure was passed at lunchtime on Wednesday as two Border Force vessels arrived at Dover harbour as 220 migrants crossed over today.
This takes the total number of arrivals so far this year to 36,956.
The figure is 70 higher than the 36,816 migrants who crossed the Channel illegally during the whole of 2024.
A spokesman said: "We will do whatever it takes to secure our borders and stop migrants entering the country on small boats.
"France is a critical partner in tackling illegal migration and we continue to work closely together as they review their Maritime Doctrine, which will allow officers to intervene in shallow waters. We want to see the earliest possible deployment of these new tactics.
"And thanks to our landmark deal with the French, people crossing in small boats can now be detained and removed.”
Tories 'disinformation' on China spy case distracting from anti-espionage work, says Labour MP
Ellie Reeves, the solicitor general, has accused the Tories' comments on the reasons behind the collapse of the Chinese Spy scandal of being a distraction.
She described the rhetoric around the case as "disinformation".
The Labour MP said: "It is a bedrock constitutional principle that prosecutions in this country are free from political influence. This means that prosecutors, not politicians who decide which cases to prosecute.
"It is prosecutors, not politicians, who decide what evidence will be used at criminal trials, and it is prosecutors, not politicians, who decide when cases should be dropped.
She adds that "ongoing disinformation around the collapse of this case" is distracting the Government as it attempts to deal with Chinese espionage.
David Lammy admits 'setbacks' to grooming gang inquiry amid calls for Jess Phillips to be SACKED
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy admitted there had been “setbacks" in the process of establishing the grooming gang inquiry.
He said there was often not a "uniform voice" among victims after calls from some for Jess Phillips to be sacked from her ministerial role.
He said: "The starting point is: this is hard. My drawing on 25 years of experience in public life, dealing with families experiencing pain, suffering, sometimes grief – and I’m thinking of in my career, scandals like Windrush, like Grenfell Tower – there often is not a uniform voice.
"So this is very tough. I thought the Prime Minister made clear at the despatch box this week his determination that this will go ahead, that it will leave no stone unturned, that the important issues of the background of the perpetrators, their ethnicity, their religion, is absolutely on the table.
"Of course, there have been setbacks this week, but we move forward."
MPs press for Royal Family conduct to be debated in Commons, says Sir Lindsay Hoyle
MPs press for Royal Family conduct to be debated in the Commons
|GETTY
MPs are pressing for the conduct of members of the Royal Family to be debated in the Commons, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said.
In a statement to the Commons, Sir Lindsay said: "I know there has been some commentary on what members of this House may or may not discuss in the chamber in relation to Prince Andrew, some of which is inaccurate.
"There is understandably great interest from members and from the public on this matter. For the benefit of the House, I would like to be clear that there are ways for the House to properly consider this matter.
"Any discussions about the conduct or reflections on members of the royal family can be properly discussed on the substantive motions. And I know some members have already tabled such a motion. I am not able to allocate time for a debate on such a motion, but others are able to do so, if wishing to do that.
"But on questions, the long-standing practice of the House, as set out in Erskine May, is that criticism of members of the royal family cannot be made as part of questions. I hope this is helpful clarification, as there is lots of online speculation.”
Migrants to be sent back to France "again and again", says Labour minister
The Government will keep sending migrants back to France "again and again", a minister has said.
It comes after a man deported under the returns deal re-entered the UK.
The Iranian national was detained and the Government intends to send him back to France again after he crossed the Channel a second time, it is understood.
Children’s minister Josh MacAlister said it shows the Government’s one-in, one-out migrant returns deal with France is working.
He told Times Radio: "I think it shows the scheme working, because this guy came here. He shouldn’t have come here. He paid somebody, a smuggling gang, to cross the Channel.
"He was stopped, he was detained, and he was returned to France. He came again. He paid someone again, and he will be returned to France again.”
This sends a clear message to those who cross the Channel in small boats that “you will be deported”, Mr MacAlister said.
James Cleverly slams Labour’s ‘arrogance and complacency’ over border control
James Cleverly has delivered a scathing assessment of Labour’s record on border control, branding the party’s approach "arrogant and complacent".
Speaking to GB News, the former Home Secretary said the Home Office under Labour had "lost focus" and was "not fit for purpose".
It comes after Shabana Mahmood, who took office last month, said the Home Office had been "set up to fail" but said she was working to rebuild it so it "delivers for this country".
Mr Cleverly told GB News: "I don't see them as an enemy within. But I did see that amongst certain circles within the Home Office, there was a lack of focus."
'Get business moving' James Cleverly explains the Tory pledge to scrap stamp duty
The Shadow Levelling Up and Housing Secretary, James Cleverly, explained that the Conservatives' pledge to scrap stamp duty will generate over £1billion in economic activity.
Speaking to GB News Breakfast, Mr Cleverly said: "Research by the London School of Economics and others has shown that actually, this is one of those taxes that when you scrap it, it triggers a whole lot of economic activity, which is really good for the UK economy."
He estimated that scrapping the tax would bring £1.2billion in economic activity.
Mr Cleverly explained: "That's because when people move, they buy stuff, they buy white goods, they buy furniture, they get stuff done, they get the local builders in, they do refurbishment work, and that money goes into the local economy, stimulates and supports local businesses.
"So this is a tax which is actually not just stifling people moving house, but it's also reducing the economic activity in the local area. We want to reverse it. We want to scrap that tax.
"Get that business moving. Get those houses moving and get money into the pockets of hardworking people."
WATCH: James Cleverly speaks on Tory stamp duty pledge and the small boat crisis
Shabana Mahmood admits Home Office 'not yet fit for purpose' as it's plagued by 'culture of defeatism'
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has admitted that the Home Office is "not yet fit for purpose".
She vowed to rebuild the department, which is responsible for internal security, public safety and immigration, so that it "delivers for this country".
A damning report labelled the Home Office, which Ms Mahmood took charge of last month, as having a "culture of defeatism" on immigration.
On Wednesday, Mahmood said: "This report, written under the last Government, is damning. To those who have encountered the Home Office in recent years, the revelations are all too familiar.
"The Home Office is not yet fit for purpose, and has been set up for failure. As this report shows, the last Conservative Government knew this, but failed to do anything about it."