Keir Starmer faces ‘Poll Tax’ moment as Labour MPs revolt amid panic over Nigel Farage’s ‘working-class insurrection’

Tories fume as migration accommodation costs soar to £15billion

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has been left fuming after it was revealed asylum accommodation costs soared to £15billion.

Philp said: “Another broken promise. Keir Starmer pledged to end the use of asylum hotels, yet their use has soared under his watch.

“Now Labour want private landlords to carry the burden of housing the consequences of Starmer’s broken borders. This plan comes with 5-year guarantees for landlords, at exorbitant costs, and certainly won’t help Labour’s unachievable promise on housing targets.

“This is exactly why, under new leadership, the Conservative Party has published the full Deportation Bill - a bold, no-nonsense plan to fix Britain’s broken immigration system. Our plan includes powers to deport all foreign criminals, disapply the Human Rights Act from immigration cases, and revoke indefinite leave to remain. These are the hard measures needed to cut the backlog, end hotel use, and take back control of our borders. Exactly, the kind of serious action Labour refuses to even consider.”

REVEALED: Asylum accommodation costs set to TRIPLE as British taxpayers forced to cough up £15 BILLION

The cost of asylum accommodation will triple to a wallet-busting £15.3billion over 10 years, spending watchdogs have warned.

The Home Office initially forecasted the overall bill, which includes hotels, to cost £4.5million between 2019 and 2029.

However, the 240 per cent increase, suggested to be due to the surge in small boat crossings, was revealed in data released by the National Audit Office (NAO).

The new figure results in the average taxpayer spending £4,191,780 on housing asylum seekers over the decade.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Britain's youngest Labour councillor 'forced to QUIT over calling for CCTV in taxis' - 'You're targeting Asian councillors!'

One of Britain's youngest councillors has resigned from Labour after claiming she was branded "racist" for calling for CCTV to be installed in taxis.

Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, just 19, was forced to leave Peterborough City Council's Labour group after raising concerns over passenger and driver safety in the city's council-licensed minicabs, many of which are operated by Asian men.

She said some councillors accused her and her family of "targeting fellow Asian Labour councillors".

"When I argued for more safety measures in minicabs it led to a lot of ugly comments by people in the Labour group," she said.

"I got messages from fellow Labour councillors accusing me of racism because lots of the cab drivers are Asian.

"But I wasn't targeting Asian drivers. I was talking about safeguarding for everyone, passengers and drivers."

Leader of Peterborough City Council and its Labour group, Dennis Jones, told the BBC that he was "disappointed" by Blakemore-Creedon's decision to resign.

"Nevertheless, the Peterborough City Council Labour Group will continue to work hard to deliver for local residents as we always have," he said.

As Labour 'abandons rape gang victims'... Jess Phillips DODGES call for national inquiry

Tory MP Bob Blackman also called for a national inquiry in the Commons, warning that "council staff, councillors, social workers and possibly the police have been complicit, or at least turned a blind eye" to Britain's grooming gangs.

"Given these circumstances, local inquiries are not going to be good enough.

"So will [Jess Phillips] now call for a nationwide, national inquiry, judge-led with witnesses being required to give evidence under oath, so those people that turned a blind eye could actually be brought to justice?"

But Phillips simply replied: "National statutory inquiries don't actually send anyone to prison, just to be clear on that."

No10 scrambles to defend Labour donor football regulator boss after 'cronyism' allegations skyrocket

Downing Street has stepped in to defend the new football regulator chairman - and Labour Party donor - David Kogan following allegations of "cronyism".

Kogan, who donated to the political campaigns of the Prime Minister, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and multiple Labour MPs, was appointed through a "fair and open competition", Sir Keir Starmer's official spokesman said.

His repeated donations to the party of Government had led to accusations that cronyism played a part in his appointment.

But Nandy rejected those claims during the Football Governance Bill's second reading on April 28, and pointed out the previous Conservative Government had also earmarked him for the role prior to last summer's General Election.

Labour forced to call for 'calm heads' as India-Pakistan protests set to erupt in Britain

Labour has been forced to call for "calm heads" in Britain's Indian and Pakistani communities ahead of a planned protest outside India's embassy in London.

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer told MPs: "I'm acutely aware that for many communities across the UK and indeed members across this House, this is a very personal and sensitive situation.

"The British Pakistani and British Indian communities make a huge contribution to this country. We recognise this will be a difficult time for many.

"We look to all community and faith leaders to spread a message that now is a time for coming together across religious and ethnic differences.

"We now need to see calm heads. Britain will continue to play our full part in de-escalation and diplomacy."

Keir Starmer refuses to rule out handing British waters to EU after alarm sounded over 'backroom Brussels deals'

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out handing over British fishing rights to Brussels during "reset" negotiations with the EU later this month.

A major EU-UK summit is due to take place on May 19 - leading Tory MP Aphra Brandreth calling on Starmer to "reassure the House that he will not hand over any British sovereign powers, particularly hard-won controls over our UK fishing waters in backroom deals with Brussels".

Starmer replied: "As she knows, we committed to resetting the relationship with the EU. We think there is a better deal that can be had. I am not going to provide a running commentary.

"What I can say is this: We will act only as we always do - in the national interest."

Rishi Sunak wades into spiralling India-Pakistan conflict - 'No impunity for terrorists!'

Rishi Sunak has waded into today's escalating India-Pakistan conflict after a deadly exchange of fire between the two countries overnight.

The ex-Prime Minister, of Indian heritage, said: "No nation should have to accept terrorist attacks being launched against it from land controlled by another country.

"India is justified in striking terrorist infrastructure. There can be no impunity for terrorists."

'Why does he hate Britain's pubs?' Tories launch into furious attack on Labour's jobs tax as UK landlords 'driven to extinction'

The Tories' Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers has accused Sir Keir Starmer of "hating Britain's pubs" thanks to Labour's controversial jobs tax.

Vickers said: "Last week I was talking to Jason, a pub landlord, and he told me he has heard a rumour about the Prime Minister - not that one, not that one.

"He has heard that there is a reason why the Prime Minister hates Britain’s pubs.

"Landlords like Jason are being battered by Labour's jobs tax and the slashing of small business rates relief, meaning that as many as half of Britain’s pubs could be closed by 2030.

"Why does he hate Britain’s pubs - and if he doesn’t, why is he taxing them into extinction?” Vickers blasted.

Starmer replied: "Nobody likes pubs better than me and we support them. It's the same old nonsense... they say they don't want the National Insurance rise, but they don’t have the courage to say they’d reverse it - because they know if they said that, they wouldn’t be able to say where the money is coming from and that’s how we got in the problem in the first place."

Ed Davey launches into attack on Donald Trump after President vows to slap foreign films with tariffs

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has launched into an attack on Donald Trump after the President pledged to bring in a 100 per cent tariff on films made outside the United States.

Davey accused Trump of "coming after our world leading film industry" - and asked whether Sir Keir Starmer agrees that if you "pick a fight with James Bond, Bridget Jones and Paddington Bear, you will lose."

Starmer, in response, said it was a "false choice" to try to choose between the US and EU - and argued that "the sectors the right honourable gentlemen are trying to champion want us to negotiate that trade deal" with Trump's America.

'Anti-growth, anti-jobs and anti-working people' - Starmer's three-point Tory takedown in full

Sir Keir Starmer has launched into a triple-pronged attack on the Conservatives after Kemi Badenoch attacked his net zero pledges.

Badenoch warned that Starmer is going "further and faster in the wrong direction" on net zero, before warning: "His energy policy is a disaster and everyone knows it.

"We know it, the public know it, the unions know it, his MPs know it... even Tony Blair knows it.

"His only answer is to go further and faster in the wrong direction. Why should we all suffer because he won't admit he has got this wrong?"

Starmer replied: "Of course, nobody wants to see job losses - but she should address her comments to the tens of thousands of men and women in this country working on renewables for the future of our country and tell them that she doesn't want them.

"That is anti-growth, anti-jobs and anti-working people."

'He's on another planet!' Starmer's green pledges skewered again as PM labels net zero an OPPORTUNITY

Kemi Badenoch has labelled Sir Keir Starmer's net zero pledges "on another planet" as businesses continue to suffer from soaring energy costs.

The Tory leader asked: "Why is he shutting down the North Sea rather than getting our oil and gas out of the ground and making energy cheaper?"

In response, the Prime Minister said oil and gas "will be part of the mix for many decades to come" - "but net zero is an opportunity to be seized."

And in a fresh rebuke to the Conservative boss, Starmer labelled Badenoch a "climate defeatist".

'Pensioners are getting poorer and colder!' Badenoch blasts Starmer's 'broken promises' as energy bills soar

Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of having broken a Labour manifesto commitment to reduce household energy bills by £300 a year by 2030.

The Tory leader warned that pensioners have been left "poorer and colder" because of the Prime Minister’s decisions - while energy is only getting more expensive.

She asked: "Why has the Prime Minister broken his promise to cut energy bills by £300?"

The Prime Minister said: “The way to bring energy bills down for good is to deliver cheap, clean, home-grown energy."

Kemi Badenoch: 'The only black hole here is the one the Prime Minister is digging!'

Kemi Badenoch has rebuked Sir Keir Starmer's "£22billion black hole" attacks on the Conservatives with a vicious attack on Labour's Winter Fuel Payment cuts.

Starmer had initially dodged her questions on the winter fuel allowance - and said the "number one job of Government is to put the public finances back in order" after the Tories were voted out of office last summer.

Labour was working to "deal with a £22billion black hole", Starmer said. "We've stabilised the economy, invested record amounts in the NHS, and committed to the triple lock."

"We're a country that countries like India want to do deals with."

But Badenoch hit back - telling Starmer that the "only black hole is the one that the Prime Minister is digging".

"His own Doncaster Mayor, his Welsh First Minister and his own MPs" are saying that his Winter Fuel Payment cuts are wrong, she blasted.

She added: "He's refusing to listen to his own party."

PMQs underway - Keir Starmer vows UK 'engaging urgently' with India and Pakistan as he hails 'greatest generation' ahead of VE Day

PMQs has just begun.

Sir Keir Starmer, in his opening address, has vowed that Britain is engaging "urgently" with India and Pakistan following a deadly exchange of fire between the two nations following a terrorist attack in Kashmir.

He also hailed the UK's "greatest generation" of WW2 veterans ahead of VE Day tomorrow - and said his controversial trade deal with India would be a boon for "working people".

PMQs just minutes away - follow live

Prime Minister's Questions is set to begin in fewer than 10 minutes' time.

You can follow all the top lines from PMQs as they come in on our live blog here, and watch Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch go head-to-head on the live stream above.

Ed Miliband's net zero hopes handed ANOTHER blow as work on one of Britain's largest wind farms stopped

Danish energy giant Orsted has said it is stopping work on one of the UK's biggest upcoming offshore wind projects - a fresh blow to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's much-hailed clean energy plans.

The world's largest offshore wind developer said it will halt its Hornsea 4 project, a massive planned wind farm in the North Sea that could have powered more than one million homes.

Orsted said the project had suffered rising supply chain costs, higher interest rates and increasing risk of not finishing the project on time.

It said the problems had "increased the execution risk and deteriorated the value creation of the project" - and warned the move could cost it up to £513 million in break costs from cancelling contracts with suppliers.

A spokesman for Miliband's department said: “We recognise the effect that globally high inflation and supply chain constraints are having on industry across Europe, and we will work with Orsted to get Hornsea 4 back on track.

“We have a strong pipeline of projects to deliver clean power by 2030 and our mission-led approach ensures we can steer our way through global pressures and individual commercial decisions to reach our targets.”

Tories to set out 'no-nonsense' Deportation Bill in landmark first since General Election - 'If Labour won't act, we will!'

The Conservatives will today lay out their first Bill in opposition in a "direct challenge to Labour's failure on immigration".

For the very first time since last summer's General Election, the Tories are tabling a "no-nonsense plan to take back control of the UK's borders" - and are set to attack both Labour and Reform UK in the process.

The Bill, marketed as an "uncompromising alternative" to Labour's Border Security Bill, will propose:

• Disapplying the Human Rights Act from all immigration-related matters;
• Doubling the residency requirement for Indefinite Leave to Remain from five to 10 years;
• New powers to revoke Indefinite Leave to Remain;
• A legally binding, Parliament-voted annual cap on migration;
• Tighter visa rules for partners and civil partners;
• Visa sanctions for uncooperative countries;
• Powers to deport all foreign criminals;
• Removing GDPR protections from foreign criminals and illegal migrants;
• Mandatory scientific age testing for asylum seekers.

"The Conservatives are today introducing the Deportation Bill - a bold, pragmatic and deliverable plan to take back control of our borders and restore public confidence in our immigration system. If Labour can't or won't act, we will and introduce a Bill - and Labour MPs can vote against it.

"Labour and Reform are both complicit in the trade of empty slogans and hollow promises. Our plan can be enacted now to get immigration back under control."

WATCH IN FULL: Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds speaks to GB News Breakfast

Richard Tice hails record Reform polling - as experts ask 'Will it last?'

Richard Tice has hailed this morning's second round of record Reform UK polling after his party was handed another voting intention lead.

Reacting to data from More In Common which projected that 27 per cent of Britons would vote for Reform UK at a General Election, Tice said: "Another record Reform poll... These are before the latest Labour mass immigration blunder."

Meanwhile, More In Common director and polling expert Luke Tryl said: "Reform UK momentum continues as they hit 27 per cent in our voting intention poll, their highest we have recorded and [their] first lead outside the margin of error."

Tryl added: "Story of the Parliament: Labour's lead falls over the summer, the Tories enjoy a brief bump around their conference and end of leadership contest before dipping back, Reform make gains during early 2025.

"Three-way tie since, now Reform open small lead. Question: Will it last or fade post locals?"

PMQs just three hours away - full list of questions below

The full list of MPs posing questions to the Prime Minister at PMQs today is as follows:

• Matt Bishop (Labour)
• Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat)
• Matt Western (Labour)
• Jack Abbott (Labour)
• Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat)
• Sian Berry (Green)
• Michelle Scrogham (Labour)
• Shockat Adam (Independent)
• Meg Hillier (Labour)
• Matt Vickers (Conservative)
• Elaine Stewart (Labour)
• Aphra Brandreth (Conservative)
• Connor Naismith (Labour)
• Maureen Burke (Labour)
• Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour)

Reform handed ANOTHER polling lead just hours after landmark YouGov data emerges

Reform UK has been handed another polling lead - just a few hours after the release of this morning's YouGov data.

Pollsters at More In Common surveyed 2,212 Britons between May 3 and 4 - and following Nigel Farage's party's local elections surge, the figures suggest that a growing number of voters would pick Reform at a General Election.

Reform now sits on 27 per cent - ahead of Labour on 23 per cent and the Tories on 21.

And in a reprieve for Kemi Badenoch's party, the Liberal Democrats sit six points behind them on 15 per cent - a far wider margin than the one-point gap in YouGov's poll.

Keir Starmer rolls out plan to punish 'cowardly' criminals who dodge sentencing hearings

Labour is rolling out plans to punish criminals who dodge their sentencing hearings in a bid to punish "cowardly" convicts.

Plans for tougher sanctions in England and Wales, including more jail time or loss of privileges in prison, are among the measures in the Government's Victims and Courts Bill to be introduced to Parliament later today.

The families of murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, law graduate Zara Aleena and mother-of-three Jan Mustafa are among those to have campaigned for the change after their loved ones' killers were absent from sentencing hearings.

And earlier this year, vile Southport child-murderer Axel Rudakubana sparked fury as he feigned illness to avoid facing his victims' families.

Sir Keir Starmer promised to carry on the pledge to change the law - first made by his predecessor Rishi Sunak - when he met the mother of murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

Cheryl Korbel and her family have also campaigned to change the law so that offenders are compelled to appear in the dock for sentencing.

And Starmer said this morning: "For too long, cowardly criminals have got away with not facing their victims in court. In opposition, I promised victims and families I would change that. Now, I am. Our new measures will force offenders to attend their sentencing hearing - or face tougher penalties."

WATCH IN FULL: Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers speaks to GB News Breakfast

As Reform sees record-breaking post-local elections poll breakthrough... Red Wall Labour MPs launch desperate bid to force Keir Starmer to change course

A leading pressure group of Labour MPs has urged Sir Keir Starmer to change course following the party's local elections drubbing on Friday.

The Red Wall Group, which includes parliamentarians on the right of the party including Jonathan Brash and Mike Tapp, as well as conservative socialists like Dan Carden, has urged Starmer to "act now before it's too late" and save the party from further electoral damage.

Shortly before this morning's breakthrough YouGov polling for Reform UK came to light, the group has told the Prime Minister to "visit our areas, listen and rebuild the social contract between Government and the people"

"He must now break the disconnect between Westminster and the red wall areas," it says.

"The demands raised by new MPs from post-industrial towns where infrastructure is poor with years of underinvestment must be taken off the too-difficult-to-do list.

"Break away from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need."

It adds: "Labour cannot afford to lose the red wall again as it reopens the route to a future of opposition and an existential crisis. Without red wall communities, we are not the Labour Party."

Britain stands ready to 'support' India AND Pakistan as dozens killed in opening salvos of conflict

Britain stands ready to "support" both India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions following an exchange of fire between the two nations, the Business Secretary has vowed.

Jonathan Reynolds said the situation in Kashmir was "hugely worrying" and told the BBC: "Our message would be that we are a friend, a partner to both countries. We stand ready to support both countries.

"Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation and anything we can do to support that, we are here and willing to do."

Reynolds will speak to GB News shortly after 9am - you'll be able to watch his interview with Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello in full here.

Yvette Cooper left in the dark about migration impact of controversial India trade deal - reports

Yvette Cooper was left in the dark about Labour's plans to make it cheaper for Indian workers to come to the UK as part of yesterday's controversial trade agreement.

The Home Secretary was not informed about controversial elements of the deal - which is set to see Indian workers and companies avoid National Insurance, just as British employers are forced to pay more.

Home Office bigwigs are said to have been "confused" by the process of agreeing the deal, The Guardian reports, and had expected to be told about anything which could increase migration to Britain.

But Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds defended the deal.

He claimed some people were "getting a little bit carried away as to what this actually means".

"We have 17 of these agreements with the EU, with South Korea, with the US and a whole range of partners," he blasted.

"What it is about is making sure when people are inter-company transfers between the UK and India... they don't simultaneously pay into both social security systems."