Key points:
- Starmer meeting with UK and Irish leaders
- Government to review murder sentencing after Nottingham attacks
- Listen:Milestones or millstones for Keir Starmer?
- Tories would axe 'unsustainable' triple lock on pensions
- Exclusive:Tory co-chair accuses Elon Musk of trying to 'buy' Reform UK
- PM 'welcomes' arguments with local authorities over planning
PM's 'plan for change'
- Keir Starmer has unveiled his 'plan for change', with 'measurable milestones' for the NHS and new homes
- PM insists immigration a priority despite not being on missions list
- Starmer says his milestones are 'really bold' and 'really risky'
Expert reaction
- Beth Rigby: Starmer knows he needs an answer to Reform
- Ed Conway: Has the budget sunk Labour's growth target?
- Ali Fortescue: Can the PM get a grip of his muddled plot line?
- Ashish Joshi: Waiting lists goal creating tension with NHS bosses
Tory peer to appeal stripping of CBE
As we reported earlier, Conservative peer Lord Rami Ranger has had his CBE taken away.
Read more in the 12.29pm post.
Lord Ranger has now issued a statement through a spokesperson.
They said: "Lord Ranger has not committed any crime nor has he broken any law, where the majority of the people who have had their honour revoked in this way have committed a crime or broken the law.
"Lord Ranger is devastated that the CBE awarded to him for his services to British business and for promoting community cohesion has been taken away.
"It is a sad indictment that the honours system which is designed to empower individuals who go the extra mile and, as a result, contribute a great deal to the nation should be used to curtail the basic fundamental rights of free speech and thought process."
The spokesperson added that Lord Ranger had apologised and undertaken rehabilitative work regarding complaints that had been made against him.
They said the decision would "encourage individuals to make spurious complaints about others".
They added: "Despite the actions of the committee, Lord Ranger will continue to make the significant contribution that he has over the last 30 years and that led to him originally receiving his honours.
"He is looking at all options for redress via various legal avenues open to him and will challenge this unjust decision in order to vindicate himself and clear his name in the UK and abroad. Lord Ranger was a worthy recipient of his CBE.
"The manner in which it has been taken from him is shameful."
Scottish praise a rare win for Starmer and Number 10
Sir Keir Starmer is not accustomed to receiving much praise so he'll take it where he can.
And today it came from an unlikely source, his political opponents.
Speaking at the British-Irish Council summit, SNP leader and Scottish First Minster John Swinney, described a change in atmosphere since Labour took office.
He told journalists: "The Scottish Government and the United Kingdom government today are incomparably better than they were immediately before the general election.
"The relationship with the last United Kingdom government latterly… was awful. They could not have been more disrespectful.
"Sir Keir Starmer came to see me Sunday after the election and we've had a number of one to one meetings."
His Northern Irish counterpart, Michelle O'Neill was equally withering about the previous administration.
She said: "The tenure of the Tories in government was one of disrespect, one that drove an austerity agenda that decimated our public services, one that very much left people behind.
"So, I welcome the fact that there is a determination for a reset. It's early days and that will be tested, of course, over time."
The comments were the culmination of one area where the plan has been delivered.
For all the new government's announcements about their priorities, they have quietly made devolution one, as promised during the election campaign.
Sir Keir Starmer is the first UK prime minster to attend this summit since 2007.
And before that, Number 10's engagement with devolved leaders has been stepped up since day one.
Clearly it has been noted and Downing Street will no doubt take this as a rare win.
UK govt sending £300,000 to Syrian humanitarian group
The UK government is sending £300,000 to the White Helmets, a humanitarian group in Syria.
The country is currently engulfed in fighting after the civil war which gripped it in the 2010s reignited.
Hamish Falconer, the minister for the Middle East, said: "I was pleased to meet representatives from the White Helmets earlier this week.
"The White Helmets carry out invaluable work across Syria, saving countless civilian lives and providing essential access for humanitarian aid.
"Today, I am announcing an additional £300,000 to support the White Helmets at this critical time. This funding will help the White Helmets meet the humanitarian challenges arising from the ongoing escalation.
"We continue to call for urgent de-escalation in Syria, maintaining the protection of civilians and provision of humanitarian aid."
This £300,000 follows £2m given over the last year.
According to the UK, the funding will be used to "support search and rescue operations, facilitate humanitarian access, allow the expansion of the White Helmets' existing ambulance system and enable the safe removal of unexploded weapons."
Since the conflict restarted last week, some 48,000 people have been internally displaced, the UK government added.
Listen: Milestones or millstones for Keir Starmer?
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As Sir Keir Starmer sets out the "six milestones" his government wants to hit before the next general election, Beth, Ruth and Harriet discuss if leaving immigration off the list was a wise move for the prime minister.
Plus, as middle-class women of a certain age, they have some thoughts on the allegations against MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.
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Leaders of devolved nations praise Labour for engagement - and criticise Tories
Following the British-Irish Council meeting in Edinburgh, the leaders of the various nations and crown dependencies gave a news conference.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden was present on behalf of the UK government.
At one point, Scotland's First Minister John Swinney praised the new Labour government for being "incomparable" to the last Tory government.
He said the new administration in London had engaged in a much more collaborative way - before strongly criticising the Conservatives.
Similar remarks were made by the leaders of the other nations and crown dependencies.
The Republic of Ireland had no representative at the conference, as the Tanaiste and Taoiseach had to leave the councilearly due to the incoming poor weather.
Tory peer and donor gives up honour
Lord Rami Ranger has given up his CBE.
This was confirmed in a notice published in the London Gazette.
The PA news agency reports that the decision was made after the Forfeiture Committee looked at social media posts made by Lord Rangerabout the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.
It also looked at a House of Lords Commissioner's report from last year that found Lord Ranger had bullied and harassed an Indian journalist on social media.
The peer has given £1.5m to the Tories since 2009, and was made a CBE in 2016.
He was made a Lord in 2019 by Theresa May.
PA reports that while Lord Ranger apologised for his actions, the Forfeiture Committee considered his behaviour combined with the fact he was made a CBE for his work on community cohesion meant it was appropriate for him to forfeit his honour.
Badenoch suggest Starmer's joke about her would be 'racist' if made by Tory
Currently, Kemi Badenoch is in the United States, and she gave a speech last night at theInternational Democracy Union (IDU) Forum Dinner.
Her address touched on many issues in her ideology, with the central theme being how liberalism can become more muscular in the West.
As part of this, she spoke of her childhood and working in McDonald's as a teenager.
Ms Badenoch said: "The truth is that the left are not that interested in ethnic minorities except as a tool to fight their battles against the right.
"In fact, just this morning the British prime minister made a joke about how I worked at McDonald's.
"He would never have dared to do that, if I was a left-wing activist.
"And if a Conservative prime minister had made those comments about a black party leader, they would have been called a racist and asked to resign.
"Even as a teenager, I could see the hypocrisy in so much of their rhetoric."
Ms Badenoch was referring to a joke Sir Keir Starmer made yesterday at the Pinewood Film Studios.
He said: "Kemi Badenoch thinks if you do a couple of shifts in McDonald's, then you can become working class, so by that logic, if I keep coming back here, I could be the next James Bond."
This itself was a reference to Ms Badenoch claiming she "became working class" when working in McDonald's, after moving from Nigeria to the UK.
In her speech last night, Ms Badenoch said she "had grown up in a well-to-do family".
Downing Street declined to comment.
Government 'Plan for Change' to be scrutinised in parliament
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday announced his government's "Plan for Change" - a speech that was also given by Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden in the House of Commons.
Less than 24 hours later, a House of Commons committee has announced it will question Mr McFadden on the plans in detail next week.
With some criticising the lack of detail in the initial announcement, the session with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee at 3pm on Tuesday next week could be juicy.
PACAC, as it is known, is chaired by Simon Hoare, a Conservative MP who was a member of the last government.
However, he is the only Tory on the panel - with seven Labour MPs and two Lib Dems joining him.
Mr McFadden is one of the most powerful ministers in government, and was a key member of Labour's campaign to get elected this summer.
He is also often used as someone who can provide a calm and reassuring voice on the airwaves when needed.
An announcement from the Committee said: "The session will focus on the chancellor's main responsibilities and priorities since being appointed to the role in July of this year. He will also be joined by permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, Cat Little CB.
"The committee will explore the government's plans to introduce a mission-led government, as set out in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's 'Plan for Change'.
"MPs are also likely to raise questions over the government's approach to propriety and ethics, including the changes to the Ministerial Code.
"MPs may also probe Mr McFadden on intergovernmental relations and the establishment of the new Council of the Nations and Regions."
Starmer in Edinburgh for leaders summit
Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Edinburgh for a summit of the British-Irish Council.
The group was formed after Good Friday Agreement, and first met 25 years ago.
Climate change finance is expected to be the main topic of discussion.
The above picture, from left to right, shows:Guernsey chief minister Lyndon Trott, Jersey chief minister Lyndon Farnham, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill, Taoiseach Simon Harris, Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan, Ireland's Tanaiste Micheal Martin and Isle of Man's chief minister Alfred Cannan.
Government to review murder sentencing after Nottingham attacks
The government has announced plans to review the way killers are sentenced in the wake of the Nottingham attacks.
Valdo Calocane stabbed Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in June 2023 and was convicted of manslaughter - rather than murder - due to his paranoid schizophrenia.
In a written ministerial statement, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the way homicide is dealt withhas not been reviewed since the early 2000s.
She says that, especially in the wake of Calocane's attack, there have been calls for a change in how "diminished responsibility should be reflected in the classification of homicide offences".
The Law Commission will carry out the review.
Changes to sentencing rules for domestic killers
Elsewhere, Ms Mahmood says she plans to introduce measures that will make strangling someone, and killing some at the end - or perceived end - of a relationship into "aggravating factors".
This means judges can hand down tougher sentences to killers whose crimes involved the above actions.
Ms Mahmood said: "As part of the government's plan for change, we are cracking down on violence against women and creating safer streets.
"I fully recognise the concerns raised around homicide law and sentencing, but these are incredibly complex issues and previous tinkering is what has led to the current disparities, so it is right that the Law Commission takes a comprehensive look at it."
