Sunak news – live: Starmer says PM being bullied by party as senior Tories slam Simon Clarke’s ‘foolish’ coup

Sir Keir Starmer has attacked Rishi Sunak over the chaos in rolling out the government’s promised expansion of free childcare.

As first revealed by The Independent, there are big problems with funding, staff shortages and nursery closures.

The Labour leader cited a report in The Times, which quote one source saying the rollout was a “complete s***show” over systemic problems, including major IT snags.

Sir Keir said: “He calls [problems] a ‘practical issue’. But I preferred the honesty of whichever of his colleagues briefed to The Times that it was a “complete s***show”.”

He added: “When will the prime minister finally realise that the biggest practical issue facing Britain is the constant, farcical incompetence of the government he leads?”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “He spouts so much nonsense no wonder they are giving up on him.”

He added the prime minister is insisting “everything is fine, people should be grateful to him.

“The trouble is no one is buying it. Does he actually understand why his own MPs say he doesn’t understand Britain and that he is an obstacle to recovery?”

Mr Sunak responded: “He calls it nonsense but these are his positions... he chose to represent a now proscribed terrorist group, he chose to campaign against the deportation of foreign national offenders, just like he chose to serve (Jeremy Corbyn).

“That’s his record, those are his values, and that is exactly how he should be judged.”

And that is it for now. Mr Sunak will head back to No 10 with an ever growing to-do list and rebellious MPs.

Meanwhile Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will count his lucky stars that the Tory party continues to self-implode on an almost daily basis.

Rishi Sunak sent his “best wishes” to King Charles III and the Princess of Wales regarding their health.

His Majesty is preparing to undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate this week, and Kate has spent a week in hospital being cared for as she recovers from abdominal surgery.

The 42-year-old princess is expected to remain hospitalised for between 10 and 14 days in total.

Charles, 75, has returned to Sandringham ready to undergo treatment after flying back from Scotland with the Queen on Friday (19 January).

He received his diagnosis on Wednesday having had a check-up after experiencing symptoms.

Local authorities in England are set to receive an emergency bailout from Rishi Sunak’s government following warnings that many councils are close to bankruptcy.

A ministerial statement due to be made this afternoon will confirm upper tier councils will be handed an additional £500m for children’s and adult social care.

Communities secretary Michael Gove is also expected to announce lower tier districts will receive a funding boost of approximately £30 to £40m.

Political Correspondent Adam Forrest reports:

Senior Tory Lee Anderson has now said he should have backed Rishi Sunak and voted for the Rwanda bill, reports Political Correspondent Adam Forrest.

The right-wing rebel – who quit as deputy chair over the bill and later abstained – even said he would take his old job back if Mr Sunak asked him.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Anderson should have been “brave” and sided with the PM. “I felt like I was letting my party down,” he said.

Asked if he would return to his old role if approached by Mr Sunak, Mr Anderson said: “Yeah, of course I would.”

He added: “I did wrong. Well, I say I did wrong, I acted on a point of principle. I had to resign. I had no choice. I bear no malice or anything, it’s just I know the rules.”

Senior Tory MP Stephen Hammond has said Sir Simon Clarke was “wrong” to call for Rishi Sunak to be replaced – advising him to “keep quiet” unless he wanted to kill the party, reports Political Correspondent Adam Forrest.

The leading moderate told Times Radio: “My strong advice to Simon is, this isn’t going to work. This is wrong. And I think it’ll be helpful for the Conservative party cause, if he does want to stop the extinction of the party, don’t say any more.”

Mr Hammond added: “The very worst thing we could do now is have another change of leader. That would make us look … well I think self-indulgence is probably the right term.”

Downing Street has refused to deny Rishi Sunak has plans to bring Lee Anderson back as Tory deputy chairman, saying Number 10 has a “lot of time” for him despite his resignation over the Rwanda Bill.

Asked whether the prime minister would consider giving Mr Anderson his job back after he reportedly voiced regret over his abstention, Mr Sunak’s press secretary said it was “the PM’s prerogative to choose and when” who gets which jobs.

“I think we can say that we have a lot of time for Lee. He made it clear that he had concerns but actually he really supports getting this deterrent up and running so it’s good to see him talking about that today,” she said.

Mr Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith both quit as Conservative Party deputy chairs after siding with right-wing Tory MPs in backing the rebel amendments to Mr Sunak’s Rwanda bill.

Sir Simon Clarke is “in a different place to some other MPs” and his intervention “won’t distract us from getting on with what matters to people”, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “The PM is just focused on the job, getting on with the key priorities that he’s set out for the country and that’s where he’s spending his time at the moment.”

Asked whether Rishi Sunak would be talking with Sir Simon in the wake of his Telegraph op-ed, she said she would “never get into conversations between the Prime Minister and colleagues.”

Number 10 insisted the Conservatives are united on the “big issues” such as lowering tax where it is responsible to do so, describing Sir Simon as a “known critic.”

Asked whether Mr Sunak was worried about a wider revolt, she said: This is one MP. All I would say is Simon Clarke has set out his view in a paper today.

“We recognise that he’s in a different place to some other MPs that have come out today. He’s entitled to his view but that won’t distract us from getting on with what matters to people.”