UK politics live: Furious Chagos Islands row erupts as Tories accused of risking losing key air base in courts

A record number of families are having to live in temporary accommodation, new figures show, as councils warn their spending on emergency housing will rise by a third this year.

Some 117,450 households were living in temporary accommodation, such as B&Bs and hotels, in March 2024, which is the highest number since records began in 1998. This was up 12.3 per cent on the same period last year.

Of these, 74,530 were families with children - up 14.7 per cent year-on-year - and the number of children who have been living in temporary accommodation for five years or more has risen by more than 3,000.

Our social affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft has the full story below:

The Conservatives have shared their anger after Sir Keir Starmer handed the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick was scathing about the British Indian Ocean Territory deal.

He said: “It’s taken three months for (Sir Keir) Starmer to surrender Britain’s strategic interests.

“This is a dangerous capitulation that will hand our territory to an ally of Beijing.”

Britain has agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius to secure the future of a secretive military base in the Pacific Ocean.

The government on Thursday said it would recognise the sovereignty of Mauritius over the archipelago under a new agreement, which also secures the rights of Britain to operate a military base at Diego Garcia for at least the next 99 years.

The Foreign Office said the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure following a political agreement between the two countries.

You can read the full story below:

A minister has claimed accepting freebies in opposition is “different” to doing so in government as she attempted to explain why Sir Keir Starmer has paid back the value of some Taylor Swift tickets, but not thousands of pounds worth of other gifts.

Industry minister Sarah Jones suggested Sir Keir and other Labour frontbenchers were taking free tickets to concerts and festivals while in opposition to “build relationships” with businesses.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story below:

In his new book ‘Unleashed’, Boris Johnson has revealed hearing Cummings in an interview for the BBC admitting that he had been conspiring to bring him down as prime minister.

He explained that the former adviser had been conspiring against him from early January 2020, just weeks after the massive election victory.

Reacting to the revelations, Mr Johnson wrote: “I mean WTF?”

“You might have thought that the honourable thiing to do would have been to resign, if that was how he really felt,” he added.

Boris Johnson has revealed how he originally dismissed the Dominic Cummings’ Barnard Castle row as “lefty journalists angry over Brexit”, David Maddox reports.

In his new book ‘Unleashed’, the former prime minister explained why he refused to sack his then-political adviser despite his infamous trip during the peak of the pandemic.

In his memoir, he claimed he had a “blazing row” with former colleague and friend Will Walden who urged him to sack Cummings.

But Johnson said he retorted: “The whole thing is a put up job. It’s just a load of lefty journalists who want payback for Brexit.”

The former New Labour leader has agreed with Kemi Badenoch’s remarks that “not all cultures are equally valid”.

The Tory leadership hopeful faced fierce criticism after claiming that some cultures are more valid when it comes to deciding who should be allowed into the UK.

Despite the backlash, Tony Blair agreed and insisted people should “assimilate into the common values”.

He told Politico: “Your cultural space is a space rich in diversity where you can pursue your own culture in what you do and the celebrations you have and the ceremonies you have and the faith you have.

“All of that’s absolutely fine. But when it comes to basic rules about democracy or, for example in our country now, rules about the role of women or people who are gay being entitled to equality, that’s not up for argument.

“You integrate with those things and it’s really important because otherwise you end up with the situation where people often say multiculturalism failed. No multiculturalism didn’t fail. There’s not a problem with most communities in the UK.”

The Greater Manchester mayor has refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer overstepped the bounds of rules around hospitality.

He was pressed on whether the prime minister repaying £6,000 in tickets and clothes meant he had accepted too many gifts.

Mr Burnham told Sky News: “I think everyone’s got to use their own judgement, haven’t they?”

He added: “I think he’s absolutely right to say, clearer rules are needed for everybody, so everyone knows exactly what’s expected.

“So, I think we’ve got to the right place here. And I think it will help all members of parliament.”

When asked if he would have taken freebies he said: “I’m not going to say that I’m holier than thou.”

The BBC has cancelled an interview with Boris Johnson after presenter Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sent the former prime minister her briefing notes.

Ms Kuenssberg, presenter of the BBC’s flagship Sunday political interview show, said she sent Mr Johnson the notes “in a message meant for my team”.

The BBC’s political editor between 2015 and 2022 said it was “embarrassing and disappointing”, adding the error meant it was “not right for the interview to go ahead”.

You can read the full story below:

And now Sir Tony Blair himself has commented on the row.

The former prime minister has urged Sir Keir Starmer to “rise above” the backlash and “get used to” the attacks.

He told a Politico podcast: “Dealing with politics at this level when you come under attack, which is, you know, it’s just the way it is. You’re going to have to get used to it.

“It’s going to be like that. But the single most important thing is always to have a driving purpose as a government.

“That is constantly rising above that because it will be, it is just part of modern politics today… It doesn’t worry me in, in terms of whether it can displace the overall [mission] of the government. But I agree you’ve got to deal with it and they’re trying to deal with it so, let them deal with it.”