UK politics live: Starmer says only viable option in Middle East is two-state solution

The Government has been criticised for spending billions on carbon capture and storage projects while it continues with its plans to means-test the winter fuel allowance.

Reform UK’s Richard Tice argued that millions of pensioners will view the decision to spend £22 billion on renewable energy as “absolutely extraordinary”.

Meanwhile, Tory former minister Andrew Murrison said the Chancellor’s decision to “magic” up money to fund the projects is surprising due to her recent focus on financial “black holes”.

This comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the plans to develop projects to capture and store carbon emissions from energy, industry and hydrogen production at a glassmaking factory in Cheshire last week, alongside Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves.

The NHS needs to “reform or die”, Wes Streeting told a debate discussing a major report into the health service.

The Health Secretary said that the choice over provision in England was either “NHS reform or no NHS”, as he said the country was at a critical point in determining the service’s future.

Mr Streeting was speaking about the report published by surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi of Denham which had criticised the Conservative Party’s record over the NHS while in government.

Mr Streeting told the Commons: “The NHS now stands at a fork in the road. There is a choice before us, and there are different opinions on the best way forward held by parties represented in the house today.

“The first option is for the NHS to continue on its current path, heading down the road to ruin, mismanaged decline, a status quo so poor, that patients are forced to raid their savings to go private.”

He later added: “Just so we’re clear on this side of the house, over my dead body. This Labour Government will always defend our NHS as a public service free at the point of use, so that whenever you fall ill, you never have to worry about the bill.”

The Work and Pensions Secretary has declined to put a figure on how many pensioners the Government thinks could die this winter as a result of fuel payment changes.

When asked by her Conservative shadow Mel Stride about “premature deaths”, Liz Kendall instead suggested the Tories should “apologise” for facilitating an extra 200,000 pensioners into poverty.

The Government has ended the universal scheme and will instead issue winter fuel payments of up to £300 to pensioners who receive some means-tested benefits, including pension credit and universal credit.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Mr Stride pointed to Labour research from 2017, when his party mooted a means-tested winter fuel payment system in its manifesto, which suggested almost 4,000 pensioners would die as a result of the policy.

He asked: “Does (Ms Kendall) stand by that figure of around 4,000, if not, how many premature deaths does she believe will occur as a result of this policy?”

The Cabinet minister said: “In 2017, his party’s manifesto promised to means-test winter fuel payments.

“So I would just say to (Mr Stride), until party members opposite know that they have to apologise to the British people for the 200,000 extra pensioners in poverty over the last 14 years, and for a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, which we are now putting right, which has put the public finances at risk, they will remain on those seats and we will remain on these.”

Ed Miliband has said “we are in a hurry to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower”.

The Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary told the Commons: “I can confirm to the House, we have agreed commercial terms and £21.7 billion of funding over 25 years for five carbon capture usage and storage projects across two clusters – HyNet in the North West and the East Coast Cluster in the North East.

“This announcement will enable construction of two transport and storage networks that will underpin this new industry – the highways for carbon capture – and the deals we’ve agreed will also kick-start development of Net Zero Teesside, the world’s largest gas with CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage) plant, Protos, a new CCUS energy-from-waste facility, and EETH, the UK’s first large-scale blue hydrogen project, indeed the cleanest in the world, both of them in Ellesmere Port.

“Crowding in £8 billion of private investment across these two clusters, creating 4,000 jobs in our industrial heartlands, and building an initial capacity to remove about 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each and ever year.”

Mr Miliband also said: “This is all part of a Government that in the last three months has shown we are in a hurry to deliver our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.”

Mel Stride has backed James Cleverly to be the next Tory leader.

The ex-work and pensions secretary, who is now shadowing his former Cabinet role, was eliminated from the Conservative leadership contest in the second round.

Mr Stride posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The Conservative Party needs to rebuild trust on economic competence, cutting migration and reforming public services. Strong, clear and measured. James has what it takes.”

Former party chairman and foreign and home secretary Mr Cleverly was the “standout candidate” at the Conservative Party conference last week when the four remaining leadership hopefuls set out their pitches to members, Mr Stride wrote in The Telegraph.

“We need a leader who both gets the need for the rapid reform of our party machine but who can also reach across the party and appeal to our broad base.

“Someone who has experience in government, the party, and is an effective communicator,” he wrote.

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the British Government to formally apologise for the forced removal of the Chagossian people from the Chagos Islands in the 1960s and 1970s.

Mr Corbyn, who sits as an independent MP and has been a longstanding campaigner on the issue, said when he was Labour leader that he would give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

He told the Commons on Monday: “Will the Foreign Secretary take this opportunity to recognise that what happened to the Chagossian people in the 1960s and 1970s was abominable, abusive, illegal and disgraceful, and many of them lived in poverty for many years after that in the Seychelles and in Mauritius?”

Mr Corbyn asked the Government to pay tribute to the Chagossians who had campaigned for a return to the islands. He added: “An apology is due to the Chagossian people for the way that they were treated.”

He went on to ask Foreign Secretary David Lammy whether they would be able to return to Diego Garcia, now the site of a UK and US military base.

Mr Lammy replied: “In relation to whether they will have the right to visit Diego Garcia, I have got to tell him that they will not have such a right under this treaty.

“Any resettlement or visits will be to the outer islands.”

David Lammy sought to reassure MPs that the deal with Mauritius “does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories”.

The Foreign Secretary told the Commons: “I want to reassure the House and all members of the UK family worldwide that this agreement does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories.

“British sovereignty on the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the sovereign base areas, is not up for negotiation. The situations are not comparable.

“This has been acknowledged across our overseas territories. Fabian Picardo, chief minister for Gibraltar, vocally supported this agreement, stating that there is no possible read across to Gibraltar on the issues of sovereignty.

“And similarly, the governor of the Falklands has confirmed that the historic context of the Chagos islands and Falklands are very different.

“The Government remains firmly committed to modern partnerships with our overseas territories based on mutual consent.

“After Mauritius’ elections, the Government will move towards treaty signature, and it is then our intention to pursue ratification in 2025 by submitting the treaty and the Bill to this House for scrutiny.

“This is a historic moment, a victory for diplomacy. We saved the base. We secured Britain’s national interest for the long term.”

Giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands “strengthens our arguments when it comes to issues like Ukraine”, David Lammy has said.

He told the Commons: “Under the previous government, there were 11 rounds of negotiations, the last one held just weeks before the general election was called, so in July this government inherited unfinished business where the threat was real and inaction was not a strategy.”

Mr Lammy added: “Inaction posed several acute risks to the United Kingdom. First, it threatened the UK-US base from countering malign Iranian activity in the Middle East to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“It’s critical for our national security. Without surety of tenure, no base can operate effectively nor truly deter our enemies. Critical investment decisions were already being delayed.

“Second, it impacted on our relationship with the United States who neither wanted nor welcomed the legal uncertainty and strongly encouraged us to strike a deal. I am a trans-Atlanticist. We had to protect this important relationship.

“And third, it undermined our international standing where showing what we mean is what we say on international law and our desire for partnerships with the Global South. This strengthens our arguments when it comes to issues like Ukraine or the South China Sea.”

David Lammy has sought to reassure MPs that the deal with Mauritius to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands “does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories”.

The foreign secretary said: “I want to reassure the House and all members of the UK family worldwide that this agreement does not signal any change in policy to Britain’s other overseas territories.

“British sovereignty on the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the sovereign base areas, is not up for negotiation. The situations are not comparable.

“This has been acknowledged across our overseas territories. Fabian Picardo, chief minister for Gibraltar, vocally supported this agreement, stating that there is no possible read across to Gibraltar on the issues of sovereignty.

“And similarly, the governor of the Falklands has confirmed that the historic context of the Chagos islands and Falklands are very different.

“The government remains firmly committed to modern partnerships with our overseas territories based on mutual consent.

“After Mauritius’ elections, the government will move towards treaty signature, and it is then our intention to pursue ratification in 2025 by submitting the treaty and the Bill to this House for scrutiny.

“This is a historic moment, a victory for diplomacy. We saved the base. We secured Britain’s national interest for the long term.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy told MPs that the deal to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands is “strongly supported by partners” and recognises the “wrongs of the past”.

He told MPs: “It is strongly supported by partners, with President Biden going so far as to applaud our achievement. Within minutes of the announcement, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin have also backed this successful outcome, which reaffirms our special defence relationship.”

“This agreement will be underpinned by a financial settlement that’s acceptable to both sides. Members will be aware the government does not normally reveal payments for our military base overseas, and so it would be inappropriate to publicise further details of these arrangements at this stage.

“The agreement also recognises the rights and wrongs of the past. The whole House would agree that the manner in which Chagossians were forcibly removed in the 1960s was deeply wrong and regrettable.

“Mauritius is now free to implement a resettlement programme to islands other than Diego Garcia.

“The United Kingdom and Mauritius have also committed to support Chagossians welfare, establishing an entrust fund capitalised by the UK and providing additional government support to Chagossians in the UK and the UK will maintain the pathway for Chagossians to obtain British citizenship.”