Is Keir Starmer 'bold and brave' to suspend rebels?
The government are also reckoning with a revelation that leaked information compromised the safety of Afghans who supported the British military, and inflation has risen higher than expected.
Plus: Labour introduce plans to lower the voting age to 16.
Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Andrew Marr, George Eaton and Will Dunn to discuss.
[See also: Why Keir Starmer has purged Labour rebels again]
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Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
How many asylum seekers are in UK hotels and why are they being housed there?
The subject of asylum seekers being housed in hotels has come into sharp focus after a High Court ruling. On Tuesday, Epping Forest District Council was granted a temporary injunction blocking asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in the Essex town. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the latest overall data. – How many asylum seekers are in hotels across the UK? The most recent Home Office data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March. This was down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079. New figures – published among the usual quarterly immigration data release – are expected on Thursday, showing numbers in hotels at the end of June. Figures for hotels published by the Home Office date back to December 2022 and showed numbers hit a peak at the end of September 2023 when there were 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels. – How many hotels are in use for asylum seekers? It is thought there were more than 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023. Labour said this has since been reduced to fewer than 210. – Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels? Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation, known as contingency accommodation, if they are awaiting assessment of their claim or have had a claim approved and there is not enough longer-term accommodation available. The Home Office provides accommodation to asylum seekers who have no other way of supporting themselves on a 'no choice' basis, so they cannot choose where they live. When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to accommodation such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases. In May, the National Audit Office said those temporarily living in hotels accounted for 35% of all people in asylum accommodation. – Is this likely to be a permanent arrangement? Labour has pledged to end the 'costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament' – which would be 2029, if not earlier. Campaigners and charities have long argued that hotels are not suitable environments to house asylum seekers. The Refugee Council said they 'cost the taxpayer billions, trap people in limbo and are flashpoints in communities' and urged the Government to 'partner with local councils to provide safe, cost-effective accommodation within communities'. – What is the Government saying since the legal ruling? Ministers are 'looking at a range of different contingency options' following Tuesday's ruling, according to security minister Dan Jarvis In the immediate aftermath of the judgment, border security minister Dame Angela Eagle repeated criticism of the previous Conservative government, saying Labour had 'inherited a broken asylum system'. She said the Government would 'continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns' around asylum hotels. – What options does the Home Office have now? Last month, amid protests outside the Bell Hotel and more migrants crossing the Channel, an extra 400 spaces were being prepared to house male asylum seekers at RAF Wethersfield in Essex. The former military site, which has a usual capacity of 800 beds, is expected to house more adult men on a short-term basis. The Labour Government scrapped the large site of the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, earlier this year, while Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, is also due to end housing asylum seekers and be returned to the Ministry of Defence in September. – Why were there protests outside the Bell Hotel? The hotel in Epping has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl – something he has denied and he is due to stand trial later in August. After the High Court's ruling, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote in the Telegraph calling for Epping protests to inspire further action wherever there are concerns about the 'threat posed by young undocumented males' living in hotels. But on Tuesday more than 100 women's organisations wrote to ministers warning that vital conversations about violence against women and girls are being 'hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda' that fuels divisions and harms survivors. The joint statement, including from Rape Crisis England & Wales and Refuge, said: 'We have been alarmed in recent weeks by an increase in unfounded claims made by people in power, and repeated in the media, that hold particular groups as primarily responsible for sexual violence. 'This not only undermines genuine concerns about women's safety, but also reinforces the damaging myth that the greatest risk of gender-based violence comes from strangers.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Teenagers face missing out on their place in oversubscribed sixth forms amid 'fierce competition' following Labour's VAT raid on private schools
Pupils face 'fiercer than ever' competition for a sixth form place this year partly due to Labour's tax raid on private schools, experts claim. As hundreds of thousands of teenagers collect their GCSE results tomorrow, the scramble to bag an A-level place is expected to be the one of the worst on record. The 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, which came into force in January, could push more pupils into the state sector if they cannot afford it. In addition, the population of 16-year-olds has increased this year and grades are forecast to remain higher than before the pandemic. It all means large numbers are expected to get the grades needed for a sixth form place, with competition especially bad at the most selective institutions. Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at Exeter University, told PA Media: 'Competition for the most selective sixth forms will be fiercer than ever, with fears over VAT on private schools likely driving more families to seek out places in the state sector.' Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) added: 'As the population continues to grow – and the opportunities to increase capacity, to build new classroom blocks, is held back – it is going to go on getting more competitive.' And Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: 'It will be much tighter [this year].' Roughly one in five entries are expected to achieve at least a 7, equivalent to the old A. Last year, 21.7 per cent of grades in England hit this mark, a small rise on 2023 and the highest in 12 years. Grading has never returned to how low it was before the pandemic, when grades were wildly inflated due to teachers deciding grades. Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: 'It could be that we are seeing the emergence of a new normal, in which case this year's grading will resemble that of last year. 'Of course, there is always the chance that the regulators could make a further push to get back to pre-pandemic levels. 'However, since the top grades were not lowered in 2023 and 2024 when there was pressure to do so, it is more likely that they will stay high this year.' Across the UK, the proportion getting at least 7 last year was 21.8 per cent, but this was a fall from the previous year due to other nations bringing their grading down. This year, pupils in two areas will be receiving their results by app on their phones for the first time as part of a trial ahead of a national roll-out. The Education Record app will deliver results at 11am to 95,000 students in Manchester and the West Midlands. It comes after A-level pupils celebrated a bumper crop of grades last week, with entries graded at A and A* rising to an all-time high outside of the pandemic years, to well over a quarter of the total. As a result, the highest number of applicants ever – 439,180 – were accepted onto degree courses – up by 3.1 per cent on the same time last year. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has previously said the new VAT on private school fees is necessary to fund other public services including state schools. A Department for Education spokesman said: 'We know that capacity is a concern for some sixth form colleges, which is why we have provided £238 million of capital funding to create 24,000 additional places in post-16 education up to 2025. 'In addition, areas with the greatest demographic growth, specifically the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Leeds City Council, both received an allocation of £10 million in April 2025 to increase capacity and relieve pressure. 'Further education is crucial to breaking down barriers to opportunity and delivering the growth that our economy needs through our Plan for Change, which is why we are spending £1.2 billion more on skills by 2028/29.'
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Comprehensive trade embargo would halt aggression by Israel
The severe human rights violations perpetrated by Israel in Palestine could be curtailed within a month through the implementation of a comprehensive trade embargo against Israel. This would entail prohibiting flights, maritime activities and tourism associated with the nation. Specifically, no overflights should be allowed through the airspace of civilised nations, no vessels should be permitted in territorial waters, and all engagement should be limited to communications through Israel's delegation at the United Nations – constituting an unequivocal boycott of what may be characterised as a terrorist state until the current regime, seen as criminal by many, is compelled to respond to the dissatisfaction of its own citizenry. READ MORE: Ken Loach protests against UK's Palestine Action terror label It is essential to acknowledge the complexities surrounding such an approach, particularly concerning the safeguarding of Israel from external assaults during a period of internal upheaval, with Iran being a potential aggressor. Moreover, Palestine must recognise that the reality of the situation has irrevocably changed, and the consequences of the controversial establishment of the Israeli state in 1947 must be confronted, even if it leads to heightened hostilities. Since its establishment, Israel has been a source of persistent conflict in the Levant, arguably contributing to many of the issues plaguing the Middle East today. An examination of the actions of the British government reveals a need for accountability. The superficial expressions of concern and ineffectual criticisms emanating from a government perceived as failing must be recognised for what they are: a façade intended to obscure its complicity and servitude to the current US administration. R Mill Irving Gifford, East Lothian I DISAGREE with Lorna Slater's suggestion concerning the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. Checks are indeed necessary, in terms of the human rights inclusion, on firms in Scotland that are still supplying materials that enable armaments being sold to Israel. But to go on and suggest that there is no point in having 'human rights' checks if they are never carried out is totally wrong and defeatist. Of course we do need to have the power in place that enables the government to carry out its duty in carrying out human rights checks. Why it does not do so I have no idea, unless it's anything like the English government and more concerned with the business ethic ... if there is such a thing in this case! READ MORE: Politicians across UK demand Keir Starmer impose sanctions on Israel The Scottish Government is making the same pathetic excuse as David Lammy, that such enterprise funding goes towards research, training and apprenticeships. In much the same way Lammy says that Westminster money is for parts for F-35 jets which are supplying Nato as well Israel. All these pathetic excuses are a load of bollocks as well as a load of baloney. We need whatever rules are in place where armaments sales to other countries are concerned, in order to hold governments to account when they are misused or not used. We all know that Scotland is almost surrounded by the seas and so needs protection of its land, sea and air. In his excellent piece in The National, Paul Laverty questions Ian Murray about the Israeli genocide. He raises Article 3 of the 1951 Genocide Convention, and says that direct action is an 'international obligation'. Laverty goes on to suggests that 'even a semi-competent monk administrator in the Middle Ages could organise a system where one recipient did not receive materials from a pool, if the will was there'. Says it all, really!! Alan Magnus-Bennett Fife APPALLING though the images from Gaza are, the fact remains that so long as Hamas refuse to release their hostages and also to recognise the right of Israel to exist, then Netanyahu has all excuses he needs to just carry on. Starmer's position has rightly been recognised as at best being 'confused' and at worst 'hopelessly inept'. It needs to be revised, and we need a new and co-ordinated international approach. The UK et al should commit to an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, including acting to support its security and viability, conditional upon Hamas releasing the hostages and renouncing their long-held policy of seeking the destruction of Israel. Faced with this, what excuses would Netanyahu and the Zionists have left past sheer prejudice for ending hostilities and recognising that peace and justice go hand in hand? Of course, the international community would be looking for reasons to believe any commitment made by Hamas, but does anyone have a better option? Michael Collie Dunfermline
