Sir Keir Starmer has faced off with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs. Reform’s Nigel Farage was among the backbench MPs who got to pose a question – with Donald Trump inevitably brought up.
Wednesday 13 November 2024 22:23, UK
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Reporting by Faith Ridler. Earlier reporting byBen Bloch,Katie WilliamsandMark Wyatt.
By Tim Baker, political reporter
Pension “mega funds” will be created under government plans to increase infrastructure investment.
Reforms could “unlock £80bn” of investment, according to Treasury plans, which say bigger funds can get greater returns.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves wants to imitate the way large Canadian and Australian pension schemes work.
She will give more details about her plans in a speech at Mansion House on Thursday evening.
Almost 90 local government pension pots will be grouped together, with defined contribution schemes merged and assets pooled together.
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes.
There are new plans from Wes Streeting to reform the NHS – Jack and Sam discuss his league table plan, which isn’t going down well with all parts of the health service. Does some of it sound a bit like Tony Blair?
Donald Trump says he will nominate Fox News host and “anti-woke” commentator Pete Hegseth for his defence secretary. How will that go down at the UK’s Ministry of Defence and in other parts of the world?
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Back in October, the government struck an agreement with Mauritius to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
The deal includes the tropical atoll Diego Garcia used by the US and UK as a military base, although the UK will continue to use it for “an initial period of 99 years”.
What are the Chagos Islands?
The Chagos Islands is a group of seven atolls in the Indian Ocean, comprising over 60 Islands.
Mauritius has long argued that it was illegally forced to give up the islands in return for its own independence in 1968, and had already agreed to lease Diego Garcia to the US to use as a military base.
In recent years, the UK has been facing diplomatic pressure to renounce its claim to the islands, and these negotiations got under way before Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister.
Why was Britain facing pressure?
Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the military base.
The expulsions are regarded as one of the most shameful parts of Britain’s modern colonial history and Chagossians have spent decades fighting to return to the islands.
The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, previously ruled the UK’s administration of the territory was “unlawful” and must end.
Negotiations to hand them over began in November 2022, under the Conservative government, with James Cleverly as foreign secretary.
Once it was done, a joint statement by the prime ministers of the UK and Mauritius said the deal would “address wrongs of the past”.
The foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it would still secure the “vital” military base and ensure the UK can still play a role “safeguarding global security” in the Indo-Pacific.
What’s the reaction been?
Many Tories reacted with fury, even though the negotiations began under their party’s watch, and Reform’s Nigel Farage wasn’t happy either.
Critics warned the move will empower China.
It was welcomed by US President Joe Biden, who hailed the “historic agreement” as a “clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes”.
But there have been some reports Donald Trump, who will become president in the new year, isn’t as keen.
A Home Office minister has revealed that there have been 52 people-smuggling convictions and 24 flights of migrants sent home since the general election in July.
Lord Hanson of Flint told the House of Lords that 23 of those convicted of smuggling were running small boats across the English Channel.
He told peers: “The government is committed, overall, to meet its international responsibilities on asylum, to reduce the use of hotels, to smash the criminal gangs and to end the Rwanda scheme and to use that money in a productive way.
“On the criminal gangs aspect: since 4 July, which he will note is the election date, 53 people have been convicted of smuggling, 23 of those for running small boats, and they’re now currently enjoying 52 years in prison as a result.”
He added: “Since 5 July this year, we’ve had 24 flights sending people back who have no right to be in the United Kingdom, who mostly are economic migrants.
“And we’ve sent 46 individuals, for example, to Vietnam only on 24 July of this year.
“That will, I hope, in the long term send a signal about people who have a right to asylum and people who have no right to come to the United Kingdom.”
Larry the cat, Downing Street’s chief mouser, is undoubtedly the most famous feline in British politics.
But he’s about to have some competition on his paws.
Moggies belonging to MPs (or should that be the other way around?) are catfighting for the title of – wait for it – “purr-minister” in a contest by Battersea Cats and Dogs Home.
Like their masters (or servants), their fate will be decided by a public vote.
Among those competing are Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s Attlee and Layla Moran’s Murphy – but all should bow to the one true top political cat.
It’s Blossom, resident feline of the Politics Hub.
What a way to end the programme.
Stay with us for more updates through the evening.
Zoe Raven, the CEO and founder of Acorn Early Years Foundation, is now joining Sophy Ridge to discuss the impact of the budget.
She explains the hike in employers’ national insurance – and the drop in the threshold – has had a significant effect.
‘I’m massively disappointed in Labour’
“It’s blown a quarter of a million pound hole in our budget for next year,” she says, adding she has “no idea” how her nurseries will find that money.
“We’re a not-for-profit entity… we’re not interested in making large amounts of money,” Ms Raven says.
She adds that the policy will “definitely” cause some nurseries to close.
Ms Raven says she is “massively disappointed” in the Labour government: “All they seem to be focused on is breakfast clubs, which don’t help us at all.”
She adds that early needs professionals need to be paid a “differential” from the minimum wage.
Earlier today, Nigel Farage got to ask his first question at PMQs since becoming MP for Clacton back in July.
And he also got to ask an urgent question about the government’s deal which will see the Chagos Islands handed over to Mauritius.
With that double whammy, our chief political correspondent Jon Craig reckons the Reform UK leader’s had “his best day” as an MP since being elected four months ago.
Of course, by getting to pose a question to the prime minister, he left himself open to a response.
And as Jon says, it was “quite witty” for Sir Keir Starmer!
“Has he got a new gag writer?!”
You can watch their exchange below:
On the other side of the pond, Donald Trump has met Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the transition of power.
Trump famously refused to meet Biden after losing the election in 2020, but they’ve shaken hands and had a decent chat today.
For live updates – including on the Republicans winning the House of Representatives – head to our dedicated blog below:
Joining Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub tonight is health minister Karin Smyth, who is taking us through newly announced NHS reforms, including public league tables and denying pay rises to failing bosses.
She says today was about “setting out the stages of what reform might look like”, which will be followed up by “technical documents called NHS mandate and oversight frameworks”.
Ms Smyth tells Sky News: “We know some marvellous things happen in different parts of the NHS, some really high skilled care, some really efficient care.
“But we know that that is not spread throughout the system and that’s why we say we want to take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.”
She adds that the idea of a league table of NHS trusts is “not about punishing people”.
“If people aren’t doing the right job for their local populations, then it’s right that they are no longer there.
“I think most people would agree with that.”
If there’s one thing this government will be judged on, it’s the NHS.
Labour have promised to speak hard truths about the health service – a service that in their words is not on its knees but on its face.
And they’ve said there will be no more extra money without reform.
The problem is that’s exactly what appeared to happen in the budget: more money for the NHS, paid for by record levels of taxation, without spelling out exactly what the reform would be.
Well today we did get some more detail on reform.
League tables for hospitals, which the public can view – and if trusts continue bumping along the bottom, hospital bosses could be fired.
They were tried back in 2005, and while there is data that public league tables make a difference, there are concerns they can distort the system as trusts prioritise the areas they are publicly measured on.
But it’s fair to say if the government is going to turn around a health service it describes as “broken”, this has just got to be the beginning of the necessary reform.
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