LIVE: Trump wades in on Starmer crisis

Donald Trump has said it would be ‘tough’ for Sir Keir Starmer to survive politically unless he deals with immigration and energy policy.

Speaking on board Air Force One as he returns from a state visit to China, the President said: ‘He’s in a lot of trouble’.

Trump said Sir Keir needed to ‘straighten out immigration’ and open up the North Sea for oil, adding he’s ‘very bad’ on energy.

Asked if he should quit, Trump told reporters:

I don’t say that. I think he’s a nice man, actually. I didn’t like when he said we’re going to send ships [to Iran] as soon as you’re finished with the war.

Watch the Presidents remarks in our video here:

Nigel Farage has described Sir Keir Starmer as Reform’s greatest asset and this shows why.

The party will be desperate to end Andy Burnham’s planned return to Westminster at the Makerfield by-election.

Parliament’s intelligence watchdog has criticised the Government for redacting documents relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador in a fresh headache for Sir Keir Starmer.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said it has made its final decisions on redactions to 337 documents connected to the appointment on national security grounds.

But in a statement, the ISC raised ‘concerns’ about wider redactions, including individuals’ personal data, email addresses and the identities of junior civil servants.

The committee said it did not think the motion passed by the Commons demanding documents related to the appointment allowed redactions ‘other than on grounds of prejudice to UK national security and international relations’.

The ISC also suggested redactions on non-security grounds were ‘being applied far too broadly’, and accused the Government of withholding documents despite not having ‘the authority to do so’.

There will be no ‘long honeymoon’ for Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner or Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, with the parliamentary Labour Party simply unable to do the ‘difficult things’ required to tackle Britain’s existential problems, James Tapsfield has told the Deep Dive podcast.

The Daily Mail’s UK Political Editor argued that British politics is increasingly becoming ‘a zero-sum game’ as years of stagnant economic growth force politicians to fight over a finite pot.

Across the parliamentary Labour Party, few MPs seem willing to admit that ‘sacrifices’, at least in the short term, are needed to stabilise and grow the nation’s finances.

Sir Keir Starmer has returned to social media for the first time since the resignation of Wes Streeting plunged his premiership into chaos.

The Prime Minister has posted an X post taking aim at the Unite the Kingdom organisers ahead of a march in London tomorrow.

The Government has blocked 11 foreign nationals described by Sir Keir as ‘far-right agitators’ from entering the UK ahead of the Tommy Robinson led rally.

Right-wing figures claiming to have been barred include Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski, Belgian politician Filip Dewinter, anti-Islam commentator Valentina Gomez and Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek.

Andy Burnham on a run near his home in Cheshire

by David Wilcock, Deputy Political Editor

Wes Streeting heaped fresh pressure on Sir Keir Starmer today as he backed Andy Burnham’s plot to return to Westminster and become prime minister.

Less than 24 hours after quitting as health secretary ahead of an expected run at the top job himself, Mr Streeting said there should be no obstacles to the Greater Manchester mayor standing in the Makerfield by-election.

Mr Burnham last night launched the first stage of what is seen as a campaign to take control of Labour and the country that could put him in No10 by the summer.

If cleared by Labour bigwigs he plans to run in a by-election in the Greater Manchester seat vacated especially for him by incumbent Josh Simons – a former Starmer loyalist.

Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell today suggested that Labour’s National Executive Committee would not stand in Mr Burnham’s way as it had ahead of a by-election in Gorton and Denton earlier this year which Labour lost to the Greens.

Andy Burnham has been offered a path back to Parliament after a Labour MP stood down, triggering a by-election which he hopes to contest.

Former minister Josh Simons said he planned on resigning to allow the Mayor of Greater Manchester a path to a sensational return to Parliament.

But Nigel Farage has vowed to ‘throw absolutely everything’ at the Makerfield by-election to halt Mr Burnham’s dream of a return to Westminster.

The by-election, should Mr Burnham be allowed to stand as Labour’s candidate, is shaping up to be a big test of the ‘King of the North’ and his local popularity.

But do you think he can win it? Vote in the Daily Mail’s latest poll:

Sir Keir Starmer has visited a police station to discuss operational planning ahead of two protests in London on Saturday.

The Prime Minister was pictured listening to Met Police Commander Clair Haynes during his visit.

More than 4,000 police officers have been drafted in to ensure safety at a pro-Palestine demonstration and Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally.

In addition, the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City will be played at Wembley.

The Prime Minister is not taking questions from the media during his visit.

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by Andrew Pierce

If Angela Rayner is to be believed, she waited a surprisingly long time to tell the world about her strikingly convenient letter from HMRC confirming she had been ‘cleared’ of impropriety over her failure to pay tens of thousands of pounds in stamp duty on her luxury flat in Hove, East Sussex.

The letter, she has suggested, arrived on Tuesday – helpfully clearing the dark clouds of the tax investigation that had been hanging over her since September last year.

Tuesday, of course, was the day rebellious ministers were resigning and dozens of MPs were calling on Sir Keir Starmer to go.

You might imagine that Ms Rayner, 46, would have immediately wanted to release this revelation to the media, given her well-publicised ambition to become prime minister herself.

Read the full column by Andrew Pierce here:

A ministerial aide to former health secretary has today resigned from her role.

Rosie Wrighting, who served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Health, has followed her former boss out of the Government and backed his decision to quit yesterday.

Ms Wrighting wrote on X: ‘He never shies away from the right principled decision, even in difficult times’.

Turning to her own resignation, Ms Wrigthing said Labour ‘must show that we can be better than this, that politics can change things for the good and offer people hope’.

Allies of Wes Streeting insist the former health secretary will stand in a future Labour leadership contest to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

In his resignation letter, Mr Streeting said he had lost the confidence of the Prime Minister with his move to quit plunging Sir Keir’s premiership into chaos.

One of his supporters told HuffPost UK: ‘He has the numbers and will be a candidate when there’s a contest’.

Following his resignation, Mr Streeting called for a broad leadership contest in a move widely seen as welcoming Andy Burnham to take part.

Allies of Sir Keir suggested Mr Streeting did not have the numbers needed to trigger a formal leadership challenge.

Former health secretary Wes Streeting has insisted Andy Burnham gives Labour the ‘best chance’ of beating Reform in the Makerfield by-election.

Mr Streeting, who quit the Government yesterday over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, says Mr Burnham is one the ‘best players on the pitch’.

In a post on X, he wrote:

We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them. The Makerfield by-election will be tough.

Votes will need to be earned. Andy is the best chance of winning and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person.