Starmer says government will step in if fuel companies rip off customers as trade body U-turns on decision not to meet Reeves – as it happened

The PA news agency has reported that the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) will attend the meeting with chancellor Rachel Reeves today, shortly after it said it had withdrawn earlier this afternoon.The PRA has deleted a series of posts on X in which it said it had pulled out over concerns that “inflammatory language” from ministers had led to retail staff being abused by the public.That’s all from us on the UK politics live blog, thanks for following along. Here is a recap of today’s developments:Prime minister Keir Starmer said the government “will step in” if fuel companies “try to rip off customers”. He issued the statement ahead of a Downing Street meeting between chancellor Rachel Reeves and petrol retailers to warn against profiteering amid the Iran war

Starmer may face more resignations after release of Mandelson WhatsApp messages, say sources

Keir Starmer could suffer further resignations when ministerial WhatsApp messages are published in the next tranche of the Peter Mandelson files, senior government sources have told the Guardian.With officials bracing for the subsequent releases – expected to include informal communications alongside formal messages like those in the first batch – Starmer apologised again on Thursday over his handling of Mandelson’s appointment, saying: “It was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of [Jeffrey] Epstein, and I do that.”The disclosures are not expected to be released for several weeks and are still to be fully collated. They will then be examined by the intelligence and security committee of MPs and peers, which will judge which are safe to release on national security grounds.The releases were forced by a parliamentary motion passed by the Conservatives after Mandelson was sacked just nine months into his job as US ambassador after new details emerged about his ties to Epstein

In linking Iran to Russia, Healey could be laying ground for hard choices ahead

After a week or so of wearing media coverage about the deterioration of the Anglo-American relationship and the belated decision to deploy Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon to Cyprus, it was time to move the conversation on.On a visit to the UK’s permanent military headquarters in Northwood, north-west London, the defence secretary, John Healey, asked two senior British military officers if there was “any sign of a link between Russia and Iran” in the sprawling conflict that has suddenly engulfed the Middle East.It was obvious Healey knew what answer he was going to get. The night before, it emerged, an unspecified number of drones had struck a coalition base, used by British and other anti-Islamic State forces, in Erbil, northern Iraq. Though there are no reports of serious casualties, it was a relatively rare hit on a western target

New Green MP calls for tolerance and inclusivity in first Commons speech

Hannah Spencer, the Green MP who won last month’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has used her first speech in the Commons to call for tolerance and inclusivity, and to argue for more people from manual working backgrounds to be elected to parliament.Saying she wanted to “make hope normal again”, Spencer used a speech in a debate about International Women’s Day to say she had found out that some children had dressed up for events marking the day at their schools as “Hannah the plumber”, wearing overalls and copying her distinctive hairstyle.Spencer overturned a 13,000 Labour majority in the byelection, defeating the Reform candidate, Matthew Goodwin, and pushing Keir Starmer’s party to third.“Four weeks ago today I was in college, a plumber learning how to plaster,” she began on Thursday. “And today I’m in parliament, as an MP

Why the hell did Starmer pick Mandelson? The latest mug on the media round had no idea | John Crace

You could smell the fear among senior ministers on Wednesday night. No one wanted to be “that person”. The mug who would be sent out on the Thursday morning media round to answer the inevitable barrage of questions about Peter Mandelson. The equivalent to a two-hour-long walk of shame, and one entirely of the prime minister’s making.The Cabinet Office minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, thought he had all bases covered

Gerry Adams was leader of IRA, ex-police officers tell high court

Gerry Adams was the leader of the Irish Republican Army, two former police officers have told the high court.The former Sinn Féin leader is being sued for symbolic “vindicatory” damages of £1 each by John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who allege he was culpable for three separate IRA bombings in which they were injured.Adams denies ever having been a member of the IRA or having sat on its army council.On Thursday, however, Tim Hanley, a retired detective for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and a former RUC special branch intelligence officer anonymised as “witness B”, gave evidence that Adams had led the proscribed organisation.Hanley said in his written witness statement: “There is no question in my mind that Adams was the leader of the PIRA [Provisional IRA]; that’s what all the intelligence concluded