During her BBC Breakfast interview Kemi Badenoch claimed that the government has dropped the plans for five local inquiries into grooming gang, or child rape scandals, that were announced in January,As she was trying to fend of the questions about Adolescence, she said:One of the things that I’m more bothered by is the fact that just yesterday, we had Labour telling us that they’re not going to be investigating the rape gang scandal, something which had happened all across the country,That’s real,That’s happening right now,We’re not talking about that.

And, in a subsequent interview with Sky News, she suggested that some sort of cover up was going on,She said:I am absolutely astonished that Labour has dropped what it said it would do in January,And, as I said to Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions, if he did not have a full national inquiry, people will start to think that there is a cover-up,They are clearly uncomfortable with having inquiries that are looking into this issue,They said that they will have a pot of money for councils to bid in.

But why would a council bid for money to investigate itself?(Badenoch may have forgotten that the grooming gang inquiry story only became a big media controversy in January after GB News reported that the government had rejected a request from Oldham council for a public inquiry into the grooming gang scandal in the town in the past,)Other Tories have also claimed Starmer is engaged in a cover-up,Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, posed this on social media last night,As a rule I believe in mess ups rather than conspiracy,But if true that Labour have shelved even the most limited public enquiries into grooming gangs, it does suggest that powerful Labour politicians have something to hide.

Why not seek the truth?The Conservatives have been claiming that the five local rape gang inquiries have been dropped on the basis of what Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, told MPs in a statement on Tuesday.Phillips did not say the inquiries were being dropped.But she could not report any progress being made towards setting them up, and she set out what sounded like a lengthy process that might lead to inquiries turning into victims’ panels.She said:We are developing a new best practice framework to support local authorities that want to undertake victim-centred local inquiries or related work, drawing on the lessons from local independent inquiries such as those in Telford, Rotherham and Greater Manchester.We will publish the details next month.

Alongside that, we will set out the process through which local authorities can access the £5m national fund to support locally-led work on grooming gangs.Following feedback from local authorities, the fund will adopt a flexible approach to support both full independent local inquiries and more bespoke work, including local victims’ panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases.Today, in an interview with LBC, Yvette Cooper rejected claims that plans for the local inquiries were being watered down.She said:There’s a huge information about this.This is completely wrong.

We’re actually increasing, not reducing, the action being taken on this.Child sexual exploitation, grooming gangs – these are some of the most vile crimes, things like rape or exploitation, coercion.We’re increasing the action against that.So we’ve already set out one local inquiry – that will be in Oldham.We’re drawing up the framework at the moment for the further local inquiries.

We’ve got the Louise Casey audit that’s underway at the moment.Asked if the five local inquiries promised in January would go ahead, she replied: “Yes, there may be more.”Even though some of the worst grooming gangs scandals were happening up to 20 years ago, and even thought there have been multiple prosecutions and inquiries into these crimes over the past decade or more, the Conservatives and Reform UK are picking up significant public and media support with their argument that the full truth is being withheld and further inquiries are needed.According to Sky News, Phillips plans to hold a briefing for Labour MPs worried about this issue at 5pm this afternoon.Yvette Cooper has said the government is pressing ahead with local grooming gang inquiries, as Labour MPs warned the right was “weaponising” claims that the party watered down its promise to hold them in five areas.

Keir Starmer has rejected a suggestion that President Trump is not taking his calls over tariffs.(See 4.23pm.)Nigel Farage has rebuffed a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch that Conservative and Reform UK councillors could form coalitions in town halls after the local elections.The Cabinet Office will shrink in size by about a third, with about 1,200 jobs to go and another 900 transferred to other departments, it has been revealed.

Hospitals in England are being offered unlimited bonus payments to remove people they decide do not need treatment from their waiting lists amid warnings that thousands of patients most in need are still facing unacceptable delays.China has confirmed that the head of the British military paid an unannounced visit to the country this week, where he met his counterpart at a time when Beijing’s trade dispute with the US was intensifying.Internal Labour polling suggests Reform UK could overtake the party in next year’s Senedd elections, sources have said.Keir Starmer has spoken to the Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba today, No 10 said.In a readout of the call, a Downing Street spokesperson said:On trade, the leaders agreed that a trade war does not benefit anyone, and that now is the time for a cool, calm and pragmatic approach.

They agreed on the importance of likeminded partners such as the UK and Japan to work closely together to lower trade barriers.Through trading blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and working bilaterally, there are many options to accelerate growth.The number of businesses reporting a cybersecurity breach or attack in the last 12 months has fallen slightly compared with the previous year, PA Media reports.PA says:The annual Cyber Security Breaches Survey, published by the Home Office, found that 43% of businesses and 30% of charities had experienced a breach or attack in the last year, which for businesses was down from 50% last year.The report said the decrease was down to fewer small businesses reporting attacks, but warned that the prevalence of breaches among medium and large businesses remained high.

According to the figures, it was estimated that the average cost of the most disruptive breach for each business in the last 12 months was £1,600 for businesses and £3,240 for charities.Cyber attacks on businesses and infrastructure have become increasingly common, and the government has unveiled plans to introduce new legislation – the cyber security and resilience bill – designed to compel firms to beef up their cyber defences and better protect the UK from the growing threat.Hospitals in England will receive unlimited “incentive payments” to remove people they decide do not need treatment from their waiting lists amid warnings that thousands of patients most in need are still facing unacceptable delays, Andrew Gregory reports.Jessica Murray is the Guardian’s social affairs correspondent.Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, has urged striking bin workers in Birmingham to accept an “improved” deal, as she met volunteers clearing rubbish that has piled up on the city’s streets since workers commenced an all-out strike last month.

Rayner and the local government minister, Jim McMahon, visited Birmingham today to meet staff involved in clearing the backlog and volunteers clearing up their area,Rayner said:The people of Birmingham are our first priority – this dispute is causing misery and disruption to residents and the backlog must be dealt with quickly to address public health risks,She said the government was working with Birmingham city council to “accelerate clearing the backlog and rapidly improve the situation on the ground”, while neighbouring local authorities were providing additional vehicles and crews,I have pressed both sides to negotiate at pace to urgently find a resolution,There is now a better offer on the table and I would urge Unite to suspend the action and accept the improved deal so we achieve fairness for both workers and residents of this city.

The Times has reported there are internal ructions within Unite, which is representing the striking workers, over the justification of the strikes, with one union source describing the action as “vexatious”,The council has stated just 17 workers will see their pay affected, which Unite has disputed,More than 100 refuse collection vehicles, staffed by agency workers, have been placed on extended shifts each day as the council ramps up efforts to clear piles of rubbish in the city,On Tuesday, the health secretary Wes Streeting said the situation was “not good for public health” and said he thought the “dispute had escalated way out of hand”,The Green MP Siân Berry has said reopening Doncaster Sheffield airport does not make economic sense.

In posts on social media, she said:Reopening Doncaster airport makes no economic sense,It was deemed no longer financially viable in 2022 with airlines choosing to fly from the three airports that lie within 60 miles of Doncaster,How long before it closes again, and more jobs are lost?This Govt should invest in improving transport links between Doncaster, the East Midlands, Manchester and Leeds, to generate sustainable jobs and a way to reach them with reliable, green public transport, as well as helping people access existing airports for existing flights,Berry also posted a link to a Yorkshire Post leader article expressing doubts about the plan,It says:The big question now will be whether the airport can be a financial success in the hands of the public sector.

DSA made losses in every financial year of its operation between 2005 and 2022 under private ownership, collectively adding up to almost £180m.Council officials have said they believe they can attract up to five airlines to use DSA and quadruple its previous freight traffic figures.It now appears they will get the opportunity to turn that vision into a reality.Keir Starmer has rejected a suggestion that President Trump is not taking his calls over tariffs.In an interview with ITV’s Carl Dinnen, who asked if Starmer had spoken to Trump since the president imposed 10% tariff on all British exports to the US, Starmer said his team was talking to Trump’s “every day”, discussing what could be done to reduce the tariffs.

When Dinnen put it to the PM that it sounded as though Trump was not taking his calls, Starmer replied:No, not at all.You have to understand that, for the UK and the US, our teams talk all of the time, whether that’s on defence, on security, on intelligence and on trade, on a deal.So that is constantly going on.That’s what you’d expect of two very close allies.But, at the same time, I’m clear that this is a change which isn’t, in my view, temporary, and therefore we’ve got to do the hard yards of making sure we’re turbocharging our own economy … also talking to to other world leaders about what we can do to lower trade barriers.

ITV has posted the clip on social media.'With respect prime minister, it feels like Trump's not taking your calls...'@carldinnen grills Starmer on whether he's spoken to Donald Trump since he put 10% tariffs on the UKThe PM insists 'my team are in contact with the President's team every day' pic.

twitter.com/ZsABY10wkwToday Keir Starmer has been publicising two potentially popular government announcements.First, the government is backing plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield airport.According to the news release, the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government is supporting the decision by Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire mayor, “to invest £30m devolved funding in critical infrastructure to support the creation of a sustainable aviation hub, propelling regional prosperity and driving private investment into Yorkshire”.Starmer put it more bluntly on social media:As part of our Plan for Change, Doncaster Sheffield Airport will re-open: turbocharging economic growth and putting money back in the pockets of working people across communities like Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley.

Doncaster is one of the six places in England where mayoral elections are taking place on 1 May.Labour won easily four years ago, but Reform UK is hoping to do well in this contest.And, second, the Home Office has announced details of new rules to beef up neighbourhood policing.Starmer has been talking about those this afternoon.(See 3.

19pm.)You may wonder why this is allowed.Under so-called “purdah” rules, the government is supposed to hold off announcing anything party political during an election campaign.It is allowed to carry on governing, but it is not supposed to use government resources to announce things (like new airports) that might confer electoral advantage.The dates are not fixed.

A Commons library briefing note says:For UK and devolved government departments the pre-election period for local elections is not fixed to any particular date.The general convention is that special care should be taken in the three weeks preceding the elections.For local elections in England in 2025 that is 10 April to 1 May.The Doncaster Sheffield airport announcement, and the neighbourhood policing announcement, were both dated 9 April.In a news release issued overnight the Home Office announced that “every neighbourhood in England and Wales will have dedicated teams who will spend their time on the beat with guaranteed police patrols in town centres and other hotspot areas at peak times such as Friday and Saturday nights”.

On a visit to Cambridge, Keir Starmer has gone a bit further, saying that 3,000 of the 13,000 extra neighbourhood police and PCSOs (police community support officers) that the government is pledged to recruit by the end of this parliaemnt will be in place by March next year.Addressing police officers, Starmer said:I want you to have the tools that you need to do the job that we ask you to do.With our neighbourhood policing guarantee, we’ll deliver 13,000 new neighbourhood officers by 2029.And today I can announce the first step, 3,000 new neighbourhood officers by the start of next year – all of them visible, on the beat and serving their communities, not stuck behind a desk, or taken away to plug shortages from elsewhere.And from this July, so a few months time, every neighbourhood will have a named contactable officer.

They’ll have guaranteed police patrols in town centres and hot spots, particularly at peak times like Friday and Saturday nights,People will be able to go online and measure how their local neighbourhood team is performing,There will be a range of ways for local residents and businesses to raise their concerns and to demand change from their neighbourhood policing team,Kemi Badenoch does not always get a good write-up in the Economist, but here is a second Economist political correspondent applauding her response to complaints on BBC Breakfast this morning about her not watching Adolescence,(See 11.

23am,) This is from Matthew Holehouse on Bluesky,If she could channel it better, Badenoch’s scarcely-concealed view that much of politics is silly bullshit could be quite popular,