Badenoch declines to criticise Jenrick over Reform coalition comments – as it happened

Kemi Badenoch has not criticised Robert Jenrick, or disciplined him, over his comments about the possible need for a Conservative/Reform UK “coalition” by the time of the next election. (See 9.04am.)Speaking at a post-PMQs briefing, Badenoch’s spokesperson said the Tory leader “agrees” with Jenrick that that “we need to bring centre-right voters together”.Asked about Badenoch’s reaction to the Sky News report about what Jenrick said, Badenoch’s spokesperson said:She took his words at face value

Russia imposes sanctions on 15 UK MPs over ‘hostile statements’

Russia has imposed sanctions on 15 UK MPs and six members of the House of Lords, banning them from the country over what it called “hostile statements and unfounded accusations” about Moscow.The Russian foreign affairs ministry published a statement on Wednesday accusing the UK of “fabricating anti-Russian narratives” and attempting to “demonise” the country.The ministry announced sanctions against 21 British politicians from across the political spectrum, targeting parliamentarians who have called for frozen Russian assets to be seized and used to fund Ukraine’s war effort.Those hit with sanctions include Labour’s Phil Brickell, Jeevun Sandher, Johanna Baxter and Blair McDougall, and the Liberal Democrats’ Alistair Carmichael, Chris Coghlan, Helen Maguire and James MacCleary.Stephen Gethins, of the Scottish National party, and Jim Shannon, of the Democratic Unionist party, are also on the list

Labour must do the right thing on two-child benefit cap | Letters

If ministers are “privately ruling out” scrapping the two-child social security limit in part because polls suggest that voters support it, that is profoundly depressing (Ministers privately ruling out scrapping two-child benefits cap, 21 April). Tony Blair once observed that politicians face a tension between wooing and leading the electorate. This is an issue on which to lead.If voters see the two-child limit as “a matter of fairness”, as claimed, we have a responsibility to explain why it is so unfair on children and on their parents, both in and out of work. While lifting the two-child limit is not a sufficient condition for eradicating child poverty, it is a necessary condition

UK overtures to China worry Hongkongers | Letter

As a Hongkonger with a British national (overseas) – BNO – passport who is now living in Britain, I read your editorial about the UK’s evolving position on China with both personal and political weight (The Guardian view on UK-China relations: a dilemma made sharper by Brexit, 16 April). For many of us who left Hong Kong following the imposition of the national security law, the threat from the ruling regime was not abstract – it was immediate, personal and existential.Our migration was not simply a search for better opportunities but a necessary departure from a city whose freedoms were being rapidly dismantled.The UK’s cautious recalibration of its relationship with Beijing raises complex emotions. On one hand, I understand the economic pressures that compel governments to engage with China

Scottish Greens table amendment to scrap king’s stamp duty exemption

Opposition politicians in Scotland have called for King Charles to lose his unique exemption from paying stamp duty on his property transactions.The Scottish Green party has tabled changes to a housing bill which would require the king to pay tax on any new property he buys in Scotland in the same way as all other property buyers would.Under a longstanding convention, British monarchs are exempt from paying taxes, including on their personal income, shareholdings, inheritances, property transactions or business income from their extensive private estates.However, the king voluntarily pays the standard rate of income tax on some of his personal income, and capital gains tax. The royal household would not comment on the Scottish Green proposals but said he also pays local property rates voluntarily

Robert Jenrick vows to ‘bring coalition together’ to prevent Tory-Reform fight

Robert Jenrick has told a private meeting he will try to ensure that the Tories and Reform do not compete against each other at the next election, saying to do so would hand a second term to Keir Starmer.In leaked comments obtained by Sky News, the shadow justice secretary said he would “bring this coalition together … one way or another” – though a source close to Jenrick denied he meant a pact with the party and said he was referring to voters.The comments from the former Conservative leadership contender – who is seen as a potential replacement for Kemi Badenoch if the party’s fortunes do not improve – are the clearest sign yet that the Tories do not believe they can win the next election while Reform remains an independent political force.Speaking to the UCL Conservative Society dinner in late March, he said Nigel Farage’s Reform was doing “well in the polls. And my worry is that they become a kind of permanent or semi-permanent fixture on the British political scene