No 10 suggests UK would not vote for UN security council resolution condemning US arrest of Maduro – as it happened

The Downing Street lobby briefing was mostly taken up with questions about Venezuela. Here are the main points.The PM’s spokesperson did not contest the Times report claiming that, if the UN security council votes on a resolution criticising the US intervention in Venezuela, the UK will abstain. (See 12.11pm

Let me explain why we can’t stand Keir Starmer | Letters

Polly Toynbee writes of Keir Starmer: “The venom against a man who is serious and decent, with an impressive tally of good done, is a mystery to me” (Labour could oust Starmer, he could elegantly step aside – but without a plan, it will all be for nothing, 30 December). Let me enlighten her: all those good things are overshadowed and obscured by the more conspicuous contemptible ones.This includes sucking up (other phrases are available) to a particularly changeable and untrustworthy head of a foreign state; appeasing the financial markets at the cost of unrelieved austerity for our public services; continuing to underfund and privatise the NHS, the single thing almost all of the electorate value most highly; approving sales of arms which he must be aware may be used for war crimes; selectively criminalising protest; equivocating towards our European friends; not only failing to call out but actively seeking to appease the far right; and, in short, not leading a Labour government.Dr Katy Jennison Witney, Oxfordshire Polly Toynbee can’t understand why Starmer is so unpopular. How about the fact that he junked his platform policies shortly after members like me elected him

Reform UK accused of ‘empty rhetoric’ over plan to hike council tax 5% in Derbyshire

A Reform-led local authority has confirmed it is planning to increase council tax by the maximum allowed amount, despite promises during the local election to reduce taxes.Derbyshire county council confirmed the rise after predicting a £38m gap in its budget, with overspends in children’s social care and adult social care.It is now one of four local authorities where Reform UK has a majority or is the biggest party to have proposed 5% council tax rises, according to recent announcements.This includes North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire and Leicestershire county councils.In addition, a 5% council tax rise has not been ruled out by leaders at Reform-led Lancashire and Kent county councils, as well as in Warwickshire

‘See no evil, hear no evil’: Starmer goes on full sycophant alert | John Crace

Let’s face it. What’s a bloke got to do to win the Nobel peace prize these days? I mean the much-coveted inaugural Fifa peace prize is all very well – The Donald is slated to win that one in perpetuity – but it’s the Scandi laureate that is the real deal. The one that people will remember. And what more could the US president have possibly done to secure the £1m prize last year than to end at least eight global conflicts. Including ones between countries that didn’t even know they were at war with one another

Scottish Labour urges Keir Starmer to stay out of Holyrood campaign

Keir Starmer and senior ministers have been urged by Scottish Labour to “stay behind their doors” in Whitehall to avoid turning the next Holyrood election into a referendum on UK government failures.Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, said the prime minister’s policy failures and missteps had left voters “angry, frustrated and impatient”, leaving his party clear underdogs before May’s election.Asked during a speech in Edinburgh whether he wanted Starmer to campaign in Scotland, Sarwar said: “I would say the best thing that Keir Starmer and the UK Labour government can do is be behind their doors and in their departments getting things right and changing our outcomes.”Addressing a room packed with Labour parliamentarians, candidates and activists, Sarwar said the party had failed to communicate its achievements to voters – including raising wages and tackling NHS waiting lists – while making serious errors, such as cancelling the winter fuel payment.Scottish Labour’s leadership and strategists are privately furious about what they see as No 10’s policy and communication failures, believing they have squandered substantial polling leads, after resoundingly beating the Scottish National party in the 2024 general election and in two byelections

Venezuela attack could embolden China and Russia, says Emily Thornberry

The lack of western condemnation of the US military intervention in Venezuela could embolden China and Russia to take similar action against other countries, a senior Labour MP has warned.Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said that without a coherent and strong response to Donald Trump’s move at the weekend to remove the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and bring him to the US, the norms of international law could break down.Keir Starmer and his ministers have not condemned the operation. Speaking on Monday, the home affairs minister Mike Tapp said it was for the US “to lay out its legal basis for the actions that it has taken” and that it was not yet possible for the UK to have a view.Thornberry said she was worried the US had not planned for what came next after Maduro was snatched on Saturday and flown to New York