Starmer suffers record ratings slump as Musk’s conspiracy barrage continues: Live

The government’s plan for all state schools – academies and those run by councils – to follow the same pay and conditions framework is “educational vandalism”, the shadow education secretary has warned.

Laura Trott accused Labour of being set on “tearing up everything that has driven up school standards” through its Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The Bill – which is due to have its second reading in Parliament on Wednesday – has prompted fears that academies will lose freedoms which can help to recruit teachers and improve pupil outcomes in challenging areas.

Academies – which are independent of local authorities – currently have the freedom to set their own pay and conditions for staff, and some academies exceed the national pay scales for teachers. But under the new legislation, all teachers will be part of the same core pay and conditions framework whether they work in a local authority-run school or an academy.

Nigel Farage has said he will not take legal action against Kemi Badenoch over her claim Reform UK had faked its membership numbers.

He told LBC: “I’m not going to sue over it because, as I said, I do believe in free speech. I was offended by it, I asked for an apology and one wasn’t given so I’m going to go to her constituency on the 31st of this month.

“I’m going to hold a big event for all the Reform members living in her constituency, there are 417 of them when I last checked, paid-up members, bet it’s more than she’s got. There’s another 800 supporters living in the constituency.

“And I’m going to do a big joint photo, Kemi, and say ‘these are all our fake members and we are coming for you at the next election’.”

Sir Keir Starmer has begun this year in an explosive row with tech billionaire Elon Musk, which broke out after the Tesla boss criticised the government for rejecting a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke takes a look at their past interactions here:

There is still not a strong enough determination to get to the bottom of grooming scandals, a whistleblower has said.

Maggie Oliver, a former detective who resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012, believes victims and survivors would have to be “at the centre” of any inquiry.

She told Times Radio: “The question has to be, who would lead it? What would it achieve? Victims and survivors have to be at the centre of this.”

She added: “The 20 recommendations of the national abuse inquiry have still not been implemented – that’s the start.

“Maybe gather together all the evidence we already have from the local inquiries in Rochdale, in Rotherham, in Manchester, and that could be the start of the process, add victims’ voices to that, and have people who are truly knowledgeable analysing it. Well, maybe that’s the way forward.”

The victims minister was unable to provide a timeline for implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, saying the Government was working “quickly”.

Alex Davies-Jones told Times Radio: “I can’t give you a timeline but what I can tell you is we are working very, very quickly.

“A lot of these recommendations can be implemented quickly. As you heard from the Home Secretary yesterday, we’ve already begun that work and some of those new offences that have been announced will be in our Crime and Policing Bill brought in later this year.”

Adding that the Government would provide “more information soon”, she said: “I want to do this as quickly as possible. It’s very complicated, this is not a quick fix overnight.”

McDonald’s is facing fresh claims of widespread harassment across its UK branches as hundreds of young current and former workers join a legal action against the company.

More than 700 people who were aged 19 or younger when working at McDonald’s have instructed law firm Leigh Day to take legal action on their behalf. The claims come as UK chief executive Alistair Macrow faced questions from MPs on Tuesday on employment rights.

The UK’s long-term government borrowing costs have lifted to their highest level since 1998, in a potential blow for the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The yield on 30-year gilts – the return on Government bonds – increased on Tuesday by four basis points to 5.22 per cent, surpassing the spike seen in 2023.

It ramps up the pressure on the Treasury’s headroom for increased public spending, amid the prospect of higher interest costs.

Henry Saker-Clark has the full report:

The Conservatives will seek to garner support for a new nationwide child grooming investigation with a symbolic vote in the Commons, amid an ongoing spat between ministers and billionaire Elon Musk.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has faced a slew of attacks from X and Tesla owner Mr Musk in recent days, after Home Office minister Jess Phillips declined a request for a nationally led inquiry in Oldham.

The Tories have joined calls by Mr Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a wide-ranging independent probe having concluded its work in 2022.

On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch’s party will bring forward an amendment to the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is expected to call for ministers to establish a “national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”.

The amendment is unlikely to be supported by a majority in the Commons, as the Government wants to roll out the recommendations of the investigation led by Professor Alexis Jay rather than open a new inquiry.

The non-binding amendment could not compel ministers to launch an inquiry and merely gives MPs a chance to voice their opinion on the issue.

A Labour spokesperson claimed the Conservatives were “attempting to block this Government’s plans to keep the most at-risk children in our country safe from harm”.

Individuals are shouldering an “imbalance” in paying for social care, Wes Streeting said as he was confronted about the sums one family is facing.

The health secretary has faced criticism in recent days for not giving a hard deadline on his plans to create a National Care Service, aimed at tackling the massive costs of social care. An independent commission is expected to begin exploring the future of the service in the spring, but its timeline means proposals for long-term funding and major reform may not be delivered until 2028.

As he took questions from LBC radio listeners, a woman from Leeds told the health secretary she is paying £85,000 a year to provide care for her 97-year-old mother, who has dementia – meaning her family savings and the proceeds from selling her mother’s home are swiftly being eroded.

“It sounds really terrible, but sometimes I even find myself wishing that my mum would pass away soon, before it’s all gone and the family is left with absolutely nothing. And it shouldn’t be about money, but unfortunately, it is,” she said.

The caller added: “I want to know, when will something be done to stop this happening? And I need a real answer, not just the sort of ‘we get it, we have no money’ kind of answer.”

Mr Streeting described the sums as “eye-watering”, adding: “I think that where we’ve got to as a country is a situation where I think the burden on individuals and families and the state is imbalanced, and it’s almost a game of pot luck and chance.”