UK politics live: Winter fuel payment cut delivers Keir Starmer approval ratings blow ahead of Biden talks

The adult prison population dropped by more than 2,000 in the week the government freed hundreds of inmates early.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed there were 86,333 prisoners behind bars in England and Wales on Friday.

This is 2,188 fewer than the 88,521 recorded at the end of last week, when the number of inmates being held hit another new record high amid the jail overcrowding crisis, indicating the population fell by two per cent within the seven-day period.

The government said around 1,750 prisoners were freed early on Tuesday from jails across the two nations, suggesting a further 438 people also left under standard release terms.

The drop means the operational capacity for English and Welsh men and women’s prisons is 89,552, indicating there is now cell space for 3,219 criminals.

On Wednesday prime minister Sir Keir Starmer defended freeing criminals, including some convicted killers, early from prison as he angrily blamed previous government inaction for forcing him into taking urgent steps to tackle the problem.

This week’s mass exodus came after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in July to cut temporarily the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50 per cent to 40 per cent as the MoJ said overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.

Disgraced Tory donor Frank Hester gave the Conservative Party £5m just days before Rishi Sunak called the general election, it has emerged.

The Tories faced widespread calls in March to hand back money given to them by the business tycoon after he was alleged to have said that Diane Abbott – Britain’s first Black female MP – made him “want to hate all Black women” and that she “should be shot”.

Despite Mr Sunak eventually condemning the remarks as racist, newly published Electoral Commission data shows Mr Hester’s Phoenix Partnership firm donated a further £5m to the Conservatives on 17 May – just five days before Mr Sunak called the election, months earlier than widely expected.

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The latest review of the health service is a substantial, thoroughgoing and even radical piece of work, writes Sean O’Grady. But it doesn’t mention the 2016 referendum once – despite its enormous impact.

A major defence review should prepare the UK to “wage peace” to help save lives, taxpayers’ cash and control migration, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said the new government’s root and branch review needs to develop a “peace-building option”, alongside preparedness for war, in a bid to stop conflict before it happens.

He explained this could enable the UK to extend its influence, protect its interests and “guard against fresh waves of migration”.

Speaking during a debate on Sudan, Mr Welby said he had heard reports from those meeting small boats crossing the Channel of a “very high proportion” of people arriving from the war-torn African country.

Sudan descended into conflict in April 2023 after months of worsening tensions turned into open fighting between rival factions, including the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), seeking control of the country.

Mr Welby described Sudan as a “human catastrophe on an extraordinary scale” and said the use of “vast quantities” of humanitarian aid only results in temporary solutions.

He acknowledged the “hard work” of the Foreign Office in response to Sudan, before highlighting the UK government’s desire for a return to democratic civilian-rule.

Mr Welby told the Lords: “But as we’ve seen elsewhere, peace with an authoritarian government is better than no peace at all, and I hope that is not so much of a red line that we will not work to establish the ceasefire and the stability which will enable civilians to take over.”

Ian Murray has joked the famous cat of Downing Street was “the most miserable animal you’ll ever meet in your life”.

The Labour minister made the remarks during an on-stage discussion with business leaders at the CBI Scotland annual dinner in Glasgow.

Mr Murray said the 37 Scottish Labour MPs who won the general election wanted to be pictured with the Chief Mouser when they arrived in London, but the cat refused.

He said: “Downing Street rang, and all of us who pretty much knew inevitably that the Cabinet was going to be as the shadow cabinet was with a few exceptions, walked to Downing Street really excited and all we wanted to do was, not get the chat with the prime minister to be appointed, but was to try and get a picture with Larry the cat.

“And without putting too fine a point on it, Larry the cat is a little sh*t. So none of us got a picture with Larry the cat.

“Larry the cat is the most miserable animal you’ll ever meet in your life. I’m not surprised with who he’s had to live with for the last ten years.”

Robert Jenrick has promised to put Nigel Farage and his party Reform UK “out of business” if he wins the Tory leadership contest.

The former immigration minister told Chopper’s Political Podcast on GB News: “How I view Reform is that it is a symptom, not a cause. It exists in its current form because the Conservative Party failed.

“We made promises, we didn’t keep them. What I want to do is to put Nigel Farage out of business, to make him redundant, by bringing home Reform voters to the Conservative Party, to making my party once again the natural home for small ‘c’ conservatives because we would once again be the party of secure borders, controlled immigration, small business, entrepreneurship, storing defences, the family, you name it, the things that drove me into politics.

“I believe we can do that. I think I am the right candidate to do that.”