Starmer rules out EU customs union after Labour rebellion over government’s Brexit stance – latest

MPs have backed proposals to create a new UK-EU customs union, raising the question of whether a key Brexit pledge could soon be undone.

A surprise tie of 100 votes to 100 meant deputy speaker Caroline Noakes was given the casting vote which, in accordance with the precedent to allow further debate, she gave to the ayes.

Tabled by the Liberal Democrats’ Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, the bill would require the government to begin negotiations on joining a bespoke customs union with the EU.

Read the full analysis here:

Sir Keir Starmer has adopted a series of hardline immigration measures, modelled on those spearheaded by Mette Frederiksen’s centre-left Danish government, in order to decrease the number of migrants crossing the English Channel.

The Government is expected to bring forward homegrown legislation to change how the Article 8 right to family life is interpreted in UK courts, and is also considering examining the threshold for Article 3 rights.

Elsewhere, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is also meeting with European counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss more cooperation over tackling illegal migration and increasing removals.

She said: “To strengthen our borders at home, we need to increase cooperation with other countries on innovative solutions – including on prevention, law enforcement and returns.”

Ministers of 46 member states signed up to European human rights laws have backed plans to look at how to tackle concerns over addressing migration within the legal framework.

The chief of the body which oversees the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) said ministers had taken an “important first step forward together” to agree a political declaration on migration and the ECHR, and support a new recommendation to deter smuggling of migrants “with full respect for human rights”.

Council of Europe secretary general Alain Berset told reporters that the “living instrument” is possible to adapt and work will begin to adopt the declaration in Moldova in May 2026 following a meeting of ministers in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

He said: “This is really the starting of a process on a consensus basis. That’s the most important point for today.

“All 46 member states have reaffirmed their deep and abiding commitment to both the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights.

“This is not rhetoric. This is a political decision of the highest order.

“But ministers have also expressed their concerns regarding the unprecedented challenges posed by migration and the serious questions governments face in maintaining societies that deliver for citizens.”

Rachel Reeves has admitted that the briefings and leaks in the run-up to her tax-raising Budget were “extremely damaging” – but has insisted she did not authorise them.

The chancellor faced a grilling from MPs about her Budget, with the fallout from the chaotic run-up to the announcement last month still casting a shadow over her future.

She confirmed that a leak inquiry is underway, with officials noting that in the past, people had been sacked over unauthorised briefings.

Read the full article here:

In a rare case of the Liberal Democrats making the political weather, Ed Davey’s party has managed to put the question of Britain’s ties with Europe back on the political agenda, despite attempts by Downing Street to avoid the festering wound of Brexit.

A 10-minute rule bill calling on the government to open talks on a new EU-UK customs union was put before the Commons by Lib Dem spokesperson on Europe, Al Pinkerton. Although it was never likely to become law, it was backed by more than a dozen Labour MPs, which puts fresh pressure on Keir Starmer to revisit the issue.

Davey said the symbolic vote “was a historic victory” against “the economic nightmare of the Conservatives’ broken Brexit deal”.

So what is this proposed new UK-EU customs union?

Read the full explainer from political commentator Sean O’Grady here:

Sir Keir Starmer believes Donald Trump’s criticism of Sir Sadiq Khan is “wrong,” Downing Street has said, after the Prime Minister faced calls to stand up to the US president.

No 10’s defence of the Labour London Mayor came a day after it declined to criticise the president’s attack on him.

Mr Trump’s latest salvo in his long-running spat with Sir Sadiq came in an interview in which he branded the UK politician a “disaster” and “disgusting”.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters on Wednesday: “Those comments are wrong.

“The Mayor of London is doing an excellent job in London, delivering free school meals in primary schools, cleaning up London’s air with the world’s largest clean air zone and starting record numbers of council houses.

“The Prime Minister is hugely proud of the Mayor of London’s record and proud to call him a colleague and a friend.”

Mr Trump had also told Politico Sir Sadiq had been elected “because so many people have come in”.

Asked about that claim in particular, Sir Keir’s press secretary reiterated: “As I say, the comments are wrong.”

A Conservative MP has described Labour’s plans to introduce digital ID cards as “intrusive and fundamentally un-British” and something the government has no mandate to implement.

Blake Stephenson, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, said: “It’s an attack on our open society and a staggering waste of taxpayers money, isn’t it?”

Starmer says digital ID has “huge benefits” and says the Conservatives failed to control UK borders.

“We are taking control of our borders and I’m glad we’re doing so”.

It came as European ministers, including deputy prime minister David Lammy, met in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday to discuss reforming how the treaty is interpreted in the courts.

Read the full article from political correspondent Millie Cooke here: