UK politics live: Jenrick gets justice role in Badenoch’s shadow cabinet as Stride and Patel land top jobs

They want an amendment to Labour’s upcoming Employment Rights Bill that would significantly strengthen the power of whistleblowing.

The group warns that “far too often the only reaction is to shoot the messenger”.

In a letter to The Independent, they say: “Whistleblowing has been the common thread linking the recent public inquiries into Infected Blood, the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Scandal. But whistleblowing concerns fell on deaf ears in each of these cases.”

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full exclusive report:

In the Commons, environment minister Daniel Zeichner has insisted to MPs that family farms will be protected under the government’s plans, as he pledged “unwavering” support for farmers and rural communities.

During an urgent question, he said: “As the minister for food security, I can assure the House: food security is national security, and this government’s commitment to supporting farmers and rural communities is absolutely unwavering, because we have committed £5bn in the agricultural budget over the next two years, the biggest ever budget for sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.

“And we are also releasing £60m to support farmers whose farms have been devastated by severe flooding, and we’re investing £208m, so we can protect the nation from potential disease outbreaks that threaten our farming industry, food security and human health.”

He added: “Currently, small farms can find themselves facing the same levels of tax bills as much larger farms, despite having a much smaller asset. 20 per cent of inheritance tax is claimed by the top 2 per cent, 40 per cent is claimed by the top 7 per cent, that’s not fair, it’s not sustainable, and sadly, it’s been used, in some cases by wealthy landowners to avoid inheritance tax, and that’s why this government has announced plans to reform agricultural property relief.”

Mr Zeichner continued: “73 per cent of agricultural property relief claims are less than one million pounds, the vast majority of farmers will not be affected, they’ll be able to pass a family farm down to their children, just as previous generations have always done.

“It’s a fair, balanced approach that protects family farms, while also fixing the public services those same families rely on.”

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw has claimed he has never seen “the weight of support, the strength of feeling and anger” over the new Labour government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m, and added that many farmers wanted to be “militant” over the issue.

Speaking after a meeting with environment secretary Steve Reed and exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray, Mr Bradshaw challenged the figures from the Treasury that only a minority of farms would be affected.

He said: “Obviously, we fully dispute the figures the Treasury has been using and we’ve played back Defra’s own figures. So, the Treasury is saying only 27 per cent of farms will be within scope of these changes, Defra’s own figures suggest that two-thirds of farms will be in scope.

“How they can have that wide a discrepancy within government is quite unbelievable.”

Mr Bradshaw said there had been no resolution on the issue, adding: “We’ve made very passionately our perception clear, that this tax change is completely unfair.

Ministers have been warned that they face a “militant” backlash from farmers over the so-called tractor tax of imposing inheritance death duties on family farms worth more than £1m.

The warning came from National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw as he met with environment secretary Steve Reed over the shock measure in the Budget, while a protest has been planned for 19 November when angry farmers are set to descend on London.

Our political editor David Maddox reports:

Scottish Labour MPs have urged Sir Keir Starmer to prioritise the release of a British blogger who faces the death penalty in India.

On the seventh anniversary of 37-year-old Sikh rights campaigner Jagtar Singh Johal’s arrest in Punjab while in India for his wedding, a group of 16 MPs have written to the prime minister asking him to prioritise seeking the Glasgow-born blogger’s release from jail.

Mr Johal is alleged to have been tortured, including with electric shocks, and faces the death penalty for eight charges in India. He claims he was forced to sign a blank confession after being tortured and made to record a video which was broadcast on Indian TV, and the UN has acknowledged that his imprisonment amounts to arbitrary detention.

He has been held in solitary confinement in Delhi since 2019.

The letter says the failure by previous Conservative governments to get him released is a “breach of the foremost duty of any government to protect its citizens at home and abroad”.

Kemi Badenoch is set to make a highly controversial choice in one of the most senior jobs in her shadow cabinet with Dame Priti Patel set to be unveiled as shadow foreign secretary.

However, sources close to the new Tory leader have told The Independent that she has “no concerns” over Dame Priti being previously sacked as a cabinet minister for unauthorised meetings in Israel.

Dame Priti was sacked in November 2017 as international development secretary by Theresa May when it emerged she had held unauthorised meetings in Israel.

Read the full report by the Independent’s political editor, David Maddox:

Here is a list of all the shadow cabinet appointments which Kemi Badenoch has made so far today:

Robert Jenrick: Kemi Badenoch’s rival for the Tory leadership becomes shadow justice secretary.

Priti Patel: The former home secretary will now become the shadow foreign secretary.

Mel Stride: Another rival to Ms Badenoch for the Tory leadership, Mr Stride is seen as more moderate than his new boss.

Laura Trott: An ally of Ms Badenoch, Ms Trott has been named education secretary.

Neil O’Brien: Mr O’Brien backed Mr Jenrick in the leadership campaign. He becomes shadow minister for education.

Nigel Huddleston and Dominic Johnson: Both junior minister under Rishi Sunak, they have been appointed joint chairmen of the Conservative Party.

Dame Rebecca Harris: The Essex MP will become chief whip.

Ministers have been warned that they face a “militant” backlash from farmers over the so-called tractor tax of imposing inheritance death duties on family farms worth more than £1m.

The warning came from National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw as he met with environment secretary Steve Reed over the shock measure in the Budget, while a protest has been planned for 19 November when angry farmers are set to descend on London.

The row over inheritance tax changes came on top of a lack of extra funds for farming in Rachel Reeves’ announcements last week coupled with extra costs through increases in national insurance for employers and a 6.7 per cent rise in the minimum wage.

The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox reports:

Schools will receive national-level compensation for the national insurance rise for employers, educatio secretary Bridget Phillipson has confirmed.

She told the Commons: “What I can say is that where it comes to schools and colleges, they will be compensated at a national level.

“What I would however just point out to [new Tory shadow education minister Neil O’Brien] is that when I became Secretary of State in July, I was presented with the Teachers’ Pay Review Body award – 5.5 per cent – that the last government received, put in a drawer, ran away and called an election.

“We have backed our teachers who are crucial to the life chances of our children, and that’s why I was delighted that we were able to honour that award and recognise the vital contribution our teachers make.

“And that’s how we will recruit 6,500 new expert teachers. If they are refusing to back our commitments on VAT, then they should set out how many teachers they intend to cut.”