Politics latest: Keir Starmer 'bludgeons' Tories as he claims Labour inherited 'crisis everywhere' (2024)

Following a campaign in which only one person stood, Baroness Eluned Morgan has been confirmed as leader of Welsh Labour.

Writing on social media, Sir Keir Starmer said: "Congratulations to Eluned Morgan, Welsh Labour’s newly elected leader.

"Eluned brings a wealth of experience and track-record of delivery — as the first woman to lead Welsh Labour, she is already making history.

"I look forward to working with Eluned to deliver change for Wales."

Baroness Morgan said: "I am truly honoured to become the first woman to lead Welsh Labour and to be put forward as our party's nominee to become the next first minister of Wales.

"At this pivotal time for our country, strength, stability, and unity will be my guiding principles. I want to ensure that everyone in Wales has the opportunity and ability to fulfil their potential.

"Huw Irranca-Davies and I stood proudly as a partnership, and we are delighted to have received the overwhelming support of Welsh Labour MSs and support from across Wales and the wider Labour movement.

"When we pledged unity, we meant it – and that is how we will lead.

"Working with colleagues across the Senedd and standing shoulder to shoulder with Keir Starmer's UK Labour government, my focus will be on improving the things that matter most for everyone in our great country.

"Through my leadership, Wales – and what is best for our country – will always come above all else."

Yesterday, Army head General Sir Roly Walker warned the UK had three years to prepare for war.

He said that, while combat was not "inevitable", Vladimir Putin will come out of the invasion of Ukraine "very, very dangerous".

Speaking today, the prime minister's spokesperson said: "The prime minister completely agrees with the thrust of the head of the Army.

"He's talked previously about the new and dangerous era we live in and that is why we've launched a strategic defence review to assess those dangers, assess those challenges, and ensure we have got the capabilities we need to respond to those challenges as and when they arise."

Read more about General Sir Roly's comments below:

By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter

Tom Tugendhat has emerged as the leadership contender who is most popular with the public, according to a new Savanta poll shared with Sky News.

The former security minister, who ran for the leadership after Boris Johnson's tenure, has a net favourability of -3, compared with -28 for Priti Patel, the former home secretary who scored the lowest rating with the public.

Mr Tugendhat is also highly regarded among the moderate One Nation group of Tory MPs.

James Cleverly, the former home secretary who declared his intention to run on Tuesday, is just behind Mr Tugendhat with a net favourability of -9.

And Kemi Badenoch, the shadow housing secretary and former business secretary who is seen as a frontrunner on the right, scored a rating of -12, while former home secretary Suella Braverman was given a rating of -23 among the public.

The poll comes as nominations for the leadership race open on Wednesday at 7pm, with Rishi Sunak's replacement as Conservative leader announced on 2 November.

Read more below:

A change in what different departments do in government is common when a new administration takes over.

And it's no different with Labour and Sir Keir Starmer.

Perhaps the most interesting change is that the UK's dealings with the EU will now be handled by the Cabinet Office, rather than the Foreign Office.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Europe minister, will be working out of the department at 70 Whitehall, which adjoins Downing Street.

Moving the issue closer to Downing Street matches Sir Keir's ambition for the UK and EU to work closer together.

Other changes being made to the machinery of government include: Veterans affairs moving from the Cabinet Office to the Ministry of Defence; Government Digital Services moving from the Cabinet Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; and the Government Car Service moving from the Department for Transport to Cabinet Office.

In a written statement to the House of Commons, Sir Keir said these changes would happen immediately.

By Jon Craig, chief political correspondent

Has Sir Keir Starmer overreacted by suspending seven Labour MPs who rebelled and voted to scrap the two-child benefit cap? Not according to the Labour leader's inner circle, obviously.

But many Labour MPs - and not just the left-wing "usual suspects" - were stunned at his response.

Read more from Sky News here:

Our deputy political editor Sam Coates says it was a "solid rather than exuberant event" for Sir Keir Starmer's first PMQs in charge.

But he says the "serious and workmanlike" tone was actually set by his predecessor.

Rishi Sunak "chose not to go on issues of greater partisan disagreement, but instead to focus on areas of agreement", adds Sam, noting how the Tory leader repeatedly praised Sir Keir's support for him over Ukraine when he was in Number 10.

He says the now "interim leader" - until the Conservatives choose a new boss in November - perhaps doesn't want to "engage in some of the more fiery approaches" and was "maybe leaving that to leadership contenders".

He also says we learned about how Sir Keir will do PMQs, namely "bludgeoning" the opposition with how the state of the public finances is "so much worse than we were expecting".

Sam says that that argument "is going to be at the heart of the debate" going forward - especially if Labour wants to do something like raise taxes.

By Gurpreet Narwan, political correspondent

Rishi Sunak's questions may have been soft but other MPs were rearing to go.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, asked about the challenges facing family carers who have gone over the carers’ allowance threshold.

The prime minister said: "We have a more severe crisis than we thought as we go through the books of the last 14 years."

When grilled on illegal immigration, he accused the Tories of losing control of the country's borders.

As expected, Sir Keir Starmer found an opportunity to attack the previous government, saying the new government had found crisis and failure everywhere.

The chancellor has asked the Treasury to review state spending under the Conservatives, all of which is pitch rolling for difficult tax and spending decisions that are coming down the line.

For now, the new government can get away with blaming its predecessor - but it will not last.

As PMQs wraps up, Sir Keir Starmer has a message for the Conservative benches.

Responding to a final question from Tory MP Sir Roger Gale about planning reforms, the prime minister says the government needs to improve economic growth for the country.

"We have a housing crisis where the dream of home ownership for young people is simply gone under the previous government," he says.

He then says he is "not going to listen" to the Conservatives.

"They put their case to the electorate. The electorate rejected them profoundly," he adds.

"My advice is when you get rejected that profoundly by the electorate, it's best not to go back to the electorate and tell them they were wrong.

"It is best to reflect and change your approach and change your party."

That's a wrap on Sir Keir Starmer's first PMQs - scroll down to catch up on all the key moments.

As we approach the end of PMQs, the issue of violence against women and girls is raised by Labour's Charlotte Nichols.

"Sky News today published appalling accounts of sexual harassment and violence against women paramedics," she says, referring to our report.

"Can the prime minister please update the House on progress towards the mission to finally tackle this scourge in our society?" Ms Nichols asks.

Sir Keir Starmer thanks her for her question on what he says is "such a serious issue".

"We have made a commitment to the mission to halve violence against women and girls," the prime minister says.

"I know from my own experience dealing with these cases as a prosecutor and subsequently just how hard that will be to achieve.

"It does mean that we'll have to deliver in a different way - we'll have to roll up our sleeves and do difficult things that haven't been done in the past.

"And in answer to the specific question - we've started work already on the delivery board, and I look forward to updating her and the House on the progress that we're making on this really important issue."

Co-leader of the Green Party Adrian Ramsey stands to ask his first question at PMQs and says the UK is "one of the most nature depleted [countries] on Earth".

He welcomes the "signal" from the Labour government that they care about this "existential issue", and asks for Sir Keir Starmer to show leadership on the issue.

The PM says he is "committed to nature recovery", but turns the question round to the leading Green figure.

He asks Mr Ramsey to "show some [leadership]" himself over what Sir Keir calls his "extraordinary" position to oppose "vital clean energy infrastructure in his own constituency".

The Labour leader says his government will lay down plans to build these green technologies across the country, shaking up the planning system, and he calls on the Green Party to support them.