Opening summary
Prime minister Keir Starmer had wanted to carry out his reshuffle on a “slightly slower timetable”, PA reports, but it was “brought forward as a consequence of the former deputy prime minister resigning”, new chief secretary Darren Jones has said this morning, after Angela Rayner stepped down on Friday.
But there will not be an early election, Jones said. Asked about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s suggestion that Rayner’s resignation would open up internal Labour splits and prompt a general election as early as 2027, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster told Sky News:
Nigel Farage is wrong there. The Labour party is not going to split and there won’t be an early election.”
Rayner stood down from the government after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat. Sir Laurie Magnus found that Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service”, but concluded she had breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs.
After it was put to Jones that the government was in crisis and “ripping it all up and starting again”, he told Sky News:
I was put into this new role as chief secretary to the prime minister. I’ve been alongside him this week in Number 10 and the prime minister was very clear on Monday that coming back into this new term, this was the start of the second chapter of the Labour government.
“The fact is, the prime minister had been planning to do a reshuffle on a slightly slower timetable, and started to think about putting the ministers he wanted in the places to really drive on delivering reform in line with the public’s priorities.”
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In further moves: David Lammy takes over from Rayner as deputy prime minister and is also appointed as the justice secretary.
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Yvette Cooper is the new foreign secretary and Shabana Mahmood becomes home secretary.
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Steve Reed takes over Rayner’s former housing brief while Peter Kyle is named business secretary and Liz Kendall is the new science secretary.
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Emma Reynolds will be environment secretary while Douglas Alexander will be Scotland secretary. Rachel Reeves retains her role as chancellor.
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Nigel Farage has said there is every chance of a general election in 2027 and declared at Reform’s conference in Birmingham that he will run on a pledge to ‘stop the boats’ within two weeks of entering No 10.
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PA provides some more on Lucy Connolly, who is expected to appear at the Reform Party conference later today:
Connolly will appear on stage at the Reform Party conference on Saturday before Nigel Farage closes the event in Birmingham.
The former childminder and wife of a Conservative councillor was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers in the aftermath of the Southport murders last year.
She will speak on the main stage of the conference in a special live recording of The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast with Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, the newspaper confirmed.
It comes as party leader Farage said he would stop the boats within two weeks of passing immigration legislation, having previously said he would stop them within two weeks of “winning the government”.
The party’s deputy leader Richard Tice is also due to give an address later before Farage speaks to close the two-day event at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
The main stage will also see a speech titled “Make Britain Healthy Again” by Dr Assem Malhotra, a cardiologist who campaigned against the use of the Covid mRNA vaccines.
Malhotra said the Covid vaccines should be paused in their rollout because of the “uncertainty” around excess deaths.
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Updated at 13.44 BST
Arrests have begun at the largest demonstration yet opposing the proscription of Palestine Action.
More than 1,000 people pledged to risk arrest on Saturday at a fresh London protest against the ban, about double the number who took part in a demonstration last month where 532 people were arrested.
Read the Guardian’s report on today’s demostration at the link below:
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Palestine Action protests begin in central London
A person holds a sign on the day of the rally challenging the British government’s proscription of Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters
Police vans have been lined up near parliament ahead of protests in support of Palestine Action on Saturday.
Police vans are seen lined up in a side-street close to Parliament Square, central London. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
A protester in Parliament Square has been spotted wearing a “Plasticine Action” T-shirt – a satirical play on the banned group which drew headlines last month when another demonstrator was mistakenly arrested for it.
Franco Ferrer, 69, from Llanberis in north Wales, said police had been photographing him since he arrived. He told PA:
Maybe they can’t read.
The T-shirt is an effective way of getting the message across without risking arrest … I won’t write a sign because I don’t think I have the courage to do that. I’ve come to support the action because the government banning a protest group by using terror laws is outrageous. It’s silencing free speech.”
A pro-Palestinian demonstrator at the rally in Parliament Square. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/ReutersShare
Updated at 13.14 BST
Ben Quinn
Lee Anderson will be crafting Reform UK’s welfare policies ahead of its bid to win power at the next election, Nigel Farage has announced.
The Reform UK leader cited Anderson’s past work at a Citizens Advice Bureau and said that he was becoming the party’s spokesperson on welfare.
“You know, he knows there are those that genuinely deserve help, but there are many frankly that don’t. And the current system is that, you know, you go to your GP, your own GP is almost pressurised to put you on the disability register. All of that has to change,” Farage said in an interview with ITV News.
As a Conservative MP, before he left the party after being accused of making Islamophobic comments about Sadiq Khan, Anderson was condemned by opposition after arguing that food banks are largely unnecessary because the main cause of food poverty is a lack of cooking and budgetary skills.
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Updated at 13.16 BST
Ben Quinn
The cousin of an Israeli hostage in Gaza who was shown looking emaciated and weak in a video released by Hamas has met Nigel Farage at Reform UK’s conference to ask for help to raise his case.
Tamar Eshet, cousin of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, told the Guardian: “We wanted to speak to the people here because we know that their power is getting stronger at the moment, and that they can make a difference and have an impact on the British government.”
Eshet, a student, has been at the conference in the company of diplomats from the Israeli embassy and met Farage briefly on Saturday in private, as well as talking to other delegates. They showed a video of David which was released by Hamas.
The footage, released last week, shows Evyatar David speaking in what appeared to be a Hamas tunnel in Gaza. In scenes that caused outrage and dismay in Israel, he is shown digging what he says could be his own grave. In comments made under duress, he urges the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to agree to a ceasefire.
Eshet said Farage and others in Reform were “understanding” that Hamas were being “rewarded” by the British government moving towards recognising a Palestinian state.
Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky, on Saturday praised Reform UK for the support the party has given Israel. She was speaking at a fringe event ‘Hostages of Hamas: Setting their voices free.’
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Updated at 13.08 BST
Hundreds of protestors risk arrests in support of Palestine Action
Hundreds of protesters have gathered in Parliament Square for a Palestine Action demonstration on Saturday, PA reports.
Some are handing out pens ahead of plans to write on boards at 12.50pm.
Many are sitting around the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, with Palestine flags visible across the square.
Organisers say they expect about 1,000 people to attend.
The Met Police has warned it would be ready to arrest people today showing support for the group which was banned by the UK government under terrorism laws earlier this year. Last month, police arrested over 530 people at a previous Palestine Action protest.
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Nigel Farage is signing the backs of turquoise football shirts released by Reform UK with his name on the back at the Reform UK conference.
“Get back, get back … The barrier is here for a reason,” photographers were told by Reform UK media handlers amid a rush when the Reform UK leader arrived.
Reform UK claim that about 10,000 of the shirts, which have become an upiquitous presence at the conference, have been sold since their launch.
Reform UK annual Conference – Day 2
epa12356802 Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage attends a shirt signing session on day two of the Reform UK annual conference in Birmingham, Britain, 06 September 2025. The Reform UK Conference 2025 takes place at the NEC Birmingham from 05 September to 06 September 2025. EPA/NEIL HALL Photograph: Neil Hall/EPAShare
Reform leader Nigel Farage said the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner over her tax affairs “screams to entitlement” during his speech to the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.
Farage said last year that he had bought a home in his Clacton constituency, but it was later reported that his partner had actually made the purchase.
Mr Tice, the party deputy, was asked on Saturday whether Mr Farage would be transparent about his tax affairs and address questions over his partner buying the Clacton home. He called Farage’s tax affairs “irrelevant” to voters.
Mr Farage has denied the arrangement had saved tax, telling The Mirror it was a “disgusting allegation” that is “unfair and untrue”.
Separately, the Guardian revealed on Friday that Farage diverted money from his prime-time TV show into a private company, which means that he paid only 25% corporation tax on profits, instead of 40% income tax, and could offset some expenses.
The use of personal service companies is not illegal but has been criticised in recent years.
A spokesperson for Mr Farage told the Guardian: “Thorn in the Side Ltd has traded for 15 years and has a variety of interests. It renders the services of several contractors and is a properly functioning company.”
Read more on that report here:
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Updated at 12.29 BST
Albanian ambassador says Farage claims ‘completely false’
Ben Quinn
Albania’s ambassador to the UK has met with Nigel Farage to tell him that the Reform UK leader was repeating false information by making the claim that one in 50 Albanians in Britain were in jail.
“It’s completely false, and yet it is being repeated on GB news and by politicians,” said Uran Ferizi, the ambassador, who is attending Reform UK’s conference.
“It is misconstruing officials statistics which are taken and used to come up with difference claims that bear no resemblance to reality.”
Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, has already crossed swords with Farage online over the Reform UK leader’s uses of the figure. Data from the Albanian embassy in the UK has disputed reports that the number of Albanians is UK 53,000, which was used as a source for the one in 50 claim.
Ferizi said: “I told him it was deeply unfair to peddle these lies essentially. They are just not true. My perception was that he was receptive when he heard this and understood this.
“I also made the case Albanians were a very good example of people who integrate well into Britain. They work hard, learn the language and the customs and the rules of the country. I told him it was deeply unfair for a country that prides itself on being fair, and he seemed to appreciate that.”
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Updated at 12.35 BST
The British couple killed in the Lisbon funicular crash have been remembered as “hugely talented” members of the theatre community dedicated to “inspiring the next generation, PA reports.
Theatre director Kayleigh Smith and her partner Will Nelson, a lecturer at Manchester’s Arden School of Theatre, were named as two of the three Britons who died after the popular tourist attraction derailed in the centre of the Portuguese city on Wednesday night.
The third British victim has yet to be named.
Macclesfield MP Tim Roca paid tribute to Smith and Nelson, saying: “I was deeply saddened to learn that two much-loved members of our Macclesfield community, Kayleigh Smith and her partner Will Nelson, were among those who lost their lives in Wednesday’s tragic funicular crash in Lisbon.
“Kayleigh was a hugely talented theatre director at MADS Theatre, where she poured her creativity, energy and kindness into every production. The moving tribute from the MADS team says it all, she was a dear friend to so many and will be greatly missed.
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Lucy Connolly will appear at the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham, PA reports.
The former childminder and wife of a Conservative councillor was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers in the aftermath of the Southport murders last year. She was released last month.
She will speak on the main stage of the conference in a special live recording of The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast with Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, the newspaper confirmed.
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Updated at 11.46 BST