Braverman says she regrets speeding but is confident ‘nothing untoward happened’ in handling of the offence – UK politics live

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Political groups on the left have claimed that Keir Starmer was not radical enough in his speech on the NHS this morning.

In a response from the Green party, its co-leader, Carla Denyer, said:

Starmer claims that it’s not all about the money, but years of underfunding is the key challenge facing the NHS. More reorganisation and target setting will simply be rearranging the beds in the corridor. Staff shortages and recruitment problems can only be seriously addressed by offering NHS staff a pay rise in line with inflation.

The Green party will unashamedly go after the super-rich who have seen their wealth surge in recent years. By increasing their taxes, we can ensure NHS staff are properly paid and that the years of underfunding of our NHS is addressed.

And this is from Kate Dave, co-chair of the leftwing Labour group Momentum.

Keir Starmer is right to diagnose the importance of prevention in tackling the Tory NHS crisis. But his prescriptions miss the elephant in the room, and risk compounding the problem.

Our NHS is on its knees as a result of more than a decade of Tory austerity and under-investment, resulting in record, deadly waiting times and staff leaving in droves. We will not fix this crisis without a major, real-terms investment boost, both to tackle the ongoing recruitment crisis, and to adapt to an ageing society. As Keir Starmer once suggested, we should also end NHS outsourcing, while putting an end to the NHS privatisation which has driven this crisis, instead of Wes Streeting’s calls for more private sector use of the NHS.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory former business secretary and an ideological ally of Suella Braverman, has told the World at One that he thought there was no need for Rishi Sunak to order an inquiry into claims that she broke the ministerial code. This was “not a big story”, he said. He said he hoped the PM would “close down the subject”.

He said that ministers sometimes asked their civil servants to do things they were not able to do. As long as the minister accepts that, they have not done anything wrong, he said.

He also said that the lawyer Nick Freeman, who specialising in dealing with speeding offences, has said that he has arranged private speed awareness courses for high-profile clients. Providers liked that because it meant the other attendees were not distracted by having a famous person there, Rees-Mogg said.

Rees-Mogg also said he did not believe in the “conspiracy theories” about this only being in the news now because Braverman was being targeted for her political views.

The Conservative party claims Labour cannot be trusted to fulfil its promise to improve performance in the NHS in England because of the party’s record in government in Wales.

In response to Keir Starmer’s speech this morning, CCHQ released a response from Will Quince, a health minister. He said:

It’s easy to shout from the sidelines, but the truth is Labour in Wales are currently missing all the targets Sir Keir Starmer has just set out for England.

Labour have been running the health service in Wales for 25 years and haven’t met these targets. Sir Keir has a record of changing his mind – we can’t trust these will be Labour’s targets next week let alone in five years’ time.

This Conservative government has already reduced 18-month waits by 91% from their peak,and two-year waits are virtually eliminated. We are delivering on our priorities to cut waiting lists and to improve the lives of everyone across the country.

Full details of the Labour promises on waiting times are set out in appendix 2 in the briefing paper on the health mission.

This is what Suella Braverman, the home secretary, said in her clip for broadcasters when she was asked if she had asked civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course for her, after she was caught speeding, so that she would not have to attend a group speed awareness course. She replied:

First and foremost, I’m focused on the priorities for the British people as home secretary. That’s cutting serious crime with more police officers, that’s standing up for the victims of child sexual abuse, it’s about stopping the boats, and I’m not going to take a backward step from working on those issues.

In relation to your question, last summer, I was speeding, I regret that, I paid the fine and I took the points.

But we’re focused now on delivering for the British people and working for them.

Asked again if she had asked civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course for her, she said:

What I will say is that, in my view, I’m confident that nothing untoward has happened.

Asked if she would welcome an inquiry into this, she ignored the question and instead said she hoped the media would focus on her announcement today about the victims of child sexual abuse. (See 12.28pm.)

Suella Braverman has arrived at Downing Street for a meeting, the BBC reports. As she got out of her ministerial car, a reporter asked if she had broken the ministerial code. In reply, she just said she was trying to “stop the boats”.

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, has said she is “confident that nothing untoward happened” in relation to claims she asked civil servants if they could help her to attend a private speed awareness course after she was caught speeding.

Asked about the story in a clip for broadcasters, she said:

What I will say is that, in my view, I’m confident that nothing untoward has happened.

Braverman said that she was caught speeding, that she paid the fine and took the points.

But she refused to discuss exactly what dealings she did have with her civil servants on this, and she did not deny asking them for help.

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, will be in the Commons for questions at 2.30pm. She will also give a statement, after Rishi Sunak’s G7 statement, about the government’s response to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA). She will be announcing a redress scheme for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in England, No 10 says.

No 10 also confirmed that Rishi Sunak will give a statement to MPs this afternoon about the G7 summit. If there are no urgent questions, it will be at 3.30pm.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, has said that Rishi Sunak’s failure to order an inquiry into claims Suella Braverman broke the ministerial code mean he’s “weak”.

Rishi Sunak has spoken to Sir Laurie Magnus, his ethics adviser, about Suella Braverman, but has not (yet?) decided to order an inquiry into whether she broke the ministerial code, No 10 says. These are the top lines from the lobby briefing.

Rishi Sunak has spoken to Sir Laurie Magnus, his ethics adviser, about Suella Braverman, the No 10 spokesperson said. As of now, an inquiry has not been launched into allegations that she broke the ministerial code, but the spokesperson did not rule out an update on this later. He told journalists:

The prime minister remains clear that integrity, professionalism and accountability are core values. As you would expect, the prime minister has been availing himself of information having just returned from the G7 this morning. I obviously can’t comment on ongoing private conversations, including with independent advisers, but I will endeavour to keep you updated.

The spokesperson would not say whether or not Sunak has spoken to Braverman about the issue this morning. Asked if the pair had had a conversation, the spokesperson said:

I obviously wouldn’t get into specific conversations but the prime minister, as you would expect, is in regular conversation with the home secretary.

The spokesperson insisted Sunak remained committed to “integrity, professionalism and accountability”.

The spokesperson said Sunak thought special advisers should tell the truth to journalists. He said this in response to reports that Braverman’s adviser repeatedly told the Daily Mirror that she had not been caught speeding.

The full text of Keir Starmer’s speech on the NHS this morning is here.

And here is the Labour briefing paper giving details of Labour’s health mission.

This is the third of Labour’s five missions for which details have been set out. Here is the briefing on the growth/economy mission, and here is the briefing on the crime one.

Margaret Ferrier MP has lost her appeal against the Commons standards committee ruling that she should be suspended for 30 days for breaking Covid rules during the pandemic. That means her suspension will go ahead, and that means a recall byelection is likely to go ahead in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.

The byelection will only take place if 10% of electors in the constituency sign a petition calling for one, but it is very likely that this threshold will be met.

Ferrier won the seat for the SNP in 2019 with a majority of 5,230 over Labour, but with the SNP’s popularity falling since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon, and the party’s finances being the subject of a police investigation, Labour is hopeful of being able to win the seat.

In a report, the independent expert panel, which considered Ferrier’s appeal against the punishment proposed by the standards committee, said the 30-day suspension was fair. It said:

This has undoubtedly been a distressing and humiliating experience for [Ferrier] … She is hugely apologetic and remorseful for her conduct. The consequences for her and her family have been dire. In our judgment, however, [Ferrier] failed to conduct herself in accordance with the standards of conduct expected of individual MPs. She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction for this conduct.

Turning back to Suella Braverman, the PCS civil service union has joined the FDA (see 9.05am) in criticising the home secretary for asking officials about arranging a private speed awareness course. In a statement the PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said:

Breaking the ministerial code doesn’t appear so much to be a lapse of judgment as a pattern of behaviour.

Suella Braverman is quick to criticise civil servants when it suits her, but even quicker to ask for their help when she needs it.

Civil servants’ role is to deliver government policy not to act as her personal assistants.

How many more lives will Rishi Sunak give her? This is double standards. If she was a PCS member she would not expect to be treated so leniently.

Q: Why do you think Labour underperformed in Harlow in the local elections?

Starmer says when he became leader, people did not think Labour could win the next election. Now it is on a trajectory where it could form a majority government.

People feel that everything is broken, and that they are worse off than 13 years ago, he says.

And that’s it. The Q&A is over. Starmer took more questions than he normally does at these events (although, if anything, his answers were shorter, and less revealing, than usual).

Q: How much have you set aside for renewing the NHS estate? And will you use public private partnerships?

Starmer says Labour will have to address the quality of the NHS estate. The legacy is terrible, he says. But he does not just want to “fix the problems” and put it back where it was 13 years ago. That would not be ambitious enough, he says.