Starmer leaves No10 for PMQs
(REUTERS)
(James Manning/PA Wire)
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 11:40
Downing Street and law chiefs clash over China spy case evidence
Downing Street has clashed with the Crown Prosecution Service over the release of evidence said to be vital to explaining why the China spy case collapsed.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government is at odds with the agency over a claim it blocked the publication of a witness statement at the heart of the case.
Cabinet secretary Chris Wormald is understood to have been prepared to publish a government witness statement central to the withdrawal of espionage charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing in Parliament.
However, lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were said to have blocked the move.
But the CPS hit back, and insisted it was entirely up to the government to release the evidence if it wanted to.
The government may now be forced to publish the key evidence in the case, with a minister saying they are “looking at what the options are”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is likely to face further questions over the China spy case at PMQs on Wednesday (Leon Neal/PA) (PA Wire)
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 11:23
Home secretary: Britain has lost control of its borders
Britain has lost control of its borders and is fuelling a loss of trust in politics, the home secretary will warn on Wednesday.
Shabana Mahmood is to issue the warning as she hosts her counterparts from across the Western Balkans, as well as other European allies, at a summit in London.
In one of the most stark assessments of the impact of small boat crossings on public trust in government, Ms Mahmood is to say it risks undermining “the credibility of the state itself”.
She will insist that Britain can only stem the flow of migrants arriving on small boats through international cooperation.
(PA Archive)
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 11:17
It is yet another busy day in government, with several notable things happening today.
– Sir Keir Starmer will face PMQs for the first time in weeks in the Commons.
– The PM will likely face questions on the government’s handling of the China spy case, and Rachel Reeve’s comments on potential tax hikes.
– Rachel Reeves is attending the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting today in Washington DC, after the IMF warned UK inflation will surge to the highest in the G7 in 2025 and 2026.
– In the High Court, Epping Forest District Council’s bid to block the use of the Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers is set to be heard.
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 11:00
Full story: Reeves admits she’s looking at tax rises and spending cuts in Budget
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 10:52
Analysis: Under pressure Starmer and Badenoch to go head to head for first time in weeks
The Independent’s Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin reports:
Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch will face off at PMQs today for the first time in weeks, after a party conference season which saw both of them stable their respective ships – for now.
But the Labour leader is expected to come under intense pressure over the recent collapse of the China spying trial.
And the Tory leader will still have to convince her restless backbenchers that her conference speech – in which she unveiled her big policy of scrapping stamp duty – was not a one-off.
(House of Commons)
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 10:31
Reeves eyes tax hikes as economy suffers ‘severe and long-lasting’ Brexit impact
Rachel Reeves acknowledged she was looking at potential tax rises and spending cuts to fill a black hole in her Budget – which she said was partly due to the lingering impact of Brexit.
The chancellor said “austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy”.
“Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4 per cent smaller because of Brexit,” she said.
“Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme.
“But there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long lasting and that’s why we are trying to do trade deals around the world, US, India, but most importantly with the EU so that our exporters here in Britain have a chance to sell things made here all around the world.”
Rachel Reeves will announce her Budget on November 26 (PA) (PA Wire)
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 10:16
Badenoch hits back at Reeves’ tax rise comments
Kemi Badenoch has launched an attack on Rachel Reeves after the chancellor admitted she was considering tax hikes in the upcoming Budget.
The Conservative leader wrote on X: “After her tax bombshell in last year’s budget, Rachel Reeves promised she wouldn’t be coming back for more. Now she finally admits tax rises are coming.
“There is an alternative – cut spending and lower taxes. Only the @Conservatives have a plan for a stronger economy.”
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 09:59
Watch: Reeves blames Brexit for Britain’s economic woesReeves blames Brexit for Britain’s Budget woes
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 09:46
Defence secretary at Nato meeting
Away from the UK, John Healey is currently in Brussels for a Nato summit.
The defence secretary is meeting other minister’s of defence as he warned the UK and Nato members will ramp up their response to Putin’s aggression.
Healey issues warning to Putin at Nato summit
Athena Stavrou15 October 2025 09:34