Starmer rules out EU customs union after Labour rebellion over government’s Brexit stance – latest

It came as European ministers, including deputy prime minister David Lammy, met in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday to discuss reforming how the treaty is interpreted in the courts.

Read the full article from political correspondent Millie Cooke here:

Sir Keir Starmer said Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is “probably going to be the guest star” on The Liz Truss Show next week, both talking about “how Liz Truss was 100% right”.

The Prime Minister was responding to a question from Mrs Badenoch, who asked: “Last year, the Prime Minister promised to recruit 13,000 more police officers. How’s that going?”

Sir Keir said: “Three thousand more by the end of March, we’re rising on police numbers.”

He added: “She’s obviously spent the morning rehearsing for The Liz Truss Show, she’s probably going to be the guest star next week, both of them talking about how Liz Truss was 100% right.

“But what Liz Truss said was the Conservatives need to take responsibility for their 14 years of failure. That was Liz Truss, their former leader, so perhaps she’ll heed that, get up and say sorry.”

In one heated exchange during PMQs, the prime minister was mocked for spending “so much time” out of the country after his tax rises.

Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans said: “I feel for the prime minister. It must be tough wherever he goes in the UK because of his policies, a pub, higher taxes, a restaurant, higher taxes, a cafe, higher taxes, a farm, higher taxes, a care home, higher taxes, a hospice, higher taxes.

“So Mr. Speaker, is this the reason the prime minister chooses to spend so much time out of this country?”

Sir Keir dismissed the claims as “a load of nonsense”.

Our political editor David Maddox writes…

Karl Turner, the Labour MP Kingston upon Hull East, has fired another shot across the prime minister’s bows.

He asked that if the plan to get rid of the right to a jury trial for some offences was only about the “backlog” in the court system “then why isn’t there a sunset clause?”.

Sir Keir Starmer relied on the words of former judge Brian Leveson whose recommendations are behind the plan to limit jury trials.

But the question represents a feeling of discomfort for many Labour MPs on this issue and yet another challenge to the PM’s authority.

With issues like this stacking up on his leadership judgement his position becomes more perilous by the day.

The prime minister has ruled out rejoining a UK-EU Customs Union, after a vote on Tuesday night saw more than a dozen Labour MPs back a Liberal Democrat bill supporting the notion.

The Liberal Democrat leader said: “Does the Prime Minister fear that if he keeps opposing a customs union in 12 months time, he will not be standing there?”

Sir Keir said: “We have got a closer relationship with the EU throughout reset earlier this year.

“Yes, I do want a closer relationship than what we’ve got at the moment. We are moving towards that.

“We do have manifesto commitments on issues such as single market, customs union and freedom of movement, but I would gently point this out that having now done significant trade deals with other countries, including the US and India.”

Kemi Badenoch has taken a broader swing at Starmer’s government, and claimed that “everything is getting worse” under Labour.

Badenoch adds that his cabinet should be doing their own jobs, but instead they’re all “competing for the caretaker’s job”.

The Tory leader then called on the prime minister to “admit that Labour is not working”.

In response, Starmer says Badenoch is “living proof you can say whatever you like when nobody is listening to anything you have to say”.

“No wonder so many are leaving her party, they know there’s absolutely no reason to stay,” he adds.

The prime minister has vowed to stand up for Europe but avoided commenting on recent comments made by Donald Trump that described European leaders as weak.

In an interview with Politico, the U.S. president went after London mayor Sadiq Khan again, calling him “a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”, and claimed European nations had failed to take control of immigration and the war in Ukraine.

When asked by Liberal Democrat Ed Davey about these comments, Sir Keir said: “On the question of Europe and President Trump’s comments, what I see is a strong Europe, united behind Ukraine and united behind our long standing values of freedom and democracy. And I will always stand up for those values and those freedoms.”

It was noted however that he made no reference to “standing up to President Trump”.

Our political editor David Maddox writes…

That was a brutal dismantling of Keir Starmer’s government by Kemi Badenoch in PMQs.

Bit by bit she went through the failures of Labour to deliver on key promises including less teachers, less police and more days lost to doctor’s strikes.

“Everything is getting worse under Labour,” she said as she mocked Starmer as the “caretaker prime minister” with his cabinet ministers trying to get his job.

It was her most confident performance yet and left Sir Keir looking distinctly rattled as he floundered around talking about Reform.

Just a month ago it was Ms Badenoch whose job security seemed to be the least secure of the party leaders but now she appears to be confident with Sir Keir desperately holding on to his job.

Too many women are “failed” by maternity services, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, he told the Commons: “I am particularly concerned by maternity services, and that’s why we’ve commissioned a review so every mother is heard, gets proper care at what should be a special time, and currently, too many are failed.

“We’re funding healthy babies services in 75 of the most deprived areas, and we’ve taken action to save parents up to £500 a year on infant formula.

“It is a moral mission of this Government to lift children out of poverty, and we intend to do so.

“The leader of the Opposition (Kemi Badenoch) thinks that maternity pay is excessive.”

Taking aim at his leadership, Kemi Badenoch has claimed that Sir Keir Starmer has “lost control of his party” and said: “They are all so busy trying to replace him that they have taken their eyes off the ball.”

In a series of rapid questions, she asks Sir Keir about energy bills, which Ms Badenoch says have risen, as well as how many teachers have been hired.

Taking aim at Bridget Phillipson, she said: “There are now 400 fewer teachers since she came into office, it’s on the DFS website – does she not check it?

“The prime minister doesn’t know what’s going on in energy department, what’s going on in education – does he know what’s going on in the home office?”

This leads to further spars over the number of police officers hired and Wes Streeting’s bid to end the doctor strikes.