Politics latest: End to council tax discount for singles not ruled out - as new pet cat welcomed to No 10 (2024)

That's all from the Politics Hub for tonight.

Join us again in the morning.

Day one of a new term at Westminster and Sir Keir Starmer was already facing double trouble from Labour MPs,chief political correspondentJon Craigwrites.

First, a partial arms export ban on Israel, which opponents claimed was a sop to pro-Gaza Labour left-wingers, ended up pleasing no-one.

And then, predictably, at a packed Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, senior cabinet ministers faced a marathon grilling on winter fuel payments.

In a Commons statement, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of 30 out of the UK's 350 arms export licences to Israel.

There was, he said, "a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law".

But he stressed it wasn't a "blanket ban" or an arms embargo and said UK arms exports to Israel only make up 1% of the total.

So is it just a gesture, then? It looks like it, according to MPs of all parties.

That was certainly the conclusion of Labour's political opponents.

Read Jon's full analysis below:

We have been reporting plenty on the tax rises that could be coming in October's budget.

One of the levies that could be in line for changes is council tax, so we thought we'd have a look at how it works now and how the Labour government might tweak it.

Earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner did not rule out changes to the single person discount on council tax.

The current system

Council tax is paid on domestic properties and collected by local councils.

Some people don't have to pay it or get discounts, for example those living alone, but most people over 18 who aren't students living with other students are charged.

There are valuation bands which dictate how much tax needs to be paid, based on the value of properties as they were in 1991.

New build properties developed after that date are estimated by the Valuations Office Agency and banded accordingly.

Different local councils charge different rates for each of the bands, with rates in central London often some of the cheapest, and those in more rural areas usually higher.

Current laws stipulate that any local authority wanting to raise council tax by 5% or more has to hold a referendum first.

Is it fit for purpose?

The current system was introduced in 1993.

Property values have changed significantly in the last three decades, with some London house prices having risen by more than 800%, whereas in places like Hartlepool, in County Durham, they have barely tripled.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has labelled use of the current system as "absurd" while the Institute for Government has called it "incredibly poorly designed".

What has Labour said before?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is among those to have previously called for a council tax revaluation.

A leaked recording from March revealed chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, saying he was frustrated by the "out of date" system and hinted those with homes worth over £1m may have to pay more.

In Wales, the Labour Party has promised to introduce new council tax bands and tax band rates, but that has been pushed back to 2028.

Sir Keir Starmer previously described the Welsh Labour government as a "blueprint for what Labour can do across the UK," but later told Sky News council tax was "too high for too many people".

What could the government change?

There have been reports the government could replace the banding system in favour of a 0.5% tax on the value of a property per year.

This would mean that someone in a property worth £350,000, for example, would pay £1,750 a year.

However, the move could particularly impact those living in London, where the average one-bedroom flat peaked at £327,000 in 2020.

A new political term, and a new reality for the Conservatives, as what's left of the party regroups in Westminster and gets down to the business of picking a new leader, writeBeth Rigby, political editor.

On Monday, it was the turn of Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly to officially launch their campaigns ahead of the first knock-out round on Wednesday.

Their competing visions for the party are a window into how this race will shape up.

Those involved say the choice Conservative MPs and members make will determine whether the party has a shot of turning its devastating election loss into just one term out of office.

Look at the Labour working majority of 181 and the obvious answer seems to be that a rebuild is a two-term project at the very best.

But as both Badenoch and Cleverly supporters told me at their launch today, the Starmer support is wide but shallow, with the Labour leader garnering the support of 34% of voters (as opposed to 43% of the vote won by Tony Blair in 1997).

The two would-be leaders on Monday had very different pitches.

Read Beth's full analysis below:

Earlier today, Kemi Badenoch launched her leadership bid to be the next top Tory.

During her speech, she said: "When everyone was talking about the five new MPs fromReform.

"I was far, far more worried about the five new MPs elected on theback of sectarian Islamist politics - alien ideas that have no place here.

"The sort of politics we need to defeat - and defeat quickly."

Forming the Independent Alliance

The five MPs mentioned made an announcement of their own today.

Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam and Jeremy Corbyn announced they would be forming a grouping known as the Independent Alliance in the House of Commons - you can read about why they did that here.

Understandably, the new Independent Alliance group were not happy about Ms Badenoch's words.

In a joint statement, they said her speech was an "outrageous slur" and an "attack on democracy".

They went on: "As democratically elected MPs, we are proud to speak up on the issues that matter to our constituents, including the two-child benefits cap, the rights of refugees and the ongoing massacre of Palestinians.

"By describing these demands as 'sectarian Islamist politics', Badenoch maligns thousands of voters and peace campaigners.

"Her smear should be called out for what it is: Islamophobia."

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

Five independent MPs - including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - have formed a new group.

The Independent Alliance parliamentary group, launched today, consists of former Labour leader Mr Corbyn, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed.

They were all elected as independent MPs for the first time in July, with all five taking a pro-Palestine stance in Labour-supporting constituencies with large Muslim populations.

Mr Adam unseated leading Labour politician Jonathan Ashworth to become MP for Leicester South, while Mr Corbyn won the Islington North seat he had held since 1983 as a Labour MP before he was ousted from the party.

With five MPs in the House of Commons, the group is the same size as Reform UK and the DUP, and larger than the Greens, who have four MPs.

By becoming an official parliamentary group, they increase their chances of being chosen to take part in debates and committees, which are proportional to party size.

Read the full story below:

After the summer recess, when it comes to politics, it feels like there’s finally been time to take a breath.

After the rollercoaster of Brexit, COVID, three prime ministers in as many months - and of course the election - could we finally be approaching some stability?

Well, I hate to say it, but the summer has put paid to that.

The riots showed some of the anger, the fear, that’s just a scrape away from the surface.

And since then we haven’t exactly been swept away by a tide of optimism and hope. It's been frankly depressing.

Whether it's letting prisoners out early, axing winter fuel payments for pensioners, or the prospect of tax rises in the autumn, it's been less Cool Britannia and more Broken Britain.

There's been no new government bounce in the polls. Sir Keir Starmer's personal ratings have also gone down.

My sense though, is this is all part of the plan. Rip off the plaster, ignore the squeals, the PM and his chancellor know the only time you can get away with unpopular stuff is right when you've first been elected.

My guess is those around Sir Keir Starmer are thinking: what's wrong with setting a low bar?

You're much more likely to clear it and then the only way is up.

That's concludes our coverage of tonight's Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge - the show will return tomorrow at 7pm. Stick with us for more news and analysis.

On our panel tonight is former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth and Reform UK MP Richard Tice.

They are discussing who could be the next leader of the Conservative Party.

Mr Ashworth says: "My sense of watching the Tory leadership contest from a distance is that all of them seem to think that the Tory party was right and the electorate wrong.

"And until one of them is prepared to stand up and say the Tory party was wrong, but the electorate was right, I don't think they're going to take the tough decisions needed to get them back into government."

'Tories have given up'

Mr Tice says he doesn't "fear" any of the candidates squaring up to be the next top Tory.

And he thinks the country's not that interested either.

He says at one point today in the Commons there were as many Reform UK MPs on the green benches as there were Tories.

"Essentially they don't care - they've given up," Mr Tice says.

"They don't know who they are, they don't know what they're supposed to do.

"They're all over the place, and they can't even be bothered to show up."

Former minister David Davis is joining Sophy Ridge on her first show of the new parliamentary term tonight.

But while we might be the Politics Hub, even we can't escape what for many people was the biggest story of the past week - the Oasis reunion.

Unfortunately, thousands of fans have been left angry and frustrated in their efforts to buy tickets for next year's gigs.

It's seen the government vow to look into dynamic ticket pricing used by sites like Ticketmaster, after prices more than doubled while on sale.

'Corporate Britain at its worst'

Mr Davis described it as "corporate Britain at its worst", with fans "mistreated and ripped off".

Many entered hours-long virtual queues to buy tickets, only to find prices balloon into the hundreds of pounds by the time they could buy them, while others missed out completely.

Mr Davis, who's been a Tory MP since 1987, revealed he'd written to the Competition and Markets Authority about it to say "the rules are not working" and "this needs to be put right".

"My hope is they will respond and do something about it. If they don't, then we'll have to pursue it further in parliament," he added.

"These are digital shackles, a digital locked-in queue.

"You can't get out, and that's not how free markets work."