Robert Jenrick urges people to ‘take to the streets’ over fuel price hikes

The Conservatives have been slammed by Labour after Migration Watch accused them of being "worse than Corbyn" on immigration. A spokesman said: "The numbers speak for themselves and expose the Tories' blatant hypocrisy on this issue.

"They were the architects of an out-of-control immigration system which saw this country experience levels of migration over four years which it had historically seen over four decades. This Labour government is now cleaning up their mess - we have brought net migration down by two thirds since the election and are going further to restore order and control to our borders."

Greenpeace UK’s head of climate Mel Evans is not persuaded by President Trump's call to get drilling. He said:

The US President has once again intervened on Britain's fossil fuels with this message on Truth Social:

Labour toning down guidance for single-sex spaces has been branded "a disgrace" by the Conservatives. Claire Coutinho MP, Shadow Minister for Equalities, said: "Women deserve to know that their rights and safety come first."

She added: "With a leadership election looming, it is increasingly clear that Bridget Phillipson is putting her own political ambition ahead of protecting women.

"She must publish the EHRC guidance now rather than hiding behind the local elections as an excuse for more dither and delay."

The UK's military and defence industries must be put on a war footing, according to the former boss of the Royal Navy. In a stark warning that the country must be ready for war, Crossbench peer Lord West of Spithead, who served in a previous Labour government, told peers that the country needed to do more to deal with threats.

Lord West said: "I’m delighted the minister has highlighted what is being done now, but I have this feeling we have a long way to catch up. We’re nowhere near that position, and we are, I believe in a state where we perhaps ought to put our military and certainly our defence on some sort of war footing, to be able to catch up and be able to do the things we need to do."

He had earlier said the UK had fallen behind in the ability to track Russian submarines off its coast compared to the Cold War.

In response, defence minister Lord Coaker said: "The need for this country to move from where it is to a position of war readiness is crucial. That is not a Government effort, that is a whole of society effort from this side of the House, from that side of the House, from all parts of the United Kingdom, to deal with the threats that we face our population has to understand the threat that they face, we as a Government have to talk to them, and all of us have to stand up and say ‘We will defend our country and the values we stand for’."

You may well have woken up this morning to ex-NATO chief Lord Robertson condemnation of the "corrosive complanceny" among Britain's leaders to defence. He accused "non-military experts in the Treasury" of "vandalism" and warned: "We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget."

This has made waves throughout the day, and Professor Paul Cornish, the director of the University of Exeter’s Centre for the Public Understanding of Defence and Security, said:

Trade Unions have hit out at the IMF downgrading the UK economic growth forecast. General Secretary Paul Nowak said: "This is the last thing working families need. Donald Trump’s illegal war of choice risks making us all poorer. The longer it goes on, the bigger the threat to our economy and to living standards."

He added: "Households and firms are already being hammered by Trumpflation – especially gas-dependent industries like chemicals, ceramics and glass. That’s why the government must urgently bring forward a temporary targeted gas price cap to stabilise the price of gas for critical industries and protect British manufacturing – and press the accelerator on the energy support scheme making sure it reaches crucial sectors like steel.

"And longer-term, ministers must go all out to protect the country from a sustained Trump-slump – and ensure those with the deepest pockets shoulder the cost."

Donald Trump has taken a further swipe at the UK for failing to exploit North Sea oil as he urged the country to “drill, baby, drill”.Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US President said: “Europe is desperate for Energy, and yet the United Kingdom refuses to open North Sea Oil, one of the greatest fields in the World. Tragic!!! Aberdeen should be booming. Norway sells its North Sea Oil to the U.K. at double the price.“They are making a fortune. U.K., which is better situated on the North Sea for purposes of energy than Norway, should, DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! It is absolutely crazy that they don’t… AND, NO MORE WINDMILLS! President DJT”

Lee Anderson was heckled by a passerby as he attended an election stunt at a petrol station in Nuneaton.

The Reform UK MP was approached by an unnamed woman who left her vehicle and said: "You could not tell the truth if your life depended on it."

The altercation took place in the middle of a party event which saw the veteran Reform MP team up with the party's treasury spokesman, former Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, to "cut" fuel prices by 13p a litre. R

But not everyone was impressed, with the heckler confronting Mr Anderson and saying: "Get your silly little racist flags, and stick them where the sun doesn't shine."

Appearing unfazed, the Ashfield MP told her: "It's very nice to meet you" and said he hoped she had a "lovely day".

Protests have erupted in Northern Ireland over the rising cost of fuel. A slow moving convoy of tractors has been spotted moving toward a major UK city.

The Express has all the latest.

A Treasury spokesman said: “Farmers are paying more because of the war in Iran - this is not our war and that is why we did not join it. The Chancellor has made clear that our economic approach to this crisis will be both responsive to a changing world and responsible in the national interest.

“We are determined to help keep costs down - red diesel continues to benefit from an 80% tax discount - saving farmers almost £300 million a year – while we’re providing £11.8 billion to support farm costs.”

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was joined by the shadow cabinet to clean graffiti off a wall in Herne Hill, south London.

Rachel Reeves has been handed a triple hammerblow, after the International Monetary Fund downgraded the UK’s economic growth forecasts and warned of soaring inflation and unemployment.

The influential financial body said Britain would be hit particularly hard by fallout from the Iran war, which threatens to trigger a global recession.

It comes as a devastating blow for the beleaguered Chancellor, after a tumultuous two years in the job which has seen the economy struggle.

In a further humiliation, Britain’s downgrade is the biggest of all G7 nations.

The Conservatives have taken aim at the amount of people on Universal Credit under Labour, saying it has increased by 1.5 million. Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "1.5 million more people on Universal Credit since Keir Starmer walked into Downing Street. This is a full-blown crisis with a claim form attached."

She added: "Higher taxes, more regulation, fewer jobs. Labour’s bad economic choices are driving people onto welfare and passing the bill onto taxpayers. Labour are killing jobs and piling taxes onto businesses and working people. Only the Conservatives have a plan to get Britain working again."

Reform's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said Rachel Reeves is “raking it in” and “betraying working people”.

He said: “Rachel Reeves is profiteering. She’s raking it in at the moment.

“She’s making tens of millions of pounds extra in tax revenues every day as a result of the increased VAT when you are paying your domestic energy bill, or the fuel duty and the VAT when you’re filling up at the forecourt.

“She should use a bit of that to lighten the load for people at the moment. That is the only thing that we’re calling for. It’s very reasonable.

“Loads of governments around the world are doing exactly the same, from Spain and Portugal to Australia to the Republic of Ireland. Rachel Reeves is acting like some kind of bystander.

“She’s betraying working people by not using a bit of that to lighten the load.”

The Gulf/Spar garage in Lowdham has cut its prices by 13p a litre for petrol and 16p for diesel today.

The price reduction is the same as the saving from halving VAT on fuel to 10%, which Reform has called on the Chancellor to implement for three months as an emergency response to the Iran war.

Several people holding “vote Green” placards have arrived at the petrol station for the Reform stunt and are standing at the edge of the forecourt.

Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick and MP Lee Anderson are at petrol station in Nottinghamshire where they will be reducing the price of fuel for motorists.

This is to heap pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ease costs for drivers.

Sir Keir Starmer will lead a new Cabinet committee to deal with the fallout from the Iran conflict.The group – the Middle East Response Committee – has its first meeting today focused on efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key global oil and gas shipping route.The Prime Minister established the committee to deal with the domestic and international impacts of the war, which has driven up energy prices, caused stock market turmoil and exposed deep divisions between the US and its traditional European allies.

The image of Donald Trump as a Christ-like figure was “preposterous”, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I thought it was a preposterous picture.

“It should have been, at best, a funny joke that somebody else had done.

“It was very bizarre seeing the president tweet it himself. I’m not surprised that it’s been deleted.”

The Green Party has overtaken Labour in a new poll in the latest blow to Sir Keir Starmer.

The YouGov survey puts Zack Polanski's party in third place on 18%, up two points from the previous week.

Labour is pushed into fourth place on 17%, up one point from the week before.

Nigel Farage's Reform UK leads the poll on 24%, while the Tories are second on 19%.

Kemi Badenoch backed Lord Robertson’s warning that the UK is underprepared for war due to the “ever-expanding welfare budget” and “corrosive complacency”.

The Tory leader told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We used to spend one in every seven pounds on welfare. Now it’s one in every three pounds and a lot of that money has basically been swapped for defence.“The world is not as peaceful as it used to be. The peace dividend that existed after the fall of the Berlin Wall is gone, we need to spend more money on defence.”

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “corrosive complacency” over Britain’s defence by the former head of Nato.

Lord Robertson, a key government adviser, will warn in a speech later: "We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget."

He will say: "We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe... Britain's national security and safety is in peril."

He will add: "There is a corrosive complacency today in Britain's political leadership. Lip service is paid to the risks, the threats, the bright red signals of danger - but even a promised national conversation about defence can't be started."

More than 300 council employees earned more than the Prime Minister last year, new analysis reveals.

Some 320 town hall workers across the UK raked in more than Sir Keir Starmer’s £172,153 salary over the course of the 2024-25 financial year, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) annual Town Hall Rich List report.

A record 4,733 council staff received over £100,000, and of these 1,255 were on more than £150,000.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TPA, said: "“Our latest Town Hall Rich List exposes a surging class of council bosses enjoying six-figure packages, even as they plead poverty, slash frontline services, and hike council tax bills far beyond inflation."

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: "If the IMF downgrade our forecast, it will be solely at the feet of Rachel Reeves.

"The Chancellor hiked national insurance in her first budget, doubling inflation and sending unemployment soaring. She is driving the hospitality industry out of business with business rates increases, and planning the first hike in fuel duty in 15 years. Her 'plan' to keep costs down has left us with the highest inflation in the G7, with businesses closing and the cost of living skyrocketing.

"The Conservatives urge international partners to instead see Rachel Reeves as a cautionary tale of what happens when a politician has no clue what they're doing and chooses to hammer business relentlessly."

Rachel Reeves is set to call for coordinated action to tackle the global economic shock caused by the Iran war as she heads to the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington DC.

The Chancellor said: “Families and businesses across Britain are bearing the cost of instability they did not cause. These are not costs I wanted, but they are costs we will have to respond to.

“The Iran conflict must be a line in the sand on how we deal with global crisis and instability.

“I will go to America with a clear message: global leaders must take coordinated economic action and supercharge the path to energy security to protect ourselves in the future.”

The IMF is due to publish its world economic outlook later, with updated growth and inflation forecasts around the globe.