Starmer condemns Badenoch for abandoning cross-party consensus on climate crisis policy
Keir Starmer’s statement to MPs about the G20 and Cop29 summits largely summarised announcments made while he was at those events. Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative leader, responded. Normally exchanges like this are relatively tame, because the main parties often broadly agree on foreign policy issues, but Badenoch was very critical of Starmer’s foreign policy positions, particularly on climate, and Starmer condemned her for breaking what had been a cross-party consensus on reducing emissions.
Referring to Cop29, Badenoch said:
Cop has not yet concluded, so we do not know what the final impact on the UK will be. But we do know the prime minister’s rush to a further cut in our emissions [a reference to this announcement] is yet another example of politicians putting short term publicity above long term planning.
When will he publish the plans to achieve this new target?
Where this government does the right thing, we will back it. Yet, where it puts politics before people and press releases before practicality, we will hold them to account.
It is time for politicians to tell the truth, and it is time the prime minister provided some substance to back this costly rhetoric.
Badenoch pointed out that, by attending the G20 summit in Brazil, Starmer was out of London for the farmers’ protests. And she ended:
The prime minister’s foreign policy is a pick and mix of empty platitudes, unilateral commitments that he could have announced at home, and dangerous precedents – rushing to give away the Chagos islands and paying for the privilege, an ill-judged suspension of export licences to Israel, damaging our defence and security industry and failing to set out a roadmap for spending 2.5% GDP on defence in a world that is becoming yet more dangerous.
I hope the prime minister is up to the very real and serious challenges posed to our security and prosperity.
In response, Starmer said that Badenoch’s decision to abandon the cross-party consensus on reducing carbon emissions and the drive to net zero “shows just how far the party opposite has fallen”. He said:
On Cop … I have to say, it is a shame that what used to be a cross-party issue not so many years ago … when Cop was in Scotland, there was a real unity across the house about the importance of tackling one of those central issues of our time.
I think the fact that she has now taken the position she has of attacking the very idea of setting targets shows just how far the party opposite has fallen.
On an issue like this, I was proud that under some of her predecessors we had that unity. It’s a shame it’s now been lost because of the position adopted by the opposition.
Badenoch describes herself as a “net zero sceptic” and in a recent interview she suggested that an adaption strategy might be a better solution to the climate crisis than just focusing on cutting carbon emissions.
Key events
Here are two more tribute to John Prescott.
From the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock
John Prescott was an intriguing mixture of ferocity and charm who attracted affection, respect and, sometimes, outrage.
He was truly a political innovator in policies ranging from integrated transport to combating climate change and regional democratic and economic development to European co-operation.
Vitally, he was also a very practical MP and minister who continually sought the best way to ‘get things done’ whether that meant bringing divergent people together or insisting on details of implementation. This central invaluable quality made him an essential figure in 10 years as deputy prime minister.
From John Major, the former Conservative prime minister
[Prescott] was an essential part of Labour’s electoral success in the 1990s and – as deputy prime minister – continued to say what he thought in unmistakable terms. He never lost sight of the causes that first motivated him into politics, and remained a passionate advocate for all he believed – even if that meant the odd tussle with colleagues along the way.
Although a political opponent, I much admired him as a man who never betrayed his core instincts. He was, in essence, a deep down genuine politician. The public saw that – and respected him for it.
In his response to Kemi Badenoch in the Commons (see 11.27am), Keir Starmer also criticised her suggestion that he should not have attended the G20 in Brazil. Badenoch did not quite say he should have stayed at home, but she said being at the G20 was probably “a lot easier” than being in London when ‘“hard-working farmers were protesting outside the Downing Street gates at his cruel family farm tax”.
Referring to her comments, Starmer said:
[Badenoch] references me being in Rio when the farmers were protested.
G20 is the leading economies of the world, getting together to discuss questions of common issues on the economy and on security.
If her implication is that the UK should not be there at leader level, that we should join Putin in avoiding that meeting, if that’s the position of her party, then she should say so.
Starmer condemns Badenoch for abandoning cross-party consensus on climate crisis policy
Keir Starmer’s statement to MPs about the G20 and Cop29 summits largely summarised announcments made while he was at those events. Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative leader, responded. Normally exchanges like this are relatively tame, because the main parties often broadly agree on foreign policy issues, but Badenoch was very critical of Starmer’s foreign policy positions, particularly on climate, and Starmer condemned her for breaking what had been a cross-party consensus on reducing emissions.
Referring to Cop29, Badenoch said:
Cop has not yet concluded, so we do not know what the final impact on the UK will be. But we do know the prime minister’s rush to a further cut in our emissions [a reference to this announcement] is yet another example of politicians putting short term publicity above long term planning.
When will he publish the plans to achieve this new target?
Where this government does the right thing, we will back it. Yet, where it puts politics before people and press releases before practicality, we will hold them to account.
It is time for politicians to tell the truth, and it is time the prime minister provided some substance to back this costly rhetoric.
Badenoch pointed out that, by attending the G20 summit in Brazil, Starmer was out of London for the farmers’ protests. And she ended:
The prime minister’s foreign policy is a pick and mix of empty platitudes, unilateral commitments that he could have announced at home, and dangerous precedents – rushing to give away the Chagos islands and paying for the privilege, an ill-judged suspension of export licences to Israel, damaging our defence and security industry and failing to set out a roadmap for spending 2.5% GDP on defence in a world that is becoming yet more dangerous.
I hope the prime minister is up to the very real and serious challenges posed to our security and prosperity.
In response, Starmer said that Badenoch’s decision to abandon the cross-party consensus on reducing carbon emissions and the drive to net zero “shows just how far the party opposite has fallen”. He said:
On Cop … I have to say, it is a shame that what used to be a cross-party issue not so many years ago … when Cop was in Scotland, there was a real unity across the house about the importance of tackling one of those central issues of our time.
I think the fact that she has now taken the position she has of attacking the very idea of setting targets shows just how far the party opposite has fallen.
On an issue like this, I was proud that under some of her predecessors we had that unity. It’s a shame it’s now been lost because of the position adopted by the opposition.
Badenoch describes herself as a “net zero sceptic” and in a recent interview she suggested that an adaption strategy might be a better solution to the climate crisis than just focusing on cutting carbon emissions.
Watch live feed of Matt Hancock giving evidence to the Covid inquiry
The former health secretary is answering questions on the NHS response to the pandemic
Keir Starmer is in the Commons where he has made a statement to MPs on the two summits he has attended recently, the G20 and Cop29.
But he started with a tribute to John Prescott, calling him “a true giant of the Labour movement”. He went on:
John achieved that rare thing – he changed people’s lives, and he set the path for us all to follow … He did it all in his own way, with humour, with pride, passion and total conviction. He truly was a one off.
Starmer also said that there would be full tributes to Prescott in the Commons on another occasion.
Steve Reed says government wants to make farming ‘more profitable’
Helena Horton
Steve Reed, the environment secretary, has announced a plan which he said would make farming more profitable.
In his first speech since the thousands of farmers held a mass rally in Westminster on Tuesday to protest about the government’s plans to extend inheritance tax to farms, he announced a new, farmer-led 25-year roadmap for the sector.
He also said that, instead of tweaking inheritance tax, he would make changes to the supply chain to ensure farmers get a fair price for their produce.
Recent research has shown that farmers get about 1p from the price of a block of cheese or a loaf of bread in the supermarket, and farmers make about a 0.5% return on their investments.
Speaking at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) conference, Reed said:
I’m not prepared to let so many farmers keep working so hard for so little. We need to work together to agree what we want British farming to look like in 25 years time. That means a plan to transition farming to new models that are more environmentally but also more financially sustainable for the long term.
We will do this by developing a 25-year farming roadmap. This will be the most forward looking plan for farming in our country’s history, with a focus on making farming and food production more profitable in the decades to come.
It will not tell farmers what to do. It will be farmer led so they can tell the government what they need to make the success of this vital transition.
Referring to the inheritance tax row, Reed went on:
One of the things farmers were telling me last Tuesday is how little profit they make. How little money for all the hard work they put into producing the food for the rest of us to enjoy.
The answer to that isn’t to tell farmers they’re not in it for the money, as I’ve heard just last week.
The answer is to make farming more profitable. The government will do precisely that. We will make the supply chain fairer so food producers and growers are not forced to accept unfair contracts.
Reed concluded:
I heard the anguish of the countryside on the streets of London earlier this week. We may not agree over the inheritance tax changes, but this government is determined to listen to rural Britain and end its long decline.
The CLA conference is the where Reed told farmers last year, when he as shadow environment secretary, that Labour was not going to extend inheritance tax to farms.
Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, has accused the government of “taxing us out of existence” and “embroiling” rural people in a “stupid row about numbers”.
Today, addressing Reed before he gave his speech, she said:
Secretary of state, you need to act. Last year, I asked you, were you to be elected, could we in this room count on you to go into bat for us at cabinet? And you said yes, and that’s what I want to see from you.
This isn’t about party politics. It’s not about personal party alignment. This is about the fact that you are the one who’s sitting there at the cabinet, representing us, and you have to forget any differences that we might have, and you have to remember that you are our voice at the heart of government.
Jacqueline Carey KC, lead counsel for the inquiry, asks about a minute of a meeting he had with health ministers from the devolved governments. She shows an extract on screen.
The minutes refer to Jeane Freeman (JF), health minister in the Scottish government, asking for a reset in the relationship between the English and Scottish administrations.
Carey asks if that related to anything related to the theme of module 3 – the impact of Covid on the NHS.
Hancock says that was a reference to Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, “causing all sorts of difficulties”. He says that is not relevant to this module.
Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, has now started his evidence to the Covid inquiry.
Asked if he thought the “Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” messaging struck the right balance, Hancock says he thinks it did.
Q: Do you think everything possible was done to keep healthcare workers safe?
Hancock says:
It was obviously extremely difficult to keep healthcare workers as safe as possible, because effectively the wards of the NHS became the front line in this deadly battle.
Q: Do you think visiting restrictions, and restrictions on people being with loved ones when they were dying, were too strict?
Hancock says:
We were balancing incredibly difficult considerations on both sides. I think, on balance, we got those broadly right across the pandemic. But I entirely understand and feel very, very strong arguments on both sides.
But Hancock says he thinks the guidance for funerals was applied in a stricter way than had been intended.
Q: Do you accept that going into the pandemic with a low number of intensive care beds and high bed occupancy put the system under more strain?
Of course, says Hancock.
Q: Do you think now that the decision to suspend all non urgent elective care was the right one?
Yes, says Hancock.
We are inviting readers to share their memories of John Prescott. You can do so via this page.
Matt Hancock gives evidence to Covid inquiry
We will carry on reporting tributes to John Prescott as the day goes on, but there is other news happening today too and soon I will switch to the Covid inquiry, where Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, is giving evidence from 10am. He has already given evidence to the inquiry before, but the inquiry is now on module 3, focusing in particular on the impact of the pandemic on the NHS, and Hancock will be talking about that.
We have also got John Healey, the defence secretary, giving evidence to the Commons defence committee from 10.30am this morning.
Peter Mandelson says Prescott was ‘the cement that kept New Labour together’
Peter Mandelson was one of many people in the Labour party who feuded with John Prescott at various times when they were in government, and at one memorable photocall in the summer of 1997 Prescott compared him to a crab. Today, speaking on Sky News, Mandelson played down the extend of their disagreements, and pointed out that Prescott had supported his application to become Labour’s communications director in 1985 – the job that turned out to be the launchpad for Mandelson’s career.
Mandelson said it was wrong to say Prescott was not New Labour.
Some people say sometimes that he wasn’t New Labour. But that’s not true. He was New Labour. He was one very essential part of New Labour. He basically kept us anchored in our working class roots, our trade union history. And he was the bridge, essentially, between that and the modernisers in the Labour party, Tony, Gordon, me and the others. And he always wanted that project to work. It’s not as if he was standing outside it and peering in. He was on the inside and making it work. He was, in many respects, the cement that kept New Labour together.
Asked what he was like to work with, Mandelson replied:
He was absolutely impossible. When I say he was sort of courageous, he was. When I say he was loyal, he was. When I say he was determined, he was. He was always determined to get his own way on any particular issue at any given moment. Right up until the point he’d say, ‘OK, I’ll do this for you. You do this for me. As long as you cover this off I’ll happily go along with it.’
So he was a negotiator. He was a trade union negotiator. He was a broker. But at the end of the day he wanted it to work and the way in which he made it work was by being incredibly difficult for days on end and then finally sealing it, making work, agreeing it and off we went.
Mandelson also recalled a surprise conversation earlier this year he had with Prescott.
I was at home on a Sunday morning and the phone went and then suddenly I put it on and it was the face of John Prescott on my phone FaceTiming me from Hull. I mean, no advanced warning. No how do you do. It was, ‘Hello, is that you?’ ‘Yes John it is me. What do you want?’
He said ‘I just want to say that I know it was difficult and we were bloody awful to you at times and I was, but actually you did good and I want to forgive you.’ What am I being forgiven for here? It was just, ‘I want to forgive you because you did good. And I know it wasn’t easy at times and I know it was rough and I know I didn’t help but now I understand.’ And I said, ‘John that’s very kind of you. How do you suddenly understand this?’ He said, ‘Oh well somebody gave me this book of yours. I didn’t read it before. It looked very boring. But I’ve looked at it, I’ve dipped into it and I’ve seen what you went through … I feel rather sorry for you actually. And anyway, thanks very much.’
It was a few minutes more … but that was it. That was the last time I spoke to him.
Here are more tributes to John Prescott from Labour figures on social media.
From Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s communications director in No 10
JP RIP … there was nobody else like him. Tony could not have had a better deputy. Labour could not have had a better campaigner. The government could not have had a better negotiator and – yes, often, peacemaker. Hull could not have had a better MP. Of course he was combative but he had an enormous heart and a great capacity for friendship. Even with his horrible illness in later years, the old JP was always there. Love to Pauline, Jonathan and David and nothing but fond memories of a total one off who will be missed by so many.
From Yvette Cooper, the home secretary
Such sad news about John Prescott. A campaigning Labour hero & a remarkable minister who transformed lives – upgrading millions of council homes, coalfield regeneration, tackling climate change. Fierce & warm hearted – there was no one like him. Thinking of Pauline & family today
From Ed Balls, the former adviser to Gordon Brown and later secretary of state for children
From Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader
I am really sad to hear that John Prescott has passed away.
John was a huge figure and personality, from his seafaring union days to the highest offices in Government.
I will be forever grateful for his personal and political support in the 2017 and 2019 elections. His endless warmth and iconic wit were loved on the campaign trail.
My deepest sympathies to John’s family at their loss. He will be greatly missed.
From Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary
1/2 John Prescott was a political giant who made a unique contribution to the Labour and trade union movement he loved so deeply. Authentic, funny, tough, highly skilled and, at times, unpredictable, he often used the phrase “traditional Labour values in a modern setting”.
2/2 In doing so, he would reassure and inspire Party members with whom he had a great bond. He will be much missed. All our thoughts are with Pauline and his family on this very sad day.
From David Lammy, foreign secretary
John Prescott was one of the giants of our party. Committed, loyal, Labour to his core. A relentless champion of working people who never forgot who he came into politics to fight for. Full of good humour and blunt common sense. Rest in peace
Angela Rayner pays tribute to Prescott, saying he was ‘inspiration to me’
Angela Rayner is often compared to John Prescott. They were both brought up working class, became Labour MPs after working in the trade union movement and have been frequently patronised or demonised by Tories and the media, partly on the grounds of class snobbery. And both ended up deputy PM.
Here is her tribute to Prescott.
Through his half a century of public service and a decade as deputy prime minister, John Prescott was driven by his Labour values to serve working people.
Fiercely proud of his working class and trade union roots, he never lost sight of who he came into politics to serve. He used the chance he was given to change the lives of millions of working people.
A giant of the labour movement and loyal friend, he will be remembered with huge fondness by all those who knew him.
John was not only a Labour legend but an inspiration to me, and always so generous with his time and support.
We will miss him greatly. Our thoughts and prayers are with Pauline, David, Johnathan and the rest of the family.
Prescott’s family ask people not to send flowers but to donate to Alzheimer’s Research UK instead
Here is the full statement from John Prescott’s family announcing his death. Prescott was living with Alzheimer’s in his final years and his family have asked wellwishers minded to send flowers to donate to Alzheimer’s Research UK instead.
They say:
We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 86.
He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.
John spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment, doing so from his time as a waiter on the cruise liners to becoming Britain’s longest serving deputy prime minister.
John dearly loved his home of Hull and representing its people in parliament for 40 years was his greatest honour. We would like to thank the amazing NHS doctors and nurses who cared for him after his stroke in 2019 and the dedicated staff at the care home where he passed away after latterly living with Alzheimer’s.
In lieu of flowers and if you wish to do so, you can donate to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
As you can imagine, our family needs to process our grief so we respectfully request time and space to mourn in private. Thank you.
Here is a John Prescott picture gallery.
Gordon Brown pays tribute to Prescott
Andrew Sparrow
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Caroline Davies.
The former prime minister Gordon Brown has just been on the Today programme paying tribute to John Prescott. He said:
John was a friend of mine, he was a colleague, but when you think of him, he was a colossus, he was a titan of the Labour movement.
John Lennon talked about working class hero. It’s difficult to fit that term, but I think John would like that.
You’ve got to look at his achievements. He was probably the first government minister to see the importance of the environment. Kyoto, that environmental treaty in 1997, you’ve got to attribute that to John’s hard work with Al Gore.
Then he saw the importance, and he was a pioneer of regional policy. So the fact we have devolution and mayors owes a great deal to what John was thinking right throughout the 1980s and 90s when I was working with him.
And then we mustn’t forget that one of the great achievements of John as environment secretary was the repair and improvement of housing, 1.5m houses which would not have been repaired without John’s determination that the social housing stock had to be remodernised.
So you’ve got to look at the practical achievements of someone who possibly surprised himself by the way that he managed to become deputy prime minister, but actually made a huge difference.
Yorkshire has “lost one of its great political heavyweights,” said Tracy Brabin, mayor for West Yorkshire. In a post on X she said:
Deeply sad news to hear of John Prescott’s passing. Yorkshire has lost one of its great political heavyweights. A true Northerner with unwavering authenticity. John’s record speaks for itself: tackling regional inequalities, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment.
We must all now build on his legacy and work tirelessly, as he did, to create a country that works for all.
Lord Prescott’s wife and two sons said he had been in a care home recently living with Alzheimer’s. Hilary Evans-Newton, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
It’s heartbreaking to hear that former deputy prime minister, Lord John Prescott, one of the most prominent political figures of our generation, has died with Alzheimer’s. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.
It’s tragic how many lives are being lost to dementia, the leading cause of death in the UK.
We’re incredibly moved by Lord Prescott’s family, who have asked for donations to Alzheimer’s Research UK, in lieu of flowers.
As the UK’s leading dementia research charity, we’re accelerating progress towards a cure, so no one’s life has to end this way.
