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Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQsHere is the list of MPs down to ask a question at PMQs.HoC Photograph: PMQsShareKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureStreeting urges people to reject ‘conspiracy’ theories about theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phoneWes Streeting, the health secretary, has urged people to reject “conspiracy” theories about the loss of Morgan McSweeney’s phone.At the weekend the Sun on Sunday revealed that McSweeney had his mobile phone stolen last year, when he was chief of staff to the PM. It has been claimed that his means some messages between McSweeney and Peter Mandelson – which are supposed to be disclosed under the far-reaching humble address ordering the disclosure of all messages between Mandelson when he was ambassador and government ministers and officials.Cynics have pointed out that the loss of the phone is hugely convenient. On social media some people even doubted the phone theft story, but the Metropolitan police has now confirmed that the theft of the phone was reported in October last year. The theft was not investigated and the culprit was not found.In an interview with Times Radio this morning, Streeting urged people to accept McSweeney’s story at face value – and to reject claims that there has been some plot to destroy Mandelson messages. Streeting said:
double quotation markI can totally understand the cynicism in these sorts of cases, but do bear in mind that when his phone was stolen, it was reported to the police at the time.
[McSweeney] couldn’t at that stage have known that parliament would ask for the publication of all messages in the way that they have in quite an unprecedented way.
Yes, sometimes in politics things can be explained as a result of conspiracy. In other times, more often than not, it is a result of cock-up rather than conspiracy.
But Streeting has failed to silence the sceptics. After his Times Radio interview, the Mail on Sunday columnist Dan Hodges posted this on X.This was published by Tim Shipman on 14 February. It details how in the period up to 13 October, 2025 Labour officials became worried a motion would be put to parliament demanding the release of Morgan McSweeney’s messages to Peter Mandelson. On October 20 McSweeney reported his… pic.twitter.com/gyZKHXKIAm— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) March 25, 2026
ShareHundreds of UK teenagers to trial six-week social media curbs for major studyHundreds of UK teenagers will trial social media bans, digital curfews and time limits on apps under a government pilot, which will run alongside a consultation to decide whether the UK should ban access to social media for the under-16s, Alexandra Topping reports.ShareStreeting says he wants female NHS patients to pilot system letting them propose payment cuts for bad providersWes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that he wants to empower female patients in the NHS by allowing them to trial a system that would allow them to propose financial sanctions for provider who don’t provide a good service.Streeting said he wanted to give “women the power to the kick medical misogyny where it hurts: the bank balance”.He explained:
double quotation markOver the next year, I’m also going to enlist patients in my drive for a better quality service.
We’re going to trial new Patient Power Payments. Patients will be able to decide whether the NHS provider deserves full payment for the service they received, based on the quality of their experience.
And where better to start, than with a group of patients who have been made to feel like second class citizens whose voices don’t matter: women.
In our Women’s Health Strategy, which we’ll publish shortly, I’ll be giving women the power to the kick medical misogyny where it hurts: the bank balance.
Streeting also said he wanted to give patients more say over follow-up appointments.
double quotation markPatient choice will also help me drive further productivity gains. Over the next year, we’ll let patients decide if and when to have a follow-up appointment.”
I have lost count of the number of times I have been invited to a totally pointless follow-up that wastes my time and NHS money. It’s not just me, we could free up millions of appointments for patients who actually need and want them. So from April that’s what we’ll do.
In his speech Streeting also said “the NHS is improving, but it’s still nowhere near good enough”.Wes Streeting speech speaking at the University of East London’s Stratford Campus, this morning. Photograph: James Manning/PAShareAverage band D council tax in England rising by 4.9%, or £111, this year, government figures confirmThe Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published council tax statistics for England. It says:
double quotation markThe average band D council tax set by local authorities in England for 2026-27 will be £2,392, which is an increase of £111 or 4.9% on the 2025-26 figure. This includes all precepts including adult social care and parish precepts.
It also says 274 of the 384 authorities covered by the figures set their council tax increase at the maximum allowed without a referendum (normally 4.99%). It says this was 21 fewer than the number going for a maximum increase in 2025-26.It also says there were 21 authorities that kept their council tax the same, or decreased it.As this chart from the goverment document shows, even though most councils raised council tax by the maximum allowed without a referendum, this year’s average 4.9% increase is the lowest since 2022.Average council tax increases in England Photograph: MHCLGThe fact that average increases were higher in the final year of the last Conservative government has not stopped the Tories attacking Labour over this. James Cleverly, the shadow local government secretary, put out a statement saying:
double quotation markKeir Starmer promised to ease the cost of living and freeze council tax, yet families now face back-to-back hikes and a total council tax take rising by £2.6bn- another broken promise.
ShareUpdated at 10.51 GMT‘Doge of the left’ could save UK taxpayers up to £30bn, says new green thinktankA “Doge of the left,” could save up to £30bn a year for taxpayers by rooting out waste, fraud and tax avoidance, according to the first report from a new green thinktank. Heather Stewart has the story.ShareWes Streeting defends Treasury’s indication that energy support package would help poorer families, not richer onesYesterday Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, indicated that, if the government has to introduce an energy support package later this year because of the ongoing impact of the Iran war, it will be targeted at low-income households.Predictably, in the rightwing papers, this has been written up as an attack on the “middle classes”. Here is the Daily Mail splash. Photograph: Daily MailAnd the Daily Telegraph’s take is very similar; its story is headlined “Middle classes set to miss out on Reeves energy bill support.”Wes Streeting, the health secretary, was giving interviews this morning, and he defended the chancellor’s approach. Asked on the Today programme if it was true that the middle classes would take a hit, he replied:
double quotation markPut a different way, I will be feeling, as a higher earner in this country, a difference in my living costs.
Will they be pinching me in the pockets in the same way that they might impact on my mum, who is a cleaner on the minimum wage? No.
Asked if this was fair, he stressed that the war was to blame.
double quotation markLook, we know that the public finances are in a precarious situation. That’s what we inherited.
We know that the economy has had to go through a huge amount of strain over the last decade, partly as a result of things like the pandemic, partly as a result of reckless political choices like Liz Truss’s mini-budget, and the challenge the chancellor has is, she’s got to try and drive improvement in the economy, confronting the world as it is, not as we would wish it to be.
And I can’t tell you how much my heart sank when the chancellor was delivering the spring statement only weeks ago, where she was able to talk confidently about falling interest rates, falling inflation, wages finally rising faster than the cost-of-living as a result of the choices she is making, knowing full well, as she did, we all did, that what was going on in Iran would make those numbers and that improvement much harder, but she’s confronting that challenge head-on.
ShareUpdated at 10.14 GMTUK inflation held at 3% before global energy price hit from Iran warThe UK inflation rate held steady at 3% in February, before Donald Trump’s Iran war drove up global energy costs, threatening a renewed price jump, Heather Stewart reports.ShareWhat joint committee on national security strategy said about case for ban on crypto donations to partiesThis is what parliament’s joint committee on the national security strategy said about the case for banning cryptocurrency donations to political parties in a report on political finance and foreign influence published last week.
double quotation markCrypto donations pose an unnecessary and unacceptably high risk to the integrity of the political finance system and public trust in it. We accept that future regulations may institutionalise the use of alternative payment systems for use in donations. At present, however, the opportunity to evade rules is too high, the adequacy of mitigations too low, and the resource cost of attempting to implement acceptable oversight is disproportionate. We see no democratic imperative to permit the use of crypto in political finance until adequate safeguards are in place.
Crypto also poses wider upstream risks to the integrity of political finance: donors can convert ‘dirty’ foreign crypto funds into ‘clean’ UK fiat and then donate it without arousing much suspicion. A ‘last mile’ ban on crypto donations is therefore not a panacea. Specialist capabilities to address upstream risks are underpowered and require further work.
The government should introduce a binding moratorium on crypto donations as an amendment to the representation of the people bill. This moratorium should remain in place until the Electoral Commission has issued statutory guidance on crypto donations which applies to its regulated entities.
ShareReview of foreign financial interference in UK politics to be published, with ban on crypto donations expectedGood morning. In December the government announced that Philip Rycroft, a former permanent secretary at the Brexit department, will lead a review into foreign financial interference into UK politics. The review is being published today, and it will include recommendations that we’re told the government will implement as a priority.The review will make recommendations relevant to all the political parties, but no one in government is trying very hard to pretend that one party in particular isn’t the main focus. Rycroft was hired for the job soon after Nathan Gill, the former Reform UK leader in Wales, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in jail for taking bribes to spout pro-Russian propaganda. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, dismissed Gill as a one-off bad apple, but other Brexit party MEPs gave pro-Russian speeches similar to Gill’s. Reform UK is the Brexit party under a new name.And Reform UK is the only political party actively encouraging donations in cryptocurrency – which is widely seen as the currency of choice for people keen to avoid the attention of the regulatory authorities. Parliament’s joint committee on the national security strategy has been calling for a ban on crypto donations to political parties and, according to a story by Max Kendix in the Times, Rycroft is going to say he agrees. Kendix says: “Keir Starmer is expected to ban cryptocurrency donations in a blow to Nigel Farage as an independent review warns that they risk letting foreign powers intervene in British democracy.”Here is the agenda for the day.9.30am: Wes Streeting, the health secretary, will give a speech. As Denis Campbell reports, he will welcome figures showing public satisfaction with the NHS has risen for the first time since 2019.9.30am: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes figures showing council tax figures for England for 2026/27.Morning: The government is due to publish the report from the review by Philip Rycroft into foreign financial interference in UK politics.Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.Noon: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs. (FMQs is normally on a Thursday, but it’s Wednesday this week because of the recess coming up.)After 12.30pm: Steve Reed, the local government secretary, is expected to make a Commons statement on the Rycroft review.Afternoon: Peers will debate the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, and there will be a move to re-insert the clause inserting a social media ban on under-16s orginally added by the Lords (against the wishes of the government) but subsequently taken out again by peers.4.30pm: Michael Shanks, the energy minister, gives evidence to the Commons energy committee on energy resilience.If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.ShareUpdated at 09.31 GMT
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