Election 2024: PM Starmer announces Rwanda scheme is ‘dead and buried’

In a post on X, new justice secretary Shabana Mahmood described her appointment as “the greatest honour of my life” and said she understood the “deep challenges facing our justice system” as a former lawyer.

The Green Party has urged the new Labour government to live up to its promise of bringing change to the country.

It said whether or not Starmer settles a pay deal with junior doctors and removes the two-child benefit cap will be “a litmus test for the direction this government plans to travel”.

It is not a Labour manifesto pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap and its resistance to commit to axing the measure has riled some on the party’s left flank as well as anti-poverty campaigners.

Green co-leader Carla Denyer said: “Keir Starmer promised change. So, today we’ve outlined a sketch of what immediate change looks like.”

Sir Keir Starmer has been exploring his new home, as these photos released by Number 10 reveal.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators braved the rain in central London on Saturday, calling on the newly elected Labour government to take action over the situation in Gaza.

Huge crowds of demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags and placards calling for solidarity, gathered.

The Metropolitan Police deployed 700 officers across the capital in anticipation of the rally and other potential demonstrations, including a rumoured Just Stop Oil interruption.

Read more on this story from the Evening Standard here.

The Labour government’s newly appointed prisons minister has claimed a third of inmates should not be behind bars.

James Timpson said imprisonment was a “disaster” for some of those jailed, as it put them straight back in the “offending cycle”.

Under his leadership, the Timpsons shoe repair and key-cutting chain has employed ex-offenders since 2008, and they now make up 10 per cent of its workforce.

Read more from The Telegraph here.

On 4 July, a record number of constituencies ended up celebrating their "independents day".

It was fitting that a general election held on the famous US holiday saw so much success for independent candidates. There were six independent MPs returned on Friday morning, the highest number since the 1950 general election.

While Labour's landslide grabbed most of the headlines, there were significant gains for those with smaller aims.

Read more from Yahoo News UK here.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been having his say on Starmer's team, saying it's filled with the "most inexperienced people ever to have got into a British cabinet”.

Farage was speaking from Wyldecrest Sports Country Club in Essex, where he went to watch East Thurrock Community Football Club’s first match.

He said: “With a couple of exceptions, they are I think the most inexperienced people ever to have got into a British cabinet.

“If you actually look at their life stories, their backgrounds and bear in mind, these are people making executive decisions that fundamentally affect people’s lives, I think they’re going to find it very, very hard. I suspect this government could be in trouble pretty quickly.”

The big move is under way, with furniture being seen being carried through Downing Street, while removal vans were also spotted this morning as Rishi Sunak moved out of the prime ministerial residence.

Sunak has confirmed he will continue to lead the party ahead of a leadership contest, but with Sir Keir Starmer the new prime minister, it's his home now so Sunak is moving out.

During his press conference on Saturday morning, Starmer admitted his family were “not quite unpacked yet” and still finding their way around.

He said: “We’ll be moving in soon, but we’ve a bit of work to do before then and of course I’m off to Washington on Tuesday."

Read more about the removal vans spotted at Downing Street in the Daily Record.

Keir Starmer said himself that there is a "huge amount of work to do" as he chaired the first meeting of the new cabinet.

That work isn't just for him personally, but for his cabinet ministers who have immediate issues to deal with.

With the new Labour government hoping to make an early impression, the Guardian looks at five figures with pressing concerns.

Preparations are under way at Downing Street ahead of England's Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with Switzerland, with Larry the cat looking on as staff adorn the railings with bunting.

England manager Gareth Southgate will be hoping to replicate Sir Keir Starmer's victory tonight, and the new prime minister might be hoping to take a bit of time out from a busy few days to watch the match.

Earlier, Southgate steered clear of offering any tips to Starmer, telling journalists: "Having been in the role I have, the one thing I would do is not be offering any additional issues for him by speaking publicly about anything, so I wish him well."

If you're still trying to make sense of what happened in the general election on Thursday, we're here to help.

It's been a general election of milestones – the second biggest Labour majority ever; the third biggest majority in 100 years; the worst Conservative defeat ever.

Here's a selection of charts to help you make sense of the data, from Yahoo News UK.

It is “impossible” to say the government will stop the early release of prisoners, Sir Keir Starmer said during his press conference.

“We’ve got too many prisoners, not enough prisons," he told journalists. “That’s a monumental failure of the last government on any basic view of government to get to a situation where you haven’t got enough prison places for prisoners, doesn’t matter what your political stripe, that is a failure of government.

“It’s a failure of government to instruct the police not to arrest. This has not had enough attention, in my view, but it’s what happened. We will fix that, but we can’t fix it overnight and therefore it is impossible to simply say we will stop the early release of prisoners and you wouldn’t believe me if I did say it.”

Starmer was also questioned about comments made by James Timpson, the new minister of state for prisons, parole and probation, who said: “We are addicted to punishment. So many of the people who are in prison in my view shouldn’t be there.”

The prime minister told journalists: “I’ve sat in the back of I don’t know how many criminal courts and watched people processed through the system on an escalator to go into prison.

“And I’ve often reflected that many of them could have been taken out of that system earlier if they’d had support, and that is why what we want to do with our youth hubs and on knife crime is really, really important, because I want to reduce crime.”

He added that if young people, particularly boys, are offered support at a “point of intervention” in the early teenage years, it could ensure some of them “do not get on that escalator” to imprisonment.

Labour's landslide victory has left a fair few Conservative politicians out of a job.

One chose to see the funny side of it, jokingly asking whether Big Brother is still “looking for people”.

Brendan Clarke-Smith was unseated as the MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire by Labour candidate Jo White after she received nearly 6,000 more votes on Thursday.

Here's what he said about pursuing an alternative career, on PA Media.

Labour’s election victory demonstrates the most efficient votes-per-seat ratio of all time, thanks to some serious electoral strategy.

The party only received 2% more of the vote than in 2019, but converted that to a landslide victory.

So who was responsible for such a winning game plan? The Telegraph has all the background on the man who masterminded Labour's win.

The prime minister told his press conference that he is proud to have cabinet ministers who “didn’t have the easiest of starts in life” and reflect the “aspiration” at the heart of Britain.

He said: “I’m really proud of the fact that my abinet reflects the aspiration that I believe lies at the heart of our country.

“That aspiration that so many people have, wherever they started from, to make a journey in life for themselves, for their families, their communities and ultimately for their country.”

This is the answer Keir Starmer gave when asked about his plans for the Rwanda scheme.

As Sir Keir Starmer faced the media, Nigel Farage posed for photos with locals in the bar of Wyldecrest Sports Country Club in Essex.

The Reform UK leader and now MP for Clacton held a pint in one hand and cigarette in the other as locals queued for photos with him, including a boy who asked him to say “Brexit means Brexit” for him to record on a phone, which the Reform UK leader did.

Farage took a swipe at Starmer's new cabinet, saying: "With a couple of exceptions, they are I think the most inexperienced people ever to have got into a British cabinet.

“If you actually look at their life stories, their backgrounds and bear in mind, these are people making executive decisions that fundamentally affect people’s lives, I think they’re going to find it very, very hard. And I say that because the country faces some really fundamental problems, I suspect this government could be in trouble pretty quickly.”

And asked for his reaction to the prime minister scrapping the Rwanda scheme, Farage said: “Well he said he would do it, at least he’s kept a promise I suppose. Look, Rwanda was never going to work. What Keir Starmer is proposing, which is, tackle the gangs, well, frankly, you know, the last government were doing that for the last few years, it’s not going to work.

"At the minute it’s wild and windy, but we do have some pretty strong first hand accounts that as soon as we get a calm spell, they’ll be crossing the English Channel in their thousands, and let’s face it, Keir Starmer does not have a plan to deal with it.”

The prime minister admitted that while he is "restless for change", that change cannot happen overnight.

He told his press conference: “Look, it is not an overnight exercise changing the country."

Asked if he would be willing to raise tax to fund public services, he said: “we’re going to have to take the tough decisions, and take them early”.

He said he would approach the challenges with a “raw honesty” but insisted that was “not a sort of prelude to saying there’s some tax decision that we didn’t speak about before”.

He told journalists: “In relation to the tough decisions, we’re going to have to take them and take them early. And we will do that with a raw honesty.”

He added: “But that is not a sort of prelude to saying there’s some tax decision that we didn’t speak about before that we’re going to announce now.

“It’s about the tough decisions to fix the problem and being honest about what they are.”

Starmer vowed to “turn our back on tribal politics” because “that’s what’s gone wrong” in the last few years.

The prime minister said he wanted to “govern for the whole of the country and take the country forward, and turn our back on tribal politics and simply picking issues we want to fight just for the party politics of it.

“That’s what’s gone wrong, in my view, in the last few years.”

The Rwanda scheme was "dead and buried before it started", Starmer said, adding: "it was never a deterrent".

He labelled the scheme a “gimmick” saying: “Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.

“It has never acted as a deterrent, almost the opposite, because everybody has worked out, particularly the gangs that run this, that the chance of ever going to Rwanda was so slim, less than 1%, that it was never a deterrent.

“The chances were of not going and not being processed and staying here, therefore, in paid for accommodation for a very, very long time.

“It’s had the complete opposite effect and I’m not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don’t act as a deterrent.”

Starmer's comments come after former home secretary Suella Braverman criticised him on Saturday morning for plans to scrap the scheme, saying: "Years of hard work, acts of parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked.

“But there are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Keir Starmer.”

Sir Keir Starmer was asked to outline one concrete thing he plans to deliver in his first 100 days at the helm of the country.

But he seemed to dodge the question, and didn't quite commit to one solid thing he plans to do.

He said “the thing that’s changed already is the mindset of the government”, adding: “It’s a mindset of service. Of country first, party second. That’s not a slogan, that is the test for all of our decisions.”

Sir Keir Starmer also told the press conference he is "restless for change".

Answering questions from journalists in Downing Street, he said: “I am restless for change and I think and hope that what you’ve already seen demonstrates that.”

He added: “Self-interest is yesterday’s politics. I want a politics in this country that works for you.”

Starmer said the appointments of Sir Patrick Vallance and business chief James Timpson should demonstrate the party’s commitment to change.

He said they had been "talking to them for some time about the need for the change that we will put in place", adding: “We have been planning for months to hit the ground running."

He said he had held extensive conversations with cabinet and there will be “further announcements in the coming days”.

“But, look, it is not an overnight exercise changing the country."

Sir Keir Starmer plans to travel to all four nations in the coming days, he said.

"We clearly got a mandate from all four nations," he said.

“For the first time in 20-plus years we have a majority in England, in Scotland and in Wales and that is a clear mandate to govern for all four corners of the United Kingdom and therefore I shall set off tomorrow to be in all four nations.”

He said he will go first to Scotland, followed by Northern Ireland and then Wales, before returning to England, during which time he will meet First Ministers and “establish a way of working across the United Kingdom that will be different and better to the way of working that we’ve had in recent years and to recognise the contributions of all four nations”.

He said at his cabinet meeting he had set out "precisely what I expect of them in terms of standards and the trust the country has put in them," adding: "We will be judged on actions not on words."

Sir Keir Starmer is holding his first press conference as prime minister.

He told the nation: "Yesterday the work of change began", saying his mandate was "not just to govern but a mandate that has put trust in us. A mandate to do politics differently."

As Keir Starmer gets his plans for the country under way, removal men have been spotted at Downing Street.

Various pieces of furniture were pictured being carried on Downing Street as Starmer's replacement for Rishi Sunak proceeds apace.

Sir Keir Starmer has said his government "is ready to serve the people of Britain" after holding his first cabinet meeting.

The prime minister tweeted followed the meeting, writing: "Country first, party second.

"I held my first cabinet meeting this morning. My government is ready to serve the people of Britain."

You can keep up with the press conference from Keir Starmer on our Yahoo live stream here.

Sir Keir Starmer will face questions from the media in his first press conference at 1pm today.

It comes after he chaired his first cabinet meeting, in which he was said to have "outlined the government's mission to restore Britain to the service of working people".

Sam Carling, 22, is Britain’s new Baby of the House, after winning the seat in North West Cambridgeshire.

He is also the joint-youngest Labour MP in modern history.

Read about his reaction to becoming an elected member of parliament in the Telegraph.

She is the country's new deputy prime minister, but Angela Rayner would be the first to say she does not come from a lofty background.

Born in 1980, she was a 'free school meals kid' and has spoke about her difficult upbringing.

Here, the Manchester Evening News looks at her life story and rise to power.

Sir Keir Starmer told the first gathering of his new cabinet in Downing Street: “Look colleagues, it is absolutely fantastic to welcome you to the cabinet, our first meeting.

“And it was the honour and privilege of my life to be invited by the King, His Majesty the King yesterday to form a government and to form the Labour government of 2024.

“And now we hold our first cabinet meeting. So I welcome you to it.

“We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.”

His words were met with loud applause.

Starmer was flanked at the Cabinet table by his deputy and housing secretary Angela Rayner and cabinet secretary Simon Case.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer opened his first cabinet meeting by telling ministers: “We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work”.

The Conservatives should welcome Nigel Farage into the fold and do more to appeal to Reform voters, the new Father of the House has urged.

Sir Edward Leigh, now Britain’s longest-serving MP, suggested it would be up to Tory members whether to make Farage party leader if he wished to join.

The 73-year-old also argued the Conservatives had made the “fundamental mistake” of not doing enough to deliver on Brexit while ignoring voters’ concerns about record levels of mass migration.

Read more from The Telegraph here.

British stars have given their views on Labour's election victory, with mixed views spanning from relief to reservations.

Musicians Lily Allen and Brian May expressed relief about a new Labour government taking power, while TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson said new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will “steal all our money and spend it stupidly”.

Queen guitarist May was among the famous faces congratulating Starmer on a “well-earned victory”.

Read more stars' reactions from PA Media.

Debate continues to rage about the first past the post system used in the general election, given that Reform UK only won five seats while having more than four million voters.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice has been talking on BBC Radio 5 Live about the system.

He said: "It was pretty clear that we were heading for one of the most disproportional results ever.

"Only 59% of those people who turned out to vote voted for either Conservative or Labour. Reform in the end did get representation, as did the Greens.

"One can argue that there is good reason now for revisiting this debate because the electoral system, while in some respects might still be doing what it's meant to do, in other respects it can be argued that it is not."

Jeremy Hunt has reportedly ruled himself out of Tory leadership race, according to Sky News.

The news comes after Suella Braverman said there were 'no announcements' on the race, though she is widely expected to throw her hat into the ring.

So who else could be in line to try to lead the Tories? Sky News has some ideas.

Sir Keir Starmer has a busy few days ahead after becoming prime minister on Friday following a landslie general election victory.

Starmer took the keys to Number 10 Downing Street, which was vacated by Rishi Sunak after his crushing defeat.

The new prime minister then spent the afternoon announcing his cabinet, which was due to meet for the first time this morning, as well as speaking to world leaders.

Here is what also is expected to be in store for him in the coming days, from PA Media.

Cabinet ministers have been pouring into Downing Street for their first meeting.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Scottish secretary Ian Murray, Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn and defence secretary John Healey were all seen arriving, as well as home secretary Yvette Cooper and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, and foreign secretary David Lammy.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds arrived at Downing Street together, with Miliband telling reporters: “It’s good to be back.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting told reporters “We’re getting straight to work” as he walked in, closely followed by transport secretary Louise Haigh.

Science secretary Peter Kyle and education secretary Bridget Phillipson were also seen arriving, as well as attorney General Richard Hermer.

Suella Braverman has said there were “no announcements” on the Tory leadership race.

The former home secretary is expected to throw her hat into the ring in the contest to replace Rishi Sunak, who said he would quit as leader once formal arrangements were in place to select his successor.

Asked whether she would be the next Tory leader, Braverman told broadcasters outside her home on Saturday: “No announcements. We’ve just got to take our time, we’ve got to figure out what the situation is.”

She continued: “It’s been a really bad result. There’s no two ways about it. Hundreds of excellent Tory MPs have been kicked out of office.”

She went on to criticise new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for planning to axe the Rwanda deportation scheme, saying: “Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked. But there are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Keir Starmer.”

England manager Gareth Southgate has wished Sir Keir Starmer well in his new role – but stopped short of offering any tips to survive in the public eye.

Ahead of England's Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with Switzerland on Saturday, Southgate was asked if he had any advice for Starmer and who he thought had the tougher of the two jobs, to which he replied: “Well, I’m not envious of his job. No, I don’t have any advice.

“I think when you’re in a position of responsibility, as I am, you realise that advice comes from every direction. Everybody has a simple solution to complex problems, so I’m sure he’s going to be inundated with that sort of feel.

“Yeah, having been in the role I have, the one thing I would do is not be offering any additional issues for him by speaking publicly about anything, so I wish him well.

“We want a strong country. We all want the best possible conditions in the UK and whoever is in charge, whichever government is in charge, that’s what we all desire.”

Saturday's match will be Southgate’s 100th as England boss since he took the reins in 2016 - meaning he has outlasted four British prime ministers, with Starmer now the fifth.