Keir Starmer claims Universal theme park investment ‘major vote of confidence in UK’ – UK politics live

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Lisa Nandy rejects Tory claim government has abandoned plans for local inquiries into grooming gangs

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has rejected claims that the government has abandoned plans to have five local inquiries into grooming or rape gangs.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced the local inquiries in January, at a time when the government was under pressure to announce a national, statutory inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.

In the Commons yesterday Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, failed to say what progress was being made in setting up these inquiries. In the chamber her Tory shadow, Katie Lam, criticised the lack of progress, and the Conservative party later put out a press release accusing Labour of “cancelling their rape gang local inquiries”.

In an interview on Times Radio, Nandy said the policy was not being watered down. She said:

The truth is that we are listening to victims and authorities around the country about the need to give them the right tools to tackle it, this very pernicious problem, in their own areas.

We believe that decisions are best made by those with skin in the game in their own communities, people who live in those communities, who understand what is happening there.

In her statement to MPs yesterday Phillips said the government was “developing a new best practice framework to support local authorities that want to undertake victim-centred local inquiries or related work”.

She also said that, following consultation with local authorities, the Home Office would let councils use money from the £5m national fund set aside for these local inquiries not just for full, independent local inquiries, but also for “more bespoke work, including local victims’ panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases”.

Planning bill ‘throws environmental protection to the wind’, say UK nature chiefs

The heads of 32 UK nature organisations have written to the government warning that the planning bill “throws environmental protection to the wind”, Helena Horton reports.

Starmer claims Universal theme park investment ‘major vote of confidence in UK’ - as Tories say project started under them

Good morning. Parliament is in recess, but government never stops, and today ministers are promoting two initiatives which they are citing as evidence that their Plan for Change is working.

As Jasper Jolly demonstrates with the latest updates on our business live blog, if you want to experience a scary rollercoaster ride, you can just put some money in the stock market, or check the value of your pension fund. The Trump tariffs to continue to send shock waves through the world economy, and UK politics is dominated by the debate about how to respond.

Keir Starmer is responding in part by escalating his Plan for Change and today the government is announcing an actual rollercoaster ride – rather, plans for Universal to put its first theme park in Europe in Bedford. Downing Street is describing this as a “major vote of confidence in the UK economy” and Starmer says:

Today we closed the deal on a multi-billion-pound investment that will see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe, firmly putting the county on the global stage.

This is our Plan for Change in action, combining local and national growth with creating around 28,000 new jobs across sectors such as construction, AI, and tourism.

Esther Addley has the full story here.

Even the Conservative party says this is “great news for Britain”. But, in his response, Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, says his party deserves some of the credit because “the Conservative government worked closely with Universal Studios to secure the land and help bring forward plans for the new park”.

And there is more Plan for Change talk coming from the Treasury, where Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is talking up the significance of her meeting later with the Indian finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. Reeves says:

In a changing world, this government is accelerating trade deals with the rest of the world to back British business and provide the security working people deserve ..

That’s why the business secretary and I are today meeting with India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, as part of our two nations’ economic and financial dialogue as we seek to secure a new trade deal.

We will be covering the topics of growth and global issues, as well as how we can unleash potential across various sectors and defence to create jobs, investment and trade opportunities, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has a breakfast meeting with business executives to discuss the Trump tariffs.

Morning: Keir Starmer and Reeves are on a visit, where they are expected to give interviews.

Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a local elections campaign visit in Worcestershire where she is giving interviews.

Afternoon: Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, are meeting India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. There is expected to be a briefing afterwards.

3.30pm: Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson from Reform UK are campaigning in Nottinghamshire, starting in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.

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