Politics latest: PM strikes £500m train deal protecting jobs at Hitachi factory; Tory peer forfeits CBE (2025)

Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union for civil servants, has criticised Sir Keir Starmer for his speech yesterday - in which he took aim at many of the people working in Whitehall.

The prime minister said that while he did not think there was a "swamp to be drained here", he did believe "too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline".

"Draining the swamp" of bureaucrats, special interests and lobbyists was something Donald Trump vowed to do in his first term in office.

Speaking to Sky presenter Matt Barbet, Mr Penman said he believed the prime minister was using the "same tactics" as the previous government, which also derided the Civil Service "blob" as inefficient and unproductive.

"This government's only five months in, Keir Starmer stood up and talked about what he wanted to achieve and used the word reform an awful lot yesterday - but he didn't explain how he wants to reform public services of the Civil Service.

"I don't know how you can say he's been blocked from something that hasn't even started.

"It felt more just about trying to invoke some of that kind of Trumpian language, to kind of boost his standings.

"It was really disappointing. I mean, if you want to reform government, then you need to take the people who are trying to deliver crucial public services with you, and you don't do that by denigrating and insulting them - no leader does that."

Hundreds of workers at a train factory in County Durham have handed a lifetime following a £500m deal between Hitachi and rail operator FirstGroup.

The deal, announced today, will see Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe plant build 14 new trains, with an option for an additional £460m investment.

There had been uncertainty as to whether the plant would survive and the 700 people there would keep their jobs due to declining orders.

Before the election, Sir Keir Starmer visited the factory to accuse the then-government of leaving Britain's rail manufacturing sector "teetering on the brink".

He is expected to raise the deal in a press conference he is due to give shortly.

Under the deal with Hitachi, FirstGroup will lease 14 new trains, a total of 70 carriages, for use on its new Carmarthen-London route as well as Hull Trains and East Coast Mainline services.

Jim Brewin, UK and Ireland chief director for Hitachi Rail, said the contract was "a positive step forward" and "just recognition for the hard work and patience of our teams".

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has apologised for causing "further distress" to survivors of prolific child abuser John Smyth following a speech he gave in the House of Lords that was heavily criticised.

Mr Welby made his final speech in the House of Lords on Thursday and referenced a 14th-century beheading which prompted laughter from some peers.

He said it was "clear" he had to quit after a damning review into the Church of England's handling of a sexual abuse scandal and that he acknowledged the situation "required a head to roll".

The Archbishop resignedafter the independent Makin review found Smyth - the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church - might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.

His comments and the tone of his speech were criticised by a bishop as well as abuse survivors.

In a fresh statement today, Mr Welby said: "Yesterday, I gave my farewell speech in the House of Lords, as part of a debate on housing and homelessness.

"I would like to apologise wholeheartedly for the hurt that my speech has caused.

"I understand that my words – the things that I said, and those I omitted to say – have caused further distress for those who were traumatised, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth’s heinous abuse, and by the far-reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse.

"It did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors or to make light of the situation – and I am very sorry for having done so."

As we reported earlier, Conservative peer Lord Rami Ranger has had his CBE taken away.

Read more in the 12.29pm post.

Lord Ranger has now issued a statement through a spokesperson.

They said: "Lord Ranger has not committed any crime nor has he broken any law, where the majority of the people who have had their honour revoked in this way have committed a crime or broken the law.

"Lord Ranger is devastated that the CBE awarded to him for his services to British business and for promoting community cohesion has been taken away.

"It is a sad indictment that the honours system which is designed to empower individuals who go the extra mile and, as a result, contribute a great deal to the nation should be used to curtail the basic fundamental rights of free speech and thought process."

The spokesperson added that Lord Ranger had apologised and undertaken rehabilitative work regarding complaints that had been made against him.

They said the decision would "encourage individuals to make spurious complaints about others".

They added: "Despite the actions of the committee, Lord Ranger will continue to make the significant contribution that he has over the last 30 years and that led to him originally receiving his honours.

"He is looking at all options for redress via various legal avenues open to him and will challenge this unjust decision in order to vindicate himself and clear his name in the UK and abroad. Lord Ranger was a worthy recipient of his CBE.

"The manner in which it has been taken from him is shameful."

Sir Keir Starmer is not accustomed to receiving much praise so he'll take it where he can.

And today it came from an unlikely source, his political opponents.

Speaking at the British-Irish Council summit, SNP leader and Scottish First Minster John Swinney, described a change in atmosphere since Labour took office.

He told journalists: "The Scottish Government and the United Kingdom government today are incomparably better than they were immediately before the general election.

"The relationship with the last United Kingdom government latterly… was awful. They could not have been more disrespectful.

"Sir Keir Starmer came to see me Sunday after the election and we've had a number of one to one meetings."

His Northern Irish counterpart, Michelle O'Neill was equally withering about the previous administration.

She said: "The tenure of the Tories in government was one of disrespect, one that drove an austerity agenda that decimated our public services, one that very much left people behind.

"So, I welcome the fact that there is a determination for a reset. It's early days and that will be tested, of course, over time."

The comments were the culmination of one area where the plan has been delivered.

For all the new government's announcements about their priorities, they have quietly made devolution one, as promised during the election campaign.

Sir Keir Starmer is the first UK prime minster to attend this summit since 2007.

And before that, Number 10's engagement with devolved leaders has been stepped up since day one.

Clearly it has been noted and Downing Street will no doubt take this as a rare win.

The UK government is sending £300,000 to the White Helmets, a humanitarian group in Syria.

The country is currently engulfed in fighting after the civil war which gripped it in the 2010s reignited.

Hamish Falconer, the minister for the Middle East, said: "I was pleased to meet representatives from the White Helmets earlier this week.

"The White Helmets carry out invaluable work across Syria, saving countless civilian lives and providing essential access for humanitarian aid.

"Today, I am announcing an additional £300,000 to support the White Helmets at this critical time. This funding will help the White Helmets meet the humanitarian challenges arising from the ongoing escalation.

"We continue to call for urgent de-escalation in Syria, maintaining the protection of civilians and provision of humanitarian aid."

This £300,000 follows £2m given over the last year.

According to the UK, the funding will be used to "support search and rescue operations, facilitate humanitarian access, allow the expansion of the White Helmets' existing ambulance system and enable the safe removal of unexploded weapons."

Since the conflict restarted last week, some 48,000 people have been internally displaced, the UK government added.

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Following the British-Irish Council meeting in Edinburgh, the leaders of the various nations and crown dependencies gave a news conference.

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden was present on behalf of the UK government.

At one point, Scotland's First Minister John Swinney praised the new Labour government for being "incomparable" to the last Tory government.

He said the new administration in London had engaged in a much more collaborative way - before strongly criticising the Conservatives.

Similar remarks were made by the leaders of the other nations and crown dependencies.

The Republic of Ireland had no representative at the conference, as the Tanaiste and Taoiseach had to leave the councilearly due to the incoming poor weather.

Lord Rami Ranger has given up his CBE.

This was confirmed in a notice published in the London Gazette.

The PA news agency reports that the decision was made after the Forfeiture Committee looked at social media posts made by Lord Rangerabout the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.

It also looked at a House of Lords Commissioner's report from last year that found Lord Ranger had bullied and harassed an Indian journalist on social media.

The peer has given £1.5m to the Tories since 2009, and was made a CBE in 2016.

He was made a Lord in 2019 by Theresa May.

PA reports that while Lord Ranger apologised for his actions, the Forfeiture Committee considered his behaviour combined with the fact he was made a CBE for his work on community cohesion meant it was appropriate for him to forfeit his honour.

Currently, Kemi Badenoch is in the United States, and she gave a speech last night at theInternational Democracy Union (IDU) Forum Dinner.

Her address touched on many issues in her ideology, with the central theme being how liberalism can become more muscular in the West.

As part of this, she spoke of her childhood and working in McDonald's as a teenager.

Ms Badenoch said: "The truth is that the left are not that interested in ethnic minorities except as a tool to fight their battles against the right.

"In fact, just this morning the British prime minister made a joke about how I worked at McDonald's.

"He would never have dared to do that, if I was a left-wing activist.

"And if a Conservative prime minister had made those comments about a black party leader, they would have been called a racist and asked to resign.

"Even as a teenager, I could see the hypocrisy in so much of their rhetoric."

Ms Badenoch was referring to a joke Sir Keir Starmer made yesterday at the Pinewood Film Studios.

He said: "Kemi Badenoch thinks if you do a couple of shifts in McDonald's, then you can become working class, so by that logic, if I keep coming back here, I could be the next James Bond."

This itself was a reference to Ms Badenoch claiming she "became working class" when working in McDonald's, after moving from Nigeria to the UK.

In her speech last night, Ms Badenoch said she "had grown up in a well-to-do family".

Downing Street declined to comment.