Politics latest: Starmer vows 'immediate action' on housing crisis as government unveils new planning strategy (2025)

Commons leader Lucy Powell is in the chamber taking questions from MPs, and she spoke about the case of Sara Sharif, whose father and stepmother were convicted yesterday of her murder (more here).

She told MPs: "Can I start first of all by saying how appalled I am, and I am sure the whole House is, on the details that have emerged in the murder of Sara Sharif.

"And can I say on behalf of the government that nothing is more important than keeping children safe."

She went on to say the government is "committed to further reform of children's social care and much stronger safeguards for children being taken into home education",

"This is long overdue, and further details will be announced imminently," she added.

Sir Keir Starmer has been speaking to broadcasters this morning, and he has given his reaction to the devastating case of Sara Sharif, whose father and stepmother were found guilty of murdering the 10-year-old (more here).

The prime minister said: "This is just an awful case. It's very hard to see, to read about, for many people who will be viewing, it's just shocking.

"So that's where I start on this. Obviously, there's going to be questions that need to be answered in relation to this case."

Asked whether the government would ban smacking children in its Children's Wellbeing Bill, he said: "I don’t think that we should allow ourselves to think that whatever the rules on smacking are, that's got anything to do with this case.

"This is about violence. It's about abuse. It's about making sure that [there are] protecting safeguards for children, particularly those being homeschooled. So that's where I think the questions are.

"But my response, first and foremost, is just the most awful case that many people, many viewers will find very, very, very hard to hear."

The latest data on the performance of the NHS will not make for pleasant reading for the PM or his health secretary - although there are some bright spots.

There was a slight increase in wait times in A&E departments, with 57% of attendees to type 1 (major) A&Es seen within 4 hours, down from 58.1% in October.

That's in the context of the number of people attending all A&Es decreasing from 1.45 to 1.43 million.

The target is that 95% should be seen, treated, admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours of their arrival.

The health service's performance in dealing with cancer referralsis very much a mixed bag.

The target is that less than 25% of urgent GP referrals for cancer checks - and that was met, with 23% of patients (66,147 people) waiting longer than a month, which is an improvement on September's figure of 25.2%.

However, 32% of patients (9,140 people) waited longer than two months to start treatment for cancer after an urgent GP referral - which is twice as bad as the target of 15% (althoughmarginally better than 32.7% in September).

The bright spot for Sir Keir Starmer is that the waiting list for NHS treatmenthas decreased for the third month in a row.

There were7.54 million people on the list in October - down from 7.57 million in September.

Waiting lists peaked at 7.77 million in September last year, so it has reduced around 230,000 (3%) since then.

We are getting a raft of data on how public services are performing this morning, and it has been revealed that the backlog of criminal cases waiting to be dealt with by crown courts in England and Wales has hit a new record high.

There were 73,105 cases waiting to be dealt with at the end of September, Ministry of Justice figures show.

The caseload increased 3% on the previous quarter (71,042 cases), 10% on the previous year (66,426 cases) and has nearly doubled since the end of 2019 (38,016 cases).

There were concerns over inaccuracies with the data, which is why this is the first time in several months this data has been published, and it means past court backlog data has also been revised.

The latest data led to the government announcing that it has drafted in retired judge Sir Brian Leveson to look at "fundamental reform" of the courts system in an effort to grip the "crisis".

He is expected to present his findings in spring, around the same time as ministers are due to consider conclusions from former justice secretary David Gauke's sentencing review.

By Faye Brown, political reporter

Peers have criticised a "thoroughly nasty" plan to remove hereditary members from the House of Lords - accusing Labour of launching a "class war" and sending them to the "guillotine".

The bill tokick out people who inherited their seatsfrom their families had its second reading in the upper chamber on Wednesday.

It drew an angry reaction from hereditary and non-hereditary peers alike, with Tory shadow Lords leader Nicholas True invoking Alan Sugar's famous catchphrase from The Apprentice TV show.

"The blunt message that this bill sends out to 88 of our number is as Lord Sugar put it is 'You're fired'.", Lord True said.

"I wonder by the way how often Lord Sugar comes here?"

The business mogul and media personality has faced criticism over his long-running failure to take part in proceedings, having been made a life peer in 2009.

Conservative peer and author of the House Of Cards trilogy, Lord Michael Dobbs, compared the removal of hereditary peers from the Lords to being "guillotined in front of the mob" in an "act of political spite".

Hereditary peers went even further in their criticism.

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor

Thousands of veterans who were ejected from the military because of their sexual orientation or gender identity will be able to receive up to £70,000 each in compensation to correct "historic wrongs".

John Healey, the defence secretary, described the past treatment of LGBT soldiers, sailors and aviators as a "moral stain on our nation".

Between 1967 and 2000, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) personnel were banned from serving in the armed forces, leading to people being dismissed or discharged and in some cases harassed.

Everyone who is eligible can apply to receive a £50,000 payout from Friday under what is being called the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme.

On top of being dismissed or discharged, those who also endured harassment or ill-treatment while serving because of their sexuality or gender orientation - including being sent to military prison - can also apply for up to an additional £20,000.

All impacted veterans can request to have their rank restored and discharge reason amended.

We've just been speaking to shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake about the government's plan to build 1.5 million homes by the next election, and he defended the Conservative Party's record.

He told us that "between 2013 and 2023, [we built] 207,000 homes, on average, new homes... every year", and that it was "the highest rate [of housebuilding] for 50 years".

He went on to say that while the Tories are "not against building more homes", they oppose "bulldozing green belt sites".

"We'll see many of these homes delivered in rural areas, yet a lowering of targets in urban areas, particularly London," he said, which he argued is not "fair",

"I'm not saying no green belt can ever be built on it," he continued. "It's just making sure it is fair, and the green belt is used where it's absolutely necessary.

"But that's not what we're seeing in these plans."

Mr Hollinrake also said his party is opposed to the government's move to effectively bypass local planning committees, so "all that democratic accountability will have been swept away, and the bulldozers will simply go in piling without [local people] even able to say anything about it".

New homes "should be built in urban areas and on brownfield sites, and green belt as a backstop measure, not the first measure".

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has told us here at Sky News that the expected continuing influx of legal migrants to the UK will be need to be housed in the new supply the government is aiming to build, while there is a "separate conversation" about how to house illegal migrants.

Two and a half million people are expected to come to the UK in the coming years, which far exceeds the government's target of 1.5 million new homes.

The minister insisted the government will "bear down" on both legal and illegal migration, but also said it is "the duty of government to plan for the homes of the population in the country as it stands today as we deal with those pressures".

He added that if migrants have "a legal right to stay in the country, of course they can buy a home if they're in a position to do so, or they can rent a home".

"But we've got a plan for the homes that our population needs in the country as things stand today."

The government is today demanding "immediate, mandatory" housing targets from councils as part of its plans to build 1.5 million houses by the next general election.

The housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, told us that there is currently an "acute and entrenched housing crisis in England" that is "blighting lives across the country".

"It is holding back our economy and while it's not the only, answer to that, overhauling our faltering, ailing planning system is part of the solution."

One of the key reforms is pushing for building on "grey belt" land, which the minister explained is "parcels of land that are very poorly performing against the purposes of the green belt", such as disused petrol stations and abandoned car parks.

1.5 million homes over five years equates to 300,000 per year - but the minister says they are not targeting that number this year because housebuilding has "collapsed" due to ex-PM Rishi Sunak's move to scrap mandatory targets.

"We're in a trough and we've got a steep climb out of that trough," he explained, but insisted the overall target remains in place.

He called on developers to "step up, bring forward sites and to build those sites out at pace". He also said ministers"need local authorities to match our ambition, start allocating sites and allow their planning system to let those homes through".

We've just been speaking with the housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, and before discussing his brief, we asked for his reaction to the devastating case of Sara Sharif, whose father and stepmother were found guilty of murdering the 10-year-old (more here).

He told us that he "really struggled to watch the news last night and this morning and to hear details of this case, this young girl who very clearly had an amazing zest for life, suffered unspeakable, unimaginable abuse at the hands of those who should have cared for her".

There were multiple missed opportunities for the authorities to intervene, and the minister said there are "wider lessons that need to be learned".

He went on to say that he "won't speculate on any wider reviews or inquiries", but said the government is "taking steps to ensure already that no children fall through the cracks".

Asked if he acknowledged that this is not a one-off, Mr Pennycook said: "I think the system is faltering clearly, this is not an isolated case.

"Many hundreds of examples of children facing horrific abuse, violence, that happens too often.

"I know we'll engage very seriously with any recommendations that the children's commissioner makes."

Watch what the children's commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, told us about this case here...