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Jack Fenwick
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Political correspondent
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Hello, and welcome to Politics Essential. Sir Keir Starmer faced Prime Minister’s Questions today, for the first time since Labour suffered heavy election losses in local and parliamentary elections earlier this month. He came prepared with two big announcements - I’ll take a closer look in a moment.
Elsewhere, economics editor Faisal Islam takes a look at easing inflation - and why it is expected to rise again. Have you got a question for the team? Get in touch at [email protected].
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BBC NEWS
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The government has delayed a ban on oil products made from Russian crude oil but imported via third countries.
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BBC NEWS
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Sources told the BBC that the government had urged voluntary price freezes for some items, in return for regulations being eased.
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Starmer said the fuel duty freeze showed the government was “backing drivers”.
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The government thought it was coming into today with two good news stories to tell. Starmer kicked off Prime Minister’s Questions by announcing that he was postponing a planned 5p increase in fuel duty that was due to happen in September. The PM says he’ll instead extend a freeze to help ease cost of living pressures.
Today has also seen the implementation of a new package of sanctions on Russian oil. But that has turned into a messy row about whether those sanctions have been watered down.
In October, the government announced a ban on the import of products that were made from Russian oil and then refined in a third country. But today’s measures include arrangements to still allow the import of some jet fuel and diesel made from Russian oil.
The government says that those arrangements are temporary and designed to protect UK consumers. There are concerns over jet fuel supplies because of conflict in the Middle East.
Starmer was forced to spend much of PMQs insisting he was not lifting sanctions on Russia in “any way whatsoever”.
It is the case that sanctions on Russia are stronger today than they were yesterday. But it’s also true that today’s measures include what appears to be a specific loosening compared with what had been expected.
Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant admitted the government’s handling of this story had been done “clumsily” and appeared to take ownership of that himself.
The essential: The government hopes its handling of new sanctions on Russian oil won’t overshadow an extension of the freeze on fuel duty.
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Find out why the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has told the government that rolling out air conditioning and cooling technologies in schools and hospitals should be one of its highest priorities. And a top British diplomat has suddenly left his job.
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BBC NEWS
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The CCC warned that increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and floods were threatening the British “way of life”.
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BBC NEWS
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Foreign Office officials declined to explain the sudden departure of one of the British diplomatic service’s most senior figures.
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BBC NEWS
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Chair Dame Karen Bradley said the government was right to try to introduce digital ID but that it had botched the launch.
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BBC NEWS
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The claims relate to the social media pages of Robert Kenyon, Reform’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election.
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Faisal Islam
Economics editor
Absent the Iran War impact, and this is a good set of figures showing that the rate of inflation had been heading towards the Bank of England’s 2% target.
The headline rate of inflation eased more than expected to 2.8% in the year to April, down from 3.3% in March. Energy prices fell due to the government's energy bill support package and lower wholesale energy prices before the Iran conflict, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
And underlying measures of price pressures, core inflation (2.5%) and service inflation (3.2%) fell abruptly in April, to the lowest levels since before the Ukraine war started. Part of this is a specific strategy by the government to manage away the regular rise in regulated prices seen every April.
This is what the Bank of England watches carefully as a measure of the stickiness of inflation. Absent the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, and there is every chance there would have been further interest rate cuts.
But to be clear, there is nothing that is going to stop the coming Iran shock seeing inflation rise, especially after July’s increase in domestic energy bills. Analysts expect inflation to increase and reach about 4% by the end of the year, as the Middle East conflict continues to put pressure on global prices.
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BBC NEWS
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Katie Razzall examines wider questions around the allegations of rape and sexual assault made by three women who took part in the show.
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BBC SPORT
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This weekend’s controversial event will feature athletes who have taken performance-boosting drugs banned in mainstream competition.
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BBC SOUNDS
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Plus… how do you look after a lame duck? Matt Chorley brings you the who, what, where, why and when of British politics.
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