Jarvis says Tories should stop ‘throwing mud’ over China spy case and accept their mistakes contributed to case collapsing
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claims the government has changed its story on this.
He says the PM told MPs last week minnisters and special advisers were not involved in handling the prosecution. But yesterday the Sunday Times claimed that, when the home secretary heard the case might be dropped, she made representations to ensure the evidence was as strong as possible.
He asks when the home secretary heard the case might collapse.
He says the Sunday Times reported yesterday on a meeting organised by Jonathan Powell, the national security minister, to discuss this in September. He claims the government originally denied this took place. He asks if the meeting discussed the case, and the possibility of further evidence being provided.
He asks if the attorney general spoke to the CPS after that meeting.
Jarvis says the Tory position on this is “confusing”. He says at first they accused the government of intervening with the prosecution. Then, when the government said it did not intervene, they said it should have done, he says.
He says the Tories should show “some humility” and accept the fact that they made mistakes. They should have updated the Official Secrets Act earlier, he says.
I gently say to the opposition front bench, they need to stop throwing mud and start coming to terms with what happened upon their watch.
Key events
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Ayoub Khan, independent MP representing Aston, says Maccabi fans should be excluded for their hooliganism
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Nandy says police risk assessment based ‘in no small part’ on fear Maccabi fans would be attacked because they are Israeli
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Nandy says government will ensure lack of police resources does not prevent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending match
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Nandy says it was wrong to exclude Israeli fans as safety option for Maccabi match given ‘context’, and rising antisemitism
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Relationship with China cannot be summed up in single word, Jarvis says
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Jarvis sidesteps question about whether the government would back private prosecution of alleged China spies
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Jarvis rejects claim made by Dominic Cummings about Jonathan Powell writing red box note for PM on China case
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Jarvis says Tories should stop ‘throwing mud’ over China spy case and accept their mistakes contributed to case collapsing
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Security minister Dan Jarvis answers urgent question on China spy case
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No 10 rejects claim match rioting in Israel yesterday justifies Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from Aston Villa match
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N0 10 rejects suggestions government ‘scared’ of letting MPs debate legislation to remove Prince Andrew’s titles
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National grooming gangs inquiry must be headed by a judge, say Tories, after oversight panel hit by resignation
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Starmer will attend Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, No 10 says, following weeks of criticism over reports he would miss it
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Reform UK reviews if it underpaid VAT on tickets and merchandise
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Cooper suggests Russia is helping people smuggling gangs because it wants to use illegal migration ‘to destabilise Europe’
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Ministers to respond to Commons urgent questions on China spy case and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban
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SNP and Plaid Cymru says they would back legislation to remove Prince Andrew’s titles
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Neil Kinnock says Starmer has to swiftly show government has ‘direction and purpose’
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Reform suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce infighting
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DfE says white working class pupils in particular will benefit from plan to replace compulsory maths/English GCSE resits
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Phillipson says she wants to stop vocational education being ‘afterthought’ as she announces plan for V-levels in England
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Grooming gang victim quits inquiry panel over candidates for chair
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Starmer urged to apologise as MP says Maccabi Tel Aviv rioting justifies their fans being banned from Aston Villa match
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British troops to get powers to shoot down drones near military bases
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Minister suggests it should be for king, not government, to decide if he wants MPs to remove Prince Andrew’s dukedom
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who is now an independent MP, asks Nandy to confirm that the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned because of their record of hooliganism, not just in Amsterdam last year but on many occasions. He says people should be free to walk the streets safely.
Nandy says she agrees with that. But she claims some of Corbyn’s new colleagues do not support that principle.
(She is referring to the fact that Corbyn now sits with four independent MPs elected at the election because of their pro-Gaza stance, and she is implying that some of these campaigners support protests that are intimidating to Jewish people.)
She says the police did consider what happened at other Maccabi matches, including the one in Amsterdam last year, where “a small element caused the most appalling disorder”.
But she says the police also included that there were “very real risks” of fans being attacked because they were Jewish.
Ayoub Khan, independent MP representing Aston, says Maccabi fans should be excluded for their hooliganism
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, the constituency where the Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League match is due to take place says he knows the situation on the ground and he thinks there has been a “deliberate, disingenuous move by many … to conflate matters of policing with those of religion”.
He says there have been Jewish community leaders agreeing that the Maccabi fans should be banned.
He says the Maccabi fans have long history of “violence and violent racism”. They have chanted slogans like “f… all the Arabs”, ‘“we will rape their daughters”, “there are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left in Gaza”.
He says it is hooligans who are not welcome.
Nandy condemns the chants quoted by Khan.
But she claims it is “entirely disingenuous to say that you respect cohesion and inclusion when you’re seeking to devide and exclude”.
(Khan wants all Israeli teams banned from international football. See 11.10am.)
Nandy says police risk assessment based ‘in no small part’ on fear Maccabi fans would be attacked because they are Israeli
Paula Barker (Lab) says safety concerns were raised before the match that led to the Hillsborough disaster, but they were ignoreed. She says thinks it is unprecedented for safety advice like this to be overturned. She asks if Nandy has seen it. And, if she disagrees with it, on what grounds does she disagree.
Nandy acknowledges that Barker represents a constituency where families of Hillsborough victims are living.
She says they should never treat safety as a secondary consideration.
And says says it is “absolutely” not the case that the government is trying to overturn the decision.
She says this would be the first time since the early 2000s that that all away fans would be banned from attending a match. She says she has discussed the risk assessment with the police. She goes on:
That the risk assessment is based in no small part on the risk posed to those fans that are attending who support Maccabi Tel Aviv because they are Israeli and because they are Jewish. Now we should be appalled by that and never allow it to stand.
Nigel Huddleston, the Conservative culture spokesperson, and Anna Sabine, the Lib Dem culture spokesperson, both supported Nandy in opposing the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on attending the match and in wanting to ensure the police get the resources they need to allow the ban to be overturned.
Nandy says government will ensure lack of police resources does not prevent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending match
Nandy said the government was speaking to West Midlands police and to Birmingham city council to discuss what resources they need to police the match safely.
She said it was ultimately for local agencies to take the safety decisions. But the government would ensure resources were not the problem, she said.
This fundamental principle, that nobody in our country will be excluded from participating in public life because of who they are, must be upheld.
Nandy says it was wrong to exclude Israeli fans as safety option for Maccabi match given ‘context’, and rising antisemitism
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, is responding to an urgent question on the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban.
She says the safety advisory group, which proposed the ban, is operationally independent. They take decisions based on safety, she says.
She goes on:
However, this decision has far wider implications. In any situation, there is a risk that must be assessed, but in this case, prevention is in no small part down to the risk inherent in where the away fans come from and who they are.
It is in that context that the solution that is proposed to exclude a group from attending is wrong. It chooses exclusion, rather than looking at the options available to manage that risk. This is about who we are as a country.
A lot of the public discussion around this game has focused on events in the Middle East. Let me be clear, it is perfectly legitimate to hold and express strong views about what is happening in Israel and Gaza. People are free in this country to protest peacefully.
They are free to lobby government and event organisers about which countries can participate in tournaments, and they are free to choose not to attend events, or purchase products that they find unacceptable.
But they are not entitled to dictate who can participate in competition, attend a football match or walk the streets for fear of threats or reprisals, whatever your view on the events overseas.
This is a fundamental principle this government will fiercely defend.
And let me be clear, this decision was not made in a vacuum. It’s set against the backdrop of rising antisemitism here and across the world, and an attack on a synagogue in Manchester in which two innocent men were killed. It has a real world impact on a community who already feel excluded and afraid.
It is therefore completely legitimate to support the independence of the police to conduct that risk assessment and to question the conclusion that follows when it excludes the people at the heart of that risk.
Relationship with China cannot be summed up in single word, Jarvis says
Ben Spencer (Con) points out that Jarvis is refusing to say China poses a national security threat. He asks how China would describe the relationship.
Jarvis says:
No one who’s wanting to be considered as being serious thinks that the nature of our relationship with China can be defined by a single word …
This government says that China poses – and I said this a week ago – a series of threats to UK national security, from cyber attacks, foreign interference and espionage targeting our democratic institutions, the transnational repression of Hong Kongers.
Yet we are also alive to the fact that China does present the UK with opportunities as the world’s second largest economy.
We have to be clear-eyed, both about the challenges but also about the opportunities.
Llinos Medi (Plaid Cymru) asks about Nathan Gill, the former Reform UK leader in Wales, pleading guilty to accepting bribes to make pro-Russian statements in the European parliament. She asks what is being done to “to ensure that Russian networks cannot continue to influence UK politics”.
Jarvis says the government is taking this “incredibly seriously”, and he says he can give Medi the assurances she wants.
Graham Stuart (Con) says Jarvis still has not answered the question raised by the Sunday Times story yesterday – when the home secretary first learned the spy trial was about to collapse, and what she did to ensure the CPS had the strongest evidence possible.
Jarvis does not answer directly, but says he has already addressed the points raised by Chris Philp when asked the urgent question.
Jarvis sidesteps question about whether the government would back private prosecution of alleged China spies
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, says he has had legal advice saying the two alleged spies could be prosecuted via a private prosecution if the attorney general were to approve that process. Would it do that?
Jarvis says the government was disappointed about the case being dropped. He says he cannot speak on behalf of the attorney general, but would be happy to take this up with him.
