MP Mike Amesbury has said he will stand down after being convicted of assault, which our political correspondent Liz Bates said gives Reform a chance to cause a real headache for the prime minister. Meanwhile, the government rejects calls for an inquiry into the murder of MP David Amess.
Monday 10 March 2025 20:04, UK
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been addressing a packed room of Labour MPs in parliament this evening.
He spent much of his time talking about Ukraine and defence, but also talked tough about welfare ahead of what are widely expected to be some big cuts in the spring statement later this month.
Starmer told his party the country was in a “worst of all worlds situation”, with a benefits system “discouraging people from working” and the taxpayer footing a bill that will hit £70bn by 2030.
He said one in eight young people are not in education, training, or work, something he described as “unsustainable” and “unfair”.
While he said the “safety net will be there” for those who really need it, “this is the Labour Party, and we believe in the dignity of work”.
He said he is “not afraid to take the big decisions” on welfare.
Sophy Ridge asks Katie Amess what her father was like, before he was killed.
Tearfully, she says Sir David Amess MP was a big family man, very religious, and loved animals.
“He just wanted to help people,” she says.
Amess adds that if another MP had been killed, her father would have been “the first person fighting for them”.
She says so many people wrote to the family after he was killed to say he was their best friend.
Sophy Ridge puts to Katie Amess the government’s reasoning for not holding a public inquiry into her father’s murder.
It says one would likely not shed any light on what happened beyond what the criminal trial, a learning review into the Prevent counterterror programme, and the inquest already have.
But Katie disputes the government’s assertion that those processes have answered the question as to why Sir David Amess’s killer – Ali Harbi Ali, who was radicalised by Islamic State – was able to commit the crime.
She suggests if things really had improved with the Prevent counterterror programme, then last year’s Southport murders would not have happened.
“It’s the same profile of person – a lone person, self-radicalising,” she says.
“The review they did means nothing.”
Katie Amess, the daughter of Sir David Amess, is speaking to Sophy Ridge tonight.
She is reacting to the news that the government will be not holding a public inquiry into her father’s death.
He was murdered in 2021 by someone known to the authorities, who a review found had been released too early from the government’s Prevent counter-terror programme.
Katie says she reacted to the news of no inquiry with “utter disbelief” and she was “heartbroken”.
Asked for a meeting by No 10
Sophy asks Katie how they found out there was not going to be an inquiry into the killing of her father.
She says Downing Street asked the family in for a meeting – but then refused a request for press to come along.
Katie says this is when the family became suspicious, and asked what the meeting was going to be about.
It was then that the family were told there would not be an inquiry.
Sophy Ridge is speaking to Mohamed Amersi, a Conservative Party donor who’s more recently been batting his eyelids at Reform.
He is still a Tory member and has supported them financially for years, but did pay £25,000 to go to a fundraising dinner with Nigel Farage earlier this year.
The businessman is asked about the row gripping Farage’s party, which our political correspondent Liz Bates explains in the video below:
Farage must show ‘leadership’ to end row
“You know, what happened with Rupert Lowe over the weekend was unfortunate,” Amersi says.
“But I come from the world of business venture capital, and when five new people (Reform’s MPs after last year’s election) all come together in one room where they have never worked together before, it is always possible to see these sorts of things happening.”
“But what I would really like to have happen is for Nigel Farage to take leadership in his hands,” he adds, and sort out any disputes within the party, which he says Donald Trump has done successfully with his administration in the US.
Amersi says Zia Yusuf, the Reform chair, should never have reported the bullying allegations about Lowe to the police.
On Farage, the donor says he is looking like “a statesman now” – but denies he is “flirting with both” Reform and the Tories.
Instead, he says he is just keeping his options open.
One of tonight’s guests on the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge tonight is Jonathan Ashworth.
He was perhaps Labour’s highest profile casualty at the last general election, losing his seat to an independent.
Now the head of a Labour thinktank, rumours have been swirling that Ashworth would be Labour’s candidate in Mike Amesbury’s soon to be vacated seat of Runcorn and Helsby.
But he tells Sophy this is not going to happen.
Ever the Starmer loyalist, Ashworth then pivots the conversation to say the Conservatives should be looking to win the seat if they have made any progress under Kemi Badenoch.
Labour last year won the seat by thousands, with Reform in second and the Tories in third.
Donald Trump has been president for 50 days – and in those 50 days, everything has changed.
The change that has perhaps the most direct impact on the UK, and other countries around the world, is Trump’s attitude to America’s allies.
The old alliances are no longer important for Trump – he’s a more transactional president than that.
Canada – supposedly America’s best of friends – should now be America’s 51st state, according to Trump.
And Europe – that of course has backed America in some controversial wars – is also in his sights.
Alliances are shifting – and Ukraine’s at the sharp end
This got me thinking.
Trump’s gripe with Europe – and Canada and Mexico to some extent – is that these are countries that benefit from their relationship with the US, ignoring the fact America benefits from these alliances as well.
He feels these countries rely on the US – whether economically or through defence. Relying on something, in the Trump world, signifies weakness, and this is a president who respects strength.
Alliances are shifting, and at the sharp end of this is Ukraine.
Talks on a peace deal are continuing this week in Saudi Arabia, with Marco Rubio there today for the US.
It’s a new world that all world leaders are reeling from, but perhaps none more than Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Our flagship weeknight politics programme is under way.
Joining us tonight are Katie Amess and her adviser Radd Seiger, and former Conservative Party donor Mohamed Amersi.
On our panel are ex-Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth and former government adviser Mercy Muroki.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been speaking to broadcasters in the past few minutes about the Rupert Lowe controversy.
This is relating to the Great Yarmouth MP who has been suspended from the party following allegations of assault and bullying.
Lowe denies all the allegations against him.
Need a quick catch-up on who said what? Our political correspondent Liz Bates has everything you need to know:
Farage was asked if the action against Lowe happened because the MP challenged him, having questioned his leadership in a Daily Mail interview just last week.
The former UKIP leader denied this is the case.
He also played down the suggestion that all the political movements he leads end up bogged down in infighting.
Both UKIP and the Brexit referendum saw Farage face challenges and scandal.
Talking to broadcasters today, the Reform leader said: “I don’t fall out with anybody. I just get on and do what I do. They fall out with me.”
He added that his focus is still the local elections on 1 May.
‘A little bit out of control’
On the row with Lowe, Farage said “things have got a little bit out of control” since the complaints against the Great Yarmouth MP were revealed last Friday.
He said there was a “behavioural problem” with Lowe that has been going on “for some months” – including “outbursts, anger, that kind of thing”.
Farage added that many of Lowe’s comments in public recently have been “wrong” and the public are “not quite getting the full facts” from him.
Since Runcorn and Helsby MP Mike Amesbury was convicted of assault it seemed almost possible that he would save his political career.
Today, we finally got the confirmation that he won’t – as he announced he is stepping down and triggering a by-election.
It’s the first of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership and will be a big test for the prime minister in a seat where Reform are second.
Losing it would be an unmitigated disaster given the 14,000 majority achieved last time round.
Labour have a fight on their hands
But even if Labour do hold on, any significant shifts to Reform will be a boost for Nigel Farage’s party.
The most significant factor to keep an eye on will be whether their impressive polling gains can be converted into votes at the ballot box.
Knowing the damage that will do to morale on the government benches, Labour HQ will fight hard.
On the other side, well-resourced Reform will also throw everything at it, aware that it could be a pivotal moment in British politics.
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