Keir Starmer will go into meeting with Chinese president with ‘eyes wide open’, says minister – UK politics live

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Education secretary Bridget Phillipson says she is opposed to assisted dying bill

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has said is opposed to the private member’s bill that would allow assisted dying.

Asked for her stance on the bill, which will be debated in the Commons on Friday week, Phillipson said:

As you’ll know, the government takes a neutral position on this, so it’s for individual members of parliament to arrive at their own conclusion, to come to their own view.

Back in 2015 when this was last before parliament, I voted against the measure, and in that time, I haven’t changed my mind.

Asked why she was opposed to the bill, Phillipson said that she did not want to give too much detail, because the government as a whole is neutral on the bill, and so ministers are not meant to be trying to sway the argument. She said she was worried about people being coerced into taking their own life. But she acknowledged that supporters of the bill believe it contains safeguards that would address this problem.

Peter Walker has the full story here.

In her interview with Sky News this morning Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, was asked if the UK would follow Joe Biden in giving Ukraine permission to use missiles to attack targets in Russia. She replied:

The prime minister and the defence secretary will always keep under review what the Ukrainian government asked of us by way of support.

We have provided considerable military assistance to the Ukrainian people in their fight against that terrible Russian aggression that we have seen, and as we come up to that 1,000 days of the conflict, it’s more stark than ever what the Ukrainian people have had to go through.

It is thought that Starmer has been in favour of allowing Ukraine to fire Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia for some time, although the PM has not said that publicly. The missiles are made jointly made by the British and the French, but to attack targets in Russia they would need access to a US missile guidance system.

As Dan Sabbagh explains, the Biden decision reportedly applies to US-made Atacms rockets.

Keir Starmer will go into meeting with Chinese president with ‘eyes wide open’, says minister

Good morning. Keir Starmer is in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the G20 summit, where later today he will become the first UK prime minister in six years to meet the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. As Jessica Elgot reports, Starmer says he wants “a pragmatic and serious relationship” with China.

But, inevitably, not everyone is happy. The Daily Mail is splashing on criticism of the meeting from some Tories. When David Cameron was PM, he cultivated Xi with an eagerness and enthusiasm that makes Starmer look quite hostile towards China by comparison, but over the past decade Tory thinking about China has changed considerably, and the Mail story quotes Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader, saying “those suffering genocide and slave labour under the brutal hands of Xi will feel betrayed.”

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has been doing an interview round this morning. Speaking on Sky News, she defended Starmer’s decision to meet Xi. She said he would be going into the meeting with his “eyes wide open”. She explained:

China is a major player both in terms of the economy but also in the [UN] security council so it is right that we have that engagement, but that we do so on a pragmatic basis where we go into it with our eyes wide open.

That does mean there will be challenge, constructive challenge, and there will be areas of profound disagreement.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

1.30pm: Philip Barton, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, gives evidence to the Commons foreign affairs committee.

Afternoon: Starmer is in Rio de Janeiro, where most of the G20 events will take place in the afternoon or evening UK time.

2.30pm: John Healey, the defence secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

3.15pm: David Lammy, the foreign secretary, chairs a meeting of the UN security council on Sudan.

After 3.30pm: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is expected to give a statement to MPs about plans to crack down on profiteering by firms running care home for children.

4pm: Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, gives evidence to the Lords international agreements committee.

Also, at some point today, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, is meeting Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president. Tomorrow farmers are holding a major protest in London about the government’s plans to subject some farms to inheritance tax.

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