Good morning. Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs today and, given her enthusiasm for talking about trans issues – herCommons performance on this yesterdaygot rave reviewsin rightwing circles– it is hard to imagine that she won’t want to revist this at noon today. As the Today programme’s interview with Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay showed this morning, UK politics is still stuck with the ‘can a woman have a penis?’ question. (More on that later.) But there is another question on the table this morning about whether two binary opposites are compatible. Can you be a Conservative if you’ve got a Nigel Farage?
This has revived as an issue as a result ofa good scoopby Sam Coates at Sky News. He has obtained a recording ofRobert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary and runner-up in the last Tory leadership contest, saying that, if the Conservative party has not seen off the threat from Reform UK by the time of the next election, “one way or another” the two parties will have to form some sort of electoral coalition.
Jenrick made the remarks when speaking to a UCL Conservative association dinner in late March. According to Coates’ report, Jenrick said:
No other member of the shadow cabinet has been quite this explicit about the need for a Tory/Reform UK coalition. Jenrick qualified this by saying that he did not wantReform UKto become a permanent fixture of British politics, but there is almost no one in Westminster politics who thinks Farage’s party is going to fizzle out before the next election, and so when Jenrick talks circumstances where a coalition would be needed, he is not floating some outlandish hypothetical; he is talking about what he expects to happen.
And Jenrick is not just any member of the shadow cabinet. According tothe latest ConservativeHome survey, he is by far the most popular shadow cabinet minister with party members, and colleagues believe is is actively preparing for another bid for the leadership.
Kemi Badenoch has ruled out doing an electoral deal with Reform UK. But there are many people in the party who think that her position is unrealistic and who would agree with Jenrick, or withGreg Smith, the shadow business minister, who said last month that at the next election the Tories and Reform UKmight have “play nicely” together.
Inhis story, Coates quotes a “source close to Jenrick” saying: “Rob’s comments are about voters and not parties. He’s clear we have to put Reform out of business and make the Conservatives the natural home for all those on the right.” But this is just an attempt to deny that Jenrick said what he did; the meaning of his on-the-record comments is clear.
Labour and theConservativesare both saying that, if Badenoch does not sack Jenrick, she will be implying that she agrees with him.Ellie Reeves, the Labour party chair, said:
AndDaisy Cooper,the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.15am:Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee.
9.45am:John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, chairs a meeting in Glasgow on democratic values.
Noon:Keir Starmer facesKemi Badenochat PMQs.
Also, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is in Washington for the IMF spring meetings. And David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is hosting talks on Ukrain in London.Martin Belamis covering this on our Ukraine live blog.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian hasgiven up posting from its official accounts on Xbut individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence editor.
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that ministerialUkrainepeace talks with US and European counterparts due to be held today have been postponed, amid speculation that Russia has abandoned its claims to Ukrainian territory it does not occupy, and after US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he could not attend.
A short statement from the Foreign Office announced that ministerial meetings that had been scheduled to start this morning would not now take place and would be replaced by behind the scenes discussions held by officials, clarifying a carefully worded statement made late last night by foreign secretaryDavid Lammyafter he had spoken to Rubio.
Postingon social mediajust before midnight, Lammy said his discussions with Rubio were productive but hinted that they would take place at a slightly lower level. “Talks continue at pace and officials will meet in London tomorrow. This is a critical moment for Ukraine, Britain and Euro-Atlantic security,” he had said.
Britain had placed an important emphasis on the talks, with delegations from France and Germany also due to participate, but the downgrade to the discussions comes as leaks suggest thatRussiais willing to abandon its territorial claims to three Ukrainian regions it only partially occupies in return for the US recognising the annexation of Crimea.
Martin Belamhas more on this on our Ukraine war live blog.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing yesterday, the PM’s spokesperson said that Keir Starmerno longer argues that a trans woman is a woman. In his interview on the Today programme this morning,Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green party, which has always been a strong advocate for trans rights, was not prepared to say that. But he did say that Green party members who do say that trans women aren’t women should not be expelled.
When the presenter,Nick Robinson, asked Ramsay if trans women were women,Ramsayreplied:
At that pointRobinsoninterrupted, and said he was seeking clarity from Ramsay. He asked the question again.Ramsayreplied:
Robinsontried a third time.Ramsaysaid what was important was to ensure “everybody, regardless of how they define their identity, has access to the services that they need”. He went on:
Robinsonthen asked why Ramsay was relucant to answer the question directly. Ramsay said: “People know what the definition of a woman is.” But,Robinsonsaid, in the past members of the Green party had beenexpelled for gender critical beliefs. He asked if it was possible to be a member of the Green party, and to believe that trans women are not women.Ramsaysaid party members could take that view. He went on:
TheGender Critical Greensgroup hasa list on its websiteof members it says were suspended or expelled for their gender critical views.
Good morning. Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs today and, given her enthusiasm for talking about trans issues – herCommons performance on this yesterdaygot rave reviewsin rightwing circles– it is hard to imagine that she won’t want to revist this at noon today. As the Today programme’s interview with Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay showed this morning, UK politics is still stuck with the ‘can a woman have a penis?’ question. (More on that later.) But there is another question on the table this morning about whether two binary opposites are compatible. Can you be a Conservative if you’ve got a Nigel Farage?
This has revived as an issue as a result ofa good scoopby Sam Coates at Sky News. He has obtained a recording ofRobert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary and runner-up in the last Tory leadership contest, saying that, if the Conservative party has not seen off the threat from Reform UK by the time of the next election, “one way or another” the two parties will have to form some sort of electoral coalition.
Jenrick made the remarks when speaking to a UCL Conservative association dinner in late March. According to Coates’ report, Jenrick said:
No other member of the shadow cabinet has been quite this explicit about the need for a Tory/Reform UK coalition. Jenrick qualified this by saying that he did not wantReform UKto become a permanent fixture of British politics, but there is almost no one in Westminster politics who thinks Farage’s party is going to fizzle out before the next election, and so when Jenrick talks circumstances where a coalition would be needed, he is not floating some outlandish hypothetical; he is talking about what he expects to happen.
And Jenrick is not just any member of the shadow cabinet. According tothe latest ConservativeHome survey, he is by far the most popular shadow cabinet minister with party members, and colleagues believe is is actively preparing for another bid for the leadership.
Kemi Badenoch has ruled out doing an electoral deal with Reform UK. But there are many people in the party who think that her position is unrealistic and who would agree with Jenrick, or withGreg Smith, the shadow business minister, who said last month that at the next election the Tories and Reform UKmight have “play nicely” together.
Inhis story, Coates quotes a “source close to Jenrick” saying: “Rob’s comments are about voters and not parties. He’s clear we have to put Reform out of business and make the Conservatives the natural home for all those on the right.” But this is just an attempt to deny that Jenrick said what he did; the meaning of his on-the-record comments is clear.
Labour and theConservativesare both saying that, if Badenoch does not sack Jenrick, she will be implying that she agrees with him.Ellie Reeves, the Labour party chair, said:
AndDaisy Cooper,the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.15am:Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee.
9.45am:John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, chairs a meeting in Glasgow on democratic values.
Noon:Keir Starmer facesKemi Badenochat PMQs.
Also, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is in Washington for the IMF spring meetings. And David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is hosting talks on Ukrain in London.Martin Belamis covering this on our Ukraine live blog.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian hasgiven up posting from its official accounts on Xbut individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.