Yvette Cooper to announce new investigations into grooming gangs as Badenoch slams Boris Johnson over Brexit: live

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion has backed an expected announcement regarding support for government-backed local investigations into grooming gangs.

She recently drafted a five-point plan calling on the Home Office to commission local inquiries across the country to hold authorities to account, who will then report to the government.

She has now tweeted: Wow! Looks like the government is on board with my 5-point plan to prevent child abuse and expose grooming gang cover-ups! Statement around 2 p.m. – I will pay attention to details!!

Former Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: Local inquiries into this issue are not enough.

This terrible scandal was allowed to continue because of enormous problems within our institutions. So we need to understand how the culture worked within these institutions.

Only with a national investigation can we connect the dots and truly get to the bottom of this issue for victims.

In economic circles, the latest economic figures showing GDP growth of 0.1 percent as well as a slowdown in inflation and a slight fall in government bond yields after a worrying sharp rise are being celebrated as victories minor and a respite for the Labor government.

And perhaps more importantly, what effect does this have on an ongoing, daily basis for the everyday person? Let's be realistic: if a sign in a window says sale! 0.1% off!, chances are you won't be too interested in purchasing right away. So, does Rising even notable?

To explain these numbers and what it all means in real terms, we asked experts from key fields such as banking, recruitment and financial management to analyze the connection between economic growth and real life.

Our business and money editor Karl Matchett reports:

Yvette Cooper is expected to announce her support for government-backed local investigations into grooming gangs, in what will be seen as a partial step back on the issue.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will make the announcement on Thursday in response to calls for a national inquiry into the scandal from the Conservatives, British Reformers and some Labor MPs.

Three Labor MPs have publicly voiced their support for a national inquiry, Walton MP Dan Carden, Rotherham MP Sarah Champion and Rochdale MP Paul Waugh, after an intervention by Elon Musk saw the story make the headlines. one of the newspapers.

In a speech in central London, the Conservative leader will admit that leaving the European Union without a growth plan was a mistake for her party under Boris Johnson.

It will be the first time a senior Tory leader has admitted that the chaos caused to the British economy by Brexit was a huge mistake.

His comments were echoed by anti-Brexit activists.

Dr Mike Galsworthy, chairman of the UK European Movement, said: “This will come as a relief to many young pro-EU Conservatives who can now abandon the cornerstone of support for Brexit and have a fresh and open discussion about UK-EU politics and the future direction of the party. » . It also allows the opposition to get a head start on the prime minister, who is still caught in the tangle of red lines he too dutifully inherited from the previous government.

The danger posed by possible US tariffs is greater for the UK than for other comparable countries, the Secretary of State for Commerce warned just days before Donald Trump entered the White House .

Jonathan Reynolds admitted that Mr Trump's presidency will be a difficult time for all trade officials, amid fears of a global trade war.

As his election approaches, the Republican has promised to apply tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on all goods entering the country, a figure that rises to 60 percent for those from China .

Asked about his upcoming presidency, Mr Reynolds told Sky News: I think it's going to be a difficult time for anyone who is responsible for trade in a major economy because of some of the promises made during the campaign.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full report:

18 months after Rishi Sunak tried to take on his predecessors in a bid to show he was a different kind of politician, the Conservative Party's latest leader, Kemi Badenoch, will do the same today.

She will attack Boris Johnson and Theresa May, saying the party had no plan for growth once outside the EU.

May will be in the firing line again, as she claims the last government already announced carbon neutrality. again, make a plan for this.

But as the comparison with Sunak shows, Ms Badenoch has more in common with some former Tory leaders than she might pretend.

And his bid to stand out will have to be more successful than Mr Sunak's widely ridiculed claim to be an agent of change.

Labor has accused the Conservative Party of showing collective amnesia over its government record ahead of Kemi Badenoch's upcoming Brexit speech.

Responding to criticism in the House of Commons over the state of the economy and allegations of corruption surrounding Tulip Siddiq, MP Lucy Powell said the Tories had forgotten their economic heritage or the number of ministers who resigned under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.

Ms Powell said: It really has been quite incredible to witness the collective display of amnesia on the benches opposite over the last few weeks. It's like the last 14 years didn't happen at all.

She added: I see that the Leader of the Opposition has come out today, as part of what has been said, as she finally tells the truth about the Conservatives' record.

That they had no growth plan, that they were not honest with the British people, that they negotiated a bad Brexit deal, but it seems these honorable gentlemen don't have it all completely understood this memo.

A consultation on plans to reform a key disability benefit criterion was unlawful, the High Court has ruled.

In autumn 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced plans to change the way the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), the test which determines whether a person with a work condition health or disability, is fit for work, is noted.

Disability rights campaigner Ellen Clifford launched legal action against the government, arguing the process did not provide citizens with enough information or time to respond to the proposals.

She alleged that the consultation carried out by the then Conservative government did not properly explain that many people would receive much less money under the reforms and would have to meet more conditions to receive their payments, with a risk of sanctions if they do not respect them. .

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Mr Justice Calver said: I consider that the claimant has overcome the major hurdle of establishing that the consultation was so unfair as to be unlawful.

In a statement after the judgment, Ms Clifford said: “I am pleased that the court has recognized the importance of properly consulting deaf and disabled people on reforms which would leave many of them at least worse off 416.19 per month. It's a matter of life and death.