Voters overwhelmingly want MPs to swear allegiance to their constituents, not to king, poll suggests Earlier this month the Labour MP Clive Lewis had return to parliament to be sworn in properly after his first attempt was declared invalid because he left out the line about swearing allegiance to King Charles’ “heirs and successors”. As he took the oath a second time, he said he hoped in future MPs would be able to swear their loyalty to their constituents, not the king. It seems the public agree. Republic, the group campaigning against having a hereditary monarch as head of state, has released polling showing that “56% of the public believe MPs should swear allegiance to their constituents and the country, compared to just 11% who want MPs to pledge allegiance to the king”. Graham Smith, Republic’s CEO, said: At a time when faith in politics is at a low ebb, it’s understandable the people want MPs to pledge allegiance to them, not to Charles and his family. This poll underlines a significant shift in attitudes toward the monarchy. The public put much more faith in democracy, but want our democracy to work for them, not elites and billionaires. Clearly it’s time that our representatives swear an oath to their constituents instead of our unelected head of state. Today Republic is calling on the government to immediately bring forward legislation to change the parliamentary oath, so that MPs can pledge to do the job they were elected to do, serve the people. Early evening summary A former counter-terrorism police chief has accused Nigel Farage of helping incite violence that broke out in Southport after the killing of three children in a knife attack this week. Angela Rayner has promised her planning changes will not lead to “a load of ugly houses”, as she set out plans for more GP surgeries, roads and schools around developments to win over the “nimbys”. Asked to explain why she has removed a requirement for buildings to be “beautiful” from the revised national planning policy framework (NPPF), Rayner said: “Beautiful means nothing really, it means one thing to one person and another thing to another.” (See 12.42pm.) Ministers have rejected claims that Tory-voting areas are being disproportionately forced to accept higher housing targets. (See 10.17am and 12.16pm.) Rayner has confirmed that she wants to restrict, but not get rid of, right to buy. (See 12.57pm.) Rayner has suggested that people will drop their objections to new homes being built in their communities if there is proper infrastructure in place. (See 11.45am.) Republic, the group campaigning against having a constitutional monarchy, has released polling suggesting people overwhelming want MPs to swear allegiance to their constituents, not to the king. (See 4.16pm.) Universities face sanctions if they fail to stop "abuse of power" in staff/student relationships, watchdog says Universities in England could face sanctions if they fail to take steps to prevent an “abuse of power” in intimate personal relationships between university staff and students, the higher education watchdog has said. PA Media reports: The Office for Students (OfS) will introduce a new condition of registration which will require higher education institutions in England to set out how they are protecting students from harassment and sexual misconduct. It comes after a fifth of students who responded to an OfS survey said they had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in the 2022/23 academic year. Universities and colleges will not be able to use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), which forbid students from talking about incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct, under the OfS’s condition of registration. Higher education institutions will be required to take “one or more steps to make a significant and credible difference in protecting students” from any conflict of interest or “abuse of power” in intimate staff-student relationships. But universities will have the flexibility to develop and publish their own policies on relationships between staff and students – including the restrictions or prohibitions they consider appropriate, the watchdog has said. The Welsh government has published figures today suggesting its controversial decision to make 20mph the default speed limit in residential areas has been followed by a reduction in collisions and injuries. The 20mph policy was introduced in September last year. According to a report with provisional figures for the first quarter of 2024, “the total number of collisions is 18% lower than in the previous quarter (737) and 17% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (733)”. And, on casualties, the report says “the total number of casualties is 17% lower than in the previous quarter (982) and 16% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (968)". In a post on his Substack account, Will Hayward from WalesOnline says that other data presents a similar picture. “For example, insurance company Esure said they had seen a 20% drop in vehicle damage claims in Wales since the nationwide 20mph default speed limit was introduced,” he says. He says he is surprised Welsh Labour politicians are not talking about the success of the policy, instead of “acting apologetic” about it. But the Welsh government report is much more non-committal about what the figures show. It says that the number of collisions and casualties on Welsh roads has been declining gradually over the past decade, that the figues vary from quarter to quarter and that, with regard to collision numbers, “care should be taken when interpreting this data over a short time period”. A Holyrood probe has found “no evidence” the SNP misused stamps bought with public money to aid its general election campaign, PA Media reports. PA says: Officials launched an inquiry last month after WhatsApp messages among senior staff working for SNP MSPs appeared to suggest stamps paid for by expenses were being used in the party’s push ahead of the July 4 poll. The investigation by the Scottish parliamentary corporate body (SPCB) – the cross-party group of MSPs tasked with running the parliament – spoke to the staff involved and their MSP bosses, and said all of whom “complied fully with the investigation”. Today officials said there was no evidence to suggest stamps had been misused and they had received assurances from the MSPs to that effect. A spokesman for the Scottish parliament said: “Following a thorough investigation, officials have found no evidence that stamps were used inappropriately. Therefore, no further action is required. Ahead of the next session the SPCB will carry out a review of stamp purchasing, as part of its sessional review of the members’ expenses scheme, to ensure the current approach is the most suitable.” Lisa Nandy says she wants culture department help make Britain "self-confident country, at ease with itself" Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has said she would like her department to help make Britain “a self-confident country, at ease with itself”. She set out the ambition in a speech at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum, attended by representatives from more than 150 leading cultural organisations. In line with the government’s determination to prioritise economic growth, Nandy stressed the economic value of the culture, media and sport sectors, which are worth £170bn and support 4m jobs. But Nandy also stressed her determination not to follow her Tory predecessors, who often used the post to harry cultural institutions they saw as “woke”. Nandy said she wanted to help arts organisations write communities back into the national story. She went on: It is our ambition that we will face a self-confident country, at ease with itself, where all our people see themselves in the story we tell ourselves about ourselves as a nation – and our contribution is seen and valued. And my message to each and every one of you is that if you share that belief in our country, if you have that zest, if you want to challenge us and are willing to be challenged in turn, then I promise you that we will walk alongside you. We will have your back. And we will give voice to the country many of us have believed in all our lifetime but never quite yet seen. Nandy’s comment echoed what John Major said when he became PM in 1990, and declared in his first speech in Downing Street that he wanted to create “a country that is at ease with itself, a country that is confident and a country that is able and willing to build a better quality of life for all its citizens”. Voters overwhelmingly want MPs to swear allegiance to their constituents, not to king, poll suggests Earlier this month the Labour MP Clive Lewis had return to parliament to be sworn in properly after his first attempt was declared invalid because he left out the line about swearing allegiance to King Charles’ “heirs and successors”. As he took the oath a second time, he said he hoped in future MPs would be able to swear their loyalty to their constituents, not the king. It seems the public agree. Republic, the group campaigning against having a hereditary monarch as head of state, has released polling showing that “56% of the public believe MPs should swear allegiance to their constituents and the country, compared to just 11% who want MPs to pledge allegiance to the king”. Graham Smith, Republic’s CEO, said: At a time when faith in politics is at a low ebb, it’s understandable the people want MPs to pledge allegiance to them, not to Charles and his family. This poll underlines a significant shift in attitudes toward the monarchy. The public put much more faith in democracy, but want our democracy to work for them, not elites and billionaires. Clearly it’s time that our representatives swear an oath to their constituents instead of our unelected head of state. Today Republic is calling on the government to immediately bring forward legislation to change the parliamentary oath, so that MPs can pledge to do the job they were elected to do, serve the people. Rayner says building more homes a "moral obligation" Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, has written a letter to metro mayors summarising the planning changes she has announced this week and urging them to work with the government on delivering more homes. She says this is a “moral obligation”. Here is an excerpt. As regional leaders, you know how dire the situation has become and the depth of the housing crisis in which we find ourselves as a nation. You see it as record numbers of homeless children are placed in temporary accommodation; as the councils that you work with grapple with waiting lists for social housing getting longer and longer; and as your younger residents are priced out of home ownership. It is because of this I know that, like every member of the government, you will feel not just a professional responsibility but a moral obligation to see more homes built. To take the tough choices necessary to fix the foundations of our housing system. And we will only succeed in this shared mission if we work together. That is why it was so important to me and the prime minister that we gathered in our first week in office. And it is why we have been so clear that housing need in England cannot be met without planning for growth on a larger than local scale. This means enhancing your powers over strategic planning, to ensure that you can work together with your constituent authorities to deliver the housing and high-quality jobs that underpin local growth. She has also delivered a similar message to council leaders and chief executives. As a new prime minister, Keir Starmer has to spend quite a lot of time on introductory telephone calls with fellow heads of government. This afternoon he has been speaking to Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, to Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian president, and to Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus. On the talk with da Silva, No 10 said: The prime minister welcomed Brazil’s presidency of the G20 and its upcoming presidency of COP next year, and underscored the UK’s support for Brazil in its priorities to combat the global challenges of hunger, poverty and climate change. On the call with Tinubu, No 10 said: The president congratulated the Prime Minister on his recent election victory, and the prime minister commended the President as Nigeria marks twenty-five years of unbroken democracy. And after the conversation with Christodoulides, No 10 said: The president warmly welcomed the prime minister’s reset with European and global partners. They agreed this also marked an important opportunity to deepen the invaluable relationship that the UK and Cyprus share, particularly on issues including regional security and migration. Voters strongly support large increase in new homes being built, but not on green belt, poll suggests Voters back the government’s plans for a big increase in housebuilding by a margin of two to one, new polling from YouGov suggests. And even when people are asked if they favour a large number of new homes being build in their local area, they back this by a smaller majority, 52% to 41%. But the poll also suggests there voters oppose some of the methods ministers want to use to deliver a big increase in the number of homes built. The survey suggests they are more likely to oppose than to support ministers being allowed to overrule councils when they refuse planning applications, and it suggests two thirds of people oppose new homes being built on the green belt. Taylor Wimpey says Labour’s planning changes ‘important early step’ for more homes Taylor Wimpey has welcomed Labour’s planning proposals as an “important early step” to delivering more homes across England, as its half-year profits fell by nearly 60%, Jack Simpson reports. If you have got a long holiday coming up, and you have not chosen anything to read yet, then try No Way Out by Tim Shipman, which is the best of the political books that has landed on my desk this year, and one that I’ve not had the chance to plug here yet. Shipman, the Sunday Times’s chief political commentator, published two superb books about the politics of Brexit before the 2019 election (All Out War, and Fall Out), and this one, if anything, is even better. It mostly covers the final year and a half of Theresa May’s premiership, and her doomed attempts to negotiate a Brexit deal. It was a disastrous period in our national politics, and Shipman recounts it, and explains why, better than anyone. Some of this may feel like ancient history now but, with Keir Starmer repeatedly saying that his mantra in government will be “country first, party second”, one revelation is particularly topical. Shipman says in early 2019 there was a cabinet meeting where ministers explicitly argued, when discussing Brexit policy, that Tory party unity was more important than avoiding the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit. He says: Senior civil servants in cabinet were shocked not only that no-deal was suddenly an option, but also at the reasons given. One said, ‘All around the table, they said, “If the choice is the Conservative party staying together and no-deal or the Conservative party fracture and an extension, the national interest is in the Conservative party staying together.” It was one of those moments when you realise that you’ve been complacent about ideology in politics. They really believe it was the Conservative party that made Britain great. They had internalised this mythology.’ When the cabinet minutes were written, the civil servant responsible made a point of including the observation that ministers had equated the national interest with that of the Tory party. When JoJo Penn [an aide to Theresa May] spotted this, May was furious and demanded it be changed. The mandarins refused. A Treasury minister is being investigated by parliament’s standards watchdog, the first such inquiry since the election, PA Media reports. PA says: Tulip Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury and MP for Hampstead and Highgate, is under investigation for the late registration of interests, according to the parliamentary standards commissioner’s website. The inquiry is thought to relate to Siddiq’s failure to register rental income from a property in London, which a Labour spokesman said was “an administrative oversight” for which she had apologised. The spokesman said: “Tulip will co-operate fully with the parliamentary commissioner on standards on this matter.” Siddiq is the first MP of the new parliament to be placed under investigation by the standards commissioner. But investigations into three former MPs which began during the last Parliament remain open. Former Conservative MP Bob Stewart is being investigated for failing to declare an interest and an alleged lack of co-operation with the watchdog’s inquiry. Ex-Tory and Reclaim MP Andrew Bridgen is being investigated over registration of his interests, while former Tory Sir Conor Burns is being investigated for use of information received in confidence. During the last parliament, the standards commissioner opened more than 100 investigations into MPs, the majority of which were resolved by “rectification” – a procedure that allows MPs to correct minor or inadvertent breaches of Commons rules.