Keir Starmer latest: PM says Putin could end war at any time amid missiles warning before major Biden meet

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused the Labour Party of being unable to deliver a major overhaul of the NHS.

Sir Keir Starmer claimed the health service had to “reform or die” following the damning Lord Darzi report.

Criticising the government’s intentions to improve the servive, Mr Farage told GB News: “But I wonder, just how radical is the Labour Party going to be? Now Wes Streeting the health secretary wrote a piece in The Times last year that I found really very, very encouraging.

“But will his boss really let him put in place the reforms that are needed? Well, I don’t think so. And here’s why, here’s Starmer from again this morning: ‘So the problem isn’t that the NHS is the wrong model. It’s the right model. It’s just not taking advantage of the opportunities in front of it, and that’s what we need to change.’

“Well, I don’t agree with that. I think the model is wrong. I think the funding model is wrong. The principle of healthcare being free at the point of delivery, that’s all anybody cares about. I don’t think the Labour Party actually has got the guts to do it.”

The sharing of revenge porn is to be classified as the most serious type of online offence under the Online Safety Act, meaning social media platforms will now have to take steps proactively to remove it, the government has said.

The change to the law will see the sharing of intimate images without consent upgraded to be made a priority offence under the new online safety rules, which are due to come into force from spring next year.

Under the laws, material considered a priority offence – which also includes public order offences and the sale of weapons and drugs online – must not only be removed when it is found online, but platforms must also proactively remove it and take steps to prevent it from appearing in the first place – with large fines for those who fail to do so.

The government said it hoped the crackdown would help drive the development of new and existing technologies to help keep people safer online, while also helping to tackle sexual offending and the normalisation of misogynistic material being shared online.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he hoped requiring social media platforms to take more proactive action would “drive behaviour change”.

He said: “What I’m trying to do is, rather than just see action once an offence had been committed and the damage has been done to a victim, is to try and change behaviour that will prevent it happening in the first place.”

Russia has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow, accusing them of spying and sabotage.

As president Vladimir Putin warned that Nato will be at war with Moscow if Western nations allow Ukraine to use their long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory, Russia’s FSB security service accused British diplomats of working to ensure Moscow’s defeat in the 30-month conflict.

Read the full story below:

Granting permission to Kyiv to fire Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia could result in a token nuclear strike in retaliation – but history suggests it unlikely, says Mark Almond:

James Cleverly has said he wants to tacjle the perception that the Tories are “angry” or “grumpy”.

The Tory leadership contender urged members of the Conservative party to shift the they way they are perceived by voters to win new ones.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Political Thinking podcast: “I want to break this artificial perception that being conservative means you are angry or negative or moany or grumpy.

“Because it just turns people off. It is running contrary to the mood of a lot of people that we need to win over, particularly younger voters.”

A new poll has revealed public opinion for Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves has fallen sharply.

It comes as Labour faced criticism for slashing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

The Ipsos survey found 32 per cent of poeple saw the prime minister favourably, which represents a six per cent point drop since August.

Thos who view Sir Keir unfavourably increased by eight points to 46 per cent over the same time perios, leaving a score of minus 14 compared with a net score of zero in August.

The chancellor, who has also been pressured over the upcoming October Budget, has seen her favourability fall by four points to 23 per cent.

The number of poeple who view the Labour party in a positive light has also fallen by four points to 36 per cent.

James Cleverly has said he “outperformed” his rivals during his time in Westminster.

He suggested his political career surpasses that of Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat in terms of acheivements and experience.

The former home secretary told the BBC Radio 4 Political Thinking podcast: “I have outperformed everyone else on this leadership ticket not just the jobs I have held but what I have achieved in those jobs.

“I’ve outperformed all the other runners and riders by a country mile. I have outperformed almost everyone else in my parliamentary intake.

“If you Tipp-Exed the words ‘James Cleverly’ off my political CV and slid it across the desk, you’d look at it and go, ‘bloody hell’.”

The prime minister’s trip to the White House could provide an answer to President Zelensky’s prayers to use Western-made long-range missiles, writes Mary Dejevsky:

For once, a UK prime minister’s visit to Washington could offer more than the usual formulaic courtesies and obligatory references to the “special relationship”. Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with President Biden at the White House could provide the opportunity for the US to announce that it is acceding to Ukraine’s long-standing pleas to use US- and UK-supplied missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.

It is a perilous moment, and those with longer memories might sense the ghosts of another fateful UK-US encounter haunting the scene: the meeting between Tony Blair and George W Bush at Camp David in September 2002, where Blair gave Bush a degree of international cover, in the form of his unconditional support, for the invasion of Iraq.

Read Mary Dejevsky’s full opinion piece below:

While some viewed the arms suspension as a mere ‘token gesture’ that doesn’t go far enough, others argued Israel has a right to defend itself.

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The latest review of the health service is a substantial, thoroughgoing and even radical piece of work, writes Sean O’Grady. But it doesn’t mention the 2016 referendum once – despite its enormous impact.