‘Put them up anywhere’ – Cooper backs flying of England flags
In an interview with Times Radio this morning Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said that she was in favour of flags going up “everywhere”.
Under the label Operation Raise the Colours, people have been putting up England flags all over the country this summer. While some of those involved are probably just motivated by benign patriotism, others seem to be influenced by far-right hostility to asylum seekers, as John Harris explained in a recent column.
If any Labour ministers are inclined to agree with John’s column (headlined “Flags as symbols of prejudice, not pride – and a distinct air of menace. Welcome to England 2025”), they are not saying so in public. Yesterday, Keir Starmer strongly endorsed flying the flag. And, in an interview this morning, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, went further. She told Times Radio:
I’m going to confess I have not just the St George’s flag, I have St George’s bunting. I have also union jack bunting which is currently still hanging up in my garden shed. I have union jack flags. We have Yorkshire rose flags and bunting as well. I actually even have some Yorkshire Tea bunting but that’s probably going a bit far for your question as well.
So I do I think flags are really important. It’s what brings us together. I do think that people should be coming together around our flags and using the flags to come together and not being used for division.
Asked if people should be putting up flags on motorway gantries, Cooper replied:
Oh, put them up anywhere. I would put them up anywhere.
Key events
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Corbyn says he looks forward to working with Polanski ‘to create fairer, kinder world’
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Asylum seekers could be housed in ‘modular buildings on industrial sites’ when hotels close, No 10 says
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No 10 says Starmer wants to go ‘further and faster’ in tackling illegal migration
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‘Put them up anywhere’ – Cooper backs flying of England flags
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Polanski’s election as leader shows ‘hard-left activists’ have taken over Green party, say Tories
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Labour condemns Polanski for not being committed to UK remaining in Nato
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Polanski says it’s ‘no-brainer that we need to be nationalising public industries’
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Polanski says Starmer’s politics ‘despicable’, and says he can’t imagine Greens working with him in hung parliament
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Polanski praises Jeremy Corbyn, saying he’s doing ‘strong, principled work’ with his Gaza inquiry
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Polanski says he would like Greens to win at least 30 seats at next election
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Polanski says policies he supports deemed radical and leftwing are popular with voters
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Polanski’s Q&A with journalists
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Polanski praises migrants as ‘very much backbone of this country’, saying Greens must defend marginalised groups
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New Green party leader Zack Polanski tells Labour ‘we’re here to replace you’, not just ‘be disappointed by you’
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Zack Polanski wins Green party leadership contest by landslide
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Green membership has reached record level, at 68,500, Lamb says
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Two-party political system is ‘crumbling away’, Green party CEO Harriet Lamb says
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Green party to announce results of leadership election
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Cooper suggests asylum seekers being moved out of hotels could be housed in warehouses instead
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Cooper plays down risk of French government’s confidence vote scuppering returns deal with UK
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Home Office to warn foreign students off making asylum claims when courses end to extend stay in UK
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Cooper rejects claims Reeves has been sidelined on economic policy by No 10 mini-reshuffle
Severin Carrell
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Alison Johnstone, the Scottish parliament’s presiding officer, has told MSPs she is “absolutely appalled” about allegations that a former Labour MSP, Colin Smyth, hid a covert camera in a toilet at Holyrood.
Smyth, the then Labour list MSP for South Scotland, was arrested in early August for allegedly possessing indecent images of children. After that came to light on 20 August, it then emerged he also allegedly held images recorded from a toilet used by MSPs close to the parliamentary chamber.
He was suspended by Scottish Labour and in effect banned from Holyrood after his parliamentary pass was deactivated by officials.
In a statement to MSPs on Tuesday, Johnstone said:
We all feel shock and hurt at the recent allegations relating to an elected member, and reports of an invasion, a shocking invasion, of privacy. The safety and welfare of everyone who works in this building is our priority. These circumstances are unprecedented for this parliament, and it has been and continues to be a highly complex situation to navigate, but it is an ongoing live criminal investigation.
She said Holyrood had not been notified of the exact charges against Smyth, but officials were reviewing physical and digital security.
Police Scotland swept the facilities in the building and no devices were found. Enhanced security checks of the building will also continue as we seek to provide further reassurance to you and to each and every person who works or visits the Scottish parliament.
After the alleged covert camera allegations surfaced, Smyth said:
This allegation came as an utter shock and one I strongly refute.
For legal reasons, I can’t respond to specific matters or speculation, and I appreciate there is a process to go through which I am, of course, fully cooperating with. But I sincerely hope it can be concluded quickly and fairly.
Corbyn says he looks forward to working with Polanski ‘to create fairer, kinder world’
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who is now forming a new, leftwing party with Zara Sultana, has congratulated Zack Polanski on his election as Green party leader. In a post on social media he said:
Congratulations to @ZackPolanski on your stunning victory.
Your campaign took on the rich and powerful, stood up for the dignity of all marginalised communities, and gave people hope!
Real change is coming. I look forward to working with you to create a fairer, kinder world.
A reader asks:
@Andrew are we getting a snap analysis of Polanski’s speech and Q&A?
Not from me, but that is because Peter Walker has filed one already. This went up as soon as the result was announced. It was written before the result was announced, and before Zack Polanski delivered his victory speech, but I don’t think there is much that Peter would want to change.
Asylum seekers could be housed in ‘modular buildings on industrial sites’ when hotels close, No 10 says
In an interview this morning, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, sounded not quite 100% certain that the first small boat asylum seekers would be sent back under the returns deal with France before the end of this month. (See 10am.)
The interview was raised at the Downing Street lobby briefing where the PM’s spokesperson was asked if returns would definitely go ahead this month. He replied:
We fully expect that to happen. That is obviously the basis on which we’re working with the French. As [Cooper] said this morning, these are new arrangements. They’ve not been done before. These are groundbreaking arrangements.
When you recall when the previous government struck a deal with Rwanda that never got the scheme up and running over the course of two years, we signed this deal, it came into force on August 6, we’ve detained individuals already, and the first returns from the pilot will take place later in the month.
Asked about Cooper’s suggestion that asylum seekers could be housed in warehouses when asylum hotels are closed (see 10.26am), the spokesperson said the government was looking at housing migrants “using modular [ie, pre-fabricated] buildings, on industrial sites, ex-military sites”.
No 10 says Starmer wants to go ‘further and faster’ in tackling illegal migration
Keir Starmer will hold a ministerial meeting on Tuesday afternoon aimed at going “further and faster” to get a grip of illegal migration, Downing Street said.
As PA Media reports, the PM’s spokesperson said Starmer stressed migration is “a central issue” to his government at cabinet this morning.
Starmer told senior ministers there was a need to “go further and faster” on tackling migration, the spokesperson added, as he gave a readout of the cabinet meeting.
The spokesperson said:
[Starmer] said it was easy to understand the frustration people feel at the level of illegal crossings and the site of asylum hotels in their communities.
He will be chairing a ministerial meeting later today to consider how we can go further and faster to combat illegal crossings.
This includes continuing to work with the French authorities, cracking down on pull factors and illegal working, including exploring options around digital ID, accelerating the closure of hotels and looking at better forms of accommodation, and driving further progress returning people with no right to be here.
‘Put them up anywhere’ – Cooper backs flying of England flags
In an interview with Times Radio this morning Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said that she was in favour of flags going up “everywhere”.
Under the label Operation Raise the Colours, people have been putting up England flags all over the country this summer. While some of those involved are probably just motivated by benign patriotism, others seem to be influenced by far-right hostility to asylum seekers, as John Harris explained in a recent column.
If any Labour ministers are inclined to agree with John’s column (headlined “Flags as symbols of prejudice, not pride – and a distinct air of menace. Welcome to England 2025”), they are not saying so in public. Yesterday, Keir Starmer strongly endorsed flying the flag. And, in an interview this morning, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, went further. She told Times Radio:
I’m going to confess I have not just the St George’s flag, I have St George’s bunting. I have also union jack bunting which is currently still hanging up in my garden shed. I have union jack flags. We have Yorkshire rose flags and bunting as well. I actually even have some Yorkshire Tea bunting but that’s probably going a bit far for your question as well.
So I do I think flags are really important. It’s what brings us together. I do think that people should be coming together around our flags and using the flags to come together and not being used for division.
Asked if people should be putting up flags on motorway gantries, Cooper replied:
Oh, put them up anywhere. I would put them up anywhere.
We Deserve Better, the group (backed by Guardian columnist Owen Jones among others) calling for independents, the Greens and the new leftwing party being set up by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana to unite against Labour, has welcomed Zack Polanski’s election as Green leader.
In a statement its chair, Hilary Schan, said:
Through his powerful campaign, Zack has already inspired hundreds of thousands up and down the country. His bold vision of fighting inequality and his principled defence of migrant and minority rights against the rising far-right tide show the way forward. Only by working together can we build an economy working for people and planet, not profit.
We are heartened by Zack’s support for unity on the left and his embrace of all those willing to fight Reform, and offer a clear alternative to this rotten Labour government. We look forward to working with Zack and the newly-elected Green executive to build this strong and united left, and turn the tide of British politics.
Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay, the two co-leader candidates who were beaten by Zack Polanski in the Greeen party leadership contest, have put out this statement about the result.
We’d like to congratulate Zack Polanski on his election as leader of the Green party, and to thank him for running such a strong and passionate campaign.
We also want to thank every member who voted and all those who took part in this leadership election – on both sides. From conversations on doorsteps to the energy shared online and within communities, the commitment of Green members has shone through.
Our party is in the strongest position in its history. We’re winning record numbers of seats, reaching people in every community and from across the political spectrum, and showing that Green politics is rooted in the issues that truly matter. We’re proud of the record-breaking successes the party has achieved under Adrian and Carla’s leadership, and we look forward to seeing that momentum continue.
As MPs, we remain fully committed to playing our part: holding this government to account and championing the policies needed for a fairer, greener and more liveable future. Together, we will continue to build on the extraordinary progress the Green party has made, and take it further than ever before.
An earlier post wrongly named one of the new Green co-deputy leaders. She is Rachel Millward, not Richard. (See 11.34am.) I am sorry for the error.
Polanski’s election as leader shows ‘hard-left activists’ have taken over Green party, say Tories
The Conservatives claim Zack Polanski’s victory in the Green party’s leadership election means the party has been taken over by the hard left.
Commenting on the result, Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory chair, said:
The last leaf has fallen from the Greens’ withering tree. A party once rooted in care for the countryside has been captured by hard-left activists more obsessed with campus culture wars than farmers in Herefordshire.
From Solihull to Derbyshire councillors are walking away because only the Conservatives are serious about backing family farms, stopping good farmland being smothered by solar panels and protecting the countryside with local communities.
While the Greens indulge in extreme left-wing fantasies and failed socialist economics, only the Conservatives are committed to real stewardship of nature, energy security through nuclear power and safeguarding the fields and villages that make Britain home.
Labour condemns Polanski for not being committed to UK remaining in Nato
Labour has responded to the election of Zack Polanski as the new Green party leader by attacking his stance on Nato. In a statement Ellie Reeves, the Labour chair, said:
Congratulations to Zack Polanski on his election as Green party leader.
We are living through serious times and the public rightly expect responsible and measured responses from all political leaders. Zack Polanski must level with the British people as to whether he stands by his recent failure to support continued Nato membership, and what it means for his party’s stance on Putin’s appalling illegal war in Ukraine.
The Labour government’s commitment to Nato membership is unshakeable and always will be.
In an interview with Byline Times in May, Polanski said that, although the Greens were formally committed to the UK remaining in Nato, he thought the election of Donald Trump as US president meant a rethink was needed. He said:
I think our Nato policy is out of date … Clearly Nato has got a lot more complex since Donald Trump has become President, and I don’t think anyone should consider him a reliable ally … I think the age of Nato is now fully over …
We voted at the last conference to maintain a relationship with Nato and reform it from within but I think we have reached a point where Donald Trump has made being in an alliance with America very, very difficult while he’s talking about annexing Greenland …
We clearly need to be making sure that our policy is meeting the moment, and I think the world is changing quickly, and the idea that we can reform NATO by working with Donald Trump at the moment in a so-called special relationship is an idea that’s on its last legs.
Polanski says it’s ‘no-brainer that we need to be nationalising public industries’
Q: And would you nationalise other industries, including banks?
On nationalisation, Polanski said Labour were terrified of nationalising water companies. That was a problem.
Steel was an “obvious” candidate for nationalisation, he said. He accused Labour of being unwilling to work with steel workers on a just transition to net zero.
He ended saying it was “a no-brainer than we need to be nationalising public industries”.
Polanski says Starmer’s politics ‘despicable’, and says he can’t imagine Greens working with him in hung parliament
Q: [From Jim Pickard from the Financial Times] Would you rule out working with Keir Starmer in a hung parliament?
Polanski said it would be “wild” to rule out working with anyone on his first day. But he went on:
In Keir Starmer we’ve seen someone who got elected on the coattails of Jeremy Corbyn, who made lots of promises to protect communities, to bring about a leftwing change in this country, to stand up for some of the poorest communities.
And what we’ve had in Keir Starmer is despicable in terms of the politics. It is someone who has sold those communities out. He’s not just sold his party out, and the people who voted for him. The people I’m more concerned about are the people that are suffering in this country every day, who are worried about the future of this country, who see Nigel Farage give – and let’s call it what it is – a racist press conference, and not just not condemn it, but implicitly nod to it.
So I can’t imagine any scenario where I would want to work with Keir Starmer.
And I think in a scenario where we were in a hung parliament and we got that many seats, I think it would be odd that, if that many people had stopped voting Labour and switched to Green, to then work with Keir Starmer.
So I think you can clearly hear from my answer how I feel about that. But maybe he’s going to have a brain transfusion in the next couple of months.
Q: How can you take on Nigel Farage when your policy on immigration is so different?
Polanski said Farage wants to stop the boats, and he does too. “We could stop the boats today with safe and legal routes,” he said.
He said the country needs immigration.
And it needs to recognise that people coming to the UK pay more in tax than they take out of the country, he said.
Polanski also said the Greens should not sell out patriotism to Nigel Farage. Patriots do not sell out their country, he said.
Q: [Banseka Kayembe from Naked Politics] How will you unite the Green on trans rights, an issue on which the Greens seem divided?
Polanski said he did not accept the Greens are divided. The Greens are united on human rights, and trans rights are human rights, he said.
He cited approvingly a US quote, saying: if you agree with me on nine out of 12 things, let’s work together, and if you agree with me on 12 out of 12 things, you need to see a psychiatrist.
Polanski praises Jeremy Corbyn, saying he’s doing ‘strong, principled work’ with his Gaza inquiry
Q: [From the Guardian’s Peter Walker] Are you concerned that being explicitly leftwing might deter supporters in rural constituencies?
Polanski says he does not accept there is a difference of that type between rural and urban voters.
As an example, he cites policies on housing – which can appeal in the countryside and in cities, he says.
And he says farmers are also victims of a power imbalance when they sell their produce to supermarkets.
He also says being willing to talk to Jeremy Corbyn does not mean that he is a Corbynite.
Parties can work together without being allies, he says.
And he praises the work that Corbyn is doing with his Gaza inquiry. He says he spoke to Corbyn yesterday.
What I see is a politician who is doing strong, principled work that aligns with the things I care about and the party cares about. And I think that’s a different and new kind of politics, and I think that’s a politics that’s really going to excite this country.
Q: [From Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe from ITV News] What will you be doing to grab the public’s attention like Nigel Farage?
Polanski says Farage has more TikTok followers than all other MPs combined.
He says he is not shy about using social media himself.
But it is not just about him, he says. He says other Greens have important things to say.
He says storytelling is also important. It is not enough just to give voters facts. They need a powerful, emotional story too, he says.
