Starmer says ‘work has started’ with Europe on migration as he claims ‘Britain is back on world stage’ – live

In a significant move, it emerged that migrants rescued in the channel on Wednesday night were returned to France by a UK Border Force vessel – the first time this is thought to have happened.

Sir Keir played down the significance of the incident, describing it as an “operational” decision. But sources say other European countries are more willing to discuss challenges around migration with Britain since Labour’s election victory removed the threat of Britain leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

During the summit, the prime minister also spoke with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama about Italy’s plan to send migrants to Albania for processing.

He will have dinner with President Macron, with the topic of small boats expected to be discussed, although the French leader ruled out the prospect of a returns agreement between the two countries, insisting that any such deal would have to be negotiated through the EU.

Labour’s House of Lords reform is a good start, writes Independent columnist Alan Rusbridger – now we should ask them to finish the job and start getting some of these turkeys to vote for Christmas:

Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced she has started the process to seek the removal of the chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) – the body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice.

The announcement came after a review into the case of Andrew Malkinson, who was wrongly convicted of rape and jailed for 17 years, found he could have been exonerated almost a decade earlier if not for serious failings by officials at the CCRC.

Ms Mahmood said it was her “firm view” having read the report that Ms Pitcher is “unfit to fulfil her duties” and had “begun the process to seek her removal from that position”.

Hours before Sir Keir Starmer declared confidently that Britain is “back on the world stage”, his foreign secretary David Lammy was questioned by the BBC about his previous remarks calling former US president Donald Trump “a neo Nazi sympathising sociopath” and a “tyrant in a toupet”.

Mr Lammy, who started reaching out to Republicans and rightwing think tanks in America once he became shadow foreign secretary before Labour won the election, insisted to BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty that he had not been alone in making comments about the current Republican nominee.

He said: “You are going to struggle to find any politician who has not had things to say about Donald Trump in his first term particularly on Twitter.”

Our political editor David Maddox has more on the exchange:

The UK defence industry has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Ukraine after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in London.

Representatives of the industry, alongside defence secretary John Healey and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, met the Ukrainian president at Lancaster House following his appearance at the European Political Community summit in Oxfordshire on Thursday.

The group discussed how to deepen co-operation and boost defence industrial production for Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Mr Healey said he had “emphasised the Government will continue to work in partnership with industry and the need to boost industrial production of vital military kit for our own armed forces”. He said: “The Ukrainians are fighting with huge courage, the military and civilians alike.

“Our new government has already pledged to step up support, confirming £3bn a year to help Ukraine and a new package of ammunition, anti-armour missiles and artillery guns.”

The MoD said deals such as an agreement with BAE Systems to maintain and repair UK-supplied weapons in Ukraine and an arrangement with Sheffield Forgemasters to support the repair and overhaul of Ukrainian vehicles would help both Ukrainian and British armed forces secure the equipment they needed.

The UK has an “unshakeable commitment” to Nato, Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated.

Re-emphasising his commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent at a press conference at the EPC summit on Thursday, the prime minister said he had also made this clear at the Nato summit in Washington earlier this month.

He added: “We stand full square on Nato, as a Labour government, proud signatories to the original Nato treaty. We are as committed today, it’s an unshakeable commitment to Nato, my own personal assessment is that Nato is as important if not more important today than it’s been for many years.”

European leaders can have a “renewed confidence” in their relationships with the UK, Sir Keir Starmer said, as he sought to build bridges after years of Brexit troubles.

He wants to strike a security pact with the EU and address some of the trading problems under the current Brexit deal.

“We can only make progress on the issues that so many people care about, like illegal migration and national security, If we have the maturity and leadership to reach out a hand to our European friends,” he said.

Sir Keir added: “I’m really pleased that most of the leaders, if not all of them, are leaving here with a sense of renewed confidence in their relationship with the UK.”

A key sign of his desire to repair relations was a public commitment that he would “never withdraw” from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), after the Conservatives had flirted with the idea of pulling out of the agreement.

Renationalising the railways would fulfil Labour’s election promise.

In this Politics Explained piece, The Independent’s associate editor Sean O’Grady takes a closer look at how the new government plans to do it:

The system around vetting former ministers when they enter new jobs to prevent a revolving door of appointments is “bust and needs fixing”, a watchdog has said.

Lord Pickles – chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) – urged the Labour government to make “long overdue” improvements to the rules within its first weeks.