Police injured at Portsmouth asylum protest, Miliband to ban settlement trade, Rayner halts council shake-up

Police officers were injured and vehicles damaged in Portsmouth overnight into Monday after masked protesters tried to block coaches carrying newly arrived asylum seekers, in the second such confrontation on the south coast in three days. The policing minister, Sarah Jones, told the Commons that those responsible would face "the full force of the law", Ed Miliband trailed a Tuesday statement banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and Angela Rayner halted large parts of the council reorganisation programme after new legal advice. This is UKFCP's 24 hours in politics round-up.

Parliament is back from the summer recess with a crowded order paper, and Andy Burnham's government is working towards John Healey's first Budget on 28 October. The Holborn and St Pancras by-election, caused by Keir Starmer's resignation as an MP, was confirmed for 8 October.

Portsmouth protest draws Commons statement

Jones told MPs that around 120 migrants arrived in a boat near the Isle of Wight on Sunday afternoon, and that more than 200 protesters then tried to stop three coaches taking them for processing. She branded Patriot Platform, which claims to have organised Saturday's action at Dover, "far-right racist". A small number of officers were injured and vehicles damaged, according to police cited by the BBC. Hampshire police were still hunting suspects on Monday.

Addressing Labour MPs and peers on Monday evening, the Prime Minister said the party had "a solemn responsibility to prevent the politics of poison seeping into our streets". The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said people were "genuinely angry at the government's failure to stop the boats". Reform UK's Lee Anderson called the protesters "decent patriotic Brits who've had enough".

Miliband to ban settlement trade

The Foreign Secretary will announce on Tuesday what he has described as a broad reset of Britain's relations with Israel, including a ban on trade in goods and some services from illegal Israeli settlements, according to the Guardian and the New York Times. Miliband has told MPs the government wants a comprehensive reset of policy on the West Bank, alongside targeted sanctions.

"I want to be very clear: we do not want British companies financing, constructing, or advertising new settlements," Miliband told the Commons at his first questions in the post.

Polling by Opinium for the European Council on Foreign Relations found 46% of UK adults back such a ban and 18% oppose it. Israel's foreign minister has vowed retaliatory measures if sanctions are imposed.

Rayner halts council shake-up

The Communities Secretary told the Commons that reorganisation decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk had been withdrawn after new legal advice, with 14 further areas paused and two more still undecided. Local elections in May 2027 will now be held on existing council boundaries. At least eight councils have launched legal challenges.

Rayner said it was "only right that as a new Secretary of State I make sure that everything we do is working towards that plan to change Britain, without delay". The Conservatives called the reversal "yet another total humiliation for this Labour Government", accusing ministers of gerrymandering and demanding the publication of documents on the process.

AI adviser quits ARIA post

Matt Clifford, an architect of the government's AI strategy, said on Monday he would step down as chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, days after his appointment as Anthropic's managing director of international affairs prompted conflict of interest warnings. He said he was leaving "to ensure my new role at Anthropic doesn't become a distraction from ARIA's incredible work", and will stay until 6 November at the business and science secretary's request.

Chi Onwurah, who chairs the Commons science and technology committee, said the conflict had been addressed but "important questions remain" about how the situation arose and what safeguards exist.

Also in the last 24 hours

• Jaguar Land Rover confirmed it will cut around 4,000 roles over two years, about a tenth of its global workforce, as part of a £1.7bn savings plan.
• Healey used his first major speech as Chancellor, delivered in Coventry, to say Britain is paying a "Truss penalty" on its debt, and repeatedly declined to rule out tax rises at the Budget.
• Emma Reynolds, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, called Reform UK "far right" and put it in the same bracket as Germany's AfD; Reform called the remarks "lazy, inaccurate and an insult" to its voters.
• A Jamaican delegation lodged a reparations petition at Buckingham Palace seeking $10bn; the government reiterated that no compensation will be paid.
• MPs vote on Friday on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, with Ipsos polling for PA finding 61% support its reintroduction.
• Burnham spoke to Donald Trump on Monday, agreeing on the need to keep working towards a ceasefire in Ukraine, Downing Street said.
• Camden Green councillor Hamza Chowdhury said he will challenge his party leader, Zack Polanski, for the Green nomination in Holborn and St Pancras.
• The UK has begun talks that could see British officials rejoin EU crisis management missions for the first time since Brexit, the BBC reported.
• Liverpool City Region buses return to public control, backed by £86.3m of government funding to 2029.

Miliband makes his Commons statement on Israel on Tuesday.