Rishi Sunak – latest news: PM forced to delay housebuilding reforms amid Tory rebellion

The government was today accused of sending the country into an economic “doom loop” after new forecasts suggest Britain will rank bottom of the growth league table for major economies for the next two years in succession.

Britain’s prospects were sharply downgraded by the intergovernmental think tank, which forecast GDP will shrink by 0.4 per cent in 2023 and grow by just 0.2 per cent in 2024. As recently as September, it was expecting the UK economy to flatline next year.

Read the details in this report from our political editor Andrew Woodcock:

A further £800m is being slashed from the UK’s overseas aid spending, days after Jeremy Hunt pledged that the country would remain a world leader “in tackling global poverty”.

The 30 per cent cut in direct aid to needy countries – for the next two years – follows those projects being hit by a steep budget cut last year, a senior MP warned.

Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons international development committee, also accused the foreign secretary James Cleverly of burying the bad news as he announced that a “pause” on non-essential spending was being lifted.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports:

The Manston asylum centre which sparked huge controversy over “Dickensian” conditions and overcrowding is now empty after thousands of migrants were moved into hotels.

More than 4,000 asylum seekers had been held at the processing facility in Kent earlier this month despite its maximum capacity being only 1,600.

The government still faces legal action after some migrants were held for several weeks at the former military base, designed only to host people for up to 24 hours.

Read the details in this joint report from Adam Forrest and Lizzie Dearden:

Former Conservative MP Owen Paterson has claimed that the lobbying investigation that sparked a government scandal ending with his resignation breached his human rights.

The Brexiteer has lodged a formal complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which formally asked the British government to respond to his allegations on Tuesday.

Mr Paterson has complained to the Strasbourg court that his Article 8 rights under the UK Human Rights Act, relating to respecting his private and family life, had been infringed.

Our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden and Adam Forrest report:

A recent report has claimed that Matt Hancock will be paid a fee of £400,000 to appear on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

The Conservative MP, who resigned as health secretary last year after he was caught kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo, is one of the most controversial contestants on the hit ITV reality show.

A report in The Sun quoted an inside source on the show as saying: “[Hancock’s] pay deal with I’m a Celebrity is around £400,000 which is one of the largest ever show fees to have been paid out.

The Supreme Court is due to rule today whether the Scottish parliament has the power to approve a referendum on independence without Westminster’s approval.

A panel of five justices heard legal arguments from the UK and Scottish governments during a two-day hearing in London last month after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon set out plans to hold a vote on 19 October 2023.

The Westminster government has repeatedly refused to meet the first minister’s demand for another referendum, arguing that the matter was settled for a generation by the 2014 referendum in which Scots voted to stay in the union by 55 to 45 per cent.

Public opinion on immigration has warmed “at a striking rate” and adopting a more liberal approach would help both Labour and the Conservatives win over more swing voters, new analysis suggests.

Conventional wisdom in Westminster has long been that tougher border policies are rewarded at the ballot box, with Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer winning praise from Ukip founder Nigel Farage on Tuesday after claiming the UK must end its “immigration dependency”.

But voters’ views of immigration have become increasingly positive since prior to the Brexit referendum, with Ipsos finding for the first time this year that – of those with an opinion on the matter – a majority now believe immigration levels should either increase or stay the same.

My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

Mr Paterson left the Commons in November 2021 after being found by the standards authority to have broken rules on paid advocacy.

The episode threw Boris Johnson’s government into turmoil, as the then-prime minister tried to overhaul the misconduct system to save his MP from suspension.

Adam Forrest and Liam James have more:

Rishi Sunak is set to face Sir Keir Starmer in Prime Minister’s Questions as he struggles with a Tory rebellion over policy, MP departures and lingering questions over his judgement.

A month after taking office vowing “stability and unity”, trouble is brewing for the prime minister on multiple fronts.

He reportedly pulled a vote due next Monday on government plans to build 300,000 homes a year as dozens of Conservative MPs threatened a rebellion, dealing a blow to his authority.

Rishi Sunak has reportedly been forced to delay planning reforms as he faced a significant rebellion by Conservative MPs pushing for an end to mandatory housebuilding targets.

The prime minister was due to face the first major test of his leadership next Monday when MPs were set to vote on the flagship Levelling Up Bill.

But more than 50 backbenchers and former cabinet ministers have signed an amendment to the Bill that would ban councils from taking housing targets into account when deciding on planning applications.