Starmer to meet Macron in Paris as thinktank says Labour’s proposed Brexit renegotiation might not be worth it – UK politics live | Politics

Lady Barran, the education minister, is giving evidence to the Commons education committee about Raac.

Robin Walker, the chair, starts by saying they are grateful for the Raac information published by the department this morning. But it was published just before the hearing, he points out. He says that is a bit like handing in homework late.

Barran says 85% of schools affected by Raac are offering face-to-face education.

She says the DfE has been working on Raac for some time. But, when new information emerged during the summer, the department decided to take a precautionary approach, and to ask schools to close areas affected by Raac.

She says no two cases of Raac are the same. The DfE is trying to provide a tailored approach for schools. And every school affected gets a caseworker, she says.

She says the data published this morning shows that the number of schools affected has gone up by 27. But the number of schools affected where pupils are getting face-to-face education has risen by 43, she says. She goes on:

That underlines the work that has gone on, on the ground for children who were, when we last published data, either in hybrid or remote or had a delayed start to term.

She says the number of schools where pupils are being taught via hybrid arrangements has gone up from 20 to 23. And there is one school where teaching is fully remote, she says.

The Department for Education has published its updated list of schools in England affected by Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete). As more school building surveys have been completed, the number of schools affected has risen from 147 to 174.

Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has accused NHS staff in England of planning “politically timed” industrial action as he outlined proposals to extend strike laws to ensure doctors and nurses in hospitals provide a minimum level of cover, Ben Quinn reports.

Good morning. Keir Starmer is in Paris today for a meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. The Labour leader is already ahead of Rishi Sunak on who would make the best PM according to most polls (it depends exactly who you ask the question), but if you want to look prime ministerial, there is no substitute for doing the sort of things that a prime minister does. We are not expecting to get TV footage of the meeting, because there are protocol issues that kick in when a head of state is just meeting an opposition leader. But, coming after his recent trip to The Hague and to the Global Progress Action conference in Canada, Starmer’s latest outing on the world stage should provide a helpful boost to his political authority.

Starmer posted this picture on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday.

But will Starmer make any progress on substance? One topic that is bound to come up is Starmer’s suggestion, in a Financial Times interview published yesterday, that he would negotiate a “much better” Brexit deal with the EU. In an analysis, Kiran Stacey, Lisa O’Carroll and Pippa Crerar suggest that Labour is “unlikely to find a receptive audience in European capitals for such a renegotiation unless the party is willing to offer significant concessions”.

Today UK in a Changing Europe, which is probably the leading British thinktank on Brexit issues, has published a report on how the Brexit deal might be renegotiated, and it says achieving the sort of renegotiation that Labour wants could take years and might not be worth it. It says:

Assuming Labour’s position holds, it will need to persuade the EU to undertake an expansive TCA [trade and cooperation agreement] review. Its current proposals focus on UK priorities (trade easements), and it would have to refine its offer to address key EU interests, which are likely to lie in improving mobility arrangements for young people and enhanced cooperation on security and defence.

The kinds of agreements Labour is seeking often entail long, technical negotiations which can take years to conclude. They would demand significant administrative resources at a time when the party would have many other priorities. There could also be political costs to signing up to agreements which require continuous, ongoing alignment with EU regulations over which the UK will have no say. The EU would also have to trust that future UK governments, which could be far more Eeurosceptic, will uphold such agreements.

While these kinds of agreements would have clear benefits for certain sectors, they would not address the bulk of the overall economic cost of Brexit for the UK, as it would remain outside the single market and customs union. Labour would have to think carefully about whether the benefits of a maximalist TCA review justify the administrative and political capital it would have to expend.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Rishi Sunak chairs cabinet.

10am: Lady Barran, an education minister, and Susan Acland-Hood, permanent secretary at Department for Education, give evidence to the Commons education committee about Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) in schools.

10am: The Scottish government begins a legal challenge at the court of session in Edinburgh against the UK government’s decision to block its gender recognition reform bill.

11am (UK time): Keir Starmer meets the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

11.15am: Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, gives evidence to the Lords protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland sub committee about the Windsor framework.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

11.30am: Claire Coutinho, the new energy secretary, takes questions in the Commons for the first time.

2.15pm: Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, gives evidence to the Commons business and trade committee.

Also, hospital consultants in England are on strike.

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