📈 The number of asylum seekers waiting for their application to be decided has surged to a record high of more than 160,000 -- more than three times the number waiting three years ago.

(Note: graph shows 132k applications, which relates to 160k+ people) 📈 89,398 people applied for asylum in the UK in 2022 -- the highest number for nearly two decades.

🌹 Labour's Keir Starmer has announced his 5 Missions for a Better Britain

- Secure the highest sustained growth in the G7
- Make Britain a clean energy superpower
- Build an NHS fit for the future
- Make Britain's streets safe
- Break down barriers to opportunity at every stage Labour's election manifesto will be 'built around' these five national missions and will 'guide Labour in government'.

UPDATE: The UK government is actively considering blocking the Gender Recognition Reform Bill from becoming law.

The Scottish Secretary confirmed - following the Scottish vote - that the govt would "look closely" at the legislation, and block royal assent "if necessary."

https://twitter.com/TLDRNewsUK/status/1605943901814067200

Gender recognition is, under the Scotland Act, a devolved matter (and thus within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament).

The Bill, however, would interact with equalities legislation which is a reserved matter (i.e. not in Scottish legislative competence).

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 BREAKING: Scottish parliament passes Gender Recognition Reform Bill by 86 votes to 39.

The bill makes it easier for people to change their legal gender by removing the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The bill also lowers the age at which someone can change their gender from 18 to 16.

The reform was first proposed by Nicola Sturgeon six years ago and has gone through two large public consultations.

🗣 A war of words between unions and ministers over ongoing NHS strikes has erupted:

Health Sec @SteveBarclay said today "Ambulance unions have taken a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients"

@unitetheunion boss Sharon Graham accused him of telling a "blatant lie" @SteveBarclay @unitetheunion Graham says "The unions have negotiated critical cover, including 999 calls, at a local level with hosts of NHS trusts. That is how it is done."

Unite accuses Barclay and Rishi Sunak of an "astonishing abdication of responsibility".

🇪🇺 NEW: The UK's post-Brexit settlement scheme for EU citizens is unlawful, the High Court has ruled.

Specifically, the requirement for those with 'pre-settled status' to reapply to upgrade to 'settled status' after 5 years is incompatible with the withdrawal agreement. Lawyers for the Independent Monitoring Authority - which took the legal action against the Home Office - argued that the scheme unlawfully requires EU citizens to make another application after being allowed to remain in the UK or lose their rights of residence.

#BREAKING Rishi Sunak announces new legislation to crack down on small boat Channel crossings.

It will make it "unambiguously clear that if you enter the UK illegally you will not be able to remain here. Instead you will be detained and swiftly returned" to home or safe country. "You will no longer be able to frustrate removal attempts with late or spurious claims or appeals."

"Once removed, you should have no right to reentry, settlement or citizenship."

🪪🗳 Attempts are underway to derail the government's plan to introduce voter ID:

🔶 Lib Dems will force a vote on a "fatal motion" in the House of Lords to kill off the plan

🌹 Labour aim to pass a "regret motion" which would set up a Lords committee studying policy's impact Labour will not back the Lib Dem plan though, as they believe it is destined to fail.

The Elections Act, which introduced voter ID, became law earlier this year but the necessary secondary legislation is going through Parliament this week.

Rishi Sunak is making his first major foreign policy address at the Lord Mayor's Banquet now.

It is expected he will set out a policy of "robust pragmatism" on China, amid major ongoing protests in the country. "Short-termism will not suffice. We can't depend on Cold War arguments or approaches... or mere sentimentality about our past," Sunak has said.

UPDATE: Robert Jenrick says the Home Office will no longer disperse people from the Manston processing centre if they are displaying diphtheria symptoms.

There will be "robust" screening services and vaccinations offered to new arrivals. Confirmed cases will be isolated.

https://twitter.com/TLDRNewsUK/status/1597225264429535232

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said screening should've started much earlier and that Suella Braverman should've made the statement herself.

Jenrick also said that the UKHSA considers the risk of spread to the wider population to be "very low".

🇧🇧 Barbados plans to make wealthy Tory MP Richard Drax the first individual to pay reparations for his ancestors' significant role in slavery.

Drax, MP for South Dorset since 2010, still owns the sugar plantation in Barbados that was established by his slave-owning ancestors 🧵 .@ObserverUK reports Drax recently met with Barbados PM Mia Mottley.

Her govt is considering potential next steps that could include legal action if no agreement is reached.

Plans being considered include turning it into an Afro-centric museum or using it for social housing.

💷 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's #AutumnStatement is about to begin.

Tax rises and spending cuts are expected.

We'll be tweeting the big announcements in this thread. Follow along 👇 Hunt: Today we deliver a plan to tackle the cost of living crisis and rebuild our economy.

His priorities are stability, growth, public services and to protect the vulnerable.

NEW: Liz Truss's personal phone was hacked by spies suspected of working on behalf of Vladimir Putin, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The hack was discovered in the Summer but details were suppressed by then PM Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case. It is understood that hackers gained access to sensitive and private information on Truss's phone, including up to a year's worth of messages.

#NEW Decisions by Home Sec Suella Braverman "led directly" to overcrowding and outbreaks of diphtheria and scabies at an asylum processing centre in Kent, @thetimes reports.

Braverman's blocking of transfers from the centre to hotels saw the centre reach double its max capacity. The centre at Manston airfield was set up to accommodate asylum seekers for 24 hours while undergoing checks before being moved into immigration detention centres or asylum accommodation (hotels).

One Afghan family was there for 32 days.

https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1586278776539086848?s=20&t=Bx1Pq7Ez0sfPTYfi-lzHYw

NEW: Boris Johnson has - and will continue to have - access to taxpayer-funded lawyers for the House of Commons' partygate inquiry, the Telegraph has learnt.

Lawyers will be allowed to prepare written submissions, and accompany Johnson to hearings. In response to a written question by @ThangamMP, Chris Philip (then Paymaster General) confirmed that the inquiry relates to the conduct of the PM "making statements at the dispatch box on behalf of HM Government."

And thus that the govt "has a direct interest in these matters."

🗳 Northern Ireland faces a December election after politicians at Stormont again failed to elect a new speaker - preventing the formation of a power-sharing executive.

An election will be called if power-sharing is not restored by one minute past midnight tonight. The Northern Ireland Assembly has not been functioning since the election in May 24 weeks ago.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) continue to block the forming of an executive in protest over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

NEW: Suella Braverman was included in an investigation by government officials (when she was Attorney General) over a leak that raised "concerns" at MI5.

The leak, according to the Daily Mail, related to a story about the government's plan to seek an injunction against the BBC.

https://twitter.com/TLDRNewsUK/status/1585365972399321088

The Government Security Group launched a full investigation (with MI5 taking a "role" in the inquiry) over the leak.

According to the Mail, the investigation found "no conclusive evidence" of who the leaker was.

🚨 IMPORTANT THREAD OF SURVEYS 🧵

Which PM would you most like to go for a beer with Which PM would you let look after your dog while you're on holiday?

FACT CHECK
"Liz Truss will be able to claim a £115,000 allowance - each year - for the rest of life, in spite of being in office for just 44 days."

VERDICT
Misleading... let's explain👇 Under the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), announced by then PM John Major back in March 1991, former Prime Ministers are supported by *up to* 115k a year, each year after they leave office...

...but supported solely if they remain "active in public life."

🚨 BREAKING Liz Truss has announced her resignation.

She will become the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Truss will remain as PM until a successor has been chosen.

Says the leadership election will be completed within the next week.

NEW: @Channel4News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy will be taken off air for a week after a recording surfaced of him calling Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker a c**t following an interview. @Channel4News The clip, which has been widely shared, can be viewed here (warning: it obviously includes strong language) 👇

https://twitter.com/RupertMyers/status/1582807304910831616?s=20&t=EQT_bSFsD5Zlq854IGV26w