Key points
- Truss fumes after lettuce prank sees her storm off stage
- Analysis:Truss not amused - but has to face up to her record
- Phillips responds to criticism of tweet about masked men
- Ex-foreign secretary fears 'very dangerous' attack in Middle East
- Inflation rises for first time since last year | Follow Money blog here
Things you might have missed
- Listen:How well has Starmer handled riots?
- Analysis:As support plummets, can Farage have his cake and eat it?
- Explained:Why it's so quiet in UK politics|What does 'two-tier policing' mean - and does it exist?|Robert Jenrick and the Allahu Akbar row
Phillips admits she could have phrased response to unrest 'more carefully'
Home Office minister Jess Phillips has admitted she made a mistake in her widely criticised posts on social media during the recent disorder.
The row centres on a post Ms Phillips made in response to masked men threatening Sky's Becky Johnson in Birmingham last month.
Reform MP Richard Tice initially posted: "Starmer & Labour no doubt think these pro Gaza masked folk are far right too?
"All violence, rioting and assault is totally unacceptable
"Two tier policing must stop."
In response, Ms Phillips posted: "These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them.
"This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content. Don't spread it Mr Tice!"
Ms Phillips was criticised by Mr Tice, shadow home secretary James Cleverly, and others for her remarks, accusing her of downplaying and justifying their behaviour.
Challenged about her choice of words today, the Home Office minister told broadcasters: "Of course I would choose my words more carefully. I'm more than happy to say that when I make a mistake. Absolutely.
"I was trying to get across that this gathering of people had been manufactured by misinformation."
Truss says 'not funny' lettuce prank was suppression of free speech
Former prime minister Liz Truss stormed off from an event in Suffolk last night after pranksters unfurled a mocking banner behind her.
She was promoting her book when a sign adorned with a lettuce saying "I crashed the economy" appeared - a reference to a Daily Star stunt which ended with a vegetable outlasting her premiership.
Our political correspondent Darren McCaffrey said earlier the recently ousted MP was clearly "not amused" by the stunt (see 12.50 post) - and it's fair to say he was dead right.
"What happened last night was not funny," Ms Truss said on X.
She blamed "far-left activists", which we know to be the campaign group Led By Donkeys, and said the event was "stopped for security reasons".
"This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech," she said.
"I won't stand for it."
She also questioned what the reaction would have been if the activists "were far-right".
Ministers hold talks with unions to 'wipe the slate clean'
The deputy prime minister and business secretary have met with senior representatives from some of Britain's most influential unions today.
Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds held talks with people from the TUC, CBI, Unison, and Unite about the Labour government's plan to ban "exploitative" zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire, and create a new watchdog for workers' rights.
After unions endured an often difficult relationship with the last Tory government, the cabinet ministers agreed to "wipe the slate clean".
Mr Reynolds said the "valuable insights" of unions had been "ignored" for "too long", and working with them would help boost economic growth and create better working conditions.
SNP follows Westminster in limiting winter fuel payments - and blames Labour
As part of its plan to deal with a £20bn "black hole" in the public finances, the Labour government announced last month it would restrict the winter fuel payment to only be available to those on benefits.
In Scotland, ministers at Holyrood had been hoping to avoid doing the same - but now say they'll have to.
Deputy first minister and economy secretary Kate Forbes said Chancellor Rachel Reeves's announcement came "just weeks" before the policy was due to be devolved, and would reduce the cash Holyrood receives by £160m.
She called the move "disrespectful", saying it had been done "without any consultation with the Scottish government".
The SNP politician said Ms Reeves had ignored the "disproportionate importance of this payment to households in Scotland, who face harsher winters and higher fuel costs".
'National emergency' of violence against women and girls 'won't change overnight'
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, has been speaking to broadcasters about figures showing violent attacks against women on Britain's trains have increased by more than 50% since 2021.
She said while the statistics are partly a result of a rise in reporting of incidents, there has "undoubtedly" been an increase in violence.
The Birmingham Yardley MP noted in more than 50% of cases reported, the people who came forward to say they had been abused reported someone had tried to help them.
"The country is in a better place with regard to tackling this than I've ever known it in all the decades that I've been working in this space," she said.
But she said there was still work to be done, in government and across society generally, to ensure the numbers "eventually start to go down", including better education to improve men's attitudes towards women.
"We consider it a national emergency and that won't just change overnight," she said.
You can read the initial story here:
Truss not amused by lettuce stunt - but she has to face up to reality of her record
One of the few domestic political stories from this morning is a prank against former prime minister Liz Truss.
She stormed off the stage from an event in Suffolk last night after a banner featuring a lettuce and the words "I crashed the economy" unfurled behind her.
The lettuce was a reference to a Daily Star livestream from shortly after her disastrous mini-budget, when the newspaper ran an experiment to see whether her premiership would outlast a vegetable.
It didn't.
Ms Truss was clearly "not amused" about the stunt last night, but our political correspondent Darren McCaffrey says many won't have sympathy for her.
"It does raise issues about security - this is a former PM," he says, noting neither she nor the organisers seemed to know the banner was coming.
"Many others, though, would say there's an element of truth to this, and she has to face up to the political reality of what she did in government."
Ms Truss has repeatedly denied her policies led to the country's economic woes.
The lettuce banner stunt was carried out by Led By Donkeys, a liberal campaign group that has gained notoriety since the Brexit years.
The Middle East has been the focus of our attention in the Politics Hub this morning, amid expectations of an Iranian attack on Israel.
Here's what you need to know:
- Downing Street has said the government is working "around the clock to plan for all scenarios" in the region, after the prime minister's call for calm with the Iranian president fell on deaf ears;
- Britons are being advised not to travel to Lebanon, and UK troops are prepared for the potential evacuation of those already there;
- A former foreign secretary, Lord Owen, has told Sky News he's concerned Israel and Iran may target each other's nuclear weapons in what would be a "very dangerous" move;
- And theUK would likely help Israel shoot down any projectiles, ex-defence minister Tobias Ellwood told us.
- Domestically, things are very quiet as parliament remains in recess (see the key points for an explainer);
- A Treasury minister has reminded voters of "the scale of the challenge" Labour inherited after inflation rose this morning;
- Liz Truss is still blamed by many for the country's economic woes, and she was reminded after a banner featuring a lettuce saying "I crashed the economy" was unfurled behind her at an event.
That's all for now - stay with us for any updates through the afternoon.
Lammy discusses 'ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza' with Saudi counterpart
The UK's efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the tensions in the Middle East are continuing.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, met with his Saudi Arabian counterpartPrince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah today.
In a post on social media, Mr Lammy said he and the Saudi minister agreed to "work together on shared defence, economic and security interests, including pressing for de-escalation in the region and a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza".
The Saudi foreign ministry said the pair also discussed the UK-Saudi relationship, and ways to improve it.
Starmer's first big test: How well did the PM handle riots?
The prime minister has cancelled his holiday as he remains on "high alert" for more potential unrest after the recent riots.
But the disorder does appear to have petered out, as perpetrators are sentenced across the country and after counter-protesters turned out in large numbers last week.
On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson speaks to Tawhid Islam, trustee at Liverpool Region Mosque Network, after the protests his community feared were overshadowed.
Plus, our people and communities correspondent Nick Martin on how swift justice may have deterred protesters and delivered a political victory for the new government.
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Who is running in the Conservative Party leadership race?
The new Conservative leader will be announced at the start of November.
The contest to replace Rishi Sunak is well underway - but it does also have a long way to run.
For a reminder of who else is running to become the leader of the opposition come November, read this handy guide from our political reporters Tim Baker and Alix Culbertson:
