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Kevin Hollinrake is now asked about whether the UK should ban the burka, as Reform's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, asked the PM last week.

The shadow housing secretary says that he believes "some of our communities are dividing" and he thinks this can be partly attributed to things such as the burka.

He says: "We need to have a proper debate about the burka. I think Kemi Badenoch said workplaces should be able to decide [their] own rules in terms of dress. That was probably as far as she wanted to go right now. But we should, we should have a proper conversation."

Hollinrake adds that he believes his leader, Kemi Badenoch, isn't in favour of banning the burka - but he says that this item of clothing can be worn due to "coercion".

"I don't want to see that. We're in a tolerant society where people should have free will", he says.

"I don't think we should go around telling women what to wear. I think some people in our communities are."

Constituents should remove 'balaclavas or burkas' when speaking to MPs

Hollinrake adds that he doesn't have many Muslim constituents but that if a woman wearing a burka came to his constituency office with an issue, he would probably ask them to remove the veil over their face as "it can be seen as a barrier to communication".

Asked if this doesn't suggest a lack of understanding about the Muslim faith, he responds that he "doesn't think it's right" to cover your face, "whether it be a balaclava or a burka".

The chancellor's spending review will lead to "more taxes", the shadow housing secretary says.

Kevin Hollinrake tells Sky News that he fears the decisions taken by Rachel Reeves - which will be revealed on Wednesday - have the Conservatives "concerned".

He says: "You've got a very high spending, high tax government. And more spending is going to mean probably more taxes. 

"And the government said it had a fully costed, fully-funded manifesto and ended up whacking the country with 拢76 billion of tax and spend. Let's see where this money is coming from when it comes."

Challenged on the fact that the Conservatives left government with the highest tax burden in 70 years, Hollinrake responds that ministers had to put up taxes after Covid.

"But the tax burden was on its way back down", he says. 

"That's that plan - with this government, it is going up and up and up."

Sir Ed Davey is now asked about assisted dying following the publication of a letter by more than 1,000 doctors calling on MPs to vote against assisted dying. 

The letter says a bill that would legalise this process in the UK is a "real threat to both patients and the medical workforce".

It adds that while it is right for the country to have a discussion over the issue of assisted dying, "this bill is not the answer".

The doctors behind the letter say MPs have not heard enough evidence from medics, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups. 

"This bill will widen inequalities, it provides inadequate safeguards and, in our collective view, is simply not safe," it goes on to say, calling it a "deeply flawed bill".

A final vote on the bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales is due to be held on 20 June.

Asked for his reaction to this, the Liberal Democrat leader says that he has voted against assisted dying repeatedly.

He tells Sky News: "I have real concerns about the pressure on individuals, that they will put on themselves, if they think they are a burden on their family, so I welcome this letter.

"I hope as time has gone on, as the arguments have been better exposed, that MPs will switch sides and join the side that I and many MPs are on."

Sir Ed Davey says he is "alarmed" at reports that the chancellor has rebuffed efforts to allocate more funding for social care. 

The Liberal Democrat leader has called for there to be no cuts to funding for social care in Rachel Reeves' spending review on Wednesday. 

He warns that social care is "forgotten" and that "you can't sort out the NHS unless you sort out social care".

Davey tells Sky News: "We were hearing rumours that Angela Rayner, who's in charge of the department that looks after local government - that does most of the commissioning and funding of social care - was having real problems, and that's alarmed us. 

"If councils don't get the money to invest in social care, the knock-on effect for local council taxpayers, for people who need the care, the elderly, the disabled, and then the NHS, would be huge", he added. 

Davey points out that this week is Carer's Week and says this is the time for the government to invest in social care.

Challenged if the chancellor must decide between spending more on defence or on local councils, Davey says: "I don't think there's a trade-off there." 

He explains that he backs boosting defence spending but believes that improving social care will cut costs for the NHS and bring benefits for the economy.

Sir Chris Bryant says the government will "get to" regulating AI in the future. 

The data protection minister is talking about the government's plans to embrace AI more widely and roll out schemes to get more people trained up on how to use the technology - as UK tech week begins.

He tells Sky News that "AI was made for humanity, not humanity for AI", and that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is keen to embrace the tech to boost economic growth, while keeping people safe.

Challenged on why the government has not regulated AI yet to protect creators' works, Bryant says "we will get to it".

He adds that when Labour entered office last year, "nobody had done any work in this area at all in government".

Bryant says they had "made lots of big statements about it, but they'd not done any of the preparatory work".

He says the government launched a consultation, which received around 11,500 replies. 

"Lots of people care about this", he says. "We want to make sure that we get that regulation right."

Challenged on whether this will be similar to the rules being used by the EU, Bryant responds that the government is "open-minded as to precisely what direction we travel down".

He says: "If we can get [the data bill] out of the way, then we would very much like to be sitting down with people who work in the AI companies and in the creative industries together, to look at particularly transparency in this sector and how we can get to better licensing arrangements."

 One million children attending secondary schools will be given the chance to learn how to use tech and AI, under new plans. 

The government is set to announce the launch of a new TechYouth programme, which will see lessons on these topics taught in classrooms in "every secondary school in the UK" over the next three years, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The 拢24m scheme will be part of a wider project called TechFirst, which will also bring digital skills and AI learning to people of all ages. 

The government is trying to get the country ready for the growth of AI, which DSIT says will be involved in 10m jobs by 2035.

Research by the department also found a further 3.9m roles will be directly in AI. 

The government, which has made economic growth its main priority, has also said the AI sector is currently worth 拢72.3m and expected to grow to more than 拢800bn by 2035.

It says the sector is growing 30 times faster than the rest of the economy.

Around 4,000 other people will also receive training in how to use AI through three schemes, targeting graduates, PhD students and innovators starting small businesses.

The scheme has been backed by major industry players including BAE Systems, Microsoft, IBM and QinetiQ, as well as the Careers and Enterprise Company.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to speak at UK Tech Week this morning, where he will lay out the plans and speak about the importance of getting Britain ready to embrace and make use of AI. 

After his speech, he will speak with the CEO of NVIDIA, an American AI computing company, about the challenges of ensuring people have the skills to use AI.

Yesterday, the PM held a reception at Chequers with leading tech CEOs, including the former CEO of Google, as well as representatives from Faculty AI, Google DeepMind and Scale.

Her will also welcome business leaders and entrepreneurs to Downing Street tomorrow.

It's been a busy few days for Nigel Farage.

Last week, the Reform UK leader said he was "genuinely sorry" when the party's chairman, Zia Yusuf, said he was stepping away. 

48 hours later, he was welcome Yusuf back - not as chair, but as the head of Reform DOGE, a new unit designed to slash waste in council budgets and find savings.

Now, the party leader is in Wales, ahead of a major speech this morning.

Farage will be kicking off Reform's campaign to win control of the Senedd in next year's elections. 

He is expected to pledge to reopen the blast furnaces at Port Talbot, which shut last September with the loss of 2,800 jobs.

Formerly the UK's largest steelmaking plant, the site closed as the country transitions to greener production methods, with new electric arc furnaces set to be operational by early 2028.

But the government's efforts to save the Scunthorpe steel plant earlier this year led to accusations of double standards in Wales.

It is also believed the Clacton MP will throw his weight behind a return to coal mining in Wales.

This speech is significant as the party has made it clear that Wales will be its focus until the elections in May. It hopes to seize control of the Welsh parliament, which has been Labour-run for the last 26-years.

A Reform source said the party sees itself as "the main challenger to Labour in Wales" and really believes that they can win control there.

Good morning and welcome to the Politics Hub this Monday, 9 June. 

It's a big week for the chancellor, with her spending review set to be unveiled on Wednesday. The papers report that Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is still battling with Rachel Reeves for more money, while Angela Rayner is said to still be at the negotiating table too. 

But today is all about tech for Sir Keir Starmer. 

He's attending London Tech Week this morning, where he will make a speech at around 9am. It follows the government announcing that one million schoolchildren will be taught how to learn and develop their skills in tech and AI. 

The 拢24m TechYouth programme will bring AI into classrooms over three years across every secondary school in the UK, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

It's hoped this training will prepare young people for the future, with the government estimating AI will be partially involved in 10 million job roles by 2035.

It's a busy day for the prime minister, as this afternoon he'll be meeting with NATO's secretary general Mark Rutte in London. It will be the first time the pair have met since the government's strategic defence review.

Elsewhere, Nigel Farage will be carrying out a major speech in Wales, setting out his party's policies ahead of the Senedd elections next year.

The Reform UK leader will pledge to reopen Port Talbot's steel blast furnaces if the party ends up in power in Wales, and will suggest a return to coal mining, too.

The party is hoping to win control of the Senedd when the elections take place next May, which would see Labour out of power in Wales for the first time in 26 years. 

And if that wasn't all enough, Scott Bessent, the US trade secretary, is holding talks with China in London today, too.

There's been no confirmation if Bessent will meet with any UK ministers while he's here. 

Coming up on Sky News: 

- Chris Bryant, the data protection minister;

- Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary.

We'll bring you all the latest updates from Westminster throughout the day, right here on the Politics Hub.

That's all for today from the Politics Hub.

Earlier this morning, Science Secretary Peter Kyle told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that updates on the winter fuel payments would likely be coming in the autumn.

The Conservatives' Chris Philp said the proposed Chinese embassy in east London should not be built.

And SNP leader John Swinney was unclear on how he got his prediction for the recent byelection so wrong.

Scroll down to read it as it happened.

Earlier this morning, shadow home secretary Chris Philp spoke to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.

He was asked about the fact that the Tory party attempted to disown themselves from Liz Truss last week.

Philp was working as a Treasury minister at the time, and it was briefed he may have been responsible for some of the more unpopular policies in the disastrous mini-budget.

Asked by Trevor about this, Philp says books about the time were correct in suggesting he argued against some of the spending plans.

The combination of tax cuts and increased spending in the mini-budget are what spooked markets, as they had no guarantee the UK government would be able to pay the debts it was taking out.

"I opposed the way that it was constructed - I was arguing for spending restraint," Philp says.

"Those warnings were sadly not listened to. Obviously, I was bound by collective responsibility, as you know."

This is the duty of ministers not to disagree with the decisions the government has made as a whole.

Asked why he didn't resign, Philp says he felt it was better to argue the case "internally" to control spending.