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Politics latest: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaking to Sky News as PM confirms national grooming gangs inquiry

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips after her spending review on Wednesday - but it's last night's news of a national grooming gang inquiry that is dominating headlines.

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UK not at war minister confirms - as door left open for Britain to help Israelis in defence against Iran

In the past 24 hours, the prime minister confirmed UK assets, including jets, had been sent to the Middle East in response to the escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Chancellor Rachel Reeves says: "It does not mean that we are at war. And we have not been involved, in these, these strikes or this conflict."

Reeves repeatedly urges de-escalation in the conflict, and says the PM is at a G7 meeting where ramping down tensions will be "front and centre".

However, she says the purpose of the UK increasing its presence in the Middle East is to protect its "important assets" there.

She says the UK hasn't this time been involved in shooting down weapons launched from Iran at Israel, as has previously been the case.

Trevor asks Reeves if the UK could get involved in the future, to which the minister says she is "not going to rule anything out at this stage".

'No time for the Iranians'

Asked if she, like the Israelis, wants to see a regime change in Tehran, the chancellor says she has "no time for the Iranian regime, for the suppression of, the repression of, their own people" - before reiterating her desire for de-esclation.

Reeves says Foreign Secretary David Lammy has spoken to his Iranian counterparts since the escalation of the conflict.

She goes on to say that the UK is not trying to "ramp up the rhetoric".

Oil price warnings

As ever, when things start getting more volatile in the Middle East, oil prices start to spike.

The chancellor says this is already happening and will have "consequences for people here in the UK".

She points out prices have gone up by just over 10% - although are still lower than they were a few months ago.

Trevor asks about the Strait of Hormuz - the waterway between Iran and the Arabian peninsular that leads to Kuwait and is vital for global energy supplies.

Reeves says the government is keeping "an eye" on the situation and if Iran could close the passage.

Asked how worried she is, the chancellor says situations like these are why it's important for the UK to develop domestic energy through things like small nuclear reactors and renewables.

Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is live

Watch along at the top of the page, or follow live updates here.

We'll be hearing from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor Mel Stride, and former chancellor and Foreign Secretary Lord Philip Hammond.

And our panel consists of former defence secretary Dame Penny Mordaunt, foreign affairs select committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry, and journalist Mark Urban.

Why many victims will welcome a national inquiry into grooming gangs

By Jason Farrell, home editor

In 2019, nine men were jailed for raping and abusing two teenage girls living in a children's home in Bradford.

One of the victims, Fiona Goddard, says more than 50 men raped her.

When the government began to talk about offering councils money for local inquiries, Fiona hoped Bradford would be one of the first to take up the offer. But there didn't seem to be much enthusiasm.

The council was quick to point out that there had already been an independent case review into Fiona's case, along with four other victims.

This, then, was Fiona's first reasoning for wanting a national inquiry: The council felt it had done all that needed to be done. Fiona didn't.

A scrambled G7 agenda as world leaders race to de-escalate the Israel-Iran conflict

The return on Donald Trump to the G7 was always going to be unpredictable. That it is happening against the backdrop of an escalating conflict in the Middle East makes it even more so, writes political editor Beth Rigby.

Expectations had already been low, with the Canadian hosts cautioning against the normal joint communique at the end of the summit, mindful that this group of leaders would struggle to find consensus.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney carefully laid down an agenda that was uncontroversial in a bid to avoid any blow-ups between President Trump and allies, who of late have been divided like never before - be it over tariffs and trade, Russia and Ukraine, or, more recently Israel's conduct in Gaza.

But discussions around critical minerals and global supply chains will undoubtedly drop down the agenda as leaders convene at a precarious moment. 

Keir Starmer, on his way over to Canada for a bi-lateral meeting in Ottawa with PM Carney before travelling onto the G7 summit in Kananaskis, underscored the gravity of the situation as he again spoke of de-escalation, while also confirmed that the UK was deploying more British fighter jets to the region amid threats from Tehran that it will attack UK bases if London helps defend Israel against airstrikes.

Really this is a G7 agenda scrambled as world leaders race to de-escalate the worst fighting between Tel Aviv and Tehran in decades.

Grooming gang national inquiry announced by Sir Keir Starmer

By Beth Rigby, political editor

Sir Keir Starmer is to launch a new national inquiry into grooming gangs.

It comes after a government-requested audit into the scale of grooming gangs across the country concluded a nationwide probe was necessary.

The prime minister previously argued a national inquiry was not necessary, but has changed his view following an audit into group-based child sexual abuse led by Baroness Casey, which is set to be published next week.

"[Baroness Casey's] position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry over and above what was going on," he told reporters travelling with him to the G7 summit in Canada.

"She has looked at the material... and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen.

"I have read every single word of her report, and I am going to accept her recommendation. That is the right thing to do on the basis of what she has put in her audit.

"I asked her to do that job to double check on this; she has done that job for me, and having read her report... I shall now implement her recommendations."

Good morning

Welcome back to the Politics Hub.

Today on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, we have the post-spending review media round.

This means Chancellor Rachel Reeves is speaking to Trevor, alongside shadow chancellor Mel Stride.

Former Conservative chancellor and foreign secretary Lord Philip Hammond is also on the show.

And throughout the show, the panel will be giving their thoughts.

This includes former defence secretary Dame Penny Mordaunt, foreign affairs select committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry, and journalist Mark Urban.

However, with a lot going on in the world, we'll surely be hearing more about the Middle East and other topics.

Forgotten what was in the spending review? Watch economics and data Ed Conway explain it in the video below.

MPs back amendments to assisted dying bill

MPs have been voting on amendments to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, also known as the assisted dying bill.

Here are a list of the amendments that MPs have backed:

- Clause 13 - This imposes a duty on ministers to regulate which substances and devices can be used to carry out assisted dying

- Clause 15 - This means assisted dying deaths are not automatically referred to the coroner

Clause 18 - This would ban healthcare professionals from raising assisted dying with someone under the age of 18-years-old

- Clause 20 - This would force the secretary of state to issue guidance on assisted dying

- Clause 21 - This is for the devolved government in Wales, and says ministers there must ensure "all reasonable steps are taken" to ensure assisted dying patients can access Welsh language services

Watch: Doctors split over assisted dying

But MPs also rejected a number of amendments. These included: 

- Clause 1 - This would have prevented health professionals from raising assisted dying, unless a patient mentioned it first. MPs argued this would have prevented doctors from setting out a patient's options

Clause 14b - An amendment to an amendment on banning advertising (that was passed), which would have tightened exceptions to this

The report stage of the bill has ended for today and will now be resumed next Friday, on 20 June.

MPs back ban on doctors raising assisted dying with children

MPs have passed an amendment to the assisted dying bill, which would prevent doctors raising the subject with terminally ill children.

Parliamentarians have been voting on amendments to the Terminally Ill Adult (End of Life) Bill, proposed by Kim Leadbeater. 

It follows a lengthy debate in the Commons that lasted more than four hours, as the bill undergoes its report stage.

MPs have backed clause 18, which would introduce the ban on healthcare professionals raising the subject of assisted dying with those aged under 18, should the bill become law. 

It means the clause will now be added to the bill. 

But MPs rejected an amendment which would have banned healthcare professionals from raising the subject of assisted dying with all patients unless the patient themselves brought it up. 

Critics of that clause argued that this would have prevented doctors from setting out all the options for terminally ill patients.

MPs are expected to vote on the bill as a whole next week, which could see it thrown out or advanced further - making it one step closer to becoming law.

MPs vote to allow ban on assisted dying advertising

MPs have backed an amendment that would impose a ban on advertising assisted dying should the bill become law.

Clause 14, put forward by the originator of the bill, Kim Leadbeater, would mean the government must make rules banning advertisements to promote services relating to assisted dying.

But MPs voted against an amendment, put forward by Labour MP Paul Waugh, which would have strengthened the ban by preventing the government from allowing exceptions to the ban if it wanted.

Was the PM told about the Israeli strikes in advance or was he left in the dark?

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor, and Rob Powell, political correspondent

Officials inside the British foreign office and the Ministry of Defence were aware in advance of Israel鈥檚 plan to attack Iran.

But it is not clear if the Israeli government formally alerted the UK, Whitehall sources said.

Earlier a Whitehall source indicated the UK had not been aware, pointing to the fact that David Lammy only belatedly cancelled a trip to the US to meet his American counterparts this morning.

However, two separate Whitehall sources said officials within government yesterday had been anticipating the Israeli strikes.

It is not clear whether the UK was formally told by the Israeli government or whether the information was received via informal channels.

The prime minister鈥檚 spokesperson also declined to say whether Sir Keir Starmer had spoken with Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the Israeli strikes.