Three Bollywood movies will be made in the UK, says Starmer
Prime minister Keir Starmer, speaking in Mumbai, has said that tech, film-making and education are winners from the deal. Three “Bollywood blockbusters” will be made in the UK, he says, and two more British universities will be setting up a campus in India.
“This relationship matters more than ever,” Starmer says. “We are remaking this partnership for our times” he said.
Key events
Haroon Siddique
Haroon Siddique is the Guardian’s legal affairs correspondent
Andy McDonald, a senior Labour MP and a solicitor, has written to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, urging her to abandon plans to expand police powers in England and Wales by allowing them to restrict protests on the basis of their “cumulative impact”.
The proposal, announced by Mahmood in the wake of the deadly antisemitic attack on a Manchester synagogue and after almost 500 people were arrested in London for expressing support for Palestine Action has already been condemned by civil liberties groups, including Amnesty International UK and Liberty.
In the letter, seen by the Guardian, McDonald, the MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East said he harbours “deep concern” about the plans. He wrote:
No individual, group or community should ever feel threatened or intimidated, but when such threats or intimidations occur, victims must receive the full protection of the law and perpetrators must be punished accordingly.
Yet it is equally vital that the right to peaceful protest – a cornerstone of any healthy democracy – is not steadily eroded in the name of public order.
The police already possess significant powers to limit protests and granting even more powers will only undermine citizens’ rights while doing little to improve safety. We have already seen three major.”
McDonald said there had already been three sets of major new protest laws in as many years with a fourth currently progressing through parliament, each of which “has chipped away at the space for lawful dissent”. He continued:
Legislating in haste further risks rationing freedom of expression, telling campaigners they have had their demonstration and must now be silent. That would be a profoundly dangerous precedent. It is also unclear what such new powers would achieve in practice.
The police already operate under complex and extensive public-order statutes, and further duties imposed from the centre will not resolve the underlying issues driving long-running protests. Indeed, restricting peaceful protest further is likely to fuel tension by taking away safe and legal ways for people to make their voices heard.
Richard Adams
Richard Adams is the Guardian’s education editor
The Online Safety Act has spared the blushes of Puffin, after the web address of the Spy Dog, Spy Pups and Spy Cat series fell into the hands of a pornography site. The publisher had urged school libraries to remove the books after discovering that the “official website” printed in the books was being redirected to unrestricted adult content. Nominet, which administers the .uk registry, has now suspended the web address.
A spokesperson for Nominet said the case showed the perils of allowing web address ownership rights to expire: “We have suspended this website for breaching our terms and conditions. The website did not conduct suitable age verification as required under the Online Safety Act – and we have advised the domain owner and its registrar.
“The web address featured in this popular children’s book series had been allowed to expire by the previous owner and was subsequently purchased by a third party. It is recommended that those using web addresses in prominent locations continue ownership of the domain to avoid issues like this.”
Swinney: Starmer’s time in No 10 would be ended by a 2026 SNP Holyrood victory
First minister John Swinney has claimed that Keir Starmer’s time in Downing Street would be ended by an SNP victory in next year’s Holyrood elections.
Speaking to PA Media ahead his party’s conference in Aberdeen, which starts tomorrow, Swinney said “I don’t think I’ll be negotiating with Keir Starmer [to hold an independence referendum], because if I get re-elected as first minister of Scotland in May of next year, I think Keir Starmer’s days are over.”
He added “The return of an SNP majority in Scotland, I think what that would demonstrate is the weakness of the prime minister and inevitable instability that would flow in what is already an unstable situation in the UK government.”
The next Scottish parliament election is required to be held no later than Thursday 7 May 2026. As well as Scots potentially going to the polls, on that date there will also be elections for the Senedd in Wales and local elections in England – including in all London boroughs – which will be seen as a major test of electoral support for Starmer and his party.
On the face of it, there wasn’t anything of great significance from Keir Starmer there. He reiterated his earlier sentiments about the potential of a Gaza ceasefire, saying it was a significant moment and that the world needed to push together to get the deal implemented.
He gave praise to the role of US president Donald Trump in bringing it forward, while side-stepping directly calling for Trump to get a Nobel Peace prize. He also side-stepped giving an opinion on any potential role for Tony Blair in the future of Gaza’s governance.
Starmer defended his digital ID plans, but spent most of the time talking up the benefits of the trade deal with India which he pushed as an opportunity for British businesses to work with what he described as “an economic superpower in the making” that would also deliver jobs back in the UK. He said those jobs would make a real difference to the communities where they were located.
My colleague Jessica Elgot is in Mumbai, and she says that this is the largest trade delegation overseas with a UK prime minister since Theresa May visited China. She asks if Keir Starmer intends to take a trade delegation to China. He takes the opportunity to say he wants trtade deals everywhere, and trumpets the India deal instead.
Aubrey Allegretti, late of this parish and now with the Times, continues on a China angle, asking about the unexpectedly dropped spy charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry. Starmer gets somewhat into the weeds in his answer while also not really saying anything.
The final question is from a journalist at the Times of India, and is a bit of a softball that allows Starmer again to wax lyrical about the value of the trade partnership between India and the UK. The press conference is finished.
A reporter from GB News has compared Keir Starmer’s apparent popularity in India during this trip – there are, she says, pictures of him everywhere – with his perceived unpopularity at home, citing digital ID as one of his unpopular moves.
Starmer defends digital ID by again claiming it will prevent illegal working, and cites the ease of access of services in a country like Estonia as a potential benefit for the public.
Keir Starmer is asked whether Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace prize. Starmer says the prospect of a Gaza deal is a significant step, and the US president played a significant role.
Keir Starmer is asked about the potential for Tony Blair having a role in any Gaza peace plan, and whether “his instincts” should be trusted in the region. Stramer deflects and says he’d rather discuss getting the ceasefire in place and the deal implemented than “personnel”
Prime minister Keir Starmer has been asked about his discussions with Narendra Modi on the Ukraine war. The prime minister mentions a couple of times that they discussed Russia’s “shadow fleet” and that both India and the UK wanted to see an end to the war. There is some diplomacy from the PM here, as India has continued to work with Russia since Ukraine’s invasion.
Starmer: we will work with partners to get Gaza deal implemented ‘in full and without delay’
Prime minister Keir Starmer reiterated his earlier statement welcoming the potential of a deal in Gaza, and said it must be implemented “in full and without delay.”
Starmer says “I will take the opportunity to put on record my thanks to Donald Trump, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.”
He says it will be a relief to the world, and that the UK stands ready to work with partners. “it is a really important step that has been reached here,” he says, “and I strongly welcome it.”
Three Bollywood movies will be made in the UK, says Starmer
Prime minister Keir Starmer, speaking in Mumbai, has said that tech, film-making and education are winners from the deal. Three “Bollywood blockbusters” will be made in the UK, he says, and two more British universities will be setting up a campus in India.
“This relationship matters more than ever,” Starmer says. “We are remaking this partnership for our times” he said.
Keir Starmer says new trade deal with India brings ‘incredible benefits’
Prime minister Keir Starmer has started his speech by describing the new trade deal with India as “a huge deal”. He said detractors said it couldn’t be done, but Labour did it, because his government is “determined to deliver for Britain.”
He says he is leading the biggest ever trade delegation to India to “seize the incredible benefits” he claims the deal offers to the British people.
He describes India as “an economic superpower in the making” and says the UK will be a partner, and the trade deal is “a launchpad” to boost British businesses. He boasts that thousands of jobs are being created or secured back in the UK as a result of the deal.
