The prime minister says he hopes his bilateral meeting with President Biden in the White House this evening will be a chance to talk about Nato.

“This is obviously a very special relationship we have between the UK and the US”, he says, with “a special aspect when it comes to defence and security for obvious reasons, including our commitment to Nato”.

Starmer was speaking to the reporters as he travelled to the summit, and was also asked whether he believed the age restrictions the Labour Party plans to bring into the House of Lords (forcing peers to retire at the age of 80) should be applied across the board.

"We’ve got 800-plus members of the House of Lords, it’s simply too big. We need to reduce it," he says.

The action doesn't kick off until around 15:45 BST (10:45 local time), when outgoing secretary general Jens Stoltenberg gives an address at the Nato public forum, which ordinary people can attend.

Then at 17:15 BST (12:15 local time), more world leaders begin to arrive at the summit and pose for the famous class photograph.

The world leaders then meet for the first major discussion of this year's event at 18:00 BST, before a news conference held by Stoltenberg (21:30 BST).

And then tonight there are three dinners - one for world leaders, one for foreign ministers and another for defence ministers.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

The new cohort of 650 MPs will continue being sworn in today - more than half of them, 335 to be precise, have never served as a Member of Parliament before.

It is highly unusual for MPs with no previous experience in Parliament to immediately be given government jobs – but five of the new intake have:

• Georgia Gould - parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Office
• Miatta Fahnbulleh – junior minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• Alistair Carns – minister for veterans
• Sarah Sackman – solicitor general
• Kirsty McNeill – junior minister in the Scotland Office

You can read more about the latest round of ministerial appointments here.

Daniel Wittenberg
BBC News

I was outside the Spectator magazine’s Westminster garden party last night, hoping to catch a few Tory MPs on their way in as the party ponders where it goes next.

The new shadow foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, was one of the punctual arrivals. Who is he backing to be the next Tory leader?

“I’ve no idea,” he tells me. “The critical thing is the party conference [in the autumn] so that the whole party can have a good look at them. I think we need to take our time and have a think.”

I got in a few more questions too. Are you more worried about the Conservatives losing support to the Lib Dems or to Reform UK? “I’m worried about both,” says Mitchell.

What about timings of when the next Tory leader will be elected?

“They’re going to have a really interesting discussion amongst all of the MPs, I’m sure, over the next weeks and months,” says ex-Tory Party chair Richard Holden. “Then we’re going to have a new leader at the back end of the year.”

I asked former Brexit secretary David Davis the same question. “We won’t know about that until about Christmas," he says.

Later this afternoon Sir Keir Starmer will be attending the Nato summit in Washington DC - his first international trip as prime minister. But plenty has already been happening this morning, here's the latest:

• Defence spending will be a crunch issue at the summit, with Starmer expected to push other members of the Nato alliance to spend more on their militaries, saying it will help tackle the nature of today's threats
• The prime minister says he has made a "cast iron commitment" to increase the UK's own defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP - but, speaking to reporters on the plane, his comments suggest that isn't likely to be reached quickly
• The Conservatives say not having a deadline for his pledge is "damaging" for the armed forces, with the shadow defence secretary saying a "clear timetable" is needed
• Speaking of the Tories, they're busy continuing their election post-mortem - shadow home secretary James Cleverly says the party were "too preoccupied with infighting", while MP Suella Braverman says they need to win back Reform UK voters
• And the new cohort of 650 MPs will continue to be sworn in at the House of Commons shortly - a process expected to last days

Readers may recall that there was some concern last week about the contest to become MP for North West Essex after 2,600 postal votes were not sent out on time.

There was speculation that the issue could delay the result, which might've been awkward for the Conservative candidate there Kemi Badenoch, as she is widely tipped to run for the party leadership.

In the end that didn't happen – Badenoch was elected and is now in the shadow cabinet, although it's not yet clear if she will challenge for the Tories' top job.

Peter Holt of Uttlesford District Council had said he would consider his position as result of the error, but now says he will not resign.

The council has apologised for "human error". Holt says it had "almost entirely fixed" the situation, with staff delivering ballots by hand, and the missing votes "could not possibly" have affected the final result.

Tom Espiner
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Greener technologies will help drive down household bills by the end of the decade, former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that by 2030, the cost of renewable energy will be lower, homes will be better insulated, and the cost of running electric vehicles will be lower, after an "initial investment cost".

Carney says the new National Wealth Fund, recently announced by Labour and which he advised on, will attract private investment in infrastructure and green industry.

But households will need to put money into technologies including such as heat pumps and electric vehicles to get the UK on track to meeting climate targets.

More here.

Yesterday MPs reconvened in parliament for the first time under new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

In a speech ahead of the swearing in of MPs, Starmer praised the most diverse parliament "this country has ever seen", while Rishi Sunak repeated his apology to Conservatives who lost.

There were also a host of quirky traditions on display - you can press the play button at the top of this post to watch them back, in 55 seconds.

Image source, UK Parliament

More from Bob Blackman, the new chairman of the 1922 Committee, who says his colleagues must “pull together” to get over the shock of losing the election.

The MP for Harrow East says it’s important to make sure MPs can see “how they get on in opposition rather than being in government, because one of the issues is there’s very different skills required in opposition”.

As a reminder, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he would step down as party leader as soon as plans for choosing his successor were in place. It's the job of Blackman's committee to organise that contest.

Bob Blackman is the new head of the 1922 Tory backbench committee, after being elected at a meeting last night with 61 of the 98 votes cast. He replaces Sir Graham Brady, who retired at the general election.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about the direction the Tory Party should now take – whether to embrace more right-wing policies or move to the centre – Blackman says his job is to facilitate that debate inside the party.

“We need to win back the trust of the people of this country,” Blackman says.

He adds that in a large number of constituencies his party came second to Labour, and that even a small swing could make a big difference at the next general election.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Keeping with the Conservatives for a moment, and shadow home secretary James Cleverly is calling for a "sensible post-mortem" after Tory election losses, warning the party not to descend into "bitter infighting" ahead of their upcoming leadership race.

Writing in the Times, external, Cleverly says his party lost voters "to the left and the right" - and argued they won't be won back if the Conservatives "narrow their offer".

He adds that he believes the Conservative Party has been at its best when it "embraces being a broad church".

While in government, he adds, they were "too often preoccupied with infighting... our standards slipped and with it went our focus on delivery". "That cannot happen again. The British people deserve better."

We've been reporting this morning that the new Labour government says it will keep to its promise of spending 2.5% of national income on defence, but is not providing any timescale for that commitment.

We can bring you some reaction now from the Conservatives, who had committed to spending that amount by 2030 when in power.

The new shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, told Sky News earlier this morning: "That delay is going to be damaging for the armed forces".

The people running the armed forces need a "clear timetable", he says.

Image source, Labour Party

While at the Nato summit there is one thing back home that the prime minister might miss - England's Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands, which kicks off at 20:00 BST in the middle of Nato meetings. (Our build-up has already started here).

A keen football fan, Sir Keir Starmer says he is fearful he will miss the game, and is banking on officials passing him scraps of paper to keep up to date with the score - as his phone would be taken away from him in meetings.

“I’ve sent a message to the team, obviously I wish them well, I want them to win, and let’s hope they can do it," he says.

And his advice to manager Gareth Southgate? Just "win".

The new armed forces minister Luke Pollard is also asked about Ukrainian requests to use Western weapons to strike targets anywhere in Russian territory. The US has given Ukraine permission to use its weapons to strike only certain areas in Russia - and Ukraine wants it expanded.

Pollard says it's up to individual nations providing military equipment to set the parameters of how they are used.

The UK provides equipment based on its use being compliant with international humanitarian law and that will "remain the case", Pollard says, adding those are "the type of conversations" Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Zelensky are having in Washington.

Asked whether the armed forces, if required, are able to do what is needed, Pollard says he has been "reassured" by senior military officers that they have the ability to defend Britain.

But, he says the army is now the "smallest since Napoleon".

We've "correctly" given aid to help Ukraine's war fight, he says, but that has "created gaps" in the armed forces - and particularly the army.

Asked if the government plans to increase the size of the army, Pollard says that is for the defence review to set out. At the moment, he says, recruitment "doesn't work", takes "too long" and retention of troops is "also a challenge".

New defence minister Luke Pollard is now speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme. It's put to him that Labour peer and former first sea lord Alan West said the government should say when it will hit the 2.5% target - and that Labour's line that it will do so when the situation allows is not good enough.

Pollard again does not give a timescale, and says a strategic defence review is the "first step".

"We do know that we need to spend more," he says, adding: "We do need to make sure that it's not just the headline figure that we look at but what we spend and how we spend it, because the Ministry of Defence has not always been efficient with the money that it has been given."

Later asked if the economy doesn't grow whether they won't be able to hit the target, Pollard says growing the economy is "non negotiable".

We've just been hearing from the new armed forces minister Luke Pollard on BBC Breakfast, where he was asked a number of times if Labour will hit its target of spending 2.5% of defence during this Parliament - by 2029.

Pollard doesn't say - he reiterates what Starmer said earlier, and says a defence review will be set up next week as a "first step".

He says the government will meet the commitment "within our fiscal rules", saying they will not pretend "the money is there when it's not".

"The only way we will be able to get to 2.5% of GDP on defence" and address other issues in the public sector, he says, is "to grow our economy."

He also says he wants more defence spending to make use of UK industry, and accepts elsewhere in the interview that armed forces accommodation is "not good enough".

Image source, EPA

As a member of Nato - a military alliance of countries in Europe and North America - the UK is committed to spending 2% of national income, as measured by GDP, on defence. Many members have fallen short on that commitment, but the war in Ukraine as put a renewed focus on the issue.

Nato figures show the UK spent an estimated 2.3% in 2023. That makes it one of around 10 countries estimated to have hit the target last year, with 23 of 32 expected to do so in 2024.

But Rishi Sunak said he wanted the UK to go further, and as prime minister he said he wanted the UK to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2030.

Labour has also said it wants to hit that target too, but it has not put a firm date on that aspiration. As Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has said he will set out a “roadmap” to doing so.

While on his way to the Nato summit, the prime minister was asked how Nato could “Trump-proof” its aid to Ukraine - referring to the Republican presidential candidate who has repeatedly questioned military aid and refused to commit to supporting Kyiv. (More on that here).

Starmer says “given there is going to be an election in America later this year, I think it's very important at this summit, and I think there is a real opportunity for real unity.”

Starmer adds that the package of support for Ukraine that the government was seeking to advance at the summit “goes beyond the support that's been put in before and will be locked in, I hope, at this NATO conference".

It would include money, military aid, and a back-up industrial strategy for the country, the prime minister says.

Keir Starmer has described an attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv on Monday as "shocking and appalling". Two people died when the hospital was hit during a wave of Russian missile strikes across Ukraine.

“It’s the duty of everyone to describe it in those terms”, the PM says.

Asked by reporters on the way to Nato what his message for President Vladimir Putin would be, Starmer says this summit "should be seen as a clear and united resolve by Nato allies... to stand with Ukraine and stand up to Russian aggression".

The attack "strengthens the resolve and that is a very important if tragic backdrop to this summit", he adds.