Image source, Number 10

Lord Houchen – the only Conservative regional mayor at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's No 10 meeting this morning – says the PM wants to work with him "irrespective of party politics to get things done".

"I was also very clear with him. I have always said I would work with anybody if it is going to help me deliver for the people of Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool," he adds.

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan, who is the mayor of London, says the meeting showed a "real statement of intent" from Starmer.

"We're, frankly speaking, fed up of competing against each other," Khan says, adding that the "previous government pitted different mayors against each other".

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent, reporting from Downing Street

Image source, Number 10

I’ve just been in Downing Street, where Keir Starmer has been meeting England’s metro mayors around the cabinet table.

Almost all these mayoralties were created under the Conservatives, but the interactions between the mayors and prime ministers have occasionally been fractious – especially when the mayor has been from the Labour Party, dealing with a Conservative prime minister.

The mood today could not have been more different.

After May’s disastrous local elections for the Conservatives, all but one of the mayors is from Labour – and after July’s disastrous general election for the Tories, so is the prime minister.

As the meeting got under way, the government announced it was ditching the phrase.

That was welcomed by Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, who told me after the meeting it had too often felt like a mantra for weakening the capital at the expense of the rest of the country.

The slogan may be gone, but the general direction of travel which underpinned levelling up – more devolution, more mayors with more powers, trying to find ways to improve "left behind" areas – has recently been an area of cross-party consensus.

In the last hour, we've seen members of the cabinet enter No 10 for a meeting with Keir Starmer.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Returning to our previous reports about the new Labour government, which is replacing the words 'levelling up' with 'local government' in the department's name and ministerial titles.

Levelling up – a promise to reduce geographical inequality – was a key part of Boris Johnson's 2019 general election campaign.

When he came into power he changed the name of the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government - replacing 'local government' with 'levelling up'.

Under the last government, the Levelling Up Fund was set up to distribute nearly £5bn to "shovel-ready" projects.

The North West of England received the most money overall, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber. In terms of funding per head of the population, Wales came out on top.

The fund attracted criticism from then-Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street - who said money should be allocated by local decision makers rather than civil servants in London.

You can read more about it here.

More from former Prime Minister Tony Blair's appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today programme now, where he says it was a "great myth" that immigration grew during his time as prime minister between 1997 and 2007.

Blair was asked by Nick Robinson if he was telling the government to "do as I say, not as I did" when it comes to immigration.

Click the play button above to see what he says.

Aoife Walsh
Live editor

For the last few hours our coverage has been focused on Prime Minister Keir Starmer's meeting with metro mayors in Downing Street.

While we continue to bring you reaction from mayors, here's look at what else is coming up today:

Cabinet meeting: In a short while, the PM will hold his second cabinet meeting after announcing his top team at the weekend.

Tories' post-election talks: Later this morning, Popular Conservatism will be hosting a post-election conference to discuss what's next for the Conservatives. Suella Braverman and Jacob Rees-Mogg are among those expected to speak.

Strike talks: Health Secretary Wes Streeting will meet face-to-face with representatives for junior doctors ahead of negotiations to end the strike action in England.

Parliament returns: This afternoon the House of Commons will return – a new Speaker will be elected, and we'll hear from the PM, Rishi Sunak and other leaders.

1922 Committee meets: The Conservative's 1922 committee is expected to announce its new chair this evening.

Nato summit: Starmer will fly to Washington this afternoon to attend the Nato summit with other world leaders. He'll meet US President Joe Biden and Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni for the first time.

We'll be there for it all.

Image source, Number 10

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has confirmed the government is moving away from the using the 'levelling up' slogan.

"No more gimmicks and slogans, but the hard yards of governing in the national interest," Angela Rayner says on X, external.

More lines are coming in from that roundtable in No 10 with mayors across England.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has acknowledged the “growth plans” that are in place and says he wants to “build on that with a real partnership where you feel that the government is up alongside you”.

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin says regional leaders have a "unique understanding” of their area and how to grow their respective economies.

Image source, PA Media

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham spoke to BBC Breakfast just moments after Keir Starmer's meeting with regional leaders.

"It has just finished and it is very nice to be back - I used to be a regular in this parts", Burnham says.

He says an announcement that a council for regions and nations will be held is "music to my ears".

"To have a council of the regions and nations meeting regularly means we can be sure the voices of Greater Manchester and the north of England are heard at the heart of Whitehall on an ongoing basis," Burnham adds

Joe Pike
Political Investigations Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The "propriety and ethics" phone call ministers receive after being appointed to government is getting longer.

One new appointee has said the call from the cabinet office's propriety and ethics team (once run by Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff Sue Gray) now runs to 15 minutes.

Successive ministerial scandals are thought to have resulted in extra questions being added to the list, which include queries about family financial interests and the jobs of ministers' partners.

One has already been dubbed "the Nadhim Zahawi question".

New ministers are asked: "Do you have any outstanding issues with HMRC?"

Zahawi was sacked from Rishi Sunak’s cabinet in January 2023 for breaking the ministerial code by failing to disclose that he was being investigated by the tax authorities.

More now from Blair's interview with the Today programme.

Turning to immigration, he says many people leading AI innovations “are immigrants into this country” but people “want controls”.

He says Labour’s plans for border control will “make a huge difference” if the party “can make it effective”, and that putting policy first and politics second is a “virtuous circle”.

It's put to him then that illegal migration into the country grew while he was PM.

He says it’s a “great myth” and that immigration was “under half” of what it is today when he left office.

Image source, BBC/LUCY ASHTON

A mayor who won't be at today's meeting is South Yorkshire's mayor, Oliver Coppard.

In a post on social media, , externalhe says: "Sadly, after a day of coughing and spluttering" he will have to miss the meeting - accompanied with a photo showing a positive Covid-19 lateral flow test.

"I’m sorry not to be there, but I’ve written to Keir to set out just some of South Yorkshire’s priorities for the new government."

Coppard adds "greater devolution is the platform that will allow us to grow South Yorkshire's economy".

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme in the last few moments.

Blair is expected to deliver a speech later where he will warn that Britain faces high taxes, heavy debt and poor outcomes unless the government seizes opportunities created by new technologies.

Blair tells the Today programme that seizing opportunities created by new technologies, including AI, is the “only long-term solution” to improving growth, productivity and public services.

"After America and China, Britain is probably in third place in terms of AI. We have enormous strengths, but we have to build on those strengths," he adds.

Blair says any country not embracing the technology revolution will be “left behind”.

“If you don’t do this, the future is going to be one that is poorer,” he says.

Keir Starmer has announced the government will establish "a council for regions and nations", during this morning's meeting with mayors in Downing Street.

It comes after the prime minister and his deputy pledged to loosen Westminster’s "tight grip" over big cities and regions.

"I'm a great believer in the idea that those with skin in the game - those that know their communities - make much better decisions," he says.

"I don't want to overly formalise it, but I do want a degree of formality so that it's a meeting that everybody knows is a meeting where business is done, where decisions are properly recorded and actioned," Starmer adds.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, devolution is the main topic of discussion at PM Keir Starmer and deputy PM Angela Rayner's meeting with metro mayors this morning.

Rayner has previously said "for too long" Westminster has "tightly gripped control".

It means that the new Labour government is ready to discuss giving more powers to the regions.

The prime minister has also said he will discuss the "part in delivering growth" that the regions have to play.

Economic growth in the UK is one of the Labour government's central missions, as Starmer said repeatedly during the general election campaign.

The mayors have also been saying they will discuss their immediate needs, such as better public transport and housing.

All the mayors are Labour party members, except for the Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen.

The government minister for levelling up, housing and communities has been explaining what kind of powers Sir Keir Starmer is looking to share and spread out.

"The meeting in Downing Street is a statement of intent," Jim McMahon tells BBC Breakfast, as he notes the majority of metro mayors are from the Labour party. He adds that "the next part is how do we make impact".

In another example of government being reshaped away from the last Tory government, McMahon says the levelling up aspect of the department has been "firmly Tippexed out".

"We are now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. That is important for me because levelling up was only ever a slogan it wasn't a thing people felt in their communities

"It is a reshaping of the department, it is a refocus but frankly it is just grown-up politics," he says.

Image source, PA Media

Former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair is warning the UK faces what he calls "an unenviable triple whammy" of high taxes, heavy debt and poor outcomes.

In a speech in London later today, he is expected to say worse is to come because of an aging population, deep structural health problems and rising numbers of long term sick. The talk is part of Tony Blair's annual conference on the future of Britain.

However, Blair is also expected to say that "I don't think there has ever been a better time to govern" because of modern technology.

Blair, who won a landslide general election victory in 1997 and also won three terms in office, will claim there is one game-changing solution - effectively harnessing the 21st Century technological revolution.

He is also due to appear on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in about half an hour's time.

Over the past 20 years, more powers have been given to local and regional mayors in areas like transport and housing.

The Mayor of London was the first role of this kind, created alongside the Greater London Assembly, after a referendum in 1998.

London's mayor Sadiq Khan decides how much money to spend and sets priorities in some key areas.

His other responsibilities include setting bus and Tube fares and deciding targets for the number of affordable homes in the capital.

There are 10 other mayors across England, with varying powers:

• Nine metro mayors, who can set out plans to boost their local economy, and have some powers over housing and transport
• The mayor of Salford, who is the directly-elected leader of the city council and has overall responsibility for the delivery of all council services

Image source, NORTH NEWS AND PICTURES

North East Mayor Kim McGuiness has shared a letter, external she has written to the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, ahead of today's meeting with England's regional leaders.

Her note sets out "immediate priorities" for her region.

Those include the future of Hitachi and 800 rail jobs, tackling child poverty, better public transport and expanding the green economy.

She also calls for a faster devolution process in her letter.