Summary

  • Liz Truss has continued to appoint more ministers in her government after she became prime minister on Tuesday

  • Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick and leading Brexiteer Steve Baker are among the new appointments

  • The Queen has postponed an online meeting of the Privy Council after being advised by royal doctors to rest

  • Earlier, Truss and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer clashed over how to fund energy bills support at her first Prime Minister's Questions

  • Truss promised to help people with soaring energy bills, but ruled out a new windfall tax on energy producers

  • But Sir Keir said "the money's got to come from somewhere" after Truss also pledged to cut taxes

  • The government is set to announce a package of support with energy bills tomorrow

  1. Goodbye for nowpublished at 22:33 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    We're ending our live coverage now. Thanks very much for following.

    Today's live page was brought to you by: Francesca Gillett, Dulcie Lee, Alys Davies, Aoife Walsh, Chas Geiger, Marita Moloney, James FitzGerald, Victoria Lindrea, Laura Gozzi, Catherine Evans, Sam Hancock, Emma Owen, James Harness, Chris Giles and Alex Therrien.

    You can read our story on Liz Truss's clash with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs here.

  2. What's been happening today?published at 22:28 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Liz Truss at PMQsImage source, PA
    Image caption,

    Liz Truss clashed with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs over how to fund energy bills support

    We're wrapping up our live coverage of Liz Truss's first full day as prime minister shortly.

    Here's a quick re-cap of the main developments today:

    • Liz Truss spent her first full day as prime minister further shaping her top team, appointing more ministers, including a few Rishi Sunak supporters, external
    • Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick became health minister, while ex-chief whip Mark Spencer was appointed as an environment minister
    • At her first Prime Minister's Questions, Truss clashed with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over how to fund energy bills support
    • Truss promised to help people with their soaring bills but ruled out a new windfall tax on energy producers
    • Starmer argued "the money's got to come from somewhere" after Truss also pledged to cut taxes
    • Truss's government is set to announce a package of support for people's soaring energy bills tomorrow
    • Meanwhile, the Queen is resting on doctors' orders and has postponed an online Privy Council meeting, which would have seen Truss taking her oath as First Lord of the Treasury
    • After appointing Truss as prime minister yesterday, the 96-year-old monarch, who has had mobility problems recently, was advised to rest at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire

  3. LISTEN: Newscast on Truss's first PMQspublished at 22:21 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Liz Truss faced Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at her first Prime Minister's Questions today - so what's the verdict on her performance and their clash?

    In the latest episode of Newscast, our political editor Chris Mason and Adam Fleming discuss what the new PM revealed in her head-to-head in the House of Commons, and the latest cabinet appointments.

    Our business editor Simon Jack and Jess Ralston, senior analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, also look ahead to Truss's much-anticipated energy announcement tomorrow.

    If you’d like to listen, click here.

  4. Colleges warn they risk going bustpublished at 22:04 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Hazel Shearing
    Education correspondent

    Students at a deskImage source, Getty Images

    Leaders of colleges in England have written to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng warning that some will go bankrupt this year because of rising energy prices.

    In an open letter, more than 180 college leaders warned energy bills were set to quadruple in some cases.

    They said there were "very serious risks to college solvency" and that rising costs would "hit our students disproportionately because many have limited resources".

    It comes as head teachers told the BBC that school trips and one-to-one music lessons may be axed this year to cut costs.

    They said these were among the areas they would trim first, before reducing staff.

    Pay for most teachers in England is rising by 5% this year - an increase from the initial proposal of 3% - which has to be paid for by schools out of existing budgets.

    And the schools' rising energy bills are not covered by the price cap that applies to households.

  5. Battle over human rights not going away as bill of rights plan shelvedpublished at 21:32 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Dominic Casciani
    Legal Correspondent

    Back in 2019, the Conservative Party manifesto promised to “update” the Human Rights Act.

    Dominic Raab’s now-binned bill went much further.

    His critics said it would restrict the number of human rights challenges against allegedly bad government that British judges could consider while, confusingly, still allowing the same challenges to go before the European Court of Human Rights.

    Critics included Sir Jonathan Jones, the government’s former top lawyer. Today he tweeted , externalhis support for Liz Truss’ decision, saying the bill had been a paradoxical mess.

    The political battle over human rights hasn’t gone away - not least because Suella Braverman, the new Home Secretary, says she wants the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

    That seems vanishingly unlikely under Truss - but her government does not seem to have ruled out resurrecting some parts of Raab’s plan in future legislation.

  6. Truss tells Scholz she is keen to expand defence co-operation with Germanypublished at 20:59 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Liz Truss said she was keen to expand defence co-operation with Germany in her first call as prime minister with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Downing Street has said.

    The pair also discussed the energy crisis and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

    Both agreed on the importance of "energy resilience and independence", as well as upholding democracy and freedom in Europe, a No 10 spokesperson said.

    "Discussing the Northern Ireland Protocol, the prime minister was clear that her priority is protecting peace and stability in Northern Ireland and upholding the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement."

    Truss "stressed the importance of finding a solution" to the fundamental problems with the text of the protocol as it stands, the spokesperson added.

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  7. Analysis

    Tomorrow's announcement will be watched closely by the marketspublished at 20:43 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Faisal Islam
    BBC Economics Editor

    Standing on the other side of the House of Commons just before the PMQs battle was perhaps the more important Commons appearance - Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and his team.

    Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, they confirmed there was not much they can do to stop a recession, blaming it on the Kremlin, and acknowledging that the UK is facing an historically unprecedented energy shock.

    It is heading to be three or four times worse for households than the hit to incomes in the 1970s oil shock.

    At the same time, the Bank welcomed the end of the summer uncertainty over energy bills and anticipated the help the government offers will be big enough to prevent inflation spiralling higher.

    However, Bailey also acknowledged there were specific UK factors driving jittery markets in addition to the strong dollar - especially the UK's extra reliance on gas.

    As Chief Economist Huw Pill put it, that dependence is not going to change quickly, so the only real question is: Who covers that cost?

    With sterling falling again today to a 37-year low against the dollar, there are concerns in the markets that the PM and chancellor will hope to contain tomorrow.

  8. WATCH: What do voters think of Liz Truss?published at 20:24 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    We've been asking people what they think of Liz Truss from what they've seen so far - and what they'd like the new prime minister to achieve.

  9. Iain Duncan Smith standing for chair of select committeepublished at 20:03 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Former Conservative Party leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, has tweeted, external that he will stand for the Chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee "at a time when our values are under threat globally."

    "I shall be seeking cross party support for my bid," he added.

    Earlier today, Duncan Smith told the BBC why he turned down a job in Liz Truss's cabinet saying: "What I want to be able to do is still be critical, to be able to focus on the things that I think are necessary and to be able to say the things I want to say".

  10. 'My first call was to Ukraine' - Foreign Secretarypublished at 19:45 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    James Cleverly has reaffirmed the UK's "steadfast support" for Ukraine in his first call as foreign secretary.

    The Foreign Office says he's spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba today.

    In a statement, shared on social media, Cleverly says he will do "everything possible" to help Ukraine "fight for freedom" and resist Russia's "barbaric invasion".

    "What happens in Ukraine matters to us all", he adds.

    Kuleba tweeted earlier , externalto say: "We see eye to eye on the main goal: Ukraine must win.

    "We will work actively together to persuade others across the globe to support it, especially those who may still have doubts. The fact that our call was Foreign Secretary’s first speaks for itself."

  11. Key ministers raise climate targets doubtspublished at 19:37 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Jonah Fisher
    BBC News

    During the Conservative leadership campaign, Liz Truss promised to "double down" on the UK's commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

    But as summer temperatures soared, there was little talk of greater ambition from the Tory contenders, and plenty about how environmental policies might be watered down or changed.

    In its latest progress report on net zero, the government's advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), said "tangible progress is lagging the policy ambition".

    So is the new Truss government going to close the "policy gaps" identified by the CCC, or widen them?

    The two key cabinet positions for net zero are now held by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, who will oversee the all-important energy sector, and Ranil Jayawardena, the environment secretary.

    Don't expect the new business secretary to be making many friends within the environmental lobby, or the "green blob" as he has called them.

    Read more: Key ministers raise climate targets doubts

  12. Queen postpones senior ministers meeting on doctors' orderspublished at 19:26 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    The Queen pictured at Balmoral, in AberdeenshireImage source, EPA

    The Queen has postponed an online meeting of the Privy Council after being advised by royal doctors to rest, Buckingham Palace says.

    It says that after "a full day" yesterday, when she appointed Liz Truss as the new Prime Minister, the Queen, who's 96, has accepted the medics' advice.

    She has suffered from mobility issues in recent times and remains at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire.

    During the proceedings, Truss would have taken her oath as First Lord of the Treasury and new cabinet ministers would have been sworn into their roles and made privy counsellors.

    Buckingham Palace says the Privy Council meeting will be rearranged.

    Read more here.

  13. Analysis

    Is this the return of party politics?published at 19:07 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Chris Mason
    Political editor

    Today was the first glimpse of a new politics - a reconfigured national conversation.

    After a summer of public tussles within one party, this was the return of party politics - but with a different feel, a different tone.

    It felt less personal, much less theatrical and more ideological.

    Gone were the linguistic gymnastics of Boris Johnson.

    Gone was the personal venom between the Conservative and Labour leaders.

    Instead, the instinctive dividing lines between the Tories and Labour seemed sharper; Sir Keir's demand for a windfall tax on energy companies, the prime minister's resistance to the idea.

    Meanwhile, the prime minister has continued to colour the canvas of her government beyond the foreground.

    Her top team was dubbed an "Abba cabinet" - the winner takes it all, her supporters in near total domination.

    Appointments this afternoon to junior ranks included a smattering of supporters of Rishi Sunak, including the former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick and former Leader of the House Mark Spencer.

    Tomorrow will see the new government's first big moment: its plan to help with energy bills.

    It is likely to define its early time in office.

  14. Two further ministerial appointments madepublished at 18:49 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    A couple more junior ministerial appointments have been announced.

    Nusrat Ghani has been made a minister in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Kevin Foster has been given a role in the Department for Transport.

  15. Welsh secretary 'delighted' after reappointmentpublished at 18:45 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Secretary of State for Wales Robert Buckland walks outside the cabinet building this morningImage source, Reuters

    Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland, one of four cabinet members to keep their posts after Liz Truss's reshuffle, has shared his "absolute delight" over his reappointment.

    "This is a government that will be taking action on the big issues from day one," he says in a video on Twitter, external, citing energy, the economy and the UK as a whole.

    He adds that he looks forwards to being a strong advocate for Wales in government.

  16. More than two thirds of new cabinet attended private schoolspublished at 18:29 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Members of Liz Truss’s new cabinet are over nine times more likely to have gone to an independent school than the general population, according to analysis published by the Sutton Trust.

    The charity, which aims to improve social mobility and address educational disadvantage, said 68% of the new cabinet were educated at fee-paying schools, while 19% went to a comprehensive and 10% attended a grammar school.

    This proportion of alumni of independent schools is more than twice that of Theresa May’s 2016 cabinet, which was 30%. In Boris Johnson's first cabinet, that number was 62%.

    Truss herself was educated at a comprehensive school.

    The trust also pointed out that with the exception of Labour PM Gordon Brown, every prime minister since 1940 who attended university was educated at Oxford.

    graph showing the number of those attending Liz Truss's cabinet who went to independent schools compared to cabinets of previous prime ministersImage source, .
  17. New Northern Ireland secretary to meet with Stormont partiespublished at 18:16 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Chris Page
    BBC News Ireland correspondent

    Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-HarrisImage source, PA Media
    Image caption,

    Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris

    The new Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is expected to hold meetings with the main Stormont parties tomorrow.

    The Democratic Unionist Party is blocking the formation of a power-sharing devolved government over its opposition to the Brexit trading arrangement known as the Northern Ireland protocol.

    Unionist politicians view the protocol - which in effect keeps Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods - as an economic border within the UK.

    At PMQs, Liz Truss said she wanted to negotiate on the protocol issues with Brussels.

    But she made clear she also remained committed to legislation she introduced as foreign secretary - supported by the DUP - which would give ministers in London the power to unilaterally scrap large parts of the protocol.

    Earlier, during Northern Ireland Question Time, Heaton-Harris said he wanted to work with all parties to restore the Stormont Executive - but also indicated he believed the pathway to doing that was “fixing” the protocol.

    Nationalist parties at Stormont - and groups which are neutral on Northern Ireland’s constitutional status - broadly support the protocol as a way of managing the fall-out from Brexit.

  18. How strong is Liz Truss's Instagram game?published at 17:59 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Alys Davies
    BBC News

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    Prime Minister Liz Truss has been a keen Instagram user since 2017.

    While her account has become more campaign-focused since the Tory leadership contest and her subsequent appointment as PM, she has not shied away from posting selfies with pop stars and using the odd pun on the social media app.

    Highlights include a selfie with singer Taylor Swift in 2019. Another post features a picture of her with a Geri Halliwell drag queen in Manchester's Gay Village with the caption, "You just can't drag me away".

    There are selfies with her fellow MPs, Larry the No 10 cat, as well as pictures of her home bakes - but what doesn't feature much is her family.

    Clues about Truss's husband and two children are seen in pictures of birthday cakes and a Valentine's Day post - but she likes to keep her family life largely private.

    Despite this, it seems credit must be given to her two teenage daughters - Frances and Liberty - who are said to have had a hand in helping her run her Instagram account.

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  19. More ministerial appointments madepublished at 17:47 British Summer Time 7 September 2022
    Breaking

    A third set of junior ministers has just been announced, as more posts in Liz Truss's government are filled.

    Among them are:

    • Rishi Sunak supporter Will Quince, who has been made a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care
    • Alec Shelbrooke has been handed a post in the Ministry of Defence
    • Joining international trade is James Duddridge, while Steve Baker is appointed to the Northern Ireland office
    • Kelly Tolhurst has been made an education minister
    • And Baroness Williams of Trafford has been made chief whip in the Lords
  20. Ministers delight at joining Truss's top teampublished at 17:44 British Summer Time 7 September 2022

    Conor Burns, newly-appointed minister at the department for international trade, has tweeted his delight that he's working with Liz Truss again.

    She was previously his boss as trade secretary - a role now filled by Kemi Badenoch.

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    Meanwhile Vicky Ford, who was appointed to the role of minister for development last night, has also tweeted, saying she is looking forward to helping "the world's most vulnerable".

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