Gove pledges to ban no-fault evictions by election

1. Housing Secretary Michael Gove pledges that by the next election the government will have outlawed no-fault evictions
2. The practice sees a landlord use Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to end a tenancy without having to prove any fault on the part of the tenant
3. Gove tells Laura Kuenssberg that new legislation - the Renters (Reform) Bill - will stop this from happening
4. Meanwhile Labour's national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden defends his party's decision to U-turn on investing £28bn a year in green policies
5. He says the UK's economy has changed drastically since that was first announced - and Labour has a "duty to announce deliverable policies"
6. Today's panel includes historian Simon Schama, editor of the Sun newspaper Victoria Newton, and housing activist Kwajo Tweneboa

See you next Sunday

Jack Burgess

Live reporter

It was another busy morning on this week's edition of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

A lot was covered, with Housing Secretary Michael Gove, actor and producer Ralph Fiennes, and Labour’s campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden all having their say.

You can read our story here on Gove's promise that there will be a no-fault eviction ban by the next general election.

We'll be closing this page shortly but before we go there's time for a quick name check.

This page was written by Sam Hancock and Ali Abbas Ahmadi, and edited by me.

We look forward to you joining us next Sunday - same time, same place.

Recap: What did the guests say?

Whew, that went quickly!

Here's a look back at what the guests have been discussing this morning on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg:

Housing Secretary Michael Gove:

• Gove pledges that no-fault evictions – allowing landlords to end a tenancy without having to prove any fault on the part of the tenant – will have been outlawed by the next election
• He says the housing system is under pressure from overseas investment, supply and demand issues, and access to mortgage finance
• Gove defends his party’s record on housing, recognises that more needs to be done, and blames the opposition for holding up legislation in the Commons

Actor and producer Ralph Fiennes:

• Fiennes says Shakespeare's play Macbeth has lessons for us all today, and that are parallels between its rulers who use "autocratic", "murderous" techniques to achieve their goals and the modern day
• He says audiences have gone soft because of trigger warnings before disturbing scenes in films or plays
• Fiennes urges the government to find alternatives to building energy sub stations in coastal areas, saying they should be built offshore instead

Labour’s campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden:

• McFadden claims Labour’s green ambition remains unchanged despite the party's U-turn on its £28 billion a year green investment plan
• He wishes he had made inquiries about the Post Office IT scandal when he was postal affairs minister from 2007 to 2009
• McFadden says he was “appalled” at the comments by Labour's Rochdale by election candidate that allege Israel knew about the 7 October attack and let it happen

Watch: Moments you may have missed

We'll have a recap of the programme coming shortly, but in the meantime here are a couple of moments you may have missed from the earlier guests in the programme.

Laura Kuenssberg asks Michael Gove "who broke the housing system?"

The housing secretary explains what he thinks are the "variety of different factors" that have impacted housing in the UK.

Watch: 'Who broke housing system?' Gove asked

Elsewhere on the show, actor Ralph Fiennes tells Laura that he believes trigger warnings put out before plays mean modern audiences have gone "soft".

"The impact of theatre should be that you're shocked, and should be that you're disturbed," Fiennes says.

Audiences have gone 'soft' - Ralph Fiennes

What did the panel think about all that?

BBC

The programme has now finished, but the panel have been sharing their closing thoughts with Laura Kuenssberg.

Victoria Newton - the editor of the Sun newspaper says she believes a key question remains for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer - "what does he stand for?"

She says the public can back U-turns when they're warranted but adds that, considering this green investment was Labour's "flagship policy", some people may now wonder what Starmer stands for.

Meanwhile, historian Simon Schama says elections are "profound moments in the history of any country". They're a moment when people have the chance to say who they are and where they want to go, he says. "It's extremely important for Labour to say it understands what the British future should be like and how it's going to get here," Schama adds.

Kwajo Tweneboa - the housing activist criticises MPs for accusing young people of failing to engage with politics.

"What are you offering?" he asks of those MPs, adding that people are "suffering" when it comes to housing and the general cost of living crisis.

Watch: Mistake to obsess over £28bn figure - McFadden

Here's the moment, from a little earlier, where Labour's Pat McFadden told the BBC it's wrong to "obsess" over the £28bn figure attached to the party's recent U-turn on so-called green investment:

Mistake to obsess over £28bn figure - Labour's McFadden

McFadden 'appalled' by Labour candidate's Israel comments

BBC

Laura finally asks McFadden about reports this morning that the Labour candidate for the Rochdale by-election - Azhar Ali - has claimed Israel knew about the 7 October attack and let it happen to give them a green light to do what they want in Gaza.

He "has since apologised" but "does someone with these views have a place in Keir Starmer's Labour party?", she asks.

McFadden says he was "appalled" to hear those comments, but does not say whether the candidate should be asked to leave the party.

"He has given a full apology and a full retraction", McFadden concludes, adding that the comments "certainly don't represent the Labour party's view".

McFadden wishes he'd made inquires about Post Office IT scandal while minister

Moving on from government policy, Pat McFadden is now being asked about the Post Office Horizon scandal, in which hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were convicted on the basis of faulty IT software suggesting they had shortfalls in their accounts.

McFadden, who was post affairs minister from 2007 to 2009, under former prime minister Gordon Brown, says he's gone back to look at communications he was a part of - and what's clear is how "emphatic the Post Office was" about the system working fine.

Asked if he wishes he'd made "further inquires" about the issue, McFadden says "of course" he does after everything that's happened since.

He goes on to say:

There were two issues at play here - one was blind faith in the IT from the Post Office and the second was a culture of prosecution of their own sub-postmasters. Those two things came together with the most awful human consequences."

Private and public sectors must work together - McFadden

BBC

McFadden is still talking about Labour U-turning on a commitment to invest almost £30bn in environmental jobs and policies.

He says the policy shows an "important signal of intent" - but emphasises his belief that fixating on the exact figure (£28bn) is the wrong thing to do.

Pushed on how Labour will, in turn, grow the economy McFadden says the way to build growth is the private and public sectors working together.

McFadden promotes windfall tax in energy companies

McFadden continues talking about Labour's plans for a windfall tax.

He says the oil and gas industry has never been keen on such a policy since day one, but adds that his party believes it is fair.

McFadden points out that the proceeds would be used towards helping the transition to green energy, and points to Norway as an example of a country with a system showing how this could work in practice.

Labour's green energy ambition remains unchanged - McFadden

Pat McFadden says the focus of discussion around Labour's green energy policy has become entirely about the £28 billion borrowing figure - and not on what his party actually wants to achieve.

Kuenssberg asks if ditching the £28 billion a year plan means Labour is abandoning its green energy priorities.

McFadden replies by saying that Labour still has the ambition to successfully transition to green energy.

He says they still have a commitment to a national wealth fund, a public energy company, home insulation and power plants, and that these "good things" still remain as part of the plan.

Duty to announce deliverable policies - Labour on green investment U-turn

BBC

Up now is Labour's national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden, who begins by talking about his party's decision to U-turn on a £28bn a year green investment pledge.

He says the decision, ultimately, was taken by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for good reason.

McFadden says people are experiencing a spike in interest rates and, in some cases, struggling to re-mortgage their homes.

"We have a duty to announce deliverable policies," he tells the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg.

Fiennes urges alternatives to coastal energy sub stations

BBC

Fiennes is now talking about his short film 'Coast', which is about his environmental campaign to do with electricity sub stations in Suffolk where he grew up.

He says there are better solutions than to build energy sub stations on land, saying they can instead be built offshore - like the Danes and Dutch are doing.

He says the current proposals will have a "devastating impact" on local people, adding that it is "vital" to get this right - as the future of the country depends on it.

You can read more about this in the BBC story here.

Fiennes on UK struggling to fund arts

Actor Ralph Fiennes is asked about funding for the arts, which he says - in the UK - doesn't compare to the likes of "France and Germany".

"It's always been a struggle here," he says, recalling how it's been that way ever since he entered the industry.

Fiennes adds: "These are difficult times."

Ralph Fiennes says Macbeth has lessons for audiences today

Audiences have gone 'soft' - Ralph Fiennes

Next up is superstar actor and producer Ralph Fiennes - best known for his portrayal of Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies and M in James Bond.

Kuenssberg plays a clip of Fiennes latest role as Macbeth in a modern take on Shakespeare's famous play, and asks if it has lessons for audiences today.

BBC

Fiennes says the themes that run through Macbeth continue to be present today, saying we have rulers present in the world who use "autocratic" and "murderous" techniques to achieve their goals.

Fiennes says audiences have gone soft because of trigger warnings before disturbing scenes in films or plays today, adding that he never experienced them growing up.

Watch: Gove asked who broke the housing system

Here's a moment from Michael Gove's interview, in which Laura Kuenssberg asks him bluntly: "You've said the housing system [in the UK] is broken, so who broke it?"

Watch his response below:

Watch: 'Who broke housing system?' Gove asked

Gove: We want to see sustainable ceasefire in Gaza

Gove's interview with Laura Kuenssberg ends with a brief mention of the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

He describes Hamas's "horrific" 7 October attacks on Israel as "the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust".

"We know ... that the Gazan Palestinian population has been suffering and what we want to see is a sustainable ceasefire," he adds.

Gove pushing Chancellor for house-building funds

Kuenssberg asks Gove if he is pushing the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to get more funding to increase the housing supply in the country.

Gove replies by saying that he is "doing everything [he] can" to pressure the Chancellor, adding that Hunt knows the extent of the issue.

He again criticises the opposition, saying the progress the country has made would be put at risk if a Labour government is elected at the next general election.

Could housing issues prevent young people from voting Tory?

BBC

Kuenssberg is continuing to press Conservative minister Michael Gove about housing, asking whether he's worried that young people will abandon his party if they can't afford to buy homes.

She also asks whether it's right for Gove to "point the finger" at Labour on the issue, when the Tories have been in government for 14 years.

Gove tells Kuenssberg he recognises that his party needs to be held accountable, "as you're holding me accountable".

"We need to do better in every area of government", he goes on, before then defending his party's record on housing.

Gove blames opposition for blocking housing legislation

Gove defends the government, claiming they have built more homes than their predecessors, even though admitting there are big problems in the housing sector.

He says its an "honest admission" of the scale of the problem, but also an "honest acknowledgement" that the government has tried to tackle it - even though more needs to be done.

Kuenssberg points to the example of one woman who has spend six years in temporary accommodation.

How can you explain that?, she asks the housing secretary.

Gove replies by saying that the government had introduced legislation to build 100,000 new homes last year, and blames the opposition for voting against it.

Gove pledges end of no-fault evictions by next election

Kuenssberg is now grilling Gove on the 2019 Tory manifesto pledge to stop landlords from evicting their tenants for no real reason.

It's a practice called no-fault evictions, which sees a landlord use Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to end a tenancy without having to prove any fault on the part of the tenant.

Gove says that there's a bill in the works to stop from this happening.

Pressed on whether this will have happened by the next election (which has to happen by January 2025), Gove says government it will have. Kuenssberg tells him that pledge is now "on the record".