Donaldson refuses to endorse claim by DUP colleagues who say Biden is ‘anti-British’– politics live

Here is another photo from Keir Starmer’s walkabout in Great Yarmouth earlier today with Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor.

Intentionally or not, Starmer and Reeves were recreating one of the most famous pictures from the 2005 general election, when Tony Blair bought an ice cream for Gordon Brown during one of their rare joint appearances in the election campaign. The event was staged to dispel claims (which were true) that Blair and Brown were, at that point, barely on speaking terms. The relationship between Starmer and Reeves is very different, and much better, and so perhaps they just fancied a snack.

Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and first minister designate, said Joe Biden hit “the right note” with his speech. She said:

I think he sent a very clear message that everything that has been achieved over the past 25 years is something to be celebrated, but he very much was future focused, he was looking forward to the next 25 years, it was about the hope and the opportunity, but I think his message was clear, we need peace, we need stability and we need prosperity, those things all go hand in hand. I think his message was very much on the right note.

Lisa O'Carroll

Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist SDLP party in Northern Ireland, said Joe Biden’s speech was “a very clear recommitment of the peace process and the prosperity process”.

He said he told Biden when they met privately that, in the words of the late John Hume, co-architect of the peace process, that “the best peace process is a job”.

“He got that and gets that investment is needed in the areas of places that have been left behind like mine,” Eastwood added, in a reference to Derry, where trouble flared at the weekend among dissident republicans in the impoverished Creggan area.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, has also refused to endorse the claim made by some of his party colleagues that Joe Biden is anti-British. (See 9.18am and 10.37am.)

Asked if he agreed with this view, Donaldson replied:

I welcome his reference today to the Ulster Scots who made such an enormous contribution to the building of the United States of America. I think that is an indication, an acknowledgement from the president of the United States of the very special contribution that Northern Ireland has made to the building of his country.

And his reference also to his own British ancestry, I think indicates hopefully that we have a president that recognises the United Kingdom is a close ally and friend of the United States.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, described Joe Biden’s speech in Belfast as “measured”. But he insisted that Biden’s call for power-sharing to be restored (see 1.20pm) would not by itself have any impact. He said:

It’s good to see the president here and we always welcome our visitors to Northern Ireland.

But, in the end, will it change the political dynamic? That’s up to the people of Northern Ireland and to the leaders of Northern to get the solutions that we need to move Northern Ireland forward and in that sense we will continue to work every day to get those solutions.

Explaining what would have to happen for the DUP to return to power-sharing, he said:

We believe the government needs to go further in terms of protecting Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and our ability to trade within the UK internal market.

That’s what needs to happen now to enable us to move towards the restoration of the political institutions. We need the government to deliver what they’ve said they will do, which is to protect our place in the United Kingdom.

Joe Biden has landed in Dublin. He is visiting Co Louth in Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland, later (see 12.35pm), and was originally meant to go there from Belfast by helicopter, but had to change his travel plans because of the bad weather.

Matt Hancock, the former Tory health secretary, is among three MPs who have been placed under investigation by parliament’s standards watchdog, Aubrey Allegretti reports. Hancock is being looked into over allegations he broke the MPs’ code of conduct by “lobbying the commissioner in a manner calculated or intended to influence his consideration” of whether a separate breach had been committed.

A spokesperson for Hancok said the inquiry was based on a “misunderstanding”. The spokesperson explained:

Mr Hancock is shocked and surprised by the investigation.

Far from lobbying the commissioner, Matt wrote to Mr Greenberg in good faith to offer some additional evidence that he thought was not only pertinent but helpful for an inquiry the parliamentary commissioner for standards is currently conducting.

It’s clearly a misunderstanding and Matt looks forward to fully engaging with the commissioner to clear this up.

According to Sky’s Sam Coates, while Joe Biden was delivering his speech, Rishi Sunak, instead of being there to listen, was meeting DCI John Caldwell, the police officer shot in a terrorist attack last month.

Keir Starmer was also asked about the controversy over Labour’s anti-Sunak attack ads, when he was on a campaign visit in Great Yarmouth today. One of the criticisms of the various ads focusing on sentencing policy (here and here and here) is that they featured statistics from 2010, when Sunak did not even become an MP until 2015, and only became PM last autumn.

Starmer said it was legitimate to attack Sunak on the basis of his party’s record. He said:

I make no apologies for highlighting the failures of this government.

They’ve broken our NHS, they’ve broken our economy. And this argument that because they’ve changed prime minister five times, that somehow the prime minister doesn’t bear responsibility for 13 years of grief for many, many people, I just don’t think stacks up.

The most recent advert clearly refers to the controversy generated by Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, having non-dom tax status.

But, according to PA Media, Starmer said “nobody is targeting the prime minister’s wife” when asked about this.

In his pooled TV interview Rishi Sunak said he was “surprised to read” that the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee co-chairman Dr Robert Laurenson was on holiday during the strikes. The Daily Telegraph splashed on the story this morning.

Sunak also said he wanted to find a “reasonable compromise”. He said:

What I’m focused on is making sure we get the right outcome for patients and taxpayers.

I think the government has got a track record in showing that it can get round the table and find reasonable compromise and a way through these difficult situations, as we’ve already done with several other health unions that represent over a million NHS workers including nurses and paramedics.

This is from my colleague Lisa O’Carroll.

Downing Street has issued its readout from Rishi Sunak’s meeting with Joe Biden. On Northern Ireland, both leaders said that the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement was a moment to celebrate and that they wanted to see power-sharing restored.

But they also discussed the global economy, and the need to challenge “economic coercion” by authoritarian regimes (presumably a reference to China and Russia). In its readout No 10 said:

[Sunak and Biden] agreed that manipulation of global markets by authoritarian leaders demonstrates, more than ever, the need for like-minded partners to work together to support the economic health and security of our nations.

The leaders said that the thriving trade relationship between the UK and US demonstrates we are doing just that.

They looked forward to discussing the issue of economic security further during the G7 summit next month and the prime minister’s visit to Washington DC in June.

They also agreed on the importance of using global forums like the G7 and G20 to challenge economic coercion and market manipulation, and promote the economic well-being of our countries.

Britain’s national debt will continue to climb over the next five years, putting at risk one of Rishi Sunak’s key pledges to voters, according to an International Monetary Fund study. Larry Elliott has the story here.

In his pooled broadcast interview, Rishi Sunak was asked by Sky’s Sam Coates about the Labour party advert claiming he did not believe adults who sexually assault children should go to prison.

Sunak refused to respond directly to the smear, and instead stressed he was focusing on delivering for the people. He said:

I said at the beginning of this year I was focused on delivering for the British people.

There were five things I said I wanted to do, which was to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats.

And that’s what I’m focused on, day in, day out, delivering for people.

And I think that’s what the British people want to see from their politicians: less talk, more action, making a difference on the things that matter.

The advert was widely condemned as a smear because it stated as fact that Sunak does not think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison. There are legitimate questions to ask about why some adults convicted of these offences are not being jailed, but that does not mean Sunak does not believe jail sentences aren’t generally appropriate, as the ad says, and no one in the Labour party has seriously tried to argue that that is what Sunak thinks.

Rishi Sunak has recorded a pooled interview about his meeting with Joe Biden.

Sam Coates, the interviewer, asked why we were not seeing more of Sunak and Biden together. He said Sunak did not even attend the speech.

Sunak said that he had a “very good discussion” with Biden today “about a range of issues, economic investment in Northern Ireland, but also a range of foreign policy issues, importance of economic security”. But he also said they had met last month, and were meeting again next month at the G7.

He said the relationship was “in great shape”.

Joe Biden’s Twitter feed sums up what the White House sees as the key messages from his speech.

Joe Biden posed for a picture with the actor James Martin, whom he mentioned in his speech. (See 1.14pm.)