Starmer claims Universal theme park investment ‘major vote of confidence in UK’ – as Tories say project started under them
Good morning. Parliament is in recess, but government never stops, and today ministers are promoting two initiatives which they are citing as evidence that their Plan for Change is working.
As Jasper Jolly demonstrates with the latest updates on our business live blog, if you want to experience a scary rollercoaster ride, you can just put some money in the stock market, or check the value of your pension fund. The Trump tariffs to continue to send shock waves through the world economy, and UK politics is dominated by the debate about how to respond.
Keir Starmer is responding in part by escalating his Plan for Change and today the government is announcing an actual rollercoaster ride – rather, plans for Universal to put its first theme park in Europe in Bedford. Downing Street is describing this as a “major vote of confidence in the UK economy” and Starmer says:
Today we closed the deal on a multi-billion-pound investment that will see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe, firmly putting the county on the global stage.
This is our Plan for Change in action, combining local and national growth with creating around 28,000 new jobs across sectors such as construction, AI, and tourism.
Esther Addley has the full story here.
Even the Conservative party says this is “great news for Britain”. But, in his response, Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, says his party deserves some of the credit because “the Conservative government worked closely with Universal Studios to secure the land and help bring forward plans for the new park”.
And there is more Plan for Change talk coming from the Treasury, where Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is talking up the significance of her meeting later with the Indian finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. Reeves says:
In a changing world, this government is accelerating trade deals with the rest of the world to back British business and provide the security working people deserve ..
That’s why the business secretary and I are today meeting with India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, as part of our two nations’ economic and financial dialogue as we seek to secure a new trade deal.
We will be covering the topics of growth and global issues, as well as how we can unleash potential across various sectors and defence to create jobs, investment and trade opportunities, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has a breakfast meeting with business executives to discuss the Trump tariffs.
Morning: Keir Starmer and Reeves are on a visit, where they are expected to give interviews.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a local elections campaign visit in Worcestershire where she is giving interviews.
Afternoon: Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, are meeting India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. There is expected to be a briefing afterwards.
3.30pm: Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson from Reform UK are campaigning in Nottinghamshire, starting in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
I’m afraid that, for the next few weeks or months, on most days staff shortages mean that comments will only be open on the blog between 10am and 3pm.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line, when comments are open, or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Key events
Ed Davey criticises Farage for being ‘strangely silent’ on impact of Trump’s policies on British steel industry
Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, has criticised Nigel Farage for advocating the nationalisation of British Steel (see 12.23pm) while refusing to criticise President Trump, who has imposed tariffs on British steel products sent to the US. On a campaign visit today Davey said:
It’s a bit rich for Nigel Farage to talk about British Steel given his best friend Donald Trump is causing these problems.
If Nigel Farage really cared about steel workers, he’d be criticising Donald Trump and Elon Musk. And he’s strangely silent.
Davey also said the Liberal Democrats were not opposed to nationalisation as a means of saving the plant. But he said there were other options.
Nationalisation should be on the table, but there are alternatives. For example, making sure that British companies that are building stuff, whether it’s in energy or defence or in construction, are buying British steel.
That’s why Liberal Democrats have a Buy British campaign.
I think that would really help, it would improve the commercial viability, but we should look at all options.
Nigel Farage says blast furnaces at Scunthorpe ‘will go’ if British Steel isn’t nationalised in next three days
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, was on BBC Breakfast this morning, and he restated his call for the British Steel plant at Scunthorpe to be nationalised. (See 10.53am.) He said:
Five or six years ago, I was saying very loudly and very publicly that selling the Scunthorpe works to Jingye was a mistake.
The other bigger point that I’ve made for years is that we have the most expensive energy prices, industrially, of any country in the world, and literally, we’re witnessing deindustrialisation before our very eyes.
We saw the Port Talbot steel plant close just a few months ago. We’re losing refining. We’re losing cement making. Both of our aluminium smelters have closed. You’re watching Britain deindustrialise as this government follows the last government’s policies on net zero. It literally is insanity.
And I’ll tell you this. Unless within three days that Scunthorpe plant is nationalised, those blast furnaces will go. We will become the only country in the G20, the only major economy on the planet, that doesn’t produce primary steel.
One person probably more enthusiastic than most about the prospect of Universal opening a theme park in the UK is the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. He is a great fan of outdoor activity-related photocalls, and he’s been at it again today, and the Gloucester Ski and Snowboarding Centre in Matson, Gloucestershire.
Almost 40 MPs and peers back Jeremy Corbyn in calling for inquiry into UK’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza
Almost 40 MPs and peers have signed a letter organised by Jeremy Corbyn calling for an independent inquiry into the government’s role in the war in Gaza.
In the letter, they say the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 61,000 and that “Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel’s military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force (RAF) bases in Cyprus.”
They say an inquiry should establish what decisions were taken and what the consequences were, and that ministers from the last Conservative government and the current Labour one should cooperate fully. They add:
Many people believe the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law.
These charges will not go away until there is a comprehensive, public, independent inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.
The letter has been signed by 37 MPs and peers, from the Labour party, Sinn Féin, the Greens, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, as well as independents.
In a message on social media where he has posted the letter, Corbyn says:
Last month, I wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an independent inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Today, more than 30 MPs have supported that call.
This is not going away. We will campaign for as long as it takes to establish the truth.
Last month, I wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an independent inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Today, more than 30 MPs have supported that call.
This is not going away. We will campaign for as long as it takes to establish the truth. pic.twitter.com/JGBW40RPtu
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 9, 2025
All seven Sinn Féin MP have signed the letter. In a statement explaining why, the Sinn Féin Chris Hazzard said:
For 18 months now, the Israeli army has continually attacked the defenceless population of Gaza, while world leaders turn a blind eye to these barbaric and inhumane actions.
Some members of the international community are complicit in the ongoing genocide, displacement and apartheid targeting the Palestine people.
This letter calls for a public inquiry into the British government’s role in the war on Gaza, and how it has assisted Netanyahu’s reckless and out-of-control regime.
While Israel must be held fully accountable for its flagrant breaches of international law, we also must establish what role successive British governments have played in this war.
Keir Starmer also said the Universal theme park announcement would “put Bedford on the map for millions of people”.
At the event to mark the announcement, at a college in Bedfordshire, he said:
What a momentous day, what an important day. It’s not just the first one in the United Kingdom, that would be pretty good, it’s the first one across Europe, and that is really incredible.
It’s going to put Bedford on the map for millions of people, film lovers, people coming here for fun, people building their careers here. It will create thousands of jobs for the local community.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, was also speaking at the event and she said the government was already backing infrastructure projects to support the theme park. She said:
We’ve already made a decision about expansion at Luton airport and alongside the announcement today we are going to be making upgrades at Bedford station, a new station at Wixams and improvements for the A421.
Starmer says 80% of jobs created by Universal theme park in Bedford will go to local workers
Keir Starmer is speaking in Bedfordshire at an event to mark the Universal studios announcement.
He says, when he became PM, he was warned that he would face a lot of tough days. But announcing a new theme park is a much nicer thing to be doing, he says.
He says the project will put Bedford on the map, and create thousands of jobs. And 80% of those jobs will go to local workers, he says.
It will create skills for students. Local colleges are already considering what courses they will need, he says.
It wil be good for the creative sector, he says. And it will lead to transport links being improved.
And the theme park will bring joy to people too, he says. He says his teenage children aren’t interested in most announcements he makes, but they are interested in this one, he says.
This is what Downing Street is saying about the project in its news release.
The theme park, which is set to be one of the largest and most advanced in Europe, will bring nearly 20,000 jobs during the construction period, with a further 8,000 new jobs across the hospitality and creative industries when it opens in 2031.
Supporting the government’s Plan for Change to create economic growth and opportunities by getting people into well-paid, decent jobs across the creative, technology, tourism and hospitality sectors, Universal has committed to working with local colleges and universities to train the next generation of its hospitality workforce, including through a range of apprenticeships and internships.
As well as generating significant opportunities, the new theme park and resort will bring significant local benefits – with approximately 80% of employees at the theme park expected to come from local areas – and support a stream of ongoing work to unleash the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor through growth, infrastructure revitalisation and further job opportunities.
Universal expects the site to generate nearly £50bn for the economy by 2055, with 8.5 million visitors expected in its first year – becoming the largest visitor attraction in the UK.
Government still hoping for ‘commercial solution’ to safeguarding British Steel, says Nandy
As Rowena Mason reports, the government is actively considering nationalising British Steel to safe the steelworks in Scunthorpe.
In interviews this morning, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, confirmed that all options were on the table for British steel, but said the government were still hoping for a commercial solution. She told Times Radio:
We still think that a commercial solution is possible and it’s the right solution but we’re really 100% committed to working with industry to safeguard those jobs and safeguard an industry that’s been so important to the UK.
The reason we haven’t ruled out other options is because we know how important the steel industry is and we’re working on contingency plans to make sure that we’ve got all the options available to us but the commercial option is very much our preferred option and we’ll continue to work with industry to achieve it.
Lisa Nandy says she has changed her mind about wanting to abolish monarchy
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, says she has changed her mind about abolishing the royal family.
During the 2020 Labour leadership contest Nandy said she would vote to replace the monarchy if there were a referendum – while also saying it was not a priority for her.
In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain today, asked if she had changed her mind since then, she replied: “I have, actually.”
She explained:
I think, in principle I believe that people should have the power to decide who rules them.
But I think the monarchy under the Queen and under this current King command strong public support.
I think right now, if you look at the turmoil going on in the world, then we do need a royal family who are able to help us to deliver the benefits to Britain.
So I’m not afraid to say when I change my mind and I have changed my mind about that.
Lisa Nandy rejects Tory claim government has abandoned plans for local inquiries into grooming gangs
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has rejected claims that the government has abandoned plans to have five local inquiries into grooming or rape gangs.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced the local inquiries in January, at a time when the government was under pressure to announce a national, statutory inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
In the Commons yesterday Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, failed to say what progress was being made in setting up these inquiries. In the chamber her Tory shadow, Katie Lam, criticised the lack of progress, and the Conservative party later put out a press release accusing Labour of “cancelling their rape gang local inquiries”.
In an interview on Times Radio, Nandy said the policy was not being watered down. She said:
The truth is that we are listening to victims and authorities around the country about the need to give them the right tools to tackle it, this very pernicious problem, in their own areas.
We believe that decisions are best made by those with skin in the game in their own communities, people who live in those communities, who understand what is happening there.
In her statement to MPs yesterday Phillips said the government was “developing a new best practice framework to support local authorities that want to undertake victim-centred local inquiries or related work”.
She also said that, following consultation with local authorities, the Home Office would let councils use money from the £5m national fund set aside for these local inquiries not just for full, independent local inquiries, but also for “more bespoke work, including local victims’ panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases”.
Planning bill ‘throws environmental protection to the wind’, say UK nature chiefs
The heads of 32 UK nature organisations have written to the government warning that the planning bill “throws environmental protection to the wind”, Helena Horton reports.
Starmer claims Universal theme park investment ‘major vote of confidence in UK’ – as Tories say project started under them
Good morning. Parliament is in recess, but government never stops, and today ministers are promoting two initiatives which they are citing as evidence that their Plan for Change is working.
As Jasper Jolly demonstrates with the latest updates on our business live blog, if you want to experience a scary rollercoaster ride, you can just put some money in the stock market, or check the value of your pension fund. The Trump tariffs to continue to send shock waves through the world economy, and UK politics is dominated by the debate about how to respond.
Keir Starmer is responding in part by escalating his Plan for Change and today the government is announcing an actual rollercoaster ride – rather, plans for Universal to put its first theme park in Europe in Bedford. Downing Street is describing this as a “major vote of confidence in the UK economy” and Starmer says:
Today we closed the deal on a multi-billion-pound investment that will see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe, firmly putting the county on the global stage.
This is our Plan for Change in action, combining local and national growth with creating around 28,000 new jobs across sectors such as construction, AI, and tourism.
Esther Addley has the full story here.
Even the Conservative party says this is “great news for Britain”. But, in his response, Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, says his party deserves some of the credit because “the Conservative government worked closely with Universal Studios to secure the land and help bring forward plans for the new park”.
And there is more Plan for Change talk coming from the Treasury, where Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is talking up the significance of her meeting later with the Indian finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. Reeves says:
In a changing world, this government is accelerating trade deals with the rest of the world to back British business and provide the security working people deserve ..
That’s why the business secretary and I are today meeting with India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, as part of our two nations’ economic and financial dialogue as we seek to secure a new trade deal.
We will be covering the topics of growth and global issues, as well as how we can unleash potential across various sectors and defence to create jobs, investment and trade opportunities, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has a breakfast meeting with business executives to discuss the Trump tariffs.
Morning: Keir Starmer and Reeves are on a visit, where they are expected to give interviews.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a local elections campaign visit in Worcestershire where she is giving interviews.
Afternoon: Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, are meeting India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. There is expected to be a briefing afterwards.
3.30pm: Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson from Reform UK are campaigning in Nottinghamshire, starting in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
I’m afraid that, for the next few weeks or months, on most days staff shortages mean that comments will only be open on the blog between 10am and 3pm.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line, when comments are open, or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.