Angela Rayner chairs first Cabinet meeting

Angela Rayner has chaired Cabinet for the first time in a rare move for the Deputy Prime Minister to lead the meeting while Sir Keir Starmer is away at the G7 summit.

When the Prime Minister is unable to attend, the next most senior minister chairs the meeting under conventions set out in the Cabinet manual.

A Downing Street spokesman said the Government was “getting on with the job” while Sir Keir is away.

He said: “The whole Cabinet is focused on delivering for working people, and as the Prime Minister is at the G7, focused on exactly that, the Cabinet are doing the same within the UK.”

The Prime Minister is “always in charge” and kept updated and the focus of the G7 to urge de-escalation in the Middle East was reflected in the Cabinet meeting, he said.

Ms Rayner opened the meeting by saying her thoughts were with all those who lost loved ones in the Air India plane crash last week and reflected on a “very moving” memorial service at the Indian High Commission on Monday.

She the report into grooming gangs published yesterday made for “difficult reading for all” and that the sexual exploitation of children was “truly heinous”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said we cannot afford more “wasted years” as she spoke about the response to Baroness Casey’s report and the new statutory inquiry being launched.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy gave updates on developments in the Middle East amid the intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel and efforts to support British nationals in the region.