When Keir Starmer announced he would stepping down as prime minister in June, he said he wanted to spend more time on "the most important job" of being with his family.

"Being the best husband I can, to my fantastic wife Vic, who has been a rock by my side through good times and bad," he told crowds in an emotional end to his resignation speech.

"And being the best dad I can to my beautiful children, who are my pride and joy."

We can now bring you Keir Starmer's full statement on his resignation as an MP:

"Over the summer, I have had time to reflect and consider my future. I have decided that now is the right time to step down as MP for Holborn and St Pancras and hand the baton over to a successor.

"It's been an honour and privilege to represent the best constituency in the country since taking over from the great Frank Dobson 11 years ago.

"But it is now time to step aside and focus on other issues: international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast changing world.

"I will also continue working with others as I have done over many decades to tackle violence against women and girls. As I do that, I will always remain immensely proud to have represented the place Vic, the kids and I call home.

"I look back with pride on what my constituency team and I have delivered in Holborn and St Pancras since 2015 and I thank all those who I was privileged to work with on so many issues of local concern: affordable housing projects, delivering first class education and tackling youth violence through our Camden Youth Safety Taskforce.

"I want to thank my CLP team who have always stood firmly by me, and given me the support I needed as I stood for Leader of the Labour Party and then as I took my Party from political, moral and financial ruin to an historic landslide election win in 2024 and two years as Prime Minister when we stabilised the economy, rebuilt our public services, invested record amounts in our defence and security, began lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and transformed Britain's reputation with international partners.

"I want to thank my constituency staff who, throughout all those 11 years, have worked tirelessly on casework and helped me do my utmost to serve the people of Holborn and St Pancras. I could not have done this job without them.

"There will now be a process to appoint my successor ahead of a by-election. Whoever is lucky enough to become the Labour candidate here will have my full support and backing and I will continue to give my full support to the Prime Minister and this Labour government."

As we've just reported, Keir Starmer says he will step down as an MP for Holborn and St Pancras.

Starmer resigned as prime minister earlier in the summer, with Andy Burnham replacing him.

At the time it was thought Starmer would be staying on as the MP for the north London constituency, although he now appears to have changed his position.

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer will stand down as an MP, he has told his local paper.

Starmer has been MP for Holborn and St Pancras in central London since 2015.

Speaking to the Camden New Journal, he says standing down will allow him to "focus on other things" such as international affairs, defence, and security.

He also tells the paper it was time to "pass the baton to a successor".

Image source, Reuters

Andy Burnham's statement to Parliament comes as the rate for a 10-year loan to the British government - a 10-year gilt - rose to 5.23% this morning.

The last time it was that high was in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at investment company XTB, tells the BBC News Channel: "Of course, this is red lights flashing."

"We are used to pockets of volatility, it has been volatile few months," she says.

But record levels of government debt and a record tax take mean "these are not comfortable times for the new government and the new chancellor," she says.

Every time bond yields rise, the UK has to pay more on the debt interest, she says.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

As Andy Burnham prepares to take questions from MPs, borrowing costs for governments across the globe continues to rise, with new multi-decade highs in market interest rates.

The rate for a 10-year loan to the British government - a 10-year gilt - rose to 5.23%, the highest since 2008.

While similar highs have been reached in recent days in the US, Japan and elsewhere in Europe, this will come as little comfort to Burnham.

Global markets reacted in particular after suggestions in the US that its central bank could raise rates. The UK market was closed for the bank holiday yesterday. Japan is also facing pressure to raise rates.

Chancellor John Healey has been in the US attending a meeting of global finance ministers and central bankers. He told the G20 that the UK had the fastest growth in the G7 in 2026 so far, that productivity was improving and that the UK was cutting its borrowing at the fastest rate of the major economies.

The moves in markets, a reflection of concerns about inflation arising from the ongoing Iran war, competition from major tech firms for long-term borrowing, and concerns about state borrowing levels, will make the Budget process yet trickier.

At its last forecast in March the OBR, the official forecaster, assumed the same 10-year borrowing rate would be 4.5%.

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

As we reported earlier, unused office space, laundry rooms and storage areas will be converted into cells, as ministers look to free up more prison space:

There is frustration among some prison staff about the government’s plan to convert unused space such as laundry rooms into cells to deal with overcrowding.

One prison staffer tells me: “Are they on another planet? We don’t have lots of free space. Surely they need to spend that money on repairing the thousands of cells that we can’t use because they have safety issues?”

A 2024 National Audit Office report concluded that a quarter of prison places - around 23,000 - do not meet fire safety standards.

Image source, Getty Images

The cabinet meeting in No 10 appears to have finished now.

Ministers have been seen leaving through the front door, following the meeting on the first day of the new parliamentary term.

Image source, PA

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Simon Jack
Business editor

Image source, PA Media

When he speaks in Parliament later, Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to say that establishing greater public control of essential services is one of his priorities.

The first thing to say is that it doesn't necessarily mean public ownership and may mean different things for different industries.

The exemplar often looked to is the Manchester bus network. In that instance Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) did not take over the running of the bus network themselves.

TGM set timetables and fares. It then invited private operators to bid for the contract to run them - but for a set fee, so they couldn't take all the profit.

The situation is different with rail as the government plans to continue its programme of returning rail franchises to public ownership as their contracts expire.

The obvious and urgent problem is Thames Water - which many people were expecting he might at least temporarily nationalise and put in a special administration.

But government privately acknowledges that that would be a complicated and potentially expensive legal and financial process.

Full nationalisation of a business is usually the last resort. British Steel was taken into public ownership during the Starmer government to the great displeasure of its Chinese owners, and came at a significant cost.

Andy Burnham appointed his cabinet immediately when he became PM in July.

Here's a reminder of who he has put in the top jobs:

• John Healey, Chancellor
• Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary
• Ed Miliband, Foreign Secretary
• Yvette Cooper, Health Secretary
• Wes Streeting, Defence Secretary

• Lisa Nandy, Culture Secretary
• Lucy Powell, Education Secretary

• Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary

• Alan Campbell, Leader of the Commons
• Baroness Smith of Basildon, Leader of the Lords

• Heidi Alexander, Transport Secretary

• Bridget Phillipson, Equalities minister
• Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary

• Louise Haigh, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

• Angela Rayner, Housing Secretary
• Alex Norris, Justice Secretary
• Angela Eagle, Environment Secretary
• Miatta Fahnbulleh, Energy Secretary

• Anneliese Midgley, Chief Whip
• Stephen Kinnock, Secretary of State for Wales
• Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for Scotland
• Chris Bryant, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

There are also a handful of other ministers who attend cabinet, but aren't considered cabinet ministers.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

In the last cabinet meeting – which feels like, and was, some time ago – the PM said he would lead a “cost of living government”.

During his summer tour, Andy Burnham’s new policies focused on small changes that made a little bit of difference to living costs.

But last week also brought news of rising household energy prices to a three-year high and forecasts of a further 9% increase at the height of winter.

So, amid talk of structural changes like the public control of services, voters may want to hear that the government is willing to offer more financial support when it comes to paying the bills, even though the constraints on the public finances remain.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Jeff Overs/BBC

We don't know exactly what Andy Burnham will say when he addresses MPs later today, but here's a look back at what he said when he entered No 10:

Burnham vowed to create a new political and economic model during his first speech as prime minister on Downing Street on 20 July.

Following Keir Starmer's resignation, the new PM promised a more collaborative form of politics that prioritised problem solving instead "point scoring", and signalled a 10-year plan for the country to be laid out later this year.

He said his first instruction upon entering No 10 would be to end rough sleeping, foreshadowed a series of costed announcements on cost of living, promised to get more young people into work and offer mental health support.

"And we will build more council homes," he said, adding those initiatives were a fair and reasonable way to lower the welfare bill, help the government meet its own fiscal rules and commitments to defence spending.

"Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity," he said.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh and Education Secretary Lucy Powell have also been pictured arriving for this morning's cabinet meeting.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Chris Mason
Political editor

This will be quite a moment for the prime minister.

It's been something of a soft launch for Andy Burnham. Just by a coincidence of the calendar he became prime minster at just the point that Parliament vanished into its lengthy summer recess.

He will be in the Commons perhaps for a couple of hours, and it will likely be quite a broad conversation because there’s been this peppering of relatively small but eye-catching policy ideas over the summer.

And it also will be the first time we get a sense of the tone he wants to strike.

The emphasis again and again from his team has been wanting to be positive and upbeat. In other words, he's learning the lessons from Keir Starmer who was tonally the opposite.

Image source, PA Media

More cabinet ministers and departmental ministers are arriving on Downing Street to meet the prime minister this morning.

They include:

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

The government continues to grapple with a capacity crisis in prisons in England and Wales, which are now more than 97% full.

Its solution - an early prisoner release scheme - has been revised several times, culminating in the most recent announcement that unused space like laundry rooms are to be converted into cells.

Here's what we've heard this morning from politicians and industry figures:

• Justice Secretary Alex Norris says the latest announcement isn't "the end state" of prisons, pledging "we're going to build more". He also says that "letters start going out today" to victims whose perpetrators are being released under the government scheme
• But shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy is "very concerned" that "dangerous criminals" could be released if one aspect of the plans - the release of some prisoners still serving a type of indefinite sentence that was abolished in 2012 - goes ahead

• The laundry room plans amount to "a few hundred places, we need a few thousand", says the former chief inspector of prisons, who warns that the prison system faces "a very dangerous situation"
• The chair of the Prison Officers' Association says you "can create as much additional space as you like" but it won't solve staffing shortages because "nobody wants to be a prison officer any more"
• And the victims' commissioner is concerned that "overstretched probation service, police and courts" may not be able to react quickly enough to keep the public safe once prisoners are released

Ahead of today's return to Parliament, Andy Burnham's cabinet are gathering at Number 10 for their regular meeting.

Here's who we have seen arriving so far:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA/ Shutterstock

Burnham will face MPs as prime minister for the first time todaypublished at 09:15 BST

09:15 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Andy Burnham has been prime minister for six weeks now, which means we have seen him in lots of different settings announcing policies or giving a sense of his instincts and priorities.

But one of the settings where we have not yet seen him is Parliament, which returns today.

Not only will we see Burnham at the dispatch box for the first time as prime minister, but he will face questions as a minister for the first time in 16 years.

As Kemi Badenoch and other opposition leaders respond to him, we’ll also get a sense of how the coming months of inter-party competition will feel.

The PM wants to keep the statement broad and optimistic. To the extent that it has particular themes, they will be public control of services, and decentralisation of power.

But the early release issues which have occupied so much of the summer are a reminder that, whatever Burnham wants to focus on, there are no shortage of thorny policy dilemmas coming down the track.

The government will hope that the announcements being made by Alex Norris, the justice secretary, today will deal with some of the most controversial elements of the scheme for now.

But as victims begin to learn which prisoners will be released under the scheme, ministers will expect more questions on this topic before long.

The government's announcements on sentencing reform have come ahead of the first day of the new parliamentary term.

Tuesday is Andy Burnham's first day in Parliament since he became Prime Minister earlier in the summer.

In today's first session after the summer recess, he will give his first Commons statement as PM at some point this afternoon.

Before then, the cabinet are expected to meet at around 09:30 and the PM's spokesperson will take questions around lunchtime.

The new Commons session will begin at 14:30, and as well as Burnham, we are also expecting to hear from Alex Norris on those sentencing reforms.

Image source, PA Media

Having earlier spoken to BBC Breakfast, Justice Secretary Alex Norris has also been on Radio 4's Today programme, where he is asked how many extra prison spaces will be created by the government's announcement that it is re-purposing unused rooms into cells.

Norris says the "exact final figure" will depend on when they can get onto prison sites, but that he suspects it will be "landing somewhere in the middle" of 200 and 900.

He reiterates that the government is taking other action to create extra space - including letting out people serving indefinite sentences, called IPPs - but that this takes time.

"I want the public to understand from directly that they’re not going to see huge change here in the weeks and months ahead," he says.

But he adds that the "biggest impact on our capacity figures" will come from the deportation of foreign national offenders, which he says will be made easier once the government can start deporting foreign offenders as soon as they are sentenced, a change that is being introduced under the Sentencing Act.

Currently, foreign nationals can be removed up to 18 months before their earliest release date, as long as they have served at least half of their custodial sentence.