Commonwealth leaders to defy UK on slavery reparations

Over in Samoa at the meeting of Commonwealth leaders, it looks like Sir Keir Starmer is encountering stormy waters.

One topic he wanted to keep off the communique that will be published at the end of the CHOGM summit was the concept of reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Sky News political editor Beth Rigby is over in Apia and has the latest.

She says Sir Keir and the UK wanted to keep it “off the agenda” and rather “look forward and talk about economic growth and cooperation rather than looking back to the past”.

Beth now understands that some Commonwealth leaders wanted the topic on the communique – a move with the potential to split the post-Empire group of nations.

She adds that the prime minister of the Bahamas is one of those who has been calling for the topic to be discussed.

Labour under pressure to fix local services in budget

Folkestone has been drawing in crowds in recent years with regeneration and private developments transforming parts of this port town on the Kent coast.

But many residents will tell you that the fabric of this community is being torn apart. Local services are deteriorating and have been for some time.

Leisure centres have shut down and Kent County Council recently closed most of its 50 youth clubs.

The local library has been closed for two years because it has fallen into disrepair and the local council says it can’t afford to repair it. Instead, a makeshift library has been set up across the road, in what was once a youth centre.

It’s not a unique story. Across the country, local authorities have seen their budgets slashed over the past decade.

Since 2010, central government has cut its grants, forcing local councils to raise more council tax. That hasn’t been enough to make up the shortfall, with total spending power plummeting by 26% over the past decade.

At the same time demand for core services, mainly adult social care, has soared, meaning councils are trying to deliver more for less.

Unsurprisingly, non-critical services have been the first to go.