The first guest on this last edition of Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips before Christmas is the Labour Party chair, Anna Turley.

Trevor starts by asking her what the government is doing to help British couple Lindsay and Craig Foreman, who have been detained in Iran in January while on a motorcycle tour of the world (more here).

She replies: "Obviously, it's a really, really difficult situation for them and for their families. And we think about them particularly at this time of year.

"So I'm sure the foreign secretary will be doing everything that they can to assist them, and it's something, of course, the government take seriously. We care for every British citizen around the country.

"So, I know that this time of year will be working hard to do everything we can to support the family."

Hear from the couple's son live shortly on Sky's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

Our flagship Sunday morning show, hosted by Trevor Phillips, is live on Paste BN now until 10am, and we have a packed line-up for you this morning.

Trevor will be speaking to:

• Labour Party chair Anna Turley;
• Tory deputy chair Matt Vickers;
• Son of couple detained in Iran, Joe Bennett;
• Political comedian Rosie Holt.

And on his expert panel will be:

• Politico executive editor Anne McElvoy;
• Former Lib Dem adviser Polly Mackenzie;
• Former Tory aide Salmah Shah.

Watch live on Paste BN and in the stream at the top of this page - and follow updates here in the Politics Hub.

By Ben Bloch, political reporter

The elections watchdog has criticised the government for offering to consider delaying 63 local council elections next year - as five authorities confirmed to Paste BN that they would ask for a postponement.

On Thursday, hours before parliament began its Christmas recess, the government revealed that councils were being sent a letter asking if they thought elections should be delayed in their areas due to challenges around delivering local government reorganisation plans.

The chief executive of the Electoral Commission, Vijay Rangarajan, hit out at the announcement on Friday, saying he was "concerned" that some elections could be postponed, with some having already been deferred from 2025.

"We are disappointed by both the timing and substance of the statement. Scheduled elections should, as a rule, go ahead as planned, and only be postponed in exceptional circumstances," he said in a statement.

"Decisions on any postponements will not be taken until mid-January, less than three months before the scheduled May 2026 elections are due to begin.

"This uncertainty is unprecedented and will not help campaigners and administrators who need time to prepare for their important roles."

Mr Rangarajan added: "We very much recognise the pressures on local government, but these late changes do not help administrators. Parties and candidates have already been preparing for some time, and will be understandably concerned."

He said "capacity constraints" were not a "legitimate reason for delaying long planned elections", which risked "affecting the legitimacy of local decision-making and damaging public confidence".

The watchdog chief also said there was "a clear conflict of interest in asking existing councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters".

Paste BN contacted the 63 councils that have been sent the letter about potentially delaying their elections.

At the time of publication, 17 authorities had replied with their decisions, while 33 said they would make up their minds before the government's deadline of 15 January.

Good morning!

Welcome back to the Politics Hub on this Sunday, 21 December.

Politics has almost signed off for the Christmas holiday, but we have one last edition of Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips to bring you live on Paste BN from 8.30am.

We'll be hearing from Labour Party chair Anna Turley, who will be keen to tout their analysis showing that the average pay packet has risen by £516 in real terms since last year's general election.

She will also be asked about Sir Keir Starmer's future, as talk continues about whether he could face a leadership challenge after May's local elections (the ones going ahead, at least!), which are not expected to go well for Labour.

Tory deputy chair Matt Vickers will be on the show to make the case against Labour, as ever, and also wants to talk about what the party is calling "travel chaos" in Dover.

The son of a British couple detained in Iran, Joe Bennett, will also be speaking to Trevor about his parents' plight, and what he wants the government to do about it.

And to round off the year with a laugh, political comedian Rosie Holt is also on the show.

On Trevor's panel until 10am will be Politico executive editor Anne McElvoy, journalist Polly Mackenzie, and former Tory aide Salmah Shah.

Follow along for live coverage of the show from 8.30am.

That's all from us tonight, as parliament calls it a wrap for 2025.

MPs and peers have sat for the last (planned) time this year, and both houses are now in recess until 2026.

But that didn't stop the government from packing today with news, most of which it didn't want scrutinized. 

Among the things Labour announced today were: 

• A decision to give 63 councils the option to postpone local elections next year
• A clamp-down on the twice-daily briefings delivered to the media each working day, with the sweetener of "occasional" ministerial news conferences
• The appointment of the new ambassador to the US, following the sacking of Lord Mandelson
• The government's strategy to tackle violence against women and girls
• A report showing the courts in England and Wales are still performing terribly

The list goes on.

Add to this a bomb scare by parliament this morning, and it's been a busy last day of sitting for MPs.

You can catch up on all those stories and much more by having a look at the key points above, or by watching today's edition of the Politics Hub below.

We'll be back again tomorrow morning. Thanks for joining us today, but for now - goodbye.

It appears to be good news.

Inflation fell by more than expected, according to data released today. 

While inflation is still above the Bank of England's target of 2%, it was found to have fallen to 3.2%. 

That in turn led the bank to cut interest rates from 4% to 3.75%, the sixth cut since Labour came to power.

It means that those with floating mortgage rates will see an immediate reduction in their monthly repayments. 

But is it all good news, and has the Bank of England really vanquished inflation? 

Our economics and data editor Ed Conway explains all...

By Daniel Dunford, senior data journalist

Almost two in five victims of what the government defines as violence against women and girls are neither women nor girls, but adult men.

The government describes violence against women and girls (VAWG) as a "national emergency" and one of their central promises has been that they would halve it within a decade.

Today, 18 months in to their time in power, we know what they mean by that. As part of a strategy labelled Freedom From Violence and Abuse, the Home Office has been working alongside the Office for National Statistics to define a new measure of VAWG.

Among the crimes it says are included in the definition of VAWG are: domestic abuse, stalking, sexual violence, including rape and other sexual offences, sexual harassment, 'honour'-based abuse, female genital mutilation, online and technology-facilitated abuse, fatal VAWG such as domestic homicides, sexual exploitation and spiking.

But in terms of the numbers of offences committed, the majority of VAWG crimes involve either sexual abuse, domestic abuse or stalking - some 5.1 million victims in the year ending March 2025, according to government figures.

The government's strategy includes a range of educational and preventative measures aimed at supporting men and boys, in a bid to reduce the number of crimes of those types women and girls experience.

That will include training for teachers to spot early signs of misogyny in boys and steer them away from it.

By Oscar Bentley, political reporter

Residents in new build housing estates are set to be given the power to challenge rip-off fees from private management companies.

Ministers have already taken action to allow leaseholders to challenge unfair private management fees for communal spaces, and to form their own residents management associations to take over responsibility from private companies.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has now launched a consultation for homeowners on freehold estates to gain similar powers. 

While residents on these estates often own the freehold of their properties, private companies rather than local councils can still manage local spaces - often due to the high cost of taking over those spaces by cash-strapped councils.

Like with leasehold estates, private management companies for freehold estates have been accused of charging unclear and extortionate management fees running into the thousands. 

Homeowners can lose their homes if they run into arrears.

Pennycook says the quality of amenities on these estates are "inferior" to those managed by councils, and "blight people's lives". 

He has launched a consultation on stronger regulation for these companies and forcing them to be more transparent with fees, with a deadline of mid-March.

Ministers have also asked the Law Commission to draw up plans on how homeowners on these estates could be given the right to manage their own open spaces and roads under government plans.

A prominent former Labour politician and his wide had denied misconduct in a public office, as has his wife. 

Derek Hatton gained national recognition in the 1980s as the deputy leader of Liverpool City Council. He was later expelled from Labour for belonging to Militant, a Trotskyist organisation, in 1986.

Hatton, who is now 77, and his 50-year-old wife, appeared at Manchester Crown Court earlier today.

The former politician entered a not guilty plea to a charge of counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office. 

His wife, Sonja Hatton, from Liverpool, also pleaded not guilty.

She is accused of providing her husband with confidential council information over matters of commercial and business use. 

Mr Hatton also pleaded not guilty at a hearing earlier this year to a charge of offering a bribe. 

In today's appearance, he used a hearing loop system to listen to the proceedings, and the pair sat together.

Both people were bailed and will stand trial in April 2027, along with former Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson, his son David Anderson and the council's former assistant director of highways and planning, Andrew Barr. 

Anderson, 67, of Knotty Ash in Liverpool, denies bribery, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

His 38-year-old son, of Wavertree, Liverpool, denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and Barr, 51, of Ainsdale, Merseyside, denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office and accepting a bribe.

They were charged as part of an operation by Merseyside Police to look into the awarding of commercial and business contracts from the council between 2010 and 2020.

Six other defendants who were charged in connection with the investigation are due to stand trial in February next year.

Christian Turner is a mandarin's mandarin. 

His appointment to the most glamorous posting in the UK diplomatic service is a victory for the Sir Humphreys over the politicians.

After the disaster and humiliation of Peter Mandelson's demise over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, it always made sense to appoint a scandal-free career diplomat as his successor.

A father of two, Dr Turner is 53 but looks half his age. 

But his youthful appearance hides a long experience as a diplomat and civil servant, serving prime ministers dating back to Sir Tony Blair.

The Foreign Office announcement of his appointment describes him as "one of the UK's most experienced diplomats". And the top mandarins at the Foreign Office will be delighted they've got their man.

When Lord Mandelson was appointed last year, the senior cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Paste BN the government had decided that he was "worth the risk".

And what a risk it turned out to be. 

Will they never learn? "Mandy" – as he's always been known in Westminster – had previously been forced to resign from the cabinet not once, but twice.

He declared in an angry and defiant victory speech when he held his commons seat in Hartlepool: "I'm a fighter, not a quitter."

But not long after that he quit to become a Brussels commissioner.

Dr Turner, on the other hand, has enjoyed a stellar and unblemished career as a diplomat. 

His most high-profile international post so far was high commissioner to Pakistan, where he was said to be immensely popular.

One of his earlier diplomatic posts was high commissioner in Kenya, when he had to lead the UK's response to the Westgate Mall terrorist attack, in which 71 people were killed.

So he's seen as a safe pair of hands and is unlikely to attract scandal and controversy in the way that his predecessor did, with his relationships with colourful tycoons and oligarchs and love of the high life.

Nevertheless, the Washington posting comes with some of the best perks in the diplomatic world, notably the luxurious Lutyens mansion that serves as the ambassador's residence on Massachusetts Avenue.

Dr Turner saw off some distinguished rivals for the top job in the diplomatic service, including Varun Chandra, Sir Keir Starmer's business adviser, who is credited with being the architect of recent trade agreements with President Trump.

Until this week, he was seen as the frontrunner for the job and a sop for not getting the Washington post, he will now have an expanded role including taking a lead role in trade talks with the US.

A late entry in what became a three-horse race was Nigel Casey, Britain's ambassador in Moscow. 

But ultimately he was seen as indispensable in his current role given the volatile relations with President Putin and the continuing war in Ukraine.

The PM interviewed all three candidates last week and his choice of Dr Turner is seen as a victory for Sir Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office's top diplomat, whose career has prospered despite criticism of his role as the UK's post-Brexit negotiator, over government ministers.

Insiders claim there will be champagne corks popping in the Foreign Office's King Charles Street HQ because Dr Turner is their man and will report back to the FCDO rather than No 10.

If Lord Mandelson – the "prince of darkness" in his days as a Labour spin doctor - was seen as Sir Keir's "Trump whisperer", Dr Turner will be the PM's – and, more importantly, the Foreign Office's - eyes and ears.