Culture secretary ‘pleased’ BBC will speak to Gary Lineker about asylum policy tweet – UK politics live

Good morning. One of the arguments being used by the Tories against Labour in recent days is that Keir Starmer did not make stopping small boats one of his top five priorities (or “missions”). It’s true; he didn’t. But Starmer has included childcare in his five missions (it is part of breaking down the barriers to opportunity), and this topic, which does not feature on Rishi Sunak’s list of five pledges, is top of the news agenda today.

There are two reports out essentially saying the same thing; provision in England is dreadful.

A report by Nesta, a social policy thinktank, identifies “affordability blackspots” for childcare. It says:

The median pre-tax cost of an hour of childcare in England is just under a third of the average hourly wage. London is England’s affordability blackspot where an hour of childcare in some London boroughs costs nearly half the average hourly wage. Pressure from the cost of childcare is not restricted to London, however. An hour of childcare in Manchester, Leicester and Herefordshire costs significantly less than an hour of childcare in London, but the median wage is also lower. As a result, childcare in these areas is as expensive relative to income as some of the most affluent parts of the capital.

And a report by Coram, the children’s charity, says there has been “a sharp drop in childcare availability across England over the past year, with only half of local areas reporting sufficient childcare for children under two”.

There is more on both studies here.

Related: Parents in England spending up to 80% of pay on childcare

Later this morning Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, will deliver a speech on childcare. The government offers 30 hours of free childcare in England for children aged three and four, but Phillipson will say that, because the government subsidy does not cover the actual cost to providers, the policy has actually pushed up prices, because providers have to recover their costs by charging more for paid-for hours. She will say the Tory policy “fails everyone” and promise reform.

According to an extract released in advance, she will say:

The childcare model the Conservatives have built fails everyone, denying parents the ability to work the jobs they’d like, to give their children the opportunities they’d like, and is not of the quality that staff want to provide.

In the Britain the Conservatives will leave behind, tweaking the system we have will not deliver the ambition or scale of reform we are going to need.

Labour’s missions must be central to breaking down the barriers to opportunity in this country. To breakdown those barriers, our Mission commits to reforming the childcare system: that will be my first priority.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10.30am: Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, makes a statement to MPs on next week’s business.

11am: Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, gives a speech on childcare. She will say Labour will overhaul the government’s flagship childcare scheme, promising parents of young children 30 hours of free childcare a week if the party is elected at the next election.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

After 11.30am: MPs hold a debate to mark international women’s day (which was yesterday).

12pm: Nicola Sturgeon takes first minister’s questions at Holyrood.

I’ll try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

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Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com.