No change to UK’s arms exports to Israel but position kept under review, says David Cameron – as it happened

Foreign secretary David Cameron says he is meeting people in Congress on both sides of the aisle during his visit to Washington, but with trepidation because “it is not for foreign politicians to tell legislators in another country what to do.”

He says people in Tehran, Pyongyang and Beijing will be watching closely whether the west backs its allies against Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

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The first question at the joint press conference between Antony Blinken and David Cameron from the US media was a multi-part one, that asked two questions to Blinken, two to Cameron, and one joint question. Blinken said a new format had been invented.

The main substance of interest to the UK politics blog in the answers was that the foreign secretary was asked about his meeting with Donald Trump, and if he felt reassured about the future of US support to Ukraine.

Cameron side-stepped the latter part of the question, but made a point of saying this his meeting was entirely in line with usual protocols, that he remembered meeting Mitt Romney when in opposition, and that Blinken had met Keir Starmer recently, and that was entirely to be expected.

He said his meeting with Trump was private, and would not comment on the discussions.

David Cameron has said in Gaza he wants to see 500 aid trucks a day going into the territory, he wants to see Ashdod port open, and the situation needs deconfliction. He says he wants to see a temporary pause in fighting, Hamas leaders removed from Gaza and terrorist structures decomissioned, leading to a political solution to the fighting. He prefaces this by restating that the UK supports Israel’s right to self-defence. He says the UK and the US are like-minded on solving these difficult issues.

David Cameron and Antony Blinken are now taking questions from the US media.

In Washington foreign secretary David Cameron has said “in a time of danger” close relationships matter and none is closer than the UK and the US.

He has said Ukraine can win its war and a just peace against Russia, and has praised initiatives to provide more ammunition. He says they need a good outcome to the Nato summit, and they need money in the form of frozen assets in a process that can be taken forward with the G7.

He said he has “no intention to lecture people” or interfere in US politics, but says it is profoundly in the interests of the US and its partners to release more money for Ukraine. “It is right to stop Putin,” he says.

Rishi Sunak has offered his congratulations to Simon Harris on becoming taoiseach.

“As the closest of neighbours, I look forward to forging even stronger ties between our two countries so we can deliver for people across these isles,” PA Media reports Sunak said.

Incidentally there’s been a read-out from the Donald Trump campaign about his meeting with David Cameron during the foreign secretary’s jaunt to the US.

Léonie Chao-Fong reports for us that the pair discussed “the need for Nato countries to meet their defence spending requirements” during a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

The pair also discussed “the upcoming US and UK elections, policy matters specific to Brexit, the need for Nato countries to meet their defence spending requirements, and ending the killing in Ukraine.”

Antony Blinken has just started speaking at the joint press conference with Cameron.

In his afternoon evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, campaigner Alan Bates said it was a “fundamental flaw” of Government is that it cannot deal with issues such as the Horizon scandal “easily and sensibly”, and said unless it sold to someone like Amazon and received a huge cash injection, “it’s going to be a bugbear for the government for the years to come”.

Edward Henry KC, who represents a number of post office operators, asked: “You’ve exposed over many years the Post Office’s suppression of disclosure covering up the truth over Horizon’s flaws, but you have also exposed, have you not, the Government’s reckless indifference to the Post Office’s misconduct over many years, would you agree?”

Bates replied: “Yeah, I think that is the case. Since this year, I suppose, since the [ITV] drama we’ve had far more publicity about the issue nationally.

“I’ve noticed there’s a general frustration with many other organisations that have that problem with Government as well. It seems to be a fundamental flaw in the way Government works that it can’t deal with these types of things easily and sensibly.”

Bates said he came to believe believed a mediation scheme set up to address the Horizon IT scandal was part of a “cover-up” and a “fishing expedition” to discover what evidence subpostmasters had about Horizon.

Asked by Jason Beer KC for his thoughts on the culture of the Post Office, he told the inquiry:

It’s an atrocious organisation. They need disbanding. It needs removing. It needs building up again from the ground floor. The whole of the postal service nowadays – it’s a dead duck. It’s beyond saving.

It needs to be sold to someone like Amazon. It needs a real big injection of money and I only think that can happen coming in from the outside. Otherwise it’s going to be a bugbear for the government for the years to come.

Foreign secretary David Cameron is due to speak in Washington alongside US secretary of state, Antony Blinken. Léonie Chao-Fong is following it on our US politics live blog, and I’ll bring you any key lines here.

Alan Bates evidence has concluded at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry for the day. As he finished, the chair Wyn Williams intervened to say that he could see people in attendance putting their hands together ready to applaud him.

He asked them to refrain, saying that other witnesses would appear before the inquiry who would maybe not be so “attractive”, and he would not want to have to admonish people for the way they reacted in those moments. He said while it was not a court of law, it was a public inquiry, and asked those attending to behave accordingly.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has responded on social media to a protest which appears to have been staged this afternoon outside Keir Starmer’s home.

In a post, Sunak wrote “I don’t care what your politics are, no MP should be harassed at their own home. We cannot and will not tolerate this.”

Sunak was responding to a clip posted to social media which appeared to show activists unveiling a sign saying “Starmer stop the killing” outside the Labour leader’s home

In the clip the protesters say Starmer has “enormous power, enormous influence” and that he could “stop UK weapons being sent over to cause genocide” and stop “Tory oil and gas licences”. The activists appear to have lined up empty children’s shoes leading up to a house.

From the social media account the group appear to be the same as those who sprayed Labour HQ with red paint yesterday.