Sir Keir Starmer is not going on holiday this week, Downing Street has insisted amid reports he was set to jet off as rioting sweeps the country.

The Prime Minister will be working from No 10 all week as his Government faces its biggest crisis since he won his election landslide last month.

It comes as Sir Keir faces demands from senior MPs to recall Parliament so that they can debate the Government’s handling of the disorder.

Reports emerged that Sir Keir was planning to go on holiday on Monday, which sparked fierce criticism, including from a frontrunner for the Tory leadership.

Towns and cities across the country have been hit by far-Right riots fuelled by misinformation about the identity of the suspect for the Southport stabbings.

More than 90 people were arrested on Saturday over violent unrest in Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Blackpool and Belfast.

It was claimed on Monday morning that, despite the escalating situation, Sir Keir was still planning to jet off on a family holiday this week.

But it is understood that the Prime Minister will be working in Downing Street and that there were never any plans for him to go on leave on Monday.

It is not clear whether Sir Keir has a break booked for later in August.

Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister who is a frontrunner to win the upcoming Tory leadership contest, was among those to react to the reports.

He told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “It would be completely wrong for the Prime Minister to holiday while parts of Britain are burning.

“This is a very serious situation and we need the Prime Minister to be leading the country.

“The police need our full support and they need to know that he is there supporting them, making sure that this situation is being handled from the very top.

“This is a situation that is so serious that it needs the Prime Minister’s personal attention.”

A source close to Mr Jenrick described such a break as “Nero-esque” – a reference to the Emperor who reputedly fiddled while Rome burned.

Sir Keir’s reported plans to take a break were defended by one of his own backbenchers, however, who said the Prime Minister “has to have family time”.

Chris Webb, the Labour MP for Blackpool South, said that Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, would be able to stand in for Sir Keir.

He told LBC: “Every Prime Minister has to have that family time and that break but from what I know of Keir he will be continuing to work and monitor the situation wherever he is on holiday.”

The reports came after Dame Priti Patel warned the Government risks being swept away with events rather than maintaining control of them.

The former home secretary said that Sir Keir should recall Parliament so that MPs from across the political divide can condemn the rioting.

She said: “As home secretary I brought forward much stronger protections against disproportionate protest and disorder, in the teeth of fierce opposition.

“But it was the right thing to do and those powers must be used to their maximal extent now.

“Now is a moment for national reflection and solidarity, to pull back from the wave of violence we have seen, to call it out for what it is, without fear or favour, and for Parliament to speak with one voice in condemnation.

“We either believe in the rule of law, or we do not. That is why Parliament must be recalled immediately.”

Lord Walney, the Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, said that Sir Keir may need to recall Parliament.

He told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “If this continues and we are into the space where potentially an emergency suite of powers or changes may be considered, then of course I think Parliament will want to be recalled in those circumstances.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader, also said Parliament should be recalled.

He told The Telegraph: “It does seem to me that if these riots are going to go on, which it looks like they are, he needs to bring people back to explain what he’s doing.

“It looks like he hasn’t done anything so far, and the questions will be what are you doing? There need to be serious questions about the advice they have received.

“Frankly it wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. There seems to be foreign government hands in this, and that therefore requires that we find about this and Parliament is recalled.”

The Duchess of Sussex has said she has still not yet “scraped the surface on my experience” after being asked about her suicidal thoughts during her time as a working royal.

The Duchess told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that at one time she “didn’t want to be alive any more” when she was in the Royal family.

In an interview with CBS, the US television channel, she said: “When you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe part of our healing journey, certainly part of mine, is being able to be really open about it.

“And you know, I haven’t really scraped the surface of my experience. But I do think that I would never want someone else to feel that way.

“And I would never want someone else to be making those sorts of plans. And I would never want someone else to not be believed.

“If me voicing what I have overcome will save someone, or encourage someone in their life to really genuinely check in on them and not assume that the appearance is good, so everything’s okay, then that’s worth it.

“I’ll take a hit for that.”

The Duke and Duchess took part in the interview to launch the Parents’ Network, an online “global community” to support “parents whose children have suffered from the harmful effects of social media”.

It follows a pilot programme by the Archewell Foundation in 2023 and is described as a “free-to-access peer-support network, complete with comprehensive advice and resources provided by a licensed facilitator, which offers invaluable support to those in need”.

The programme was launched alongside the interview which was filmed with CBS Sunday Morning in Santa Barbara last week.

Talking about the project, host Jane Pauley said: “The central topic is the loss that these families have suffered, stories that need to be shared because the parents who are listening who have not suffered a loss think that they couldn’t. But they could.”

Prince Harry replied: “They certainly could. And that’s, I think, one of the scariest things that we’ve learnt over the course of the last 16, 17 years that social media’s been around, and more so recently, is the fact that it could happen to absolutely anybody.

“We always talk about in the olden days if your kids were under your roof, you knew what they were up to; at least they were safe, right?

“And now, they could be in the next-door room on a tablet or on a phone and can be going down these rabbit holes. And before you know it, within 24 hours, they could be taking their life.”

The Duchess added: “I think you have to start somewhere.

“I think the simplest thing that anyone watching this or anyone who’s able to make change to look at it through the lens of, ‘What if it was my daughter? What if it was my son? My son, or my daughter who comes home, who are joyful, who I love, and one day, right under my roof, our entire lives change because of something that was completely out of our control?’

“And if you look at it through the lens as a parent, there is no way to see that any other way than to try to find a solution.”

James Holt, executive director of Archewell, said the Parents’ Network would gather mothers and fathers whose children had suffered harm arising from social media or the internet for help, support and campaigning.

“Over the past two years, alongside our co-founders Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, our team has engaged deeply with parents and young people about the repercussions of social media on their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing,” he said.

“It became strikingly clear that there is a critical need for connection and community among those who understand the pain, fear and isolation caused by social media’s impact on children. We believe in the transformative power of community, and that is why we have created this network – to connect those who face these challenges and offer mutual support.”

Archewell and parents from the pilot programme are also launching the campaign No Child Lost to Social Media to help tell their stories. They hope to convince social media platforms to “prioritise safety in their design”.

In the UK, 62 per cent of children aged 13 to 17 have reported encountering harmful content online over four weeks, according to Ofcom, the media watchdog.

Calls to make Islamophobia a specific crime in the wake of riots threaten free speech, MPs have warned.

There is no single agreed definition of anti-Muslim hatred but Labour has previously signalled its support for one.

Left-wing Labour MPs and Muslim groups have urged Sir Keir Starmer to take a stronger stance on Islamophobia after a far-Right mob attacked a mob in Southport last week.

But opposition backbenchers warned any new legislation would only serve to stifle criticism of religion and freedom of expression.

Sir Christopher Chope, the Tory MP for Christchurch, said: “I think to subdivide different types of rioting, depending upon the aim of the rioters, is ridiculous. We should treat all rioters equally.

“I’m old enough to remember the way in which the government at the time I think in the 1950s, responded to the [Notting Hill race] riots, giving out exemplary sentences to the rioters. People realised that this was intolerable behaviour and the aim was to deter.

“We don’t need any more rules. What we need is to make the current law apply equally to everybody.”

The Muslim Council of Britain reiterated its longstanding call for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia to be adopted into law in the wake of the Southport riots.

“The Government must address the increasing rise of violent far-Right extremism targeting Muslim communities. More must be done to tackle Islamophobia and offer reassurance at this time,” the council said.

Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said: “If you want to make Islamophobia a crime, you’ve got to make any criticism or abuse or concern of Christianity a crime.

“This works both ways, folks, and this is a time for a proper, grown-up discussion about the role of religion in how we live and get along with each other in the United Kingdom.”

‘We abhor the riots and violence’

Mr Tice said there had to be “respect for who we are as a nation, that our foundation is Christianity, and we have to have a political class that respects that.

“We abhor the riots, abhor violence and abhor assaulting police officers. But underlying this is concern about mass migration and two-tier policing, and concern that the new Prime Minister smears anyone who wants to have a debate about this as ‘far-Right’.”

Zarah Sultana, one of the Labour MPs serving a six-month suspension for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, is among Sir Keir’s backbenchers who want him to go further.

She said: “What will it take for political leaders to explicitly call out the Islamophobic and racist nature of the violence we are witnessing across the country?”

She also accused “the media and political establishment” of normalising Islamophobia, adding: “We need a mass movement to challenge and defeat this fascism.”

Government ‘silent on Islamophobia’

Sam Tarry, a former Labour MP and member of the Socialist Campaign Group, called on Sir Keir to “unequivocally condemn Islamophobia and restore calm”.

The Muslim Council of Britain denounced the Labour Government’s response to the unrest in several British cities, saying: “The Government is right to speak out against the extremism witnessed on our streets.

“But it has been silent on the Islamophobia fuelling that extremism.”

In 2019, Labour signalled its support “in principle and in solidarity” for a legal definition of Islamophobia suggested by the APPG on British Muslims.

The MPs defined Islamophobia as being “rooted in racism… [and] a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.

The National Executive Committee, Labour’s ruling body, has reinforced its support for the policy by working it into the party’s code of conduct.

Policy of ‘zero engagement’

Sir Keir prompted a backlash from faith leaders after the Government insisted it will not meet with the Muslim Council of Britain.

Whitehall has had a policy of “zero engagement” with the organisation since 2009 after one of its leaders allegedly supported violence against Israel.

Alex Norris, a frontbencher at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said in response to a written question: “The Government recognises the importance of engaging meaningfully with faith and belief groups.

“There has been no change to His Majesty’s Government’s policy, and there are no plans for ministers to meet with the Muslim Council for Britain.”

The Muslim Association of Britain noted Sir Keir met Zara Mohammed, the secretary general of the group, in 2021.

It said: “Now that he is in government, and Muslims are being attacked and mosques have become targets, his Government has no plans to meet the largest body representing Muslims in the UK. What changed?”

Ms Mohammed said the events of the past week represented “two Britains” – a “mainstream, multicultural and merciful Britain driven by hope” and a “fringe, fearful and fractious Britain, driven by hatred of the other”.

A blood test for over-40s which checks for 200 types of disease, including most common cancers, could save the economy £12 billion a year if it was adopted by the NHS, researchers claim.

The NHS currently offers health MOTs to patients aged 40 to 75. However, the five-yearly check is normally limited to blood pressure and cholesterol, along with height, weight and waist measurements.

Diagnostic firms sell private blood tests which can check for 200 types of disease, including most common cancers.

A report by OCO Global, an independent consultancy firm, says that if the NHS provided these more comprehensive health checks, problems would be detected far earlier, ultimately saving lives and money.

The research, which has been sent to Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, says that, although each check would cost around £230 – a bill for the NHS of around £650 million a year – they would reap major rewards.

Modelling suggests that, after 16 years, the annual boost to the economy would amount to £11.7 billion – £1.83 billion in treatment costs, around £5.8 billion wider savings from health improvements, and an indirect benefit of £4 billion – based on the assumption that around half of people take up the tests.

The report was commissioned by Randox, the UK’s biggest diagnostics firm, which carried out millions of PCR tests during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It claims that the blood test’s 200 data points would enable far earlier diagnosis, similar to an approach in countries such as Japan and South Korea, where the checks are mandatory and linked to health insurance.

In Japan, which has the highest life expectancy of all G7 nations, such checks have seen a 25 per cent fall in diabetes rates, among those suffering from pre-diabetes.

‘Overdiagnosis’

The study warns that since 1960, the UK has gone from being ranked first for life expectancy among the G7 group of large, advanced economies to being ranked second last.

Critics of mass screening services have raised concerns that they could promote “overdiagnosis”, with many apparent problems investigated and in some cases treated, despite the fact they would never have caused harm.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, chairman of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), said: “GPs recognise some of the potential benefits of screening – but also that there are risks – and the college has a clear position that we support evidence-based screening that has been approved by the national screening committee or another appropriate body such as NICE.

“National screening programmes have potentially saved millions of lives. But screening doesn’t come without risk – for example, of overdiagnosis or false positives that may cause patients considerable and unnecessary worry.

“GPs frequently report seeing very worried patients, who have taken wide-ranging self-tests privately, because the results have either been unclear or not clinically important, adding to the workload of general practice and leading to further tests having to be carried out that GPs wouldn’t have normally deemed necessary.”

Prof Hawthorne added: “Initiatives to prevent future ill health should certainly be explored – preventative medicine is a clinical priority for the RCGP – but we do have concerns about private companies lobbying for NHS contracts to provide new screening services with a view to making profit.”

But the report highlights the intense pressures on the NHS, with waiting lists of more than seven million, and 185 million working days lost to sickness every year.

As the population ages, projections suggest the number of people with a major health condition will rise by more than a third by 2040.

‘Serious diseases are detected too late’

David Davis, a former chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, urged the health service to introduce such forms of screening.

He said: “For too long the UK has been behind the curve on health testing, with less testing carried out than any other developed country. This means that serious diseases are detected too late, with the consequence of more cost for the NHS, more suffering for the patient, and often premature death.”

Dr Peter FitzGerald, Randox’s managing director, said: “Improving the health and prosperity of the nation is a lofty goal – and the report shows this initiative can more than pay for itself.”

The NHS is also piloting a “liquid biopsy” test where patients complete an online questionnaire, use a kit to take a blood sample at home, and check their blood pressure at their local pharmacy or GP’s waiting room.

More than 140,000 people have been enrolled to take part in the Galleri trial – developed by GRAIL, a private healthcare company – which can detect at least 50 types of cancer.

Studies have so far found it can detect more than half of cases of the disease, with hopes it could prevent one in 10 cancer deaths.

A spokesman for the health department said: “This Government will transform the NHS from a late-diagnosis, late-treatment health service, to one that catches illness earlier and prevents it in the first place.

“We will start by doubling the number of diagnostic scanners to help speed up diagnosis and treatment.”

Royal Navy ships and RAF helicopters were on standby in the Middle East on Sunday night over fears of a regional war.

The HMS Duncan, a Type-45 destroyer, and RFA Cardigan Bay, a transport ship, were in the eastern Mediterranean, the Ministry of Defence said.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said military personnel had been deployed to embassies, while families of staff at the embassy in Beirut were withdrawn for their safety.

David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, reiterated his advice to all British nationals in Lebanon to “leave now” while they can.

In the first major foreign policy test for Labour, John Healey, the Defence Secretary, said: “Our Armed Forces will always step up to support British citizens around the world and reinforce regional stability with their professionalism and bravery.”

Saudi Arabia joined France, Canada and Jordan in calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon.

“In a highly volatile security context” French nationals were “urgently asked” to avoid travelling to Lebanon, and those already in the country should leave “as soon as possible”, the foreign ministry in Paris said.

France also urged its nationals living in Iran to “temporarily leave”.

Israel is bracing for a major attack in retaliation for a double assassination in Beirut and Tehran over the past week.

World leaders have been urging both sides to step back or risk triggering a full-scale regional war.

But Israel warned it would go on the attack if struck by Iran or its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said: “We are ready to move quickly to attack or to respond. We will exact a price, as we have been doing in recent days from the enemy. If it dares to attack us, it will pay a heavy price.”

He was backed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who told his security cabinet: “I reiterate and tell our enemies, We will respond and we will exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us, from whatever quarter’.”

The US said it was sending an aircraft carrier and warplanes to the region for “every possibility”. The FCDO said the UK had sent “additional consular officials, Border Force and UK military personnel to the region”, but did not provide further details.

Tensions have increased following the assassination on Wednesday of Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader in Tehran, one day after an Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. Both groups are backed by Iran.

Israel and the US are braced for an attack similar to that seen in April when Iran launched its first direct assault on Israel, with hundreds of drones, missiles and rockets. Israel retaliated at the time with a single missile strike on an air defence unit in Iran and the tit-for-tat exchanges ended after that.

Observers have questioned whether both sides are prepared to de-escalate this time around.

On Saturday night more than 30 projectiles were fired at Israel by Hezbollah without penetrating the Iron Dome air defence umbrella. Meanwhile, five rockets were launched by Hamas in Gaza on Sunday to southern Israel with one falling into Hof Ashkelon.

Two people were killed and another two seriously injured when a man from the West Bank went on a stabbing rampage in the city of Holon, central Israel, on Sunday, heightening tensions further.

“We are doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does not boil over,” Jon Finer, the White House deputy national security adviser, said on Sunday.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, met the Jordanian king on Sunday. In a statement they called on “all the parties to end the cycle of reprisals, exercise the utmost restraint and responsibility to guarantee the security of the populations”.

At least 100,000 Israeli citizens are also believed to be stranded abroad, leading Israel’s ministry of transport to launch emergency maritime fleets to bring them home.

More than 18 airlines have cancelled flights, including British Airways.