We're trying to strike the right balance between our responsibilities to people who have come here to work, our recognition of the failures we inherited as a government, and also our need to do right by the people who are already here, who pay for the systems that we all rely on.

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

, the Welsh Labour leader, has said that Dan Thomas's resignation as Reform UK's leader in Wales raises questions about Nigel Farage's decision to appoint him in the first place.

Skates told the Press Association:

This is quite incredible news and many questions will need to be answered.

Dan Thomas was a personal pick by Nigel Farage and this will surely demonstrate the appalling judgment of the Reform UK leader.

And this is from , the Plaid Cymru Senedd group chair, explaining why his party decided to admit Sarah Cooper-Lesadd as a member after they campaigned so ferociously against Reform UK at the election. He says his members believe that Cooper-Lesadd is sincere about realising that Reform UK did not match her values.

Jones says:

The Senedd group and Plaid Cymru's National Executive have today taken the decision to allow Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS to join the party as our 44th member of the Senedd.

A decision to allow a member to cross the floor, particularly from Reform UK, is not taken lightly. This follows a period of reflection, discussion and a proper internal process in line with our party's constitution.

It has been clear for some time to many of us that Sarah is sincerely motivated by a desire to make a positive difference, particularly for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. It has also become clear that she is uncomfortable with Reform UK's politics, rhetoric and values.

She has been honest about her political journey and has acknowledged that she was wrong to believe Reform was the right political home for her …

I and so many Plaid members fought the election in May on a platform and values opposed to Reform. But May also showed that people from many different backgrounds and political starting points can be persuaded by our vision for Wales. Building our movement means reaching out, having conversations and persuading people and allowing people to change their minds.

, the member of the Senedd who has today defected from Reform UK to Plaid Cyrmu, has said she left in part because of Reform's hostile approach to vulnerable groups. (See 4.59am.) She also said Nigel Farage's party had no interest in Wales.

Here is another extract from her statement explaining her defection.

The party centrally has no interest in Wales. Their Senedd group is a staging post in the effort to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street, and that was glaringly obvious at its conference this week.

To everyone who voted Reform in May: I have not stopped listening to you. You told me you felt ignored and let down. Those concerns are real, and they will be answered by delivery, not division.

Wales is a small country with enormous potential. Devolution is how that potential is realised, with decisions made closer to the people they affect.

I believe in a Wales that is confident, compassionate and ambitious. A Wales that uses the powers it has to improve people's lives and seeks the powers it still needs.

Plaid is serious about governing, serious about delivery and serious about Wales. It is a party that believes in our communities and believes Wales can do more when decisions are made closer to the people they affect.

I know what I am asking of Plaid members who spent May campaigning against the party I stood for, and I will work to earn their trust.

I came into politics to give people a voice, improve lives and get things done, including for every child growing up in care in Wales today. Plaid Cymru is the best place for me to do that, and I am ready to get to work.

It is not a good day for Reform UK in the Welsh Senedd. Just as the party's leader announced he was standing down, a Reform UK MS (member of the Senedd) announced she is defecting to Plaid Cymru.

, who represents Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg (Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan), said in a statement:

Today I have left Reform UK and joined Plaid Cymru and its Senedd group.

I grew up in the care system. I stood for the Senedd to be a voice for care-experienced people, who are still badly under-represented in our politics. I want to improve people's lives, stand up for people who are overlooked and get things done. My approach is evidence-led and rooted in what works for our communities.

Reform has no interest in the work I came here to do. They are not serious about governing Wales. They are far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions. There is a real appetite in the group to want the government to fail, and no interest in what that failure would mean for the people we represent.

They oppose measures without any coherent explanation. I wanted to vote for the supplementary budget, which every party should have supported, and I argued against tabling the Nation of Sanctuary debate [a debate organised by Reform attacking the Welsh government policy on support for asylum seekers], and I was criticised for sitting it out. Having just spoken about my own childhood trauma, I could not in good conscience sit through it.

I cannot support Reform's attacks on people seeking sanctuary or other vulnerable groups. I particularly reject the way minorities have too often been used as political targets. I do not believe anyone should be scapegoated or dehumanised to win votes, and I will not be part of a politics that does that.

In the May election, Plaid Cymru won 43 of the 96 seats in the Senedd and for the first time formed a government, albeit a minority one. Reform UK were in second place with 34 seats.

Cooper-Lesadd's defection means Plaid now have 44 MSs.

, the Reform UK leader in Wales, says he is stepping down having been reported to the police. He says he has done nothing wrong, but has not given further details in the statement he has released.

He says:

It has been the honour of my life to have been the leader of Reform Wales and see this party go from zero to 34 elected members and become the largest opposition group in Welsh history. With deep regret, I am now standing down from this position due to personal reasons.

Over the weekend, I was reported to the police and was released without charge. I stress that I have done nothing wrong, but I do not want the coming headlines to be a distraction from the fantastic work our Senedd team is doing in holding this government to account.

I will continue to serve my constituents in Casnewydd Islwyn and will fully back whoever the group selects as its next leader.

Q: Do you agree the unions should have a role in developing AI policy, particularly as it is introduced in schools?

says AI can never replace the role of teachers.

There's no way that AI can ever, could ever, overtake the need for quality teachers and teaching assistants in schools.

I'm sure nearly everyone in this room can point back to a teacher or someone in their school that had a profound impact on their life and their life choices. So we need to make sure that those interactions and that relationship is 100% protected.

As we go forward in all the reform around AI, working people need to be at the heart of the I debate. And we're committed again to working with trade unions and employers in this.

Where our AI makes work more productive, then the benefits should be felt by workers, not just shareholders or tech bros.

, the TUC general secretary, thanks Haigh for her time. He says it has been refreshing to hear a minister talking about working with the unions in this way.

Q: What are you doing to promote apprenticeships?

says the government views young people's apprenticeships as "incredibly important".

Q: What is your response to the Next equal pay court judgment?

That is a reference to this.

says the Tories and Reform UK has shown what they stand for in their opposition to the Equal Pay Act.

The government will make the right to equal pay effective, not just for women and but ethnic minorities and disabled people too.

And it will ensure that outsources cannot be used by people to evade equal pay obligations, she says.

Q: What are you going to do on re-industrialisation? And will you give a commitment to buying British?

says only yesterday the government announced it was working towards buying Safeguarding Steel, saving 1,400 jobs.

And she says there is a strong commitment to buying British in public procurement. The social value measure in public procurement will focus on creating and protecting jobs.

Q: Will you pause cuts to UKRI [UK Research and Innovation]?

says the government is spending £68bn on R&D.

Q: [From a firefighter] Do you agree firefighters need more resources to fight wildfires?

says her grandfather was a firefighter. She thanks them for all they did this summer. The government is holding an extreme weather soon. It will be in partnership with the FBU, the fire brigades union.

Q: How will you ensure shop workers get guaranteed hours?

says she once worked on a zero-hours contract herself. She says the government has just finished a consultation on guaranteed hours.

Q: [From Mariana, an RMT rep] Will you work with unions to deliver the biggest wave of insourcing for generation?

says the Labour manifesto promised the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation.

From April next year, all government bodies will have to apply a public interest test when deciding if services can be insourced.

is now taking questions.

Q: [From Kelvin, a Unison member, chair of Unison's national social care committee] Do you agree with Unison on the need to take profit out of the care sector.

says the care sector has been undervalued for far too long. That is what underpins the PM's personal commitment to tackling social care.

A strong national care service will be underpined by its workforce, she says.

She says the Louise Casey review is specifically looking at the role of private equity in this sector.

Speaking about AI, says that the UK must "heed the warnings" from industry leaders about the threat posed by AI as the government looks to capitalise on the technology.

She says:

AI has enormous potential to improve lives. To transform our public services, make our businesses stronger and deliver new scientific breakthroughs. We must work to make the most of the opportunities that AI can bring. But I know people are also worried about what it already means for their jobs. What it means for the world their kids are growing up in and of course their safety. We should heed the warnings of those who are at the forefront of developing this technology.

There are clearly huge risks to our national security and society if the right guardrails are not put in place. This is an issue that goes beyond our borders and we are ready to work with our international partners to make sure we get this right. AI will reshape our lives and the lives of our children. We have a duty to mitigate the risks and ensure that it's for the benefit - not the detriment - of our society.

, the first secretary, is giving a speech at the TUC annual congress in Brighton in the place of Andy Burnham. The prime minister was not able to give the speech after the death of his father yesterday.

Haigh is calling on the delegates at the conference to come together as a family, striking a remarkably different tone than ministers often used with unions under Keir Starmer.

Haigh says:

The prime minister understands that the strength of our movement is drawn from our roots in the trade unions. And that moments like these are such a valuable opportunity to come together. To remind ourselves of our common endeavour, of what binds us and unites us in our daily fight to improve the lives of working people.

Like all families, we have and will always have our differences … Our disagreements, big and small. But on days like today, we should come together and remind ourselves of all that we have in common and everything that we have achieved, together.

She continues with a quick run through what she credits Labour with doing since it came to power including, new rights for renters, the end of the two child benefit cap and - perhaps a little preemptively refers to "bringing our buses back under public control" and "renationalising our railways".

Continuing her overtures to union delegates she adds:

We need to go further and faster to deliver the scale of change the country expect. But never be in any doubt whose side we are on. Whether it was standing up for workers illegally sacked by P&O … Or changing public procurement to create more good jobs here in Britain. We are proudly on the side of working people. And congress, I can promise you now, under this government, there will never be any doubt about whose side we are on.

Reform UK has launched a network for women in the party. At a launch event, MP, the group's parliamentary chair, said:

Women for Reform is giving a platform to the great talent and ability within our ranks. Now is the time to get things done. This new group within Reform UK will become a powerful vehicle for shaping our future policy, with women and women's safety at the very heart of our agenda.

Pochin and her colleagues have their work cut out, because Reform UK is a very male-orientated party. The latest poll from YouGov has Reform UK neck and neck with Labour, with both parties on 23%.

But, while Reform UK polls 28% with men, with women it is at just 19%. No other party has a gender gap that large.

And in the Commons just 25% of Reform UK MPs are women. The equivalent figures for other main parties are: Greens – 80%; Labour – 47%; Lib Dems – 45%; and the Conservatives 24%. Immediately after the 2024 election, Reform were at 0%. The numbers went up because Pochin won a byelection, and Suella Braverman defected.

, the Irish PM (taoiseach) has suggested Sinn Féin may set back the cause of Irish unity by aligning itself with Scottish and Welsh pro-independence parties.

As the Press Association reports, Martin, who is leader of Fianna Fáil, questioned whether Sinn Féin was on the right strategic track after the party signed a memorandum of understanding with the SNP and Plaid Cymru to put pressure on the UK government to call unity referendums in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Speaking to the media today, Martin was asked about Michelle O'Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland, saying at yesterday's event that he was not doing enough to advance the cause of Irish unification. He replied:

Fundamentally, I would disagree.

I'm not into campaigning, but I would make the point that strategically we have never embroiled Northern Ireland in British politics.

We've always identified the north as exceptional, as being an issue in terms of the partition of Ireland.

And I think strategically I'm not clear that Sinn Féin is on the right track at all, and may even set back unity by that move that they've made.

Martin said Fianna Fáil was a party that believes in Irish unity. But he said his current focus is on progressing new mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles and on examining reforms to the institutions established under the Good Friday agreement.

is pointing out that the government was talking about an "enhanced residency" test for Britons newly arrived in the UK who donate to political parties back in August. At the lobby briefing earlier, the PM's spokesperson faced claims that ministers are only talking about this now in response to the recent news about Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne giving Reform UK £72m. Part of the reason why this allegation sounded plausible is that the spokesperson was unable to clearly show that this was something on the government's agenda before the £72m story broke. (See 1.41pm.)

It now emerges that, on a Saturday at the end of August, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government sent out a press release that mentioned a proposal for "enhanced UK residency requirements for donors seeking to give more than £100,000". It was not published online. But on Tuesday 1 September MHCLG sent out a briefing note to journalists saying:

We're planning a new test to stop wealthy people living overseas giving huge donations to political parties despite not living in the country. This will make sure donors have a genuine connection to the UK, rather than simply appearing to live here.