PM defends choices such as cutting winter fuel allowance as long-term remedies as polls show his popularity falling
Keir Starmer has said painful decisions such as cutting winter fuel payment to save £1.4bn a year are necessary as failure to act would be simply “putting a lick of paint over the damp”.
The prime minister described the process of taking decisions “that aren’t going to be popular” as part of a strategy of “strip down the joint, rebuild the house”.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken says new US sanctions against Russia are in response to Kremlin’s attempt to ‘subvert and polarize free and open societies’. This blog is now closed.
The head of Russia’s security council, Sergei Shoigu, visited North Korea on Friday and met with the country’s leader Kim Jong-un, Reuters reports, citing Interfax.
Reuters has a quick snap that France is to summon Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Paris over the country’s decision to supply further arms to Russia.
Continue reading...Labour still more popular with voters than Conservative party but those saying they view party and leaders unfavourably has risen
The government’s defence review should consider the importance of Britain being able to “wage peace” as well as war, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, told peers.
In a debate in the House of Lords on Sudan this morning, Welby said the strategic defence review (SDR) announced by Labour should include a “peace-building option”, to stop conflict before it happens.
A peace-building option, well developed and acting in areas of fragility, would extend our influence, protect our interests and guard against fresh waves of migration …
In other words, the SDR should be full spectrum, preparing this nation not only to wage war but to wage peace as well. I fear that may not be the case …
No, absolutely not
And let’s just try to quash this now. The budget is on October 30. So, between now and then, you are all going to ask me questions, as you did before the election, ‘will you rule out X, Y, Z?
Continue reading...Enthusiasm for public sector pay awards tempered by concern over winter fuel payment cuts and job losses
“We’re hearing an awful lot about tough times: it’s like being in a Dickens novel. What comes after the tough times? We need to hear about hope.”
Onay Kasab, the national lead officer for the Unite trade union, was addressing a leftwing fringe meeting, but similar sentiments reverberated through the bars and coffee shops at this week’s TUC congress in Brighton.
Continue reading...UK PM responds to Putin’s threat that use of long-range British missiles inside Russia would put it at war with Nato
Keir Starmer has told Vladimir Putin that he started the war in Ukraine and could end it at any time after the Russian leader warned that any use of long-range British missiles into Russian territory would put Nato at war with his country.
The prime minister spoke en route to Washington to see US president Joe Biden as he sought to justify a western decision made behind closed doors that would allow Ukraine to attack inside Russia with partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles.
Continue reading...Junk food ad ban, age limit on energy drinks and expanded water fluoridation among measures planned to help NHS
Plans to ban junk food ads and to stop children buying high-caffeine energy drinks are among radical public health measures being drawn up by ministers to prevent illness and so ease pressure on the NHS.
The government made clear it would face down “predictable cries of ‘nanny state’” because Keir Starmer was convinced this was the way to fix the service.
Continue reading...Party took £5m after Rishi Sunak condemned businessman for saying Abbott made you ‘want to hate all black women’
Diane Abbott has said the Conservatives are “only paying lip service to fighting racism” after it emerged their controversial donor Frank Hester had given a further £5m to the party before the election.
The donation, made by his company the Phoenix Partnership, brings his total funding to the Tories to more than £20m, cementing his status as their single biggest donor.
Continue reading...Spokesperson for Keir Starmer says focus was instead on encouraging pensioners to seek additional support
Ministers did not carry out a specific impact assessment on the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment from the bulk of pensioners, such as the potential effect on illness and death rates among older people, Downing Street has said.
After days of No 10 refusing to comment, Keir Starmer’s deputy spokesperson said the only assessment made before the policy announcement was a standard legal one of potential equalities impacts.
Continue reading...Speculation Rachel Reeves to raise tax in budget thought one reason for some homeowners cashing out
Growing speculation about a capital gains tax (CGT) raid in October’s budget appears to have prompted a surge in the number of larger homes being put up for sale, the UK’s biggest property website says.
Rightmove said in the week ending 9 September there had been “a flurry of activity at the top end” of the market. The number of larger homes – defined as four-bedroom detached houses and all five-bedroom and larger properties – being listed for sale in Great Britain was 15% more than in the same period last year. And in the east and south-west of England, which include some of the UK’s most popular coastal and countryside hotspots, the percentage was over 20%.
Continue reading...The government saw off a rebellion over its plans to cut winter fuel allowance this week. John Harris speaks to Caroline Abrahams from Age UK about what this winter will look like for millions of pensioners losing out. Plus, he talks to columnist Rafael Behr about whether the technocrats (Starmer and Reeves) are taking the Labour party in the wrong direction
Continue reading...Decision understood to have already been made in private as secretary of state says in Kyiv that US will continue to adapt policy
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave his strongest hint yet that the White House is about to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia, with a decision understood to have already been made in private.
Speaking in Kyiv alongside the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, Blinken said the US had “from day one” been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed. “We will continue to do this,” he emphasised.
Continue reading...British steel industry braced for 2,500 job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks
Some of Keir Starmer’s critics complain that he overdoes the gloom and negativity when talking about the outlook facing the country. A speech he gave in Downing Street in August is remembered as the ‘things can only get worse’ speech, after he told his audience: “Frankly - things will get worse before we get better.”
But he may be revising the message a bit. Yesterday he held a briefing with Scottish lobby journalists in Downing Street, embargoed until today, and, according to the PA Media report, he told them his government offered a “big message of hope”, despite having had to make decisions which “appear gloomy and hard”.
There is massive hope in this, what we want to do, the change we want to bring about is massive.
It is to make sure the economy is not only growing but growing across the whole of the United Kingdom, including in Scotland, which will be measured in living standards rising, people feeling better off in a material way.
Continue reading...Housing minister says policy will not be watered down day after dozens of Labour MPs abstained in key vote
Plans to scale back winter fuel payments for pensioners will not be watered down, a UK government minister has said, after dozens of Labour MPs abstained on a key Commons vote on Tuesday night.
The housing and planning minister, Matthew Pennycook, was speaking the morning after MPs voted to remove the winter fuel allowance from all but the poorest pensioners in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Pre-election slowdown continues in July despite economists predicting growth of 0.2%
The anticipated post-election bounceback in the UK economy failed to materialise as activity flatlined in July for a second month, , according to the latest official data.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the pre-election stalling of activity in June was followed by another month in which gross domestic product remained unchanged.
Continue reading...Police association chief says criminals potentially being freed in England and Wales without proper rehabilitation plans
Police are at “the centre of a storm” caused by poor planning after 1,700 prisoners were released early across England and Wales to ease overcrowding, a senior officer has said.
Amid concerns that hundreds of inmates could end up homeless or return to crime, the president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, Nick Smart, said some inmates were being set free without a programme and that the police would be left to deal with the consequences.
Continue reading...While Commons rebellion was small-scale, behind the scenes, anger over handling of the policy is said to run high
In the end, the vote to cut the winter fuel allowance passed easily. Hundreds of loyalist Labour MPs tramped through the lobbies to back the government’s controversial plan. No 10 will hope the heat has gone out of the issue.
But despite dodging a major rebellion, plenty in government were not taking much comfort from the result. Scores of MPs abstained in silent protest, fearful that they could be condemning vulnerable pensioners to a cold, hard winter.
Continue reading...Inspired by Finnish success story, mayor Andy Burnham says unconditional homes policy ‘saves public money’
The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has turned to Finland for bold lessons in how to tackle rough sleeping in the city.
Burnham has said he is committed to making the region “the first in the UK to adopt a ‘housing first’ philosophy like Finland”. A scheme launched there in 2008 that gives people homes when they need them, without conditions attached, has brought down homelessness by 70% and eradicated poverty-based homelessness completely.
Continue reading...Ex-work and pensions secretary becomes second casualty of contest, leaving four MPs vying to succeed Rishi Sunak
Mel Stride has been knocked out of the race to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative party leader after Robert Jenrick topped the poll of MPs for the second time.
The former work and pensions secretary on Tuesday became the second casualty in the extended leadership contest, which is due to culminate in early November.
Continue reading...‘Spads’ working for new government say they are not being paid as fairly as predecessors under the Tories
Many of Labour’s newly recruited special advisers, known as “spads”, have joined a union over concerns about their pay.
Aides working in Downing Street or for cabinet ministers have said they are not being paid as fairly as their predecessors under the Tories.
Continue reading...‘Sizeable minority’ of survivors of crime have not been informed that perpetrators will be freed on Tuesday
Hundreds of survivors of crime are unaware that their perpetrators will be freed on Tuesday despite requests that this would not happen, the victims’ commissioner has claimed.
As the government prepares to release 1,700 offenders to ease overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales, Helen Newlove said some victims were “unaware of their offender’s release” and could not seek protective measures.
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