Exclusive: Liz Kendall pledges sick and disabled people will be protected but MPs are pushing for more substantial changes to bill
Ministers are to offer mutinous Labour MPs an olive branch on the government’s welfare plans to help avert a major rebellion in a crucial vote early next month.
Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, wants to reassure angry MPs who have threatened to rebel over fears that sick and disabled people will be hardest hit.
Continue reading...Prime minister faces Conservative party leader as chancellor to reveal how government plans to spend almost £1.4tn in 2026-27
Green party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:
We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth
Senior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.
One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership challenge at the SNP conference in October.
Continue reading...Andrew Gwynne and Paul Foster express concerns about safeguards as growing number of MPs change stance on bill
Two more Labour MPs have expressed significant doubts about the assisted dying bill, suggesting they would now oppose the legislation.
The former health minister Andrew Gwynne, who previously abstained, wrote to his constituents in Gorton and Denton to say: “To date I don’t think that the bill has been strengthened enough and that safeguards should go much further.”
Continue reading...Chancellor promises biggest investment in social and affordable homes in a generation to hit 1.5m target
Rachel Reeves will raise government spending on affordable housing by nearly double on Wednesday, providing a major boost to the housebuilding sector and bringing the government’s housing targets a step closer.
The chancellor will announce nearly £40bn worth of grants to be spent over 10 years for local authorities, private developers and housing associations – a major increase on the previous programme.
Continue reading...Treasury says move to restore the funding for most pensioners will cost around £1.25bn
The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are both trying to take credit for the winter fuel payments U-turn by the government.
This is from Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader.
Keir Starmer has scrambled to clear up a mess of his own making. I repeatedly challenged him to reverse his callous decision to withdraw winter fuel payments, and every time Starmer arrogantly dismissed my criticisms.
This humiliating U-turn will come as scant comfort to the pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating last winter. The prime minister should now apologise for his terrible judgement.
Finally the chancellor has listened to the Liberal Democrats and the tireless campaigners in realising how disastrous this policy was, but the misery it has caused cannot be overstated.
Countless pensioners were forced to choose between heating and eating all whilst the government buried its head in the sand for months on end, ignoring those who were really suffering.
Continue reading...Chancellor still at negotiating table on Sunday as Home Office demands more cas
Rachel Reeves has been locked in a standoff over the policing and council budgets just days before this week’s spending review, which is set to give billions to the NHS, defence and technology.
Yvette Cooper’s Home Office and Angela Rayner’s housing and local government ministry were the two departments still at the negotiating table on Sunday fighting for more cash, after weeks of trying to reach a settlement.
Continue reading...The UK government is desperate to show it is preventing small boat crossings, but its PR-heavy approach may cause more problems with voters than it solves
Continue reading...Ex-minister wants to clear up ‘misunderstanding’ over accusation she benefitted from regime of her aunt, ousted Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina
The former City minister Tulip Siddiq has asked to meet Bangladesh’s leader during his London visit to clear up a “misunderstanding” after corruption allegations made by his administration led her to resign from the UK government.
Siddiq, whose aunt Sheikh Hasina was put on trial in absentia last week over crimes against humanity during her 15 years as prime minister, has been accused of benefitting from the former regime by the authorities in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Continue reading...Shadow chancellor says Badenoch ‘is the person to lead us’ and compares her to Thatcher, who ‘in the end, got it together’
Stride stresses the need for politicians to consider policy carefully, saying this is harder in the era of social media.
The digital age has many advantages, but in some ways, it has ushered in the death of what we might call the age of thoughtfulness, by which I mean, the careful consideration of arguments in order to establish the truth …
Audiences are increasingly attracted to the fleeting sparkle of the novel or shocking or celebrity, or in some cases simply the fake, and that risks allowing attractive but shallow arguments to take hold.
The fact is, for a large swathe of the population, our economy simply has not been working for them for some considerable time.
Incomes have stagnated. Many feel that the system only works for the benefit of others, for large corporations or people from other countries, but not for them and their families.
Continue reading...Source confirms decision that will help meet net zero targets and pledge to cut energy bills by £300
Ministers have decided not to cut Labour’s landmark £13.2bn fund to fix draughty homes and install heat pumps and solar panels in next week’s spending review, it has emerged.
A government source confirmed Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, would not be making cuts to the flagship warm homes plan. The decision, which was first reported by the Daily Telegraph, marks a victory for Ed Miliband in his negotiations with the Treasury over the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s budget.
Continue reading...PM tells MPs he is considering imposing sanctions on Israeli government members but is resisting ban on arms sales
Keir Starmer has called Israel’s recent actions in Gaza “appalling, counterproductive and intolerable”, as the UK government comes under mounting pressure to take stronger action after the killings of dozens of civilians at food points in recent days.
The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday the UK was considering imposing sanctions on members of the Israeli government, but is so far resisting growing calls for a complete ban on arms sales and immediate recognition of Palestine.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Data bill faces being shelved amid standoff over plans to allow AI firms to use copyrighted content
Defiant peers have delivered an ultimatum to offer artists copyright protection against artificial intelligence or risk losing a key piece of legislation.
The government suffered a fifth defeat in the House of Lords over controversial plans to allow the AI companies to train their models using copyrighted material.
Continue reading...Chancellor will give speech in Greater Manchester, while police leaders have written to the PM over potential cuts in next week’s spending review
Good morning. A week today Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will unveil the outcome of the spending review, which will set spending budgets – day-to-day (“resource”) and capital – covering most of the rest of this parliament. Many departments will get resource budgets that feel like cuts, but the Treasury has a more positive story to tell on capital spending and today Reeves is giving a speech announcing a £15bn spending spree on transport projects, mostly in the north of England.
Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot have all the details in our splash story.
We are deeply concerned that the settlement for policing and the [NCA], without additional investment, risks a retrenchment to what we saw under austerity. This would have far-reaching consequences.
Policing and the NCA have seen a sustained period where income has not kept pace with demand. Often, this has been masked by attempts to defer costs in the hope of more income in future, but that now leaves policing with very limited room for manoeuvre.
Continue reading...Home secretary appears to accept early release proposals will put more pressure on police as she is questioned at select committee
Defence sources believe that Britain will be forced to sign up to a target of lifting defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 at this month’s Nato summit after a campaign by the alliance’s secretary general to keep Donald Trump onboard, Dan Sabbagh reports.
Later today the data (use and access) bill will return to the Commons from the Lords in the third round of “ping pong” between the two houses. It is not unusual for “ping pong” to go on for a round or two, as bills which are almost ready for royal assent shuttle between the elected and unelected chamber while they try to resolve matters of dispute. But, in this case, the Lords are digging in a bit more than usual.
The government has been accused of “supporting thieves”, as it suffered a further heavy defeat at the hands of peers pressing their demand for steps to safeguard the creative industries against artificial intelligence.
The fourth and latest setback for the Labour frontbench over the issue in the House of Lords was inflicted despite pleas by a minister for the upper chamber to end its prolonged stand-off over the data (use and access) bill.
Continue reading...Commons inquiry to examine lack of progress in fulfilling manifesto pledge to set up ethics and integrity body
No 10 is facing scrutiny over its failure to bring in a new ethics watchdog almost a year after the election, as a new inquiry was launched to examine the seeming lack of progress.
Amid signs that the plans have been kicked into the long grass, parliament’s public administration committee said it was launching an inquiry to push the government on what has happened to its ethics commitments.
Continue reading...Prime minister to launch strategic defence review in Glasgow this morning
Here is the clip of Keir Starmer in his Today programme interview refusing to say when the government will raise defence spending to 3% of GDP.
In an interview with the Times published on Saturday John Healey, the defence secretary, said that he had “no doubt” that Britain would reach the 3% target by 2034 – ie, before the end of the next parliament. Yesterday he described this as an “ambition”.
Continue reading...PM says he will not indulge in ‘performative fantasy politics’ before launching strategic defence review
Keir Starmer has refused to give a date for the UK to spend at least 3% of GDP on defence, saying he would not indulge in “performative fantasy politics”, as he prepared to launch the government’s strategic defence review.
Speaking at a defence facility in Scotland, the prime minister said his commitment to hit 2.5% of GDP on defence spending from 2027 showed he was serious about the issue, but that he could not go further without fiscal certainty.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Warnings ‘frustrated’ Sikh voters could turn to Reform over failure to investigate UK’s role in 1984 tragedy
British Sikhs are threatening to “no platform” Labour MPs over the lack of a public inquiry into UK complicity in the 1984 Golden Temple massacre in India, amid warnings “frustrated” Sikh voters could back Reform UK.
More than 450 gurdwaras, charities, associations and university societies have written to Keir Starmer demanding he honour previous promises to fully investigate the affair or risk “massive consequences for the re-election of many Labour MPs”.
Continue reading...Pen Green, a model for Labour’s Sure Start, could face closure if Reform-led North Northamptonshire council fails to act
A world-renowned children’s centre that provided the model for Sure Start is on the brink of collapse, with its future in the hands of the newly elected Reform UK leadership of its local council.
The Pen Green Centre, which pioneered wrap-around care and learning for preschool children in one of the most deprived areas of the UK, was the blueprint for Labour’s totemic early years Sure Start programme in the late 1990s.
Continue reading...Prime minister says ‘you cannot trust Farage with your future and your jobs’ as he gives speech in north-west England
When “something sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is too good to be true”, water minister Emma Hardy has said, reports the PA news agency.
Asked about the “threat” which Reform UK poses to Labour, Hardy told GB News:
I think it’s really important that any political party is held to account for the promises that they’ve made and we know – gosh, don’t we just know – what happened when [former prime minister] Liz Truss made her £45bn of unfunded tax cuts: the economy tanked, mortgages went up, rents went up, bills went up.
When something sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is too good to be true. If [Farage] wants to be taken seriously as a political party, then he needs to come up with some serious policies and he needs to be held to account.
Now, had I come on your programme and said, ‘do you know what? I’m just announcing £80bn of tax promises’, the first thing you’d have said to me is ‘I don’t believe you’.
The government must urgently summon the US ambassador to clarify what this court ruling means for Starmer’s recent deal with Donald Trump.
The levels of chaos from Trump’s economic policy is putting Liz Truss to shame.
Continue reading...