Keir Starmer calls sickness benefits bill ‘devastating’ as he defends reforms
The rising sickness and disability benefits bill is “devastating” for the public finances and has “wreaked a terrible human cost”, the prime minister has said. Keir Starmer penned an op-ed for The Times on Wednesday, after his government announced a £5 billion cut to welfare. The government announced a raft of welfare measures Tuesday, which […]
The state is ‘weaker than ever’ — Keir Starmer’s speech-in-full as NHS England axed
Keir Starmer has announced the government will abolish NHS England, the quango that manages the health service. In a major speech in Hull, he said: “In government there was a clear moment when the Tories crossed the Rubicon, it was early, and it was decisive and it sent a signal across Whitehall that was never […]
Government to axe payment systems regulator as quango purge begins
The body charged with overseeing the regulation of payments systems will be abolished, the government has announced. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) — which governs payment systems like Faster Payments and Mastercard — is set to be consolidated into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It follows reports of complaints from businesses that the regulatory environment […]
Senior MP stands by claim Trump could be Russian asset: ‘If it quacks like a duck’
A senior Conservative MP has undertaken to explain his comment that we must consider the “possibility” that the US president is a Russian asset. Graham Stuart, a former Foreign Office minister, initially issued the remark in response to Donald Trump’s decision to pause all military aid to Ukraine. The extraordinary move came as the US […]
Labour MP warns government’s planned welfare cuts ‘feel like a rerun of austerity’
A Labour MP has said he is worried that the government’s widely trailed welfare cuts feel “like a rerun of austerity”. Neil Duncan-Jordan, the Labour MP for Poole, decried reported plans to cut around £6 billion from the benefits bill — set to include significant cuts to disability support. Duncan-Jordan said: “Cuts to benefits don’t […]
Benefits system ‘unsustainable, indefensible and unfair’, Keir Starmer tells Labour MPs
Britain’s benefits system is the “worst of all worlds”, with the numbers of people out of work or training “indefensible and unfair”, the prime minister has said. Keir Starmer, addressing a private meeting of Labour MPs on Monday night, said the current system was “discouraging people from working”. He noted that “one in eight young […]
Starmer faces first by-election test as MP convicted of assault to stand down
Mike Amesbury has said he will stand down as an MP at the “earliest [possible] opportunity” in a move that will trigger the first by-election of this parliament. The former Labour MP was last month given a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, for punching a constituent in the street. Amesbury, who has been […]
Starmer vows to ‘deepen’ UK-Canada ties alongside new PM Mark Carney
Keir Starmer has vowed to “deepen” the relationship between the United Kingdom and Canada after it was confirmed that Mark Carney will be the country’s next prime minister. The former governor of the Bank of England beat three rivals in the Liberal Party’s leadership contest in a landslide victory. Carney is expected to be sworn […]
Show solidarity with new Canadian PM amid Trump ‘bullying’, Starmer urged
Keir Starmer has been urged to visit the new Canadian prime minister as a show of solidarity against Donald Trump’s threats towards the Commonwealth country. It was announced on Sunday evening that Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, will be the new Canadian prime minister after he won the Liberal Party […]
UK government urged to publish legal advice on seizing frozen Russian assets
The UK government has been urged to publish the legal advice that is shaping ministers’ decision-making over whether to seize Russian assets to benefit Ukraine. The Liberal Democrats have written to the attorney general, Lord Hermer, as pressure mounts on the government to seize frozen Russian assets and repurpose them to fund support for Ukraine. […]
