5 h. ago Nigel Farage says flaws in Reform UK’s candidate vetting process were not his fault – UK politics live

Farage says any errors in the runup to the 2024 general election cannot be laid at his door as he was not party leader at the timeThe Conservatives will try to change the government’s welfare Bill to tighten up access to personal independence payments (Pip) and universal credit, PA Media reports. PA says:Kemi Badenoch will pledge that the Tories are “now the only party committed to serious welfare reform” after Keir Starmer shelved plans to restrict eligibility for Pip in the face of a backbench revolt this week.The Tories will look to lay amendments to the legislation – set to be renamed the universal credit bill – and party leader Badenoch is due to deliver a speech on welfare on Thursday. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Minister dodges questions on special education for children as Starmer faces new revolt threat by Labour MPs

Education minister Stephen Morgan declined to say if pupils currently getting special educational needs support would continue to get the same level under planned reforms

Politics

7 h. ago Minister won’t rule out support cuts for children with EHCPs amid Send overhaul – UK politics live

Stephen Morgan, the early education minister, would not confirm every child who has an EHCP would continue to keep the same provisionsThe Conservatives will try to change the government’s welfare Bill to tighten up access to personal independence payments (Pip) and universal credit, PA Media reports. PA says:Kemi Badenoch will pledge that the Tories are “now the only party committed to serious welfare reform” after Keir Starmer shelved plans to restrict eligibility for Pip in the face of a backbench revolt this week.The Tories will look to lay amendments to the legislation – set to be renamed the universal credit bill – and party leader Badenoch is due to deliver a speech on welfare on Thursday. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Starmer faces threat of new revolt by MPs over special needs education reform as minister dodges questions

Education minister Stephen Morgan declined to say if pupils currently getting special educational needs support would continue to get the same level under planned reforms

Politics

9 h. ago Starmer faces threat of new revolt over special needs reform as minister dodges questions

Education minister Stephen Morgan declined to say if pupils currently getting special educational needs support would continue to get the same level under planned reforms

Politics

12 h. ago Now Starmer faces Labour revolt over desperate efforts to curb spiralling £11bn special needs education spending

MPs and campaigners are gearing up for a confrontation with ministers on a new front after Keir Starmer was forced into an humiliating climbdown on welfare reforms last week.

Economics

19 h. ago Children face losing legal right to special needs help under new plans being considered by ministers

The Education Secretary refused to say whether children with special needs would still get the legal right to extra support at school under plans being considered by ministers

Politics

45 h. ago Tories warned Labour about Rachel Reeves' tears 17 minutes BEFORE PMQs started

Tory MPs revealed they alerted Labour whips to the fact that the Chancellor was weeping in the Commons to ensure she got help.

Events

51 h. ago McMurdock says ‘business dealings’ compliant after he resigns Reform whip

The MP has agreed to co-operate with any investigation, the party said.

Economics

53 h. ago MP resigns Reform UK whip amid ‘business propriety’ investigation

James McMurdock was elected South Basildon and East Thurrock MP a year ago.

Economics

62 h. ago ‘We promised change but people aren’t feeling it yet’: Labour rues poor first year

MPs, aides and other party figures reflect on what went wrong and how they could still turn things aroundIn a stiflingly hot room at a health centre in East London, as he announced the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS on Thursday, Keir Starmer was confronted with a brutal assessment of his first year in power.“You’ve U-turned on your reforms, your MPs don’t trust you, and markets worry that you’ve lost resolve on fiscal discipline. It’s the epitome, isn’t it, of sticking-plaster politics and chaos that you promised voters you would end?” a television journalist asked. Continue reading...

Politics

69 h. ago Keir Starmer: I'm a 'hard enough b*****d' to lead the country... despite collapsing under pressure to own MPs over benefit cuts

In a bizarre aside, the Prime Minister pushed back against suggestions that recent U-turns have wrecked his political authority.

Events

2 d. ago 'Why would I get a job? I get your monthly wage in a week!' As Starmer's bid to cut disability benefits is sunk by Labour MPs, social media tutorials show claimants how to milk the system

Mastering the red tape behind Britain's bloated benefits system can apparently also present extraordinarily lucrative business opportunities.

Politics

3 d. ago Discussions ongoing and foundations of new party soon, says Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn led Labour from 2015 to April 2020, stepping down after the party’s loss at the 2019 general election.

Politics

3 d. ago Corbyn says ‘discussions ongoing’ as Sultana quits Labour to ‘co

In a post on social media, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘Real change is coming.’

Politics

3 d. ago Who’s really to blame for Labour’s troubles – Rachel Reeves or the invisible PM? | Gaby Hinsliff

The Treasury focuses on numbers when what’s needed is vision. The party and the country are crying out for leadership, but it’s nowhere to be seenShe is not the first chancellor to cry in public, and may not be the last. But Rachel Reeves is the first whose tears have moved markets. No sooner had the realisation dawned that she was silently weeping – over a personal sorrow she won’t be pushed into revealing, she insisted later, not a political one – as she sat beside Keir Starmer at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, than the pound was dropping and the cost of borrowing rising. The bond traders who forced out Liz Truss’s hapless chancellor still clearly rate her judgment and want her to stay, even if (perhaps especially if) some Labour MPs don’t. Yet it is an extraordinary thing to live with the knowledge that a moment’s uncontrolled emotion can drive up the cost of a nation’s mortgages, just as a misjudged stroke of the budget pen can destroy lives.The most striking thing abou...

Events

3 d. ago Scottish Labour MPs call for UK Government to 'tell a better story' on election anniversary

EXCLUSIVE: Speaking to the Record, Scottish Labour MPs have given their verdicts on a difficult first year in charge for Keir Starmer.

Politics

3 d. ago DWP benefits reform faces new challenge as Labour MPs back plan to widen eligibility

Labour backbencher Graeme Downie has proposed a welfare reform Bill amendment that would make the lives of sickness and disability benefit claimants simpler

Politics

4 d. ago MP votes for benefits reform insisting Lanarkshire constituents won't receive less money

Only four Labour MPs out of 37 in Scotland voted against the watered-down Bill despite a revolt

Politics

4 d. ago PM shoulders blame for welfare fiasco and says No 10 ‘didn’t get process right’

Keir Starmer says Downing Street should have engaged more with Labour MPs and repeats support for Rachel ReevesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has admitted No 10 “didn’t get the process right” in handling the government’s controversial welfare bill and says he shoulders the blame.Looking to repair some of the damage done by Labour’s 11th hour climbdown on the central plank of its welfare changes, Starmer said the government would reflect on its mistakes. Continue reading...

Politics