6 d. ago Stirling MP explains benefit change bill support after Westminster backlash

Chris Kane said his support for the currently-named Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill was "necessary" and said the current system "isn't working as it should".

Politics

7 d. ago Which tax rises could the government introduce to fill the black hole in Britain’s finances?

Labour’s pledge not to raise taxes on ‘working people’ leaves the chancellor with a limited number of workable options to fill the £5bn hole in the public finances left by last week’s welfare climbdown

Politics

8 d. ago Too late to stop small boats once people arrive in Calais, says UN migration chief

More orderly migration would ease crisis, says Amy Pope as UK and France prepare to announce plan to block crossingsThe head of the UN’s organisation for migration has warned that it is too late to stop people from crossing the Channel in small boats by the time they have reached northern France, as Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron prepare to announce new measures to stop overloaded dinghies setting sail from French shores to the UK.Amy Pope, the director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said making safe and orderly migration possible closer to the countries people were moving from was a better approach, along with removing the toxic anti-migrant narrative that dominates much of UK politics. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Scottish Labour MP to vote against welfare reforms despite Keir Starmer climbdown

EXCLUSIVE: Brian Leishman warned the UK Government is "still proposing enormous cuts" to welfare.

Politics

9 d. ago OBR: Vulnerable UK faces 'daunting' threats to stability of public finances after welfare climbdown

Successive governments’ efforts to put the UK public finances have met with only “limited and temporary success” says watchdog

Economics

1 week 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

1 week ago Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves’s former top adviser warns

Exclusive: Ex-Treasury minister Jim O’Neill has warned Reeves will have to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT to fill the £5bn black hole left by the welfare climbdown

Events

2 w. ago Which tax rises could Rachel Reeves introduce to pay for the £5bn welfare U

Labour’s pledge not to raise taxes on ‘working people’ leaves the chancellor with a limited number of workable options to fill the £5bn hole in the public finances left by this week’s welfare climbdown

Economics

2 w. 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

2 w. ago Private healthcare groups criticise ‘minimum’ waiting times for NHS operations

Dispute erupts over ‘artificial’ targets as Starmer prepares to set out government’s 10-year plan for health service

Culture

2 w. ago Starmer fails to guarantee chancellor’s future and does not rule out tax rises to fund welfare concessions – UK politics live

Kemi Badenoch tells PM the welfare bill is a ‘pointless waste of time’ after climbdown heads off Labour revoltWelfare bill climbdown will have ‘a cost’ at budget, says ministerOn Wednesday, Angela Rayner sought to reassure people who had been “scared” about the proposed benefits changes, reports the PA news agency.Speaking to ITV’s Lorraine, the deputy prime minister said:Anyone listening to your show today, they know that there will be no changes to their welfare.I want to make sure that people are reassured by that, because a lot of people have been scared about what’s going to happen. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Starmer defends welfare reform package despite climbdown over Pip

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to shelve key elements of the welfare reform plan to limit a Labour revolt.

Politics

2 w. ago Welfare bill climbdown will have ‘a cost’ at budget, says senior minister

Pat McFadden says U-turn will change calculations, as IFS says tax rises in autumn look increasingly likelyUK politics live – latest updatesThere will be “a cost” to the government’s climbdown on welfare changes at the budget, one of Keir Starmer’s senior ministers has said, as a leading fiscal thinktank said new tax rises appeared increasingly likely.Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, defended Starmer and the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, after the second reading of the government’s main welfare bill passed its first Commons test only after a central element was removed. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Minister declines to rule out tax rises amid welfare climbdown warning

Pat McFadden said that ministers ‘will keep to the tax promises’ in their election manifesto.

Events

2 w. ago Welfare cuts chaos: Tax rises loom within months after Keir Starmer's 'shambolic' welfare cuts climbdown

Chancellor Rachel Reeves now faces a fiscal headache as a forecast £4.8billion in welfare savings have been whittled away to nothing

Economics

2 w. ago Welfare cuts chaos: Tax rises 'are more likely' after Keir Starmer's 'shambolic' welfare cuts climbdown

Chancellor Rachel Reeves now faces a fiscal headache as a forecast £4.8billion in welfare savings have been whittled away to nothing

Economics

2 w. ago Humiliation as Keir Starmer wins vote on welfare only after farcical climbdown on welfare reform plans

On a shambolic day for Labour, the Prime Minister dropped his flagship plan to cut disability benefits just hours after ministers had insisted they were going ahead.

Politics

2 w. ago Labour welfare bill latest: Starmer’s benefits climbdown heaps pressure on Reeves as it will deliver ‘no savings’

Rebel Labour MPs have also lost their attempt to halt the Government’s welfare reforms

Economics

2 w. ago Keir Starmer says fixing welfare is 'a moral imperative' but claims he will not 'take away the safety net' from the vulnerable

Sir Keir Starmer's comments at the Welsh Labour conference come after he was forced into a humiliating climbdown on welfare reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion.

Politics

2 w. ago Rebel rebel: parliamentary humiliations didn’t start with Starmer

Government climbdown on welfare reveals the perpetually problematic relationship between Labour’s front and backbench

Politics