13 h. 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

16 h. 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

36 h. 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

37 h. 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

40 h. 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

41 h. 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

41 h. 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

43 h. 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

48 h. 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

50 h. 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

60 h. ago Starmer defends his record in power as biggest revolt of his premiership looms

The Prime Minister insisted at a meeting of senior ministers that his team could look back with a “real sense of pride and achievement”.

Politics

3 d. ago Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Scores of Palestinians reported killed as senior Netanyahu adviser due to arrive in Washington for ceasefire talks Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff.The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Greek PM vows to investigate €290m ‘fake’ farmer fraud scandal

Kyriakos Mitsotakis sets up taskforce over alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds after resignation of five senior officialsThe Greek prime minister has vowed to get to the bottom of how a scheme of fraudulent EU subsidy claims could have operated undetected in the country for years, as he admitted that the scandal had revealed “the state’s inadequacy” in dealing with corruption.Faced with revelations that “fake” farmers had been scamming designated agricultural funds to the tune of a reputed €290m (£249m), Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday a special taskforce would be set up to “immediately and exhaustively” investigate the illegal payments. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Britain’s ‘medieval’ health inequality is devastating NHS, experts say

Exclusive: Health service estimated to be spending £50bn a year on effects of deprivation and child povertyBritain in 2025: sick man of Europe battling untreated illness crisisDowning St has a radical change in mind for the NHS: shifting its focus from treatment to preventionBritain’s “medieval” levels of health inequality are having a “devastating” effect on the NHS, experts have warned, with the health service estimated to be spending as much as £50bn a year on the effects of deprivation.Rising rates of child poverty have led to a growing burden on hospitals, with the knock-on cost to the NHS comparable to the annual defence budget. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. 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

6 d. 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

6 d. ago DWP chief Liz Kendall breaks silence following dramatic welfare climbdown

Labour's Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said she hopes rebel Labour MPs will now support controversial legislation after a dramatic u-turn overnight

Events

6 d. ago Keir Starmer caves in to Labour rebels with huge welfare cuts climbdown to avert humiliating Commons vote defeat

In a letter to MPs, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall revealed personal independence payments will be protected

Politics

6 d. ago Another tragic fact about this disastrous welfare bill: it proves Labour hasn’t learned and doesn’t listen | Polly Toynbee

From cabinet members to the British public, there is an outcry about these benefits cuts. Why is the government always so poor at reading the room?This disaster bill won’t pass on Tuesday. The dangerous obduracy of the prime minister and chancellor confirms precisely what Labour MPs say: they haven’t listened, they aren’t listening and the fear is they won’t learn to listen. Even if the bill squeezed through with some softening, it will be a pyrrhic victory. Why take such a risk for so little? U-turns are better than crashes, but best not left to the last nanosecond.Senior ministers, some of whom have already spoken up in cabinet, will put their feet down firmly to insist on radical alteration, or better still that it’s withdrawn and rethought to avoid what they call “this catastrophe”. If niceties of parliamentary practice escape some, understand how extraordinary this rebellion is. Read their “reasoned amendment” with its crushing reasons why.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist ...

Events

6 d. ago Another tragic fact about this disastrous welfare bill: it proves Labour hasn’t learned and doesn’t truly listen | Polly Toynbee

From cabinet members to the British public, there is an outcry about these benefits cuts. Why is the government always so poor at reading the room?This disaster bill won’t pass on Tuesday. The dangerous obduracy of the prime minister and chancellor confirms precisely what Labour MPs say: they haven’t listened, they aren’t listening and the fear is they won’t learn to listen. Even if the bill squeezed through with some softening, it will be a pyrrhic victory. Why take such a risk for so little? U-turns are better than crashes, but best not left to the last nanosecond.Senior ministers, some of whom have already spoken up in cabinet, will put their feet down firmly to insist on radical alteration, or better still that it’s withdrawn and rethought to avoid what they call “this catastrophe”. If niceties of parliamentary practice escape some, understand how extraordinary this rebellion is. Read their “reasoned amendment” with its crushing reasons why.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist ...

Events