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Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned that Rishi Sunak’s new £500m package of grants for vulnerable households shows the chancellor knows there is a problem with the rising cost of living.
“It shows me there is a realisation there is a problem – but the scale isn’t understood,” Sir Iain reportedly said.
Labour has branded the package, designed to help up to 4 million people, “a sticking plaster”.
Meawnhile, with the government’s furlough scheme ending, a minister has admitted it is “impossible” to know how many people will lose their jobs this winter.
Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, added: “Obviously there will be a variety of outcomes… People’s jobs will be created just as some have very sadly been lost, that is part of the process of ending this crisis and going back to normal.”
Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that almost a million workers are expected to be still receiving support at the end of the month, while economists have warned unemployment is likely to rise.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned this week that workers in London were likely to be hit hardest by the end of the programme, with employees in the capital in the “most precarious position”.
Following Labour’s annual conference this week, YouGov has shared some polling on the popularity of various figures in the party – crucially, with the added detail of how many people have actually heard of them…
Ed Miliband and Sir Keir Starmer come out on top, both in terms of popularity and name recognition, while Angela Rayner is the only other MP polled who was known by more than 50 per cent of respondents.
You can find the full results below:
ICYMI: ‘Impossible to know’ how many people will lose jobs as furlough ends
Earlier today, a minister admitted that it was “impossible” to know how many people could lose their jobs this winter as the government’s furlough scheme comes to an end.
Chief secretary of the Treasury Simon Clarke also suggested on Thursday morning that job losses were “part of the process” of the UK’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
Our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn, has the full story below:
An independent investigation into “violence against women and girls within the police service” must be launched following the murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer, Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper has said.
The Labour MP said that the murder had been “deeply damaging” for women’s trust in the police service as vetting and safeguarding systems had failed.
“The Home Office must ensure urgent action, including independent investigation of violence against women and girls within the police service itself – how system failed in this terrible case but also other allegations/cases of domestic abuse, harassment, sexual offences,” Ms Cooper said.
“Backdrop is failure across criminal justice system to tackle epidemic of violence against women and girls or to keep women safe.
“Police forces and Home Office need to recognise how serious the damage to confidence is if they don’t act.”
Johnson warns more work is needed on climate action ahead of Cop26
Boris Johnson has warned that more work is needed to tackle climate change as the world faces a “critical moment” ahead of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow next month.
“We are fast-approaching a critical moment for our planet and our people, when – in just one month’s time – world leaders will gather in Glasgow for the long-awaited Cop26 climate summit,” Mr Johnson said.
“We need everyone to bring their ambition and action, so we can limit rising temperatures and set the world on the right path to net zero emissions.
“That means bold commitments on coal, cars, cash and trees: to drive forward our green industrial revolution with clean energy and electric vehicles, close the gap on the climate finance promised to developing nations, and halt devastating deforestation.”
He added: “We’ve seen positive progress so far, but it isn’t enough. I look forward to meeting with leaders – from big emitters to climate vulnerable nations – to make sure Cop26 counts.”
Opinion: ‘Starmer’s speech was his most relevant yet – is Labour back in the game?’
Sir Keir Starmer’s speech at this week’s Labour conference was “arguably his most relevant yet” and one that his allies hope will represent a pivotal moment in his leadership of the party, according to our commentator Cathy Newman.
Cathy writes that there is “real optimism” in the upper echelons of the party after the address, which was defined by the confrontation between Sir Keir and members of the Labour left.
“Far from drowning him out, allies reckon the hecklers helped him define his central message that Labour is no longer a protest party. ‘Shouting slogans or changing lives’ may have been a well-prepared put-down but it was an effective one.”
You can find her full piece below:
Sturgeon pledges ‘every penny’ of new fund will go to low-income households
Nicola Sturgeon has pledged that “every penny” that goes to Scotland from a new UK government fund will go towards helping households facing a looming “cost-of-living crisis”.
The Scottish first minister said on Thursday that it was an “insult” and a “disgrace” that the fund would only provide £500m to low-income households as she warned the upcoming cut to Universal Credit would cost families £6bn.
“Every penny of consequentials we get from that will go to support low-income families, I give that absolute commitment,” Ms Sturgeon said at First Minister’s Questions.
She added: “This is an announcement from the Tory government which is taking £6bn out of the pockets of the lowest income families through the Universal Credit cut, and is expecting praise for putting £500m back.
“It is an absolute disgrace and an insult.”
‘Celebrate Corbyn’s legacy’
As leader, Jeremy Corbyn brought with him a message of hope for a great many people who have been long failed by the political establishment, writes Harriet Williamson:
London mayor says ‘serious questions’ for police over Sarah Everard murder
London mayor Sadiq Khan has said that “serious questions” over the murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer must be answered, but has stopped short of calling for Met Police chief Cressida Dick to resign over the matter.
“There are some serious questions that need to be answered about how we ensure something like this never happens again, and I’m determined that the lessons are not only learned by the police, but acted upon,” Mr Khan said in a statement.
You can find his comments in full below:
Opinion: ‘Furlough merely delayed the momentous changes that will soon overcome us’
The furlough scheme has merely delayed major changes to the UK’s labour market brought about by Covid-19 and Brexit, accelerating trends towards home working and e-commerce, according to our commentator Sean O’Grady.
As the job support programme ends today, Sean writes:
“We’re about to see some unprecedented convulsions in the labour market because of the after-effects of two external shocks to the system – Covid and Brexit – and the interplay between them. The one thing we can be sure about is that there will be pain.
“As in similar periods of protracted economic dislocation, in the 1930s and 1980s, run-down areas of high unemployment and increasing poverty will co-exist, uneasily, with regions that are booming and short of staff. The new jobs will be in the wrong trades in the wrong places and arise at the wrong time in peoples’ lives.”
You can find his full piece below:
Our reporter, Jon Stone, has more details below on Harriet Harman’s call for Met Police chief Cressida Dick to resign:
