Markus Andrews

David Lammy has joined other foreign ministers in condemning the Israeli government for depriving Gazans “of human dignity”.The foreign secretary and his counterparts from 24 other nations, including Australia, Canada and France, along with the European Union’s commissioner for equality, urged the Israeli government to “immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid”.They called for the war to “end now” and described proposals to move 600,000 Palestinians to a so-called “humanitarian city” in Rafah as “completely unacceptable”.In a statement shared on Monday afternoon, the politicians said: “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. “We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.”Palestinians mourn their relatives who were killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza More

Traditional public service media is under threat and needs to be more discoverable on popular video sharing platforms like YouTube, regulatory body Ofcom has said.Its report, Transmission Critical: The Future of Public Service Media, says the Government should bring forward legislation to help “ensure that PSM content is prominent and easy to find on the platforms, and on fair commercial terms.”The regulator and competition authority has made a number of recommendations in its action plan that is seeking “urgent clarity from the Government on how TV will be distributed to reach audiences in the future.”Group director for broadcasting and media at Ofcom, Cristina Nicolotti Squires, told the PA news agency: “We’ve called it (the report) Transmission Critical because we think that public service media is under real threat.“Broadcasters are experiencing quite tough financial challenges. The business model changes with audiences fracturing everywhere.”According to research from Barb, which is responsible for calculating UK TV official viewing figures, viewing on linear channels has fallen significantly in recent years and this decline is expected to continue.The report says that public service broadcasters (PSBs) will have to work “much harder to create content that audiences want to watch” on platforms like YouTube as “they are competing with every other content creator in the world.”Ms Nicolotti Squires said: “We’re not saying they have to go on YouTube, but we’re just saying that public service broadcasters have got to make great content where audiences are, and audiences are increasingly going onto YouTube.“They all have different deals with YouTube in terms of commercial returns, and that’s down to them. But I just think it’s important that the programmes that they’re making, public service programmes, are available where people are.“So just delivering on the linear channels, obviously, we’re seeing that viewing has fallen significantly in those areas. So it’s a question of, as I said, pretty much putting these great programmes where people are watching them.”A key objective of the Media Act, passed in 2024, was to make it easier to find content from PSBs like the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on smart TVs.Ms Nicolotti Squires said Ofcom is now calling for “a logical next step on video sharing platforms”.She added: “It might require some further legislative changes to regulation. We’re starting the conversation rather than finalising it all.”The report says that stable and adequate funding is needed from the Government and emphasises that discoverability on online platforms is particularly important for news and children’s content.It also recommends that online platforms invest in media literacy skills while forging ambitious strategic partnerships that can compete with global streaming platforms.On top of this, Ofcom is launching a review of its regulation of broadcast TV and radio that will seek input from stakeholders about the priority areas for reforming regulation.Sarah Rose, president of Channel 5, said: “We are pleased that Ofcom’s review highlighted the challenges producing specialist children’s content and called for commercially viable funding models among its recommendations.“Channel 5’s Milkshake! continues to navigate those challenges to remain the only public service broadcaster offering a daily programming block which targets preschoolers with original content rooted in the UK’s Early Years Foundation framework.”A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: “We welcome Ofcom’s Public Service Media Review and we will now consider its recommendations.”YouTube has been approached for comment. More

Ousted ministers will only receive payoffs if they have served in government for more than six months as Sir Keir Starmer overhauls his appointments watchdog.After repeat examples of ministers receiving payoffs after only serving short stints, the prime minister has tightened eligibility for severance payouts.He has also scrapped the Advisory Committee for Business Appointments (Acoba) as part of the shakeup, replacing it with a new Ethics and Integrity Commission created from the Committee on Standards in Public Life.Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, who is driving through the reforms, said: “This overhaul will mean there are stronger rules, fewer quangos and clearer lines of accountability.Michelle Donelan refused the offer of £17,000 in severance pay after a 36-hour stint as education secretary More

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has announced a review of the state pension age, opening the door for it to be increased. Ms Kendall, speaking in central London on Monday morning as she relaunched the Pensions Commission, warned of a growing threat of pensioner poverty unless there was major reform to the system.It comes as research by Age UK found that people looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners.The government reviews the state pension age every six years, which is currently 66 but is already set to rise to 67 in 2028. By the by the mid-2040s it is scheduled to rise to 68. However, earlier this year, Denmark became the first country to raise it to 70 for those retiring by 2040 and after in a move which raised speculation other countries including the UK may follow.Liz Kendall More

Water regulator Ofwat will be abolished as part of an overhaul of a “broken” regulatory system, the environment secretary has confirmed.Steve Reed said the water industry is “broken” and firms have been fleecing the public under a “regulatory system that let them get away with it”.Speaking in south-west London, he said: “Our rivers, lakes and seas are polluted with record levels of sewage.”Steve Reed said the Tories let water companies get away with fleecing the British public More

The water regulator should be scrapped and replaced with a single body to restore trust in the beleaguered industry, a landmark review has concluded. Ministers should ditch Ofwat and simplify the system with a powerful regulator looking at every area, according to the Independent Water Commission’s final report. The report, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, recommended far-reaching changes to the way the water system is regulated as it called the current landscape “fragmented and overlapping”. Sir Jon Cunliffe recommended Ofwat be scrapped More

Today’s workers are at a greater risk of poverty in old age than their parents, experts warned, as the UK looks to revive a government body to tackle the crisis.People looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners, according to Age UK.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will resurrect the Pensions Commission, which last met in 2006, to “tackle the barriers that stop too many from saving in the first place”.At least 45 per cent of working-age adults are putting nothing into their pensions, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said.The previous commission recommended automatically enrolling people in workplace pensions, which has seen the number of eligible employees saving rise from 55 per cent in 2012 to 88 per cent.At least 45 per cent of working-age adults are putting nothing into their pensions, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said More