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Keir Starmer reveals talks with Gareth Southgate on toxic masculinity ‘crisis’ facing young men in UKSir Keir Starmer has spoken to US President Donald Trump about an economic prosperity deal as the threat of tariffs looms over the UK.A Downing Street representative said the UK was working with the US on an “economic prosperity deal” to build on “our shared strength of that commitment to economic security.”While he confirmed “the UK will only do a deal in the national interest”, the spokesperson refused to be drawn into saying whether scrapping the digital services tax, which impacts US tech giants, was part of the discussion.“The Chancellor this morning said that the digital services tax is hugely important,” he said, adding it brings in around £800 million a year.This comes as Sir Keir told BBC Radio 5 Live that the government were looking to make savings “across the board” ahead of the spring statement on Wednesday.While Rachel Reeves mooted a cut of 10,000 jobs in the civil service,The Times reported that the cuts are likely to reduce the civil service size by up to 50,000 jobs Watch: Keir Starmer reveals talks with Gareth Southgate on toxic masculinity ‘crisis’ facing young men in UKKeir Starmer reveals talks with Gareth Southgate on toxic masculinity ‘crisis’ facing young men in UKAthena Stavrou24 March 2025 14:33BBC presenter hits out at ‘incredibly dumb’ decision to axe long-running showRead the full story by my colleague Maira Butt here:Athena Stavrou24 March 2025 14:17Nadia Whittome pens letter to government pledging to vote against welfare cutsLeft-wing Labour MP Nadia Whittome has written to work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall to express “deep concerns” about the proposed welfare cuts announced by the government last week, warning they will cause “immense harm”.Vowing to vote against the cuts, the MP for Nottingham East said: “I must oppose measures that will make disabled people poorer and widen inequality in this country.”She added: “I sincerely hope that the government listens to the deep concern and distress of disabled people, and the warnings from experts on disability and poverty”.It comes amid growing discontent among Labour MPs after the announcement of sweeping cuts to the welfare bill, which will primarily impact disabled people.Millie Cooke24 March 2025 13:59Reform launch campaign for by-electionReform UK leader, Nigel Farage has joined the party’s newest parliamentary candidate, Sarah Pochin as she launches her campaign.Ms Pochin has announced her candidacy for the upcoming by-election in the Cheshire constituency of Runcorn and Helsby, after incumbent MP Mike Amesbury announced he would stand down following his conviction earlier this year for assaulting a constituent.( More

MPs are to receive an inflation-busting 2.8 per cent pay rise this year – taking their wages to almost £94,000. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, said the move would reflect the “vital role” of MPs.But the increase comes as MPs prepare to vote on moves that will see an estimated million disabled people lose their benefits, after Labour took an axe to the UK’s ballooning welfare bill.Even before the pay rise was confirmed critics said it would be a “bitter pill” for taxpayers to swallow and MPs were being rewarded for failure. The House of Commons (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

A Starmer government minister says she has been too busy since the general election to accept concert tickets amid an ongoing row over Rachel Reeves going to a Sabrina Carpenter show for free. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander’s comments add to pressure piling on the chancellor, who has faced days of criticism for accepting the freebie gig tickets, saying that she a “very busy diary”. “I haven’t taken any tickets to be honest since I was elected back in June as a new member of parliament and going straight into the Ministry of Justice and then coming straight into the Department for Transport, Ms Alexander told Times Radio. “I actually sadly haven’t been to see any concerts at all over the last nine months, partly because I’ve been very very busy.The chancellor took a family member to see Sabrina Carpenter (Lucy North/PA) More

There appears to be confusion at the top of the government over proposed cuts to the civil service, as a minster has insisted there are no targets for redundancies – despite the chancellor saying there would be 10,000 job losses just one day earlier. Rachel Reeves has ordered mandarins to slash 15 per cent from departmental administrative budgets by 2029–30 – saving an estimated £2.2bn a year – and pledged the money will be redirected to “frontline” services.Over the weekend, when pressed on the number of jobs that could be cut, Ms Reeves told Sky News: “I’m confident that we can reduce civil service numbers by 10,000.”And during Covid, there were big increases in the number of people that were working in the civil service.”That was the right thing to do to respond to those challenges. But it’s not right that we just keep those numbers there forever.”Rachel Reeves indicated there could be 10,000 job losses More

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to clamp down on local authorities and force them to prove they are tackling potholes or lose the cash to fix them. Ministers “want to get our sleeves rolled up” and fix potholes for good, the prime minister said on Monday, as he announced an additional £4.8bn of funding to carry out work on motorways and major A-roads. Local authorities will start to get their share of £1.6bn in highway maintenance funding confirmed last year, up £500 million from the previous year, in mid-April.But from Monday, they will be required to publish annual progress reports or face having funding withheld.“It gives local accountability so we can see who’s doing the most and where they’re doing it”, the prime minister told BBC 5 Live. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to the media (Oli Scarff/PA) More

Keir Starmer has been urged not to appease Donald Trump as he considers cutting a major tax on US tech companies, following sweeping cuts to disability benefits and public sector jobs in the UK. As the government scrambles to agree an exemption for 25 per cent tariffs on British steel imposed by the US – alongside other possible tariffs currently being considered by the Trump administration – the chancellor confirmed ongoing discussions about the digital services tax, which hits major US tech firms including Meta and Amazon. The 2 per cent levy, which was introduced in 2020, raises about £800m a year for the UK. Rachel Reeves was optimistic that the steel tariffs could be scrapped if the UK strikes a deal with the US, but failed to deny there could be changes to the tax. “You’ve got to get the balance right,” Ms Reeves said.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman says the government is engaging with the administration of US President Donald Trump over tariffs (Carl Court/PA) More

More than 200,000 jobs could be lost because of the government’s so-called tractor tax, according to new research. The move would also cost the economy £14.9bn, according to a study by the independent consultancy CBI-Economics, which was commissioned by the group Family Business UK and looked at more than 4,000 businesses and farms across the country.Nearly a quarter of family businesses – 23 per cent – and almost one in five family farms – 17 per cent – said they had cut jobs or halted recruitment since the planned tax was announced in the October budget. Just under half of family farms – 49 per cent – said they have also paused or cancelled planned investments. Changes to inheritance tax rules in the budget introduced new taxes on farms worth more than £1m More

Rachel Reeves is preparing to cut 10,000 civil service jobs as part of a sweeping £2bn Whitehall savings drive, ahead of a spring statement she has warned will involve “hard” choices.The Labour chancellor has ordered mandarins to slash 15 per cent from departmental administrative budgets by 2029–30 – saving an estimated £2.2bn a year – and pledged the money will be redirected to “frontline” services. But the plans triggered an immediate backlash from unions, who said public services would suffer after years of underfunding.“People want to know we’re getting value for money,” Ms Reeves said.Chancellor Rachel Reeves appearing on the BBC 1 current affairs programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg More