UK Politics

Martin Lewis has given his take on Labour’s spring statement, questioning Rachel Reeves’ claim about how much “better off” families are set to be in the near future.Writing on X, the money expert called into question the chancellor’s claim that real household disposable income is set to rise £500 under this Labour government. The reality is “not that rosy” he said, pointing to a contradictory explanation in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) corresponding economic report.The reason for this is because the £500 figure is “over the life of parliament not per year,” he explains.According to the OBR’s report, household income is expected to see ‘almost no growth in 2027/28’ after a sharp rise which began in 2022/23. This will pick up in 2028 to 2030, the watchdog forecasts, due to factors like the freeze on income tax thresholds ending and real wage growth increasing.The report also finds that the welfare cuts announced by Labour last week will plunge 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children.Consumer champion Martin Lewis appeared before the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on Wednesday (PA) More

Young women are being pressured into setting up OnlyFans accounts to raise money, an MP has said.Polly Billington said a domestic abuse charity in her East Thanet constituency had raised concerns after incidents which showed “coercion and exploitation”.Speaking at science and technology questions, the Labour MP said: “The domestic abuse charity Oasis in my constituency has alerted me to the appalling situation that young women are being coerced to set up their own OnlyFans to generate income.“Can the Secretary of State outline what steps he is doing to ensure this sector can root out coercion and exploitation.”In February, a Daily Mirror investigation found more than 1,500 crimes linked to OnlyFans had been reported to 38 police forces in the UK in the last five years.It included women being forced to engage in sex work on the platform as well as claims of revenge porn.Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “She is a champion for these issues and Oasis the charity, a great charity, is lucky to have her voicing their work and the need to make these radical changes to keep people safe online, here in the House of Commons.“I can assure her the situation she has described breaches several aspects of law in this country, including the need to take out illegal content.“I’ll be watching closely, as she will, and working with her to make sure that these new powers and the powers that are coming online are effective, and how we adapt to these changes into the future.”It came as MPs complained about the quality of mobile phone signal across the UK.Conservative MP for The Wrekin Mark Pritchard said his Shropshire constituency had too many areas where there was no coverage at all, and asked if more companies could run networks.Mr Pritchard said: “Can I encourage him to visit Shropshire where there are still too many not spots, and perhaps one of the reasons is this country only has four mobile network operators. Isn’t it time we had more competition?”Technology minister Chris Bryant said: “Frankly the connectivity that people think that they’re getting from Ofcom simply isn’t what they’re actually getting.“Their phone looks as if it’s got lots of bars, and it’s saying 4G, but actually they can’t even park their car and download the app to be able to do that.“We’ve got to transform that across the whole of the UK. In the end most of that is down to industry and I want to make sure that we remove some of the barriers to further investment that there are in industry to make sure that we improve mobile connectivity for every single member of the House.”Mr Bryant joked he was not sure whether himself, or the former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, was to blame when the Godalming and Ash MP complained about the provision in his Surrey constituency.Speaking minutes before the beginning of Prime Minister’s Questions, Conservative MP Mr Hunt said: “The minister can see that the whole House has filled up out of concern at the atrocious mobile phone signal in Godalming and Cranleigh high streets, and Bramley, Shamley Green and Peaslake.“So now spring is in the air, will he visit Cranleigh to see for himself just what a problem this is?”Mr Bryant said: “I was in Pizza Express in Godalming only a couple of weeks ago, and the mobile signal was absolutely shocking. I couldn’t find my way to Busbridge village hall.“I’m not sure whether the MP’s rubbish or the telecoms minister.” More

Industry figures have called on the Government to go further in backing emerging technologies, after the Chancellor announced plans to invest more in artificial intelligence technologies across the Civil Service and defence.Rachel Reeves used her spring statement to a £3.25 billion Transformation fund, which in part will be used to drive efficiency in the public sector by encouraging the adoption of AI tools to cut costs and boost productivity.Ms Reeves also announced a £2.2 billion defence spending hike over the next year from April, including a ringfenced 10% to fund new high-tech weaponry, such as drones, autonomous systems and AI-powered capabilities.The commitments to fund more AI technology development echoes plans announced earlier this year by the Prime Minister in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, which pledged to make the UK a global AI “superpower” and boosting the economy by investing in AI infrastructure and also improving workplace productivity by adopting more AI tools.In response to the latest announcements, Feargus MacDaeid, co-founder of AI legal tech firm Definely, said the Government still needed to go further to ensure the UK was not left behind.“The future growth of the UK’s economy hinges on its capacity to innovate and leverage cutting-edge technologies,” he said.“However, this requires stability in policy frameworks and a clear strategic vision, particularly around frontier technologies such as AI.“A more clearly defined national AI strategy, with substantial funding commitments for innovation, infrastructure, and, crucially, fundamental research, is essential.“These frontier technologies are increasingly vital to our national interest, and failing to support risk-taking and cutting-edge research risks ceding leadership to other nations.“Government support is essential to catalyse private investment, encourage bold innovation, and attract global talent, which is critical to ensuring the UK remains competitive in this rapidly evolving landscape.”Andrew Warren, chief commercial officer at IT service provider Node4, said: “The country is currently navigating choppy waters, driven by geopolitical uncertainties and economic constraints, but we need to look forward, rather than backwards.“We are at a generational tipping point with the ubiquity of technology that is really interesting and exciting.“Utilising the latest AI tools, amplified by sophisticated cloud and networking technologies, businesses, the Government, and the country as a whole can drive efficiencies and become more productive, exactly what the UK needs to achieve economic growth.“The last time we had this opportunity was with the rise of the World Wide Web 30 years ago, where people realised that it could radically change the way we work.“The Government showed us today that it recognises this opportunity and identified key areas where AI can be used to make productivity improvements across the country, specifically within the public sector.“Driving efficiencies and improving productivity is how we will achieve economic growth.“But it is not enough to only recognise the moment with talk and promises.“The Government needs to be leading the way.“By embracing these technologies and demonstrating its tangible benefits, it can encourage businesses to follow suit, and improve productivity across the country.“This Government talks a lot about regulation around curation, but instead it needs to focus on facilitating and nurturing the opportunity presented by AI, not regulating and controlling it so that its power is reduced.” More

Watch as Rachel Reeves delivers her spring statement on the state of the UK economy on Wednesday, 26 March.The chancellor unveiled a package to repair finances that included cuts to welfare.Ms Reeves announced that the health element of universal credit will be cut in half for new claimants and then frozen. Elsewhere, the universal credit standard allowance will increase from £92 per week in 2025-26, to £106 per week by 2029-30. It had previously been expected to rise to £107 per week by that year.But this will come alongside a £1bn investment in helping people back into work, while the DWP will spend £400m ensuring the changes are delivered effectively.Ms Reeves also promised an extra £2.2bn will be spent on the UK’s defence over the next year.It comes after the UK’s budget watchdog warned last week’s reforms would save over £1bn less than forecast.An assessment from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was that changes to disability and incapacity benefits will save £3.4bn in 2029/30 rather than the more than £5bn claimed by ministers.Alongside the statement, the government will release an impact assessment detailing how many people will be hit by the previously announced plans to cut the welfare bill. More