UK Politics

Last week’s exclusive weekly polling for The Independent is perhaps the biggest indication of why Rachel Reeves has performed a huge U-turn on winter fuel.The breakdown of theTechne UK weekly tracker poll revealed that 36 per cent of pensioners now plan to vote for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK — a full 20 points ahead of Labour’s 16 per cent.As any political analyst or experienced campaigner will know, the group of voters most likely to vote are pensioners. Which may explain why pensioners with a joint income of £75,000 will now get the winter fuel payment — but hard up younger voters who cannot even get a mortgage are left to struggle.The same logic has applied to the increasingly unaffordable triple lock on the state pension rise each year while the government looks to slash benefits for the disabled and says it cannot afford to expand child benefit to more than two children per family.Farage reads out a front page article on his words on winter fuel More

Sir Sadiq Khan has urged Rachel Reeves to give London more funding in this week’s spending review, suggesting she is not willing to give the capital any money for transport projects. The London mayor has fought for support for several transport requests, as well as the power to introduce a tourist levy. He has also called for a substantial increase in funding for the Metropolitan Police. But sources close to Sir Sadiq now say it would be “unacceptable” if London is not given the required money to carry out the projects.In a rare attack on the Labour government, they warned the chancellor now to return to the “anti-London agenda” pursued by Conservative governments. Sir Sadiq Khan’s office is concerned that the spending review could contain no new projects or funding for London More

Rachel Reeves has confirmed a major U-turn with almost all the pensioners she took winter fuel payments from last year set to have them returned. In a decision which could cost the Treasury £1.25bn, the chancellor announced that all those who qualify for the state pension on incomes of £35,000 or less will now qualify for the winter fuel payment.This means that 9 million of the nearly 11 million who lost the annual support last year will get it back. The other 2 million will either have to opt out or pay the benefit back.The U-turn comes just two days before the chancellor is set to publish her spending review after difficult negotiations on cuts with government departments.Rachel Reeves has U-turned on winter fuel More

The British government on Monday reversed its unpopular plan to end winter home heating subsidies for millions of retirees.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had signaled the u-turn last month after a loud outcry from the public and some members of his Labour Party who thought the relatively modest 1.5 billion-pound ($2 billion) savings were too politically costly.Treasury chief Rachel Reeves, who canceled the payment for home heating on all but the poorest retirees after Labour came to power last summer, said the benefit would be restored to 9 million people, or three-quarters of pensioners, in England and Wales whose incomes are below 35,000 pounds ($47,500). Reeves said the move was necessary last year because the previous Conservative government had left public finances in a dire state.“Targeting winter fuel payments was a tough decision, but the right decision because of the inheritance we had been left by the previous government,” Reeves said. “It is also right that we continue to means-test this payment so that it is targeted and fair, rather than restoring eligibility to everyone including the wealthiest.”The payments are worth between 200 and 300 pounds ($271 and $406) a year. The reversal will cost the government 1.25 billion, Reeve said.Canceling the payments for most people last winter was blamed for contributing to Starmer’s swift decline in popularity after his party came to power in a landslide. He was blamed for punishing elderly people on limited incomes who struggled to make ends meet during a cost-of-living crisis. Labour fared poorly in local elections in England last month, with many party representatives blaming the removal of the winter fuel payment. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, quickly pounced on Starmer’s about-face.“Keir Starmer has scrambled to clear up a mess of his own making,” she said. “This humiliating u-turn will come as scant comfort to the pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating last winter. The prime minister should now apologize for his terrible judgment.” More

More than £1 billion has been paid in financial redress to subpostmasters wronged by the Horizon IT scandal, the Government has said.The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said money has now been paid out to more than 7,300 subpostmasters across all Horizon-related redress schemes.The announcement comes just weeks after lead campaigner and former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates said the schemes had “turned into quasi-kangaroo courts”.Sir Alan told the Sunday Times last month that DBT “sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses”.Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.Many are still awaiting compensation.In figures published on Monday, DBT said £559 million has been paid out to 6,337 claimants from the Horizon shortfall scheme.The data also says that of the 492 subpostmasters who joined Sir Alan Bates in taking the Post Office to court between 2017 and 2019 that have not been convicted, also known as the Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLO), 488 have received £167 million between them.Elsewhere, £245 million has been paid out to 463 subpostmasters who had their convictions quashed by legislation put in place last summer, and £68 million has been paid to those who have had their convictions quashed in the courts, DBT said.Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said: “Since entering Government, it has been our priority to speed up the delivery of compensation to victims of the Horizon scandal and today’s milestone shows how much progress has been made.“We are settling cases every day and getting compensation out more quickly for the most complex cases, but the job isn’t done until every postmaster has received fair and just redress.”Post Office chief executive Neil Brocklehurst said: “I welcome the news that over £1 billion has been paid to victims of the Horizon IT Scandal.“Each week we are seeing more people receive their final settlements so they can begin to look beyond this painful chapter of their lives.“However, I am also aware that more work remains to be done so that all victims receive full redress as quickly as possible and this is an absolute priority for the Post Office.“And finally, to anyone else who thinks they may have been affected, I encourage you to come forward and apply for redress.” More

More than 1,000 doctors have urged MPs to vote against the assisted dying bill when it returns to the Commons, claiming it is a “real threat to both patients and the medical workforce”. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow terminally ill patients with six months left to live to end their lives, is due to be voted on for a final time on 20 June. Ahead of the vote, in a letter to MPs, doctors from the NHS expressed “serious concerns”, arguing that “this bill is not the answer”.While they acknowledged that there must be a debate on end of life care, they argued too little evidence has been heard from doctors, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.Kim Leadbeater speaking during the debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill More

TV doctor Hilary Jones has said he would help a terminally ill patient to end their life if the law was changed, describing the practice as “kind and compassionate”. The GP, often seen on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and the Lorraine show, said medicine will go “back to the Dark Ages” if proposed legislation being considered at Westminster is voted down.The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will return to the House of Commons for debate on Friday, with MPs expected to consider further amendments.In its current form the Bill, which applies only to England and Wales, would mean terminally ill adults with only six months left to live could apply for assistance to end their lives, with approval needed from two doctors and the expert panel.Last month, MPs approved a change in the Bill to ensure no medics would be obliged to take part in assisted dying.Morning sickness breakthrough as Doctor Hilary Jones explains more about possible cure. More