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Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailJeremy Hunt is under fire as it emerged that his key Budget promise to expand free childcare in 2024 is fast unravelling amid “chaos” over funding arrangements.The chancellor had announced a major extension of free care for this spring in a bid to win back voters – but experts say the sector has not been given enough cash or support to deliver his pledge.With the Tories hoping for a boost in the run-up to this year’s general election, eligible working parents of two-year-olds have been told they can claim 15 hours a week of free childcare from 1 April.However, council bosses have warned that the funding will not be in place for nurseries by then – with cash-strapped providers facing a “huge crisis” over the number of children places they can offer.Experts say many families could miss out at the last minute – with some parents telling The Independent they have already been told by their local nursery they cannot offer Mr Hunt’s flagship policy.Critics laid the blame squarely on Rishi Sunak’s government – saying Mr Hunt and fellow ministers had not backed up their “ill-thought-out” policy with enough financial support.Chancellor Jeremy Hunt during a visit to Busy Bees Battersea Nursery in south LondonLabour shadow children’s minister Helen Hayes said the Tories’ childcare offer to voters in the election year has fallen at the first hurdle.The frontbencher said the government had squeezed the timeline for funding confirmation, adding: “By failing to plan for delivery, their promises on childcare have been set up to fail.”The Liberal Democrats said there was a huge crisis looming – with the prospect of some nurseries collapsing – unless the government comes forward with proper funding guarantees.The party’s education spokesperson Munira Wilson said: “How does this government expect to roll out expansion of childcare when the amount they invest in childcare services is a fraction of what’s needed?” The Department for Education (DfE) says local authorities have until the end of March to confirm how much they will pay nurseries for extra places.But childcare under the programme is set to begin on 1 April – meaning many parents may not receive confirmation about a place until weeks after they want to start.Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are under pressure to deliver wider free childcare before an election expected later in 2024 One expert said parents may even be forced to abandon their returns to work at the last minute if do not get the free childcare they expect.Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “This chaos is the fault of the government. The government introduced this new childcare system, they are responsible for funding it. It is an ill-thought-out policy.”Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said: “Unfortunately, information for local authorities and providers has only recently been made available by central government, and this means they are having to work within a challenging timeframe to ensure arrangements are in place to expand before the start of the April rollout.”A mother-of-one living in Northamptonshire told The Independent her local nursery has just warned parents they will not be offering Mr Hunt’s flagship policy and will stop providing the funded places for three-year-olds they previously offered.The Independent recently revealed thousands of nurseries had been forced to close their doors amid staff shortages and a lack of funding, sparking warnings that Mr Hunt’s Budget pledge to offer 30 hours of free childcare for under-fives from 2025 was doomed to failure.A lot of people are pinning their hopes upon this materialising. I don’t think the government have grasped the danger of making false promises to parents who can’t keep their head above water. Sarah RonanThe Early Years Alliance said eligible parents who apply for the scheme through the government website will be given a code to take to a childcare provider who will then notify them if they have spaces available.Mr Leitch said: “You may qualify for your entitlement but that does not guarantee you a place. It is a huge assumption that you would automatically be given a place. If you are, it may not be the hours you are looking for.“Alternatively, you could be placed on a waiting list until a space becomes available. This code is then useless – it is a bit like telling someone you can have this free food in a supermarket but then seeing empty shelves when you arrive.”Mr Leitch, whose organisation represents nurseries, preschools and registered childminders among others, said they have encountered parents who have been on waiting lists for 18 months.“Waiting lists are likely to grow and grow,” he added. “Parents desperate to return to work will have to abandon their plans and take stock of what to do next. Even if providers have the funding for spaces, the fact is that they may well be struggling to recruit adequate people.”Mr Leitch argued that Mr Hunt’s new measures are an example of “announce first and do the thinking afterwards”.The expert noted the childcare sector is already struggling to provide the 30 hours of free childcare per week in term time for three- and four-year-olds in England that was rolled out by ministers in 2017.Mr Sunak and education secretary Gillian Keegan visit Busy Bees nursery in Harrogate Lauren Ellis, a teacher, said her “fantastic” local nursery has been pushed into a position where they can no longer offer any funded places.“It is a nationwide issue,” the 35-year-old said. “It is not their fault. If the funding had come in, it would have halved my childcare costs. It is another government promise which looks great on the face of it and is a great headline. It looks great going to an election but it is completely flawed. There is a lot of confusion among parents and they can’t plan ahead or plan for other children.”Ms Ellis said her mortgage had shot up to an extortionate rate for their small two-bedroom house, and childcare was their second highest outgoing.“We have cut down on holidays,” she added. “We now have no chance of going abroad. Buying new cars – no chance. Also on takeaways and our own clothes shopping.”Sarah Ronan, director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, said she has spoken to parents who are delaying having children until the new offer is rolled out.“A lot of people are pinning their hopes upon this materialising,” Ms Ronan added. “I don’t think the government have grasped the danger of making false promises to parents who can’t keep their head above water.”If the funding had come in, it would have halved my childcare costs. It is another government promise which looks great on the face of it and is a great headline. It looks great going to an election but it is completely flawed. Lauren EllisShe urged local authorities to tell providers rates for the new free-hours policy as quickly as possible – explaining services will remain unsure if they can deliver the scheme and how many places they have available until they know the rate.Ms Ronan added: “The government has run this sector into the ground. The government has knowingly underfunded the sector.”Recent figures from the schools’ inspectorate Ofsted revealed that 3,320 of the 62,300 nurseries and childminders caring for under-fives in England had shut their doors in the past year alone, leaving 17,800 fewer childcare places available.The number of nurseries and early years services for under-fives has plummeted by a quarter in recent years, from 84,970 in 2015-2016 to 63,207 in 2022-2023.Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry has estimated that implementing the government’s expanded childcare plans will cost £8.9bn rather than the £4bn ministers have allocated to fund the increase in places.Responding for the government, a DfE spokesperson said: “We are rolling out the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever, and are confident in the strength of our childcare market to deliver 30 free hours of childcare for working parents from nine months old up to when they start school.“Our data shows the number of early years staff and places increased in 2023 – but we know there is more to be done. That’s why we are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to increase hourly funding rates and have allocated £100m in capital funding for more early years and wraparound places and spaces.”They added: “We published our 2024-25 hourly funding rates in November and encourage local authorities to update providers on initial budgets as early as possible ahead of the first phase of the rollout in April.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailRishi Sunak’s claim that the government has cleared the asylum backlog has been called “misleading” by a fact checking organisation. Full Fact, a charity that combats misinformation, reviewed the claim after a row broke out about the backog, with Labour accusing Mr Sunak of a “barefaced lie”. It comes after the statistics watchdog, the Office for Statistics Regulation, launched an investigation into Mr Sunak’s announcement. The prime minister had said that the pledge to clear all so-called legacy asylum claims – counted as those submitted before June 2022 – had been met. Official statistics released on Tuesday showed that 4,500 of these cases had still to be processed. Mr Sunak then went on to suggest that he had cleared the entire backlog, despite data showing that 98,599 claims were still waiting on a decision. He wrote on X, formely Twitter: “I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”The Home Office said Rishi Sunak’s commitment to clear the legacy asylum backlog ‘has been delivered’ Now Full Fact have decided that this statement was misleading. In their review, published on their website on Wednesday, they wrote: “This is misleading. The PM’s claim relates to a subsection of outstanding asylum cases called the ‘legacy backlog’, rather than the overall backlog of cases which still stands at almost 100,000. “Most ‘legacy backlog’ cases have been resolved but around 4,500 are still marked as awaiting an initial decision.”Reacting to Mr Sunak’s comments, Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said they were “just not true”, and shadow immigration minister Steven Kinnock accused him of a “barefaced lie” that was “an insult to the public’s intelligence”. Home secretary James Cleverly had also said that “every single” legacy asylum case had been processed, despite thousands remaining unresolved. He said that the government had “committed to processing all those applications” not completing them. He said it was “impossible” to know when they would be given decisions and said the cases were “complex”. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailThe Prime Minister has successfully defused a Tory revolt, following a crunch vote on his flagship migration policy.The government’s new Rwanda bill would order British judges and courts to ignore some sections of the UK Human Rights Act to allow for the deportation of asylum seekers to the African country.Under the plan, asylum seekers that arrive in Britain will be sent to Rwanda for processing where they could either be granted refugee status or allowed to stay.If not, they could apply to settle there on other grounds or seek asylum in another “safe third country”. So far, no asylum seekers have been sent there.There has been significant division on both sides of the Conservative Party over the bill, with the prime minister facing another battle with his own MPs within weeks after parliament backed his emergency legislation by 313 votes to 269.And he now faces an uphill struggle to pass the bill at its next hurdle after Tory rebels, many of whom abstained instead of voting it down, warned they could not support it without significant changes.It comes as Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker waded into the long-running debate, signing a letter, along with dozens of celebrities and high-profile figures, calling for a new asylum system that “reflects the will of the British people”.We want to know if you think it’s time the divisive immigration scheme was scrapped altogether? What would a new asylum system look like to you? If you want to share your opinion then add it in the comments and we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailPolice are investigating a post by a retired university professor calling on someone to “blow up” a Jewish Labour Movement meeting.The University of Bristol has stripped Harriet Bradley of her emeritus and honorary status, and it’s understood the University of West England has done the same.Prof Bradley, a former Labour councillor and sociology lecturer, has apologised “to all people who’ve been hurt” by the post on social media, which she later deleted.She said she deeply regretted writing the post “in a moment of anger”.The Metropolitan Police have recorded a “massive increase” in antisemitic hate crimes since the eruption of violence between Israel and Hamas militants.Avon and Somerset Police said they were investigating the post as “an incident of malicious communications”.It was in response to a meeting by the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) next month, where speakers include shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.Ms Bradley quoted that post, adding: “Somebody blow up the venue!”The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it had reported the post to counterterrorism police.But the academic admitted it had been a mistake, telling LabourList: “I would like to apologise to anybody hurt or frightened by my tweet. It was a remark made as a joke but I can see now it was a terrible mistake in awful taste.“I am of Jewish heritage, had a Jewish partner for many years and many of my extended family are Jewish.“I feel great respect for the Jewish people but I deplore what Netanyahu and the Israeli Defence Force are doing in Gaza, killing and mutilating thousands of children and babies.”She said her “ill-thought joke” reflected her anger at the Labour Party’s position on Israel.“Of course I do not want to harm anyone…I repeat my apology which is sincere and hope you will make it clear that I wish no harm to British Jews.”Shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire said she was putting pressure on the University of Bristol to take action.The university said: “We are deeply dismayed by the inflammatory comment on social media from a former employee who has long retired and are taking appropriate action.”On Friday, the university added: “We can confirm that we have withdrawn the Emeritus and Honorary Status of retired employee Professor Harriet Bradley with immediate effect.”The University of West England said on Wednesday that it would investigate further.A spokesman for the Community Security Trust charity said: “It is utterly shocking that anyone would make a threat like this against Jewish people, at a time when anti-Jewish hate crime is at record levels.“It’s even worse that this comes from a former councillor and academic who ought to know better.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailAnyone who streams or watches live programmes in Britain must pay an annual TV licence — but a debate has been rumbling for some time as to whether the fee is good value for money any longer.For the past two years the BBC’s TV licence has been frozen at £159, with an agreement it would rise in line with inflationfrom April, and in the three years after that.On Thursday, the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer confirmed the BBC licence fee will rise by £10.50 to £169.50 a year, The licence was expected to increase by 9% – which would have resulted in a hike of around £15 from April 2024.However, speaking in the Commons, Ms Frazer said the increase will instead be based on September’s consumer prices index (CPI) rate of inflation, which was 6.7%. This will mean an increase of £10.50 to £169.50 per year.The licence fee pays for BBC services including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps. Its existence is guaranteed until the end of 2027 at least by the BBC’s royal charter, which sets out its funding and purpose.With the debate around the TV licence thrust back into the limelight, we want to know if you think the fee represents good value for money at £169.50 a year? Is the hike something you’re happy to pay for to maintain the BBC’s output?Or are you keen to see the TV licence scrapped altogether? Would you be happy to see ads on the broadcaster’s TV and radio channels if it meant the fee was axed?If you want to share your opinion then add it in the comments and we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below or by clicking here. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailAnyone who streams or watches live programmes in Britain must pay an annual TV licence — but a debate has been rumbling for some time as to whether the fee is good value for money any longer.For the past two years the BBC’s TV licence has been frozen at £159, with an agreement it would rise in line with inflationfrom April, and in the three years after that.But on Monday morning culture secretary Lucy Frazer effectively confirmed the corporation will have to cope with a below-inflation rise amid reports Rishi Sunak wants to block the hike in the annual charge.A rise in the annual fee in line with inflation would amount to around £15, bumping the tax to £173.30. However, Ms Frazer said she was concerned this would be “high” while the cost of living crisis is ongoing.Her comments came after the prime minsister told reporters that the BBC “should be realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this”.The licence fee pays for BBC services including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps. Its existence is guaranteed until the end of 2027 at least by the BBC’s royal charter, which sets out its funding and purpose.With the debate around the TV licence thrust back into the limelight, we want to know if you think the fee represents good value for money at £159 a year? Is a hike in line with inflation something you would be willing to pay for to maintain the BBC’s output?Or are you keen to see the TV licence scrapped altogether? Would you be happy to see ads on the broadcaster’s TV and radio channels if it meant the fee was axed?If you want to share your opinion then add it in the comments and we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Watch as Michael Gove gives evidence to the Covid inquiry on Tuesday, 28 November. The housing secretary, who was Duchy of Lancaster during the first 18 months of the pandemic, previously told the […] More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email The average family could be expected to pay £120 more a year in council tax despite Jeremy Hunt’s plans to cut inheritance tax in half for the UK’s richest households, according to reports. […] More