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Sir Keir Starmer admitted that things are “worse than we ever imagined” as he warned of the government’s forthcoming Budget in his first key speech as prime minister on Tuesday, 27 August.The PM said his warning came due to a £22bn “black hole” in public finances, claiming to have found out last week that the Conservatives had borrowed almost £5bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility expected.Sir Keir also defended his decisions to release some prisoners early and means-test the pensioners’ winter fuel allowance as “tough actions” are needed to fix the country’s foundations. More

Labour minister Pat McFadden has told pensioners concerned about plans to restrict winter fuel payments that it is “not a decision (Labour) wanted to take”.Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Sunday (25 August), Mr McFadden said: “When we came into office we found billions of pounds of unfunded spending commitments… so we had to make a very difficult decision.“It’s really important that people know that if they’re entitled to Pension Credit they’ll still get this benefit. There are an estimated almost 900,000 pensioners who are entitled to Pension Credit who don’t currently claim it.“We will do everything we can to encourage people to claim this. We want people to claim things they’re entitled to.” More

Journalist Nick Robinson has revealed the moment he thought a “furious” prime minister was going to hit him.The BBC presenter recalled attending a G20 summit in 2009, with the then prime minister Gordon Brown.Robinson discussed the moment with No. 10 communications director Simon Lewis on the BBC Radio 4Today podcast on Friday (16 August).He said: “It’s the closest I have ever come to a serving politician hitting me. I genuinely thought Gordon Brown was going to hit me at one stage, he was so furious.” More

Jess Phillips has said she “could have phrased” a tweet shared after gangs of men in balaclavas turned out in Birmingham “better”.The Home Office minister wrote that “rumours have been spread that a far right group were coming and it was done entirely to get Muslim people out on the street to drive this content. It is misinformation being spread to create trouble” after masked men threatened a Sky reporter in Birmingham earlier in August.Phillips’ post came after groups of men gathered outside a mosque in the Bordesley Green area following rumours that the far right were planning on targeting it.Ms Phillips later said: “We felt it wasn’t real what was being told… that people were coming to harm them was undoubtedly to cause upset and fear and that’s exactly what it did.” More

Elon Musk’s comments on far-right rioting in the UK were “unjustifiable,” justice minister Heidi Alexander has said in condemnation of the X/Twitter owner.The head of the social media network replied to a video on the platform depicting rioting in the UK with a claim that “civil war is inevitable.”Mr Musk’s comments came as violence spread across the UK following the deaths of three children in a stabbing attack in Southport last week.Rioting followed the spread of false claims online that the suspect, identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana from Lancashire, was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat. More

Jeremy Hunt has responded to Rachel Reeves’ accusation that he is a “liar” over almost £22bn of unfunded commitments that she said were “covered up from the country”.The chancellor has announced that 10 million pensioners will lose out on winter fuel payments in an attempt to fill the black hole, while public sector staff will receive a pay rise.Ms Reeves’ Tory predecessor told Sky News on Tuesday (30 July) that her comments were “disappointing.””It discredits politics when people call each other liars. I thought more highly of Rachel Reeves,” Mr Hunt added as he described feeling insulted. More

Rachel Reeves called Jeremy Hunt a “liar” after accusing the previous government of leaving almost £22bn of unfunded commitments that it had “covered up from the country”.The chancellor has announced that 10 million pensioners will lose out on winter fuel payments in an attempt to fill the black hole.Ms Reeves also announced that Labour has made a 22 per cent two-year pay offer to junior doctors while teachers and NHS staff will receive a 5.5 per cent rise.Ms Reeves told Sky News on Tuesday that her predecessor “knowingly and deliberately” hid the true state of public finances.”He lied, and they lied during the election campaign about the state of public finances,” she added. More

The chancellor has suggested the Conservatives “put party before country” as she blamed Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt for a black hole in public finances.Rachel Reeves told the House of Commons on Monday 29 July that the previous government “continued to make unfunded commitment after unfunded commitment, knowing that the money was not there”.“The scale of this overspend is not sustainable. Not to act is simply not an option,” she added, saying the Tories “hid” the true extent of Treasury overspend from the public.Her claim was met with a disgruntled look from Mr Hunt, the former chancellor. More