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Rishi Sunak accused Sir Keir Starmer of putting “highly-paid” train drivers ahead of vulnerable pensioners during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 4 September.Mr Sunak suggested Sir Keir has taken money away from “low-income” pensioners to give it to “certain unionised workforces in inflation busting pay rises”.“Can the prime minister explain to Britain’s low-income pensioners, why he has taken money away from them, whilst at the same time, given more money to highly-paid train drivers?” he asked.In response, the PM pointed to the legacy left by the Conservative government, claiming Labour inherited “absolute chaos from the party opposite”. More

James Cleverly suggested the Conservatives have turned into the “grumpy party” as he launched his leadership bid on Monday 2 September.The former home secretary vowed to reduce migration and restore “confidence in capitalism” as he calls for party unity in what was billed as a major speech in his campaign.After delivering his address, Mr Cleverly was asked by reporters how he would draw young voters back to the Tories.“We’ve never been the nasty party, I’ve never subscribed to that, but we have turned into the grumpy party, and young people are turned off by that,” he said.“So let’s change that. Let’s be optimistic. Let’s focus on them, attract them to the party, listen to their voices and deliver on their aspirations, and that’s what I would do.” More

Sir Keir Starmer has been spending more time removing portraits of “great strong conservative female leaders” rather than governing, Priti Patel said during the official launch of her Tory leadership bid on Friday, 30 August.The former home secretary’s remark came after the prime minister moved a £100,000 portrait of Margaret Thatcher in 10 Downing Street because he found it “unsettling”.Conservative MPs have described the decision as “petty” and a “vindictive” act.”If he wants a picture to replace Margaret Thatcher, he can always have this one,” Patel added. More

Angela Rayner was filmed dancing behind DJ decks at an Ibiza nightclub with Fisher and Denise Van Outen.Footage posted to the TV presenter’s Instagram page showed what she described as a “surprise DJ booth rave up” with the deputy prime minister.Rayner wore a red dress as she partied with the Australian music producer, singing along to a dance remix of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.”She was filmed jumping and dancing as smoke cannons erupted at the venue. More

Nigel Farage has branded smokers the “heroes of the nation in terms of the amount of taxation they pay”, in response to a potential cigarettes ban outside pubs.The Reform UK leader lit up a cigarette outside the Westminster Arms shortly before 6pm on Thursday (29 August), less than 400m from the Prime Minister’s official residence in Downing Street.Sir Keir Starmer earlier told reporters the loss of lives because of smoking are “preventable” and that his ministers would “take decisions” on an outdoor cigarettes ban.According to leaked Whitehall papers, ministers could extend the indoor smoking ban to beer gardens, university and hospital campuses, sports grounds, children’s play areas and small parks. More

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey has said his party will attempt to block the government’s proposed move to end the winter fuel allowance to some pensioners, describing the move as the new administration’s “first big mistake”.Sir Ed said Labour MPs and others across the House will be “genuinely worried” about the move after correspondence with constituents.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government is withdrawing winter fuel payments from millions of pensioner households not in receipt of benefits.The Liberal Democrat leader believes the move would “hit millions” so a vote in parliament is needed, urging the government to “think again”. More

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