UK Politics

Rachel Reeves has denied her own government’s findings that her welfare reforms will push 250,000 people into poverty while refusing to rule out further cuts.The chancellor wants to save £5 billion from the UK’s ballooning welfare bill by making it harder to claim Personal Independence Payments and cutting Universal Credit.An impact assessment, published today by the Department of Work and Pensions, said 3.2 million families – including current and future benefit claimants – will lose an average of £1,720 a year as a result of the changes.It added: “We estimate there will be an additional 250,000 people (including 50,000 children) in relative poverty after housing costs in 2029/30 as a result of modelled changes to social security.”But in an interview with HuffPost UK, the chancellor rejected those findings, claiming they did not take account of what the government is doing to get people back into work.”Those numbers are based on not a single person moving from welfare into work and we are, alongside this package of welfare reforms, putting in £1 billion of targeted, personalised and guaranteed support for anybody on sickness and disability benefits to help them find work that’s appropriate for the situation that they are in,” Ms Reeves said.Rachel Reeves has rejected DWP findings that 250,000 people will be plunged into poverty More

Tackling online child abuse requires a “collective effort by all” including governments and technology companies, the Duchess of Edinburgh has told senior European politicians.Sophie and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips joined forces to highlight the need to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation online.They met in Brussels on Wednesday, where European politicians gathered to draw attention to the harms children face in the digital world.In her role as the patron of the NSPCC and Plan International UK, two charities that are raising awareness about the dangers, the duchess addressed senior European politicians at an event hosted by the European Parliament intergroup on children’s rights.Delivering the keynote speech, Sophie said: “The last time I addressed policymakers here in Brussels was in 2021 when, sadly, the world was already far behind the curve in generating the tools needed to prevent the explosion in the abuse of children online.“Today children everywhere in the world are not only falling victim to adults wishing to groom them but are exposed to an enormous amount of dangerous, harmful and inappropriate content including materials on suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, violence, and pornography, all with consequences which can prove devastating, and can even lead to them taking their own lives.”More than 300 million children have been affected by online child exploitation and abuse in the past year, she said, citing the Global Child Safety Institute.The duchess said 79% of teenagers are using generative AI (artificial intelligence) to learn but they also receive “misleading or dangerous information from chatbots on topics including mental health, suicide and grooming”.“It is a challenge we need to tackle urgently, particularly given the emergence of generative AI”, she added.She noted the introduction of Britain’s Online Safety Act, but added that “neither the UK’s Government nor that of any one country can do it alone.”Sophie said the victim, perpetrator and tech company hosting the online platform may all be in different countries, adding that protecting children “will take a collective effort by all, including governments, technology companies, regulators and legislators, civil society and law enforcement”.Sophie concluded: “Therefore I implore you now, on behalf of the children of today and tomorrow, to redouble your efforts in prioritising their safety and well-being”.The joint visit between the Royal and a Government minister came amid an uptick in the number of the most extreme images online.The Internet Watch Foundation, a charity that monitors child sexual abuse images and urges companies and governments to work to remove them, recorded a 22% increase in category A images – its most serious classification – between 2022 and 2023.This was the worst year on record for child sexual abuse online, according to the IWF.Ahead of the visit, Ms Phillips, said: “Child sexual abuse is a horrific crime that is impacting more and more children, victims and survivors in all of our communities across the world and the effects can last a lifetime.“This most devastating of crimes transcends international borders – victims are often exploited in their homes by offenders across the globe using platforms that are headquartered in many different countries.“It is therefore crucial that we drive forward a global response and improve global capacity to tackle this crime. Enough is enough. We must act now and urgently see strong action from governments, tech, frontline professionals, police and law enforcement.”Ministers plan to introduce stronger laws to clamp down on online child sexual abuse as part of domestic efforts to tackle its spread.Measures in the Crime and Policing Bill currently making its way through Parliament will make it illegal to create or own AI tools designed for making child sexual abuse images, among other new offences. More

The chief inspector of Ofsted has said smartphones should be banned in schools in England.Sir Martyn Oliver said the watchdog will back headteachers who take the “tough” decision to ban phones as he warned that exposure to online content on devices can be “harmful” and “damaging” to children.Sir Martyn, who used to be chief executive of a large academy trust, said he had walked into schools in the past in “utter chaos” where phones were “rife”.In a Q&A with parents in London, the Ofsted boss said: “Headteachers already have the power to ban them and they should ban them.“Ofsted will support schools in banning phones.”Speaking at an event run by charity Parentkind on Wednesday, Sir Martyn said children with developing brains do not need to be “bombarded by non-human algorithms that might be preying upon them”.He added: “It’s harmful and it’s damaging. So I do believe they should be banned.”Schools in England were given non-statutory guidance under the former Conservative government in February last year intended to stop the use of mobile phones during the school day.Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch questioned why the Government opposed a Tory amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require schools to ban the use of phones.In the Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the proposal as “completely unnecessary” as he claimed “almost every school” already bans phones.When asked about phone bans in schools, Sir Martyn said: “I think it’s crucial that Ofsted doesn’t ask schools to do beyond what the Government asks them to do, but I would absolutely support headteachers to take that tough decision even if it led to a spike in behaviour, for example, in the first instance.”He added: “I’ve walked into – I can’t remember exactly how many – special-measures schools in utter chaos, but it’s an awful lot.“Some of them you could easily describe as in some of the most challenging circumstances in the entire country when I went in to sponsor them and there were phones rife everywhere.“And within those schools, within days of banning phones, and as hard as that is initially, you get an immediate sense of calmness across the school.”In a speech on Wednesday, the Ofsted chief called on parents to engage with schools “in the right way” rather than joining a social media “pile-on”.He warned that social media can “hand a microphone to the pub bore, a megaphone to the bully and help the rabble-rouser find his or her rabble without leaving their armchair”.Sir Martyn said: “The world seems to be getting more antagonistic and adversarial. So you can understand why a school leader might be wary of engaging with parents.“But I always found that the way to defuse tensions, tackle rumours and build common purpose with parents is more communication, not less.“More openness, not less. And more information sharing, not less.“So I say join the PTA, don’t join the pile-on.”Earlier this month, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she had tasked officials with exploring how to “more effectively monitor” what is happening in schools in England around the use of smartphones.In a speech to school and college leaders in Liverpool, Ms Phillipson said: “The Government’s position is clear, you have our full backing in ridding our classrooms of the disruption of phones.” More

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

Rachel Reeves’ benefits cuts will push an estimated quarter of a million people, including 50,000 children, into poverty by the end of this decade, according to the government’s own impact assessment.Ministers finally published the document alongside the spring statement, a week after they first outlined moves to slash £5 billion from the welfare bill. It also reveals that 3.2 million families will lose out, on average by £1,720 a year. The impact assessment warned the cuts, that will see more than 1 million disabled people lose their benefits, will result in “an additional 250,000 people (including 50,000 children) in relative poverty after housing costs in 2029/30 as a result of modelled changes to social security”. In response, suspended Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who now sits as an independent, challenged the chancellor, who she said she was earning more than £150,000 and recently took “freebie tickets to see Sabrina Carpenter”, whether the cuts were the change people had voted for last summer.The chancellor’s benefit cuts will plunge 250,000 people into poverty (Dominic Lipinski/PA) More