UK Politics

The government is keeping a watch-list of potential ministerial resignations over Sir Keir Starmer’s benefit cuts, a Labour grandee has revealed. Harriet Harman said she is bracing for resignations over the controversial move to slash billions from the welfare bill. The Labour peer, a former minister and deputy leader of the party, said resignations would not be at the top level – meaning those who attend weekly cabinet meetings. But she told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast “there are people on a watch list at the moment”. Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is already set to introduce additional protections to the Welfare Reform Bill which will implement the cuts, an important concession as fears grow of a major backbench rebellion over the measures.Harriet Harman said junior ministers could quit over the changes More

A ban on advertising assisted dying is to be debated as the controversial Bill returns to Parliament.The regulation of substances to be used by a terminally ill person to bring about their death is also due to be discussed by MPs in the Commons on Friday.The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is undergoing a second day of report stage, with various amendments likely to be debated and possibly voted on.Its third reading – where a vote is taken on the overall Bill – could take place next Friday.The Bill passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 during a historic vote in November, which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying.Some MPs who voted in favour last year could reportedly withdraw their support amid concerns around safeguards and how much scrutiny the proposed legislation has received, while others might switch to supporting a Bill that backers argue has been strengthened over time.Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returns to Parliament for further debate on Friday (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA) More

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is poised to advocate for the end of the windfall tax on oil and gas firms and the ban on new licences in a major speechInitially established by the prior Conservative administration but extended upon Labour’s ascent to power, the energy profits levy was intended to finance initiatives aimed at reducing household expenses. However, the policy has faced criticism from within the industry.Addressing the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh on Friday, Ms Badenoch is anticipated to champion the oil and gas sector, accusing the UK Government of “killing” it. She is expected to assert that “renewing our party and our country means standing up for our oil and gas industry”.She will add: “When the oil and gas windfall tax, the energy profits levy, was brought in, the oil price was near a historic high, at the exact time as energy bills for the British people were sky-rocketing.“But there is no longer a windfall to tax. It has long gone. And the longer this regressive tax on one of our most successful industries remains, the more damaging it becomes.Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch More

Jonathan Reynolds has mocked Nigel Farage for wanting to reopen the coal mines in Wales, dubbing him an “absolute parody”. The business secretary, whose grandfather was a coal miner, admitted that Reform UK are Labour’s biggest opponents – but said Mr Farage fails to understand “the pride in where we’re from and what we represent, but also the aspiration for the future”. Speaking at a media lunch in parliament, Mr Reynolds also defended the UK’s plan for closer trade ties with the US, saying: “We might have different views but we have to engage with them”. Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds More

Radical reforms could see hospitals taking over GP surgeries and family doctors running hospitals, under new plans to reform the NHS in England.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the forthcoming 10-year plan would also see “much of what’s done in a hospital today, will be done on the high street”.He stressed that the government was “not embarking on another top-down reorganisation” of the health service.The plan is expected to be published in July.Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester, Mr Streeting said: “The NHS should not be bound by traditional expectations of how services should be arranged.”I am open to our strongest acute trusts providing not just community services, as many already do, but also primary care.”Whatever services will enable them to meet the needs of their patients in a more integrated and efficient way.”Indeed, I would hope that those old-fashioned labels – acute, community – become increasingly meaningless.”Likewise, there is no reason why successful GPs should not be able to run local hospitals, or why nurses should not be leading neighbourhood health services.”Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves meet staff in the outpatients department during a visit to St Thomas’ Hospital in London More

People with anorexia could be allowed to die by assisted death under a proposed bill, more than 250 campaigners have warned, urging MPs to vote down the legislation when it returns to the Commons.A letter to MPs, signed by 268 people who have suffered with eating disorders, warned: “If this bill had been law during the years many of us were struggling, we would have used it to end our lives.” Campaigner Chelsea Roff, the founder of the eating disorder organisation Eat Breathe Thrive, warned that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill contains “dangerous loopholes that have enabled suicidal women with anorexia to die by assisted death” in other countries. Kim Leadbeater speaking during the debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill More

The influential Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned Rachel Reeves that any more bad economic news will “almost certainly” spark fresh tax rises. Council tax will already have to rise at its fastest rate in a generation, the IFS said, as it added to concerns the chancellor has left herself with little room for manoeuvre a day after she unveiled her spending plans for the rest of the parliament. The warning came as the government was hit with the bad news that the economy had shrunk by 0.3 per cent, sparking fears of a potential recession.Ms Reeves came into office with a pledge to grow the economy, but it has been sluggish at best in her first year.Paul Johnson, the outgoing director of the IFS, said council tax is set to rise at its fastest rate for 20 years as local government tries to close its funding gaps with annual increases of up to 5 per cent. More councils could also reach a “tipping point” unless demands on their resources fall, the think tank warned. Rachel Reeves insisted she would not need to increase taxes on the same scale as in her first budget, but declined to rule out rises altogether More

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has branded Labour’s claims that it has boosted military spending “a con” after concerns were raised over how the figures are being calculated.The row has exploded following Rachel Reeves’ spending review on Wednesday where she boasted that defence spending would be 2.6 per cent of GDP. But this included wrapping in security and intelligence spending for the first time.Earlier this year prime minister Sir Keir Starmer controversially slashed international aid to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, two years ahead of schedule. At the time he also promised it would rise to 3 per cent by 2034.Sir Ben Wallace (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More