UK Politics

‘What was the point?’ Starmer grilled on real-life impacts of disability benefits cutsSir Keir Starmer and Diane Abbott have clashed at PMQs, after the veteran Labour MP warned there was “nothing moral” about his government’s £5bn cut to the welfare bill.As the government faces condemnation from charities, unions and some of its own MPs over the move to axe around one million people’s disability benefits, Ms Abbott told him: “This is not about morality, this is about the Treasury’s wish to balance the country’s books on the back of the most vulnerable and poor people in this society.”But Sir Keir insisted that it is a “moral issue” that one-in-eight young people are not in employment, education or training. “I’m not going to turn away from that”, he said, adding: “I am genuinely shocked that a million people, young people, are in that position, and I’m not prepared to shrug my shoulders and walk past it.”Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch criticised the government’s handling of the economy and finances, asking the PM: “The Chancellor claimed that her Budget was a once in a parliamentary reset – so why are we having an emergency Budget next week?”No 10 says Putin’s refusal to accept Trump ceasefire is ‘disappointing’ Vladimir Putin’s refusal to accept an immediate ceasefire without conditions is “disappointing”, Downing Street has said.The prime minister’s official spokesperson told reporters: “We obviously welcome President Trump’s efforts to secure a ceasefire in this space, but it is also disappointing that Putin has not agreed to a full-on, immediate ceasefire without conditions, as Ukraine has done.”Andy Gregory19 March 2025 14:52MPs laugh as Lee Anderson says he ‘asks sensible questions’ in CommonsReform MP Lee Anderson drew a wave of laughter from MPs as he claimed to come to the Commons every week “to ask sensible questions”.He then proceeded to ask the prime minister what he called “a very simple question on behalf of all the net zero sceptics”, asking: “If we became net zero tomorrow, by how much would it reduce the Earth’s temperature by?”According to the Royal Society, even if greenhouse gas emissions were to suddenly stop, the Earth’s surface temperature would require thousands of years to cool and return to the level in the pre-industrial era. But leading scientists say that reaching net zero is the only way to stop potentially catastrophic further warming in the years to come.Andy Gregory19 March 2025 14:40Watch: Farage ‘can’t even lead party that fits in back of a taxi’, jokes StarmerStarmer says Nigel Farage ‘can’t even lead a party that fits in the back of a taxi’Andy Gregory19 March 2025 14:28Starmer backs calls from Gareth Southgate and Adolescence stars to tackle culture of young male violenceOur Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin reports: Jabed Ahmed19 March 2025 14:17UK sickness-related economic inactivity prejected to rise 61% by 2030The proportion of the UK workforce who are economically inactive because of sickness is projected to rise from 5.4% in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 to 8.0% in 2030, new figures show.People are classed as economically inactive if they are of working age (16 to 64 years old) and not in employment but not currently looking for work.The figures are projections, not forecasts or predictions, as they have been modelled on trends over the past five years.They have been published by the Department for Work & Pensions using data from the Annual Population Survey, Labour Force Survey and the latest Office for National Statistics population projections.The number of people in the UK workforce who are economically inactive because of sickness is projected to rise from 2.25 million in 2019 to 3.62 million in 2030 – a jump of 61%.However, over the same period the proportion of the workforce economically inactive for all other reasons – including study, care or early retirement – is projected to fall, from 15.3% to 12.1%.Jabed Ahmed19 March 2025 14:06Trussell Trust says people are ‘terrified of how they might survive’ after welfare cutsHelen Barnard, director of policy, research and impact at Trussell, said: “We’re deeply concerned by the cuts announced to disability payments today. People at food banks have told us they are terrified of how they might survive. “We welcome the positive proposals from the Department for Work and Pensions to boost the basic rate to Universal Credit and invest in employment support. “However, we fear these steps will be undermined by a Treasury drive to make short-term savings. Huge cuts risk pushing more disabled people to the doors of food banks, and will have devastating consequences for us all. “The UK government was elected on manifesto pledges to end the need for emergency food parcels. This isn’t what people voted for.“Disabled people are already three times more likely to face hunger, and three quarters of people at food banks are disabled or live with someone who is. Our social security system should be rooted in justice and compassion, able to be there for us all, especially when we need it most.“This isn’t a done deal. With at least a year before any cuts come into force, there’s still time for the Prime Minister and Chancellor to rethink and make good on today’s promise to restore trust and fairness in the social security system.”Jabed Ahmed19 March 2025 13:57Martin Lewis warns Labour £5bn benefits cuts are ‘fraught with challenges’My colleague Albert Toth reports: Jabed Ahmed19 March 2025 13:36Watch | MPs discuss Netflix’s Adolescence in bid to stop violence against women and girlsMPs discuss Netflix’s Adolescence in bid to stop violence against women and girlsJabed Ahmed19 March 2025 13:23‘Sickness not work has paid far too long’, warns leading thinktank after Labour’s £5bn benefit reformsOur Political Editor David Maddox reports: Jabed Ahmed19 March 2025 12:54Labour MP condemns Starmer over benefits overhaul Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, has warned Sir Keir Starmer the government will face “the mother of all rebellions” if it does not drop its welfare reforms.Writing on X, Mr Burgon said: “The Prime Minister was unable to answer a simple question today about why a disabled person who needs help to eat, wash and manage toilet needs could no longer get PIP under his proposals.“The Government must drop this cruel proposal or it’ll face the mother of all rebellions.”( More

Keir Starmer has backed calls from Gareth Southgate and the stars of the hit TV show Adolescence to tackle toxic misogyny and give young men the role models they need. He said violence carried out by young men influenced by what they see online was “abhorrent” and “a real problem”. He also warned that the issue was “growing and emerging” and is also one of “culture”. The former England manager has highlighted the dangers of social media and said the current generation of young men need to be saved from a particular type of influencer as he delivered the Richard Dimbleby Lecture.Adolescence ’s Stephen Graham has also issued a warning to parents about the dangers of the internet. More

Brexit has created a “mind blowing” nearly two billion extra pieces of paperwork for businesses – enough to wrap around the world 15 times. If they were all laid end to end they would also reach to the moon and half way back again, an analysis of research by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade by the Liberal Democrats found. Lib Dem trade spokesperson Clive Jones said it showed the scale of red tape plaguing British businesses since the UK’s withdrawal from Europe. He said: “The Conservatives’ botched Brexit deal is suffocating businesses, tying them up in a Gordian Knot of red tape, as they try to export our fantastic British products and produce across the world. These figures are mind blowing.” The scale of Brexit red tape has been revealed More

Labour’s plans to reform the welfare system by getting more people into work is the best route to helping people out a poverty, a leading think tank says, warning that ”for too long now it’s been sickness that pays”.The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), founded by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, did the groundwork for the last overhaul of welfare and the creation of the universal credit.But it has raised concerns that work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall’s reforms do not go far enough to deal with an over-medicated population. It comes as the CSJ has published a report showing that 84 per cent of GPs believe too much medicine is being handed out for mental health issues, particularly depression.Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced £5bn in cuts (James Manning/PA) More

A furious row has broken out after a Labour MP serving on the assisted dying bill committee was forced to leave because her hearing aid batteries had run flat.Bradford West MP Naz Shah posted on X (formerly Twitter) last night to express her frustration because the committee session had been extended, despite her warning that her hearing aids would need recharging.She posted on X: “I apologised to the members of the assisted dying bill committee tonight as I had to leave early. I didn’t want to but had to because my hearing aids need to recharge after 15 hours use and without them I cannot hear or take part in the committee. Naz Shah More

A Labour minister has hit back at left-wing critics of government benefit cuts, accusing them of “defending a Tory benefit system”.Pensions minister Torsten Bell said the current welfare system “has failed and is driving up the number of people who are out of work and receiving benefits”. And, asked about critics of the government, including former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Mr Bell said: “I’ve said this gently to John and to others that they are defending a Tory benefit system that writes off millions as unable to work.” Torsten Bell said left-wing critics were “defending a Tory benefit system” More

Boris Johnson, one of Britain’s best known supporters of Donald Trump, has vented his fury after the failure of the US President’s talks with Vladimir Putin.The former prime minister claimed that Putin’s refusal to agree to Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war shows the Russian leader is ‘laughing at us.’Mr Johnson, who led Europe’s support for Ukraine when the war started during his prime ministership, said Putin had showed that far from wanting peace he was determined to ‘keep bombing and killing innocent Ukrainians.’Donald Trump supporter and former British prime minister Boris Johnson (right) has vented his fury over the failure of the US president’s talks with Putin More

Britain’s Labour Party government on Tuesday announced an overhaul of the welfare system that it says will save the cash-strapped administration 5 billion pounds ($6.5 billion). Critics claim it will harm some of the U.K.’s most vulnerable people.The government says the shakeup will help people who are currently “written off” find jobs. It’s a risky strategy for a party founded more than a century ago to fight for the rights of working people, and it has made trade unions and party supporters uneasy.Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the government had inherited a broken social security system that is “failing the very people it is supposed to help and holding our country back.”She said Britain’s statistics are stark, with one in 10 working-age people claiming a sickness or disability benefit, and “millions of people who could work trapped on benefits.”Blaming the Conservatives, who lost power in July after 14 years, for damaging the economy and health system, Kendall said “the social security system will always be there for people in genuine need.”But she announced changes to the way disabilities are assessed. Campaigners say that will make it harder for people to get and keep benefits.The changes, which will have to be approved by Parliament, are expected to save more than 5 billion pounds by 2030.Not everything is being cut. The overhaul also includes an above-inflation increase to universal credit, one of the most common welfare benefits. Kendall said 1 billion pounds will be spent to “tear down barriers to work,” including new rules allowing welfare recipients to try out paid jobs without losing their benefits.The government claims a lack of support towards employment is trapping sick and disabled people in economic inactivity. Kendall said that “in most comparable countries” spending on sickness and disability benefits “is either stable or falling – whilst ours continues to inexorably rise.”The Disability Benefits Consortium, which represents more than 100 charities and organizations, said the “cruel” changes “will largely hit those who are unable to work and rely on these benefits to survive.”Sarah Hughes, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said the cuts would make it harder for people to get support and “will only serve to deepen the nation’s mental health crisis.”Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s center-left government has seen its popularity plummet as it grapples with a sluggish economy and creaking public services.Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is due to make a spring budget statement on March 26, and is expected to trim public spending to make up for lower-than-expected tax takings and high borrowing costs.Tuesday’s welfare announcement followed weeks of speculation about how deep the cuts would be.Labour lawmaker Imran Hussain said that “thousands of the most severely disabled people in my constituency, and millions across the U.K., have watched in disbelief as politicians debate cuts to the support that enables their very survival, leaving many at breaking point.”Kendall said she understood “the worry and anxiety.”“And I hope I’ve made it clear to the House today, I don’t start from a position of being tough,” she said. “I start by precisely from a position of compassion.” More