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    Starmer’s welfare cuts could leave thousands of disabled women trapped with abusers, campaigners warn

    Thousands of disabled women could find themselves trapped with abusers as a result of the government’s upcoming welfare cuts, campaigners have warned, despite Sir Keir Starmer offering significant concessions on the reforms late on Thursday.In the face of a growing rebellion, the prime minister announced adjustments to his welfare bill, including protecting personal independence payments (PIP) for all existing claimants – a move that is expected to ensure the legislation passes its second reading on Tuesday.But domestic violence charity Refuge and the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) have issued a stark warning over the reforms, saying that in the long term, the cuts to vital funding for daily living costs for disabled people – which will impact all new claimants – will make it difficult for those at risk to flee abusive relationships.Keir Starmer has pledged to halve violence against women and girls More

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    Farage ‘plans to put business leaders in cabinet’ if Reform wins power

    Nigel Farage is controversially attempting to woo business leaders by pledging to make some of them ministers if Reform UK wins the next general election. As it fights intense criticism of its economic plans, Mr Farage’s party is trying to win over influential figures in the city, according to the Financial Times. After the news emerged, Keir Starmer took aim at Mr Farage, calling him a “wolf in Wall Street clothing” who has “no idea what he’s talking about”. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (PA) More

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    Labour should introduce minister for porn, Conservative peer says

    Labour should appoint a minister for porn to tackle the wave of “violent, abusive and misogynistic” images, a Conservative peer has said. Baroness Gabby Bertin, who leads the Independent Pornography Review Taskforce, said that MPs shy away from tackling abuse in the porn industry out of embarrassment. “We’re really British about it so we don’t want to have a graphic conversation about sex and porn. But you’ve got to shout about it as loudly as possible. The reason why we’ve got into this mess is because nobody has really wanted to talk about it,” she told The Guardian. She is pushing for the government to appoint a ministry for porn to make sure the issue gets addressed. “You can’t leave the pitch on this stuff just because you’re worried about being accused of being too strait-laced,” she added. A review, commissioned by Rishi Sunak’s government and led by Baroness Gabby, proposed banning degrading, violent and misogynistic pornography. Eight percent of children aged eight to 14 have accessed online porn sites, according to Ofcom research More

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    Starmer defends benefits U-turn and says fixing broken welfare system a ‘moral imperative’

    Sir Keir Starmer has warned Britain’s benefits system is broken and fixing it is a “moral imperative”, days after a revolt by his own backbenchers forced him into a U-turn on welfare cuts. The Labour leader announced the climbdown late this week, in the face of potential defeat by Labour MPs over his plans. On Saturday he pledged Labour would not “take away the safety net” on which vulnerable people rely. But he added that he could not let welfare “become a snare for those who can and want to work” as he said that “everyone agrees” on the need for change. Sir Keir Starmer said fixing the ‘broken’ system must be done in a ‘Labour way’ (Screengrab/Welsh Labour TV/PA) More

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    Starmer urged to act after Trump threatens Commonwealth ally Canada

    Keir Starner is facing calls to act after Donald Trump cut off talks with Canada and threatened the Commonwealth country with more trade tariffs.Just weeks before president Trump is due to meet King Charles, Canada’s official head of state, on a visit to the UK, he claimed he had “such power” over the country but added “I’d rather not use it.” In a move that caused market turmoil amid fears of a renewal of Trump’s trade war, he said he would tell Canada the levies they will have to pay on goods entering the US “….within the next seven day period.” US President Donald Trump is presented with a letter from the King in February suggesting a first meeting and then a state visit (Carl Court/PA) More

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    Blow for Starmer as five EU countries oppose ‘one in, one out’ migrant deal with France

    Five EU countries have criticised a proposed “one in, one out” migration deal between France and Britain, saying it could see asylum seekers returned to their shores instead. Sir Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron are working on an agreement that would reportedly see Britain return small boat migrants to France in exchange for asylum seekers with families ties in the UK. The precise terms of the deal are still being worked out but Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus have already sounded the alarm on the proposed plans. The Financial Times reported that the five nations have sent a letter to the European Commission objecting to the “one in one out” policy. French President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer More

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    Labour’s relationship with working class ‘broken’ as analysis reveals it is now the party of wealthy

    Labour has been warned that its relationship with the working class is broken as stark new analysis shows it is increasingly becoming the party of the wealthy. New analysis by YouGov shows Britons earning more than £70,000 are now more likely to vote for Labour than any other party in a shock turnaround in UK politics. Poorer voters have have turned to Reform, whose popularity is soaring in the polls. Nigel Farage has declared that his party is “now the real party of the working class”.It comes as Sir Keir Starmer was forced into a U-turn over plans to slash benefits for the poorest and disabled in a stand off which calls into question his own authority less than a year in office. The prime minister needed the £5bn a year savings, but faced a rebellion from 122 Labour MPs who signed an amendment designed to kill his welfare reform bill. Leading pollster Lord Robert Hayward warned that the findings were part of a trend which has seen Labour’s traditional relationship with the working class “broken”.He said: “The working class has always been socially conservative but dependent on the state, so voted Labour. The link has been broken — firstly by Brexit, then by immigration. Farage recently declared Reform UK is the party of the working class More

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    Record number of rare hen harriers killed or missing in the past five years, RSPB warns

    Record numbers of hen harriers have been killed or gone missing under suspicious circumstances in the last five years, according to the RSPB. The protected bird species is one of the rarest in the UK, known for their acrobatic “skydancing” courtship display over the uplands, such as Forest of Bowland in Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales. A total of 102 the protected birds of prey were illegally killed or went missing between 2020 and 2024 – mostly in areas where grouse shooting takes place, the RSPB says. Some hen harriers were shot and their chicks were stamped on, while others were poisoned or illegally trapped, according to the charity.Chicks were killed underfoot, the report reveals More