The government is expected to announce a deal shortly with Labour rebels on its planned benefits changes. Multiple sources tell the BBC existing claimants of the Personal Independence Payment (Pip) will continue to receive what they currently get, as will recipients of the health element of Universal Credit. It is also expected that the support...
And, what is it like being married to a Cabinet Minister? Read full article at source...
On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer insisted that he would plough on with the government’s proposed welfare reforms. For Labour MPs, that only made things worse. Today’s task for the prime minister and his team: make things better. The clear change of tone right from the start of the day was the first sign of that...
The government is in talks with Labour MPs about possible changes to its welfare policies, Downing Street has confirmed. In a notable softening of tone, No 10 said that they “want” to hold a vote on Tuesday – as is currently planned – and admitted that getting the policy right was “not easy”. It follows...
A growing number of Labour MPs are supporting a bid to block the government’s planned welfare changes, despite ministers phoning backbenchers to persuade them to back down. More than 130 MPs, including 122 Labour MPs, have signed an amendment that would give them the opportunity to vote on a proposal to reject plans to cut...
About 80 Labour MPs are supporting a fresh effort to block the government’s planned changes to the benefits system, the BBC has been told. The MPs have signed an amendment that would give them an opportunity to vote on a proposal to reject the welfare reform bill in its entirety. Dozens of Labour MPs have...
Paul Seddon Political reporter Getty Images Ministers say the changes will help areas with cheaper property values Councils in more deprived areas of England are set to receive a greater share of government cash, under a planned overhaul of funding rules. The shake-up will see formulas that affect how billions of pounds are allocated to...
Iain Watson Political correspondent Christina McSorley Political producer BBC Britain’s welfare system is broken. Just about every Labour MP – maybe every member of Parliament – agrees with this. But fixing the system is proving to be a problem. The most divisive decision taken so far by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is to...
The final act in this slow motion U-turn has played out. The arc of this row runs to almost a year. It was late July last year when I was among a bunch of reporters called into the Treasury to question the then new chancellor about her out-of-the-blue policy to take the Winter Fuel Payment...
BBC The strategising and multi-year planning going on ahead of this week’s Spending Review is the bread and butter of any well-run economy. A Spending Review shows how resources are being allocated between departments and so indicates the government’s “when-push-comes-to-shove” priorities. But this time it will be a “different sort of Spending Review”, the chancellor’s...
Angus Cochrane BBC Scotland News Davy Russell is elected as Labour MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Scottish Labour has taken Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse from the SNP in a closely fought by-election. The pary’s Davy Russell won with 8,559 votes, with a majority of 602 over the SNP. The vote followed the death of...
David Wallace Lockhart BBC Scotland political correspondent PA Media Party leader Anas Sarwar celebrates Scottish Labour’s by-election victory Let’s start with the basics – victory in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election is a good result for Scottish Labour. Their position in the polls has slipped considerably since last year’s general election and they’ve often...
Ankur Shah Editor, BBC Global China Unit BBC The sprawling city of Chongqing in southwestern China is an incredible sight. Built on mountainous terrain and crisscrossed by rivers, it is connected by vast elevated roads. Trains even run through some buildings. TikTokers have begun documenting their commutes in the striking urban architecture, generating millions of...
“Keir Starmer’s government is sacrificing millions of working-class votes for the Labour Party on the altar of big business profits, militarism and war”, Communist Party General Secretary Robert Griffiths told our Party’s Political Committee on Tuesday evening (27 May 2025). “Scores of billions of pounds extra can be found for more nuclear weapons, to...
Sean Dilley & Molly Stazicker Transport correspondent & transport producer PA Heidi Alexander making a speech this week in front of a train carriage with the new GBR logo South Western Railway (SWR) has been renationalised, making it the first train company to transfer to public ownership under Labour. The first nationalised service, from Woking...