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Rachel Reeves has said that pensioners should be able to afford the government’s decision to slash winter fuel payments because of increases to the state pension and energy bills being lower than previous years.
Tory MP Wendy Morton questioned Ms Reeves decision to implement the controversial policy that will impact 10 million pensioners who have “worked hard all their lives”.
Ms Reeves replied: “The increases in the basic state pension mean that constituents of hers are £900 better off than they were a year ago and of course energy bills are lower this year than they were last year.
The chancellor’s appearance in the House of Commons comes amid a deepening row over the UK’s decision to suspend the export of some arms to Israel.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted furiously to the UK’s decision, describing it as “shameful” and “misguided”.
However, a number of left-wing MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, have urged for a full arms embargo to be implemented on Israel.
Mr Corbyn shared a letter signed by the five MPs who are part of the newly formed Independent Alliance group calling for an “immediate and total arms embargo to Israel”.
Key Points
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves says pensioners can afford winter fuel payment cuts
- Left-wing MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, call for total arms embargo against Israel
- Israel PM Netanyahu says UK decision to suspend arms sales ‘shameful’
- UK export licence suspension won’t have ‘material’ impact on Israel, UK minister says
- Tom Tugendhat launches leadership campaign and says voters deserve apology from Tory Party
Starmer gets new kitten to join Larry the cat in Downing Street
Downing Street’s Larry the cat now faces competition for his job as No 10’s chief mouser following the news that Sir Keir Starmer is bringing a new kitten home.
Sir Keir Starmer has let his children get the kitten after “a long summer of negotiations”, meaning Larry will welcome a long-awaited recruit.
The prime minister said he had come around to getting the new family pet after his children had pleaded with him to get a dog, he revealed in a BBC 5 Live interview with Matt Chorley.
The Siberian kitten will join Larry who has become something of a celebrity figure over the last decade, often appearing in the street amid important political moments.
Athena Stavrou reports
Starmer gets new kitten to join Larry the cat in Downing Street
Downing Street cannot get a cat flap in its bomb-proof doors
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 21:00 1725390040Lucy Letby: ‘Highly probable’ serial killer is innocent, Tory MP David Davis says
Former cabinet minister Sir David Davis has said he believes it is “highly probable” serial killer nurse Lucy Letby is innocent.
The NHS neonatal nurse is currently serving 15 whole life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders of babies while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Monday (2 September), the former Brexit secretary explained why he believes there is “more than reasonable doubt” over Letby’s conviction.
‘Highly probable’ Lucy Letby is innocent, Tory MP David Davis says
The former Brexit secretary said several doctors and experts had contacted him with their concerns
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 20:00 1725386440The UK is failing to get children ready for school – and time is running out
Children can barely recognise basic words by the time they start school. Investing in early years education is essential for their future, writes Sarah Brown, wife of former PM Gordon Brown and chair of children’s charity Theirworld
The UK is failing to get children ready for school – and time is running out
Children can barely recognise basic words by the time they start school. Investing in early years education is essential for their future, writes Sarah Brown, wife of former PM Gordon Brown and chair of children’s charity Theirworld
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 19:00 1725382900Former Labour frontbencher hits out as Starmer faces backlash over winter fuel cuts
A former frontbencher has hit out at the government’s plans to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners as Keir Starmer faces a growing Labour backlash over the issue.
Melanie Onn has called on ministers to consider changes to the policy to ensure older people are “not left in the cold this winter”.
Her warning comes as pressure mounts on the prime minister over the decision to remove the allowance from 10 million people, after the regulator Ofgem announced household energy bills will rise by £150 in October.
Kate Devlin reports
UK to gets nine new offshore wind farms
There were none last year
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 18:01 1725381040Watch: Tories turned into 'grumpy party', James Cleverly says in leadership bid
UK to gets nine new offshore wind farms
Britain is set to get nine new offshore wind farms after the Government’s latest renewables auction.
The nine new projects compare to none last year, and include what will be Europe’s largest and second largest wind farm projects – Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4 off the Yorkshire coast.
They are part of a new wave of green power projects including onshore wind and solar farms, which officials said will generate enough power for 11 million homes.
UK to gets nine new offshore wind farms
There were none last year
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 17:00 1725377440Cabinet Secretary backs Labour in ‘Tory £22bn black hole’ row
Britain’s top civil servant has rebuked the Conservatives for suggesting Labour exaggerated the scale of the black hole in the public finances when Sir Keir Starmer took office.
Cabinet secretary Simon Case said Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt’s failure to hold a spending review in its last year in office added to the uncertainty facing the Treasury.
It came after Mr Hunt, who served as chancellor until the general election, wrote to Mr Case in July to criticise what he described as “deeply troubling” statements by Rachel Reeves about the state of the public purse.
Archie Mitchell reports
Cabinet Secretary backs Labour in ‘Tory £22bn black hole’ row
Simon Case rebukes Conservatives for suggesting Labour exaggerated state of public finances
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 16:30 1725375693Tugendhat doubles down on bid to win over rightwing Tories with attack on human rights convention
Tom Tugendhat doubled down on his bid to reinvent himself as a candidate of the Tory right as he waded into the growing debate within the party over ditching the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
Just 24 hours after the contest’s frontrunner Kemi Badenoch had dismissed leaving the ECHR as an attempt to seek “easy answers”, the former security minister told his supporters that he was willing to ditch it.
When the race to replace Rishi Sunak began after the election disaster for the Tories, Mr Tugendhat had been seen as the candidate for the party’s One Nation group on the left who would try to win back power from the centre ground of British politics.
Our political editor David Maddox has the latest
Tugendhat doubles down on bid to win over Tory right with ECHR attack
Tom Tugendhat has continued his efforts to reinvent himself as a candidate of the Tory right with a verbal assault on the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR)
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 16:01 1725375640Voices: Boris has sunk to a new low with his Israel intervention – even by his standards
For Johnson to claim that David Lammy and Keir Starmer want Hamas to ‘win’ is absurd, disgraceful and unworthy, writes Sean O’Grady
Boris has sunk to a new low with his Israel intervention – even by his standards
For Johnson to claim that David Lammy and Keir Starmer want Hamas to ‘win’ is absurd, disgraceful and unworthy, writes Sean O’Grady
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 16:00 1725373891Chancellor Rachel Reeves says pensioners can afford winter fuel payment cuts
Rachel Reeves has said that pensioners should be able to afford the government’s decision to slash winter fuel payments because of increases to the state pension and energy bills being lower than previous years.
Wendy Morton, the Tory former Cabinet minister, questioned Ms Reeves decision to implement the controversial policy that will impact 10 million pensioners who have “worked hard all their lives”.
Ms Reeves replied: “The increases in the basic state pension mean that constituents of hers are £900 better off than they were a year ago and of course energy bills are lower this year than they were last year.
Ms Reeves appearance in the House of Commons comes amid a deepening row over the UK’s decision to suspend the export of some arms to Israel.
Joe Middleton3 September 2024 15:31 Newer1 / 5OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
