UK politics live: Downing Street says ‘nothing off the table’ over British troops deployed to Ukraine
In her spring statement next week, the chancellor is expected to try blaming the drop on worsening global economics amid Donald Trump’s tariffs
Downing Street have said that “nothing is off the table” in terms of possible UK troop deployment for Ukraine, as Western military planning is set to intensify in London next week.
Number 10 said “thousands” of personnel would be required to support any operation whether by “sea, on land or in the air” as allies prepare “for all eventualities” amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Officials from the so-called coalition of the willing will “accelerate the pace and scale” of work to consolidate proposals for possible troop deployment across land, air or sea to safeguard any peace deal.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer warned Vladimir Putin would face “severe consequences” for breaching any truce as he met defence planners for the first stage of talks at the UK’s Northwood military headquarters on Thursday.
In another setback for Rachel Reeves, UK Government borrowing soared above forecasts last month as public sector spending rose, putting pressure ahead of the spring statement next week.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing was £10.7 billion in February. This was £100 million more than the same month last year and the fourth-highest February on record.
In her spring statement next week, Rachel Reeves is expected to try blaming the drop on worsening global economics amid Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Protesters disrupt House of Lords demanding unelected chamber be abolished
Protesters interrupt House of Lords demanding unelected chamber be abolished
Starmer ‘not doing enough to end tsunami of sick notes’ pushing up benefits claimants
Labour’s plans to cut the welfare bill do not go nearly far enough, the former minister who brought in the biggest reform of benefits since their creation in the 1940s has warned.
In a week where Keir Starmer’s government announced plans to remove disability benefits from an estimated 1 million claimants, former Tory work and pensions secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith said more must be done to stop “a tsunami of so called fit notes signing people off work forever”.
Writing exclusively for The Independent, Sir Iain also raised problems with a culture where young people leave school “and go straight to their sick beds”.
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Starmer ‘not doing enough to end tsunami of sick notes’ pushing up benefits claimants
Jeremy Hunt hits out at ‘hyperbolic’ Brexit claims of backers like Boris Johnson
Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has hit out at Brexiteers who inflated the economic benefits of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
Mr Hunt, who voted Remain in 2016, criticised what he described as some of the "more hyperbolic claims” of some Brexit’s backers - who included former Tory PM Boris Johnson.
But in a foreword to a new report, Mr Hunt also said he believed "many claims” about the negative impact of Brexit on the economy “were overly exaggerated" and the UK’s departure had "much less impact on British exports to the EU".
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Jeremy Hunt hits out at ‘hyperbolic’ Brexit claims of backers like Boris Johnson
Is Liz Kendall now the most formidable woman in Starmer’s cabinet?
It was Liz Kendall who first made “country before party” a meme. In the wreckage of Labour’s 2015 election defeat, she was interviewed and said she would run to be leader of the party. When asked whether the party wanted to hear her hard truths about why it lost, she said she would always put the country before it.
It was the last time for many years that someone had the courage to tell Labour what was right, rather than what it wanted to hear. She was rewarded with a humiliating 4.5 per cent of the vote in the leadership election that Jeremy Corbyn won.
Her campaign manager, Morgan McSweeney, drew a lesson from that experience. If you wanted to change the country, you had to win the leadership of the Labour Party, and to do that, you had to tell Labour members what they wanted to hear. His next leadership campaign, for Keir Starmer, was more successful.
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Is Liz Kendall now the most formidable woman in Starmer’s cabinet?
Starmer accused of waging new ‘war on countryside’
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of waging “war on the countryside” after the government quietly scrapped a grant that helped local groups buy closure-threatened pubs.
The Community Ownership Fund, which launched 2021 with the aim of handing out £150m worth of grants by the end of 2025, was cancelled early with £135m having been allocated to date.
As the number of pubs in England and Wales sits at a record low, with more than 400 closing their doors for good in 2024 alone, there is growing concern in rural areas that the cancellation of the fund just days before Christmas will damage communities across the country.
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Starmer accused of new ‘war on countryside’ after community grant axed
Lammy calls for Putin to accept unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine
The UK called on Vladimir Putin to commit to a “full and immediate ceasefire” as Russian forces continued to bombard Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the Russian leader should agree to the US and Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional ceasefire.
Military chiefs from the UK and its allies were meeting to discuss how a peacekeeping force could operate in Ukraine to deter further Russian attacks if a deal to end the war is reached.
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Lammy calls for Putin to accept unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine
Martin Lewis warns Labour £5bn benefits cuts are ‘fraught with challenges’
Money expert Martin Lewis has shared his initial analysis of Labour’s newly announced changes to the welfare system, calling them “fraught with challenges”.
The reforms were announced by work and pensions secretary on Tuesday, with the measures amounting to £5 billion in cuts to welfare. This was mostly concentrated on scaling back health and disability-related benefits as part of Labour’s ‘Pathways to Work’ Green Paper.
Writing on social media platform X in a rare intervention, Mr Lewis said: “PIP (Personal Independence Payment) is often an individual's lifeline, the difference between an unsustainable life and a manageable one. The govt says those in 'genuine need' will be protected, yet that all boils down to matter of definition.”
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Martin Lewis warns Labour £5bn benefits cuts are ‘fraught with challenges’
Calls for a minister dedicated to coastal communities
Coastal communities deserve “longer, better, healthier lives”, Liberal Democrat MP Steff Aquarone said, as he called for a dedicated minister to have responsibility of coastal communities.
The North Norfolk MP said coastal communities should receive more direct Government attention, as he highlighted the disparity in health and life expectancy compared to those who live inland.
Referring to a report by England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty on health outcomes in seaside towns, Mr Aquarone said: “What he uncovered was shocking.
“We have higher rates of poor health and disease, the rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer are higher, and those diagnosed with these diseases have poorer outcomes, they also suffer with them for longer.”
He added: “Our coastal communities deserve to live longer, better, healthier lives than they do now.”
Not a scrap of evidence against me, says Sturgeon as police probe dropped
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said there was not a “scrap of evidence” of wrongdoing against her in the Operation Branchform probe as she was cleared.
Police Scotland said on Thursday it has dropped the investigation into Ms Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie in relation to the party’s finances.
It came as Ms Sturgeon’s estranged husband and former party chief executive Peter Murrell appeared in court charged with embezzlement.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Beattie were arrested in 2023 in relation to Branchform, but were released pending further investigation.
Speaking to journalists outside her home near Glasgow, she said she is “relieved” to have been cleared, and admitted the past two years have been “difficult” and “frustrating”.
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Protesters interrupt House of Lords demanding unelected chamber be abolished
Starmer arrives at meeting with military chiefs to discuss Europe's future security
Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at a meeting of military chiefs from the UK and its allies to discuss details of a future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister travelled to the meeting at a military site in Greater London after visiting the UK’s latest generation of nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness in the north west of England.
He arrived with Defence Secretary John Healey and was met by the UK’s chief of joint operations, Lieutenant General Nick Perry, as well as his French counterpart Major General Philippe de Montenon.
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