Keir Starmer UN speech - live: PM urges Middle East to ‘step back from the brink’ in address before Trump meet
Keir Starmer to meet Donald Trump after UN speech
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Sir Keir Starmer is set to meet Donald Trump in New York after he delivers a speech to world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister urged Israel and Hezbollah to agree a ceasefire and for the two sides to “step back from the brink”.
In a speech to world leaders in New York, Sir Keir said: “I call on Israel and Hezbollah: Stop the violence, step back from the brink.”
The 79th UN summit comes as the Middle East teeters on the brink of all-out conflict and the bloody war in Ukraine grinds on.
It follows an intervention at the UN Security Council where he tore into Russia over its actions in Ukraine, saying Vladimir Putin was treating his own citizens as “bits of meat to fling into the grinder” in the conflict.
Sir Keir has been embroiled in a donations row after borrowing an £18m penthouse flat from Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli during the general election and to film a Covid video. But Downing Street claims he did not break the rules.
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UK had ‘very low’ intensive care capacity during Covid, Chris Whitty says
Prof Sir Chris Whitty is giving oral evidence to the Covid-19 inquiry, which is investigating the government’s decisions taken during the pandemic.
The chief medical officer for England said the UK went into the Covid crisis with “very low” intensive care capacity in comparison to other countries.
He told the inquiry: “Taking ICU [intensive care units], in particular, the UK has a very low ICU capacity compared to most of our peer nations in high income countries.
“Now that’s a choice, that’s a political choice. It’s a system configuration choice, but it is a choice. Therefore you have less reserve when a major emergency happens, even if it’s short of something of the scale of Covid.”
Treasury committed to axing non-dom status despite warnings it could cost money
The Labour government has recommitted to its crackdown on non-doms after reports emerged that it could cost the Treasury revenue.
Officials told The Guardian how wealthy foreigners could leave the country to avoid the tax raid, leaving a £1billion hole in the government’s planned spending for schools and hospitals.
Responding the claims, a HM Treasury spokesperson said: “These reports are purely speculation - the independent Office for Budget Responsibility will certify the costings of all measures announced at the Budget in the usual way.
“We are committed to addressing unfairness in the tax system, which is why we are removing the outdated non-dom tax regime so we can raise the revenue needed to rebuild our public services, and replacing it with a new internationally competitive residence-based regime focused on attracting the best talent and investment to the UK.”
Bold decisions needed to tackle Scotland’s housing emergency, says minister
Scotland needs both “bold decisions” and a “collective effort” to tackle its housing emergency, a government minister has said.
Housing minister Paul McLennan said while there was a “strong track record” on housebuilding in Scotland, public funds needed to be “used more efficiently”.
He spoke out as the Scottish government confirmed investment of £100 million will be used to support the construction of about 2,800 mid-market homes for rent across the country.
The money, announced in First Minister John Swinney’s programme for government earlier this year, will be topped up with cash from institutional investors – which should take the overall funding total to a minimum of £500 million.
The move comes as part of a commitment by the Scottish government to leverage in more private sector cash for housing, helping to make public resources go further.
It comes after the Thriving Investments scheme used an initial £47.5 million of Scottish government cash as part of a £222.5 million project to deliver 1,200 mid-market homes in Scotland.
Starmer announces new investment to create Europe’s largest AI data centre
Non-doms tax crackdown may raise no money, Treasury officials warn
Rachel Reeves’ plan to crackdown on non-doms could raise no extra funds, leaving a £1billion hole in spending for schools and hospitals, The Guardian reports.
Labour had planned to use the money raised from the tax raid to invest in public services. But it has now emerged Treasury officials believe the policy will fall flat without raising any money because of wealthy non-domiciles leaving the country.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) initially predicted that axing the tax break for rich foreigners could raise around £3.2billion per year.
However, the estimates were deemed to be “highly uncertain” as wealthy individuals could leave the UK to avoid the clampdown.
Pensioners start legal battle against government over winter fuel payment cuts
Two pensioners are seeking to take the Scottish and UK governments to court over the cut to the winter fuel payment.
Peter and Florence Fanning, of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, have raised proceedings with the help of the Govan Law Centre against the Scottish government and the UK Work and Pensions Secretary over the policy.
The judicial review – which has been raised at the Court of Session – now requires a judge’s approval to move to a hearing on the merits, with the Govan Law Centre seeking to expedite both the case and its application for legal aid to ensure a decision can be handed down before the winter.
The case asks the court to rule on whether the decision was unlawful, which would then allow the petitioners to ask the court to, in effect, set aside the policy and restore the winter fuel payment to all.
Speaking at a press conference in Edinburgh today, Mr Fanning, 73, said: “We intend to sue both the London and Scottish governments, since both are guilty through action and inaction, of damaging the welfare of pensioners.
“We are hoping to be successful, given the manifest injustice involved, however, my work as a trade unionist and shop steward has taught me that some battles are worth fighting regardless of the outcome – I believe this is one such battle.”
Pictured: Keir Starmer meets US investor ahead of UN speech
Tugendhat brands Afghan withdrawal ‘deeply insulting’
Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has branded US President Joe Biden’s justification for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan “deeply insulting”.
In 2021 President Biden delivered a speech claiming tha Afghanistan’s political leaders “gave up and fled the country”.
In a video posted on X, Mr Tugendhat said: “I was furious about President Biden, who said that the reason the collapse had happened was because the Afghans had not fought for their freedom.”
Windrush report slams failure to address decades of racist policy
The UK government has published a previously suppressed report into the Windrush scandal’s origins that says laws were specifically designed to strip Black and Asian people of their rights to live in the UK.
The report, The Historical Roots Of The Windrush Scandal, concludes that the scandal was the culmination of three decades of racist immigration laws designed to reduce the UK’s non-white population and disenfranchise Black people.
Our race correspondent Nadine White has the full story:
Windrush scandal report slams failure to address decades of racist immigration policy
Government report was suppressed by the Conservative government in 2022 but has been published following a decision by a tribunal judge
Ex-Bank of England economist says winter fuel cuts ‘bad politics'
A former chief economist at the Bank of England has claimed Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to cut winter fuel allowance for pensioners was “bad politics and bad economics”.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC, Andy Haldane said: “It felt to me like it was bad politics and probably bad economics as well.
“The principle of means-testing benefits is not at all unreasonable – ultimately this is a failure of design”.
The move has caused strong backlash with unions rebelling against the prime minister by passing a non-binding motion to reverse the cuts at the Labour Party conference on Thursday.
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