Politicians making final push for votes ahead of Holyrood by-election
Speaking ahead of the by-election, which is taking place after the death of Scottish Government minister Christina McKelvie, Mr Swinney said that the campaign 'has made it crystal clear that the SNP is the only party listening to people and taking action on what matters to them'.
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North Wales Live
6 minutes ago
- North Wales Live
The State pensioners who will get an immediate Winter Fuel Payment boost
Many State pensioners were controversially stripped of their £300 Winter Fuel Payment over the winter. It came after the Government declared the benefit would be means tested but the issue has been highly contentious. It means the vast majority of State pensioners will no longer receive a £300 payment unless they claim a qualifying benefit. Since then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced a partial reversal on the benefit, pledging to reassess the eligibility threshold to reinstate the payment to more pensioners. How this will be implemented or what the criteria might be have not yet been disclosed. This week, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced that more pensioners will receive the winter fuel allowance this year, although it still won't be universal, reports the Express. Officials haven't yet said how many more pensioners will be eligible. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "We have listened to the concerns that people had about the level of the means test and so we will be making changes to that. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now "They will be in place so that pensioners are paid this coming winter. People should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter." 'Exact amount will vary depending on your birth year' However, many aren't aware that if you do qualify for the Winter Fuel Payment this year, the exact amount you receive will vary depending on your birth year and possibly other circumstances as well. The Government previously paid the Winter Fuel Payment automatically to all state pensioners, but until any changes are announced, the current rule is that you must be claiming a qualifying benefit such as Pension Credit. Those who are of state pension age but under 80, meaning they were born on or before September 22, 1958, and who qualify will receive a £200 payment. But those aged over 80 - born on September 23, 1944, or earlier - will receive £300. The amount you receive is determined by your age and circumstances during the "qualifying week" of September 16 to 22, 2024. If you missed this period, you can backdate Pension Credit claims until December, so it's still accessible now. So if you're over 80 and eligible, your Winter Fuel Payment will rise from £200 to £300. Most qualifying individuals will receive a letter detailing the amount they'll receive and the bank account in which it will be paid to, this is typically the same as the one used for your Pension Credit or other benefits. An Age UK spokesman said: "If you or your partner claims Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, the payment should go to the main claimant of the benefit automatically. "You should receive your payment between mid-November and Christmas. Call the Winter Fuel Payment helpline on 0800 731 0160 if you have any enquiries or you don't receive your payment."
The Guardian
15 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Lots of bumps in the road': Keir Starmer faces testing month before one-year milestone
As Keir Starmer approaches his first anniversary in Downing Street, there will be several things he wishes he had done differently. But before he can contemplate that July milestone, he faces a busy month strewn with political bear traps. June has proven a difficult time for successive prime ministers: Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak all had to contend with deeply unhappy parliamentary parties reeling from heavy local and European election losses. While the mood among Labour MPs is nowhere near as mutinous, they too are bruised from a difficult set of local election results in England in May and the surge of Reform UK. 'There is more than the usual amount of grumbling and discontent,' a government source said. One unexpected ray of light was the result of the Holyrood byelection in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Friday. Labour secured a surprise victory, knocking the Scottish National party into second place and restoring some hope in Labour's fortunes ahead of next year's Holyrood elections. One MP said the result was 'humiliating' for the SNP. It is certainly a welcome win for Downing Street as Labour MPs brace for more bad news and a series of contentious debates this month. 'They know that the spending review is going to be really hard,' a government source said. The spending review on 11 June, which will set out multi-year departmental budgets after months of tense negotiations between the Treasury and cabinet ministers, will be a make-or-break moment for Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Downing Street is trying to grasp the nettle by putting plans for capital investment in underserved parts of the country at the centre of the narrative. But government strategists are braced for a wave of discontent once the data tables are published revealing cuts across unprotected departments. The most highly anticipated parliamentary moment is the first Commons vote on the government's welfare measures, including deep cuts to disability benefits. Labour whips are seeking to minimise the size of the rebellion after dozens of MPs signed a letter saying they found the proposals impossible to support. Officials say the vote will take place in the second half of June and have repeatedly denied rumours that it could be delayed to the autumn. Officials have also pencilled in the publication of a number of government strategies and reviews that have the potential to draw backlash. The delayed China audit, which fulfils a Labour manifesto commitment to appraise China's role in UK supply chains and what challenges and opportunities that poses, is due later this month. Downing Street is sensitive to criticism over its rapprochement with Beijing, which will come under scrutiny as a number of Chinese ministers and officials arrive in the UK on official trips this month. One question relates to China's place in the foreign influence registration scheme, which remains unresolved amid long-running tensions between the Treasury and the Home Office. The government also plans to publish its industrial strategy in the second half of June. Strategists see this document as key to Labour's political fightback against Nigel Farage and want to use it to build the narrative of drumming up investment after the spending review, including in defence. Earlier in the spring there were murmurings among business figures and government insiders who feared the document would be underwhelming and that Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, had been too busy negotiating a succession of trade deals with the US, EU and India. Ministers have been warned that the strategy must set out a plan to reduce the UK's high energy costs for companies, on the basis that these are a major obstacle to growth. Finally, the government's 10-year plan for the NHS in England is expected either in late June or in July, and is also considered key to Labour's electoral prospects. It is expected to set out plans to improve the NHS app. In the Commons there are three crunch votes expected to take place this month. One is over the assisted dying bill sponsored by the Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, which seeks to give terminally ill people with less than six months left the right to end their own lives. The proposed legislation has opened a bitter divide in the parliamentary Labour party and sparked concerns in Downing Street that arguments over the bill are distracting from the government's core agenda. Starmer, who in the past has expressed support for changing the law, voted in favour of the bill at its second reading and indicated recently that his position hadn't changed. The Commons will consider amendments to the bill on 13 June and is expected to vote on it again on 20 June. Another difficult moral question due to be considered by MPs this month is whether to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales. Several women in recent years have found themselves in the dock for ending their pregnancies outside the strict legal parameters of the Abortion Act 1967. Two Labour backbenchers are putting forward amendments to the crime and policing bill, which is due to return to the Commons in a fortnight. 'There's lots of little bumps in the road – it's quite an important few weeks,' a Labour source said. The upside for Starmer is that if he succeeds in overcoming this series of hurdles fairly smoothly, the mood in government and the PLP will start to improve before summer recess. If he doesn't, any celebrations to mark his first year in power will be pretty muted.
North Wales Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Liberty loses bid to bring legal action against equalities body
The UK's highest court ruled in April that the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex, after a challenge against the Scottish Government by campaign group For Women Scotland. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is consulting on proposed amendments to part of its guidance, after interim guidance was published last month related to trans people's use of certain spaces including toilets and participation in sports following the judgment. The commission increased the length of time for feedback from an original proposal of two weeks to six weeks, but campaign group Liberty said that it should be at least 12 weeks, claiming the current period would be 'wholly insufficient' and unlawful. Liberty made a bid to bring a legal challenge over the length of the consultation, but in a decision on Friday afternoon Mr Justice Swift said it was not arguable. In his ruling, Mr Justice Swift said: 'There is no 12-week rule. The requirements of fairness are measured in specifics and context is important.' 'I am not satisfied that it is arguable that the six-week consultation period that the EHRC has chosen to use is unfair,' he added. At the hearing on Friday, Sarah Hannett KC, for Liberty, said in written submissions that the Supreme Court's decision 'has altered the landscape radically and suddenly' and potentially changes the way trans people access single-sex spaces and services. The barrister said this included some businesses preventing trans women from using female toilets and trans men from using male toilets, as well as British Transport Police updating its policy on strip searches, which have caused 'understandable distress to trans people'. Ms Hannett said a six-week consultation period would be unlawful because the EHRC has not given 'sufficient time' for consultees to give 'intelligent consideration and an intelligent response'. She told the London court: 'There is a desire amongst the bigger trans organisations to assist the smaller trans organisations in responding… That is something that is going to take some time.' Later in her written submissions, the barrister described the trans community as 'particularly vulnerable and currently subject to intense scrutiny and frequent harassment'. Ms Hannett added: 'There is evidence of distrust of both consultation processes and the commission within the community.' Lawyers for the EHRC said the legal challenge should not go ahead and that six weeks was 'adequate'. James Goudie KC, for the commission, told the hearing there is 'no magic at all in 12 weeks'. He said in written submissions: 'Guidance consistent with the Supreme Court's decision has become urgently needed. The law as declared by the Supreme Court is not to come in at some future point. 'It applies now, and has been applying for some time.' The barrister later said that misinformation had been spreading about the judgment, adding that it was 'stoking what was already an often heated and divisive debate about gender in society'. He continued: 'The longer it takes for EHRC to issue final guidance in the form of the code, the greater the opportunity for misinformation and disinformation to take hold, to the detriment of persons with different protected characteristics.' Mr Goudie also said that there was a previous 12-week consultation on the guidance at large starting in October 2024.
