How Labour ended up taking on the Boriswave
Sir Keir Starmer, remarkably, has launched an immigration crackdown. Britain risks becoming an 'island of strangers' after the Tory 'one-nation experiment in open borders', he said on Monday. A Home Office white paper has introduced several measures which will supposedly bring the sky-high numbers down.
Most interestingly, the government will extend the required qualification period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) – which grants migrants access to the welfare state and the ability to bring dependents – from five years residency in the UK to ten. On Wednesday it confirmed that this would apply retroactively. Which means that should this go through – there will be a public consultation – it can be expected to prevent the post-2021 migration surge known as the 'Boriswave' from automatically being granted permanent settlement in the next few years.
This is a hugely welcome and sensible move: if the Boriswave was a mistake, as it is widely agreed to be, there is no reason we should let it become permanent.
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The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
What's behind Keir Starmer's decision to back nuclear power?
Keir Starmer has committed the UK to its first significant stake in a new nuclear power plant since the 1980s. The decision to invest almost £18bn of taxpayer money into the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk was welcomed by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, as the beginning of a 'golden age' of nuclear investment that would be critical to the government's net zero goals. The government said on Tuesday it would commit £14.2bn to the project, including the £2.7bn it earmarked for Sizewell C in the autumn budget. It has already committed £3.6bn to Sizewell over the past two years. Britain's nuclear renaissance will also include spending about £2.5bn of taxpayer money building some of Europe's first small modular reactors (SMR), after the government gave the green light to plans for Rolls-Royce to build three in the UK by the early 2030s. For critics, the technology's high costs and lengthy construction time have always eclipsed the benefits of abundant low-carbon electricity, given Hinkley Point C's current price tag of up to £35bn and repeated delays. There are also persistent concerns over the safety of nuclear reactors, and the disposal of nuclear waste. But questions over whether countries can meet the growing demand for electricity without fossil fuels, and avoid blackouts, mean many governments now believe nuclear represents a price worth paying. Megawatt for megawatt, nuclear power is far more expensive than most renewable energy technologies. But, unlike wind and solar farms, nuclear reactors do not need investment in battery backup technologies to provide a steady, reliable source of low-carbon power. The guaranteed electricity price offered to Hinkley Point C was initially £92 per megawatt-hour but this will fall to £89.50/MWh with the go-ahead for Sizwell C, under the terms of the government's contract with French state-owned EDF. By contrast, the guaranteed price for offshore windfarms which were successful in last year's subsidy auction was just under £59 per megawatt-hour. 'The upfront cost [of nuclear] is undoubtedly high,' said Dr Iain Staffell, an associate professor at Imperial College London. '£14bn could fund around 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind versus just 3.2 GW of nuclear. But, these reactors will run day and night, especially valuable when the wind is not blowing.' Prof Mark Wenman, also at Imperial College London, added that the costs needed to be balanced against the fact that these reactors 'will produce low carbon electricity for 80 or possibly 100 years, 24/7, providing around a 10th of the current UK electricity needs'. 'Once paid for, nuclear reactors produce the cheapest electricity of any kind, so this investment should be seen as future-proofing the UK electricity system,' Wenman said. Experts believe that powering a country on 100% renewable energy is technically possible. But there is clear evidence that grid systems running predominantly on wind and solar power can be more expensive in the long run, and could be at higher risk of blackouts. This is because renewable energy cannot help to keep the electrical frequency of the grid stable at around 50Hz in the same way that the spinning turbines of a power plants have done in the past by creating inertia. The answer, according to the government's National Energy System Operator (Neso), is to encourage renewables to become the backbone of the energy system while keeping alternatives such as nuclear, biomass and gas to provide backup for when renewable resources are low and grid stability is needed. The government's independent climate advisers agree. The Climate Change Committee recommends that the UK's nuclear capacity doubles by 2050 because while it is 'relatively expensive on a levelised cost basis' it can provide 'valuable zero-carbon generation at scale'. Britain risks losing the benefits offered by nuclear plants by shutting its ageing nuclear reactors faster than it can build new ones – leaving a gap in the UK's supplies of low-carbon electricity at a time when demand for clean energy is growing. The UK's five existing nuclear power reactors generated 14% of the country's electricity last year – down from the industry's late-1990s peak when 18 nuclear reactors provided more than a quarter of Britain's power. Four of these plants are due to close before the end of the decade, even with plans to extend their lifetimes, while only one nuclear power plant is under construction. The Hinkley Point C project in Somerset was originally due to begin generating electricity by 2017 but it has been delayed until the early 2030s. Driving Britain's nuclear renaissance is the tech industry's appetite for nuclear power. Starmer unveiled plans for a once-in-a-generation nuclear expansion earlier this year alongside an open invitation to tech companies such as Google, Meta and Amazon to invest in AI datacentres in Britain, which could be powered by small modular reactors. This is because world's biggest tech companies are investing in extending the life of nuclear plants and building small modular reactors to help meet the enormous power demands of their datacentres. This growing demand is expected to accelerate with the adoption of artificial intelligence. Earlier this month Meta struck a deal to keep one nuclear reactor of a US utility company in Illinois operating for an extra 20 years to help supply the company's datacentres with low-carbon power. It follows a similar deal from Google to supply its datacentres with nuclear power from half-dozen small reactors built by a California utility company. In addition, Microsoft has paid for the restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the site of the most serious nuclear accident and radiation leak in US history. 'They are very keen to get the datacentres in and they're very alive to the fact that the power is a big issue,' Starmer said.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Reeves says spending review will be about ‘making working people better off'
The Chancellor is expected to announce funding increases for the NHS, schools and defence along with a number of infrastructure projects on Wednesday, as she shares out some £113 billion freed up by looser borrowing rules. But other areas could face cuts as she seeks to balance manifesto commitments with more recent pledges, such as a hike in defence spending, while meeting her fiscal rules that promise to match day-to-day spending with revenues. Sir Keir Starmer meanwhile rejected the idea that squeezed police budgets could make communities less safe. The Prime Minister also said that the decision to reinstate most winter fuel payments was not a response to the backlash against the policy. The Chancellor has committed £16.7 billion to nuclear power projects, including £14.2 billion of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk. Ms Reeves said the Government was 'making Labour choices' and 'making progress' in an address to the GMB Union Congress in Brighton on Tuesday. She said: 'I know that not enough working people are yet feeling that progress, and that's what tomorrow's spending review is all about – making working people better off, investing in our security, investing in our health, investing in our economy. 'This Government is going for growth because that is the best way to create jobs, boost wages, lift people out of poverty, and sustainably fund our schools and our hospitals and all the public services we rely on. 'And we're doing things differently, because unlike the Tories, I don't think that the only good thing that a government can do is get out of the way.' Sir Keir was asked about reports that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was among those concerned that the financial settlement for police in the spending review could lead to crimes not being investigated. 'No, we will be more safe,' he told GB News. The Prime Minister also rejected the idea that he had reversed course on winter fuel payments amid political pressure. 'We had to take difficult decisions in the budget; the economy was broken,' he told Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2. But he cited recent growth figures and falling interest rates as proof that 'the economy has stabilised'. Ms Reeves is under pressure to reverse course on cuts to benefits after she confirmed a U-turn on winter fuel payments that will see them restored to pensioners with an income of less than £35,000-a-year. She stood firm on welfare reforms on Tuesday as a union representative urged her to 'think again' on the cuts. The Chancellor said the current system is 'not sustainable' and that reforms aimed to get those who can work back into work and help 'fulfil the ambitions of people with disabilities themselves to get back into work'. The reforms include plans to tighten the eligibility criteria for personal independence payments, known as Pip.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
SNP minister demands higher immigration to Scotland as she urges PM to help Holyrood tackle country's ageing population
An SNP minister today demanded changes to the immigration system to allow more people to come to Scotland to counter the country's ageing population. Equalities minister Kaukab Stewart reiterated the Scottish Government's call for PM Sir Keir Starmer to ditch a 'one-size fits all approach' to immigration to the UK. It came after figures released by the National Records of Scotland showed 11,431 children were born between January and March of this year. This was 3.9 per cent lower than the average for the first quarter of the year. In the same period, the number of deaths was also lower than expected, with 16,721 recorded. This was 7.7 per cent lower than the 18,123 deaths anticipated in the first quarter. Mrs Stewart said: 'The latest statistics highlight what we already know, that without migration, Scotland's working age population will fall as deaths continue to outnumber births. 'Positive net migration is essential for supporting the size of the working-age population in Scotland, which is crucial for economic growth, public service planning, and community cohesion.' Sir Keir has repeatedly promised to cut both legal and illegal migration to the UK since becoming PM. But Mrs Stewart said a different approach was needed for Scotland. 'We need talented and committed people from across the world to live, work and study here without excessive barriers,' she added. 'A one-size fits all approach to immigration fails to meet the needs of Scotland and much of the UK.' Last month, the PM announced plans to revamp the UK's immigration system. This included scrapping care visas, extending the time people have to be in the UK before they can apply for settled status, and reducing the length of time graduates can stay in the country after they graduate. The Scottish Government has long called for a more liberal immigration system north of the border and Mrs Stewart said she was 'deeply disappointed' by Sir Keir. 'That is why we are calling on the UK Government to deliver changes to the immigration system that meets the distinct needs of our economy and population, in particular our rural and island communities,' she added.
