Kemi Badenoch says term ‘disabled' at risk of losing all meaning
Labour MPs said it was 'imperative' that Rachel Reeves lifted the cap at the budget as almost 1.7 million children are now living in families affected by it. The chancellor is said to have warned that it would be much harder to find £3.5 billion to remove the cap after last week's retreat on cuts to disability benefits.
Figures show that 37,150 more children had been affected by the cap since April last year and that 453,600 families were affected by rules that stop people claiming the child element of Universal Credit for a third or subsequent child. This is up 12,740 on last year and six times as many as when the policy was introduced seven years ago.
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The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ministry of Defence's top civil servant to step down weeks after Afghan data leak revealed
The Ministry of Defence 's top civil servant David Williams will be stepping down in the autumn. Mr Williams, who is the permanent secretary at the MoD, announced his departure just weeks after it was revealed the government had put up to 100,000 lives at risk though a catastrophic data loss. His departure is part of a bid to bring fresh leadership to senior defence roles, The Independent understands. An MoD spokesperson said: 'Permanent Secretary David Williams will step down this autumn and the recruitment process for his successor is under way. Since 2021, David has led the department through a period of significant activity, and we thank him for his contribution.' Mr Williams has been in the position for four and a half years. A new chief of defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, will also take up his appointment in September this year.
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Warning for Keir Starmer as Green leadership hopefuls say they're open to a pact with Jeremy Corbyn's new party - who boast of 600,000 sign-ups
Sir Keir Starmer has been sent a warning shot after the Green Party 's leadership hopefuls opened the door to a pact with Jeremy Corbyn 's new left-wing outfit. Zack Polanski, dubbed an 'eco-populist', said it would be 'madness to not at least be curious' about whether Mr Corbyn's party would offer a coalition or alliance. Ellie Chowns, who is rivalling Mr Polanski for the Green leadership on a joint ticket with Adrian Ramsay, also did not rule out joining forces with Mr Corbyn. She told Channel 4 that 'cooperation is in the DNA of the Greens' as she spoke about possible links with the former Labour leader's new movement. Mr Corbyn has teamed up with fellow ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana to launch an outfit currently known as 'Your Party'. They today formally confirmed they are working with Mr Corbyn's colleagues in the 'Independent Alliance' of pro-Gaza MPs, giving them more MPs than Reform UK. Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan and Iqbal Mohamed will play a part in the 'founding process' of the movement ahead of an autumn conference, Your Party said. Mr Corbyn's outfit also boasted that they had seen more than 600,000 people sign up to their new party in just one week. Sir Keir will be fearful that any cooperation between the Greens and Mr Corbyn's outfit would harm Labour's chances of retaining power at the next general election. Polls have shown that a new party led by Mr Corbyn would attract 10 per cent of voters, while the Greens have already been challenging Labour in some areas. Mr Corbyn's movement has the website with a welcome message saying 'This Is Your Party'. But Ms Sultana sowed confusion immediately after its launch by insisting a name had not yet been chosen. She posted on social media: 'It's not called Your Party.' The Coventry South MP has since said she wants the party merely to be known as 'The Left', with the name to be decided on by members at a later date. Despite the comments by the Green leadership hopefuls, Mr Corbyn has ruled out an alliance between the parties. The Islington North MP told the commentator Owen Jones in an interview posted on YouTube that 'we're not forming an alliance' with the Greens. He said: 'Would we work with them? Yes, on issues. Generally we would agree on environmental issues, we would agree on social justice issues. 'They are not a socialist organisation and they seem to me into an eternal, riven debate between trying to appeal to a sort of semi-conservative voting suburban electorate as opposed to a committed, environmentally conscious electorate. 'So yes, we work with them in Parliament and yes, we would co-operate, but we're not forming an alliance with them. They don't want to form an alliance with us. 'But we do recognise each other's positions and I think we will come to some good positions and good agreements in the future.' Mr Ramsay, the Greens' current co-leader who is standing for re-election alongside Ms Chowns, has warned that 'becoming a Jeremy Corbyn support act is not the right direction for our party'. The Greens' occasionally fractious leadership contest has entered its final stages as members begin voting on Friday. In an email to supporters, Mr Corbyn's outfit said - in just one week - that 'more than 600,000 people have signed up to build a democratic party that can take on the billionaires - and win'. 'This is just the beginning. Over the coming weeks, you will hear more about the blueprint for a founding process, culminating with an inaugural conference before the end of the year,' the email added. 'This conference will be the moment where, together, we will decide the direction, structure and platform of this party. 'To make it as accessible and democratic as possible, the conference will be hybrid - both in-person and online - so that everyone can take part in the decisions that will shape its future. 'Make no mistake: whatever the name, it is always going to be your party.'
Times
7 minutes ago
- Times
Pro-Palestinian groups announce ‘siege' on Labour MPs
Pro-Palestinian groups are planning to besiege Labour MPs, councillors and staff on Monday to force the party to take an even tougher stance against Israel. The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) has sent an eight-page booklet of instructions to 'solidarity groups' across the UK to take part in a national day of action against the Labour Party for its 'partnership in Israel's genocide on Gaza'. The document, titled 'Siege on Labour', sets out tactics for how supporters should target the offices of their local MPs, their regional Labour Party headquarters and Labour councillors. It says that now is an 'opportune moment' to 'exacerbate the political crisis in the party' after Sir Keir Starmer's announcement that Britain will recognise a Palestinian state. The document, seen by The Times, dismisses that announcement as 'meagre', arguing that recognition will be only of 'the puppet regime of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank'. In a set of four demands, it says the government must go significantly further. It also demands that David Lammy, the foreign secretary, be immediately sacked and tried as a war criminal atthe Hague. The document vows to make 'Zionism a political crisis for the political class in this country' and calls on its supporters to 'identify and target their weakest pressure points'. Labour MPs, peers and groups campaigning against antisemitism have condemned the plans as a sinister attempt to intimidate elected politicians and their staff, and called on the police to protect them. Luke Akehurst, the Labour MP for North Durham, said: 'These intimidation tactics targeting our offices and staff are completely unacceptable. Harassment by threatening a 'siege' towards elected representatives and their hardworking caseworkers — who serve all constituents in their public service — crosses every line of democratic debate. 'Threats like these disrupt democracy by preventing constituents from being able to safely access their MP — which is everybody's right. 'This bullying does nothing to help Palestinians or Israelis and only serves to undermine the constructive dialogue needed to advance peace. MPs will not be intimidated into abandoning our principled approach to this complex issue.' The PYM is an international group of pro-Palestinian young people who played a key part in the campus protests that targeted universities across the United States last year. The Anti-Defamation League, an international non-governmental organisation founded to combat antisemitism, has warned that the PYM has expressed support for terrorism, including the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas is a proscribed terror group in the UK. Support for it is illegal and carried a maximum of punishment of 14 years in prison. PYM's members have praised as 'martyrs' those who have died in the conflict with Israel. The PYM said it was 'time for us to escalate' to take advantage of public opinion and the establishment of Jeremy Corbyn's new left-wing party. It said: 'The Labour Party is under immense pressure from the public, the media and from their voting base (with the announcement of the new left party) to take a stronger stance on Gaza.' It set out four demands for its 'siege' on Labour politicians and officials, including for Lammy to be tried. Its other demands are a full two-way arms embargo on Israel; an end to RAF reconnaissance surveillance flights over Gaza, which the it claims are 'gathering intelligence for the Israeli Defence Forces'; and for the British government to impose more sanctions and pressure other United Nations countries to do the same to force Israel to allow aid into Gaza. The document says: 'If the Labour Party is committed to facilitating the siege on Gaza, we, the people, declare a Siege On Labour.' The 'toolkit' includes tactics on staging sit-ins, pickets and rallies, and advice on how to 'mobilise widely'. It also suggests 'key messages' to print on posters for bus shelters and buildings and to post on social media. It advises supporters on how to behave after being arrested, instructing them to ignore police officers because 'there is no such thing as a friendly chat with a police officer'. It adds: 'Targeting Labour offices across the country allows us to take mass, co-ordinated, national action against a common target that is directly complicit in the genocide and wields power to grant our demands.' • Undercover with Palestine Action: 'Damage as much as possible' Alex Hearn, the co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism, said the PYM's demands showed that the government could never satisfy the more extreme pro-Palestinian groups. 'This sinister call to escalate and lay siege to Labour Party offices shows that despite the drive to recognise a Palestinian state, there is no pleasing extremists,' he said. 'Dismissing the Palestinian Authority as a puppet regime reveals the pro-Hamas leanings of this group, whose key messages amount to nothing more than disinformation. The danger of appeasement has been exposed.' Lord Walney, a cross-bench peer and the government's former adviser on political violence, said: 'Calling for a 'siege' is designed to intimidate MPs and is totally unacceptable. The threat level facing political representatives has increased greatly since the Gaza conflict began … the fact that the material refers to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank as a puppet state suggests sympathy with Hamas's objectives or foreign state influence. 'I hope my colleagues will be vigilant and police forces will appropriately enforce the boundary between legitimate protest and criminal intimidation.' The PYM also accuses the Labour Party and the government of being 'complicit in the massacres in Gaza' through trade, intelligence-sharing and diplomatic relationship with Israel. The PYM has been approached for comment. The Labour Party declined to comment and said it would not share any information on security advice given to MPs and staff.
