Latest news with #BethRigby
Sky News
21-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Politics latest: Starmer confirms U-turn on winter fuel payments - but No.10 will not say when
Potential U-turn on winter fuel payments is a 'massive moment' for PM Hints at a U-turn on winter fuel payments are a "huge deal and a very big moment", says Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby. But she points out how sudden a change this is. "Two weeks ago, figures in Number 10 were insisting the prime minister would not change the policy on winter fuel [payments]", she says. "And the prime minister has just announced in the Commons that he is going to relook at the policy to ensure 'more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments'. "It's a massive U-turn, it's a massive moment. It shows that the government has been pushed into taking a different decision. It's not kept the line, it's changed its mind", she adds. Beth says the original policy has been "hugely politically unpopular" but that the government has stood by it for months. "And now Keir Starmer blinks", she says. Starmer's popularity ratings at an all-time low Beth adds: "It comes after wobbles in the period after the local elections. MP after MP saying to Number 10 and Number 11 that it was extremely unpopular on the doorstep, it's costing Labour votes, and it goes against what Labour stands for, and it's become totemic of everything that the public feels is wrong with the government." She says that Starmer's personal popularity ratings are at an all-time low, and that this is not a coincidence - with a "febrile" Labour Party. Focus groups have also been run on the policy in recent weeks, she says, and that this has helped the government come to a decision. Beth's sources tell her this is very much a "joint decision" between the chancellor and the prime minister. As she understands it, this change won't come in the spending review next month, it will come in the chancellor's budget in the autumn.
Sky News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
What was behind Starmer's 'Enoch Powell' moment?
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Another week, another sticky situation for the prime minister and some of his MPs - this time it's centred around his language on immigration. When Sir Keir Starmer announced his White Paper, he argued that Britain "risked becoming an island of strangers" if immigration levels were not cut. So was he intentionally evoking Enoch Powell's infamous 1968 Rivers Of Blood speech? Or was this a big mistake? Also, with the Assisted Dying Bill back in parliament this week, Beth Rigby, Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman go on a tour of the British Isles to look at how different parliaments are approaching their legislation. If MPs in Westminster vote their bill down, could it stop it in its tracks in Holyrood too?
Sky News
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Can Nigel Farage and Reform prove themselves?
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson assemble for an elections debrief. Beth's been following a very happy Nigel Farage after Reform gained an MP in Runcorn, took the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty and seized control of several councils. But, how does the party promising change in its very name prove itself with greater power and responsibility? They also discuss how Sir Keir Starmer reacts to Labour's losses (Harriet says he needs to deliver on what he's promised). And what Kemi Badenoch has to do after a terrible set of results for the Conservatives (Ruth reckons it'll be worse for the 2026 set of elections).
The National
01-05-2025
- Health
- The National
Nigel Farage 'doesn't want' NHS to be publicly funded
The comment comes as voters go to the polls for the local elections in England. The Reform UK leader has previously referred to the way the French healthcare system works, which is funded through a mixture of public funding and private insurance. In a Sky News interview yesterday evening, political editor Beth Rigby said: 'The French have a statutory health system levied from a mix of contributions from earned income an unearned income. There's central government funding and a little bit of top-up fee. That's what's allowed Labour to levy this charge at you.' READ MORE: Kelly Given: Kneecap's bravery puts out politicians to shame Farage then replied: 'Well if Labour are upset that the rich might have to pay for healthcare, I find that a very odd position for them to be in.' Rigby then said: 'Just to be clear, do you want it to be still funded through general taxation or do you think we need to look at the funding model?' Farage said: 'I do not want it funded through general taxation. It's doesn't work. It's not working. We're getting worse bang for the buck from than any other country, particularly out of those European neighbours. 'I want it free at the point of delivery, but it's how we get there.' Health secretary Wes Streeting, meanwhile, condemned the comments. He said: 'Nigel Farage has said the quiet part out loud: he doesn't want a publicly funded NHS. 'With Farage's plans to leave people paying over a grand for an A&E trip only one thing is clear - patients would be worse off under Reform.'
Sky News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Kemi Badenoch warns of 'long road ahead' for Tories but says it won't be 'decades' before party back in power
Why you can trust Sky News Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party will not be in opposition for "decades" - but warns there is a "long road ahead" for the Tories. Her comments to Sky News's political editor Beth Rigby come ahead of Thursday's local elections in England, which are expected to prove challenging for Ms Badenoch. It is her first electoral test since taking over from Rishi Sunak after their party's general election defeat last year ended a 14-year period in government. The Conservatives are also unlikely to win the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, triggered by Labour MP Mike Amesbury punching a constituent. Speaking to Beth Rigby in Wiltshire, Ms Badenoch said: "We are rebuilding. We've just left the government a historic defeat. You don't just come back from that overnight. "The last oppositions were 14 years, 13 years, 18 years. I've been a leader for six months. "There's a long road ahead. I'm not going to let it be decades. "I want to do this in four years, but that's a really tough job." Asked by Beth if this was her asking for more time from her party, Ms Badenoch said: "That's what my party selected me for. "I said we're going to do this the hard way, the long way, but the most reliable way." There have also been reports that shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick is manoeuvring himself to try to replace Ms Badenoch. He was defeated by the current leader in a vote of the party membership last year. Backing from former chancellor Speaking to the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, ex-chancellor Jeremy Hunt cautioned against removing Ms Badenoch. Mr Hunt told Sophy that it would be "the worst possible thing" to have speculation about a "change in leadership". The Tory MP added: "I don't think anyone would have done better than Kemi." Ms Badenoch has played down the division within her party. She said: "Robert Jenrick is a hard-working member of my team. He is talking about getting former Conservative voters back. "I agree with him. We have a great team, unlike Nigel Farage, who's lost 20% of his party. "We are united, and we're fighting for every single vote." On the subject of Reform and Nigel Farage, Ms Badenoch told Sky News that she was not opposed to Conservatives doing deals with any parties for control of councils. She said that local elections are different to national parliamentary votes, where a coalition is not on the cards.
