Latest news with #CommonsDefenceCommittee
Sky News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Starmer facing growing backbench rebellion over planned disability benefit cuts
A senior Labour MP has said the government needs to take "corrective action" over planned disability cuts - as Sir Keir Starmer faces a growing backbench rebellion. Tan Dhesi, chair of the influential Commons defence committee, told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge the "disappointing" local election results show the government must listen and learn, particularly over welfare reforms. The government has proposed tightening the eligibility requirements for the personal independent payment, known as PIP. A claimant must score a minimum of four points on one PIP daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit. Mr Dhesi, the MP for Slough, said "corrective action" needs to be taken but insisted if the government changed tact, it would not be a U-turn as the disability cuts were only proposals. "A government which is in listening mode should be looking at what the electorate is saying," he said. "And we need to make sure that it's our moral duty, responsibility, to look after the most vulnerable within our community, whether that's in Slough, whether that's elsewhere across the country. "So, I hope that the government will be taking on board that feedback and many of us as MPs are giving that feedback in various meetings happening here in Westminster and then we need to take corrective action." Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the Politics Hub a Labour government "will always seek to protect the most vulnerable" and it wants to "listen to people who have got real lived experience". She added she has the "utmost respect for Tan, he's a great constituency MP and he's doing exactly what he should be doing, is representing his constituency". Sir Keir is facing a rebellion from Labour MPs, with about 40 in the Red Wall - Labour's traditional heartlands in the north of England - reposting a statement on social media in which they said the leadership's response to the local elections had "fallen on deaf ears". 8:27 Several backbench Labour MPs also spoke out against the plans during a debate on PIP and disabled people in parliament on Wednesday. Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he would "swim through vomit to vote against" the proposed changes and said: "This is not what the Labour Party was formed to do." Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said she feared tightening PIP eligibility would cause deaths, adding: "Lest we forget that study that attributed 330,000 excess deaths in Britain between 2012 and 2019 to the last round of austerity cuts [under the Conservative government]." Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, accused the government of putting forward "contradictory arguments". "On the one hand, they insist they are helping the disabled by putting them back to work," she said. "But on the other hand, they say this cut will save £9bn. Well, you can't do both." 1:23 However, fellow Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, said MPs cannot "ignore this issue" of health-related benefit claimant figures rising at "twice the rate of underlying health conditions". Responding for the government, social security minister Sir Stephen Timms said PIP claims were set to "more than double, from two million to over 4.3 million this decade". "It would certainly not be in the interests of people currently claiming the benefits for the government to bury its head in the sand over that rate of increase," he added.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US war plans leak shows allied nations must ‘look out for ourselves', says Mark Carney
Canada's prime minister Mark Carney has said the inadvertent leak of classified military plans by senior US officials means that allied nations must increasingly 'look out for ourselves' as trust frays with a once-close ally. Speaking a day after it was revealed that a journalist was accidentally included in a group chat discussing airstrikes against Yemeni rebels, Carney said the intelligence blunder was a 'serious, serious issue and all lessons must be taken'. He said it would be critical to see 'how people react to those mistakes and how they tighten them up'. Canada is one of the members of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network, alongside Australia, New Zealand and the UK and the leak of classified information is likely to put further strain on the group as it weighs how seriously the current American administration takes the handling of top secret information. The revelations came as Canada grapples with a rapidly deteriorating relationship with the United States, its largest trading partner and closest military ally. 'My responsibility is to plan for the worst, is to think about the most difficult evolution of the new threat environment, what it means for Canada and how do we best protect Canada,' Carney said during a campaign stop on Tuesday. The prime minister called a snap election on Sunday. 'Part of that response is to be more and more Canadian in our defence capabilities, more and more Canadian in our decisions … We have to look out for ourselves.' Asked about the incident on Tuesday, the UK's armed forces minister Luke Pollard told the Commons Defence Committee that no British service personnel had been put at risk as a result. He added: 'All UK service personnel are covered by our normal approach to operational security, and the committee will understand that I won't go into the details of how we keep our involvement in any support for military operations in the Red Sea or anywhere else [secure]. 'But we've got high confidence that the measures that we have got with our allies, including the United States, remain intact.' A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke at length at a briefing about the contribution the UK makes to joint military operations with the Americans. However, the spokesperson refused to directly criticise the two figures who were most critical of Europe's record on defence, JD Vance, the vice-president, and Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary. The spokesperson also insisted that the UK remains happy to share intelligence with the US despite the leak. The government of New Zealand declined to comment on the matter. When asked by the Guardian if the security breach had raised concerns about the sharing of sensitive intel with Trump's administration, the offices for New Zealand's prime minister, Christopher Luxon, and the minister for defence, Judith Collins, said the situation was 'a matter for the US administration'. Behind closed doors, senior government officials would likely be discussing the risks of sharing intelligence with the US, amid what could be viewed as a lowering of protocol standards, but the breach would not be a dealbreaker, said Andrew Little, whose ministerial roles covered security, intelligence and defence under New Zealand's last Labour government. 'Our relationship transcends individual administrations and individual political leaders. There will be things that – like everybody – members of this government, will be looking askance at. But I think it's about managing the relationship in the long run,' Little said. So far, New Zealand has been managing its US relationship responsibly, Little said, but it was now 'a relationship that requires constant vigilance'. Robert Patman, a professor at the University of Otago in Dunedin who specialises in international relations, called the security breach 'extraordinary' and 'cavalier'. 'It does confirm what many of us felt, that Mr Trump has picked people according to loyalty, rather than competence, and this was almost a perfect storm waiting to happen,' Patman said. But the wider issue for New Zealand and other Five Eyes countries was knowing how to respond to the Trump administration's 'radical departure' from the rules-based order, which included making territorial claims against liberal democracies and siding with Russian president Vladimir Putin over negotiations in Ukraine. 'We should be friendly towards the Trump administration where our interests converge, but this administration is doing things which are fundamentally a challenge to [New Zealand's] national interests.' In Australia, the department of foreign affairs and trade said: 'This incident is a matter for the United States. Australia and the United States engage regularly on implementation of mutually recognised standards for the protection of classified material.' Additional reporting by Ben Doherty
The Independent
25-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
UK has ‘high confidence' in US security measures despite Yemen group chat breach
The UK still has 'high confidence' that its operational security measures 'remain intact', despite revelations of a major US security breach. On Monday night, it was reported that senior American officials, including the defence secretary and national security adviser, texted plans for an attack on Yemen to a group chat on messaging app Signal that had accidentally included a journalist. Asked about the incident on Tuesday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard told the Commons Defence Committee that no British service personnel had been put at risk as a result. He added: 'All UK service personnel are covered by our normal approach to operational security, and the committee will understand that I won't go into the details of how we keep our involvement in any support for military operations in the Red Sea or anywhere else (secure). 'But we've got high confidence that the measures that we have got with our allies, including the United States, remain intact.' The US carried out a series of air strikes against the rebel Houthi militant group in Yemen on March 15 following continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. But two hours beforehand, details of the attack had been sent to a Signal group chat that included the US vice-president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio, among others. Signal chats are encrypted, but are not approved by the US government for discussion of classified material. The use of the app to provide details of the airstrikes came to light because one participant had accidentally added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group. The US National Security Council said the group chat 'appears to be authentic', adding it was investigating how Mr Goldberg came to be included. On Monday night, US president Donald Trump denied any knowledge of the breach, while a White House spokeswoman said the president retained 'utmost confidence' in his national security team. While Mr Pollard declined to comment on 'how allies share their information', he told the Defence Committee that UK personnel would face 'a clear consequence and disciplinary process' for any similar breach of operational security.
BBC News
25-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
No risk to UK lives from US security breach, says minister
The lives of British servicemen and women have not been put at risk by a major security breach in the United States, the UK armed forces minister has told MPs. Luke Pollard said he had "high confidence" that British operational security remains "intact".It comes after after a US journalist was inadvertently added to a secret group chat where senior US officials discussed plans for a strike against the Houthi group in UK did not participate in the recent US strikes against Houthi targets but it did provide routine air-to-air refuelling support for the US. Asked whether UK personnel had been put at risk by the use of messaging app Signal to discuss US plans for a strike on Yemen, Pollard told the Commons Defence Committee: "No. All UK service personnel are covered by our normal approach to operational security, and the committee will understand that I won't go into the details of how we keep our involvement in any support for military operations in the Red Sea or anywhere else [secure]."But we've got high confidence that the measures that we have got with our allies, including the United States, remain intact."Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the US leak showed that "Trump's White House can't be trusted to take even the most basic steps to keep its own intelligence safe".He added: "Their fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to security means it could only be a matter of time until our own intelligence shared with them is also leaked. This could put British lives at risk."As a matter of urgency, the government must comprehensively review our intelligence-sharing arrangements with the US." The US air strikes against the Houthi militant group in Yemen on 15 March came after continued attacks on shipping in the Red shortly beforehand details of the attack were sent to a Signal group chat that included the US Vice-President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among chats are encrypted, but are not approved by the US government for discussion of classified use of the app to provide details of the airstrikes came to light because one participant had accidentally added the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the Goldberg said he had seen classified military plans for US strikes on Houthi rebels, including weapons packages, targets and timing, two hours before the bombs suggested people would face disciplinary proceedings in the UK for a similar breach of operational security - but he stressed he would not comment on the US situation."The Ministry of Defence has very clear policies in relation to what information can be shared and the format in which it can be shared. We don't comment on how allies share their information," he told the defence added: "I'm confident that we have robust measures to safeguard our information and our data, but we also have a very clear set of systems where individuals don't follow procedures, with sufficient consequences to reflect the actions that have been taken."Pollard said there would be "a clear consequence and disciplinary process for anyone that was not following those procedures".On Monday night, US president Donald Trump denied any knowledge of the breach, while a White House spokeswoman said the president retained "utmost confidence" in his national security team. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK has ‘high confidence' in US security measures despite Yemen group chat breach
The UK still has 'high confidence' that its operational security measures 'remain intact', despite revelations of a major US security breach. On Monday night, it was reported that senior American officials, including the defence secretary and national security adviser, texted plans for an attack on Yemen to a group chat on messaging app Signal that had accidentally included a journalist. Asked about the incident on Tuesday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard told the Commons Defence Committee that no British service personnel had been put at risk as a result. He added: 'All UK service personnel are covered by our normal approach to operational security, and the committee will understand that I won't go into the details of how we keep our involvement in any support for military operations in the Red Sea or anywhere else (secure). 'But we've got high confidence that the measures that we have got with our allies, including the United States, remain intact.' The US carried out a series of air strikes against the rebel Houthi militant group in Yemen on March 15 following continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. But two hours beforehand, details of the attack had been sent to a Signal group chat that included the US vice-president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio, among others. Signal chats are encrypted, but are not approved by the US government for discussion of classified material. The use of the app to provide details of the airstrikes came to light because one participant had accidentally added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group. The US National Security Council said the group chat 'appears to be authentic', adding it was investigating how Mr Goldberg came to be included. On Monday night, US president Donald Trump denied any knowledge of the breach, while a White House spokeswoman said the president retained 'utmost confidence' in his national security team. While Mr Pollard declined to comment on 'how allies share their information', he told the Defence Committee that UK personnel would face 'a clear consequence and disciplinary process' for any similar breach of operational security.
