Latest news with #NeilO'Brien
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
White working-class pupils behind in all but 21 of UK's 3,400 secondary schools, shocking figures reveal
White working-class children are falling behind their peers in all but 21 schools across the country, shocking official data has shown. It means only a tiny fraction of more than 3,400 secondary schools across England see such pupils doing as well as their peers. Last night Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that white working-class children were being 'betrayed' and left behind. In what has been seen as an attempt to take on Nigel Farage 's Reform UK, Ms Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why such children are failing. She said: 'Across attendance, attainment and life chances, white working-class children and those with special educational needs do exceptionally poorly. 'Put simply, these children have been betrayed – left behind in society's rear-view mirror. They are children whose interests too many politicians have simply discarded.' The proportion of white working-class pupils getting grades 5 or above in English and maths GCSE was 18.6 per cent, substantially below the 45.9 per cent national average, according to the data. But critics said Labour was only paying attention to the issue to counter the threat from Reform. Tory schools spokesman Neil O'Brien said: 'Everything Bridget Phillipson is doing is disastrous for white working-class kids. 'Her trade union-led Schools Bill is smashing up 30 years of cross-party reforms which have raised standards in England. 'Phillipson has axed support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing because she sees them as elitist. 'She has axed the behaviour hubs which were doing so much to improve discipline and standards in schools. 'School funding formulas still tend to heavily favour urban areas. While 40 years ago, London was an education disaster zone, today it is the highest-achieving part of the country and the lowest levels of achievement are found in shire and coastal areas.' At secondary school, white British pupils on free school meals perform around a grade and a half worse in each GCSE subject compared with the national average. Officials said the drivers of low attainment among white working-class pupils included a lack of parental involvement or aspiration. According to the research, white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds and workless homes have the lowest aspirations of all groups. But white working-class girls also fell in school attainment at a faster pace than their peers over the past five years. The inquiry will be led by Sir Hamid Patel, who runs a number of outstanding schools across Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands. Former home secretary Sir David Blunkett will also sit on the panel, alongside school standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins. It will look at why white working-class children perform worse across measures including behaviour, attendance, mental health, attainment and life chances. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: 'Since the early 2000s, white working-class pupils have fallen behind their peers at every level of education. 'English and maths GCSEs are the bedrock of education and opportunity. 'The Government must develop a strategy to close this attainment gap and ensure this group are no longer marginalised. 'Labour must dispel the ongoing narrative around white privilege, as well as intergenerational disadvantage, geographic inequalities and disengagement from school, if they are serious about improving outcomes.' Announcing the inquiry, Ms Phillipson said: 'We'll look closely at what's working in the tiny number of schools that the data indicates may have cracked this problem for white working-class children. 'My message to parents is that we will create a school system where every child, in every classroom, has the support they need to achieve, and a fair crack at making a success of their life.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Foreigners claim £1bn a month in benefits
Benefits claims by households with at least one foreign national have doubled to nearly £1 billion a month in the past three years, government figures show. Households with at least one claimant who is a foreign national received £941 million in March this year, up from £461 million in March 2022, representing nearly a sixth of the month's Universal Credit payments. The figures are likely to reinforce calls for restrictions on benefits for migrants, which Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, urged Rachel Reeves to consider in a leaked memo seen by The Telegraph. Ms Reeves, the Chancellor, is already facing a growing backbench rebellion over her plans to cut welfare spending. Funding two months of benefits for households with foreign nationals cancels out the £1.4 billion the Government saved by axing winter fuel payments. Experts suggested the increase reflected a surge in the number of asylum seekers being granted refugee status and in net migration. Foreign nationals become eligible for Universal Credit and other benefits on the same terms as British citizens once they are granted either indefinite leave to remain or refugee status. Writing in The Telegraph, Neil O'Brien, a former Tory health minister who uncovered the data, said: 'The growth of benefit spending and the rate of migration are both much too fast, and the Government is doing far too little to change either trend. 'Migrants know that if they can make it to the UK, they will be allowed to stay. As long as that is true, we'll see more and more coming. Our soft-touch welfare state makes this worse.' Graham Stringer, a senior Labour backbencher and former leader of Manchester City Council, said that such vast spending on foreign claimants should not be a priority. He said: 'Given the state of the country's finances, everything has to be looked at and reassessed. This expenditure [on foreign claimants] in my opinion is not a priority. 'We have to be absolutely clear on what our priorities are and in my view these people are not a priority. It has to be judged against potential cuts in PIPs [Personal Independence Payments] and the winter fuel allowance and other benefits that may be cut for British citizens.' The Telegraph revealed earlier this month that Ms Rayner told Ms Reeves to consider making it harder for immigrants to gain access to Universal Credit, by raising the fee they must pay for using the NHS and restricting their access to the state pension. Ms Rayner's memo warned that, because of the high rates of immigration in the early 2020s, there would be an increase in the number of people becoming eligible for indefinite leave to remain, entitling them to state benefits. The data, obtained for the first time under freedom of information laws from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), shows that the amount of Universal Credit being claimed by foreign nationals has risen by nearly 30 per cent in a year, from £726 million to £941 million in March. This accounted for 15.5 per cent of the total £6.05 billion payments of Universal Credit that month, up from 14.1 per cent in March 2022 but down slightly since when Labour won the general election in July last year. The rising costs follow soaring net migration, which after Brexit reached a record high of more than 900,000 in 2023. The DWP defines a foreign claimant as a non-Common Travel Area (CTA) national – someone who does not hold British or Irish nationality. Its analysis only included payments to households that are made to 'claimants who have a non-CTA nationality and have passed the Habitual Resident Test (HRT).' HRT checks that an individual has a right to reside in the UK and is 'factually habitually resident' in the UK. The DWP said joint claims that include at least one non-British or Irish national will be classed as foreign, even if other members of the household are British nationals. Sir Keir Starmer announced a crackdown on net migration earlier this month that included proposals to extend eligibility for indefinite leave to remain from the current five years to 10 years, effectively denying tens of thousands access to benefits for longer. Under his plans, migrants will only be able to 'earn' citizenship earlier if they can show a 'real and lasting contribution' to the economy and society. It comes as Reform seeks to capture its first seat in Scotland in a by-election in Hamilton by capitalising on its plans for net zero immigration and restoring the winter fuel allowance. A government spokesman said: 'We inherited a spiralling benefits system that was out of control. Since last July, we have reduced the proportion of benefit payments to nationals outside the British Isles. 'Refugees and non-UK or Irish citizens can only access these payments once their immigration status is formally verified by the Home Office, and they satisfy strict tests.' This is the tip of the iceberg By Neil O'Brien The soaring bill for Universal Credit payments to people from overseas is the tip of the iceberg. Universal Credit only accounts for about half of working age welfare spending, and the DWP is so far refusing to release the same data for other benefits. And cash benefits are only part of the story. For example, around half of all the council housing in Greater London is occupied by households where the head of the household was born abroad. Of these tenants, around a half are in work, and a half are not. Many of those who commute a long way into the capital, paying a fortune to stand on a crowded tube or train, wonder whether it is fair. For those who have paid in their taxes, it is frustrating to see others who have newly arrived in the country able to access benefits and services without having paid in. The growth of benefit spending and the rate of migration are both much too fast, and the Government is doing far too little to change either trend. Keir Starmer promised to 'smash the gangs', but the number of people crossing the channel is up nearly a third compared to the same period last year. We recently saw a record smashed for the largest number crossing illegally in one day. Having promised to close migrant hotels, the Government has opened more. Starmer was warned by experts like the former head of Border Force, Tony Smith, that simply trying to improve enforcement would fail, unless factors that pull migrants here are addressed. Migrants know that if they can make it to the UK, they will be allowed to stay. As long as that is true, we'll see more and more coming. Our soft-touch welfare state makes this worse. Every week there is some new example of the abuse of human rights law to allow dangerous people to stay in the UK. A Ugandan murderer who clubbed a man to death in the back of a London ambulance wasn't deported because it would be bad for his mental health. A Pakistani paedophile won the right to stay because he risks being persecuted for his crimes back home. There are 17,428 foreign national offenders living in the UK whose deportation the Home Office considers to be in the public interest, but who have not been deported, and the figure just keeps rising. Meanwhile, spending on sickness and disability benefits is forecast to grow to £100 billion by the end of this parliament, double the rate of 2008. Despite this, the present Government has abandoned plans to tighten the Work Capability Assessment, which means 400,000 more people will be signed off as unfit to work. The Government has also trailed plans to spend a further £3.5 billion a year removing the two-child cap on benefits. Both the explosion of welfare spending and the surging numbers arriving in small boats are driven by the same rights culture. Sadly, we have a PM who is a human rights lawyer, who used to sign letters opposing the deportation of criminals. As long as he's in office, the bills for those who play by the rules will just keep on rising. Neil O'Brien is the Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston and is a shadow education minister
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Labour accused of unleashing ‘stealth tax' on pensions
Labour is preparing to unleash a 'stealth tax' on pensions, critics have warned. The new Pension Schemes Bill will give the Government the power to force pension funds to invest in British assets to help spark growth. Yet critics of the reform argue the change, laid out in the Treasury's Pensions Investment Review published Thursday, risks lower returns for savers. Pension industry experts also called into question government claims that the package of reforms could leave retirement savers £6,000 better off. Tory MP Neil O'Brien called the plans 'a massive stealth tax' and said pension savers will 'get lower returns' so the Government can reduce its borrowing costs. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said the move was an extraordinary overreach. He said: 'Labour is crossing the Rubicon into directing the public's savings. Pension pots are there to secure retirements, not to bankroll a government.' Last month major pension providers said they would voluntarily commit to investing 5pc of their total funds into UK assets by 2030. However, the new reserve power would go further and mandate how much of savers' money needs to go into UK plc. Experts within the industry have also thrown scorn on the plans. Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, said the move 'puts a gun to schemes' heads and will create those mandatory targets in all-but-name'. Laura Myers, partner and head of DC pensions at consultancy LCP, said the threat of the Government telling trustees how they should invest was 'a step too far' that 'risks losing sight of the primacy of member interests'. James Carter, of investment firm Fidelity International, labelled the power to direct pension scheme investments in the future 'a concern'. Publication of the review follows the news this week that HM Revenue and Customs is exploring plans to tax pension contributions made via salary sacrifice work schemes. If implemented the changes would cost the average earner more than £500 a year in extra income tax and National Insurance – and whittle away their pension pot and their retirement potential. The Government has said that the changes within the new review will result in an additional £6,000 on average being added to an individual's pension pot over a lifetime of saving, as revealed by the Telegraph. However, Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister and now a partner at LCP, has said he would not 'put any weight' on the figure. He said that while lower cost pensions due to reforms could see savers add to their pots, the increase will only be marginal and there is a risk that costs actually rise, adding: 'Even the assertion that there will be overall cost savings is far from obvious.' Mr Selby added: '£6,000 isn't exactly a big potential 'gain' over the course of a retirement in return for the extra risk that is likely to be taken on. Entirely possible the gains will be higher but they could also be lower.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Labour accused of unleashing ‘stealth tax' on pensions
Labour is preparing to unleash a 'stealth tax' on pensions, critics have warned. The new Pension Schemes Bill will give the Government the power to force pension funds to invest in British assets to help spark growth. Yet critics of the reform argue the change, laid out in the Treasury's Pensions Investment Review published Thursday, risks lower returns for savers. Pension industry experts also called into question government claims that the package of reforms could leave retirement savers £6,000 better off. Tory MP Neil O'Brien called the plans 'a massive stealth tax' and said pension savers will 'get lower returns' so the Government can reduce its borrowing costs. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said the move was an extraordinary overreach. He said: 'Labour is crossing the Rubicon into directing the public's savings. Pension pots are there to secure retirements, not to bankroll a government.' Last month major pension providers said they would voluntarily commit to investing 5pc of their total funds into UK assets by 2030. However, the new reserve power would go further and mandate how much of savers' money needs to go into UK plc. Experts within the industry have also thrown scorn on the plans. Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, said the move 'puts a gun to schemes' heads and will create those mandatory targets in all-but-name'. Laura Myers, partner and head of DC pensions at consultancy LCP, said the threat of the Government telling trustees how they should invest was 'a step too far' that 'risks losing sight of the primacy of member interests'. James Carter, of investment firm Fidelity International, labelled the power to direct pension scheme investments in the future 'a concern'. Publication of the review follows the news this week that HM Revenue and Customs is exploring plans to tax pension contributions made via salary sacrifice work schemes. If implemented the changes would cost the average earner more than £500 a year in extra income tax and National Insurance – and whittle away their pension pot and their retirement potential. The Government has said that the changes within the new review will result in an additional £6,000 on average being added to an individual's pension pot over a lifetime of saving, as revealed by the Telegraph. However, Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister and now a partner at LCP, has said he would not 'put any weight' on the figure. He said that while lower cost pensions due to reforms could see savers add to their pots, the increase will only be marginal and there is a risk that costs actually rise, adding: 'Even the assertion that there will be overall cost savings is far from obvious.' Mr Selby added: '£6,000 isn't exactly a big potential 'gain' over the course of a retirement in return for the extra risk that is likely to be taken on. Entirely possible the gains will be higher but they could also be lower.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
The changes to apprenticeships in construction, engineering, and healthcare
The government plans to create 120,000 new apprenticeship and training opportunities in England before the next general election, focusing on sectors like construction, engineering, and healthcare, to bolster the workforce and reduce reliance on migrant workers. Funding for up to 45,000 training places will be sourced by increasing the Immigration Skills Charge paid by employers recruiting from overseas by one-third. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson emphasised the importance of this investment in skills for young people, highlighting its role in driving the economy forward and creating opportunities. From January 2026, funding will shift away from masters-level apprenticeships to focus on lower-level training, while support will be maintained for those aged 16-21 and existing apprentices. The Law Society has urged the Government to continue funding masters-level apprenticeships for those over 21, while Shadow Education Minister Neil O'Brien warned that scrapping higher apprenticeships will damage public services and limit access to professions for young people not attending university.
