Latest news with #RachaelMaskell
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Millions thrown into uncertainty over winter fuel payment update
The government will make changes to winter fuel payments, ensuring pensioners are paid this coming winter, but details on the level of payment and how it will be funded will not be announced until the Autumn budget. Pensions minister Torsten Bell said there is no prospect of returning to a universal winter fuel payment for all, as the government aims to avoid paying millionaires. Labour MP Rachael Maskell criticised the decision, saying that means-tested benefits often fail to reach vulnerable people. In July, the chancellor announced that pensioners not receiving pension credits or other means-tested benefits would no longer receive the winter fuel payment, reducing the number of recipients from 10.8 million to 1.5 million. Critics argue the cuts disproportionately harm vulnerable people, potentially forcing 100,000 pensioners into poverty by 2026.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer 'could water down two-child benefits cap' as he faces wrath of Labour MPs at meeting TODAY - with '170 ready to rebel' in crunch votes
Keir Starmer could water down the cap on child benefits to appease Labour backbenchers as he faces a major welfare rebellion. The Department for Work and Pensions it said to be looking at extending the current two-child cap on state handouts to a third child. It comes as the prime minister faces the prospect of up to 170 of his MPs refusing to back plans to make it harder to claim disability benefits when it is put to a vote next month. Around 60 could vote against it, with 100 or so more ready to abstain, which may allow it to become law but would be a major show of discontent less than a year into Labour's time in power. After hosting his EU summit in Londo n today, Sir Keir is expected to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party this evening, which will give MPs an opportunity to sound off. But it remains to be seen whether the proposal will be enough to appease rebels. Rachael Maskell, the York Central MP who is leading organised opposition, told The Telegraph: 'I do not support any caps on child benefits, as removing them is the single greatest policy which would take children out of poverty'. The Department for Work and Pensions it said to be looking at extending the current two-child cap on state handouts to a third child. The Government's plans, set out in a Green Paper earlier this year, would tighten the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit in England, the personal independence payment (Pip). Restricting Pip would cut benefits for around 800,000 people, while the sickness-related element of universal credit also set to be cut. The package of measures are aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since. The Government hopes the proposals can save £5 billion a year by the end of the decade. Meanwhile Ms Reeves is even under pressure from her own local Labour party branch to abandons her plans to cut disability benefits.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Medals distributed to participants of University of York Roses Fun Run
The University of York Students' Union's 'Roses Fun Run' took place on Saturday, May 3, and saw Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, distribute medals to the participants. The event was part of the 'Run to Roses' community challenge, which had been taking place between the University of York and Lancaster University during the previous ten weeks, and which encouraged people to run, walk, or otherwise move 60km to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 'Roses' sporting varsity between the two institutions. More than 400 participants took part in the Run to Roses challenge, with 27,148 kilometres logged over the ten weeks. Tanisha Jain, York Sport president, said: "Roses is about more than just sport — it's a celebration of community, and the Family Fun Run event showcased that. "It was fantastic to see our students come together with local families and children at the event, creating lasting memories through exercise and physical activity." More information is available at
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour MP says government must change course
A Labour MP has said the government "absolutely has to" change course following sweeping gains for Reform UK in England's local elections. Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, said policies introduced by the government which had not been in its manifesto had forced voters "to look elsewhere". Reform won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, took control of 10 councils and won mayoral contests in Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire. In Scarborough, the party won a landslide victory in a town council election. Following the results, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his government needed to "go further and faster on the change people want to see". Speaking on the BBC's Politics North show earlier, Maskell said: "Policies that have been introduced since July that weren't in our manifesto – the cuts to winter fuel, not honouring the Waspi women [and] taking away the vital lifeline of support for disabled people – of course people are confused. "If we are not there serving people as they expect us to and as is our duty, then of course they are going to look elsewhere." In March, Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out planned cuts to benefits, including disability payments, aimed at reducing the growing amount the UK spends on welfare. The government said the measures would save around £5bn a year by the end of 2030 and get more people into work. Maskell said Labour was still the party of the working class, but called on the leadership to ensure that the "connection" with voters was "remade". The proposed cuts to social security would have a "massive impact on people, leaving" them in poverty" and "forcing many people into poorer mental health", she said. "We absolutely need to stop these reforms, which Labour are trying to progress, and ensure that we now reflect on the real things that are going to make a difference." The Department for Work and Pensions previously said it was creating a "sustainable welfare system" which would help support sick and disabled people, "break down barriers and unlock work". Maskell said getting people back into work was "a good thing", but "vital protection" had to be provided for those who could not work. "They're the kind of policies that Number 10 and Number 11 now need to pursue, as opposed to taking the pennies out of the pockets of the poorest," she added. Maskell said Labour was doing some "brilliant things", including "providing more secure employment", bringing the railways back into national ownership and getting rid of "waste in the system". But she warned: "We mustn't ruin it with all of these poor decisions that are being made." Speaking after the results of Thursday's elections were announced, Sir Keir said his party had been elected in to "deliver change" and had "started that change", with waiting lists down, wages up and interests rates down. Writing in The Times, he insisted there was "tangible proof that things are finally beginning to go in the right direction", although he said he was not satisfied with where the country was. "I am acutely aware that people aren't yet feeling the benefits," he added. "Until they do, I will wake up every morning determined to go further and faster." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Reform UK wins landslide town council victory 'Not Labour enough': MPs' despair at voters' verdict on government At-a-glance: Key changes to benefits in welfare shake-up What is the row about women's pensions? Politics North Rachael Maskell MP
The Herald Scotland
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Starmer urged to change course after Reform's success in local elections
Nigel Farage hailed the results as 'the end of two-party politics' and 'the death of the Conservative Party' as Reform picked up 10 councils and more than 600 seats in Thursday's poll. Labour MP Rachael Maskell said her party has 'special responsibilities' to serve the needs of people and should scrap winter fuel and welfare policies that she said are pushing voters away. Rachael Maskell called for a changed approach (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament/PA) When Labour does not meet the 'sweet spot' of offering support and protection in public services, voters look to 'less favourable places', she said. The York Central MP echoed Doncaster's Labour mayor Ros Jones, who criticised cuts to winter fuel allowance, hiking employers' national insurance contributions and squeezing welfare after she was narrowly re-elected. But the Prime Minister showed no sign of changing course, instead saying he would go 'further and faster' with his plans. Conservative figures have meanwhile sought to deny that the results were 'existential' for the party. Squeezed between Reform and the Liberal Democrats, the Tories lost more than 600 councillors and all 15 of the councils it controlled going into the election, among the worst results in the party's history. Mrs Badenoch apologised to defeated Conservative councillors and pledged to get the party back to being viewed as the 'credible alternative to Labour'. A senior Tory MP said she would 'of course' still be leading the party in a year's time and ruled out a possible pact with Reform UK on a national level to get Sir Keir out at the next general election. 'There won't be pacts. Nigel Farage has been very clear that he wants to destroy the Conservative Party,' shadow chief Treasury secretary Richard Fuller told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He said Reform UK would soon find out there are 'no simple answers' to local public finances and have to make 'difficult choices'. 'Reform will find out, I think, that there are no simple answers locally to public finances at local government level, they'll have to make some difficult choices and the local public will … hold them to account for the decisions they make,' he told GB News. Mr Farage has warned council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives to seek 'alternative careers'. A newly elected Reform UK councillor said Durham County Council would be 'getting the auditors in' right away to slash spending in areas like net zero and green initiatives. 'We're getting the auditors in to see … actually what those jobs are, and if they're good value for money, and if they're not, well, the answer is, 'Yeah, goodbye',' Darren Grimes, a Durham councillor and former GB News presenter told the Today programme. Cash spent on such programmes is 'vanishingly small' and discretionary spending for councils is mostly spent on social care, libraries and filling in potholes, Tony Travers, a professor of public policy at the LSE, told the programme. Sir Keir Starmer faced calls to change direction but said he was still 'determined to go further and faster'(Henry Nicholls/PA) The Prime Minister is under pressure after Reform won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by six votes and took control of the previously Labour-run Doncaster Council. Ms Maskell told BBC Breakfast that Labour is not 'any other political party'. 'We were created to serve the needs of people across working areas of our country so that people had a real voice of the kind of change that they wanted to see. 'I think it's now time, if Labour are going to go further faster, to pick up that voice, to put our fingers on the pulse and to understand that that responsibility that the 1945 government set out, putting that safety net in place at the welfare state, is on our watch and is our responsibility.' She said Labour needs to be driven by 'a framework of values, which is about protecting people'. 'I believe that when Labour does not meet that sweet spot, that expectation that people have of a Labour government, then they start to look in less favourable places for where that help comes from. 'Yesterday, many people were searching for that response, to find that protection, to get that support. 'That's why Labour have got to learn from the results yesterday and ensure that we do meet the needs of people in this country in very, very trying times.' Backbench MP Emma Lewell, who has represented South Shields since 2013, said a 'change of plan' is needed and said it is 'tone deaf' to repeat that Labour will keep moving 'further and faster'. Brian Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said the Government's first 10 months 'haven't been good enough or what the people want' and warned that the next government will be 'an extreme right-wing one' if people's living standards are not improved. But writing in The Times, the Prime Minister insisted there was 'tangible proof that things are finally beginning to go in the right direction', although he said he was not satisfied with where the country was. He said: 'I am acutely aware that people aren't yet feeling the benefits. That's what they told us last night. 'Until they do, I will wake up every morning determined to go further and faster.' The Prime Minister signalled his priorities as he pledged to deliver 'more money in your pocket, lower NHS waiting lists, lower immigration numbers'.
