Latest news with #StephenFlynn
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DWP news, updates, and information on claiming benefits
THE DWP is the UK Government's Department for Work and Pensions. It is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. People struggling with the cost of living can claim benefits form the DWP for support, even if they work, have savings, or own a home. Read on for all the latest DWP news, interviews and updates on all things benefits. DWP minister says £5bn disability Pip cuts 'will help fight populism' Stephen Flynn calls for fresh Commons vote on Winter Fuel Payment cut Labour's 'immoral' welfare cuts blasted by leading campaigner Use a benefits calculator or talk to an adviser to accurately understand your benefits entitlements. Some benefits are devolved to Scotland, but most remain reserved to the UK Government. Devolved benefits (handled by the Scottish Government through Social Security Scotland) include: Adult Disability Payment – replaces Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in Scotland. Child Disability Payment – replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children. Carer Support Payment – replacing Carer's Allowance gradually. Best Start Grant – includes three payments (Pregnancy and Baby, Early Learning, and School Age). Best Start Foods – helps with the cost of healthy food during pregnancy and early childhood. Scottish Child Payment – regular payment to low-income families with children. Funeral Support Payment – contributes towards funeral costs for those on certain benefits. Reserved benefits (still managed by the DWP) include: Universal Credit State Pension Pension Credit Jobseeker's Allowance Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Housing Benefit Bereavement benefits The new Labour Government has cut several benefits since taking power in 2024. The Winter Fuel Payment, which had been universal, was first on the chopping block. Labour made it means-tested, sparking outcry from charities and campaigners who warned it would cost lives. DWP Secretary Liz Kendall later outlined sweeping cuts to disability benefits which she claimed would total £5bn. However, independent estimates said it would not save as much, leading Labour to also cut back the health element of Universal Credit. Personal Independence Payments (PIP) are paid to millions of people with disabilities to support them with extra living costs. PIP helps with daily living for people who struggle with everyday tasks and with mobility for people who have difficulty getting around. People receiving the PIP benefit will see their payments frozen next year as the government wants to make it tougher to claim PIP, which is not linked to work. This includes a freeze on payments, meaning they won't increase with inflation. Child Benefit payments will increase from April 7. Parents will receive £26.05 per week for the eldest or only child and £17.25 per week for each additional child. This equates to £1354.60 and £897 annually, respectively. Child Benefit is typically paid every four weeks and is automatically credited to a bank account. There is no limit to the number of children for which parents can claim. People with a disability or health condition that affects how much they can work are eligible to apply for an Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). In March, Liz Kendall said cuts to the DWP will include changes to the ESA. The ESA and Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) could soon be merged into a new 'time-limited' unemployment insurance. This will be paid at a higher rate, without claimants having to prove they cannot work to get it, Kendall has said. All benefit queries can be checked on the official Department for Work and Pensions website.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The SNP: All news, interviews and updates
The Scottish National Party (SNP) are a centre-left and socially democratic party. The SNP have been in power since the 2007 election, after which they formed a minority government. Over the last 18 years, the country's leading party has been championing Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Read on for all the latest SNP news, interviews and updates on the party. Hamilton by-election campaign enters final days Pro-independence party leaders urged to stand against genocide in Gaza SNP criticise Labour's plans to increase UK's defence spending First Minister John Swinney is the current leader of the SNP and the MSP for Perthshire North. The party's group leader at Westminster is Stephen Flynn, who is tipped to be a future leader of the SNP. The SNP are the biggest party in the Scottish Parliament, with 61 MSPs in Holyrood. They have nine MPs in the Westminster Parliament, a significant drop from the 2019 General Election when they returned 48. The MPs are: Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North), Dave Doogan (Angus), Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South), Stephen Gethins (Arbroath and Broughty Ferry), Chris Law (Dundee West), Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey), Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East), Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute), Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire). The MSPs are: George Adam (Paisley), Karen Adam (Banffshire and Buchan Coast), Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw), Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar), Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South), Colin Beattie (Midlothian North & Musselburgh), Keith Brown (Clackmannanshire & Dunblane), Siobhian Brown (Ayr), Stephanie Callaghan (Uddingston and Bellshill), Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley), Angela Constance (Almond Valley), Graeme Dey (Angus South), Natalie Don (Renfrewshire North and West), Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn), James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart), Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside), Annabelle Ewing (Cowdenbeath), Fergus Ewing (Inverness & Nairn), Jim Fairlie (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire), Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee City West), Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch), Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North), Jenny Gilruth (Mid Fife & Glenrothes), Mairi Gougeon (Angus North and Mearns), Christine Grahame (Midlothian South Tweeddale & Lauderdale), Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts), Emma Harper (South Scotland), Clare Haughey (Rutherglen), Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth), Fiona Hyslop (Linlithgow), Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland), Richard Lochhead (Moray), Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands), Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston), Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Beardsen), Ben Macpherson (Edinburgh Northern and Leith), Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South), Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East), Michael Matheson (Falkirk West), Mairi McAllan (Clydesdale), Ivan McKee (Glasgow Provan), Paul McLennan (East Lothian), Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde), Marie McNair (Clydebank and Milngavie), Jenni Minto (Argyll and Bute), Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine), Angus Robertson (Edinburgh Central), Shona Robison (Dundee City East), Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands), Shirley-Anne Somerville (Dunfermline), Collette Stevenson (East Kilbride), Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central), Kaukab Stewart (Glasgow Kelvin), Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow Southside), John Swinney (Perthshire North), Michelle Thomson (Falkirk East), Maree Todd (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross), David Torrance (Kirkcaldy), Evelyn Tweed (Stirling), Elena Whitham (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley), Humza Yousaf (Glasgow Pollock). Earlier this year, the SNP forced a vote, supported by MPs, demanding compensation for women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes to the state pension age. The forced vote was presented by the SNP's group leader, Stephen Flynn, who demanded that the Labour Government compensate the Waspi women. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn (Image: PA) Last March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) had recommended compensation between £1000 and £2950 per person due to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communication failures. However, the Labour Government announced before Christmas that no compensation would be given. MPs voted by 105 votes to 0 for the UK Government to issue compensation. The Scottish Greens were kicked out of power in 2024 by Humza Yousaf, who was the first minister at the time. Yousaf sacked Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater as ministers, dramatically bringing the SNP's power-sharing deal with the Greens to an end after they were brought into government anywhere in the UK for the first time by Nicola Sturgeon in 2021 with the Bute House Agreement. Yousaf said the Green membership's upcoming vote on the Bute House Agreement threatened the stability of his government. This decision triggered a crisis in the government and directly led to his resignation as the first minister. Speaking at a press conference in Bute House on April 29, 2024, Yousaf said he "underestimated' the level of hurt he caused by ending the power-sharing deal. He said: "Unfortunately in ending the Bute House Agreement in the matter I did I clearly underestimate the level of hurt and upset that caused Green colleagues. 'For a minority government to be able to govern effectively trust when working with the opposition is clearly fundamental.' Earlier this year, Sturgeon said his decision to end the deal was 'catastrophic'. She told the Institute for Government think tank: 'I think crashing that agreement was catastrophic and – politics aside – totally the wrong thing to do for stable government.'
Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Times
SNP at odds over Keir Starmer's EU ‘reset' deal
A member of the SNP was accused of undermining John Swinney after rejecting claims that a UK deal with the EU was a 'surrender'. Scotland's first minister said the fishing industry 'looks as if it's been surrendered by the United Kingdom government' in the negotiations between Sir Keir Starmer's Labour administration and Brussels. However, Stephen Flynn, who is standing for Holyrood next year and is said to have leadership ambitions, said in the Commons on Tuesday that the deal was 'obviously not a surrender'. Ian Murray, the Scottish secretary, said that Swinney's deputy, Kate Forbes, had 'congratulated the UK government' on the package at a meeting with business leaders at Downing Street on Monday. He said that the SNP was 'all over the place' over
The National
21-05-2025
- Business
- The National
SNP MPs team up with Tories in protest over oil and gas windfall tax
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn posed for a photo outside Parliament on Wednesday alongside Tory MP Harriet Cross, SNP MPs Kirsty Blackman and Seamus Logan, and Russell Borthwick, head of the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC). They have given their backing to an open letter organised by the AGCC, signed by more than 2500 energy industry workers and bosses as well as people whose jobs and businesses depend on the sector, demanding the Government drop its Energy Price Levy. READ MORE: Scottish travel firm closes 'out of the blue' after 20 years with all jobs lost The levy, due to end in 2030, means the effective rate of tax on oil and gas companies is 78%, according to the AGCC. This has already cost 10,000 jobs in the sector since the tax was introduced and its continuation will result in 'deindustrialisation and mass unemployment', signatories claimed. They highlighted the recent example of Aberdeen's Harbour Energy, which announced it would cut its workforce by 25%, some 250 jobs, because of tax pressures. The letter said: 'Regrettably, we find ourselves in the economically and environmentally incoherent position whereby government policy is bringing a premature end to the oil and gas sector whilst the UK simultaneously relies on increasing amounts of carbon heavy and costly imports from overseas to meet its energy needs. 'The situation is absurd, and we urge you to act now before it's too late. The Climate Change Committee highlights the UK needs up to 15 billion barrels of oil and gas up until 2050 and our world-class oil and gas sector can meet almost half of this, unlocking £150bn to the UK economy.' READ MORE: Co-op board votes to remove all Israeli products from shelves The letter demanded an 'immediate end' to the windfall tax, first brought in by the Tories, to 'protect jobs, generate economic growth and greater energy and national security for the UK'. It added: 'The alternative, added to by the regrettable demise of Grangemouth Refinery, is deindustrialisation and mass unemployment, something any responsible government must avoid at all costs.' Flynn said: "The Labour Government's fiscal regime puts energy security in jeopardy, it causes mass redundancies and importantly it runs the real risk of ending net-zero ambitions because if you don't retain the vast skills we have in our energy sector today, you lose the people who will deliver the green energy of tomorrow. 'We were promised that Westminster's tax policy would lower bills and see investment in net-zero, but that's clearly not been the case with bills soaring and key projects like Acorn are starved of investment in favour of English sites. The UK Government was approached for comment.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
SNP ‘all over the place' on whether to back Starmer's Brexit reset
The SNP is 'all over the place' on whether to back Sir Keir Starmer's Brexit reset deal with the EU, it has been alleged after the party's Westminster leader appeared to contradict John Swinney. Mr Swinney reacted with hostility to the agreement when it was unveiled on Monday, saying that the 'fishing industry looks as if it's been surrendered by the United Kingdom Government as part of its negotiations'. But Stephen Flynn, the SNP Westminster lead, told the Commons on Tuesday that the deal 'is obviously not a surrender' to the EU. He instead argued the agreement did not go far enough, saying that it was 'obviously no substitute for membership of the European Union'. This would mean signing up again to the EU's hated common fisheries policy (CFP), which gave European fishing vessels access to British waters more than 12 nautical miles from the coast. Ian Murray, Labour's Scottish Secretary, said that the SNP was 'tying themselves in knots' trying to oppose the deal despite supporting closer links with the EU. Sir Keir said he had been surprised to see the First Minister 'line up' with Nigel Farage 's Reform UK party and the Tories in opposing the agreement. The Prime Minister told the Commons 'that's a pretty small and miserable club for the SNP to be in' and warned Mr Swinney that he was 'out of kilter' with Scottish business leaders who have backed the deal. The Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson's government reduced the annual quota that could be caught by EU fishermen by 25 per cent, but set a cut-off date for that arrangement in 2026. But Sir Keir's agreement means this will now be extended until 2038 and annual negotiations for EU access to British waters will no longer start next year. Scottish fishermen reacted with fury to the deal, saying it was a 'horror show' and accusing the Prime Minister of betraying the industry 'for no discernible benefit.' However, the Scottish salmon exporters praised the deal, saying it would cut delays and red tape that have cost the industry £3 million a year since Brexit. Scottish salmon is the UK's largest food export and France is its largest international market, accounting for £462 million of sales last year. The deal will also reopen the EU market to some British shellfish. 'Not a surrender' Mr Flynn, who has been touted as a successor to Mr Swinney as SNP leader and First Minister, told the Commons: 'This is obviously not a surrender, just as it's obviously no substitute for membership of the European Union. 'Nor indeed is it, as the Prime Minister has repeatedly said today, providing unprecedented access to the EU market. That is simply absurd.' However, he praised the deal for allowing co-operation with the EU on developing carbon storage. Mr Murray, the Edinburgh South MP, tweeted: 'John Swinney called it a surrender yesterday. The SNP tying themselves in knots to be against this new EU partnership to put them on the same side as Badenoch and Farage. 'Not a peep about India [trade] deal, against the US deal and now putting themselves on the wrong side of the EU deal. Strange position to get themselves into.' Michael Shanks, an energy minister and the Rutherglen MP, tweeted: 'Swinney v Flynn continues. Who knows who is setting SNP policy now. 'Meanwhile, both of them stand against the CBI, FSB, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Food and Drink Federation and many many more on a deal that will deliver tangible benefits for Scotland.' Sir Keir urged the SNP to 'reconsider their position' and said that the party 'lining up with Reform is not a place I would expect them to be, but that's where they are.' 'Faux outrage' Neil Bibby, Scottish Labour's constitution spokesman at Holyrood, said the SNP 'are all over the place' and accused them of displaying 'faux outrage' over fishing, given their support for rejoining the CFP. Angus Robertson, the SNP's external affairs secretary, used a statement at Holyrood to complain that UK ministers had failed to consult the Scottish Government on the deal and had cancelled a number of meetings. He said this represented 'an affront to devolution' as fisheries should have been discussed with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations. But Tim Eagle, the Scottish Tories' shadow fishing secretary, said: 'The SNP cannot continue their crocodile tears over this deal. Their fisheries policy would see them drag the sector back into the hated Common Fisheries Policy, which would be an outcome even worse than Labour's capitulation.'
