Politics LIVE: Labour MPs queue up to slam Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves as PM prepares for huge rebellion

WATCH: Jonathan Gullis tells Tories to ‘swallow their pride’

Former Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis has urged his party colleagues to "swallow their pride" and back Kemi Badenoch's stance on net zero targets.

Speaking to GB News, Gullis described today as "a big day for Kemi" with the launch of policy commissions aimed at charting a path back to power.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Lammy says he 'could have been clearer' over Gaza comments

The Foreign Secretary has rowed back on his assertion that Israel had broken international law by blocking aid shipments to Gaza.

David Lammy said he "could have been clearer" with his remarks in the House of Commons, which had prompted questions about the UK Government’s position on the matter.

He told Bloomberg: “Ultimately of course these are matters for the courts to determine but it’s difficult to see how denying humanitarian assistance to a civilian population can be compatible with international humanitarian law."

Lammy described the blockade of aid as "unacceptable" and said assistance must be allowed to flow. It comes as hospital officials said air strikes overnight had killed at least 413 Palestinians, in a surprise bombardment that shattered the truce in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war.

Sultana brands cuts as 'austerity 2.0'  as she demands wealth tax

Zarah Sultana has branded the proposals for benefit reform as "austerity 2.0" as she called for a wealth tax.

The now Independent MP for Coventry South said: "How can the Government justify pushing more disabled people and children into poverty instead of pursuing fairer alternatives such as a two per cent wealth tax on assets over £10 million.

"This would raise £24 billion, five times as much as those proposed from these cuts. Is austerity 2.0 the change people really voted for?"

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall responded: "Spending on working age sickness and disability benefits will still rise substantially over this parliament. The full assessment of the numbers affected and by how much will be published alongside the spring statement."

Downing Street refuses to say if Labour rebels would lose whip if voting against benefits cut

Downing Street declined to say if Labour MPs could lose the whip for voting against the Government’s welfare reforms in Parliament.

"I wouldn’t get into that. That is not for me," a No.10 spokesman said when asked what the punishment could be for rebel MPs.

Asked if Sir Keir Starmer believed it was morally right to reform eligibility for disability benefits, after describing the current system as "morally bankrupt" the spokesman replied: "What’s morally bankrupt is a system that fails people and incentivises, wrongly, people not to work.

"The Prime Minister has been very clear that he sees this as a really important reform to turn things around, get more people back into work, provide the kind of support needed for the most vulnerable in society.”

When put to him Pip (personal independence payments) was not a work-related benefit, he replied: "On Pip more broadly, the claims, as I said, are rising at an unsustainable rate. We’re now in a situation where a thousand people are claiming Pip every day, and claims for disability benefits rising much faster than the number of disabled people in the country."

Liz Kendall vows to slash benefits bill in biggest shake-up to the welfare system in a generation

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has vowed to slash Britain's ballooning benefits bill in a major crackdown on welfare claims.

Addressing the Commons this afternoon on the UK’s "failing" social security system, Kendall announced that the Government would be consulting to merge Jobseeker's Allowance and the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

Labour will also be scrapping the "complex" and "time-consuming" work capability assessment - required to gain Universal Credit - in 2028, and will be removing "financial incentives" behind claiming welfare benefits, she said.

Meanwhile, Universal Credit allowance will rise by £775 by 2029/30 - which Kendall dubbed a "permanent, above-inflation rise".

She also vowed to "switch back on" WCAs - so people with the most "severe disabilities and health conditions" will not require reassessment on their suitability to work, she added.

'It's ABHORRENT!' Now unions join Labour pile-on as they warn 'cruelty is becoming a hallmark of this Government'

Two trade unions have turned up the heat from the left on Labour's welfare cuts with a string of fiery barbs at the Government.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: "Targeting the most vulnerable with benefit cuts to meet arbitrary fiscal rules is an immoral choice at any time, but at a time of rising poverty, long NHS waiting lists and when the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite is abhorrent."

She said her union, whose members include staff working in job centres, would be "campaigning with allies to oppose these cruel cuts".

Meanwhile, National Education Union chief Daniel Kebede said: "It is hard to conceive of a Labour Government treating the most vulnerable members of society any worse.

"For pensioners who have lost the winter fuel allowance, parents coping with the two-child benefit cap, and now the targeting of disabled adults, cruelty is becoming a hallmark of this Government. It is simply indefensible."

Labour left's meltdown begins as Clive Lewis warns of 'pain and difficulty' for millions

Left-wing Labour MP Clive Lewis has warned that Liz Kendall's welfare cuts will "cause pain and difficulty" for millions of people following her Commons announcement this afternoon.

"Can I ask the minister, when they made the decision to go down this route, did they understand the pain and difficulty that this will cause millions of people, millions of our constituents who are using food banks, who are using social supermarkets, people who are on the brink?" he said.

"This £5billion cut is going to impact them more than I think her department is giving credit for - and I would like her department to be able to look my constituents in the eye when I go back to them to tell them that this is going to work for them.

"As things stand, my constituents, my friends, my family are very angry about this, and they do not think this is the kind of action that a Labour Government takes."

'Too little, too late!' Tories fume as Labour rolls out welfare reforms - 'Not the sign of a strong country!'

Liz Kendall's shadow counterpart Helen Whately has labelled Labour's welfare cuts "too little, too late" in a scathing attack on the party's reforms.

"Left unchecked, [Britain's benefits bill] will rise to £100billion by the end of the decade," Whately said.

"Spending more on sickness benefits than we do on defence is not the sign of a strong country."

Whately also warned that Labour had opposed the Conservatives' plans to reform benefits "at every point" over the last 14 years - while the Government's announcements raised "more questions than answers".

"Fundamentally this is too little, too late... The fact is £5billion just doesn't cut it with a bill so big, going up so fast. She needed to be tougher," she added.

PIP will NOT be frozen, Kendall vows - but Labour tightens requirements to 'four-point' system

Labour will not be freezing personal independence payments (PIP) entirely, Liz Kendall has said - but the benefits' entry requirements are set to be tightened.

"We will not freeze PIP either. Instead our reforms will focus support on those with the greatest needs," she told the Commons.

"We will legislate for a change in PIP so people will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to qualify for the daily living element of PIP from November 2026.

"This will not effect the mobility component of PIP and only relates to the daily living element."

Kendall also said that there will be a review of PIP's assessment process.

"This is a significant reform package that is expected to save over £5 billion in 2029/30 - and the OBR will set out their final assessment of the costings next week," she said.

The background to Labour's mass welfare crackdown

Labour is announcing a slew of cuts to Britain's spiralling benefits bill - in the face of a major backbench rebellion from the party's left.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is addressing the Commons to outline her plans to get more people back to work - with as much as £6billion of welfare payments reportedly in the firing line.

The large-scale cuts have provoked fury from left-wing Labour MPs including firebrands Diane Abbott and Clive Lewis, while Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves were forced to endure Cabinet speeches from "almost every Minister" last Tuesday in a bid to talk them down from slashing the welfare state.

And this morning, Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie piled the pressure even further on Labour. He told GB News: "I think the infighting is plain for everybody in this country to see. They haven't got a plan. They don't know what they're doing - and the British people are suffering as a result."

As many as one million people are set to see either a reduction in or a total loss of their personal independence payments (PIP) - the benefits given to people who are disabled and unable to work to cover their extra living costs.

The Chancellor warned yesterday that 1,000 new people were signing up for PIP every single day - which she called "unsustainable".

And Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was sent out by Labour this morning to defend the looming cuts.

"We cannot sit back and relax as millions, literally millions of people, go onto these benefits with little or no hope of work in the future," he told the BBC. "We have a duty to face up to that."

Liz Kendall addressing Commons - follow live

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is addressing the Commons ahead of a round of rumoured large-scale benefit cuts.

We'll bring you live updates as they come in...

Downing Street scrambles to cover for Lammy's Israel claims after 'international law' outburst

Downing Street has been forced to clarify that the UK thinks Israel is only "at risk" of breaching international law after David Lammy's claim that the country had done just that.

Probed on whether the Foreign Secretary had been speaking for the Government when he made the claim, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Israel's actions in Gaza are in clear risk of breaching international law.

"We do not want to see a return to fighting," the spokesman said, and called the casualties from Israel's airstrikes "appalling" as he urged "all parties to return to dialogue".

"The Government is not an international court," he added, and said it was up to courts to make those judgements - but until then, Israel's actions are "at risk of breaching international law".

Asked again on whether Lammy had been speaking for the Government, the spokesman said the Foreign Secretary's position is that Israel "remains at risk of breaching international law".

Then asked whether Lammy misspoke entirely, the spokesman referred reporters to the Foreign Office.

Reform UK hits back at Badenoch's 'no answers' jab - 'Trying to DECEIVE the British public!'

Reform UK has hit back at Kemi Badenoch's swipes during her net zero speech this morning.

Badenoch had warned that Reform's energy policy "fell apart right after they announced it" and Nigel Farage's party "doesn't have the answers" - but in response, the Tory leader has been accused of "trying to deceive the British public".

"Kemi Badenoch once described net zero plans as 'crucial', and said that she was 'delighted' by her Tory Government's 2050 target," a Reform UK statement reads.

"Now the Conservative party are sinking in the polls, she's trying to deceive the British public. The Tories can never be trusted again."

Badenoch confirms to GB News she will NOT ditch triple lock

Kemi Badenoch has vowed not to abandon the state pension triple lock, speaking to GB News.

Asked by Political Editor Christopher Hope whether she would commit to the three-factor yearly increase, the Tory leader said that "when I want change, I will get up on stage and announce change".

Until then, she said, her commitment to the triple lock remains steadfast.

Chopper also probed the Tory leader on whether MPs should be given a vote on the deployment of British troops to Ukraine.

"We should have a vote," she said. "It's a very significant decision, taking us to war."

'Reform doesn't have the answers' vows Badenoch in pointed attack at Nigel Farage's party

Reform UK's energy policy "fell apart right after they announced it" and Nigel Farage's party "doesn't have the answers", Kemi Badenoch has said.

Attacking the surging right-wing party at her landmark policy speech today, Badenoch said: "We need a serious approach. We've got to stop pretending it's simple, and we have got to stop government by press release [or] announcements without a policy plan.

"Anyone who has done any serious analysis knows [net zero] cannot be achieved without a significant drop in our living standards, or worse, by bankrupting us."

Kemi Badenoch makes landmark speech - follow live

Kemi Badenoch is making her much-teased speech at a venue in central London.

The Tory leader is expected to warn that achieving net zero is "impossible" and will bankrupt Britain - and has already warned that Labour is "making everything worse".

We'll bring you live updates as they come in...

PIP claimant count soars by almost a sixth in just one year, shock new DWP stats reveal

The number of people claiming personal independence payments (PIP) has jumped by 12 per cent in just one year, new Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) data has revealed.

Some 3.66 million claimants in England and Wales were entitled to PIP as of January 31 this year, according to the DWP - 12 per cent higher than the 3.27 million who were eligible at the same point in 2024.

When compared to figures just before the pandemic, the numbers are even starker - at the end of January 2020, the figure stood at 2.14 million.

It then rose to 2.36 million by the end of January 2021, 2.57 million by January 2022 and and 2.93 million by January 2023.

The current total of 3.66 million is a staggering 71 per cent higher than the equivalent figure five years ago.

Labour cosies up to EU AGAIN as Lammy and Brussels counterpart call for relations 'upgrade'

Labour's much-hailed "relations reset" with the EU is set to come under the spotlight today as Foreign Secretary David Lammy meets his European counterpart Kaja Kallas - the bloc's foreign affairs and security chief.

The pair will discuss the "coalition of the willing" and how the UK and EU can support each other "at this moment of crisis" - but a joint article by Lammy and Kallas in Politico has sparked fears that Britain and Brussels could be edging closer together.

"Stronger UK-EU cooperation must continue to support multilateralism and the rules-based international order enshrined in the United Nations Charter," the article reads.

"We must join efforts with other international partners in the pursuit of global goals, including addressing the challenges of climate change, fostering international development and protecting human rights.

"The EU and the UK are also engaged in bringing stability and prosperity to other parts of the world."

'Hoodwinking the gullible!' Diane Abbott rages at claims Labour could U-TURN on PIP freeze

Diane Abbott has voiced her fury at claims that Labour could U-turn on today's rumoured freeze on personal independence payments (PIP).

A report in The Observer on Saturday said Ministers could still embark on a "humiliating" reversal of plans to slash the country's multi-billion-pound benefits bill - and now, the Labour left firebrand has spoken out.

"To be clear, there is no U-turn," she said. "Postponing the freeze on PIP payments, while continuing with a host of other cuts would be completely cosmetic.

"The claims of a U-turn are served up to hoodwink the gullible."

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is expected to confirm Labour's plans to the Commons shortly after midday - while Ministers are currently convening in Downing Street to mull over their next course of action.

Starmer unleashes brutal Civil Service credit card crackdown as Labour takes aim on 'abuse of taxpayers' cash'

Alongside Labour's impending crackdown on Britain's benefits bill, Sir Keir Starmer is cancelling thousands of taxpayer-funded credit cards used by the Civil Service.

Though the cards were intended to be used for low-value purchases, spending on them had quadrupled in the past four years to almost £700million.

Part of the nine-figure splurge included £2,500 shopping sprees by UK diplomats at a women's shoe shop in Barbados, and £1,200 on luxury coffee pods in just two months.

"Enough is enough," Starmer vowed on social media this morning. "We're cancelling thousands of Government credit cards to make sure every pound delivers for you."

The Prime Minister's pledge has been met with rare praise by the TaxPayers' Alliance - its chief executive John O'Connell said: "Taxpayers will be thankful that the Government is cutting up thousands of procurement cards.

"These cards have been abused by civil servants for too long, with many of them splashing the cash on fancy trips and other inappropriate ventures.

"Ministers need to make sure that these changes are permanent and keep a close eye on remaining credit cards to ensure good value for money."

Net zero is 'impossible' and will 'bankrupt' Britain, Kemi Badenoch warns in ruthless swipe at Tory predecessors

Achieving net zero is "impossible" and will bankrupt Britain, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will say in a landmark policy speech later today.

Badenoch is expected to accuse her own party of enshrining net zero in law without a proper plan - and is set to warn that laws in place at the moment could cause a "serious drop in our living standards".

She will label the net zero target itself "fiction" and promise to tell the "unvarnished truth" about it to voters.

"Net zero by 2050 is impossible," Badenoch will say. "I don't say that with pleasure, or because I have some ideological desire to dismantle it.

"In fact, we must do what we can to improve our natural world.

"Anyone who has done any serious analysis knows it can't be achieved without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us.

"And responsible leaders don't indulge in fictions which are going to make families poorer, or mortgage their children's future - particularly without the rest of the world doing the same - making our country less safe, less secure and less resilient."

Alongside her speech, the Conservative leader will launch a full-scale party policy review - with each member of the shadow cabinet responsible for a review of their policy areas, with instructions to "rewrite the rules of the game" and consider "every aspect of what the state does and why it does it".

"We need to be honest with the public, who think that Labour have a plausible plan," she will say. "They do not. We have to do better than this, and that's why today, as part of our policy renewal, we are going to do something that Labour failed to do when in opposition - and explains why they are floundering so badly now.

"We are going to deal with the reality, answer the real questions [and] confront the real problems."

Police cells to hold prisoners in 'emergency measures' triggered by Labour, MoJ confirms

Prisoners will be housed in police cells in a package of "emergency measures" triggered by Labour, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed to GB News.

With jails across England and Wales surging to capacity, a MoJ spokesman said: "The new Government inherited a prison system in crisis and took the necessary action to stop our jails from running out of cells.

"We have always said that would only be a temporary relief, while we build 14,000 new prison places and reform sentencing to ensure our prisons reduce reoffending, cut crime and make our streets safer.

"Operation Safeguard is a well-established process that will help manage temporary capacity pressures, ahead of the new 1,500 capacity HMP Millsike opening in a few weeks' time."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Lammy accuses Israel of breaking international law as Foreign Secretary lays into Netanyahu for blocking humanitarian aid

Britain has accused Israel of breaking international law for the first time since the start of its war with Hamas - with Foreign Secretary David Lammy blasting the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for blocking humanitarian aid.

Lammy claimed Israel had committed "a breach of international law" by barring Gaza from accessing food, medicine and fuel after terror group Hamas refused to accept a ceasefire extension deal set out by the US.

That came before this morning's news that Israel had bombarded its next-door neighbour with "extensive strikes" - breaking said ceasefire...

VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST - READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Waspi row erupts as Labour told to 'right this wrong' amid compensation legal battle

MPs are backing Waspi campaigners in their latest fight against Labour - vowing that it's not too late to "right the wrong" after Ministers failed to pay out compensation in December.

Campaigners have now escalated their battle for state pension compensation by launching a judicial review against the Government - and gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday to protest.

So far, campaigners have raised more than £150,000 in recent weeks to fund their High Court challenge.

And some Labour MPs have told Ministers it is "not too late to put it right" by establishing a compensation scheme for women affected by state pension age changes...

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Labour CAN be held together despite looming backbench benefit rebellion, McFadden claims

Pat McFadden has said Labour can be held together in the coming days amid backbench fury over expected welfare cuts.

Diane Abbott had laid into Labour's decision to invest in defence while slashing Britain's soaring benefits bill - and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was pressured on whether he could keep the party's rebellious left in line.

He said: "Yes I can, and let me say two things. First of all, we've got a duty to defend the country, and the Cabinet - the Government - has completely agreed on the need to increase defence expenditure.

"Secondly, we are spending tens of billions on supporting people, and we'll continue to do that in the future, but if there's a proportion of the increasing number of people going on to these benefits who we think with a bit of extra support we could get into work, that is entirely in line with the values of the Labour Party and entirely in line with the duties of any Government, which is to face up to the big challenges facing the country.

"And it's in that spirit that the Government will bring forward its reform package later today," he told the BBC.

Richard Tice left fuming after Tories 'copy Reform policy' - 'Look how they betrayed us before!'

Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice has accused the Tories of copying his party's policy in a furious attack on Kemi Badenoch's net zero pledge this morning.

Tice, writing on social media, said: "Another day, another major Reform UK policy adopted by Tory or Labour. We are having a huge impact."

Then a few minutes later, he added: "Tories copy Reform policy again... But can you trust them? Look how they betrayed us all before."

EXCLUSIVE: Net zero chief pockets equivalent of £255K annual salary as taxpayers pick up 'limitless' tab for 'pointless endeavour'

Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government is hiring a new low carbon chief on an advertised salary equivalent to £255,000 - significantly more the Prime Minister's.

The successful applicant, who would serve as Chair of the Low Carbon Contracts Company, is sponsored by Ed Miliband's Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and would earn £986 per day to work two days a week, the Government's own website says.

The remuneration would amount to £102,500 across the year, equivalent to a full-time salary of £255,000, significantly more than Starmer's £172,153 pay packet.

And following the reveal, senior net zero critics have reacted with fury.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE