Keir Starmer has launched a collection of assaults on Nigel Farage, telling the general public they can not belief the Reform UK chief.
Talking at an occasion at a enterprise in north-west England, the prime minister mentioned Farage wouldn’t have protected jobs in industries topic to tariffs from the US, and in contrast him to former prime minister Liz Truss.
Starmer mentioned:
We protected these jobs. Would Nigel Farage have performed the identical? Completely not.
And that’s the query to must ask about Nigel Farage. Are you able to belief him? Are you able to belief him together with your future? Are you able to belief him together with your jobs? Are you able to belief him together with your mortgages, your pensions, your payments? And he gave the reply on Tuesday. A powerful no.
He set out financial plans which comprises billions upon billions of utterly unfunded spending. Exactly the kind of irresponsible splurge that despatched your mortgage prices, your payments and the price of residing by means of the roof. It’s Liz Truss yet again.
Key occasions
Of Farage, Starmer mentioned:
That is the person who mentioned Jaguar Land Rover deserve – his phrase – to go bust. And he mentioned that as a result of he didn’t like an advert that they made.
This can be a firm on the absolute forefront of British engineering and he says they need to go bust. However not like Nigel Farage, I’ve been to see the employees at JLR a number of occasions over, significantly not too long ago, and I do know what these jobs imply for the workforce themselves, for his or her households and their communities.
And I noticed first hand the nervousness on their faces. I met them simply as I met you this morning. I noticed the anxieties on their faces after they thought their jobs have been in danger. So, after they wanted help earlier this 12 months, once we needed to combat for his or her jobs and make a take care of the USA, I protected these jobs as a result of I had them in my minds eye.
Starmer then questioned whether or not Farage “would have performed the identical” in defending jobs at JLR. He mentioned:
Would Nigel Farage have performed the identical? Completely not. And that’s the query you must ask about Nigel Farage: are you able to belief him?”
Starmer started his handle by talking concerning the authorities’s latest commerce offers with India, the US and the EU.
Chatting with employees and reporters at Glass Futures in St Helens, Merseyside, Starmer mentioned:
Solely this morning, really, you defined to me that the India deal specifically can be actually essential for glass and what you’re doing straight, and naturally, for companies like whiskey that want glass all the time.
And that comes from my absolute willpower to create jobs, good jobs, and to drive down the price of residing and put more cash in your pocket, which is I believe the factor most individuals are most involved about.
However quickly, he turned his consideration to Nigel Farage by including:
That’s what drives me, however you possibly can’t say the identical about Nigel Farage.
Keir Starmer has launched a collection of assaults on Nigel Farage, telling the general public they can not belief the Reform UK chief.
Talking at an occasion at a enterprise in north-west England, the prime minister mentioned Farage wouldn’t have protected jobs in industries topic to tariffs from the US, and in contrast him to former prime minister Liz Truss.
Starmer mentioned:
We protected these jobs. Would Nigel Farage have performed the identical? Completely not.
And that’s the query to must ask about Nigel Farage. Are you able to belief him? Are you able to belief him together with your future? Are you able to belief him together with your jobs? Are you able to belief him together with your mortgages, your pensions, your payments? And he gave the reply on Tuesday. A powerful no.
He set out financial plans which comprises billions upon billions of utterly unfunded spending. Exactly the kind of irresponsible splurge that despatched your mortgage prices, your payments and the price of residing by means of the roof. It’s Liz Truss yet again.
Keir Starmer has begun his handle at a producing enterprise within the north-west of England. We have now a dwell video stream on the high of the web page now – you could have to refresh the web page to entry it.
Severin Carrell
The Hamilton byelection marketing campaign is quickly evolving right into a face to face battle between Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour chief, and Nigel Farage – not less than within the proxy conflict being fought on social media.
Sarwar has posted more and more combative movies difficult the Reform chief to a debate whereas Farage, who is because of make a really uncommon look in Scotland subsequent week, has shot again by once more suggesting Sarwar is biased in opposition to white individuals.
Reform UK was accused earlier this week of “inflaming tensions” by Sarwar and John Swinney, the Scottish Nationwide social gathering (SNP) chief and first minister, after wrongly accusing Sarwar of prioritising the pursuits of Pakistani Scots primarily based on an previous speech.
Sarwar has since gone on to Instagram, Fb and X with “a message to Nigel Farage” in a selfie-style clip filmed in Hamilton, accusing Farage of being an elitist outsider.
One mentioned:
That is what Hamilton appears to be like like. I do know for you, you in all probability suppose Hamilton is only a present within the West Finish of London. So I counsel you ask your chauffeur to place Hamilton into Google maps. You stand up right here. I can problem you in your views. You possibly can problem me on mine and we will see what the individuals of Scotland consider you.
In an Instagram clip from his newest BBC Scotland radio interview, Sarwar says:
He has no concept the place Hamilton is.
Farage amplified his assaults on Sarwar’s politics by resurfacing an previous speech of Sarwar’s in Holyrood the place he criticised the failure of main Scottish establishments to advertise individuals of color into management roles.
Reform UK’s submit on X intercut the clip with Farage talking at a Reform rally saying “we don’t care about pores and skin color … we don’t care who you might be … we care whether or not you share the values of this nation”.
Labour’s strategy suggests they wish to use Reform’s giant presence on this marketing campaign to their benefit, pushing the SNP (which is the clear favorite to win) into the background, and to amplify Sarwar’s Scottishness and seize voter antipathy in the direction of Reform.
However Scottish Labour may now be specializing in guaranteeing they beat Reform into third place, to keep away from the humiliation of being overtaken by them; Labour’s candidate, Davy Russell, is broadly seen as a poor performer who’s battling the marketing campaign.
Jobcentres will not drive individuals into ‘any job’ out there, minister says
Jessica Elgot
Jobcentres will not drive individuals into “any job” out there, the employment minister has mentioned, promising there can be long-term, personalised profession help for these dropping out resulting from welfare cuts.
Alison McGovern mentioned she was ending the Conservative coverage underneath which jobseekers have been obliged to take any low-paid, insecure work and that the service would now be targeted on serving to individuals to construct rewarding careers.
McGovern, who’s tasked with a serious overhaul to employment help because of vital cuts to incapacity advantages, mentioned the division would use AI to unlock the workloads of job coaches, giving them extra time to offer “human” help to these with advanced wants and long-term unemployment.
The federal government is going through open revolt amongst Labour MPs over the proposed cuts – which some in No 10 concern may imply dropping the vote in parliament.
McGovern mentioned she needed to acknowledge there have been many disabled individuals who would really feel “frightened” by the cuts to non-public independence funds and incapacity advantages, with many dropping help completely.
“I don’t blame anyone for being scared or nervous about it as a result of given what’s occurred with adjustments to incapacity advantages earlier than, I perceive that,” she mentioned.
However she added she was deeply involved concerning the numbers of younger individuals out of labor – with many needing specialist assist to even have interaction with job help due to excessive social nervousness.
McGovern mentioned that folks whose advantages have been reduce underneath Labour would obtain radically completely different help. Work help can be supplied by GPs and physiotherapists, along with the prolonged help in jobcentres.
US agency that exams eligibility for UK incapacity advantages pays £10m in dividends
Lauren Almeida
The British arm of a US contractor that earnings from testing whether or not some individuals within the UK ought to obtain incapacity advantages has paid £10m in dividends to its buyers.
Maximus, a Virginia-based enterprise, reported a 23% rise in pre-tax revenue for its UK arm, from £23.6m to £29.1m, in its monetary 12 months to the top of September, accounts lodged at Corporations Home present. Its income rose 2%, from £294m to £300m.
The corporate is the largest supplier of useful evaluation companies, or FAS, for the Division for Work and Pensions (DWP). These exams decide an individual’s degree of operate and talent to carry out on a regular basis duties.
The UK arm of the enterprise paid out £10m in dividends to buyers, equal to £10,000 per peculiar share, in response to accounts filed at Corporations Home. The corporate additionally paid out £10m in dividends to its buyers within the 2023 monetary 12 months.
Maximus secured a five-year contract from the federal government in 2023 to offer useful evaluation companies, at an estimated worth of £800m over the interval, with the choice to increase for an extra two years.
In a inexperienced paper printed in March, the Division for Work and Pensions mentioned experiences of assessments for the private independence cost (Pip) have been “not at all times optimistic”.
The nationwide incapacity charity Sense mentioned “no person needs to be rewarded for treating disabled individuals with disrespect”.
Tom Marsland, of the charity, mentioned:
Sense’s analysis discovered that half of disabled individuals with advanced wants who’ve been by means of a advantages evaluation discovered it humiliating, and nearly half didn’t get the appropriate communication help to correctly display why they want help.
These statistics are surprising and present a deep-rooted downside with the present evaluation course of.
Helena Horton
The federal government has ordered the constructing of two reservoirs, the primary to be inbuilt England for greater than 30 years.
The shortage of reservoir capability, mixed with a rising inhabitants and drier summers brought on by local weather breakdown, has put the nation susceptible to water shortages. The federal government warned in latest weeks of an impending drought if there was not vital rainfall quickly, and reservoirs have been reaching worryingly low ranges.
The atmosphere minister, Steve Reed, has awarded the standing of “nationally vital” to 2 new reservoir initiatives in East Anglia and Lincolnshire and ordered that they go forward. These would be the first to be constructed since 1992.
The federal government mentioned this is able to shore up water sources for greater than 750,000 properties in England’s most water-stressed areas.
With out extra capability, the UK can be susceptible to working out of water within the medium time period. The Surroundings Company has predicted a shortfall of virtually 5bn litres a day by 2050.
The water minister, Emma Hardy, mentioned:
Right now we’re backing the builders not the blockers, intervening within the nationwide curiosity and slashing purple tape to make the planning course of quicker to unblock 9 new reservoirs. This authorities will safe our water provide for future generations and unlock the constructing of hundreds of properties as a part of the plan for change.
The constructing of hundreds of properties within the areas to be served by the reservoirs is being held up as there’s not the water provide to maintain them.
Anglian Water is proposing to construct Lincolnshire reservoir to the south of Sleaford, which needs to be working by 2040. It has partnered with Cambridge Water to suggest the Fens reservoir, situated between the cities of Chatteris and March, to be accomplished in 2036.
Authorities is ‘critical’ about guidelines water firms should comply with, says water minister
The federal government is “critical” concerning the guidelines which water firms should comply with, Emma Hardy has mentioned in response to fines imposed on Thames Water of £122.7m, reviews the PA information company.
Talking at a reservoir, the water minister informed Instances Radio the penalty was the “largest fantastic there ever has been on document” within the sector and added:
This can be a authorities that’s critical about enforcement.
For years, water firms have been allowed to get away with poor behaviour, and we’ve mentioned underneath this authorities that’s not going to occur as a result of not solely is that this the most important fantastic that there ever has been, we’ve additionally launched the Water (Particular Measures) Act, so as much as two years’ imprisonment for water bosses.
We’ve banned unfair bonuses and simply final week I used to be out chatting concerning the 81 legal investigations which are going into water firms. So we’re critical once we say that we’re taking enforcement severely.
Requested why the federal government had not thought of particular administration for Thames Water, Hardy mentioned this mechanism was for firms which go “bankrupt”. She described the agency as “secure”, including: “We’ll monitor it intently.”
Second Lib Dem MP withdraws help for England and Wales assisted dying invoice
Peter Walker
A second Liberal Democrat MP has mentioned they’ve modified their thoughts over the assisted dying invoice and can vote in opposition to it on the subsequent Commons stage, in one other signal of a wider, in that case far slight, ebbing away of help for the measure.
In an electronic mail to constituents, Brian Mathew, the Melksham and Devizes MP, mentioned that whereas he had backed the invoice at its second studying vote, in April, scrutiny of the plans had left “a number of considerations I really feel have been inadequately answered”.
His announcement follows feedback final week by Steve Darling, the Torbay MP who can be the Lib Democrat work and pensions spokesperson. Darling mentioned that whereas he had backed the invoice in April he was now “marginally in opposition to” it, however had not but determined whether or not he would vote in opposition to it or abstain.
About eight different MPs who both supported the personal member’s invoice, led by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, at its second studying or didn’t vote have mentioned they are going to now oppose it.
Nevertheless, not less than two who abstained in April are actually supporters, whereas the Runcorn and Helsby byelection earlier in Could resulted in a Labour MP who opposed the plan changed by a Reform UK one who backs it.
Given the second studying of the invoice was handed with a majority of 55, the numbers so far point out it also needs to get by means of the third studying, scheduled for 20 June.
