Lee Anderson says ‘gaming the system’ is too common and jokes about symptoms of anxiety and depression Reform UK has set out plans for changes to personal independence payments (Pip) that the party says could save up to £9bn a year, with Lee Anderson, one of its MPs, saying he used to “game the system” … Read more
Richard Hermer says failure by Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly to describe China as a threat would have been seized on in trial Defence lawyers would have used Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly’s statements about China to dismiss a case against two men charged with spying for Beijing, the attorney general has argued. Richard Hermer … Read more
Hadush Kebatu claims he tried to hand himself in to police, but was ignored, after being released from prison in error A convicted child sex offender mistakenly released from prison after arriving in the UK in a small boat was given £500 of public money as he was deported back to Ethiopia. Hadush Kebatu was … Read more
Steve Reed writes to South Cambridgeshire council raising concerns over performance and value for money The local government secretary, Steve Reed, is seeking to clamp down on councils introducing four-day working weeks after writing to South Cambridgeshire warning that the policy had damaged performance. Reed told the council, which is the only local authority to … Read more
Sales benefited from warm summer, M&S online shutdown after cyber-attack and supply improvements Next has raised hopes that UK consumers are still willing to spend despite pressures on household budgets, as it revealed sales and profit growth “materially above” expectations. The clothing and homeware retailer said it benefited from a sunny summer, the online shutdown … Read more
Parents say they were treated as fraudsters because Home Office travel records failed to show their return to UK The UK tax authorities have announced they will no longer cut off parents’ child benefit payments after a new crackdown on overseas fraud backfired due to incomplete Home Office travel data. The flawed data led to … Read more
National Audit Office reports nearly two-thirds of independent hospices in deficit in 2023-24 as demand increases Hospices in England are cutting hundreds of beds and staff because of a funding crisis, despite a sharp rise in demand for palliative care, a damning report warns. People needing end of life care faced a postcode lottery because … Read more
Budapest wants to boost its political alliances in Brussels, Viktor Orbán’s political director says. Hungary is looking to join forces with Czechia and Slovakia to form a Ukraine-skeptic alliance in the EU, a top political adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told POLITICO. Orbán is hoping to team up with Andrej Babiš, whose right-wing … Read more
Cash-strapped Head Start centers across the country are being forced to close their doors, with more expected to shutter as the shutdown continues. Tens of thousands of children from low-income families could lose access to education, meals and health care if federal Head Start cash doesn’t resume by Nov. 1 — just as the funding … Read more
John Thune said he expects to hear the VP’s “assessment of where things stand” in the funding fight. JD Vance is heading to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for lunch with Senate Republicans. The White House says the vice president is swinging by to talk tariffs, but it’ll be tough to divert the discussion away from … Read more