Term ‘disabled’ being used too widely, shadow work and pensions secretary says – UK politics live

From 44m ago

Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, suggests term ‘disabled’ being applied too widely if 25% of people qualify

Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, has suggested the term “disabled” is being over-used if it applies to around a quarter of people.

She made the claim in her speech in which she defended the Tory plan to cut benefits – which the party now says could save £23bn a year. (See 8.09am.)

She said:

We are here because we know we have a really important job to do – if not us, who?
But millions of people right now, are sitting on the sofa at home.
Millions have got themselves a sick note from the GP and signed onto sickness benefits with just a form and a phone call.
Millions are getting benefits for anxiety and ADHD, along with a free Motability car.
TikTok videos tell you how – and some people even pay for VIP services to boost their chances of a successful benefits claim.
Yes, there are people with serious illnesses and disabilities,
But one in four people now describe themselves as disabled, so what does the term even mean?

In claiming that the term disabled is used too widely, Whately is just echoing an argument made by Kemi Badenoch, who made a very similar comment earlier this year.

There is an explanation for the ‘one in four’ figure (24%, to be precise) in this DWP report. It is based on the definition of disabled in the Equality Act, which says a person is considered to have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has ‘substantial’ and ‘long term’ negative effects on their ability to do normal daily activities.

In her speech, Whately also claimed she had a “common sense” plan to cut welfare spending.

I’ve got my common sense plan for savings.
Fix the ‘sick note’ system, bring back face-to-face assessments, end sickness benefits for low level mental health problems, stop the abuse of Motability, and put British citizens first in our benefits system – just living here is not a reason to get money from taxpayers.
And that’s not all.
We will change our sickness benefit system, so it helps those who really need help and stops turning people into victims.
We will make the benefits cap do what it should, so that families on benefits aren’t better off than those in work.
And we’ll tackle the massive hike in housing benefit.
All that gives you billions of savings off the benefits bill.

Helen Whately speaking to the Tory conference. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

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Randeep Ramesh is the Guardian’s chief leader writer.

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David Davis, the Tory former Brexit secretary, has told a fringe meeting at the party conference that he is opposed to the party’s decision to leave the European convention on human rights.

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Speaking to the Guardian, Davis, who is one of most prominent libertarians in the party, Davis said:

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I don’t trust any British government – Conservative Labour, coalition – to have entirely clean hands on civil liberties, torture and rendition, surveillance, 90 days detention without charge, all these things. And parliament is getting weaker and weaker. So that’s why I want to have some external agency.
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Davis said he was also concerned about the problems withdrawal from the ECHR would create in Northern Ireland.

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It won’t destroy [the Belfast/Good Friday agreement] but it will cause issues and it will force a renegotiation with the Irish demanding things. On European trade policy, it would give the option to the Europeans of withdrawing certain aspects.
\n

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Davis also believes that that efforts being made by several European countries to reform the ECHR, including the Labour government in Britain, may lead to changes.

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Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, has played down concerns that the Trump-style removals force proposed by the party will adopt some of the thuggish and lawless tactics used by Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), its US counterpart.

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Speaking at a fringe meeting at the conference, where he was being interviewed by Politico’s Dan Bloom, Philp said:

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There are some examples in the US where they have clearly used tactics that are too heavy handed, and people families have been separated. We don’t advocate that sort of approach.
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We do advocate zero tolerance for illegal immigration and anyone entering this country illegally, no matter what their purported excuse, will get removed within a week.
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Philp told the same meeting there was another area where he would like to see the UK move closer to the US model. In the US there are thousands of government jobs which an incoming president can give to political appointees. In the UK the civil service in independent, and cabinet ministers are only allowed to bring in a handful of political appointee (special advisers, or “spads”) to help them. Philp said he would like to see this number increased.

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I could imagine a few dozen people [as party political advisers] coming into a big department would make quite a big difference to ministers’ ability to get things done.
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Philp at the Tory conference yesterday.","caption":"Chris Philp at the Tory conference yesterday.","credit":"Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759763224000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"11.07 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759764080000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"11.21 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759764080000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"11.21 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"11.21","title":"Philp plays down concerns proposed Tory removals force will adopt ‘heavy-handed’ tactics used by Trump’s Ice","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e3d4cb8f08dcbf002c4088","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, has suggested the term “disabled” is being over-used if it applies to around a quarter of people.

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She made the claim in her speech in which she defended the Tory plan to cut benefits – which the party now says could save £23bn a year. (See 8.09am.)

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She said:

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\n
We are here because we know we have a really important job to do – if not us, who?
\n
But millions of people right now, are sitting on the sofa at home.
\n
Millions have got themselves a sick note from the GP and signed onto sickness benefits with just a form and a phone call.
\n
Millions are getting benefits for anxiety and ADHD, along with a free Motability car.
\n
TikTok videos tell you how – and some people even pay for VIP services to boost their chances of a successful benefits claim.
\n
Yes, there are people with serious illnesses and disabilities,
\n
But one in four people now describe themselves as disabled, so what does the term even mean?
\n

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In claiming that the term disabled is used too widely, Whately is just echoing an argument made by Kemi Badenoch, who made a very similar comment earlier this year.

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In her speech, Whately also claimed she had a “common sense” plan to cut welfare spending.

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\n
I’ve got my common sense plan for savings.
\n
Fix the ‘sick note’ system, bring back face-to-face assessments, end sickness benefits for low level mental health problems, stop the abuse of Motability, and put British citizens first in our benefits system – just living here is not a reason to get money from taxpayers.
\n
And that’s not all.
\n
We will change our sickness benefit system, so it helps those who really need help and stops turning people into victims.
\n
We will make the benefits cap do what it should, so that families on benefits aren’t better off than those in work.
\n
And we’ll tackle the massive hike in housing benefit.
\n
All that gives you billions of savings off the benefits bill.
\n

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Whately speaking to the Tory conference.","caption":"Helen Whately speaking to the Tory conference.","credit":"Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":true,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759761611000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"10.40 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759762940000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"11.02 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759762940000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"11.02 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"11.02","title":"Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, suggests term ‘disabled’ being applied too widely if 25% of people qualify","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e3cd358f08dcbf002c4003","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Claims that government interference led to the collapse of a major Chinese spying case are “all untrue”, Downing Street has insisted. PA Media reports:

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\n
Ministers also retain confidence in England and Wales’ chief prosecutor following the case, according to No 10, as he based his work around the previous Conservative government’s policy on China.
\n
The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry was dropped on 15 September, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs from across both sides of the political aisle.
\n
The decision reportedly came after senior Whitehall mandarins met to discuss the trial, including national security adviser Jonathan Powell and the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Sir Oliver Robbins, according to the Sunday Times.
\n
In order to prove the case under the Official Secrets Act, prosecutors would have had to show the defendants were acting for an “enemy”.
\n
But Powell reportedly revealed the government’s evidence would be based on the national security strategy, which does not use that term to describe China, so it could not be used in court.
\n
“The suggestion that the government withheld evidence, withdrew witnesses, or restricted the ability of witnesses to draw on particular bits of evidence are all untrue,” the PM’s press secretary told reporters at a lobby briefing this morning.
\n
Among those who have heavily criticised the collapse of the case are the Tories, who have said ministers now have serious questions to answer.
\n
But sources within government said evidence in the case had to relate to the period when the alleged incidents took place – between 2021 and 2023 – when the Conservatives were in power.
\n
Senior Tory figures at the time – including the party’s current leader, Kemi Badenoch – did not refer to China as an enemy, only as a “challenge”, informing the evidence.
\n
Stephen Parkinson, chief prosecutor in England and Wales, had said the CPS had determined the proceedings had to be stopped because of an “evidential failure”.
\n
Downing Street was asked if the prime minister remained confident in Parkinson’s ability to do the job.
\n
“Yes. It is obviously for the CPS to take decisions on the evidential threshold which they take cases forward, and they obviously judged that that threshold was met at the time,” a spokesperson said.
\n
“It’s obviously up to them to keep that under review and to take their own decisions. But very clearly, the government’s evidence did not materially change, not least because it was based on the previous government’s policy, and previous governments’ policy can’t change.”
\n

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Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, told the Tory conference that, if the party won the next election, they would repeal the measures in the employment rights bill.

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Using a nickname for the legislation, he said:

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\n
The next Conservative government will actively reverse the job destroying measures in Labour’s unemployment rights bill.
\n
A bill which allows strikes to be called even if just a tiny fraction of the workforce vote.
\n
A bill which will destroy job opportunities for young people whilst topping up Labour’s political fund without workers being given the choice.
\n

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The bill beefs up rights in numerous areas, in particular by banning zero-hour contracts and improving access to statutory sick pay.

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In his speech, Griffith confirmed that a Tory government would introduce 100% business rates relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector. (See 1.51pm.)

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He also said he would make it easier to open a business account.

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\n
Opening a bank account today is so hard it is a miracle anyone starts a business at all.
\n
It can take weeks or even months to do what other countries do in minutes.
\n
It shows just how far our regulators have lost the plot and it’s a brake on growth we cannot afford.
\n
So, we will transform a process which makes banks treat you as guilty until proven innocent.
\n
From the tone at the top of the regulators to repealing EU era rules, we have a clear plan, and we will fix this.
\n

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Griffith giving his speech to the conference.","caption":"Andrew Griffith giving his speech to the conference.","credit":"Photograph: Gary Roberts Photography/Shutterstock"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759758727000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.52 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759759535000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.05 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759759535000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.05 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.05","title":"Tories would reverse measures in employment rights bill, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith says","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e3be308f08734fdb7eb2ab","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Peter Walker is a Guardian senior political correspondent.

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The entire UK economy is a “Ponzi scheme” intended to enrich the old at the expense of younger people, Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP and former minister has told a fringe event at the party’s conference.

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Tugendhat, who came fourth in last year’s party leadership election, cited the pension triple lock as part of what he said was an inherently unfair system which meant younger people were abandoning the Tories and other mainstream parties.

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The event also saw new polling of voters under 40, which showed that just 10% of people aged 16-28 plan to vote Conservatives.

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Tugendhat said:

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\n
I’m going to challenge the opening premise that people are drifting away from the centre. They’re not drifting away from the centre. They’re drifting away from what doesn’t work and what won’t work for them. This is a logical series of outcomes for an economic system that has effectively become a Ponzi system for the old – that’s what people are choosing against, and that is the revolution that we’re seeing in politics.
\n
Because the truth is the UK, and in fact the European economy as a whole, has become like one of those closed pension systems where you can’t invest into it.
\n

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He went on:

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We are still defending the triple lock when it is simply not sustainable over the next 20 or 30 years in a way that means it’s in any way applicable to anybody under the age of 50.
\n
You can see it in the way that other parties are religious about preventing any building, defending an established asset class against a future asset class.
\n
It is a continuous series of politics in the centre that is defending, in this gap, the haves, the have-assets, have-jobs, have-equity against the have nots, young people.
\n
And guess what? They worked it out because young people aren’t stupid. They may be busy, they may be distracted, but they’re not stupid.
\n

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Tugendhat will have difficulty getting his party to agree. Kemi Badenoch recently said the Tories would continue to support the triple lock, and at a briefing earlier officials said the party would commit to it at the next election. (See 12.36pm.)

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Under the triple lock, introduced by the coalition government, penions rise every year in line with earnings, with inflation or by 2.5% – whichever is higher. This ratchet means that, over time, the value of the state pension continues to rise relative to other people’s earnings.

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James Cleverly has condemned the plans by an Israeli minister to host the British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

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As PA Media reports, Israel’s diaspora and combating antisemitism minister Amichai Chikli has described Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as a “courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam”. Chikli also said he was “proud to host” Robinson in Israel later this month, in mid-October.

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Asked about the invitation, Cleverly, a former foreign secretary, told a fringe meeting organised by Politico:

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I have no doubt that a number of other people in the Israeli government are as uncomfortable with that as I am. I think it’s a foolish move on behalf of the individual that did that.
\n
Tommy Robinson and others of his ilk are now wrapping themselves up in a pro-Jewish, pro-Israeli posture, because basically it’s an opportunity to do what they really want to do, which is to be anti-Muslim. So I think it’s an error.
\n

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Cleverly and his wife Susie at the Tory conference today.","caption":"James Cleverly and his wife Susie at the Tory conference today.","credit":"Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759755257000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"08.54 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759755741000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.02 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759755741000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.02 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.02","title":"James Cleverly says Israeli minister’s decision to host Tommy Robinson ‘foolish’","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e3b4948f08dcbf002c3f0f","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Business groups have welcomed the Conservative party’s promise to scrap business rates for high street shops and pubs – but urged the party to go further.

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Responding to the announcement, Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

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The BCC has long argued for fundamental reform of business rates to create a system that is fair and affordable. While reviving our high streets is important, any changes to the rates system must go further and benefit businesses of all sizes.
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And Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief executive, said:

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While plans to abolish business rates for hospitality, leisure and retail businesses could give high streets a boost, it’s more fundamental reform of a broken business rates system that is needed if we’re to incentivise the investment our country needs. Going further by shifting from a slab to a slice-based system would make a huge difference to increasing investment for businesses of all sizes and sectors, while also simplifying the system and removing the need for additional reliefs altogether.
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The CBI is calling for a “sliced-based” rates system because the current system means a small increase in the value of a property can mean a huge increase in the rates bill. In a report last year it explained:

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The existing business rates system is an ‘all or nothing’ or ‘slab’ tax – meaning the relevant multiplier applies to all of the rateable value of a building once a rateable value threshold is reached. This creates a series of cliff edges in the system which discourage businesses from expanding to more or larger premises.
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The Conservative party is proposing 100% business rates relief on the retail, leisure and hospitality sector. It says 250,000 firms will benefit.

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Environmental groups have condemned the Tory proposal announced by Claire Coutinho to scrap two green energy measures. (See 11.27am.)

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Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth, said:

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The Conservatives’ promise of cheaper energy while opposing wind and solar is contradictory nonsense. Renewable energy is far cheaper than building more fossil fuel plants … They say they want to protect the environment, but increasing fossil fuel reliance only makes things worse.
\n

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Angharad Hopkinson, a political campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

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\n
The shadow energy secretary is right to push the government to fulfil its promise to cut energy bills, but she is dead wrong to suggest that shifting away from clean power is the way to deliver it. Britain’s electricity prices are overwhelmingly set by expensive gas, not renewable energy.
\n

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And David Walsh, head of public affairs at WWF, said:

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\n
The green economy grew by 10% last year, responding to the clear and consistent signals from governments over the last 17 years thanks to the Climate Change Act. In a volatile world, investing in clean British energy and insulating homes is the way to cut bills and boost the economy to support jobs, families and the environment. Stepping back from climate action would be a devastating blow for nature and a reckless gamble families can’t afford.
\n

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Katie Lam, a shadow Home Office minister, has said that she thinks the welfare cuts announced by the party (see 8.09am and 12.36pm) do not go far enough. Although Mel Stride has said EU nationals with settled status would not be covered by the proposed rule saying non-Britons should no longer be eligible for benefits, Lam told a fringe meeting organised by Politico that her personal view was that they should be. “My view is that all state support should only be for citizens,” she said.

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She also suggested that a Tory government should reopen talks with the EU to address this. This would be necessary because settled status was part of the Brexit treaty. As Politico reports, she said:

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The whole point of having a status like EU SS [Settled Status] or indefinite leave to remain is that that is still a live conversation … If somebody is entitled to everything that comes with being a British citizen, then they should make the choice to become a British citizen.
\n

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A source said that Lam’s view was not party policy, and they weren’t looking to start “some big fight with the EU” over this,.

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Lam is seen as a rising star in the party. Peter Walker explains why in this profile.

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Here are the main points from the briefing by Tory officials at the conference about the fiscal plans announced today.

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Overall saving and spending plans

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The Tories say they would cut spending by £47bn a year by the end of the next parliament (ie, by 2034-35).

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They would use some of that money (£9bn) for tax cuts:

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-£4bn cutting business rates for high street shops and pubs

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-£2.8bn for the first jobs bonus

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-£2.2bn on tax cuts already announced – reversing the imposition of VAT on school fees (£1.7bn), and reversing the extension of inheritance tax to cover fams (about £500m)

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The rest of the money – around £38bn a year – would be used for deficit reduction

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Where the savings would come from

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The Tories released figures in their overnight press release. (See 7.59am.) At the briefing, they went into slightly more detail, and offered these figures. These are savings from 2029-30.

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-£23bn saved by welfare cuts

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-£8bn by cuts to civil service

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-£6.9bn by cuts to the aid budget

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-£3.9bn by cuts to social housing

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-£3.5bn by cuts to spending on asylum

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-£1.6bn by cuts to net zero

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Spending cuts – details

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Aid

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-The Tories see the reduction of aid spending to 0.1% of national income as permanent.

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Civil service

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-The Tories expect cuts across all departments. They think getting the civil service down to the size it was before Brexit is reasonable.

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Welfare cuts

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-Around £7bn of the £23bn cuts will come from people who are not British being denied access to benefits. People with indefinite leave to remain or limited leave to remain will not qualify.

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-The Tories also plan to tighten access to health-related benefits. Where people do receive benefits like Pip (the personal independence payment), they want them to be based on the extra costs people incur, they want payments to be related more to medical diagnosis, and they want all assessements to be done face to face

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-EU nationals with settled status will still qualify for benefits.

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Social housing

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-The Tories expect to save money here as a consequence of their plans to cut immigration.

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Tax cuts – detail

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Business rates

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Councils would be fully compensated by central government for the loss of revenue, Tories say.

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First jobs bonus

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See 12.06pm for more detail on this

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Other points

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-The Tories indicated that they are keeping the triple lock, described as Conservative policy, and will commit to that at the next election.

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-The officials did not say anything critical of the Office for Budget Responsibility, saying it is Labour criticising the OBR now, not them.

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Conservative officials have given a briefing at the conference that about the main proposals announced today for spending cuts (see 7.59am), and the tax cuts the party would implement with some of the savings (see 10.25am and 11.27am).

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This is what they said about the first jobs bonus.

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It will cost £2.8bn.

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Everyone can claim it, and people will start getting the “payments” (what they would have paid in national insurance) when they have a job that means they would liable for national insurance. The money will go into a nominated savings account, like an ISA, or a stocks and shares accounts.

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People will be able to use the discount to accumulate up to £5,000 from the national insurance exemption and, if they give up work for a period before they have hit the £5,000 limit, the money saved accumulates interest.

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People can draw down the money at any time to spend on a home. After five years people will be free to take the money to spend on something else if they are not buying a home. The Tories argue that, for people not buying property, this will encourage savings.

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Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, used her speech to the Tory conference to propose what she called a “cheap energy plan” that she said would save £165 a yaer from the average household energy bill. They would fund this by getting rid of the renewables obligation subsidy and the carbon tax.

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In a new release, the Conservative party says:

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\n
The carbon tax currently makes up around a third of wholesale electricity prices, artificially inflating the price of electricity and forcing up everyone’s energy bills in the process.
\n
The carbon tax also increases the price paid to other non-gas electricity sources like wind and solar, pushing up profits of wind and solar generators at the expense of consumers.
\n
This is all added to people’s bills and that leaves everyone worse off. Especially when compounded with the fact that Labour’s decision to align with the EU carbon tax has increased the UK’s carbon tax by 70% since January 2025.
\n
Our plan to axe the carbon tax, which does nothing to help improve our environment or reduce emissions, will save the average household £75 on their electricity bills.
\n
The Conservatives will also scrap Ed Miliband’s rip off renewable subsidies, the renewable obligation certificate scheme (ROC).
\n
Launched by Labour in 2002, and doubled by Ed Miliband in 2008, the subsidies mean renewable energy producers receive significantly above market payments for their electricity – up to three times more than the market price of electricity.
\n
Consumers are then forced to pay for these extortionate prices through their energy bills.
\n
That is why the next Conservative government will use primary legislation to repeal this subsidy scheme, which will reduce the average household’s electricity bills by £90.
\n
Together, axing the carbon tax and scrapping Ed Miliband’s old wind subsidies will cut the average household electricity bill – currently just over £850 – by £165, and also help to reduce emissions by maximising consumer choice. Decarbonisation will progress by innovation driving electrification (for instance in transport), but those products need to be cheaper to run to encourage people to adopt them – so it makes no sense to keep the price of electricity artificially high.
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Coutinho giving her speech to Tory conference.","caption":"Claire Coutinho giving her speech to Tory conference.","credit":"Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759745781000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"06.16 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759746576000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"06.29 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759746435000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"06.27 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"06.27","title":"Tories unveil plan to cut energy bills by £165 per year on average by cutting carbon tax and renewables obligation subsidy","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e38b1f8f088aaf7e1adca7","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Stride says the high streets are being “hollowed out”, partly because of Labour’s taxes. He goes on:

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We need to get business rates down. In fact, we need to go further, much, much further.
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So today, I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high streets. End of.
\n

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Stride speaking at the Tory conference.","caption":"Mel Stride speaking at the Tory conference.","credit":"Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759742751000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"05.25 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759742912000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"05.28 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759742912000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"05.28 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"05.28","title":"Stride says Tories would abolish business rates for shops and pubs on high streets","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e389f98f088aaf7e1adca1","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Stride sets out the plans to cut spending announced overnight. (See 7.59am.)

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And he says the Tories will use the savings to fund “tax cuts that are laser focused on aspiring young people”. He goes on:

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So we will introduce something called the first job bonus.
\n
When someone takes their first job, the first £5,000 pounds they pay in national insurance won’t go to the taxman.
\n
It will go towards a deposit on their first home, or it will go towards savings for their later life.
\n
For a working couple, that means £10,000 pounds, helping them buy a home, build a family, save for the future.
\n
That is the Conservative dream, a dream that built my life.
\n

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Stride turns to Reform UK, and claims they are “just as bad” as Labour.

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Reform’s manifesto promised tens of billions in unfunded commitments. They want to scrap the two-child benefit cap, spending billions more on welfare, and they want you to pay for it.
\n
We say that if you want to fund a large family, then that’s great, but you should look to yourself to pay, not the state.
\n
Reform want to get back to the days of nationalisation and state control. They are marching to the left. Be in no doubt. They are the party of more spending and more debt.
\n

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(Reform claim they want to cut welfare spending. The Tories say they won’t, because Nigel Farage said Reform would get rid of the two-child benefit cap that the Tories want to keep. But subsequently Farage claimed his party was committed to other welfare cuts – a pledge that was important in persuading Danny Kruger, a Tory worried about high welfare spending, to defect.)

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Stride speaking at the Tory conference.","caption":"Mel Stride speaking at the Tory conference.","credit":"Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759742026000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"05.13 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759742453000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"05.20 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759742453000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"05.20 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"05.20","title":"Stride claims Reform UK are ‘party of more spending and more debt’","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e385ae8f088aaf7e1adc8a","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

At the Tory conference Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, is delivering his speech.

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He starts by saying he has recently been on a trip to Silicon Valley, where you could “almost reach out and touch the future”.

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He says it did not make him depressed, returning to future. Instead it raised his spirits, because it showed him what could be achieved in the UK.

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He says the UK needs wealth creation. It should be a country “that once again understands that wealth is created not by government, striking unions and a bloated public sector, but by entrepreneurs, businesses and the hard-working millions”.

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He goes on:

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To business today, I say loud and clear – Labour may have given up on you, but this Conservative party never, ever will.
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Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, was doing an interview round for the Conservatives this morning, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the faith and communities minister, was on the air on behalf of the government. They were both asked about the latest development in the flag phenomenon – the former footballer turned property developer Gary Neville saying that he took down a union flag flying at one of his building sites because he felt it was being used in a “negative fashion”.

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Asked if Neville (a Labour supporter) had a point, Fahnbulleh told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

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I think he’s really right, that there are people who are trying to divide us at the moment …
\n
I spent a lot of time going around our communities, talking to people. People are ground down. We’ve had a decade-and-a-half in which living standards haven’t budged and people have seen their communities held down. And you will get people trying to stoke division, trying to blame others, trying to stoke tension.
\n

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But when Stride was asked about Neville’s intervention, which included criticism of “angry, middle-aged white men … who know exactly what they’re doing”, Stride said he didn’t agree. He told Times Radio:

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I think people that put up flags, the vast majority of people that do, do so for perfectly reasonable patriotic reasons. And I think reclaiming our flag as a flag of unity and decency and tolerance, which is the way most people see our flag, is a very positive thing.
\n
So I’m afraid I really cannot agree with the comments that he’s made.
\n

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In his interview with GB News Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, was asked about claims that the Conservative party is “dying”. (See 9.01am.) Clearly, he could not say yes. Instead he replied:

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No. I think this conference will be part of a turning point.
\n
I think we had a superb speech from Kemi yesterday, the hall was packed. Standing ovations. Real buzz.
\n
And I think what that is about is that a lot of people, for some time now, have been saying we don’t know what the Conservative Party stands for. We don’t hear enough about policies. Well, at this conference, that is a turning point, because we are talking about how we will control our borders … And I’m making big announcements about big, serious, grown-up spending cuts to the size of government in order that we can live within our means.
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And in his interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Stride was asked about reports that Robert Jenrick’s supporters are actively preparing for a leadership challenge. In a report for the i, Kitty Donaldson wrote.

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Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no-confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
\n
Up to a dozen supporters of the shadow justice secretary are said to have penned letters, being held back for deployment after 3 November to use in a “show of strength” to urge Badenoch to step down “when the time is right” …
\n
Jenrick’s team denied he was involved or had any knowledge of the plans. “This is bollocks,” a spokesman said, adding no friend of the senior Tory would make these claims.
\n

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Asked if he had had a conversation with Jenrick about the leadership, Stride said: “Absolutely not.” He went on:

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\n
If anybody thinks that changing leaders, which is something that the Conservative party has done many times in the recent period, is the answer to the challenge of getting back into office, then they’re deeply deluded.
\n
The last thing the public wants to see between now and the general election is yet another upheaval within the Conservative party, in which we search for another leader.
\n
The things that are holding us back are that we ended up in a difficult position. We’ve got to show that through our principles, our policies and sticking and holding our nerve, that we can come through. And Kemi is leading us in that way.
\n

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Stride doing a media interview this morning.","caption":"Mel Stride doing a media interview this morning.","credit":"Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759738471000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"04.14 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759739705000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"04.35 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759739705000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"04.35 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"04.35","title":"Stride says Tories are ‘deeply deluded’ if they think new leader is solution to party’s problems","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e377718f08d534bcbb73fe","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

Overseas nationals denied benefits under a Conservative plan to limit social security to UK citizens would have the option to return to their own countries, the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride has said in interviews this morning. Peter Walker has the story.

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Over the weekend at least two news organisations – the Financial Times, here, and the Independent, here – suggested the Conservatives are heading of “oblivion”. The FT hedged its bets a bit, but in the Independent John Rentoul described the Tories as “a Potemkin party that will cease to exist within four years”.

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In his First Edition briefing for the Guardian, Archie Bland has done the same exercise, but he has managed to find an alternative word. He asks if Kemi Badenoch is leading the Tories toward extinction. And his answer is, very probably.

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Here is an extract from Archie’s briefing, which includes an interview with the political commentator Sam Freedman.

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\n
The Conservatives are not alone among traditionally centre-right parties in Europe in being outstripped by their more radical rivals: versions of the same thing are happening in Italy, France, Germany and plenty of other countries besides. But that’s not much consolation for the self-styled “natural party of government” – and it doesn’t help with a solution to their basic bind: they are leaking voters on both sides of their coalition, with no obvious route to winning one set back without alienating the other.
\n
“They’re still trapped in the same place – too vulgar for the home counties, not populist enough for Reform voters,” Sam Freedman said. “Kemi Badenoch is trying to hold the middle position. But that’s impossible, because it’s contradictory.”
\n

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And here is the full article.

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Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has defended plans to slash spending on overseas aid to 0.1% of national income – the lowest level on record.

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In an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the presenter Ed Balls (who himself was a Labour shadow chancellor more than 10 years ago) pointed out that the overseas aid cuts proposed today (see 7.59am) would take aid spending to 0.1% of overall national income. When David Cameron was Tory leader, he got it up to 0.7%, the UN target. Balls said this would be the lowest level for UK aid spending since records began in the 1960s, and the lowest level for any European country other than Cyprus. Russia would be the only developed country spending less, Balls claimed. He asked Stride what this said about the Tory party.

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Stride replied:

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\n
What it speaks to is the position that we are in as an economy. We are living on borrowed time. And unless we have a government that recognises that, and takes these tough decisions … then we will end up in a very, very difficult position.
\n

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Stride said the debt to GDP ratio was “spiralling ever upwards and needs to be arrested”. He went on:

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\n
There is a point on that journey at which the wheels of this economy will completely come off. And that will not help anybody around the world if Britain becomes impoverished, bankrupt and unable to further its values across the globe.
\n
So yes, these are tough decisions, I accept that. But they are the right ones.
\n

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Stride taking part in an interview at the Tory conference this morning.","caption":"Mel Stride taking part in an interview at the Tory conference this morning.","credit":"Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759736105000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"03.35 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759737032000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"03.50 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759736971000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"03.49 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"03.49","title":"Stride defends plan to slash overseas aid spending to 0.1% of national income, lowest level on record","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"},{"id":"68e36a5c8f08d534bcbb7393","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

And this is what the Conservative party says about how it would cut welfare spending by £23bn over the course of the next parliament. (See 7.59am.) In its news release on this it says:

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\n
We will deliver £23 billion in savings by reforming non-pensioner welfare through:
\n
-Restricting welfare to UK citizens
\n
-Reforming sickness and disability benefits by ending access for lower-level mental health conditions and making greater use of face-to-face assessment
\n
-Reforming housing benefit
\n
-Reviewing the rates and exemptions from the Household Benefit Cap
\n
-Limiting the VAT subsidy for Motability
\n
-Reforming job-seeking obligations
\n
-Retaining the two-child benefit cap
\n

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Good morning. In May, when Reform UK took control of 10 councils in England after successful election results, Nigel Farage, the party leader, promised that the new Reform councillors would slash wasteful spending, not least by purging funding for anything “woke”. Those with more experience of local government finances were sceptical, and today the Financial Times has a good story that shows why they were right not to take the Reform claims at face value. In her story, Anna Gross says:

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\n
Kent’s local authority is likely to raise council tax rates next year as Reform UK has struggled to find big savings under an Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive.
\n
Kent was one of 10 English councils that Nigel Farage’s rightwing populist party seized in a swath of victories at local elections in May this year. He vowed to save “a lot of money” by abolishing “wasteful” spending.
\n
But Diane Morton, Reform’s cabinet member for adult social care on Kent county council, told the Financial Times that services in Kent were already “down to the bare bones”.
\n
“We’ve got more demand than ever before and it’s growing,” she said, stressing she did not believe access to those services should be limited. “We just want more money.”
\n

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Gross quotes Morton as saying Kent is likely to raise council tax by 5%, the maximum allowed.

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Why is this relevant? Because at the Conservative party conference today Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, is also promising colossal savings – worth £47bn over the course of the next parliament. Half that money will come from welfare cuts.

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In a news release, the party says:

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\n
On welfare we will replace the broken system of sickness benefits with one that properly targets help to those who need it most.
\n
That will include stopping claims for people with low level mental health problems because what is really needed is treatment and support, not cash.
\n
We will also ensure that only British citizens can access welfare – ensuring that citizenship of this country means something.
\n
The Conservative party are also committing to reversing any lifting of the two-child benefit cap.
\n
Our measures will bring the welfare bill down by £23bn.
\n
We will also take significant steps to reform the Civil Service.
\n
There were 384,000 civil servants in 2016, but today that number has risen to a staggering 517,000.
\n
This is unsustainable, so the Conservative party will bring those numbers back down to 2016 level: a measure that will save one pound in every four spent.
\n
This will represent a saving of £8bn.
\n
The Conservatives will also deliver serious cuts to the overseas aid budget because we cannot justify taxing people in this country to pay for billions of spending abroad. This will save nearly £7bn.
\n
Additionally, the Conservatives will deliver significant savings through its Borders plan, which will end the asylum hotel scandal by removing all those who arrive illegally and save at least £3.5bn. By ensuring that benefits and social housing are for UK nationals we will free up nearly £4bn of council housing subsidy.
\n
Finally, the Conservatives will scrap the costly and ineffective green subsidies being pushed by Ed Miliband, freeing the taxpayer and the public finances from his eco-experimentation and Net Zero by 2050 zealotry.
\n

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The Tories are also announcing that they would use part of the savings to fund a £5,000 national insurance bonus for young people, to be used towards the cost of a first home.

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Stride has been doing interviews this morning, ahead of his speech to the conference. I will post the highlights soon.

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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10am: Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, opens the morning session of the conference. Other speakers on the platform are Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, at 10.30am; Julia Lopez, the shadow technology secretary, at 10.55am: and Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, at 11.30am.

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10am: Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secreary, and Nadhim Zahawi, the former chancellor, take part in a fringe meeting on aid.

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10.30am: Stride speaks at a fringe event organised by Next Gen Tories.

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11.40am: James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, takes part in a Q&A at an Onward fringe.

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11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

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1pm: Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, speaks at a fringe meeting on winning back young voters. At the same time Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, is speaking at an event on lessons to be learned from Germany, and Katie Lam is speaking at a fringe meeting on crime.

","elementId":"a1fe5e9a-99d2-46ff-8a76-7ae6342c1364"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

1.30pm: Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, takes part in a Q&A at a Spectator fringe.

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2pm: Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, opens the afternoon session of the conferences. Other speakers on the platform are Helen Whateley, the shadow work and pensions secretary, at 2.25pm; Richard Holden, the shadow transport secretary, at 2.50pm; Nigel Huddleston, the shadow culture secretary, at 3.15pm; and Cleverly at 3.40pm.

","elementId":"1ffcce7c-94bf-4724-a9d7-e8adc72e6019"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

2.30pm: Patel takes part in a fringe Q&A organised by the Coalition for Global Prosperity.

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3.15pm: Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, speaks at a fringe meeting on migration.

","elementId":"0c4adc11-c7eb-4947-aadb-67d94383281e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

","elementId":"e79ea6a2-6641-4204-b899-844cbb2545ce"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

","elementId":"5acaf93a-4131-4100-9e68-befba67c3551"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.

","elementId":"4df4bd4c-9220-4ed9-aa51-c9e2440cc830"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1759733993000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"02.59 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1759755769000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.02 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1759733993000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"02.59 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"02.59","title":"Tories claim they could save £47bn by slashing welfare, overseas aid and civil service","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Mon 6 Oct 2025 11.41 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Mon 6 Oct 2025 02.59 EDT"}],"filterKeyEvents":false,"id":"key-events-carousel-mobile","absoluteServerTimes":false,"renderingTarget":"Web"}”>

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Former Tory Brexit secretary David Davis says he does not support ECHR withdrawal

Randeep Ramesh

Randeep Ramesh is the Guardian’s chief leader writer.

David Davis, the Tory former Brexit secretary, has told a fringe meeting at the party conference that he is opposed to the party’s decision to leave the European convention on human rights.

Speaking to the Guardian, Davis, who is one of most prominent libertarians in the party, Davis said:

I don’t trust any British government – Conservative Labour, coalition – to have entirely clean hands on civil liberties, torture and rendition, surveillance, 90 days detention without charge, all these things. And parliament is getting weaker and weaker. So that’s why I want to have some external agency.

Davis said he was also concerned about the problems withdrawal from the ECHR would create in Northern Ireland.

It won’t destroy [the Belfast/Good Friday agreement] but it will cause issues and it will force a renegotiation with the Irish demanding things. On European trade policy, it would give the option to the Europeans of withdrawing certain aspects.

Davis also believes that that efforts being made by several European countries to reform the ECHR, including the Labour government in Britain, may lead to changes.

Philp plays down concerns proposed Tory removals force will adopt ‘heavy-handed’ tactics used by Trump’s Ice

Speaking at a fringe meeting at the conference, where he was being interviewed by Politico’s Dan Bloom, Philp said:

There are some examples in the US where they have clearly used tactics that are too heavy handed, and people families have been separated. We don’t advocate that sort of approach.
We do advocate zero tolerance for illegal immigration and anyone entering this country illegally, no matter what their purported excuse, will get removed within a week.

I could imagine a few dozen people [as party political advisers] coming into a big department would make quite a big difference to ministers’ ability to get things done.

Chris Philp at the Tory conference yesterday. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, suggests term ‘disabled’ being applied too widely if 25% of people qualify

Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, has suggested the term “disabled” is being over-used if it applies to around a quarter of people.

She made the claim in her speech in which she defended the Tory plan to cut benefits – which the party now says could save £23bn a year. (See 8.09am.)

She said:

We are here because we know we have a really important job to do – if not us, who?
But millions of people right now, are sitting on the sofa at home.
Millions have got themselves a sick note from the GP and signed onto sickness benefits with just a form and a phone call.
Millions are getting benefits for anxiety and ADHD, along with a free Motability car.
TikTok videos tell you how – and some people even pay for VIP services to boost their chances of a successful benefits claim.
Yes, there are people with serious illnesses and disabilities,
But one in four people now describe themselves as disabled, so what does the term even mean?

In claiming that the term disabled is used too widely, Whately is just echoing an argument made by Kemi Badenoch, who made a very similar comment earlier this year.

In her speech, Whately also claimed she had a “common sense” plan to cut welfare spending.

I’ve got my common sense plan for savings.
Fix the ‘sick note’ system, bring back face-to-face assessments, end sickness benefits for low level mental health problems, stop the abuse of Motability, and put British citizens first in our benefits system – just living here is not a reason to get money from taxpayers.
And that’s not all.
We will change our sickness benefit system, so it helps those who really need help and stops turning people into victims.
We will make the benefits cap do what it should, so that families on benefits aren’t better off than those in work.
And we’ll tackle the massive hike in housing benefit.
All that gives you billions of savings off the benefits bill.

Helen Whately speaking to the Tory conference. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

Helena Horton

Helena Horton is a Guardan environment reporter.

Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, has been accused of a Reform UK-style anti-business measure by experts.

She has pledged to scrap the the renewables obligation (RO) scheme, under which many wind farms receive fixed subsidies for 15–20 years. (See 11.27am.)

Coutinho referred to these subsidies as “the biggest racket going”, adding:

Our energy system is not here to prop up the profits of multi-million-pound wind developers at billpayers’ expense. It’s here to deliver cheap, reliable energy for the country.

However, one of the reasons the UK has historically been a favourable place to invest is its strong contract law, meaning that when a business signs a contract it knows the terms will be honoured.

Ripping up existing agreements would run contrary to this.

Jess Ralston, energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said:

If what is being proposed is to terminate contracts with renewable energy suppliers under the renewables obligation, unless there is an alternative in place, this kind of policy instability, akin to what Reform has proposed, would deter investors not just in renewables, but across the board from investing in the UK. This uncertainty would make financing more risky pushing up costs of investment, making everything in turn more expensive.

Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform, faced criticism from business leaders when he proposed a similar policy, to scrap the contracts for difference scheme under which renewables companies agree a price per megawatt hour for their power.

Even the wind power sceptic energy analyst Kathryn Porter, who writes for the Telegraph, has said that cancelling existing schemes would dent investor confidence.

New analysis has also found that renewables including wind power cut electricity prices by up to a quarter in the last year.

Conservative members trying to get into an Onward fringe event with James Cleverly at the conference this morning. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

No 10 says claims government interference led to collapse of Chinese spying case ‘all untrue’

Claims that government interference led to the collapse of a major Chinese spying case are “all untrue”, Downing Street has insisted. PA Media reports:

Ministers also retain confidence in England and Wales’ chief prosecutor following the case, according to No 10, as he based his work around the previous Conservative government’s policy on China.
The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry was dropped on 15 September, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs from across both sides of the political aisle.
The decision reportedly came after senior Whitehall mandarins met to discuss the trial, including national security adviser Jonathan Powell and the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Sir Oliver Robbins, according to the Sunday Times.
In order to prove the case under the Official Secrets Act, prosecutors would have had to show the defendants were acting for an “enemy”.
But Powell reportedly revealed the government’s evidence would be based on the national security strategy, which does not use that term to describe China, so it could not be used in court.
“The suggestion that the government withheld evidence, withdrew witnesses, or restricted the ability of witnesses to draw on particular bits of evidence are all untrue,” the PM’s press secretary told reporters at a lobby briefing this morning.
Among those who have heavily criticised the collapse of the case are the Tories, who have said ministers now have serious questions to answer.
But sources within government said evidence in the case had to relate to the period when the alleged incidents took place – between 2021 and 2023 – when the Conservatives were in power.
Senior Tory figures at the time – including the party’s current leader, Kemi Badenoch – did not refer to China as an enemy, only as a “challenge”, informing the evidence.
Stephen Parkinson, chief prosecutor in England and Wales, had said the CPS had determined the proceedings had to be stopped because of an “evidential failure”.
Downing Street was asked if the prime minister remained confident in Parkinson’s ability to do the job.
“Yes. It is obviously for the CPS to take decisions on the evidential threshold which they take cases forward, and they obviously judged that that threshold was met at the time,” a spokesperson said.
“It’s obviously up to them to keep that under review and to take their own decisions. But very clearly, the government’s evidence did not materially change, not least because it was based on the previous government’s policy, and previous governments’ policy can’t change.”

Tories would reverse measures in employment rights bill, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith says

Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, told the Tory conference that, if the party won the next election, they would repeal the measures in the employment rights bill.

Using a nickname for the legislation, he said:

The next Conservative government will actively reverse the job destroying measures in Labour’s unemployment rights bill.
A bill which allows strikes to be called even if just a tiny fraction of the workforce vote.
A bill which will destroy job opportunities for young people whilst topping up Labour’s political fund without workers being given the choice.

The bill beefs up rights in numerous areas, in particular by banning zero-hour contracts and improving access to statutory sick pay.

In his speech, Griffith confirmed that a Tory government would introduce 100% business rates relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector. (See 1.51pm.)

He also said he would make it easier to open a business account.

Opening a bank account today is so hard it is a miracle anyone starts a business at all.
It can take weeks or even months to do what other countries do in minutes.
It shows just how far our regulators have lost the plot and it’s a brake on growth we cannot afford.
So, we will transform a process which makes banks treat you as guilty until proven innocent.
From the tone at the top of the regulators to repealing EU era rules, we have a clear plan, and we will fix this.

Andrew Griffith giving his speech to the conference. Photograph: Gary Roberts Photography/Shutterstock

Labour has accused the Conservatives of backing “failed energy policies” that led to a cost of living crisis. In response to Claire Coutinho’s speech (see 11.27am), a Labour spokesperson said:

The Conservatives simply want to repeat the same failed energy policies which saw the worst cost of living crisis in a generation happen on their watch.
Their anti-growth, anti-jobs, anti-investment stance on cancelling clean energy investment would make Britain more reliant on insecure expensive fossil fuels, keeping bills high for generations to come. And just last week their pledge to scrap the Climate Change Act united a remarkable coalition of business bosses, workers, faith leaders, and even Conservative politicians in opposition, to their plans.

Peter Walker has posted this picture showing the Opinium polling that was presented at the Next Gen Tories fringe meeting where Tom Tugendhat was talking about young voters.

Peter Walker Photograph: Polling on young voters

Former minister Tom Tugendhat says pension triple lock part of ‘Ponzi scheme’ economic system biased against the young

Peter Walker

Peter Walker is a Guardian senior political correspondent.

The event also saw new polling of voters under 40, which showed that just 10% of people aged 16-28 plan to vote Conservatives.

Tugendhat said:

I’m going to challenge the opening premise that people are drifting away from the centre. They’re not drifting away from the centre. They’re drifting away from what doesn’t work and what won’t work for them. This is a logical series of outcomes for an economic system that has effectively become a Ponzi system for the old – that’s what people are choosing against, and that is the revolution that we’re seeing in politics.
Because the truth is the UK, and in fact the European economy as a whole, has become like one of those closed pension systems where you can’t invest into it.

He went on:

We are still defending the triple lock when it is simply not sustainable over the next 20 or 30 years in a way that means it’s in any way applicable to anybody under the age of 50.
You can see it in the way that other parties are religious about preventing any building, defending an established asset class against a future asset class.
It is a continuous series of politics in the centre that is defending, in this gap, the haves, the have-assets, have-jobs, have-equity against the have nots, young people.
And guess what? They worked it out because young people aren’t stupid. They may be busy, they may be distracted, but they’re not stupid.

James Cleverly says Israeli minister’s decision to host Tommy Robinson ‘foolish’

James Cleverly has condemned the plans by an Israeli minister to host the British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Asked about the invitation, Cleverly, a former foreign secretary, told a fringe meeting organised by Politico:

I have no doubt that a number of other people in the Israeli government are as uncomfortable with that as I am. I think it’s a foolish move on behalf of the individual that did that.
Tommy Robinson and others of his ilk are now wrapping themselves up in a pro-Jewish, pro-Israeli posture, because basically it’s an opportunity to do what they really want to do, which is to be anti-Muslim. So I think it’s an error.

James Cleverly and his wife Susie at the Tory conference today. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

CBI and BCC welcome Tory plan for 100% business rates relief for high street firms

Business groups have welcomed the Conservative party’s promise to scrap business rates for high street shops and pubs – but urged the party to go further.

Responding to the announcement, Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

The BCC has long argued for fundamental reform of business rates to create a system that is fair and affordable. While reviving our high streets is important, any changes to the rates system must go further and benefit businesses of all sizes.

And Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief executive, said:

While plans to abolish business rates for hospitality, leisure and retail businesses could give high streets a boost, it’s more fundamental reform of a broken business rates system that is needed if we’re to incentivise the investment our country needs. Going further by shifting from a slab to a slice-based system would make a huge difference to increasing investment for businesses of all sizes and sectors, while also simplifying the system and removing the need for additional reliefs altogether.

The existing business rates system is an ‘all or nothing’ or ‘slab’ tax – meaning the relevant multiplier applies to all of the rateable value of a building once a rateable value threshold is reached. This creates a series of cliff edges in the system which discourage businesses from expanding to more or larger premises.

The Conservative party is proposing 100% business rates relief on the retail, leisure and hospitality sector. It says 250,000 firms will benefit.

During the Tory leadership last year James Cleverly, the former home secretary, sounded distinctly sceptical about the case for leaving the European convention on human rights.

But today, speaking to Dan Bloom at a Politico fringe meeting, said that he was “very comfortable” with the plan to leave announced by Kemi Badenoch, the party leader.

Cleverly, who returned to the shadow cabinet as shadow housing secretary after a spell on the backbenches, said:

What I said [during the leadership contest] was leaving the ECHR and saying nothing else is just a sound bite. I stand by that. Leaving the ECHR is not a silver bullet. I stand by that, and that’s now been accepted pretty much across the board.
But also I was the home secretary who was frustrated because I couldn’t deport the people that I needed to deport. And we have absolutely got to secure our borders, and we have got to be seen to be securing our borders.
And it’s become increasingly clear — we tried it, we were frustrated, Labour tried it, they’ve been frustrated.

Cleverly said the report from Lord Wolfson, the shadow attorney general, concluded that leaving was “necessary but not sufficient” for the UK to gain full control of its borders. He went on:

That is now Conservative party policy, and I’m very comfortable with that.

‘Contradictory nonsense’ – Friends of Earth and other environment groups criticise Tory energy plans

Environmental groups have condemned the Tory proposal announced by Claire Coutinho to scrap two green energy measures. (See 11.27am.)

Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth, said:

The Conservatives’ promise of cheaper energy while opposing wind and solar is contradictory nonsense. Renewable energy is far cheaper than building more fossil fuel plants … They say they want to protect the environment, but increasing fossil fuel reliance only makes things worse.

Angharad Hopkinson, a political campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

The shadow energy secretary is right to push the government to fulfil its promise to cut energy bills, but she is dead wrong to suggest that shifting away from clean power is the way to deliver it. Britain’s electricity prices are overwhelmingly set by expensive gas, not renewable energy.

And David Walsh, head of public affairs at WWF, said:

The green economy grew by 10% last year, responding to the clear and consistent signals from governments over the last 17 years thanks to the Climate Change Act. In a volatile world, investing in clean British energy and insulating homes is the way to cut bills and boost the economy to support jobs, families and the environment. Stepping back from climate action would be a devastating blow for nature and a reckless gamble families can’t afford.

Labour has ruined the “lives and dreams” of the farming community with its taxes, Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary told the Tory conference.

Rather than speaking on the conference stage, Atkins held a mini-rally in front of a JCB tractor in the conference hall.

Atkins said the Tories would reverse what they call the “family farm tax”.

As PA Media reports, from April 2026 farmers who previously did not have to pay inheritance tax on their agricultural property face a new effective rate of 20%. The first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property, such as farmland, will not be taxed. There is a higher threshold of £3m for couples passing on their farms.

Victoria Atkins addressing a mini rally at the Tory conference. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Shadow minister Katie Lam suggests settled status EU nationals should be included in proposed Tory benefit ban for foreigners

She also suggested that a Tory government should reopen talks with the EU to address this. This would be necessary because settled status was part of the Brexit treaty. As Politico reports, she said:

The whole point of having a status like EU SS [Settled Status] or indefinite leave to remain is that that is still a live conversation … If somebody is entitled to everything that comes with being a British citizen, then they should make the choice to become a British citizen.

A source said that Lam’s view was not party policy, and they weren’t looking to start “some big fight with the EU” over this,.

Lam is seen as a rising star in the party. Peter Walker explains why in this profile.

The Guardian

Term ‘disabled’ being used too widely, shadow work and pensions secretary says – UK politics live

Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, suggests term ‘disabled’ being applied too widely if 25% of people qualify

Former Tory Brexit secretary David Davis says he does not support ECHR withdrawal

Philp plays down concerns proposed Tory removals force will adopt ‘heavy-handed’ tactics used by Trump’s Ice

Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, suggests term ‘disabled’ being applied too widely if 25% of people qualify

No 10 says claims government interference led to collapse of Chinese spying case ‘all untrue’

Tories would reverse measures in employment rights bill, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith says

Former minister Tom Tugendhat says pension triple lock part of ‘Ponzi scheme’ economic system biased against the young

James Cleverly says Israeli minister’s decision to host Tommy Robinson ‘foolish’

CBI and BCC welcome Tory plan for 100% business rates relief for high street firms

‘Contradictory nonsense’ – Friends of Earth and other environment groups criticise Tory energy plans

Shadow minister Katie Lam suggests settled status EU nationals should be included in proposed Tory benefit ban for foreigners

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