Boris Johnson has described his 56th birthday celebration at Downing Street as the “feeblest event in the history of human festivity”, and shared his surprise at the furore caused by the Partygate scandal.
He denied seeing or eating any cake at an event on 19 June 2020, and said it “never occurred” to him or then-chancellor Rishi Sunak that the gathering was “in some way against the rules”.
The former prime minister also claimed he considered sending the British Army on a daring raid to snatch Covid-19 vaccines from an EU warehouse, although he rejected the idea, saying: “The whole thing was nuts.”
He demanded of senior military leaders whether he could launch a mission to a warehouse where the EU had stowed five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with global supplies dwindling in the height of lockdown.
Mr Johnson’s book, Unleashed, is being serialised in theDaily Mailand as well as defending his actions during “Partygate” and writing about his experiences in hospital with Covid, he discusses his wranglings with the EU after his post-Brexit deal was put in place.
Key Points
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Boris Johnson said he paid the partygate fine because ‘he had a lot on’
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Boris Johnson realised he had Covid-19 when he couldn’t finish the cheese in the fridge
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Boris Johnson claims the Downing Street event that sparked the partygate scandal was ‘feeblest event in the history of human festivity’
Boris Johnson considered ‘nuts’ plan to raid Dutch warehouse over vaccines row
08:42 , Holly Evans
Former prime minister Boris Johnson considered launching an “aquatic raid” on a warehouse in the Netherlands to retrieve Covid vaccine doses amid a row with Europe, according to an extract from his memoir.
Mr Johnson convened a meeting of senior military officials in March 2021 to discuss the plans, which he admitted were “nuts”, according to an extract from his Unleashed book published in the Daily Mail.
At the time, the AstraZeneca vaccine was at the heart of a cross-Channel row over exports, with the EU lagging behind the pace of the rollout in the UK.
The extract says the deputy chief of the defence staff (military strategy and operations), Lieutenant General Doug Chalmers, told the prime minister the plan was “certainly feasible”, using rigid inflatable boats to navigate Dutch canals.
But the senior officer said it would not be possible to do this undetected, with lockdowns meaning the authorities might observe the raid, meaning the UK would “have to explain why we are effectively invading a long-standing Nato ally”.
The former PM admitted: “Of course, I knew he was right, and I secretly agreed with what they all thought but did not want to say aloud: that the whole thing was nuts.”
SNP calls for investigation into donations from Labour peer
08:29 , Holly Evans
The SNP has asked for an investigation into donations to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Labour MPs by Lord Waheed Alli.
In a letter to the standards commissioners in the House of Commons and House of Lords, SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said the revelations have “become Sir Keir Starmer’s version of the expenses scandal”, and he also wants Lord Alli’s Downing Street pass – that he held for a time after the election – looked into.
Donations from Lord Alli, such as money that was spent on clothing, have been under scrutiny.
Mr O’Hara said that unless the matter is “comprehensively investigated” then it is “inevitable that the damaging drip, drip of revelations will continue to erode public trust”.
He later added: “I believe there now exists a clear and immediate public interest in launching a full and independent investigation into all of Lord Alli’s donations and gifts to the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and Labour Party MPs.
“There must also be an investigation into the decision to give Lord Alli a security pass to Downing Street, and into how – and why – it was used.”
On Friday evening The Guardian reported there were further clothing donations worth a total of £16,000 to Sir Keir by Lord Alli in October 2023 and February 2024. According to the paper, the donations were described as “for the private office of the leader of the opposition”.
What to expect from Tory conference
08:00 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent
The 2024 Conservative Party Conference will be a drastically different affair from last year’s gathering in Manchester, when Rishi Sunak’s government was in its dying days.
Back then, ministers announced a slew of eye-catching policies that would reshape the future of the country in a desperate last few roles of the dice – Alex Chalk promising to offshore prisoners, Jeremy Hunt planning to slash the number of civil servants and Rishi Sunak scrapping HS2.
This year, Mr Sunak is a lame duck Tory leader and all eyes will be far from the diminished former prime minister. Instead it will be a four-day battle for the future leadership of the party, with the four remaining contenders thrashing it out to try to win over Tory members.
James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat will be put to the test in a series of hustings and speeches, as well as taking part in intense lobbying and networking behind the scenes in Birmingham with MPs and the party rank and file.
On offer elsewhere will be former Tory MPs, ousted by the public in July’s general election, setting out where they think the party went wrong and what it needs to do next.
High profile names expected to appear are ex-PM Liz Truss, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and incoming Spectator Editor Michael Gove.
The Independent will be bringing the latest updates and analysis from the conference.
Boris Johnson Unleashed: No Narcissus ever stared more intently into the limpid waters of self-love
07:48 , Holly Evans
Lenin once reputedly said that there are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen. Soon after the millennium, the British Isles experienced a rush of history: a financial emergency, six general elections, five new prime ministers, a constitutional crisis, a pandemic – and then the death of the Queen.
Some have said that these were the nation’s worst years since the Napoleonic wars, and there is one politician who has blazed a meteoric trail across almost every page of this teeming history: Boris Johnson. But only now is he telling his story, for no less than a reported half a million pounds and counting.
At that price, never mind setting the record straight, he’ll have to deliver. But what is in the offing from such a maverick pen? As he might put it, a macédoine of regret, maybe mortification, and dismay? As the first parts of Unleashed are serialised, we finally get a hint of what might be to come.
Read the full review here:
Boris Johnson: No Narcissus ever stared more intently into the waters of self-love
Boris Johnson recalls Partygate scandal: ‘I ate no blooming cake’
07:23 , Holly Evans
Boris Johnson has denied eating cake at the “feeblest event in the history of human festivity” held on his 56th birthday.
The former prime minister said he did not see or eat any cake at an event on 19 June 2020, according to an extract from his memoir published in the Daily Mail.
Of the occasion, he wrote: “Here is what actually happened that day. I stood briefly at my place in the Cabinet Room, where I have meetings throughout the day, while the Chancellor and assorted members of staff said happy birthday.
“I saw no cake. I ate no blooming cake. If this was a party, it was the feeblest event in the history of human festivity.
“I had only just got over Covid. I did not sing. I did not dance.”
Downing Street previously admitted staff “gathered briefly” in the Cabinet Room for what was reportedly a surprise get-together for Mr Johnson organised by his now-wife Carrie.
An ally of the former prime minister, Conor Burns, said Mr Johnson was “ambushed with a cake” at the event.
Boris Johnson was ‘surprised’ partygate would be a line of attack for Labour
06:30 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has written of the moment he was confronted with the partygate story dismissing it initially as “old cobblers”.
Writing in Unleashed which isbeing serialised in the Mail +
“[Former Downing Street Director of Communications] Jack explained that the Daily Mirror had a story about a breach of lockdown rules in No 10 during the pandemic. They were accusing the press department of having a party on December 18, 2020 – almost exactly a year previously.
“Jack said the story was nonsense, because it was traditional for the press department to have a glass of wine at their desks on a Friday evening. I looked at him blankly. ‘So no rules were broken?’
“‘No, PM,’ he said firmly, ‘no rules were broken.’
“‘Fine,’ I said, and carried on.
“It sounded like a load of old cobblers – probably some desperate nonsense being peddled by embittered former advisers – and I forgot about it. I was most surprised when it was raised at PMQs the next day – as Labour’s main line of attack.”
Labour called on both the PM and then chancellor Rishi Sunak to go, saying they were “unfit to govern”.
Boris Johnson claims ‘Brexit saved lives’
05:15 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has claimed his Brexit deal allowed a faster rollout of the Covid vaccine saving lives.
Writing in Unleashed, serialised in Mail +, he said: “Under my deal, we came out. We took back control. That meant that when it came to the approval of vaccines, we no longer had to go at the pace of the rest of the European Union.
“We had our own agency – the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency – and we could do our own thing.
“It meant, bluntly, that we were able to immunise huge numbers of elderly and vulnerable people who – if they had been living in an EU country, or in pre-Brexit Britain – would unquestionably have been forced to wait for EMA approval for their drugs, and who might therefore have died of Covid.
“It wasn’t long before some graffiti appeared on the wall in Portobello Road, West London.
“‘Brexit saves lives,’ it said.
“It wasn’t the sort of writing you expect on the wall in the largely Remain-backing Kensington and Chelsea, and I know that some of you will still find it a pretty indigestible assertion. But painful as it may be for some people, it’s true.”
Badenoch doubles down on claim she became working class after working in McDonald’s
05:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Kemi Badenoch has doubled down on her claim that she “became working class” when she got a job at McDonald’s.
The Tory leadership hopeful said she came to the UK “with no money, no friends, no parents”.
She told LBC at that point in her life she was working class as she “had to work to eat”.
“I grew up in a middle class family but coming here I became working class – my dad gave me his last £100, he said ‘you know this is all we have’ because all our money was gone and this is one of the things that people don’t understand,” Ms Badenoch said.
Watch her original comments below:
Independent readers say Keir Starmer needs ‘time and space to clean out the Tories’ from government
04:30 , Jabed Ahmed
Readers say Starmer needs ‘time and space to clean out the Tories’
Pension credit claims hit almost 75,000 since winter fuel payment slimdown
04:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Pension credit claims have hit almost 75,000 amid Government efforts to boost benefits take-up.
Department for Work and Pensions figures released on Friday showed the Government received around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks since 29 July, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced means testing for the winter fuel payment.
This is up from 29,500 claims in the eight weeks before the announcement.
But in the seven days beginning on 16 September, the department received 11,800 claims, down from 13,400 the week before.
The vast majority (92 per cent) of claims made in the week beginning 16 September were made online.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has previously urged pensioners to check if they are eligible for the benefit, which would unlock winter fuel payments of up to £300.
Watch: Who will be the next leader of the Conservatives?
03:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Labour freebies: The gifts Starmer and other MPs have accepted as PM under fire
02:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Labour freebies: The gifts Starmer and other MPs have accepted as PM under fire
Boris Johnson has spoken of the moment he handed over Prime Ministerial responsibility to Dominic Raab
01:01 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has written of the moment he handed before he went to the ICU suffering with Covid-19.
Writing in Unleashed, serialised in Mail + he said: “With the oximeter on my finger, we could see that my oxygen levels started slowly to creep up again, and I began to feel sleepy. Before I folded, there was one thing I had to do.
“I rang Dominic Raab. ‘First Secretary of State,’ I said.
“‘PM,’ he said. “‘You know I said that you might have to deputise for me,’ I said.
“‘Yes, PM.’
“‘Well, that moment has come.’
“‘No problem, PM,’ he said. ‘Get well soon.’
“He didn’t sound remotely rattled – in fact, he went on to do an outstanding job.”
If Mr Johnson had died, Mr Raab would have taken over as caretaker prime minister while a successor was chosen from a leadership election.
Watch: Starmer warns Israel-Hezbollah clashes risk triggering wider regional war
01:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Boris Johnson said he paid the partygate fine because ‘he had a lot on’
Saturday 28 September 2024 00:01 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has insisted he didn’t see anything illegal at his Downing Street birthday party writing in his memoir Unleashed, being serialised in Mail +.
Writing about the fallout of the event he said: “I relied upon Sue Gray, who (though I did not know this) had already been approached to be the chief of staff to Ed Miliband, former Labour leader, and who was to go on to be the chief of staff to Keir Starmer, my number one political foe.
“Some of the allegations in her report – vomiting, fights and so on – turned out to be untrue, and had to be withdrawn.
“As for all the other fines that were issued – more than 120 fixed penalty notices – the answer is of course that I don’t know. I wasn’t there, or didn’t see anything that looked illegal. If the fines were like mine, they must have been a bit puzzling.
“But what could I do? I paid the fine and got on with the job. I had a lot on.”
ICYMI: What was announced in Starmer’s Labour conference speech?
Friday 27 September 2024 23:59 , Jabed Ahmed
Everything that was announced in Starmer’s Labour conference speech
Defence Secretary watching Israeli ground invasion rumours ‘really carefully’
Friday 27 September 2024 23:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Defence Secretary John Healey is looking at a rumoured Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon “really carefully”.
Mr Healey said on Friday airstrikes and rocket fire exchanged between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah present a “risk that this escalates into something that is much wider and much more serious”.
Defence Secretary John Healey is looking at a rumoured Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon “really carefully”.
Mr Healey said on Friday airstrikes and rocket fire exchanged between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah present a “risk that this escalates into something that is much wider and much more serious”.
Asked about the rumoured ground invasion, Mr Healey replied: “We’re watching this really carefully. That will be a matter for the Israelis.
“At the moment, it’s airstrikes. At the moment, there are missiles from the Lebanese Hezbollah directed at Israel. This conflict serves no one.”
Boris Johnson claims the Downing Street event that sparked the partygate scandal was ‘feeblest event in the history of human festivity’
Friday 27 September 2024 22:30 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has insisted that he had no birthday cake at the Downing Street event that launched the Partygate scandal.
The former Prime Minister wrote in Unleashed being serialised Mail +: “I saw no cake. I ate no blooming cake. If this was a party, it was the feeblest event in the history of human festivity.
“I had only just got over Covid. I did not sing. I did not dance. I ate a salad – but then it was lunchtime, and I do normally eat at my desk. I did not meet anyone that I don’t meet in the course of the working day.”
The scandal contributed to Boris Johnson‘s downfall as Prime Minister and his resignation as an MP.
He added: “I have no idea what version of events people gave the police. But I very much doubt that it was fair. I was obviously vulnerable to the testimony of some who were determined to bring me down.”
Exclusive: Starmer saved by Tory leadership chaos in Labour poll slide over freebies row
Friday 27 September 2024 22:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Starmer saved by Tory leadership chaos in Labour poll slide over freebies row
Boris Johnson realised he had Covid-19 when he couldn’t finish the cheese in the fridge
Friday 27 September 2024 21:41 , Barney Davis
The former Prime Minister has claimed he knew he was suffering from life-threatening Covid when he couldn’t finish the cheese in the fridge.
He wrote in Unleashed being serialised in Mail +: “By Sunday, April 5, there were more than 1,000 daily fatalities across the country. I was still flat out, floating in and out of consciousness, waiting for my fix of paracetamol, when Carrie came in like a ministering angel.
“‘Come on,’ she said. ‘You need to get something to eat.’
“I said that the kitchen really felt a long way away. So she brought up some apple and cheese. I looked at that cheese with such complete apathy that I knew – after a lifetime as a functioning cheese-oholic – that something was definitely awry.
He added: “Carrie rang Dr Price and explained things, and then passed the phone to me. He wanted me to come in right away, to St Thomas’ Hospital. No, no, I said… You have got to come in, he said. You have now spent too long getting worse, and it has got to the stage where it could go either way.”
Boris Johnson speaks of becoming the ‘most popular PM in history’ when Brits thought he was going to die from Covid
Friday 27 September 2024 21:26 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has written about his near-death experience from Covid-19 answering critics who thought he was exaggerating his illness.
Serialised in the Mail +, he wrote: “All I can say is that I felt truly lousy: the scratchy, breathless exhaustion that is familiar to Covid sufferers. I also know that at one stage my oxygen levels dropped to 72 per cent, and that below 70 per cent some nasty things start happening to your body.
“That night in April 2020, the doctors and nurses of St Thomas’ Hospital were preparing, if necessary, to intubate me – spike a hole in my trachea and stuff a tube down my windpipe to force-feed oxygen into my lungs.
“They mentioned the possibility, as they prepared to wheel me downstairs.
“Is that necessary? I said. Oh yes, they said, and made it sound like a routine procedure. What they didn’t explain is that, at that stage in the pandemic, patients who were intubated had about a 50 per cent chance of survival. Then I was being wheeled on a gurney into ICU – the intensive care unit.”
He finished: “One thing is for certain: at the moment it was announced I was going into ICU, when there was therefore believed to be a genuine chance that I was about to die, my popularity figures were higher than any PM in history.”
Boris Johnson explains how he plotted Netherlands raid EU on Google Earth
Friday 27 September 2024 21:19 , Barney Davis
Boris Johnson has revealed he considered a daring raid on the Netherlands to grab doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from an EU warehouse.
Serialised in the Mail +, he wrote: “We knew exactly where the target was: I could see it on Google Earth. It looked pretty easy to burgle, if you know what to do.
“It was the plant where the EU had stowed five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – doses that the company was trying, in vain, to export to the UK.
“As long as people in my country were dying of Covid, which I am afraid they still were in substantial numbers, I believed it was my paramount duty to secure those doses, which belonged to the UK, and use them to save UK lives.”
Revealed: Starmer’s ‘three pillar’ blueprint to rebuild EU ties with youth mobility a negotiating chip
Friday 27 September 2024 21:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Youth mobility a negotiating chip as Starmer’s Brexit reset strategy is revealed
Russell Findlay elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Friday 27 September 2024 20:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Russell Findlay has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, beating Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher.
The new leader won 2,565 votes, the party’s returning officer Leonard Wallace announced on Friday, with Murdo Fraser coming second with 1,187 votes and Meghan Gallacher in third with 403 votes.
The turnout was 60%, with Mr Wallace announcing the party has just shy of 7,000 members, 4,155 of whom voted in the leadership contest.
Theresa May denounces Trump, Farage and Le Pen over climate change ‘hoax’ claims
Friday 27 September 2024 19:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Theresa May denounces Trump, Farage and Le Pen over climate change ‘hoax’ claims
What is austerity – and why is Rachel Reeves accused of bringing it back?
Friday 27 September 2024 18:29 , Jabed Ahmed
What is austerity – and why is Rachel Reeves accused of bringing it back?
Starmer admits mangling his words over ‘sausages’ blunder
Friday 27 September 2024 18:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Sir Keir Starmer has said he was prepared to be mocked over the “sausages” gaffe in his Labour conference speech.
The prime minister butchered a call for Hamas to release the hostages in Gaza, instead demanding “the return of the sausages” before swiftly correcting himself.
Asked about the mistake he told reporters: “I just mangled the beginning of the word.”
He added: “These things are there to give you all the opportunity to rib me.”
The blunder in his conference speech on Tuesday was swiftly picked up on social media.
The Conservatives posted on X: “Keir Starmer uses his first big speech as Prime Minister to call for the return of the sausages.”
ICYMI: UK leaders ‘shouldn’t pull our punches’ if they disagree with the US president, MP says
Friday 27 September 2024 17:30 , Jabed Ahmed
UK leaders “shouldn’t pull our punches” if they disagree with the American president, Emily Thornberry has said after Sir Keir Starmer met with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Ms Thornberry, House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Donald Trump may be the president of the United States in a couple of months’ time so of course, it’s important to have meetings with him and to build a relationship with him.
“Whatever criticisms one may have of Donald Trump, the point is that the office of president is one that needs to be properly respected and the Americans are very close friends of ours.”
The Labour politician added: “I think that this is an initial meeting, so there needs to be a certain amount of relationship building and we take it from there.
“I do think that if there are things the American president does or says that we disagree with, then we shouldn’t pull our punches.”
Rachel Reeves watering down non-dom tax changes would be ‘sensible and pragmatic’, tax experts say
Friday 27 September 2024 17:01 , Jabed Ahmed
My colleague Archie Mitchell reports:
Reeves watering down non-dom changes would be ‘sensible and pragmatic’, experts say
Government provides £5 million for humanitarian emergency response in Lebanon
Friday 27 September 2024 16:39 , Jabed Ahmed
The government will provide £5 million to UNICEF in Lebanon to support humanitarian response efforts and enable the charity to distribute supplies.
The package includes essential medical supplies, hygiene kits and fuel for water stations, to help thousands of displaced civilians across Lebanon, the government said.
Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish Falconer said: “Today we are providing £5 million to UNICEF in Lebanon to support the urgent humanitarian response in Lebanon. The number of civilian casualties is unacceptable, and the UK is deeply concerned by the surge in numbers of displaced people.
“An immediate ceasefire is essential.”
Oxford University professor appointed as the UK’s Special Representative for Climate
Friday 27 September 2024 16:20 , Jabed Ahmed
Rachel Kyte, Professor of Practice in Climate Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, has been appointed as the UK’s Special Representative for Climate.
She will support ministers to increase senior international diplomatic engagement on climate and clean energy, the government said.
The role, previously left vacant for over a year, has been re-appointed as part of the government’s “ambitions to restore the UK’s role as an international leader on the climate”.
Ms Kyte’s previous roles include Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All and Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We cannot address the urgency of the climate and nature crisis without coordinated global action.
“This government is committed to boosting the UK’s climate leadership. Rachel Kyte will bring invaluable expertise and experience as we work together with partners to drive the energy transition, support those most vulnerable to the worst impacts of the climate crisis and meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.”
Tories promoted ‘racism that poisoned the public discourse’, Baroness Warsi says
Friday 27 September 2024 15:58 , Jabed Ahmed
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has said the Conservatives have promoted “racism that poisoned the public discourse”, a day after she left the party.
ICYMI, former cabinet minister Baroness Warsi resigned the Conservative whip last night, saying the party had moved too far to the right from when she was in government.
Writing on X, she said: “Thank you to colleagues from across Parliament who have reached out with kind messages and solidarity.
Thank you also to the likes of James (Cleverly) and others who are providing me with an opportunity to revisit the last ten years of inaction, acquiescence, tolerance and promotion of racism that poisoned the public discourse leading to violence on our streets.
“Damaged our country and destroyed our party. I kept the receipts and look forward to publishing them,” she added.
What to expect from Tory conference
Friday 27 September 2024 15:39 , Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent
The 2024 Conservative Party Conference will be a drastically different affair from last year’s gathering in Manchester, when Rishi Sunak’s government was in its dying days.
Back then, ministers announced a slew of eye-catching policies that would reshape the future of the country in a desperate last few roles of the dice – Alex Chalk promising to offshore prisoners, Jeremy Hunt planning to slash the number of civil servants and Rishi Sunak scrapping HS2.
This year, Mr Sunak is a lame duck Tory leader and all eyes will be far from the diminished former prime minister.Instead it will be a four-day battle for the future leadership of the party, with the four remaining contenders thrashing it out to try to win over Tory members.
James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat will be put to the test in a series of hustings and speeches, as well as taking part in intense lobbying and networking behind the scenes in Birmingham with MPs and the party rank and file.
On offer elsewhere will be former Tory MPs, ousted by the public in July’s general election, setting out where they think the party went wrong and what it needs to do next.
High profile names expected to appear are ex-PM Liz Truss, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and incoming Spectator Editor Michael Gove.
The Independent will be bringing the latest updates and analysis from the conference.
What is non-dom tax status and is Labour still going to change it?
Friday 27 September 2024 15:19 , Jabed Ahmed
My colleague Albert Toth explains:
What is non-dom tax status and is Labour still going to change it?
Government responds to increase in pension credit claims
Friday 27 September 2024 15:01 , Jabed Ahmed
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners, with millions set to see their state pension rise by £1,700 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
“Given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, it’s right we target support to those who need it most.
“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take-up has already seen a 152% increase in claims.
“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount to help with energy bills over winter while our extension of the household support fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.”
Independent readers say Keir Starmer needs ‘time and space to clean out the Tories’ from government
Friday 27 September 2024 14:40 , Jabed Ahmed
Readers say Starmer needs ‘time and space to clean out the Tories’
Your Labour Party conference questions answered by John Rentoul as Keir Starmer pledges to ‘face the storm’
Friday 27 September 2024 14:19 , Jabed Ahmed
Our chief political commentator John Rentoul has been responding to readers questions following a significant week for Labour, as they held their first conference in government in over a decade.
Here are six questions from Independent readers – and his answers from the “Ask Me Anything” event.
Read below:
Your Labour Party conference questions answered by John Rentoul
Who is Russell Findlay? The new leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Friday 27 September 2024 14:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Russell Findlay has billed himself as someone who is “not a career politician”.
For decades, Mr Findlay was an investigative reporter in Scotland, covering organised crime and justice for the likes of STV and the Scottish Sun.
It was his work investigating some of the country’s biggest criminals that led to him being attacked with acid at his home, narrowly avoiding serious injury.
Mr Findlay went on to become – to the surprise of many colleagues – the head of communications for the Scottish Conservatives in 2020, and later announced his intention to run for Holyrood.
Topping the Tories’ West Scotland list, he was elected in 2021 – after coming third in the Paisley constituency – and quickly rose to become the party’s justice spokesman.
Throughout his four years at Holyrood, the former reporter has become a fierce critic of the Scottish Government, particularly around the controversial gender reforms blocked by the UK government early last year.
He was also seen by some as the continuity candidate in the Tory leadership race, with reports suggesting his predecessor Douglas Ross wanted him to take over the top job last year.
Mr Findlay will now be tasked with bringing together a party which has been struggling in recent months.
Full report: Russell Findlay elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives following bitter contest
Friday 27 September 2024 13:38 , Jabed Ahmed
Read the full report from my colleague Alex Croft below:
Russell Findlay elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives after bitter contest
Badenoch doubles down on claim she became working class after working in McDonald’s
Friday 27 September 2024 13:19 , Jabed Ahmed
Kemi Badenoch has doubled down on her claim that she “became working class” when she got a job at McDonald’s.
The Tory leadership hopeful said she came to the UK “with no money, no friends, no parents”.
She told LBC at that point in her life she was working class as she “had to work to eat”.
“I grew up in a middle class family but coming here I became working class – my dad gave me his last £100, he said ‘you know this is all we have’ because all our money was gone and this is one of the things that people don’t understand,” Ms Badenoch said.
Watch her original comments below:
Pension credit claims hit almost 75,000 since winter fuel payment slimdown
Friday 27 September 2024 13:01 , Jabed Ahmed
Pension credit claims have hit almost 75,000 amid Government efforts to boost benefits take-up.
Department for Work and Pensions figures released on Friday showed the Government received around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks since 29 July, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced means testing for the winter fuel payment.
This is up from 29,500 claims in the eight weeks before the announcement.
But in the seven days beginning on 16 September, the department received 11,800 claims, down from 13,400 the week before.
The vast majority (92 per cent) of claims made in the week beginning 16 September were made online.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has previously urged pensioners to check if they are eligible for the benefit, which would unlock winter fuel payments of up to £300.
Unite union says it welcomes government move to borrow to invest in UK infrastructure
Friday 27 September 2024 12:38 , Jabed Ahmed
Unite, the UK’s biggest union, has said it welcomes reports that the treasury is set to change its fiscal rules in order to allow the government to borrow.
The change is set to be announced in next month’s budget.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It seems that the government has listened and will now reform its fiscal rules to allow borrowing to invest. This is a move we have been calling on Labour to make for a long time.
“If this government is going to achieve its aim of making the UK a fairer society that delivers for workers and their communities then it needs make serious investment in infrastructure and new job creating industries.”
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