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Badenoch says Healey’s budget will be worse than Reeves’s if he doesn’t slash spending – UK politics live
Covid inquiry report shows why culture of care workers being undervalued must end, says Andy Burnham – as it happened
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Government failures caused Covid-19 to spread “like wildfire” among vulnerable and elderly people, and Matt Hancock’s “protective ring” around care homes did not exist, a public inquiry has found. John Healey will not raise capital gains tax in next week’s budget, despite previous calls to do so fr…
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Healey to reject calls to raise capital gains tax in budget
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Reform UK MP Danny Kruger suggests Muslims may find it hard to be loyal to Britain due to their faith
The Reform UK MP Danny Kruger is an evangelical Christian. In his speech at the rally in Portsmouth earlier, he made an explicit link between Britishness and Christianity, and he implied that British Muslims might find it hard to be loyal to the country because of their faith. Here is the passage f…
Scottish government says closure of BBC Scotland's TV channel 'wholly unacceptable'
The BBC Scotland TV channel is to close as part of cuts announced today. Michael Savage has the story. In response, the Scottish government said this was “wholly unacceptable”. Màiri McAllan, the Scottish government’s culture secretary, said: The proposal to close the BBC Scotland channel is wholly…
the-independent.com
Isle of Man could see first assisted death in 2028 after law gains royal assent
Assisted dying has formally become law in the Isle of Man in what has been hailed “an important step forward” which could see the first assisted death take place in late 2028, the Press Association reports. PA says: Tynwald became the first parliament across the UK and Crown Dependencies to agree a…
Government says Covid inquiry report shows why culture of care workers being undervalued has to end
Andy Burnham has released a Commons written statement giving his response to the Covid inquiry’s report out today. He particularly endorses its finding that “for too long the adult social care sector has been undervalued and under-recognised”. He says: The government is committed to learning the le…
Farage claims 'snobbery' part of the reason why racist views of Reform UK members getting so much criticism
Nigel Farage has given an interview to Sky News in which he has set in detail his response to the ITV News exposé highlighting the extreme racism of some of his party’s members. In it, he went beyond the line he used in his rally speech about his members not being “uniquely awful”. (See 3.24pm.) He…
Farage claims it 'just isn't true' to say people in Reform UK are 'uniquely awful'
In his Plymouth speech, which has just finished, Nigel Farage has just referred to the ITV News exposé about racism in his party. “In any political party, any group of human beings, any club, there’ll be some [people] that say unpleasant things,” he said. But he claimed it was wrong to claim there…
Farage and Badenoch both claim UK at risk of French-style rioting
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is speaking at the rally in Plymouth (Not in Portsmouth, as he wrongly said at one point.) Most of it is familiar Reform UK stuff, but Farage has just included a topical reference – claiming Britain is likely to suffer French-style rioting at some point. Referrin…
Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane says Tory growth policies 'far more likely to succeed' than Labour's
At one point in the summer Andy Haldane, the former chief economist at the Bank of England, was informally advising Andy Burnham. Haldane spent most of his career as an official at the Bank. He is not a party political figure. But at the Bank he was viewed as an independent thinker, he was brought…
Danny Kruger tells Reform UK rally media 'trying to stop us winning'
In Plymouth, the Reform UK rally is just getting under way. Danny Kruger is the first person to speak. He starts by saying that the party has been going through some “turbulence” recently, referring to the ITV undercover exposé (summarised here and here). ITV News found some “rotten apples”, he say…
Tell us what you think about Covid inquiry's adult social care report
We would like to hear from readers about what they think of today’s Covid inquiry report into what happened in care homes during the pandemic. You can submit a contribution here.
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Inquiry report shows Hancock's claim about protecting care homes 'a cruel lie', Covid victims' campaign group says
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group has issued a statement about today’s inquiry report saying it shows that Matt Hancock’s claim about a protective ring being thrown around care homes (see 12.22pm) was a “cruel lie”. The organisation said: Today’s report is a devastating account of on…
UK to deploy fighter jets to protect Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks
RAF Typhoon fighters are to be used in efforts to protect Saudi Arabia from attack by Yemen’s Houthis, flying defensive missions over the country’s cities and critical infrastructure as western allies increase their intervention in the escalating conflict. Dan Sabbagh has the story.
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Healey accused of missing 'open goal' after he rules out raising capital gains tax in budget
John Healey, the chancellor, has been accused of missing an open goal. The claim came from Tax Justice UK, which issued this statement, from its deputy director Caitlin Boswell, in response to the news that Healey has ruled out raising capital gains tax in the budget. (See 8.47am.) Ruling out a pro…
And this is how Hallett concluded her statement. During the pandemic, the action taken by the UK government and devolved administrations to try and protect workers and users of adult social care came too late. The failures were the direct result of an absence of proper pandemic planning for the adu…
Hallett says England should follow Scotland, Wales and NI in having 'invaluable' register for social care workers
Hallett said one of her recommendations was for a voluntary register of care workers in England. I am also recommending the introduction of a voluntary register for the social care workforce in England. The existing registers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland proved invaluable during the pand…
Hallett says in any future pandemic extra financial support for care workers should be available 'at the start'
Hallett said care workers felt “overlooked and undervalued” during the pandemic. At least 1.5 million care workers were providing care during the pandemic. Many suffered burnout as a consequence of extreme stress and exhaustion. Visits by health care workers dramatically reduced, and this placed an…
Hallett said DNACPRs were used too often. I now return to the deeply troubling issue of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation notices, known as DNACPRs. These notices record a medical decision not to attempt CPR in order to try and save a life. During the pandemic, there were concerns that t…
Hallett says ban on all family visits to relatives in care homes at start of pandemic had 'devastating consequences'
Hallett said the decision to stop all family visits to relatives living in care homes at the start of the pandemic was also a mistake. Allowing visits ran the risk of introducing the virus to an already vulnerable population. But stopping these visits had far-reaching and devastating consequences.…
Hallett said lack of PPE was a particular problem in care homes. Some care workers were left having to wear waterproof ponchos from festivals, painters’ overalls or homemade PPE made from fabric, bin bags, bed linen and other household items. This was wholly unacceptable. I recognise that there wer…
Hallett says patients discharged from hospitals into care homes without testing should have been isolated
Hallett said, while discharging patients from hospitals into care homes at the start of the pandemic may have been necessary, they should have been kept in isolation when testing was not available. From March 2020, a lack of testing capacity meant medically fit patients were discharged from hospita…
Hallett says Matt Hancock's 2020 claim about 'protective ring' being thrown around care homes opposite of the truth
Hallett goes on to explain why people in care homes were so vulnerable. Between March 2020 and July 2022, there were more than 43,000 recorded deaths involving Covid 19 in care homes. Bereaved families have been left grief stricken. Previous inquiry reports set out in stark terms how the lack of pr…
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Covid chair Heather Hallett says pandemic had 'devastating impact' on people in care homes
Heather Hallett, chair of the Covid inquiry, is making a public statement about her report now. She says many people depend on adult social care, including older people, people with dementia and people living with physical and learning disabilities. For them, and the people who dedicate themselves…
the-independent.com
UK government failures led to Covid spreading ‘like wildfire’ in care homes, inquiry finds
Here is Jessica Murray’s story on the Covid inquiry report into care homes.
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Covid inquiry says pandemic revealed 'underlying fragility of adult social care workforce' in care homes report
Heather Hallett, chair of the Covid inquiry, has just published the report from the inquiry’s module six, looking at what happened in care homes. The report is here. And here is an extract from Hallett’s introduction to the report. In the early months of the pandemic, many hospital patients were di…
the-independent.com
Maroš Šefčovič tells MEPs about EU's priorities for next month's summit with UK
Jakub Krupa writes the Guardian’s Europe live blog. Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, has said the bloc’s relationship with the UK is of “vital importance in the current geopolitical, security and economic context”. He was speaking as he set out the bloc’s expectations ahead of next mont…
Q: [From Alexandra Topping from the Guardian] Has the Conservative party given up support for conserving the environment? Badenoch said the Tories did support conserving the environment – but not net zero policies. We very much stand for conserving our environment. We do believe that climate change…
Badenoch says she has not acted on government advice to stockpile food in case of emergencies
Q: [From Lucy Fisher for the Times] You have said that you would rip up the proposed deal with the EU on agrifood that is due to be announced at the summit next week. How do you square that with wanting to promote growth? Badenoch claimed that what the government was proposing for agrifoods would n…
Q: [From Emilio Casalicchio from Politico] What is your reaction to the news Liz Truss has a new book out about her mini-budget? Badenoch said she only found out what was in the mini-budget at the same time as the rest of the country, when it was announced. She said she was leading “a new Conservat…
Badenoch claims Labour MPs want 'more immigration' because it will gain them votes
Q: What is your response to ministers like Angela Rayner and Miatta Fahnbulley criticising Shabana Mahmood’s plans ot extend the amount of time migrant workers have to wait for indefinite leave for remain (ILR)? Badenoch said the Tories would support Mahmood if she toughened up the system. But she…
