Chancellor Rachel Reeves will tonight deliver her first Mansion House speech, where she’ll set out reforms to the pensions market to unlock investment in British infrastructure. Listen to Politics At Jack and Sam’s as you scroll.
Thursday 14 November 2024 13:33, UK
Debate on the upcoming bill that could see assisted dying legalised in England and Wales is raging in Westminster at the moment.
The health secretary – who is opposed to it – made a big intervention yesterday by ordering a review of the costs of the measure, warning its implementation could come at the expense of other NHS services.
‘It’s a matter for parliament’
The prime minister’s official spokesperson was asked by journalists if Sir Keir Starmer has any concerns about the intervention, and they replied that Wes Streeting “says the department [for health] will respect the will of parliament on this issue”, and that it is “rightly a free vote”.
Asked if the NHS would get additional resources if the bill passes, the spokesperson declined to comment, saying it’s “a matter for parliament first” and they “won’t get ahead” of that.
The prime minister himself has refused to say how he will be voting, although he did support the legalisation of assisted dying when it last came up for a vote in 2015.
Pushed on if Sir Keir is actually going to vote on 29 November, Downing Street refused to say.
“He will personally study the details. Nothing more to add beyond what he has already said,” his spokesperson told journalists, adding he “won’t pressure any MPs” to vote either way.
A man has been arrested in Amsterdam on suspicion of supplying engines and boats to cross-Channel smugglers, shipping them from Turkey and storing them in Germany before they are brought to northern France.
The 44-year-old was detained at Schiphol Airport yesterday, and faces extradition to Belgium to face charges of human smuggling.
The arrest is part of an investigation involving the UK’s National Crime Agency, as well as Dutch and Belgian agencies.
Government’s plan ‘having an impact’
The prime minister has just given a televised statement at the Home Office hailing the arrest as “good news”, and praising law enforcement services for the arrest, saying it’s “exactly what we want to see”.
“It shows our approach of working with international partners to smash the people smuggling gangs is bearing fruit,” Sir Keir Starmer said.
The measures the government has taken since it took office in July are “clearly… having an impact”, he added.
Yesterday’s arrest is a “significant piece of the jigsaw” in tackling Channel crossings, the PM said, but added: “I’m not pretending it’s the silver bullet – there are other steps that are going to be necessary, but this is a very important step.”
We’ve heard plenty from this government about how its priority is “working people”.
So long, it seems, as they’re working five-day weeks.
The prime minister’s spokesperson has said the idea of a four-day working week is “not something we support”.
Minister’s awkward interview
It comes after civil servants at Defra made the case for it, saying it would improve their quality of life and save the government money, which saw the pensions minister go on the offensive this morning.
Emma Reynolds told Times Radio she didn’t support a four-day working week because “we’re not living in the 1970s”.
“I’m sure you don’t work a four-day week, do you?” she asked host Aasmah Mir.
Upon finding out she does in fact do that, the minister replied: “Oh do you?! Good for you.”
Asked about Ms Reynolds’ comments, Number 10 said she was right.
The civil service should be “working to deliver for working people day in day out”, the PM’s spokesperson added.
Little more than a fortnight since her budget, the chancellor is gearing up for another big announcement today.
Rachel Reeves is set to unveil the “biggest set of reforms to pensions markets for decades” in a Mansion House speech tonight – here are the main things you need to know:
Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge will be live tonight from 7pm.
We’ll bring you the line-up of guests once it’s locked in.
Our coverage of the chancellor’s speech will begin from around 8.30pm, and you can watch that live across Sky News.
Stay with us for more updates and analysis.
Many pharmacies could stop opening in the evenings and weekends in the new year after owners voted for collective action for the first time.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said members do not want to cut services but have “no option” if the government does not increase funding.
Some could also stop deliveries, consultations and emergency contraception if a deal cannot be reached.
How are pharmacies funded?
The amount pharmacies are paid for medicines they supply for the NHS is fixed by the government.
The NPA said this has not increased for 10 years.
Around 700 pharmacies have shut in England over the last two years and 1,250 in the last decade.
Pharmacies are contracted for 40 hours per week – but most open for 50 hours on average, according to the NPA.
More than 3,300 independent pharmacies took part in its vote (a 64% turnout) and 97.8% said they were willing to shorten their hours.
Over 96% also voted to potentially pull out of services such as addiction support, stop-smoking services and emergency contraception.
Budget ‘intensified’ anger
NPA chairman Nick Kaye said: “Pharmacy owners are not a radical bunch, we have never proposed action like this before, but after a decade of underfunding and record closures, something simply has got to give.”
He said anger had “intensified exponentially by the budget”, with the hike in employers’ national insurance contributions and a national living wage increase pushing “even more pharmacies to the brink”.
Head of the Independent Pharmacies Association Dr Leyla Hannbeck said the national insurance increase would cost pharmacies £12,000 a year extra.
By Mark Kleinman, City editor
Some of Britain’s biggest retailers have warned the chancellor that last month’s budget will stoke inflation in the economy and spark job losses as tax hikes add nearly £2.5bn to the industry’s annual tax bill.
Sky News has obtained the draft of a letter coordinated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) to Rachel Reeves in which it produces a stark analysis of the impact of her maiden fiscal statement two weeks ago.
“The sheer scale of new costs in the autumn budget and the speed with which they occur, together with costs from a raft of other regulation, create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty,” the draft letter said.
The BRC’s members consist of the major supermarkets, including Asda and Tesco, as well as as hundreds of other well-known chains, including B&Q’s parent, Kingfisher.
Its intervention echoes a string of warnings from individual retailers including Marks & Spencer and J Sainsbury about the challenge of absorbing the budget increases to employers’ national insurance and the national living wage.
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes.
Today Rachel Reeves is heading to Mansion House for her latest speech on growth and pensions fund reform as she attempts to get back on the front foot following of a bumpy couple of weeks after the budget.
They also discuss Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s objection to the assisted dying bill and whether it will realistically pass.
Plus, they have the latest from what to expect from Donald Trump’s tenure as he announces more of his cabinet.
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By Alix Culbertson, political reporter
The row over the government’s plan to impose 20% inheritance tax on farms worth over £1 million continues to attract heated debate.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore got fairly fiery in the Commons during environment, food and rural affairs questions this morning.
He took umbrage with farming minister Daniel Zeichner repeating how most farmers will not be affected by the policy announced in last month’s budget.
Mr Moore said DEFRA and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” and accused the government of not having the data to determine how many will be affected.
He asked Mr Zeichner to commit to releasing a full impact assessment, but the farming minister dismissed that saying: “The figures are absolutely clear.”
“Fewer than 500 will be affected,” he added.
However, Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said 1,400 farmers just in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and many are living on less than the minimum wage so cannot afford to pay inheritance tax.
Wes Streeting has delivered “a very big moment in the national conversation” around assisted dying, says our deputy political editor Sam Coates.
The health secretary has ordered his officials to carry out a review into potential costs of implementing it into law, arguing it would be a new service that would take resource away from existing parts of the NHS.
You can read more on his intervention here.
Sam says it’s something of a “curveball” that could have “a big impact”, with the bill aiming to legalise assisted dying due to be voted on by MPs later this month.
“No doubt some people will be worried by the potential for further NHS cuts elsewhere in order to fund this new service if it happens,” says Sam.
A surprisingly strong intervention
But he’s “quite surprised by how far” Streeting has gone in signalling his personal discomfort with the proposed law, as well as in outlining his warnings about “potential knock-on effects”.
As lots of MPs remain undecided, this is a big intervention from a big name cabinet minister highlighting “some of the downsides of doing it”.
By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter
Labour MPs who are opposed to legalising assisted dying believe the momentum is swinging behind their side of the campaign, Sky News has learnt.
MPs are currently weighing up whether to back a change in the law that would give terminally ill people with six months to live the choice to end their lives.
At a meeting in parliament on Wednesday, Sky News understands Labour MPs on the opposing side of the argument agreed that those who were undecided on the bill were leaning towards voting against it.
One Labour backbencher involved in the whipping operation for the no camp told Sky News: “The undecideds are breaking to us, we feel.”
The source said that many of those who were undecided were new MPs who had expressed concerns that not enough time had been given to debate the bill.
“They feel they are too new to be asked to do something as substantive as this,” they said.
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