Health experts urge anyone with flu-like symptoms to wear a face mask, limit contact and ventilate spaces as a record surge strains hospitals and drives school absences. Ministers are pressed to extend the flu jab to over-50s and address vaccine fatigue among staff amid an early, stronger strain.
Liz Kendall rejects claims Labour is the party of welfare, calling the label ignorant. She defends tax rises to fund reforms, including ending the two‑child cap and expanding help with nursery fees. Labour says the package could lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030, despite criticism from the Tories and Reform.
UK authorities are probing claims that foreign operatives used cargo ships and smaller ports to enter the country, then visited areas near military bases and critical infrastructure. Security services are tightening dock checks and examining shipping as a tool for hostile activity.
After 36 years of inquiries into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, a new review says 12 police officers would face gross misconduct cases under today’s rules and confirms major operational failures. No officer will be convicted for errors or alleged cover‑up, leaving families dismayed.
OBR chair Richard Hughes has been forced out after a clash with the Treasury. An accidental Budget leak and a timeline he released appeared to contradict the Chancellor’s account of a funding gap. Relations collapsed after the watchdog declined to give full advance sight of its inquiry.
Reeves rejects claims she misused OBR forecasts, denying she misled voters about tax rises and the fiscal gap. The PM will defend the Budget and emphasise growth as MPs consider inquiries into whether figures were overstated.
New polling shows Reeves’s Budget is unpopular overall, even as voters back measures like higher gambling taxes, a rail fare freeze and a minimum wage rise. Most expect to be poorer afterwards, and opinion is split on ending the two‑child benefits cap.
Ministers have dropped Labour’s pledge to grant day‑one rights to claim unfair dismissal. The move, criticised by some Labour MPs but backed by business groups, marks a retreat from the party’s workers’ rights package and raises questions over the government’s reform agenda.
The Chancellor announced £26bn in tax rises to fund £9bn for benefits and cost‑of‑living help, scrapping the two‑child cap. Fiscal drag moves 1.8m into a higher band; NI added to pension contributions; hikes target landlords, savers, investors and £2m homes. OBR forecasts weaker growth.
Rachel Reeves faces a pivotal Budget: expected to scrap the two‑child benefit cap, lifting many from poverty but creating a £3bn bill likely to fall on workers. An 8.5% rise for 18–20s on minimum wage to £10.85 is planned, amid stubborn inflation and hospitality warnings over job creation.