Kirsty Blackman (SNP) asks why the government is still selling Israel parts of F-35 jets, which are being used to drop bombs on starving people. Starmer says Blackman does not understand how the process works. She “doesn’t know the detail at all”, he says He says the UK does not give the parts directly to Israel. It contributes into a “pot” where parts for the jet go. If we were to stop that, they couldn’t be used by other countries in the other conflicts, including those in which we are involved … They’re not sold directly. They go into a pot. If we were to stop that, they wouldn’t then be available to others around the world who desperately need them in the conflicts they’re engaged in, and that’s why we won’t do it. Lee Anderson (Reform UK) says Starmer keeps telling “gullible” MPs that he has deported 24,000 people. He says he thinks most of them are just over-stayers. How many are failed asylum seekers? Starmer says he is proud the government has removed over 24,000 people. And the government is passing the borders bill, giving Border Force more powers. Reform UK voted against. And that is because Reform don’t want to fix the problem, he says. That is “party before country”. And he points out that Anderson is standing in for Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who is not here, and who was not in the Commons yesterday. Farage is on holiday. Referring to one of the UK-EU deal proposals, Starmer says Farage was “first through the e-gates”. This generates a lot of laughter. Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem MP who chairs the Commons environment committee, says his Labour-dominated committed has called for the inheritance tax plans to be delayed. Will the government agree? Starmer declines to give that assurance, and says farmers will benefit from the deal with the EU. Andrew Pakes (Lab) asks about the betting shops and vape stores taking over high streets. He asks if the government will help communities take back control of these spaces. Starmer says planning laws can be used to protect these spaces. Starmer pays tribute to Cheryl Korbel, whose campaign helped to persuade the government to change the law to impose new punishments on offenders how refuse to attend court for sentencing. He says he knows how important this is from his conversations with her. Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said Starmer “teased the house” with his comments about the winter fuel payments. Will he commit to reversing those cuts in full? Starmer repeats what he said earlier. (See 12.13pm.) He repeats the point about wanting to ensure that “more pensioners” are eligible. Davey says he thinks he welcomes this. And he says he hopes carers also benefit from the improvements to the economy. He asks about a family where a carer looks after her severely disabled husband and they will lose £12,000 from the cuts. Starmer says people who need support should continue to get it. But he says the system must be reformed. Here is Starmer’s full comment on the winter fuel payment in his answer to Sarah Owen. He said: I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis including pensioners. As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments. As you would expect Mr Speaker, we will only make decisions we can afford, that is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event. Labour MPs jeer at Badenoch as she asks her final question. Some of them are laughing. The Speaker has to intervene to establish order. Kemi Badenoch has just asked if Keir Starmer is planning to U-turn on winter fuel payments. She did not seem to appreciate what Starmer said earlier. Starmer says, as the economy improves, he wants to look at the thresholds. Badenoch claims Starmer cannot give a straight answer to the question. (Again, she did not seem to appreciate that he did give a clear. This a classic example of someone not able to take yes for an answer.) Sarah Owen (Lab) asks what the government will do to help struggling pensions. Starmer says the economy is improving. As it improves, the government wants to make sure people, including pensioners, feel that difference. That is why the government wants to ensure “more pensioners” are eligible for winter fuel payments. He says the government will take decisions at the next fiscal event – ie, at the budget in the autumn. This is a big U-turn. Two weeks ago Downing Street said flatly the policy was not changing. (This was after my colleague Pippa Crerar said they were rethinking the policy. Not for the first time, Pippa was right – and what No 10 was saying was wrong.) UPDATE: Starmer said: I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis including pensioners. As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments. As you would expect Mr Speaker, we will only make decisions we can afford, that is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event. Lewis Cocking (Con) asks when the PM will start all illegal immigration into the UK. Starmer says it was the last government that lost control of the borders. And the Tories voted against legislation giving border officials more powers. Keir Starmer starts by offering his condolences to the families and friends of the three people killed in the fire in Bicester last week. He says the mother of one of the victims is in the gallery. He says the government has achieved its third trade deal in three weeks. This will improve people’s lives, he says. Paul Lewis, the financial broadcaster, says, in a post on social media, that he thinks most of the Angela Rayner proposals for tax rises (see 9.24am) are sensible. Pension lifetime allowance not sensible; there are better ways to control exploitation of pension tax relief. But the other measures Rayner suggested to Reeves seem very sensible and indeed modest. https://bit.ly/4dB1Q4Y Divi allowance cut by Tories from £5000 to £500 As Chloe Chaplain from the i reports, during her Q&A after her speech Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, played down the impression given by the Angela Rayner memo leak (see 9.24am) that the cabinet is split over taxing the wealthy. Kendall asked if she agrees with Rayner that instead of cutting spending taxes should be increased on the wealthy. Says ‘the entire cabinet backs Rachel’s economic strategy’ and adds some people may have forgotten but ‘we actually have raised taxes on some of the richest’ Here is the order paper for PMQs, with the names of MPs down to get a question. YouGov has published more details of its polling on the electorate’s relationship with Labour, as covered in the Sky News report mentioned earlier. (See 10.06am.) It shows that Reform UK supporters are most likely to think that Labour is trying hard to appeal to them – but least likely to say they would respond positively. Only 4% of Reform UK supporters say they would consider voting Labour, the poll says. Sometimes when a minister says they are “listening carefully” to their critics, as Liz Kendall did in her speech this morning (see 10.37am), it means a rethink is imminent. And sometimes they are just being polite, and it does not signify anything policywise at all. During the Q&A Kendall implied it was more of the latter. This is from Chris Smyth. I ask her if there will be any changes as demanded by MPs She says while “we want to make sure we address all of people’s concerns, but stressed: “whatever the fiscal position that the government faces, I think the system as a whole needs to change.” Here is a verdict on Liz Kendall’s speech from Chris Smyth, Whitehall editor at the Times. Kendall speech very passionate - and utterly adamant that she won’t change course Much more vocal that Britain can’t afford the current welfare system than she’s been before But not sure that will convince Labour MPs who might prefer Angela Rayner’s tax rises Kendall ended her speech with a rallying cry. Labour’s mission is to give people hope tomorrow will be better than today, that we will create the jobs, opportunities, opportunities and public services people want and deserve, because a future dependent on Labour’s mission is to give people hope that tomorrow will be better than today, that we will create the jobs, opportunities, and public services people want and deserve. Because a future dependent on benefits is not good enough for people in Blackpool, Birkenhead or anywhere else. I am confident we will deliver, because all the evidence shows hundreds of thousands of sick and disabled people want to work, that when they have a government that is on their side and provides the right support they can get work, and that this can transform their lives. Our task is urgent, not just because we only have four more years of this parliament, which is no time at all, although this is true, not just because we must deliver real change to fight the rise in support for populists, although we must, but because the people who we came into politics to serve cannot and should not wait any longer for a chance to build a decent life, because they have waited far too long already. Kendall is now taking questions. Unfortunately, the live feed has cut out for those, but I will post later when I get some copy. Kendall has used her speech to set out in detail the proposals she is making for welfare reform, emphasising the initiatives that will help people back into work. She is now talking about the plan to reduce eligibility for Pip (the personal independence payment, a disability benefit). She says: I know the concerns that have been raised about our proposals. I am listening carefully to all the points people raise. But nine out of 10 people claiming Pip at the point when the changes come into force …will not be affected by the end of the parliament. And even with the changes we are making, there will still be 750,000 more people receiving Pip by the end of this parliament than there were at the start, and spending will be £8bn higher. This is partly explained by the fact that, although eligibility for Pip is being reduced, people currently on the benefit will not lose out until they are reassessed, and Pip claims are not reassessed every year. UPDATE: See 10.58am for more on what she may have meant by this. Liz Kendall started her speech by saying that the government’s welfare reforms were rooted in Labour’s “enduring values of fairness, equality and opportunity”. She said that nearly one in 10 people of working age were on at least one sickness or disability benefit, and that more than one in eight young person is not in employment, education or training. A Labour government should not accept that, she said. Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, is about to give a speech to the IPPR thinktank. There is a live feed at the top of the blog. Here is our preview story by Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot. Sky News has released some analysis this morning showing that fewer than half the people who voted Labour at the general election would support the party now. But only 6% of them have gone to Reform UK, the YouGov polling suggests. In his report, Sam Coates says these figures suggest Keir Starmer should be doing more to address the concerns of Labour supporters who might defect to parties on the left, and spending less time worrying about appealing to the Reform curious. While 11% of Labour voters may one day be open to voting Reform, 70% are at risk of going to the Lib Dems or Greens - seven times the threat from Reform. And typically, these voters don’t like the hard line, Reform-leaning policies of Sir Keir Starmer recently. The local elections show there is a threat to Labour from Reform. But our data suggests Keir Starmer trying to be Nigel Farage lite isn’t the answer. Inflation in the UK jumped by more than expected last month to 3.5% – its highest rate in more than a year – after dramatic increases in water bills, energy costs and council tax, Phillip Inman reports. Good morning. Today the Institute for Fiscal Studies has launched its interactive ‘Be the Chancellor’ tool. In a press release announcing it, Tim Leunig, the chief economist at Nesta, which has developed it with the IFS, says: To govern is to choose. This tool will help policymakers, would-be policymakers, and those who seek to influence them make better choices. As it makes clear, there are no easy choices facing our country today. The tool allows anyone to explore the consequences of different choices on spending and tax. One person who may be logging on is Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader and housing secretary. According to the Telegraph splash, she is taking a keen interest in the government’s tax policy, and wants taxes to go higher. In his story, Ben Riley-Smith reports: In the document, seen by our reporters, the deputy prime minister proposed eight tax increases including reinstating the pensions lifetime allowance and changing dividend taxes. She also suggested new raids on the million people who pay the additional rate of income tax and a higher corporation tax level for the banks. The measures would raise taxes by £3bn to £4bn a year, according to estimates cited in the document. The real figure would be much higher, as no specific estimates were given for some policies. The memo amounts to a direct challenge to the chancellor’s approach this year of using spending cuts rather than tax rises to fill the black hole in the nation’s finances. Here is a Telegraph graphic showing how much some of the Rayner proposals might raise. Secret government memos are always interesting. But proposals in Whitehall documents don’t always become official policy, and the Telegraph points out that Rayner’s department sent this to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, before the spring statement. Despite speculation that Reeves might use the spring statement to raise taxes, in the end she didn’t, and the Rayner document is still just a wishlist. Amazingly, though, it seems to have found its way into the public domain. In his report, Riley-Smith implies that Rayner won’t be totally devastated to hear it on the news. Allies of the deputy prime minister have said she has become increasingly exasperated by having to publicly defend Treasury spending cuts, and is pushing back in private. Treasury insiders are understood to be making it clear that while Ms Reeves welcomes contributions from all cabinet colleagues, as chancellor she decides taxation and spending policy. Simon Finkelstein, a former Tory special adviser, describes this as: “An absolute classic of the genre: letters to the chancellor ahead of a spending review/fiscal event that are designed to be leaked...” The Conservative party has tried to capitalise on the leak but (as usual these days) it has fluffed its response by going over the top. In a statement, Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said: This confirms that we are still living with the Labour party of Jeremy Corbyn. At the very highest level, Labour ministers are debating which taxes to increase next. Stride seems to have missed the point that these proposals haven’t actually been implemented, and that the Labour leadership isn’t turning to “Corbynism” (not that these proposals amount to that anyway), which is why Rayner may be feeling “exasperated”. (Stride would have sounded more sensible if he had just issued a press statement challenging Keir Starmer to rule these ideas out.) The Tories might be critical but, as the Telegraph reports, Labour leftwingers approve of Labour’s proposals. Andy McDonald told the paper: My sense is that a lot of Labour MPs are concerned that the Chancellor’s fiscal rules and spending cut proposals hit those on lower incomes. Proposals to increase tax revenue from the wealthy would make tax fairer and support public services. And on the Today programme, asked if the Rayner proposals were “the sorts of things the government should be considering, another backbencher, Neil Duncan-Jordan, replied: “Absolutely.” He went on: There’s a very healthy debate inside the Labour party at the moment about how we should be raising additional funds rather than cutting benefits. And there’s a menu, I think, of options that we should be using, and these are just some of those. Doubtless we will hear more about this at PMQs. Here is the agenda for the day. 10am: Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, gives a speech at the IPPR thinktank defending the proposed welfare cuts. Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm 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. 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. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. 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Author: Andrew Sparrow