Bridget Phillipson has said Reform UK are “just not serious people” when asked about the expected announcement from Nigel Farage later today that it would be their policy to make winter fuel payments universal. She told viewers of Sky News that “I don’t think anybody would seriously believe that millionaires should be getting it.” Broadening her attack on Reform UK, which has been leading in recent polls, the education secretary said: On the wider question of Reform, look, they’re just not serious. They’re just not serious people. It’s not credible. This is a party, after all, that doesn’t believe in the NHS. That would dismantle the NHS as we know it. That has consistently opposed the measures that Labour has brought in to back workers through the employment rights bill, making sure, for example, that more workers can have access to sick pay. Those are the kinds of decisions that Reform are interested in making. The one policy that they have in education is to reintroduce tax breaks for private schools, which would massively undermine our ability to deliver free breakfast clubs, the kinds of measures that working families are benefiting from right now. That’s Reform. That’s who they are. They’re not on the side of working people. They’re not serious about how they deliver change. And every time they get the opportunity to back working people, for example, with better rights at work, they oppose it. Labour party chair Ellie Reeves has launched an attack on the “self-interest” of Nigel Farage ahead of the Reform UK leader making a speech today in which he is expected to label prime minister Keir Starmer “unpatriotic”. Reeves said: Nigel Farage, a private-educated stockbroker and career politician, has only ever cared about his own self-interest and personal ambition, never about what is good for working people in this country. Farage wants to abolish the NHS, praised Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget, opposed Labour’s landmark employment reforms and said Jaguar Land Rover, a huge employer, deserves to go bust. His Reform manifesto included billions of pounds worth of unfunded spending pledges but did not commit to the triple lock. Farage must urgently clarify whether he will cut the state pension to pay for his reckless tax cuts. Keir Starmer’s Labour government is delivering real improvement to working people’s lives through our plan for change that has seen NHS waiting lists fall, wages rising faster than prices, and four interest rate cuts in a year, turbo-charged by a trio of trade deals that are good for jobs, bills and borders. Nigel Farage is expected to give his speech at 11am today. Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of UK politics for Tuesday. Here are the headlines … Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that removing the two-child benefit cap is “not off the table” as she defended Labour’s record on introducing measures to tackle child poverty Labour party chair Ellie Reeves has said that Nigel Farage cares only about his own “own self-interest” ahead of the Reform UK leader giving a speech this morning in which he is expected to call Keir Starmer unpatriotic Nearly half of all “red wall” voters disapprove of the way Starmer’s government has dealt with benefits-related policy, a poll has found, as ministers faced continued pressure over winter fuel and disability payments, and the two-child benefit cap More than 100 of the UK’s most high-profile disabled people have called on the prime minister to abandon “inhumane and catastrophic plans to cut disability benefits” It is Martin Belam with you today, and you can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com via email if you spot typos, errors, omissions or have a question.
Author: Martin Belam