Keir Starmer says Nigel Farage is ‘Liz Truss all over again’ – UK politics live

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Nigel Farage is “introducing poison into politics”, the prime minister said, as he suggested a campaign video produced by Reform UK for the Hamilton byelection was divisive.

The advert claimed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar would “prioritise” the Pakistani community.

The ad – which the SNP and Labour have demanded be removed by Meta – shows clips of Sarwar calling for more representation of Scots with south Asian heritage, although he did not say he would prioritise any group, reports the PA news agency.

Speaking at a campaign event in north-west England, Keir Starmer said:

What we’ve seen with Reform in Scotland in relation to this particular video is manipulation. And it is, as ever with Reform and Nigel Farage, trying to divide people with a toxic divide, and to poison our politics. And I think our politics is above that, and that’s why I think it’s absolutely right that Anas Sarwar has called this out for what it is.

It is toxic divide, it is introducing poison into our politics, and that is exactly what turns people off politics. And that is why restoring trust in politics is so important to my project and the project of Scottish Labour.

Conservative party has 'run out of road' replies Starmer when asked why he is focusing on Farage

The Conservative party has “run out of road”, the prime minister said, as he told reporters the choice for voters was between Labour and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Asked why he was focusing so much on Farage’s party, Keir Starmer said:

I do think that the Conservative party has run out of road.

Their project is faltering, they are in decline. They’re sliding into the abyss. And it’s very important, therefore, that we say that and identify that, but equally politics is about choices.

And the choice at the moment is between the choice of a Labour government that thinks stable finances are at the heart of building better lives for working people, or Nigel Farage and Reform, who only this week said they would spend billions upon billions upon billions, tens of billions of pounds, in an unfunded way, which is an exact repeat of what Liz Truss did.

And it wasn’t Nigel Farage that lost, he’s all right, it’s working people across the country who lost out, and I am not prepared to allow that ever to happen in this country again.

Keir Starmer said he is looking at “all options” to drive down child poverty when asked if he would like to get rid of the two-child benefit cap.

“I’m determined we’re going to drive down child poverty,” the prime minister said during a visit to a business in the north-west. Starmer added:

One of the proudest things that the last Labour government did was to drive down child poverty, and that’s why we’ve got a taskforce working on this.

I think there are a number of components. There isn’t a single bullet, but I’m absolutely determined that we will drive this down, and that’s why we’ll look at all options, always, of driving down child poverty.

Starmer says he does not need 'lessons' from Farage on issues that matter most to working people

Keir Starmer said he does not need “lessons” from Nigel Farage on what life is like for working people.

The prime minister said he wanted to “protect” working people from what the Reform UK leader would do.

Keir Starmer speaks to workers during a visit to Glass Futures in St Helens, Merseyside, on Thursday. Photograph: James Speakman/PA

Chris Hope of GB News asked:

Are you panicking because Reform are so ahead in the polls it seems?

… You went to a state school, your dad worked in a factory, your mum worked in the NHS, so why is a public school educated former city trader got more in common with the ‘red wall’ than you have?

Starmer replied:

I know what it means to work 10 hours a day in a factory five days a week, and I know that because that is what my dad did every single working day of his life, and that’s what I grew up with.

So I don’t need lessons from Nigel Farage about the issues that matter most to working people in this country.

Keir Starmer said he knows “what it’s like growing up in a cost-of-living crisis”, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage would “be exactly the same” as former prime minister Liz Truss.

He said:

Apparently [Farage] is in Las Vegas today at a casino, and it’s not a surprise, because he said that the Liz Truss budget in his view was the best since 1986.

That shows his judgment. It shows what he’d do and the result would be exactly the same. I’m not prepared to let that happen.

He added:

Unlike Nigel Farage, I know what it’s like growing up in a cost-of-living crisis. I know what it’s like when your family can’t pay the bills, when you fear the postman, the bills that may be brought, and I know how much work we have to do.

But there is not and never will be a magic wand that can wave away the need to manage the public finances properly. That is the foundation upon which everything rests, always.

Now we were elected to change the country, but we were also elected to never put working people through a crisis like Liz Truss ever again.

Speaking about Farage, Starmer said:

This is the man who said Jaguar Land Rover deserve – his word – to go bust. And he said that because he didn’t like an advert that they made.

This is a company at the absolute forefront of British engineering and he says they deserve to go bust. But unlike Nigel Farage, I’ve been to see the workers at JLR several times over, particularly recently, and I know what those jobs mean for the workforce themselves, for their families and their communities.

And I saw first-hand the anxiety on their faces. I met them just as I met you this morning. I saw the anxieties on their faces when they thought their jobs were at risk. So, when they needed support earlier this year, when we had to fight for their jobs and make a deal with the United States, I protected those jobs because I had them in my minds eye.

Starmer then questioned whether Farage “would have done the same” in protecting jobs at JLR. He said:

Would Nigel Farage have done the same? Absolutely not. And that is the question you have to ask about Nigel Farage: can you trust him?”

Starmer began his address by speaking about the government’s recent trade deals with India, the US and the EU.

Speaking to workers and reporters at Glass Futures in St Helens, Merseyside, Starmer said:

Only this morning, actually, you explained to me that the India deal in particular will be really important for glass and what you’re doing directly, and of course, for businesses like whiskey that need glass all of the time.

And that comes from my absolute determination to create jobs, good jobs, and to drive down the cost of living and put more money in your pocket, which is I think the thing most people are most concerned about.

But soon, he turned his attention to Nigel Farage by adding:

That’s what drives me, but you can’t say the same about Nigel Farage.

Keir Starmer says Nigel Farage is ‘Liz Truss all over again’

Keir Starmer has launched a series of attacks on Nigel Farage, telling the public they cannot trust the Reform UK leader.

Speaking at an event at a business in north-west England, the prime minister said Farage would not have protected jobs in industries subject to tariffs from the US, and compared him to former prime minister Liz Truss.

Starmer said:

We protected those jobs. Would Nigel Farage have done the same? Absolutely not.

And that’s the question to have to ask about Nigel Farage. Can you trust him? Can you trust him with your future? Can you trust him with your jobs? Can you trust him with your mortgages, your pensions, your bills? And he gave the answer on Tuesday. A resounding no.

He set out economic plans which contains billions upon billions of completely unfunded spending. Precisely the sort of irresponsible splurge that sent your mortgage costs, your bills and the cost of living through the roof. It’s Liz Truss all over again.

Keir Starmer has begun his address at a manufacturing business in the north-west of England. We have a live video stream at the top of the page now – you may have to refresh the page to access it.

The Hamilton byelection campaign is rapidly evolving into a head to head battle between Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, and Nigel Farage – at least in the proxy war being fought on social media.

Sarwar has posted increasingly combative videos challenging the Reform leader to a debate while Farage, who is due to make a very rare appearance in Scotland next week, has shot back by again suggesting Sarwar is biased against white people.

Reform UK was accused earlier this week of “inflaming tensions” by Sarwar and John Swinney, the Scottish National party (SNP) leader and first minister, after wrongly accusing Sarwar of prioritising the interests of Pakistani Scots based on an old speech.

Sarwar has since gone on to Instagram, Facebook and X with “a message to Nigel Farage” in a selfie-style clip filmed in Hamilton, accusing Farage of being an elitist outsider.

One said:

This is what Hamilton looks like. I know for you, you probably think Hamilton is just a show in the West End of London. So I suggest you ask your chauffeur to put Hamilton into Google maps. You get up here. I can challenge you on your views. You can challenge me on mine and we can see what the people of Scotland think of you.

In an Instagram clip from his latest BBC Scotland radio interview, Sarwar says:

He has no idea where Hamilton is.

Farage amplified his attacks on Sarwar’s politics by resurfacing an old speech of Sarwar’s in Holyrood where he criticised the failure of major Scottish institutions to promote people of colour into leadership roles.

Reform UK’s post on X intercut the clip with Farage speaking at a Reform rally saying “we don’t care about skin colour … we don’t care who you are … we care whether you share the values of this country”.

Labour’s approach suggests they want to use Reform’s large presence in this campaign to their advantage, pushing the SNP (which is the clear favourite to win) into the background, and to amplify Sarwar’s Scottishness and capture voter antipathy towards Reform.

But Scottish Labour may also now be focusing on ensuring they beat Reform into third place, to avoid the humiliation of being overtaken by them; Labour’s candidate, Davy Russell, is widely seen as a poor performer who is struggling with the campaign.

Jobcentres will no longer force people into ‘any job’ available, minister says

Jobcentres will no longer force people into “any job” available, the employment minister has said, promising there will be long-term, personalised career support for those losing out due to welfare cuts.

Alison McGovern said she was ending the Conservative policy under which jobseekers were obliged to take any low-paid, insecure work and that the service would now be focused on helping people to build rewarding careers.

McGovern, who is tasked with a major overhaul to employment support as a result of significant cuts to disability benefits, said the department would use AI to free up the workloads of job coaches, giving them more time to provide “human” support to those with complex needs and long-term unemployment.

The government is facing open revolt among Labour MPs over the proposed cuts – which some in No 10 fear could mean losing the vote in parliament.

Employment minister Alison McGovern MP at the Leeds Southern House jobcentre where she is interview by Guardian reporter Jessica Elgot. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

McGovern said she wanted to acknowledge there were many disabled people who would feel “frightened” by the cuts to personal independence payments and incapacity benefits, with many losing support entirely.

“I don’t blame anybody for being scared or worried about it because given what’s happened with changes to disability benefits before, I understand that,” she said.

But she added she was deeply concerned about the numbers of young people out of work – with many needing specialist help to even engage with job support because of extreme social anxiety.

McGovern said that people whose benefits were cut under Labour would receive radically different support. Work support will be offered by GPs and physiotherapists, in addition to the extended support in jobcentres.

US firm that tests eligibility for UK disability benefits pays £10m in dividends

The British arm of a US contractor that profits from testing whether some people in the UK should receive disability benefits has paid £10m in dividends to its investors.

Maximus, a Virginia-based business, reported a 23% rise in pre-tax profit for its UK arm, from £23.6m to £29.1m, in its financial year to the end of September, accounts lodged at Companies House show. Its revenue rose 2%, from £294m to £300m.

The company is the biggest provider of functional assessment services, or FAS, for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). These tests determine a person’s level of function and ability to perform everyday tasks.

The UK arm of the business paid out £10m in dividends to investors, equivalent to £10,000 per ordinary share, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The company also paid out £10m in dividends to its investors in the 2023 financial year.

Maximus secured a five-year contract from the government in 2023 to provide functional assessment services, at an estimated value of £800m over the period, with the option to extend for a further two years.

In a green paper published in March, the Department for Work and Pensions said experiences of assessments for the personal independence payment (Pip) were “not always positive”.

The national disability charity Sense said “nobody should be rewarded for treating disabled people with disrespect”.

Tom Marsland, of the charity, said:

Sense’s research found that half of disabled people with complex needs who’ve been through a benefits assessment found it humiliating, and almost half didn’t get the right communication support to properly demonstrate why they need support.

These statistics are shocking and show a deep-rooted problem with the current assessment process.

The government has ordered the building of two reservoirs, the first to be built in England for more than 30 years.

The lack of reservoir capacity, combined with a rising population and drier summers caused by climate breakdown, has put the country at risk of water shortages. The government warned in recent weeks of an impending drought if there was not significant rainfall soon, and reservoirs have been reaching worryingly low levels.

The environment minister, Steve Reed, has awarded the status of “nationally significant” to two new reservoir projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire and ordered that they go ahead. These will be the first to be built since 1992.

The government said this would shore up water resources for more than 750,000 homes in England’s most water-stressed areas.

Without more capacity, the UK will be at risk of running out of water in the medium term. The Environment Agency has predicted a shortfall of almost 5bn litres a day by 2050.

The water minister, Emma Hardy, said:

Today we are backing the builders not the blockers, intervening in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs. This government will secure our water supply for future generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes as part of the plan for change.

The building of thousands of homes in the areas to be served by the reservoirs is being held up as there is not the water supply to sustain them.

Anglian Water is proposing to build Lincolnshire reservoir to the south of Sleaford, which should be working by 2040. It has partnered with Cambridge Water to propose the Fens reservoir, located between the towns of Chatteris and March, to be completed in 2036.

Government is 'serious' about rules water companies must follow, says water minister

The government is “serious” about the rules which water companies must follow, Emma Hardy has said in response to fines imposed on Thames Water of £122.7m, reports the PA news agency.

Speaking at a reservoir, the water minister told Times Radio the penalty was the “largest fine there ever has been on record” in the sector and added:

This is a government that is serious about enforcement.

For years, water companies have been allowed to get away with poor behaviour, and we’ve said under this government that is not going to happen because not only is this the largest fine that there ever has been, we’ve also introduced the Water (Special Measures) Act, so up to two years’ imprisonment for water bosses.

We’ve banned unfair bonuses and just last week I was out chatting about the 81 criminal investigations that are going into water companies. So we are serious when we say that we are taking enforcement seriously.

Asked why the government had not considered special administration for Thames Water, Hardy said this mechanism was for companies which go “bankrupt”. She described the firm as “stable”, adding: “We’ll monitor it closely.”

Second Lib Dem MP withdraws support for England and Wales assisted dying bill

A second Liberal Democrat MP has said they have changed their mind over the assisted dying bill and will vote against it at the next Commons stage, in another sign of a wider, if so far slight, ebbing away of support for the measure.

In an email to constituents, Brian Mathew, the Melksham and Devizes MP, said that while he had backed the bill at its second reading vote, in April, scrutiny of the plans had left “several concerns I feel have been inadequately answered”.

His announcement follows comments last week by Steve Darling, the Torbay MP who is also the Lib Democrat work and pensions spokesperson. Darling said that while he had backed the bill in April he was now “marginally against” it, but had not yet decided whether he would vote against it or abstain.

About eight other MPs who either supported the private member’s bill, led by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, at its second reading or did not vote have said they will now oppose it.

However, at least two who abstained in April are now supporters, while the Runcorn and Helsby byelection earlier in May resulted in a Labour MP who opposed the plan replaced by a Reform UK one who backs it.

Given the second reading of the bill was passed with a majority of 55, the numbers thus far indicate it should also get through the third reading, scheduled for 20 June.