Natalie Elphicke says claims she lobbied justice secretary over ex-husband's trial are 'nonsense'

Accusations MP Natalie Elphicke lobbied the justice secretary in 2020 to interfere in her then-husband's sex offences trial are "nonsense", her spokesperson has said.

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Pension warning as 10 million older households to lose payments thanks to Rishi Sunak's 'economic failure'

Some 10 million pensioners could lose access to vital payment support thanks to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's "economic failure", the Labour Party has claimed.

The Official Opposition is warning millions may be stripped of their Winter Fuel Payments if the Tories decide to means-test the benefit in an attempt to fill a £45billion spending black hole.

Last September, Sunak was reportedly interested in the idea of determining whether someone is eligible for Winter Fuel Payments depending on their income and savings.

In its current form, the benefit helps older households cover the costs of their energy bills with pensioners being potentially eligible to get anywhere between £250 and £600.

Someone is entitled to this support if they were born before September 25, 1957 and live in the UK. It is not means-tested.

When asked about the Winter Fuel Payment at Prime Minister's Questions, the Prime Minister refused to rule out making changes to the eligibility criteria.

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Based on research carried out by Labour, means-testing could see only 1.4 million pensioners eligible for Winter Fuel Payments going forward.

This is compared to 11.4 million elderly Britons who currently claim the benefit amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

In response to these findings, Labour is demanding Sunak "comes clean" on how the Conservative Party plan to pay for his £46billion unfunded pledge to abolish National Insurance.

Earlier this year, the Prime Minster said it was his "long term plan" to end the tax which is charged on people's incomes

Furthermore, Labour is calling the Tories to rule out means-testing Winter Fuel Payments going into the next General Election.

Both parties have committed to keeping the triple lock on state pensions and not raise the retirement age in an attempt to entice older voters.

Alison McGovern MP, the acting Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, outlined what Labour believe is potentially at stake for older Britons.

She said: “Pensioners across the country are paying a heavy price for 14 years of Tory economic failure.

“The Tories need to come clean about how they will pay for their reckless £46billion unfunded proposal to cut National Insurance and to rule out means-testing Winter Fuel Payments to pay for it.

“Britain’s pensioners deserve certainty and stability, which is why Labour are committed to keeping the triple lock on state pensions and why we have a plan to grow the economy to put money back into people’s pockets, to make work pay, and to once again be the party for pensioners.”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• State pension payment date to change for millions - when will you get paid?
• State pension age increase floated as future retirees ‘to be poorer’
• Pension crisis looms as millions of over 50s risk having 'insufficient income' in retirement

Sunak's record in office when it comes to pensioners has received a mixed response as of late.

Despite promising to keep the triple lock, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's decision to freeze tax allowances has pulled many older people into higher tax brackets.

The impact of fiscal drag has been referred to as a "stealth tax" by experts at a time when pension incomes are already being stretched.

GB News has contacted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for comment.

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The optics are bad for Sunak... but both parties will struggle to stop the boats - analysis by Katherine Forster

Who would have thought it?

In Dover this morning, there was Natalie Elphicke, the local, notably right-wing MP on the front line of the small boats crisis, singing the praises of her leader, down on the Kent coast for a big announcement on ‘Stopping the Boats’.

Only that leader was Sir Keir Starmer. Elphicke had spectacularly ‘crossed the floor’ on Wednesday, defecting to ‘a changed Labour party’. Under the Prime Minister’s leadership, she now says the Conservatives have become ‘a by-word for incompetence and division’.

Tory MPs are flabbergasted and cross. And many Labour MPs aren’t happy either. But the calculation is that voters will just see a Tory MP turning to Labour for border security.

The optics are pretty damning. And Labour today has parked its tanks firmly on the Conservative lawn.

Traditionally of course, the Tories are more trusted on borders than Labour, and the Brexit rallying cry, to ‘take back control’ included, crucially, taking back control of our borders.

To date, the government has very visibly failed with that. Over 9 thousand have crossed the Channel illegally already this year, up a third on this point last year. Despite the many appearances at lecterns emblazoned with the words ‘Stop the Boats’ Sunak is not succeeding.
The Tories have clung to the line that Labour ‘don’t have a plan’.

But now Labour do. And they’ve unveiled it today in Dover.

Labour plans to tackle the small boats crisis through cracking down on the criminal gangs who get rich on human misery and desperation. Starmer promises a new Border Security Command, and one thousand more officers, recruited by MI5, the National Crime Agency and Border Force.

There’s plans to work more closely with European allies, more intelligence sharing, plus increased use of anti-terror powers. They say they’ll use the £75 million saved in not sending people to Rwanda.

Better, they reason, to stop people crossing the Channel illegally in the first place, than worry about what to do with them when they are here.

The problem is of course, as Starmer admitted, that this stuff is hard. And the government already unveiled a similar scheme a year or so ago. Despite the constant focus on Rwanda, the Tories have many strands to their attempts to stop the boats. So much of this, with the exception of involving spies, feels familiar.

And then there’s Rwanda.

Sunak says there will be a ‘regular drumbeat of flights taking off throughout the summer’. Starmer now says he believes migrants will finally be sent.

But Labour will scrap it. Even if it’s working.

Starmer calls it ‘a gimmick’. And says Labour will scrap it ‘straight away’.

Though many are horrified by the whole notion of Rwanda, there will be plenty of voters outraged if it is working, and is ditched.

Labour also says they will appoint more case-workers and process claims quicker.

And Starmer, when pushed on numbers for what looks like success with channel crossings, wouldn’t go there. He said he would ‘like it to come down completely’ but clearly won’t set a target.

Perhaps he’s learnt from Sunak’s pledge to ‘Stop the boats’.

The whole of Europe, and indeed the US, are grappling with rising levels of illegal migration. Other European countries are looking at processing asylum seekers offshore. And the numbers crossing the Mediterranean dwarf those attempting the Channel.

The government made Rwanda its flagship policy of many. Starmer says smashing the gangs is the solution.

But the truth is that whoever is in power is going to struggle with this. Regardless of their colour or ideology.

And, in Dover, the boats keep coming.

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Calls for arena ticket levy and tax relief to stop music venue closure 'crisis'

A cut in VAT and a new levy on arena and stadium tickets are urgently needed to stop grassroots music venues from closing, MPs have said.

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WATCH: Britons make feelings clear on Keir Starmer's immigration plan

Britons have made their stance on Keir Starmer’s immigration plan clear in a series of interviews with GB News.

Ray Addison took to the streets to gauge the public sentiment towards the proposals set out by the Labour leader, which include the Rwanda scheme being scrapped.

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The SNP in Scotland and Labour in Wales have failed their devolved governments, says John Redwood

The rapid implosion of the Scottish government reveals what happens when reality breaks through. The SNP/Green government had set unrealistic targets to get people out of petrol cars and into heat pumps.

When they decided to own up to the fantasies they had proposed the Greens were unhappy and then were evicted.

The truth is the devolved government of Scotland with the SNP in government and the devolved government of Wales with Labour in office have failed to run good public services, have put taxes up and have gone in for expensive posturing.

Far from giving their parts of the UK a faster growth rate or more prosperity, they have held their areas back with more regulations, more interventions and bad management.

Welsh health waiting lists and waits are longer than in England. School standards in Scotland are below England. Wales is literally grinding to a halt as 20mph limits are introduced to make it slower to get to work or make a delivery.

The devolved governments are good at playing politics, blaming the UK government for anything that is poor and claiming credit for anything good, whatever the cause and wherever the initiative and money came from.

The poor performance and big overhead of the devolved governments is reflected in all too many of the UK and devolved quangos, so called independent bodies.

They do not even have the redeeming virtue of devolved governments that they are accountable to electors who can change their management if they annoy.

We have a nationalised Post office which imprisoned some of its decent staff on trumped up charges and lost taxpayers a shedload of money.

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• Scottish government recommits to gender self-ID legislation despite Westminster veto
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We have a Bank of England that gave us 11 per cent inflation whilst promising us it would stay around 2 per cent. It has now sent us a bill so far for £49billion for its excessive losses on buying and selling bonds.

It is taking over our budgets as it sends the bills for its losses to taxpayers and may lose tens of billions more.

We have Ofwat that has not managed to regulate water companies to combine affordable bills with more pipe capacity to avoid so many sewage spills.

There is the Environment Agency who has allowed large building programmes on flood plain leading to more flooding and who failed to man the pumps and clear the ditches in some crucial areas.

We have HS2 Ltd, a government owned company, unable to build a new railway line to within three times the original budget or to timetable so the government has had to abandon part of the promised scheme.

I am all in favour of consulting and using good experts. I want a doctor who knows about medicine and an economist who knows how to control inflation and promote growth.

What the country does not need is bodies packed with experts who get it wrong or hold views many of the public dislike.

The Bank of England all my life has allowed or promoted boom/bust cycles by wayward monetary policy.

The nationalised industries have specialised in making big losses and sending taxpayers the bill. We have too much government, competing to take our freedoms away.

The mess of traffic policies in Wales with the devolved government pursuing its anti vehicle and driver policy sums up what goes wrong when government runs amok.

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Yousaf 'not ashamed to say' resignation drama has been 'difficult' for his mental health

Humza Yousaf said he's "not ashamed at all" to admit his mental health suffered in the wake of his resignation as Scottish first minister.

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