United Front: Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared together at the launch of the Government's 10-year health plan, quashing rumours that the Chancellor is set to be ousted. © PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Another week, another reset, as Keir Starmer was forced into a dramatic last minute climbdown on Tuesday evening over concessions to Labour’s landmark Welfare Reform bill. The bill, which passed its second reading by a majority of 75, had the original aim of reforming welfare expenditure to create a sustainable welfare system, as projections show it is set to reach a cost of £70bn a year by the end of this parliament. Outspoken critics, however, lamented the reforms, particularly in regards to proposed changes to personal independence payments (PIP), and after the publication of a new impact assessment revealed the Bill would push 150,000 people into relative poverty. Facing down the real prospect of a major Labour rebellion, the Government agreed to delay any changes to PIP until a formal review by Welfare Minister Stephen Timms concludes in autumn 2026. Originally slated to come into force from November that same year, the PIP reforms are now effectively shelved, amounting to another high profile U-turn that leaves the Bill without its flagship policy and Labour’s welfare plans looking decidedly less bold than when first unveiled. Although the Bill has cleared its most recent parliamentary hurdle, the political damage has arguably been done. It’s exposed deep tensions with the party, raised fresh questions over the Prime Minister’s authority, and handed the Chancellor the unenviable job of finding a further £2.5bn of savings down the back of the Treasury sofa…
It would be difficult here to not touch upon the moment that ended up dominating this week’s headlines: Rachel Reeves appearing visibly emotional during PMQs. Cue the wave of online commentary and speculation, some sympathy, and a distasteful amount of gleeful political point-scoring. Either way, it was a reminder that behind the political theatre, there are real pressures, and that politicians are (for the most part) human.
The 10-year NHS Plan was published on Thursday, pitched by Starmer, keen to change the subject, alongside Health Sec Wes Streeting and a surprise visit from a (smiling) Rachel Reeves. Outlining the details at a health centre in Stratford, the PM promised a shift in focus from “a sickness service to a health service which is genuinely preventative”. The plan doesn’t shy away from the stakes, warning that ‘the NHS now stands at an existential brink’. To tackle this, it sets out three ambitious shifts: prioritising prevention through vaccinations, early diagnosis, and healthier living campaigns; moving away from hospital-centric care towards a ‘neighbourhood health service’; and transforming the NHS into a fully digital system, harnessing AI, genomics and robotics, with an upgraded NHS app set to become a “indispensable” healthcare essential.
49 – Labour MPs who voted against the second reading of the Government’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on Monday.
26% – the proportion of obese adults in the UK.
95% – the savings patients on weight loss drugs in the UK are likely to save when it becomes widely available on the NHS, through the £9.90 prescription charge.
£9.90 – the current price of a prescription.
£18.6bn – the underlying UK current account deficit excluding previous metals in Q1 of 2025… or 2.5% of GDP.
£500,000 – value of cannabis discovered at an SNP Councillor and former parliamentary candidate’s farm after she called the Police to report a robbery…
11 – sitting days left in the House of Commons until the summer recess (not that we’re counting…).
Zarah Sultana MP announced that she had resigned from the Labour Party (she was already sitting as an Independent) and was co-leading the 'founding of a new party' with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP. This was news to a lot of people, including Corbyn himself who had apparently not yet agreed to join the party and was ‘furious and bewildered at the way it has been launched without consultation’. Corbyn had hinted earlier in the week that he would be forming something with the other independent MPs and has now said ‘discussions are ongoing’.
Parliament voted to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, after activists had earlier broken into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed Voyager aircraft with red paint. 9 Labour MPs voted against the proscription, with the High Court also due to hear proceedings today aimed at temporarily blocking the order.
Three new Permanent Secretaries were appointed this week, as long-serving officials Bernadette Kelly, Sarah Munby and Tamara Finkelstein’s replacements were confirmed. Jo Shanmugalingam becomes the new Perm Sec in the Department for Transport; Emran Mian is new Perm Sec in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; and David Hill was appointed Interim Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs while a recruitment process for a full-time Perm Sec continues.
An issue known about for over seven years is the ‘most likely’ cause of the fire that led to the closure of Heathrow Airport, after the National Energy System Operator published its final report on the incident. It found that moisture had caused an electrical fault, with this originally identified in July 2018 by National Grid Electricity Transmission but no ‘mitigating actions appropriate to its severity’ were implemented. Ofgem has launched an enforcement investigation into NGET following the review.
Further changes will be made to the Right to Buy scheme, as the Government published a long-term plan for the next decade for social and affordable housing. Newly built social homes will be exempt from Right to Buy for 35 years, and the time someone needs to have been a public sector tenant to qualify is being increased from 3 to 10 years.
Changes are also being made to support leaseholders, with measures from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 being implemented to provide them with ‘stronger rights, powers and protections to better challenge extortionate service charges’. Leaseholders will receive standardised service charge documentation, while there are also reforms to stop them having to automatically pay for landlords’ litigation costs even where they have won their case.
12 of England’s combined authority mayors have signed a statement pledging to create a national active travel network, with it to launch in the autumn and initially include a network of 3,500 miles of safer routes connecting housing to schools and high streets. The multi-region project will begin work in around 1,000 schools, creating 300 safer routes for people walking, wheeling and cycling.
A roadmap for the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill was published, outlining how the measures will be phased in up until 2027. It includes the establishment of the Fair Work Agency in April 2026, the banning of ‘unscrupulous’ fire and rehire from October 2026, and the introduction of the ‘Day 1’ right to protection from unfair dismissal in 2027.
A landmark review of parental leave has been launched, with it seeking to modernise the system to support the modern day needs and ensure it works better for parents and employers. The review is expected to take 18 months and will focus on ‘three cross-cutting considerations’ – fairness and quality, cost, and improving society.
New immigration measures have been introduced to Parliament that will increase the threshold for the Skilled Worker visas, close the social care worker visa route to overseas recruitment, and only allow time-limited access below degree level through a targeted immigration salary list and temporary shortage list, for critical roles only.
The ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ was passed by the US Congress, with estimates it could add $3.3tn to federal deficits in the next ten years and cut health insurance from 12 million people, although President Trump said it would turn the USA “into a rocket ship”. Speaking of rocket ships, Trump and former Head of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk clashed again this week, with Trump suggesting DOGE could be used to look at federal payments to Musk’s companies.
Aside from the welfare reform chaos, Parliament trundled on with normal business. In the Commons, the Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect During Appeal) Bill begun its legislative journey, while the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill ping-ponged between the Lords and Commons. MPs also had it out over the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group, with a number of Labour and Green MPs criticising the Government for grouping Palestine Action on the order with two violent far-right groups. The regulations were ultimately approved overwhelmingly.
In the Lords, the Renters’ Rights Bill and the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, which will remove all remaining hereditary peers, both commenced their report stage, while the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill continued its committee stage.
Brits believe the threat of terrorism has increased significantly over the last two years, YouGov’s latest polling has revealed. 29% of people believe the threat has increased “a lot” since 2023 when just 14% believed the same; and overall, 54% of people believe the threat has increased. In bad news for the Government, perceptions of Labour’s handling of terrorism are more negative than their Conservative predecessors’, as the number of people believing the Government are doing a good job has dropped by a quarter since the General Election.
The public is not yet convinced weight loss treatments should be available for free through local pharmacies, new polling undertaken by Savanta concluded this week. Whilst 44% of respondents agreed with the Government’s plans, 25% disagreed and 22% were as yet unsure. Perhaps surprisingly 21% of people said they had already tried weight loss treatments such as Ozempic or Mounjaro, whilst 41% said they would if it were available on the NHS. The plans are a key lever in Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s 10 Year Plan to push the nation’s focus away from treatment and onto prevention.
The UK has a shortage of 6.5 million homes according to new analysis by the Centre for Policy Studies, who compared the state of the UK’s housing with similar countries in Europe. With just 446 homes per 1,000 people, the UK has the second worst rate in Europe, compared to 560 in France, 516 in Germany, and a European average of 542. Whilst the report argues mass migration has contributed significantly to the problem, it notes the bulk of the shortfall is due to under-building, highlighting that France has expanded its housing stock by almost 40% more than the UK, year after year.
“You cannot be serious?!” A volley of abuse has been lobbed at the All England Club this week after fans noticed Wimbledon’s decision to break from tradition and replace human line judges with AI. It’s fair to say Reform’s Richard Tice MP was quick to find fault with it too. He took to X this week to smash Wimbledon over ‘un-British’ tradition changes, dramatically declaring “we want our country back. We want Wimbledon line judges back. Enough is enough”. Never one to take advantage of a popular event, we wait for the Reform Deputy Leader’s response to the Women’s Euro’s this weekend…
It’s been a week of new political parties! First up, ex-Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe launched ‘Restore Britain’ – not a party he insists, but a ‘mouthpiece’ for conservative voices across the country. His movement has already been the subject of media attention for its far-right policies, including the promise of mass deportations. His newest member is leader of the City Hall Conservatives and ex-mayoral candidate Susan Hall, who has joined the Advisory Board…
Also on the right, Former Reform UK leader Ben Habib announced the establishment of his new party, Advance UK. He quickly received endorsement from Elon Musk, who responded to Habib’s announcement with a Union Flag and the comment “Bravo”.
Last but not least, as mentioned above, Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana took to X on Thursday to announce that she had resigned from the Labour Party, and will be co-leading a new left-wing party with ex Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Rumours began to emerge overnight that the party had collapsed before it even started, as Sultana reportedly made the announcement without confirmation from Corbyn that he would co-lead… #awks
