Party members withdrew from most of Wednesday's Senedd proceedings over Joe Martin's speaking ban.
Reform boycotts Senedd after member banned for saying white people are being replaced
Source: BBC Politics
Original reporting
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The Guardian
Double amputee marathon runner criticises Badenoch for ‘weaponising his success’
Paralympian Richard Whitehead ‘gobsmacked’ at Tory leader’s speech over proposed £36bn welfare cuts The double amputee marathon runner Richard Whitehead has criticised Kemi Badenoch for “weaponising his sporting success” to justify her proposed £36bn welfare cuts. The Conservative leader used the example of “ double amputees running marathons ” in a speech this week to explain the reasoning behind her proposed cuts to disability benefits, which she said were enabling people to “live a life of dependency”. Continue reading...
The Guardian
The Guardian view on welfare reform: time to retire lazy myths and stereotypes | Editorial
A speech by the leader of the opposition exemplifies much that is wrong with the way British politics conventionally talks about benefit claimants There is a big difference between expenditure that is rising and a rise that is “out of control”. The amount Britain spends on social security is in the former category. Too much political rhetoric around the subject assumes that it is in the latter one. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts the growth in welfare spending over the next five years at 0.2%-0.5% of gross domestic product, from £353bn this year to £431bn in 2032. That money might well be suboptimally deployed. There are rival demands on the state’s resources and a reasonable debate to be had about priorities at the Department for Work and Pensions. But that is not the tone of the debate routinely conducted in Westminster. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in thi
BBC Politics
Burnham signals backing for more ethnicity options on next census
It comes after a Lib Dem MP said black English or Asian English should be specific options for respondents.
BBC Politics
Former minister calls for phone tech to block live-streamed child sex abuse
New technology would block the live-streaming of child sexual abuse on phones, tablets and laptops.
The Guardian
Chancellor confident budget will lead to growth despite OBR not finding evidence to prove it – as it happened
This blog is now closed Here are some more comments on the report for the Casey commission released today looking at how social care is run in England. (See 9.56am .) This is from Natasha Curry, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust and one of the report’s authors. Compared to the other countries we looked at, the governance of England’s social care system is confused and complex. Overlapping and unclear roles leave dangerous uncertainty around who is responsible for important decisions, contributing to the inertia around reform England has struggled with for decades. The serious consequences of this were laid bare during the Covid pandemic. The system for governing adult social care in England has evolved haphazardly and with little clear planning. That has been exacerbated by successive governments ducking politically unpalatable decisions for decades. That has scattered re
The Guardian
Bridget Phillipson: Kemi Badenoch has ‘no interest in supporting LGBT+ people’
Exclusive: Equalities minister accuses Tories of ‘chasing Reform into the gutter’ as they drop support for planned law to ban conversion practices Kemi Badenoch has “no interest in supporting LGBT+ people” or promoting tolerance more widely, a government minister has said, after the Conservatives dropped support for a planned law to ban conversion practices. The comments by Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minister, come after the Tories removed their previous backing for a law targeting abusive practices that aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Continue reading...