Politics latest: Chancellor warns of 'more difficult decisions to come' as she addresses Labour MPs over winter fuel payment cut (2024)

As she arrived at what could have been an uncomfortable meeting with Labour MPs today, the chancellor seemed confident and relaxed.

In the room, Rachel Reeves was said to be the same, approaching the unrest about changes to the winter fuel allowance defiantly ahead of a vote on the issue tomorrow.

Any suggestion of a climbdown, or even a few concessions to soften the blow of the £1.4bn cut for the poorest, were brushed aside.

Instead, a bullish message to the hundreds of MPs in the room: "There are more difficult decisions to come."

But although there were no dissenting voices prepared to pipe up in front of colleagues, away from the committee room there was still some unease.

One MP who has previously said he'll abstain was disappointed at the lack of alternative measures to protect the most vulnerable.

Others will no doubt feel the pressure from their unhappy constituents tomorrow as they linger outside the voting lobbies.

It is the first big test of discipline, and despite today's show of strength from the chancellor, she will need to keep any insubordination to a minimum if she is to maintain her authority and her tight grip on the purse strings.

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

Prisoners set to be released early tomorrow have been trawled through in an attempt to not let domestic abusers go, the policing minister said.

Tuesday will see about 1,700 prisoners released early in an attempt to alleviate overcrowded prisons in England and Wales.

The government said serious violent criminals, terrorists and domestic abuse perpetrators will not be released as part of the scheme.

However, the domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs told The Times victims of domestic abuse are having "sleepless nights" over the release as they fear those who have been convicted of crimes such as common assault towards a partner will not be flagged as domestic abusers.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said the government has been trying to ensure that does not happen.

She told Sky News: "There's been a real trawl through to try and identify where their primary offence isn't domestic abuse, we know there's a history and that's where the steps have been put in to protect as best we can.

"Because we know, unfortunately, domestic abuse is so prevalent amongst the offending community."

By Nick Martin, people and politics correspondent

A loud crash jolts Paul Wheeler into waking up in the middle of the night.

As he peers out of his bedroom window, which overlooks the park at the back of his home in a quiet, suburban part of Kent, he sees a shadowy figure setting fire to something.

It's a warm summer night, Labour is celebrating its landslide election win. For the first time in 14 years, there is a new government in place, which has made big promises on crime.

As the flames rage close to his garden fence, Paul, 46, starts to film the drama unfolding outside his home, while his two children sleep soundly in the next room.

"You need to ring 999 right now," he tells his wife. "People are setting light to something right by the gate at the front of the park."

Then there's an explosion and smoke fills the air.

For the last four years, gangs of mainly teenagers have caused trouble in the park behind Paul's house, terrorising him and his neighbours. He pleaded with the council to install CCTV but his request was turned down.

The next morning, the charred remains of a motorbike lie at the park entrance. The gate is damaged and the ground is covered in debris including bits of wire, nuts and bolts. The flames have turned the leaves of a large tree a rusty brown.

Paul's experience mirrors that of thousands of other communities around Britain who say their concerns about anti-social behaviour, which includes anything from vandalism to public drunkenness and noise disturbances, aren't being taken seriously by police and local councils.

Read the full story here:

That concludes tonight's edition of Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.

Scroll down for all the key moments from tonight's interviews, and analysis of the latest events in UK politics.

Next, we ask Lord Tony Sewell if the riots across Britain this summer were racist.

He replies: "There's no doubt about it - somebody barricading people in a hotel who are from a particular group, and that had a racial motive? Of course it did.

"However, you have to also ask yourself the question, why were there protests from a particular group and from a particular geographical area in England?"

He criticises politicians for using the term "far-right" as a blanket descriptor, saying there are "probably white people listening to this programme now who have got serious concerns that there are low incomes going to poor schools, they've got the worst outcomes in health, and also the issue of migration".

Those people would probably hate those rioting more than anyone, he argues.

But because we are "not listening to people", we have "allowed these other groups to come in and take charge", he adds.

Lord Sewell calls on Sir Keir Starmer to read his report, saying: "Stop being ideological about it."

On history education, he criticises Labour, saying: "You can't end up with an education system that makes white kids feel totally ashamed, and they've got nothing to do with that colonialism, and makes black children feel in a sense that because of that past, they lose their confidence."

On Tory politics, Lord Sewell reveals that he is backing Kemi Badenoch for leader because she "really championed" his 2022 report, calling for a "unified Britain, not a diversified Britain".

Lord Tony Sewell is the next guest on tonight's Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, and we start by asking about the controversy surrounding a 2022 report in which he said Britain is not institutionally racist.

He says he wants to "dispel a myth", and clarifies that "institutional racism wasn't really defined", and so they used their "own framework" to assess racial disparities in Britain.

They found that "racism does exist", but looking at the data, the white working class struggled the most.

"If you're looking at, really, the issues in education and employment and health, the numbers showed that, in fact, white groups were doing worse than any other ethnic group," he says.

"The more interesting thing was there were greater disparities between ethnic minorities within that than they were between white and black."

Ahead of tomorrow's vote to eliminate one candidate in the Tory leadership contest, we asked our panellist, former Tory MP Steve Baker, who has the momentum right now.

He says that Mel Stride has "surprised everybody" and Robert Jenrick has "done extremely well".

But he goes on to say that if he was managing Kemi Badenoch's campaign, he'd be asking her who she wants to knock out, as she has enough votes to lend them around to ensure the easiest ones for her make it through.

Asked who they would want to knock out, Mr Baker picked out Tom Tugendhat, saying that the members "really quite like" him.

"They love a guy in uniform, as one journalist said to me the other day, and he's a very persuasive character.

"Mel is a great guy, of course he is. But, you know, Tom starts ahead because of the previous leadership campaign."

His prediction is that either Mel Stride or Tom Tugendhat will be knocked out, adding that it would be "amazing" if James Cleverly does not make it through.

"They will manufacture that result to suit the leadership candidates. The big question is, do they [Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch] both pick Mel to go forwards - in which case Tom's had it."

After their disastrous election loss in July, the Conservative Party is in the process of electing a new leader.

A hustings was held in parliament for Tory MPs this afternoon, and the remaining five candidates made their pitches to their colleagues ahead of another vote tomorrow to whittle down the list of contenders to four.

Our political correspondent Liz Bateswas outside the room where the hustings was taking place, and says many Tory MPs bemoaned that the contest - due to conclude on 2 November - is going on too long.

"I think they feel that many of them know these candidates already - they don't really need to hear that much more from them," she tells Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.

"There's a bit of weariness, I think, within the party."

But despite this feeling, she says the candidates all "went down quite well in the room today" ahead of tomorrow's vote.

We are now hearing from our panel for this evening about Labour's plan to cut the winter fuel allowance.

The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper, says she will be voting against the cut in parliament tomorrow.

"No one is denying the fact that the economy's in a terrible state, and the Conservatives have left it in a terrible state," she tells Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.

"But I think this is the wrong decision by Labour, and we really hope that they think again, and they do so quickly."

Ms Cooper acknowledges that there are many wealthy pensioners who do not need the allowance, but says there are around two million vulnerable pensioners who will lose out.

'A row Starmer wants'

Former Tory MP Steve Baker says the fight over the winter fuel allowance is "the row that Keir Starmer wants" in order to "make Labour the natural party of government", which has to be done through presenting as the party of "fiscal responsibility".

"So, a row like this is just the one that he wants because it keeps in the air the idea that the Labour Party cares about the public finances," he says.

Mr Baker goes on to accuse Labour of "opportunism", noting that when then-prime minister Theresa May tried to cut the winter fuel allowance, Labour said thousands of pensioners would die as a result.

He says more needs to be done to tackle pensioner poverty more broadly.

Ahead of Labour's first budget on 30 October, the government has been warning about the "dire" economic inheritance, seemingly laying the groundwork for spending cuts and tax rises.

But Unite boss Sharon Graham is tonight issuing a sharp warning to Sir Keir Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, telling Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge: "I don't think the country will forgive Labour if they take us through austerity mark two."

She goes on: "The reason people almost crawled to the polling stations, they were on their knees crawling to the polling stations, is because they wanted change."

The union boss argues that the chancellor can change the "self-imposed" fiscal rules she committed to before the election to avoid austerity, and said borrowing money in order to invest and grow the economy "is a good thing".

"After the Second World War, we had a 250% debt to GDP [ratio]. We built the NHS, we built the welfare state. Nobody there was saying we can't afford it."

Challenged on the fact that Labour was elected on the basis of these fiscal rules, Ms Graham says their mandate was actually "for change".

"Nobody I'm speaking to in the pubs and bars and in everyday places, for example, here in Brighton and beyond, actually thought that Labour would come in and pick the pockets of pensioners," she says.

"They certainly didn't think Labour would come in and drown us in austerity mark two.

"Tough choices cannot be code for cuts. It's as simple as that."