Starmer praises Biden’s ‘extraordinary career’ as PM pledges to fix ‘broken’ skills system – Live

The shadow work and pensions secretary has revealed he has a “fair chance” of standing in the Conservative leadership race.

“We’ll have to wait and see, I haven’t made any decisions yet. We don’t know what the process is. Colleagues have been talking to me about it and I’m considering what I should or shouldn’t do,” Stride told Sky News.

Asked how long Rishi Sunak would remain Conservative leader, Stride said: “That is his business. What we don’t know is what the party committee will recommend.”

He also said the Conservatives should not be “appealing” to the voters it lost to Reform Britain but rather those we lost to Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

As the Conservative Party prepares to choose a new leader, Mel Stride has admitted there is “no doubt we have a demographic problem” as analysis shows one in six Tory voters could die before the next election.

Demographic trends show the Conservatives could lose more than a million votes by 2029, according to an analysis of the challenges they face in attracting young people.

Responding to the election result, the senior Conservative told Times Radio: “This is more than a challenge, it’s not just about jumping onto a nice ideological platform and all problems will fall into place. It requires us to look deep and hard at how we engage young voters.”

“I think the age mix of Conservative supporters does highlight the depth of the challenge we face, but it is not insurmountable.”

The shadow work and pensions secretary added: “The first step we need to do is unite the parliamentary parties.”

Bridget Phillipson has been forced to reveal whether a Labour government will scrap the two-child benefit cap after growing calls from both inside and outside the party.

The Education Secretary refused to commit to removing the cap but admitted it would be “considered”.

Ms Phillipson claimed she believed “very, very strongly” that child poverty could be reduced, adding: “That’s why I’m delighted to be leading a government taskforce, alongside our work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, looking at how we can reduce child poverty rates.”

However, when it comes to removing the two-child benefit cap, she said: “This is not policy put in place by a Labour government.

“We are aware of the evidence on this and as part of the review we will be carrying out in the coming months we will be considering this as part of a multi-faceted approach to helping children escape poverty.”

this headmaster There is pressure to exceed the limit, which prevents parents from claiming benefits for a third or subsequent child born after April 2017.

The Child Poverty Action Group estimates that abolishing the policy would lift around 300,000 children out of poverty.

Our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas has the full report:

Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride has announced he is considering running to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative Party leader.

It comes after it was revealed the Conservative MP would run in a bid to “unite” the party.

The shadow chancellor told Times Radio: “I am considering it. I have been contacted by a number of colleagues who have suggested it.”

“Of course, we don’t know yet what the exact rules of this process are, and I want to wait and see before making a final decision. But it’s certainly a possibility.”

He added: “My primary motivation for sitting here and thinking about this is that I care about my party, I care about my country, and the fact that we had one of the greatest electoral defeats ever is deeply disturbing to me.”

Archie Mitchell Examining how much a 5.5% public sector wage rise would cost taxpayers, and whether Rachel Reeves is prepared to fund it for them:

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson accused her Conservative predecessor, Gillian Keegan, of a “total failure of duty” for failing to act on the recommendations of the pay review body for months.

Earlier, Rachel Reeves said the Government could agree to above-inflation pay rises for teachers and other public sector workers.

Ms Phillipson agreed with the chancellor that not resolving pay disputes would have a cost. She told Times Radio: “We saw strike action under the last Conservative government and that had serious consequences because they did not take a responsible approach.

“As Education Secretary, I have set out a different way of working, one that involves working with the best people in education, because that’s how we can give all our children better chances in life.

“But I have to say that the last Conservative government and the previous education secretary received the Teachers’ Review Body report, considered it, called an election and then it disappeared.

“This is extremely irresponsible and a complete failure of duty, but we have a responsibility to correct this mistake.”

Ms Phillipson said the chancellor would deliver the government’s response to the recommendations at the end of the month.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was “surprised” by US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the Democratic nomination.

But she said she was confident Britain’s relationship with the United States would continue regardless of the election outcome.

Ms Phillipson told Sky News: “I think what we’ve seen from Joe Biden is what we’ve seen in our lifetimes, which is a dedicated public servant.

“He wants to put the interests of the American people first, and now there is a process that needs to be gone through, and I think what is important for us is the relationship between our two countries and our two peoples.”

Sir Keir praised Biden’s “extraordinary career” and pledged to spend the remainder of his presidency with him once Biden announced it. Will not seek re-election.

The Prime Minister will launch a new body on Monday to tackle the UK’s “fragmented and broken” skills training system.

The plan, called Skills England, was included in the Labour manifesto and aims to ensure the supply of training is aligned with the needs of the economy.

It will bring together central and local government, businesses, unions and training providers to better understand the nation’s “skills gap”.

Skills England will also work with the Migration Advisory Committee to reduce reliance on overseas workers by addressing areas where home-grown skills can be improved.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “Our skills system is a mess, which is why we are changing our approach to meet the skills needs of the coming decades.

“They will help us deliver on our government’s priority mission to drive economic growth by opening up new opportunities for young people and enabling UK businesses to recruit more homegrown talent.

“From construction to IT, healthcare to engineering, our country’s success depends on providing a highly skilled workforce in the long term. Skills England will build the framework needed to achieve this, while reducing our reliance on overseas workers.”