Voters back Burnham’s plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggests – UK politics live
From 1h agoVoters back Burnham's plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggestsSharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said earlier this week that getting rid of the pe...
From
1h agoVoters back Burnham's plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggests
Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said earlier this week that getting rid of the pensions triple lock to help fund social care reform would be “electoral suicide”.
This morning YouGov has published polling suggesting that she might be wrong. It suggests the voters support Burnham’s plan by 48% to 28%.
When people are asked in isolation if they support setting up a National Care Service, they were overwhelmingly in favour, by 74% to 11%.
YouGov also found that, when asked in isolation if they would back turning the triple lock into a double lock (by removing the earnings link), respondents were also in favour of that too, by 43% to 30%.
(In fact, Burnham’s proposal is more generous than a simply reversion to a double lock – see 8.45am.)
When YouGov put the two proposals together, and described them as Burnham’s plan, getting rid of the triple lock in its current form became more popular.
What people tell pollsters about a policy after it has just been announced may bear little resemblance to how they feel about it by the time it gets implemented. But these findings suggest Burnham is well placed to win the public argument on the merits of his policy.
When Rachel Reeves announced she was cutting the winter fuel payments in 2024, early polling showed that people opposed the move – and it was particularly unpopular with pensioners.
Key events
19m ago
Nandy says for too long government has ceded too much power over internet to private sector
43m ago
Cooper says violence against women and girls public health problem as she announces £50m for support services
1h ago
Guess the tracks Burnham picked for each of England’s regions
1h ago
Brexit 'the biggest lie of the last 30 years', Macron says
1h ago
Voters back Burnham's plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggests
2h ago
Cooper says government setting up collective pension scheme for workers in care sector
2h ago
Tories rule out taking part in Burnham's proposed cross-party commission on electoral reform
2h ago
Yvette Cooper tells Labour conference 'Sure Start's back', as she expands healthy babies support programme
3h ago
What are Burnham's options for better relationship with EU?
3h ago
Half a million trees to be planted in England in three years, environment secretary Angela Eagle says
3h ago
Tories accuse Burnham of going back on Makerfield byelection pledge to respect outcome of Brexit referendum
3h ago
Burnham says he has spent 'a lot of time' working out how to fill £4.7bn funding gap in defence investment plan
4h ago
Burnham suggests it would not be legitimate for any party to form majority government with less than 30% of vote
4h ago
Burnham insists his triple lock and care plans add up to 'better deal' for pensioners
4h ago
Energy bills in Great Britain forecast to jump by £276 a year from January
4h ago
Burnham says Britain needs to resolve EU relationship because it can't afford another decade of post-Brexit drift
4h ago
Burnham says he wants to rejoin EU in his lifetime, but not necessarily 'now'
5h ago
Burnham says he's not getting rid of pensions triple lock, but just adjusting how it works
5h ago
Burnham says he doesn't have 'huge room for manoeuvre' to help people with cost of living
5h ago
Burnham says he's looking at 'every possible measure' to help people with energy costs, but stresses funding not easy
6h ago
Andy Burnham says rejoining the EU among all ‘the options’ being considered for better relationship with Europe
In her conference speech, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, also announced that the government is hiring more youth workers. She said:
double quotation markStarting today, we are going to fund and recruit 1,000 youth workers, the biggest investment in youth work in a generation.
And we won’t stop there.
We will rebuild youth services, bring back youth work, and ensure every young person in this country, has someone who cares. No young person forgotten. No young person written off.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank has issued a statement this morning warmly welcoming the PM’s proposal to get rid of the pensions triple lock in its current form after the election.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, another leading public spending thinktank, has also backed the PM’s proposal.
Nandy says for too long government has ceded too much power over internet to private sector
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, criticised previous governments for giving private companies too much power over the internet revolution in her speech to the conference.
In the face of new technology, and in particular the threat that the internet posed to women, the state had been “far too small and far too timid for too long”, she said.
She went on:
double quotation markI am on a mission to change it.
Because the World Wide Web – that created by Tim Berners Lee, to share knowledge, not exploitation - has revolutionised the way we live. An extraordinary democratic force, a source of connection, creativity and solace that has unleashed incomprehensible hatred, anger and polarisation - ask yourselves this, while it has undeniably shaped and defined us, have we done anything like enough to shape and define it?
Like the printing press, electricity and television, it has upended society. But what is almost unique to this moment is how absent the state - on behalf of its people - has been for so long. We have outsourced a revolution almost entirely to the private sphere to shape and police.
It is ... an almost violent indifference. To the women whose privacy and dignity is stripped from them. To the children who are preyed upon, their childhoods stolen. To people - how many of you in this room particularly women - hounded from public life. Where anger is monetised and profit put before people’s lives.
So conference, we are calling time on that indifference. Enough is enough.
Nandy said the government was introducing a social media ban for children and legislation to make it impossible for them to take or share nude images on their phones. She also said the government would take action to stop the circulation of non-consensual intimate images online.
Cooper says violence against women and girls public health problem as she announces £50m for support services
Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, also announced almost £50m to support victims of violence against women and girls. This should be seen as a public health problem, she said.
She told the conference:
double quotation markWe don’t treat violence against women and girls as the epidemic it really is. So here’s what we will change. For the first time, we will take a public health approach to violence against women and girls. We will work with survivors, charities, local government, and the NHS to set out how to treat this like the disease it is.
And today I am announcing the rollout of almost £50m support for new specialist referral services from GPs for women and men who are victims of domestic abuse.
Because conference when I stood here as home secretary two years ago and said our mission to halve violence against women and girls covered the whole of government, I meant it.
The money will ensure that victims of abuse can be referred to specialist help through GP practices under a new scheme called Steps to Safety. Around £34m will be spent allowing 12 integrated care boards to set up the programme, and £15m will go to victim support services in England.
Cooper is also appointing a national clinical lead for violence against women and girls to bring together clinical and public health expertise and strengthen the health system’s response.
Officials says health services are often the first places where victims of this sort of abuse disclose what has been happening.
Guess the tracks Burnham picked for each of England’s regions
At the Labour conference, Andy Burnham chose region-specific songs for the regional receptions he was attending. Alexis Petridis, the Guardian’s chief rock critic, has been assessing his choices. And he’s turned it into a quizz.
Brexit 'the biggest lie of the last 30 years', Macron says
Jakub Krupa
Jakub Krupa writes the Guardian’s Europe live blog.
Andy Burnham was critical of Brexit yesterday, but not as critical as the French president Emmanuel Macron who – not for the first time – has blasted those who campaigned for it.
Speaking with students at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid last night, Macron took aim at Brexit calling it “the biggest lie of the last 30 years.”
In a long defence of Europe’s unique integration process – where, according to Macron, even nationalist leaders have come to appreciate the bloc’s role – he described Brexit as a “disastrous exception” to the rule.
He said:
double quotation markBrexit is the biggest lie of the last 30 years.
Those who said, ‘We’ll be richer,’ eight points of GDP less 10 years on. We’ll solve the immigration problem; it’s more complicated than before. And we’re going to be a huge success in international trade, it’s even worse.
Voters back Burnham's plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggests
Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said earlier this week that getting rid of the pensions triple lock to help fund social care reform would be “electoral suicide”.
This morning YouGov has published polling suggesting that she might be wrong. It suggests the voters support Burnham’s plan by 48% to 28%.
When people are asked in isolation if they support setting up a National Care Service, they were overwhelmingly in favour, by 74% to 11%.
YouGov also found that, when asked in isolation if they would back turning the triple lock into a double lock (by removing the earnings link), respondents were also in favour of that too, by 43% to 30%.
(In fact, Burnham’s proposal is more generous than a simply reversion to a double lock – see 8.45am.)
When YouGov put the two proposals together, and described them as Burnham’s plan, getting rid of the triple lock in its current form became more popular.
What people tell pollsters about a policy after it has just been announced may bear little resemblance to how they feel about it by the time it gets implemented. But these findings suggest Burnham is well placed to win the public argument on the merits of his policy.
When Rachel Reeves announced she was cutting the winter fuel payments in 2024, early polling showed that people opposed the move – and it was particularly unpopular with pensioners.
Cooper says government setting up collective pension scheme for workers in care sector
Yvette Cooper also announced that the government is setting up a new pension scheme for workers in the care sector in her speech to the Labour conference.
The health secretary said:
double quotation markWe will deliver the first-ever legally-binding fair pay agreement for care workers with minimum standards of pay and conditions across every employer, because care workers have been undervalued and underpaid for far too long.
We will publish a proper workforce plan for social care, proper career pathways, training, development of specialist skills.
We’ll offer thousands more academy places to help young jobseekers into good jobs in care, and thanks to the campaigning of all the Unison members in this hall, we will go further because it is just wrong that the people who work hardest to help others maintain dignity and respect in old age too often get nothing back from retirement themselves.
So, I can announce today we will introduce the first ever national collective pension scheme for workers in the care sector – fair pay, fair terms and conditions, and now a proper pensions scheme.
Cooper also said the government will appoint a new champion for unpaid carers to make sure the “voice of that hidden army is always heard in government”.
Tories rule out taking part in Burnham's proposed cross-party commission on electoral reform
The Conservatives have ruled out supporting Andy Burnham’s proposed cross-party commission to work on electoral reform.
In an interview with Sky News, Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory chair, replied with a clear “no” when asked if his party would take part.
Hollinrake went on:
double quotation markWe think this is totally the wrong thing, despite the fact under any system of proportional representation, we’d have got more seats than we did in 2024, in that election.
That’s not the point. The point is you want decisive elections.
The public had a referendum on proportional representation back in 2011. It rejected it.
And we’re in an era now potentially moving into an era of sectarian politics, where you have small parties that represent particular interests, be it Gaza, be it Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party.
Does anybody think it’d be a good idea for a government to be propped up by one of those parties who have single issue policies that really would be potentially very damaging to the UK itself and to our foreign relationships?
In fact, the referendum in 2011 was on the alternative vote – which is not strictly a proportional voting system, even though in UK politics it would deliver a more proportional outcome in some elections.
Yvette Cooper tells Labour conference 'Sure Start's back', as she expands healthy babies support programme
Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, has announced a Sure Start-style Healthy Babies programme for every local authority in England. Charlie Moloney the details here.
In her speech to the Labour conference, Cooper said:
double quotation markSince the election, Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell have been working to rebuild family hubs across the country, bringing back support for parents and for young children.
But something is missing. In half of communities, compared to the last time round, the healthy babies services – mental health support for mums and dads, the feeding and bonding support for your new baby.
That changes now.
I can announce we will bring back the Sure Start health services into every family centre.
Reaching up to 1,000 hubs over the next two years.
One of the Labour party’s greatest achievements restored to families throughout the land.
So listen to that, George Osborne – Sure Start’s back.
That was a reference to an exchange Cooper had with George Osborne when she was interviewed by him over the summer for his podcast, Political Currency. As Tory chancellor, Osborne cut the funding for Sure Start, which Cooper helped to set up as a junior minister in the Blair government. Osborne now runs his podcast with Ed Balls, Cooper’s husband.
As the Tories ran down the Sure Start programme, they were replaced by family hubs. When Labour took power in 2024, these were beefed up as Best Start family hubs.
Sure Start is now widely regarded as one of New Labour’s most successful social programmes. A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that it had a significant positive impact on the health and educational outcome of children. “For every £1 of net spending, Sure Start may eventually generate around £11 in benefits for the children who attended,” the IFS said.
What are Burnham's options for better relationship with EU?
Back to Europe, and here is Lisa O’Carroll’s assessment of the various options available as Andy Burnham looks for a better relationship with the EU.
Half a million trees to be planted in England in three years, environment secretary Angela Eagle says
Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, announced plans for half a million trees to be planted in England in the next three years to protect against extreme weather. Fiona Harvey has the details.
Eagle also announced plans for a Good Food Neighbourhoods Programme. She told the conference.
double quotation markDuring our years in opposition, Britain became a poorer, more divided country. A country that seemed only to work for vested interests.
That’s why today, I’m announcing our Good Food Neighbourhoods Programme. Initially we’ll be supporting 45 communities - targeted at the areas with the highest levels of food inequality. Backed by £10m of investment, bringing fresh, affordable produce into neighbourhoods.
Creating community kitchens and supporting pensioners’ lunch clubs that tackle loneliness and hunger side by side. Because this is about more than what’s on someone’s plate. It’s about the ties that bind us together.
Tories accuse Burnham of going back on Makerfield byelection pledge to respect outcome of Brexit referendum
The Conservatives have accused Andy Burnham of going back on a byelection pledge not to consider rejoining the EU.
During the byelection in Makerfield, a constituency that strongly voted leave in 2016, Burnham said that the Brexit vote should be respected and that, if he was elected, he would not propose rejoining the EU.
But Burnham has now said this option should be considered. (See 7.49am.)
In response to Burnham’s Today interview, Alex Burghart said:
double quotation markYou cannot trust a word Andy Burnham says. Just a few weeks ago he said he wanted to move on from the Brexit arguments and now he is dragging Britain back into them by floating the prospect of rejoining the EU.
Labour cannot blame a democratic vote from over a decade ago for the consequences of their own economic decisions. While they look backwards, the Conservatives will look forwards.
Burnham says he has spent 'a lot of time' working out how to fill £4.7bn funding gap in defence investment plan
Andy Burnham has said that he has spent “a lot of time” working out how to fill the £4.7bn gap in the plans to fund the defence investment plan.
When Keir Starmer unveiled the defence investment plan in June, after he had announced he was standing down to make way for Burnham, he said the increased investment would cost £15bn. While explaining where most of the money would come from, he said the remaining funds – worth £4.7bn over four years – would have to come from savings to be announced in the budget.
In an interview on Times Radio, Burnham said that finding this money had been a “major priority”.
He said:
1 of 2NextOldestOldestdouble quotation markI said as soon as I came in that we would fully fund the defence investment plan. I’ve spent a lot of time on that and it will be fully funded.
There was a shortfall - there won’t be [at the budget].