Labour broadcasts evaluation of state pension age
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, has introduced the subsequent statutory authorities evaluation into the retirement age as she launched a brand new pension fee amid issues over retirement financial savings.
The fee is anticipated to offer suggestions for tips on how to increase retirement revenue in 2027.
The state pension age is 66 and is already anticipated to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
Kendall stated she was “underneath no illusions” about how troublesome it will be to map out plans for pensions for the approaching many years amid cost-of-living pressures.
Giving a speech in west London, she stated:
Put merely, except we act, tomorrow’s pensioners shall be poorer than immediately’s, as a result of people who find themselves saving aren’t saving sufficient for his or her retirement.
And crucially, as a result of nearly half of the working age inhabitants isn’t saving something for his or her retirement in any respect.
Liz Kendall giving a speech on the Coin Avenue neighbourhood Centre in London, introducing the subsequent part of the Pensions Evaluate. {Photograph}: Jordan Pettitt/PAShare
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Ministers to revive Blair-era Pensions Fee to sort out financial savings disaster
Joanna Partridge
Joanna Partridge is a Guardian enterprise reporter
The federal government is resurrecting the Pensions Fee, amid fears {that a} retirement disaster may imply immediately’s employees shall be poorer in retirement than the present crop of pensioners.
The transfer by ministers to revive the landmark fee, established by Tony Blair’s authorities in 2002, comes as evaluation reveals that the revenue of pensioners is ready to fall within the coming many years.
There are warnings that individuals who plan to retire in 2050 will obtain £800 a 12 months on common, or 8% much less personal pension revenue than these retiring immediately. In the meantime, 4 in 10, or almost 15 million folks, will not be saving sufficient for his or her retirement, in accordance with evaluation by the Division for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The revived Pensions Fee will study the long-term way forward for the retirement system and make suggestions for change. Labour hopes its proposals, as a result of be reported in 2027, will acquire cross-party assist and be enacted past the present parliament.
Liz Kendall, the secretary of state for work and pensions, stated she was relaunching the fee to “sort out the limitations that cease too many saving within the first place”.
You’ll be able to learn the total story right here:
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Up to date at 06.04 EDT
We have now some extra response to Reform’s crime plans (see opening publish for particulars).
The shadow atmosphere minister, Robbie Moore has criticised the proposals as “headline politics” missing intimately.
He informed GB Information this morning:
What we’re completely not seeing, dare I say, from Reform, is the extent of element that gives that reassurance past headline politics.
It’s all very nicely popping out with headline politics and a story at a Westminster stage, however dare I say, with no lack of expertise, with no lack of element of how that shall be carried out at a grassroots stage that’s going to be benefiting, all of these constituents which might be being negatively impacted from an enormous quantity of delinquent behaviour that we’re seeing, and regulation and order challenges that we’re seeing, not solely right here in London, however proper throughout the nation.
Shortly after turning into prime minister final July, Keir Starmer stated the state of the jail service in England and Wales his authorities had inherited from Rishi Sunak was “unforgiveable”, condeming earlier Conservative administrations for failing to construct sufficient new prisons because the jail inhabitants ballooned as a results of more durable sentences and court docket backlogs.
Labour has promised to “take again our streets” by halving charges of significant crime and has promised to cut back court docket backlogs, and rent extra cops (which may really worsen the backlogs by creating extra felony instances …). To ease the jail overcrowding disaster, prisoners in England and Wales, together with some severe offenders, shall be eligible for launch after serving a 3rd of their sentence – in the event that they behave nicely – underneath new reforms.
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Authorities launches Orgreave inquiry, 40 years after clashes at miners’ strike
In different information, the federal government has introduced {that a} statutory inquiry into the violent confrontation at Orgreave throughout the 1984 miners’ strike shall be established later this 12 months.
The inquiry, anticipated to launch within the autumn, will examine the occasions surrounding clashes on the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire on 18 June 1984, which prompted 120 accidents.
In whole, 95 picketers have been arrested and initially charged with riot and violent dysfunction, however all expenses have been later dropped after proof was discredited.
The inquiry shall be statutory with powers to compel folks to offer info the place obligatory, the Dwelling Workplace stated.
Joe Rollin, from the Orgreave Reality and Justice Marketing campaign (OTJC), based by strike veterans and activists in 2012, who has been calling for an inquiry for over a decade, stated he was “cautiously elated” by the information.
Cops pushing in opposition to putting miners exterior the Orgreave Coking Plant close to Rotheram. {Photograph}: PAShareHelena Horton
Helena Horton, an atmosphere reporter for the Guardian, explains how the federal government has reacted to the much-anticipated closing report from the Unbiased Water Fee. Here’s a snippet from her story:
The federal government is anticipated to undertake the advice for England and Wales made within the evaluation it commissioned from Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Financial institution of England, which was launched on Monday.
Critics have stated Ofwat has presided over a tradition of underinvestment in infrastructure and monetary mismanagement by water corporations since its creation in 1989, when the trade was privatised.
Thames Water, probably the most troubling case for the federal government and the UK’s largest water firm, is loaded with £20bn in debt and struggling to stave off monetary collapse right into a particular administration, a type of momentary nationalisation.
Cunliffe’s evaluation prompt a brand new regulator, with powers to “direct”, or take management of, failing water corporations.
Talking on BBC Radio 4’s Right now Programme, Cunliffe stated Ofwat had “failed” as a result of “for a few years it didn’t have the powers”. He added: “To be blunt about it, it was directed by authorities to take a light-weight contact to regulation.”
Cunliffe stated the complexities of the water trade required “a broader, much less monolithic and a much less desk-based strategy to financial regulation and to the oversight of corporations’ efficiency in opposition to their licences”.
Emma Hardy, the minister for water and flooding, stated the federal government would spend the summer time analyzing how most of the report’s 88 suggestions to undertake.
A significant evaluation into the water sector in England and Wales says the regulator Ofwat needs to be scrapped.
Sir John Cunliffe, writer of the report, tells @JustinOnWeb Ofwat was ‘inspired by authorities to take a light-touch strategy to laws’.
#R4Today
— BBC Radio 4 Right now (@BBCr4today) July 21, 2025Share
Up to date at 04.56 EDT
Main evaluation into England and Wales’ water sector says regulator needs to be scrapped
Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, needs to be overhauled and changed by an “built-in” watchdog for the trade, in accordance with an unbiased evaluation of oversight of the sector led by former Financial institution of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe.
The report, commissioned amid mounting public anger about air pollution, rising payments and govt pay, says Ofwat needs to be changed by a single physique in England and one other one in Wales.
The report additionally advises eradicating the regulatory roles of the Atmosphere Company and Pure England, which monitor the sector’s impression on nature, akin to corporations illegally dumping sewage into waterways.
As a substitute, a “joined-up” and “highly effective” single built-in water regulator needs to be established, in accordance with the suggestions.
The report additionally proposes stronger regulation on abstraction, sludge, ingesting water requirements and water provide.
You’ll be able to learn extra on what was contained inside the main evaluation in our enterprise dwell weblog.
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Farage’s plans to reform felony justice system criticised forward of speech
Good morning and welcome to our dwell protection of UK politics.
Nigel Farage is to put out plans that he claims would finish all early launch schemes for intercourse offenders and severe violent offenders if he have been to turn into prime minister.
In a speech in London later immediately, the Reform UK chief may even reportedly promise to construct 30,000 new jail locations to sort out the overcrowding disaster, appoint 30,000 extra cops inside 5 years and deport 10,400 overseas offenders at the moment in British jails.
He has not stated how these insurance policies shall be funded and can probably face questions on how he would negotiate return agreements for overseas offenders.
A few of his guarantees – like sending a few of the most severe criminals to abroad jails, together with in El Salvador – may even probably face severe authorized obstacles in the event that they have been ever realised.
Nigel Farage is ready to make a speech concerning the felony justice system in a speech later immediately. {Photograph}: Jonathan Brady/PA
Farage, whose Reform occasion is main many polls, was quoted by the Every day Telegraph as having stated:
Reform UK would be the hardest occasion on regulation and order this nation has ever seen. We’ll minimize crime in half. We’ll take again management of our streets, we’ll take again management of our courts and prisons.
We predict extra particulars on Reform’s plans at round 11am. Reform’s try to woo voters with a troublesome on crime message stands in distinction to the proposals just lately prompt by Sir Brian Leveson, a former senior decide who was requested by the Lord Chancellor to provide you with methods to cut back the backlog of instances within the felony courts.
Suggestions within the report included elevated use of out-of-court resolutions, higher use of rehabilitation programmes and well being intervention programmes and growing the utmost discount for getting into a responsible plea on the first alternative from 33% to 40%.
Diana Johnson, the policing minister, stated that Reform isn’t severe about implementing actual modifications to the felony justice system because the occasion “voted to attempt to block measures to crack down on knife crime, delinquent behaviour, store theft and little one sexual abuse”.
“They need to focus extra on sensible options to assist our police, fight crime, ship justice for victims of crime, somewhat than chasing headlines, spouting slogans and attempting to divide communities,” she added.
Right here is the agenda for the day.
09.45am: Sir Jon Cunliffe, Unbiased Water Fee chair, to offer speech.
11am: Nigel Farage to make a speech in London on the felony justice system.
13:00pm: Orgreave Reality and Justice Marketing campaign press convention in Sheffield.
14.30pm: Keir Starmer to look on the Liaison Committee.
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Up to date at 06.07 EDT
