Reform UK has accused Rachel Reeves of racism in a row over scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
The Chancellor hit out at Nigel Farage for saying he would vote against lifting the limit because it would âbenefit huge numbers of foreign-born peopleâ.
She told The Guardian: âI donât really care what colour a kidâs skin is. Some deserve to be in poverty and some donât? That makes me pretty angry.
âDoes Nigel Farage want to go around and say, âwhite â yeah, you can have the money, black â no, Iâm sorry, itâs not for youâ? What sort of country does he think we are?”
But Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said: “Rachel Reevesâ comments to the Guardian equating Britishness with race are beyond the pale and overtly racist. Keir Starmer must sack her.”
A Reform source added: âRachel Reeves is suggesting that black people canât be British. This is flagrant racism from the Chancellor.â
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Green chief accuses Reform of wanting ‘death squads’
Hard-left Green Party leader Zack Polanski has accused Reform of wanting to copy Donald Trump‘s ICE “death squads”, in a ludicrous attack following last night’s murder in Minneapolis.
Mr Polanksi said: “Farage wants to bring Trumpâs death squads to the streets of Britain. Together, we will stop him.”
Labour poised to U-turn on business rates hike for pubs
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: âJust a month on and the Budget is already falling apart. Labour were wrong to attack pubs and now have been forced into another screeching U-turn as Kemi called for just this morning.
âBut this humiliating about-face does nothing for shops, restaurants, hotels and markets which all face a more than 50 per cent increase. This is not the stability Rachel Reeves promised â it is a recipe for economic disaster.
âOnly the Conservatives have a strong leader with a clear plan to stand up for business by cutting business rates for thousands of local high-street firms.â
Yusuf calls on Starmer to sack Reeves
Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf wrote on X: “Rachel Reevesâ comments to the Guardian equating Britishness with race are beyond the pale and overtly racist. Keir Starmer must sack her.”
Trump-Starmer call was ‘friendly’
A call between Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer, in which the Prime Minister set out his position on Greenland to the president, was a friendly, positive conversation, it is understood.
Downing Street would, meanwhile, not tell reporters whether the two leaders discussed US proposals for a potential purchase of the Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
Asked whether the Government could guarantee UK military bases would not be used by American forces in a potential invasion of Greenland, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think that is slightly hypothetical. I would refer you back to the position that the Prime Minister has set out on a number of occasions.”
Minister claims Reform and Tories want to plunge children ‘back into poverty’
Reform and the Conservatives want to plunge children and families “back into poverty” by opposing the Government’s plans to lift the two-child benefit cap, Bridget Phillipson has said.
Speaking during a visit to Bedfordshire, the Education Secretary said: “Tackling child poverty has always been a central driving force of this Labour Government and the measures we’ve already taken around expanding free school meals, free breakfast clubs, expanding childcare, are all designed to support families, to back working families and to lift children out of poverty.
“But alongside that, today I’m really proud that we’re bringing forward the legislation that will lift the two-child limit. That will lift half a million children out of poverty. So, today is a really big and important day for families. It will make a huge difference in bringing down child poverty.
“But what we see from Reform and the Tories, however, is that they’re opposed to this and they want to plunge all of those children and those families back into poverty. That will be the wrong choice and we’re backing families.
“We know that life is still a struggle for too many people and that cost-of-living challenges are real. The action we’re taking today will make a huge difference to millions of families across the country.”
Zia Yusuf hits back that Rachel Reeves is the racist one in welfare row
Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf has furious hit back at Rachel Reeves’ attack on Nigel Farage this morning, saying she has accidentally shown herself up as the real racist.
Ms Reeves has attacked Reform’s policy that the two child benefit cap should be lifted, but only for British families and taxpayers.
She claims Reform’s policy would be to only lift certain children out of poverty based on the colour of their skin.
However Zia Yusuf has said this attack suggests Ms Reeves believes that only white people count as “British”, accusing her of ‘ethno nationalism’.
He blasted: “She believes only white people can be British.
“Sheâs accused Nigel Farage of racism for wanting to keep the 2 child cap in place for everyone except British-born families, equating âforeign-bornâ with ânon-white.â
“She equates Britishness with race, according to her only white people are truly British.”
Furious farmers protest minister
Furious farmers have turned up in droves to an Oxford farming conference, attended by a Labour minister.
Clearly the last-minute u-turn on the Family Farms Tax hasn’t quelled rural tensions.
Arrested MP votes in favour of abolishing jury trials
An MP arrested and on bail over charges of rape, child sex offences and child abduction voted against a Tory opposition day motion opposing David Lammy’s scrapping of jury trials last night.
Dan Norris, the Labour MP for North East Somerset, registered a proxy vote against the motion.
It came hours after he issued his first statement since his arrest last April, in which he rejected constituents’ claims he is not capable of representing them while on bail.
Mr Norris said he is still “handling casework and policy queries and asking parliamentary questions”.
Mr Norris does not currently have a court date.
Lords urged to allow more time for assisted dying Bill
In a motion to be considered today, the Billâs sponsor Lord Charlie Falconer will ask peers to agree that âfurther time should be providedâ.
This could include the House starting earlier or sitting later to extend the length of debates.
Cabinet minister insists US is ‘reliable ally’
The United States is a “reliable ally”, a senior Government minister has insisted, amid Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden was asked by Sky News about the US President after he kicked off 2026 with annexation proposals for the Arctic island and his administration’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
Mr McFadden replied: “The United States is a reliable ally. We believe that to be the case, we see that every day.
“But we also know the world is changing and we’ve got to step up, and Europe’s got to step up, and, actually, President Trump may have his own style, he’s not the first US President to say that.
“I think the thing that we’ve really got to understand about the world is that hard and soft power have to go together.”
Minister defends axing cap
Lifting the two-child benefit cap – at a cost of ÂŁ3 billion a year – is an “investment” in the future, a Cabinet minister has insisted.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News: “We came into office with a manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty. We did it the last time we were in power. Child poverty has risen by about 900,000 since 2010.
“I don’t see this just as a cash transfer in terms of that ÂŁ3 billion, I see it as an investment in children’s future, because we know that children from the poorest families will end up doing less well at school, less than a quarter of them get five good GCSEs, we know they’re four times more likely to have mental health problems later in life.”
Bill to end two-child benefit cap to be introduced today
Legislation to end the cap will be formally introduced into Parliament today after Rachel Reeves announced the move in her November budget.
That decision followed intense pressure from backbench Labour MPs to abolish the limit, which the Government had initially refused to do due to the cost.
Axing the cap is estimated to lift around 450,000 children out of poverty by 2030, at a cost of ÂŁ3 billion per year.
But the Tories have vowed to reintroduce it, while Reform UK is also set to vote against the proposals.
