White House ‘very pleased’ with UK’s increase in defence spending ahead of Starmer-Trump meeting – live

Ukraine.

A migrant help charity said changes to the schemes had made it “much harder” for Ukrainians to apply and called for more to be done “so that Ukrainians can bring all their loved ones to safety”.

The Ukraine Family Scheme, under which people were able to apply to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds for up to three years, closed under the Conservative government in February last year, PA Media reports.

The Ukraine Extension Scheme (UES), which had allowed people already in the UK to remain, closed to most people last May and fully earlier this month.

It was replaced by the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, allowing Ukrainians to extend their stay for a further 18 months.

There were 22,873 people offered visas or extensions under the Ukraine schemes last year, down 53% on 2023 (49,027 people).

Last year’s figure was less than a tenth of the 232,135 people offered visas or extensions on the Ukraine schemes in their first year of existence in 2022.

A total of 79,312 people were offered safe and legal routes to come to or stay in the UK in 2024.

This was down 21% on 100,124 in 2023.

immigration statistics released on Thursday showed that 2,000 Afghan asylum seekers had their claims refused in the last quarter, an increase from 48 in the same quarter of 2023. The grant rate for Afghan cases has gone down from 98.5% in the last quarter of 2023 to 36% in the last quarter of 2024.

However, the Home Office has said it cannot send anyone back to Afghanistan, which has been ruled by the Taliban since 2021.

This means those whose cases are refused will be stuck in limbo, without the right to work or move on with their lives and at risk of destitution.

A recent internal Home Office document about returns to Afghanistan seen by the Guardian states: “Enforced or voluntary removals are currently paused and cannot be progressed at present. This is due to the Taliban informing the UK that they will no longer accept travel documents issued from the Afghan embassy in London.

“The UK government’s position is that they do not recognise the Taliban as an accepted foreign government. There is currently no timescale for when this will be resolved.”

Read the full report here:

12.15). The former Labour MP has had his 10-week prison sentence for assault suspended for two years following an appeal at Chester crown court.

Leaving court, Amesbury told press: “I’d like to reiterate that I sincerely apologise once again to Mr Fellows and his family.

“I’m now going to go and see my family, and go home, and I’ll give a statement at a later stage.”

He ignored repeated questions from the media about whether he would resign, PA Media reports.

Labour first minister in Scotland has claimed.

Lord Jack McConnell urged Number 10 to rethink the decision taken this week, which will see the international development budget cut from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in an effort to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, PA Media reports.

In an article for HuffPost, McConnell said:

I am not proud that the UK will finance that expansion of our national defence forces by reducing our investment in the lives and opportunities of the poorest people on the planet.

To do so without warning or a proper transition will cost lives and create chaos in fragile states that are already too vulnerable to the influence and money of the malign forces we seek to combat.

He added:

Schools will close, medical supplies will stop and economic programmes helping the least developed countries stand on their own feet will come to an end. It is bad in principle, but it is also bad strategically.

The focus on Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine does prioritise the most significant humanitarian emergencies of our time.

But UK withdrawal from everywhere else, and substantial cuts to multilateral programmes that generate billions more from donors and the private sector, will reduce our influence and soft power.

The world will be less secure and more volatile.

out today show the number of children in temporary accommodation in England hit a record high of 164,040 as of the end of September, PA Media reports. PA says:

The number has risen 15% in a year and is the highest since records for this measure began in 2004.

The number of households in temporary accommodation was also at a record high of 126,040, having increased 16% in a year.

There were 5,400 households with children living in bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) by the end of September last year – a rise of 15% in a year.

Some 3,470 households with children had been in B&Bs for more than the six-week limit.

By law, B&Bs are meant to be used only for families in an emergency, and for no longer than six weeks.

The charity Shelter said children were being “robbed of stability in temporary accommodation, crammed into B&Bs and hostels without any space to sleep, play or do their homework” while Crisis said the figures show young people are “growing up in unsafe conditions, restricting life chances and trapping people in poverty across generations”.

Jane Clinton is taking over the blog now. I will be back later this afternoon.

annual government statistics.

This was an increase of 769 people – or 20% – on the previous year’s snapshot estimate of 3,898.

The latest figure is more than twice the number since the estimates – the latest of which are based on a single date in October or November chosen by local authorities – began being recorded in 2010, when it was 1,768.

While the latest figure remains just below the peak in 2017- when it stood at 4,751 – it is the third year in a row the number has risen.

Commenting on the figures, Rick Henderson, CEO of Homeless Link, which represents homelessness charities, said in a statement:

It is beyond devastating and shameful that our society has allowed thousands upon thousands of people to face the trauma of sleeping rough across this country. In recent memory we almost halved rough sleeping (from its 2017 peak). We know what works and yet once again the situation is getting worse every year. More and more lives are being irreparably damaged, failed by the systems that meant to support them.

We can see the causes of homelessness wherever we look. A welfare system unfit for purpose, an acute shortage of truly affordable housing, extremely over-stretched homelessness, health and social care services and a disconnect between government policies – from hospitals and prisons discharging people onto the streets to people leaving the asylum system with nowhere to live.

This must end here. The Labour government must do what its predecessor failed to – to put the right funding and support in place to prevent and end homelessness for good.

And Josh Nicholson, senior researcher at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a centre-right social justice thinktank, said:

The progress made towards ending rough sleeping during the pandemic has been squandered. Today’s figures point to a tidal wave of need among Britain’s rough sleepers.

This is why the CSJ has today launched a campaign calling on the government to roll out a proven solution to ending rough sleeping, Housing First. Housing First provides ordinary settled housing alongside intensive, person-centred support for people whose homelessness is compounded by multiple and complex support needs. Housing is offered without conditions other than an individual’s willingness to maintain a tenancy. This contrasts to the traditional approach which requires people to prove their ‘tenancy readiness’ before accessing mainstream housing.

on social media.

With Donald Trump parroting Putin’s propaganda and prioritising America’s enemies over its friends, Keir Starmer must make it clear today: if Trump continues like this, the UK will not stay silent.

qualified approval to the expansion of Gatwick airport, and not allowing it to go ahead immediately. In a statement Gareth Bacon, the shadow transport secretary, said:

Labour promised to go ‘further and faster’ on growth, but once again they are failing to deliver.

Increasing aviation capacity would hep to deliver economic growth. Labour’s decision to kick the can down the road, extending the deadline for the final decision on Gatwick to October, shows this promise wasn’t worth the paper it was written on …

Under new leadership, the Conservatives would drive airport expansion forward to support a thriving economy.

Trump administration.

Senior Trump administration official: Very pleased with UK’s increased defense spending

Senior Trump administration official: Pleased with Starmer’s discussions of committing British troops to help enforce peace

Senior Trump administration official: Economic partnership with Ukraine does not include specific guarantee of funding for future warfighting

Senior Trump administration official: Trade to be part of trump-starmer discussions

Senior Trump administration official: US wants reciprocal, equal trade with UK

None of this is very new, but the news that the White House is “very pleased” about the increase in UK defence spending (as opposed to just being “pleased” with the commitment about troops for Ukraine) is noteworthy. It is a bit stronger than the comment from Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, welcoming the budget uplift on Tuesday.

figures revealing almost one million young people are not in education, employment or training have been described as “shocking”, PA Media reports. PA says:

The number of so-called NEETs aged 16 to 24 increased from 877,000 to 987,000 in October to December compared to the same quarter the previous year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said an estimated 13.4% of all people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training in the final quarter of last year, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared with October to December 2023.

An estimated 14.4% of young men and 12.3% of young women were NEET, said the ONS.

The increase was caused by both young men, with an increase of 56,000 on the year, and young women, with a rise of 53,000.

Of the total number of young people who were NEET, 542,000 were young men and 445,000 were young women.

Comment on the figures, the TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

Every young person deserves a decent start to their working life but under the Tories, more and more young people became stuck out of work or training, which comes with huge consequences for future opportunities.

The government is now rightly prioritising change but with close to one million young people outside of employment or education the situation is stark.

The Youth Guarantee is the right step but it must be part of a comprehensive plan to ensure all young people across the country can access high-quality training and decent, well-paid work as well as timely and effective healthcare.

Stephen Evans, chief executive at the Learning and Work Institute, said:

Today’s worrying rise may signal further trouble ahead in the absence of economic growth, and highlights the importance of implementing a youth guarantee so all young people are offered a job, training place or apprenticeship.

Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said:

Today’s data shows that young people not in employment education or training is at the highest level for 10 years, which could be cause for concern for the government’s plan to boost employment levels.

With falling vacancies and a sluggish labour market, estimates appear to show that young people are being hit hardest as a further 110,000 young people are not in education, employment or training compared to a year ago.

Source: theguardian.com