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Labour MPs must realise the welfare system needs reform, Rachel Reeves has said, as more than 40 MPs have written to the prime minister urging him to pause and reassess planned cuts to disability benefits. Asked what her message to Labour MPs worried about the welfare cuts was, the chancellor told broadcasters: “I don’t think anybody, including Labour MPs and members, think that the current welfare system created by the Conservative party is working today. They know that the system needs reform.”
The prime minister has declined to rule out changes to the digital services tax as part of a future trade deal with the US. Speaking to broadcasters on board HMS St Albans during a visit to Norway, Keir Starmer said: “On digital services, there are ongoing discussions, obviously, on other aspects of the deal, but the important thing to focus on yesterday is the sectors that are now protected that the day before yesterday were very exposed.”
The UK-US trade deal was urgently needed to protect as many as 150,000 livelihoods, a senior government minister said, as he insisted the agreement would be “really good for Britain”. Business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, indicated on Thursday night that thousands people were perhaps “days” away from losing their jobs without the deal. In an interview with CNN, Britain’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, said the trade deal had immediately prevented job losses at Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) plant in the West Midlands.
The parent company of British Airways struck a $13bn (£9.8bn) deal to buy 32 new planes from the US aircraft maker Boeing, a day after a trade agreement with the US cut tariffs on the industry.
The UK-US trade agreement will provide greater market access for the beef industry, a leading food industry executive said. Neil Shand, chief executive of the National Beef Association, said 13,000 tonnes of US and British beef would be eligible to export to either country as part of the agreement but added the industry “remains very nervous” about the current government’s policies.
The poultry industry has breathed a sigh of relief that chlorinated chicken from the US will not be hitting British shelves as part of the US-UK trade deal. The British Poultry Council chief executive, Richard Griffiths, called the move “a clear signal that government backs our standards and the values that underpin them”.
The governor of the Bank of England has said he hopes the UK can “rebuild” trade relationships with the EU after striking a trade deal with the US. Andrew Bailey said it would be “beneficial” to reverse the post-Brexit reduction in UK-EU trade
The NHS has “maxed out on what is affordable”, the new chief executive of NHS England, Jim Mackey, said as he called on the service to “accelerate” improvements and stamp out unacceptable care which has become “normalised”. Speaking at an event for the Medical Journalists Association in London, Mackey expressed concerns over staff being “desensitised” to poor care – such as elderly people facing long waits on trolleys in A&E departments.
Sadiq Khan is announcing plans to build on parts of London’s green belt, in a dramatic shift in housing policy aimed at tackling “the most profound housing crisis in the capital’s history”. In a major speech on Friday, the mayor of London is expected to say the scale of the challenge, which could need about 1m new homes built in the next decade, requires a break from longstanding taboos.
Japan’s AESC has announced it will build a second gigafactory in Sunderland to produce electric vehicle batteries, after it secured a £1bn debt funding deal backed by a £680m guarantee from the UK government. The National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, both state bodies, will provide financial guarantees that unlock the £680m in financing for the battery maker.
The “absolute focus” of leaders of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is supporting Ukraine and defending values that were hard won during the second world war, Keir Starmer said. He added that earlier in the day, he had announced “our biggest ever sanctions package against the Russian shadow fleet”.
Foreign secretary David Lammy joined talks in Ukraine on Friday alongside other leaders, who expressed their support for a “special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine”. Lammy told reporters: “It is absolutely clear that when this war is over, those who have perpetrated it in Russia must account for their crimes of aggression and their crimes against humanity.”
Leaders of the ‘coalition of the willing’ are to travel to Ukraine for further talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. The Ukrainian president said in a video address to the JEF summit in Oslo on Friday that he would host leaders of the coalition the following day. Downing Street would not confirm whether Keir Starmer planned to attend Saturday’s meeting.
The conflict in Ukraine arising from Russia’s invasion has been described by the new Reform UK leader of Kent county council as a “foreign war” and a “distraction” as she said that a Ukrainian flag will be removed from the local authority’s chamber. Linden Kemkaran was speaking after her selection as the new council leader from six potential candidates after the party took control of the council on 2 May.
A referendum on Welsh independence could “absolutely” be held within “our lifetime”, Plaid Cymru’s leader has said. Rhun ap Iorwerth did not shy away from suggesting his party may be the leading political force in Wales after a YouGov poll which predicts Plaid Cymru will have the largest vote share in the 2026 Senedd elections.
Birmingham’s striking bin workers have received backing from the leaders of Aslef and the National Education Union (NEU) at a collective action “megapicket” outside a depot and recycling centre. About 200 people gathered in Ebury Road, in the Kings Norton area of the city, to hear NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede describe the all-out strike by members of Unite, which began almost two months ago, as a fight against “a race to the bottom” on working people’s wages.
One of Labour’s only transgender councillors has resigned from the party, accusing it of “throwing trans people under the bus”. In a post on X on Friday morning, Dylan Tippetts, who has represented Compton ward on Plymouth city council since 2022, wrote: “I cannot continue to represent a party that does not support my fundamental rights. I cannot as a trans person continue to support the Labour party.”
The first opening road bridge across the River Clyde could create about 1,400 jobs, according to officials. The Renfrew Bridge opened to traffic at 12pm on Friday, marking the completion of the Clyde waterfront and Renfrew riverside project.
Conservationists are calling for new laws to ensure important trees are “listed” for protection, like historic buildings, after the Sycamore Gap trial. The call by the Woodland Trust to improve protection for thousands of trees that have important ecological, cultural and historical value comes after high-profile felling of landmark trees caused public fury.
The UK should double its defence spending to respond to global threats, a former UK defence chief has suggested. Speaking in the House of Lords, Jock Stirrup, who served as head of the armed forces between 2006 and 2010, said the “umbrella of American might” is now looking “somewhat leaky” as he encouraged European members of Nato to “shoulder a much greater share of the burden” for their own security.
Britain’s most senior statistician has stepped down citing “ongoing health issues”, amid criticism over flaws in recent economic data. Sir Ian Diamond confirmed he has resigned as head of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with immediate effect.
Updated
The PA news agency reports that Downing Street would not confirm whether Keir Starmer planned to attend Saturday’s meeting in Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said leaders of the ‘coalition of the willing’ would travel to the country for further talks (see 3.07pm BST).
