Some people on sickness and disability benefits ‘taking the mickey’, says Liz Kendall – as it happened

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said some people on benefits were ‘taking the mickey’ Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

4.01pm GMT

Afternoon summary

• The remains of Grenfell Tower, the west London tower block in which 72 people died in a fire, are to be demolished over a two-year period starting after the eight-year anniversary of the 2017 disaster.

• The Bank of England is not in a position to declare “job done” in tackling inflation amid concerns over rising prices hitting households, Threadneedle Street’s chief economist, Huw Pill, has said.

• The UK government has demanded that Apple creates a backdoor in its encrypted cloud service, in a confrontation that challenges the US tech firm’s avowed stance on protecting user privacy.

• Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, has been criticised for saying that some people claiming sickness and disability benefits are “taking the mickey”. (See 9.30am and 1.43pm.)

• Eluned Morgan and John Swinney, first ministers of Wales and Scotland respectively, have been among those paying tribute to Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the former Plaid Cymru leader, who has died. (See 12.16pm and 2.44pm.)

• Keir Starmer has been chairing a six-hour session with his cabinet, including official cabinet and political cabinet. It should be finishing around now. No 10 has not yet said what was discussed.

Updated at 4.03pm GMT

3.52pm GMT

Lib Dems calls for schools bill to be amended so eligible pupils automatically enrolled for free school meals

The Department for Education has not made a formal assessment of how many pupils in England are eligible for free school meals (FSM) but not registered to receive them since 2013, a minister has admitted.

Stephen Morgan, an education minster, disclosed the gap in the DfE’s knowledge in an answer to a written ministerial question tabled by Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem education spokesperson.

Morgan said:

The department has not made a recent formal assessment of the proportion of children who are eligible for FSM but not registered to receive the entitlement. The last review conducted in 2013 suggested that 89% of eligible pupils were registered for FSM. We recognise the vital role played by FSM and encourage all eligible families to take their entitlement up and join the 2.1 million pupils currently registered to receive FSM.

In response, Wilson said the Lib Dems would seek to amend the children’s wellbeing and schools bill to make enrolment for free school meals automatic if children qualify. She said.

No child should go hungry in our country

I’ve heard from parents in my constituency who are giving up prescriptions so that they can afford to feed their children - with hundreds of thousands of families in poverty struggling to scrape together enough to send their children to school with a meal.

It’s unbelievable that Mr Morgan thinks that ‘encouragement’ is all that’s needed to fix free school meals uptake in this country. He’s wrong - we need proper reform to the system, so that eligible children automatically get the food they need.

That’s why we’ve tabled an amendment to auto-enrol eligible kids to receive free school meals - and why we’ll be urging MPs of all stripes to back my amendment.