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Cabinet ministers write to Starmer in urgent attempt to soften spending cuts in budget | Politics News

Cabinet ministers are writing to the prime minister in an urgent attempt to soften some of the spending cuts being demanded ahead of the budget. 

The main measures for the budget have to be decided by the end of Wednesday and sent to the Office for Budget Responsibility before the Treasury shuts up for the evening.

Sky News can confirm letters from cabinet ministers complaining about the budget have gone over the head of Chancellor Rachel Reeves to Sir Keir Starmer and Number 10.

Politics latest: Cabinet members deeply concerned over scale of cuts

Some of these letters are believed to have gone in over the last couple of days.

After today, only small changes can ordinarily be made to the budget, typically around involving items of tens or hundreds of millions rather than billions.

Some cabinet ministers are deeply concerned about the scale of the cuts being demanded in some areas to fund pay rises and spending increases elsewhere. The existence of the letters was first reported by Bloomberg.

At the weekend, Sky News revealed one cabinet minister saying: “The briefing doesn’t match the reality. It’s pain this year, and pain next year. We’re simply going to be digging a hole which we end up filling in later in the year.”

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Could chancellor ‘find’ more money?

Ms Reeves will loosen the borrowing rules in the budget in order to give herself more room for spending, along with raising up to £40bn in tax rises and welfare cuts in order to relieve pressure on budgets.

But the cost of significant public sector pay rises, which are still going to have to be found from within departmental budgets, mean cuts this year and next are still being demanded by the Treasury.

Read more:
What could chancellor announce in budget?

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Some ministers believe the cuts are unsustainable, while some have pointed to the first round of spending reductions announced before the summer – including the winter fuel allowance changes – as evidence more input from Number 10 is needed ahead of the budget and spending review on 30 October.

One government source told Sky News: “The whole of Number 10 is focused on the budget at the moment and there isn’t much bandwidth for anything else.”

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Government figures insist that letters voicing concern are routinely sent at this point in a spending review process and that this is all normal.

Both Sir Keir and Ms Reeves are out of the country next week, the week before the budget. However, only smaller changes can typically be made after today to the shape of it.

First category C prison issued with urgent notification to improve after ‘decade of decline’ led to ‘shocking level of neglect’ | UK News

The first category C prison has been issued with an urgent notification to improve after a “decade of decline”, the prisons watchdog has said.

Rising violence and self-harm, decrepit conditions, and widespread illicit drug use were all found at HMP Rochester, during an inspection.

In light of the many issues, HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has written to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to invoke an urgent notification for the improvement of the prison.

This requires a response and action plan from the government within 28 days.

The training prison was inspected from 12-22 August and is the seventh prison to be issued with an urgent notification since November 2022.

It comes as there was only 100 male prison spaces left last week, amid the ongoing crisis.

HMP Rochester was found to have suffered a decade of successively poor and declining inspections, HMIP said, adding that the prison has been previously warned about inspector’s concerns.

Conditions inside the prison were described as “squalid” and “decrepit” with infestations of rats and mice plaguing older buildings, the inspectorate said.

Prisoners resorted to creating barriers from cardboard to try and block gaps under cell doors to keep vermin out.

It was some of the worst conditions inspectors had seen in recent years, the report added.

As safety was said to be deteriorating, wings were described as “chaotic” and the rate of prisoner assaults rocketed, up 67% in the last year, as self-harm rose too.

Since the last inspection, there have been two cases of prisoners taking their own lives.

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Drugs were endemic within HMP Rochester, with 42% of prisoners testing positive when randomly tested.

More than half of men told inspectors it was easy to get drugs – including those prescribed to other prisoners.

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HMP Rochester was “fundamentally failing” at its focus of getting inmates into education, work, and training to improve their lives on release, HMIP added.

Reflecting on these and the plethora of other failings, Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons, described HMP Rochester as “a prison of concern for many years”.

He continued: “This decade of decline, which has accelerated in the past 18 months, shows a shocking level of neglect.

“It is particularly concerning that a category C prison, the workhorse of the prison service, should require an urgent notification for our concerns to be taken seriously.”

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Prisons and probation minister Lord Timpson said: “This is a deeply concerning report and yet another example of the dire state the last government left the prison system in.

“We owe it to our staff, doing their best in squalid conditions and under the threat of violence, to drag the system out of this chaos.

“This started with the immediate action the new Lord Chancellor took to end the overcrowding crisis in our prisons in July.

“In the 20 years I’ve worked with the prison service, I’ve never seen things so bad.

“This new government will grip this crisis and ensure that prisons like Rochester, that have been left to decay, stop breeding crime and start cutting it.”

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Urgent appeal for missing dogs suspected of fatal ‘attack’ after man found dead in garden | UK News

Police have issued an urgent appeal to find two dogs that may have been involved in a man’s death in the West Midlands.

A photo of one of them has been released after officers found the man dead in a back garden in Rubery in the early hours of Thursday.

Officer said they were called to the Hereford Close property to reports a number of dogs were on the loose.

Two dogs were seized, but two others that may also have been there are missing.

Police believe the man, 33, was attacked by at least one of the animals and that it may have contributed to his death.

“We really need to hear from anyone who has seen these dogs and it’s vital that if you see them, you don’t approach them but call 999 immediately,” warned Inspector Leanne Chapman.

West Midlands Police said it thinks the dogs are American Bulldog-types rather than a banned breed.

It said the dog that isn’t pictured is black.

“If you or someone you know has taken the dogs in after finding them loose, we need you to call us as soon as possible,” added Inspector Chapman.

Police are using drones, carrying out house-to-house enquiries, reviewing CCTV, and using specialist dog officers to try to find them.

A post-mortem examination on the man is being carried out today to establish his cause of death.

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The incident happened in Rubery, about 7 miles (11km) southwest of central Birmingham.

It comes a few days after a 53-year-old man was killed by an XL bully dog in Accrington, Lancashire.

Police in that case said they had “no alternative” but to shoot the dog dead.

XL bullies were banned after a series of attacks and owners now need an exemption certificate and to comply with rules such as keeping the dog muzzled and on a lead in public.

Selling, breeding, abandoning or giving them away is also illegal.

‘Urgent’ search under way for missing six-year-old girl in southeast London | UK News

Police have launched an “urgent” search for a six-year-old girl who has gone missing from a southeast London housing estate.

The girl, named by police as Eudine, was reported missing at around 10.40pm on Monday night from Thamesmead estate in Greenwich.

Greenwich Police said officers were “extremely concerned for her welfare”.

Eudine was seen alone on CCTV. Pic: Greenwich Police
Image:
Eudine was seen alone on CCTV. Pic: Greenwich Police

Eudine was thought to have been wearing a light pink, long-sleeved pyjama set, and had a white shoulder bag with a daisy design.

In a statement, the force said: “Eudine was seen alone on CCTV at around midday.

“We are extremely concerned for her welfare and officers are carrying out urgent enquiries to find her.

“We’re asking local people to call us straight away with any information about her whereabouts.

“If you live in Thamesmead or nearby, please check gardens, sheds and locked areas, as well as any CCTV or doorbell footage.

“Please call 999 if you see her or if you have any information.”

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Phone scam warning: EE network issues urgent message to users today | Science & Tech News

Millions of mobile phone users are being warned of potential text scams in the lead-up to Christmas, peaking today on what is being dubbed “Super Saturday”.

The BT-owned EE network has said cyber criminals could try to take advantage of the busy last-minute shopping period to issue delivery-style scams, suggesting parcels are waiting to be dropped off or their delivery has been missed.

The techniques could trick recipients into clicking links through which they may unwittingly install malware (malicious software), or be taken to a phishing page aimed at harvesting personal and financial data.

EE said it managed to block around three million SMS scams that were heading to customers’ phones on this day last year.

The company anticipates it will stop up to five million such scams this month. It also said it had blocked more than 45 million scam texts so far in 2023.

EE said in a statement: “The most common SMS scams in December are delivery-related, as shoppers rush to organise last-minute parcels in time for the holiday period.

“These include missed delivery or track delivery text scams, which prompt customers to click on links that give criminals the opening they need to steal consumers’ data or money.”

Phone scam. Pic: Alamy
Image:
Pic: Alamy

The firm is urging consumers to remain scam-aware, especially over the next couple of weeks, when the stress of holiday preparations could “cloud judgement and result in people dropping their guard”.

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Jonny Bunt, EE’s director of regulatory affairs for the consumer division of BT Group, said: “Super Saturday is set to be the busiest day of the year for high-street retailers.

“With deliveries piling up on the doorstep, scammers will be looking for ways to take advantage of the festive frenzy.

“As one of the UK’s first lines of defence against SMS scam texts, we have clear sight of the threat level here at BT and EE and are already seeing a concerning spike in delivery scams in particular.”

It has issued some tips on how to stay scam safe:

• Never click on a link in a text from an unknown source
• Trust your instincts, and if something looks suspicious, there’s probably a catch
• Keep your device software up to date
• Never give out bank details, passwords or security codes on a website you’ve linked to
• If your bank phones you, consider calling them back on a published number or using the 159 service
• If you get an expected call from someone, if in doubt put the phone down and call back on a number you trust
• If you receive a suspicious text, forward the phone number and incident to 7726, free of charge, for your mobile provider to investigate
• Once reported, block the number and notify others of the scam, so they can avoid falling victim.

Emergency and urgent care to be prioritised over routine appointments during junior doctors’ strike, NHS says | UK News

Emergency and urgent care will be prioritised over routine appointments and treatment during this week’s junior doctors’ strike, NHS England says.

The strike will begin early on Tuesday and run through until the early hours of Saturday, bringing “immense pressures” to staff and services, according to national medical director of NHS England Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

The health body said that appointments and operations will only be cancelled “where unavoidable”, following an estimate by the NHS Confederation that this could affect some 250,000 patients.

Professor Sir Stephen said: “The NHS has been preparing extensively for the next set of strikes but managing additional pressure doesn’t get easier as time goes by – it gets much more difficult, not only due to the sheer number of appointments that need to be rescheduled, but also that they can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved.

“This is set to be the most disruptive industrial action in NHS history, and the strikes tomorrow will bring immense pressures, coming on the back of a challenged extended bank holiday weekend for staff and services.

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NHS braced as four-day strike looms

“Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritised but some patients will unfortunately have had their appointments postponed – if you haven’t, please do continue to come forward.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) wants the health secretary to negotiate to resolve 15 years of “pay erosion”, insisting that junior doctors have lost more than 25% of their pay in real terms.

The organisation has said the strikes could be avoided if the government makes a “credible” pay offer.

But the Department for Health and Social Care wants the strikes cancelled before it will enter into negotiations.

Read more:
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In an op-ed for The Sunday Telegraph, Health Secretary Steve Barclay described the BMA’s position as “unrealistic”, adding: “This demand is widely out of step with pay settlements in other parts of the public sector at a time of considerable economic pressure on our country.

“A salary hike of this size would see some junior doctors receiving more than an extra £20,000 a year,” he said.

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“I recognise their hard work and dedication.

“But it is deeply disappointing that this industrial action has been timed by the British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors’ committee to cause maximum disruption to both patients and other NHS staff.”

Dr Mike Greenhalgh, deputy co-chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, told BBC One’s Breakfast show: “If he was to bring a credible offer to us, it could still, even at this late stage, avert action.”

Archie Battersbee: ‘No family should go through this’ – calls for urgent reform in light of 12-year-old’s death | UK News

“Urgent review and reform” is needed in light of Archie Battersbee’s death, a group that has been supporting his family has said.

The Christian Legal Centre has offered its condolences to the 12-year-old’s loved ones at this “tragic moment”.

Chief executive Andrea Williams said: “The events of the last few weeks raise many significant issues including questions of how death is defined, how those decisions are made and the place of the family.

“No one wants to see other families experience what they have been through.”

Archie had been at the centre of a lengthy legal dispute after he was seriously injured in an incident at his home in Southend, Essex, in April.

He had been in a coma since then and had not regained consciousness, being kept alive by a combination of medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments.

Earlier this year, his parents said that the youngster’s heart was still beating and that he had gripped his mother’s hand.

More on Archie Battersbee

But doctors treating the boy had declared Archie to be “brain stem dead”, and argued that the youngster should be disconnected from a ventilator.

This prompted a lengthy but unsuccessful fight in the courts to continue his life support treatment in the hope he would recover.

Archie’s family had later made bids to the High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights to have him transferred to a hospice to die, but all legal routes were exhausted.

Read more:
How a mother fought to save her son

Archie is just the latest tragedy to be played out publicly in the courts

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A mother’s fight to save her son

‘We hope no family goes through this’

He was taken off medication at 10am on Saturday morning, and his mother Hollie Dance said he died at 12.15pm that afternoon.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Ella Rose Carter – the fiancée of Archie’s eldest brother Tom – said: “There is absolutely nothing dignified about watching a family member or a child suffocate.

“We hope no family has to go through what we have been through. It’s barbaric.”

The Christian Legal Centre has vowed to continue supporting Archie’s family, and said it was thankful for the widespread public support they had received.

Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer at Barts Health NHS Trust – which oversaw Archie’s care – said in a statement: “Members of his family were present at [Archie’s] bedside and our thoughts and heartfelt condolences remain with them at this difficult time.

“The trust would like to thank the medical, nursing, and support staff in the paediatric intensive care department who looked after Archie following his awful accident.

“They provided high-quality care with extraordinary compassion over several months in often trying and distressing circumstances. This tragic case not only affected the family and his carers but touched the hearts of many across the country.”

Archie Battersbee. Pic: Hollie Dance
Image:
Archie Battersbee. Pic: Hollie Dance

The ‘golden thread’ running through the case

The family’s love for Archie was described by one judge as the “golden thread” running through the case.

Speaking to Sky News earlier this week, Ms Dance, said: “I don’t think there’s been a day that hasn’t been awful, really. It’s been really hard.

“Despite the hard, strong face and appearance, obviously, in front of the cameras, up until now, I’ve been pretty broken.”

She added: “I’ve done everything that I promised my little boy I’d do, and I’ve done it.”