Starmer's first big U-turn

The News Agents

Global

Daily News, News, Government, Politics

4.2 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

At PMQs, Kemi Badenoch asked Keir Starmer when “the inevitable U-turn on winter fuel" would come. Unfortunately for her, he’d already announced it. Admittedly, it was quietly done. With a bit of hedging and fudging. But if you were following closely, you’d have heard him commit to a rethink at "the next fiscal statement" to a Labour MP who stood up before the Tory leader. When will the backtrack come into force? And does this alleviate pressure on the Treasury on benefits - or just ramp it up? We speak to the Labour backbencher Brian Leishman, who wants to see his leader go further and faster.

And ahead of a major shakeup in our prisons and justice system - does the government want to reduce prisoner numbers out or principle, or is it just a result of a system on its knees? Aggie Chambre has the exclusive.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity.
0:08.1	This is a global player original podcast.
0:11.1	We want to ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.
0:18.5	As you would expect, Mr Speaker, we will only make decisions we can afford.
0:23.2	That is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event.
0:26.8	So that is Kirstama, in his rather timid way, signaling something pretty significant,
0:34.4	which is that all the rows over winter fuel, all the worries from his own
0:39.9	backbenchers are probably going to end finally in a U-turn of sorts. And that fiscal event may come
0:48.2	as early as next month with the spending review. It was a major moment on the floor of the House
0:54.1	of Commons. And indeed
0:55.5	it has left some wondering, including some of Stama's own MPs, what other U-turns on other
1:02.3	unpopular government measures might be about to come as well, including an MP we've been speaking to
1:09.0	on the show today. I don't think that the first 10 months in government has been good enough.
1:13.1	I think that we absolutely do have to change course, and we've got to improve people's living standards.
1:18.5	Welcome to the newsagents.
1:24.1	The Newsagents.
1:25.6	It's Lewis.
1:26.4	It's Emily.
1:27.2	And just to take you back to the moment that policy was made in July of last year,
1:31.9	it was one of the first things that we saw the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves commit to.
1:36.0	Labor removing payments worth up to £300 a year from what amounted to almost 9 million pensioners.
1:44.0	And it really pissed a lot of her party, his party, off straight away,
	...

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