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The prime minister has been asked to be "honest" over why the government has changed its policy on winter fuel payments.

Our political editor Beth Rigby put to him that the U-turn was not actually because of an improving economy, but because poor local election results made him realise "it was really unpopular".

"You realised it was really unpopular, and you listened to voters. That is the truth, isn't it?"

It's a similar point Sophy Ridge put to the Treasury minister last night:

PM defends initial cuts�

Sir Keir Starmer told Beth "of course we listened to voters".

He went on: "Did we make the right decision in the first place? I believe we did because we needed to stabilise the economy.

"I wanted to look to see whether we could have more pensioners eligible for this winter. I announced that some weeks ago. 

"Now we've been able to go further and say where the threshold will be to make sure that those payments are made."

…and denies taxes will have to go up

Asked if he will have to raise taxes again to pay for this reversal, Starmer said that is not his plan. 

He explained: "Every time we have a fiscal event, whether it's a spring statement or a budget, everybody understandably challenges me, saying you're going to put tax up. 

"We didn't do in the spring statement. I don't think the first lever that the government should go to is the tax lever."

 Away from the speeches by the chancellor and the PM, Nigel Farage has also been speaking.

The Reform UK leader has been unveiling the party's new chairman after Zia Yusuf walked out last Thursday over a row about banning the burka, only to rejoin the party two days later in a different role. 

It's now been revealed that Dr David Bull will be the new chairman of Reform, who Yusuf said will do "an incredible job".

New chair will 'give leadership'

Reform also announced the role of chairman has now been re-imagined, after Yusuf was said to have left due to "exhaustion".

Farage explained: "David's job is not to get involved in the admin, is not to get involved with the tech.  

"It's to give leadership, and above all, it's to give leadership to that volunteer army out there, of people, of 450 branches. They're going to be seeing an awful lot of Dr David Bull over the coming years."

'Can we do it? Yes, we can'

Bull said he was "delighted" to take up the role and called Reform the "fastest growing political party this country has ever seen".

Bull previously was a member of the Brexit Party, and claimed Reform was founded in his kitchen, serving as deputy leader while Richard Tice was in charge.

He pledged Reform will "become the governing the party of the UK", will make Farage PM, and ended his speech by quoting Bob the Builder.

"Can we do it? Yes, we can," he said.

Sir Keir Starmer has just been welcomed to the college in Suffolk by engineering students Maliki and Leo.

The PM begins by praising the pair and thanking staff for giving him a tour of the school. 

Starmer links the college to Sizewell C nuclear power station and how the site is already beginning to recruit engineers to work there. 

He says: "For them, for all of you, this is a really big day because this is about good well-paid, secure jobs, skilled jobs, across a range of topics as we go down this road in relation to Sizewell."

'Good, well-paid jobs'

The prime minister then explains that the first nuclear power plant was built in the UK in 1956, and that in the following 11 years, another 20 reactors were built. 

"And then it all dropped off," he says. 

"And the ambition went, and government's dithered and delayed. The last reactor was in 1995 - 30 years ago."

Starmer says it's not just about Sizewell C, but about "creating good, well-paid jobs" more widely, while investing in nuclear power.

The PM is asked what his advice is to young people currently studying or carrying out apprenticeships.

He responds: "Don't think anything is not for you."

The prime minister is speaking to students at a college in Suffolk.

It follows the chancellor formally announcing billions of pounds of funding for Sizewell C nuclear power station in the county.

It comes ahead of the spending review tomorrow from Rachel Reeves, which will set out funding for each government department.

Watch live in the stream above.

Rachel Reeves has turned to her focus on growth and pledges that her spending review tomorrow will invest in every part of the UK. 

The chancellor says the government backs British innovation and formally unveils the funding for Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, which we've been reporting on today. 

Reeves says that together with announcements coming tomorrow in the spending review, as well as what has been revealed today, the government is investing £30bn in nuclear power in total. 

"This Labour government is launching a new era of nuclear power here in Britain," the chancellor says.

'Backing Britain's industry'

She goes on: "Today's announcements are another step towards that Great British nuclear ambition. To make sure that 70% of its future fleet is made here with homegrown content."

Reeves concludes by saying that Labour promised "a government in the service of working people". 

She says: "A government backing Britain's industry, backing Britain's jobs and backing Britain's workers. 

"Consider that a promise made, and a promise kept."

Rachel Reeves is setting out how her government is helping workers by improving their rights and introducing measures to tackle child poverty, such as extending free school meals.

But now the chancellor turns to tackling on Reform. 

She says that they might tell people they are on the side of working people, but that they actually opposed the worker's rights bill.

The chancellor also says Nigel Farage's party wants to privatise the NHS, and is "not on the side of the heroic people of Ukraine - they're on Russia's side instead".

She adds: "That's Reform: Tough on workers, tough on patients but soft on Putin."

The chancellor is now speaking at the GMB union conference, following the unveiling of more than £14bn for a new nuclear power plant in England.

Rachel Reeves will formally announce plans to commit £14.2bn to build Sizewell C nuclear plant.

It comes ahead of her spending review tomorrow. 

You can watch live in the stream above and of course, we will bring you her comments and all the reaction right here on the Politics Hub.

Kemi Badenoch has reacted to unemployment figures out this morning, showing the number of people out of work has risen.

The Tory leader has firmly placed the blame on the chancellor's strategy, saying: "Jobs are disappearing. Businesses are closing, blaming Labour's jobs tax and more regulations from the unions. 

"We're back to the 1970s."

The "jobs tax" refers to Rachel Reeves' decision to hike employers national insurance contributions (NICs) earlier this year.

Unemployment in the three months to April rose to the highest level since July 2021.

A little earlier today, Ed Miliband defended the government's record, telling Sky News that unemployment remains "historically, relatively low".

We're expecting to hear from Reeves herself in the next half an hour.

Increasing salary thresholds for immigrants has been touted in political circles as a way to reduce immigration and make it harder for people to bring their families with them.

But a government-commissioned review has said that could put the UK in direct breach of people's human rights.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has produced a report on family visas, requested by Yvette Cooper, to advise government on setting the income threshold for people in the UK wanting to bring family members over from another country.

The MAC said an income threshold of £38,700 � proposed by the Conservatives � for those on a skilled worker visa to be able to bring a family member to the UK was too high.

Are Labour willing to risk breaching international law?

The committee argued it could "conflict with international law and obligations", such as Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): the right to private and family life.

Despite admitting that a higher salary threshold would reduce migration numbers, it instead recommends the threshold ought to be much lower at £23,000-£25,000 - an income it says is achievable by a full-time worker on minimum wage.

It also warns against raising the threshold for families with children, despite them having higher living costs, as this would impact the children in those families.

However, Sky News understands the home secretary is poised to reject the committee's recommendations and push ahead with tougher immigration rules regardless.

A balancing act

Reducing migration numbers is one of the key pledges from Labour and with persistent criticism of their Tory predecessors for huge annual migration figures, Cooper will be aware she will look hypocritical if she fails to make a significant dent in the numbers.

If immigration figures don't come down enough to placate voters, Cooper and Keir Starmer will be in the unenviable position the Tories found themselves in - being forced to defend a poor record at the next election.

Ignoring the MAC's advice on salary thresholds may be politically expedient, but if it leads to legal challenges using Article 8, Starmer - a former human rights lawyer - could be in a very uncomfortable position. 

The Conservatives are set to introduce a bill that would block the government's deal over the Chagos Islands. 

Last month, the prime minister announced a deal had been agreed with Mauritius to give it control of them. 

In exchange, the UK would be allowed to lease a military base in the territory for the next 99 years for an average of £101m a year. 

The whole deal was estimated to cost the UK around £3.4bn, though other people have estimated it could cost as much as £30bn - something the government disputes. 

Now, Priti Patel will introduce a bill to parliament today, which aims to stop this deal from happening. 

The shadow foreign secretary said: "Labour's Chagos surrender deal undermines our national security, will cost British taxpayers £30bn and has betrayed British Chagossians."

The bill will specify the Chagos Achipelago falls under British sovereignty and cannot be negotiated away without parliamentary approval. 

It will also seek to prevent any money being given to foreign governments unless authorised by parliament.

The bill is being introduced before the government's own legislation on the deal, and will also require British Chagossians to be consulted.