AG百家乐在线官网

Thank you for joining us for live coverage of today's events in British politics.

Use the key points above for the main moments today, or scroll down for full coverage.

And if you missed tonight's edition of Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge - fear not, for you can watch it in full below.

We'll be back from 6am with the very latest, and live coverage of the final debate and vote in the House of Commons on legislation to legalise assisted dying.

Defence Secretary John Healey spoke to broadcasters this afternoon, and he was asked about the situation in the Middle East, and what we are saying to the Trump administration as the president weighs up joining Israeli strikes on Iran.

He replied: "So we've been arguing, like President Trump has, first of all, that the Iranians cannot have a nuclear weapons programme.

"We've been arguing the best way to do that is negotiate, the diplomatic route. That's what we've been urging on Iran, that's what President Trump has been urging on Iran.

"But this is a moment of real danger and uncertainty in the wider region. It's why the prime minister has announced, and as defence secretary I've made sure that those extra military assets are in the region now.

"That's, first and foremost, to protect our own forces, personnel and bases that are in the Middle East, but secondly it's there to reinforce the calls for de-escalation, and reinforce reassurance to allies in the area."

Healey refused to say if the UK would grant the US permission to use the Diego Garcia military base to conduct a strike on Iran.

By Ashish Joshi, health correspondent

On Friday, the social fabric of England and Wales might be changed forever.

MPs are set to vote on the assisted dying bill and supporters are confident that they have the numbers to win.

But the hugely controversial legislation polarises opinion. Communities remain divided, and medical colleagues can't agree.

Three royal colleges have withdrawn support for the bill in its current form. They want more time to be given for further scrutiny of the legislation.

Frank Sutton does not have time. When we went to Frank's home in East Dulwich, London, last November to watch the vote unfold she already had terminal liver disease and cancer.

As the vote was passed with a majority of 55, Frank broke down in tears and said: "Finally, I can die in peace."

Frank is unlikely to live long enough to see assisted dying introduced in England and Wales. If the legislation passes, it will be introduced in four years.

As we reported earlier, David Lammy is in Washington DC right now to meet with US officials about the Israel-Iran conflict.

One of those meetings was with his American counterpart Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, which took place a couple of hours ago at the White House.

We've just had a readout from State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who said: "They discussed the conflict between Israel and Iran and agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.

"They reviewed other key areas of US-UK cooperation, including efforts to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

"The secretary and Foreign Secretary Lammy also talked about the upcoming NATO Summit and reaffirmed the importance of increased defence spending to secure peace and stability."

Lammy is getting back on his plane shortly to fly to Geneva for talks with his Iranian counterpart about restarting nuclear talks, alongside the French and German foreign ministers.

Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, has set out proposals to cut 拢5bn from the welfare budget - which she has said is "unsustainable" and "trapping people in welfare dependency".

Disabled people claiming PIP, the personal independence payment which helps people - some of them working - with the increased costs of daily living, face having their awards reviewed from the end of next year.

An estimated 800,000 current and future PIP recipients will lose an average of 拢4,500 a year, according to a government assessment.

Ministers say 90% of current claimants will not lose their benefits; and that many people will be better off.

To keep the benefit, claimants must score a minimum of four points out of eight on one of the daily living criteria.

Ministers say claimants with the most serious conditions, who cannot work, will not face constant reassessments.

A 拢1bn programme is proposed, intended to give disabled people who can work tailored support to find jobs.

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA), which determines if a person is fit for work, will be scrapped in 2028, with financial support for people who are sick or disabled determined solely through the PIP assessment.

Ms Kendall described the current WCA system as "complex" and "time-consuming" for people trying to apply.

The government also intends to freeze the health element of Universal Credit, claimed by more than two million people, at 拢97 a week during this parliament, and cut the rate to 拢50 for new claimants.

Other reforms include:

• Merging jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance;
• Raising the standard universal credit allowance by 拢775 in 2029/30;
• Introducing a "right to try" initiative so people who want to attempt to get back into work won't lose their benefits while they do.

We're starting to get some more reaction from Labour MPs to Vicky Foxcroft's decision to resign as a government whip to oppose Sir Keir Starmer's plan to cut benefits.

 Jonathan Brash, MP for Hartlepool, wrote on X: "Utmost respect for @vickyfoxcroft and her principled stand here.

"She's right. Our welfare system does need change, but the cuts proposed are not the right way to do it."

Josh Fenton-Glynn, MP for Calder Valley, echoed those sentiments, saying: "Vicky is a friend and a colleague. She has taken a brave and principled stand on this."

 lan Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, simply wrote: "Solidarity."

Dawn Butler, MP for Brent East, wrote on X: "Vicky is my whip and we have had many conversations. I know this would have been a very hard decision to make.

"I totally understand and appreciate how hard she has worked and her decision. Much respect Vicky."

And Connor Naismith, MP for Crewe and Nantwich, said: "Huge respect for Vicky. This must have been an incredibly difficult decision, but she should be commended for standing by her principles.

"I agree with her that reducing the welfare bill is the right ambition, but cuts to UC and PIP should not be part of the solution."

We've just had a statement from the government after Vicky Foxcroft MP resigned as a government whip over the plans to cut benefits.

A spokesperson said: "This Labour government was elected to deliver change. The broken welfare system we inherited is failing the sick and most vulnerable and holding too many young people back. It is fair and responsible to fix it.

"Our principled reforms will ensure those who can work should, that those who want to work are properly supported, and that those with most severe disabilities and health conditions are protected."

Labour MPs are likely still digesting the news that Vicky Foxcroft has resigned as a government whip over the welfare reform plans, and so reaction has been muted so far.

But John McDonnell, who served as shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the party, has posted his reaction on X.

The now independent MP wrote: "Vicky Foxcroft worked really hard as the shadow minister for the disabled, and as a result will have a thorough understanding of the implications of the benefit cuts on disabled people.

"I fully respect her for the decision she has taken."

Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft has resigned from her post as a government whip over Sir Keir Starmer's plan to cut benefits.

She wrote in a letter to the prime minister that she could not vote "for reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances".

The former shadow minister for disabled people becomes the first MP to quit the government over the controversial welfare reform plans.

The MP for Lewisham North wrote that the benefits system is in "desperate need of reform", adding: "I absolutely understand the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill in these difficult economic times, but I have always believed this could and should be done by supporting more disabled people into work.

"I do not believe that cuts to personal independence payment (PIP) and the health element of Universal Credit should be part of the solution."

Foxcroft said she has "wrestled" with the decision over whether to resign, but said: "Sadly it is now seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see.

"I therefore tender my resignation as I know I will not be able to do the job that is required of me and whip 鈥� or indeed vote 鈥� for reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances."

To read the government's response, tap here.

By Adele Robinson, news correspondent

A damning report into the faulty Post Office IT system that preceded Horizon has been unearthed after nearly 30 years - and it could help overturn criminal convictions.

The document, known about by the Post Office in 1998, is described as "hugely significant" and a "fundamental piece of evidence" and was found in a garage by a retired computer expert.

Capture was a piece of accounting software, likely to have caused errors, used in more than 2,000 branches between 1992 and 1999.

It came before the infamous faulty Horizon software scandal, which saw hundreds of sub postmasters wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015.

The "lost long" Capture documents were discovered in a garage by a retired computer expert who came forward after a Sky News report into the case of Patricia Owen, a convicted sub postmistress who used the software.

Adrian Montagu was supposed to be a key witness for Pat's defence at her trial in 1998 but her family always believed he had never turned up, despite his computer "just sitting there" in court.

Mr Montagu, however, insists he did attend.

Liam Byrne, the Labour MP and chair of the business and trade committee, will be speaking to Sky News after 8am.