Starmer offers Labour MPs major welfare bill concession
Keir Starmer has offered Labour backbenchers a major concession over disability benefits in a last-ditch attempt to limit the largest rebellion of his premiership and get his controversial welfare bill over the line.Stephen Timms, the welfare minister, told MPs on Tuesday afternoon the government would shelve plans to make major cuts to personal independence payments.Instead ministers will only make changes to the disability payments after Timms has reported the findings of his review into the whole system, which is due to conclude next autumn.Under the original plans, from November 2026 claimants would need to score four points in a daily living activity to qualify for Pip.Timms said: “[MPs] across the house during this debate have raised concerns that the changes to Pip are coming ahead of the conclusions of the review of the assessment that I will be leading.
“We’ve heard those concerns, and that is why I can announce that we are going to remove the clause five from the bill at committee, but we will move straight to the wider review – sometimes referred to as the Timms review – and only make changes to Pip eligibility activities and descriptors following that review.”After a chaotic few days during which the government offered Labour MPs huge concessions to save the prime minister from a damaging Commons defeat, dozens of backbenchers were still planning to vote against the bill on Tuesday evening.Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and government whips are said to have warned Downing Street that further movement was needed.One leading rebel told the Guardian: “If they move on this, it’s done.”But others said the government had now altered the bill beyond all recognition.
“What are we supposed to be voting on tonight?” the Labour MP Andy McDonald asked,“Is it the bill as drawn, or another bill? Because I’m confused,”While the move is expected to secure the bill’s second reading, it is a humiliating climbdown for Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary,Kendall told MPs just hours earlier the new four-point threshold would apply from November 2026 and emphasised the need for the government to take its time over the Timms review to get it right,The government offered major concessions last week after 126 Labour MPs signed an amendment designed to blow up the bill.
These included that no current claimant would be affected by the changes to universal credit and Pip,Rebels were also promised that the Timms review of the criteria used to assess people for Pip would be a “co-production” with disability groups,But the terms of reference of the review made clear that there would still be a higher bar for obtaining Pip – new claimants would need a high score of four in at least one of the categories for assessment in order to qualify,However, the review could look again at what abilities and conditions might meet certain scores,The timing of the review had also caused deep concern, with MPs warning that it risked creating a “three-tier” system, which would include claimants assessed pre- and post-Timms review.
Qantas confirms cyber-attack exposed records of up to 6 million customers
Qantas has suffered a major cyber-attack, potentially exposing the records of up to 6 million customers.The airline said on Wednesday that the affected system had now been contained and its systems were secured. The system in question was a third-party platform used by the airline’s contact centre, which contains the records of 6 million customers.The data includes customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers. It did not contain credit card details, financial information or passport details
Santander to buy TSB for £2.65bn amid fears of branch closures and job losses
The Spanish bank Santander is buying the British high street lender TSB for £2.65bn, raising fears of job cuts and branch closures across the combined group.The proposed deal, announced on Tuesday evening, is the result of a takeover tussle in Santander’s home base of Spain, with the lender Sabadell having decided to sell TSB as it faces an €11bn (£9.4bn) hostile approach from a rival, BBVA.The deal will still have to be approved by Sabadell’s shareholders, but could result in TSB changing hands in early 2026, the third major ownership shake-up for the lender in just over 12 years
AI companies start winning the copyright fight
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. If you need me after this newsletter publishes, I will be busy poring over photos from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding, the gaudiest and most star-studded affair to disrupt technology news this year. I found it a tacky and spectacular affair. Everyone who was anyone was there, except for Charlize Theron, who, unprompted, said on Monday: “I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding. But that’s OK, because they suck and we’re cool
China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match
They think it’s all over … for human footballers at least.The pitch wasn’t the only artificial element on display at a football match in China on Saturday. Four teams of humanoid robots took on each other in Beijing, in games of three-a-side powered by artificial intelligence.While the modern game has faced accusations of becoming near-robotic in its obsession with tactical perfection, the games in China showed that AI won’t be taking Kylian Mbappé’s job just yet.Footage of the humanoid kickabout showed the robots struggling to kick the ball or stay upright, performing pratfalls that would have earned their flesh-and-blood counterparts a yellow card for diving
Novak Djokovic survives stomach bug and dogged Müller to reach second round
At Wimbledon they are calling it the massacre of the seeds. And it has been bloodier than any grand slam in history. On the men’s side, four of the top 10 have been knocked out in the first round. Another four have also fallen in the women’s singles. That makes eight top-10 players in total, a record in the Open era
Wimbledon 2025: Djokovic battles through but Gauff and Zverev crash out – as it happened
And breathe. It’s been a relentless, action-packed day here at Wimbledon, with big names crashing out and British hopefuls wowing the crowds. We’ll do it all again tomorrow, when thankfully it won’t be as hot. Thanks for joining me. Goodnight!Coco Gauff crashes out in loss to Dayana YastremskaJack Pinnington Jones leads historic British chargeJack Draper eases past Báez to set up Cilic clashIce in short supply as SW19 temperatures reach 34CPutintseva raises concern over ‘dangerous’ spectatorKrejcikova fights back to prolong her title defenceMpetshi Perricard breaks serve record … but losesZverev, Pegula, Zheng all make first-round exitsHere’s Barney Ronay on Jack Draper’s emergence as Britain’s new hope at Wimbledon
Andy Lee: ‘It’s illegal to taxidermy a human in Australia. I know because I looked into it’
My cultural awakening: Buffy gave me the courage to escape my conservative Pakistani upbringing
Your front-row pass to who the performers will be watching at Glastonbury
‘Joyous, immersive’ Beamish wins Art Fund museum of the year award
Seth Meyers on Trump’s new Nato nickname: ‘Why is anyone calling him daddy?’
Stephen Colbert on Ice: ‘Constantly devising new terrible ways to treat immigrants’