The Department for Work and Pensions has now published the text of the universal credit and personal independence payments bill.It runs to 16 pages, and it’s here.Here are the explanatory notes.And there are two impact assessments – here and here.In its news release, the DWP confirms that the plans include a three-month transitional payment for people who are losing the personal independence payment.

It claims this is “one of the most generous” transitional payments ever offered as part of a benefit change.It says:The universal credit and personal independence payment bill will provide 13-weeks of additional financial security to existing claimants affected by changes to the Pip daily living component, including those who their lose eligibility to carers allowance and the carer’s element of universal credit.The 13-week additional protection will give people who will be affected by the changes time to adapt, access new, tailored employment support, and plan for their future once they are reassessed and their entitlement ends.This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to Pip.UPDATE: This has been corrected because there are two impact assessments, not one.

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, has published the government’s universal credit and personal independence payment bill, claiming it represents “a new social contract” and that it will bring claimants “peace of mind”.(See 3.33pm.) She also claimed the three-month transitional payment for people who are losing Pip is “one of the most generous” transitional payments ever offered as part of a benefit change.(See 3.

04pm.) Disability charities have restated their strong opposition to the plans, saying they will plunge hundreds of thousands of people into poverty.(See 4.48pm.)Angela Rayner has refused to rule out punishing Labour MPs who vote against the government’s plans to cut disability benefits in the coming weeks.

Keir Starmer has been chairing an emergency Cobra meeting on Wednesday afternoon amid concerns the US is considering entering the conflict between Israel and Iran, as the UK continues to urge de-escalation.Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has said Britain will pursue reform of the European convention on human rights (ECHR), both at home and in Strasbourg, saying “public confidence in the rule of law is fraying”.The high-speed rail network HS2 cannot be delivered on its current schedule and budget and will be delayed beyond 2033, the government has said, blaming the “appalling mess” left by the previous Conservative administrations for the overruns.The Department for Work and Pensions has published two impact assessments with its UC and Pip bill – here and here.The one covering Pip says that, by 2029/30, nine out of 10 people who are currently getting Pip will still be getting it even though the bill is tightening the eligibilty requirement.

It explains:Before the change is implemented there will be around 3.6m people on Pip.The department has published an evidence pack which shows that currently around 46% of those receiving PIP daily living score fewer than 4 points on any daily living activity.This does not mean that over 1.6m would lose PIP, because it does not take into account:-People’s health changes – some get better and no longer need Pip whereas 1 in 5 people see their award increase at an award review and some will leave benefit for other reasons.

-OBR assume a behavioural response so that around 50% of people will now qualify when the new rules come into effect,-Not all current claimants will have been reassessed under the new criterion,-Together these factors mean the OBR expects 370,000 people to have a lower award or lose Pip due to this policy by 2029/30 – so around 9 in 10 of the original caseload not affected,Even with these reforms, the overall number of people of working age people on Pip/DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23 billion in 24/25 to £31 billion in 29/30,In its immigration white paper last month, the Home Office said it would get parliament to provide a framework for judges clarifying when they should be able to use article 8 of the European convention on human rights (the right to family life) to halt deportation proceedings.

The Home Office said too many cases are being treated as “exceptional” (meaning deportation can be blocked).Now the Home Office has said the government is also looking at how article 3 (freedom from torture) is being interpreted by the courts.A Home Office spokesperson told ITV News:The home secretary has asked the Home Office to work with other government departments to urgently examine the way article 3 of the European convention on human rights is operating in these cases, specifically relating to prison standards overseas.Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free to roam Britain’s streets, including removing them from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.Extradition is a largely judicial process.

This is in response to an ITV report saying murder and child rape suspects have used human rights law to avoid deportation.Q: Can you give any sense of whether the UK is considering deciding to support the US if it does attack Iran?Radakin said that the support the UK was providing was predominantly “force protection for our people that are out in the region”.The UK wanted to assure its partners that “the UK is there, and it’s doing the best thing possible to protect them”.He said he did not want to go into any more detail than that.At PMQs Angela Rayner played down the idea that the UK might join an attack on Iran.

(See 12,21pm,) Downing Street said the government was committed to de-escalating the conflict,(See 1,38pm.

)Adm Sir Tony Radakin is now taking questions,Q: You have probably just come from the Cobra meeting,Are you worried the US will join the attacks on Iran?Radakin says he cannot talk about what the US may hypothetically do,He says the UK has strengthened its ability to protect its peope in the region,It has responsibility for coaliton bases, he says.

That is part of what the public has been able to see, he says.He says what people are not seeing is “the international element – the conversations that go on with America to understand American thinking and how they’re providing additional defensive support in the region”.He says he had a video conference with defence chiefs from Middle East countries on Saturday.They talk as the Dragon Group, a network set up by his predecessor.He describes that as part of “a collective international effort to ensure that our people are protected in the region”.

He says the fact those conversations take place should be “a reassurance to a British prime minister”.Charities representing the disabled have restated their strong opposition to the government’s planned sickness and disability benefit cuts following the publication of the UC and Pip bill.Here are some of the statements they have put out this afternoon.From the learning disability charity MencapMencap’s recent survey of people with a learning disability found an alarming 70% would need to cut down on food if they lose Pip, while over half (60%) said they would need to cut back on heating and nearly half (45%) were worried they would be unable to leave their home.These stats paint a very grave picture of what’s to come for those who will lose Pip under the government’s plans.

From the disability equality charity ScopeThis bill will be catastrophic for disabled people.Cutting benefits will plunge hundreds of thousands into poverty.Over 800,000 will lose at least some financial support from Pip.It will have a devastating effect on disabled people’s health, ability to live independently or work.A transition period will only temporarily delay a cut and disabled people will continue to be living with extra costs when it comes to an end.

From the Mental Health FoundationThis bill is a disaster for disabled people, and we urge MPs to reject this legislation in its current form.It will take vital financial support away from hundreds of thousands of disabled people, many of whom have mental health problems.Previous austerity measures worsened people’s living conditions, undermined their mental health and increased the risk of suicide and premature deaths – and that’s likely to be the case here too.From the multiple sclerosis charity MS SocietyThe welfare bill’s first reading today takes us a step closer towards disastrous benefits cuts.The government claims this bill is about protecting people, but in reality it will take thousands of pounds a year from disabled people, including many living with MS – pushing more into poverty and worsening people’s health.

Adm Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, is speaking now at a Rusi conference.There is a live feed here.Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has warned that there is a “growing perception” that the European convention on human rights (ECHR) protects criminals.And sometimes people are right to think that, she said.She made the comments in a speech to the Council of Europe, the international body that oversees the ECHR, in Strasbourg.

The full text of the speech, which was trailed this morning (see 9.19am) has is on the MoJ’s website.Mahmood did not say how the convention should be changed.And she made a point of being diplomatic, saying at one point that she agreed with Alain Berset, secretary general of the Council of Europe (whose enthusiasm for reform seems limited – see 10.10am) and at another point that her speech should not be read as criticism of judges European court of human rights, who enforce the ECHR.

But she did argue change was needed,She said:The successes of our convention cannot be taken for granted,Because when rules are broken with impunity, trust collapses – not just in states, but in the idea of democracy itself,And across Europe, public confidence in the rule of law is fraying,There is a growing perception – sometimes mistaken, sometimes grounded in reality – that human rights are no longer a shield for the vulnerable, but a tool for criminals to avoid responsibility.

That the law too often protects those who break the rules, rather than those who follow them …When the application of rights begins to feel out of step with common sense – when it conflicts with fairness or disrupts legitimate government action – trust begins to erode.Mahmood cited two areas of policy where the convention was causing problems in the UK: immigration and criminal justice.If a foreign national commits a serious crime, they should expect to be removed from the country.But we see cases where individuals invoke the right to family life – even after neglecting or harming those very family ties.Or take prison discipline.

Being in custody is a punishment.It means some privileges are lost.But dangerous prisoners have been invoking Article 8 to try to block prison staff from putting them in separation centres to manage the risk they pose.It is not right that dangerous prisoners’ rights are given priority over others’ safety and security.That is not what the Convention was ever intended to protect.

Mahmood said in the UK the government has intends to issue guidance clarifying for the court how parliament thinks convention rights should be interepreted,But she also said there was a need for a “shared political endeavour amongst us as member states – to preserve our convention by renewing its moral and democratic foundation”,She said she looked forward to that conversation in months to come,When rights feel remote from fairness, or we appear to protect the rule-breaker over the rule-follower, trust disintegrates - and with it, the foundations of democracy,That is why this dialogue matters.

Because the convention matters so much,We can preserve rights by restoring public confidence in them rather than give ground to populism,The European convention on human rights is one of the great achievements of post-war politics,It has endured because it has evolved,Now, it must do so again.

The SNP government in Scotland has restated its opposition to the UC and Pip bill.Its social justice seceretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said:The UK government’s proposed reforms will be hugely damaging to those who rely on social security support, particularly during the ongoing cost of living crisis …The reforms do not reflect the Scottish government’s values.We will not let disabled people down or cast them aside as the UK government has done.We will not cut Scotland’s adult disability payment.The UK government should follow our lead and protect the social security safety system, rather than dismantling it.

If they do not, then disabled people can draw no other conclusion than the UK government remain content to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable.More than 3m households will lose out from the benefit cuts in the UC (universal credit) and Pip (personal independence payment) bill published today.On average, they will lose £1,720 a year.But people losing Pip will lose on average £4,500 a year.The figures are in the DWP’s impact analysis published in March, and we wrote them up here