Two mothers denied ‘rape clause’ exception to benefit cap discriminated against, UK court told
Two mothers who conceived children while in physically abusive relationships have been discriminated against after being denied access to benefits, a court has been told.The women launched a challenge against the universal credit system after being denied an exception to the two-child cap.The cap typically has exceptions, one of which is the “rape clause”, which means that a child conceived through sexual assault will still be covered by benefits.On Tuesday, however, Leeds administrative court was told that this rule only applies to third or subsequent children, meaning that some woman are unable to claim an exception if their first two children were conceived non-consensually.Karon Monaghan KC, representing the women, who can be identified only as LMN and EFG, said the pair conceived their children when they were in their teens and vulnerable.
Monaghan said both women were regularly subjected to violence and coercion during their respective relationships, with one saying she was choked until she lost consciousness and raped multiple times,The court was told that LMN had older children who were in care, as well as two children who lived with her,When one of her older children returned home, however, she was refused an exception to the two-child limit that she thought she had been entitled to,The other woman, EFG, had two children who were the conceived through rape and a third who was conceived through a consensual relationship,The court heard that EFG was initially paid for her third child but that the payments were rescinded once her fourth child was born, with the Department for Work and Pensions telling her she could only claim for two children, not four, due to the “ordering provisions”.
Monaghan told the judge Mrs Justice Collins Rice that these ordering provisions were irrational and breached the women’s right not to be discriminated against under article 14 of the European convention on human rights.She also told the court that the government had an obligation under article 3 of the convention, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to ensure that “women are not penalised” and “they have the resources to support themselves”.“It must ensure it doesn’t take away benefits because the two children are the product of non-consensual sex,” Monaghan said.She said the money these women could receive was “a drop in an ocean” of the £300bn-plus national benefits budget.The hearing, which neither woman attended in person, is due to continue on Wednesday.
Trump threatens to keep 25% tariff on UK steel imports over Port Talbot concerns
Donald Trump is threatening to keep 25% tariffs on some or all of its steel imports from the UK unless it gives specific guarantees over the Indian-owned steelmaking plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, sources have told the Guardian.An agreement to reduce tariffs on UK car exports to the US and scrap them for the aerospace sector was signed off by the US president and Keir Starmer on Monday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.However, it did not include the removal of tariffs on steel imports from the UK. Officials are still negotiating over the fine points of a deal to cover the steel and aluminium industry, amid US concerns about the fact that Tata Steel imports raw materials from abroad.Starmer told reporters in Banff, Canada: “There’s further work to do in relation to steel, but we’re getting on and doing that work
Trump claims EU is not offering a fair trade deal; Reeves pitches UK as ‘oasis of stability’; oil climbs as shares fall – as it happened
US president Donald Trump has said the European Union was not yet offering a fair deal in trade talks between the United States and the 27-nation bloc.Seaking to reporters on Air Force One, as he returned early from the G7 summit, Trump explained:“We’re talking, but I don’t feel that they’re offering a fair deal yet. They’re either going to make a good deal or they’ll just pay whatever we say they have to pay.”Trump also said there was a chance of a trade deal with Japan, but said Tokyo was being “tough”, Reuters reports.TRUMP SAYS EU NOT YET OFFERING A FAIR DEALTrump added that pharmaceutical tariffs were coming very soon and noted that Canada would pay to be part of his “golden dome” project
Europe will never return to Russian gas, European Commission insists
The European Commission has insisted there will be no return to Russian gas, as it published plans to phase out fossil fuel imports from its eastern neighbour by 2028.The EU energy commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, said a proposed ban on Russian gas imports would remain, irrespective of whether there was peace in Ukraine.EU officials recalled when Russia cut gas supplies in 2006, 2009 and 2014, as well as the deliberate reduction in flows in 2021 before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which contributed to a huge rise in energy prices and surging inflation across the continent.Under the proposals, European companies would be banned from importing Russian gas or providing services at EU liquified natural gas terminals to Russian customers. Any contracts entered into from today would have to be wound up by 1 January 2026, but companies with pre-existing agreements have a final deadline of 1 January 2028
Poundland to shut 68 stores in restructuring that puts 2,000 jobs at risk
Poundland is to shut 68 shops and two distribution centres and aims to close at least 80 more stores, putting more than 2,000 jobs at risk.The British company, which was sold last week to the US investment group Gordon Brothers for £1, has more than 800 outlets in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, employing about 16,000 people. It said it planned to reduce this eventually to no more than 650 outlets.It also wants landlords to cut rents to zero on up to 180 stores – putting the future of those outlets in doubt – while also seeking rent reductions of between 15% and 75% on dozens more stores as part of a restructuring process that it will put to creditors in August.Poundland is also stopping selling online, ditching its Perks loyalty app, ceasing to sell frozen foods and reducing its range of chilled foods to items that make up its £3 meal deals – such as sandwiches – and essentials including milk
‘Vital’ that British steel gets Trump tariff deal after UK-US trade pact, say unions
Steel trade unions have said it is “absolutely vital” that the UK rapidly secures a deal to protect the sector from Donald Trump’s tariffs, after the industry was excluded from an initial UK-US pact signed on Monday night.Keir Starmer and Trump signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada, with the US president saying Britain would have protection against future tariffs “because I like them”.The car industry was relieved that tariffs on the sector will be reduced to 10% from 27.5%. The UK aerospace sector will face no tariffs at all from the US after deal, which followed an initial agreement made in May
UK bank TSB could be sold off by Spanish owner Sabadell
The Spanish bank Sabadell has said it has received interest from prospective buyers of its UK division TSB, and said it would assess any firm offers it may receive.Sabadell wants to sell TSB as it battles to fend off an €11bn (£9.4bn) hostile approach from its Spanish rival BBVA.The Catalonia-based lender said it had received “preliminary non-binding expressions of interest” for TSB from unnamed bidders, and would examine any potential binding offer.TSB, which has 175 branches in the UK, has more than 5 million customers and 5,000 staff
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