Starmer confirms UK will not support US blockade of strait of Hormuz – UK politics live

Reform UK leader says ‘he is statisfied’ with his deputy after he was accused of failing to pay tax

Keir Starmer has confirmed that he wants to stop children being exposed to addictive scrolling features on their phones as part of measures to protect them from social media.

The PM is under pressure to implement an Australian-style ban on social media for under-16s, and the government is consulting on whether to go ahead with a full ban, or whether to just impose more specific restrictions.

It’s not a question of if we do something, it’s what we do.

The addictive scrolling mechanisms are really problematic to my mind, they need to go.

Despite some lower-income households receiving a long-overdue real-terms increase in their benefits, we now estimate – based on market-forecasts for the rise in energy prices consistent with market pricing after the announcement of a ceasefire – that average income growth for the poorest fifth this year is now set to be just 1.2 per cent, down from 2.8 per cent before the conflict.

The picture is brighter for families in the bottom half of the income distribution with three or more children. Even after the inflation shock, the abolition of the two-child limit is estimated to deliver 7.7 per cent income growth for this group this year – compared to 0.0 per cent for poorer families with fewer than three children.

Despite hopes for a sustained peace, the path of this conflict remains uncertain and energy prices remain well above pre-war levels, meaning many households face a decline in their purchasing power this year.