The work and pensions secretary said those who think they were unable to work probably could with the right supportEd Miliband, the energy secretary, reportedly argued against the government’s decision to back a third runway at Heathrow at a cabinet meeting the day before Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, confirmed the move in a speech.In an interview this morning, he said he would abide by “collective responsibility” with regard to the decision – but he would not say he was personally in favour.I’m part of a government that has said it wants to invite applications from Heathrow for a third runway and it’s got to pass strict environmental conditions and meet our carbon budgets.Obviously I’m part of the government and I abide by collective responsibility.I’m part of a government that has that position …I was part of the decision-making process and the decision is as Rachel Reeves set it out, that’s the collective decision of the government.Any aviation expansion – this is the point the chancellor made last week – has to take place within carbon budgets and within environmental limits.What I would just say to her also is that in six months, this government has achieved certainly more than the last government did in 14 years.All private landlords in England and Wales will be required to meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C or above by the end of the decade, up from the lower EPC E level currently required.The government said the proposals could save renters £240 a year on average on their energy bills, and lift up to half a million households out of fuel poverty, as they will not have to spend so much heating cold, draughty homes.I think landlords are going to have to foot at least some significant part of this bill.We think that’s fair and right to ask landlords to do that. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/feb/07/liz-kendall-benefits-welfare-angela-rayner-grenfell-tower-uk-politics-live-news-updates
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2025-02-07 10:35:23
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Some people on sickness and disability benefits ‘taking the mickey’, says Liz Kendall – UK politics live
