Keir Starmer welcomes Iran war ceasefire as he heads to Gulf to meet regional leaders – UK politics live

PM to meet partners in region to discuss effort to ‘support and sustain ceasefire’ and reopening the strait of HormuzJames Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary and a former foreign secretary, told Sky News this morning that Donald Trump’s threat yesterday to wipe out Iranian civilisaton was not “appropriate”.Asked about the comment, Cleverly said:This is not language that we would use. I don’t think that that is appropriate language even in a situation like this.But look, we know that President Trump uses incredibly ostentatious, hyperbolic language. We recognise that it’s not the position that a Conservative leader, whether it be Kemi or a foreign secretary, would take.The Scottish Conservatives’ two flagship tax proposals are significant cuts to income tax and business rates. Together, the party estimates that these would cost £3.7bn a year by the end of the parliament in 2031–32. Over £2bn a year of additional spending on a range of priority areas takes the total cost of ‘new measures’ to around £6bn a year by 2031–32.It is welcome that these costs are set out clearly in a costings document. But these are big tax cuts and spending increases – equivalent to almost 10% of current forecasts for Scottish government day-to-day spending in 2031. While specific cuts to disability benefits have been identified to pay for around a third of the £6bn package, history suggests there is a significant risk that the amount saved from these cuts would be lower than the £2.1bn a year pencilled in by 2031–32. The almost £4bn a year expected from various measures to reduce back-office, administration and civil service costs is very large relative to existing budgets – and relative to what Reform UK said it would aim to save from such measures … Continue reading...