Chloe Chaplain

Chris, Chloe Chaplin, Lara Spirit and Jess Elgot stand on a white staircase to listen (more or less) to Keir Starmer

Happy one year anniversary to this work of art from the election trail

The rise will be paid for by cutting overseas development spending, the PM says

Breaking: Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces UK will bring forward target reach 2.5% defence spending target to 2027 - then plan to increase it to 3% in the next parliament

PIP and DLA claims rise by 450,000 in a year, DWP reveals Latest figures show 4.8m claimed PIP and DLA in England and Wales, as ministers grapple with reforming system

The number of people receiving disability benefits has gone up by almost half a million in a year

As of August, 4.8 million people were claiming welfare to support them through a disability - an increase of 450,000

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Labour may have to revive Tory plan to slash benefits by £400 a month Ministers could struggle to make promised cuts without mirroring Tory plans to raise the bar for out of work sickness benefits

Ministers could struggle to make promised welfare cuts without reviving Tory plans to shave £400 off incapacity benefits - hard to see how they plan to keep to the spending rules without enforcing similar reforms... or just cutting welfare elsewhere

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Child-benefit caps leave mothers in fear over how to feed and clothe their children A quarter of mothers revealed they are worried about not being able to pay for essentials for their children

Maximising women’s incomes is the most effective way for the Government to meet its aim of tackling child poverty. Our new report and polling highlighting how children's and women's poverty are inextricably linked covered by @chloechaplain.bsky.social for @inews.co.uk inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Some sickness benefit claimants will have to look for work, minister hints The welfare cap is set to be exceeded by £8.6bn in this financial year, the Government has announced

Interesting ankle-flashing from DWP on disability benefit reforms

Minister suggested lack of conditionality of incapacity benefits was linked to rise in claims and appeared to hint those who do not have the most severe health condition will have to look for work

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle doing his best tech bro impression as he announces plans to launch Govt app with digital 'wallet' for ID, proof of benefit entitlement, DBS, and, later, passports... as easy as paying with apple pay

First of these services will be rolled out this summer

Home Secretary has announced a public inquiry into the Southport killings

She said answers are needed about why the 'range of different state agencies' monitoring the attacker 'failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed'

Carers quitting and homes to go bust: The real cost of social care reform delays Delays to social care reforms risk providers going bust and councils rationing support for the elderly and vulnerable, the Government warns

Carers quitting and homes to go bust: The real cost of social care reform delays

@chloechaplain.bsky.social reports

https://buff.ly/42bKmbt

From pay rises to NHS waiting lists: The 14 graphs that tell the story of 2024 From immigration to home ownership, smoking to birth rates, the data that reveals how we really lived this year

Delighted this feature I did with @inews.co.uk is now online – telling the story of 2024 in 14 charts. It's a whole range of topics, some UK and some internationally – and we did also work to make sure they weren't all gloomy. Do take a look.
inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

Treasury documents reveal a £2bn black hole in Chancellor’s benefits plans Reforms are set to put a squeeze on welfare spending but the Government has yet to explain how savings will be made

EXC: Treasury has upped savings required from the welfare bill from £3.4bn by 2029 to £5.4bn by 2030

Reeves has committed to matching Tory spending pledges but ministers yet to say how they plan to make the savings which are now £2bn higher than previous

@inews.co.uk

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Shall we make it a rule that all MPs have to wear a giant necklace with their constituency on it, like Amanda Martin?

Would certainly make our jobs easier

Just 5% of people eligible for pension credit received it, despite winter fuel cut Claims for pension credit soar by almost 150 per cent since Chancellor announced winter fuel payment means testing

Claims for pension credit soar by 150% since winter fuel payment cut but 42k applications approved

This is 5% of the 880k the govt estimated were missing out on the benefit

Implies awareness campaign is not reaching the right group of pensioners

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Drive to bring down benefits bill undermined by NI hikes and jobs rights A Government drive to get more people into work comes amid warnings policy elsewhere will impact the number of jobs available

Govt's own watchdog warns workers rights reforms could cut jobs – in particular for young people

AND OBR ha said Nics rise could impact availability of labour hours…

But, at the same time, ministers announce plans to collab with biz to get more people into work

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Housing benefits wiped out by soaring rents - as Reeves faces pressure to help Almost one in five households on benefits has reported falling behind on rental payments, i can reveal

I spoke to @chloechaplain.bsky.social who wrote more about the freeze given this context on the weekend below.

If we want fewer families relying on food banks and fewer children in poverty we can't freeze core components of our benefits system. inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Replacing PIP cash benefits with vouchers would be wrong, say public Poll carried out for i reveals majority of people want personal independence payments (PIP) to continue being paid in cash, and think the benefit is too small

"Benefit voucher schemes are simply not popular with the public, even for voters who traditionally support lower spending on the welfare state", according to
@chrishopkins92.bsky.social.

For more details of our research, find
@chloechaplain.bsky.social's piece here:

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

'Disaster for business': Reeves feeling the heat over her gamble for growth Labour MPs will give the Chancellor the benefit of the doubt but Conservatives see opportunities as the Budget's aftershocks continue to be felt

Budget backlash begins to bite for the Chancellor...

'Rachel Reeves feeling heat from businesses over her gamble for growth'

ICYMI, the long read this weekend ft the i lobby team:

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

£1bn insulation scheme to help with energy bills overhauled after it flops The proposed overhaul of the insulation scheme comes as the Government pledged boost the number of homes eligible for support in replacing an existing boiler with a heat pump

Govt is proposing an overhaul of 'great British insulation scheme' after it failed to reach more than 10% of target homes

Ministers set out plans to redesign the policy introduced to make 300k homes warmer amid fears targets will be missed

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Scafell Pike, Lake District

Thought my banner photo was apt given the name of the site - the blue sky over Scafell Pike last week (when the sun was still making an appearance) ☀️⛰️

Hello - got a bit fed up of the other place so hopefully this is a bit more useful and enjoyable.

Will be sharing mainly UK political news via @theipaper.bsky.social, occasionally a nice photos and - rarely - witty observations