Afternoon summary

  • Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they celebrated walking free from jail early. (They would be better advised to thank collective governments over the past few decades that have legislated to send more and more people to jail, without building the prisons to house them. This meant that, whoever won the 2024 election, it was almost inevitable that an extensive prisoner release scheme would be announced. Burnham actually tightened the details of the prisoner release scheme applying from today when he became PM in July.)

  • Downing Street has clarifed that Andy Burnham is not siding with Manchester City in its finance scandal dispute with the Premier League – after in an interview yesterday he implied he was. (See 5.07pm.)

No 10 clarifies that Burnham not siding with Manchester City over finance scandal

In an interview with the BBC’s Chris Mason yesterday, when asked about Manchester City being found guilty of breaking the Premier League’s spending rules, Andy Burnham sounded quite sympathetic to the club. He said that proceedings were still going on, and that “it would be wrong to jump to a conclusion” at this point.

Related: Andy Burnham admits to ‘concern’ if Manchester City lose their owners after guilty verdicts

As Henry Zeffman from the BBC reports, Downing Street has now issued a statement clarifying the PM’s position – and stressing that he is not siding with City. A No 10 spokesperson said:

As the prime minister made clear, the initial judgment is serious and there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules. He also stressed that it is an ongoing independent process. It is essential that it is allowed to run its course and the outcome respected.

If wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the appropriate consequences.

Global bond sell-off intensifies, as UK long-term borrowing costs reach 28-year high

The turmoil in global bond markets has intensified amid fears the US deficit is reaching unsustainable levels, helping drive UK long-term borrowing costs to a 28-year high, Phillip Inman and Graeme Wearden report.

Related: Global bond sell-off intensifies, as UK long-term borrowing costs pass 6%

Badenoch says she's not bothered by people calling Tories 'nasty party'

With the Conservatives turning to the right under Kemi Badenoch, particularly on immigration and welfare, there has been talk of the Tories becoming the “nasty party” again. In her interview with Tim Shipman for the Spectator, Badenoch told him that she was not bothered by the label.

She said:

The people who are going to say “nasty party” will always say it. Quite frankly, the reason why we’re in this mess is because we kept pandering to those people and trying to make them like us. And did it work? No, it didn’t.

That is not quite accurate. The Tories lost an election in 2005 when they were led by Michael Howard, who was famously denounced as being nasty by one of his colleagues, the late Ann Widdecombe. Howard was replaced as leader by David Cameron who did try to make the party more popular with the people who used to hate it. It seemed to work.

And here are some of the other lines

  • Badenoch said the Tories should be “more aggressive” in saying what they think. She said:

We’re finally saying what we believe and we’re not scared to say it. We should be more aggressive.

  • She said that she was a person saying “no”. She dismissed Andy Burnham as someone “who likes to say yes to everyone” and said that was “something which I learned a long time ago is a recipe for disaster”. She went on:

No one wants to be the person to say “no”. And I want Spectator readers to know that the person who’s saying “no” has arrived and is leading the Conservative party.

  • She implied that she won’t let Grant Shapps stand as a Tory candidate again because of his reputation for plotting. Asked about him, she did not comment on him directly but said:

I am looking for improved standards of conduct. When people have nothing except politics, that’s when the psychodrama comes, when they’re in the bars all the time. They’ve got nothing else to do.

Shapps was heavily involved in organising against Theresa May, running a sophisticated spreadsheet about the views of Tory MPs that was helpful to the Boris Johnson campaign.

  • Badenoch claimed that the £72m in donations going to Reform UK meant other donors were more willing to give to the Conservatives. She said:

It’s actually encouraged quite a few people to give us a bit more. People who were thinking of splitting their money between the two parties said, “They don’t need my money now”, so that’s helpful.

  • She criticised Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, for shaking hands with his Iranian counterpart at the UN, describing Miliband as “incredibly naive” and “gormless”.

  • She dismissed suggestions she would announce plans to abolish inheritance tax at the Tory conference. She said:

I’m not someone who likes to play the same movie twice. Inheritance tax – we want to get rid of it, but we’ve got to do our working first.

Farage claims Burnham's proposed National Care Service would mean 'higher taxes and less efficiency'

Farage also attacked Andy Burnham’s proposal to set up a National Care Service, partly funded by making the pensions triple lock less generous.

On the National Care Service, Farage said it would deliver “far less than initially we thought” (because it would only cover care costs, not accommodation costs) and he said he would be delivered by a government “a government that is overseeing HS2 and can’t give us a third runway at Heathrow until 2039”. He went on:

I don’t trust government, this government, to do any more than it does. It’ll mean higher taxes and less efficiency, in my view.

And, on the triple lock, which Reform UK is pledging to keep, he acknowledged that life for young people is tough. But he went on:

Please do not be under the myth that Britain’s pensioners are having a great time. They’re not.

'Bring it on' - Farage says Burnham 'in for a shock' if he thinks he could win referendum on rejoining EU

In his speech, Nigel Farage is now addressing what Andy Burnham said about the EU in his party conference speech.

Farage accuses Burnham of going back on what he said during the Makerfield byelection about not proposing that the UK rejoin the EU.

Referring to the prospect of the UK rejoining, he goes on:

You can prove what you want with opinion polls.

Let me tell you, when the great British public realise [rejoining the EU will] mean paying £25bn a year, when the great British public realise it’ll mean effectively joining Schengen and accepting at least another 200,000 people a year into Britain, and when they realise that any new treaty would ensure we signed up to a commitment to join the euro, I think he might just be in for a shock.

Farage also accuses Burnham of inconsistency.

He says he wants to unite the country. A second referendum will divide the country bitterly in a way perhaps we’ve never seen before.

And he says he wants devolution. He wants power passed down as near as possible to everybody, that somehow by doing that, we all become better off and richer.

Yet what he wants to do here is transfer all power, potentially up to Brussels.

If Andy Burnham, the king of the North, wants a fight in Doncaster and the red wall with me on rejoining the European Union, then bring it on.

It is hard to tell how much of this is confidence, and how much of it is bluster. Farage is probably right that rejoining would involve accepting some terms unpalatable to the electorate (although in practice Brussels probably would not insist on the UK joining Schengen and the euro).

But Farage is probably wrong to assume rejoining is the likely Labour manifesto proposal for the next parliament, and wrong to assume that Burnham wants a referendum. Burnham has even hinted rejoining could happen without one. (See 11.18am.)

Updated

Farage claims he's 'back' after being 'relatively absent' from politics

Farage says that, apart from the Clacton byelection, he has been “relatively absent from the political scene over the course of the last few months”. But that’s over, he claims.

Today I’m back. I’m back on the road.

And today is when our general election campaign starts.

At the Reform UK rally, Nigel Farage has just started speaking. He was proceeded by Richard Tice, his deputy, who used his speech to attack net zero policies and restate his pledge to resign if he cannot cut energy bills by £250 within 100 days of Reform forming a government.

They are in Doncaster. Farage says the party came to Doncaster because it used to be a centre for manufacturing.

Updated

Labour says it is 'insulting' for Badenoch to claim Tories on side of young people as her latest benefit crackdown plan unveiled

I’m Andrew Sparrow, picking up from Taz Ali.

Earlier I said it might be hard for Labour to respond to the Conservative party’s plan to stop many jobless under-25s claiming universal credit because the government is about to publish its own Neet proposals which are likely to include some “tough love” elements. (See 9.04am.)

Labour has issued a response now. It’s from Bridget Phillipson, the party chair. She does not comment on the detail of the plans at all, but just says it is “insulting” for Kemi Badenoch to claim she is on the side of young people.

Phillipson says:

All young people deserve the chance to get on in life, through good jobs, proper training and the support they need to succeed. That’s what Labour is delivering.

Kemi Badenoch’s Tories held young people back and caused the welfare bill to spiral. To pretend she’s suddenly on the side of young people is frankly insulting.

Farage suggests Reform UK's internal inquiry will clear two aides suspended after undercover C4 probe

Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.

Nigel Farage has indicated that Reform’s internal probe into a donations controversy will absolve two key aides and that legal actions will be launched against journalists involved.

Hinting that he had already seen the report and knew its conclusions, Farage said its release was “imminent”.

“It’s been done. It’ll be out in public very soon and I think some of your co-conspirators might find themselves with one or two legal challenges,” he told a Channel 4 journalist among reporters who questioned the Reform leader today.

Farage was speaking ahead of the rally in Doncaster – taking place now – which is one of the number which the party has scheduled over coming weeks.

Reform was rocked on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News. Soon after it was shown, the two aides most directly implicated – James Orr and Dan Jukes – were suspended by the party.

A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party.

In Channel 4 News’ investigation, footage shows that the fake UK-based supporter also had conversations with Orr, Reform UK’s head of policy, who talked about commissioning polling that would be paid for by the US-based father.

In footage of another meeting, Jukes, a senior adviser to Farage, appeared to suggest to the fake UK-based supporter that his US-based father could make a substantial donation by channelling it through the son.

Jukes has denied “any wrongdoing” while Orr has said he would cooperate with the party’s internal investigation “fully”.

The Metropolitan police is carrying out a criminal investigation into Reform UK over allegations it broke foreign funding laws.

Poland would welcome UK applying to rejoin EU 'with open arms', foreign minister says

While we wait for Farage to speak in Doncaster, where he will undoubtedly comment on Andy Burnham’s plans to launch a major review of the UK’s relationship with the EU, our Europe live correspondent, Jakub Krupa, has the following report:

After France’s Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s Pedro Sánchez yesterday, Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski is the latest EU leader to offer his take on Britain’s renewed push to reset its relationship with the European Union, a decade on from Brexit.

In a post on X aimed partially at his domestic opponents ahead of Poland’s 2027 parliamentary election, he said:

“If [Britain] were to apply for a return to [the EU], which Poland would welcome with open arms, it would mean that after a decade of analyses, London has concluded that membership is the optimal form of participation in the single market. Let us not be swayed by the Europhobes into believing that a better alternative exists.”

For more Europe-related news, you can follow our dedicated live blog here:

Related: Russia ‘poses rapidly increasing threat’ to Nato, warns Dutch prime minister – Europe live

Updated

Introducing Farage on stage is GB news presenter Matt Goodwin. He told the crowds that if a general election were held tomorrow “we emerge as the largest party in this country”. He didn’t say winner, though.

Goodwin stood as Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection in Greater Manchester earlier this year, and lost to the Green party’s Hannah Spencer.

Farage speaks at Doncaster rally

We are about to hear from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who is in Doncaster in South Yorkshire today for the party’s ‘first 100 days’ rally. You can watch live here:

Updated

'Release from prison doesn't mean freedom,' says justice secretary

The justice secretary, Alex Norris, has sought to reassure the public with a video on social media explaining prisoners could be sent back to jail if they break the conditions of their early release.

In a video posted on X, he said: “Release from prison doesn’t mean freedom.

“We’ve got the widest range of tools ever to manage and punish those who leave prison.”

They include exclusion zones, restriction zones, GPS monitoring, probation services, curfews and alcohol monitoring, Norris said.

He added: “Breaking these conditions will have consequences. You could be sent back to jail.

“These changes will protect the public, they’ll make sure the system doesn’t collapse and they’ll put victims at the heart of everything we do.”

Updated

Lib Dem row erupts over Ed Davey’s defence of pension triple lock

In other news today, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s comments on the pension triple lock has sparked an intense debate within the party.

Davey was on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning talking about the government’s plans to end the existing state pension guarantee in order to help pay for a new national care service.

Davey argued that it could harm younger workers in the future.

“We already have nearly two million pensioners in poverty,” he said.

“This would mean that people who are working hard now, the millennials, when they retire they’d have a very poor pension.”

Tom Gordon, the Lib Dem MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, was not convinced by this argument.

“The idea that we’re keeping the triple lock to help millennials is at best for the birds, and at worst downright insulting. I say that as a millennial,” he wrote on X.

He added that Davey’s suggestion that the scrapping of the triple lock could hurt younger voters “gaslights an entire generation into believing it’s for our benefit”.

He said: “Telling millennials we’re keeping the triple lock to help us in 30 years’ time is nonsense.”

Vikki Slade, the Lib Dem MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, took a similar view, writing on the Bluesky app: “Most millennials don’t think there will be a state pension when they retire so this isn’t being done with them in mind.”

Updated

Hundreds of prisoners are due to be released early from jail on Thursday amid warnings that many will have nowhere to live and the probation system will struggle to monitor them.

About 2,000 criminals including domestic abusers and violent offenders are to be freed over the next month, with another 3,000 in stages over the next year to ease overcrowding. The number was reduced from 6,000 after an intervention by the prime minister, Andy Burnham.

Prisoners are supposed to be found appropriate accommodation before their release, significantly reducing reoffending rates.

But a probation source told the Guardian that their colleagues in some towns and cities were struggling to find hostel places.

“We have a handful of places for ex-offenders and they are full. We are now looking at releasing some people straight on to the street,” the source said.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the social justice charity Nacro, said: “We know that leaving prison homeless can put people on a path back into custody. It is vital that the whole system from prisons and probation to councils and community providers work together to give people a roof over their heads.”

Read more:

Related: Prisoners freed early in England and Wales risk living on the streets, say probation officers

Victim Support launches new offender release helpline

Victim Support has launched a new helpline for anyone with concerns about the early release of prisoners.

The charity’s CEO Katie Kempen said: “Images of prisoners being released today will be extremely distressing for the many victims who are already feeling incredibly scared and anxious about the early release of offenders.

“Supporting people through the impact of crime is why Victim Support exists. While it’s wholly unacceptable that victims continue to bear the brunt of a justice system in crisis, we are glad to be able to provide free, independent, specialist support at this critical time through the dedicated helpline launching today.

“Our specially trained advisers will give callers the space to be heard, provide practical guidance to protect their safety and wellbeing, and help them to understand next steps.

“We urge anyone who is affected by, or worried about, changes to an offender’s release date to call our new Offender Release Helpline on freephone 0808 168 9280.”

Charities warn Tory ‘tough love’ benefits plan could push young people deeper into poverty

Back to the Conservative party’s ‘“tough love” plan to get young benefit claimants into work (we had more on that in an earlier post), we have comments from charities concerned about the impact on people living in poverty and with disabilities.

Child Poverty Action Group’s director of policy, Sara Ogilvie, said:

If we learnt anything from the austerity era it’s that cutting social security support drives up child poverty and cuts young people off from opportunity. Much better training and employment support is needed but blocking access to universal credit would not remove young people from jeopardy, it would dig the most disadvantaged deeper into hardship.”

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Mencap, which supports people with learning disabilities, said:

Many young people with a learning disability want to work. It’s help and opportunity that are lacking, not ambition.

“Cutting off support through the benefits system won’t create jobs. It will push young disabled people into poverty, creating hardship and suffering for individuals and greater pressure on the public purse as other services pick up the pieces. We know sanctions-based approaches hit people with a learning disability hard because they are likely to struggle with complex requirements, daily attendance rules and inaccessible information.

“Getting more young disabled people into work means investing in opportunity, not cutting support: expanding supported internships, providing specialist employment support and helping employers recruit disabled people.”

Updated

Of course, opponents of the early release scheme have come out to criticise it.

Laila Cunningham, Reform UK’s candidate for mayor of London, was outside HMP Wandsworth speaking to reporters.

She said if she was Andy Burnham, she would “hang my head in shame”.

“He should go speak to every domestic abuse victim who is fleeing her home and look them in the eye and say how’s he going to help them, what’s he going to do for them,” she added.

Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk and shadow justice secretary, said the public would “pay the price”.

He said: “Today’s releases are an insult to victims, a danger to the public, and will only encourage more lawbreaking from criminals who know they have a ticket out of prison.”

Some more comments from prisoners who have been released today, courtesy of the Press Association:

Michael Bogle, 38, from Brent, north-west London, told reporters outside HMP Wandsworth that he served 78 days in prison after breaching a 32-week suspended sentence for shoplifting.

He said he had been jailed five separate times for 100 convictions.

In a message to Andy Burnham, he said: “Keep the early release going. It’s good.”

He said there is a risk he would shoplift again “but hopefully not”, telling reporters he had an approved premises to live and plans to go to the job centre.

Matthew Johnson, 35, from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, said he was “buzzing” to be out of HMP Leeds, where he served six months of an 18 month-sentence for actual bodily harm.

Of the early release scheme, he said: “It’s a good idea, to be fair. They need to free up some places anyway. It’s a bit cramped.

“The staff are overwhelmed anyway with what they’ve got to cope with at the minute.”

The father-of-five said he was going to “go home and see my kids”.

Jordan Laverack, 26, said outside HMP Leeds: “The plan for today its to go to KFC and after that I’m not sure.”

He said: “I think early release is good for myself. I can see why there’s a lot of attention behind it, because there might be people doing heinous crime who are getting released early. But for the average person, who’s missed probation like myself, I think it suits somebody like me.”

Mr Laverack said he served just under four weeks for missing probation appointments, but would not say why he was on probation, adding: “nothing too bad”.

He said: “I just want to get myself some work, some employment, make my family proud, maybe get a girlfriend, get married, you never know.

“They’ve actually released me with nowhere to stay but I’ve got a few friends I can stay at. The people who don’t will be back doing what they’re doing.”

Updated

Just as a reminder of why prisoners are being released early, here is an explainer by Jamie Grierson which sets out how the scheme works, why it was introduced and the changes made by Burnham’s government:

Related: What is Burnham doing to the early prison release scheme and why?

Jamie writes:

The Labour government says it inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse, with fewer than 100 spaces left in the summer of 2024. No 10 says a lack of investment in the prison estate, with just 500 net places added over a decade, has led to a situation where adult male prisons are now at 98% capacity. It says the steps are necessary while it builds capacity.

Updated

'Thank you Andy Burnham,' say prisoners released early from jail

As mentioned earlier, hundreds of prisoners are being released early today across England and Wales, and some had a message for the prime minister.

“Thank you Andy Burnham,” one prisoner leaving HMP Durham in north-east England said, according to PA.

Another prisoner leaving HMP Cardiff said: “Thank you very much and don’t get me back here again, bro.”

Not exactly the sort of message that will delight the prime minister, who inherited the early release scheme from Keir Starmer (Burnham has since narrowed its scope after criticisms from MPs, victims, campaigners and frontline prison officers).

Speaking of the former prime minister, today’s scenes may bring back memories of the “Big up Keir Starmer” comment from a prisoner released early in October 2024.

My colleague Hannah Al-Othman captured the scenes of celebration outside prisons as the government’s early release scheme got under way in her report:

Outside HMP Swaleside in Kent, Daniel Dowling-Brooks, 29, said: “Big up Keir Starmer” as he was celebrating with his friends, mother and sister who picked him up in a convoy of a white Bentley and black Mercedes G-wagon.

He told reporters he had served seven years for kidnap and grievous bodily harm of someone who owed money to his friend, and had been released seven weeks early.

He said he regretted his crime, and planned to spend more time with his two children and his friends.

He said the first thing he would do was “go to McDonald’s, go to my hostel and follow all the rules”.

“I feel good, man,” he added. “I feel happy.”

Updated

Burnham rejects Tory/Reform UK claims his call for debate on all options for closer EU relations betrays byelection pledge

Yesterday Andy Burnham did a round of sit-down interviews with broadcast political editors. They were all embargoed until 5pm, which is when most Westminster journalists were on their way home after the Labour conference in Liverpool, and that meant they did not get as much pick-up as they might have done normally.

Here are some of the most interesting news lines worth recording.

  • Burnham rejected claims that taxes would have to go up to fund his plan for a National Care Service. On Sunday, in his interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Burnham strongly implied tax rises would be needed. But when Sky’s Beth Rigby asked Burnham if he would have to raise taxes to implement this, Burnham replied:

No, because there’s a different way of doing it. If you delay the date of introduction and you introduce a National Care Service progressively, but you could do it in a different way … You could do it earlier. So Louise Casey, Baroness Casey is looking at all of these issues.

Burnham also said that in the long run the savings from his changes to the pensions triple lock – £15bn by 2040 – would be enough to fund his plans. But he accepted that money would not be released soon.

  • Burnham claimed Brexit had led to more immigrants to the UK wanting to settle permanently. Speaking to GB News, he said:

One thing that I want to convey here is Brexit has changed the nature of immigration to this country because in the past, when we were in the European Union … what we had was a more revolving door form of migration, where people would come here in their younger years. Many people did from Eastern Europe … They’d maybe spend you know a few years here in their mid to late 20s, and then go home and start a family, and that was a very common form of immigration.

Now, immigration is more likely to be a permanent settlement, where people are coming on a visa to work here. And then we saw obviously the Boris wave and the changes that came through in that in that period. So it’s changed the nature of immigration.

  • Burnham rejected claims that having a debate on electoral reform was divisive. He told Sky News: “That isn’t divisive because most of the political parties have indicated support for that policy.”

  • Burnham rejected claims that, by opening a debate on how to change the UK’s relationship with the EU, he was going back on a promise he made during the Makerfield byelection that he would not propose rejoining. This is a claim made by the Tories and by Nigel Farage. (See 11.02am.) On Channel 4 News, Burnham insisted that he was not proposing to reverse Brexit; he was just opening a debate. And on ITV News he said it would not be credible to publish a 10-year plan for Britain, as he plans to do later this year, without considering the UK’s relationship with the EU.

  • Burnham suggested the UK could rejoin the EU without having to hold another referendum. When Gary Gibbon from Channel 4 News asked if another referendum would be needed for Britain to join, or if a government would have the authority to do that just based on a manifesto promise, Burnham told him he was “jumping the gun”. But when Gibbon asked if he was ruling out the idea that a manifesto promise might be enough, making a referendum unnecessary, Burnham replied:

I wouldn’t rule anything out at this moment in time because whatever happens has to have the full authority of the country and a majority support for it.

Speaking to the BBC, Burnham said that he wanted to have a “calm discussion about what broadly are our options here” and then see if there is” a centre of gravity or a consensus around one of them”.

  • Burnham hinted that he might not wait until 2029 before holding the next election. At the end of last week, to quash speculation about an early election, Burnham explicitly told an interviewer it would be in 2029. But when Sky’s Beth Rigby asked him to confirm that he would not hold an election until 2029, he replied:

I’m not going to call an early general election, no. I’m not. I’m happy to make that absolutely clear.

An election in 2028 would not count as an early election. Arguably, one in 2027 would not count as early either.

My colleague Taz Ali is taking over the blog now. I will be back in the afternoon.

Updated

Farage claims Labour will lose votes in 'red wall' after Burnham's call for new relationship with EU

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has claimed that Labour will lose voters in the “red wall” (traditional Labour areas that voted for Brexit and turned Tory in 2019) because of his call for a debate on a closer relationship with the EU, and even potentially rejoining. Speaking on GB News, Farage said that during the Makerfield byelection Burnham said he respected the Brexit vote and was not proposing rejoining the EU. He went on:

From a prime minister who says he wants to unite the country, I can’t think of anything more divisive than going back to the Brexit debate and some of the anger that would provoke.

And it certainly does not honour the promise he made the people of Makerfield when he won that byelection just a few months ago; it doesn’t pass the Makerfield test.

It will do Labour a great deal of damage in the red wall, but you can see what he’s trying to do. You know, quoting the Liberal Democrats, quoting George Osborne, almost trying to build a new coalition for us to become part of that European Union again.

Foreign Office announces fresh sanctions against Russian 'propagandists and torturers'

The Foreign Office has announced new sanctions against Russia. It says the 31 measures include “sanctioning LNG shadow fleet vessels, Kremlin disinformation networks and perpetrators of civilian torture and child indoctrination”.

In the news release about the announcement, the Foreign Office says:

Following sham elections in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine earlier this month, the UK is now taking firm action against people and entities found to have undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity through human rights abuses.

They include eight people involved in the arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians. These abuses are part of a wider system of repression in Russia’s occupied territories, where enforced disappearance and denial of justice have also been used against Ukrainian civilians.

A further seven individuals are being targeted for their role in the indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children, including those deported by the Russian authorities. To date, an estimated 6,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly relocated to a network of heinous so-called “re-education” camps.

Annual homelessness deaths in England and Wales have almost doubled over past decade, ONS says

The Office for National Statistics has published a report today saying there were an estimated 974 deaths of people experiencing homelessness in England and Wales last year. That is almost exactly the same as the estimated figure for last year, but 77% higher than the figure for 2013.

Prisoners freed early in England and Wales risk living on the streets, say probation officers

Hundreds of prisoners are due to be released early from jail on Thursday amid warnings that many will have nowhere to live and the probation system will struggle to monitor them, Rajeev Syal reports.

Related: Prisoners freed early in England and Wales risk living on the streets, say probation officers

Tories suggest they would cut benefits for young people if they're living at home and parents can support them

The Conservatives have also hinted that they might cut the benefits available to young people if they are living at home and their parents can support them. They are not giving many details, but this is potentially quite a big change to the way the benefits system works. At the moment young people’s eligibility for benefits depends on their own earnings and assets; if their parents can afford to subsidise them, that is not taken into account.

The Conservative party says:

The Get to Work Allowance will also put greater emphasis on family responsibility. We will review the role of family support for young adults living at home. A university student’s access to financial support can depend on their parents’ circumstances, yet the rules for young adults claiming benefits work differently. So we will look again at how parents’ earnings and savings are treated, including where parents themselves claim universal credit. Young people without parental support, including those who are estranged, will continue to have a safety net.

What Tories say about conditions that would apply to people getting their proposed Get to Work Allowance

Here are more details from the Conservative party’s news release about the conditions that would apply to their proposed Get to Work Allowance. It says:

For the first time ever, work requirements and support will kick in immediately, as soon as a young person makes a benefits claim. Each young person will also be assigned an individual Get to Work Manager whose job it will be to make sure they get into work.

Each young person will need to complete assigned work activities to get their Get to Work Allowance each week. Activities will depend on the young person’s qualifications, experience and motivation. For instance:

-Daily attendance at a local job centre, on work experience placements, training/work readiness courses or community work schemes set up with local councils;

-Participation in job search and application workshops, and interview preparation sessions;

-Group sessions to develop the communication skills, teamwork and behaviours that employers tell us are so often missing in young job applicants.

Those who complete the Get to Work programme successfully will receive a ‘Ready for Work’ Award recording the skills they have demonstrated. After six months on Get to Work, young people still seeking to claim universal credit but not working will drop down to the Subsistence Allowance, worth 70% of their previous claim, in line with the policies announced by the Conservatives last week. This will incentivise young people to take work when they are offered it.

The party’s news release does not say what the Get to Work Allowance would be worth, or anything about the potential costs or savings from the scheme.

Updated

Badenoch proposes welfare reform that would stop many jobless under-25s getting universal credit

Good morning. The Conservatives start their conference at the weekend and Kemi Badenoch is kicking off proceedings by announcing a significant plan for welfare reform – stopping many under-25s from being able to claim universal credit, the main unemployment benefit.

Instead, they would get a new Get to Work Allowance – which would be subject to conditions from day one intended to help people find work. If after six months they are still out of work, they would go on to a new benefit, a Subsistence Allowance, worth just 70% of their previous claims.

The plans don’t relate to disability benefits, because they would only apply to people able to work.

Explaining the plans in an interview with the Spectator, Kemi Badenoch said:

It’s unfair to the people who get up and go to work, having others earn more than them for not working. Even families on benefits know that the system is out of control. But no one wants to be the one to get off the treadmill first. We need to force that. Government has to do that.

The Tories are describing this as a “tough love” approach designed to deal with the problem of around one million young people being Neets (not in employment, education or training). Tim Shipman, who interviewed Badenoch for the Spectator, has a more colourful description. “This is the nanny state with menaces; Mary Poppins with an umbrella gun,” he says.

And here is the Conservative party’s explanation of its plans from its news release.

The Conservatives will require all 18-24 year olds who attempt to claim universal credit and who have not previously worked for a continuous period of 6 months to participate in a Get to Work scheme in exchange for welfare. Participants will receive a new ‘Get to Work Allowance’ which is contingent on their participation in the scheme. To be exempt from these requirements 18-24 year olds will have to demonstrate that they have previously been in continuous employment for a period of 6 months or more, for a minimum of 16 hours a week. Young people on UC who are not subject to work-related requirements, such as for health reasons or due to caring responsibilities, will be exempt.

The programme would last up to six months. Participants could leave earlier if they secure a job, apprenticeship or qualifying education or training place.

For participants in the Get to Work Scheme, the new Get to Work Allowance will replace the universal credit standard allowance. After 6 months, if participants on the scheme have not entered work they will automatically move down to the new Subsistence Allowance announced last week by the Conservatives. This is paid at 70% of the current Standard Allowance and will be pre-loaded onto a Back to Work card that prevents claimants spending on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling. After six months they would continue to be subject to demanding conditions.

We have not heard from Labour yet, and that may be because the party is not sure yet how to respond. Alan Milburn, the former cabinet minister, has finished the final report from his inquiry into Neets and it is due to be published before the budget. He is also expected to propose measures that would impose more conditions on young people getting out-of-work benefits because he also wants to stop people being consigned to a life on benefits. And ministers are expected to adopt his plans. We don’t know the details of the Milburn/government scheme, and it will probably involve more carrot than stick than the Tory one. But there may well be quite a lot of overlap too.

I will post more on the plans, and the Badenoch interview, soon.

Parliament is not sitting, and there is not much in the Westminster diary. But Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, does have a rally at 2pm this afternoon where he will respond to Andy Burnham’s conference speech..

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