Commons blow Lords away in shooting cup
The final scores from an enjoyable morning of shooting proved to be 245 for the Commons versus 212 for the Lords. Captain Greg Smith, who stepped into the breach left by Bill Wiggin, received the silver cup, heroically rescued from the Bishops' Bar in the House of Lords. Kit Malthouse meanwhile wrestled the accolade of 'top gun' off the Earl of Effingham. Graham Brady, the captain of the Lords, graciously conceded defeat, assuring his fellow peers that his 'last minute transfer' from the Commons team had not seen him act as a double agent for MPs.
As for Mr S, after a lamentable performance, there was only one piece of advice: musket better. The Commons team would be well shot of him next year…
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Minimum level of retirement income needed to prevent surge in pensioner poverty, MPs warn
Ministers should ensure a retired people have a minimum level of income to prevent a surge in pensioner poverty, MPs have warned. It comes after the work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said Britain faced a 'tsunami of pensioner poverty' without major reform to the system as she opened the door to an increase in the state pension age. Age UK has found that two million pensioners are already in poverty, with the number expected to rise. Now MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions Committee say a new national strategy to tackle the problem among older people is needed. They have urged the government to set and deliver a minimum level of retirement income, enough for a "dignified, socially acceptable standard of living" in later life. The report also warns that, as people age, the health and social care systems risk becoming unsustainable if ministers fail to tackle the effect poverty has on ill-health. Among the worrying long-term trends that "threaten to undermine pension adequacy", are people renting into later life, the report adds. It also calls for ministers to ensure those entitled to pensions credits of up to £4,000 a year receive them. Current take up is under 70 per cent, with an estimated 700,000 households missing out. Receiving pension credit can also help older people access other benefits such as housing benefit, council tax support, the warm homes discount, a free TV licence, and help with their dental treatment. The report warns: "After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021." It continued: "In practice, this means cutting back on essentials, like food, energy use and seeing friends, in an attempt to manage costs. Health experts explained the implications for health. Financial hardship can accelerate the ageing process, making it more likely that an older person will enter hospital or need care." Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said: "To boost incomes, the government needs to come up with a strategy to increase pension credit take-up. It's a scandal that so many have missed out for so many years, often through an aversion to claiming benefits altogether, or lack of support.' She added: "Ultimately, the government should decide what it thinks is enough for a dignified retirement, and then work to ensure that all pensioners are on at least that level. "Faced with a combination of high energy costs, ill-health and ever higher rates of pensioners in more costly privately rented accommodation, tackling pensioner poverty is not simply a DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) issue. So, we're calling for a nationwide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society that should be rooted in equity and wellbeing." On Tuesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves said that a review into raising the state pension age is needed to ensure the system was "sustainable and affordable". The state pension age is currently 66, but will rise to 67 by 2028. A government spokesperson said: "Supporting pensioners is a top priority, and thanks to our commitment to the triple lock, millions will see their yearly state pension rise by up to £1,900 by the end of this parliament. "We have also run the biggest-ever campaign to boost pension credit take-up, with nearly 60,000 extra pensioner households being awarded the benefit, worth on average around £4,300 a year. "But we know there is a real risk that tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, which is why we are reviving the Pension Commission, to tackle the barriers that stop too many people from saving." Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: "We warmly welcome this thoughtful and wide-ranging select committee report, which comes closer to providing a thorough and progressive strategic overview of the issues facing older people on low incomes and proposing workable solutions than anything successive governments have produced in recent years.'
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
The best deer deterrent? Radio 4
Behind the latest push for recognition of a Palestinian state – even though there is no agreement of what it is that might be recognised – is a sort of impersonation of the story of Israel. Palestinian activists want their own Balfour Declaration. President Macron wants France and Britain to come up with their own Sykes-Picot agreement, but pro-Palestinian. You might think that the clamour would have been shamed into silence by the massacres and hostage-taking committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023. On the contrary, these have somehow empowered the mimicry in wilder and more horrible ways. The genocide, we are now told, is being committed not by Hamas, but by Israel's response. The 'concentration camps' are being set up by Israel in Gaza. And back here in Britain, where it might seem to the unprejudiced observer that anti-Semitism is now almost literally running riot, it is 'Islamophobia' which is being defined as an enemy so great that only one of our many religions must be protected by law, despite the cost to free speech. 'Zionists', by which is now meant Jews (note this change of nomenclature between the Hamas Charter of 1988 and that of 2017), are painted as the murderous classes, so Britain must be 'de-zionised'. Does David Lammy realise where his new rhetoric is leading him and his party? One reason why nothing gets done in this country is that bureaucratic power lies in delay. A business or a private individual needs to get on because his time is his money: the bureaucracy's time is our money, so it has all the time in the world. This is an acute problem in relation to payouts for infected blood, the Post Office scandal etc. A faithful reader, Keith Miles, has an idea. Reverse the process, he says. Force the civil service to pay out £1 million to each acknowledged victim within three months unless it can be proved in that time that the money is not owed. Then the boot will be on the other foot. On Monday, the House of Lords agreed that the bill to remove all hereditary peers from the House of Lords 'do now pass'. The thing will not be complete until the Commons has considered amendments in September, but the death sentence has now been pronounced on the practice of more than 700 years. One or two speeches noted the melancholy historical significance of the change. The House is becoming a rump, though admittedly a large one. But I was interested by a rather more basic point made by the departing Earl of Caithness. When he had first taken his seat 50 years ago, he said, the daily allowance for attending the Lords was £4.73, which is £105.14 in current values. 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I go there from time to time because my mother is now too frail to manage the journey and so I transact her Nationwide account for her. My visits have impressed me with the social utility of the place. Almost every customer is either old or, like me, acting on behalf of the old. There is a lot of fiddling with spectacles and hearing aids and struggling with forgotten passwords. Old ladies try to sort out their late husband's financial affairs or transfer money to their daughter in New Zealand. Everything moves slowly. The staff are completely patient and, unlike the computer, very rarely say no. I can see why Dame Debbie might feel she has bigger fish to fry. And I agree with the members who therefore suspect her. What is a building society building by paying £7 million to anyone? In the early 1970s, I used to stay with a schoolfriend whose parents lived in Old Church Street, Chelsea. 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My sister's partner uses the same contraption in their garden, but he tunes the alarm to Radio 2 and has much less success in frightening off the marauders. I wonder why. When I go past the alarm myself, setting it off, I do notice that most snatches of dialogue are, even now, conducted in the tones of educated men and women. Perhaps the deer are more in awe of voices 'born to command' than of popular songs.
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘This is not action': MPs respond to David Lammy's condemnation of Israel
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