Keir Starmer with Andy Burnham at the launch of Labour’s election manifesto last year. via Associated Press
The mayor of Manchester said the PM’s concessions did not go far enough.
Andy Burnham has called on Labour MPs to vote down the government’s welfare cuts – despite Keir Starmer’s attempts to buy off his backbench rebels.
The Manchester mayor said the prime minister had only performed “half a U-turn”, which did not go far enough.
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He said Labour MPs “face the prospect, if they accept this package, someone could come to their surgery in two years saying ‘why did you vote to make me £6,000 worse off than someone exactly the same, but who was protected because they were an existing claimant’?”
“I hope they think carefully before the vote, because the vote will create that unfairness and divide in disabled people,” he added.
The government agreed to make two major changes to the welfare bill ahead of a House of Commons vote on Tuesday (Alamy)
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On Tuesday, we are being asked to vote for the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in its original form because the concessions promised are not written into the Bill yet. We are being asked again to ‘trust’ that the Bill will change in committee.
But even with the promised concessions, we are still being asked to tighten eligibility criteria. A cut in support for those who will need it the most.
I am one of several disabled MPs, and not once did anyone from the Cabinet or No 10 reach out to me. Even worse, it appears they didn’t reach out to the multitude of disabled rights organisations or trade unions in agreeing to those concessions. Why were they not in the room when vital decisions about their lives were made?
These concessions are about party management and saving face.
There is no new bill, there are no new explanatory notes, and there are no impact assessments on the new proposals, and no time for sufficient scrutiny. There has been no formal consultation with disabled people. The majority of employment support won’t be in place until the end of the decade, access to work is in a worse state than ever before, it is unclear what the impact on carers’ allowances will be, and it creates a two-tier benefit system where disabled people will be worse off.
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A mass funeral is held outside Al-Shifa Hospital for Palestinians, including children, who lost their lives in multiple Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Gaza, on June 28, 2025. [Abdalhkem Abu Riash – Anadolu Agency]
At least 51 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured on Saturday when Israeli warplanes and artillery struck multiple locations across the Gaza Strip, including areas sheltering displaced families, Anadolu reports.
In the latest attack, eight Palestinians, including five children and a woman, were killed, and more than 27 others were injured in an Israeli air strike targeting a group of civilians near the Yafa School shelter center in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, according to Gaza Civil Defense.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed when Israeli shelling struck a popular market in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, it said.
Earlier, in the northern part of the strip, two Palestinians, including a child, were killed and 12 others injured in an Israeli strike on the Adnan Al-Alami School, which shelters displaced families northwest of Gaza City, medical sources told Anadolu.
Separately, two Palestinians were killed when an Israeli air strike hit a home in the neighborhood of Jabalia al-Balad.
In Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, two civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on a group of people gathered east of the city.
Medical sources said three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on the Al-Saftawi area in northern Gaza City.
Two Palestinians were also killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting to receive US-Israeli aid south of Gaza City.
Strikes on people seeking aid
In southern Gaza, six more Palestinians were killed and several others were injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, the sources added.
Seven more Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Another air strike targeted a displaced family’s tent in the same area, killing one person and injuring several others. A separate strike in the area wounded six more people.
Seven more Palestinian, who were waiting to receive aid west of Rafah in southern Gaza, were also shot dead by Israeli forces, medical sources said.
Israeli forces also opened fire on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid near a distribution point associated with the controversial US-Israeli aid mechanism near the Netzarim corridor. At least 10 people were injured by live ammunition, according to local medical teams.
Since May 27, Israel and the US have been operating an aid distribution system independent of the UN and major humanitarian agencies. Critics have condemned the initiative as a “death trap,” as Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking food and supplies.
As of Wednesday, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that at least 549 Palestinians had been killed and more than 4,066 injured while attempting to receive aid at these distribution sites.
Separately, at least eight Palestinians were injured when the Israeli artillery targeted two homes in the northern Gaza town of Jabalia at dawn.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi gives a speech in Vienna, Austria on June 23, 2025. [Aşkın Kıyağan – Anadolu Agency]
Iran’s foreign minister announced Saturday that the country will prohibit Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from entering its territory and will also not allow the agency to install surveillance cameras at nuclear facilities, Anadolu reports.
“We will not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to install cameras at our nuclear sites, and the agency’s chief will be banned from entering the country,” Abbas Araghchi said in a statement reported by the Iranian national news agency IRNA.
The announcement follows growing tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog over monitoring access and transparency in the wake of recent military confrontations with Israel and the US.
This move follows Iran’s parliament passing legislation on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.
A 12‑day conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13 when Israel launched air strikes on Iranian military, nuclear, and civilian sites, killing at least 606 people and injuring 5,332, according to Iran’s Health Ministry.
Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes on Israel, killing at least 29 people and wounding more than 3,400, according to figures released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The conflict came to a halt under a US-sponsored ceasefire that took effect on June 24.
