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STORY

The Treasury Committee has received more than 52,000 responses to its public survey on student loans and the taxation of graduates. MPs said it was one of the highest response rates ever recorded for a select committee inquiry.

Of the 49,357 respondents who had taken out student loans, 40,373 said the financial impact of repayments combined with taxation was worse than expected. A further 45,843 said they did not think the level of interest and repayment terms were reasonable, while 34,555 said repayments had materially affected their future financial planning.

The Committee stressed that the responses came from a self-selecting group and should not be treated as a representative sample of the whole population. The evidence will nevertheless inform its inquiry into student loans, interest rates, repayment terms and the wider interaction between graduate repayments and the tax system.

STORY

Jess Phillips has said she threatened to resign several times over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. The former safeguarding minister said she had been “hurt and upset” by the original appointment, before Mandelson was later dismissed over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Phillips said she used the situation to press for commitments on violence against women and girls, saying she made demands in order to stay in Government. She resigned earlier this month with a letter criticising Sir Keir Starmer for failing to be bold and for allowing opportunities for progress to stall.

The intervention adds to pressure on the Prime Minister from within Labour, particularly on questions of judgement and political direction. It also keeps the Mandelson row alive at a sensitive moment for Downing Street, with former ministers and backbenchers increasingly willing to speak publicly about their concerns.

STORY

Reform UK is facing criticism after analysis of its civil service reduction plan suggested that some proposed job cuts exceed the number of people employed in the relevant roles. The party’s Storm and Sunshine policy paper proposes a 13% reduction in civil service headcount and says this would save more than £5 billion a year.

The plan includes cutting 450 planning roles, although civil service statistics show 445 planners are employed across the civil service in Britain. It also proposes reducing occupational psychology roles by 930, despite many of those staff working in prisons and probation, and cutting 2,500 security posts without specifying which departments would be affected.

The Conservatives accused Reform of producing unrealistic policies that would risk damaging security, prison welfare and planning capacity. Reform said its figures included planning inspectors and defended the proposals, but the row underlines the growing scrutiny being applied to the party’s programme as it seeks to present itself as a Government-in-waiting.

STORY

Major British retailers have urged ministers to move more quickly to close a tax loophole they say gives overseas online platforms an unfair advantage. Companies including Next, Marks & Spencer, Primark, Argos, ASOS, Kingfisher and Currys have called for a £2.60 customs duty on low-value parcels from overseas.

The retailers argue that ultra-low-cost platforms such as Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Amazon Haul benefit from rules that allow parcels worth less than £135 to avoid customs duties. The Government has said it intends to begin charging duties on such parcels from March 2029 at the latest and has launched a consultation.

In a letter to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, the retailers said ministers needed to speed up the process to restore fair competition. The issue is likely to add to wider political debate about the future of high streets, consumer prices, Chinese e-commerce and the balance between cheaper goods and domestic retail jobs.

STORY

The head of GCHQ is expected to warn that Russia is carrying out “relentless” cyber activity against the UK and Europe. Anne Keast-Butler will use the agency’s inaugural annual lecture to say that critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust are being targeted.

She is expected to argue that businesses, public bodies and households all need to treat cyber security with greater urgency. Her remarks will also point to the role of GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre in disrupting Russian activity, countering sabotage and defending against hostile state-backed cyber attacks.

The warning comes at a time of heightened concern about hybrid threats, including cyber attacks, disinformation and attempts to undermine democratic systems. It also reinforces the Government’s argument that national security now extends well beyond conventional defence and requires cooperation between the state, industry and the public.

STORY

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has announced the UK’s first successful download of data from space using a deployable laser communications ground station, in a development intended to improve the speed and security of military communications. The trial was carried out by Archangel Lightworks for Dstl and involved data being downloaded from a satellite in low Earth orbit to an optical ground station in the Mediterranean region.

During a 90-second satellite pass, the system downloaded many gigabytes of data using free space optical communications, which transmits information through very low-power, non-visible light rather than radio waves. The Government said the technology could be particularly important for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, where large volumes of information need to be moved quickly and securely.

Luke Pollard, the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said space was crucial to the way the armed forces communicate and that laser communications would increase how quickly and securely satellites could communicate with bases on Earth. Dstl said the work could support several Ministry of Defence capability areas, including the UK’s digital targeting web, and could also be interoperable with the US Space Development Agency standard.

STORY

Households are set to face higher energy bills from July after Ofgem raised the domestic energy price cap by 13%. The regulator said the increase reflected higher wholesale gas prices linked to the continuing conflict in the Middle East, with the average annual bill rising from £1,641 to £1,862.

The increase will affect millions of households on standard variable tariffs and has placed further pressure on the Government over the cost of living. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (in photo) said the rise was “deeply unwelcome” and argued that ministers were focused on easing the burden on households.

Consumer groups urged targeted support for those on low incomes and households already struggling with debt. Analysts warned that bills could rise again in October if disruption to energy markets continues, making the price cap decision another difficult economic moment for ministers trying to show that living standards are improving.

STORY

The Government is facing renewed pressure to act quickly on children’s online safety after campaigners whose children died after exposure to harmful online material met the Prime Minister. Ministers have been told to bring forward measures in “weeks, not months” after the consultation on Growing Up In The Online World closed with more than 80,000 responses.

The options under consideration include restrictions on under-16s using social media, limits on scrolling and overnight curfews for children. Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful material online, warned against a simple blanket ban, arguing that children would find ways around it and may then be less willing to speak up when things went wrong.

Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would be “decisive” and had asked ministers to develop a “game-changer” policy. The issue is becoming an increasingly significant test of how far ministers are willing to regulate technology companies, with campaigners arguing that the existing system still leaves children exposed to serious harms.