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There is limited evidence that Rishi Sunak’s £2bn jobs programme for young people is working, according to a new report.

The National Audit Office (NAO) watchdog warned that the government has “limited assurance” over whether the Kickstart scheme, aimed at 16 to 24-year-olds, is having any positive effect or creating high quality jobs.

The government says that some 100,000 jobs have been created through the scheme, but it is unclear if these roles would have been created anyway, said the NAO.

The Kickstart scheme was designed to create six-month work placements for young people claiming benefits following a sharp rise in unemployment following the pandemic last year.

But the NAO has also cautioned that more could be done to ensure that the jobs created are “targeted at those who need them the most”.

Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office, said: “At the start of the pandemic, DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) acted quickly to set up Kickstart to help young people into work when youth unemployment was predicted to rise significantly.”

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Chancellor extends the Kickstart scheme

“However, DWP has limited assurance that Kickstart is having the positive impact intended,” Mr Davies said. “It does not know whether the jobs created are of high quality or whether they would have existed without the scheme.”

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In its report, the NAO added that the labour market reopened in ways that were not originally expected due to following lockdowns.

This increased the risk of the government subsidising jobs that would have been created anyway, the NAO said.

The government had initially stated that it intended to get 250,000 young people on a Kickstart placement by the end of this year – but fewer than 2,000 young people had started new roles through the scheme as of January 2021.

This summer, the DWP admitted that this target was unrealistic. It now estimates there will be up to 168,000 starts by the end of March 2022.

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‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

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‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

A crypto developer says Trump-linked crypto project WLFI froze his tokens and refused to unlock them, calling it “the new age mafia.”

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Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

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Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

Nigel Farage has confirmed he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to the Taliban in Afghanistan if he becomes prime minister.

The Reform UK leader’s position on the topic has not been clear, with him previously saying he would send women back to the fundamentalist regime that took over after western militaries withdrew, before now saying he would.

Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby at the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.

Politics live: Govt responds to Farage wanting early election

When asked if he would “detain” women and children and “send them back”, the Clacton MP said “yes”.

Challenged on when he said in August that he was not “discussing” women and children, Mr Farage claimed this was a reference to his desire to seeing men detained on arrival in the UK.

At the time he said he was “very, very clear” on the “deportation of illegal immigrants”, adding: “We are not even discussing women and children at this stage – there are so many illegal males in Britain, and the news reports that said that after my conference yesterday were wrong”

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Speaking today, Mr Farage claimed that the UK has a “duty of care” if a four-year-old arrives in a dinghy, for example – but not so for women and men.

“For clarity, those that cross the English Channel will be detained and deported, men and women,” Mr Farage went on.

“Children, we’ll have to think about.”

The Reform leader also rowed back on his pledge to stop all boats within two weeks if he is elected prime minister.

Speaking to the conference yesterday, Mr Farage said: “You cannot come here illegally and stay – we will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

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Watch Farage face questions on his tax affairs

But speaking to Beth Rigby today, he changed tack – saying “the passing of legislation” would be required.

He said the boats would then be stopped within two weeks, or sooner.

In the interview with Rigby, Mr Farage tried to claim he did not say he would end the boats within two weeks of “winning government”.

But the video of his speech, as well as the transcript released by Reform UK, clearly show him saying: “We will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

When asked why he wouldn’t be able to stop the boats within two weeks of winning government, Mr Farage said it was impossible and “no one” can prevent them crossing the Channel.

The Reform UK leader said the law he wants to introduce will be called the Illegal Migration Act once it is passed by parliament.

He confirmed his agenda includes leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, shutting down asylum hotels and housing people at RAF bases instead, as well as deporting Channel migrants.

Mr Farage also claimed that deportation flights would also begin within two weeks of the law changing, and this combination of factors would stop people from wanting to travel from France.

This strategy all depends on Reform UK winning the next general election – which Labour does not have to call until 2029.

However, Mr Farage says he believes the government will collapse in 2027 due to economic pressure and other factors.

Reform are currently well clear of Labour and the Conservatives in the polling, and are targeting next year’s Welsh, Scottish and English local election to try and win more power in councils and national assemblies.

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Senate crypto bill adds clause to keep tokenized stocks as securities

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Senate crypto bill adds clause to keep tokenized stocks as securities

Senate crypto bill adds clause to keep tokenized stocks as securities

The US Senate has added a provision to its crypto bill confirming that tokenized stocks remain securities, preserving their fit within existing financial frameworks.

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