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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has defended the speed of the rollout for his budget offer of free childcare for working parents, describing it as the “biggest transformation in childcare in my lifetime”.

The new childcare package will see working families in England having access to 30 hours of free childcare per week for children aged between nine months and four years old, where all adults in the household work at least 16 hours.

The policy had previously only applied to the parents of three and four-year-olds.

But the scheme will not come in until 2024, and the proposed start date could fall after the next general election.

Budget news – latest: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt speaks to Sky News

Challenged by Sky News’ Jayne Secker on the speed of the measures, Mr Hunt defended his plans, saying: “This is the biggest transformation in childcare in my lifetime.

“It’s a huge change and we are going to need thousands more nurseries, thousands more schools offering provision they don’t currently offer, thousands more childminders.

“We are going as fast as we can to get the supply in the market to expand.”

The offer of free childcare for working parents will be available to those with two-year-olds from April 2024, covering around half a million parents, but it will initially be limited to 15 hours.

From September 2024, the 15-hour offer will be extended to children from nine months, helping a total of nearly a million parents, and the full 30-hour offer to all under-fives will come in from September 2025.

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Are parents the big budget winners?

The chancellor said it was “the right thing to do because we have one of the most expensive childcare systems in the world”.

He added: “We know it is something that is a huge worry, for women in particular, that they have this cliff-edge when maternity leave ends after nine months, no help until the child turns three and that can often be career ending.

“So I think it is the right thing to do for many women, to introduce these reforms and we are introducing them as quickly as we can because we want to remove those barriers to work.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the changes, telling Sky News: “As a working mum myself, I know how important it is to have affordable, flexible childcare to meet the needs of working parents.”

But she added: “What I would say is what has taken the government so long?

“Thirteen years now of this Conservative government and only at this stage are they beginning to recognise how important childcare is both for children’s development but also crucially for our successes in the economy.”

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Mr Hunt also defended his planned changes to pensions, namely scrapping the lifetime pensions allowance, which will get rid of the £1m limit, after which workers pay tax on their pot.

Labour called it “a Tory tax cut for the rich”, saying it would only benefit the top 1% of earners, and said they would oppose it in Parliament, pushing for a vote on Tuesday.

But the chancellor insisted it would tackle the “big problem” of doctors leaving the NHS and in turn help reduce record-high waiting lists.

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Mhari Aurora explains all you need to know.

Mr Hunt also insisted the budget was helping everyone with the cost of living crisis – pointing to the freeze in the energy price cap at £2,500 – while also tackling “the long-term issues facing the economy… removing the barriers that stop people working”.

Ms Reeves accused the government of stealing from its playbook, saying Labour had called for the freeze of bills, changes to pre-payment meter charges and an improved childcare package.

But while she welcomed the adoption of measures her party backed, she told Sky News: “This was supposed to be a budget for growth yesterday. Yet the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded the growth forecasts.

“And it is growth that we desperately need in our economy to lift living standards, to keep taxes low and to have the money that we need for our public services.”

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Reeves welcomes ‘borrowing’ of Labour policy

Both the SNP and Liberal Democrats said the energy measures did not go far enough, calling for the government to cut bills for households.

MPs will continue to debate the budget in the Commons this afternoon and there could be disquiet from Mr Hunt’s own backbenchers after he decided to keep the planned rise in corporation tax up from 19% to 25% – and did not offer further tax cuts as some Tory MPs demanded.

Former government ministers Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Ranil Jayawardena all called on the chancellor to review his tax decisions in the coming months.

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Family of man who died on Benidorm holiday say they have new evidence of foul play

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Family of man who died on Benidorm holiday say they have new evidence of foul play

The family of a father-of-four who died on holiday in Benidorm say new evidence has further convinced them that foul play was involved in his death.

Nathan Osman, 30, from Pontypridd in South Wales, was on a long weekend break with friends in Benidorm in September 2024.

Less than 24 hours after he arrived, his body was found by an off-duty police officer at the bottom of a remote 650ft (200m) cliff on the outskirts of the resort.

He died from head and abdominal injuries after falling from height, a post-mortem found.

Local police said it was “a tragic accident” that occurred after Nathan left his friends in Benidorm to walk back to his hotel room alone.

But his family believe the investigation into his death has not been adequate, and that the local authorities have never considered the possibility of a homicide.

Their suspicions of foul play were first provoked by the fact that the remote location where Nathan was found was in the opposite direction to the hotel, and some distance away on foot.

They began doing their own investigating, building a timeline of events drawn from sources including CCTV, witness statements and Nathan’s bank records, which they say showed attempts were made to use his bank cards the day after he died.

After presenting their findings to Spanish prosecutors as evidence that others may have been involved, the case was reopened earlier this year.

Now, the family have told Sarah-Jane Mee on The UK Tonight that new phone data they have uncovered suggests he couldn’t have reached the spot he was found on foot.

Nathan's brother Lee, mother Elizabeth and father Jonathan speak to Sarah-Jane Mee
Image:
Nathan’s brother Lee, mother Elizabeth and father Jonathan speak to Sarah-Jane Mee

After getting the phone back a couple of months ago, they say they tracked Nathan’s last movements through a health app.

“There’s a breakdown inside the app of every 10 minutes – the distance, pace, measurement of pace… every detail you can think of,” Nathan’s brother, Lee Evans, tells Mee.

“His pace wasn’t consistent with a fast walk or even a sprint.”

He said it was a faster journey, despite being uphill for 40 minutes, which has convinced the family that he was in a vehicle.

Pic: Family handout
Image:
Pic: Family handout

The family also went to visit the area where Nathan was found.

“We were a bit upset, but we were very pleased we went up there”, his mother, Elizabeth, says. “We could see… there’s no way he would have looked at that area and thought, ‘I’m going up here.’

“You can see straight off, there’s no clubs, there’s no hotels up there, there’s just the odd house dotted around. It was just out in the wild, there was nothing up there.”

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The family says the phone data has helped them determine that he died around half an hour after he was seen on CCTV walking towards his hotel in the early hours of the morning.

“It was really ridiculous to think that my son would’ve walked up there [the remote location where he died] at 4am in the pitch dark.”

After the family were interviewed by Mee in May, South Wales Police opened its own investigation into Nathan’s death.

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Nathan’s family speaking to Mee in May

Lee says the Welsh force has been “appalled” by the lack of evidence turned over from the local police’s investigation.

His and Nathan’s father, Jonathan, says: “No procedures were followed. Nothing was cordoned off, it wasn’t a crime scene. There’s loads of things that could’ve been taken. Tyre tracks, foot tracks, nothing. No DNA taken.”

Lee says: “All that we’ve done over the last year, this could’ve been squashed within the first week, two weeks [by local investigators].

“We’ve had to find out and keep delving into every possible outcome and overturn every stone possible. We started off with… a needle in a haystack, we had no direction or any support on which way to go.”

Nathan Osman. Pic: Family handout
Image:
Nathan Osman. Pic: Family handout

What does Nathan’s family hope for now?

Nathan’s family say they have located 27 CCTV cameras which could have picked Nathan up in the area, after local investigators didn’t find any.

Elizabeth says that after alerting Spanish police to the locations, they were told that the CCTV “wouldn’t be working” or that footage would’ve already been erased.

“They just surmised everything,” she adds.

But the family, who found the last known CCTV footage of Nathan earlier this year, are convinced there is still hope.

Lee says: “There’s a number of CCTV footage in that area. We know there’s a way of finding a vehicle of some sort.”

But the family admit they may never find whoever could be responsible for Nathan’s death because so much time has been lost.

Elizabeth concludes: “Nathan walks with us every day. We all believe that,” adding that “all we want” is to find the ones responsible for his death and for him to “have the respect of a decent investigation”.

Sky News contacted Spanish police, which declined to comment, adding the case is under judicial review and it doesn’t want to hinder the course of the investigation.

South Wales Police told Sky News: “South Wales Police is carrying out enquiries on behalf of HM Coroner and a family liaison officer has been appointed to provide support.”

Watch the full interview with Sarah-Jane Mee on The UK Tonight from 8pm this evening on Sky News.

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Man accused of Huntingdon train stabbings refuses to attend court

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Man accused of Huntingdon train stabbings refuses to attend court

A man accused of a mass stabbing on an LNER train in Huntingdon last month and separate attacks over the previous 48 hours, could face a trial next year.

Anthony Williams, 32, is charged with 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a knife over the alleged attack on a LNER train from Doncaster to London on 1 November.

Williams, refused to attend Monday’s hearing at Cambridge Crown Court, and has yet to enter pleas. But the judge has set a provisional trial date in June.

He is charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over an alleged attack on a male police officer in custody.

Williams also faces another count of attempted murder and one count of possession of a knife over a separate incident at Pontoon Dock Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station, in east London, earlier on 1 November.

The aftermath of the mass stabbing. Pic: Reuters
Image:
The aftermath of the mass stabbing. Pic: Reuters

At Monday’s hearing, held in Williams’ absence, the case was joined with seven further charges, bringing the total number of charges to 21.

Williams, who said at an earlier hearing that he is of no fixed abode, had also failed to attend a hearing at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on 19 November over the seven additional charges.

A forensic officer taking pictures on the train. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A forensic officer taking pictures on the train. Pic: Reuters

The seven charges relate to the following incidents in the 24 hours leading up to the train stabbings:

• Attempted murders of a 14-year-old boy at Henry Penn Walk, Peterborough, on 31 October.

• Attempted murder of a 22-year-old man near Pleasure Fair Meadow Road, Peterborough, on 31 October.

• Attempted wounding of a 28-year-old man at Viersen Platz, Peterborough, on 31 October.

• Affray at a barbershop in Peterborough on 31 October.

• Possession of a knife in a public place at a footbridge near Henry Penn Walk, the Rail World car park and Queen’s Walk, all in Peterborough on 31 October.

• Theft of knives from Asda supermarket in Stevenage on 31 October.

• Assault of a 31-year-old man onboard a train travelling from King’s Cross to Peterborough on 1 November.

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Judge Mark Bishop said a further hearing will take place at Cambridge Crown Court on 28 January, with a provisional trial date set for 22 June.

Williams remains in custody.

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Agency staff covering for striking bin workers vote to go on strike

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Agency staff covering for striking bin workers vote to go on strike

Agency workers hired to fill the void in the wake of the Birmingham bin strikes have voted for strike action and will be joining the picket.

The first day of the action kicks off today, with a rally organised by the Unite union at the Smithfield depot in Birmingham.

The union said the numbers joining the strike were “growing daily” – but Birmingham City Council said just “a small number” of agency staff were taking part.

The replacement workers recruited by the Job&Talent agency, said they had voted in favour of industrial action “over bullying and harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago”.

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From September: Birmingham bin strikes six months on

General secretary of Unite Sharon Graham. Pic: PA
Image:
General secretary of Unite Sharon Graham. Pic: PA

Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said: “Birmingham council will only resolve this dispute when it stops the appalling treatment of its workforce.

“Agency workers have now joined with directly-employed staff to stand up against the massive injustices done to them.”

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She added: “Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers.

“Strikes will not end until it does.”

Strikes from the bin workers in Birmingham have been ongoing since January, and are likely to continue beyond May next year.

Birmingham City Council said it was “disappointed the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers”.

“We are continuing to make regular waste collections and our contingency plan is working,” it added.

It also said it found “no blacklisting has taken place” after an investigation and that it “strongly” refuted Unite’s claims of bullying, which it said were “unfounded”.

Job&Talent has been contacted for comment.

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