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Labour said it won’t stand by “while children become fatter and unhealthier” as it defended its healthcare plans against “nanny state” accusations.

The Opposition party plans to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in free breakfast clubs if it wins the next general election.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting brushed off criticism that the party is seeking to create a “nanny state” on child health.

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Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, he said: “If the Conservatives want to throw around silly labels like ‘nanny state’, and then they’re going to throw much more mud than that in the run up to the election, I don’t think the public are going to buy that after 14 years of their failure.

“We’re not going to sit idly by while tooth decay sees so many children admitted to hospital.”

Talking about plans to reduce junk food ads and children vaping, he added: “We’re not going to sit idly by while children become fatter, more unhealthy, less happy; we’re going to take action on behalf of children across our country and I think that’s something parents across the land will support.”

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Labour previously said it would bring in supervised toothbrushing in schools for children aged three to five, as well as an extra 700,000 dentist appointments, if it wins the election.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer (centre right), with shadow health secretary Wes Streeting (centre left) speaking during a visit to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool, to unveil their Child Health Action Plan. Picture date: Thursday January 11, 2024.
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Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer (centre right), with shadow health secretary Wes Streeting (centre left) speaking during a visit to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

But the announcement drew criticism from teaching unions, with leaders saying it is “not the role of teachers to be making sure children brush their teeth each day”.

The party has now honed in on the detail of the plans, saying the “targeted” national supervised toothbrushing programme would be rolled out in “fully funded breakfast clubs”.

The clubs, funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status, will be introduced in every primary school so “every child is able to start the day with a healthy breakfast and parents are able to get to work”, Labour said.

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Other aspects of Labour’s child health action plan include introducing a 9pm watershed for junk food ads and banning vape adverts aimed at children.

The party has also pledged to introduce specialist mental health support for children in every school, cut waiting times for hospital care for children and to make sure child health is a cross-government priority.

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In full: Starmer calls for election

Sir Keir Starmer said children were “probably the biggest casualty” of the Tories’ sticking-plaster approach to politics over the past 14 years and that if the government were a parent, it could be charged with neglect.

His party have highlighted international research which shows British children are now shorter, fatter and less happy than their counterparts – with experts suggesting a poor national diet and austerity measures are stunting their growth.

Meanwhile tooth decay is still the most common reason for hospital admission in children aged between 6 and 10 years.

Sir Keir said tooth decay, stunted growth and a stalling life expectancy are “the reality of Tory Britain” and he is ready to make the case for state intervention to turn that around.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Alder Hey visit the Labour leader said: “We need to take on this question of the nanny state. The moment you do anything on children’s health, people say ‘you’re going down the road of a nanny state’. We want to have that fight.”

He added: “Healthy, happy children is not a nice to have, it’s a basic right, with economic urgency.”

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No 10 backs Chancellor Rachel Reeves and says she ‘is going nowhere’ after tearful appearance in Commons

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No 10 backs Chancellor Rachel Reeves and says she 'is going nowhere' after tearful appearance in Commons

Rachel Reeves has not offered her resignation and is “going nowhere”, Downing Street has said, following her tearful appearance in the House of Commons.

A Number 10 spokesperson said the chancellor had the “full backing” of Sir Keir Starmer, despite Ms Reeves looking visibly upset during Prime Minister’s Questions.

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A spokesperson for the chancellor later clarified that Ms Reeves had been affected by a “personal matter” and would be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.

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UK government bond prices fell by the most since October 2022, and the pound tumbled after Ms Reeves’s Commons appearance, while the yield on the 10-year government bond, or gilt, rose as much as 22 basis points at one point to around 4.68%.

Downing Street’s insistence came despite Sir Keir refusing to guarantee that Ms Reeves would stay as chancellor until the next election following the fallout from the government’s recent welfare U-turn.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence” just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill.

Emotional Reeves a painful watch – and reminder of tough decisions ahead

It is hard to think of a PMQs like it – it was a painful watch.

The prime minister battled on, his tone assured, even if his actual words were not always convincing.

But it was the chancellor next to him that attracted the most attention.

Rachel Reeves looked visibly upset.

It is hard to know for sure right now what was going on behind the scenes, the reasons – predictable or otherwise – why she appeared to be emotional, but it was noticeable and it was difficult to watch.

To read more of Ali Fortescue’s analysis, click here

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Badenoch said: “This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the chancellor. Instead they’re creating new ones.”

Turning to the chancellor, the Tory leader added: “[She] is pointing at me – she looks absolutely miserable.

“Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?”

Not fully answering the question, the prime minister replied: “[Ms Badenoch] certainly won’t.

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Welfare vote ‘a blow to the prime minister’

“I have to say, I’m always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.”

Mrs Badenoch interjected: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

The prime minister’s watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill, aimed at saving £5bn, was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening.

A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill – the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s Lone Parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.

After multiple concessions made due to threats of a Labour rebellion, many MPs questioned what they were voting for as the bill had been severely stripped down.

They ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to Universal Credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Ms Badenoch said the climbdown was proof that Sir Keir was “too weak to get anything done”.

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Ms Reeves has also borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.

Experts have now warned that the welfare U-turn, on top of reversing the cut to winter fuel, means that tax rises in the autumn are more likely – with Ms Reeves now needing to find £5bn to make up for the policy U-turns.

Asked by Ms Badenoch whether he could rule out further tax rises – something Labour promised it would not do on working people in its manifesto – Sir Keir said: “She knows that no prime minister or chancellor ever stands at the despatch box and writes budgets in the future.

“But she talks about growth, for 14 years we had stagnation, and that is what caused the problem.”

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Brazil’s 17.5% crypto tax: How the new rules hurt small investors most

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Brazil’s 17.5% crypto tax: How the new rules hurt small investors most

Brazil’s 17.5% crypto tax: How the new rules hurt small investors most

Brazil’s new 17.5% flat crypto tax replaces previous exemptions and now applies to all digital asset gains.

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Bybit, OKX expand crypto services in Europe under MiCA

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Bybit, OKX expand crypto services in Europe under MiCA

Bybit, OKX expand crypto services in Europe under MiCA

Bybit and OKX have both launched MiCA-compliant crypto exchanges in the EU, marking a significant push into Europe’s newly unified regulatory landscape.

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