Rachel Reeves has pushed back at suggestions ministers are considering ending universal free school meals for primary school children.
The chancellor said she did not “recognise” reports in The Times that Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, had suggested making free school meals for younger pupils means tested instead of universal, as is the case for older children.
Currently, all children in reception, year one and year two are entitled to free school meals, but according to the newspaper, Ms Phillipson made the recommendation as part of a package to reduce school spending by £500m.
A source close to Ms Phillipson told Sky News the reports were “complete rubbish” while the chancellor pointed to the government’s decision to roll out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools from April.
Ms Reeves told broadcasters: “This government is rolling out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools from April.
“I don’t recognise those claims that the government are looking at means-testing free school meals.
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“In fact, this government are ensuring that all children get a good start to the day with a breakfast club, helping working parents and helping all children get a good start in life.
“That is what this government is determined to do after 14 years of Conservative failure.”
On Wednesday the chancellor is expected to deliver a spring statement that sets out savings of around £10bn, including the £5bn of welfare savings announced last week.
Ms Reeves has also confirmed the civil service will be forced to cut £2bn a year by slashing administration costs by the end of the decade – although the savings will be used to protect frontline services from cutbacks.
The proposed cuts follow a speech by the prime minister in which he announced the abolition of NHS England, the administrative body that runs the national health service, in a bid to slash red tape and cut costs.
Today Sir Keir Starmer said the government was “looking across the board” at making cuts to unprotected departmental budgets.
“We’re not going to alter the basics, but we are going to look across and one of the areas that we will be looking at is: can we run the government more efficiently?” he told the BBC.
As well as suggestions that free school meals could be curtailed, The Times also said Ms Phillipson had offered to stop funding for free period products in schools as well as dance, music and PE schemes.
The source close to Ms Phillipson also denied those claims, saying: “It’s no secret that there are some tough choices coming down the track – but if people don’t think Bridget is going to fight tooth and nail to protect programmes that support the most disadvantaged children, they don’t know Bridget very well.
“Any suggestions those things are being ‘offered up’ is complete rubbish.”
At the same time, Ms Reeves has drawn criticism for hinting she could abolish or slash the digital services tax paid by tech companies while reducing benefits for ill and disabled people.
The levy, introduced in 2020 under former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak, ensures that digital companies with global sales exceeding £500m and with at least £25m worth of UK sales pay a tax of 2% on those UK sales.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said changing the policy would amount to “appeasement” of Donald Trump following reports the government could alter or abandon the tax in a bid to avoid punitive US tariffs.
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Chancellor’s Spring Statement preview
Asked if the government was also considering abolishing or slashing the digital services tax paid by tech companies, Ms Reeves said: “Digital services tax is hugely important, it brings in around £800m a year and ensures that companies pay tax in the country that they are operating in.
“So we will continue to make sure that businesses pay their fair share of tax, including businesses in the digital sector.”
Addressing the cuts that are expected in Wednesday’s spring statement, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “The whole cabinet is focused on delivering high quality public services.
“This is shown in fixing the NHS and giving our kids the best opportunities and doing it to give taxpayers the best value for money.”
Turning to the suggestions the digital services tax could be axed, the spokesman added the UK would only do a deal with the US that was “in this country’s national interest”.
Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.
Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.
Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?
The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.
High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.
The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.
Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.
The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.
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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.
French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.
A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.
“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.
“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”
It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.
“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.
He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.
“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.
“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.
“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”