Starmer refuses to rule out fuel duty hike as plan leaked for outdoor smoking ban – live

Sir Keir Starmer has arrived at the Elysee Palace for his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Prime Minister was welcomed by Mr Macron and an honour guard of French soldiers.

The two men hugged, shook hands and paused for photos before heading into the palace.

Reem Ibrahim, acting director of communications at the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank, said: “Banning outdoor smoking would be another nail in the coffin for the pub industry.

“The government’s own impact assessment concluded that banning smoking outdoors will lead to pub closures and job losses.

“Pubs and other private venues should be able to determine their own outdoor smoking rules – just as they should be allowed to decide whether to play music, serve food or show football on TV.

“Smoking rates are already declining in the UK, in large part due to smokers switching to safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

“The government should look to countries like Sweden, which has attained the lowest prevalence of smoking in the world not by implementing nanny state measures like this proposal, but by allowing adults to choose safer and healthier products.”

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said reports of government plans to ban smoking in some outdoor areas “have understandably caused concern across the sector”.

He said: “This raises the critical question: Are we on the brink of becoming a nanny state? What is next?

“While these measures may rightly be driven by public health considerations, they risk dividing opinion and imposing yet another regulatory burden on businesses already facing considerable challenges.

“At a time when our industry desperately needs the freedom to trade, the last thing we need is further barriers.

“Although many will not be personally affected by these potential changes, it’s important to recognise that 6.4 million people in the UK still smoke, many of whom enjoy doing so in social settings like beer gardens.

“These leaked regulations could significantly impact their lifestyle choices and the businesses that serve them.

“As we consider the implications of these potential restrictions, we must question whether such an approach is truly in the public interest, or whether it risks over-regulation at the cost of personal freedom and business viability.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has announced plans to force a vote on the government’s proposed cut to winter fuel pauments.

All 72 Lib dem MPs are backing a motion to block the changes before they take effect on 16 September.

The move comes as analysis by the party found pensioners could face £670 hit this winter due to rising energy costs, the end of the Pensioner Cost of Living Payment and cuts to the winter fuel allowance.

Age UK previously warned that two million pensioners could struggle to pay their energy bills, with 800,000 of th elowest-income pensioners missing out on the support.

Mr Davey urged the government to reconsider the measures, adding: “Stripping support from many of the poorest pensioners, just when energy bills are set to rise again this winter, is the wrong thing to do.”

Sir Keir Starmer has met Paralympics GB athletes at their prep camp in Saint-German-en-Laye, west Paris.

The Prime Minister spoke to coaches Maria Adey and Pamela Robson, before meeting shotputters Aled Davies and Funmi Oduwaiye and javelin thrower Ben Pembroke.

They discussed their preparation for the Paralympics, disabled people’s access to sport and inspiring the next generation before Davies and Oduwaiye demonstrated shotputting technique for the Prime Minister.

The chief inspector of probation has warned that “things will go wrong” as thousands of prisoners are released early to tackle overcrowding in England and Wales.

Under the government’s temporary scheme, around 5,500 offenders, excluding those convicted of serious crimes, will be released in September and October under strict community supervision.

Martin Jones acknowledged that while the eight-week preparation period gives probation service a “fighting chance” to manage the influx, the sheer number of early releases could lead to some reoffending.

Mr Jones told The Times: “I think it’s inevitable, being realistic about it, that things will go wrong. I wish we could live in a perfect world where that doesn’t happen.”

Dr Layla McCay of the NHS Confederation has expressed optimism about progress towards abolishing smoking, calling it “the health challenge of our time”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, she highlighted the strong commitment from both past and present governments to tackle smoking.

She said: “It’s the leading cause of preventable illness in the UK. So, we are heartened to see that progress is being made and that the intention is moving forward to really address one of Britain’s main drivers of health inequalities.

“Ultimately, all of these steps are steps in the same journey, which is towards a smoke-free future for Britain, reducing those health inequalities, reducing the huge problems that are caused to the individual and to society from smoking.

“So, it’s not surprising but in this journey there will be different types of decisions, and there will be hard decisions that need to be made.

“I think that, as a society, we do recognise that this is the right direction of travel, that has been very clear for many years.”

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey has said his party will attempt to block the government’s proposed move to end the winter fuel allowance to some pensioners, describing the move as the new administration’s “first big mistake”.

Sir Ed said Labour MPs and others across the House will be “genuinely worried” about the move after correspondence with constituents.

The policy is expected to reduce the number of pensioners in receipt of the up-to-£300 payment by 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving some £1.4 billion this financial year.

The Liberal Democrat leader said the move would “hit millions” so a vote in Parliament is needed.

He told the BBC: “We haven’t had a vote. We haven’t had a proper debate. So what all the 72 Liberal Democrat MPs have done, we’re signing what’s called a prayer, which is a parliamentary process, to trigger a debate so we can represent people who have elected us.

“Liberal Democrats said, in the election, we’d fight for a fair deal for people, for our communities and I think the least the Parliament needs to do is have a debate, have a vote and hopefully reject this proposal.

“It looks like the government’s first big mistake, and I think pensioners will be going into this winter, really worried if Parliament doesn’t stop the government from doing this.”

Motorists could be hit by the first fuel duty rise in 15 years as Labour tries to balance the books.

Sir Keir Starmer was unable to say if fuel duty would be frozen again when questioned by journalists on a whistlestop tour of Germany and France as his government seeks to fill a £22 billion budget black hole it claims the Tories left behind.

It comes amid speculation that there will also be a series of wealth taxes including a hike in rates for capital gains and inheritance after the prime minister warned earlier this week of “a really painful Budget” on 30 October.

Our political editor David Maddox has the full story: