Israel's defence minister has told its military to prepare a plan to "allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so", in line with President Donald Trump's proposal for the US to take over the territory and resettle its 2.1 million Palestinians elsewhere. Israel Katz said Gazans should have "freedom of movement and migration" and countries critical of Israel's war with Hamas were "obligated" to take them in. Trump meanwhile said Gaza would be "turned over" to the US by Israel "at the conclusion of fighting". But the Palestinian presidency reiterated its rejection of the plan, which it has said would violate international law, and insisted that "Palestine... is not for sale". The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. More than 47,550 people have been k...
Given the grim tone of much of the PM's speech, he is asked by the BBC whether he's been honest with the public about the potential for tax rises when the budget comes round in October.
He says he was clear during the election that income tax, national insurance and VAT "would not go up".
"That remains the position," he says.
He says that Labour's plans "were fully funded and fully costed" but that he did not expect the Conservatives leaving a black hole in public finances.
On the cuts to winter fuel payments, he says he "didn't want to have to deal with" the issue, "but we have to fix the NHS, we have to fix our homes, our schools, and pensioners rely on them in the same way as everybody else does".