Keir Starmer UN Speech - LIVE: PM tells Israel ‘no more excuses’ and calls on Hamas to ‘let the hostages go’

Russia is treating its own citizens as “bits of meat to fling into the grinder” in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer said as he urged Vladimir Putin to end the conflict.

The prime minister, speaking at the UN Security Council in New York, said Russia was responsible for “colossal human suffering” as a result of the conflict.

He said Russia, which is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council alongside the UK, was behind the “greatest violation of the (UN) charter in a generation”.

The annual tax-free winter fuel payment of between £100 and £300 was introduced in 1997 to help eligible pensioners meet the costs of heating their homes in winter. It was then expanded to all pensioners in 2000.

The government is facing opposition to its decision to means-test the payment, stripping it from millions of pensioners. It means those in receipt of pension credit or other certain benefits will continue to receive them but others won’t.

Some make the point that rich pensioners wrongly get the payment too, but the unions argue that a universal payment to all pensioners ensures nobody falls through the gaps.

Sir Keir Starmer says it was after this that “someone” offered to make a flat “available” for the junior Starmer - but claimed “no money exchanged hands”.

The prime minister‘s register of interests shows a declaration for accommodation provided by Lord Waheed Alli to the value of £20,437.28 from 29 May to 13 July this year. The election was called on 22 May.

GCSEs ended on June 19.

Speaking to Sky News from New York City, where he is attending the UN General Assembly, Sir Keir said that the election had been called “not when we expected it” and his son was in the middle of GCSEs.

Sir Keir explained: “I said, ‘we’re going to get you out of here and get you somewhere where you can just study and get to school and back without having to go through all of that’.

“And that’s when someone says, well, in which case I can make this flat available to you.

“It’s safe, secure, he can get on.”

The Prime Minister later went on: “I do think sometimes it’s important just to look behind the number and say, ‘what was the human story behind’”.

“I wasn’t going to let my son fail or not do well in his GCSEs because of journalists outside,” he added.

Lord Alli, 59, a former chair of online fashion giant Asos, is his largest personal donor.

Sir Keir Starmer said he has “long believed in borrowing to invest”, which can act as a “catalyst” for private investment.

Asked by reporters whether he was “talking the country down” ahead of his first budget in October, Sir Keir told the BBC: “I think if we’re going to have to take difficult decisions that we are, it’s important that we do the diagnosis.

“What’s the state of the country? What’s the state of the economy?

“And the two or three things I’d say that dominate are the £22 billion black hole, the Lord Darzi report into the NHS, which effectively said it was on its knees, and of course the terrible state of our prisons. Now you have to get the diagnosis right because then you’ve got to go on and say, right, it’s our responsibility.”

The Prime Minister told Channel 4 News: “I’ve always and long believed in borrowing to invest. I think it’s important to grow the economy.

“Our number one mission is to grow the economy, to make sure that by growing the economy, everybody is better off, living standards go up. That’s what I’m going to be judged on at the end of this term in Government and I know that.”

Speaking after receiving a knighthood for his services to justice at Windsor Castle, Sir Alan Bates said: “They [the Government] haven’t been in contact about what they’re proposing to do yet.

“We think we’ve come to a standstill with most of the schemes in that they don’t seem to be working, they seem to be failing now.”

The 70-year-old said current financial schemes for those affected are “a mess”, adding: “We’re wanting a completion date guaranteed by the Government for the end of March next year, and it’s quite achievable, according to legal discussions I’ve had.

“I think we’ve got to get rid of the bureaucracy that’s holding the whole thing up and driving it into the ground, and it’s proving such a headache for so many of the victims who are still suffering after so many years.”

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the company and given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015, as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Five prisoners wrongfully released from prison under the Government’s early release scheme are yet to return.

The mistake was made because the 37 prisoners were sentenced under outdated legislation.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told Sky News: “Public safety is our first priority. That is why we took decisive action to fix the broken prison system we inherited and keep the most dangerous offenders locked up.

“This included blocking the early release of domestic abuse offences such as stalking and controlling behaviour.

“We are working with the police to urgently return a very small number of offenders - who were charged incorrectly and sentenced under repealed legislation - to custody.

“The convictions remain valid with offenders monitored since their release and will soon be back behind bars.”

During his remarks to the UN Security Council, Sir Keir also addressed the situation in Sudan as “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today”.

“The UK has doubled its aid for the victims of this war to almost £100 million. But much more help is needed. The world must step up,” he said.

The Prime Minister said Russia’s war has caused a global energy and food crisis “causing hunger on the horn of Africa.”

Sir Keir addressing the UN Security Council, said: “Now the world looks on as Russia deepens its military ties with North Korea and Iran.

“Aggression cannot pay, borders can’t be redrawn by force. Russia started this illegal war it must end it and get out of Ukraine.

“We stand with the 89 countries that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be the basis of any just and lasting peace.

“Any process that doesn’t recognise this will only be used as a pretext by Russia to regroup and come again.”

Finishing his address, he adds: “In this moment of deepening conflict, the world looks to this council more than ever to provide leadership for peace, preserve our collective security and protect the most vulnerable.

“The United Kingdom will always play its full part in fulfilling that responsibility.”