UK politics live: Wes Streeting hints budget cuts will go further than axing winter fuel payment

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden has defended Sir Keir Starmer as a man of “enormous integrity”, amid questions over the numerous gifts the PM has accepted.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster came to Sir Keir’s defence after claims of cronyism and failing to declare donations of clothing to his wife.

In an interview with the Guardian, Mr McFadden said: “This is not somebody who thinks that somehow the rules don’t apply to them, or there’s one rule for him and another one for others, like predecessors that have occupied his post.

“He is a person of enormous integrity, and that will be reflected in the way that he operates.”

Rachel Reeves has said she intends to use her position as the first female Chancellor to “improve life for women”, as she set out plans to support women in business.

Ms Reeves said it is a “huge responsibility” to head the Treasury and she is aiming to close the gender pay gap, strengthen rights at work and invest in childcare.

Announcing the Government’s support for the Invest in Women Taskforce, which aims to increase investment funding pools for female founders, the Chancellor vowed to improve the economic opportunities available to women.

The taskforce is aiming to create a funding pool of more than £250 million for female-founded businesses through private capital, making it one of the world’s largest investment funding pools aimed solely at female founders.

The Rose Review, an independent review of female entrepreneurship led by Dame Alison Rose, found that if the UK were to have the same share of female entrepreneurs as similar countries, £200 billion of value would be added to the economy.

Ms Reeves is expected to take an active role in steering the taskforce’s priorities and objectives.

Angela Rayner is set to hold another round of talks with trade unions and business leaders as the Government continues its drive to end “exploitative” zero-hours contracts.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will meet general secretaries from Britain’s major trade unions along with figures from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on Wednesday afternoon as part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to expand workers’ rights.

The meeting is the latest in a series of discussions with unions and businesses on employment rights, with further such meetings expected over the coming weeks.

However, it is not expected that today’s meeting will come with a major announcement from the government.

There are around one million people across the UK on zero-hour contracts, according to the Office of National Statistics.

You can read more on the government’s “new deal for workers” here.

Speaking at an event for the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Wes Streeting said that concerns over maternity care keep him awake at night.

“When it comes to the crisis in our maternity services across the country, it is one of the biggest issues that keeps me awake at night worrying about the quality of care being delivered today at the risk of disaster greeting women in labour tomorrow,” the health secretary said.

“I think that what we have seen, in the case of specific trusts, are problems and risk factors that exist right across maternity services across the country.

“And we’re keen to make sure that when it comes to the work that Donna Ockenden has already done, we make sure that those lessons are applied, not just in the case of those specific trusts, actually right across the country.

“We are determined to get this right.”

Lisa Nandy has snubbed the wife of a former Tory MP who was on course to become chair of London’s Royal Parks.

The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul asks: “should someone be judged by their spouse’s politics?”

“On the surface, this looks like a petty and vindictive act by the incoming Labour government that does not reflect well on its ambition to unite the nation after the alleged divisiveness of its predecessor,” Mr Rentoul argues.

“But the case of Lady Archer’s disappointment is also an intriguing whodunit.”

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Former Tory prime minister Sir John Major has issued a devastating verdict on Brexit and described Rishi Sunak’s government as “unconservative” and “un-British” in the way it tried to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

It comes after Sir Tony Blair delivered the most devastating critique of the failure of Brexit and how consequently Britain has ended up with mass immigration instead of the promise to “take back control”.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Sir Tony highlighted the way “we have weakened ourselves” in the UK as a result of Brexit.

The full report on Sir John Major’s comment can be found here.

You can read Sir Tony’s interview with The Independent here.

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