Tag Archives: trevor phillips

Trevor Phillips Rips Into Labour’s Response To Trump’s Venezuela Action

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Sky presenter Trevor Phillips has torn into Labour’s lacklustre response to Donald Trump’s military action in Venezuela.

The US seized Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and indicted him on narco-terrorism conspiracy on Saturday.

Trump has declared that the States will “run” Venezuela until there can be a safe transition of power – and insisted the US will be “very strongly involved” in the country’s oil industry.

Keir Starmer has already refused to describe Trump’s moves as a breach of international law, insisting the government “sheds no tears” for the end of Maduro’s autocracy.

But concerns about what this means for the world order remain.

On Sky News, Phillips told chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones that Trump’s decision to seize Venezuela sounds rather like “colonialism”.

He added: “Are we now in favour of colonialism?”

“We’re not in favour of colonialism,” Jones replied, adding: “We’re not entirely clear yet what president Trump meant by those comments yesterday.”

Phillips said: “The president’s been pretty clear: he said we are going to run Venezuela. We will decide when we can stop running Venezuela and pass on power in a ‘judicious’ way. It’s pretty clear.

“We must have a view on that, surely.”

Jones said the UK does not know the “details” of what is happening yet, adding: “It would be wrong for government ministers to try to make assumptions or to comment on hypotheticals about the future.”

He continued: “We should understand what is happening before we comment, that’s what the public would expect a grown-up professional government to do.”

Phillips said: “I don’t think so. I think the public would expect a grown up government to be consistent.”

He claimed that if it had been any country other than the US – like Russia – the government would have condemned it.

“Is it OK for allies to march in and snatch someone every time they think they’ve done something naughty?” The presenter asked.

Jones said: “The UK respects international law and the rules-based order. We are an advocate for it, we conduct ourselves on that basis, and we expect other countries to do so as well. There’s no question about that.

“What happened in Venezula has happened. We now need to move as quickly as possible.”

Jones also insisted that the UK has not been involved with the US’s attacks on Venezuela at all, but that Britain does support a peaceful transition of power.

Asked about whether it was a breach of international law, Jones said: “It’s for the Americans to set out the legal basis for their operation, not Nato, not ours in any way, I don’t think the Americans have done that yet, but I’m sure they will do in due course.”

Phillips pointed out that the government made a judgement that Putins’ invasion of Ukraine was unlawful, but Jones replied: “It’s not for me or any opposition politician to make a judgement on that.”

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Nigel Farage Dubbed ‘Snake Oil Salesman’ Over Reform UK’s New Welfare Promises

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Nigel Farage has been dubbed a “snake oil salesman” by Angela Rayner as he reportedly wants to fully reinstate the winter fuel payments and scrap the two-child benefit cap.

According to The Telegraph, the right-wing Reform UK leader will try to win over left-leaning voters in the upcoming days by attacking Labour’s deeply unpopular crackdown on the welfare state.

The government took the winter fuel allowance of up to £300 away from 10 million pensioners in its Budget last year.

Labour also kept the Tory policy of refusing to increase the amount of benefits families receive once they have more than two children.

The party chairman Zia Yusuf claimed Reform would pay to reverse these policies by cutting the foreign aid budget, closing asylum hotels and ending net zero subsidies.

Responding to these promises – expected to be unveiled in a press conference next week – one broadcaster even went so far as to describe Farage as a new working class champion because of the policies.

On his show Sky News’ Sunday with Trevor Phillips, the presenter said: “In Downing Street this morning, they’re waking up to a challenge from the left.

“The working class has found a new champion, who wants more welfare spending, more nationalisation, and more trade union power.

“His name? Nigel Farage. And he’s seven points ahead in the polls.”

However, deputy prime minister Rayner was quick to call Farage out on his promises.

She told the BBC: “To give winter fuel payments to people who have millions in the bank is probably not a good idea.”

“Nigel Farage says a lot of things,” she continued. “But the reality on my employment rights bill […] Nigel Farage and his small band of MPs didn’t vote for it.

“So when it comes to actually walking the walk, their record is they didn’t vote for measures that didn’t help working people in this country.”

On LBC, Rayner also said: “He can say he’s going to give jam tomorrow, but with all things Nigel Farage – snake oil salesman – it’s not real.

“He’s not said where the money is coming from and therefore I wouldn’t believe a word he says on it.

“If there was any government that was going to do something on this and eradicate child poverty, it’s the Labour government and we’re determined to do that through our task force, and looking at child poverty in the round.”

The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also attacked Farage’s claims this morning.

“Nigel Farage is someone who is going to say whatever he can to get into power,” she told Sky News.

“I am taking the hard road, I am not going to do that. We spent years chasing polls, telling people what they wanted to hear and not delivering.

“He is doing that now, making promises and then they’ll get into government and can’t deliver it.”

Phillips asked her: “Are you envisioning that Farage could get into power?”

“Well, I hope not, because it would be very bad for this country,” Badenoch said.

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Wes Streeting Says NHS Is ‘Addicted To Overspending’ As He Confirms Job Cuts

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Wes Streeting has said the NHS is “addicted to overspending” as he launched an attack on health bosses.

He said those in charge of the healthcare system assume “someone will come along to bail them out” when they blow their budgets.

His comments come as he suggested hundreds more government quangos could be axed following the abolition of NHS England.

Appearing on Sky News this morning, Streeting was asked by presenter Trevor Phillips: “Is it right that Jim Mackey, the head of NHS England, has written to local health boards demanding that they produce plans for a 50% reduction in their spending?”

Confirming the move, Streeting said there would be a “particular focus on management costs” to achieve that target.

He said: “Myself and Jim are confronting a financial planning round for the year ahead where systems returned financial plans to us that would have involved an overspend between £5 and £6 billion before the new financial year has even begun.

“I’m afraid this speaks to the culture that I identified before the general election where the NHS is addicted to overspending, is addicted to running up routine deficits, with the assumption that someone will come along to bail them out, in a way that, by the way, local councils would never be able to do.”

Phillips replied: “Are you saying that the apparatus of the NHS was basically wasting public money?”

Streeting said: “I think there’s definitely examples of waste and duplication and we’re going to go hard at it.

“Even if the public finances weren’t tight – and they are – I don’t think even in the good times it’s acceptable that taxpayers’ money is wasted, because the money you’re wasting could be spent on other public priorities or could be put back in the pockets of taxpayers.”

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\"The NHS is addicted to overspending\"

Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirms some integrated care boards have been asked to find 50% savings to stop \"waste and inefficiency\". pic.twitter.com/cbfQseG35k

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 16, 2025

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“The NHS is addicted to overspending”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirms some integrated care boards have been asked to find 50% savings to stop “waste and inefficiency”. pic.twitter.com/cbfQseG35k

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 16, 2025

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Streeting said he was committed to “slashing bloated bureaucracy”, suggesting many more health quangos could be axed.

“The abolition of NHS England – the world’s largest quango – is the beginning, not the end,” he said.

On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the health secretary admitted the effeiciency drive will see “significant” numbers of NHS workers lose their jobs.

He said: “I’m going after the bureaucracy, not the people who work in it.

“Of course, I can’t sugar coat the fact that there will be a significant number of job losses and we will want to make sure we are treating people fairly, supporting them properly through that process. And I’m not criticising them, but I’ve got to make sure the system is well set up.”

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