Ballots begin as unions consider strike action against Labour's pay offers

Is Farage parking his tanks on Starmer's lawn?

Nigel Farage looks set to attack Labour on what many would consider home turf for the government today.

The Reform leader is calling for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap - and also reinstating the winter fuel payment in full.

Farage is also set to offer tax breaks to married couples in a bid to raise birth rates.

All these offers - costing into the billions of pounds - are a departure from what many would consider Farage's home on the centre right economically.

Back in 2015 when he was leading UKIP, Farage called for the two-child cap to be introduced.

Today's stance puts him at odds with the Conservatives, who are naturally averse to extra spending.

The Reform leader is continuing his efforts to place himself as the leader of the opposition - rather than Kemi Badenoch.

Labour are clearly somewhat worried as they have pre-empted the speech with their own counterpoints.

Ellie Reeves, the Labour chair, attacked Farage as a "private-educated stockbroker and career politician, has only ever cared about his own self-interest and personal ambition, never about what is good for working people in this country".

She added that he wants to abolish the NHS and his pledges aren't funded.

What happened with the Chagos Islands?

Later this morning, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is giving a speech in which he is expected to attack the government over the signing over of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

In case you missed it, the long expected deal was completed last week.

It means Britain will give up sovereignty of the Indian Ocean territory and lease back the vital UK-US Diego Garcia military base - at a cost of billions of pounds to the taxpayer.

In a news conference, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the base is of the "utmost significance to Britain", having been used to deploy aircraft to "defeat terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan", and "anticipate threats in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific".

He said the base was under threat because of Mauritius's legal claim on the Chagos Islands, which has been recognised by multiple international courts.

"If we did not agree this deal, the legal situation would mean that we would not be able to prevent China or any other nation setting up their own bases on the outer islands, or carrying out joint exercises near our base," Sir Keir said.

Scrapping two-child benefit cap 'not off the table'

One of the main questions swirling the government at the moment is whether Labour will scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Many on the government's backbenches want this to happen.

Asked if it could, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says "it's not off the table" and "certainly something we're considering".

The minister is the chair of the child poverty task force, the group in government working to reduce the number of youngsters in poverty.

She says decisions like scrapping the cap are not "straightforward" as the government has to "stack it up" against other measures and the associated costs.

In what could be read as a hope to remove the restriction, Phillipson says it was "something that was introduced by the conservatives". 

She adds: "It wasn't something a Labour government would have introduced."

Liverpool not a counter-terror incident - minister

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is speaking to us on behalf of the government this morning.

Asked if what happened in Liverpool was not terror-related, she says: "That's been the response of counter-terror police."

She goes on to say that it is "right" to now let the police continue their investigation.

The minister then thanks the authorities and the NHS for their response.

She says the decision for police to say they had arrested a white man in connection with the incident was a matter for them - and not for politicians.

Farage to attack Labour with speech this morning

Later this morning, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will be giving a speech attacking "unpatriotic" and "out of touch" Sir Keir Starmer.

It is part of his attempts to position his party as an alternative opposition.

Today's speech will have a focus on the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The speech, framed as Mr Farage's "pitch to working people" will see the Reform leader flanked by council leaders, mayors and Runcorn MP Sarah Pochin.

The party's turquoise tsunami romped to a record set of victories in the local elections at the start of the month.

A Reform source said Mr Farage will challenge Sir Keir "to go to a working man's club in the north of England with him and see who connects better with working people".

Mr Farage will accuse Sir Keir of being "a man that puts international courts before British sovereignty" and the "most unpatriotic PM in history", the source said.

"He and his government are so hopelessly out of touch with working people. They U-turn on everything as they do not believe in anything."

Major change to apprenticeships as government vows to 'back the next generation'

Ministers have pledged to "back the next generation" by investing in tens of thousands of new apprenticeships and training opportunities.

The government has promised to create 120,000 new training routes for construction workers, engineers, healthcare staff and other trades in England before the next general election.

This is part of a wider effort to increase British workers' skills and cut net migration in the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer's training hike will include an extra 30,000 apprenticeships in the next four years, with a budget of more than £3bn in the current financial year.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Labour is investing in a "shared, stronger economic future" through Britain's young people.

She said: "A skilled workforce is the key to steering the economy forward, and today we're backing the next generation by giving young people more opportunities to learn a trade, earn a wage and achieve and thrive.

"But everyone has a role to play in a thriving economy, and we're taking our responsibility seriously providing more routes into employment, it's now the responsibility of young people to take them."

-SKY NEWS