Overview

• A group of Labour backbenchers is securing the 82 nominations required for Angela Rayner to challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership
• Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s spending review commits £2.2trn over four years with boosts for the NHS, defence, social housing and regional projects
• The decision to cut winter fuel payments remains a flashpoint despite a partial U-turn, with critics warning it risks alienating core voters
• Economists expect next autumn’s budget to include higher taxes through frozen income thresholds and levies on capital gains and inheritance to fund the new spending
• Sir Keir Starmer faces pressure at the G7 summit over Israel-Iran tensions, the future of the AUKUS submarine pact and NATO’s demand for higher defence expenditure