Ministers have confirmed that all 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK will be retained, following a period of uncertainty and public concern over potential closures. The decision reverses an earlier proposal outlined in a government green paper last summer, which had suggested removing the 11,500-minimum branch requirement for the state-owned postal, banking, and retail service.
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Digital IDs will become mandatory to prove the right to work, but people will not be required to carry the document or be asked to produce it. All UK citizens and everyone who wants to work in the UK will have to have one. The Government will make sure everyone has one in the same way that every citizen of the UK has a national insurance number, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said.
I don't want to cut across the decisions that the new foreign secretary Yvette [Cooper] and the new home secretary are making, but they will have seen that broadcast, they will no doubt have seen what the Refugee Council and Oxford are saying and I know the intent is to bring people to study and not to cause them further pain or hardship.
The government has admitted that slashing foreign aid spending will likely see global deaths rise, as it confirmed the cuts will fall disproportionately on women and girls' education and on projects across Africa.