UK politics live: Badenoch speaking at major right-wing summit

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage are set to vie for attention at a major gathering of right-wing leaders.

Badenoch will give a speech at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference this morning.

ARC was co-founded in 2023 by the Canadian psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson.

Farage is set to be interviewed by Peterson on stage on Tuesday.

About 4,000 people from 96 countries are due to attend this year, compared with 1,500 last year.

Among those attending include Republican house speaker Mike Johnson, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The NHS is on the “road to recovery”, ministers claimed after meeting a pledge to deliver two million extra appointments.

Sir Keir Starmer said the Government knows “the job isn’t done” and promised further reforms to deliver faster treatment.

NHS England figures showed that between July and November 2024 there were almost 2.2 million more appointments compared with the equivalent period in 2023.

Some 62 per cent of the additional activity was made up of outpatient appointments, 26 per cent diagnostic tests and 12 per cent elective operations.

The extra NHS appointments, delivered in part by extra evening and weekend working, means Labour’s manifesto commitment for two million a year was met seven months early.

The Prime Minister said: “This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about the cancer patients who for too long were left wondering when they’ll finally start getting their life-saving treatment.

“It’s about the millions of people who’ve put their lives and livelihoods on hold – waiting in pain and uncertainty as they wait for a diagnosis.

Voters consider Reform UK more trustworthy than the Tories, a poll revealed.

A YouGov survey showed that just 11 per cent of voters believe the Tories are trustworthy.

This was compared to 19 per cent saying Reform were trustworthy, according to Sky News.

A survey has found that confidence among small businesses hit its lowest recorded level outside the pandemic in the final quarter of last year.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said its survey of almost 1,400 firms found that those in accommodation and food services were the least optimistic.

Tina McKenzie, of the FSB, said: “The fourth-quarter blues reported by small firms underline how urgently the government’s growth push is needed. Small firms are understandably nervous about their prospects as 2025 gets underway.”

Wes Streeting has said it is “premature” to talk about how many British troops could be sent to Ukraine after Sir Keir Starmer said he was prepared to send a peacekeeping force if there is a deal to end the war with Russia.

The health secretary told Times Radio: “The prime minister will be travelling to France to meet with other European Nato leaders to discuss what is a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent, which isn’t just about the future of Ukraine, it is an existential question for Europe as a whole.

“That’s why the gathering today is important. Next week, he’ll be travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump, no doubt relaying the outcome of some of those discussions today.”

Asked what the scale of a potential peacekeeping force could be and if the Government would be prepared to carry out a recruitment drive, he said: “I think it’s premature to be talking about numbers.”

He reiterated plans to be “on a path to 2.5 per cent” when asked if spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence was the limit or if the government could go higher.

Health secretary Wes Streeting has said there is “a hell of a lot more to do” in the NHS after meeting a manifesto pledge to deliver two million more appointments.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Streeting denied the figure was affected by the previous Conservative government’s policies, and said: “Look at the size of the waiting lists overall.

“It’s come down four months in a row. That’s progress, but there’s still a lot more to do.

“Look at what we’ve seen in the NHS over the course of winter, with ambulance response times and corridor care – a hell of a lot more to do there. Mental health is in a dire state. There’s a huge amount more to do there.”

He added: “We’re reporting back to reassure the public that politics can make a difference, that government can be a force for good, and that this government is delivering on the promises we made to the country.”

Rachel Reeves is facing a double whammy of economic blows as employers warn of the dire impact of her Budget tax hikes.

The number of companies planning to make staff redundant has reached its highest level in a decade outside the Covid pandemic, according to a new survey. Meanwhile, confidence among small businesses has hit a new record low.

Ms Reeves’s national insurance hike has prompted widespread plans to increase redundancies and cut hiring, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said.

A survey of more than 2,000 employers by the organisation found nine in 10 businesses expect their employment costs to rise. Of these, a third said they plan to reduce staff through redundancies or recruiting fewer workers – and two in five warned they will raise prices.

Peter Cheese, the chief executive of the CIPD, said: “These are the most significant downward changes in employer sentiment we’ve seen in the last 10 years, outside of the pandemic. Employer confidence has been impacted by planned changes to employment costs, and employment indicators are heading in the wrong direction.”

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Good morning, we’ll be using this blog to bring you the latest updates on UK politics, as businesses continue to warn of challenges following chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget.