Defence Secretary Wes Streeting’s majority in Ilford North already rests on a knife edge and reforms to Britain’s benefits system could make things more difficult for him.
Potential changes to who is eligible to receive personal independence payment (PIP) are likely to be of particular concern to voters who receive the benefit as the Government looks to bring down Britain’s £300bn welfare bill.
In Ilford, east London, the issue is well-known. The 2024 general election saw Streeting narrowly avoid a catastrophic loss, scraping a win by just 528 votes more than the insurgent campaign by independent runner-up Leanne Mohamad. Living in the constituency are 6,284 PIP claimants, according to recent analysis by , roughly 12 times the number of people currently securing the Cabinet minister’s slim majority.
Why HRT patches are safer than pills
Oral hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) causes a slightly higher rate of blood clots – but there was no such risk from therapies applied to the skin.
The context
Why women use HRT
HRT is used by women going through menopause or for several years afterwards to stop hot flushes and reduce osteoporosis – where bones become weaker.
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The new research
Previous studies found HRT may cause a slightly higher rate of blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer.
- A Danish study found women had a 60 per cent higher risk of blood clots from oral HRT, and a 20 to 30 per cent higher risk of strokes or heart attacks.
- But the total risk of blood clots was still very low, about one extra blood clot per thousand women per year.
- There was no blood clot risk seen with patches, gels or spray forms of HRT.
- But there was a higher rate of heart attacks with skin-based HRT if it is “cyclic”, alternating between oestrogen and oestrogen and progestogen.
Why might patches be safer?
Oral HRT is transported by blood vessels connecting the gut to the liver. There, it seems to increase levels of certain liver proteins involved in blood clotting.
When HRT is applied through patches or gels, the hormones are absorbed straight into the blood and don’t reach the liver at such high levels.
The NHS says the benefits of HRT usually outweigh the downsides, and that the risks of serious side effects are very low.
HRT is especially helping for combatting osteoporosis in women experiencing early menopause, before the age 45.
How the licence fee could be scrapped for a new monthly charge
The licence fee could be axed and replaced by an £11-a-month internet levy – and viewers invited to become “BBC members” – under new proposals.
The licence fee is becoming increasingly unsustainable, with 3.7 million households claiming to not need one, while half a million households stopped paying last year, forcing the BBC to find £500m in cuts.
‘Home internet levy’ fairest solution
A “home internet levy” method of funding is most likely to command public consent, the report, commissioned by campaign organisation 38 Degrees, found.
A BBC internet levy would cost £11 per month, an average increase of 35 per cent on the current cost of internet bills, but would be £4 a month cheaper than the current licence fee.
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The other proposals for the BBC
The report looked at other funding solutions such as keeping the licence fee, but adding a “news and culture levy” of £2.30 on to internet bills.
Also proposed was a £12 a month “household levy” or putting the cost of the licence fee on to streaming subscriptions.
Make BBC a ‘mutual’ society
- The report also proposed radical changes to make the BBC more accountable to the public by becoming a “mutual-style membership” organisation.
- Members would be chosen by lottery to take part in a member council, where they would serve terms of up to three years and be paid for their time.
- They would “hold the board of the BBC to account, ensuring that the organisation is meeting its duties to the public”.
- Under the proposals, the council would have no control over editorial decisions, hiring talent or decisions on programming.
The four key moments from Burnham’s meeting with Trump
There was no shortage of trip-wires that could have derailed Andy Burnham’s first meeting with Donald Trump, but in the end, it produced remarkably little friction.
Even without the charm offensive, Trump liked Burnham better than Starmer
In July, when Trump met Sir Keir Starmer at the Nato summit in Turkey after he had announced his resignation, the US President said he wanted to “bring him back” and “make him great again”.
Two months on, that affection has evaporated. Asked about a special relationship that has been up and down, Trump said things were “more up than they were under your last prime minister”.
No Trump attack on UK migration policy
Trump has previously said Britain is “on the edge of disaster” because of “insane” immigration policies, but in New York, he called it “a worldwide situation”.
For a Labour Prime Minister under pressure on small boats, being spared a public rebuke on his first outing is significant.
Trump thinks Britain has ‘tremendous potential’
Trump has previously called the UK “essentially bankrupt” for refusing to fully exploit North Sea oil and for relying on green energy. He has also claimed the country is “dying” under alleged mass migration.
This time he said Britain had “tremendous potential” and compared it favourably with other countries whose leaders he meets but in which he sees little promise.
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Burnham swerved a Trump rebuke over West Bank
- Many expected Washington to condemn Britain’s sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements.
- When asked directly, Trump did not engage. He said he did not know about the move and left the question for Burnham to answer.
- It was an odd moment, but a useful one for No 10. A US president who wanted to punish Britain had an open invitation to do so and passed it up.
Vapes and prescription medicine now used to spike victims
Drug-laced vapes, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, are increasingly being used to spike victims, police have said.
Various drugs used in vapes
Cases have emerged where officers have encountered vapes containing THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, and the synthetic drug spice, alongside the use of high doses of common medications such as antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets.
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Victims targeted in private settings
We’re seeing offenders use a wider range of substances than ever before, including everyday medications and substances added to vapes, while increasingly targeting victims in private settings such as homes, parties and student accommodation
Metropolitan police spiking lead Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson
How widespread is the issue?
- Over the past year, more than 2,700 spiking-related offences were reported to the Met, but only 131 resulted in a charge, caution or summons.
- This marked a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
- More than half the victims were aged 18 to 35.
- A YouGov poll from December 2022 found that 10 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men said they had had a drink spiked.
How one test could ‘transform’ womb cancer care
A simple test analysing cells in urine and vaginal fluid could help rule out womb cancer in women experiencing bleeding after menopause.
Women could avoid invasive tests
The new test has the potential to “transform care” researchers said, sparing patients from “invasive, uncomfortable” tests that are costly for the NHS.
Around 10,200 women are diagnosed with womb cancer in the UK each year. Bleeding after menopause is a common symptom and can trigger urgent cancer referral.
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A closer look at the study
- The research included 1,864 women attending hospital with postmenopausal bleeding.
- The test correctly identified 80 per cent of cancers.
- It had a negative predictive value of 98.8 per cent for womb cancer, meaning women with a negative result were very unlikely to have the disease.
- It also detected 95.8 per cent of high-grade tumours and 96.4 per cent of cancers that had spread beyond the uterus.
Children as young as 13 diagnosed with ‘ketamine bladder’
Children as young as 13 have been referred to a specialist clinic with ketamine-induced uropathy (KIU), according to new analysis.
What is ‘ketamine bladder’?
KIU – also known as ketamine bladder – is a painful and severe condition caused by the drug damaging the urinary tubes, kidneys and bladder.
- Frequent urination, blood in urine and a loss of bladder control are some of the symptoms.
- The UK’s first KIU clinic opened in May 2025 due to a rise in young people with the condition.
Which children are most affected?
- The average age of the first 60 patients was 14.
- Around 66 per cent of the patients were girls, with a similar proportion living in the most deprived areas.
- 72 per cent had experienced emotional trauma, with one in five having experienced the care system.
- 16 of the children had autism or ADHD, or both.
The underlying factors
We are trying to understand the wider picture. use does not happen in isolation, and our analysis is helping us explore the different factors that may be associated with young people developing serious health problems
Professor Rachel Isba, consultant in paediatric public health medicine at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Royal claims you haven’t heard as Earl Spencer’s book published
With Earl Spencer’s controversial book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister now released, The i Paper has taken a closer look at some of the claims.
Here are five of the most eye-catching.
Charles acted like ‘child’
Then-prince Charles acted like a “petulant” child, according to Spencer. Charles is said to have told the author that he was “lucky” to be inheriting the Althorp Estate while still in his twenties.
- According to Spencer, Charles told him: “You’re just so lucky – you know, inheriting when you’re so young. I mean, I’m 43… and I employ 50 people … but my parents insist on treating me like – like a child!”
A closer look at the claims
Spencer claims, via a courtier, that the late Queen Elizabeth II said Charles was “resentful”. “He always resents things. He even resented it when I taught him the alphabet.”
He also wrote about Elizabeth’s apparent response to the news Diana was involved in an accident. “When the Queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?’” he wrote. “This, before the seriousness of it all became clear.”
Diana suspected Charles had ‘tryst’ with Camilla on train
Diana suspected that Charles may have had a “tryst” with Camilla, according to the book. The suspicion followed a press report in 1980 which claimed Charles was seen with a blonde woman on the royal train.
However, Spencer wrote that this was not Diana and that she suspected that it was Camilla on the train.
Law firm offered to help him sue over Diana crash
Earl Spencer claims that a law firm offered to help him, William and Harry sue over the crash that killed Diana in France.
He said that he did not reply to the letter.
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Morgan threatens to sue
Piers Morgan has threatened to sue Earl Spencer after claiming that there are “fabricated inaccuracies” in the book.
- The Earl claimed that Morgan “snarled with annoyance” after he was uninvited from Diana’s funeral.
The reaction
- Earl Spencer, responding to the Palace’s pushback over Charles’s alleged words, told the BBC: “Those are exactly the words he said.”
- He has also denied being vengeful. “I don’t hold resentments,” he told .
- Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the latest revelations and referred back to Wednesday’s initial statement.
- Earl Spencer was approached for further comment.
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Voters in the town, which sits on the border of London and Essex, told The i Paper what they really think about their local MP – and how much the issue of PIP cuts could affect his hold on the seat.
‘It’s going to create more worry and more stress’
At One Place East, a user-led organisation for disabled people in the borough of Redbridge, Roopal Mehta said losing PIP would be devastating for her and others who use the service.
Mehta, 38, has recieved PIP since 2014, after suffering a stroke which affected her mobility and has left her using a walking frame. She is now active at One Place East as chair of the wheelchair forum.
The process of securing PIP is already hard enough, she said, without the fear that it could be taken away at any moment. She suspected the Labour Party’s reforms would have an impact on how people vote in the area.
“People on PIP basically just want to live life normally,” she said.
Mehta added cuts “create more worry and more stress. Already before the assessment, people are so worried. It’s going to affect a lot of people it it does get cut.”
The PIP review, lead by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms, delivered its interim report over the summer, calling for significant reform to the system which it decreed was “no longer fit for purpose“.
Under the current system, the four million people in receipt of PIP can be given as much as £194 per week, but there is now a widespread expectation that Andy Burnham will have to cut the number of people receiving PIP in order to make savings.
One Place East’s policy and liaison officer, Erica Miles, said many of their users receive PIP, with a significant number in Streeting’s constituency just down the road from the organisation’s office in the centre of Ilford.
Streeting had actually arranged for the organisation to speak to Timms during the review process, which Miles praised for being “genuinely helpful”.
What she worries about now, she said, is the backlash against PIP, with an increasing sense of ill-will from some towards those in receipt of the benefit for those who have trouble with everday tasks.
“People who come here need support. Some people have a physical disability, but some don’t. Some people are in crisis and it’s really hard,” she said.
Miles added “it already feels like people are making terrible choices between heating and eating”, adding many disabled people “don’t feel safe”.
Feeling the brunt of welfare cuts
Even those who do not directly recieve PIP said they were feeling the effects of welfare cuts and underfunding on essential health and social care services.
Vinay, 43, a cobbler in Gants Hill who did not share his last name, said he did not vote for Streeting at the last election, and would not vote for him in a future race either.
He was particularly bothered by his MP’s record as health secretary between 2024 and May 2026, particularly with regards to cuts to health services.
Because of NHS underfunding, Vinay’s nine-year-old son nearly missed out on an ADHD diagnosis. It has made the world of difference to his son’s life, the cobbler said, but the unit where he was diagnosed was set to close the following month.
Majad Hussain, 53, is concerned about upcoming welfare reforms, expected to be set out in the coming weeks.
“It’s going to be devastating isn’t it? Inflation and interest rates are going to go up. If you take away PIP, how are they going to explain that?” he said.
Some think PIP reform is necesssary
Not all voters felt the same way, though. Marcia and Paul Hooper, both 73 and married for the past 51 years, typically vote Conservative, and did so at the last election.
However, they had made the decision to vote tactically for Labour “for the first time ever” in the recent local elections and would do the same at the next general election if they felt that tactical voting was necessary to keep other opponents out.
He did stress, though, that this should not come at the expense of those “who really do need it”.
On a bench in Valentine’s Park, retired history teacher Peter Sullivan, 66, said he disagreed with Streeting’s decision to quit Sir Keir Starmer’s government, but would vote for him again.
Sullivan said: “I did vote for him, I always vote Labour.”
He added there has been “a huge diagnosis of ADHD”, reiterating points from the interim report of the Timms review which suggested removing PIP from some recipients with ADHD and anxiety.
Brewing PIP rebellion?
While Sullivan remains a supporter of Streeting, he suggested that he may not have an opportunity to vote for him again in the future.
As the race for the seat is now so contentious, he predicted the party will send Streeting to run in a safer Labour seat, rather than risk losing one of their Cabinet ministers to a close race which might not go his way.
Some have speculated that the Government could face another rebellion over planned PIP cuts by Labour MPs unwilling to make the unpopular move in at-risk constituencies.
When Starmer’s government tried to slash welfare spending last year, it was forced to make an embarrassing U-turn after its own MPs threatened not to back the bill.
According to the analysis by , 212 Labour MPs – 58 per cent – have more PIP claimants in their constituency than their vote majority at the last election.
It presents a difficult bind for MPs, and particularly frontbenchers like Streeting, for whom PIP cuts could be future electoral suicide.