Bridget phillipson has just said on Trevor Phillips show "People are paid benefits to allow them to live the life they want to live". That sounds to me like, let's not place people on benefits at a disadvantage over those working who can afford anything they desire, so to speak. It's trying to make a level playing field for those unemployed at the expense of people who work and pay taxes. Benefits are not a reward for not working, they are to pay for the essentials like utilities, rent and food, not nails, alcohol, cigarettes, facial fillers, sunbeds. @TiceRichard @RobertJenrick

With a face like a slapped arse, that gormless dead-eyed Labour look and gobby council estate attitude, Bridget Phillipson gets her arse slapped by Camilla Tominey Questions include tax rises, why John Healey hasn't slung his wretched hook and cutting benefits.

🚨 NEW: The OBR has estimated the PIP benefits bill is set to nearly double from £26bn a year in 2024 to £45bn in 2030

JUST IN: 🇷🇺🇪🇺 President Putin says Russia has no plans for aggression against Europe.

Once again, Europe woke up to reckless and dangerous Russian behaviour. A Russian warship fired emergency flares dangerously close to a Danish helicopter. A drone entered Lithuanian airspace before being destroyed by NATO fighter jets. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe, testing our readiness and our resolve. Russia will find our resolve only growing stronger. We are reinforcing our collective deterrence and defence, together with NATO. And we are stepping up the pressure on Russia.

MORE BREAKING: Increasing indications that Saudi Arabia will be cancelling BOTH September AND October deliveries of oil. If this proves to be true (September is confirmed), we can expect the global energy markets to reach the $120+/Barrel territory… This is NOT SUSTAINABLE.

People still don’t fucking grasp how badly this is going, not only for America, but the rest of the globe. 🌎 The Strait of Hormuz has been a mess for months. Now the fallback routes are getting hit too. Drones launched from Iraq struck Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, the land line that was supposed to keep oil moving when the Gulf route was blocked. At the same time the Houthis have taken the other chokepoint. In a few days they seized Mocha, the rest of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, Perim Island sitting in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb, and the nearby islands. They now sit on the Yemeni side of the strait that links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. That is the route ships use when Hormuz is too dangerous. Two of the world’s most important oil and trade bottlenecks are now under pressure from the same network of Iranian aligned forces. Energy prices, shipping costs, and inflation do not stay in the Middle East. They show up in fuel, food, and freight everywhere. An illegal war that was promised to last four weeks is still raging, shaping daily life on every continent over six months later. We are so fucked.

Angela Rayner has defended Andy Burnham's comments that national security 'can't come at the expense of social security', which caused some controversy earlier this week. She tells @RachelSJohnson the PM's point was you have to have 'resilience within your own communities'.

NEW: Lindsay Clancy juror Paula Devlin reveals on 'CBS Mornings' that the lone, male holdout juror who voted to find Clancy guilty of murdering her children was the *only* person of color -- a black man. The 11 not-guilty jurors -- who hectored him for a week to cave -- were all white.

It's on. I'm running to be the next Green MP for Holborn & St Pancras. donatetothe.greenparty.org.u…

🚨BREAKING: The UK 10Y Bond Yield has hit 5.40% after Andy Burnham refused to cut welfare in Parliament yesterday

Reports of 4 stabbed and 7 arrested in Bromley high street. No fatals

New York City is soused by a heavy thunderstorm as a result of Hurricane Erin, which may hit Long Island and Manhattan overnight. Hundreds of commercial flights on the east coast are delayed or cancelled today and tomorrow.

🚨 NEW: The Green Party has drafted a policy proposal making school optional until the age of 7