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Key events

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p class=”dcr-s3ycb2″>Good morning. Keir Starmer and his team got through the announcement yesterday of disability benefit cuts worth £5bn without total Labour meltdown – no one has resigned from the government yet – but backbenchers were broadly sullen and unpersuaded, and the battle to implement these changes is only just starting.

Here is our overnight story, by Kiran Stacey, Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot.

Patrick Butler, the Guardian’s social policy editor, has an analysis here.

And Archie Bland has a good overall upsetum of where we are in his First Edition briefing.

Starmer has written an article for the Times defending the cuts (more on that soon), and Stephen Timms, the social security and disability minister, has been giving interviews this morning. His first was on Times Radio, where Kate McCann quickly highlighted one of the reasons why this is perilous territory for Labour. Timms said that, even with these cuts, the welfare bill was still going up; but these measures made the rising cost “sustainable”, he argued. So McCann asked if the government was ruling out further benefit cuts in future. Timms replied:

The proposals were set out in full yesterday. We’re going to be tabling legislation to implement a number of those changes. We’re going to be consulting over a full 12-week period on some of the proposals that we made yesterday. And we’re determined to get this absolutely right.

McCann tried again:

Can we just be very clear, though – are you ruling out coming back for more from the welfare bill?

And Timms replied:

Who knows what will happen in the next five years?

Indeed. And we’re not going to find out today. But we will hear what Starmer has to say in next three hours, when Starmer takes PMQs.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Matt Hancock, the former Tory health secretary, gives evidence to the Covid inquiry has part of its module looking at PPE procurement.

Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

After 12.30pm: MPs debate Lords amendments to the bill putting up employer national insurance.

3pm: Martin Lewis, the consumer champion and founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, gives evidence to the Commons energy company.

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If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.Here is the agenda for the day.