13 Mar 2025

UK: Disabled welfare cuts, Russian diplomat expelled

From Nine To Noon, 9:45 am on 13 March 2025
Smoke rises from the MV Solong cargo ship in the North Sea, off the coast of Withernsea, east of England, on March 11, 2025, after it collided with the MV Stena Immaculate tanker on March 10. Fires were raging on Tuesday after a the MV Solong, a cargo ship laden with toxic materials, crashed into the MV Immaculate, a tanker carrying flammable jet fuel in the North Sea, as questions mounted about how the accident happened. There were also growing fears that any spill from the collision could harm the local environment and coastline, home to seals, porpoises and some protected waders and waterfowl. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)

Photo: AFP / Paul Ellis

UK correspondent Dan Bloom joins Kathryn to look at how Labour MPs are wrestling with a proposal to slash benefits for the disabled, in order to avoid a bill for £70 billion by the end of the decade.

He'll also talk about Sir Keir Starmer's role in pushing for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, as the UK looks to expel a Russian diplomat in a retaliatory action for a similar move earlier this week against British diplomats in Moscow.

UK officials insist there was no foul play, but have arrested the Russian captain of a cargo ship that crashed into an oil tanker in the North Sea. And there's trouble in the Reform ranks.

Dan Bloom is political editor of Politico London Playbook