Cameron frames welfare cuts as part of 'one nation' mission - Politics live

• David Cameron has refused to rule out cutting disability benefits affecting those who work. In a speech in Runcorn, in which he also signalled that the government intends to cut cut tax credits as part of an effort “to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society”, he only gave limited assurances on disability benefits. He said in his speech:

Whatever the pressures, we will stand by my promises to protect the most vulnerable – including the most disabled who cannot work because that’s the sign of the compassionate country I believe in.

But some disability benefits are paid to people who do work, and in the Q&A, when asked if he would rule out cuts to disability benefits, Cameron just said:

We are actually spending more per year on disability benefits than in the past. I think that is important, helping the most disabled people.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, taxing disability living allowance and the personal independence payment, which would count as a cut for those affected, would raise almost £1bn,

• Downing Street has said that Cameron hopes that “technical talks” about Britain’s EU renegotiation demands will start after this week’s EU summit and that they will probably take “several months”. (See12.36pm.)

• Some peacekeeping missions are to be counted as defence spending for the first time, the BBC has revealed.

• Ministers have been urged by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to reverse cuts to healthcare leading to higher rates of child poverty across the UK. As the Press Association reports, at the RCN’s annual congress in Bournemouth, Dorset, delegates voted 99.5% in favour of a resolution that “RCN Congress calls on council to lobby all UK Governments to invest in our young people and end child health inequalities.” Professor Rod Thomson, director of public health in Shropshire and deputy president of RCN, said the government needed to invest in child healthcare to ensure a healthy population. He said: “You [the government] do not understand the evidence base of children in poverty.”
• Source: The Guardian