Jeremy Hunt fails to quash claims Treasury vetoed pay offer that may have averted rail strikes – UK politics live

Chancellor did not contest claim when asked whether his department blocked a pay rise of around 10% for rail workers

An international watchdog has accused British politicians of contributing to a hostile and toxic" environment for transgender people in the UK.

Dunja Mijatovi, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, made the comment in a wide-ranging report on the UK, based on what she observed during a visit in the summer.

Trans persons in the UK face increasingly hostile and toxic political and public discourse ...

Both government officials and certain parliamentarians have actively contributed to an intolerant and stigmatising discourse. In line with her previous warnings about the increasing political manipulation of intolerance against LGBTI people in Europe, the commissioner is particularly concerned by the apparently deliberate attempts by some politicians to turn the situation of trans people into culture wars' or wedge' issue for electoral purposes.

Another worrying feature of the current discourse is the framing of the protection of the rights of trans people as diametrically opposed to, and incompatible with, the protection of the rights of women, or of lesbians, gays or bisexuals. The commissioner is of the opinion that such distortions of human rights as a zero-sum game between different groups must be vigorously rejected.

There is unanimity across the government in that it wants high inflation to be temporary, and I think there is understanding that that is essential for the very people who are feeling most angry about their situation.

We have to be really careful not to agree to pay demands that have the opposite of the intended effect because they lock in high inflation.

So if we make the wrong choices now, we won't have that 3.7% of inflation in January or February of 2024 and this will change from being a one-off problem, to being a permanent problem, which will be the worst possible thing for people working in public services. That is why it's generally a very difficult issue.