Wes Streeting’s smoking ban could have saved me

I thank Wes Streeting for proposing to extend the smoking ban. Some nine million benefit claimants are likely to be affected by the Fraud, Error and Debt Bill, which will migrate as many as three million Employment Support Allowance claimants to Universal Credit. And an as-yet indeterminate number of the three million or so personal independence payment claimants who, under Labour’s plans, may lose some or all of their personal independence payment. During his visit, he is reported to have said: “We’ve been committed from the very beginning to help Israel protect their sovereign territory, and that hasn’t changed and won’t change.” But Israel is not defending its sovereign territory – it is maintaining its brutal military occupation and expansion into Palestinian territory. Tony Bourner Axminster Labour snouts in the trough As a lifelong “lefty”, I find myself incredibly disappointed by the freebie culture that the Labour government seems to have welcomed with wide open arms.