Jack Grey
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has held his first cabinet meeting after succeeding Keir Starmer as leader of the government on Monday.

It followed an announcement first thing this morning that VAT will be removed from domestic electricity bills for six months from October - saving a typical household about £45 a year.

Here are the key points from today:

• The government said the £850m cost of the VAT cut would be funded by savings from the cancellation of the digital ID programme, which was going to cost £1.8bn over the next three years
• Downing Street later insisted the tax cut was "fully funded" after sacked minister Darren Jones said the ID scheme itself was not funded
• Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch welcomed the cut, but also questioned how it would be funded
• Speaking to cabinet, Burnham told ministers that they needed to be a "cost of living government" and give people a sense "that help is coming"
• Burnham also spoke to the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Downing Street saying he told them he would be "focused on practical measures, not constitutional changes like further referendums"
• Downing Street later insisted plans for a "No 10 North" will not cost the taxpayer any additional money
• And in his first news conference as defence secretary, Wes Streeting branded Russia "performative and irresponsible" for carrying out a live-firing exercise off the UK coast yesterday

We're pausing our live coverage for now, but you can read more in our news story here.

Hugh Pym
Health editor

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Yvette Cooper will be facing up to some major challenges as she settles in to her new role as health and social care secretary.

As well as pressing issues like cutting NHS waiting lists in England and the prospect of more industrial action by doctors, she has been given an extra and highly significant task by the new prime minister.

Since entering No 10 Andy Burnham has restated his long-held position that social care in England should be funded on the NHS principle - free at the point of use rather than a means tested service.

There will be a big price tag attached - £6.6bn per year to start offering protection against some costs with free personal care in line with the Scottish model, and more to move to a national care service like the NHS.

Burnham says this could partly be offset by savings for the NHS discharging people more swiftly from hospitals and running A&E more efficiently.

Think tanks have responded positively, though the Health Foundation warned that "there is a cost to doing nothing" and the Nuffield Trust argued that taxation will be needed to provide "a meaningful source of cash for these reforms".

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

The First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill says she spoke with new prime minister Andy Burnham today, and said "a serious change" is needed in the approach of the British government.

She demands "urgent and meaningful support" for the cost of living crisis and added: "The democratic right of the people of Ireland to determine our own future must be fully acknowledged and respected."

Earlier today, Downing Street said Burnham had spoken to O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, as well as Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Burnham told them he was focused on "practical measures", not "constitutional changes, like further referendums", a spokesperson said, and was serious about working to "drive deeper devolution to all parts" of the UK.

John Campbell
BBC News NI economics and business editor

The VAT cut on household electricity bills announced by the prime minister will not apply in Northern Ireland.

Instead Stormont ministers will get extra money from the UK government to use on cost of living measures. In Great Britain, the VAT rate on electricity bills will be cut from 5% to 0% in October, saving the typical customer £45.

The amount of money coming to Northern Ireland and how and when it will be spent is so far unclear.

The VAT cut is not being applied in Northern Ireland because of complications related to the region's Brexit deal.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show, Stormont's communities minister Gordon Lyons criticised the government's decision to compensate Northern Ireland through extra funding rather than applying the same VAT changes as the rest of the UK, arguing it would create unnecessary complexity.

Lyons says it is too early to say how such an arrangement would work.

You can read more in our news story.

Alex Emery and Rozina Sini
BBC News

Image source, Supplied

We've just brought you an example of someone who has described the VAT cut to electricity bills as "good news". But some have criticised the move.

Retired Londoner Mike Simmonds says the policy feels like a "pathetic soundbite, that gives the consumer just £1 per week extra in their pocket".

He says he wishes Burnham "every success" but thinks "you need to spend time to develop policy".

Dorothy Altham, 74, from Skipton says the VAT cut will not make much difference in her life either.

"You have to spend a lot on electricity to save the £45 that everyone is talking about... my gas bill is much higher than my electric bill so I would prefer to have help there – or with food costs," she adds.

Bobbi Huyton
BBC Your Voice

Image source, Aston Higton

A 28-year-old who runs a gourmet sandwich shop in Derby says the VAT cut is "the first bit of good news I’ve had since owning my business".

The government says the cut will apply for six months from October, and while the move is primarily aimed at domestic properties, small businesses that qualify for the domestic energy VAT relief and are not registered for VAT "will also benefit".

"It will be interesting to see how long this lasts and what the caveat is," Aston Higton, who runs Little Vics Deli, says.

"Everything from ingredients and wages to utilities and rent has gone up", he says, adding he's also noticed customers watching closely what they spend due to the cost of living.

"As an independent business, you absorb as much as you can because you don’t want to price people out, but that makes growing the business much harder," he tells the BBC.

Higton says he wants to see "policies that genuinely help [small businesses] grow", including promoting stability and providing more support for independent businesses on the high street.

Image source, Reuters

Downing Street has insisted Burnham’s plan to cut VAT from electricity bills for six months from October is "fully funded".

The government previously said the £1.8bn cost would be paid for by scrapping Keir Starmer's planned digital ID scheme - but Labour MP Darren Jones, newly sacked from the cabinet, says that programme was "unfunded".

When it's put to the PM's spokesperson that the cut is being funded through unidentified savings, he says: "Departments were going to have to fund the Digital ID programme through their existing budget reprioritisation.

"Departments will now direct these savings towards this."

Civil servants are already working at the new Manchester-based No 10 North, Downing Street says, adding that there will be "no additional cost to taxpayers" as a result of the plan.

Burnham's official spokesman says costs for running the new No 10 North will be covered by existing Cabinet Office budgets.

Earlier, the BBC reported that it understood civil servants working for government departments based in London have been offered relocation packages to encourage them to move to the North of England.

Asked about relocation incentives, the PM's spokesman says it is "standard practice" for employers to support staff required to relocate.

No 10 North is "not a gimmick" for the prime minister, his spokesman stressed, as Burnham said "the time for resisting devolution was over".

According to his spokesman, the PM is expected to work from the Manchester office "at least one day a week", although this could change depending on government priorities.

Dominic Bailey
BBC News Visual Journalism Team

The map below shows the spread of cabinet members around the UK by the areas they represent in Parliament.

Of the 27 MPs, seven have constituencies in the North West of England, four in Yorkshire and the Humber, and two in the North East.

That’s 13 from the North of England in total, including the prime minister, chancellor, foreign secretary and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

There are three with constituences in Wales (which includes Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant), one from Scotland, two each from the West and East Midlands, four from London and one each from the South East and South West of England.

Image source, PA Media

In his first news conference as Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting criticises Russia for carrying out a live-firing exercise off the British coast, calling it "performative and irresponsible".

A Russian warship, shadowed by a Royal Navy vessel, carried out a live-fire artillery exercise just 46 miles (74km) south of Plymouth on Monday.

"It’s not the first time that Russia has behaved like this," Streeting says, adding "Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government and this prime minister."

Streeting is also asked about the possibility of further increases to defence spending this year.

He says it's a matter for the new chancellor, John Healey, who resigned as defence secretary from Keir Starmer's government because he wanted more funding for the military.

"But I certainly feel like we’ve got a firm friend in His Majesty’s Treasury," Streeting adds.

Speaking alongside his counterparts from Canada, Italy, and Japan, Streeting says his focus will be on maximsing deterrence and ensuring the country can fight and win alongside allies, adding that will mean reindustrialisation and job opportunities across the country.

Bryn Windsor
Journalist, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Daily Telegraph/PA

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said Russia "harbours no hope" that Andy Burnham's appointment will lead to an improvement in Russian-British relations.

By declaring yesterday to back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "100%", Burnham is only "prolonging the war", the Kremlin spokesman tells reporters in Moscow.

Russian state TV and online commentators have been reporting extensively on the changes at No 10, claiming that the frequent turnover of PMs is evidence of the UK's chaotic and misguided politics, including towards Russia.

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

Image source, MoD via Getty Images

When a Russian warship in the English Channel suddenly decides to conduct a live-fire artillery exercise on the very same day the UK is changing prime minister, it may be hard to dismiss as purely coincidence.

Most navies do not conduct live gunnery drills near busy shipping lanes.

Most navies give plenty of advance warning when they want to carry out such drills - to warn others.

Asked by the BBC, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "there is no need to see any signals in this" directed at Downing Street.

"All [military] exercises and all actions undertaken by our warships are carried out in strict compliance with international and maritime law," he said.

But it is certainly a timely reminder that Russia poses a threat.

Many European leaders and defence chiefs have been warning that the world is becoming a more dangerous place - including Starmer before he left office.

Many defence commentators believe that Starmer’s warnings were never matched by enough money. This incident is a reminder that pressure will not have gone away for Andy Burnham.

Still signs of Labour's green agenda, even if it's not been the focus in messagingpublished at 16:08 BST

16:08 BST

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

Sophie in High Wycombe asked if the new Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, will carry on the work of Ed Miliband - including encouraging more solar and the use of electric vehicles.

I think the general strategy will continue, but at the margins we may get more of a lean into the idea of extending existing oil and gas fields.

Even this morning, given the announcement about taking VAT off electricity bills, part of the rationale there wasn't just cost of living but to equalise the cost of electric and gas - because that's better for the green agenda.

It's not disappeared, it featured very highly in Burnham's book, the idea of a green industrial revolution.

We've heard about it before, but we haven't heard a great deal about it in his speeches over the past couple of days.

What are Burnham's plans for immigration?published at 16:03 BST

16:03 BST

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Returning to the question-and-answer session we featured in the live stream above just now, John in Manchester asked what is known about Burnham's plans for immigration.

It's a good question, and it's interesting because it's one of those issues that in polling comes right up there among the top issues in voters' minds.

But Burnham has not talked about it very much - he's focused on cost of living and spreading opportunities around the UK.

What we have to focus on here is that he's keeping Mahmood in the Home Office and what that signals, very clearly, is no overall change really in the direction of policy that existed under Starmer.

That is reducing net migration, it's tackling illegal immigration and Burnham has signalled in the last month or so that he thinks the public concern on that should be heard.

What we also know is that part of his agenda, his economic agenda for the UK, is about pushing skills, creating jobs for young people.

All of that indicates, I think, that this kind of agenda of tightening up on visas for those entering the UK, especially low skilled workers, is likely to stay in place.

Image source, Reuters

Chancellor John Healey has told civil servants that "fiscal credibility is the bedrock of economic stability and national security" in opening remarks to colleagues.

"As for any chancellor, fiscal control must be the first duty. It is mine," he says, speaking at the Treasury on his first full day in the job.

He also set out five priorities: fiscal discipline, growth in every postcode, backing Britain, wealth creation, and making life more affordable.

Recommitting to the previous government’s fiscal rules, Healey says: "We will help people live well, we’ll invest in their success rather than paying for their failure."

The new government is under way - we've seen the newly formed cabinet gather at Downing Street, had the first major policy drop in the form of a VAT cut for domestic energy bills, and spotted certain ministers begin work within the realms of their portfolios.

Our colleagues will shortly be answering your questions on what's going on, and what it means for you.

Among those on hand are economics editor Faisal Islam, health editor Hugh Pym, political correspondent Damian Grammaticas and Sumi Somaskanda reporting from the White House.

You can watch live at the top of the page from 15:30 BST - we'll also bring you some of the answers here.

Which households are likely to benefit most from scrapping VAT on electricity?published at 15:20 BST

15:20 BST

Image source, Getty Images

By Tom Edgington

While the decision to scrap VAT on electricity bills from 1 October will save every household money, it raises the question about whether richer or poorer households will benefit the most.

The answer comes down to how you measure the impact.

If you just look at money saved, higher-income households stand to gain the most. That’s because they’re more likely to live in larger homes and therefore use more electricity - leading to bigger cash savings.

However, poorer households tend to spend a larger portion of their total income on energy bills. So as a share of income, poorer households will likely benefit more.

"The richest fifth will get about 25% of the total cost of the policy, whereas for the poorest fifth it’s only about 16%," explains Jonny Marshall, an economist from the Resolution Foundation think tank.

But Marshall also told BBC Verify that the poorest third of households spend about twice as much on their energy bills, as a share of their income, compared with the richest third.

"So you can make the argument both ways depending on which one you want to make."

Why are UK electricity prices high?published at 15:16 BST

15:16 BST

By Anthony Reuben

Despite the government saying it will cut the current 5% rate of VAT on domestic energy to zero from October, the cost of power in the UK remains relatively high.

Comparing UK prices with the EU, external shows that medium-use households in the UK paid the fourth-highest electricity prices in the second half of last year including taxes and levies, although the government has taken steps to reduce bills since then.

One of the main reasons the price of electricity is high is that prices are often based on the cost of gas which is used to generate power. Gas prices are relatively high because of the war in Iran.

The government is confident that its plans to get almost all electricity from clean sources by 2030 will mean the cost of electricity will no longer be dictated by the price of gas.

But for that to happen there will need to be considerable investment both in green generation and the power grid to distribute it.

Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent

Earlier today, the head of the UK’s leading scientific organisation expressed concerns that the absorption of the Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) into the business department risks making science "second class" within the new super department.

Professor Sir Paul Nurse, who is president of the Royal Society, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he has concerns that the scrapping of DSIT sends a signal that the Burnham government has de-prioritised science.

He called on the prime minister himself to send a clear signal that the UK’s research base will be central to the government’s growth plans and drawn on by all departments.

"The prime minister understands the transformative power of science, knowledge, innovation, and technology.

"They are all parts of an interlinked and interdependent system of research that drives economic growth, health care, security, education, prosperity and the public good," he said.

Dan Woodland
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

Andy Burnham has used his first cabinet meeting as PM to tell ministers he will lead a "cost-of-living government", insisting they must give people "a sense that help is coming".

That came after a first major policy announcement on the removal of VAT from domestic electricity bills in October - expected to save a typical household £45 a year on average. Here's what that could mean for you.

Easing financial pressures for people across the UK is one in a long list of issues Burnham and his top team will need to address.

But the policy has already taken some flak - not least from inside the Labour Party. The former chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones questioned where the money would come from - comments that are likely to sting Downing Street, writes our political editor.

There has also been criticism from other political parties, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch asking how it would be funded, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey saying it doesn't go far enough and Green Party leader Zack Polanski calling it "a start" but insisting more needs to be done.

Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is calling for Burnham to hold a general election, saying he has "no mandate whatsoever".