Good afternoon and welcome to this week\u2019s The State We\u2019re In. Welfare reform<\/a> of Britain\u2019s benefits system is not a classic August subject, and yet, here we are.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister Andy Burnham,<\/a> the leader of Her Majesty\u2019s Opposition, Kemi Badenoch<\/a> and the man who recently beat Count Binface in a rather pyrrhic victory in Clacton, Reform leader Nigel Farage, are all talking about it.<\/p>\n Burnham signalled that benefits changes were a priority for him by opting to keep Welfare Secretary Pat McFadden in post to continue the difficult task of overseeing sensitive welfare changes to disability benefits and youth unemployment support. <\/p>\n \n\t\t\tShorts\n\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tScroll to previous short \t\t\tScroll to next short \t\t\t\t How some prostate cancers \u2018can be diagnosed without biopsy\u2019<\/p>\n Researchers at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) have found MRI scans can be used to detect cancer in some men with a high degree of certainty.<\/p>\n \nWhat the research found\n<\/p>\n Men may not need to have a biopsy to diagnose prostate cancer.<\/p>\n Radiologists looked at scan results combined with the patient\u2019s age and their\u00a0prostate-specific antigen (PSA) score.<\/p>\n Of the 69 patients deemed to be \u201c99 per cent certain\u201d they had a tumour via their MRI scan, all of them had cancer confirmed through biopsy.<\/p>\n Researchers said this indicates certain men may not need to have invasive biopsies.<\/p>\n What does this mean?<\/p>\n UCLH consultant radiologist Alex Kirkham said the research indicates prostate cancer could join the list of cancers which can be diagnosed with a scan alone.<\/p>\n Consultant urologist and professor of interventional oncology Mark Emberton said it is particularly important as prostate cancer incidence is only set to rise.<\/p>\n \t 4 min read<\/p>\n \t 3 min read<\/p>\n Th expert reaction<\/p>\n Avoiding unnecessary biopsies is an important goal in\u00a0prostate\u00a0cancer care, because they can be painful, invasive and can cause infections\u2026 Using MRI alone to diagnose these cancers could make the process much safer and easier for men, and less costly for the NHS.<\/p>\n Dr Matthew Hobbs, director of research at\u00a0Prostate\u00a0Cancer UK<\/p>\n health<\/p>\n Why better sleep could keep people working for longer<\/p>\n Researchers in Finland examined data from people aged between 50 and 68 to look at the correlation between sleeping habits and the ability to continue working.<\/p>\n \nThe story in numbers\n<\/p>\n 13 years, five months<\/p>\n Regularly disturbed sleep was linked to leaving the workforce months early.<\/p>\n People who reported no disturbances had a working life expectancy of 13 years and five months.<\/p>\n Six years, five months<\/p>\n The shortest working life expectancy was found among men in routine jobs with low levels of education who slept for more than nine hours a night.<\/p>\n They had an average of six years and five months left in work after the age of 50.<\/p>\n What does this tell us?<\/p>\n Researchers said the findings, published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, suggest healthy\u00a0sleep\u00a0(under seven hours but undisturbed) may help people keep working as they age.<\/p>\n \u201cTo promote older adults\u2019 participation in working life, supporting\u00a0sleep\u00a0of recommended length and good quality may be required,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n \t 3 min read<\/p>\n news<\/p>\n How the UK\u2019s child ADHD diagnosis rates compare to the rest of the world<\/p>\n The former president of the Royal College of General Practitioners has said she would \u201cban the label ADHD\u201d and that it should be treated as a \u201csocial construct\u201d instead of a neurodevelopmental condition.<\/p>\n What is the situation?<\/p>\n Speaking to The Telegraph\u00a0ahead of the Channel 4 documentary\u00a0The Great ADHD Myth?, Dr Iona Heath criticised overdiagnosis and argued there is no scientific evidence that those diagnosed have neurological differences.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, then-health secretary Wes Streeting said there was an \u201coverdiagnosis\u201d problem and launched a review.<\/p>\n \t Exclusive<\/p>\n 4 min read<\/p>\n What does the UK data reveal?<\/p>\n The Lancet\u00a0and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) put the UK rate of\u00a0childhood ADHD\u00a0at 5 per cent, and 3 to 4 per cent for adults.<\/p>\n One study\u00a0found ADHD diagnoses\u00a0increased in the UK from 2000 to 2018. <\/p>\n By 2018, the highest rates were in boys aged 10 to 16 \u2013 3.5 per cent had been diagnosed. Back in 2000, this number was 1.4 per cent.<\/p>\n \t 5 min read<\/p>\n \nHow we compare with other countries\n<\/p>\n In the US, 11.4 per cent of children aged three to 17 years old were diagnosed with ADHD in 2024. In Europe, a 2023 French study indicated 3.68 per cent of children (800,000) have ADHD compared with 5.5 per cent of adults (1.4 million).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in\u00a0Spain, estimates of ADHD prevalence in children range from 5.5 per cent to 6.8 per cent.<\/p>\n A closer look at the review<\/p>\n The ongoing Government review is led by Professor Peter Fonagy, national clinical adviser on children\u2019s mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n An interim report, published in March this year, identified rising diagnosis rates as an issue alongside people with ADHD and autism failing to get the support they need. <\/p>\n The final report is set to focus on\u00a0how to make more support available that is \u201cless dependent on diagnostic thresholds\u201d and \u201cmore responsive to functional need\u201d.<\/p>\n \t Explained<\/p>\n 2 min read<\/p>\n us news<\/p>\n What you need to know as Tupac Shakur murder trial begins<\/p>\n Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis, 63, allegedly orchestrated the killing of the rapper back in 1996.<\/p>\n It is the first time anyone has gone on trial in connection with the infamous drive-by shooting.<\/p>\n Everything we know so far<\/p>\n Prosecutors allege that Davis did not fire the gun himself, but did mastermind the killing.<\/p>\n He is a former gang leader and uncle of the man long suspected of shooting Tupac.<\/p>\n Davis has pleaded not guilty and denies the allegations. <\/p>\n The trial is expected to last up to six weeks and may feature testimony from one of the other passengers of the car.<\/p>\n \t 2 min read<\/p>\n What happened on the night<\/p>\n There were witnesses to the murder who could put together a timeline of events, though police have never arrested a suspected killer.<\/p>\n On 7 September, 1996, Tupac went to watch a Mike Tyson boxing match on the Las Vegas strip.<\/p>\n He and Marion \u201cSuge\u201d Knight, the head of his record label, got into a fight with Orlando Anderson, Duane Davis\u2019s nephew and a suspected member of the South Side Compton Crips gang.<\/p>\n Leaving the match with Suge, Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting from the back of a white Cadillac.<\/p>\n Six days later, on 13 September, he died in hospital. He was 25 years old.<\/p>\n What have the lawyers said?<\/p>\n Prosecutor Binu Palal told the jury: \u201cLet\u2019s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Davis\u2019s attorneys questioned \u201cwhat facts do they have after 30 years?\u201d and labelled the allegations \u201cfiction\u201d.<\/p>\n \t Interview<\/p>\n 4 min read<\/p>\n news<\/p>\n Wetherspoons bans playing music or taking calls on speaker<\/p>\n JD Wetherspoon founder and CEO Sir Tim Martin said \u201cwe are kindly asking phone users to pipe down\u201d while in his pubs.<\/p>\n It joins widespread calls for measures to tackle antisocial phone use in public.<\/p>\n What you need to know<\/p>\n The pub chain said it had taken the decision across all of its 792 sites \u201cfollowing complaints from customers, who are being driven nuts by other people\u2019s videos and amplified phone conversations\u201d.<\/p>\n It requested that customers \u201cswitch their phones to silent\u201d or \u201cuse earphones\u201d rather than disturb others.<\/p>\n \t 3 min read<\/p>\n \nThe fight-back against noise\n<\/p>\n The Liberal Democrats have previously called for fines of up to \u00a31,000 for \u201cheadphone dodgers\u201d who play music out loud on buses and trains.<\/p>\n A YouGov poll published in 2025 suggested 62 per cent of people would back the move.<\/p>\n In London, Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan rolled out a campaign last year encouraging people to use headphones when playing music on the city\u2019s transport network.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Bungling this by a) failing to do it and b) losing the support of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) along the way was, arguably, a major reason for Burnham\u2019s predecessor Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s downfall. <\/p>\n Coming up in this week\u2019s newsletter:<\/p>\n Why Britain\u2019s welfare crisis is not quite what politicians say it is\u2026<\/p>\n The harsh truth about why so many Brits need benefits\u2026<\/p>\n New polling suggests young people have clocked that hard work is no longer enough<\/p>\n And, finally, Labour\u2019s major planning changes: homes around stations and preserving pubs<\/p>\n The Prime Minister has signalled that significant change is coming, saying that the country needs to \u201cget really serious\u201d in reducing the welfare bill and that he wants to \u201cincrease the conditions<\/a> required to receive benefits\u201d.<\/p>\n Badenoch then tried to pre-empt any Labour policies in a Telegraph<\/a> op-ed by arguing that the Tories would take away foreign nationals\u2019 right to social housing (more on why that\u2019s not quite the announcement the Tories think it is in a moment).<\/p>\n Reform<\/a> have now also thrown their weight at this issue. In a press conference on Monday, Nigel Farage\u2019s party announced plans to cut around \u00a350bn from the benefits bill<\/a>, exclude foreign nationals from most benefits and replace the disability payments system.<\/p>\n So, which party has the right approach?<\/p>\n The truth about Britain\u2019s benefits bill<\/p>\n It is true that Britain\u2019s benefits bill is rising.<\/p>\n This year the Government expects<\/a> to spend a total of \u00a3322bn on welfare in Great Britain, or 10.6 per cent of our GDP.<\/p>\n But what neither Reform nor the Tories have admitted is that just under half of that goes on the state pension<\/a>. As I wrote here, our economic reality was very different when David Cameron and George Osborne brought in the triple lock, which guarantees pensioners a pay rise every year no matter what.<\/p>\n It is also true that the number of people, and therefore the cost of disability and health-related benefits are rising.<\/p>\n As I reported a few weeks ago from the interim launch of the Timms Review, <\/a>which will decide how Personal Independence Payments (PIP) should be reformed, spending on this benefit is expected to jump from \u00a326bn to over \u00a341bn by 2030.<\/p>\n PIP began to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in 2013. Unlike DLA, which often gave people lifetime benefits, PIP requires regular review, and if someone\u2019s conditions worsen, they must apply for the enhanced rate of the benefit as opposed to the lesser standard rate.<\/p>\n The surge in PIP\u2019s cost has been driven by two factors: firstly more older people claim it and, secondly, more than 100,000 people with ADHD as their main condition now receive PIP. The latest government figures show an increase of 40 per cent in these cases since Labour came to power two years ago.<\/p>\n And, finally, as I have reported extensively, the number of young people aged 16-24 who need benefits because they are not in education, employment or training (NEET) has risen. <\/p>\n The number of young people in the UK classified as NEET<\/a> has surpassed 1.01 million, reaching its highest level in over a decade, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).<\/p>\n However, it is just not true that Britain\u2019s benefits problems have been driven by a surge in foreign nationals making claims. <\/p>\n Figures published in 2025 showed that more than a million Universal Credit claimants were born overseas<\/a>, including around 700,000 EU citizens who arrived in the UK before Brexit and have the right to live and work in the UK.<\/p>\n In terms of social housing allocation, according to official statistics<\/a>, most lead tenants of households with a new social letting in 2024\/25 were UK nationals (89 per cent, or 233,000 lead tenants). European nationals comprised 4 per cent of lead tenants (10,000) with the remaining 8 per cent from nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA) (20,000). This distribution is similar to the previous year.<\/p>\n The difficult truth<\/p>\n Labour knows that Britain has a welfare problem. That is why work evaluating the system is already happening, whether that\u2019s Sir Stephen Timms\u2019 major PIP review or Alan Milburn\u2019s nationwide assessment of youth inactivity. Both will report their findings later this year.<\/p>\n Behind closed doors at the Treasury, the growing benefits bill \u2013 which includes the state pension \u2013 is a cause of major concern for civil servants who work on Britain\u2019s financial security regardless of which party is in power.<\/p>\n The bitter truth is that no sitting prime minister wants to touch the state pension because it would be an electoral disaster. <\/p>\n But, blaming the problem on foreign nationals as both the Tories and Reform have tried to do is somewhat lazy.<\/p>\n Solutions, not cuts<\/p>\n It is easy to talk about cuts, but far harder to ask a more nuanced set of questions: why are so many young adults now struggling? Why do so many people now report having ADHD? What has changed in our society? Is our economy still serving all who participate in it?<\/p>\n To the credit of McFadden, Timms and Milburn, they are asking these questions even if the answers will necessitate more complicated policy answers than merely cutting people\u2019s support.<\/p>\n As McFadden put it to me<\/a> at a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) jobs fair earlier this year, he thinks the Government needs to \u201cstart with the right exam question\u201d.<\/p>\n That is not \u201cwhat benefits are you entitled to\u201d but, instead, \u201chow can the government help change your life?\u201d<\/p>\n McFadden, like Timms, Milburn and Burnham have all said something along the lines of: \u201cBritain must no longer be a place where people are signed off and written off.\u201d <\/p>\n Labour\u2019s plans for welfare reform are taking shape. <\/p>\n So far, as I learned from Timms when I interviewed him<\/a>, it is likely that PIP assessments will be completely overhauled. It is also possible that some people will be offered services such as therapy or home help instead of cash benefits.<\/p>\n
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Caption: WALSALL, ENGLAND \u2013 DECEMBER 12: Prostate Cancer UK branding on a hoodie worn by a fan during the Emirates FA Cup Second Round Replay match between Walsall and Alfreton Town at Poundland Bescot Stadium on December 12, 2023 in Walsall, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins\/Getty Images)
Photographer: Marc Atkins
Provider: Getty Images
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Caption: An elderly volunteer answers phones at an office for the Contra Costa County Food Bank. (Photo by Bob Rowan\/Corbis via Getty Images)
Photographer: Bob Rowan
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Source: Corbis Historical<\/p>\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI_308745937.jpg\")
Caption: Woman sleeping in her bed. (Photo by: BSIP\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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GPs said the national staffing shortage was to blame for the increase in short-staffed out of hours services. (Photo: Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
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Ministers insist special schools will always play a vital role for children with complex needs (Photo: 10\u2019000 Hours\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI_170511609.jpg\")
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Caption: TOPSHOT \u2013 A 1996 photo of rapper Tupac Shakur (L) and Marion \u201cSuge\u201d Knight is displayed during the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of the rapper, at Clark County District Court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 17, 2026. The trial of the former gang leader accused of orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur began on August 10, 30 years after one of America\u2019s most high-profile unresolved killings. The proceedings, expected to last a month, will likely not make clear who fired the shots that killed the California hip-hop legend on the night of September 7, 1996, while he was in Las Vegas to see a Mike Tyson boxing match. (Photo by STEVE MARCUS \/ POOL \/ AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: STEVE MARCUS
Provider: POOL\/AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: REUTERS<\/p>\n
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Caption: Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis appears at Clark County District Court on the third day of jury selection for his trial for his alleged role in leading a group of men to kill Tupac Shakur in a 1996 drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., August 12, 2026. Steve Marcus\/via REUTERS
Photographer: Steve Marcus
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Caption: People check news on their mobile phone while watching the Brexit deal vote on a television at the James Joyce pub in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. U.K. Prime Minister??Theresa May\u2019s??Brexit deal was rejected by Parliament in a humiliating defeat, her plan for leaving the European Union all but dead. She now faces a confidence vote in her government. Photographer: Dario Pignatelli\/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photographer: Bloomberg
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Caption: A mug of beer is seen on a table in Krakow, Poland on October 25, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Photographer: NurPhoto
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Copyright: Jakub Porzycki\/NurPhoto<\/p>\n
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