Young people should get fewer welfare benefits, according to Milburn review on the workforce – UK politics live

Key events7m ago'The world will breach the 1.5c target,' Burnham tells Cop31 summit17m agoUnder-25s could be moved off key sickness and disability benefits in welfare shake-up'The world will breach the 1.5c target,' Burnham tells Cop31 summitAjit Niranjan“Britain is back and ready to play its full part,” Andy Burnham has said at the opening of today’s Cop31 summit.The UK prime minister celebrated domestic clean energy projects including windfarms and electrified steel factories, stressed the need to make the transition affordable, and announced the UK’s first special representative for climate security, Madeleine Alessandri.“The climate crisis is not a distant threat, it is upon us now, devastating lives and livelihoods everywhere,” he said. Pointing to the effects of two global wars on energy prices, he added that the “common thread running through all of this is fossil fuels.”Burnham repeated the UK’s commitment to meeting its 2050 net zero emissions target and said he would work with all of partners to reach theirs.Andy Burnham addresses the Cop31 annual UN climate conference in Antalya, Turkey. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA“In that spirit, I am proud to support this Cop’s focus on electrification,” he said. “If we depend on energy we do not control, we depend on prices we cannot control. The shift to clean energy is the only route to energy security.He called on industry to “play their part” in helping people on all incomes make the green transition. He highlighted progress in bringing the price of clean technologies down for consumers.“If you drive a new electric car today in the UK, it costs less than a petrol equivalent. Get on the right tariff and a heat pump can be cheaper to run than a gas boiler.”But he also warned that some of the fundamentals had worsened.“The consensus we once enjoyed on science is gone,” said Burnham. “And the reality is the world will breach the 1.5C target.”For more updates from the fourth day of the climate summit in Turkey, head over to our Cop31 live blog here:Under-25s could be moved off key sickness and disability benefits in welfare shake-upGood morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog. Young people could lose entitlement to the main sickness and disability benefits under a significant overhaul of the welfare system, according to proposals expected to emerge from the government-commissioned review into young people and work.Led by former health secretary Alan Milburn, the review is examining the barriers preventing young people from entering the workforce and how to address the growing number classified as not in education, employment or training (Neet), which currently stands at about 981,000 across the UK.Alan Milburn (right) speaking to apprentices at the Irish Rail training centre in Inchicore, Dublin, in August. Photograph: Patrick Bolger/The GuardianThe review, which has been under way for a year, is expected to include proposals that would remove under-25s’ entitlement to the health element of universal credit and personal independence payment (Pip), replacing them with a standard-rate youth allowance. Under the plans, first reported by the Times, those with additional needs arising from a disability would receive a separate, non-means-tested allowance, while those with severe disabilities and who are not capable of working would qualify for a higher rate.Speaking to the newspaper, Milburn acknowledged that the changes would not be “pain-free”, admitting some young people could initially receive less financial support than under the current system. The final review is due to be published on Tuesday.In other news: Prime minister Andy Burnham addressed world leaders at Cop31 in Turkey, pledging a “new era of British leadership” on climate change and reaffirming the UK’s commitment to its 2050 net-zero target. He said international consensus on science and climate “has gone”, adding: “The reality is the world will breach the 1.5C target.” You can keep up to date with the latest from the Cop31 summit in our live blog here: The UK has appointed the world’s first special representative for climate security, with Madeline Alessandri taking on the role to advise the government on the national security risks posed by climate change. Read more: