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Cabinet ministers have started to arrive in Downing Street for the COBRA meeting due to take place shortly on the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Also spotted was the UK's ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, who has clearly made the trip back from Washington amid the ongoing war.

It comes amid reports the US is considering joining Israel in striking Iran.

In the wake of the publication of the government's bill to slash welfare spending, we've had some responses from charities criticising the decision.

Jackie O'Sullivan, executive director of strategy and influence at learning disability charity Mencap, said in a statement that the government has chosen to "turn its back on thousands of disabled people", and these reforms are "causing a huge amount of anxiety".

She said a recent survey they conducted of people with a learning disability found "an alarming 70% would need to cut down on food if they lose PIP, while over half (60%) said they would need to cut back on heating and nearly half (45%) were worried they would be unable to leave their home".

She added that these statistics "paint a very grave picture" and the government should "go back to the drawing board"

James Taylor, director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope described the bill's effects as "catastrophic", saying it will "plunge hundreds of thousands into poverty".

"It will have a devastating effect on disabled people's health, ability to live independently or work," he continued, and called on ministers to "change course".

And Minesh Patel, associate director of policy and influencing at Mind, said: "Struggling with your mental health is not a choice, but it is a political choice to attempt to fix the public finances by cutting the incomes of disabled people."

He described the government's plans as "short-sighted, counter-productive and harmful in the extreme", and called on MPs to oppose the bill and force a rethink.

The government's controversial legislation to slash benefits and get more people into work has now been published.

The plans will impact more than three million households - and the government faces quite the battle to convince dozens of Labour MPs to back it.

Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, has set out proposals to cut 拢5bn from the welfare budget - which she has said is "unsustainable" and "trapping people in welfare dependency".

Disabled people claiming PIP, the personal independence payment which helps people - some of them working - with the increased costs of daily living, face having their awards reviewed from the end of next year.

An estimated 800,000 current and future PIP recipients will lose an average of 拢4,500 a year, according to a government assessment.

Watch: Sky's Tamara Cohen explains the battle over welfare reforms

The government also intends to freeze the health element of Universal Credit, claimed by more than two million people, at 拢97 a week during this parliament, and cut the rate to 拢50 for new claimants.

Under pressure from Labour MPs concerned particularly that changes to PIP will drive families into poverty, Ms Kendall will announce new protections in the bill today.

Sky News understands they include a 13-week transition period for those losing PIP; a higher rate of Universal Credit for people with the most serious conditions; and a commitment that disabled people who take a job will not immediately lose their benefits.

Some 40 Labour MPs have signed a letter refusing to support the cuts; and dozens of others have concerns, including ministers.

Earlier, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood gave a speech in which she laid out the Labour government's case for reform of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This is the legislation often used to thwart criminals from being deported.

It is something that factions of the Tory party and Reform have for the UK to leave.

In her speech, Mahmood laid out why the convention needs to be changed, in the view of the Labour government.

She said: "When the application of rights begins to feel out of step with common sense 鈥� when it conflicts with fairness or disrupts legitimate government action 鈥� trust begins to erode.

"We have seen this in the UK in two particularly sensitive areas: immigration and criminal justice.

"If a foreign national commits a serious crime, they should expect to be removed from the country.

"But we see cases where individuals invoke the right to family life 鈥� even after neglecting or harming those very family ties.

"Or take prison discipline. Being in custody is a punishment. It means some privileges are lost.

"But dangerous prisoners have been invoking Article 8 to try to block prison staff from putting them in separation centres to manage the risk they pose.

"It is not right that dangerous prisoners' rights are given priority over others' safety and security."

She emphasised that it's important for the convention to evolve as it has done before.

Sky News understands there will be a meeting of Cobra this afternoon, which will be chaired by the prime minister.

Sir Keir Starmer has just returned to the UK from the G7 summit in Canada.

While there, the conflict in the Middle East escalated between Iran and Israel.

Earlier today, it was revealed that the families of diplomats in Israel had been withdrawn from the region.

Concerns are also growing that Donald Trump may involve the US in action against Tehran.

Shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon addresses HS2 from the Tory side.

And he gives the closest thing to a mea culpa and apology you'd normally get from such a statement.

He said that in 2023, when the Conservatives scrapped the northern leg of HS2, they accepted the "path we took to reach that point was not perfect".

He then criticises the plan that replaced the northern leg.

Bacon says: "I will not today pretend that the Network North plan was not a product of mistakes we made in the handling of HS2, because it clearly was. 

"As a country, we must learn from those mistakes and we must not repeat them."

He welcomes the appointment of Mark Wild as the new chair of HS2.

Keir Starmer has landed in London having flown back from the G7 summit in Canada.

The prime minister arrived home shortly after PMQs finished in the Commons.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is nothing less than excoriating about HS2.

She blames the Conservatives for broken timelines and budgets.

Alexander claims it could become "one of the most expensive railway lines in the world, with projected costs soaring by 拢37bn under previous conservative governments and 拢2bn of taxpayers money sunk into phase two work before it was cancelled by the previous government".

The minister says the line between London and HS2 will be build and " won't reinstate cancelled sections we can't afford, but we will do the hard but necessary work to rebuild public trust".

She adds that "financial delegations" to the project are being cut, "placing a lid on spiralling costs until the reset is complete".

Alexander reiterates her commitment to reduce costs by saying HS2 will work with suppliers so contracts are incentivised to save taxpayer money.

New leadership

The transport secretary announced that Mike Brown will be the new chair of HS2.

He is a former TfL commissioner, and Alexander says the pair worked on the Elizabeth Line together and turned that around too.

She says the project was "an appalling mess", but it is "one we will sort out".

PMQs is often feisty but there are rarely actual announcements.

Angela Rayner is making use of her time at the ballot box as she announces nearly 拢48 million in funding for a new city centre quarter in Peterborough.

Easton train station, near Peterborough, will also get a refurbishment with that money - subject to the business case approval.

Andrew Pakes, the Labour MP for the area, looks very pleased at that.

We're now hearing from Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on the HS2 issue.

It does not look like it will be a happy one for the project.