Key events
More than 3,500 patients a day getting corridor care in English hospitals, NHS figures show
More than 3,500 patients a day received care in hospital corridors or makeshift treatment areas in England last month, as other figures show the NHS is already facing growing pressures before winter has arrived, the Press Association reports. PA says:
The waiting list for hospital treatment has also risen to its highest level in nearly a year.
Officials said this autumn has been the “busiest ever” for the health service, with record numbers of people attending A&E.
The latest performance data from NHS England shows an average of 3,558 patients received corridor care each day in October, with 2,718 in A&E departments and 840 in other hospital areas.
This is up from a revised average of 3,310 patients a day in September and the highest since figures for corridor care started being collected in May.
Prof Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, called the figures “a mark of shame”.
She said: “Nursing staff will be filled with dread thinking of just how bad things will get as temperatures drop.
“The data shows once again that corridor care is occurring not just in emergency departments but across hospitals. This is an incredibly dangerous situation with much colder temperatures on the horizon.”
Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan claimed the “true scale of the crisis is likely far worse”.
She added: “We are hearing troubling reports of trusts reclassifying spaces to keep the numbers down.
“Hospitals are under pressure to hit targets rather than put patients first. Patients on chairs in waiting rooms or in converted cupboards deserve to be counted.”
In emergency departments, some 74.0% of patients were seen within four hours in October, down slightly from 74.4% in September.
Elsewhere, an estimated 7.38m treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of September, relating to 6.24m patients.
This is up slightly from 7.37m treatments at the end of August and is the highest since the list stood at 7.40m treatments in October 2025.
The figure for patients is broadly unchanged month on month, but is also at a level that was previously seen in October 2025.
EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says she would like UK back in EU, but warns there’s ‘lot of trauma’ from Brexit
Andrew Sparrow
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Taz Ali.
Andy Burnham won’t arrive in Dublin for his meeting with other leaders from the European Political Community (the EU plus non-EU states in Europe) until this afternoon, but it is the first time he has met many of them, and they are anticipating his arrival.
Kaja Kallas has said she would “very much like to see Britain back in Europe”, but warned there is “a lot of … trauma from Britain leaving” that could affect any reset talks.
She added:
So the negotiations will not be that easy, but I think we can take the little steps. And I’m confident that if we are together, we are much stronger when it comes to economy, but when it also comes to security.
EU Parliament president pledges support for UK-EU reset ahead of next week’s summit
Jakub Krupa
Over in Dublin, where the European Political Community summit is taking place, European parliament president Roberta Metsola told journalists she would do “anything in my power” to turn the political intent behind the announced UK-EU reset plan into “very tangible steps”.
“We have a very solid UK-EU parliamentary assembly and partnership, and that is the partnership that we will be using in order to make sure that any agreement and all measures that are taken next week during the [EU-UK] summit will be implemented through majorities in parliament,” she said.
“That is what I hope for, and I am extremely optimistic in that regard,” she added, describing herself as “a big fan of the United Kingdom”.
For more updates from across Europe, follow our live blog here:
‘The world will breach the 1.5c target,’ Burnham tells Cop31 summit
Ajit 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.
“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-up
Good 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.
The 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:
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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:
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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:
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