内容摘要：Speculation over the government's position increased on Thursday after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reportedly cancelled a meeting with the Hillsborough families.

Speculation over the government's position increased on Thursday after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reportedly cancelled a meeting with the Hillsborough families.

You’ll have heard Sir Keir saying repeatedly in the last few days that the winter fuel allowance cut will be offset because the triple lock, introduced by the Tories, is still in place.You can see the political appeal to always protecting pensioners’ incomes, as one former official said, but it “bakes in rising spending with an ageing population, so, unless you suddenly get brave about tax, you have no answer.”

In other words, as there are more and more pensioners, more and more people will be guaranteed a certain hike in their income from the taxpayer.Whether you think that’s right and proper or think, like many politicians, that it is asking for trouble, it comes with a hefty price tag that’s only growing.Multiple sources also mentioned the serious quandary over university fees and numbers.

Millions more young people have gone to university in recent decades. For many of them, and many families, it’s been life-changing.But it’s no secret that many institutions are struggling for cash, some even said to be on the verge of going under.

No politician would want to tell a family or a young person that they shouldn’t be allowed to attend. But as one former senior official put it bluntly, “fees need to go up or they need to find alternative money.“

Another Whitehall figure suggested the question politicians aren’t willing to ask is: should so many people go?The watchdog is then aiming to provide an updated code of practice to the government for ministerial approval by the end of June.

A spokesperson for the EHRC said: "The law is as set out in the Supreme Court's very readable judgment and is effective immediately."Employers, service providers and others with duties under the Equality Act must follow the law and should take appropriate specialist legal advice where necessary.

"But we know many people have questions about the consequences of the judgment and what it means for them, which is why we issued this [guidance] in the interim."The spokesperson added: "We remain committed to promoting equality and tackling discrimination in all its forms."