Labour’s “gutted” welfare bill passed yesterday evening, but the government’s “farcical” climbdown, which included ditching planned cuts to disability benefits, says Politico, means “the PM’s authority with his own MPs looks to be at its lowest ebb”. The U-turn also leaves Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a £4.5bn gap to fill through borrowing, tax rises or cuts elsewhere. Donald Trump says that Israel has agreed to the “necessary conditions” for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, crediting Egyptian and Qatari officials for the proposal, which will now be delivered to Hamas. The US president says his administration would use the time to “work with all parties to end the war”, and advised Hamas to accept the deal, “because it will not get better”. British banknotes will get their first major redesign in more than 50 years. Winston Churchill and Jane Austen are likely to be dropped; possible alternatives include landmarks, novels, films, sporting moments, historical events, inventions and nature. The public can submit ideas, though the final decision will lie with the Bank of England’s governor to avoid the embarrassment of “Notey McNoteface”.

Trump’s “reverse Robin Hood” bill will cost his party dear

Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is currently wading its way through Washington, says Edward Luce in the FT. In whatever form it emerges, the “BBB” – as Republicans have “slavishly” agreed to nickname it – is a disaster for the Trump movement. The president’s “reverse Robin Hood” budget is essentially a $4.5trn tax cut for the richest, paid for by the largest reduction in safety net programmes for rural blue-collar Americans in history. This is obviously not good for the “Maga brand”, which promised precisely the opposite of the “upward redistribution” now being voted on. Just 30% of Americans approve of the policy – “an unusually strong thumbs-down for a president’s signature bill” – which is sure to cost Republicans at the polling booth come the midterms. “Having chosen to live by the Trumpian sword, some will die by it.”

Even the incompetent, disorganised Democrats will be able to score points off an incumbent party that has made many voters worse off. The slogans write themselves: “Trump robbed the poor to pay the rich.” What’s odd is that “many of the rich also loathe Trump’s BBB” – Elon Musk says it will put America on the path to “debt slavery”. He’s not wrong: the bill adds between $3trn and $4trn to the US national debt over the next decade. “This will put America into the Italian category.” There will doubtless be some distracting theatrics – the BBB includes new funds for Trump’s notorious Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, so expect to see more military-backed ICE raids in cities like New York and Chicago. But it can’t last. In the end, the politics of BBB is self-harming to Trump. “The economics is terrible for everyone.”