Universal credit wait and Kenya election re-run

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Universal credit – designed to simplify benefit payments and ensure no-one is better off on benefits than in work – is being rolled out in stages across the UK. But there are concerns that the six-week waiting time for the money to start coming through is causing serious difficulties for many households. Now the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee has proposed cutting the period to one month.

The cross-party group of MPs says this would remove a “major obstacle” to universal credit’s success. The committee’s chairman, Labour’s Frank Field, called the waiting period for the first payment “cruel”.

Universal credit – which combines six working-age benefits into a single payment – is now being received by about 610,000 people. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May defended the “simpler” system, telling the House of Commons it would “make sure work pays”.

The main opposition is refusing to take part, but voting has got under way in the re-run of Kenya’s presidential election. Incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta was announced the winner in the previous poll, in August, but the country’s supreme court annulled the result after allegations of “irregularities and illegalities”. Security has been tightened amid concerns over possible trouble after opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says the re-run should be held later to deal with these problems, decided to boycott it. He’s asked his supporters to hold demonstrations but stay away from polling stations to prevent violent clashes.

The BBC understands that film mogul Harvey Weinstein – who is facing allegations of rape and sexual assault – could lose his CBE honour. The Honours Forfeiture Committee is said to be “actively” considering the move. Mr Weinstein has already been expelled from the Oscars board and suspended by Bafta. He insists the sexual relations he had were consensual.

The Bloodhound SSC, a British car designed to hit speeds of more than 1,000mph, gets its first public run-out later. The vehicle will move along at a (relatively) sedate 200mph on the runway at Newquay Airport, in Cornwall. It will reach that speed in just eight seconds. The ultimate aim is that the Bloodhound will break the world land-speed record in 2019. “This is about showing the world what we’re about,” said its driver, RAF Wing Cdr Andy Green.

By Zoe Thomas, business reporter

The US and Iran dominate the world’s trade in pistachios – collectively controlling between 70% and 80% of yearly output for the last decade. Over the last 40 years, Iran’s growers have faced pressures from sanctions, tariffs and restrictions on their ability to access international financial tools. Although pistachios themselves were not on the list of sanctioned products, restrictions on global banking made trade difficult for Iranian farmers. All that changed in 2016 following the Iran nuclear deal.

Mental health 300,000 people with long-term problems lose their jobs each year, report finds

Radio numbers Nick Grimshaw show gets worst ever listening figures

The Times, the Guardian and the i report that the NHS is looking at using Airbnb-style accommodation to house some patients, paying homeowners with spare rooms £50 a night to take people in, in a bid to reduce pressure on hospital wards. The Daily Mirror describes the payments as a “bung”, but the i says hosts will be asked to provide three microwave meals a day, plus drinks. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail accuses senior figures at universities of being “actively” anti-Brexit, and the Financial Times says life assurers in the UK have made about £50bn in the last two years as many pensioners cash in their savings for lump-sum payments.

Today The European Court of Justice is expected to rule on whether the card game bridge is a sport.

19:00 US President Donald Trump is expected to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency in a speech at the White House.

1951 The Conservatives win the general election by a small majority, making Winston Churchill prime minister for the second time.