Conservatives also reportedly planning to cut inheritance tax in three months’ time, as party struggles badly in polls
The Conservatives could introduce a series of pre-election giveaways with measures to support first-time buyers and scrap inheritance tax, according to reports.
With the Tories struggling badly in the polls and an election almost certain next year, the Times said the government is to promise to cut the upfront cost of a home for first-time buyers.
Continue reading...Sir David Omand tells parliamentary inquiry the platform should be restricted to ‘background mood music’
The former head of GCHQ has called for an end to the government handling crises over WhatsApp, saying the platform might suit gossip and informal exchanges but is inappropriate for important decision-making.
Sir David Omand, who ran the UK intelligence service before becoming the permanent secretary of the Home Office and the Cabinet Office, criticised the way government was conducted in the pandemic and said future crises should be handled with “proper process”.
Continue reading...Silvana one of potentially thousands who were unaware of need to apply for post-Brexit EU settlement scheme
An Italian environmental technology investor who has lived in the UK for 14 years has discovered she could be removed despite getting a “permanent residency” card after Brexit.
She is one of potentially tens of thousands of EU citizens who were unaware the Home Office changed the rules in 2019 requiring them to apply for a different scheme, called EU settlement.
Continue reading...Party says American-style sweetshops – some under investigation for tax evasion – are ripping off public
A Labour government will launch a crackdown on “dodgy” candy stores if it wins the next election, as part of plans to revitalise Britain’s high streets.
There are more than 20 of the US-themed sweet stores on Oxford Street, London, alone. Many of them appeared during lockdown as high-street stalwarts closed down and landlords faced the prospect of long-term empty shops.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer mulling ‘detailed plans’ to outsource process overseas as alternative to Rwanda plan
Labour is reportedly considering a scheme that would see asylum seekers’ claims processed elsewhere.
Keir Starmer is mulling “detailed plans” for an offshoring scheme as he seeks to deter Tory attacks on Labour’s alternative to the Rwanda plan, the Times said on Monday.
Continue reading...There are 121,327 in short-term housing, while 261,189 homes are empty long-term, say Lib Dems
England has more than twice as many long-term empty homes this Christmas as there are children living in temporary accommodation, the Liberal Democrats have said, calling this a stark indication of a “broken” housing market.
The numbers of families without a permanent home and in short-term housing, whether hotels and B&Bs or temporary rental properties, has hit a record high this year, with the latest statistics showing it now affects 121,327 children, according to data collated by the House of Commons library.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary also said Iran was a ‘thoroughly malign’ geopolitical influence
A failure to tackle the issue of small boat crossings in the English Channel would be destructive to people’s faith in politicians and government, David Cameron has claimed.
In comments aimed at rebellious Tory backbenchers unhappy with Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda legislation, Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, said it was the “best bill to get the job done”.
Continue reading...Richard Tice assures senior members of his party in writing that he will not revive Brexit party’s 2019 deal with Conservatives
The leader of Reform UK has given “cast-iron guarantees” to senior members of his rightwing populist party that it will not step aside for the Conservatives at the forthcoming general election.
The Tories were able to win a majority in 2019 after Reform’s previous incarnation, the Brexit party, did not field any candidates against them in return for Boris Johnson’s commitment to leave the EU by 2020 before pursuing a Canada-style trade deal.
Continue reading...HMS Trent will take part in exercises with Guyana as tensions over mineral-rich Essequibo region raise anxieties
A Royal Navy patrol ship will be sent to Guyana in a show of British support for the Commonwealth country.
The South American country is in a dispute with Venezuela over a mineral-rich border region.
Continue reading...Home secretary said secret of a long marriage was sedating spouse on the same day a new policy on spiking was announced
James Cleverly has apologised for joking about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug in comments made at a Downing Street reception.
The home secretary’s remarks came just hours after the Home Office announced plans to crack down on spiking, when someone puts drugs into another person’s drink or directly into their body without their knowledge or consent.
Continue reading...London mayor had claimed law stopped him allowing vehicles beneath emissions standards to be donated to war effort
Sadiq Khan has pledged to send 4x4s and other vehicles to Ukraine that would otherwise be scrapped under the Ulez scheme.
The mayor of London has asked the transport secretary, Mark Harper, to enable people to donate suitable vehicles to Ukraine through scrappage schemes.
Continue reading...Senior Conservative and Labour figures said they would back changes to legislation on the issue in England and Wales
Two former health secretaries on Saturday night became the latest senior figures to join the growing demands for a new attempt to legalise assisted dying, as a prominent Tory said he is willing to champion the legislation in parliament.
With both former Conservative minister Stephen Dorrell and Labour’s Alan Milburn stating they back changing the law in England and Wales, the Observer understands that a Labour government would make time and expert advice available for an assisted dying bill should MPs back it in a free House of Commons vote.
Continue reading...Three rail companies saw their highest ever number of payments to passengers for delayed services in November
In analysis that might not come as news to rail passengers already stranded this festive season, Labour have warned of potential “Christmas chaos” on trains after data showed a record level of payouts for rail delays in November.
Three train operating companies – Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway (GWR) and East Midlands Railway – saw their highest ever number of payments to passengers for delayed services last month, above pre-Covid levels, the party said.
Continue reading...PM announces different timetable for rise in earnings threshold people must cross to bring family to UK
Rishi Sunak has said the minimum salary levels needed for British nationals to bring foreign relatives to the UK will rise to £38,700 in 2025, adding yet more confusion to the rapidly changing rules.
The prime minister’s comments come just a day after an initially unnoticed parliamentary answer said the much-criticised plan to more than double the threshold from £18,600 a year to £38,700 was being shelved.
Continue reading...The former chancellor is one of four partners at Robey Warshaw, which did not specify how much he would collect
George Osborne will collect a share of a £28m payout for his work as partner at the City advisory firm Robey Warshaw.
The former chancellor, who orchestrated the austerity drive after the financial crisis, is one of four partners at the Mayfair-based company which announced on Friday it would pay out a total of £27.98m to four men.
Continue reading...Insiders fear further watering down of party’s flagship economic policy could leave leader open to charges of ‘flip-flopping’ by Tories
Labour is considering scaling back ambitious plans to borrow £28bn a year to invest in green jobs and industry amid fears the Conservatives will use the policy as a central line of attack in the general election campaign.
The Guardian understands that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will discuss the party’s flagship economic policy next month, with senior Labour figures pushing to drop the £28bn commitment entirely while others want to retain key elements of the plan.
Continue reading...The government says it is still planning to increase salary threshold to £38,700 but Tory backbenchers have called the move ‘deeply disappointing’
Regulated rail fares in England will rise by nearly 5% in March, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Department for Transport has set a cap of 4.9% for increases to most fares regulated by the government, which include season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long distance routes and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.
July’s RPI measure of inflation, which is traditionally used to determine annual fare rises, was 9.0%.
Having met our target of halving inflation across the economy, this is a significant intervention by the government to cap the increase in rail fares below last year’s rise.
Changed working patterns after the pandemic mean that our railways are still losing money and require significant subsidies, so this rise strikes a balance to keep our railways running, while not overburdening passengers.
Continue reading...Rightwing factions criticise decision to raise minimum salary to £29,000 in spring, rather than £38,700
Rightwing Conservatives have expressed concern at the decision to U-turn on more than doubling the minimum salary needed for British nationals bringing foreign relatives to the UK, in yet another sign of the party’s continued splits on migration.
In a surprise and low-key announcement on Thursday evening, the Home Office said the threshold would still rise significantly from the current £18,600, but to £29,000 instead of the £38,700 initially announced earlier this month.
Continue reading...Department unexpectedly announces interim increase to just £29,000, with no timeline given for planned full rise to £38,700
The Home Office has made a U-turn on its much-criticised plan to imminently raise the minimum salary requirement for British nationals bringing foreign family members to the UK, saying the threshold will first be raised to £29,000 instead of £38,700.
The revised proposal, announced unexpectedly and without fanfare in a parliamentary answer, said the threshold would be increased “incrementally” and would still eventually hit £38,700, but gave no timescale for when this would happen.
Continue reading...NHS Employers writes to British Medical Association warning of dangers of proposed six-day stoppage
Patients have been harmed as a result of doctors striking this year, and others needing time-critical treatment will be at risk during next month’s walkout in England, hospital bosses have said.
Cancer patients and women having induced or caesarean section births will be in danger of damage to their health unless junior doctors in those areas of care abandon their plans to strike for six days in January, they said.
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