Institute for Fiscal Studies says budget ‘looks like the same silly games’ as seen under the Conservatives
Rachel Reeves is now being interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
She is being interviewed by Ed Balls, the former Labour shadow chancellor who is now a TV presenter. He asks her to confirm that workers will end up losing out because of the employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) increase.
Continue reading...Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt says decision to publish findings of review on Wednesday is ‘significant concern’
Britain’s fiscal watchdog is to publish a detailed breakdown of the £22bn “black hole” that Labour says it inherited after Rachel Reeves presents the budget on Wednesday.
The Office for Budget Responsibility will release the conclusion of its review of how the forecast for departmental spending for its last economic and fiscal outlook, published for the March budget, was prepared.
Continue reading...The shadow chancellor said he ‘would have died’ to have had the legacy Rachel Reeves had when he took over
Robert Jenrick has used a campaign rally just outside the Conservative conference to paint the issue of migration in highly stark terms, saying his party will “die” if it does not commit to quitting the European convention on human rights. (See 8.23am.)
Speaking to supporters in a studio theatre at Birmingham Rep, Jenrick repeated his styling of the issue in Brexit terms, saying the choice was between the “leave” of leaving the ECHR or “remain” of staying in it, and that this was a chance to “get migration done”.
This is more than just, ‘leave or amend’ – frankly, our party doesn’t have a future unless we take a stand and fix this problem. It’s leave or die for our party – I’m for leave.
Foreign national offenders in our country,who we have struggled to deport because of our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights – that’s the issue I was raising.
What is the biggest challenge we face as a party?
Our biggest strategic challenge is the fact that the average age above which you are more likely to vote Conservative than Labour is now over 60.
Continue reading...Annual rate in August unchanged, and hovering above Bank of England’s 2% target
The UK’s annual inflation rate rose by 2.2% in August, matching the increase in July, as lower petrol prices at the pump were offset by higher air fares.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the government’s preferred measure of the cost of living remained steady, matching forecasts by City economists and hovering just above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Continue reading...Simon Case criticises Tory government’s failure to hold regular spending reviews in letter to Jeremy Hunt – who had challenged figure
Simon Case, the head of the civil service, has backed the government’s figures showing that a £22bn shortfall was left by the previous Conservative administration.
The cabinet secretary said the Tories’ failure to hold regular spending reviews had contributed to the financial uncertainty.
Continue reading...Rayner says housing target system will raise number of homes planned to 370,000 and confirmed targets will be mandatory
Balls, who, of course, is a former Labour cabinet minister, and a former shadow chancellor, questions whether Reeves is right to suggest that Jeremy Hunt is wholly to blame for the black hole. He says that other cabinet ministers and departments drew up the spending plans that she says were unfunded.
Reeves repeats the point she has been making all morning about how the public were misled. (See 8.06am.)
Continue reading...Chancellor suggests budget, on 30 October, will involve tax rises and cuts to spending and benefits
Downing Street has refused to comment on a report saying junior doctors are being offered a pay rise worth about 20% over two years.
In a story for the Times, Steven Swinford reports:
The British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee has recommended an offer that includes a backdated pay rise of 4.05 per cent for 2023-24, on top of an existing increase of between 8.8 per cent and 10.3 per cent.
Junior doctors will be given a further pay rise of 6 per cent for 2024-25, which will be topped up by a consolidated £1,000 payment. This is equivalent to a pay rise of between 7 per cent and 9 per cent.
As we’ve said before, we’re committed to working to find a solution, resolving this dispute, but I can’t get into detailed running commentary on negotiations.
We’ve been honest with the public and the sector about the economic circumstances we face. But the government is determined to do the hard work necessary to finally bring these strikes to an end.
Continue reading...Prime minister says family ‘very pleased’ to receive letters from former chancellor’s children about life in Downing Street
Jeremy Hunt’s three children left personal notes for Keir Starmer’s teenage son and daughter after last week’s general election, containing advice about living in Downing Street.
The prime minister said his children were “very pleased” to receive the letters from the Hunt’s children, who had lived in the flat above No 11 since their father was appointed chancellor.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Leaked recordings reveal chancellor ‘trying to achieve some of the same things’ as former prime minister
Jeremy Hunt said Liz Truss’s economic ambitions were a “good thing to aim for” and her disastrous mini-budget hadn’t left an impact on the economy, according to two leaked recordings obtained by the Guardian.
The chancellor was recorded at a meeting of students when he said he was “trying to basically achieve some of the same things” as the former prime minister, but that he was doing it “more gradually”.
Continue reading...Pledge comes as parties prepare to launch their manifestos, with Labour to offer support for small businesses
The Conservatives would permanently scrap stamp duty on homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers, Rishi Sunak is expected to pledge in the party’s election manifesto, in a move that would affect 200,000 households annually.
The threshold was raised from £300,000 to £425,000 in the September 2022 mini-budget as a temporary relief measure that is due to expire next March.
Continue reading...Prime minister announces early summer election with date putting parties on campaign trail for six weeks
In an interview with Sky News this morning, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, was asked if the UK would follow Ireland, Spain and Norway in formally recognising a Palestinian state. No, he replied. He told Sky:
We have a long-standing position on this that we will be prepared to recognise the state of Palestine at the time that it most helps the peace process, and we will continue to keep that under review.
We will continue to keep that under review. But our position is that this is not the right time to do it at the moment.
Dubbed “Sue’s shit list” by one senior Labour official, it has been drawn up by the former civil servant to identify the most immediate problems Labour would face in office if it wins the election expected this year.
Senior Labour officials said that any one of the areas on Gray’s “government risk register” could puncture a honeymoon period for a new administration led by Sir Keir Starmer.
Continue reading...As the inquiry publishes its final report, the chancellor is under pressure to find £10bn to put right a longstanding injustice
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will come under pressure to stay true to his word and sign off on immediate compensation payments totalling up to £10bn to victims of the contaminated blood scandal when the long-awaited final report on the affair is published on Monday.
The scandal is described as the worst treatment disaster in NHS history, with more than 3,000 people having died as a result of receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. It is estimated that, even today, a person infected during the scandal dies every four days.
Continue reading...With public finances in a worse position than expected, chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering pushing back further pledges
Jeremy Hunt and his team are considering not holding another tax-cutting autumn statement before the next election, amid uncertainty about the public finances.
The chancellor has already hinted that he plans to pledge further tax cuts – including another down payment on Rishi Sunak’s ambition to abolish national insurance – before a general election, which is expected to be held in the autumn. He also remains under pressure from the right of the party to lower taxes.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he held on to his US residency until 2021 only because he had not got around to revoking it
Rishi Sunak has insisted he does not want to move to the US and that he kept his green card for years only because returning it was “not something I got round to”.
The prime minister said he had “acted in accordance with all the rules” when in possession of a US green card, which he gave up only in 2021, while he was chancellor.
Continue reading...Borrowing of £8.4bn last month could threaten OBR forecast for £114.1bn deficit for 2023-24 as a whole
Jeremy Hunt has been handed disappointing news from the public finances after government borrowing was higher than expected in February, leaving the national debt at the highest levels since the 1960s.
The Office for National Statistics said public sector net borrowing was £8.4bn in February, £3.4bn less than in the same month a year ago. However, it was higher than any economist expected in a Reuters poll that predicted a deficit of £6bn.
Continue reading...Hackney MP endorsed a post saying it was unlikely she would be allowed to rejoin Labour despite the support of senior figures
A reader asks:
Is there anything other than convention which says elections must be on a Thursday?
The reason for choosing Thursday, it is said, was as follows. On Fridays the voters were paid their wages and if they went for a drink in a public house they would be subject to pressure from the Conservative brewing interests, while on Sundays they would be subject to influence by Free Church ministers who were generally Liberal in persuasion. Therefore choose the day furthest from influence by either publicans or Free Church clergymen, namely Thursday. Although these influences are much less significant today, the trend towards Thursday becoming a universal polling day has continued, because Urban District Councils and Rural District Councils all polled on a Saturday until they were abolished under the 1972 Local Government Act. Their successor District Councils poll on a Thursday and the Parish Council polling day was changed from Saturday to Thursday at the same time.
If it ends up being an autumn election as Sunak has indicated, how does that impact the conference season - do they still go ahead? - and does the summer recess have any affect on when a government can call an election?
Continue reading...Shadow cabinet talk with Whitehall officials after Keir Starmer meets head of civil service
All members of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet are to meet top civil servants in Whitehall departments before Easter as Labour steps up preparations to form the next government, according to senior party sources.
The Observer has been told that Starmer recently held a first round of so-called “access talks” with the cabinet secretary Simon Case, the head of the civil service, at a “neutral venue” in London, to kick off an exchange of information between the official opposition and Whitehall in advance of a potential handover of power.
Continue reading...PM says ‘people trust me on these things’ and refuses to be drawn on whether government would forgo entire £46bn raised from measure
Keir Starmer has accused Jeremy Hunt of repeating the budget mistakes made by Liz Truss during her disastrous premiership.
In comments on the budget during a visit to a building site this morning, Starmer focused on Hunt’s proposal to abolish employees’ national insurance over time, saying that this was a bigger unfunded tax promise than those in Truss’s mini-budget. (See 9.28am.)
How humiliating was that for the government yesterday?
We’ve argued for years that they should get rid of the non-dom tax status, they’ve resisted that. And now, completely out of ideas, the only decent policy they’ve got is the one that they’ve lifted from us.
Nothing that Jeremy Hunt did yesterday, nor anything the OBR said, changes anything very significantly. Which is a shame. Because that means we are still:
-heading for a parliament in which people will on average be worse off at the end than at the start,
Continue reading...Chancellor refuses to disclose number of houses owned but says he will pay higher tax rate on proceeds from sales
Jeremy Hunt has promised to voluntarily pay more capital gains tax on his properties so that he does not benefit from a tax cut he introduced.
The chancellor refused to disclose how many houses he owned but said he would pay a higher tax rate on any proceeds from selling his property.
Continue reading...Borrowing and stealth taxes fund £14bn giveaway, but public spending squeeze looms after election
Britain will go into the next general election with taxes at their highest level since 1948 despite Jeremy Hunt’s 2p budget cut in national insurance contributions – with the threat of a fresh squeeze on public spending to come after polling day.
The chancellor used a combination of higher borrowing and a range of stealth taxes to fund a £14bn giveaway package and said his ambition was to phase out NICs for employees and the self-employed altogether.
Continue reading...