Category Archives: Tax and spending

Jeremy Hunt fuels election speculation as 6 March spring budget announced

Posted on by

Chancellor has asked the OBR to prepare forecasts for the economy and public finances to be presented to parliament

Jeremy Hunt has announced that a spring budget expected to feature a host of tax cuts will be held on 6 March, fuelling speculation over an early general election.

While government sources insisted nothing should be read into the date, it is the earliest the set-piece fiscal event has been held in 13 years of Conservative government – apart from 2021 when the Treasury was trying to kickstart the economy after Covid.

Continue reading...

How a spring UK budget could fire the starting gun for an early election

Posted on by

UK economic prospects are bleak but an agenda-setting fiscal event such as sweeping tax cuts in March offers another roll of the dice

To grasp the nettle, or wait in the hope that things somehow miraculously improve. This is the choice Rishi Sunak will be weighing for the next general election, as the Conservatives limp towards the finishing line of another challenging year.

After Jeremy Hunt announced the government would hold an earlier than anticipated budget, with a date set for 6 March, the possibility of a poll in May, in the afterglow of some electioneering tax cuts, is clearly being given considerable thought.

Continue reading...

Sunak rebuked by UK’s statistics watchdog for making misleading claim about government debt – as it happened

Posted on by

The prime minister has been facing questions on his government’s performance from senior MPs on the Commons liaison committee

Social care leaders felt “blindsided” by recently announced changes to visa rules banning care workers from bringing their families to the UK and have “grave concerns” it could drive people from the sector, the Commons health committee heard this morning. PA Media has filed this from the hearing.

The head of Care England, which represents social care providers across the country, criticised a lack of consultation with the sector, saying it left them “particularly concerned, annoyed and irritated”.

Prof Martin Green, its chief executive, told the committee the system is currently already “creaking at the edges” due to a lack of funding, and spoke of the “chronic workforce shortage” it faces.

Today’s guidance does not go far enough. During the many months we have been waiting for its publication, it has become increasingly clear that non-statutory guidance will provide insufficient protection and clarity, and that a change in the law of the land is required.

That is why I am today asking the government to back my private member’s bill which would change the law in this area to ensure children are fully protected.

Continue reading...

Higher earners to be taxed more heavily in Scotland to protect public services

Posted on by

New 45p tax band introduced for those earning in excess of £75,000 with top rate for salaries more than £125,140 up to 48p

Higher earners in Scotland are be to taxed more heavily after ministers in Edinburgh sought to reduce cuts to public services and fund an expensive council tax freeze.

Shona Robison, Scotland’s finance secretary, said a new “advanced” 45p tax band would be introduced for all those earning above £75,000, and the top rate of income tax, for those earning above £125,140, would rise to 48p.

Continue reading...

Michelle Mone criticises Sunak over his comments about her involvement in PPE contracts – UK politics live

Posted on by

Former Tory peer claims she never concealed her link to PPE Medpro from officials dealing with the contract

Mark Harper, the transport secretary, has announced in a written statement that Transport for London is getting a capital funding settlement worth £250m for 2024. It will fund upgrades to the Piccadilly line. Sadiq Khan, the mayor, welcomed that announcement but, as the Evening Standard reports, said “a decent long-term funding settlement” from the government was still needed.

Rishi Sunak has said that too many civilian lives have been lost in Gaza – but declined to back Ben Wallace’s claim that Israel is engaged in a “killing rage”. (See 10.27am.)

Israel obviously has a right to defend itself against what was an appalling terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas, but it must do that in accordance with humanitarian law.

It’s clear that too many civilian lives have been lost and nobody wants to see this conflict go on a day longer than it has to.

Continue reading...

Scott Benton faces Commons suspension over lobbying to give Tories potential byelection headache – UK politics live

Posted on by

Commons standards committee recommends 35-day suspension for Scott Benton, who had Conservative whip suspended in April

Rishi Sunak has said that he is open to considering ways in which his Rwanda bill can be “improved”.

With Conservative rightwingers and centrists both wanting to amend the bill, in opposite directions, when it returns to the Commons in the new year, Sunak signalled that the government would be open to accepting some changes.

I’ve been very consistently clear, as have all ministers, if there are ways that the legislation can be improved, to be made even more effective — with a respectable legal argument and maintaining the participation of the Rwandans in the scheme — of course we would be open to that, who wouldn’t be?

This is a damning report from the cross-party standards committee, clearly concluding that Scott Benton seriously breached parliamentary rules in flaunting his position as a parliamentarian in exchange for remuneration.

This is not an isolated case, but comes off the back of a wave of Tory sleaze and scandal.

Continue reading...

Scotland ‘let down on every front’ by Hunt’s statement, says SNP government

Posted on by

Questions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland about funding for devolved governments

The Scottish government has accused the chancellor of “letting Scotland down on every count” after he unveiled a modest £545m increase in Treasury funding, and extra funds for Wales and Northern Ireland.

Jeremy Hunt announced an overall boost of £1bn for the UK’s three devolved governments, with Wales in line to receive an extra £305m and Northern Ireland £185m over the next two financial years, alongside £545m for Scotland.

Continue reading...

Autumn statement live: Jeremy Hunt cuts national insurance as OBR downgrades UK growth forecast

Posted on by

Chancellor cuts employee national insurance to 10% while abolishing class 2 national insurance

Keir Starmer has said that a pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas must be used to tackle the “urgent and unacceptable humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

Welcoming the deal, which is expected to involve the release of 50 hostages being held by Hamas and a number of women and teenagers from Israeli jails, the Labour leader said his party had been calling for “a substantial humanitarian pause”. He said:

There must be immediate access to aid, food, water, fuel and medicine to ensure hospitals function and lives are saved. Aid and fuel need to not just get in but be distributed widely and safely.

We must also use the space this pause creates to take more steps on a path towards a full cessation of hostilities rather than an escalation of violence.

The real function of the projected spending squeeze is as a trap for Labour. If the opposition rejects the Tory trajectory, it will be accused of planning a profligate spree with public money. And if it pledges adherence to impossible targets, it will enter government with its hands bound too tight to deliver prompt satisfaction to the people who voted for it.

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have so far operated a sensible policy of not walking into traps of this kind. That approach restored swing voters’ trust in Labour as stewards of the economy. But it tests the patience of an activist base that sees reversal of austerity as a moral imperative and can smell the incipient disappointment in promises of fiscal discipline.

Continue reading...

Autumn statement: Jeremy Hunt looks to cut UK taxes and ‘turbo-charge growth’

Posted on by

Amid less gloomy OBR forecasts the chancellor is expected to take first steps towards cutting personal taxes

Jeremy Hunt will announce 110 measures to boost Britain’s stagnant economy and bow to demands from anxious Tory MPs for tax cuts when he delivers his second autumn statement on Wednesday.

In one of the last set-piece economic events before the general election, the chancellor will pledge to “turbo charge” growth while taking the first steps to cut personal taxes after recent sharp increases.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson ‘bamboozled’ by science and Matt Hancock had habit of saying things that were untrue, UK Covid inquiry hears – live

Posted on by

Former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance revealed there was ‘complete lack of leadership’ at times in crisis

Vallance says that some of what he was doing during Covid would have been done by anyone else in the post of government chief scientific adviser (GCSA).

But he says because of his medical training, and his knowledge of vaccines (he had worked for GlaxoSmithKline before taking the GCSA job), he was probably more involved than another GCSA might have been.

Continue reading...

Sunak says he will cut taxes ‘over time’ as he reveals new economic priorities

Posted on by

PM signals that business tax cuts more likely than personal ones as he sets out ‘next phase’ of government’s economic plan

Rishi Sunak has hinted at business tax cuts to boost economic growth as he promised to reduce the tax burden “carefully and sustainably” and “over time”.

In a speech on Monday the prime minister declined to give any specifics before the autumn statement, but stressed the focus was “very much the supply side” of the economy in a signal that business tax cuts are more likely than personal ones.

Continue reading...

Tax corporate polluters and rich to help tackle climate crisis, Jeremy Hunt told

Posted on by

In letter to Guardian, campaigners say billions could be raised to help finance decarbonisation

Jeremy Hunt has been warned that combating the climate emergency will require higher taxes on wealth and big corporate polluters at the autumn statement rather than a package of giveaways for the rich.

In the run-up to the chancellor’s speech to the Commons on Wednesday, a group of 19 leading charities and campaigners – including Greenpeace, Christian Aid and Patriotic Millionaires UK – said billions of pounds could be raised to help finance decarbonisation.

Continue reading...

Hunt urged to invest £30bn a year in infrastructure or risk ‘decade in doldrums’

Posted on by

Thinktank says stronger than expected tax revenues have given chancellor scope for bold package in autumn statement

Jeremy Hunt risks condemning Britain to a decade in the doldrums unless he uses this month’s autumn statement to announce a £30bn-a-year investment plan to upgrade public infrastructure, a leading thinktank has warned.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the chancellor should ignore calls by Tory MPs for pre-election tax cuts and instead focus on measures to boost growth through improvements to transport, digital networks, skills and housing.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak considers tax cut for top earners after byelection defeats

Posted on by

Tories may also reduce stamp duty in bid to win back voters and reduce pressure on PM, reports say

Rishi Sunak is considering a tax cut for the 5 million highest earners and reducing stamp duty in an attempt to ease the pressure on his leadership after two historic byelection defeats, it has been reported.

The Conservatives may raise the 40% income tax threshold after Labour’s victory in Mid Bedfordshire, Nadine Dorries’ former seat. It was the largest majority to be overturned at a byelection.

Continue reading...

‘Securonomics’: five key business messages from Labour conference

Posted on by

With company chiefs in attendance and an endorsement from Mark Carney, shadow chancellor sought to demonstrate economic competence

At every turn in Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, there are signs of big business on manoeuvres. Exhibition stands for Google, Ineos and Specsavers; slick videos for Amazon and Uber, fringe events sponsored by Deliveroo and Goldman Sachs, while even the parliamentary lounge – a retreat for MPs from the throng of 16,000 delegates – was sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group.

Labour was keen to demonstrate economic credibility by basking in the presence of company bosses. For business leaders, it was a chance to check out a potential government in waiting, with many commenting on the marked contrast with the Conservative conference in Manchester.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer to promise new powers for all of England’s towns and cities

Posted on by

Exclusive: Labour leader to pledge biggest expansion of devolution since party was last in power

A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, deliver thousands of new homes and create high-quality jobs, Keir Starmer will announce.

In the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power, he will pledge that councils and combined authorities would get more control over housing and planning, skills, energy and transport of the kind currently held by London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak ‘responsible for biggest income tax rise in at least 50 years’

Posted on by

Resolution Foundation analysis claims stealth move of freezing tax thresholds will raise £40bn a year

Rishi Sunak’s government is responsible for the biggest income tax rise for decades in a stealth move that will raise £40bn a year, according to new analysis.

Taxpayers in the higher bracket will be handing over £3,700 a year more in tax as a result of a six-year freeze to income tax thresholds by 2027-28, the Resolution Foundation calculated.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak claims putting reducing inflation ahead of tax cuts Thatcherite and ‘deeply Conservative’ – UK politics live

Posted on by

Prime minister says ‘the best tax cut we can give is to cut inflation’ after Michael Gove says taxes should be cut before general election

The BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is starting. As well as Rishi Sunak, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is also being interviewed.

Q: Do you still think we’ve had enough of experts?

Economic forecasting was invented to make astrology look respectable.

Continue reading...

UK outspends rest of Europe on housing asylum seekers by at least 40% a person

Posted on by

Exclusive: Report by aid campaign One finds costs now take up nearly a third of the official aid budget

The UK is spending 40% a person more than any other European country on housing asylum seekers with the costs taking up nearly a third of the official aid budget, which forced a 16.4% cut in the amount of aid spent overseas in 2022.

The findings come in a report by One, the aid campaign, which argues the proportion of the aid budget being spent on housing refugees in the UK is totally out of sync with its neighbours and is making the British aid budget both unpredictable and unmanageable

Continue reading...

Scrapping inheritance tax would cost £15bn a year by 2032, says IFS

Posted on by

Thinktank carried out analysis as calls mount among Tory MPs for the tax to be abolished

Scrapping inheritance tax would cost the government almost £15bn a year in lost revenue by 2032, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that follows calls from Tory MPs for the main tax on inherited wealth to be abolished.

The thinktank said the latest figures from HMRC showed fewer than 4% of estates paid inheritance tax (IHT) in 2020–21, but the rapid growth in wealth among older individuals meant this number was set to rise to more than 7% over the next decade.

Continue reading...