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Rachel Reeves’ tax-hiking Budget will hit workers however Labour frame it, the former governor of the Bank of England has said.
Lord Mervyn King, who was head of the Bank of England for a decade until 2013, said that the debate around who Labour are classifying as a “working person” is “a terrible illusion”.
Speaking on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Lord King said: “Taxes are paid by people, they’re not paid by companies or institutions, ultimately, they fall on the amount that people can spend, and you only can raise significant amounts of money by raising taxes on most people, however you care to define that, but it’s most people will have to pay higher taxes.”
He added: “Ultimately, the impact of these higher taxes has to be on the consumption of most people, however you care to define that group.”
Ms Reeves has promised a Budget “for the strivers” but admitted tough decisions have been made.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates ahead of the big event here, on The Independent’s liveblog.
Scheme to boost French school trips to Britain ‘in peril’
A scheme that brings more French children to the UK for school trips is reportedly in peril as a result of new Brexit rules.
The Financial Times has reported that the scheme is at risk because of the UK’s new electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme, which is due to come into force on 2 April 2025.
This will require all EU visitors to the UK to register before their travel. Registering will require the children to have a passport. French president Emmanuel Macron and then-prime minister Rishi Sunak had agreed that French school children could travel to the UK just on ID cards, however this seems to have been scuppered by the new ETA requirements.
Rachel Reeves’ expected tax hike will hit working people, says ex-Bank of England governor
Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King has said the debate around not putting up taxes on working people is a “terrible illusion”.
Lord King told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “All this debate about not putting up taxes on working people is a terrible illusion, really.
“Taxes are paid by people, they’re not paid by companies or institutions, ultimately, they fall on the amount that people can spend, and you only can raise significant amounts of money by raising taxes on most people, however you care to define that, but it’s most people will have to pay higher taxes.
“And if they, instead of unwinding the cuts in employees’ national insurance contributions, put up employers’ national insurance contributions, that will make it less likely that companies will exceed to wage demands, they will press down on that, they will probably be less enthusiastic about creating new jobs.
“Ultimately, the impact of these higher taxes has to be on the consumption of most people, however you care to define that group.”
Daughter of murdered MP says he was failed by government
The daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess said he was “catastrophically” failed by the government’s Prevent programme, as she called for a full inquest into his death.
The veteran MP, 69, was stabbed to death by Ali Harbi Ali, then aged 26, at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in October 2021.
Katie Amess, 39, said she was told Ali had been reported to Prevent in 2014, but after one meeting his case was not followed up by the anti-radicalisation programme “due to an admin error”.
She told The Sunday Times: “He was reported. People were trying to help us, and so why was he allowed to just go on and do whatever he wanted for seven years?
“What happened to my dad should not have been an admin error.”
Sir David, a father of five, had been holding a surgery in his Southend West constituency when he was attacked by Ali, who was sentenced in 2022 to a whole-life prison term for the murder.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Ms Amess, an actress who lives in West Hollywood in the United States, said the pain of his death was “unbearable” and “unspeakable”.
She added: “It’s pretty obvious that Prevent isn’t fit for purpose, it has consistently failed people.
“It failed me. It failed my family catastrophically, it failed the public and also it failed other Members of Parliament.”
Recap: Reform MP says party’s migrant plan could lead to ‘friendly stand-off’ between British and French in Channel
Read more here:
Smacking ban being considered by UK government, education secretary says
Smacking bans have already been brought in in Scotland and Wales, to outlaw the use of physical violence to punish children.
The move follows fresh calls for a change in the law from the Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza
Education secretary Ms Phillipson told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme “we do need to look at how we keep children safe”.
Revealed: Farage-inspired plot to persuade Trump to veto Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal
A Nigel Farage-inspired bid to persuade Donald Trump to veto Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos Islands deal can be revealed today.
The Independent has seen legal advice on Starmer’s controversial deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius sent to Mr Trump that was requested after the Reform UK leader raised the issue directly with the former president’s team.
The advice was drawn up by legal experts who worked alongside Mr Farage in the Brexit campaign.
Mr Farage says he was not directly involved in the legal advice but his links with Trump are believed to have played a vital part in the initiative.
The aim of Farage and his allies is to persuade Trump to block the deal if he becomes president.
Read the full exclusive story from David Maddox and Andrew Feinberg here:
Recap: Labour donor says rich Brits opposing higher taxes should ‘f*** off’
Dale Vince, the green energy tycoon who has previously donated £5 million to Labour, has dismissed arguments that higher taxes will harm UK entrepreneurship, describing this view as “profoundly stupid.” Instead, Mr Vince suggests Britain would be better off without those who are prepared to leave if, as expected, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves raises taxes in the upcoming Budget.
Read more here:
Expected rise on bus fares in Budget – reports
Rachel Reeves could put up the price of bus fares in Wednesday’s Budget, according to newspaper reports.
Department for Transport analysis has reportedly concluded that the £2 cap on bus fares is not financially sustainable for the taxpayer and bus operators. The measure has apparently cost £200 million in the first ten months between January and October 2023.
Ms Reeves is expected to announce the rise and say that such measures are necessary to fund the NHS.
Police probe reports of an assault involving Labour MP
A former Labour shadow minister says he has spoken to police after a video emerged of him appearing to tell a member of the public “you won’t ever threaten me again, will you?”
Officers are investigating reports of an alleged assault involving the backbencher.
In footage shared on social media, Mike Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, is seen apparently repeatedly pointing at the man, who is on the ground.
At one point, when he is identified as a local MP, he appears to say: “Yes, I am, and you won’t threaten the MP ever again, will you?”
Cheshire Police said they were called to reports of an assault in Frodsham in the early hours of Saturday.
Asked whether the Labour Party was investigating, Ms Phillipson told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “Mike Amesbury, who’s the MP in question, has gone forward to the police.
“He is co-operating with any investigation they would want to take forward. It is a matter for the police and we want to allow them to do that work.”
Budget will aim to slash government waste – reports
Wednesday’s Budget is expected to slash government waste, such as cutting £550 million from spending on private consultants, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
Ms Reeves will also announce a sale of £1bn of government property by 2030, the newspaper reported.
Some redundancies are also expected in Defra’s arms-length bodies.
