Markus Andrews

Rishi Sunak is to risk a fresh rift within the Tory party over tax by sending out a signal that he will take a cautious approach to cuts ahead of the next general election. In a speech to the Bayes Business School, the chancellor will say that any tax cuts must be “sustainable”.And he will pour scorn on low-tax advocates who argue that reductions in the state take always pay for themselves by fuelling growth. Mr Sunak’s speech comes just weeks after the MP appointed to head Boris Johnson’s Policy Unit, Andrew Griffith, said his priority in the role was to “return rapidly to the point when we can cut taxes to let everyone keep more of their own money”.Senior Tory backbencher Peter Bone told The Independent he was “disappointed” at the chancellor setting his face against calls for swift tax cuts, such as the reversal of his planned £12bn hike in national insurance (NI).Delivering the annual Mais lecture in London on Thursday, Mr Sunak will say that he wants to deliver a “low-tax, higher-growth economy” as the cornerstone of a society in which private businesses and individuals can thrive.But he will firmly reject the case for tax cuts which leave spending commitments unfunded.“I am going to deliver a lower-tax economy but I am going to do so in a responsible way, and in a way that tackles our long-term challenges,” Mr Sunak will say.“I am disheartened when I hear the flippant claim that ‘tax cuts always pay for themselves’. They do not.“Cutting tax sustainably requires hard work, prioritisation, and the willingness to make difficult and often unpopular arguments elsewhere.”His comments will unsettle traditionalist Tories already dismayed at the increase in the proportion of national income taken by the state under Mr Sunak’s stewardship to its highest level since the 1960s, when the 2.5 per cent hike in NI contributions comes into effect in April.They are hoping for deep tax cuts before the 2024 election to win back the support of voters facing a deep cost-of-living crisis in the wake of the Covid pandemic.Mr Bone – who has branded the NI rise “socialist” – told The Independent: “I’m disappointed if the chancellor doesn’t think that keeping taxes down encourages growth, which encourages more people in work, which encourages more tax revenue.“I would have thought that was something a Conservative chancellor would believe in. Quite aside from tax cuts before the election, he could start by not having this tax rise in a couple of months’ time.”In his speech, Mr Sunak will insist that he is in favour of tax cuts so long as they are “sustainable”.“I firmly believe in lower taxes,” he will say.“The most powerful case for the dynamic market economy is that it brings economic freedom and prosperity.“And the best expression of that freedom is for all of us to be able to make decisions about how to save, invest or use the money we earn.”In an apparent effort to shake off his reputation for big-state spending after borrowing £400bn to pay for Covid support, Mr Sunak will insist that he believes that money generated by work is “far better spent by individuals and businesses than government”.And he will issue a strong defence of the free market economy.“As a machine for innovation and growth the free market is positively correlated with almost everything we imagine is desirable for humanity,” the chancellor will say. “Higher living standards, greater wellbeing, longer lives lived in greater leisure, freedom and peace.”Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves responded: “The chancellor may say he “believes” in low taxes in his lecture – but the hard facts are that Sunak has hit households and business with 15 tax rises in two years in post – with an unfair National Insurance rise down the line – and he has raised the most tax on average per budget than any chancellor in the last 50 years.“Over a decade of Tory government, the economy has grown far slower than when Labour was in power, and it is set to go even slower in the coming years.“If the Tories had matched Labour’s record on growth in government, businesses would have grown faster and people would have had higher incomes, boosting the public finances.“It is because the Conservatives are the party of low growth, that they are now the party of high tax.” More

A new government plan aimed at improving farm animal welfare must not distract from ministers’ backtracking on a ban on fur and foie gras, critics have warned.Farmers will be encouraged to keep cows, pigs and sheep healthier and in better conditions under the “animal health and welfare pathway” plan from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.The payment-by-results scheme will include annual visits by a vet paid for by the government, and grants will be available for equipment and technology or to upgrade housing for cattle to reduce lameness and calf mortality.Farmers will be encouraged to improve biosecurity to control pig diseases and improve the feather cover of laying hens, the government says.Laying hens often suffer bald patches where they are repeatedly pecked by others through frustration caused by overcrowding, and pigs have their tails and teeth routinely cut for similar reasons.The government also pledged for the first time to implement the better chicken commitment (BCC), which requires slower-growing breeds and lower stocking densities.Hidden cameras inside chicken barns that supply supermarkets have repeatedly shown birds struggling to breathe and collapsing under their own weight because they are bred to grow exceptionally rapidly. And dying birds are also cannibalised by others or trodden underfoot because of crowded conditions.The Humane League, which has long lobbied supermarkets, chefs and caterers to adopt the better chicken commitment, welcomed the official policy as “a really significant and welcome milestone”.But spokeswoman Hannah Yates added: “It should not serve to distract from the concerning backtracking on the fur and foie gras legal ban”.The government is reportedly set to ditch plans in the Animals Abroad Bill to outlaw fur and foie gras imports after cabinet members Jacob Rees-Mogg, Brandon Lewis and Ben Wallace objected.It has prompted a furious response across the UK, with animal-welfare organisations uniting to condemn the decision while hoping the ban can be introduced through another bill.Naturalist Chris Packham has launched a petition against dropping the ban, saying: “In a civilised society, freedom of choice cannot be allowed to trump moral decency.”A new academic analysis of public attitudes to fur sales has found 83.4 per cent disapproved of imports.The study, based on nine opinion polls between 1997 and 2021, also found 78.4 per cent backed a total ban on fur imports and sales in the UK.Footage and testimonies from inside fur farms have shown mink, raccoon dogs and foxes suffering infected, painful wounds and mental torture from being caged.Ms Yates added: “The fact that the government is willing to help fund the transition towards the BCC begs the question of why supermarkets are still laggards when it comes to improving chicken welfare.“While leading companies in other sectors such as KFC, Nestlé, Kraft-Heinz, and Sodexo have all committed to the BCC, only Waitrose and M&S have signed up from the retail sector.“Supermarkets should be investing their profits into raising the baseline standards of animal welfare, especially as taxpayers are going to pay for these improvements.”The Independent has asked the British Retail Consortium to comment. More

The world is facing “a moment of peril” over the Ukraine crisis, the UN has warned, as the White House said Russian troops massed at the border were “ready to go” for a full invasion.The UN secretary general, António Guterres, told the UN general assembly in New York that it is time for “restraint, reason and de-escalation” to avoid “a scale and severity of need unseen for many years”.“It is time to establish a ceasefire and return to the path of dialogue and negotiation,” he said.But there were increasing signs that diplomatic efforts to avoid a war in Europe may be too late.A senior US defence official in Washington said the Russian forces arrayed along Ukraine’s border are “as ready as they can be” for an invasion, with about 80% in “forward positions, ready to go” within three to 30 miles of the border.In Kiev, Russia began evacuating its embassy and by Wednesday afternoon the Russian flag no longer flew over the building.Ukraine’s national security and defence council chief, Oleksiy Danilov, declared a national state of emergency, which was approved by parliament along with a law allowing citizens to carry firearms.Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has also called up reservists to the country’s army.In Britain, the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, wrote to the regulator Ofcom about the Russian state-backed RT news channel, warning it could “look to spread harmful disinformation about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine”.In a response, Ofcom’s chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, said it had “already stepped up our oversight of coverage of these events by broadcasters in the UK”.The British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said Vladimir Putin had gone “full tonto”, comparing him to Tsar Nicholas I during the Crimean War.Mr Wallace, a former Scots Guards officer, said his regiment had “kicked the backside” of the tsar in the Crimea and “we can always do it again”.The unguarded comments came as the cabinet minister spoke with serving military personnel at the Horse Guards building in Westminster.The crisis took a turn for the worse on Monday when the Russian president recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and the neighbouring self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. The move prompted a backlash and seemed to undermine diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis.With a growing prognosis that the situation could end in war, the European Union was set to announce a stringent set of sanctions targeting Russian MPs and Moscow’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu. Also expected to be on the list was a St Petersburg troll factory. An announcement was expected later on Wednesday.The sanctions are expected to target several members of President Putin’s inner circle.The EU has been joined by Japan, the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada in announcing plans to target Russian banks and elites, while Germany has halted a major gas pipeline project from Russia.Pope Francis on Wednesday said the threat of war in Ukraine had caused “great pain in my heart”, and urged politicians to make a serious examination of conscience before God about their actions.On the ground in Ukraine, the Russian-backed leader of the breakaway Donetsk region said he wanted to peacefully settle its borders with Ukraine but reserved the right to ask “big Russia” for help.Denis Pushilin, who heads the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said he favoured dialogue with Ukraine. But he told a news conference the situation in their long-running conflict had become critical and that the separatists had accelerated a mobilisation of forces, in which healthy men between 18 and 55 have been called up to fight.“We will win. With people like this, we will win. With such a country, with big Russia, which we respect and value,” he said. “We have no right to lose, or even to doubt in our victory.” More

Boris Johnson has dodged a question about reports the government has dropped plans for an import ban on fur and foie gras.The two luxury products had been due to face a trade bar as part of the government’s Animals Abroad Bill – but the policy now seems to have been ditched.Campaigners have long called for the bans as a means of improving animal welfare, but the BBC reported last week that objections from cabinet ministers have seen the ideas shelved.The newly appointed minister for Brexit opportunities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, is said to be against restricting the products, on the grounds of personal choice.And the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, is said to believe that it would make it difficult to source bear-skin hats for Guardsmen soldiers.In the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Labour MP Kerry McCarthy linked the policy change on the two luxury goods to the cost of living crisis, asking Mr Johnson: “How does the prime minister think it looks when we’re in a cost of living crisis, with our constituents struggling to put food on the table or coats on their kids backs, when members of their cabinet have thrown their toys out of the pram because they want to eat foie gras or wear fur?”But Mr Johnson avoided directly answering the question, replying in a way that avoided mentioning the policies.“We are tackling the cost of living crisis, which is caused by a global inflation spike with everything we can do. “And I thank my right honourable friend the chancellor, in particular, for what he’s doing to abate the cost of energy; lifting the living wage by the biggest ever amount; helping people on universal credit, Mr Speaker. “And the single best thing that we’ve done on the cost of living, Mr Speaker, is making sure that we’ve got millions more people into work, 430,000 more in employment now than there were before the pandemic began. That’s how we’re tackling the cost of living. Mr Speaker, we’ll get on with it.”Foie gras production has for years been banned in the UK on cruelty grounds; it involves force-feeding ducks or geese in order to fatten their liver. Fur farming has been illegal in the UK since the turn of the millennium but millions of pounds’ worth is still imported.The government’s Animals Abroad Bill is supposed to include other measures to help animals living in other countries, such as restrictions on trophy hunting and holidays that lead to the neglect of animals. These separate measures are expected to go ahead when the bill proceeds. More

MPs remaining in the Palace of Westminster while essential restoration work takes place could take up to 76 years with a repair bill reaching £22 billion, according to a new report.The staggering cost to repair the Unesco World Heritage site appears in an initial assessment for action required to save the palace — which requires urgent maintenance and construction work.The study by the House of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Programme found that MPs remaining on the estate for the entirety of the works, with “no transfer”, could come with a price tag of £11-22 billion.With construction work being undertaken during parliamentary recesses, it is estimated the essential work to the Grade I listed building could take between 46 and 76 years.“In this scenario we have assumed an extended recess period (mid-July to mid-Oct), and that there would be no recall to the historic House of Commons Chamber during that period,” the report added.Essential works needed on the estate include the removal of asbestos, reducing the fire risk, renewing pluming, electrics and data cables, improving energy efficiency and a backlog of repairs and conservation to the building itself.Just last week it emerged parliamentary staff and contractors may have been exposed to asbestos — forcing a “temporary pause in construction projects”.In a second scenario — a “partial decant” — business would remain within the Commons chamber “until such a point is reached whereby all operations are transferred to another space within the Palace of Westminster (assumed to be the House of Lords Chamber), to allow the rest of the work to proceed”.The project’s sponsor body and delivery authority calculated this scenario could cost between £9.5 billion and £18.5 billion, taking between 26-43 years.A “full decant”of the parliamentary estate, with MPs being housed offsite in a temporary Commons chamber, however, would cost considerable less — between £7-£13 billion — and last between 19-28 years, the report added.The study also found there would be “a number of key risks” associated with a “continued presence scenario”, including fire safety; compliance with health and safety legislation; noise and vibration; lack of provision for a recall of the House of Commons; and changes to parliamentary business, including ways of working and possible changes to parliamentary procedure.Garry Graham, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union which represents workers in Parliament, said: “It is clear from the report that a full decant will be cheaper, quicker and safer. From a taxpayers and safety perspective, this is the only credible plan.“We cannot allow the faux emotional attachments of some to get in the way of the restoration of the House being achieved safely, expeditiously and in a way that recognises the concerns of staff and achieves value for money for the taxpayer.“I am sure that will be fully supported by the new minister for Civil Service efficiency. To come to any other conclusion would be perverse.” More

Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said it is “unthinkable” that her predecessor Alex Salmond still has a show on a Kremlin-backed broadcaster.The former leader launched his self-titled show on RT, formerly known as Russia Today, in 2017, drawing the ire of many across Scottish political life – including his successor Ms Sturgeon.Mr Salmond’s programme The Alex Salmond Show is produced independently and broadcast on the Russian station in the UK.But aggressions by Russia towards Ukraine, with 200,000 troops massing on the border between the two nations, has led to renewed criticism of the Alba Party leader.Speaking to STV News on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon backed calls for Ofcom to revoke the licence of RT to broadcast in the UK.She said: “It’s a matter for Ofcom, but I do think there is now a very serious question about whether RT should continue to have a licence to broadcast here in Scotland and I would certainly encourage Ofcom to look at that very, very seriously and closely indeed.”When asked about Mr Salmond’s show being broadcast on the network, Ms Sturgeon said: “I’m appalled at Alex Salmond’s continued involvement with RT.“I don’t think it’s any secret now that I don’t think he should ever have had a television show on RT, but it is even more unthinkable now that that should continue.”Ms Sturgeon went on to say that no MPs or MSPs should appear on the broadcaster.“I don’t think any elected representative should be contemplating appearing on RT right now, I will give that message – have given that message – to elected officials here at the Scottish Parliament, I know (SNP Westminster leader) Ian Blackford has done so in Westminster.”Her comments came as UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries instructed Ofcom to review the operation of RT in the UK.In a letter to the regulator, Ms Dorries said the channel is “demonstrably part of Russia’s global disinformation campaign”.She added: “I have concerns that broadcasters such as RT, whom Ofcom have found to have repeatedly breached the broadcasting code in the past, will also look to spread harmful disinformation about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine here in the UK.”Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer described Mr Salmond – along with fellow politician-turned-RT host George Galloway – as a “useful idiot”, adding: “Alex Salmond’s continued involvement with Putin’s RT propaganda department is utterly disgraceful.“He’d struggle to disgrace his own reputation more than is already the case, but as a former first minister this is causing real reputational damage to Scotland too.“If he and the Kremlin’s other useful idiot George Galloway still possessed an ounce of integrity, they’d quit that channel immediately. The fact that neither will speaks volumes.”Mr Salmond’s Alba Party has also been criticised in recent days for claiming any resolution to the crisis in Ukraine would have to consider Russia’s “security interests”.Meanwhile, Scottish Lib Dem leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton, has called for the former first minister to be removed from the privy council.Writing to the Lord President of the Privy Council, Mark Spencer, the Lib Dem leader said: “I believe Mr Salmond’s close and financial association with an agent of a hostile state should therefore render him unfit to offer further advice to Her Majesty the Queen from his role as a privy councillor.“As such I ask that you consider his immediate expulsion from membership.” More

UK universities have seen a 40 per cent drop in the number of applications from EU students since Brexit, official figures show.The admissions body Ucas cited the “uncertainty” sparked by Britain’s exit from the bloc as a reason for the slump in the number of students coming from Europe last year.EU applicants were down to 31,670 in 2021 – falling by 40 per cent since the previous year, according to the latest annual Ucas report.The number of EU students who won places at British universities dropped down to 16,025 – a 50 per cent decline.“Undergraduate applications and placed students from the EU have been impacted by a range of factors – including the uncertainty associated with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and changes to student support arrangements,” the admissions body said.The latest Ucas figures for the 2022 cycle show the post-Brexit effect continuing – there have been just under 20,820 EU applicants, a fall of 19 per cent since this point last year.However, Britain’s higher education institutions saw a 48 per cent rise in the number of US students applying for courses last year.China remains the largest “market” for international students, ahead of India, but America saw the largest increase in applicants of any major nation.Overall, applicants from outside of the EU rose by over 12 per cent last year to a record 111,255, according to the Ucas report.Kareem Dus, founder of Favisbrook firm helping American students get visas to study abroad, told the BBC that Britain’s apparent shift towards the US after Brexit had made it more attractive to some of his clients.“This is a growing market for us – we’ve certainly noticed an increase in orders for UK visas from the American side,” he said, adding that foreign students are “highly skilled and however long they stay they will contribute to the economy”.The latest, 2022 cycle figures shows that the number of applicants from outside the EU continues to rise – the numbers are currently up 5 per cent.Clare Marchant, chief executive at UCAS, said: “Whilst applications have been very resilient throughout the pandemic, the robust demand from China, India and Hong Kong … shows the enduring appeal of our world-class universities.”It comes as graduates are reportedly set to be forced to pay more for their student loans. The i newspapers said the government is “poised” to lower the repayment threshold from £27,295 a year to £25,000.The government’s long-awaited Augar review of higher education funding in England is set to be published this week, and it could see the introduction of both student number controls and minimum entry requirements for some university applicants.The Department for Education (DfE) said the measures are being considered to prevent pupils being “pushed into higher education before they are ready” and to ensure “poor-quality, low-cost courses aren’t incentivised to grow uncontrollably”.Lee Elliot Major, said a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said that if the plans are implemented “crudely” they will stop poorer pupils getting to university from age three.He said: “If this is implemented crudely it will effectively be closing off university prospects at age three for many poorer children – our research shows the depressingly strong link between achieving poorly in early age tests and failing to get passes in English and maths GCSEs at age 16.” More

Boris Johnson has been accused of dragging his feet on sanctions over Ukraine, after he rejected a Labour offer of support for emergency legislation to crack down on illicit Russian money in the UK.Keir Starmer has called for the immediate escalation of sanctions to hit the Russian economy, such as exclusion from the international Swift money transfer system and halting trade in Moscow’s sovereign debt. He today offered Labour’s help to rush through the Economic Crimes Bill, which was promised in last year’s Queen’s Speech but has been delayed until the next session of parliament.But the prime minister dismissed the offer, telling MPs that “no country is doing more than the UK to tackle this issue”.After the UK’s first round of sanctions on Tuesday were blasted as under-powered, Mr Johnson and foreign secretary Liz Truss have said that tougher measures are under preparation for deployment in case Putin steps up his aggression against Ukraine.However, The Independent understands that it is regarded as inconceivable in Whitehall that the UK will hold back from further measures in co-ordination with US and EU allies.Mr Johnson was this afternoon expected to attend a meeting hosted by Treasury minister John Glen with leading City firms, banks, regulators and trade associations to discuss how future sanctions could operate.Ms Truss today said that “nothing is off the table” in the UK’s efforts to hit the Putin regime hard, and official sources have pointed to measures against the Russian financial defence and energy sectors, restrictions on high tech and blacklisting of oligarchs close to the Kremlin.But Sir Keir told the House of Commons that there should be no further delay in imposing tougher sanctions and implementing the recommendations of the 2020 Russia Report to crack down on Russian influence in the UK financial and political systems. The Labour leader has called on Tories to return around £2bn received from individuals of Russian heritage since Mr Johnson became leader.“At the weekend the prime minister said that if Russia invades Ukraine he will open up the Matryoshka dolls of Russian-owned companies and Russian-owned entities to find the ultimate beneficiaries within,” said Sir Keir.“Well, Russia has invaded and it’s time to act. If the Prime Minister brings forward the required legislation to do this, he will have Labour’s support, so will he commit to do so in the coming days?”Mr Johnson insisted he was “accelerating” the bill, but said he would not bring it forward from the next parliamentary year, despite it having featured in the agenda for this session.He insisted it was essential for all allies to move in unison in order to avoid opening up backdoor routes for targeted individuals to bypass controls.“We are bringing forward in the next wave of sanctions measures that will stop all Russian banks, all oligarchs, all Russian individuals, raising money on London markets,” he said. “And we are also accelerating the Economic Crime Bill which will enable us in the UK to peel back – in the next session – to peel back the facade of beneficial ownership of property in the UK and of companies.”SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the Conservative Party to return money “raised from Russian oligarchs”.He told the Commons: “The truth is that Russian oligarchs who give the right people in power a golden handshake have been welcomed into London for years. Their activities weren’t stopped, they were encouraged.”But the PM insisted that all donations to Tories came from “people who are registered to vote on the UK register of interests”.Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the Ukraine crisis should mark a “turning point” in the UK’s approach to Russian money.”It’s not right that such huge sums of dark money linked to the Russian regime are allowed to flow through the UK,” said Ms Reeves.”The Conservatives have chosen to delay the Economic Crime Bill, breaking the promise they made to introduce it in this session. This is a mistake and sends entirely the wrong message. The government must think again and immediately speed up action on tackling illicit finance and drawing a line on oligarch impunity in the UK.” More