Markus Andrews

Sir Keir Starmer is determined to save Angela Rayner after she admitted to dodging £40,000 in tax when purchasing a property.After weeks of speculation about her property arrangements, the deputy prime minister conceded that she had not paid enough stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex.And the prime minister is reportedly prepared to do whatever he can to save his deputy, having vowed not to hand his critics a “scalp”. A senior ally of the PM told The Times he has genuine sympathy for Ms Rayner’s position and will do what he can to keep her in his top team, but that ultimately her fate will be decided by the outcome of an independent ethics probe. Ms Rayner referred herself to the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser, who will interview her over the property purchase in the coming days as part of an investigation into the scandal.She had been under pressure after it was reported that she had saved £40,000 in stamp duty by removing her name from the deeds of a family home in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, classifying the Hove flat as her only property despite still spending time at the family house.Angela Rayner admitted not paying enough tax More

Nigel Farage was branded a “Putin-loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant” by a US congressman on Wednesday who launched a severe critique of the Reform UK leader before the Briton gave evidence to a committee in Washington DC. Democrat representative Jamie Raskin urged voters in Britain to “think twice” before voting for Mr Farage, accusing him of only protecting free speech he agrees with. His comments came as Mr Farage, who has been heavily critical of free speech in the UK, with claims police are too heavy-handed with their arrests of people accused of hate speech, gave evidence on the subject to the US House judiciary committee. Mr Raskin said: “To the people of the UK who think this Putin-loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in your country, come on over to America and see what Trump and Maga are doing to destroy our freedom … You might think twice before you let Mr Farage ‘make Britain great again’.” Giving evidence later in the session, Mr Farage hit back, saying: “You can say what you like, I don’t care.”In his stinging attack, Mr Raskin argued that Donald Trump and Mr Farage “both claim they’re protectors of free speech, but they only want to protect speech they agree with”. Nigel Farage appears in front of the US house judiciary committee More

Sir Keir Starmer has failed to prove to working people in the UK that he is one of them and risks opening the door for Nigel Farage to seize power, the leader of Labour’s biggest backer has warned.Speaking ahead of the annual meeting of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton next week, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told The Independent that “for too many people, ‘change’ feels too much like a slogan and they don’t feel it in their pockets”.It comes as the TUC is set to use the annual congress to push the agenda on wealth taxes to fill the spending gap in Rachel Reeves’ budget.Keir Starmer has made some self-inflicted mistakes, Nowak believes More

Rachel Reeves has held out for the last possible date to hold her Autumn Budget as she scrambles to come up with a plan to rescue the nation’s troubled finances. The chancellor admitted that the economy is “not working well enough” as she pledged to get a “tight grip” on spending when she delivers her budget on 26 November.The Independent has been told she is considering a new tax raid by raising capital gains tax and introducing a gambling levy to help close an estimated £40bn black hole in her budget.The two options, championed by trade unions and former prime minister Gordon Brown, are said to be top of the list of possible new taxes – also including a mansion tax, freezing income tax thresholds and applying national insurance to rental income for landlords – being looked at.A well-placed source told The Independent: “At the moment the focus is on capital gains tax and the gambling tax.”It comes as the chancellor has reiterated she will not break Labour’s manifesto promise of no rises in income tax, VAT or employee national insurance contributions, despite economists warning she may have no other choice.Rachel Reeves is set to deliver the next budget in November (Oliver McVeigh/PA) More

Last month, in a disturbing but not entirely unsurprising development, the leader of a Reform UK council effectively barred a local newspaper and website from interacting with the authority.The ban imposed by Nottinghamshire County Council came after Nottinghamshire Live published a series of stories which council leader Mick Barton claimed “consistently misrepresented” Reform.It was a strange move for a party that bills itself as the champion of free speech. And it was somewhat ironic that it came just days before party leader Nigel Farage planned to lambast the state of free speech in the UK in front of a congressional committee in Washington DC.But the truly worrying thing is that the block on engaging with the media is not a localised phenomenon, but one which could truly rear its ugly head on a national scale if Mr Farage takes control of Downing Street.Farage revels in press conferences More

Starmer Breaks Silence at PMQs After Rayner Admits Underpaying Stamp Duty On £800k Hove FlatSir Keir Starmer has defended Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner amid calls for her to be sacked following her admission she did not pay the correct stamp duty on her flat.In the first PMQs since summer recess, the Prime Minister said he was “proud” to sit alongside Ms Rayner, saying he welcomed her referral to the ethics advisor and praising her pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.He faced just one question from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on Ms Rayner’s conduct before she moved on to quiz him on the economy. Earlier on Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed a late Budget date of November 26 amid concerns over soaring borrowing costs. In the announcement she admitted the economy “isn’t working well enough”. Reeves has opted for the latest date possible for an autumn Budget this year as she attempts to buy time before making decisions on tax. The Prime Minister also hit out at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has travelled to the US today to speak in Congress. Responding to a question about the Online Safety Act, which Mr Farage has publicly opposed, the prime minister said accused Mr Farage of flying to America to “badmouth and talk down our country”.Farage slammed as ‘Putin loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant’ in savage takedown by US SenatorNigel Farage has been dubbed a “Putin loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant” by a US congressman, who launched a savage takedown of the Reform leader before he even sat down to speak.The attack came as Mr Farage prepared to give evidence on freedom of speech to the US House Judiciary Committee in Washington DC.But before he began, Congressman Jamie Raskin launched into a humiliating take down of the Reform politician.“To the people of the UK who think this Putin loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in your country, come on over to America and see what Trump and MAGA are doing to destroy our freedom, to kidnap college students off the street, to ban books from our libraries, militarise our police and unleash them against our communities, take over our universities, wreck our professional civil service and turn the government into a money making machine for Trump and his family”, the Democrat said.”You might think twice before you let Mr Farage make Britain great again.”( More

Angela Rayner is facing growing calls to resign after she admitted she did not pay enough stamp duty on the purchase of her £800,000 seaside flat. The deputy prime minister, who has referred herself to Sir Keir Starmer’s ethics advisor, insisted she made a mistake based on the advice she received at the time. But opposition figures have pointed out that the housing secretary has failed to follow the rules that she oversees. Pressure is likely to grow in the coming days, putting Sir Keir in an extremely difficult position, and her resignation would cause a serious headache for the prime minister. But who are the likely candidates to replace her? Angela Rayner is under growing pressure to resign after she admitted she did not pay enough stamp duty of her Hove flat More