Markus Andrews

The refusal of the government to describe China as an active threat to national security in its evidencewas a “total roadblock” to the progression of the case against two alleged spies, the prosecution’s lead barrister has said.Tom Little KC told MPs and peers on the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy (JCNSS) that the question of whether or not China was a threat to national security was “the million-dollar question in the case” and the failure to describe it as one “brought this case effectively to a crashing halt”. Meanwhile, director of public prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson suggested that deputy national security adviser Matt Collins, who gave evidence on behalf of the government, knew the case would collapse if he did not offer evidence that China was a threat.Tom Little KC speaking to MPs on Monday More

Rachel Reeves has been warned that her reported plans for a mansion tax would not fill the £50bn Budget black hole – and that UK property taxes need a much wider overhaul.The chancellor is said to be considering a levy on owners of properties worth at least £2m, who would face an annual charge of 1 per cent of the amount over that threshold – meaning a £10,000-a-year fee for homes worth £3m.But Ms Reeves is now facing calls to go even further, with economists and MPs calling for a comprehensive reform of property taxes in Britain. It comes as housing secretary Steve Reed repeatedly refused to rule out a mansion tax ahead of the Budget. Rachel Reeves is leading a UK delegation to Saudi Arabia as she searches for economic growth More

Britain has agreed to sell 20 Typhoon jets to Turkey in a deal worth up to £8 billion. Sir Keir Starmer signed the agreement in Ankara on Monday, calling it “a win for British workers, a win for our defence industry, and a win for Nato security”. It is the largest fighter jet deal in almost 20 years and the first new UK Typhoon order since 2017, supporting thousands of British jobs.Sir Keir said the deal also represented a boost for Nato security, telling broadcasters in Turkey: “Having that capability locked in with the United Kingdom is really important for Nato.”The first delivery of the new jets is expected to take place in 2030 More

Nigel Farage has described one of his MP’s comments as “ugly” and “wrong” after she said “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”. The Reform UK leader said he was “unhappy” with what Sarah Pochin had said, but stopped short of calling her remarks racist. He told a press conference in London: “I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly, and if I thought that the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have.”During an appearance on TalkTV over the weekend, Ms Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, responded to a viewer complaining about the demographics of advertising by saying they were “absolutely right”.Sarah Pochin has since said her comments were ‘phrased poorly’ More

Rachel Reeves’s former boss has suggested the government does not have a “coherent” tax strategy, amid reports the chancellor is considering a mansion tax in next month’s Budget.Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, told Sky News that problems within the system cannot be solved by “just adding another wealth tax to it”.It has been reported that the chancellor is considering a tax on high-value properties in next month’s Budget. Lord King ran the Bank of England – where Reeves spent an early part of her career – for 10 years from 2003 to 2013. Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, he said that there is “plenty of scope for reforming the tax system”. Pointing to the reports around a mansion tax, he went on: “Property taxes are [an] interaction between stamp duty, council tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax. You don’t solve that problem by just adding another wealth tax to it.” He said that he would advise the chancellor to “set up a group of people who, in 12 months, look deeply at all aspects of the tax treatment – not just on property, but all kinds of other sorts of savings and wealth – to come up with a coherent view as to what it should look like. “And that doesn’t seem to happen. What happens is the [Office for Budget Responsibility] produces just before the Budget a number … and then they look round for what idea is almost written on the back of a fag packet about how you can raise an extra few billion here or few billion there. The chancellor is reportedly considering a tax on high-value properties More

Tax rises are on the table ahead of next month’s Budget, Rachel Reeves has indicated, amid mounting speculation about how the chancellor will fill a black hole of up to £50bn. Sending a strong signal that some form of tax hike could be on the table, the chancellor suggested that the government needs to ensure there is “sufficient headroom” above its spending plans, and that its fiscal rules are met.The chancellor has previously insisted that Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT still “stands”, when questioned about how she will bridge the fiscal black hole in November.But asked just last week about claims that the Treasury was considering an income tax hike, Ms Reeves reportedly said she would “continue to support working people by keeping their taxes as low as possible”, but that she was still “going through the process” of putting together the Budget.Rachel Reeves is leading a UK delegation to Saudi Arabia in her pursuit of economic growth More