Markus Andrews

Rachel Reeves will reportedly target employee pension contributions in a bid to raise more money at this month’s crunch Budget. The chancellor, according to The Times, is expected to limit an existing tax break on salary pension contributions by introducing a cap on the amount saved for retirement without incurring national insurance payments. The newspaper claims employee contributions of more than £2,000 a year would be subject to national insurance – a move that could raise up to £2 billion per year.It comes at the end of a week in which Ms Reeves reportedly told the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that she intends to increase income tax in the budget, which will be unveiled on 26 November.Despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to the contrary, she is said to be weighing a 2p rise in income tax, balanced by a 2p cut in national insurance in order to effectively cancel out the burden on workers.Rachel Reeves is looking to address a hole in public finances worth up to £30 billion More

The government has been urged to implement new ways of reducing energy bills without cutting VAT. Removing renewables subsidies, reducing system costs and introducing efficiency standards for landlords, could cut the typical household’s annual fuel bill by £178 by 2030, the think tank Green Alliance has said.Families living in draughty, inefficient rented homes could see even greater savings, potentially up to £587 per year. through these measures. The recommendations emerge amid reports that the Treasury is considering removing VAT from energy and scaling back efficiency programmes funded through household bills, as it seeks to ease the cost-of-living crisis and address criticism regarding the expense of net-zero policies.The Green Alliance stressed the immediate need for government intervention, noting that the average household is expected to pay £478 more in October 2025 than four years prior. Currently, an estimated nine million UK households are experiencing fuel poverty, highlighting the critical urgency of the situation.But the environmental organisation said cutting VAT and energy efficiency programmes would be the wrong way to do it.The recommendations emerge amid reports that the Treasury is considering removing VAT from energy and scaling back efficiency programmes funded through household bills More

Just one in five voters back Rachel Reeves’s reported plans to break Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on working people – even if they acknowledge it’s in the country’s interests, according to new polling.But it also indicates that the political damage inflicted by raising income tax would be reparable if it was paired with taxes on the wealthy and a positive vision for change, such as clear, achievable targets to improve public services. A new report from cross-party think tank Demos, shared with The Independent, showed that just 20 per cent of the public believe it is acceptable for the government to break promises on tax, even if that’s what the country needs.Reform supporters hold this view particularly strongly, with 67 per cent saying it would not be acceptable, while just 12 per cent say it would be. Labour supporters, however, are divided on the issue, with 38 per cent either side.It comes after The Times reported that the chancellor has told the Budget watchdog that she plans to increase income tax as she seeks to repair Britain’s battered public finances.Ms Reeves is reportedly considering a 2p rise in income tax, paired with a 2p cut in national insurance, as part of an attempt to shift the burden of the increase from workers and towards other groups, such as pensioners and landlords in a move which could raise more than £6bn a year. In a major speech last week, the chancellor put the country on notice that sweeping tax rises are coming in her Budget, warning “we will all have to contribute” to building a new future for Britain.Promising to put the national interest above “political expediency”, the chancellor signalled she is ready to break Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, personal national insurance or VAT.Rachel Reeves would not commit to maintaining Labour’s manifesto promises not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT More

Four Labour MPs – Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell – have had the whip restored after they had been suspended for repeatedly rebelling against the government. The backbenchers were suspended after all four voted against Labour’s benefits reforms as part of a wider rebellion that saw the changes postponed in July. Ms Maskell, MP for York Central, claimed she had been suspended for “standing up for my constituents” over the plans.But on Friday, as the party faces a split on breaking manifesto promises on tax hikes ahead of the Budget, the four MPs had their whip restored, following a review of their recent conduct. All aside from York Central MP Ms Maskell were first elected at last year’s election.Ms Maskell told the PA news agency she was “Labour to the core and will always stand up for Labour values”, after having the party whip restored.“I am grateful that the whip has rightfully been restored and want to especially thank all those who have been so kind to me over the last few months,” she said.(left to right) Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell who have had the whip restored, Labour sources said, after they had been suspended for repeatedly rebelling against the Government More

The Conservatives have urged the government’s independent ethics adviser to investigate whether Sir Keir Starmer risked a conflict of interest during the selection process for the new football watchdog’s chairman.In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, the ethics adviser, the Tories are demanding further scrutiny over donations Sir Keir received from David Kogan. Mr Kogan was named in April as the government’s preferred candidate to chair the Independent Football Regulator.The new watchdog is designed to bolster the financial sustainability of clubs across the football “pyramid” and prevent major teams from joining breakaway leagues.This call for an inquiry follows a previous probe that found Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy breached the code on public appointments by failing to declare donations she had received from Mr Kogan, a media rights expert.An investigation was launched in the summer after the revelation he had donated money to both Sir Keir and Ms Nandy, as well as other Labour figures.David Kogan, pictured, made donations to Starmer during the 2020 Labour leadership race More

Sir Keir Starmer is poised to slash £150m from Britain’s contribution to the international fight against Aids, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, putting 255,000 lives at risk, The Independent understands. The government is preparing to announce its contribution to the Global Fund as soon as next week, in one of the first major decisions since announcing it would dramatically reduce foreign aid to pay for defence spending.The prime minister is expected to pledge £850m towards the Global Fund’s work over the next three years – a 15 per cent reduction compared with the previous pledge of £1bn in 2022, which itself was down from a pledge of £1.4bn in 2019.The government has indicated that it will use Britain’s aid budget to contribute to the humanitarian response in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, as well as in support of global health. It has named the Global Fund, along with the global vaccine alliance Gavi, as organisations that are in line to receive a bigger share of its aid spending. Nevertheless, the cut in aid could threaten the Global Fund’s plan to raise $18bn (around £14bn) to save 23 million lives between 2027 and 2029. Worldwide NGO the ONE campaign calculates that a £1bn commitment by the UK would save 1.7 million lives, so a £150m drop would see an estimated 255,000 lives lost. Former secretary of state for international development Sir Andrew Mitchell said the cut in aid was “a bitter pill to swallow”, adding: “Not just for the many thousands of people who will lose their lives, but also for the many people in Britain who are proud of the work Britain has led in preventing death from malaria, HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, which is now being curtailed by the first Labour government ever to cut development spending.”Keir Starmer is following in Donald Trump’s footsteps by slashing foreign aid More

A British man who would “dream about being like James Bond” was jailed Friday for seven years after trying to spy for Russia.Howard Phillips, 65, was found guilty in July for trying to pass information about former Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, whom he knew, to two men who he believed were Russian intelligence agents. However, the ‘agents’ were undercover British intelligence agents.“You were prepared to betray your country for money,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Phillips at his sentencing hearing at Winchester Crown Court, in the south of England.The judge said that Phillips had “a personality with narcissistic tendencies and an overblown sense of his own importance.”The trial heard that Phillips intended to assist Russian agents between the end of 2023 and May 2024 — Shapps was defense secretary between August 2023 and July 2024 when his Conservative Party was ousted from power and he lost his seat in Parliament at the general election.Specifically, the trial heard how Phillips had tried to hand over Shapps’ contact details as well as the location where he kept his private plane to “facilitate the Russians in listening on British defense plans.”The defendant’s ex-wife told the court that Phillips “would dream about being like James Bond,” and watched films about the British secret services because he was “infatuated with it.”In a victim impact statement read to the court, Shapps expressed his shock at learning of Phillips’ activities. He recalled going to dinner at Phillips’ home in 2002.“What is unacceptable is one individual’s reckless behavior exposing my entire family to the extremely serious risks that come from a foreign intelligence service’s activities,” he said.Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said the conviction sends “a clear message to anyone considering spying for or assisting Russia.” More

Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell’s views on party policy “really irritate me”, former shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire has said. The Labour peer accused Ms Powell of “giving a running commentary and undermining” the government after she said plans to break the manifesto pledge on tax rises would damage “trust in politics”. Ms Powell had said the government “should be following through” on its pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, amid mounting speculation Rachel Reeves is preparing to do so at the Budget.Thangam Debbonaire accused Labour’s new deputy leader of ‘giving a running commentary’ More