Markus Andrews

Hundreds of asylum seekers are set to be moved into military barracks, even if it costs more than using hotels, as ministers scramble to find a way to end the migrant accommodation crisis. The Home Office has confirmed that Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex and Cameron Barracks in Inverness will be used temporarily to house a total of around 900 men under the plan. Downing Street suggested on Tuesday that the scheme would be worth it to help quell public discontent, even if it costs more than using hotels. Asked if the costs of using military sites will be higher than using hotels, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The costs will vary site by site, but our priorities are security and fairness.”Pushed later on whether this meant ministers thought barracks were a better option even if costs were higher, the spokesman said that the matter is “also a core issue of public confidence. The public is very clear it does not want asylum seekers housed in hotels, and neither does the government.”Small-boat migrants will start being housed in the military accommodations by the end of next month. Officials are also working with the Ministry of Defence to identify other disused sites that can be used in the coming months in a bid to get a grip on the asylum accommodation crisis. There are also plans to build pop-up modular units, which have previously been used to tackle prison overcrowding, on some of the sites.The plans come as Labour ramps up its bid to move tens of thousands of migrants out of hotels after huge controversy surrounding their use. On Monday, a parliamentary committee described the policy of using hotels to house asylum seekers as “failed, chaotic and expensive”, and accused the Home Office of squandering billions of pounds as a result of incompetence. Around 900 asylum seekers are set to be housed on military sites in Scotland and East Sussex More

Theresa May has delivered a thinly veiled rebuke to Robert Jenrick after he launched an attack on British judges earlier this month.In a wide-ranging critique on the direction of her party, the former Conservative prime minister warned against using “populism” for a “short-term political end”. She challenged the Tories’ approach to net zero, the judiciary and human rights, urging the party to show leadership instead.And she appeared to take aim at Conservative shadow justice secretary Mr Jenrick who criticised what he called “activist judges” in immigration courts in a speech to the Tory conference earlier this month.The former prime minister called on her party to show ‘responsible leadership’ More

Rachel Reeves could be facing a larger-than-expected black hole in the nation’s finances as she prepares for next month’s Budget amid reports that the fiscal watchdog could be about to downgrade the UK’s productivity performance.The BBC reported on Tuesday that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is expected to downgrade the UK’s performance on productivity, with fears that it could represent a further £20bn gap in the pubic finances. This followed revelations by The Independent in September that the chancellor was bracing herself for bad news on productivity which in turns hits economic growth.It comes less than a month before the chancellor’s Budget, due on 26 November, with the OBR set to deliver their final draft forecast in the coming days. But Ms Reeves has doubled down on blaming Brexit for the country’s economic woes as she was pushed on the latest news this morning on a trip to Saudi Arabia.Fresh data compounds the dilemma facing Rachel Reeves as she prepares for a challenging November Budget More

Labour has fallen to its lowest rating in a YouGov poll, with Sir Keir Starmer’s party almost level with the Conservatives, Greens and Liberal Democrats. The new poll, commissioned by The Times, found that just 17 per cent of voters back Labour, the same number that would vote for Kemi Badenoch’s Tories, while Reform UK continue to surge ahead on 27 per cent. The Greens sit at 16 per cent, the party’s highest level of support, closely followed by the Liberal Democrats on 15 per cent.It comes as Sir Keir has been warned that he could struggle to turn the party’s fortunes around following last week’s defeat in a Welsh by-election. Labour faces threats from the left and the right, with concerns about voters being lost to Reform or the surging Greens. Tuesday’s figures represent the lowest rating that Labour have recorded in YouGov figures, and show support for the Greens is surging among younger voters. The data suggests that 40 per cent of people aged 18-24 currently intend to vote for Zack Polanski’s party, with Labour lagging in second at 21 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats in third on 13 per cent. Labour’s popularity has dropped significantly since Keir Starmer was elected last year More

Rachel Reeves has been warned that cutting cash ISA limits will cost the Treasury billions and will not encourage people to start investing.The Building Society Association (BSA) say the damage inflicted by cutting cash ISA rates would result in up to 60,000 fewer mortgages being offered across the property market, as well as hamper the government’s own target of 1.5 million new homes across the term of parliament.As a result, BSA estimate that damaging economic growth and reducing tax revenues could hit the Treasury by £2.5bn.Over the summer, building societies including Nationwide and Skipton wrote to the chancellor pleading with her to leave cash ISAs untouched.Building societies are among those who offer cash ISA products and use those deposits to support their ability to fund residential mortgages. Cutting the amounts saved into them could hit building society mortgage supply by 5 per cent, says BSA research. They tend to be particularly active in the first-time buyer market.The Treasury select committee chairman Dame Meg Hillier said that it was “not the right time to cut the cash Isa limit”.Currently, rules allow each person to save £20,000 per tax year into ISAs across the available range, which includes Lifetime ISAs as well as cash and investing versions. Speculation has suggested Ms Reeves may cut that by half with regards to how much can be saved as cash, with the remainder of the allowance then able to be diverted towards investing.The chancellor earlier this year highlighted the vast difference in potential returns that saving or investing £2,000 could make, and though eyebrows were raised at the rates used in each case, the essential point remains valid: over prolonged periods of time, investing tends to yield better results than saving.Meanwhile, the results of a new poll show more people would rather potentially pay tax on cash savings than start investing.Get a free fractional share worth up to £100.Capital at risk.Terms and conditions apply.Go to websiteADVERTISEMENTGet a free fractional share worth up to £100.Capital at risk.Terms and conditions apply.Go to websiteADVERTISEMENTThe government have been clear that they want to create a culture of investing across the UK, which has lower numbers of retail investors – the general public, in other words – than other nations such as Germany, Sweden or the US.But the chancellor’s reported plan to effectively herd people into stocks and funds by cutting their tax-free savings allowance has been widely criticised, with most industry experts agreeing it is entirely unlikely to have the desired effect.( More

An independent investigation into how a sex offender was wrongly set free instead of being deported will be launched and report its findings within weeks, justice secretary David Lammy has announced.Dame Lynne Owens, a former deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and ex-director general of the National Crime Agency, will look into what went wrong and make recommendations to stop similar cases, Mr Lammy told MPs.Police had to urgently hunt for Hadush Kebatu over the weekend after he was set free from HMP Chelmsford in a blunder that sparked widespread anger.Lynne Owens, ex-Met Police deputy chief, will chair the investigation More

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