UK Politics

Rachel Reeves has warned of “harder” choices to come ahead of Labour’s Autumn Budget as she made her main stage address at the party’s conference in Liverpool.Further tax rises are now widely expected at the crunch fiscal event, as the chancellor looks to counteract the country’s ailing economic performance.Government borrowing in August was the highest in five years, official figures revealed. While tax receipts had increased following Labour’s first Autumn Budget, the rises were offset by higher spending on public services, benefits and interest on debt, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.Economists have predicted the chancellor may need to find as much as £40bn.Speaking on Monday, Ms Reeves doubled down on Labour’s commitment not to raise taxes for “working people” – meaning no rise to the headline rate of income tax, national insurance or VAT.As with last year’s event, this means the Treasury will need to consider more roundabout ways to raise vital revenue while also trying to bolster Labour’s dropping popularity.Speaking to delegates, Ms Reeves said: “In the months ahead, we will face further tests, with the choices to come made all the harder by harsh global headwinds and the long-term damage done to our economy, which is becoming ever clearer.“Our first year in power was about fixing the foundations. Our second must be about building a renewed economy for a renewed Britain.”Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves on the campaign trail in Southport last June More

Police have arrested 66 people on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action during a protest outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.Around 100 people gathered in the city centre at around 2.30pm on Sunday holding signs which read: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” organisers Defend Our Juries said. Merseyside Police said two people were later de-arrested. The 64 people who were arrested on suspicion of the terrorism offence were aged between 21 and 83 years old. They were taken into police custody and have now been released on bail. Palestine Action was proscribed as a “terror organisation” in July after the group claimed responsibility for the damage to two Voyager planes at RAF Brize Norton.A protester is carried away by police at a Palestine Action demonstration in Liverpool More

Sir Keir Starmer was grilled at the start of the Labour conference over allegations that he previously avoided an inheritance tax bill.The prime minister denied putting a seven-acre field he bought behind his parents’ property into a trust, which would have allowed him not to pay inheritance tax.He said he bought the land in 1996 to use as a donkey sanctuary, so his mother and father could care for the animals.Sir Keir gave the land to his parents through a structure which meant when they died, the field’s value was excluded from their estate, The Sunday Times reported over the weekend.Keir Starmer was asked about the field on the BBC’s ‘Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’ programme More

Rachel Reeves has compared Andy Burnham to Liz Truss in a stunning attack on her Labour colleague as tensions mount at the party’s conference.Amid mounting speculation that he is plotting a leadership bid against Sir Keir Starmer, the chancellor lashed out at the Greater Manchester mayor’s economic approach.Mr Burnham “risks going the way of Liz Truss”, she said, after he said Britain has “got to get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”.“If he’s saying… anybody that says you can just borrow more, I do think that risks going the way of Liz Truss,” Ms Reeves said. The comparison is a sign of how far relations have deteriorated between Sir Keir’s backers and Mr Burnham. Ms Truss was the target of many of Labour’s attacks during last year’s general election campaign. Speaking to LBC, Ms Reeves added: “Already £1 in every 10 the government spends is on financing the debt that was racked up by the previous Conservative government.“There’s nothing progressive, nothing Labour about that.Andy Burnham said Britain should be less ‘in hock’ to the bond markets More

Moldova’s pro-Western ruling party has taken a decisive lead in a pivotal parliamentary election, widely seen as a choice between closer ties with the European Union or a return to Moscow’s orbit, amid allegations of Russian interference.This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors. More

Labour is taking the fight to Trumpian critics of diversity and equality, with the tech secretary vowing to “smash the glass ceilings” holding women and people of colour in the tech industry back. With Reform UK threatening to sack diversity officers in councils across the country, Liz Kendall is taking the fight to Nigel Farage and ramping up the government’s efforts to boost representation. On current trends, it would take 283 years for women to make up an equal share of the tech workforce, according to the BCS Chartered Institute for IT. Meanwhile 92 per cent of start-up investment from wealthy individuals went to all-white teams, according to the British Business Bank Investing in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs. Liz Kendall is taking the fight to Reform and backing a diversity scheme for women in tech More

Young people who have been out of work for 18 months will be given jobs under new plans to tackle unemployment, Rachel Reeves will announce on Monday.The chancellor is set to use her speech at the Labour Party conference to unveil a “youth guarantee”, meaning every young person who has received universal credit (UC) benefits for 18 months without “earning or learning” will be offered paid work, an apprenticeship or a place at college. It is understood claimants will face sanctions such as losing their benefits if they refuse to take up jobs under the scheme without a reasonable excuse.The guarantee forms part of a pledge of “nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment”, Ms Reeves will say, as she vows to build an economy that works for working people – and rewards them.The chancellor will also outline her approach to the Budget in November with many in her party demanding she breaks the manifesto promise of not hiking income tax, VAT or employee contributions to national insurance.Many more are demanding she brings in wealth taxes on the super rich and biggest corporations – something she will hint at as she makes it clear she wants everyone to pay their fair share.She is expected to say Britain must be built on the principles of doing “our duty for each other” and “hard work matched by fair reward”.“I believe in a Britain founded on contribution – where we do our duty for each other, and where hard work is matched by fair reward,” she will tell the conference in Liverpool. “I believe in a Britain based on opportunity – where ordinary kids can flourish, unhindered by their background.Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves visit a careers hub in Liverpool More

Social media giants will be ordered to crack down on cyberflashing on their platforms or face hefty fines.Technology Secretary Liz Kendall will use her speech to the Labour Party conference to order firms to detect and remove unsolicited explicit images being sent online.Firms that fail to comply could be fined up to 10% of their qualifying global revenue and potentially see their services blocked in the UK.Ms Kendall will tell activists in Liverpool that cyberflashing will be made a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, placing extra duties on firms to protect users from seeing unsolicited nude images or videos.She will say: “Keeping children safe online is non-negotiable.“That is why my first act as Secretary of State was to force social media companies to find and remove content that promotes suicide and self-harm.“And today I can announce I will go further. Making cyberflashing a priority offence.“So platforms will be required – by law – to detect and remove this material. Because what is illegal offline, must be illegal online.”Cyberflashing became a criminal offence in England and Wales in January 2024.Perpetrators can face up to two years in prison.The scale of the problem was illustrated by a YouGov study suggesting a third (32%) of girls aged 12-18 in England received unsolicited pictures of male genitals, with one in 20 (5%) of the same age affected. More