UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor Britain’s new Treasury chief is alleging that the previous government covered up the dire state of the nation’s finances, as she prepares to deliver a major speech to Parliament on Monday that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.In extracts of her speech released late Sunday, Rachel Reeves professed shock at the scale of the problems she discovered following a department-by-department review of public spending commissioned shortly after she took office three weeks ago. While the excerpts included no figures, Reeves is expected to outline a 20 billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in public finances.“It is time to level with the public and tell them the truth,’’ Reeves will tell the House of Commons. “The previous government refused to take the difficult decisions. They covered up the true state of the public finances. And then they ran away.’’Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s left-leaning Labour Party won a landslide election victory earlier this month, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule. During the campaign, critics accused both parties of a “conspiracy of silence” over the scale of the financial challenges facing the next government.Labour pledged during the campaign that it wouldn’t raise taxes on “working people,” saying its policies would deliver faster economic growth and generate the additional revenue needed by the government. The Conservatives, meanwhile, promised further tax cuts in the autumn if they were returned to office.As proof that the previous government wasn’t honest about the challenges facing Britain, Starmer’s office highlighted recent comments from former Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt confirming that he wouldn’t have been able to cut taxes this year if the Conservatives had been returned to power.Those comments came in an interview with the BBC in which Hunt also accused Labour of exaggerating the situation to justify raising taxes now that they’ve won the election.“The reason we’re getting all this spin about this terrible economic inheritance is because Labour wants to raise taxes,” Hunt said on July 21. “If they wanted to raise taxes, all the numbers were crystal clear before the election. … They should have leveled with the British public.”The extracts of Reeves’ speech didn’t include any mention of potential tax increases, though analysts speculate that any such measures won’t be introduced until the government unveils its budget later this year. Instead, Reeves focused on efforts to rein in spending, saying a new office will immediately begin identifying “wasteful spending.” She also plans to stop non-essential spending on consultants and sell off surplus property. While Reeves hasn’t yet published the details of her audit, Starmer’s office on Sunday released an overview of what it revealed.Those findings led the government to accuse the Conservatives of making significant funding commitments for this financial year “without knowing where the money would come from.’’It argued that the military had been “hollowed out’’ at a time of increasing global threats and the National Health Service was “broken,’’ with some 7.6 million people waiting for care.And despite billions spent to house migrants and combat the criminal gangs ferrying migrants across the English Channel on dangerous inflatable boats, the number of people making the crossing is still rising, Starmer’s office said. Some 15,832 people have crossed the Channel on small boats already this year, 9% more than during the same period in 2023.“The assessment will show that Britain is broke and broken — revealing the mess that populist politics has made of the economy and public services,” Downing Street said in a statement.The quandary the government finds itself in should be no surprise, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank focused on Britain’s economic policies.At the start of the election campaign, the institute said that the U.K. was in a “parlous fiscal position” and the new government would have to either raise taxes, cut spending or relax the rules on public borrowing.“For a party to enter office and then declare that things are ‘worse than expected’ would be fundamentally dishonest,” the IFS said on May 25. “The next government does not need to enter office to ‘open the books.’ Those books are transparently published and available for all to inspect.” More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorKemi Badenoch has become the latest Conservative Party MP to enter the leadership race to replace Rishi Sunak.The shadow housing secretary pledged to tell voters the truth as she launched her bid to become leader.It comes as former home secretary Suella Braverman announced she had pulled out of the race because the “traumatised” party was refusing to acknowledge the truth about why they lost the general election.Ms Braverman said she had secured the backing of the 10 MPs required to get her over the threshold to enter the race.But she added she had opted not to try for the leadership of the party after being “vilified” for her views on why they suffered such a drastic loss in the 4 July general election.Former home secretary Suella Braverman announced she would not be running in the leadership race but claimed she had the backing of the required 10 MPs More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour is fast-tracking plans to prove its socialist credentials by passing laws that will see Britain’s railways renationalised before the next general election.The plans to bring “broken” private rail ownership back into the public sector would mean a programme of nationalisation on a scale not seen since before John Major aggressively privatised the railways in the 1990s.Legislation going before MPs on Monday will see rail lines brought back into public control when contracts with operators come to an end.New transport secretary Louise Haigh has dubbed herself “the passenger-in-chief” as she leads the overhaul but rail companies have said the project is political rather than practical, and claim it will increase costs over time. Shadow transport secretary Helen Whately added that “passengers will pay the price”.Allies of Ms Haigh have said the bill is part of a “radical agenda which has not been picked up in the media” and proves doubters of Labour’s socialist credentials wrong. Legislation enabling communities to take control of local buses will be introduced later in the parliament.Louise Haigh, the new transport secretary More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRachel Reeves could raise £10bn a year in wealth taxes as she looks to plug a massive hole in the public finances left by the Conservatives, according to a new report.The left-leaning Resolution Foundation think tank says the chancellor could find the cash to fund Labour’s plans for power, including inflation-busting pay hikes for public sector workers, by levying taxes on unearned wealth.The report identifies Britain as a nation of “booming wealth” but “busted wealth taxes”, and sets out how taxing the richest could be the key to raising funds.It comes ahead of a major speech by the chancellor in which she will blame Rishi Sunak’s government for Labour’s dire economic inheritance. She is expected to point to a series of unfunded spending commitments and identify a £20bn gap in current plans.Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt claims the move is a pretext to raise taxes and said the books have always been open to scrutiny. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out the state of public finances on Monday More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRobert Jenrick has told Tory members there will be no deal with Nigel Farage if he is elected leader of the party to replace Rishi Sunak.The former home office minister, who resigned because he did not think Mr Sunak was strong enough on the Rwanda deportation flights, has emerged as the leading candidate of the right in the leadership race.Speaking at an event in Upminster in Essex this week, Mr Jenrick told party members that he plans to win back Tory voters who defected to Farage’s Reform. But unlike fellow right-winger Suella Braverman – who is leading in support among party members but struggling to get enough MPs to nominate her – Mr Jenrick said there would be no deal with Mr Farage.In June, Ms Braverman suggested the Conservatives should welcome Mr Farage into the party as there was not much difference between the Tories and Reform.Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor Britain’s new left-leaning government said Sunday that the nation is “broke and broken,” blaming the situation on its predecessors ahead of a major speech on the state of the public finances that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.In a sweeping assessment three weeks after taking power, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office professed shock at the situation they inherited after 14 years of Conservative Party rule, while releasing a department-by-department analysis of the perceived failures of the previous government.The critique comes a day before Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is expected to outline a 20-billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in public finances during a speech to the House of Commons.“We will not shy away from being honest with the public about the reality of what we have inherited,’’ Pat McFadden, a senior member of the new Cabinet, said in a statement. “We are calling time on the false promises that British people have had to put up with and we will do what it takes to fix Britain.”Starmer’s Labour Party won a landslide election victory earlier this month following a campaign in which critics accused both major parties of a “conspiracy of silence” over the scale of the financial challenges facing the next government.Labour pledged during the campaign that it wouldn’t raise taxes on “working people,” saying its policies would deliver faster economic growth and generate the additional revenue needed by the government. The Conservatives, meanwhile, promised further tax cuts in the autumn if they were returned to office.As proof that the previous government wasn’t honest about the challenges facing the country, Starmer’s office pointed to recent comments from former Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt confirming that he wouldn’t have been able to cut taxes this year if the Conservatives had been returned to power.Those comments came in an interview with the BBC in which Hunt also accused Labour of exaggerating the situation to justify raising taxes now that they’ve won the election.“The reason we’re getting all this spin about this terrible economic inheritance is because Labour wants to raise taxes,” Hunt said on July 21. “If they wanted to raise taxes, all the numbers were crystal clear before the election. … They should have levelled with the British public.”The government on Sunday released an overview of the spending assessment Reeves commissioned shortly after taking office. She will deliver the complete report to Parliament on Monday. Those findings led the new government to accuse the Conservatives of making significant funding commitments for this financial year “without knowing where the money would come from.’’It argued that the military had been “hollowed out’’ at a time of increasing global threats and the National Health Service was “broken,’’ with some 7.6 million people waiting for care.And despite billions spent to house migrants and combat the criminal gangs ferrying migrants across the English Channel on dangerous inflatable boats, the number of people making the crossing is still rising, Starmer’s office said. Some 15,832 people have crossed the Channel on small boats already this year, 9% more than during the same period in 2023.“The assessment will show that Britain is broke and broken — revealing the mess that populist politics has made of the economy and public services,” Downing Street said in a statement.The quandary the government finds itself in should be no surprise, said Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank focused on Britain’s economic policies.At the start of the election campaign, the institute said that the U.K. was in a “parlous fiscal position” and the new government would have to either raise taxes, cut spending or relax the rules on public borrowing.“For a party to enter office and then declare that things are ‘worse than expected’ would be fundamentally dishonest,” the IFS said on May 25. “The next government does not need to enter office to ‘open the books.’ Those books are transparently published and available for all to inspect.” More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRachel Reeves is considering plans to raise capital gains tax in line with income tax to help plug a £20bn hole in the public finances, according to reports.The chancellor will be presented with proposals by Treasury officials ahead of a speech in which she will declare Britain “broke and broken” and reveal the scale of Labour’s dire financial inheritance from the Conservatives.Another option being considered by Ms Reeves is cutting pension tax relief for middle-class workers, The Sunday Telegraph reported.Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to make a speech on public finances on Monday. (Justin Tallis/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorAngela Rayner will unveil an overhaul of planning rules next week as Labour seeks to clear a path to building 1.5 million homes in five years.The deputy prime minister and housing secretary said that “delivering social and affordable houses at scale” is her “number one priority”.But the planning system should be “a launchpad” rather than a “millstone” dragging down the housing market, she wrote in The Observer.Angela Rayner vowed to deliver more affordable housing as her ‘number one priority’ More