UK Politics

Rishi Sunak has shelved a proposal to hike a tax on the wealthy to help plug the post-Covid hole in his finances, pointing to the “burden” it would place on tax collectors.The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) recommended raising rates of capital gains tax to the same levels as income tax, after being asked by the chancellor to review the move.The body also proposed lowering the annual allowance on the tax – a levy on any profit made when selling an asset – but this suggestion has also been put on hold.Treasury minister Lucy Frazer has told the OTS: “These reforms would involve a number of wider policy trade-offs and so careful thought must be given to the impact that they would have on taxpayers, as well as any additional administrative burden on HMRC.“The government will continue to keep the tax system under constant review to ensure it is simple and efficient,” says a letter seen by the Financial Times.The decision comes after the government broke a manifesto pledge by increasing National Insurance contributions on far lower earners, a rise that will kick in next April.Ministers rejected higher taxes on wealth when they announced the 1.25 percentage point hike in national insurance, to fund higher health and social care funding.There have long been protests that wealthy households exploit lower capital gains tax to pay too little for the sale of second homes, works of art and stocks and shares.But many Conservative MPs oppose any increase in the levy, arguing it would punish success – and Boris Johnson recently told a Tory donors’ event that taxes will be cut.Capital gains tax is charged at 10 per cent for basic rate taxpayers and 20 per cent for higher and additional rate taxpayers, with rates of 18 per cent and 28 per cent on residential property.In contrast, income tax is charged at a basic rate of 20 per cent, rising to 40 per cent and 45 per cent for higher and additional taxpayers.John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, attacked “a Tory Christmas gift to the wealthy”.“Levelling up capital gains tax rates with income tax was estimated by TUC to raise £17bn, enough to fund social care for all that need it,” he tweeted.In his letter to the OTS setting up the review, in July last year, Mr Sunak said he was interested in “how gains are taxed compared to other types of income”.The government has accepted five, more technical recommendations made by the OTS in a second study, the Financial Times reported.They include extending the time divorcing and separating couples have to transfer assets between them without paying the levy. More

New Covid rules brought in by the the government to tackle the omicron variant could last less than three weeks, the health secretary has said.Speaking on Wednesday morning Sajid Javid said a planned government review of rules in England could be brought forward earlier than planned.His comments downplaying the duration of the new regulations come after a small group of Tory MPs rebelled against plans for mandatory masks on public transport and in shops.Asked about the timing of a promised review, Mr Javid told Sky News: “We are confident that actually maybe within two weeks we will know a lot more about this. We may not even need to wait three weeks.”And he insisted that nobody should change any plans they have for the festive season, stating: “I think people should continue to behave in the way they were planning to behave over Christmas. I don’t think there is any need to change those plans.”Some hospitality venues are facing a wave of cancellations for pre-Christmas trade in light of the new variant, according to industry representatives.Speaking to broadcasters Mr Javid added that he was not expecting anything “pingdemic” of people being forced to self-isolate because “case numbers are very low”.”That will certainly go up but the numbers are low. I hope it stays that way. I’m not worried about a ‘pingdemic’ type of situation,” he said.Asked if people should take a Covid test before attending Christmas parties, Mr Javid said: “I would.”Covid deaths in the UK have averaged over 100 a day every day since mid-August, with new cases averaging about 40,000. Despite the numbers the government has faced little pressure to bring in new restrictions like those seen on the continent.It comes as leaked minutes of a meeting of the government’s scientific advisors warn that a “very stringent response” may be necessary to tackle omicron.The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) held a meeting on Monday and said officials should prepare now for a “potentially significant” wave of infections, according to the minutes leaked to the BBC.The government has said all adults will be offered a Covid booster by the end of January – and Mr Javid this morning the policy would be a “huge ask”.”It is a huge ask. It’s something I do believe that people who work in the NHS, all the volunteers, are up to it,” he said.”But it is a huge ask and that is why I am calling it a national mission. This has become, from a health point of view, the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves, protect the progress that we have made.”Boris Johnson previously said officials would be “throwing everything at” the campaign to roll out booster jabs. More

An inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic has accused the Government of “misconduct in public office” and gross negligence over its handling of the crisis.The People’s Covid Inquiry, which heard evidence from February this year until the summer, said there had been “serious governance failures” at Westminster that contributed to tens of thousands of avoidable deaths.It said the Government had failed to act to protect key populations at increased risk, and recommendations from previous pandemic planning exercises had been ignored.Consideration should be given to bringing charges of misconduct in public office, given the available evidence of failures and the “serious consequences” for the public, it added.The Keep Our NHS Public campaign group organised the inquiry in the absence of a formal investigation.The Government has said it has committed to holding a full public inquiry next spring as there are lessons to be learned.Accusing the Government of “serious governance failures” in a report published on Wednesday, the People’s Covid Inquiry said: “These contributed to tens of thousands of avoidable deaths and suffering, and they amount to misconduct in public office.”Its chairman, Michael Mansfield QC, said there had been “dismal failure in the face of manifestly obvious risks”.He said the probe had identified a “theme of behaviour amounting to gross negligence by the Government, whether examined singularly or collectively”.He continued: “There were lives lost and lives devastated, which was foreseeable and preventable.“From lack of preparation and coherent policy, unconscionable delay, through to preferred and wasteful procurement, to ministers themselves breaking the rules, the misconduct is earth-shattering.”The inquiry heard evidence from a range of witnesses and organisations, including academics, frontline workers and bereaved families.Other findings include:- The Government treated bereaved families with disrespect and ignored their questions- It failed to address the seriousness of the pandemic before the March 2020 lockdown- Deep social inequality contributed to a more vulnerable population- Financial support for people needing to isolate was not sufficient to effectively reduce infection spread- The Government’s delay in issuing advice to healthcare professionals, and advice to the public to rely on NHS 111, contributed to the coronavirus death toll- There was, and is, a “misplaced over-reliance on vaccines alone”- Government public health messages were often confused and contradictoryMr Mansfield said there had been no accountability, and this could not be offset by the success of the vaccine rollout.Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, which contributed to the inquiry, said: “It’s vital that bereaved families are at the heart of the forthcoming inquiry, and listened to at every turn, and this report evidences exactly why.“The loss of our loved ones should be used to learn lessons and save lives – something the Government should be entirely focused on and dedicated to.”The report will be formally launched at an event in Westminster on Wednesday morning.It comes on the heels of a report from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, which set out the key areas it wants the official inquiry to examine.These include the “mishandling” of the NHS 111 service, pandemic preparedness, and the disproportionate impact on black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.A Government spokeswoman said: “Covid-19 is an unprecedented pandemic which has challenged health systems around the world.“Thanks to our collective national effort, our preparedness plans, and our frontline NHS workers, we have saved lives, vaccinated tens of millions of people and prevented the NHS from being overwhelmed.“We prepared for a range of scenarios, and by deploying key elements of our flu preparedness plans we were able to develop new means to tackle the virus quickly such as by setting up our national testing programme and rolling out millions of vaccines.“Every death from this virus is a tragedy and we have always said there are still lessons to be learned from the pandemic, which is why we have committed to a full public inquiry in spring.” More

A Blackpool councillor has defended his decision to move across the country by saying that he can continue representing his ward from his new location in Devon.Simon Blackburn, who represents the Brunswick ward in the city’s centre, resigned as Blackpool council leader in March after a “serious allegation” was made about him by a woman.The nature of the complaint has never been made public, and Labour suspended him pending investigation after the allegation was made.But, after he chose not to renew his Labour membership in April this year, the investigation was dropped with Labour saying it has no powers to investigate non-members.Mr Blackburn has since relocated to the West Country, and questions have been raised about how he can represent residents in his ward almost 300 miles away.Fellow Brunswick councillor Gary Coleman told the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service the situation was “embarrassing” for Mr Blackburn.He added that it was “also sad” for the residents of Brunswick who elected him into the role that pays a basic allowance of £10,480 a year.Mr Coleman, who also sits as an independent after his own separate dispute with Labour, said: “It seems hard to imagine he will be making weekly 560-mile round trips back to Blackpool for council and ward business during the next 18 months.”Councillor Tony Williams, leader of the Conservative group on the council, said: “I’m not sure how anyone can effectively represent the people who voted for them when they are living nearly 300 miles away.”It was “up to the people of Brunswick ward to decide if they are happy with this long distance arrangement,” Mr Williams added.Mr Blackburn said that Brunswick residents would continue to be “fully and robustly represented” by him.He added that he was “proud” of his “100% attendance at council meetings” and that most of his work is “done via email, phone and video conferencing.”Mr Blackburn said he would relinquish his Brunswick seat at the 2023 local election.When he left Labour to sit as an independent, the party lost its majority control of Blackpool Council. More

Tensions between Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers over the UK’s response to the highly contagious omicron variant of coronavirus have burst into the open, as the prime minister dismissed a call from a senior medic for Britons to tone down Christmas celebrations.Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said that people could help keep the variant at bay by cutting down social contacts over the festive period and “not socialising when we don’t particularly need to”.But Mr Johnson said the government was “not changing the guidance on how you should be living your life” and urged people not to cancel events like Christmas parties and nativity plays.The PM announced a target to offer all those aged 18 and over a booster vaccination by the end of January, with at least 400 troops drafted in to assist with what NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said would be “the most complex part of the vaccine rollout so far”. Jabs will be offered to descending age-groups in five-year bands, and all existing vaccination sites will increase capacity to deal with at least 14 million additional patients over the period. Temporary vaccination centres will be “popping up like Christmas trees”, said Mr Johnson.Downing Street stressed that the government wanted to take a “proportionate and balanced” approach until clearer scientific evidence emerges of whether omicron is likely to increase serious illness and deaths. The PM’s official spokesman made clear that new guidance issued over the weekend was formulated with an eye on the economic impact of any new restrictions, telling reporters:  “At all stages throughout the pandemic we have sought to strike the correct balance between protecting lives and livelihoods.”But pubs, restaurants and nightclubs reported that cancellations were already coming in as a result of public concern over omicron, with one industry leader telling The Independent that “poorly-conceived communications” from the government were hitting a sector desperate for a busy festive period to make up for 18 months of shutdowns.Meanwhile, medical experts backed Dr Harries’ call for restraint over Christmas.Cinical epidemiologist Dr Deepti Gurdasani told The Independent that the UK needs “urgently” to take all mitigating measures to slow the spread of the new variant, including high-grade masks in indoor and public spaces, better ventilation, support with isolation, caps on large gatherings and working from home for those who can.“If we don’t take these measures, we will be potentially heading into a preventable lockdown,” said Dr Gurdasani. “If the PM really doesn’t want to ‘cancel Christmas’, he needs to act. All his actions are leading us into a worsening crisis.”Dr Peter English, a former chair of the BMA public health medicine committee, said he “strongly disagreed” with the PM’s comments.“I think it’s very likely he will have to backtrack on that,” said Dr English. “Stronger measures now will reduce cases, admissions and deaths overall. Failure to do so risks a need for much harder restrictions in three to four weeks’ time.”And Irene Petersen, an epidemiologist at University College London, told The Independent: “We should move the Christmas celebrations to a time where we all have a chance enjoy the parties without the fear of getting seriously ill.”Health secretary Sajid Javid said that new requirements imposed on Tuesday for masks in shops and public transport, and self-isolation for those coming into contact with omicron patients should “buy the time we need” to ramp up protection from vaccines.By Tuesday evening, 13 omicron infections had been confirmed in England, with cases in the east Midlands, the east of England, London and the northwest. Nine cases in Scotland were all linked to a single private event on 20 November, first minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed.Labour called on the government to step up preventative measures by mandating pre-departure tests for travellers to the UK in place of the current PCR checks up to two days after arrival.“Everybody’s really worried about this,” said party leader Sir Keir Starmer. “Everybody’s concerned about saving Christmas. So whatever measures can be taken should be taken.”Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper called for an immediate return to work-from-home guidance “to help save Christmas”.“Everything we know about this virus suggests it’s better to be cautious and act early,” said Ms Cooper.“Ministers should listen to their own scientific advice, which found working from home would have the single biggest impact on reducing Covid cases. This could buy us precious extra time while our scientists find out more about the potential impact of this new worrying variant.”But the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, Michael Kill, said the sector was already being hit by cancellations of Christmas events, driven by uncertainty over the government’s messaging.“At the very moment operating costs are at their highest, we are now faced with another poorly-conceived communications strategy from government which has and will severely impact businesses,” he told The Independent.“We are reliving the moments of March 2020 where the prime minister asked people not to go to pubs, bars, clubs and theatres. It is surreal and extremely frustrating to see healthcare advisers publicly telling people not to socialise, giving unnecessary uncertainty to our customers and workforce.”Businesses across the country were cancelling or scaling back Christmas parties, including Google, which called off a planned festive drinks reception for technology reporters in London.But a Christmas market event went ahead in Downing Street, with Mr Johnson welcoming representatives of foreign trade partners to stalls lining the pavements outside No 10.A YouGov poll found that 68 per cent of voters believe restrictions are likely to be tightened over Christmas – including 23 per cent who thought it was “very likely” – compared to just 19 per cent who said further mitigations were unlikely.New regulations on face coverings and self-isolation comfortably passed through the House of Commons by 434-23, with 21 Conservative backbenchers rebelling after expressing strong reservations about the return of restrictions.Influential backbencher Steve Baker warned the government was “choosing the downward path towards hell”, while veteran Sir Christopher Chope denounced the measures as “oppressive, authoritarian and dictatorial”Former health minister Steve Brine said: “There’s nothing in these regulations that says you’ve got to cancel Christmas parties – unless Dr Harries, of course, is in charge. But there’s everything in the language and the narrative that’s coming out of government right now that is causing Christmas parties to be cancelled.”And the head of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, Mark Harper, raised concerns that while mask requirements will be reviewed after three weeks, the legislation allows new rules on self-isolation to remain in place until March. More

MPs have overwhelmingly voted to approve the government’s new coronavirus regulations despite a small Conservative rebellion.Just 23 MPs voted against new rules, which include a requirement to wear masks on public transport and in shops. The move was supported by 434 MPs, a majority of 411, after being backed by all parties. All those who voted against were Conservatives or from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).It comes after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that eight further cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been confirmed in England, bringing the total number in the country to 13.Boris Johnson said over the weekend that a “tightening up” of rules was needed “to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK”. The new measures include new testing requirements for travel as well as the mask mandate.But some MPs from the prime minister’s party spoke out against the rule changes during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday.“This is a fundamental choice, I would say, between heading towards heaven and heading towards hell,” said Tory MP Steve Baker.“If we continue to react to these fears and uncertainties by taking the authoritarian course, without impact assessments, because they’re only temporary, you know, then we are embarked on that downward course.“The public are not fools. We’re not here to govern idiots. I have faith in the British public. I have faith that they can choose for themselves to do the right thing.”Defending the regulations, health minister Maggie Throup told MPs: “We have set out proportionate and balanced measures which do not include limiting socialising. It is the Government that sets policy and guidance which is what the public should follow. The virus is fighting back and we must respond.“To those who say that the regulations we have debated here – the reintroduction of face coverings in some settings and self-isolation requirements for close contacts – are an imposition on our liberties, I agree, but they are a necessary imposition to slow the spread of the new variant and allow science to catch up. However, there is a balance to be struck.“For those who say that the regulations we have debated here are not enough, I say that they will buy us time to understand this new variant better, that is why they will be reviewed in three weeks’ time.”The Tory rebels to vote against the Covid protections were Steve Baker, Graham Brady, Andrew Bridgen, Christopher Chope, Philip Davies, Jackie Doyle-Price, Richard Drax, Mark Francois, Chris Green, Mark Jenkinson, Pauline Latham, Andrew Lewer, Karl McCartney, Esther McVey, Andrew Percy, Greg Smith, Robert Syms, Charles Walker, and William Wragg.Scientists say they know little for sure about the new Covid-19 variant, but that there are indications it may bypass existing vaccine protections and spread more rapidly through the population.In a statement released on Tuesday, Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of UKHSA, said: “It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing. “That’s why it’s critical that anyone with Covid-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately.” More

Labour has demanded the government bolster Covid border measures by reintroducing pre-departure test requirements for anyone travelling to the UK in response to the new omicron variant.In a joint letter, the newly appointed shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, and shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, told the government it is an “urgent requirement” with more than 1 million travelling through UK airports each week.It comes after the government dropped requirements for a pre-departure test for vaccinated travellers in the autumn, but in response to the new variant at the weekend re-introduced quarantine for all arrivals until they have received a negative PCR test.The UK Health Security Agency announced on Tuesday eight further cases of the omicron variant have been confirmed in England – taking the total number of identified cases to 13, with a further nine cases in Scotland.In their letter to Sajid Javid, the health secretary, and the home secretary Priti Patel, the Labour frontbenchers welcomed the new PCR requirement, but stressed it was “wholly insufficient to identify or prevent growing numbers of arriving cases of omicron spreading in the community”.Warning that there are “major gaps” in surveillance measures at UK borders, they added: “We are urging the government to urgently learn the lessons from the previous waves of the pandemic to ensure the same mistakes are not made again.“Currently it is possible for people to travel to the UK on crowded planes, stand in crowded departure halls, get on crowded tubes, buses and trains home to rejoin family or housemates without taking a test at any point along the way – not even a lateral flow test at the airport before they get on a plane.“The government does still require unvaccinated passengers to take a Covid test before travelling to the UK.“However, given that the chief medical officer warned last week that, due to mutations on the omicron variant’s spike gene, there is a reasonable chance of at least some level of vaccine escape, all incoming travellers should be required to take a pre-departure test regardless of their vaccine status.”Earlier this year, as cases of the delta variant first detected in India began to spread in the UK, Ms Cooper in her role as chair of the home affairs committee was highly critical of the government’s delay in putting the country on the travel “red list”.“We urge you to learn the lessons from those failures and to take a much more rigorous and vigilant approach this time,” the letter on Tuesday added.The call from the Labour frontbenchers also comes after the Scottish and Welsh first ministers urged No 10 to bring in “tougher” travel rules by extending the quarantine period for those arriving in the UK to eight days – and to hold a Cobra meeting.But Downing Street rejected the devolved administrations’ calls for the self-isolation period for travellers to be extended. Tightening the requirements would have a “detrimental effect” on the travel industry, a No 10 spokesperson said.Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson also said there was no Cobra meeting involving all four nations of the UK currently planned. “We obviously speak to our devolved administration counterparts very regularly,” he said. More