UK Politics

The Treasury is looking to raise more money by tightening the rules around inheritance tax, it’s been reported.Amid growing pressure regarding the state of the UK’s finances ahead of the autumn budget, the chancellor needs to address a black hole left by Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth.Economists have warned that Ms Reeves must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules to fill a £50bn shortfall in public finances.According to a report in The Guardian, the Treasury is now looking at options on inheritance tax like changing rules to restrict the gifting of money and assets.Under current rules, unlimited amounts of money and assets can be gifted to relatives and friends which avoids inheritance tax, provided that it is gifted at least seven years before the benefactor dies. The chancellor has been warned she faces a £50bn blackhole (Jacob King/PA) More

JD Vance is to host Robert Jenrick at his holiday retreat in the Cotswolds, in a move that will do little to dampen speculation about the senior Tory’s leadership ambitions. But the US vice president will not meet the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, according to reports.Mr Vance is taking a surprise summer break in Britain, staying with his family at an 18th-century Georgian manor after spending the weekend with the foreign secretary David Lammy. JD Vance, Trump’s vice president, is holidaying in the Cotswolds More

EU citizens waiting for the government to decide their pre-Brexit residency status have been wrongly refused entry to the UK, forcing them to give up their lives here.The Independent Monitoring Authority for Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA) has expressed “serious concerns” after individuals who left to go on holiday or visit family were barred from entering Britain on their return.Among those affected was a 34-year-old Spanish woman who was removed from the UK despite showing Home Office documents which proved her right to live and work in the UK. She had flown to Spain to see her sister and her new baby at Christmas, The Guardian reported.Another EU citizen, Greek Cypriot Costa Koushiappis, was forcibly removed after taking a short trip to Amsterdam in November, the paper said. The IMA has now written to the Home Office, warning that those waiting for a decision on their residency should not be removed if they make short trips overseas, including for business or leisure.It is advised that those who hold a valid “certificate of application” (CoA) from the Home Office show it to Border Force officials at airports or ports to prove they are allowed to travel.Miranda Biddle, chief executive of the IMA, said: “Our position is that a citizen with a valid certificate of application has a right to exit and enter the UK while waiting for a decision on their EU settlement scheme application, subject to providing additional documentation required at the border.”She said she was “keen to continue to work with the government” to “ensure citizens are not discouraged from exercising their rights”.The group has called on the Home Office to clarify the CoA rules before a new system requiring visitors to the UK to have “electronic travel authorisations” (ETAs) is enforced.Campaign group the3million said it was “very disappointed” that the IMA had agreed with Border Force’s approach of asking EU citizens to carry documents to prove their residence before Brexit took effect on 31 December 2020. A CoA was sufficient proof of rights until such time as a final decision is taken, the group said.A Home Office spokesperson said: “All individuals with a certificate of application are made aware that they may be asked for evidence to show that they qualify under the scheme before they are allowed entry to the UK. Equivalent guidance has been issued to Border Force officers and published online.” More

From being interviewed under caution as part of Operation Branchform, to leading a failed bid for Scottish independence, Nicola Sturgeon’s time in office – and the years after it – were far from ordinary. In her long-awaited memoir, Frankly, the former Scottish first minister details how it felt to have police raid the home she shared with her ex-husband Peter Murrell, as well as shedding light on her relationship with her predecessor Alex Salmond and the row over trans rights that dominated her final months in the job. Here, The Independent looks at the key takeaways from Ms Sturgeon’s explosive memoir. Nicola Sturgeon’s new book went on sale on Monday More

The terror law that saw hundreds arrested for supporting Palestine Action is “not consistent with basic rights to free speech” and should be changed, a former Supreme court judge has warned. Writing for the Independent, Lord Sumption said the Terror Act’s definition of what amounts to support for a proscribed organisation is “far too wide”. He warned that one of the criteria – wearing, carrying or displaying something that supports the group – goes too far and should be rowed back to avoid the more than 500 people arrested at Saturday’s protest against the group’s ban under terror laws from being criminalised.Urging the government to amend the Act, he said, “merely indicating your support for a terrorist organisation without doing anything to assist or further its acts should not be a criminal offence”.Starmer is facing a furious backlash over the row More

A minister has admitted that the government has so far failed to tackle the small boats crisis, as the number of people who have crossed the Channel since Labour took power looks set to surpass 50,000. Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said the number of people coming to the UK after making the dangerous crossing is “a problem that, up to this point, we haven’t managed to tackle” – but insisted that it was the fault of the previous government.“The last government enabled this hideous criminal activity to really get its roots across Europe”, she said, adding that there is now “really important action being taken to tackle it.” It comes as the government ramps up its efforts to bring down migration amid growing public anger over the issue, announcing on Friday that the new “one in, one out” returns deal with France was up and running. The Home Office has also expanded its “deport now, appeal later” scheme, which sees foreign criminals deported before their appeals have been heard.Jacqui Smith More