UK Politics

The chancellor is reportedly considering more than one hundred different tax and spending measures in the upcoming Budget, amid concerns the fiscal watchdog could be about to downgrade the UK’s productivity performance.Rachel Reeves is thought to be looking at hitting the top third of earners as part of an attempt to fill a black hole in the public finances of up to £50bn. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – which handed the chancellor its latest set of projections for the economy last week – is expected to downgrade the UK’s performance on productivity at the Budget, with fears that it could represent a further £20bn gap in the public finances.Sources told The Times that around a hundred tax and spending measures are on the table for the Budget, including an increase in income tax, which would be a clear breach of Labour’s manifesto promise not to increase three key taxes on working people. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her budget on 26 November More

Nearly 300 organisations have issued a rallying cry for a “full-throated defence” of the European Convention on Human Rights – accusing politicians of using it as a scapegoat with devastating effects. The ECHR, an international treaty signed by 47 Council of Europe member states to protect fundamental human rights, has come under fire from both Reform UK and the Tories, who have pledged to quit the convention if they win the next election. In response, groups ranging from Liberty to Refuge, health charity Parkinson’s UK and the Centre for Military Justice have warned that the ECHR protects “the rights of ordinary people every day up and down the country from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service personnel, public interest journalists to mental health patients”. They have accused politicians of “using our human rights as a scapegoat…. [and] escalating, irresponsible rhetoric targeting migrant and minoritised communities, which has devastating real-world consequences”. Kemi Badenoch said the Tories would leave the ECHR if elected More

The boss of the UK’s largest trade union has said she cannot guarantee that Keir Starmer will remain the leader of the Labour Party after next May’s elections, which are widely predicted to be disastrous for the prime minister. Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, also hit out at what she said were a series of “own goals” by Labour since it came to power last July, as she called for a “reset”. Asked if she thought Sir Keir would still be Labour leader after May, she replied: “Who knows?”She added: “I don’t know, depending on what happens in May, what Keir will feel about it or indeed the Labour MPs will feel about it. I suspect he will be – but I could not honestly guarantee it.”Unison general secretary Christina McAnea More

Kemi Badenoch has been warned she has six months to turn the Conservative Party around or she will face a leadership challenge.As she marks her first year as leader, senior Tory sources have told The Independent that Ms Badenoch will have to go if the party is hit by another terrible set of results in the May elections in Wales, Scotland and English local councils – with Robert Jenrick the favourite to succeed her.While Ms Badenoch has put in some good performances at Prime Minister’s Questions in recent weeks and was widely praised for her conference speech, critics have noted that she has failed to improve the Tories’ historically low position in the polls.One senior Tory source said: “Before Kemi’s speech we were averaging 17 points in the polls and after Kemi’s speech we were averaging 17 points in the polls. Nothing has changed and we are going nowhere with her.” It is also regularly pointed out that the party was averaging around 24 per cent a year ago, when she became leader.Meanwhile a shadow minister complained that after the conference speech, where she unveiled a number of policies including abolishing stamp duty, she has largely gone to ground again.They said: “She gave a half decent speech at conference and now she thinks she can hibernate all winter. She forgets she’s the leader of the opposition and not a hedgehog.”Another critic described Ms Badenoch as “the living dead” with “everybody waiting for the end”.A well received conference speech by Badenoch has made no difference to the poll ratings for the Tories More

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will face a cabinet backlash if the chancellor breaks Labour’s manifesto pledge and raises income tax in the Budget later this month.Earlier this week, it was reported that the Treasury is looking into the possibility of putting up the rate by 2p, while simultaneously cutting national insurance by 2p. Just last month, this newspaper reported that Ms Reeves is considering changes to the top 45p rate.The Independent has learnt that a number of senior ministers are concerned that breaking the manifesto pledge to not raise income tax, VAT or employee national insurance contributions could prevent any hope of a political recovery, with the party languishing in the polls.“What those who say we should not stick to that pledge fail to realise is just how important it was in winning the election,” a senior minister said.“Elections are hard to win. They are particularly hard for Labour to win. We don’t win many of them. So breaking that pledge comes with significant risk about us losing the trust of voters.”Another minister suggested: “We are going to struggle to recover in the polls if people do not believe what we are saying.”Leading pollsters warn the government could be facing a point of no return with voters if it breaks the manifesto commitment More

Nigel Farage has been warned his plan to retrospectively strip thousands of people of indefinite leave to remain would “trash Britain’s reputation for fairness”, as lawyers say the policy would be blocked by the courts.Immigration lawyers have told The Independent that the retroactive element of the policy is likely to be successfully challenged in the courts whether or not the UK left the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because an expectation that laws can’t be changed in hindsight is a “a cornerstone of administrative law around fairness”.Mr Farage’s party has pledged to scrap settled status for all non-EU migrants, requiring those who have been granted indefinite leave to remain to reapply under much stricter rules – meaning tens of thousands of people who have legally settled in Britain could be at risk of deportation. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage unveiled the plans earlier this year More

Extremely well-off Britons leaving the UK for tax havens face having to pay a charge as they depart under plans being drawn up ahead of this month’s crunch Budget.The chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to be considering slapping a 20 per cent “settling-up charge” on business assets left in the UK as she tries to fill a multi-billion pound hole in the nation’s finances. But shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick hit out at what he said was a “crazy” idea that would “just see wealth and wealth creators sprint for the door… We need more entrepreneurs, not fewer! Reeves must rule out this latest desperate move”. Economists have repeatedly warned Ms Reeves that a combination of Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth means she must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules in the Budget.Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering bringing in new higher bands of council tax to target the owners of expensive homes.With weeks to go until her crunch Budget, the chancellor is hoping that the new higher council tax bands will help her plug a hole in the nation’s finances worth tens of billions of pounds. No decisions have been taken, but Ms Reeves has said higher taxes on the wealthy will be “part of the story” in November 26’s Budget. The chancellow Rachel Reeves(Jordan Pettitt/PA) More