UK Politics

Former Tory education secretary Gillian Keegan has said that she meant what she said about people needing to be grateful for the “f*****g good job” she had done while others had “sat on their a***s and done nothing” before. Ms Keegan, who was a senior member of Rishi Sunak’s government before losing her Chichester seat in last year’s general election, was reflecting on her life in politics with ex-Labour MPs Jon Ashworth and Gloria De Piero on their Politics Inside Out podcast.The interview, which will be available from Thursday morning, addressed an embarrassing moment in 2023 when she thought the camera was off after speaking to ITV News about the Raac concrete scandal and crumbling schools.Former education secretary Gillian Keegan (Danny Lawson/PA) More

A deal with Google will see the tech giant provide free technology for UK government services from the NHS to local councils.Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he is determined to “break free” from the “ball-and-chain” technology used in more than a quarter of public sector systems and some 70% of police forces and NHS trusts.He said Google could invest hundreds of millions into Britain’s public sector technology under the partnership, which will not see the Government pay.The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said Google would not have access to public sector data.The agreement comes as part of a shift away from outdated computer technology to cloud systems with security integrated into their design.The aim is to make sure information on services is more easily available and to save up to £45 billion of Government cash.“We are looking to the sector to help shake off the legacy technology that costs the taxpayer an absolute fortune and leaves us vulnerable to outages and to cyberattacks,” Mr Kyle told Google Cloud’s London summit.Google Cloud is also looking into developing a single platform to monitor and respond to cybersecurity issues across the UK Government amid increasing cyber threats.Mr Kyle also urged other tech companies to bid for contracts “bring us your best ideas, bring us your best tech, and bring it at the best price”.“For too long, too many governments haven’t done enough to build the positive business relationships that Britain needs to prevent the taxpayer being short-changed when it comes to procuring tech – from healthcare services, policing systems right through to benefits processes, and bin collections, right down to street sweeping,” he told the summit. More

Sir Keir Starmer has failed to rule out extending so-called “stealth taxes” – as well as the introduction of a wealth tax – as his government struggles to balance the books following his recent U-turns. The prime minister reiterated that Labour would stick to its manifesto pledge and ruled out increases to income tax, VAT and national insurance, but he did not confirm whether the government was planning to lift the freeze on income tax thresholds in 2028.Sir Keir and chancellor Rachel Reeves are seeking to find billions of pounds in savings after the government’s recent U-turns on welfare and winter fuel payments left a black hole in the nation’s finances, while a report out this week from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) gave a damning verdict of the state of Britain’s “vulnerable” public finances.Asked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch whether he could guarantee he would keep the manifesto pledge of not increasing income tax, VAT or employee national insurance contributions, Sir Keir gave a one word answer: “Yes!”But when she asked if it is still the government’s policy to unfreeze income tax thresholds, Sir Keir said: “No prime minister is going to write the budget in advance, but we are absolutely fixed on our fiscal rules”.At the last budget, Ms Reeves promised to end the freeze on income tax thresholds after 2028. But if it were extended to the end of the parliament it could £9bn-10bn a year, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, as workers are dragged into higher tax bands as earnings rise. The think tank says extending the freeze would mean an additional 400,000 people would be eligible to pay income tax, while another 600,000 would be pulled into higher and additional rates by 2029-30.Pressed on the issue after PMQs, the prime minister’s spokesperson repeatedly refused to say whether the government plans to go back on the chancellor’s promise to unfreeze tax thresholds.( More

Macron’s first state visit: Highlights from day one of French president’s UK tripEmmanuel Macron has arrived at No 10 for crunch talks as Sir Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” migration deal hangs in the balance.Mr Macron smiled as he stepped out of the car before being greeted by the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon on the second day of his state visit to the UK.The pair shook hands and posed for photographs accompanied by their wives in front of the press, before entering Number 10.Their spouses, Brigitte Macron and Lady Victoria Starmer, will have tea and a tour of Downing Street together, followed by all four having lunch.The prime minister hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link.The meeting comes before a full UK-France summit on Thursday involving ministerial teams from both nations.Sir Keir Starmer faced questions on the issue of migration in the Commons earlier, as the UK presses for tougher action from the French authorities on the beaches along the Channel coast.Coming up…Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer are currently holding talks on issues including illegal migration at No 10.Here is a look at what we’re expected for the rest of today and tomorrow:- We should be getting some more information on how the talks in No 10 went shortly.- This afternoon, Sir Keir and Mr Macron are expected to attend a reception with UK and French businesses and an event at the British Museum on Wednesday to announce the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry and other items to England.( More

Small boat migration is on track to reach its highest-ever levels this year, with numbers breaking records even before the summer peak begins.More than 21,000 migrants have already crossed the English Channel from France this year – up 55 per cent from the same period in 2024 – meaning Sir Keir is on track to oversee the highest year for small-boats migration to the UK on record.Last year proved to be the deadliest for channel migration, with 73 migrants dying while making the crossing, but it appears the situation is only set to get worse. Labour promised to tackle small boats migration in its manifesto, with the issue set to be front and centre on the agenda for this week’s visit from French President Emmanuel Macron.Sir Keir Starmer is set to push for an agreement on tackling small boats during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the UK this week (Hollie Adams/PA) More

Last week’s embarrassing climbdown on welfare saw the government’s benefits reforms gutted almost entirely, while savings from the bill were slashed from £5bn to nothing. In the wake of the U-turn, there are now growing questions over how the government will raise the money to fill the black hole in the public finances.Ministers have already squeezed significant savings out of their departments in cuts that were unveiled at last month’s spending review, meaning there is now a mounting expectation that the chancellor will be forced to raise taxes instead. But Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on “working people” leaves the chancellor with a limited number of workable options. A few possibilities were floated by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in a leaked memo to Rachel Reeves ahead of the spring statement, which saw her urge the chancellor to raise taxes – suggestions which were ignored. But perhaps this week’s welfare climbdown will leave the chancellor with no option but to look again at Rayner’s suggestions. The chancellor is said to have warned her colleagues there are no longer any low-hanging fruit for her to raise billions, meaning any tax hikes in the autumn Budget are set to be painful for Labour.Here, The Independent takes a look at a number of tax rises that the government could rely on to raise funds and balance the books. Tax threshold freezes The Treasury’s most likely move would be to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds. This means that as wages rise with inflation, over the years workers are dragged into higher tax bands and end up paying more. A freeze on the threshold at which the higher 45 per cent tax rate is paid was one of the options suggested by Ms Rayner in her leaked memo. But there is growing speculation the government could extend the freeze across all tax brackets. At PMQs on Wednesday, Sir Keir left the door open for such a move, refusing to rule it out. While he gave an unequivocal answer ruling out increasing VAT, income tax or national insurance, he refused to do so when it came to tax threshold freezes. It’s a stealth tax, the impacts of which are not felt immediately, meaning it is normally better received among the general public compared with a direct hit to businesses or pay slips. But, if the freeze were extended to the end of the parliament, it could also bring in billions for the Treasury as earnings rise. The freeze, which is already planned to last until 2028, is expected to drag around two million workers into higher tax bands.Wealth tax There have been calls from Labour MPs on the left of the party to introduce a wealth tax, calls which have only grown in the wake of Tuesday’s welfare climbdown. Rachael Maskell, the architect of the rebellion which forced the government into shelving key pillars of the bill, demanded the government increase taxes on the very richest to pay for the £5bn climbdown. Polling conducted by YouGov on behalf of Oxfam on the eve of the spring statement found more than three-quarters of people (77 per cent) would rather the government increase taxes on the very richest to improve public finances than see cuts to public spending. However, such a tax – which could look like a 2 per cent tax on net assets worth more than £10m – is thought to be very hard to implement, and could also lead to some of Britain’s highest earners leaving the country. But Sir Keir Starmer’s Blairite policy chief, Liz Lloyd, has reportedly warned the PM against implementing a wealth tax, amid fears about an exodus of high net worth individuals from Britain. The PM is therefore expected to block the mounting calls. While Downing Street sources have suggested a wealth tax is not on the table, the prime minister failed to rule it out at PMQs on Wednesday. Capital gainsCampaigners on the left have long called for capital gains to be equalised with income tax, believing that workers should not pay a higher levy than those earning money through the appreciation in value of assets. The tax, paid on the increase in value of an asset such as a house when it is sold, is charged at 24 per cent on most things, while income tax can be as high as 45 per cent. “Those people go out to work every day to keep our public service going, work in our factories, drive our economy. Where is the equity there?” Labour MP Andy McDonald said on Times Radio.Ms Rayner also called for the lifetime pensions allowance to be reinstated. The allowance, which puts a cap on how much savers can put into their pension pot before a higher rate of tax is applied, was axed by the Tories. Labour had initially planned to reinstate the cap, but the plans were abandoned ahead of the election. However, amid the controversy over cutting winter fuel payments – and then later reversing the decision – the government may be hesitant to introduce any other policies which would upset pensioners. Corporation tax The chancellor could also look at increasing corporation tax for banks – one of the suggestions included in the deputy prime minister’s memo. Politically, its fairly easy to tax banks as there is limited direct impact on voters. But it’s important to note that banks in the UK are already highly taxed. They pay normal corporation tax of 25 per cent, plus a bank surcharge of 3 per cent. On top of this, they pay a bank levy of 0.1 per cent of their balance sheets. The deputy prime minister also proposed raising tax rates on dividends – a portion of a company’s earnings received by a shareholder – for higher earners. Currently, tax is not paid on dividend income that falls within your income tax Personal Allowance. There is also a £500 dividend allowance each year, meaning individuals only pay tax on any dividend income above this. Removing it altogether would be worth £325 million a year, HMRC data indicates. However, there are concerns that raising dividend tax rates could discourage people from investing in companies – which is likely to have a net negative impact on the economy. Ms Rayner also suggested ending inheritance tax relief on shares listed on the smaller Aim stock market. The Aim stock market is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange. From April 2026, qualifying Aim shares held at the time of death will be eligible for 50 per cent relief from inheritance tax – but Ms Rayner has suggested ending this entirely. While these changes might make businesses uncomfortable, they’re actually unlikely to raise much money for the Treasury – meaning it’s a less likely option for the chancellor. More

Government failings over the compensation offered to victims of the infected blood scandal has left them facing a “new and different layer of psychological pain”, a damning report has concluded. A report into the compensation of victims and others affected by the scandal found that they have been ignored, branding the British state’s apology meaningless unless they are given greater involvement. Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the official inquiry into the infected blood scandal, said: “Decisions have been made behind closed doors leading to obvious injustices.” Chairman of the Infected Blood Inquiry Sir Brian Langstaff said last year that people affected by the scandal should face no more delays (Big T Images/Infected Blood Inquiry/PA) More