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      The financial ghosts haunting the Budget – and why Reeves must fix them

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      As the UK prepares for the budget announcement, familiar debates are taking shape. Should Chancellor Rachel Reeves cut welfare spending? Or reform the “triple lock” on state pensions?Other debates focus on revenue: how should she raise money without breaking Labour’s manifesto promise not to increase taxes on working people? But these discussions are being held in a strange vacuum, where the three enormous expenditures that led the UK to this point are not mentioned.COVID debt, energy support schemes and Brexit have fundamentally shaped the UK’s financial woes. Yet voters and politicians alike seem determined not to talk about them. Instead, they’re treated as shocks imposed on the country, although they involved hugely consequential political choices.Gloomy vibes accompany this Advent budget, and Britain’s awkward collective amnesia is preventing the country from learning the lessons needed for future crises and from talking honestly about the best route forward.Chancellor Rachel Reeves will outline her next Budget in the Commons on 26 November More

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      Crisis-hit Your Party rules out co-leadership after Corbyn and Sultana’s public spats

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      Crisis-hit Your Party has ruled out having co-leaders, following a series of public spats between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. At the party’s founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, members will vote on a new leadership model for the party, with options including a “collective leadership model” or backing a single leader. But in the longer term, Your Party could look to bring back the option of co-leaders, with a member-led review of leadership structures exploring options of deputy leadership, co-leadership and the relationship with the party’s leadership in Wales and Scotland once the party has been established in each nation. The decision to rule out co-leadership in the short term comes after a turbulent first few months for the party, marred by internal division, with a dispute between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana resulting in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.Ms Sultana complained she had been subjected to a “sexist boys’ club” after supporters were invited to officially sign up and give the party financial backing.But Mr Corbyn described this as an “unauthorised email” and just hours later warned people in a statement posted on social media not to sign up via the link.Disputes between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana resulted in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action More

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      Rachel Reeves says Labour does not need to raise taxes in Budget in resurfaced clip

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      Rachel Reeves vowed not to increase taxes in the Budget, a resurfaced clip shared by Kemi Badenoch shows.In the clip, dated 4 November 2024, the Chancellor told Sir Trevor Phillips on Sky News that the Labour government “doesn’t need to increase taxes further”.Sharing the footage on social media, Ms Badenoch said: “If she breaks that promise today, the Government will have lost what little credibility it had left. Nobody should ever trust them again.”On Wednesday (26 November), the Chancellor is expected to unveil a raft of tax hikes as she tries to plug an estimated £30billion black hole in public finances. More

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      Taxi drivers face major changes under new licensing rules in a bid to improve safety

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      Taxi drivers across England are set to face “rigorous vetting” under new licensing reforms, a minister has confirmed, as the government moves to address concerns over passenger safety and exploitation.The proposed changes, part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, will introduce a national minimum standard for drivers, specifically targeting problems associated with out-of-area working.Local government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh stated these standards would prioritise “safeguarding passengers and improving accessibility”.The move follows Baroness Casey’s audit, which highlighted “many cases of group-based child sexual exploitation” linked to taxi services. More

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      Budget 2025: Experts reveal which tax increase will have ‘least damaging’ impact

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      With Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to unveil her autumn Budget, the government faces pressure to raise revenues. Economic analysis released in October suggests that for the Chancellor, hiking income tax would be the “least damaging” option for the economy compared to increasing VAT.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) found raising VAT would push harder on real incomes, while an income tax rise would be less detrimental. The think tank, which analysed income tax, corporation tax, and VAT, also warned against seeking revenue beyond these “main” UK taxes, deeming other methods potentially harmful.Of the three, NIESR said raising VAT would have the biggest negative impact on the UK economy by lowering real personal disposable income (RPDI) by nearly 3 per cent and real gross domestic product (GDP) by nearly 1 per cent in the first year of the tax being applied.A higher rate of VAT would also push up inflation more than the other levers because of the impact it would have on prices in shops.Raising corporation tax – which is charged on the profits made by businesses – would have a smaller short-term impact but drag on the economy in the long run by reducing investment, according to the analysis.Raising VAT would have the biggest negative impact on the UK economy, a think tank said More

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      Reeves braced for major Budget clash with businesses over minimum wage and tax rises

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      Rachel Reeves is set to splurge cash to tackle the rising cost of living, but is facing a major confrontation with businesses in her make-or-break Budget.With the survival of Sir Keir Starmer’s government at stake, the chancellor looks set to appease backbenchers by introducing a range of measures to help Britain’s poorest – hinting she will pay for it by taxing the wealthy.Pledging to take “the fair and necessary choices” to help bring down the spiralling cost of living, she has also committed to cutting hospital waiting lists and bringing down the national debt.It comes hours after Ms Reeves unveiled an inflation-busting hike to the minimum wage, which will mean a pay rise for millions of workers, with the chancellor promising that those on low incomes will be “properly rewarded” for their work.But businesses were quick to hit back, warning the move would drive unemployment and hit economic growth.Reeves finalising her Budget More

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      The major changes taxi drivers could face under new licensing reforms

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      Taxi drivers across England are set to face “rigorous vetting” under new licensing reforms, a minister has confirmed, as the government moves to address concerns over passenger safety and exploitation.The proposed changes, part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, will introduce a national minimum standard for drivers, specifically targeting problems associated with out-of-area working.Local government minister Miatta Fahnbulleh stated these standards would prioritise “safeguarding passengers and improving accessibility”.The move follows Baroness Casey’s audit, which highlighted “many cases of group-based child sexual exploitation” linked to taxi services.Speaking at the Bill’s report stage, Ms Fahnbulleh told MPs: “The powers sought are necessarily broad, so that we can make sure that the new powers catch all complexities of the current legislative framework.“National minimum standards will set a high but proportionate standard for licensing that is focused on safeguarding passengers and improving accessibility of these services for everyone.“This means that people, particularly those who rely on these services the most, such as women and girls and people with disabilities, can be reassured that the drivers, such of these services, have undergone rigorous vetting where they are in the country, wherever they are in the country.“This is an important first step to tackle some of the issues that have arisen from the practice of out of area working.“In addition, we will be consulting shortly on making local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicles, further strengthening the regulation of the sector, and we will continue to build on these reforms in the weeks and months ahead.”Transport committee chair Ruth Cadbury told MPs of the need for common standards across England that were “not basic minimum standards, but high and absolute standards”. More

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      Nigel Farage ‘categorically’ denies racially abusing fellow students at school

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      Nigel Farage has insisted he “categorically” did not racially abuse fellow pupils during his time as a schoolboy at a top private school.It comes after more than a dozen former pupils who attended Dulwich College in south London with Mr Farage accused him of making antisemitic and racist remarks in reports originally published by The Guardian.The Reform UK leader appeared to leave open the possibility he may have made racist remarks without “intent” during an ITV interview on Monday night. When questioned about the claims, he said: “I would never, ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way.”Nigel Farage denies claims he made deeply offensive remarks to fellow pupils More