UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has admitted that the country is set to be hit with “a very painful budget” in October as his new Labour government tries to “fix the rot” left by the Tories.Speaking to a group of 50 voters and supporters in the Downing Street rose garden, the prime minister hinted at more spending cuts and tax rises to come as his party attempts to close a £22 billion black hole they claim to have found in the public finances.He warned “things are worse than we ever imagined” because of a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances, claiming to have found out last week that the Tories had borrowed almost £5 billion more than the Office for Budget Responsibility expected.Starmer delivers a speech to mark the reopening of business in parliament next week More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought Tuesday to draw a contrast between his new government and the past, saying the solution to the country’s problems is in working together and not in continuing to stoke tensions in society.Starmer said the riots that convulsed the nation earlier this summer betrayed “the cracks in our society” after 14 years of Conservative-led government. But the prime minister, who took office in July after a landslide election victory, also found hope in the way many people united to oppose the violence.“The riots didn’t just betray the sickness, they also revealed the cure, found not in the cynical conflict of populism but in the coming together of a country,” Starmer said. “The people who got together the morning after all around the country — with their brooms, their shovels, their trowels — and cleared up their community. They reminded us who we really are.”Starmer spoke in the rose garden of his official Downing Street residence in an effort to underscore the differences between his administration and those of his Conservative predecessors.The garden was the scene of two events that angered voters during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, a senior adviser to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a news conference in the garden as he tried to justify a lockdown-breaking trip to the country. Later, Johnson and other officials held a wine-and-cheese party in the garden at a time when most people were stuck in their homes.As he sought to further distance himself from his Conservative Party predecessors, Starmer warned that the upcoming October budget would be “painful.” He argued that “things are worse than we ever imagined” because of a 22 billion pound ($29.1 billion) “black hole” in the public finances.Those with the “broadest shoulders” would have to bear the greatest burden, he said.”We have no other choice, given the situation that we’re in,” he said. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorKeir Starmer has warned that Labour’s first autumn Budget will be “painful” in his first keynote address from No 10, prompting fears of that unpopular tax rises will be amongst the announcements.Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already confirmed that her statement will bring fresh tax rises as she says more needs to be done to fill the government’s shortfall in public finances. This reasoning was repeated by the prime minister as he reiterated the need to plug the £22bn spending gap that was “hidden” by the previous conservative government.The announcements come after Ms Reeves announced a slate of cost-cutting measures to grapple with the issue in July. These included scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners, alongside halting several in-progress infrastructure projects.Many experts now anticipate that the chancellor will look to both raise taxes and cut costs in her first Budget in October, bolstered by the government’s suggestions that the measures are necessary after errors made by the previous Conservative government.Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her first Budget in October More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLiz Truss considered scrapping all cancer treatment on the NHS in a desperate bid to repair the damage caused by her disastrous economic policies, according to a new book.The extraordinary claim is made in a new biography of Ms Truss by Sir Anthony Seldon.Sir Anthony, who is Britain’s leading political biographer, also states that Ms Truss’s allies feared her team could be targeted with a “cocaine” smear by unnamed figures at Tory HQ who wanted to stop her from becoming prime minister.Liz Truss with chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng at the Tory party conference following the disastrous mini-Budget More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour has reportedly axed the private helicopter service favoured by Rishi Sunak to save the taxpayer £40million.The “grossly wasteful” contract was scrapped by defence secretary John Healey just weeks after coming into office.In 2023, Mr Sunak reversed an initial decision to stop leasing the two Augusta Westland helicopters.A government source said the £40million contract ‘became a symbol’ of the previous government More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorDowning Street officials are preparing a “media plan” to announce the eventual passing of Larry the cat.Larry has become a widely loved fixture of Downing Street and is often seen outside the door to Number 10 during major political events and news broadcasts.The 17-year-old ‘chief mouser’ is thought to be in his final years, having already outlived the average lifespan for a tabby cat.Larry the cat is often seen outside the door to Number 10 during major political events and news broadcasts More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorIn his first keynote speech as prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer will promise to “get a grip” on the problems facing Britain and “reverse a decade of decline” said to have taken place under the previous Conservative government.Comparing his task as prime minister to the communities that rallied round to clean up in the wake of this summer’s riots, he will promise to do the “hard work” to fix the challenges facing the country. Starmer will use his first major speech as prime minister to argue that change will take time, and that Britain will get worse before it gets better More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSuella Braverman has claimed Sir Keir Starmer is attempting to pave the way for “draconian” tax rises at the next budget with his first keynote speech as prime minister, set to be delivered on Tuesday.She also argued that the chancellor’s claim that the government inherited a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances from the previous Tory government is “one of the biggest lies in British politics right now”.On Tuesday, the prime minister is set to warn the British public that things will get worse before they get better.Sir Keir Starmer will use his first major speech as Prime Minister to argue change will take time, and Britain will get worse before it gets better (James Manning/PA) More