UK Politics

Starmer refuses to rule out national insurance rise at PMQsYour support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSir Keir Starmer has insisted the government will keep its manifesto pledges amid reports the Chancellor could extend the freeze on income tax thresholds in this month’s Budget.Rachel Reeves may be considering pushing the freeze beyond its current expiry date of 2028 in a move that could raise £7 billion, according to the Financial Times.Continuing the freeze could help plug some of the £40 billion gap the Chancellor is grappling with in an effort to avoid a return to austerity.Labour’s manifesto promised not to increase rates of income tax, but included no mention of tax thresholds.The Treasury has so far declined to comment on Budget speculation, but when asked about possible tax changes during a press conference in Berlin, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We are going to keep our manifesto pledges.”He added: “I’m not going to pre-empt the individual measures that will be outlined by the Chancellor in due course.”Other measures reported to be under consideration include increasing employers’ national insurance contributions, raising fuel duty for the first time since 2010, changes to rules on inheritance tax and stamp duty, and a levy on e-cigarettesWe’ll be bringing you all the latest updates ahead of the big event on 30 October here, on The Independent’s liveblog.Show latest update 1729348244What should I do with my savings ahead of the Budget?Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 15:301729344704Workers set for income tax hike as Rachel Reeves ‘to extend freeze on thresholds’Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 14:311729340924Reeves’ capital gains tax plans will sidestep homeowners, reports sayExperts have long anticipated that Labour will put capital gains tax up in the Budget on 30 October. This is the levy is paid on the profit made when an asset which has increased in value is sold. This includes houses, assets and shares, all paid between 20 and 28 per cent.The latest reports indicate that Ms Reeves will respond to calls to raise capital gains tax in line with income tax bands – meaning rates of 20 to 40 per cent – but will exempt property from the new rates.Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 13:281729337384Reeves considers raising tax on vaping in BudgetRachel Reeves is considering raising the tax on vaping products in the upcoming Budget as figures lay bare how many children access them in the UK, The Guardian reports.The tax on vaping products was originally announced by the Conservatives in March, to come in to force in 2026. It is now understood that Ms Reeves could look to increase this.Under current plans, the new rates from April 2026 will range from £1-3 per 10ml of liquid, depending on nicotine level.Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 12:291729333877Stamp duty threshold to drop as Reeves denies extensionThe chancellor is reportedly planning to confirm that the heightened stamp duty threshold will drop back to previous levels in March, costing housebuyers up to £2,500 more.In 2022, the Conservatives under Liz Truss increased the ‘nil rate’ threshold – when stamp duty starts being paid – from £125,000 to £250,000. For first-time buyers, it rose from £300,000 to £425,000.The approach is expected to raise £1.8 billion a year by 2029-30, but experts have warned the news will cause “chaos” in the property market as buyers rush deals to save money.Property expert Kirstie Allsopp told Times Radio: “It’s become so complicated that I can no longer tell anyone what they would be paying in stamp duty.”“It won’t claw back any money. Stamp duty is a dead tax.”Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 11:311729330184Government will keep manifesto pledges, says StarmerPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the government will keep to manifesto pledges ahead of the Budget.Asked about whether reported tax changes under consideration would keep to their promise of not increasing taxes for working people, Sir Keir told a press conference in Berlin: “We are going to keep our manifesto pledges.”He added: “I’m not going to pre-empt the individual measures that will be outlined by the Chancellor in due course.“This is going to be a Budget that will fix the foundations and rebuild our country.”When asked further about potential tax rises, the Prime Minister said that “you’ll just have to wait until the Chancellor lays that out in full, but the structure if you like, the framework, is going to be to fix the foundations and to rebuild our country.”Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 10:291729327398When is the 2024 Budget and what might be in it?Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour’s first Budget on Wednesday 30 October. Each year, the chancellor of the exchequer – who is in charge of the government’s finances – makes a Budget statement to MPs. . The speech outlines the government’s plans for spending and taxes.The Budget speech usually starts around 12:30pm and lasts about an hour. The Independent will be bringing you all the latest updates on the big day. Ms Reeves may be considering pushing the freeze beyond its current expiry date of 2028 in a move that could raise £7 billion, according to the Financial Times.Other measures reported to be under consideration include increasing employers’ national insurance contributions, raising fuel duty for the first time since 2010, changes to rules on inheritance tax and stamp duty, and a levy on e-cigarettes, according to reports across the media.The Treasury has so far declined to comment on Budget speculation. Jabed Ahmed19 October 2024 09:431729303200What should I do with my savings ahead of the Budget?Ahead of the Budget on 30 October, there has been fevered speculation about changes to pension savers’ tax allowances and other perks.Reports that pensioners could have tax breaks cut or axed led to savers withdrawing chunks of their retirement pots ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s big announcement.Howard Mustoe19 October 2024 03:001729296000The real problem facing Rachel Reeves over the death tax…… is that not only is it deeply unpopular, cautions James Moore – but it’s only a drop in the ocean when it comes to plugging the UK’s vast fiscal black holeJames Moore19 October 2024 01:001729288801Tax-free cash withdrawals ‘surge while pension contributions plummet’ as savers panic over Budget rumoursRetirees are rushing to withdraw cash from their pensions ahead of feared cuts to tax-free benefits in the Budget, the boss of one of Britain’s top investment platforms has said.Savers can typically take 25 per cent of their pension as a lump sum, up to a limit of £268,275, allowing them to avoid paying income tax, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering a cut to the amount savers can withdraw without triggering a payment to HM Revenue & Customs.Howard Mustoe18 October 2024 23:00 More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSir Keir Starmer has come under pressure to publish the true costs of Brexit after a minister confirmed Britain has spent £24bn alone withdrawing from the EU – with a further £6.4bn still to pay.The prime minister has been urged to order an inquiry into Britain’s relationship with the bloc to assess the damage of Brexit and identify opportunities for closer cooperation in future.As Sir Keir embarks on a much-hyped “reset” of relations with Brussels, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq confirmed Britain has paid the EU £23.8bn as part of its “financial settlement” agreement.On top of the money already spent, Ms Siddiq confirmed in response to a parliamentary question that Britain will pay another estimated £6.4bn to the bloc to settle the UK’s pre-existing financial obligations.The staggering figure has come to light as the chancellor tries to raise funds to plug a £22bn “black hole” in Britain’s finances, warning ministers earlier this week that there would be “difficult decisions on spending, welfare and tax” to come. Campaigners reacted with fury after The Independent revealed the sum, calling for Sir Keir to reverse the damage done by Brexit by pursuing closer ties with Europe.Sir Keir Starmer has embarked on a post-Brexit ‘reset’ of relations with the EU More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseKeir Starmer has insisted that his government will not break Labour’s manifesto pledge over raising taxes on working people with growing concerns about plans for a stealth tax.The prime minister told journalists Labour will “keep our manifesto pledges” amid reports Rachel Reeves could extend the freeze on income tax thresholds in this month’s Budget beyond 2028.The chancellor needs to fill a £40 billion black hole in Labour’s spending plans in her Budget on 30 October, but there are warnings that freezing the thresholds along with plans to bring in more wealth taxes will accelerate the brain drain and flight of millionaires from the UK.The plan to freeze thresholds will raise extra cash through the so-called “fiscal drag”, where thresholds for the 40p and 45p tax rates are not raised in line with inflation, meaning over time more workers creep into these higher tax brackets.Reeve and Starmer are plotting what to put in the Budget More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseChancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce the end of a temporary 5p cut in fuel duty in her Budget this month, it has been reported.Sources briefed on the chancellor’s thinking told The Financial Times that they believe the cut will take effect from next year. Additionally, the Treasury department has urged Ms Reeves to end a 13-year freeze on fuel duty, according to the paper.As Ms Reeves seeks to address a £22bn “black hole” in public spending announced in late July, the Campaign for Better Transport estimates that ending the 5p cut and reinstating annual inflation-linked rises could generate £4.2bn in revenue for the Treasury.However, motoring groups have warned that such a move would be “catastrophic for many”. More than 70 Tory MPs have also written a letter to the chancellor, saying any increase in fuel duty would slow economic growth and add an estimated £160 to annual fuel costs for families, reports The Sun.The measure was initially introduced in 2022 following the surge in energy prices triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has been maintained by successive chancellors since.Currently, fuel duty stands at 52.95p per litre for petrol and diesel. While it is supposed to rise annually in line with inflation, it has effectively been frozen since 2011 as successive chancellors sought to win favour with motorists.In the last budget published in March under the previous Conservative government, the latest cancellation of the scheduled fuel duty rise cost around £3bn for 2024-25.On Friday, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) urged Ms Reeves to maintain the current freeze, arguing that businesses are already struggling to cope with squeezed profit margins. “Firms are under pressure as it is, and such a rise in fuel duty would be catastrophic for many, particularly Britain’s small and medium enterprises,” said Richard Smith, managing director of the RHA.A Treasury spokesperson commented: “We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events.” More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreClose A man threw several firebombs into the headquarters of Japan’s ruling party in Tokyo Saturday, public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported. There were no reports of injuries.Tokyo police declined to comment, noting the matter was still under investigation. The man, arrested on the spot, had driven his car into nearby fencing, the news reports said. His motive for the attack was not immediately clear.The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is increasingly unpopular with the public due to a ballooning money scandal involving dubious funding and suspected tax evasion.The party declined to comment on Saturday’s attack, referring all queries to the police.Voting for the lower house of Parliament is set for Oct. 27. Some tarnished politicians lost the official backing of the ruling party but are running as independents.The party recently chose a new leader, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, hoping to present a new image. But polls show its popularity plummeting, although it’s still unclear whether they will lose their majority grip on the lower house in the upcoming election given the splintered opposition.Some candidates have been heckled, which is relatively rare in Japanese culture.The Liberal Democrats have ruled Japan almost incessantly over recent decades. They are credited with leading Japan as it became an economic powerhouse from the devastation of World War II.Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in 2022, while making a speech for a ruling party candidate during a parliamentary election. The killer used a handmade firearm, saying he resented Abe because his mother gave all the family money to the Unification Church, and he saw Abe as affiliated with that church. Such ties are still ongoing with some ruling party politicians.___Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSir Keir Starmer has agreed a deal to deport migrants arriving in the Chagos Islands in small boats to a British island territory.Refugees arriving in the archipelago will be removed to St Helena, another UK territory more than 5,000 miles away in the Atlantic Ocean.The deal was reached in the wake of a political agreement for the UK to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, following negotiations that began in 2022.That decision, announced earlier this month, is designed to secure the future of a secretive military base on the island of Diego Garcia, but it has also left the UK without sovereign territorial control over the islands.An agreement was reached to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius following negotations that began in 2022 More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseKeir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been accused of preparing to break a manifesto pledge with reported plans that could see hundreds of thousands more people dragged into paying higher rates of tax. The row centres on income tax thresholds, which have been frozen since 2021.While they remain fixed, inflation on wages pushes more workers into paying higher rates of the levy. The freeze had been due to end in 2028, but Ms Reeves is thought to be preparing to extend it in the Budget announced at the end of the month, as part of her drive to raise £40bn and plug a hole in the public finances. Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves look to fill a £22bn “black hole” in public spending announced in late July More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseChancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned that her plan to hike inheritance tax risks punishing middle-class homeowners as the backlash against her Budget intensified.Ms Reeves is considering an increase on the “death tax”, which raises about £7bn for the Treasury each year, despite the fact it is routinely found to be one of voters’ least favourite measures.Senior Conservatives said the chancellor was forcing those who had saved all their lives to “pay the price”, as criticism of her Budget mounts. Shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt accused Labour of planning the tax rises for months, without “the courage to admit it to the public during the election campaign”. He added: “Unfortunately it looks like it will be people who have saved all their life to provide an inheritance to their family who will pay the price for Labour’s tax rises.”Meanwhile, Sir Iain Duncan-Smith told The Independent the tax would “punish ordinary people who have worked hard”. Referencing the £325,000 cut off for charging inheritance tax, the former Tory leader said: “We’re not talking about ‘zillionaires’. With house prices in southern England, you won’t even get a flat for that money. A two-bed flat in London would be twice that price.”A cabinet row over swingeing cuts to spending in the Budget has already erupted into the open, while the chancellor has come under pressure for a series of measures, including her decision to strip winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.While it is unclear exactly what measures Ms Reeves is planning, Jason Hollands of advisory firm Evelyn Partners warned changes could drag more middle-earners into paying the tax, which currently hits 4 per cent of estates.“The 4 per cent of estates paying it makes it seem like a tax with a marginal impact but that figure doesn’t include people trying to reduce their estate,” he said. “It’s the heirs who are often not wealthy who get clobbered by the tax.” Currently, no tax is due on estates worth up to £325,000. This is topped up to £500,000 if you own a home and leave it to your offspring and your assets are worth less than £2m.A couple can benefit from both allowances, upping the limit further.There are also exceptions, such as gifting assets at least seven years before death, but those caught out pay a flat 40 per cent on the amount not covered by the allowances.Tax expert Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, said the tax has a “lot of emotional resonance”, and that even when people are told that the tax largely affects millionaires, they still hate it.“It’s very leaky and the very rich pay it at a lower rate than the comfortably off,” he added. Money expert Martin Lewis, who spoke to Ms Reeves about the Budget on Thursday, warned that while the tax “makes the wealthiest (shoulder) a bigger brunt, in reality psychologically many, many more people than who will pay Inheritance Tax fear it.”A recent YouGov poll found just 27 per cent of the public would support a rise in inheritance tax, while 60 per cent oppose the idea. Other polls have consistently shown Britons consider the tax to be unfair.The £325,000 limit has been in place since 2009, meaning that as house prices have risen, more people have been dragged into paying the tax. Single people and those wanting to give their homes and savings to charities or friends and not their children don’t get some of the extra allowances. As the post-war baby boomer generation ages – the eldest are 78 – their wealth will soon start to be inherited in earnest, dragging more people into the tax, said Mr Hollands. Boomers benefited from the economic rally since the end of World War II and sibsequent rise in house prices.Labour may be tempted to close the net on land and business allowances, said Mr Hollands. They were put in place to stop a death from breaking apart a farm or small family firm. But the government may decide that the help is being abused by canny multimillionaires who are neither farmers nor small business operators. The rich can buy farmland to avoid inheritance tax (David Davies/PA) More