UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt has said buying a first home in Britain today is a “real struggle” after the boss of NatWest claimed it was “not that difficult”. Sir Howard Davies said that people would “have to save more”, but suggested the system had simply reverted to how it “used” to be. Housing campaigners criticised his claim while shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves branded Sir Howard “out of touch”.Asked about the comment, Mr Hunt pointed to much higher mortgages rates compared to 18 months ago. “We know that makes it a real struggle for people trying to buy their first home,” he said. He insisted the way to deal with the problem was to continue to focus on cutting inflation. Defending his comments, Sir Howard said: “You have to save and that is the way it always used to be.”But he later sought to clarify his remarks, saying his claim was meant to reflect easier mortgage access.He said: “Given recent rate movements by lenders there are some early green shoots in mortgage pricing and while funding remains strong, my comment was meant to reflect that in this context access to mortgages is less difficult than it has been.“I fully realise it did not come across in that way for listeners and as I said on the programme, I do recognise how difficult it is for people buying a home and I did not intend to underplay the serious challenges they face.”Mr Hunt made his comments in an interview on the BBC’s Today programme designed to highlight his National Insurance cut, announced in the Autumn Statement, which comes into effect today. He also again hinted at cutting taxes in the Budget, if the economic picture allows. Asked about is comment that inheritance tax is “pernicious” he said: “I think lots of taxes are pernicious”. And he urged the public “don’t bet against the British economy – we have actually done far better than everyone said”. Despite the struggles of recent years “we can now look forward to things getting better”, he added. The chancellor also said he “profoundly” disagrees with Chris Skidmore after the former net zero tsar announced he was quitting the Conservatives and Parliament over the Government’s stance on oil and gas .Mr Hunt said: “It is very sad to lose a respected colleague like Chris Skidmore, so I should start by saying that – I worked closely with him when I became Chancellor on climate change issues.”But I do profoundly disagree with the reasons that he gave for resigning.”The independent panel for climate change (the Climate Change Committee) that we have in this country are very clear that even when we reach net zero in 2050, we will still get a significant proportion of our energy from fossil fuels. And domestic oil and gas is four times cleaner than imported oil and gas.”Asked whether he viewed Mr Skidmore as a “rat leaving a sinking ship”, Mr Hunt said: “No, I think he is just wrong on that issue. He feels very passionate about that… But the point is, I think he is wrong on North Sea oil and gas.”When you have the problems in the Red Sea (with international cargo ships being attacked by Iran-backed Houthi rebels), it is very important for energy security that we have domestic sources of that kind of energy as we go into transition.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak was unsure the government’s scheme to send migrants to Rwanda would stop channel crossings when he was chancellor, according to documents.The BBC said it had seen No 10 papers from March 2022, a month before the plan was announced by then prime minister Boris Johnson, which showed that Mr Sunak was not convinced of the plan’s effectiveness.Mr Sunak, who became prime minister in October 2022, has made the Rwanda plan one of his top priorities despite a string of delays due to legal challenges.The documents suggest Mr Sunak felt “hotels are cheaper” than reception centres to house migrants and that he was also concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to Africa and wanted to limit the numbers.The BBC said the documents revealed the “chancellor wants to pursue smaller volumes initially” with 500 flown to Rwanda in the first year of the scheme, instead of the proposed 1,500.They say he then proposed “3,000 instead of 5,000 in years two and three”.He is described as believing the “deterrent won’t work”.The documents, which say No 10 suggested Mr Sunak needed to “consider his popularity with the base” over the Rwanda plan, said the then chancellor was reluctant to fund “Greek-style reception centres” at a cost of £3.5 million a day to house migrants in favour of hotels.Mr Sunak has pledged to continue with the plan for migrant flights to Rwanda, despite a ruling by the UK Supreme Court that it was unlawful, while the BBC said a source close to the prime minister said he was “always fully behind the principle of the scheme” but need to ensure money was “appropriately spent” in his role as chancellor.Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC: “The prime minister knew the plan was incredibly costly and wouldn’t work, and resisted it while he was chancellor.“But he is so weak he has now agreed to write cheques to Rwanda for £400 million without sending a single person there in a desperate attempt to shore up his leadership.”Mr Sunak reiterated his support for the Rwanda plan on Tuesday, saying: “I am focused on delivering on my commitment to stop the boats and get flights off the ground to Rwanda.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer has backed a change in the law on assisted dying as he indicated MPs could vote on the issue if he becomes prime minister. The Labour leader said he was an “advocate” for reform and warned the current law was not working. Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen, who is suffering from stage four lung cancer, sparked a fresh debate on the issue last month when she revealed she had joined the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.Sir Keir said: “I am an advocate of a change to the law. Obviously that change has to be very carefully crafted.”He added: “It shouldn’t really be for the prosecutor to try and make the law work when it doesn’t really. It’d be better for parliament to actually change the law.”He also said the “best route” was probably through a private member’s bill, brought by a backbench MP. He added: “And yes, I would be open to making time for that (as prime minister).”Asked if he wold vote to change the law, Sir Keir said he would “subject to it being the right change”.He also backed calls for a “free vote”, meaning MPs would not be whipped along party lines and would instead vote with their consciences. A similar bill was used to bring in abortion in the 1960s. Earlier this week a former Labour minister called on the party’s leader to hold a vote if he becomes prime minister. Dame Joan Ruddock urged action as she revealed she came close to smothering her husband with a pillow as he died an agonising death from cancer. She said that she had gone so far as to get “the pillow ready” and anticipated a “struggle”. The former head of CND also said she had cursed herself for not using his liquid morphine while he was still able to swallow it.She is now appealing for assisted dying to be made legal.She told the Independent: Dame Joan said: “There should be a vote in the Commons and it should be a free vote. Around 80 per cent of people support assisted dying. MPs should take note of that. That is what the country wants and they should do what the country wants.”She added: “I think there will be a vote in the Commons before Keir becomes PM. But if there is not one before the general election then certainly I would urge Keir Starmer to allow … a free vote on the issue.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Labour government may not be able to cut personal taxes for two years without healthier economic growth, Keir Starmer has suggested.The Labour leader said on Friday he wanted to “lower the tax burden on working people” – but could not repeat Liz Truss’ mistake of unfunded promises.It opens up a dividing line with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, after the PM pledged to offer more personal tax cuts in the run-up to the 2024 general election.“I do want to see a lower tax burden on working people … I do want to do that,” Sir Keir told an LBC radio phone-in – saying the way to cut taxes was to “grow the economy”.“What I’m not going to do is make unfunded, unaffordable promised that I can’t keep. That’s what Liz Truss did … The economy crashed and people are still paying the price.”Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Sir Keir refused to say if he would want to cut taxes within his first two years in office.“Of course, I want working people to pay less tax, to have less of a burden. But we’ve got to get our economy working. And I think everybody understands that,” Starmer told the broadcaster.And the Labour leader told reporters that “the first lever that we look for is the growth lever”, adding: “Before we even get to the question of tax, we’ve got to deal with the economy.”Keir Starmer says he wants to get tax burden down on LBC phone-in It comes as Labour made the audacious move of taking out anti-government tax adverts on the ConservativeHome website – the “bible” for the Tory grassroots.Labour’s “Rishi’s raw deal” posters highlight that for every £10 paid in tax they will only be getting £2 back because of frozen thresholds.Meanwhile, Sir Keir gave his strongest signal yet that he will get behind the legalisation of assisted dying if he becomes prime minister.“I totally feel that we ought to actually change the law … Obviously that change has to be very carefully crafted,” he told the LBC phone-in – before saying would be “open to making time” for a free vote in parliament.Asked if he would like personally vote to allow assisted dying, Sir Keir said he would back it “subject to it being the right change”.Sir Keir also conceded his planned £28bn-a-year green energy investment could shrink depending on economic conditions – saying it remained only a “confident ambition” and would be subject to strict fiscal rules.The Labour leader told LBC that the green spending will be “ramped up” in second half of parliament – but “in the end the fiscal rule comes first”. He added: “The world can change … It’s a confident ambition.”Sir Keir said criticised health secretary Victoria Atkins for demanding that junior doctor strikes called off before entering talks. “I would just say, get in the room and get on with it,” said the Labour leader.And the Labour leader said that UK police should be willing to examine any allegations made against Prince Andrew.The Duke of York has been reported to the police by the campaign group Republic after allegations of sexual assault resurfaced in unsealed court documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has denied any wrong doing.Asked if police should investigate, Sir Keir said: “Wherever there’s a complaint made, it’s inevitable that it should be looked at. We have to start with the victims here, and look at what allegations have been made.”He added: “I’ve seen the headlines on this, not the detail, but frankly whoever it is, where there are allegations, credible allegations made, then of course they should be looked at.”On Thursday Sir Keir claimed Mr Sunak was trying to “squat” at No 10 for as long as possible, after the PM rejected a spring election and said he wanted to wait until the second half of the year. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Tories are only supported by over-65-year-olds ahead of a looming general election, a tracker of polls reveals.Rishi Sunak’s party is trailing Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour with voters in every age group except the over-65s, according to The Economist.The party enjoys the support of 40 per cent of people in the oldest age bracket, compared with just 18 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34. At the last election, two thirds of over-65s voted for the Conservatives.Meanwhile Labour is backed by more than half of 18 to 34-year-olds, and leads in the polls with everybody 64 and under.Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will face off at a general election this year After Mr Sunak announced plans to hold an election in the second half of 2024, the tracker shows his party trailing Labour by 19 points – the largest gap a year out from polling day since Sir Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.And, in a boost to Sir Keir after Jeremy Corbyn’s historic election defeat, Labour leads the Conservatives in every region, with the strongest support in its heartlands in the North and Midlands.Britain is set for a gruelling election campaign in 2024 after the PM ruled out a spring vote and revealed he wanted to go to the polls much later in the year.Mr Sunak told reporters it was his “working assumption” that he would call the election in the second half of the year.And Sir Keir vowed to fight “fire with fire” as he predicted that the Tories would embark on nasty and personal attacks in a battle now expected to last until at least October.The timing of the election was revealed after the Labour leader made a major speech setting out his stall to voters.He promised to deliver “project hope” and called for Mr Sunak to “bring it on”.Labour and the Liberal Democrats – who have called for a spring election – accused the PM of “bottling” it. Sir Keir claimed that the PM was trying to “squat” at No 10 for as long as possible.Conservative polling guru Robert Hayward told The Independent on Thursday that most “serious” Tory MPs favour an autumn election – though some are worried the local elections in May will only add to the “doom and gloom”.The Tory peer believes, on balance, that Mr Sunak was “wise” to wait in the hope of an economic revival. And he said the PM was smart to rule out a spring election today to stop Labour “going on and on about the ‘running away’ narrative”.Lord Hayward added: “It’s not risk-free, because the local elections will be bad. But the polls are still so awful. And it’s just possible that voters will become more inclined to consider his competence if inflation and interest rates continue to fall.”On Friday shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth warned the Conservatives would “run a very dirty negative campaign”, promising Labour would focus on the economy and the NHS. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMinisters have been warned that Britain faces “massive” security risks if Donald Trump is re-elected president this year.Three of Britain’s former top US diplomats have urged the government to develop contingency plans in case Mr Trump’s bid to return to the White House is successful.Two ex-Washington ambassadors and a former diplomatic chief said preparations to help the UK cope if Mr Trump were to end US support for Ukraine and withdraw from Nato must be drawn up in secret to avoid giving him a campaign boost.Despite the legal cloud surrounding Mr Trump’s presidential run, Simon McDonald, head of the Foreign Office until 2020, along with Sir John Kerr and Sir Peter Westmacott, who both ran the UK embassy in Washington, believe a second Trump presidency remains likely.Some recent polls show Trump winning over Biden in 2024 “We should be thinking through the implications of a second Trump presidency, which are massive,” Lord McDonald told The i.The threats feared include Ukraine being left exposed if Mr Trump seeks to appease Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion, as well as Mr Trump turning his back on the Nato alliance – which he has previously called “obsolete”. Cross-bench peer Lord McDonald, who was head of the diplomatic service for five years, said: “The impact on the UK is potentially huge.”“There’s nothing in my lifetime that comes close,” he added, referring to the potential defence and security challenges posed by an ally.He warned ministers this is “proper preparation time and we should use it”, calling for top meetings in Whitehall and across Europe about “what it would mean for us”.Biden is hoping to keep Trump from winning a second term in the White House Meanwhile, Sir Peter, who served as British ambassador to the US from 2012 to 2016, told The i that Britain “ought to be doing some serious homework”. He added: “There’s not much point in saying, ‘We know he’s a monster, he’s unprincipled, he’s a misogynistic fraud and liar and destroyer of constitutions.’ The reality is: he will be there. We have to find ways of engaging with the US if Trump is elected.”And Lord Kerr, a cross-bench peer who was Britain’s ambassador to Washington from 1995 to 1997, said Britain and other US allies should “get together discreetly” and remember there is “safety in numbers”.He feared that any perceived interference in the US election would be exploited by Mr Trump and prove “counterproductive”.The warning comes as Mr Trump faces several challenges to his candidacy over the 2021 insurrection citing the 14th amendment to the constitution.He wants to ensure he can appear on 2024 Republican primary ballots in every state, but has been banned from running for office again in Maine and Colorado – both of which he has appealed.A recent poll shows President Joe Biden losing to Mr Trump in 2024 as Mr Biden’s support among Black, Latino and young voters has dropped. More