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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been compared to Oliver Twist’s Fagin after the autumn Budget.Sky News presenter Kaye Burley told Mr Hunt: “I heard you described this morning, by somebody I was coming in, as a 21st Century Fagin, picking pockets where you went.”Mr Hunt smiles and explains that the taxes he has brought down are the ones that are going to help “businesses grow” and that will “increase long-term prosperity”.The chancellor was heckled yesterday (Wednesday 22 November), as he announced a new crackdown on welfare payments as part of his autumn statement. More

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves attacked Jeremy Hunt’s announcements, stating Britain is worse off now than when the Conservatives won power in 2010.Ms Reeves highlighted The Independent’s disclosure that Richard Huntington, strategy chief of Saatchi and Saatchi, the advertising firm that helped Margaret Thatcher become Prime Minister, had attacked the “cruel” Conservatives and forecast a Labour election victory.Ms Reeves said: “The ravens are leaving the Tower when even Saatchi and Saatchi are saying the Tories are not working.”Her comment was a reference to Saatchi and Saatchi’s famous 1979 election poster attacking unemployment under the then Labour Government which featured a picture of a long dole queue with the slogan ‘Labour Isn’t Working.’ More

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is heckled as he announces benefits will be stopped during his autumn statement.After announcing £1.3 billion of funding to help 300,000 people who have been unemployed for a year, Hunt said the Government will “ask for something in return”.He said: “If after 18 months of intensive support jobseekers have not found a job, we will roll out a programme requiring them to take part in a mandatory work placement to increase their skills and improve their employability. And if they choose not to engage with the work search process for six months, we will close their case and stop their benefits.” More

Rishi Sunak has defended his interview with Elon Musk at the UK’s AI summit earlier this month, after a Labour MP criticised his “fawning welcome”.Daniel Zeichner said the “world cringed” over the prime minister’s discussion with the tech billionaire, and questioned what he has learnt from “an unelected, super-rich individual who had taken over a once successful organisation and plunged it into a death spiral.”Mr Sunak hit back by saying it was “extraordinary” that Mr Zeichner did not “understand the importance of technology sectors and companies to the growth of our economy”.“What the rest of the world saw was the UK playing a lead in defining the regulations and approach to a technology that is going to transform how we live.” More

Jeremy Hunt made a jibe at shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves during his autumn statement on Wednesday (22 November).Hunt told the Commons: “Let’s start with inflation. The shadow chancellor didn’t mention it in her conference speech. My conference speech was before hers so all she had to do was a bit of copying and pasting which I’ve heard she’s good at.”On Ms Reeves’ Labour’s conference speech, he added: “It speaks volumes that during the worst global inflation shock for a generation, it didn’t even get a mention.” More

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggested the Government had forgotten the NHS in unveiling five new pledges.Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said: “This week the Prime Minister unveiled the latest version of his five pledges for the country.“Let’s hope he has more success with these than the last ones – did he forget the NHS?”Rishi Sunak replied: “Just weeks after becoming prime minister, we injected record funding into the NHS and in social care. “We also unveiled the first ever long-term workforce plan in the NHS’s 75-year history.” More

Jeremy Hunt says he hopes the autumn statement’s measures will make a “really big difference” to entrepreneurs.In a social media video, the Chancellor said the statement had “110 different measures to help grow the British economy”.“I’m thinking of my own business, that I set up over 30 years ago,” the Chancellor said.“I want to help thousands of other people do what I did, and I hope today will make a really big difference.”Hunt is now heading to the House of Commons to deliver his speech. More

David Cameron was introduced to the House of Lords on Monday 20 November, following his appointment as foreign secretary.He will be known as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, as the territorial designation for his peerage was confirmed last week.The former prime minister was elevated to the House of Lords after being appointed to cabinet by Rishi Sunak, marking a remarkable return to frontline politics seven years after he resigned in the wake of the Brexit referendum.Lord Cameron’s new title reflects his long-held ties to the Cotswold town of Chipping Norton, which lies within his former Witney constituency. More