UK Politics

A Reform UK councillor has been suspended from Nigel Farage’s party over a WhatsApp group where a member allegedly called for a “mass Islam genocide”.Tom Pickup, one of Reform’s lead councillors in Lancashire, is now facing an investigation.The group, thought to have been set up by a right-wing activist, saw one member message that Sir Keir Starmer “needs a f***ing bullet”, to which another replied: “He’s a DICKtator.”Mr Pickup responded by calling the prime minister a “dicktaker”, according to The Guardian. Reform UK has suspended the councillor and he is now facing an investigation More

Wes Streeting has suggested that he would not feel “comfortable” with the idea of deporting families with children from the UK under Labour’s latest crackdown on migrants.The health secretary said that “the number of forced removals should be low” as part of Shabana Mahmood’s controversial asylum reforms unveiled earlier this week. The home secretary set out a raft of changes to the asylum system on Monday, including plans to remove families with children with no right to be in the UK by force if necessary. The party’s toughened stance aimed at cutting the number of people entering the UK via irregular routes, such as small boats, faced a backlash within the party, including from Labour peer and refugee from the Nazis Lord Alf Dubs, who accused Ms Mahmood of using “children as a weapon”.Asked about the prospect of removing families with children, Mr Streeting told LBC that the number of forced removals “should be low”. Pushed later on whether he was comfortable with the prospect, he added: “Honestly? Comfortable? No. But is it the right thing to do for the country? Yes.” The plans will also apply to children born in the UK to parents who have no right to be in the country. Officials said children would be required to leave the country with their parents if their refugee status is revoked, The Times reported.Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said attention has been diverted away from neighbourhood policing More

The government has been accused of “fuelling an arms race of dangerous interceptions” that could “turn the Channel into a graveyard” after it emerged that French police will use large nets to stop small boat crossings – despite warnings that such tactics could put lives at risk.France has been under mounting pressure from the UK to reduce the number of small boats Channel crossings, with Labour ramping up its efforts to deter people from making the crossings in a fresh crackdown this week. In July, the French government said it intended to revise its maritime laws to allow for vessel interceptions, but the proposal was postponed over fears that it might endanger lives.It has now come to light, however, that since the spring several French law-enforcement officers have been issued “arresting nets” that, according to a source familiar with the development, can be deployed both in efforts to curb illegal immigration and in operations targeting drug trafficking.MPs and campaign groups have condemned the action, with Amnesty describing the revelations as “profoundly disturbing” and Refugee Action saying the plans are “violent, reckless and will undoubtedly increase the risk of people dying”. Labour MP Nadia Whittome said the use of nets is an “extreme, inhumane policy that will put lives at risk”, and Rachael Maskell said she is “deeply troubled” by the reports. People thought to be migrants on board a small boat in Gravelines, France More

Sir Keir Starmer refused to rule out freezing income tax thresholds at next week’s Budget, which could result in people paying more tax by “stealth”.At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir declined to answer a number of questions from opposition leader Kemi Badenoch on the issue of threshold freezes. His refusal to answer came after chancellor Rachel Reeves had been expected to breach Labour’s manifesto promises and increase income tax as part of her plans to plug the gap in the public finances. The chancellor is instead widely expected to raise other taxes on 26 November.Additionally, frozen tax thresholds could be used to raise more money for the Treasury, in effect rising taxes by stealth. Even if income tax rates are not increased, people could end up paying more tax as a result of the freezes.The tax-free personal allowance was frozen at £12,570 until 2028 by the previous Conservative government. Freezing tax thresholds can create what economists call “fiscal drag” – more people are pulled into higher tax brackets as average earnings increase, but the thresholds stay the same.Rachel Reeves will deliver the Budget next week More

The prime minister of Albania has accused home secretary Shabana Mahmood of “ethnic stereotyping” after she singled out Albanian families for refusing to return to their homeland in her controversial announcements on asylum this week.Edi Rama was furious that Ms Mahmood had singled out Albanians in her document, and questioned how a Labour minister could “so poorly echo the rhetoric of the populist far right”.The home secretary used the claim that 700 Albanian families avoided deportation, through the right of families to be reunited, as a justification to get rid of the human rights safeguard and water down Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).The home secretary’s announcements on immigration have been met with backlash More

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out a freeze on income tax thresholds in next week’s Budget, as Labour struggles to fill a multi-billion-pound black hole in the nation’s finances. As the government scrambles to find the money from other sources, the prime minister did not rule out forcing many to pay more by continuing to freeze the point at which a higher rate kicks in – the so-called fiscal drag. Leading economists warned the move, which could see the government accused of breaking manifesto promises, risked causing more problems as it “may not calm markets”. It comes after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, last week U-turned on plans for a broader increase in income tax, which spooked the markets. Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out hiking income tax for many by freezing the threshold at which workers pay a higher rate More

Sir Keir Starmer is set to face his final Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) opposite Kemi Badenoch ahead of Labour’s highly anticipated Budget next week.It comes as inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in October, in a boost to Rachel Reeves.The chancellor has vowed to cut the cost of living before she delivers her autumn Budget on 26 November. “It’s welcome that inflation has fallen… But I recognise that inflation, the cost of living, is still a big burden on families right across the country,” she noted.“And that’s why in the Budget next week, I’ll be taking targeted action to bring down inflation to address the cost of living”, she added.The PM and the chancellor have faced fierce scrutiny ahead of the Budget, with a raft of tax rises expected.Ms Reeves has been urged to tax the rich; she is widely expected to raise taxes to fill a multibillion-pound gap in her spending plans, but is reported to have ruled out a manifesto-busting income tax hike.Opposition politicians, think tanks and campaign groups have urged Ms Reeves to focus her plans on the wealthiest instead of pursuing broad-based tax rises.Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Ms Reeves’ statement “must be a cost-of-living Budget to slash people’s bills and make our country affordable again”.In a letter to the Chancellor, Mr Polanski and other leading Greens called for a wealth tax along with changes to capital gains tax to bring it in line with income tax. More

Labour’s autumn Budget is fast approaching, with dozens of potential measures floated in the build up to the major fiscal event.Chancellor Rachel Reeves may need to identify at least £22bn in new funds at the event as weak growth forecasts limit the government’s financial flexibility the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) recently found.Economists have scrutinised how property is taxed as Ms Reeves considers her options for 26 November, with many pointing to ways more revenue could be raised from people’s homes. Ministers have insisted that any tax rises should be focused on those with the most wealth, as living standards in the UK continue to drop.One of the ways Treasury is understood to be looking to achieve this is through a new levy on high-value properties, which some have called a ‘mansion tax’.Different versions of how the tax could work have been floated, both with the potential to raise considerable sums for the exchequer.Most recently, the chancellor is understood to be considering a major overhaul to the council tax system, which would concentrate on higher-value homes.This would see all 2.4 million properties in the highest tax bands in England undergo revaluation, and an increase to the rate of the 310,000 most expensive properties (valued at over £1.5 million).The plan would raise around £600 million a year, per The Times, and result in a bill of an extra £2,000 a year for high-value home owners.David Fell from the estate agency Hamptons said: “I think the government is saying that the current council tax bandings are going to be used as a guide, but they are not enough on their own to value homes accurately. It sounds like it is looking to revalue about 2.4 million homes, with a new levy imposed on about 300,000 worth £1.5 million or more.”However, a simpler proposal also thought to be under consideration is to introduce a levy on owners of properties worth at least £2 million, with an annual charge of one per cent of the amount over that threshold. This would mean a £10,000 yearly fee for homeowners with a property worth £3 million, for instance.There are around 150,000 homes that fall into this price range, according to data from estate agent Knight Frank, the vast majority falling within London and the South East.Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “Thirteen years since the Liberal Democrats first proposed a Mansion Tax on properties over £2 million, the Treasury is reportedly considering the same plan.“Even the proposed threshold is identical, which tells you everything you need to know about house price inflation since 2012. Average values in prime central London have fallen by 8 per cent over the period.” More