UK Politics

UK aid cuts are a “tragic error” that put Britain’s national security at risk, MPs have said. With the government also failing to take into account improvements to poor people’s lives when deciding if foreign aid spending is good value for money.The International Development Committee (IDC) has raised concerns in a new report that slashing the development budget will “continue to lead to unrest and further crises in the future” and will have “devastating consequences” across the world. The cuts will threaten not only the UK’s soft power “but also its national security”.The cross-party group of MPs said it was “disappointed” by the government’s focus on the cost of development projects to the public purse without considering how good they are at reducing poverty, which it said risked “worse outcomes for the world’s most vulnerable”. The inquiry has also called for spending on overseas aid to be brought back up to 0.5 per cent of national income. Spending on such projects was reduced from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent of the economy by the last Conservative government in 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic – a move that was supposed to be temporary. But in February this year, after Labour took office, Sir Keir Starmer moved to reduce spending even further from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent. Chair of the international development committee Sarah Champion said ‘savage’ aid cuts would cost lives. More

Opposition leaders in Cameroon Tuesday contested the official results of the Oct. 12 presidential election after the country’s top court declared the world’s oldest leader Paul Biya winner as protests continued across the country.Citizens began protesting in mid-October after opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary claimed victory as the official results were still being tallied. Since then, security forces have clashed with angry protesters in many cities including Douala and Garoua – opposition strongholds – and in the capital, Yaounde. At least four people have been shot and hundreds arrested as opposition supporters demanded credible results.The Constitutional Council on Monday said Biya won the election with 53.66% against his former ally-turned challenger, Tchiroma, who received 35.19%. The results are final and cannot be appealed. International bodies and human rights organizations on Tuesday condemned the violent response to the protests. The European Union said in a statement Tuesday that it was “deeply concerned” by the violent repression of the demonstrations that took place on Oct. 26 and 27 and deploring the death by firearm of a number of civilians.The U.N. Secretary-General echoed these concerns, calling on political stakeholders and their supporters to “exercise restraint, reject violence and refrain from any inflammatory rhetoric and hate speech.” Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and other rights groups have also noted “excessive use of force” against protesters and have called for a an investigation into the deaths.The minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, told reporters Tuesday that protesters “wreaked havoc” in several towns across the country prior to the official proclamation of the presidential election results.“During these attacks, some of the criminals lost their lives. Several members of the security forces were also seriously injured during clashes with demonstrators,” Atanga Nji said without giving further details. Shortly after being declared winner, 92-year-old Biya sent his thoughts to all those who have “unnecessarily lost their lives” and their families in the postelection violence. But the opposition candidates rejected the results pronounced by the Constitutional Council. Tchiroma claimed victory two days after the election and last week called on his supporters to “come out in massive numbers.” On Tuesday, he called out the Constitutional Council for announcing “truncated results” and awarding “a fictitious victory” to Biya.The lone female candidate in the election who emerged fifth, Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, said on Monday that the outcome of the election didn’t reflect the “sovereign will” of the people.“They reflect a weakened electoral system, undermined by irregularities, manipulation and repeated violations of the law,” she said. A group of eight local civil society groups previously noted several irregularities in the electoral process, including the presence of deceased voters on electoral lists, unequal distribution of ballot papers and attempts at ballot box-stuffing. But the African Union mission said the vote was “conducted largely in accordance with regional, continental and international standards.”Biya is expected to be sworn in within 15 days of the official announcement of the results in consonance with Cameroon’s Constitution. He first came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president and has ruled since then, later benefiting from a constitutional amendment that abolished term limits.Cameroon is an oil-producing country with modest economic growth, but young people say the benefits have not trickled down beyond the elites. According to World Bank data, the unemployment rate stands at 3.5%, but 57% of the labor force aged 18 to 35 works in informal employment. ___Follow AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa More

The government has refused to rule out introducing key changes to pension policy at the Budget, as thousands of savers express concern over a lack of time to prepare.Nearly 20,000 people have signed a petition to introduce a “pension tax lock” ahead of the fiscal event on 26 November, urging the chancellor Rachel Reeves to commit to two key pension pledges.These are to keep in place the tax-free lump sum people can withdraw from their pension, and not to lower the tax relief currently applicable to pension contributions. Responding to the petition at 10,000 signatures, the government said it is “committed to ensuring pensioners have security in retirement”, pointing to the newly launched Pensions Commission, which will “look at what is required to ensure the system is strong, fair and sustainable”.As Rachel Reeves’s crunch second Budget approaches, researchers have found that the chancellor will need to find at least £22bn to make up a shortfall in the government’s finances More

Raising income tax or slashing public spending is the only way Rachel Reeves can balance her Budget, top economists have warned, after grim news on a key economic indicator left her with an extra £20bn in what was already a sizeable black hole.The chancellor knew she would be facing a difficult Budget on 26 November, with a gap in the finances of between £30bn and £40bn, but she has been dealt a further blow with the decision by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to downgrade its productivity forecast – a move that was first revealed by The Independent – which means she must find a further £20bn.Now, the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that trying to balance the books by raising lots of smaller taxes, instead of breaking Labour’s manifesto pledge not to increase income tax, will “cause unnecessary amounts of economic damage”.It comes after the chancellor said she also wants to increase her fiscal headroom above the current £10bn to allow the Treasury to deal with economic shocks, after Donald Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing impact of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East left her short following last year’s Budget.Rachel Reeves has had more bad news with the OBR set to downgrade its productivity forecast More

British nationals in Jamaica have been urged to register their presence with the Foreign Office, as the island’s strongest storm on record closes in. It comes after the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) set up a crisis centre ready to help Britons on the Caribbean island. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy ship HMS Trent is already in the region on stand-by.While the government does not keep a record of the number of British nationals overseas, around 5,000 are thought to be on the island. The FCDO are warning of ‘catastrophic’ flash floods and landslides More

Reform plans to “dramatically” cut the number of civil servants if they win the next election, the party has said, despite the lack of government experience within the party. Danny Kruger, who defected from the Tories last month, told a Westminster press conference that the party would not renew the leases on a number of government buildings, including those housing the Home Office and the Department for Transport. He promised that the growth of the service in recent years will be “reversed” and pledged a “more concentrated government machine”, pledging to overhaul the code that governs Whitehall work. The East Wiltshire MP, who defected to Mr Farage’s party in September, was assigned the role of leading Reform’s preparations for government. The MP, who served as a shadow minister but has never held a cabinet role, told the press conference: “If we win the election we will have legislation drafted and ready to go, a new ministerial code and civil service code drafted, orders in council prepared, people lined up for key appointments, and it will all start on day one.”He said that they were putting the “civil service on notice that under a Reform government we expect the headcount to fall dramatically”. He also said that his party “don’t come with a chainsaw or a wrecking ball”, adding: “We respect the institutions of the country, the armed forces, the police, the church, the judiciary and we respect the professionalism and expertise of the people who work in them, so long as those people respect in their turn the right of parliament, and of ministers to make the rules they work by.”Danny Kruger and Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf speaking at a press conference More

Jeremy Corbyn will appear in a north London pantomime in his constituency this Christmas, playing the “Wizard of Oz-lington” in a Wicked-inspired performance. Wicked Witches: A Popular Panto, which will play at the Pleasance Theatre near Caledonian Road, will be “fun, inclusive and a brilliant celebration of creativity”, the Islington North MP said. Meanwhile, the theatre said Mr Corbyn’s cameo will add a “touch of local sparkle”. Corbyn outside rehearsal for the show More

Hundreds of asylum seekers are set to be moved into military barracks, even if it costs more than using hotels, as ministers scramble to find a way to end the migrant accommodation crisis. The Home Office has confirmed that Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex and Cameron Barracks in Inverness will be used temporarily to house a total of around 900 men under the plan. Downing Street suggested on Tuesday that the scheme would be worth it to help quell public discontent, even if it costs more than using hotels. Asked if the costs of using military sites will be higher than using hotels, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The costs will vary site by site, but our priorities are security and fairness.”Pushed later on whether this meant ministers thought barracks were a better option even if costs were higher, the spokesman said that the matter is “also a core issue of public confidence. The public is very clear it does not want asylum seekers housed in hotels, and neither does the government.”Small-boat migrants will start being housed in the military accommodations by the end of next month. Officials are also working with the Ministry of Defence to identify other disused sites that can be used in the coming months in a bid to get a grip on the asylum accommodation crisis. There are also plans to build pop-up modular units, which have previously been used to tackle prison overcrowding, on some of the sites.The plans come as Labour ramps up its bid to move tens of thousands of migrants out of hotels after huge controversy surrounding their use. On Monday, a parliamentary committee described the policy of using hotels to house asylum seekers as “failed, chaotic and expensive”, and accused the Home Office of squandering billions of pounds as a result of incompetence. Around 900 asylum seekers are set to be housed on military sites in Scotland and East Sussex More