UK Politics

Rachel Reeves should water down her inheritance tax raid on family farms to protect workers, according to a think tank that championed the controversial Labour policy. The Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax), which has been broadly supportive of the idea of a so called ‘tractor tax’, warned that landowners were “less likely to be impacted by the reform than working farmers”. The move will increase pressure on the chancellor over her plans, which critics say could sound the death knell for many family farms. Farmers protest in Whitehall, London, over the changes to inheritance tax (IHT) rules in the budget which introduced new taxes on farms worth more than £1 million (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

Angela Rayner previously called for Britons to have the right to stop working during heatwaves, it has emerged.During the 2022 heatwave, which saw temperatures of 40C recorded in the UK for the first time, the now deputy prime minister urged the previous Conservative government to urgently introduce guidance on safe working temperatures. It would force employers to control temperatures at work by providing extra breaks, flexible working hours or allowing employees to finish their shifts early if temperatures are exceeded.Posting to social media, Ms Rayner minister shared a link to a Guardian article with the headline: “Unions call for maximum UK workplace temperature as heatwave descends.”She added: “We need urgent guidance for safe indoor working temperatures and the government must ensure employers allow staff to work flexibly in this heat. Where is their plan to keep people safe?”Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is also Housing Secretary More

Sir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to introduce a wealth tax to fill a black hole in public finances, after new polling shows almost all Labour members back the move. The prime minister has been urged to adopt a “radical change of direction” after a survey, shared exclusively with The Independent, showed that 91 per cent of party members think the government should tax the rich more. It comes after deputy prime minister Angela Rayner pressed Rachel Reeves to consider eight wealth taxes rather than impose cuts on departments in a leaked memo earlier this year. Former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds also weighed in, backing a wealth tax and warning that spending cuts will not “deliver the kind of fiscal room that is necessary”.It comes amid mounting questions over how the government will raise the money to fill the black hole in the public finances left by a series of major U-turns and spending commitments, with the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) – a leading economic think tank – last month warning the chancellor is facing a £41.2bn shortfall. ( More

Thousands of people have had their homes seized after receiving controversial ‘no-fault’ eviction notices despite Labour pledging to abolish them, new data shows.Labour said in its election manifesto it would abolish Section 21 eviction notices “immediately” after winning the election. A year on, and the relevant legislation still progressing through parliament means that the ban is still not in effect.According to Ministry of Justice figures released on Thursday, 11,400 households received no-fault evictions by bailiffs in the year to June.The number of bailiff evictions is an eight per cent rise on the previous year, continuing a trend of a heightened use of the notices.Housing charity Shelter said it is “unconscionable” that renters “continue to be marched out of their homes by bailiffs” a year after Labour’s election victory.Shelter described no-fault evictions as one of the leading causes of homelessness, with landlords able to evict tenants with little notice and no reason required More

British exports to the US have plummeted to their lowest level in three years in the wake of Donald Trump’s swingeing tariffs. The 13.5 per cent fall comes despite a much-lauded US-UK trade agreement, designed to protect businesses from the worst of the added costs.Ministers are now facing calls to secure part of the deal that is still outstanding, on steel and aluminium, which still have a 25 per cent levy imposed on exports to the US.The wider tariffs have seen an extra 10 per cent slapped on goods from most UK sectors, ranging from food and drink to chemicals, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said.Comparing the goods exported in the three months to June with the same quarter a year ago, the BCC said sales were £2bn lower, a drop of 13.5 per cent year-on-year. Trump imposed tariffs on countries around the world, including the UK More

Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelensky are united in their “strong resolve” to secure a just peace in Ukraine ahead of a historic summit between the US and Russia on Friday. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are due to meet in Alaska, amid fears the two superpowers will try to decide the end of the war themselves, leaving Ukraine excluded. As the world nervously awaits their meeting, the Russian president has dangled the idea that the talks could lead to Moscow and Washington reaching a deal on nuclear arms control. Starmer meets Zelensky at Downing Street ahead of Trump-Putin summit More

The education secretary has said the government is looking at allowing universities to hike tuition fees every year based on inflation to stop them going bust.It comes less than a year after Bridget Phillipson announced that fees would increase in England for the first time in eight years as part of a major overhaul of the higher education system. Tuition fees have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, but in November, it was announced that they would increase in line with the Retail Price Index inflation in September 2025. Asked whether the government would allow universities an inflation-linked tuition fee increase every year to improve their financial situation, Ms Phillipson did not rule it out. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (PA) More

Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer welcomes Volodymyr Zelensky to 10 Downing Street on Thursday, 14 August, a day before Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are due to meet.The UK prime minister’s meeting with the Ukrainian president comes after he vowed that Britain will “increase pressure” on Russia if necessary.Meanwhile, the US president has threatened Russia with “severe consequences” if Russia rejects a ceasefire.Sir Keir joined a call with the US president and European allies on Wednesday, praising Mr Trump for his efforts to advance a “viable” chance of an end to the conflict.Concerns have been raised over the exclusion of Mr Zelensky in the meeting between Mr Trump and Putin; the Ukrainian leader has reiterated that there can be no talk of territorial concessions without his country’s involvement. Mr Trump said that if his meeting with the Russian leader goes well, he would like to have a quick second meeting with Putin and Mr Zelensky.Mr Zelensky has warned Donald Trump and European leaders that Putin is “bluffing” over his intentions to end the war.Sir Keir said ahead of the Friday meeting: “As I’ve said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven’t got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire.“And now we do have that chance, because of the work that the president has put in.” More