UK Politics

Rachel Reeves has been given an inflation warning by the Bank of England, as it cut interest rates to their lowest level in two years but forecast months of sharp price rises driven by higher food prices.Days after the chancellor was warned of a £50bn black hole in the government’s finances, the Bank said Ms Reeves’s national insurance hike and the rise in the minimum wage were helping to push up the cost of the supermarket shop. There was relief for borrowers, as the interest rate was cut to 4 per cent. But the Bank said headline inflation would accelerate to 4 per cent by September, while inflation on food is set to hit 5.5 per cent between now and Christmas – putting a squeeze on household budgets.Chancellor Rachel Reeves has welcomed the rate cut More

Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali is facing calls to resign over her handling of a rental property, following reports she raised the rent at her east London townhouse by £700 weeks after the previous tenants’ contract ended.Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake accused the Labour minister of “staggering hypocrisy”, saying: “Rushanara Ali has been somebody who’s obviously a government minister in charge of homelessness. She’s spoken out about exploiting tenants, about providing more protections to tenants.”You can’t say those things, then do the opposite in practice, as a landlord. She’s got to resign.”He said the conduct appeared to be “unethical, not illegal” but “we can’t just say one thing and do another.”Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali is facing calls to resign over her handling of a rental property (David Woolfall/UK Parliament) More

Britain has not seen poverty this bad for more than half a century, Gordon Brown has warned, urging Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the two-child benefit cap at the next budget. The former prime minister and Labour chancellor – who said “we are dealing with a divided Britain” and a “social crisis” – backed reforms to gambling taxes in order to generate the £3.2bn needed to scrap the cap. Mr Brown said the gambling industry is “under taxed”, throwing his weight behind a report from The Institute For Public Policy Research (IPPR) which said that around half a million children could be lifted out of poverty through the reforms. Former prime minister Gordon Brown has backed the IPPR’s report More

The first migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel have been detained under the new “one in, one out” deal with France, the prime minister has confirmed. The first detentions came after people arrived in Dover on Wednesday, the first day the pilot scheme came into force.The agreement, announced by the prime minister in a joint press conference with Emmanuel Macron last month, means that any adult migrant who crosses the Channel will now be at risk of return if their claim for asylum is considered inadmissible.People thought to be migrants scramble to board a small boat near Wimereux in France in July More

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has revealed the case of Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl caused her to lose faith in God.Mrs Badenoch said she was “never that religious” while growing up but “believed there was a God” and “would have defined myself as a Christian apologist”.But this changed in 2008 when she read reports that Fritzl had imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in his basement over 24 years.Mrs Badenoch, whose maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister, told the BBC: “I couldn’t stop reading this story. And I read her account, how she prayed every day to be rescued.“And I thought, I was praying for all sorts of stupid things and I was getting my prayers answered. I was praying to have good grades, my hair should grow longer, and I would pray for the bus to come on time so I wouldn’t miss something.“It’s like, why were those prayers answered and not this woman’s prayers? And it just, it was like someone blew out a candle.”Badenoch said she was “never that religious” growing up but would have defined herself “as a Christian apologist” More

Around half a million children could be lifted out of poverty through reforms to UK gambling laws, a leading think tank has found.The Institute For Public Policy Research (IPPR) is urging the government to look at measures which could raise £3.2 billion from changes to how gambling is taxed.This would be the amount of funding needed to scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap, a new report from the group finds, which would lift 500,000 children out of poverty.Eliminating these two policies would be “the most effective single step” the government could take to reduce child poverty, it adds.There are now around 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK (PA) More

Keir Starmer has refused to rule out tax rises in autumn as he faces growing pressure to fill a £50bn shortfall in the government’s finances. The prime minister defended his record, saying Labour had “stabilised the economy” since it came to power last year and pledged the Budget would make “sure people feel better off” as he tried to head off increasing pressure on the issue. Leading economists have warned Rachel Reeves that she must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules to fill a £50bn black hole left by a combination of Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth. Sir Keir Starmer said he did not ‘recognise’ some of the figures being used in warnings about the public finances (Toby Melville/PA) More

Warwickshire Police have hit back at claims made by a Reform UK council leader after he made accusations that police had held back information about the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl.George Finch, 19, risked being found in contempt of court on Monday after making a statement during a press conference in London about the incident. The youngest council leader in the country claimed there has been a “cover-up” of details about the case after police charged two men, Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir, in connection with the offence.The Warwickshire County Council leader told the press conference that he was “begging” for information about the two to be released in the wake of the charges, and that he urged the police to release information about the men’s immigration status.The Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police responded to Mr Finch’s claims on Tuesday, sharing the letter addressed to the councillor publicly.The letter states the force “did not and will not cover up such criminality” and explained it did not release immigration status at point of charge in line wit national guidance.Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith noted the suspect’s immigration status is now public knowledge, “having been placed into the public domain by yourself.”The letter read: “The reported rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton on Tuesday 22 July was a truly horrific crime. Our priority from day one has been to support the victim and to identify those responsible.“I am incredibly grateful to the many Warwickshire Police officers who worked around the clock and whose efforts led to Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir being charged with offences within a matter of days.”It added: “I am confident that Warwickshire Police has treated this investigation seriously from the outset working tirelessly to identify, locate, arrest and charge those suspected of being responsible for this awful crime as quickly as possible.”Referring to the first time Mr Finch and Mr Franklin-Smith spoke on Thursday July 31, the letter said: “I explained the [immigration status] information would become public knowledge as part of the court process and that all partners must ensure we are prepared to manage any potential protest and/or disorder at that stage.”Mr Franklin-Smith finished: “Finally, I am not responsible for matters of UK immigration policy and I will therefore leave the Home Office to respond to you on those specific matters.”Mr Finch risked being found in contempt of court after making a statement at a press conference in London, where he acknowledged the risks attached to talking about a live legal case, saying: “I was told if I released this, I’d be in contempt of court.”Contempt of court refers to behaviour that interferes with the administration of justice or undermines the authority of the court.It came as Nigel Farage suggested police forces should release information, including immigration status, about people who are charged with crimes.The Reform UK leader said that he “absolutely” believes that information should be made available by police forces. More