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Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorWatch live as Rachel Reeves sets out her plan for economic growth in a speech on Monday 29 July.The chancellor will announce “very tough decisions” to address a public spending black hole of around £20 billion – but no tax rises should be expected, a senior minister has said.Cabinet office minister Pat McFadden said Labour’s election promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT would “still hold” ahead of the statement.Ms Reeves will lay out the spending inheritance left by the previous government – and announce the date of her first autumn Budget – as she pledges to “restore economic stability”.In the House of Commons, she will say that a Treasury spending audit she commissioned shows that the previous government overspent this year’s budgets by billions of pounds after making a series of unfunded promises.She will also accuse the previous Conservative administration of “covering up the true state of the public finances” while cuts and delays to major infrastructure projects are expected.The Conservatives, meanwhile, have sought to suggest Labour is attempting to build a narrative which could lay the ground for future tax rises at its first budget. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe Labour Party lost almost a third of its support from Black and Asian communities in the run-up to the general election, according to exclusive polling from Ipsos.Among ethnic minority voters, Sir Keir Starmer’s party led the Conservatives with 46 per cent of ballots to 17 per cent, and among white voters, Labour clinched 33 per cent compared to 26 per cent for the Tories.However, Labour’s support among ethnic minority voters was higher during the last general election in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn at 64 per cent and has fallen by 18 percentage points.Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, said: “Some have marvelled at the efficiency of Labour, securing a huge majority based on lower share of the vote in comparison to 2019.“Nevertheless, it should concern Labour that they have not only lost votes from Asian communities, but they have lost seats. How Labour addresses the concerns of these communities, such as a disproportionate experience of poverty, excess deaths during the pandemic and now Palestine, is likely to be crucial in whether this is a blip or becomes a trend.”The “mega-poll” by Ipsos of 15,234 adults, carried out just after the general election, found significant variation in Labour support among different ethnic minority groups with younger people from these groups less likely to rally behind Sir Keir.Grassroots Black Left, a socialist organisation backed by former frontbencher Clive Lewis, said the polling reflects Labour’s recent race rows, its fragmented relationship with Black and Asian communities and disappointment around its position on Gaza.“It’s not surprising that disenchanted former loyal Labour supporters, especially younger ones, are increasingly voting for the Green Party and radical independent candidates,” a GBL spokesperson said.In an interview last year, Sir Keir made comments which suggested he thought Israel has a right to limit water and electricity in Gaza. He later said that Israel has a right to self-defence but not to withhold aid. This earlier statement put off voters, the GBL spokesperson said. Labour lost 22 per cent of support among young people in the July election – more than any party in that age group More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRachel Reeves will outline her plans to grapple with the government’s £20bn “black hole” in public finances on Monday as she lays out a Treasury report into the state of the nation’s finances.Laying the blame squarely with previous Conservative administrations, the chancellor is expected to accuse Rishi Sunak’s government of “covering up” spending shortfalls before “running away”.She will also announce “immediate action” on the issue in her speech, with experts predicting that several cost-cutting measures are likely to be announced.It is also expected that the chancellor will reveal some tax rises in her first autumn statement to tackle Labour’s spending gap. While the party has pledged not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, there are other routes they could take.Ms Reeves will also share plans to drive “efficiencies” in departmental spending, likely meaning some budget cuts. This will come alongside a pledge to reduce “non-essential spending” on consultants and sell off “surplus” government property which is not in use.But it is infrastructure cuts that are most likely to boost Labour’s finances in the short-term. These are likely to include the scaling back or halting of projects related to roads, railways and building projects.Here are some of the key infrastructure cuts Ms Reeves could reveal:HS2’s last leg in LondonHS2 has seen several major setbacks since first being announced (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorFormer deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine quietly had the Tory whip restored earlier this month after five yearsHe was suspended in May 2019 after saying he would vote for the Liberal Democrats at the European elections.On July 9 2024, the Conservative Party restored the whip to Lord Heseltine, public records show.Lord Michael Heseltine has the whip removed in 2019 More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe Conservatives’ latest leadership contest is underway after Rishi Sunak led the party to its worst election defeat in history. A string of senior figures have thrown their hats in the ring to succeed the former PM and lead the party through the next five years in opposition. Candidates must win the support of 10 Conservative MPs before the Monday deadline in order to make it onto the ballot paper. With the shortlist to be whittled down gradually until a final four are paraded in front of the party faithful at October’s Tory conference, The Independent looks at the runners and riders to take the reins from Mr Sunak. Who has officially declared? James Cleverly Former home secretary James Cleverly avoided losing his seat, unlike many of his cabinet colleagues More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour has rejected a free movement deal for young people with Spain after the country’s prime minister floated the idea with Sir Keir Starmer.The government repeated the prime minister’s promise not to take Britain back into the single market, customs union or restore freedom of movement.“And we are not considering a youth mobility scheme,” a government spokeswoman said.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer shelters from the the rain at the Trocadero during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Mike Egerton/PA). More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor Six British lawmakers have announced they are running to lead the defeated Conservative Party, ahead of a Monday deadline, in a contest that will decide whether the opposition party tacks to the right or steers toward the political center ground.Contenders include former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and lawmaker Tom Tugendhat from the party’s centrist grouping. Former Home Secretary Priti Patel and ex-Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch have support from the right of the party.Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick and lawmaker Mel Stride also have secured the required support of 10 Conservative lawmakers before the deadline of 2:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EDT, 1330GMT) on Monday.Badenoch, who came third in the party’s last leadership election in 2022, was the early favorite with bookmakers. She said the party should lead “a renewal for capitalism” built around a smaller state and seek to persuade voters “why conservatism should matter.”In the wake of the party’s devastating election defeat this month, which saw it lose votes to parties on both right and left, Conservatives are split between moderates who want to try to win back centrist voters and hard-liners who want tougher migration and law and order policies to regain political territory lost to the Reform U.K. party led by anti-immigration firebrand Nigel Farage.Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a standard-bearer for the party’s right, said Sunday she would not run. Braverman has urged the party to reach out to Reform and welcome Farage into Conservative ranks.Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she said Conservative colleagues were unwilling to listen to her, and had branded her “mad, bad and dangerous.”The Conservatives were kicked out by voters in a July 4 election that brought a Labour landslide, ending 14 years in power under five prime ministers. The Conservatives were reduced to 121 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, their worst-ever result.The Tories’ turbulent years in office brought a series of economic shocks: years of spending cuts, Britain’s exit from the European Union, a global pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It also brought self-inflicted wounds including the scandal-tarred tenure of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the economic turmoil unleashed by his successor Liz Truss.The contest to replace former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will last more than three months. Sunak will remain acting leader until his successor is announced on Nov. 2.Conservative lawmakers will narrow the field down through a series of votes to four contenders, who will make pitches to members at the party’s annual conference in early October. Lawmakers will then choose two final candidates, who will be put to an online vote of Conservative members across the country.The party’s last contested leadership selection, in mid-2022, saw members choose Truss over Sunak. Truss resigned after just 49 days in office when her tax-cutting plans rocked the financial markets and battered the value of the pound. The party then chose Sunak to replace her. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor Britain’s new Treasury chief is alleging that the previous government covered up the dire state of the nation’s finances, as she prepares to deliver a major speech to Parliament on Monday that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.In extracts of her speech released late Sunday, Rachel Reeves professed shock at the scale of the problems she discovered following a department-by-department review of public spending commissioned shortly after she took office three weeks ago. While the excerpts included no figures, Reeves is expected to outline a 20 billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in public finances.“It is time to level with the public and tell them the truth,’’ Reeves will tell the House of Commons. “The previous government refused to take the difficult decisions. They covered up the true state of the public finances. And then they ran away.’’Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s left-leaning Labour Party won a landslide election victory earlier this month, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule. During the campaign, critics accused both parties of a “conspiracy of silence” over the scale of the financial challenges facing the next government.Labour pledged during the campaign that it wouldn’t raise taxes on “working people,” saying its policies would deliver faster economic growth and generate the additional revenue needed by the government. The Conservatives, meanwhile, promised further tax cuts in the autumn if they were returned to office.As proof that the previous government wasn’t honest about the challenges facing Britain, Starmer’s office highlighted recent comments from former Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt confirming that he wouldn’t have been able to cut taxes this year if the Conservatives had been returned to power.Those comments came in an interview with the BBC in which Hunt also accused Labour of exaggerating the situation to justify raising taxes now that they’ve won the election.“The reason we’re getting all this spin about this terrible economic inheritance is because Labour wants to raise taxes,” Hunt said on July 21. “If they wanted to raise taxes, all the numbers were crystal clear before the election. … They should have leveled with the British public.”The extracts of Reeves’ speech didn’t include any mention of potential tax increases, though analysts speculate that any such measures won’t be introduced until the government unveils its budget later this year. Instead, Reeves focused on efforts to rein in spending, saying a new office will immediately begin identifying “wasteful spending.” She also plans to stop non-essential spending on consultants and sell off surplus property. While Reeves hasn’t yet published the details of her audit, Starmer’s office on Sunday released an overview of what it revealed.Those findings led the government to accuse the Conservatives of making significant funding commitments for this financial year “without knowing where the money would come from.’’It argued that the military had been “hollowed out’’ at a time of increasing global threats and the National Health Service was “broken,’’ with some 7.6 million people waiting for care.And despite billions spent to house migrants and combat the criminal gangs ferrying migrants across the English Channel on dangerous inflatable boats, the number of people making the crossing is still rising, Starmer’s office said. Some 15,832 people have crossed the Channel on small boats already this year, 9% more than during the same period in 2023.“The assessment will show that Britain is broke and broken — revealing the mess that populist politics has made of the economy and public services,” Downing Street said in a statement.The quandary the government finds itself in should be no surprise, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank focused on Britain’s economic policies.At the start of the election campaign, the institute said that the U.K. was in a “parlous fiscal position” and the new government would have to either raise taxes, cut spending or relax the rules on public borrowing.“For a party to enter office and then declare that things are ‘worse than expected’ would be fundamentally dishonest,” the IFS said on May 25. “The next government does not need to enter office to ‘open the books.’ Those books are transparently published and available for all to inspect.” More