UK

Rachel Reeves accuses Jeremy Hunt of lying over £22bn spending holeSupport 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 ThomasEditorDeputy prime minister Angela Rayner has declared that the UK is living the “most acute housing crisis in living history” as she announced a radical reform to the country’s housing planning system. Addressing the Commons, the housing secretary has promised to fix the Tories’ legacy by bringing back mandatory housing targets of 370,000 a year on councils. Under the plans, Ms Rayner announced a review of the green belt if councils do not meet the housebuilding targets. It comes as Rachel Reeves  warned “more difficult choices” are coming after axing winter fuel payments for many pensioners in a bid to help plug a £22bn black hole in the public finances.The chancellor unveiled plans to tackle the projected overspend, including cuts to infrastructure projects and an end of winter fuel payments for people not in receipt of means-tested benefits.Following her speech, Ms Reeves doubled down on accusations that Jeremy Hunt “lied” to the public and to MPs during the election campaign about the state of public finances. Show latest update 1722350781Abbott leads Labour rebellion over Reeves’ spending cuts Diane Abbott has led criticism of Rachel Reeves’s spending plans labelling them “renewed austerity”.It comes as the chancellor unveiled a raft of brutal cuts to deal with a £22bn black hole in the country’s finances. But her set of measures to save up on funding has sparked criticism among members of her own party. The veteran MP for Hackney has accused Ms Reeves of presiding over an era of “renewed austerity”.Ms Abbott is leading a left-wing backlash over the chancellor’s move to scrap winter fuel allowance payments, cancel transport projects and Boris Johnson’s plan to build more hospitals. Britain PoliticsSalma Ouaguira30 July 2024 15:461722350265Cleverly attacks Labour over London housebuilding targetJames Cleverly has criticised the government’s housebuilding plan after Angela Rayner set out a target of 80,000 new homes a year for London.He tweeted: “We need to build more homes in urban areas like London, massively increasing densification.“Labour would rather concrete over the greenbelt than make Sadiq Khan do his job.”Salma Ouaguira30 July 2024 15:371722349829British nationals in Lebanon urged to leave amid escalating tensionsBritish nationals in Lebanon risk “becoming trapped in a warzone” if they fail to leave, the foreign secretary has warned.In a House of Commons statement on Lebanon and a conflict between Israel, Lebanese Hezbollah and other non-state actors, David Lammy told MPs: “The prime minister chaired a Cobra meeting this morning and I’m working with Foreign Office consular teams to make sure we are prepared for all scenarios, but if this conflict escalates, the government cannot guarantee we’ll be able to evacuate everyone immediately.“People may be forced to shelter in place and history teaches us that in a crisis like this one, it is far safer to leave while commercial flights are still running rather than running the risk of becoming trapped in a warzone.“My message, then, to British nationals in Lebanon is therefore quite simple: leave.”It comes as tensions have been escalating after Isreal’s military said it struck several targets in neighbouring Lebanon linked to Hezbollah.Smoke billows from a site targeted by Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese border village of Khiam amid ongoing clashes 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 ThomasEditorAngela Rayner’s planning “revolution” will see London’s housebuilding target slashed by 20,000 homes, despite a wider push to boost the number of houses being built each year. The deputy prime minister and housing secretary unveiled a major overhaul of the planning system today, which will see all councils in England given new, mandatory housing targets as part of a plan to deliver 1.5 million more homes in the UK.She warned that Britain is facing the “most acute housing crisis in living memory”, claiming that the number of new homes is set to drop below 200,000 this year – something Ms Rayner dubbed “unforgiveable”.The overall housing target for the UK will increase to 370,000, replacing the previous Tory government’s advisory target of 300,000 homes per year.But government officials said London’s target would fall from 100,000 homes a year, to 80,000.Ms Rayner claimed the previous figure was “absolute nonsense” and an “arbitrary figure”, denying that the government is “lowering our ambition for London”.But Priced Out, a group campaigning for more affordable homes, warned that London is already “the most unaffordable place in the country”. Freddie Poser, the organisation’s executive director, said: “Rayner has stuck to her ambition to get housebuilding moving and raised the national target to 370,000 which is very welcome. “It is a shame to see a 20 per cent drop in the London target proposed – this is exactly where we should be building homes. “London is the most unaffordable place in the country, new homes in the city would have an outsized impact on solving the housing shortage. PricedOut will be responding to the consultation to recommend the government keep the target at 100,000.”The new rules set out in the Commons today will reverse the decision made last year to water down housing targets, which saw them become advisory, instead making them mandatory for local governments.Referring to the change in the rules overseen by the previous Conservative government, Ms Rayner said: “They knew this would tank the housing supply, but they still did it.”Kemi Badenoch questioned why building targets in London were being reduced 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 ThomasEditorWatch live as Angela Rayner sets out the Labour government’s plans for housebuilding in the UK on Tuesday, 30 July.The deputy prime minister has told Cabinet that the government will be “setting out the first steps” for building 1.5 million homes over this Parliament.Ms Rayner told colleagues the country faces “an acute housing crisis” that has resulted in “high levels of homelessness, over one million households on social housing waiting lists, homes on average in England costing more than eight times average incomes and fewer than 200,000 homes forecast to be built this year.”Number 10 said: “She outlined that later today the Government would set out plans to lay the foundations for 1.5 million new homes across Britain over this Parliament.“Working people are facing huge challenges to find a safe and decent home to call their own and this Government is setting out the first steps to make this happen.” 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 government has “failed another generation of families” with the cancellation of a series of planned social care reforms, the architect of the plans has warned.Rachel Reeves announced the cancellation of the Dilnot Reforms on Monday, alongside a swathe of other spending cuts to address a black hole in the public finances left by the previous Conservative government.Sir Andrew Dilnot, whose government-backed commission proposed a cap on social care costs, described the changes as a “a tragedy”.The chancellor accused the previous government of having hidden the true extent of Treasury overspend from the public, claiming Labour had inherited a £22billion hole in public finances 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 ThomasEditorIt’s almost been a month since Labour’s historic election victory, which sparked renewed conversation about electoral reform.Even a fleeting glance at July’s election results confirms Britain’s first-past-the-post system can produce disproportionate outcomes. Labour scored about 35 per cent of the popular vote – modest by historic standards – but managed to secure 63 per cent of seats in the House of Commons, and thus also a landslide 174-seat majority. Given the low turnout of 60 per cent, it means only about one in five adult Britons actively voted for Keir Starmer’s programme of change. Starmer is governing the country with just about the lowest share of the vote of any administration since 1923.Many political parties have called for electoral reform over the years. Reform UK loudly claims the system is “broken” and the Liberal Democrats have long argued first-past-the-post robs millions of voters of their voice.During the recent campaign, even Conservative commentators had raised questions about how governments can wield great power on a comparatively weak mandate.It’s hard to imagine a government that has won a huge majority under first-past-the-post system changing it. Politicians don’t give up power voluntarily. But might a people’s revolt eventually force their hand? And what are the other options on the table should Britain choose to revamp its voting system?If you have a question on electoral reform or proportional representation submit it now, or when I join you live at 12pm on Friday 2 August for the “Ask Me Anything” event.Register to submit your question in the comments box under this article.Scroll down or click here to leave your comment.If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to leave your question. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 12pm as I tackle as many questions as I can. 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 has accused Jeremy Hunt of lying about the state of the public finances after revealing a £22bn hole in the public finances.The chancellor branded her predecessor as a liar, in her strongest condemnation yet of Mr Hunt and Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.MPs are barred from referring to other members as liars in the chamber as it is deemed unparliamentary, but even outside of the commons it is unusual for senior politicians in the UK to accuse one another directly of lying.“It is even worse than that, because during the general election campaign I was clear everything I put forward was fully funded,” she told Sky News on Tuesday.Rachel Reeves said Jeremy Hunt lied during the election campaign about the state of the public finances 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 ThomasEditorA peer has been accused of Islamophobia after giving a “disgusting and outrageous” speech in the House of Lords.Lord Pearson of Rannoch claimed “radicals” plan to “take us over through the power of the womb and the ballot box” after discussing government plans to improve counter-terrorism measures at public venues following the King’s Speech.“The sharia allows Muslim men to have four wives at a time, most of whom are having at least two children, so the Muslim population is going up 10 times faster than our national average,” he told the House of Lords last Thursday (25 July). “On past trends, Birmingham and nine other English local authorities will be majority Muslim by 2031. The radicals’ plan is to wait until they can take us over through the power of the womb and the ballot box.”The 82-year-old, now a non-affiliated peer having formerly sat as a Conservative and briefly been the leader of UKIP, has been condemned for his comments. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece wrote on X: “Lord Pearson of Rannoch gave a disgusting anti-Muslim racist speech in the House of Lords today. He would’ve been loudly condemned if he spoke about other faiths in this way.”The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) say they are lodging formal complaints with the House of Lords Commissioners for Standards over Lord Pearson’s remarks.Islamophobia and antisemitism have seen a sharp rise in the UK 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 ThomasEditorBritain’s pensioners will take the brunt of a raft of brutal cuts announced by the new chancellor Rachel Reeves to deal with a £22bn black hole in the country’s finances.To gasps in the Commons chamber, Ms Reeves announced that she would be removing winter fuel allowance payments for pensioners from almost 7 million of the households that currently receive them.The bold move on the winter fuel allowance – a benefit that was first introduced by Labour’s Tony Blair in 1997 – is similar to a policy proposed by Theresa May in 2017, when the outcry over the proposal almost sank the Tory election campaign. The plan did not feature in the Labour election manifesto this year, and visibly came as a complete shock to MPs.Ms Reeves also cancelled the plan to introduce the Dilnot Commission recommendations on social care for the elderly next year, meaning that people will still have to sell their homes to pay for residential care.Reeves delivers the results of her review of the nation’s finances More