UK

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

A lawyer for Jimmy Savile’s victims has condemned the use of the sexual predator’s name in political debates over the Online Safety Act. Labour ministers have accused Nigel Farage and Reform UK of being “on the side of predators like Savile”, due to their commitment to ditch the law and its regulations, should they come into power. The new rules, which came into effect on 25 July, include introducing age verification for adult websites, removal of material that promotes suicide, eating disorders and self-harm, and preventing strangers from messaging children directly. Alan Collins, the head of the abuse team at Hugh James Solicitors, who has represented many of the disgraced BBC presenter’s victims, said it was “disturbing” to see Jess Philips, the safeguarding minister, “play the Savile name”. Jess Phillips said Mr Farage’s opposition to online safety laws would enable ‘modern-day Jimmy Saviles’ More

Rachel Reeves has been warned by top economists that she faces an “impossible trilemma” ahead of the autumn budget and must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules to fill a £41bn black hole left by Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) – a leading economic think tank – said the chancellor could also look at spending cuts as a way to raise the money needed by 2029-30 to remedy a £41.2bn shortfall on her “stability rule”. But ministers have already squeezed significant savings out of their departments in cuts that were unveiled at last month’s spending review, meaning there is now a mounting expectation that the chancellor will be forced to raise taxes instead. In the wake of the warnings, there are growing questions over how the government will raise the money to fill the gap in the public finances, given Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on “working people” leaves the chancellor with a limited number of workable options. Here, The Independent takes a look at a number of tax rises that the government could rely on to raise funds and balance the books. Tax threshold freezes The Treasury’s most likely move would be to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds. This means that as wages rise with inflation, over the years workers are dragged into higher tax bands and end up paying more. A freeze on the threshold at which the higher 45 per cent tax rate is paid was one of the options suggested by Ms Rayner in her leaked memo. But there is growing speculation the government could extend the freeze across all tax brackets. Sir Keir has left the door open for such a move, refusing to rule it out when pressed on it at PMQs last month. While he gave an unequivocal answer ruling out increasing VAT, income tax or national insurance, he refused to do so when it came to tax threshold freezes. It’s a stealth tax, the impacts of which are not felt immediately, meaning it is normally better received among the general public compared with a direct hit to businesses or pay slips. But, if the freeze were extended to the end of the parliament, it could also bring in billions for the Treasury as earnings rise. The freeze, which is already planned to last until 2028, is expected to drag around two million workers into higher tax bands.Wealth tax There have been calls from Labour MPs on the left of the party to introduce a wealth tax, calls which have only grown in the wake of the government’s £5bn welfare U-turn. Rachael Maskell, the architect of the rebellion which forced the government into shelving key pillars of the bill, demanded the government increase taxes on the very richest to pay for the climbdown. Piling even more pressure on the Treasury last month, former Labour shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds also urged the Treasury should consider such a tax. Former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds is among those who have urged the government to consider a wealth tax More

There is growing confusion over whether the UK’s migrant returns deal with France leaves open a loophole which would allow for human rights claims to hold up deportations. The “one-in, one out” deal coming into effect on Wednesday will see migrants ineligible to stay in the UK sent back across the Channel, in exchange for taking those who have links to Britain.But the terms of the treaty indicated that migrants who had arrived in the UK via small boat could frustrate attempts to deport them to France, as the agreement contains a clause that says in order for people to be returned to France the UK must confirm they do not have an “outstanding human rights claim”.People thought to be migrants scramble to board a small boat near Wimereux in France in July More

Rachel Reeves must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules to fill a £41bn black hole left by Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth, top economists have warned.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) – a leading economic think tank – said the chancellor could also look at spending cuts in the autumn Budget as a way to raise the money needed by 2029-30 to remedy a £41.2bn shortfall on her “stability rule”.Its report said the chancellor has been left with an “impossible trilemma” of trying to meet her fiscal rules while fulfilling spending commitments and upholding a manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on working people.Rachel Reeves is facing pressure to introduce a wealth tax on the rich More