Tax cuts and cost of living help proposed by Labour-linked groups allied to Streeting and Burnham
Groups connected to the health secretary, Wes Streeting, and the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, have proposed large changes to government policy, giving a sense of how the country may change should either one succeed Keir Starmer.The Labour Growth Group, allied to Streeting, and the Tribune group of Labour MPs, allied to Burnham, have published competing visions for how Britain should be run, including sweeping tax cuts, help with the cost of living and big changes to government machinery.With Keir Starmer under concerted pressure to stand down, the groups are two of a number of Labour-linked organisations that have proposed radical measures as they try to influence the thinking of a future prime minister.In a document entitled An Honest Day, Mark McVitie, the director of the Labour Growth Group, which has connections with Streeting, called for a rise in capital gains tax to pay for a 2p cut in national insurance.The document also called for mayors in England to be given greater powers over tax and spending, for the creation of a new Department of the Prime Minister and for ministers to allow Thames Water to fail.
It also made the case for refocusing British energy policy away from how much clean power it can generate to how expensive that clean power is – a potentially significant move away from Ed Miliband’s climate-focused energy agenda.“Clean power is not the problem,” the document said.“The problem is a system that can build clean generation while failing to get enough of it to households and productive firms at a price they can afford.”One minister called the report “a really radical programme that backs working people, cuts the cost of essentials, and takes on the interests profiting from Britain not working”.The report was co-written by Chris Curtis, the MP who chairs the group and one of dozens of MPs to have called for the prime minister to resign in the last 48 hours.
Curtis is close to Streeting, who has told allies he is ready to launch a bid for the leadership should Starmer’s government collapse.The report is also understood to have been shared with Burnham.The Tribune group has launched its own policy proposals in a set of essays in the Renewal journal, including ones by the Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Louise Haigh, two of the group’s leaders.Their proposals include stripping the Treasury of its responsibility to deliver growth, while Haigh is calling for the government to change its fiscal rules after the next election provided the current ones continue to be met.In her essay, Haigh, a former transport secretary and a key ally of Burnham, argued for reducing council tax and replacing stamp duty altogether with a new form of property tax.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, put abolishing stamp duty at the centre of her speech to party conference last year,In a joint introductory essay, Yang and Haigh argued: “Britain’s economic settlement is no longer delivering what it once promised,” saying growth had been “too weak, too uneven, and too often driven by asset inflation rather than productive investment”,However, Labour MPs are not the only ones looking to shape the thinking of a future prime minister,This week three progressive thinktanks – the Institute for Public Policy Research, the New Economics Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, are all expected to publish papers calling for the government to introduce rent caps in an attempt to reduce living costs,Ministers have previously ruled out such an idea, arguing that the government should instead focus on increasing legal protections for renters and building more homes.
The Guardian revealed last month, however, that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had been considering an outright freeze on private sector rents for one year.One leftwing policy expert said: “The fact that ideas that were previously out of reach, such as rent controls, are now being pushed by a range of organisations suggests the ground is shifting towards a more progressive economic agenda.”The prime minister has been putting the finishing touches to his own king’s speech – the second of his premiership.The speech is expected to include legislation that would enable Britain to move closer to the EU, new curbs on immigration, the “Hillsborough law” to force public bodies to cooperate with inquiries, and long-promised changes to the leasehold system.Government officials have said they do not think the speech, which will accompany the state opening of parliament on Wednesday, can be cancelled, even with the uncertainty over the prime minister’s future.
Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman … Gout Gout: Australian sprint star features on 60 Minutes in US
It has previously been an honour reserved for the likes of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Now, sprint sensation Gout Gout has joined an elite club of Australian A-listers to be the focus of a story on respected US current affairs programme 60 Minutes.The 18-year-old was interviewed this week by long-time Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim, who also spoke to coach Di Sheppard for the 13-minute story.The programme is one of the most popular in the USA and can attract audiences of more than 10m Americans, highlighting the growing phenomenon of Gout, who became the fastest teenager to run 200m last month in Sydney.The story has been shared widely online, and drew attention from the athletics community
Iga Swiatek finds her flawless best to dismantle Naomi Osaka at Italian Open
Iga Swiatek produced a statement victory in a battle between two of the game’s best, mercilessly dismantling Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-1 to return to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open.This was the type of confidence-building performance Swiatek, the fourth seed, has been seeking for some time. After a tense opening four games, the four-time French Open champion put together a near flawless match, winning 10 of the last 11 games. Swiatek found a sweet balance between stifling Osaka with her heavy topspin and offensive weaponry while also drawing errors from her adversary with her tireless consistency.In a match that pitted the six-time grand slam champion Swiatek versus the four-time major champion Osaka, this was by far the most eye-catching meeting of the tournament so far
‘You guys wanna see a dead body?’ The slow death of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Process era
The Sixers’ season ended in a humiliating sweep at the hands of the Knicks. There are reasons to believe the franchise can recover though“You guys wanna see a dead body?”Old heads remember that scene in Stand By Me, four boys hike through the Oregon wilderness to find the body of a dead boy. They walk for miles for the morbid prize of seeing something that can’t be unseen. When they finally arrive and stand over the body, nobody says a word. There’s nothing left to say
Glamorgan beat Somerset to claim first home win in Division One: county cricket, day four – as it happened
Glamorgan’s overseas fast bowler Ryan Hadley was the unlikely batting hero at Sophia Gardens, doubling his first-class average to squeak the home side over the line against Somerset. Hadley, who was sent in on Sunday evening as nightwatchman, laboured for 231 balls to 50 not out, winning the game and bringing up his maiden half‑century with a straight drive. He was given a huge hug from partner Mason Crane, handshakes from Tom Abell and most of the Somerset team, before taking giant strides back to the applause of the dressing room. “I was telling the boys I hadn’t been dismissed since coming here, as a joke, so was saying earlier it’s inevitable they’re going to get me for the first time, but I’m still here – it’s a miracle,” he said.It was Glamorgan’s first win on home soil in Division One, and if it was methodically slow, no one was complaining
Is CTE really the main reason behind the rise in NFL player suicides?
When an NFL player takes his own life, there is often speculation about why. Injuries and unemployment – a common occurrence in a violent sport where players are frequently traded and cut – have been linked with increased risks of suicidal ideation. In parallel to those factors, however, exists chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A degenerative brain condition caused by repeated trauma to the head, CTE’s links with football are established and almost impossible to ignore. Players ranging from widely admired Pro Bowlers such as Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, to those infamous for more notorious reasons, such as Aaron Hernandez and Phillip Adams, were all confirmed to have CTE by autopsies
Counties face points deductions for financial losses under strict new ECB rules
Cricket counties will face automatic points deductions for making repeated losses under strict new financial rules that will be introduced next season.The Guardian has learned that the England and Wales Cricket Board is planning to bring in its own version of football’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) underpinned by points deductions in a shadow form next year to give counties time to adjust, before fixed punishments for clubs that fail to break even are introduced in 2028.The proposed new rules are understood to be similar to the financial framework operated by the Premier League and EFL, whose clubs are limited to making losses of £105m and £39m respectively over a rolling three-year period.The Premier League is dropping PSR next season in favour of new regulations that will cap player spending to 85% of a club’s football revenues, but the EFL’s profitability and sustainability limits will remain in place.Under the ECB’s version of PSR, counties would be required to show they are running profitable businesses over a four-year period, with fixed tariffs in place for those that consistently lose money
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Labour must offer more than ‘better managed decline’ on economy, MPs urge
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British Steel nationalisation: what went wrong, and what happens now?