Keir Starmer says Labour ‘kept to our manifesto’ over budget tax rises
Keir Starmer has conceded that the budget “asked everybody to contribute” but argued that it had “done it in a fair way” as he sought to rebuff claims that Labour had broken its tax promises.The prime minister said the Labour government had “kept to our manifesto” despite raising taxes by £26bn, including by freezing income tax and national insurance thresholds for an extra three years.Labour had promised during the election campaign not to raise taxes on working people.Asked whether he would apologise for breaking that promise, Starmer said: “I accept the challenge that we’ve asked everybody to contribute.I want to be really clear on why we’ve done that,” he told Sky News.
“That is because we need to protect our NHS to make sure that it’s there for people when they need it.Secondly, to make sure that we’ve got the money to put into our schools and …… the third thing is to bear down on the cost of living.”Pressed on whether he had misled the public, Starmer said ministers had “absolutely done the least possible we can” in terms of the impact on ordinary people and that they had “done it in a fair way”.Challenged on the decision to axe the two-child benefit cap, which will cost £3bn a year by 2029-30, Starmer said he was “not going to apologise” for taking 450,000 children out of poverty.The measure has long been called for by Labour MPs and charities, which argue that the cap is the single biggest driver of child poverty.
Asked whether had taken the decision to shore up his own political position, the prime minister responded: “It’s impossible to argue that this is a position that has been adopted just in the last few weeks.It is my longstanding ambition.”Earlier on Wednesday Rachel Reeves admitted working people would need to pay more after her budget but said she had kept that to an “absolute minimum” by increasing taxes on betting firms, mansions and landlords.The chancellor vowed to carry on in her role and “defy” economic forecasts as she defended her tax and growth measures.Asked whether the budget was designed to ensure her own political survival and that of Starmer by mollifying a restive Labour party, Reeves said this was “my budget, delivering on my priorities”, and one she was proud of.
“Lots of people have tried to write me off over the last 16 months.And you’re not going to write my obituary today,” she told Times Radio.“There’s plenty more that I’m going to do to grow our economy and make working people better off.“I have defied the forecasts this year.The OBR said in the spring our economy would grow by just 1% this year.
They said yesterday 1.5%.I’m going to defy those forecasts next year and the year after that.”Reeves said her decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which was welcomed by Labour MPs but attacked by the rightwing press for raising welfare spending, was a “good investment” in children’s futures.She said that in 60% of families that would benefit the parents were in work.
She said her decision to freeze tax thresholds, the central revenue-raising measure in the budget, did not amount to a breach of Labour’s manifesto but declined to rule out more tax rises next year,More than 1,7 million workers will either pay tax for the first time or be pushed into a higher band by the additional three-year freeze, which is forecast to bring in £12,4bn to the exchequer by 2030-31,Scotland has a separate income tax system.
The chancellor also announced a slate of smaller tax increases to pay for government spending and build a larger buffer against her borrowing rules, including a new pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles.Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Reeves said she believed she had made “the fair and necessary choices” and declined to apologise for them, blaming global economic pressures and the budget watchdog’s productivity downgrade.“I have to operate in the world as it is,” she said.“I do recognise that is asking people to contribute a bit more but I’ve kept that contribution to an absolute minimum through other changes that I announced,” she said.“Asking the gambling companies to pay more, people in properties worth more than £2m to pay more, asking landlords to pay a bit more tax on their rent to bring it closer to the taxes that their tenants pay on their salaries.
”Questioned about criticism that her budget did not include growth-boosting measures, Reeves cited new investment announcements from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, which said on Thursday it was expanding its presence in Birmingham,The Financial Times reported earlier this week the Treasury had asked banks to praise the budget after Reeves opted not to raise taxes on the industry,Speaking to MPs on Wednesday night the chancellor expressed frustration that the Office for Budgetary Responsibility had not scored the growth potential of the UK’s trade deals with the US, EU or India, or the planning and infrastructure bill,The OBR has said none of those policies individually had a major enough impact to meet its 0,1% threshold for scoring them.
Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said lifting the two-child benefit cap was the wrong choice and that the budget would “lead to 25,000 more people going on to benefits as a direct consequence of making them more attractive”,“I think it’s only fair that those that are on benefits face the same kind of decisions as those that are working hard, paying taxes and paying for those benefits,” the Tory MP told BBC Breakfast,He argued that were the Conservatives in power they would cut £23bn from the welfare bill and abolish stamp duty for primary residences,
Debenhams boss could receive almost £150m if he turns around struggling retailer
The boss of Boohoo and Debenhams could collect almost £150m in shares if he significantly boosts the value of the struggling fashion group, which is battling to turnaround sliding sales.Debenhams Group said on Thursday that Dan Finley, the chief executive, is in line to receive £148.1m in stock in five years’ time, as part of an incentive scheme for top bosses worth more than £200m.The scheme emerged as Debenhams Group said sales slumped 23% to £297m in the six months to 31 August, dragged down by a 41% dive in sales at its “youth brands”, which include Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing. Sales at its Karen Millen brand fell by 31%
Economists warn budget built on ‘shaky foundations’; December UK interest rate cut looks more likely – business live
Some UK bond yields are now moving a little higher, as the City continues to analyse the budget.The yield (or interest rate) on 10-year gilts has gained four basis points to 4.46% today, which erodes around half of the recovery in yields yesterday.Investors will have noted that while the spending increases in the budget happen quite soon, the tax rises are more back-loaded.As City firm TS Lombard put it:Tightening is mostly kicked into the back-end of the forecast period, with policy actually adding to borrowing in the next few years
Foreign interference or opportunistic grifting: why are so many pro-Trump X accounts based in Asia?
When X rolled out a new feature revealing the locations of popular accounts, the company was acting to boost transparency and clamp down on disinformation. The result, however, has been a circular firing squad of recriminations, as users turn on each other enraged by the revelation that dozens of popular “America first” and pro-Trump accounts originated overseas.The new feature was enabled over the weekend by X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, who called it the first step in “securing the integrity of the global town square.” Since then many high-engagement accounts that post incessantly about US politics have been “unmasked” by fellow users.An Ivanka Trump fan account that posts about illegal immigration to the US was shown to be based in Nigeria
London councils enact emergency plans after three hit by cyber-attack
Three London councils have reported a cyber-attack, prompting the rollout of emergency plans and the involvement of the National Crime Agency (NCA) as they investigate whether any data has been compromised.The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), and Westminster city council, which share some IT infrastructure, said a number of systems had been affected across both authorities, including phone lines. The councils shut down several computerised systems as a precaution to limit further possible damage.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham had also reported an attack. Together the three authorities provide services for more than half a million Londoners
Lando Norris insists nothing has changed in title fight after Vegas shambles
Lando Norris has insisted nothing has changed in terms of his focus on sealing his first Formula One world championship after both he and his McLaren teammate were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a result which catapulted Red Bull’s Max Verstappen back into contention for the title. McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella however has denied the team took “excessive risks” with their car in Las Vegas.The race in Nevada last weekend was won by Verstappen but Norris took a strong second and Piastri fourth. However, four hours afterwards, following an investigation by the FIA, both were disqualified after the skid blocks on the floor of their cars were found to have been worn down below the 9mm limit defined in the rules.Verstappen had been 49 points behind Norris going into the meeting but with Norris and Piastri stripped of their points he is now only 24 behind, the same deficit as Piastri, as the season enters its penultimate round in Qatar
AFLW clubs’ lack of ambition laid bare by 2025 grand final deja vu | Jack Snape
North Melbourne against Brisbane, take three. Over 116 matches of AFLW in 2025, the competition has delivered the same grand finalists for the third straight year. And few, apart from Melbourne fans, would disagree that Saturday night’s sold-out clash is a fitting conclusion to the 10th season of elite women’s footy.But the consistent brilliance of the Lions and Kangaroos has also highlighted a lack of ambition from other AFLW clubs, whose failure to even spend what they are allowed to on coaches is an open secret in the competition.The Kangaroos enter their third straight grand final on Saturday and are unbeaten in two years
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