Newslinks for Sunday 27th October 2024 | Conservative Home

Budget 1) Reeves “to raise extra £20 billion by National Insurance increases”

“The chancellor is set to increase the National Insurance rate for employers to boost funding for public services including the NHS. Rachel Reeves is also expected to use Wednesday’s Budget to lower the threshold for when employers start paying the tax – with the two measures combined to raise about £20bn. The move is thought to be the single largest revenue raiser of next week’s Budget, with other tax rises expected, although Reeves is not likely to introduce the levy to employers’ pensions contributions. Employers currently pay National Insurance of 13.8% on a worker’s earnings above £175 a week.” – BBC

• When will the tax rises bite? – Sunday Times
• Reeves: ‘My budget will match greatest economic moments in Labour history’ – The Observer
• Labour ‘backing away’ from 2.5pc defence spending pledge – Sunday Telegraph
• Starmer denies misleading public over Budget tax rises – Sunday Telegraph
• Military families will be given extra cash so they are not hit by private school VAT hike in Budget – The Sun on Sunday
• Government debt to soar to ‘unsustainable’ levels despite Reeves’ new borrowing rules – Mail on Sunday
• Morgan McSweeney in power struggle with Angela Rayner after Sue Gray ousted – Sunday Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: It’s high time Labour abandoned their idea that they are the “goodies”, and Tories are the “baddies”

Budget 2) Thousands of businesses close in advance of tax rises

“Thousands of businesses are closing ahead of this week’s Budget, which economists fear will amount to one of the biggest corporate tax raids of the modern era. The Chancellor has declared her maiden fiscal statement will “grow the economy” and attract investment into Britain. But figures show there has been a surge in the number of business owners shutting up shop amid widespread concern Rachel Reeves will raid capital gains tax in an attempt to raise £40 billion. More than 1,600 company directors have chosen to wind down their businesses so far this month, which is by far the highest number of closures this year and more than double the amount for the whole of last October, according to notices filed to The Gazette.” – Sunday Telegraph

Budget 3) £1.4 billion for “crumbling classrooms”

“The government has pledged £1.4bn to meet a target of rebuilding 50 schools in England a year, so that children do not have to learn in “crumbling” classrooms. Chancellor Rachel Reeves made the spending commitment ahead of the autumn Budget next week, following warnings the School Rebuilding Programme is delayed. Head teachers’ unions have said more is needed for school buildings.” – BBC

Budget 4) Bus fares “to rise”

“One of the most politically toxic “cuts” is an expected rise in the £2 cap on bus fares. Analysis commissioned by the Department for Transport, to be published this week, has concluded the £2 limit is not financially sustainable for the taxpayer and bus operators, having cost £200 million in its first ten months alone, between January and October 2023. The study found every £1 spent to support the cap generated just 71p to 90p of economic and social benefits.” – Sunday Times

Budget 5) Lawson: The Government doesn’t understand that capital is mobile

“To try to make its sums add up, it is obliged to focus disproportionately on capital — the very thing that tends to inspire those who start businesses (but who seem not to count, by Labour’s definition, as “working people”). Trouble is, capital is mobile, as are its owners — and 80 per cent of the exchequer’s CGT revenue comes from just 38,000 individuals. Asked last week by a reporter if he thought entrepreneurs might want to leave the UK as a result of reported tax increases, Starmer responded: “There is no reason for them to.” Unfortunately for the prime minister, that will be for them to decide.” – Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times

Other Budget comment

• I have to make tough decisions on tax in my Budget but it will be worth it because I have your backs – Rachel Reeves, The Sun on Sunday
• Truss is about to relinquish her mantle as agent of economic chaos – Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph
• Reeves’s first Budget could be a dangerous political trap… for the Tories – Dan Hodges, The Mail on Sunday
• Only growth will allow Rachel Reeves to turn the page on the Tories – Leader, Sunday Times
• Until Labour gets a Rwanda-style deterrent, migration will be a gaping hole in the Budget – Leader, The Sun on Sunday
• Spiteful attacks on pensioners. A bashing for business. This Budget will be a vindictive horror show – Jeff Prestridge, Mail on Sunday
• Labour must learn to think before it speaks – then it might not U-turn quite so often – Camilla Tominey, Sunday Telegraph
• Okay, my Budget wasn’t perfect – but this one will be naked class war – Kwasi Kwarteng, Mail on Sunday

Conservative leadership contest 1) Badenoch declares she has the “integrity” to lead

“Kemi Badenoch has attacked her Tory leadership rival Robert Jenrick by pointing out that she has “never been sacked” amid a “whiff of impropriety”. Mrs Badenoch appeared to question Mr Jenrick’s record as the two candidates aimed their fiercest attacks of the campaign so far in interviews with The Telegraph. “Integrity matters … with me you’d have a leader where there’s no scandal. I was never sacked for anything, I didn’t have to resign in disgrace or, you know, because there was a whiff of impropriety,” she said, in an apparent reference to Mr Jenrick’s involvement in a planning dispute when he was housing secretary.” – Sunday Telegraph

• No Tory has ever reminded me more of Mrs Thatcher than Mrs Badenoch – Simon Heffer, Sunday Telegraph
• Tory leadership races used to be box office. Now Kemi’s in a crypt – Charlotte Ivers, Sunday Times

Conservative leadership contest 2) Jenrick accuses ministers of complicity in ‘institutional cover-up’ over mass migration costs

“Robert Jenrick has accused ministers of being complicit in an “institutional cover-up” over the costs of mass migration. The former housing minister who is running to be the next leader of the Conservative party said the public were “sick of the wool being pulled over their eyes” on the economic and social costs of net migration, which reached 685,000 last year. He accused the Government of refusing to publish proper statistics on crimes committed in the UK by foreign nationals “out of misplaced fear of harming social cohesion”. Mr Jenrick said no field of policymaking is as “shrouded in secrecy” as that regarding migrants.” – Sunday Telegraph

• Fury as more illegal boat migrants arrive this year than in all of 2023 – The Sun on Sunday
• Jenrick accuses Starmer of telling a ‘double lie’ after insisting Budget will not be a ‘war on Middle Britain’ and party will not break manifesto pledges – Mail on Sunday
• Jenrick fights for forces families to be spared VAT – Sunday Express

Conservative leadership contest 3) Call to tighten rules to prevent future “regicide”

“Tory MPs want to tighten the rules to make it much harder to oust their next leader as they say voters are sick of their ‘regicide’. It comes amid concerns that whoever loses the current race between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will be seen by MPs as a ‘leader in waiting’. MPs are privately lobbying to change the rules to require half the Parliamentary party to submit letters of no confidence in the leader to trigger a challenge. The threshold stands at 15 per cent of Tory MPs – meaning 18 can trigger a coup.” – Mail on Sunday

Labour MP in altercation with constituent

“A Labour MP has reported himself to the police following an alleged assault. Mike Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, was filmed apparently confronting a man lying on the pavement in Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of Saturday morning. In the video, which was circulated on social media, Mr Amesbury appeared to tell the man: “You won’t ever threaten me again, will you?” The video did not capture the alleged assault or the preceding circumstances.” – Sunday Telegraph

Georgia election “stolen”

“Georgia’s increasingly authoritarian ruling party has claimed victory after preliminary results gave it a clear lead in a pivotal election focused on the country’s future path in Europe The Georgian Dream party of billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili is on 54%, based on more than 99% districts counted, the central election commission says. The initial results were dramatically different from exit polls conducted by Western pollsters and the head of one of the opposition parties said they believed the vote had been “stolen from the Georgian people”. “We do not accept the results of these falsified elections,” said Tina Bokuchava, head of the United National Movement.” – BBC

Starmer loses battle to prevent Caribbean nations demanding slave reparations

“Keir Starmer yesterday lost his battle to prevent Caribbean nations from using the Commonwealth summit to demand billions in reparations for the British slave trade. Earlier this month, after The Mail on Sunday revealed that the issue would be on the table at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, No10 insisted it was ‘not on the agenda’ for the summit – and continued to do so until the final communique was published this weekend. In the statement, Commonwealth leaders agreed that the ‘time has come’ for a discussion on the matter, more than 200 years after the slave trade was abolished by the UK parliament. Campaigners have called for £200 billion in reparations, with some demanding many multiples of that sum.” – Mail on Sunday

• Lee Anderson savages PM over latest reparations humiliation: ‘Grow a pair, Starmer!’ – Sunday Express
• Singling Britain out for reparation demands perpetrates a historical scam – Robert Tombs, Sunday Telegraph
• Starmer must stand firm against the Left’s reparations shakedown – Leader, Sunday Telegraph
• King Charles returning to ‘normal’ schedule next year – BBC

Washington Post refuses to endorse any US Presidential candidate

“Fury and shock ripped through liberal America over the weekend after news that the Washington Post, home of the Watergate scandal exposé, the paper that ran the Pentagon Papers, will not now endorse Kamala Harris for president. But angry responses were quickly replaced by two pressing questions: how did it happen, and how could readers best protest? At the centre of the storm is William Lewis, the British ­newspaperman who became Washington Post publisher and CEO in January. The 55-year-old north Londoner broke the decision to staff on Friday couched in terms that evoked the title’s traditions.” – The Observer

• Americans who believe in democracy have no choice but to vote for Harris – Leader, The Observer
• Trump will ‘unleash all-out war’ on Keir Starmer if he wins US Presidential race after row over Labour helping out his rival Kamala Harris – Mail on Sunday
• Meet the 0.3% of Americans who’ll really decide the election – Sunday Times

Other political news

• David Amess’s daughter: How was a terrorist free to kill my MP Dad? – Sunday Times
• Tensions as three protest marches converge in central London – The Observer
• Taxpayers face huge legal bill as hate preacher Anjem Choudary lodges High Court appeal after being jailed for running terror group – Mail on Sunday
• Compensation scheme could be set up for thousands ‘left disabled’ by AstraZeneca jab – Sunday Telegraph
• Japan voting for new leader in shadow of scandals – BBC
• More asylum hotels to be built as whole families cross Channel – Sunday Times
• Parents trapped in special needs tribunal backlog as disputes surge by 50 per cent – The Observer
• David Lammy’s aide accused of being ‘anti-British’ after questioning whether people will mourn the death of Prince William, saying he is ‘just a West Londoner’ – Mail on Sunday
• Britain to axe up to 1.5m lampposts – Sunday Times
• Israeli strikes on Iran kill four soldiers, Iran says – BBC
• Women’s Equality party founders urge members to call time after 10 years – The Observer
• Labour MP carpeted in the Commons after drinking milk during debate in Westminster – Mail on Sunday

Shapps: If Ukraine falls, Taiwan would be next

“This is the existential test for the West. We said it was unacceptable for democratic Ukraine to be invaded by a larger autocratic neighbour. We pledged support, introduced sanctions and provided weapons and training. Our intelligence reveals that few pay greater attention than the administration in Beijing. Make no mistake: China and other authoritarian states want us to fail. Such countries show little regard for democracy or the rights of their own citizens. Their purpose is to change the world order to benefit their own totalitarian regimes. Yet the West doesn’t appear as unsettled as it should be. If we now fail to do everything that is required to ensure Putin loses, then we will suffer the consequences not only here in Europe, but in the Indo-Pacific and the wider world.” – Grant Shapps, Sunday Times

• North Korea’s arrival is no triumph for Putin in Ukraine – Sunday Times

News in brief

• The strike on Iran marks a dramatic change in Israel’s tactics – Fabian Hoffmann, The Spectator
• What will it be, Prime Minister, prosperity or decline? – Joseph Dinnage, CapX
• Trump’s vulgarity looks like authenticity – Christopher Caldwell, Unherd
• Don’t trust the Runnymede Trust – Peter Applebee, The Critic
• Black Brits are not ‘traumatised’ by the Chris Kaba case – Inaya Folarin Iman, Spiked Online