Newslinks for Wednesday 13th August 2025 | Conservative Home

Treasury plans inheritance tax grab – and Universal Credit claims at record high

“The Treasury is looking at ways to raise more money from inheritance tax amid growing pressure on the country’s finances ahead of the autumn budget, sources have told the Guardian. Officials have been tasked with examining whether tightening rules on the gifting of money and assets could be one way of addressing a gap between revenue and spending that is estimated to reach more than £40bn. Although no decisions have been taken, the government has been careful not to rule out tax rises later this year amid slowing economic growth, higher-than-hoped inflation and unemployment at a four-year high. Labour MPs have been pushing the idea of a wealth tax, but changes to inheritance tax (IHT) thresholds could be similarly controversial… Among the moves being considered are changes to how wealth or assets can be given away prior to death to reduce inheritance tax liabilities. This includes examining the possibility of a cap on lifetime gifting. At present, gifts made seven years before someone dies are not subject to IHT, while those given three to seven years before death are taxed on a sliding scale known as “taper relief”, with the rate reducing each year from 32% to 8%. A lifetime cap could be introduced to limit the amount of money or value of assets an individual can donate as part of their IHT planning and the Treasury is also reviewing rules around the taper rate, people familiar with the matter said.” – The Guardian

• Families face fresh inheritance tax grab – Daily Telegraph
• Treasury considers inheritance tax raid in budget – The Times
• Inheritance tax will apply on pension savings of those who die before retirement – The i
• ​​Universal credit claimants hit record high – The Independent
• One million more signed off work indefinitely since Labour took power – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• The British public will never forgive Labour’s latest cruel pension raid – Neil Record, Daily Telegraph
• Labour are no closer to ending rank unfairness of working people paying for the 8million on Universal Credit – The Sun Says
• Rumoured tax raid spooks another industry – Dia Chakravarty, Daily Telegraph

> Today: If it’s not hypocrisy that kills this Labour Government, numbers could just push them over the edge

Aarti Joshi: Labour’s taxes are making us all poorer

JD Vance meets Jenrick and Farage

“JD Vance is to meet Nigel Farage on Wednesday for breakfast in the Cotswolds as he mixes business with pleasure during his UK summer holiday. The US vice-president, his wife Usha and their three children spent the weekend with his friend David Lammy, the foreign secretary, at Chevening. The Times understands that on Monday, Vance enjoyed a barbecue with his friend James Orr, the Cambridge academic; Danny Kruger, the Tory MP; and Thomas Skinner, the former Apprentice contestant, with whom the American has bonded over social media. On Tuesday night, Vance held a one-hour, one-to-one meeting with Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary and former Tory leadership hopeful, a source said. This led to speculation that Vance had chosen to see Jenrick rather than Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader. Issuing a quick clarification, however, Taylor Van Kirk, Vance’s press secretary, said: “The vice-president met with a number of people during his trip to the United Kingdom. He specifically tried to see Kemi Badenoch, a friend of his, but a meeting was not possible due to their conflicting schedules. Any suggestion otherwise is false.” The Conservative Party said that Badenoch would speak to Vance this week, but that scheduling time for them to meet in person had proved difficult.” – The Times

• Vance to host Jenrick at Cotswolds manor house – but not Badenoch – Daily Telegraph
• UK and Europe warn Trump against handing over Ukraine land to Putin – The i
• Britain issues warning to Merz and Macron over Ukraine – Daily Telegraph
• Trump administration accuses UK of failing to uphold human rights – The Guardian
• Jeremy Clarkson leads Cotswolds backlash against JD Vance – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• The peak of the Zelensky era has passed – but remember this – Anne McElvoy, The i
• Take Nigel Farage seriously, because voters will – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

Ministers try to dodge blame as small-boat migrants reaching Britain since Labour came to power hits 50,000

“Ministers tried to dodge the blame yesterday after the number of small-boat migrants reaching Britain under Labour passed 50,000. Keir Starmer was slammed for ‘incompetence’ over the handling of the Channel crisis, with the soaring figure a clear indication of the lack of a plan since he axed the Tories’ Rwanda deportation scheme on his first day in power. Remarkably, former Labour home secretary Jacqui Smith blamed the Tories, claiming: ‘What is happening is the result of the last government.’ Yesterday, large groups of migrants were seen sprinting into the surf off Gravelines beach, between Calais and Dunkirk, to board a boat to Britain. At first light, as French police stood and watched and a navy boat patrolled nearby, scores waded into the water to clamber on to a taxi boat that appeared just off shore. Only a few of them wore life jackets for the perilous crossing. The Government’s ‘returns deal’ with France appears to have done little to deter those determined to get to Britain, with the latest total including more than 1,500 arrivals in the seven days since the ‘one in, one out’ scheme launched. Official figures revealed there were 474 arrivals on Monday alone, bringing the total since the general election on July 4 last year to 50,271, despite the Prime Minister’s promise to ‘smash the gangs’ behind the trafficking trade. The milestone was passed seven months earlier than under his Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak.” – Daily Mail

• Badenoch: I would cut migrant Channel crossings to zero – Daily Telegraph
• Illegal migrant LIVE STREAMS step by step channel crossing & boasts ‘my dream was to come here’ from 4 star asylum hotel – The Sun
• Channel migrants arriving at record speed under Keir Starmer – The Times
• Essex council asks High Court to stop hotel housing migrants – Sky News
• Richard Tice says migrants ‘leer and jeer’ at school gate mothers – The Times
• Six ways Starmer hopes to stop migrants crossing Channel – The Times

Comment:

• MPs must dial down the rhetoric on migrants – Alice Thomson, The Times
• Labour is incapable of fixing the migrant crisis – William Clouston, The Spectator

> Yesterday: James Crouch: Polling suggests the Conservatives should campaign on saving the ECHR from itself

News in brief:

• Is Nicola Sturgeon softening her stance on independence? – Iain Macwhirter, Unherd
• The immigration dam has burst – Rob Bates, The Critic
• It’s time to prune Britain’s overgrown regulations – Aphra Brandreth, CapX
• The migrant hotel protests are all about class – Megan McElroy, The Spectator