Rachel Reeves is set to tear up Britain's debt rules in a bid to reassure nervous investors that she will not go on a borrowing binge.
The Chancellor confirmed she will change the debt target allowing her to borrow up to £50billion more to invest, and that she will set a fixed date to get debt down as a share of the economy.
In a change from the previous Government's debt rules, the Chancellor said her fiscal rules would ensure that debt fell "during the course of this parliament."
Speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings in Washington, Reeves said: "Debt as a share of our economy today is very high and we spend a very large chunk of taxpayers’ money every year servicing that debt. So it is important to get that debt on a downward trajectory, and we will do that during the course of this parliament.
"It is important to do that in the course of the parliament, because otherwise...it’s always in the future, and it never actually gets met. So the previous Government always had a plan to reduce it, but it never actually happened."
Reeves also sought to tell investors that she will not embark on a borrowing binge as she seeks to fund a series of infrastructure investments.
She added: "I think it is really important to be clear about what this investment is for. It’s not to pay for day-to-day spending. It’s not to pay for tax giveaways. It’s to invest in things to get a long-term return for our country and for taxpayers."
However, she vowed to plough on with a plan to borrow to invest, adding that it was important to "free up the money...to invest in things or get a return for taxpayers. Our growth performance has been very poor."
UK should 'reject' claims of reparations, says Jenrick
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said the UK should “unequivocally reject” claims of reparations.
He told a press conference: "While the topic of overseas aid and reparations is being discussed, let me confront it head on.
"We must unequivocally reject these claims, they are based on false and misleading narratives about our past, after all it was Britain that worked harder than nearly any other country to eradicate the slave trade."
Jenrick says leadership contest is 'not over yet' despite lagging in polls
Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick delivers a speech at Henry Jackson Society, Millbank Tower
PA
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said the contest is “absolutely not” over after a survey by ConservativeHome suggested he was trailing Kemi Badenoch by 31 per cent to 55 per cent
Asked whether the contest was all over, the Newark MP said: "Absolutely not – this is neck and neck, that’s a survey not a poll."
He claimed that previous polls had shown the contest to be "neck and neck", adding: "There’s everything to fight for, and I’m certainly going off around the country as I have throughout the summer.
"And I think my message is resonating with members and with the public that we need to learn our lessons, we need to have strong and clear policies now, not the vague promise of one tomorrow, unite the party and take the fight to Labour as quickly as possible."
Lord Blunkett warns Reeves’s pensions tax raid ‘will erode living standards’
Labour grandee and former Home Secretary Lord Blunkett has warned that imposing national insurance on employers’ pension contributions risks damaging people’s standard of living in their retirement.
Blunkett told The TImes: "The widespread reporting of a possible extension of employers’ national insurance in next week’s budget is very worrying. It is one thing to increase the rate of national insurance, and quite another to levy this on employer pension contributions.
"As the former work and pensions secretary who signed off, with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, pensions auto-enrolment — which recognised the genuine crisis, for generations to come, in maintaining living standards in retirement — I would advise strongly against this."
No 10 climbs down on PM’s claim stocks and shares owners not ‘working people’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a bilateral meeting with the President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali
PA
Sir Keir Starmer does not think all owners of stocks and shares fall outside his definition of “working people”, Downing Street has signalled.
The Prime Minister had suggested asset owners would not fall within his conception of what a working person is. The Government has been asked repeatedly to define this term, in a bid establish which taxes may rise in the Budget.
Labour’s manifesto said the party would not increase taxes on working people, including VAT, national insurance, and income tax.
During a broadcast interview at a Commonwealth summit in Samoa, Sir Keir told Sky News that he does not consider people who have an income from assets such as shares of property to be working people.
“They wouldn’t come within my definition,” he said.
Badenoch retains lead over Jenrick in new poll
Kemi Badenoch remains the member's favourite to succeed Rishi Sunak as the new Conservative leader according to a new poll.
According to ConservativeHome, Badenoch is still in the lead with 55 per cent of members saying she should be the new Tory Party leader, with Jenrick behind on 31 per cent and "don't know" on 14 per cent.
With Badenoch, MP for Saffron Walden and Jenrick, MP for Newark, the last two standing, the party membership will now cast their votes; this is scheduled to close on October 31. The winner of this vote will be announced on November 2.
EXCLUSIVE - Tory councillor sparks fury after slamming Labour for 'not consulting trans and non-binary communities' on public toilets
Pitt Ford has urged the Labour-run council "to consult non-cisgendered people going forwards"WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCILA London councillor has been accused of stirring up "divisive nonsense" after criticising his Labour-run council for not consulting "trans and non-binary communities" on some new public toilets.
The new loos - part of Westminster City Council's modernisation scheme to freshen up the existing facilities - are set to be split into men's and women's toilets, and have large signs denoting as such.
MPs tell Sir Keir Starmer that considering reparations for slavery is the 'right thing to do'
Considering reparations for slavery is the "right thing to do" according to black Labour MPs.
It comes as the issue could be included in a document due to be signed off at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this week, the UK has conceded despite opposition from the Prime Minister.
Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler told the Commons: "I understand that the Prime Minister has said that we have to look to the future, and he's dealing with 14 years of corruption and mismanagement by Conservative government, but we do have to consider reparations because it's the right thing to do."
Battersea MP Marsha de Cordova said Butler was making a “vital point” with regard to reparations, adding: "It’s so important that we do open and have that discussion about reparations because like her, or myself, we are descendants of those that were enslaved."
Home Office launches new charter in ‘crackdown’ on insurance fraud
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
PA
The Home Office has announced a new charter with the insurance sector to “crack down” on fraud. The department said the voluntary agreement would target fraudsters “seeking to manipulate the insurance market with bogus claims and duping innocent people into buying fake insurance policies”.
It added that the charter includes pledges to “identify and address loopholes, enhance collaboration and improve victim support”.
The Home Office said the charter covers the “vast majority of the insurance sector”, ranging from “general insurance firms to underwriters”.
It comes as fraudulent insurance claims detected by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) topped £1.1billion in 2023, a 16 per cent increase in the number of detected claims compared to the previous year.
You may like
