Rachel Reeves replaces Thatcher's Chancellor with COMMUNIST PARTY founder in latest woke Downing Street portrait revamp

Starmer reacts to Southport suspect terror charges as he sets out 'focus' of Government

Earlier, GB News reported on the PM's reaction to the Southport suspect's new charges.

Downing Street has denied any Government involvement in the timing of today's announcement about charges against the Southport attack suspect.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, has today been charged with attempting to make a bio-weapon using the deadly toxin Ricin, and as well as possessing an Al Qaeda terror manual under the Terrorism Act.

READ THE FULL STORY ON THE CHARGES HERE

Asked if there was any Government involvement in decisions on the timing, a No10 spokeswoman said: "No, charging decisions and when those are made are for the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service)."

She also said it was "not correct" to say the Government had been involved in withholding facts from the public.

The spokeswoman added: "Charging decisions are independently made by the CPS and I would point you to the CPS' statement and statements from the police."

But No10 added that Sir Keir Starmer's thoughts remain with the families of the Southport attack victims.

"The Government is focused on ensuring the families and all those affected receive justice, and first and foremost the Prime Minister's thoughts are with those families and the local community.

"His thoughts remain firmly with them," a statement said.

Yvette Cooper reacts to Southport suspect's further charges

Yvette Cooper has issued a statement in reaction to the news that Southport attack suspect Axel Rudakubana has been charged with two further offences.

The Home Secretary said: "These additional charges will undoubtedly be distressing for people in Southport.

"The most important thing is to get justice for Bebe, Alice and Elsie and their heartbroken families, and all those affected by the attack and nobody should put that at risk.

"The police and prosecutors have an important job to do in their investigation, pursuing every avenue and taking the action they need to ahead of the trial.

"We must support them and ensure that everything possible is done to deliver justice."

Reeves confirms ANOTHER part of Budget before official unveiling - leaving small businesses fearing the worst

Rachel Reeves has confirmed that the UK minimum wage will rise to £12.21 next year ahead of tomorrow's Budget - just a day after being berated by the Speaker for telling the media before Parliament.

From April 2025, the National Living Wage will rise by 6.7 per cent - which could represent up to a £1,400-valued annual pay increase for full-time workers.

Big brands have talked up the impending wage hikes - but smaller businesses have called on Labour to "significantly increase" business rates relief to prevent closures as fears rise that they won't be able to foot the bill.

Speaking to Sky News, founder of the Salon Employers Association Toby Vickers said the years of increasing VAT, employers' national insurance and the minimum wage have made his industry "unsustainable" - and the latest changes could be "the final nail in the coffin".

On the verge of tears, Vickers said: "It means that potentially people are going to lose their homes, and lose their apprenticeships and lose their opportunity to grow because you [the Government] haven't listened."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Burnham rebels on Labour's toxic bus fare hike as he commits to £2 cap

I can confirm that we plan to stick with a £2 cap on single bus fares for the whole of 2025.

More detail here.👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/NXgGoNPRKp

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) October 29, 2024

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has rebelled against Labour's controversial bus fare cap hike after the Prime Minister confirmed prices would rise to £3 in just months.

Sir Keir Starmer had announced - before the Budget - that his party would be raising the fare cap by 50 per cent on Monday as he claimed the money to keep fares at £2 would "run out" by the end of this year.

But now, Burnham has confirmed that Greater Manchester will be keeping its fares level.

Though he stopped short of mentioning the nationwide £3 hike, he said that his city would be capping bus fares at £2 "for the whole of 2025".

Jenrick slams Starmer for CAPITULATING on reparations demands as he hits out at 'malign' elites

Robert Jenrick has accused Sir Keir Starmer of "capitulating to those determined to tear our country down" over slavery reparations demands.

The Tory leadership candidate has said that ex-British colonies owe a "debt of gratitude" to their former rulers - and should be should be thankful for the legacy of the empire.

His remarks just days after Starmer headed on a round-the-world trip to Samoa to for this year's Commonwealth summit.

The talks had acknowledged calls for a discussion on reparations - while a communique following the summit "agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity."

Writing in the Mail, the MP for Newark said: "The malign idea that Britain's history is one of crime and shame is gaining currency in our national conversation.

"Our elites uniquely practise what philosopher Roger Scruton called 'the culture of repudiation': a rejection of our national story and our national institutions.

"To create the peaceful and united country we want, which immigrants can integrate into, we need a positive national identity. I'm not ashamed of our history.

"It may not feel like it, but many of our former colonies, amid the complex realities of Empire, owe us a debt of gratitude for the inheritance we left them."

Labour MP urges Britain to recognise Palestinian state

A Labour MP has called on the Government to recognise the state of Palestine as she criticised Israel's decision to effectively ban the Hamas-linked UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

In an urgent question, Yasmin Qureshi said her party's "statement of concern will do nothing to help the lives of innocent Palestinians who will be further devastated by this decision."

She added: "It is a reckless move and one that threatens to dismantle the backbone of the international humanitarian operation in Gaza, worsening an already catastrophic crisis.

"We've seen the decimation that has taken place, is there not the time now to fulfil part two of the Balfour agreement? We have the state of Israel, should we not have now the state of Palestine?”

Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds said: "I agree with her that we cannot see the undermining of UNRWA - it does have a specific role, of course, one that is longstanding and one that is provided within that clear framework that countries, of course, signed up to."

The agency has faced largely Israeli allegations that its employees have links to Hamas, including that staff had participated in the October 7 attacks.

Though the allegations have been widely disputed, under Rishi Sunak's leadership, the UK had suspended funding for the group in January alongside a number of Western partners including the US, Canada and Australia.

Then, just weeks after the General Election, Labour overturned the ban.

Conservatives say Hamas-linked aid group must 're-build trust' after October 7 allegations

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) must "re-build trust and confidence" after fears were raised over links to terror group Hamas, the Tories have argued.

Shadow Foreign Office minister Dame Harriet Baldwin said: "On these benches we want more aid to reach innocent civilians in Gaza, because the situation there is desperate.

"But we also recognise that UNRWA must re-build the trust and confidence that it lost following the deeply troubling allegations that staff were involved in the appalling October 7 attacks, and the outcome of the subsequent investigation.

"[French diplomat reviewing UNRWA] Catherine Colonna's reforms need to be implemented in full, because we also recognise that UNRWA has a good, indeed, often critical, distribution network."

Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds replied: "£1million of the support that we provided to UNRWA, indeed is dedicated to ensuring that those reforms are implemented."

While foreign affairs select committee chairwoman Emily Thornberry argued that "the recommendations are relatively prereferral, and that fundamentally UNRWA should and does deserve the trust of the international community."

Dodds replied: “We are very clear that the kind of change that we could see around the position on UNRWA recently cannot be linked to discussions around the Colonna report."

Labour REFUSES to rule out National Insurance contributions hikes ahead of tomorrow's Budget

Labour has refused to rule out whether it will raise National Insurance contributions on the eve of the Budget.

Treasury Minister James Murray told shadow counterpart Laura Trott that she would have to wait until Wednesday for confirmation, after she pointed to Labour's ruling-out of the tax rises during election campaigning.

Trott said: “During the election campaign I held a press conference where I outlined the glaring funding gaps in Labour's plans and the taxes they might raise to pay for them.

"One of these taxes was employer national insurance contributions. The now-Chief Secretary responded at the time, arguing that this was a list of things 'Labour isn't doing'. Can I ask the minister - Is it correct that raising national insurance employer contributions is something Labour isn't doing?”

Ealing North MP Murray said: "She will have to wait for the Budget tomorrow. She was a minister not that long ago, she might remember it still. The Budget is obviously the time where these announcements are made."

He added: "It’s crystal clear that we will protect working people by not increasing national insurance, income tax or VAT.

“I note the Conservatives suddenly have a newfound interest in the livelihoods of working people. It is, frankly, a shame they never prioritised this during their 14 years in office, during which time and again they made working people pay for their mistakes.”

SNP left humiliated after being denied a seat on the Scottish Affairs Committee

The Scottish National Party has not been given a seat on the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster in a fresh humiliation after taking just nine seats at the General Election this summer.

An official release from the British Parliament on Tuesday listed 10 MPs as having seats on the committee - none of which belonged to the SNP.

There is a one vacant seat available - which will be filled in due course.

But Scottish outlet The National said that due to the balance of the House of Commons, this may be the Tories' to assign.

Starmer dealt ANOTHER blow as popularity plummets to 'unprecedented' new low

A new poll has revealed Sir Keir Starmer has suffered the biggest fall in popularity for a newly-elected Prime Minister in modern history.

The survey by More in Common found the PM's approval rating has plummeted from a high of +11 in July to a staggering -38.

It comes the day before before Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil Labour's first budget in 14 years, with a cut to the earnings threshold at which employers pay national insurance and an increase in the rate of contributions expected to be announced.

Starmer's falling popularity takes him below predecessor Rishi Sunak’s rating of -37.

While Sir Tony Blair, who led Labour to a landslide win in 1997, had a popularity of +46 three months post-election.

It took three years before he dropped into negative figures.

While Boris Johnson, who started off at -20 despite winning the 2019 election, had turned his rating around to +3 by January - and then +14 by the following March.

The executive director of More in Common, Luke Tryl, said the collapse in Starmer's approval rating was "unprecedented" compared with his modern counterparts.

But Tryl said Britain's electorate had become more volatile over the past couple of decades, saying: "Although they had a landslide, in terms of popularity they didn't have the slack to spare that other new governments had."

Ex-Tory MP reprimanded for 'brazen and drunken' sexual misconduct

Parliament’s standards watchdog has reprimanded former Conservative MP AaronBell for "brazen and drunken" sexual misconduct.

A panel concluded the former MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, who stood down at the election in July, "abused his position of power" by touching a woman "on her left thigh, waist and bottom inappropriately and without her consent" while in one of Parliament’s bars in December 2023.

Had the 44-year-old still been an MP, the panel said it would have considered suspending him from Parliament "for a significant period."

Responding to the finding, Bell said: "I am disappointed at the outcome of the investigation but have chosen not to appeal the findings of the Commissioner.

"I apologise for any upset caused to the complainant and wish to make it clear that I did not intend to cause any distress.

"This investigation was one of the reasons I chose not to seek re-election at the general election - I have let down the loyal members of my association and thank them for the support they gave me as a Member of Parliament.

"I would also like to apologise to the people of Newcastle-under-Lyme, whom it was an honour to serve.

"This has been a difficult time for my family and I would ask that their privacy is respected at this time."

Jenrick says former British colonies owe 'debt of gratitude'

Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said Britain’s former colonies should be thankful for the legacy of empire, not demanding reparations.

The MP for Newark claimed that the debate about reparations had "seeped into our national debate through universities overrun by leftists peddling pseudo-Marxist gibberish to impressionable undergraduates."

He noted: "The territories colonised by our empire were not advanced democracies.

"Many had been cruel, slave-trading powers. Some had never been independent. The British empire broke the long chain of violent tyranny as we came to introduce, gradually and imperfectly, Christian values."

Expert warns freelancers could be hit over Labour's National Insurance hike

An expert has warned Rachel Reeves will break another Budget pledge by increasing taxes on 700,000 freelance workers through a hike on employers’ National Insurance.

It is estimated that the plans will cost the freelancers as much as £439 every year.

Reeves's National Insurance hike could raise £17billion each year when she unveils her Budget on Wednesday

Andy Chamberlain, of self-employment body IPSE, told The Telegraph: “It’s difficult to see how this wouldn’t breach Labour’s pledge not to raise taxes for ‘working people’.”

Gender pay gap reduces slightly, ONS says

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there was a gap of seven per cent gap between male and female earners in April 2024.

It said this declined from 7.5 per cent from 2023, meaning the overall gap has reduced by around a quarter over the past 10 years.

The data showed that men had full-time median earnings, excluding overtime, of £19.24 an hour, compared with £17.88 for women.

Streeting says new rules that ban UN relief from operating in Israel are a 'catastrophe'

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said new laws that ban the controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating in Israel are a "catastrophe for humanitarian relief".

Asked whether the Government is pushing Israel to reverse the decision, he told the BBC: "Of course we are, and so are many of our international allies. Look, this is a catastrophe for humanitarian relief."

Pushed on what steps Labour will take, he said: "In terms of next steps, of course we’ll be consulting with our partners, with our allies in the region and elsewhere in the world, to look at what we can do, both to bring pressure to bear on Israel to do the right thing, and to take steps collectively to get as much humanitarian aid and assistance to the Palestinian people as we possibly can against the backdrop of the decision that Israel has taken.

"In terms of specific steps and measures the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary will be taking, it is for them to announce, not for me."

Streeting: Private schools have the 'means' to deal with controversial VAT regulation

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said that private schools have the means to deal with Labour's upcoming VAT raid.

In response to concerns about how raising tax on private schools will affect their provision to pupils with special educational needs, Streeting told LBC: "Children with statements of special educational needs and disabilities will be exempt.”

When asked how this will work for children without said statements, Streeting said independent schools have the means to deal with those situations.

He said: "Firstly, I’d say the statement is available to children and young people and their parents in that situation.

"I’d also say to independent schools, they have the means. They have hyped up their fees with inflation-busting increases for well over a decade and I’m sure they can take steps to mitigate against children being forced to drop out."

Chancellor admits tax rises in tomorrow's budget will not be the last

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted that the money she will give the NHS on Wednesday will not be enough to fix it, prompting suggestions of tax rises.

Rachel Reeves is set to launch a £35billion tax raid by raising National Insurance contributions for employers and increasing capital gains tax, in part to fund new NHS technology and hospital rebuilding programmes.

However, she said billions more for the NHS in the Budget would not undo what she called "14 years of damage" to the health service under the Conservatives - raising the prospect of further rises in years to come.

Abortion clinic safe zones blasted as 'Orwellian' as protesters barred from making voices heard

Buffer zones outside abortion clinics which prevent protests outside have been blasted as "Orwellian" by campaigners.

The new rules will come into effect from Thursday, and will cover 150-metre radii outside clinics in which it is expected that any act which obstructs or harasses clinic users or staff will be deemed an offence.

A Labour MP has said the zones represent a balance between religious freedom and women's right to privacy - but pro-life campaigners have torn into the new rules.

Labour's Stella Creasy said the enactment of the zones this week is "long overdue" as she rejected claims from anti-abortion campaigners that the inclusion of silent prayer in the banned types of protest encroached on their right to religious freedom.

She said: "They (anti-abortion campaigners) have had a democratic moment. Parliament has debated, discussed, and ultimately voted on the very principles that they claim are being denied.

"There could not be a more democratic embodiment of what has happened, which is people have disagreed with them that they have a right to pray wherever they want, and said, ‘well actually, women have a right to privacy, and that privacy means that if you’re going to pray for women having abortions, you need to do it 150 metres away’.

"Nobody’s banning silent prayer, they’re just saying it’s not appropriate here."

But the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Spuc) said a ban on silent prayer in the zones is a “chilling and Orwellian measure” to “shut down legitimate peaceful vigils and control religious activity including silent prayer”.

Michael Robinson, Spuc’s executive director, has warned the group could seek legal action - as he accused the state of “trying to police silent prayer and thought”.

Streeting tells GB News the NHS is 'not just on its knees, it’s on its face'

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told GB News the NHS is "not just on its knees, it’s on its face" and that though the Chancellor is prioritising the health service, a single Budget will not turn it around.

He said: "There’s no beating about the bush about it - whether it’s the size of the waiting list, the fact that people can’t guarantee an ambulance turns up on time, the struggle to get a GP appointment or a dentist, the waits in A&E... The NHS is not just on its knees, it’s on its face.

"I think people are realistic. They know that we’re not going to turn the NHS around in just a few months or in a single budget. It’s going to take time and that’s why the Chancellor is prioritising the NHS in her Budget."