Budget 1) Reeves: Budget critics won’t beat me
“Rachel Reeves has insisted she will not be beaten by her critics as she prepares to raise taxes again in her second Budget. Ms Reeves said she would remain Chancellor for years to come, in a defiant message to a meeting of Labour MPs on Monday night. The Chancellor has faced speculation about how long she will last in the role after it became clear she will break her promise not to introduce more tax rises. She insisted she had “wiped the slate clean” after raising taxes by £40bn in last year’s Budget, but would now raise taxes again following weaker than expected economic growth and a series of policy about-turns. Ms Reeves told colleagues on Monday night: “I will show the media, I will show the Tories”. – Daily Telegraph
- Chancellor hits back at ‘misogynists’ and tells Labour MPs to unite – The Times
- Reeves urges Labour MPs to back her make-or-break budget – Guardian
- Chancellor begs Labour MPs for support – Daily Express
- Reeves faces huge revolt for hammering drivers with new 3p per mile tax – Daily Express
- Reeves to cut annual ISA limit to £12,000 – FT
- Milkshakes and lattes to be hit by sugar tax – The Times
Comment
Budget 2) Starmer and Lammy to avoid ‘mansion tax’ after Treasury softens rules
“Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy are poised to escape Labour’s mansion tax after the Treasury watered down plans to impose a surcharge on Britain’s most valuable homes. The Prime Minister and his deputy both own properties worth between £1.5m and £2m. It means they would be exempt if Rachel Reeves raised the threshold at which a new council tax surcharge would apply in her Budget on Wednesday. The Chancellor is expected to announce a levy on homes in Bands F, G and H as she tries to fill a £20bn black hole in the public finances.” – Daily Telegraph
- Uproar as Lammy cites disgraced sex-pest Cosby as his top role model – Daily Express
BBC in disarray over bias claims
“The BBC chairman has insisted he will not resign despite deep divisions in the broadcaster’s board being exposed at a public hearing before MPs. Samir Shah’s leadership came under intense scrutiny as a fellow director spoke of a “sharp difference of opinion” between board members about how the corporation should respond to The Telegraph’s revelations of bias at the corporation. The scandal centred around a Panorama documentary in which the BBC doctored a speech by Donald Trump. Mr Shah tried to explain an 11-month delay for addressing problems with the documentary by saying a “plausible case” had been put forward for splicing two different parts of Mr Trump’s speech together, even though he now admits it misled viewers.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment
Hollinrake’s Nazi badge ‘joke’ is incitement, says Farage
“Nigel Farage has accused the Conservative Party chairman of “inciting” violence after he appeared to compare a Reform UK logo to a Nazi emblem. Mr Farage suggested that Kevin Hollinrake had put members of Reform at risk just months after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in the US. The row erupted on Sunday after the chairman reposted a photo of a new Reform logo on social media site X, along with a link to a Wikipedia page about a Nazi badge. Reform accused Mr Hollinrake of branding all its supporters Nazis and urged Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, to condemn her chairman. But Mrs Badenoch appeared to brush off the row, claiming he was merely making a “joke”. – Daily Telegraph
- Farage slams top Tory for ‘threatening his safety’ – The Sun
- Farage: My teenage comments were banter, not racism – The Times
Comment
- Why ‘Henrys’ are turning their back on the Tories – Henry Hill, FT
>Today:
Streeting’s allies plot coronation after May elections
“Allies of Wes Streeting are calling for a coronation rather than a contest to install him as Labour leader, probably after the May elections. Ministers and senior MPs backing the health secretary warned against a lurch to the left and said privately that a rival candidate such as Angela Rayner would be too radical and would face greater pressure to call a snap general election. Although Streeting has said he is loyal to Sir Keir Starmer and criticised briefings in his name against the prime minister, some supporters are preparing for a leadership challenge which they think is likely to follow a tricky set of elections for Labour in May.” – The Times
Labour must halve waiting lists to meet pledge on NHS
“Labour must cut waiting lists by more than half to meet its key NHS pledge by the end of this parliament, a study has found. Sir Keir Starmer promised that, by the 2029 general election, 92 per cent of patients would be seen within 18 weeks of referral – a standard the NHS has not met since 2016. Now, the first analysis to put a figure on the challenge suggests that the NHS backlog would need to be cut to 3.4 million to achieve that goal. It has fallen by about 230,000 since Labour came into power but the new research shows it will need to be reduced by about one million each year on average over the next four years.” – Daily Telegraph
- Sunak urges Streeting to approve prostate cancer screening on NHS – Daily Telegraph
- More than 100 MPs press Streeting to approve prostate cancer screening – Guardian
- NHS centres to be built using private finance – FT
Comment
Two peers suspended from House of Lords for breaking lobbying rules
“Two long-serving peers are to be suspended from the House of Lords after a parliamentary watchdog ruled that they had broken lobbying rules. Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army, and David Evans, Lord Evans of Watford, were filmed breaking the rules in undercover footage recorded by the Guardian. Lord Dannatt is to be suspended for four months after he was found to have broken the rules, having offered to secure meetings with ministers for a potential commercial client who wanted to lobby the government. The Labour peer [Lord Evans] was caught offering to introduce undercover reporters – who were posing as property developers hoping to lobby the government – to fellow parliamentarians.” – Guardian
Ukraine peace plan
- Trump and Zelensky set for crunch talks on peace plan – Daily Telegraph
- US and Ukraine redraft peace plan but defer major decisions – FT
- Ukraine and US tear up peace proposal for new 19-point plan – The Times
Comment
>Yesterday:
Other political news
- Ministers back Heathrow third runway plan – FT
- Fears Mahmood’s asylum reforms could increase homelessness – The Times
- DWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandal – Guardian
- Union flag exhibition cancelled for fear of causing offence – Daily Telegraph
News in Brief
