Budget 1) Reeves plans to raise income tax in upcoming budget
“Rachel Reeves has told the budget watchdog that she plans to increase income tax as she seeks to repair the public finances. The chancellor has informed the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that a rise in personal taxation is one of the “major measures” on tax and spending that she is preparing to announce later this month. While Reeves could still pull back from the planned tax rise, its inclusion in the government’s official submission to the OBR is the clearest signal yet that the chancellor is preparing to break Labour’s manifesto pledge not to increase income tax rates.” – The Times
- Reeves ‘has told budget watchdog she wants to raise income tax’ – Daily Telegraph
- Chancellor plans less dramatic cut to ISA allowance – FT
- MPs urge Reeves to raise gambling taxes despite ‘scaremongering’ from firms – Guardian
- Close Starmer ally appointed as Reeves’s chief of staff – Guardian
- Labour fourth in new poll and set for worst election in a century – Daily Telegraph
- Labour MPs revive ‘desperately needed’ soft left group to take on Reform – Guardian
- Disunited kingdom – Daily Mail
Comment
- Reeves still has time to make much better choices before she finalises her Budget – Editorial, The Sun
Budget 2) Powell says Labour must stand by promise not to raise key taxes
“Labour should stand by its manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, its deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has said in a challenge that will put pressure on Rachel Reeves. With the Treasury examining whether to raise income tax to plug a £30bn fiscal hole, Powell said it was “really important we stand by the promises we were elected on and do what we said we would do”. She said: “Trust in politics is a key part of that because if we’re to take the country with us then they’ve got to trust us and that’s really important too. We should be following through on our manifesto, of course. There’s no question about that.” – Guardian
- Deputy insists Labour must keep its promises on tax – FT
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Pressure on Lammy over 90 violent criminals released by mistake
“Ninety violent or sex offenders have been mistakenly released from prison in the last year, The Telegraph can reveal. The accidental releases of the violent criminals and sex offenders is the highest number on record, and eight times the figure in the previous year, when just 11 were freed by mistake. The disclosure will pile fresh pressure on David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, who on Thursday, insisted he stonewalled MPs over prisoner release bungles because he “didn’t have all the facts”. He also admitted there was “a mountain to climb” before the prisons crisis is resolved.” – Daily Telegraph
- ‘Cowardly’ Lammy accused of ‘rank incompetence’ over prisoner debacle – The Times
- Lammy says he was right not to discuss mistakenly freed prisoner at PMQs – Guardian
- And Lammy says he was not ‘equipped with the details’ – Guardian
- Government recovers £74m from asylum hotel firms – BBC News
- Lammy under scrutiny – FT
- It’s time to stop digging Lammy – Daily Mail
BBC 1) Johnson says Davie must explain dossier or resign
“Boris Johnson has led calls for Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, to “explain or resign” over the bias scandal engulfing the broadcaster. MPs said it was time for Mr Davie to “come out of hiding” after a week of disclosures by The Telegraph of one-sided reporting over Gaza, censorship of the trans debate and even doctoring of a speech by Donald Trump. Mr Johnson, the former prime minister, said the BBC “has been caught red-handed in multiple acts of Left-wing bias” and Mr Davie must now come clean. The Telegraph has published the full text of a leaked 8,000-word letter sent to members of the BBC board by Michael Prescott, a former standards adviser, who wrote of his “despair at inaction by the BBC executive” over widespread evidence of bias.” – Daily Telegraph
- Johnson explodes as he rages over BBC’s ‘left-wing bias’ – Daily Express
Comment
BBC 2) Newsreader rebuked for correcting ‘pregnant people’ to ‘women’
“A newsreader who went viral after she made a face while changing the word “pregnant people” to “women” during a live broadcast has been found to have broken BBC impartiality rules. Martine Croxall made the expression as she changed her script in an introduction to an interview with an assistant professor about groups most at risk during UK heatwaves. Croxall won a legion of fans following the live broadcast, including author JK Rowling. The broadcaster’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU), however, considered her facial expression expressed a “controversial view about trans people”. – Daily Telegraph
Tory leader 1) Badenoch to relaunch exclusive ‘advisory board’ for high-value donors
“Kemi Badenoch is relaunching the Conservative party’s “advisory board” for high-value donors in a different guise, the Guardian has learned. The Tory leader has drawn up plans to reinstate the exclusive group, which provided top donors with regular direct access to senior ministers, according to two people briefed on the plans. In 2021, the Conservative party’s advisory board found itself at the centre of a “cash for access” storm after it emerged that its members had regular meetings and calls with Boris Johnson, the prime minister at the time, and Rishi Sunak, the then chancellor.” – Guardian
Tory leader 2) Badenoch accused of ‘interfering’ in lobbying scandal linked to Cameron
“Lex Greensill has accused Kemi Badenoch of “interfering” in an insolvency case “for political ends” as the last Conservative government sought to protect David Cameron from scrutiny for his involvement in a lobbying scandal. The financier, whose companies paid Cameron millions of pounds, claimed that the current Tory leader used her former ministerial position as business secretary to restructure an inquiry into his activities. Greensill alleged that the move was made to protect Cameron as he was elevated to the House of Lords in November 2023 and brought back into government as the foreign secretary. The allegations were made in a letter sent to the current business secretary, Peter Kyle, as Greensill contests the possibility of being disqualified from company directorships for up to 15 years.” – Guardian
Phillipson’s reforms ‘the death blow to learning languages’
“Ministers have been accused of a “reckless weakening” of school assessment criteria that would result in children abandoning academic subjects such as history, geography and languages at GCSE. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has overruled a recommendation from the head of the government’s curriculum review not to change existing performance measures, known as Progress 8, for secondary schools. Instead, the government intends to reform the assessment criteria while scrapping a requirement for pupils to study a set number of academically rigorous subjects known as Ebaccs.” – The Times
