Editorial 26.11.24
Tuesday’s headlines report on a mix of domestic news and politics. Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a speech to business leaders yesterday in which she promised no more tax rises amid backlash over her October Budget. By 2026, the public can expect to endure more public spending cuts.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed he will not leave young people behind in his bid to get more people into work. The Premier League and other cultural and sporting institutions in Britain have joined the government scheme to get the jobless back into work or education.
Only a handful of front pages have any meaningful coverage of international news, with the capture of a British soldier by Russia covered on one and reports Israel and Lebanon are edging closer to a ceasefire on another.
Elsewhere, showbiz stories fill the rest of the space on the front page with the latest from Strictly Come Dancing, the upcoming Spoty Awards and Kate Moss.
The Premier League dominates the back pages with Liverpool’s Mo Salah suggesting he is closer to leaving the North England club than he is to staying as he has yet to be offered a new contract by the Reds.
‘Defiant chancellor says no more tax rises’
‘Chancellor tells businesses she won’t come back for more as she sees off business revolt,’ says the Mail.
The Daily Mail says that the chancellor told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference that she was “not going to have to come back for more” as she, according to the paper, attempted to head off a “growing business revolt over her £40 billion ‘tax-bomb’ Budget”. CBI chairman Rupert Soames said businesses had been treated as a “cash cow” to be “milked”.
‘Business leaders have turned on Reeves but the defiant chancellor says her budget is good for growth,’ says The Telegraph.
The Telegraph leads with the same story. The paper says business leaders have “turned” on Reeves as a “string of executives warn that Britain is becoming a less attractive place to invest under Labour.” During her address to the CBI conference, the chancellor said her October Budget was “good for jobs and good for growth,” the paper adds.
‘CBI boss said the measures make it harder for firms to hire new people,’ says The Independent.
The Independent reports that the CBI boss has said the chancellor’s measures will make it harder for firms to ‘take a chance’ on hiring new people. The paper says a CEO food giant has accused the chancellor of making Britain ‘uninvestable’.
‘Public services face another four years of tight budgets,’ the i says.
The i newspaper picks up on the chancellor’s pledge to not put taxes up again for the duration of this parliament, which will see public services face another four years of “tight budgets.”
‘Premier League joins govt scheme’
‘Starmer promises overhaul in plans to get people back to work,’ says The Times.
The Times reports the prime minister has said that Britain “simply isn’t working” and bosses must “get better at keeping the long-term sick in their jobs.’ Starmer has promised an “overhaul” of job centres and the NHS will get more staff sent to areas with the highest rates of “worklessness” under plans to deal with unemployment and a “growing sickness crisis.”
‘Premier League joins scheme to give teenagers skills training,’ says The Guardian.
The Guardian says teenagers will get skills training at the Premier League, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Channel Four as part of a government drive to get hundreds of thousands into jobs or education. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told the paper: “Almost 1 million young people are neither earning nor learning.”
‘Labour’s plan to get people back to work does not include crackdown on sickness benefits,’ says the Telegraph.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Labour is to unveil a plan to get people back to work, that does not include a “crackdown” on sickness benefits – another “blow to business” according to the paper.
‘PM pledges to make spiking a specific criminal offence,’ says the Metro.
The Metro leads on another pledge from the prime minister, this one regarding his promise to make spiking a specific criminal offence, so when it’s reported the police will “take cases more seriously.” The PM says venue staff would get training, with a pilot scheme starting before Christmas, followed by a UK roll-out from March, the paper notes.
