UK weather today: Cloud and patchy rain clearing southern counties of England and Wales this morning. Then a fine day for all, with plenty of sunny spells. A few showers possible, mainly towards the north and east. Feeling colder than
Editorial 10.10.24
Thursday’s front pages lead on domestic politics, with a number of publications reporting on the shock exit of James Cleverly from the Conservative Party leadership race. Cleverly had been a clear favourite for much of the contest – which is now down to Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick.
Elsewhere, an estimate by the IFS that taxes will need to rise by up to £25bn in the budget if Labour is to meet its pledge to protect public spending.
The Metro reports the “shock” result will see “Tory fight veers to the right” as “favourite” James Cleverly is knocked out in a “surprise twist.” The paper says the next leader will be between “hardliners” Bandenoch and Jenrick.
The Times describes it as a “new twist” as Cleverly’s support collapsed “amid claims of a botched attempt to influence the final run-off.”
The Telegraph offers up five possible reasons for Cleverly’s elimination from the contest. The paper says by far the most complex of these involves supporters of Jenrick backing Cleverly in previous rounds, luring his team into a false sense of security.
The paper’s lead column says the Tories “never cease to surprise” when it comes to selecting a leader. The paper points out that neither Jenrick nor Badenoch have the backing of the majority of Tory MPs – something that “may yet prove problematic.”
The Guardian says the loss of Cleverly means the party’s next leader will be “from the populist right.” It adds that Cleverly’s elimination shocked the Tories – and left Labour and Lib Dems “delighted.”
The i says Kemi Badenoch is back on course to become Tory leader.
“Centre-ground favourite” Cleverly’s elimination means the leadership is now at the mercy of the hard right, writes The Independent.
The Times says the IFS has “calculated the cost of avoiding austerity” – taxes will need to rise by up to £25bn in the budget for Labour to meet its pledge to protect public spending – meaning taxes will rise by twice as much as George Orbourne’s budget in 2010, even if rules on borrowing are loosened.
The Telegraph says the £25bn gap has been partly driven by a bigger-than-forecast increase in population of about £1bn. The chancellor’s decision to give public sector workers higher-than-inflation pay deals also helped fuel the gap.
The FT reports on the PM’s refusal in the Commons to rule out putting up employers’ national insurance, which could involve levying NI on employer pension contributions.
The Guardian reports that Treasury officials are examining the move which could raise up to £17bn annually, while a pensions specialist at the consultants PWC tells the paper there could be implications for employee salary sacrifice schemes.
The Mail says there is fury among business leaders about “Labour’s revolution for workers” – also known as the Employment Rights Bill – which will be introduced on Thursday.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner writes in the Mirror that the reforms are “personal” for her and show the government is delivering for working people.
The Daily Express continues its coverage of the winter fuel payment – saying that some pensioners who are losing their fuel payments are among more than 100,000 people who have been dragged into paying income tax because of frozen thresholds. The campaign group Silver Voices urges Labour to adopt a Tory proposal for an age-related tax allowance.
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Although the government is telling everyone the economy is on the mend, the reality is the economy is still on the verge of a double dip recession.
The inflation figures don’t show the real picture. Yes, inflation has stopped rising as much as it did, but the metrics they share is a decline rate not a drop. To understand this imagine the economy as a plane, it would still be falling, just not as fast as it was before, but it’s still on its way down.
The reason for that is FTSE companies from insurance to netflix subscriptions has increased its price, in some cases without any real justification, yet wages for the average joe have not increased.
The interest rates are still higher than they should be, and they will have you believe you that it is inversely linked to inflation. But the government could have maintained a price freeze for everyday services. But boosting profits for corporates is costing the average taxpayer more.
It is true, big companies have a stranglehold around the government policies; not just with lobby groups, but as we saw with Liz Truss, by having the power to tank the stock market. This power comes from the amount of American companies that have taken over British companies; because they don’t really care about the Brits, they are just focussed on their bottom line.
With Christmas around the corner, they will need to be some changes, and the government will have to bring that ‘feel good factor’ back in the market to boost spending and confidence, in order to avoid this being labelled as the ‘winter of discontent 2′.
No winter fuel payments, fuel bills rising by £150 per household (today), higher credit cards payments and mortgages equals parents with no money for presents. This will make this winter, not only, one of the coldest but also a thrifty one.
Earlier this morning Israel launched its invasion of Lebanon, despite the calls and protests from world leaders. Netanyahu is determined to push forward his agenda for creating a greater Israel and gain more land.
Despite the conflicts with Starmer on the issue, this provides a political opportunity that politicians will exploit. First and foremost it will take the limelight away from domestic policies. So politicians will use every soundbite to talk about the issue.
Additionally, politicians will use this opportunity to drive home the cuts at home. Although they are determined not to use words like ‘austerity’ – Labour will be making big spending cuts starting with winter fuel payments.
On the surface this may seem like a natural appointment, but once you dig deeper you see the problem. Labour has appointed oil baron Rachel Kyte as the lead UK’s return to high-level environmental diplomacy.
Until this year, she worked with Hedge fund (which has £1.2 Billion) invested in oil and fossil fuels and arms. And there’s more her company, through their foundation paid a £4 Million donation to the Labour party just before the election.
Furthermore Starmer has been accused to Rosie Duffield, MP for Canterbury, said she claimed Starmer had “a woman problem”, claiming that Downing Street was run by a male clique. “It’s clear the lads are in charge,”.
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