Budget 2024 - live: Hunt and Starmer ‘in conspiracy of silence’ as Britain faces hardest five years since WWII
‘We could be in for a rude awakening’ after election, says head of top economic think tank
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Both the Conservatives and Labour are engaged in a “conspiracy of silence” about what will happen to the public finances after the election, the head of a leading economic think tank has said.
Responding to the spring Budget, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said both parties were not being straight about the “scale” of the trade-offs they will face after voters go to the polls.
“They, and we, could be in for a rude awakening when those choices become unavoidable,” he told a press conference on Thursday.
Mr Johnson also warned that the UK was facing its most difficult period financially since the Second World War.
“The combination of high debt interest payments and low forecast nominal growth means that the next parliament could well prove to be the most difficult of any in 80 years for a chancellor wanting to bring debt down,” he said.
Labour front bencher stirs pot over May election
A senior Labour MP has stirred the pot over speculation about a May election, posting a lighthearted meme on Twitter featuring popstar Justin Timberlake.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, shared an image of Justin Timberlake with the words ‘it’s gonna be May’ above a news report saying Rishi Sunak had refused to rule out a spring vote.
Mr Timberlake’s old band NSYNC released a song in 2000 called It’s Gonna Be Me.
The prime minister has previously said his “working assumption” is that he will go to the country in the second half of this year.
But he did not repeat that formulation when asked about a May vote on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2, as we reported earlier.
Instead, the Conservative leader said: “I’m not going to say anything about that. What matters is the choice at that election”.
Rishi Sunak’s ‘complacency’ on small boats is being exposed, claim Labour
Labour has urged Rishi Sunak to "get a grip" after Home Office figures showed the record start to the year for small boats crossing the English Channel has been extended, Archie Mitchell reports.
Some 225 individuals were confirmed to have crossed the Channel on Wednesday 6 March on five boats, taking the total for the year so far up to 3,208.
That exceeds the 3,150 that had arrived by the same point last year, and is almost 45 per cent more than the 2,212 that had arrived by 6 March 2022, which was the highest year on record for small boat arrivals.
Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said: "In January, Rishi Sunak and James Cleverly told us that small boat arrivals were down by a third, they said their plan was working, and they insisted that the reduction in crossings last year was nothing to do with the weather.
"All those claims now look utterly ridiculous, and even worse, their complacency has left our country dangerously exposed and ill-prepared for what continues to be a record start to the year for small boat crossings.
"Instead of ignoring what’s happening, the Prime Minister needs to start facing up to the seriousness of this situation and the reality of the chaos that is unfolding in the Channel.
"But if he is too weak to get a grip, he should call an election, so Labour can fix this mess. We will take urgent action to establish a new cross border police unit and a new security partnership with Europol to smash the smuggling gangs, and we will end the use of hotels by asylum-seekers through fast-track processing and returns."
Cameron to hold press conference with German counterpart
Lord David Cameron is set to hold a press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock this afternoon.
The foreign secretary will discuss with Ms Baerbock defence cooperation, the war in Ukraine and other security issues.
We’ll bring you the main updates from the press conference - you can also watch it live by following the link below.
The pair are also expected to discuss the war in Gaza and illegal migration.
Berlin is said to have become increasingly annoyed with the UK because prime minister Rishi Sunak won’t take time out of his schedule to make a personal visit.
And the two allies were embroiled in somewhat of a diplomatic spat earlier this week when it was reported that German military officials had accidentally leaked British military secrets while discussing the conflict in Ukraine.
Live: David Cameron and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock hold news conference
Watch live as David Cameron and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock hold news conference.Watch more on Independent TV: https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/edit...
No 10 declines to say if Donelan broke ministerial code
Downing Street has declined to say whether Michelle Donelan broke the ministerial code after she was forced to pay damages to an academic over comments she made on X.
Asked whether Rishi Sunak was confident the science secretary has not broken the ministerial code, the prime minister’s official spokeswoman reiterated that she “acted in line with established precedent”.
Asked whether it is acceptable for people to make false claims and wait for a several-months-long investigation to take place before retracting them, the spokesman said: “There was an independent investigation.
“And at the conclusion of that, the Secretary of State was clear that she fully accepted that the individual was not an extremist, a supporter of Hamas or any other prescribed organisation, and she therefore withdrew her concerns and deleted her original post.”
No 10 also declined to say whether Ms Donelan followed government advice in tweeting a letter in which she accused an academic of supporting Hamas.
The spokesman said: “I can’t obviously comment on specific legal advice. But as I say, and as the DSIT statement said, she received advice and was, in line with established precedent, provided legal support and representation.”
Badenoch delivers speech at Chatham House
Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has been delivering a speech at Chatham House, where she addressed the Global Trade Conference.
The conference brings together experts to discuss shifts in global trade, addressing everything from mitigating geopolitical risks to adapting to digital advancements.
Earlier, Ms Badenoch accused Labour of “believing Canada before the UK” as she faced calls to reveal the “truth” over the trade talks between the two nations.
The Business Secretary said Labour’s attempts to “chase headlines” based on things they have been told by the other side of the negotiations is “not helpful” to achieving the best outcome for businesses, farmers and others.
In January, Ms Badenoch said the talks on a free trade agreement with Canada had not “broken down” over disagreements on beef and cheese.
Later, the Canadian high commissioner, Ralph Goodale, told the Business and Trade Committee that since the pause was announced “there have been neither negotiations nor technical discussions with respect to any of the outstanding issues”.
Sunak appears at Q&A event near Rochdale
Rishi Sunak has been speaking to voters at an event near Rochdale after his party won the recent by-election in the Greater Manchester seat.
The prime minister appeared at a Q&A event at The Queens Hotel, a Wetherspoons pub in the former mining village of Maltby, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
UK facing most difficult period since WWII - IFS
Britain is facing its most difficult period financially since the Second World War, a leading think tank has said.
Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said: “The combination of high debt interest payments and low forecast nominal growth means that the next parliament could well prove to be the most difficult of any in 80 years for a chancellor wanting to bring debt down”.
Labour vows to end practice of taxpayers footing bill for ministers’ legal fees
Labour has vowed to stop the practice of taxpayers footing the bill for ministers’ legal fees after science secretary Michelle Donelan was forced to pay damages to an academic for a comment she made on X.
Sir Keir Starmer said taxpayers footing the bill for damages to an academic about whom Ms Donelan made a false claim was "totally insulting".
Speaking during a visit to a construction site in the City of London on Thursday, the Labour leader told broadcasters: "I think most people watching this will be aghast.
"The government is telling them every day that they can’t do any more to help them. People are really struggling to pay their bills, and the government says ‘We can’t afford to help you anymore’. People know that public services are crumbling.
"And then you’ve got a minister who says something she shouldn’t have said, then has to pick up a legal action and pay damages and costs, and then says ‘The taxpayer is going to pay for that’.
"Totally insulting. We need a change.
"I’ll tell you something else - if we’re privileged enough to come into power and have a Labour government, we will never allow that sort of thing to happen. That will be history."
Read more about what Ms Donelan said here:
Taxpayers forced to pay £15,000 after minister accused academic of supporting Hamas
A professor launched a libel action against the Science Secretary after she accused her of expressing sympathy for Hamas
Rishi Sunak refuses to rule out May general election
Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out a May election as speculation mounts that he is eyeing an early poll.
The prime minister has previously said his “working assumption” is that he will go to the country in the second half of this year.
But he did not repeat that formulation when asked about a May vote on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2.
Full report:
Rishi Sunak refuses to rule out May general election
PM has previously said his ‘working assumption’ is to go to the country in the second half of this year
Jeremy Hunt’s Budget failed to address ‘the real challenges’ facing UK, IFS warns
Jeremy Hunt failed to address “the real challenges we are facing” in Wednesday’s Budget because he was “not transparent about what those challenges are”, the IFS has said, Archie Mitchell reports.
Director Paul Johnson said there were “things to welcome” from the chancellor, including a focus on public sector productivity and a “sensible” shakeup of the non-dom tax loophole.
But he said: “This was not a budget which addressed the real challenges we are facing because it was not transparent about what those challenges are.”
The head of the influential think tank pointed to future spending cuts pencilled in as part of the Budget, adding: “One only has to look at the scale of NHS waiting lists, the number of local authorities at or near bankruptcy, the backlogs in the justice system, the long-term cuts to university funding, the struggles of the social care system, to wonder where these cuts will really, credibly come from.”
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