UK politics live: Fresh blow for Reeves as borrowing rises to £10.7bn ahead of spring statement
In her spring statement next week, the chancellor is expected to try blaming the drop on worsening global economics amid Donald Trump’s tariffs
In another setback for Rachel Reeves, UK Government borrowing soared above forecasts last month as public sector spending rose, putting pressure ahead of the spring statement next week.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing was £10.7 billion in February.
This was £100 million more than the same month last year and the fourth-highest February on record.
The UK’s official economic growth forecast for the year is also reportedly set to halve in a blow for a Labour government that has pledged to prioritise growth.
The expected growth rate for the 2025 financial year, from April to March 2026, will be downgraded by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) next week, The Telegraph reported, reducing from 2 per cent to around 1 per cent.
In her spring statement next week, Rachel Reeves is expected to try blaming the drop on worsening global economics amid Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The chancellor is also set to announce the biggest cuts since the George Osborne era on Wednesday, forcing Labour to reject claims the government is returning to a policy of austerity, days after the party slashed the welfare bill by around £5 billion.
MP suggests Lammy 'unshackle his own chains' and cease arms licences to Israel
Independent MP Shockat Adam referred to David Lammy’s family links to slavery before suggesting he could “unshackle his own chains” and ensure the UK ceases all arms licences to Israel.
The MP for Leicester South told the Commons: “I, along with a billion Muslims around the world, began my (Ramadan) fast on Tuesday morning not with just some food and water but with the screams of 400 innocent men, women and children ringing in our ears as they were burnt alive in their makeshift tents.”
Mr Adam criticised Israel for its actions in Gaza and the West Bank before accusing the UK of providing “military support and our airbases in Cyprus”.
He went on: “Can I ask the minister – and take this as it’s sincerely meant, the minister has passionately spoken about his heritage and his ancestors who were shackled in the chains of slavery – to unshackle his own chains and to immediately cease all arms licences and, despite the £6.1 billion economic ties, to impose economic sanctions and put in place a viable process of recognising the state of Palestine?”
Mr Lammy replied: “(Mr Adam) brings powerful rhetoric to this House this afternoon but let me say to him that notwithstanding the horrors of the conflict that has begun, we are three days into that conflict and it’s my job to use all endeavours I can to get back to that ceasefire.”
Labour denies returning to era of austerity
A Labour Treasury minister has rejected claims that the government is returning to a Conservative-style police of austerity, ahead of Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement.
Reports in The Guardian have suggested the chancellor will unveil the biggest set of cuts since George Osborne’s era, with certain Whitehall departments facing a seven per cent cut.
In a Q&A at the Institute for Government thinktank, asked about this claim, Jones replied: “Just factually, it would be incorrect to say that we are doing what the Conservatives did after 2010.
“The numbers will be published next Wednesday, but as you saw at the budget last year, we are increasing public spending, and we’ve increased it quite a lot.
“The fact is that we’ve got to do this modernisation and reform agenda. But we’re not, factually, taking an approach that is just blindly cutting spending because we think we should just reduce spending without a plan for how to get there. So I wouldn’t recognise that kind of definition of what’s taking place.”
Labour’s welfare ‘reforms’ are nothing of the sort – and they don’t go anywhere near far enough
When I resigned from David Cameron’s government as the secretary of state for work and pensions in 2016, welfare stood at £61.6bn. By the end of this parliament, it is projected to be £108.7bn. Sickness benefit alone, which was £19bn back then, is set to rise to £32bn. So it is with disability benefit, which is set to rise from £11bn to some £31bn. To govern is to choose. Against the backdrop of an increasingly unsafe world, the need to invest significantly more in defence, and a flatlining economy, further reform of welfare is a necessity.
The pandemic response has hit the welfare budget hard. The rise in sickness benefit claims poses a challenge to the government, particularly because some 60 per cent of claims since Covid are from mental health issues. The majority of these are for depression and anxiety. The health department has declared that the best treatment for depression and anxiety is going back to work.
That is why, as sickness benefit moves into universal credit, the possibility of large-scale reform opens up for the government.
Read the full opinion article here from Iain Duncan-Smith:
Iain Duncan Smith: Labour’s welfare ‘reforms’ are nothing of the sort
Welfare system overhaul does not amount to cuts, insists Scottish Labour leader
Anas Sarwar has denied that Labour’s decision to slash £5 billion a year from the welfare budget amounts to cuts.
The Scottish Labour leader rejected claims – including from within his own front bench – that the benefits system overhaul amounts to austerity because overall spending on welfare is still set to increase.
He said it is right that the UK Government focuses on encouraging more people into work and he criticised the Scottish Government for an “inefficient” benefits system north of the border which he said had wasted tens of millions of pounds.
UK Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced on Tuesday £5 billion worth of proposed welfare changes, largely stemming from a big reduction in support for those off work due to disability and ill health.
Around a million people are expected to lose their disability benefits as part of the welfare overhaul, experts believe.
Speaking to reporters at Holyrood, Mr Sarwar denied the move amounts to cuts, and he said it will not come into effect this year.
Told the UK Government is cutting the welfare budget by £5 billion, he said: “No, you’re wrong actually because currently welfare spending across the UK is £50 billion, and the new proposals will mean it’s projected to be £64 billion.”
Starmer says EU's increase in defence spending gives opportunity for joint work
Sir Keir Starmer has said there was scope for greater co-operation with the European Union after Brussels’ plans to increase defence spending would block the money being used to buy from UK arms firms.
The Prime Minister told Sky News: “I’m very pleased that the EU is signalling their intent to spend so much on defence.
“I’ve been making the argument, as others have, that all of us in Europe need to step up, not just in relation to Ukraine, but more generally, in our own collective self-defence.
“That does mean more spend, more capability, more co-ordination, and I want to have those discussions with our European allies. We’re continuing those discussions with them, because I do think the scope for more joint work is here.”
Coalition of the willing 'working at pace' to reach plans for peacekeeping force
Sir Keir Starmer said members of the so-called coalition of the willing were “working at pace” to develop plans for a peacekeeping force if there is a deal to end the Ukraine war.
The Prime Minister said the political momentum was being turned into “military planning” with a meeting of defence chiefs on Thursday.
He told Sky News the “timetable now is coming into focus” following talks between the US and Russia.
Sir Keir said: “That’s why it’s important today that we’re turning the political momentum that we had on the weekend, in the meeting that I convened of nearly 30 political leaders, turning it today from the political concept into military plans.
“So, that’s what’s happening and today those plans are focusing on keeping the skies safe, the seas safe, and the borders safe and secure in Ukraine and working with Ukrainians.
“Now, we’re working at pace, because we don’t know if there’ll be a deal – I certainly hope there will be – but if there’s a deal, it’s really important that we’re able to react straight away.”
Demonstrators disrupt House of Lords to demand abolition of unelected chamber
Protesters have disrupted proceedings in the House of Lords demanding the abolition of the unelected chamber.
A group of around half a dozen people in the public gallery threw leaflets, shouted and sang during the demonstration at noon on Thursday.
The House was adjourned for a short time as the demonstrators were escorted out.
Protester Lucy Porter, 50, a primary school teacher from Leeds, said she was “campaigning for a house of the people”.
On the Lords, she said: “It’s a symbol of everything that’s outdated.
“We don’t have a functioning democracy in this country.”
The leaflets, apparently modelled on an album by the Sex Pistols punk band, had written on them: “Never mind the Lords here’s the House of People.”
On the other side it stated: “Aristocrats and oligarchs: Out.
“Posties, mums, nurses and neighbours: In.
“Replace the House of Lords to save the UK.”
Watch: Protesters disrupt House of Lords demanding unelected chamber be abolished
Half of Reform UK voters don’t believe in the Covid vaccine, poll shows
Half of Reform UK voters have little or no confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, compared with the general public who overwhelmingly trust the jabs, a YouGov poll has found.
Those who back Nigel Farage’s party have a “distinct” attitude towards the vaccines, with 50 per cent saying they do not trust them.
That compares to 71 per cent of the public who said they trust the Covid jab a great deal or a fair amount, and just 24 per cent of voters who said they do not trust it much or at all. Reform voters are also significantly more likely to not have been vaccinated against Covid during the pandemic, the poll found.
Read the full article here:
Half of Reform UK voters don’t believe in the Covid vaccine, poll shows
UK must increase size of army to reverse 'irresponsible' cuts under Tories
The UK must increase the size of the army if it is serious about building the so-called coalition of the willing, the Liberal Democrats have said.
As Sir Keir Starmer is set to meet senior military leaders to discuss the operational phase of a Ukraine peacekeeping force, Helen Maguire, Lib Dem defence spokeswoman, said: “If Starmer is serious about building a coalition of the willing for Ukraine, he needs to give the British military more of the troops it needs to credibly support a reassurance force.
“As military chiefs meet in London today, the Lib Dems are urging the Prime Minister to now commit to reversing the Conservatives’ staggeringly irresponsible 10,000 troop cuts to the Army. That they allowed these reckless cuts to take place while there was a war raging on our continent is shameful.
“Reversing these cuts will send a clear message to both our allies and the dictator, Putin: that the UK is ready to step up and help guarantee a just peace for Ukraine, if one can be agreed.”
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