UK politics live: Jenrick attacks Badenoch ‘drama’ and denies reaching Tory leadership ballot by mistake
Robert Jenrick denies Tory MPs accidentally backed him for final two
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Robert Jenrick has rejected suggestions that Tory MPs mistakenly backed him for the final two in the leadership race, following speculation about internal “horse trading”.
Speaking after a speech today, Mr Jenrick was asked directly whether he could have made the final two by mistake. He admitted that there is always some manoeuvring but was confident that MPs ultimately chose him based on his leadership credentials.
In his speech at the Policy Exchange think tank, he threw a thinly-veiled criticism at fellow contender Kemi Badenoch, suggesting the shadow secretary is an unserious candidate.
He told supporters that the choices in the election are framed around his “serious plan” versus “not needless drama”, which was an apparent attack at his rival.
The former immigration minister also promised to bring back the government’s Rwanda deportation plan.
Meanwhile, as the Labour government unveils its Employment Rights Bill, the party denied claims that the proposed reforms could jeopardise jobs.
However, unions criticised the proposed legislation claiming it fails to fully protect workers. Unite boss Sharon Graham said the reform would leave “more holes than Swiss cheese” for employers to exploit.
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Rachel Reeves told she needs £25bn in tax rises to avoid austerity
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Reeves may need tax increases worth £25 billion – IFS
Rachel Reeves may need to raise up to £25 billion from tax increases if she wants to keep spending rising with national income, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates.
Even if the Chancellor changes the debt rule she inherited from the Tories, this would do “almost nothing” to ease the challenge on public service funding, the IFS said as it released its Green Budget report.
Because of her promise to meet day-to-day spending out of revenues, Ms Reeves would still need to turn to tax rises to avoid spending cuts and meet her pledge to borrow only to invest.
IFS director Paul Johnson said Ms Reeves’ first Budget, which she will deliver on October 30, could be “the most consequential since at least 2010”.
The report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and using economic forecasting by Citi, analysed the challenges facing the Chancellor.
In a scenario modelled by Citi, the report concluded that if there are no cuts to spending outside of public services, Ms Reeves would need a tax rise of £16 billion to remain on course to balance the budget in 2028-29.
This would be on top of the £9 billion tax rise from measures set out in Labour’s manifesto – adding up to almost £25 billion in total.
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Pensions ‘could be used to help workers build a rainy day savings pot’
The next decade of workplace pensions saving should be more flexible and help low earners to build up a savings safety net that they can draw on before they retire, according to a think tank.
The Resolution Foundation said more focus is needed on addressing the different challenges faced by low, middle and higher earners.
It said the first decade of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions has improved private pension coverage and boosted people’s savings pots.
But while a “one-size-fits-all” approach has worked well for the first chapter of auto-enrolment, the next chapter will require both a boost to saving rates and a more flexible approach, to reflect the different challenges that low, middle and higher earners face, it added.
The report argues that default contribution rates into auto-enrolment should continue to rise over the next decade, initially from 8% to 10%.
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