UK politics - live: Reform level with Labour in new poll as Treasury responds to gloomy economy update
New poll by FindOutNowUK marks a fresh political blow for Sir Keir Starmer who has overseen a rocky start to his leadership of the country
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir Keir Starmer has been dealt a further blow with a new poll predicting Labour would lose its overall majority if an election was held now.
The poll by FindOutNowUK has put Reform level pegging with Labour on 25 per cent and the Tories five points behind on 20 per cent. According to the calculations, if the result was repeated in a general election Labour would lose 173 seats but remain the largest party on 238.
Reform would leap into second place from the five MPs to 170, taking deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel’s seats. The Tories would be left with just 89 seats and a viable government could only be formed with a deal between Labour and the Lib Dems on 70 seats and SNP on 42.
The poll, which comes after a survey by think tank More in Common that also found Labour would lose its majority, marks a fresh political blow for Sir Keir who has overseen a rocky start to his leadership of the country.
There are also fears over the economy with the pound plunging to its lowest level for over a year after a rout in the bond markets. And with government borrowing costs also increasing, Treasury minister Darren Jones has warned that “public services will have to live within their means”.
Former Tory minister accuses Reeves of fleeing to China
A Conservative former minister has accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of having “fled to China”, as MPs grilled the Government on its fiscal plans.
In the Commons, Dame Harriett Baldwin said: “In yesterday’s extraordinary emergency statement from the Treasury to try and calm the markets the Treasury statement paid tribute to the fact it inherited the second lowest debt in the G7.
“And is the reason that the frontbench is so empty today, the Chancellor has fled to China, that she has realised that her budget means that she now is the arsonist?”
Treasury minister Darren Jones replied: “The Chancellor is going on her trip to China, it has been well documented for many weeks, an important visit in terms of trade and investment in the economy here in the UK.
“And might I just say there was no emergency statement, or emergency intervention, these are make-belief words being propagated by members on the benches opposite. The Treasury responded to requests from journalists about headroom, as we might do in the normal way.”
Father of the House asks if Reeves will use her “sticky fingers” to increase borrowing or taxes
Senior Conservative MPs have pressed the Government on whether the Chancellor will increase taxes or borrowing.
In the Commons, former Treasury minister John Glen said: “This Government have either got to cut spending, increase taxes or borrow mor, and if the cost of borrowing is increasing, that moment is going to come sooner. Which of those choice is he inclined to make and when is he going to tell the British people honestly what this Government has done?”
Treasury minister Darren Jones replied: “The fiscal rules are non-negotiable, public services will have to live within their means, we’ve set the budget.”
“We have the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) forecast coming in March, those are the numbers departments are working to in this spending review, those are the numbers we will hold public services to when we conclude the spending review in June,” he added.
Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh asked if Chancellor Rachel Reeves would be using her “sticky fingers” to increase borrowing or taxes, adding: “Will the minister give an absolute assurance, no more tax increases or borrowing?”
Mr Jones said the spending review is “on the basis of the envelope that was set at the budget”, adding: “The OBR forecast will come in March which will then give us the latest set of information which we will work to with departments.”
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Lammy agrees with Trump that Europe must spend more on defence
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that president-elect Donald Trump is “simply right” to say that Europe needs to do more on defence.
In a speech on Thursday morning, Mr Lammy said: “Donald Trump and JD Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent.
“It’s myopia to pretend otherwise with Russia on the march. So this Government will lay out a clear pathway to reaching 2.5% of our GDP on defence.
“A figure, lest we forget that the last Labour government met and was never met by the Tories since David Cameron’s cuts. And with John Healey, we will lead and we will change, to convince all of our Nato allies that rising defence spending is a strategic necessity.”
Lammy warns ‘Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely'
Speaking in the Locano room in the Foreign Office on Thursday, the foreign secretary said that Russian aggression had ripped up the established world order from the 1990s.
Underlining his policy thrust of “progressive pragmatism” he also took aim at the previous Tory governments for undermining Britain’s place in the world. He tipped his hat to repairing some of the damaged relationships not just with the EU.
Mr Lammy told an invited audience: “We and our allies must relearn the Cold War manual, long-term thinking, not short-termism.
“Consistent deterrence, not constant distraction. Adapting as emerging technology reshapes the strategic environment. Securing strategic stability in an unstable world.”
And he warned: “Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely.“With Iranian drones fired at Ukrainian cities and North Korean troops now fighting against Ukraine.”
Tories ‘panicked and mothballed’ over HS2 leading to spiralling costs, committee chairwoman says
The Government has faced calls to ensure the HS2 route between London and Birmingham is connected to the wider rail network north of Birmingham.
Chairwoman of the Transport Select Committee Ruth Cadbury said: “The original vision for HS2 was to link London with the Midlands and the north and also to address the growing capacity challenge on the West Coast Main Line with a whole new rail line.
“The last government panicked and mothballed much of the project over cost overruns on phase one, thus incurring yet further costs. And I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to get a grip on the phase one cost overruns.
“But what I want to know is does the Government plan to deliver a rail solution linking phase one north of Birmingham to the rest of the country, and thus delivering the Government’s vision to drive growth for the whole country.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “I’m pleased that she raises the question of the mess that we inherited from the Conservative government on HS2 and rail connectivity in the north. When we entered government in July we did find that ragtag collection of half-baked, unfunded spending commitments for rail schemes up and down the country.”
She added: “We have started the hard work of identifying a realistic pipeline of schemes that is affordable and will deliver better connectivity in partnership with local leaders.”
Lammy declares ‘post Cold War peace is well and truly over’ as he takes aim at Putin
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Farmers will have profits ‘wiped out’ by IHT rises, association leader warns
Environment Secretary Steve Reed has finished his speech at the Oxford Farming Conference.
Responding to his remarks, Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) warned farm businesses faced having profits “wiped out” by inheritance tax bills.
“Capping vital inheritance tax reliefs will threaten their viability and not deliver the growth and investment the government says it wants to achieve.
“Farmers are playing their part in enhancing the environment and delivering public goods, but they also need to be able to run viable, profitable businesses.
“The Government’s freezing of the farming budget and lack of ambition for the rural economy is hitting confidence,” she said as she urged the Government to invest in productivity, strike new trade deals and defend farms from drought and flood.
Mel Stride asks ‘Where is the Chancellor?’ as he delivers urgent question on the economy
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Treasury minister Darren Jones had delivered a “slightly anxious and breathless” response to the urgent question, adding: “Where is the Chancellor? It is a bitter regret that at this difficult time with these serious issues she herself is nowhere to be seen.
“In the last 48 hours borrowing costs have reached a 27-year high and it is the Chancellor’s decisions that have led us here. Before the election (Rachel Reeves) promised that Labour would get debt falling, they would not fiddle the figures, they would not raise taxes and they would grow the economy, but the economy is now flatlining.
“Survey after survey is showing business confidence has simply evaporated and at the budget the Chancellor hiked up taxes, increased borrowing by an average of £32 billion-a-year across the forecast and conveniently adjusted her fiscal rules to allow her to do it.
“Higher debt and lower growth are understandably now causing real concerns among the public, amongst businesses and in the markets. And despite what (Mr Jones) says about international factors, the premium on our borrowing costs compared to German bonds recently hit its highest level since 1990.
“With these rising costs, regrettably the Government may now be on course to breach their fiscal rules and the Chancellor has committed to no further tax rises, so does (Mr Jones) stand by her commitment not to increase taxes even further and, if so, does this mean that the public should expect cuts to public service spending if the OBR judge her fiscal headroom has evaporated?”
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