Bank of England interest rate cut joy for mortgage holders as Reeves blames mini-Budget for inflation - live
The Bank of England has decided to cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years
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The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the first time since 2020 as inflation continues to remain steady, holding at their two percent target for two consecutive months.
Bank Rate is currently 5.25per cent, a 16-year high where it has been pegged for the last year to fight inflation, but it has now been set at five percent, a drop of 0.25 percentage points.
Governor Andrew Bailey said the move comes after inflation pressures “eased enough that we’ve been able to cut interest rates today”.
The decision will come as joy for homeowners who have been struggling with rising mortgage payments as major banks have confirmed rates could go down as low as three per cent.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has welcomed the move but warned “millions of families are still facing higher mortgage rates after the mini-budget”.
Rachel Reeves admits she will raise taxes at the Budget
If she ends the housing crisis, Rayner’s political legacy will be set in stone
Inside the Bibby Stockholm as work begins to rehome asylum seekers after Labour closure announcement
How Winter Fuel Payments are changing – and what other support is available to pensioners?
In this ‘clash of the chancellors’, who’s being economical with the truth?
Braverman blasts ‘the beginning of the end of Brexit’ as Labour axes EU committee
Suella Braverman has slammed Labour’s decision to scrap the European Scrutiny Committee as the government seeks reset of ties with EU.
On Tuesday evening, MPs agreed to scrap the European Scrutiny Committee which was previously tasked with assessing the legal or political importance of EU documents and directives lodged with the Westminster Parliament pre and post-Brexit.
Reacting to the move, former home secretary said: “Anti-democratic, lacking transparency and a disservice to the millions of British people who voted to deliver Brexit in 2016 and 2019. This is the beginning of the end of Brexit.”
Exclusive: Peer accused of Islamophobia over ‘disgusting’ House of Lords speech
A peer has been accused of Islamophobia after giving a “disgusting and outrageous” speech in the House of Lords.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch claimed “radicals” plan to “take us over through the power of the womb and the ballot box” after discussing government plans to improve counterterrorism measures at public venues following the King’s Speech.
“The sharia allows Muslim men to have four wives at a time, most of whom are having at least two children, so the Muslim population is going up 10 times faster than our national average,” he told the House of Lords last Thursday.
Our race correspondent Nadine White has the full story:
Outrage as peer claims Muslim ‘radicals will take us over through power of the womb’
Exclusive: Leading Muslim groups are lodging official complaints to the House of Lords about Lord Pearson of Rannoch’s speech
Pensioners can still get winter fuel payments by claiming benefits
Angela Rayner has called pensioners at risk of missing out on winter fuel payments to check whether they are eligible for pension credit.
The advice comes after chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the policy, which is currently worth up £300 to all pensioners, would be scrapped and become means-tested.
The deputy prime minister told ITV: “There’s thousands of people that are eligible for pension credit that are not currently receiving it.
“So my plea to people who are listening to this is check out whether you’re available for pension credit because there’s so many people that won’t, and those people will continue to get the winter fuel payment.”
Council waste workers set for eight-day strike in August, union confirms
Council waste workers in Scotland are to walk out on strike next month, with union leaders warning the action will be “disruptive”.
Leaders of the GMB confirmed its members will take action over eight days in August, with staff at Edinburgh City Council walking out during the capital’s busy summer festival period.
Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, will also be affected by the action, which is due to start at 5am on Wednesday August 14 and last until 4.59am on Thursday August 22.
GMB members in 18 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas will strike, and the union said the action will mean bins are not emptied “from the smallest villages to the biggest cities”.
It comes amid a dispute over council workers’ pay, with the three unions involved – Unison, Unite and the GMB – having all rejected a 3.2% pay rise offered by local government body Cosla.
While talks between the unions, Cosla leaders and Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison took place on Tuesday, a deal to end the dispute has not yet been reached.
Union chiefs have already warned of the prospect of a “stinking summer” as rubbish builds up uncollected, and the GMB has now confirmed the strike dates for its members, which it said will go ahead unless councils and ministers “urgently identify the money needed to make a fair and acceptable offer”.
A similar dispute, which saw rubbish pile up on the streets of Edinburgh during the festival season in 2022, only ended when the Scottish government provided extra funds to councils for workers’ pay.
Hunt accuses Labour of plotting a ‘great tax betrayal’
Jeremy Hunt has accused Labour of plotting a “great tax betrayal” after Rachel Reeves accused the former chancellor of “lying” about the state of public finances.
Mr Hunt claimed the Sir Keir Starmer’s government were planning to raise taxes “all along” but “they just didn’t have the courage to tell you”.
Writing for the Conservative Home, he said: “The statement by the Chancellor on Monday was an exercise designed to cover up the great tax betrayal coming in the Autumn Budget.
“This week they revealed how they are planning to get away with it. We will not let them.”
It comes as the chancellor announced brutal saving measures to plug the £22billion black hole in public spending. Ms Reeves also confirmed she will have to raise taxes in the Budget in October.
How Labour could raise taxes as Reeves confirms changes coming in budget
Rachel Reeves has confirmed that Labour’s first autumn Budget will bring fresh tax rises as she says more needs to be done to fill the government’s shortfall in public finances.
Her statement comes after she recently announced a slate of cost-cutting measures to grapple with the issue. These included scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners, alongside halting several in-progress infrastructure projects.
With it now confirmed that the government will look to new ways to raise revenue, here are some of the key measures they could implement in the October Budget:
How Labour could raise taxes as Reeves confirms changes coming in October budget
Experts say the government will need to find more money somewhere - and that could mean tax rises
Rayner defends controversial decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners
Angela Rayner has defended the government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners as growth and GB Energy will “bring people’s bills down”.
Asked about the impact of the means-tested payment, she told ITV’s This Morning: “The frustration is what we inherited. It was horrendous when the Chancellor looked at the books.”
The deputy prime minister added: “So there was some really difficult choices and what the Chancellor set out with the winter fuel payments was about people on pension credit. Now there’s thousands of people that are eligible for pension credit that are not currently receiving it.
“So my plea to people who are listening to this is check out whether you’re available for pension credit because there’s so many people that won’t and those people will continue to get the winter fuel payment.”
Ms Rayner said: “That’s why we’ve put growth central as well because we’ve got to pay for our public services, bring people’s bills down.
“So Great British Energy, and the work we’re doing there will eventually mean that we will have our own energy efficiency, security, so we’re not at the mercy of dictators like Putin.”
First female chancellor Rachel Reeves reveals she is stuck with a urinal in her office toilet
Rachel Reeves has said she is unable to have a urinal removed from her office toilet because it is listed and cannot be altered.
After the general election it was reported that work was set to take the urinal out of the Ms Reeves’s private office in Whitehall. But weeks later the chancellor, the first woman to hold the post since its creation a thousand years ago, said the facility is “still is in there” and cannot be replaced.
Appearing on an episode of the News Agents podcast, Ms Reeves invited host Emily Maitlis into the bathroom to see the urinal still standing.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:
First female chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is stuck with urinal in office toilet
The chancellor, who is the first woman to hold the post since its creation a thousand years ago, said a urinal cannot be replaced
Planners will need to ‘release elements’ of green belt to meet housing targets
Local authorities may need to “release some elements” of green belt land to meet housing targets, housing minister Matthew Pennycook has said.
Mr Pennycook also revealed that local plans are expected to be in place next year, or the government will put in place plans to “ensure targets are met” in its bid to meet Labour’s manifesto commitment of 1.5 million new homes over this Parliament.
It comes as the government announced that an expert taskforce has been launched to spearhead plans for a fresh generation of new towns.
The towns, which the Labour says will create communities of at least 10,000 homes each, are billed as a part of the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war period.
Deputy prime minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has asked two experts – Sir Michael Lyons and Dame Kate Barker – to lead the independent New Towns Taskforce.
Mr Pennycook said new housing will be prioritised on brownfield or greyfield sites but that some green belt may need to be “released”.
Kemi Badenoch dismisses accusations she bullied civil service staff
Kemi Badenoch has dismissed accusations that she bullied civil service staff while serving as business secretary as “smears”.
The Conservative MP, now shadow communities secretary, is alleged to have created an intimidating atmosphere at the Department of Business and Trade in a report by the Guardian newspaper.
Kemi Badenoch dismisses accusations she bullied civil service staff
The Tory MP is alleged to have created an intimidating atmosphere at the Department of Business and Trade
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