New Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch’s claim that the Partygate row was “overblown” has been criticised as “cruel and detached” by people whose loved ones died during the Covid pandemic.
In her first media appearance since winning the Conservative leadership, Ms Badenoch was challenged by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg over what went wrong under her predecessors after promising to be “honest” about where her party had made mistakes.
But her remarks sparked anger, with Lobby Akinnola, a spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who lost his father during the pandemic, describing them as “cruel” and showing “just how detached politicians can be from the people they represent”.
With Ms Badenoch set to unveil her shadow cabinet ahead of its first meeting on Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer is setting his sights on small boats, announcing a move to double the funding for his new Border Security Command at an Interpol conference in Glasgow, taking its total funding to £150m over two years.
Key Points
- Anger over Kemi Badenoch’s ‘cruel’ claim Partygate was overblown
- ‘I was wrong’ to promise no tax rises, Rachel Reeves admits
- Trade union threatens legal action over winter fuel cut
- Badenoch admits Conservatives 'let standards slip' but vows to rebuild party
- Keir Starmer sets sights on small boats as new funding for Border Security Command
Yvette Cooper condemns ‘appalling’ tweet shared by Labour MP
08:30
Andy Gregory
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said she strongly disagrees with a tweet that a backbench MP appeared to have reposted saying Kemi Badenoch represents “white supremacy in blackface”.
Ms Cooper told LBC she did not see the post that Dawn Butler appeared to have shared, saying: “I didn’t see the post, I clearly strongly disagree with that.”
Pressed on why no action had been taken against Ms Butler, she said: “As I said, I haven’t seen the post and I think those sorts of issues around party issues, those are always ones for the Whip.”
Asked whether the words in the post had a “racist sentiment”, Ms Cooper said: “The words that you have read out are clearly appalling and I would strongly disagree with them. So, I haven’t seen the post. I don’t know the circumstances around it but I think we should congratulate Kemi Badenoch on her election.
“I will continue to disagree with her on all sorts of issues, but, nevertheless, I congratulate her on her election.”
Badenoch appoints new chairs of Tory party
08:05
Andy Gregory
Kemi Badenoch has appointed Nigel Huddleston and Lord Dominic Johnson as joint chairs of the Conservative Party.
They will reportedly join the new Tory leader at party headquarters on Monday morning to meet staff.
Full appointments are set to be announced in time for the first meeting of Ms Badenoch’s shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
Badenoch’s Partygate claim labelled ‘insulting’ by Covid bereaved
07:47
Andy Gregory
People whose loved ones died during the Covid pandemic have expressed anger over Kemi Badenoch’s suggestion that the Partygate row was “overblown”.
Lobby Akinnola, a spokesman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who lost his father during the pandemic, told The Independent Ms Badenoch’s comment was “cruel and highlights just how detached politicians can be from the people they represent”.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor whose older brother Umar died of Covid while self-isolating, told TheGuardian: “Ms Badenoch needs to remember that people were dying and being stored in industrial fridges while those in government partied in breach of the rules that they created for the rest of us.
“It was a question of trust and integrity and such a failure cannot ever be overblown.”
Naomi Fulop, whose mother Christina died in January 2021 told the outlet that Badenoch’s comments were “insulting and extremely painful”.
Ms Fulop, who is a member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: “It is not possible to overblow the impact of those in government partying while my mother died alone. We then had to have a very restricted funeral, as did thousands and thousands of other people.”
She added: “Badenoch said the Tory party needs to have an honest conversation about what’s gone wrong and one of the big things that went wrong was Partygate so I’m quite mystified that she doesn’t realise the impact that’s had on families like mine and the wider public.”
Starmer to double funding for new Border Security Command
07:29
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer is set to double the funding Labour’s Border Security Command as he fixes his sights on ending small boat crossings.
The prime minister is expected to use a speech to the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow on Monday to kick off a week-long blitz on the issue that will see him travel to Hungary for talks on tackling people smuggling.
Monday’s speech will see Sir Keir pledge another £75m for his new border command, taking its total funding to £150m over two years, with the new money to be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators.
The PM will say: “The world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge. I was elected to deliver security for the British people. And strong borders are a part of that. But security doesn’t stop at our borders. There’s nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.”
Reforming council tax would've led to some ‘paying significantly more’, Reeves argues
07:00
Tara Cobham
Reforming council tax would have led to some people “paying significantly more”, Rachel Reeves said as she was charged with “dodging” the issue.
Asked whether her Budget had “dodged” the question of whether to reform council tax by uprating property values, the Chancellor told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “That’s a very complicated and tricky issue to address and it would result in some people paying significantly more in tax.”
Asked what happened to making “tough choices”, she added: “I think we made plenty of tough choices in the Budget this week.”
Shadow culture secretary happy to hold any position in new shadow cabinet
06:00
Tara Cobham
The shadow culture secretary has said she would be happy to hold any position in Kemi Badenoch’s new Conservative shadow cabinet.
Julia Lopez told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “My main priority is to be part of the team that rebuilds the Conservative Party.
“Kemi wants to lead a renewal of the whole movement from top to bottom, so I will serve in whichever capacity she thinks I am best suited. It’s the mission for me, rather than the position.”
Ms Lopez said she had not yet had discussions about what her new role may be.
Kemi Badenoch’s first duty must be to provide an effective opposition
05:00
Tara Cobham
The election of Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party is an intriguing moment. Not only have the members of the party finally disposed of the calumny that they would never elect a non-white candidate, but – given the options available to them – they have to some extent made up for their folly in electing Liz Truss the last time they were asked to vote.
Robert Jenrick’s rather unconvincing reinvention as a hardline anti-immigration candidate required him to adopt an unrealistic position on the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). While recognising that the European Court is an imperfect organisation, The Independent will have no truck with any politician who seeks to renounce a document drawn up by British lawyers after the trauma of world war that underpins the protection of fundamental rights across the continent.
Not only would withdrawal from the ECHR have been wrong in principle, it would not be the magic solution to the problem of irregular immigration – a point made with some courage by Ms Badenoch – and the policy would have plunged the Tory party into a prolonged civil war, because a large share, probably a majority, of its reduced contingent of MPs remain rightly committed to the ECHR.
Read more here:
Watch: Badenoch dismisses Reeves’ position as first female chancellor as ‘low glass ceiling’
04:00
Tara Cobham
Worst of Britain’s Brexit pain is still to come, admits Treasury minister
03:00
Tara Cobham
The majority of Brexit’s impact on Britain’s economy is still yet to be felt, a minister has warned.
In a damning assessment of Britain’s departure from the European Union, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq said 60 per cent of the impact of Brexit is yet to materialise.
The Treasury economic secretary cited Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that the economy would shrink by 4 per cent in the long run due to Brexit. And Ms Siddiq said that Britain’s imports and exports would end up 15 per cent lower than they would be had the UK stayed in the EU.
Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Lopez says Badenoch would take ‘very rounded approach' to tackling immigration
02:00
Tara Cobham
The shadow culture secretary said new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch would take a “very rounded approach” to tackling immigration.
Asked if Ms Badenoch would not support any of the immigration policies argued by her leadership rival Robert Jenrick, including withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Julia Lopez told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “I think what happened in the leadership election was that we started talking about these things as if leaving the ECHR was an end in itself, and that’s not the end that we were seeking.
“We are seeking lower immigration overall, and Kemi wants to take a very rounded approach to taking that immigration level down. That means looking at every aspect of the challenge. Leaving the ECHR may end up being one of those policy prescriptions.
“Visas may end up being one of those policy prescriptions, but what she doesn’t want to do is to start writing a manifesto at this stage of the Parliament before we know what we are likely to be taking on at the next general election.”
Pressed on whether leaving the ECHR was still on the table, Ms Lopez added: “She said that if that’s what is required, that is what she will do.”
Kemi Badenoch made ‘rape joke’ on social media in unearthed post
01:00
Tara Cobham
Newly elected Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has been condemned over an unearthed image that shows her making a joke about rape on her personal Facebook page.
The former women and equalities minister has been criticised by anti-domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid, which said it was appalled by the image.
In a post on her own page dated from January 2008, which was still visible on her profile as recently as this week, Ms Badenoch shared an image of three men with the caption: “The Drummond beer rape incident.”
Political Correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Watch: Reeves admits she was wrong about public finances during election
00:00
Tara Cobham
Badenoch makes first senior appointment as Conservative leader
Sunday 3 November 2024 23:46
Joe Middleton
Rebecca Harris has been appointed Conservative chief whip, according to her predecessor Stuart Andrew.
In a post on X, Mr Andrew said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as the Conservative Party chief whip.
“Rebecca Harris is a great friend and a brilliant whip. I wish her all the best in the role.”
The MP for Castle Point in Essex has been a Conservative whip since 2018.
There has been no official announcement from the party, with further appointments expected before Tuesday.
Non-recent allegation of sexual assault made against late Alex Salmond received by police
Sunday 3 November 2024 23:00
Tara Cobham
A non-recent allegation of sexual assault made against Alex Salmond has been received by police.
Mr Salmond was leader of the Alba Party up until he died suddenly aged 69 during a visit to North Macedonia last month.
The politician was first minister of Scotland from 2007-2014 under the Scottish National Party (SNP) government, but resigned from the SNP in 2018 after a number of allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.
Read the full story here:
Shadow culture secretary dismisses suggestions Badenoch has ‘abrasive’ character
Sunday 3 November 2024 22:00
Tara Cobham
The shadow culture secretary dismissed suggestions Kemi Badenoch had an “abrasive” character, saying people “want to see politicians who are straight talking”.
Put to her that Ms Badenoch might need “a personality transplant” as new Tory leader with some colleagues saying she is “rude”, and asked whether she was going to be “nice” to people, Julia Lopez told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “We’re in a situation now where Kemi secured the most MP votes, Kemi also secured the most votes among the membership.
“People want to see politicians who are straight talking. She speaks with clarity, she speaks with truth.
“She’s already had a discussion in a different media outlet about how she might start to change some of the ways in which she deals with people, if that’s necessary, but I don’t know it’s necessary right now.”
Chancellor refuses to back down in face of national insurance hike backlash
Sunday 3 November 2024 21:00
Tara Cobham
Rachel Reeves is refusing to back down in the face of criticism over her government’s increase to employer national insurance contributions.
The chancellor also said she did not consider or discuss raising the rise before the general election.
Asked if she will think again about increasing employer national insurance contributions amid concerns from GPs, care homes and charities, Ms Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I’m not immune to their criticism.
“But we’ve got to raise the money, we’ve got to put our public finances on a firm footing.”
Asked if she considered or discussed raising employer national insurance contributions before Labour’s election win, Ms Reeves replied: “No, this was not something that was on the agenda before the election.”
The Chancellor said the previous Tory government cut employee national insurance contributions on a “false premise” but she thought it would be “wrong” to put that back up.
She said: “It would have been felt immediately in the payslips of working people rather than asking businesses to contribute, and second it would have been a direct breach of our manifesto commitment. So we had to make difficult choices but leadership is about difficult choices.”
Watch: Badenoch calls Partygate furore ‘overblown’ in first TV interview as Tory leader
Sunday 3 November 2024 20:00
Tara Cobham
Labour MP says she faces racist abuse almost every day
Sunday 3 November 2024 19:00
Tara Cobham
A Labour MP has said she faces “extreme” abuse including racism almost every day.
Satvir Kaur has been in public office since 2011 and said the abuse has escalated since she was elected MP for Southampton Test in July.
She was the first female Sikh leader of a local authority in Britain when she headed Southampton City Council from 2022 to 2023.
It was put to Ms Kaur on BBC Radio Solent that women in politics receive a lot of abuse, and she said: “It’s been extreme, it’s kind of more than I thought.
“You always get it when you’re kind of in the public eye and being a politician – suddenly somehow you become sub-human when all you’re really trying to do is make a positive difference to people’s lives.
“So I got it to a certain extent when I was a councillor and leader of the council, but I feel as though, since I’ve become an MP – especially online – I feel as though I’ve attracted all of the misogynists, all of the racists, and all of the haters out there.”
She added that she receives racist abuse “constantly, almost on an daily basis”.
“Actually it just encourages me more to do what I’m doing, because I want other people from areas of deprivation, and brown girls, to feel that, if I can do it, they can do it,” she said.
The MP said she tries to ignore the vitriol and blocks abusive comments on her social media, but she does occasionally “bite”.
“I don’t want to spread hate, and there’s enough hate out there,” she told BBC Radio Solent presenter Louisa Hannan.
Is Kemi Badenoch the right person to rebuild the Tories?
Sunday 3 November 2024 18:00
Tara Cobham
The thing to understand about Kemi Badenoch is that, for all her manifest shortcomings, she is not stupid. Over the last few months, the incoming leader of the Conservative Party has given every indication that she, and those near to her, have given her future strategy some serious thought.
The question to which “Kemi” is the correct answer is: “How do we unite a shattered, electorally thrashed, ideologically obsessed party addicted to plotting?”
Without overdoing the analogies too much, the Kemi answer is the template provided by Margaret Thatcher in opposition, from 1975 to 1979.
Read more here:
Reeves addresses concerns over impact on GPs, care homes and hospices of national insurance hike
Sunday 3 November 2024 17:00
Tara Cobham
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, addressing concerns over the impact on GPs, care homes and hospices of increasing employer national insurance contributions, told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “What the tax increases on Wednesday paid for in part was a £22.6 billion investment into the National Health Service and the National Health Service will now make the allocations to GPs, for example.”
Ms Reeves added: “There’s enough money now in the NHS budget to fund those priorities.”
Ms Reeves went on: “Care homes got in the Budget on Wednesday a £600 million settlement, local government got a 3.2% increase, so above inflation, a real terms increase in spending this week, so I’m confident that those services will carry on running properly.”
Full story: Partygate scandal was ‘overblown’, says Badenoch
Sunday 3 November 2024 16:00
Tara Cobham
Partygate was “overblown” and the Government should not have fined people for “everyday activities” during lockdown, the new Conservative leader has said.
In her first media appearance since winning the Tory leadership, Kemi Badenoch was challenged over what went wrong under her predecessors after promising to be “honest” about where the Conservatives had made mistakes.
Although she largely declined to be drawn into a “post-mortem” of the previous government, she said there had been “serious issues” under Boris Johnson’s premiership, but suggested the Partygate scandal was not one of them.
Read the full story here:
Pollsters warn Kemi Badenoch to avoid being ‘overly combative’ to win back voters
Sunday 3 November 2024 15:45
Tara Cobham
Kemi Badenoch has been warned she needs to “avoid the perception she would cross the road to pick a fight” as she faces the daunting task of trying to turn the Conservative Party around from its worst general election result in history.
The new Tory leader comes across as “energetic and fresh-faced” with voters, but pollsters have said she needs to avoid being “overly combative”.
“I think that is going to be the defining task of her leadership,” More in Common executive director Luke Tryl told The Independent.
Political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Chancellor defends proposed changes to inheritance tax on farms
Sunday 3 November 2024 15:00
Tara Cobham
Rachel Reeves has defended her proposed reforms to inheritance tax on farms by claiming it is not “affordable” keep the current system.
The Chancellor faced a backlash after using her first Budget to propose changing agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) from April 2026 in a bid to raise more funds for public services.
Budget documents state the Government wants to restrict the “generosity” of APR and BPR for the “wealthiest estates”.
Read the full story here:
Trade union threatens legal action over winter fuel cut
Sunday 3 November 2024 14:30
Tara Cobham
Britain’s largest trade union has threatened legal action over the government’s decision to means-test winter fuel payments.
Around 10 million pensioners will no longer receive the benefit from this winter after the Government decided to restrict payments to people on pension credit in a bid to save money.
Ministers said the move was necessary to help fill a £22 billion “black hole” they claim the previous government left in this year’s spending plans.
But the trade union Unite said it believed the cut to winter fuel payments would have a “terrible effect” on millions of pensioners and demanded the government reverse its decision or face a judicial review.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “People do not understand, I do not understand how a Labour government has taken away the fuel allowance of millions of pensioners just as winter approaches.
“Given the failure to rectify this in the budget, Unite has now commenced judicial review proceedings challenging the legality of the policy.
“It is not too late for Labour to register the hurt that this cruel policy has caused, step back from picking the pockets of pensioners and do the right thing.”
Watch: Rachel Reeves admits she was wrong about public finances during election
Sunday 3 November 2024 14:00
Tara Cobham
Chancellor: I was ‘wrong’ on taxes during election
Sunday 3 November 2024 13:40
Tara Cobham
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she was “wrong” when she said during the election campaign that she would not need to raise taxes, but insisted further increases will not be needed.
During a campaign event on June 11, Ms Reeves said she would not need to raise taxes beyond the increases already set out in the Labour Party’s manifesto.
But delivering her first Budget on Wednesday, she announced £40 billion of tax rises, including increases to employers’ national insurance contributions and changes to inheritance tax and capital gains tax, as she sought to pay for investment in public services such as schools and the NHS.
Read the full report here:
New Tory leader Badenoch promises ‘hard truths’ for country and party
Sunday 3 November 2024 13:20
Tara Cobham
Kemi Badenoch said she will tell “hard truths” to both the country and her party as she began her first full day as Conservative leader.
In her first media appearance since winning the Tory leadership election, Ms Badenoch said the UK is getting poorer and older and being “outcompeted” by other countries.
She told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “We need to look at how we can reorganise our economy to be fit for the future, not just doing what we always used to.
Read the full report here:
Police receive ‘non-recent’ allegation of sexual assault against Alex Salmond
Sunday 3 November 2024 13:06
Tara Cobham
Police have received a “non-recent” allegation of sexual assault made against Alex Salmond, who was leader of the Alba Party up until his sudden death last month.
Mr Salmond died of a heart attack on October 12 during a political visit to North Macedonia. His funeral was held on October 29 in Strichen, Aberdeenshire.
Mr Salmond was first minister of Scotland from 2007-2014 under the Scottish National Party (SNP) government.
He resigned in 2018 after a number of allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.
He was later cleared of all 14 charges in 2020 – being found not guilty of 12, while prosecutors withdrew another charge and one was found not proven.
Police Scotland has now said a separate report of misconduct has been filed against Mr Salmond.
A spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have received a report of a non-recent sexual assault.
“The information is being assessed.”
Responding to coverage of the allegations reported by the media, Alba Party general secretary Chris McEleny said the claims are “smears” and urged for Mr Salmond to be allowed to “rest in peace”.
Worst of Britain’s Brexit pain is still to come, warns Treasury minister
Sunday 3 November 2024 12:18
Tara Cobham
The majority of Brexit’s impact on Britain’s economy is still yet to be felt, a minister has warned.
In a damning assessment of Britain’s departure from the European Union, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq said 60 per cent of the impact of Brexit is yet to materialise.
The Treasury economic secretary cited Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that the economy would shrink by 4 per cent in the long run due to Brexit. And Ms Siddiq said that Britain’s imports and exports would end up 15 per cent lower than they would be had the UK stayed in the EU.
Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Labour Party chairwoman criticises Badenoch’s Partygate comments
Sunday 3 November 2024 12:16
Tara Cobham
Labour Party chairwoman Ellie Reeves has criticised Kemi Badenoch’s comments on the Partygate scandal in her interview on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
She said: “Listening to Kemi Badenoch dismiss partygate as ‘overblown’ will add insult to injury for families across Britain who followed the rules, missing loved ones’ deaths and family funerals, while her colleagues partied in Downing Street.
Ms Reeves also questioned Ms Badenoch’s pledge to scrap Labour’s controversial independent schools VAT policy as she accused the Conservative Party of not listening or learning.
She said: “Kemi Badenoch must explain where the cuts to state schools will bite after promising unfunded tax breaks for private schools – no wonder she refused to condemn Liz Truss whose mini budget crashed the economy.
“The leader may have changed but on her first day in the job Kemi Badenoch has proved three times that the Tories haven’t listened and they haven’t learnt.”
Is the backlash against Reeves’s national insurance hike justified?
Sunday 3 November 2024 12:00
Sean O’Grady
It should probably come as no surprise that what the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, once described as “a tax on jobs” has turned out to be... a tax on jobs. Her decision in the Budget to raise up to £25bn from an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) has obviously proved controversial.
A heated but largely inconclusive debate has surrounded the question of whether the move violates Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes for “working people”. But now the change is coming under sustained attack from a number of sectors with tight profit margins, where the employment of lower-paid and/or part-time workers means an immediately higher tax bill for the employers.
In particular, the “secondary threshold” – the level at which employers become liable to pay national insurance on each employee’s salary – will come down from £9,100 per year to £5,000 per year.
This is presenting notable difficulties in the health sector...
Read more here:
Watch: Badenoch dismisses Reeves’ historic position as first female chancellor as ‘low glass ceiling’
Sunday 3 November 2024 11:04
Tara Cobham
Badenoch accuses previous Tory government of borrowing too much and raising taxes too high
Sunday 3 November 2024 10:54
Tara Cobham
Kemi Badenoch has accused the previous Conservative government of borrowing too much and raising taxes too high, as she insisted reducing taxes does not mean cutting public services.
She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “If we start from the assumption that we can just tax and borrow our way through, we will keep getting poorer, and that is what has been happening.
“And we were a part of that, so when you ask what we did wrong, these were some of the things that I think that we got wrong.
“I think the tax burden was too high under the Conservatives. That doesn’t mean that we have to cut public services, it means that we have to look at how we are delivering public services, and a lot of what government does is not even public services.”
Partygate was ‘overblown’ and government should not have fined people for breaking lockdown rules, Badenoch argues
Sunday 3 November 2024 10:47
Tara Cobham
Partygate was “overblown” and the Government should not have fined people for breaking lockdown rules, Kemi Badenoch has said.
Asked about what went wrong with Boris Johnson’s government, the new Conservative leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I thought he was a great prime minister, but there were some serious issues that were not being resolved and I think that during that tenure the public thought that we were not speaking for them or looking out for them, we were in it for ourselves.
“Some of those things I think were perception issues, a lot of the stuff that happened around partygate was not why I resigned.
“I thought that it was overblown. We should not have created fixed penalty notices, for example. That was us not going with our principles.”
Adding that the public was “not wrong to be upset about partygate”, she said: “The problem was that we should not have criminalised every day activities the way that we did.
“People going out for walks, all of them having fixed penalty notices, that was what ended up creating a trap for Boris Johnson.”
Scottish Secretary skips Whitehall event to avoid ‘undermining striking staff’
Sunday 3 November 2024 10:46
Tara Cobham
The Scottish secretary pulled out of a Whitehall event to reportedly avoid undermining striking staff.
Cabinet ministerIan Murray was set to attend a reception at the Scotland Office’s Dover House headquarters on Tuesday with business group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
But, at the last minute, Mr Murray pulled out. Sources close to the minister confirmed he did not want to undermine security guards, who were on strike as members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.
Political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Chancellor defends changes to inheritance tax on farms
Sunday 3 November 2024 10:30
Tara Cobham
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her changes to inheritance tax on farms, saying: “Last year only a very small number of farms would have been paying any additional inheritance tax.”
She added on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “If the farm is owned by two people you have £3 million essentially tax-free and then the tax rate is a 50 per cent discount on everyone else and you would have 10 years to pay it.
“So only a very small number of agricultural properties will be affected but last year the benefits of agricultural property relief, 40 per cent of the benefit was felt by 7 per cent of the wealthiest land owners.
“I don’t think it is affordable to carry on with a relief like that when our public finances are under so much pressure.
“And, of course, farmers as well rely on good public services whether that’s the NHS, our roads or our schools, and that money will be put back into improving our public services and putting our public finances on a firm footing.”
Asked if the Budget was about “class”, Ms Reeves replied: “It wasn’t an ideological Budget, it was a Budget where we had to raise £40 billion to put our public finances on a firm footing and also to ensure our state schools, our NHS are properly funded and that we can build the homes and indeed invest in those long-term investment opportunities … to grow our economy and bring good jobs paying decent wages.”
Badenoch promises to tell ‘hard truths’ on economy
Sunday 3 November 2024 10:23
Tara Cobham
Kemi Badenoch promised to tell “hard truths” on the economy as she began her tenure as leader of the Conservatives.
She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I think that there are hard truths not just for my party, but for the whole country.
“And that is that as a country we are getting poorer, we are getting older, we are being out-competed by many other competitor countries, and we need to look at how we can reorganise our economy to be fit for the future, not just doing what we always used to.
“And I think that there is an exciting challenge there. I’m very optimistic about what we can do.
“But simply just saying things and making promises to the whole country without knowing how you’re going to deliver them, as we did on Brexit, as we did on net zero, I don’t think is building trust.”
Badenoch responds to Farage’ comment she is ‘more of the same'
Sunday 3 November 2024 10:00
Tara Cobham
Kemi Badenoch has dismissed Nigel Farage’s comments on her election as leader of the Tories as “hilarious”.
Laura Kuenssberg put to Ms Badenoch on her show on Sunday morning that the Reform UK leader “has said you’re more of the same”.
The new Conservative Party leader responded: “Well that’s hilarious.”
When asked to elaborate on what she meant, Ms Badenoch said: “Because I’m not more of the same.”
