Tories 1) Test migrants for HIV, former minister says, as UK rates rise
“A former health minister has called for the UK to introduce HIV tests for migrants entering the UK. Neil O’Brien said that there were a large number of people arriving in the UK with HIV who were unaware of their diagnosis and therefore went untreated. The Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston said HIV tests should be compulsory to get a visa when arriving from “high-prevalence countries” to reduce the risk of transmission from undiagnosed people. O’Brien, who served as the public health minister between September 2022 and November 2023, said this would be a much more targeted approach than other countries that require HIV tests to get a permanent visa, such as Australia and New Zealand.” – The Times
>Yesterday: Alexander Bowen’s column: Europe is looking at Conservative ideas to tackle migration, just as Labour has rejected them
Tories 2) Jenrick blasts human rights laws which stopped criminal kingpin from being deported…
“Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has blasted human rights laws which stopped a jailed drugs kingpin from being deported. The 29-year-old Nigerian got eight years for running heroin and cocaine into Hampshire. In 2019, then-Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered his deportation under the UK Borders Act. But the anonymous crook was allowed to successfully appeal under European Convention on Human Rights rules. He argued his removal would have a “serious physical, emotional and psychological effect on his family members”. It means he is still in the UK… During the appeal, the gangster’s lawyer introduced a “new matter” based on OAB’s mental health – and then said he was bisexual.” – The Sun
- Migrants moved off Bibby Stockholm asylum barge and into cushty hotels – Daily Express
>Today: Azeem Ibrahim in Comment: Starmer may have changed immigration policy but it won’t stop the boats
Tories 3) …and says Britain’s former colonies should be thanking us for the legacy of the Empire
“Britain’s former colonies should be thanking this country for the legacy of Empire, not demanding reparations, Robert Jenrick has said. Writing in the Daily Mail, the Tory leadership contender says Commonwealth countries owe Britain a ‘debt of gratitude’ for the democratic institutions inherited from the Empire. Mr Jenrick savages Sir Keir Starmer for ‘capitulating’ to pressure at the weekend and signing up to a Commonwealth Summit declaration which commits leaders to starting a ‘conversation’ about reparations for the transatlantic slave trade. Some campaigners have claimed that reparations could eventually run to £19 trillion – seven times the annual output of the entire British economy.” – Daily Mail
- Many of Britain’s former colonies owe us a debt of gratitude for the inheritance we left them – Robert Jenrick MP, Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Francis Luscombe in Comment: Party unity has to mean more than just a catchphrase
Tories 4) Badenoch says children cannot be transgender
“Tory leadership frontrunner Kemi Badenoch insisted children cannot be transgender and warned it was “critical” they are not allowed to make irreversible decisions. The shadow cabinet minister said she “fundamentally disagreed” with the idea a child can be trans and suggested the phrase “gender-questioning” was more appropriate. Facing questions from Mumsnet in the final days of the contest to become party leader, Ms Badenoch raised concerns about claims there are “24 different genders”. “We have to make sure that we don’t lose touch with reality,” she said. As Equalities Minister, she had been rewriting equalities laws so they specifically refer to biological sex rather than how someone chooses to identify but the election was called before the work was completed.” – Daily Express
- Are Badenoch and Jenrick true conservatives? – Melanie Phillips, The Times
- Whoever wins the Tory election needs policies to head off Reform’s threat fast – Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph
>Today:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The next Tory leader must be willing to kill the Sons of Brutus
Tories 5) Hunt accuses OBR of ‘political intervention’ over spending review
“Jeremy Hunt, the former Conservative chancellor, has accused the Office for Budget Responsibility of breaching political impartiality over its handling of a review into whether it was given adequate information before the last Budget. The UK’s independent fiscal watchdog plans to publish the findings of a review into the “adequacy of the information and assurances” on departmental spending the Treasury provided to the OBR on Wednesday, when chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her first Budget… In a letter to OBR chair Richard Hughes, Hunt said the watchdog’s plan to release its findings on Budget day came as “a surprise and significant concern”, adding that it would be “impossible to defend as anything other than a political intervention”.” – FT
- What is the OBR? The watchdog keeping chancellors in check – The Times
>Yesterday:
Jeremy Hunt: The OBR is being politicised, and its friends must speak out
“So why did it announce a review into a fictional “black hole” on the day that Rachel Reeves presented it to parliament, thereby appearing to lend credibility to her obvious plan to breach countless manifesto commitments not to increase tax? Why announce the results of that review on the day of the budget, when the smallest line can be spun as agreeing with the government even if it does not? Why, when we have a clear convention that governments are not able to see the papers of their predecessors, allow the current chancellor to see the report in advance but not the shadow chancellor who was in office during the period being examined?” – The Times
- Labour Party may as well not publish a manifesto next election after pensioner betrayal – Esther McVey MP, Daily Express
- Reeves’s first Budget will be a complete jobs killer – Adam Smith, Daily Telegraph
- This budget has to nurture the visionaries – William Hague, The Times
- The abandonment of our Churches would be an unforgivably foolish error – Fergus Butler-Gallie, Daily Telegraph
- Are you a working person or a fat cat? You’ll find out in this week’s budget – Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian
- Three moments where Budgets have gone wrong – Stephen Bush, FT
- Labour’s desperate Budget briefing has all the hallmarks of a fiasco – Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph
- Reeves is about to break two key Labour promises in Budget – Richard Thomson, Daily Express
Editorial:
- The budget watchdog should not be acting as the provisional wing of the Treasury press office – The Times
- Labour’s lies insult our intelligence – Daily Mail
>Today: ToryDiary: Neither Badenoch nor Jenrick seems to have much to say about the Budget
Speaker attacks Reeves for releasing Budget secrets
“The Speaker of the House of Commons furiously rebuked Rachel Reeves for releasing Budget secrets to American television channels before the plans were announced to Parliament. Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it was “totally unacceptable” for the Chancellor to announce last week during a trip to the United States that she intended to change the Government’s fiscal rules. He said the Government had made “major new policy announcements with significant and wide-ranging implications for the Government’s fiscal policy and for the public finances”, and that such announcements should have been presented to MPs first. Ms Reeves is to rewrite fiscal rules in the Budget to unleash a borrowing spree of up to £50 billion, a move that experts say will lead to interest rates staying higher for longer and risk pushing up the price of mortgages.” – Daily Telegraph
- Minimum wage to rise by more than 6 per cent in budget – The Times
- Private equity eyes a deal with Rachel Reeves on carried interest – FT
- Will bond vigilantes punish Rachel Reeves with a Truss-style market meltdown? – The Guardian
Reeves to hit 700,000 ‘working people’ with £400 tax rise…
“Rachel Reeves is poised to increase taxes immediately for up to 700,000 freelance workers, despite Labour’s manifesto pledge not to increase taxes on “working people”. The Chancellor’s plan to increase employers’ National Insurance will directly hit thousands of individuals who work as contractors and freelancers, costing them up to £439 in extra tax each year… Employers currently pay 13.8pc tax on employees’ income above £9,100 each year. However, Labour’s claim that increasing employers’ National Insurance is not a tax on workers will ring hollow for the UK’s 700,000 individuals working as “umbrella company” contractors and freelancers.” – Daily Telegraph
- Budget measures risk hitting ‘working people’, analysts say – FT
- Starmer vows to listen to Sun readers as he plans to ditch 7p fuel duty hike – The Sun
- Starmer warned against cutting ‘lifeline’ winter fuel cash for veterans with ‘no support’ – Daily Express
- Pubs round on Labour ahead of budget amid fears they are facing timebomb – Daily Mail
- Labour’s target voters support scrapping costly green policies like boiler bans – The Sun
- Chancellor slammed for ‘threatening British holidays’ with latest proposed stealth tax – Daily Express
>Yesterday:
…as Starmer faces rebellion from Labour MP over party’s VAT raid on private school fees…
“A Labour MP has warned that her own party’s VAT raid on private schools won’t work because children with special needs have ‘nowhere else to go’. Rachael Maskell called on the Prime Minister to reverse her party’s flagship policy because state schools don’t work for those pupils. Warning that the policy is ‘simply not going to work’, the York Central MP told the Telegraph her party should drop it from the Budget tomorrow… Her intervention came after Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said that only those pupils with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) will be exempt from paying VAT on school fees. This means that 75per cent of children with special needs would miss out on the exemption.” – Daily Mail
- VAT on UK international schools ‘could prompt hundreds of pupils to leave’ – The Guardian
- Military families warn of exodus over private school VAT – The Times
Bus Fares:
- Bus fare cap in England rises to £3 – FT
- Starmer given brutal warning over bus fare hike – Daily Express
- MPs slammed ‘betrayal of working people’ – The Sun
Sketches:
- Who are Starmer’s working people? Perhaps they can self-identify – Tom Peck, The Times
- He pinched together the tips of his chipolata fingers like a chef describing the perfect ravioli – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
…and does not rule out further tax rises after Budget
“Sir Keir Starmer has said he cannot rule out further tax-raising Budgets after his administration’s maiden fiscal event on Wednesday, in which he said Labour would “run towards the tough decisions”. The UK prime minister said that “nobody wants tax rises, least of all me, so we will do the hard work in this Budget” in order to rebuild the country, as he raised the prospect of significant increases. However, he told an audience in Birmingham that “I can’t give you a cast iron guarantee that never again in any Budget will there be any adjustment to tax because we just don’t know what’s round the corner”, as he cited the Ukraine war and Covid-19 pandemic as examples of unexpected surprises.” – FT
- Prime Minister vows ‘I’ll defend tough decisions all day long’ – The Sun
- Starmer suffers biggest fall in popularity for new prime minister – Daily Telegraph
NHS will need more tax rises, ministers admit
“Tax rises in the Budget will not be the last, the Chancellor has suggested after admitting that the money she will give the NHS on Wednesday will not be enough to fix it. Rachel Reeves is set to inflict a £35 billion tax raid by raising National Insurance contributions for employers and increasing capital gains tax, in part to fund new NHS technology and hospital rebuilding programmes. However, on Monday she said billions more for the NHS in the Budget would not undo what she called “14 years of damage” to the health service under the Conservatives – raising the prospect of further rises in years to come.” – Daily Telegraph
- Streeting says extra billions in budget will only ‘arrest decline’ and can’t prevent winter crisis – The Times
- Invest in UK nurses or risk more strikes, union boss warns ministers – FT
- Fresh funding will boost the number of elective appointments by 40,000 a week – The Sun
Comment:
- Streeting is now facing a nightmare – Martin Jones MBE, Daily Express
Liberal Democrats lean to the right on tax proposals ahead of Budget
“The Liberal Democrats are tacking to the right of Labour on a number of policy areas — including taxing employers, inheritance tax and VAT on private schools — in an apparent bid to hold on to formerly Conservative voters. In the run-up to July’s general election, the party pitched itself to the left of Labour on a wide spectrum of economic policies, calling for higher taxes on banks, energy and water companies, a 4 per cent tax on share buybacks and for an increase in capital gains tax for the highest earners. But ahead of the Budget this Wednesday, the Lib Dems have either remained quiet or actively opposed a number of tax proposals being floated by the Labour government, particularly those that target key demographics in their newly won seats in southern England.” – FT
Birth rate plunges to lowest in 50 years as Millennials shun families amid financial fears
“The birth rate has dropped to its lowest in close to 50 years. Just 591,072 new arrivals – the smallest number since 1977 – were recorded last year in England and Wales, records reveal. The figures indicate that Millennials – those born up to the mid-1990s – are not having children owing to financial problems or having not found the right partner. The stats also show just 55 per cent of the babies were white British. Prof Melinda Mills, of the University of Oxford, said reasons for the low birth rate included “finding a partner, housing, economic uncertainty, remaining longer in education and particularly women entering and staying in the labour force”.” – The Sun
- Women are having children at the lowest rate since records began, with consequences for us all – The Times
Ofsted finds failures at children’s home ‘owned by Labour MP’…
“Sir Keir Starmer has said a new Labour MP should take his “responsibilities seriously” after it emerged that he was the landlord of a children’s home that had been criticised by inspectors. An Ofsted inspection in August is said to have found “serious and widespread failures that meant children and young people are not protected” at the property that was ultimately owned by Jas Athwal, the largest landlord in the Commons. Athwal, 61, faced severe criticism this year after a BBC investigation found evidence of black mould and ant infestations at properties he owned, while tenants said they had to regularly clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mould.” – The Times
…as another suspended after allegedly ‘hitting constituent’ on night out
“A Labour MP has been suspended after appearing to repeatedly hit a constituent on a night out. Mike Amesbury had the whip removed and his Labour membership revoked after CCTV footage appeared to show him knock a man to the ground and hit him several times. There were immediate calls for a by-election in Mr Amesbury’s Cheshire constituency, while he risked accusations of hypocrisy because he previously demanded tough sentences for rioters and people who assaulted shop staff. A Conservative Party spokesman said Mr Amesbury had “questions to answer about his actions”, and it was right the matter was “thoroughly investigated”.” – Daily Telegraph
- Labour say they’ll ‘smash gangs’… instead they’re smashing constituents, Tory blasts – The Sun
- Man punched by Amesbury in argument about bridge is named – The Times
- ‘He’s a nasty little man’: The Runcorn constituents disgusted by their brawling MP – Daily Telegraph
Editorial:
- If thug Amesbury won’t resign he must be fired by Labour and suspended from Westminster – The Sun
Dozens of MPs sponsored parliamentary security passes for working lobbyists
“Dozens of MPs have sponsored parliamentary security passes for lobbyists, with several failing to disclose the passholders’ jobs in official records. Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, Conservative MP Patrick Spencer and Labour MP Chris Curtis did not publicly declare they were sponsoring passes for lobbyists, according to a Financial Times analysis of the register of staff interests. Darren Jones, Labour’s chief secretary to the Treasury, is one of 24 MPs who have declared they have sponsored a lobbyist to receive a parliamentary security pass, according to the most recent update of the register published on October 11. The passes enable individuals to enter the Houses of Parliament complex without going through airport-style security checks.” – FT
- Labour’s Australian guru to open first Starmerite lobbying firm – The Times
News in Brief:
- Will Labour pay for its inconsistency on tax and spend? – David Gauke, New Statesman
- Will anyone miss Rishi Sunak? – Richard Vinen, UnHerd
- Britain’s population problem cannot be ignored – Michael Simmons, The Spectator
- Death by a thousand roundtables – Alex Chalmers and Anastasia Bektimirova, Chalmermagne
- Why Sergeant Martyn Blake was acquitted – Tony Dowson, The Critic
- Whose side is ChatGPT on? – Matthew Feeney, CapX
