Liz Truss echoes Keir Starmer’s “growth, growth, growth” economic slogan
The Bank of England has been forced to step up its emergency intervention twice in two days, to prevent a “fire sale” in UK government bonds and market dysfunction that poses a “risk material to the financial stability of the United Kingdom.”
But Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey insisted people “should be confident” about the health of the economy and said Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had unveiled his new tax plan because he “decided we are in good shape “.
It came as experts warned Liz Truss and Kwarteng will be forced to impose a “savage” £60bn austerity hit unless they roll back more of their tax cuts.
Britain is headed for recession by 2024 and Kwarteng will be forced to abandon its mini-budget gifts or cut public services by 15 percent, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said. .
And Tory MPs warned there would be strong opposition to the latter option, with one former minister telling The Independent: “There is no way Tory MPs will stand for wild austerity in a cost-of-living crisis post- Covid. Liz has driven herself to a dead end.”
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‘No decisions’ on housing manifesto pledge, No 10 says
No decisions have been taken on plans to stop a planned ban on “no-fault” evictions, Downing Street has said, after reports the government could move to suspend the 2019 manifesto pledge.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think no decisions have been made, as I say.
“This is something that the secretary of state is considering how to improve the rental market. It is clear that ensuring fair treatment for tenants will always remain a priority for this government.”
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 1:42 p.m
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Liz Truss becomes a star of the virtual world in the new video game
Liz Truss’ tax policies have given the Prime Minister her own video game.
A Liz We Trust, a free-to-play 8-bit web-based game, was launched on Tuesday and allows players to ‘control’ Mrs Truss as she tries to find as many pound coins as she can in British homes to give to the British . City of London.
Liz Truss becomes a star of the virtual world in the new video game
Liz We Trust, a free-to-play 8-bit web-based game, was released on Tuesday.
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 1:24 p.m
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Kwarteng should not rely on ‘overly optimistic’ forecasts, says IFS
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest reports:
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has tweeted a thread explaining that debt interest spending will be around £100 billion next year, double the March forecast.
“The chancellor should not rely on overly optimistic growth forecasts or promises of unspecified spending cuts,” said IFS director Paul Johnson.
“To do so would risk his plans not having the credibility that recent events have shown to be so important.”
Adam Forrest October 11, 2022 1:07 p.m
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Truss will not lead to austerity, says No 10
There will be no return to austerity under a Liz Truss government, Downing Street has said.
Asked whether Mrs Truss stood by her predecessor Boris Johnson’s pledge that the UK would not return to an era of austerity, the prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “Yes.”
He continued: “We clearly recognize in the first instance that it will be the chancellor who will present our medium-term fiscal plan, then we will set out our position.
“These are challenging times and we have made significant interventions costing many billions to provide the support needed to protect people from these global challenges. Obviously this will require some spending decisions, but it will be the chancellor who steps up to set out- them”.
It comes after the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that Mrs Truss must abandon the remaining tax cuts in her chancellor’s mini-budget or impose £60 billion worth of austerity cuts on public services.
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 12:50 pm
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Exclusive: Government ‘ignores’ official advice to increase sick pay for NHS staff with long Covid
The government has been accused of abandoning those who put their lives at risk during the pandemic by “ignoring” an official recommendation to pay NHS staff unable to work due to Covid.
In July, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council told ministers that healthcare workers who end up with long-term disabling conditions from Covid-19 should be entitled to disability benefits for work injuries.
But there has been no change in policy, and the government says it is yet to consider the recommendations.
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone has the exclusive report:
The Tories ‘ignore’ official advice to increase sick pay for NHS staff with long Covid
Exclusive: Ministers have been told work injury disability benefit should apply to long-term Covid
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 12:28 p.m
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Coffey won’t say how the government will pay for the ‘£60bn black hole’
Therese Coffey has not set out any plans for how the government will pay for a £60bn ‘black hole’ identified by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, reports my colleague Holly Patrick.
The deputy prime minister said: “It’s not for me to say that. These are their forecasts. The chancellor will speak at the end of the month about the medium-term fiscal plan.”
Therese Coffey won’t say how government will pay for ‘£60bn black hole’ laid by IFS
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 12:06 p.m
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Truss will be “a ship that goes in the night”, says Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver has said Liz Truss will be a “ship that goes in the night”, warning the Tory party needs an injection of kindness.
Liz Truss will be ‘a ship that goes in the night’, says Jamie Oliver
Attacks by celebrity chefs question the Prime Minister’s apparent approach to growth as ‘absolutely insane’
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 11:50 am
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Starmer will lose his chief of staff as part of the party’s restructuring
Sir Keir Starmer has restructured his party in a bid to put Labor on “electoral lows”, which will see policy and communications roles move from the leader’s office to Labor headquarters, according to general secretary David Evans .
The party’s London headquarters will be moving imminently from the Southside Building on Victoria Street in Westminster.
The leader’s chief of staff, Sam White, will leave as part of the merger of roles from Sir Keir’s office and party headquarters.
“Sam has played an incredible role in taking our operation to the next level. Under his leadership, the team has become better and stronger,” said Sir Keir. But “with the merger, running the leader’s office becomes a smaller role than Sam envisioned and we both agree, as we’re making this change, now is the right time.”
Beyond the departure of Mr. White, who was named chief of staff last summer, has no other jobs at risk.
Liz Truss’s government ‘could fall at any moment’, says Keir Starmer
The collapse of the Tories “has given us a great opportunity”, says the Labor leader as he puts the party on an electoral footing
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 11:27 am
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Bank of England action sends gilt yields falling, but pound remains down
The Bank of England has said it will now expand the scope of its bond-buying program to include purchases of index-linked gilts, a type of UK government bond that tracks inflation.
On Monday, the central bank doubled its daily bond-buying limit to £10bn, while Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng brought forward his new fiscal plan and independent economic forecasts to October 31 in a bid to calm the turbulent markets.
The Bank’s latest action helped lower long-dated gilt yields sharply on Tuesday morning, in welcome relief after 30-year government bond yields hit 4.7% on Monday, the highest level since that the Bank was forced to intervene in the market last month to stop. collapse pension funds.
But the pound remained under pressure, settling at $1.10, despite the Bank’s additional measures.
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Kwarteng held undisclosed meetings with Saudi oil companies
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is facing questions after it emerged he held undisclosed meetings in January with senior officials from Saudi Arabia’s oil companies while he was business secretary.
Documents released to The Guardian through Freedom of Information (FoI) requests show that on a two-day visit to the kingdom, Kwarteng held talks with the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the chief executive of Sabic and the chairman of the Alfanar group, with some of his flights to the kingdom covered by Saudi Aramco.
However, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) had not declared the details of Mr. Kwarteng when the transparency documents on ministerial meetings were originally released.
A government spokesman blamed an “administrative backlash” for the initial failure to report the talks in the usual way, with records updated since then.
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest has the report:
Kwasi Kwarteng held undisclosed meetings with Saudi oil companies
Greens MP Caroline Lucas urges Chancellor to ‘clarify dealings with Saudi oil giants’
Andy Gregory October 11, 2022 10:56 am