Rachel Reeves says further cuts would be 'political suicide' as economy recedes – UK Politics Live
Badenock said the grooming gang was made up of “farmers” from “sub-communities”
Kemi Badnock He said “farmers” from “sub-communities” in some countries were involved in grooming and rape rings and said a national inquiry would be launched to identify those in power who failed to act. Jessica Elgort There is a story.
Rachel Reeves says further cuts would be 'political suicide' as economy recedes
Good morning. According to Politico, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has returned from a trip to China and will make a statement in the House of Commons. That would allow her to address criticism she has faced over rising government borrowing costs and what that means for her spending plans. Reading some of the Conservative newspapers this morning you would have thought she was about to be sacked. This is more partisan wishful thinking than objective truth, but Reeves is certainly having some difficulty because she promised growth and things didn't go as planned.
as Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgort The report said the Treasury was considering possible cuts to balance the books as rising borrowing costs put the government at risk of breaching fiscal rules.
Yesterday, all the fire directed at Reeves came from the right wing. But the Labor left is not completely gone, and this morning john macdonaldThe shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn told the Today program that further cuts would be “suicidal”.
Macdonald, who is currently technically an independent because he was stripped of the party whip last year after voting for the SNP and opposing the government's removal of the cap on second-child benefits, told Today:
There's obviously something wrong. There is turmoil in the international market and we must weather the storm.
The way you do that is – of course, you don't turn to spending cuts, because not only would that be… politically suicidal, but it would undermine the political support for Labour's election.
But on top of that, you're reducing demand in the economy, and you're looking at turning a crisis into a recession.
So I think you just have to see through the volatility in the market.
McDonald said that while market opinion is important, the opinion of voters is more important.
There are two groups of people making judgments about the incoming administration. One is the international market, of course the currency market.
But really the most important people are the voters, and I think what has to happen here is the voters have to be protected.
Otherwise, I fear, we will see a level of disillusionment that will unfortunately turn people toward reform. I think this would be a disaster for this country. So it is now important to consider the electoral response to another round of cuts.
McDonald said he believed Labour's problems could be traced to its failure to have a “public debate” on the state of the economy before the election. He said it would be a mistake to rule out income tax or corporate tax. Asked what Reeves should do now, he said Reeves should accept the need for a wealth tax.
You should tax the ridiculous inequality that exists in our society – 16 million people live in poverty, but at the same time we have now created 165 billionaires in our society. At my last calculation, they have created an additional £150bn of wealth in the two years from 2020 to 2022. I think you have to consider reallocation.
McDonald said this was in line with the principles Keir Starmer set out when he talked about the need to put the biggest burden on the broadest shoulders.
We can be fairly certain that Reeves will not adopt this advice when he later addresses the House of Commons.
This is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Keir Starmer chair cabinet.
11 a.m.: Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay speaks.
11.30am: Downing Street holds lobby briefing.
11.30am: Foreign Secretary David Lamy is questioned in the House of Commons.
morning: Starmer held a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
12.30pm: Commons leader Lucy Powell gave evidence to the Commons Standards Committee about the rules around MPs holding second jobs.
After 12.30 noon: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is expected to make a House of Commons statement on her trip to China.
afternoon: MPs debate the final stages of the Tenants' Rights Bill before it is tabled in the House of Lords.
If you would like to contact me, please leave a comment below or message me on social media. I can't read all messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message targeting me, I'm more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to report something urgently, it's best to use social media. You can reach me at @andrewsparrowgdn on Bluesky. The Guardian has stopped posting from its official account on Reply when necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to be corrected. I find your question interesting as well. I can't promise to reply to all emails, but I will try to respond to as many as I can, whether in BTL or sometimes on the blog.