New data from the Adam Smith Insititute won’t make happy reading for Reeves as she battles her officials over Labour’s manifesto tax hikes. The Treasury is already looking at watering down the non-dom tax raid by softening plans for inheritance tax on trusts and introducing a discount on bringing in foreign income. Yet another ‘loophole’ as tax-fanatics would dub it – otherwise known as an ‘incentive’…
The ASI finds that the 4.55% of British residents with over $1 million in assets will plunge to just 3.62% by 2028. They will leave thanks to increased day-to-day taxation, frozen inheritance tax thresholds and capital gains taxes set to rise…
When Transport Secretary Lou Haigh was asked on GB News this morning whether the government would reconsider its non-dom tax seeing as it is now predicted to raise no money at all she said “if people come here they should pay their taxes here… the OBR will properly assess and analyse the impact at the budget.” That famously accurate institution…
In 2024 the number of millionaires is set to fall by 9,500 to 593,000 – compare that to the 708,500 Britain had back in 2007. When the top 1% of earners pay 29% of all income tax receipts it is no wonder that Treasury officials are baulking at Labour’s plans to hemorrhage cash with tax hikes…
‘The real opposition’ releases their party political broadcast. The first made with AI…
Questions over Lammy’s Chagos statement are raging on in the Commons. Tom Tugendhat has ripped into the Foreign Secretary, and Jenrick has been on the offensive too:
“We’ve just handed sovereign British territory to a small island nation which is an ally of China and we are paying for the privilege, all so that the Foreign Secretary can feel good about himself at his next North London dinner party. Whose interests does he think he serves: those of the global diplomatic elite or those of the British people and our national interest?”
Lammy naturally dodged in response. No word from Kemi so far. Cleverly left the Chamber before the statement…
Keir Starmer and David Lammy’s lack of competence on foreign policy has been exposed over the Chagos giveaway – currently being slammed by all sides in the Commons. Labour insiders are now raising the alarm about other brewing global controversies they foresee coming down the track. One issue is elections due in Kurdistan at the end of the month. Starmer and Lammy would ordinarily be expected to take a balanced position, in favour of UK interests…
Weirdly, though, a party in the region which has been described as having ‘strong ties to the Iranian government’ has an unusually close relationship with Starmer’s Labour. Bafel Jalal Talabani – reportedly a UK citizen – is challenging the incumbent Kurdish administration. His office praised Starmer on his election: “Congratulations to PM Keir Starmer, the newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I also would like to congratulate the Labour Party on the victory in this election.” Multiple Labour and security sources say PUK officials are in regular contact with Labour officials, and attendees with PUK connections were spotted at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool…
The PUK has some questionable links. Just last month the party welcomed Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian President, on a visit to Kurdistan. BBC Monitoring submitted evidence to Parliament: ‘The PUK is open about its own strong ties to the Iranian government’. And the PUK mourned the death of Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah last month, with a post referring to it as a ‘martyrdom’ (Hezbollah is a proscribed organisation in the UK). Is this the next Labour foreign policy scandal about to blow up?
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle slammed the government for pushing through the decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius during recess. Instead, Starmer and Lammy could hide from questioning whilst the announcement was made. Hoyle said:
“It is frustrating for members on both sides of the house where major planned announcements are scheduled during periods when the house is not sitting particularly towards the end of recess… members [should] have had the first opportunity to question the Secretary on it rather than learning about it through the media. Ministers should come to the House to announce their policies in the first instance.”
Guido agrees…
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is speaking in the Commons to try to defend the government’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to China-aligned Mauritius. Prepare for some heckles from the Tory benches…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”
