Labour announced last year that new “Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams” would be recruited to “work with schools who need support, pairing them with experts from the sector and developing plans to help them.” Seeing as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will get rid of the guarantee that failing schools will automatically be turned into academies the RISE teams are going to be under some pressure to turn around those institutions which Ofsted points the finger at…
A parliamentary question this month revealed that only a measly 35 staff make up the entirety of England’s roster of RISE teams. The staff are expected to provide universal support to schools who have only “minimal issues,” offer “targeted support” to schools with “singular or several issues” and “emerging support” to schools which are designated “emergencies.” Academy orders were the Tories’ longstanding tested method of dealing with issues here…
Guido’s analysis of the Department for Education has meanwhile identified at least 106 full time civil servants whose remit is limited to communications, media, press, or campaigns. That means there are over three times as many communications staff than there are staff responsible for turning around failing schools. Can’t polish a….
According to the FT Elon Musk has told an associate that it will be more difficult to donate any significant amount to Reform now that Trump’s inauguration has taken place. A supposed $100 million donation has been spoken of since late November…
Musk can of course still donate legally if he wants to – there’s no barrier whatsoever. Unless Labour gets there first with a crackdown on donations, but it would have to address its own ‘foreign’ donations first…
US administration officials might advise against it seeing as the X owner will be a prominent and senior member of the new government. The easiest window for a donation has come and gone but Reform is flush with cash anyway…
More grim news for the Treasury today as a report from the Adam Smith Institute reveals the annual income tax revenue lost from high earners fleeing the country now matches the income tax contribution of over 528,000 average taxpayers. A record-breaking 10,800 millionaires packed their bags and left the UK last year to flee Reeves’ tax raid…
The report warns the revenue gap could be even greater when factoring in corporation tax, VAT, and national insurance contributions tied to those leaving. A reminder that the UK’s top 1% of earners currently contribute 29.1% of the nation’s income tax—by far the largest slice of the Exchequer’s revenue. Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith sounded the alarm bell:
“Our entrepreneurs and businesses are fleeing this socialist government’s tax raid in droves. This research shows that Rachel’s Marxist maths has put the economy in real danger of drowning in Labour’s tepid bath of decline. Unless she changes course, every taxpayer will be getting soaked as a result.”
Reeves driving capital out of the UK at breakneck speed…
UPDATE: Reeves is now planning to water down her non-dom tax raid following the exodus of millionaires. She told a fringe event at the World Economic Forum that she’s prepared an amendment to the Finance Bill to increase the temporary repatriation facility, which lets non-doms bring in cash without paying heavy taxes.
In an exchange at the London Assembly with Green AM Zack Polanski this morning Sadiq Khan provided some more detail on his promised “legal challenge” against the government’s rumoured London airport expansion plans:
“There is no money set aside in the budget based on speculation I’ve seen speculation, in the media about a speech the chancellor may give in a few weeks time. I’ve seen no proposals from Heathrow airport, I’ve seen no plans for a new runway, I’ve seen no announcement from the government. What Londoners know and the government knows is the aviation sector is important for growth, jobs, and prosperity – but we face a climate crisis and a climate emergency…. I’m quite clear – my views on the expansion of Heathrow by a new runway haven’t changed.”
Polanksi accused the mayor of rowing back on his more robust statements to the press this week. Wouldn’t be the first time…
If Khan does end up wanting to oppose the government’s plans on aviation expansion it looks like Londoners would have to pay for it. Unlikely the Treasury would cough up for that one…
Another set of consumer confidence reports makes worrying reading for the Treasury. After Deloitte had the measure stalling this week the British Retail Consortium has downgraded its economic confidence rating from -27 in December to -34 in its latest monitor. That’s the lowest level since the monitor began in the first quarter of last year…
62% of those surveyed by Which also say the economy will get worse. Business figures and the commentariat alike are becoming increasingly impatient with Labour’s talk on growth. Lloyds Banking Group head Charlie Nunn says “the things they have talked about need to now be accelerated” while the US is set to grow faster and stronger than Europe. The bond traders are circling…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”