Burnham is set to hand mayors the power to charge families an unlimited tourist tax on UK holidays. With no national cap on how high any greedy local leader can set it…
The ‘overnight visitor levy’ – hello again to ‘levy’, the traditional voodoo word for ‘tax’ – will apply to hotels, B&Bs, and holiday lets. Hospitality bosses were briefed this week that England will likely follow the Scottish model, where there is no ceiling. This was actually a policy Rachel Reeves always resisted, with Angela Rayner its biggest proponent. Reeves has been kicked to the curb. And Angela Rayner is in ‘Number 10 North’ today to finesse the raid’s details…
UK Hospitality estimates rolling that out across England is a £1.6 billion raid that adds £100 to a typical family break. Whacking a sector that has already lost more than 100,000 jobs since Labour took office…
The Cabinet Office has spent £4,584.12 on branded merchandise since Pat McFadden supposedly banned such ‘wasteful spending’ in April 2025. There are already plenty of mugs in Whitehall…
Pat McFadden specifically targeted branded mugs, jumpers, water bottles and fidget cubes as the kind of junk that taxpayers should no longer have to cough up for. Merchandise would be allowed only where ‘essential’ to the government’s agenda. Which should have been a warning sign anyway…
Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood asked what the department has spent since the potemkin ban. Mark Ferguson’s answer covers everything from 24 April 2025:
Admittedly there have been two Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster since McFadden’s edict. Have they forgotten it exists?
The Met has launched a probe into Reform following the Channel 4 donations sting last week:
“Following a broadcast by Channel 4 News on Thursday, September 3, the Met received a number of reports relating to donations and polling involving a political party.
“Detectives have assessed the information provided and determined that there are potential offences requiring investigation. The potential offences are similar in nature to matters already under investigation by the Met’s Special Enquiry Team relating to donations made to the same political party. As a result, these matters will form part of that ongoing investigation.
“All allegations under investigation relate to potential offences under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
“As part of enquiries, detectives are seeking to obtain relevant footage relating to the broadcast on Thursday, September 3.
“Detectives continue to liaise closely with the Electoral Commission and Crown Prosecution Service as enquiries progress.”
No arrests have been made. A Reform spokesman said:
“Reform UK denies any wrongdoing and will fully cooperate with the investigation. We won’t be commenting further while a live investigation is under way.”
Breaking…
Count the number of people with business experience here. It shouldn’t take long…
Eventually he stressed he does want to get the benefits bill down at some nebulous point, presumably having realised what a howler this was…
UPDATE: The Tories are going big on this. A gift has landed in their lap:
“Britain heard it loud and clear today: Andy Burnham will not cut welfare to fund the defence of our country. The Prime Minister is prioritising the ballooning benefits bill over our national security. Shameful.
“This is not leadership it is surrender. Worse still, it’s exactly what has come before. Burnham really is nothing more than Continuity Keir.”
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”