Consumer confidence slumped for the fourth consecutive month according to British Retail Consortium. ‘Working people’ bracing for the budget…
In September, expectations of the economy dropped by 4 points to -36, personal financial situation worsened to -7, and spending overall fell by two points to +14. Inflation remaining at 3.8% – well above the Bank of England’s 2% target – hasn’t helped…
Helen Dickinson of BRC said:
“Confidence among Millennials fell dramatically this month, as their expectations for both the economy and their own finances fell by double digits. Worries about the Budget, combined with the increase in the cost of living, have eroded confidence, with little sign that inflation will come down soon.”
Meanwhile Reeves is staring down a £30 billion black hole as the OBR is expected to slash its growth forecast thanks to her business-bashing budget last year. Winter is coming…
Andy Burnham allies are gossiping about a political comeback for Angela Rayner, should the Mayor of Greater Manchester decide return to Westminster. The King of the North and the Red Queen…
According to the Telegraph, Labour MPs think a pact between Rayner and Burnham could emerge – in which the former deputy PM marshals support for Burnham from the backbenches ahead of his comeback. He becomes leader, she returns as deputy…
One Labour MP said:
“I do know that in the last year, there have been conversations between them… People suggest that Andy and her could run together… What we have to do as a party is to regain confidence in the north of England. Keir Starmer is never going to achieve that, and Andy could begin to pull it back.”
It is still mostly gossip, for now. As Guido reported, the Labour NEC are hostile to a Burnham by-election comeback and would move heaven and earth to stop it. Although with Andy’s pal Lucy Powell ahead in the deputy leadership race, and Rayner conspiring on the backbenches, there’s still an appetite to take them on. Of course, he’d then have to actually win that by-election…
Dhaka officials have uncovered documents showing ex-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has held a Bangladeshi passport and national identity card, contradicting earlier denials made by her lawyers. According to the Times, records show a passport was issued in London in September 2001, when Siddiq was 19, and a national identity card was in January 2011. She also applied to renew the passport in January 2011 at a passport office in Dhaka. Her permanent address was listed as a house in Dhaka owned by her aunt, Sheikh Hasina.
Her legal team insist the documents are “fabricated“:
“This is a deliberate and desperate attempt to undermine her credibility and reputation…”
Tulip herself also previously denied she was Bangladeshi in 2017, telling reporters:
“Are you calling me Bangladeshi? Because I am British, be very careful what you’re saying because I’m a British MP … I am not Bangladeshi.”
Siddiq is currently on trial in absentia in Bangladesh over accusations of influencing her aunty Hasina to secure plots of land for her family. She denies those claims too. And maintains she is “collateral damage” in a political dispute between Hasina and Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus…
The Free Speech Union has successfully forced Thames Valley Police to drop an investigation after they demanded that an American woman, Deborah Anderson, apologise for her social media posts. Officers turned up at her out house following a complaint in June. When Anderson, a Trump supporter, asked what her offending posts were, the police refused to tell her…
Free Speech Union founder Toby Young told Guido:
“I hope the fact that this happened to a US citizen means President Trump will raise Britain’s free speech problem with Sir Keir Starmer later today. The Prime Minister is in denial about it and it needs someone of Trump’s stature to shake him out of his complacency. We need a complete overhaul of our free speech laws if we’re to avoid becoming the North Korea of the North Sea.”
As day two of Trump’s state visit kicks off, this is an almighty bad look for Starmer. British police hassling a US citizen over “thought crimes” on social media is exactly the kind of story that goes down like a lead balloon in America. The perfect storm…
New figures quietly slipped out by the Treasury show that between April and June, senior officials racked up £59,226 on flights, hotels and other travel. While Reeves is staring down a £30 billion black hole as the OBR prepares to slash growth forecasts, her civil servants don’t seem too worried about tightening their belts….
Some of those trips weren’t exactly Ryanair economy: business class flights to Cape Town, Washington, Canada and Riyadh. For context, in the same period last year under the Tories, total expenses for senior officials were just £1,581. Cost-of-living, anyone?
Katie Lam joins Adam Cherry in the studio to discuss immigration, free speech, and grooming gangs. Plus what she thinks lies ahead for the Conservatives…
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Red Wall Labour backbencher Jonathan Brash told GB News that Starmer should resign:
“I’m completely fed up about it, and I think it’s got to the point now where I genuinely think that, as far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it’s not a case of if, it’s when.”
