Nigel Farage is set to rule out tax cuts until public spending is under control as he lays out Reform UK’s plans to get a grip on the Britain’s finances.The Reform UK leader will deliver a speech in London today, in which he is expected to row back from his party’s 2024 promise to cut £90billion of taxes.The Clacton MP will say Labour and the Tories have “wrecked the public finances” and Reform would need to get public spending under control first to bring Britain’s borrowing costs down.Reform’s manifesto committed the party to tax cuts worth around a third of the NHS budget, including raising the personal allowance to £20,000, introducing a £100,000 tax-free allowance for companies and exempting some high street firms from business rates.Mr Farage is expected to pledge to form “the most pro-business” Government in British history if his party comes to power and argue the UK has not made the most of Brexit. According to reports, he will say: “The harsh truth is that regulations and regulators, in many areas, are worse than they were back in 2016.”Promising to “free businesses to get on and make more money”, Mr Farage will say: “Reform UK will do things very differently.”We will be the most pro-business, pro-entrepreneurship government this country has seen in modern times.”This will mean more well-paid jobs for workers.” FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
Ministers to create new quango to run military housing
Ministers are set to create a new quango to run military housing after concluding the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was not up to the job.The new Defence Housing Service, to be announced by Defence Secretary John Healey today, will take over management of service accommodation after years of complaints about poor quality homes.It will operate as an arm’s-length public body, with Mr Healey saying the new service would “deliver better value for the taxpayer and fulfil our promise to provide homes fit for heroes”.When created, it will be one of the largest publicly owned housing providers in the country.Sources said MoD had “not been very good” at operating service accommodation itself and would be better able to focus on “core defence responsibilities” once housing was hived off to the new body.Earlier in the year, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to reduce the number of quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations) to improve accountability and cut back on bureaucracy.Mr Healey said: “Our British forces personnel and our veterans fulfil the ultimate public service. Our nation is rightly proud of them. And the very least they deserve is a decent home.“This new strategy will embed a ‘forces first’ approach that tells our forces, our veterans and their families: we are on your side.”
WATCH: Chris Philp says Reform’s ‘numbers don’t add up’ as he slams party’s commitment to scrap two-child benefit cap
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Reform UK’s numbers “don’t add up” as he slammed the party’s pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap as “completely unfair”.The Croydon South MP told GB News: “At the last election, Reform had a manifesto I think with 10s of billions – possibly even £100billion – of unfunded commitments.”Even today Reform are proposing to actually increase welfare spending in fact we should be cutting welfare spending. “They propose to get rid of the two-child benefit cap so hardworking taxpayers who can’t afford to have more than two children themselves, have to pay taxes so somebody else can have four, five or six children. That is completely unfair.”Reform are completely wrong about that. It is not only unfair and immoral to have hardworking taxpayers subsidise somebody else to have five kids it is also financially irresponsible as well. Their numbers I’m afraid don’t add up.”
Transport Secretary says major incident declared after train derailed in Cumbria
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said a major incident had been declared following a train derailment near Shap in Cumbria but “there are no reported injuries”.National Rail said the train had left the tracks between Penrith and Oxenholme.The ambulance service said in a statement: “Following reports of a train derailment near Shap in Cumbria, the trust has dispatched resources to the scene.”We are currently assessing the situation and working with other members of the emergency services.”Our priority is to ensure people receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible.”READ FULL STORY HERE
Chris Philp calls for ‘tough and radical action’ following train stabbing
Chris Philp says ‘tough and radical action’ is needed to tackle knife crime in Britain | PAThe Shadow Home Secretary says “tough and radical action” is needed to tackle knife crime in Britain following the mass stabbing on a train on Saturday.Writing in The Telegraph, Chris Philp said: “What happened on that train makes clear Britain is now long overdue a serious overhaul of how we tackle the scourge of violence and knife crime. “The Government must now take urgent action to restore confidence in policing and its ability to keep us safe.”He added that more knife crime offenders needed to be jailed and called for stop and search to be “dramatically increased”.