George Bunn
Guest Reporter
A red-faced Sir Lindsay Hoyle has torn into Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves after the duo hinted at parts of the Budget before its official unveiling on Wednesday.
Addressing the Commons on Monday afternoon, the Speaker erupted at Labour's top brass for not telling Parliament first about their much-anticipated economic plots.
He said: "Honourable members may be wondering how they'll get a seat on Wednesday [for the Budget]... To be quite honest, the way it's going, you won't need to, we'll have all have heard it!
"It's not acceptable, I don't want it to continue and I want to treat this House with the respect it deserves."
Hoyle then continued his tirade, saying: "It's totally unacceptable to go around the world telling everybody rather than these Members.
"They were elected by the constituents of this country and they deserve to be treated better.
"Isn't it funny that when it was the previous party, it was the opposite side that was complaining to me.
"Get your acts together - all sides. Treat Members with respect."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR MORE LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Sir Keir Starmer has dropped a major hint that Labour will slash public services in the Budget - as he warned Britons that "this is not 1997".
The Prime Minister was speaking in Birmingham ahead of Wednesday's Budget - the first to be delivered by a Labour Government in 14 years.
He said: "Look - nobody wants higher taxes, just like nobody wants public spending cuts. But we have to be realistic about where we are as a country.
"This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees. And it’s not 2010, where public services were strong, but the public finances were weak.
"We have to deal with both sides of that coin. These are unprecedented circumstances, but the budget the Chancellor will deliver on Wednesday, will prevent devastating austerity in our public services and a disastrous path for our public finances.
"That is the reality of what would happen if we’d stuck to Tory spending plans and why we never, unlike the opposition in 1997 and 2010 committed to the same spending plans.
"And yes - things are worse that we could possibly have expected during the election, the Budget will set that out very clearly. I mean, just look at the state of our prisons last week. Where is the Tory apology for that?"
The UK has sanctioned a trio of Russian so-called "disinformation agencies" seeking to "undermine" Ukraine.
The Foreign Office confirmed three Russian agencies and three senior figures who are attempting to destabilise Ukraine and its democracy had been sanctioned today.
A FCDO spokesman said that one, Social Design Agency, is tasked and funded directly by the Russian State - while along with its partner company Structura, it has attempted to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken international support for Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "Putin is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest.
"Today’s sanctions send a clear message: we will not tolerate your lies and interference and we are coming after you.
"Putin’s desperate attempts to divide us will fail. We will constrain the Kremlin, and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes."
An ex-Downing Street transport adviser has said the HS2 rail project was "doomed from the start" after ministers revealed they couldn't confirm just how far over-budget the plans were.
Andrew Gilligan, the head of transport at think tank Policy Exchange, wrote in The Sunday Times just yesterday that the intercity high-speed rail network is Britain’s “worst infrastructure scheme in modern history”.
He called for the scheme outside of the West Midlands to be “left in the grave” - with the money instead redirected to install cheaper infrastructure like trams and bus lanes.
The former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer's bus fare cap increase, telling GB News that bus routes are the "backbone of economic activity."
The MP for for Westmorland and Lonsdale said: "Keir Starmer’s hike in the bus fare cap is without a doubt a bus tax.
“While this new Government has been left to make difficult choices, they cannot allow the burden of fixing the Conservatives’ mess to be on people and small businesses across the country.
“The fundamental issue is that neither Labour nor the Conservatives before them seemed to understand is that for rural communities, it doesn’t matter if the cap is £2 or £3 if they don’t have a bus service in the first place.
“Bus routes are the backbone of economic activity in communities across our country - if the Government is serious about growth then it would invest in services which will boost our struggling town centres and high streets.”
Lee Anderson has slammed the Prime Minister's announcement that the £2 bus fare cap will be replaced by a new £3 cap until the end of 2025 at this week’s Budget.
The Reform UK chief whip told GB News: "Starmer has no idea about the damage he is doing to this country.
"The £2 bus fare cap is lifetime to the people on low-paid jobs who are forced to use public transport.
"I hope he reflects on this as he is driven the 100 yards in his taxpayer-funded chauffeur-driven car on his way to the Commons on Wednesday.
"This man will stop at nothing to empty the pockets of every vulnerable person in this country."
Video footage that appears to show MP Mike Amesbury punching a man to the ground is “shocking”, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he defended Labour’s decision to suspend him.
The Prime Minister said the party had “moved very swiftly” to respond after the footage emerged.
Amesbury was suspended by the party and lost the Labour whip on Sunday after a clip was published by MailOnline in which he was apparently seen continuing to hit the man lying on the ground, while people nearby shouted “Stop it”.
Starmer then sidestepped a question about whether Amesbury should resign as an MP - but said: “I have seen the video footage... It’s shocking.
"We moved very swiftly to suspend him as a member and as a Member of Parliament.
"There is now a police investigation and in the circumstances you will appreciate there’s not much more I can say about that."
Labour is protecting Britain's most vulnerable people, the Prime Minister has told GB News.
Sir Keir Starmer said he "genuinely understands the concerns people have" after The People's Channel posed him a question about pensioner Billy Pounder, who said he regretted voting for Labour over their Winter Fuel Payment cuts.
Starmer replied: "I do understand the concerns that people have.
"That is why we are protecting the most vulnerable with Pension Credit, and making sure that everybody is entitled to Pension Credit takes up that Pension Credit, which obviously guarantees the payment.
"But we are also fixing the foundations, stabilising the economy... And what that allows us to do is to commit absolutely to the triple lock."
Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed the cap on bus fares will be raised from £2 to £3 in a fresh blow to public transport-using Britons.
Ahead of Wednesday's Budget, the PM defended the new Government's fiscal decision-making, and said "better days were ahead."
The bus fare cap hike is expected to remain in place until the end of 2025.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at predecessor Liz Truss as he defended Labour's looming Budget tax rises.
The PM said today that "better days are ahead", adding that "everyone can wake up on Thursday and see that a new future is being built - a better future."
He said: "Borrowing will drive long-term growth. Tax rises will prevent austerity and rebuild public services.
"We choose to protect working people. We choose to get the NHS back on its feet. We choose to fix the foundations, reject decline and rebuild our country with investment."
He added: "The time is long overdue for politicians in this country to level with you honestly about the trade-offs this country faces, to stop insulting your intelligence with the chicanery of easy answers.
"Working people know that hard choices are necessary. They lived through the Liz Truss episode. They lived through the cost-of-living crisis.
"So they know that the things they want from us – protecting their living standards, building our nation, fixing our public services – they know that this can only be achieved alongside economic stability. There are no short-cuts."
The Prime Minister told an audience in Birmingham: "Trust in my project to return Britain to the service of working people can only be earned through actions, not words.
“Change must be felt. But every decision that we have made, every decision that we will make in the future, will be made with working people in our mind’s eye, people who have been working harder and harder for years just to stand still.
“People doing the right thing, maybe still finding a little bit of money to put away, paying their way, even in the cost-of-living crisis. But who feel that this country no longer gives them or all their children, a fair chance.
“People stuck on an NHS waiting list, whose town centre is blighted by antisocial behaviour, who can’t afford to buy a place that they can call home, or can’t afford the home they have because of the mortgage bombshell.”
The Prime Minister said that people "will want to a country on a different path" adding that populism "preys on fears."
Sir Keir Starmer said: "People want a stable economy, they want their country to be safe, their borders secure. Economic security, national security, border security.
"Those are still the foundations everything rests upon.And then beyond that they want exactly what those national missions promise. A growing economy. Safer streets. Clean British energy in their home. Opportunities for their children.
"And an NHS that is there when they need it.I know populism preys on the fears people have that these things no longer belong to them. But I have never felt the right response is to ignore those concerns rather than showing that they can still be delivered.
"So I am never going to pick just one of these missions – and say that’s everything because every single one of them matters to working people. And for the same reason – I will never turn away from them either."
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce £240million in funding to get people back into work.
The Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer said in a speech: "Rebuilding Britain and delivering growth will take the skills and effort of all of us.“That’s why this Budget will also get Britain working. It will pave the way for reforms that tackle the root causes for economic inactivity and make sure that those who can work do work.
"As a Labour Government, we will always help those who cannot support themselves, but the UK is the only G7 country for whom inactivity is still higher than it was before Covid.
"And that’s not just bad for our economy, it’s also bad for all those who are locked out of opportunity. So the Chancellor will announce £240 million in funding to provide local services that can help people back into work."
The Prime Minister said: "We will stick to our long-term plan. Run towards the tough decisions, rip-off the short-term sticking plasters, so we can lead our country finally but decisively out of this ‘pay-more, get less’ doom-loop -the low-growth Tory trap that for fourteen years - decimated public services. Destroyed our economic foundations and made working people pay the price.
"Mark my words – that era is now over, we are turning the page on Tory decline, closing the book on their austerity and chaos. Those days are done, they are behind us, change is here. Of course there will still be tough decisions.
"Rebuilding Britain and delivering growth, that will take the skills and effort of all of us.That is why this Budget will also Get Britain Working. It will pave the way for reforms that tackle the root causes of economic inactivity, make sure - that those who can work, do work.
Sir Kier Starmer has said Labour are 'getting on with the job' since coming to power.
The Prime Minister said: "That’s why we reformed planning rules to get Britain building again - restore the dream of home ownership.It’s why we ended junior doctor strikes to lift the pressure on our NHS. Start cutting waiting lists.It’s why we stopped the riots with tough sentences for violent thugs.
"Launched a Border Security Command to smash the people-smugglers.Switched on Great British Energy to get Putin’s boot off our throat. Make our country more secure.
"Create good jobs – right across the country. And it’s also why we’ve started the work of changing our economy. Stabilising it. Fixing its foundations. But also – changing how it works for them. An employment bill that will finally make work pay."
The Prime Minister was welcomed on stage by Richard Parker, the mayor of the West Midlands.
Sir Keir Starmer said: "It’s always great to be here in Birmingham. A city that is at the heart, not just of our country but also - our plans for growth - as we announced two weeks ago £500m worth of new investment in battery storage.
"That will create the jobs of the future right here. A snapshot of the Britain we are building this week and beyond.
"Our economy – stabilised. The foundations – fixed.Hope in the future – restored. Another step taken on the long, difficult, but resolute pat that we will walk.Towards a Britain returned to the service of working people."
Sir Keir Starmer will soon start to lay the ground for Labour's first Budget for over a decade. The Prime Minister is expected to warn of “unprecedented” economic challenges.
He told The Mirror "We were told there was no money to invest in infrastructure or our public services. Our hospitals, roads, schools, and housing crumbled. And then we watched as the Tories happily doled out £15 billion in corrupt Covid contracts and spent £45 billion on unfunded tax cuts."
"They knew full well what they were doing. Take prisons. They knew the system was on the brink of collapse but still they refused to act. They knew our public services were broken."
WATCH THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH AND REACTION HERE.
GB News host Eamonn Holmes has demanded Labour define the term 'strivers' during a lively interview on GBN Breakfast.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in the Sunday papers that her budget aims to help so-called 'strivers', a term Eamonn feels is vague and does little to assure many.
Asked to give a definition, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden responded: "Somebody that goes out and tries hard every day is what I would say a striver is."
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Pubs and restaurants are warning of a difficult festive period if Rachel Reeves’s budget this week raises taxes and ends a Covid-era relief on business rates.
The Chancellor is expected to reveal a tax-raising budget later this week, to pay for improved public services, with Labour sources indicating the government is intending to raise taxes and cut spending by a combined £40bn.
However, hospitality businesses are particularly worried because of the scheduled end next spring of the business rates relief, which could mean the tax bills charged on their properties will quadruple.
In a joint statement, The British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and UKHospitality said: "Many cash-strapped pubs, brewers, bars, restaurants and cafes, to name a few, would simply be unable to survive their rates bills quadrupling.
"Not only does inaction risk half of businesses having to cut jobs and cancel investment, but it also means a quarter would have to consider closing at least one site, which might be their entire business."
Mike Amesbury's suspension will be felt "in more ways than one" for Labour according to Victoria Atkins,
The Shadow Secretary of State for Health. spoke to GB News about the Labour MP after a shocking incident was caught on film.
Speaking on GB News, Atkins said, "We have all seen the video, it looks very, very shocking".
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
A Cabinet minister has said that he thinks Wednesday’s Budget will be the "most honest" in "some years."
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that the Government “levelled with people” before the Budget.
He told Times Radio: "There’s no point in telling people everything’s absolutely fine when the prison system is in a state of collapse, when NHS waiting lists are at a record high, when we’ve got crumbling schools. There’s so much that’s wrong that we’ve got to fix and it’s important to set that out honestly and candidly for the public."
The MP for Wolverhampton South East added: "I think we’ll have the most honest Budget on Wednesday that we’ve had for some years."
European ambassadors have warned that imposing VAT on international schools in the UK could lead to hundreds of pupils leaving. German ambassador Miguel Berger and French ambassador Helene Duchene told The Times they wanted international schools excluded from plans to impose 20 per cent VAT on private schools.
From January, the Government plans to remove the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools to enable funding for 6,500 new teachers in state schools. Currently, independent schools do not have to charge 20 per cent VAT on their fees because there is an exemption for the supply of education.
Berger said Deutsche Schule London, based in Richmond, had around 900 pupils and “between 20 and 25 per cent might be obliged to leave the school” if the change was introduced.
He said: "The German state covers 30 per cent of the costs of the school and 50 per cent of the investment, so there is a lot of state funding that goes into the school. For expats coming here for two, three or four years wanting their children to go back to the national system, their only option is to go to these schools.
"We would really like to see the British government recognise the importance of these schools — not only for our political and cultural relations but also for the people this will affect."
Jeremy Hunt has accused the government’s official budget watchdog of "political bias" ahead of this week's budget.
It comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) agreed to publish a review that is likely to be critical of the former Conservative government.
He said the failure to consult him before its publication amounted to an inappropriate “political intervention...I do not believe publishing a review with criticisms of the main opposition party on the day of a budget is consistent with political impartiality."
Find Out More...
Addressing the Commons on Monday afternoon, the Speaker erupted at Labour's top brass for not telling Parliament first about their much-anticipated economic plots.
He said: "Honourable members may be wondering how they'll get a seat on Wednesday [for the Budget]... To be quite honest, the way it's going, you won't need to, we'll have all have heard it!
"It's not acceptable, I don't want it to continue and I want to treat this House with the respect it deserves."
Hoyle then continued his tirade, saying: "It's totally unacceptable to go around the world telling everybody rather than these Members.
"They were elected by the constituents of this country and they deserve to be treated better.
"Isn't it funny that when it was the previous party, it was the opposite side that was complaining to me.
"Get your acts together - all sides. Treat Members with respect."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR MORE LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Starmer drops major hint he will SLASH public services AND hike up taxes in just 48 hours
Sir Keir Starmer has dropped a major hint that Labour will slash public services in the Budget - as he warned Britons that "this is not 1997".
The Prime Minister was speaking in Birmingham ahead of Wednesday's Budget - the first to be delivered by a Labour Government in 14 years.
He said: "Look - nobody wants higher taxes, just like nobody wants public spending cuts. But we have to be realistic about where we are as a country.
"This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees. And it’s not 2010, where public services were strong, but the public finances were weak.
"We have to deal with both sides of that coin. These are unprecedented circumstances, but the budget the Chancellor will deliver on Wednesday, will prevent devastating austerity in our public services and a disastrous path for our public finances.
"That is the reality of what would happen if we’d stuck to Tory spending plans and why we never, unlike the opposition in 1997 and 2010 committed to the same spending plans.
"And yes - things are worse that we could possibly have expected during the election, the Budget will set that out very clearly. I mean, just look at the state of our prisons last week. Where is the Tory apology for that?"
Lammy sanctions Russian 'disinformation' agencies undermining Ukraine - 'Putin's desperate!'
The UK has sanctioned a trio of Russian so-called "disinformation agencies" seeking to "undermine" Ukraine.
The Foreign Office confirmed three Russian agencies and three senior figures who are attempting to destabilise Ukraine and its democracy had been sanctioned today.
A FCDO spokesman said that one, Social Design Agency, is tasked and funded directly by the Russian State - while along with its partner company Structura, it has attempted to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken international support for Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "Putin is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest.
"Today’s sanctions send a clear message: we will not tolerate your lies and interference and we are coming after you.
"Putin’s desperate attempts to divide us will fail. We will constrain the Kremlin, and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes."
HS2 'doomed from the start' - former adviser
An ex-Downing Street transport adviser has said the HS2 rail project was "doomed from the start" after ministers revealed they couldn't confirm just how far over-budget the plans were.
Andrew Gilligan, the head of transport at think tank Policy Exchange, wrote in The Sunday Times just yesterday that the intercity high-speed rail network is Britain’s “worst infrastructure scheme in modern history”.
He called for the scheme outside of the West Midlands to be “left in the grave” - with the money instead redirected to install cheaper infrastructure like trams and bus lanes.
Ex-Lib Dem boss Tim Farron says bus fare cap increase is a 'bus tax'
The former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer's bus fare cap increase, telling GB News that bus routes are the "backbone of economic activity."
The MP for for Westmorland and Lonsdale said: "Keir Starmer’s hike in the bus fare cap is without a doubt a bus tax.
“While this new Government has been left to make difficult choices, they cannot allow the burden of fixing the Conservatives’ mess to be on people and small businesses across the country.
“The fundamental issue is that neither Labour nor the Conservatives before them seemed to understand is that for rural communities, it doesn’t matter if the cap is £2 or £3 if they don’t have a bus service in the first place.
“Bus routes are the backbone of economic activity in communities across our country - if the Government is serious about growth then it would invest in services which will boost our struggling town centres and high streets.”
Lee Anderson SLAMS Starmer's lifting of the bus fare cap - 'This man will stop at nothing'
Lee Anderson has slammed the Prime Minister's announcement that the £2 bus fare cap will be replaced by a new £3 cap until the end of 2025 at this week’s Budget.
The Reform UK chief whip told GB News: "Starmer has no idea about the damage he is doing to this country.
"The £2 bus fare cap is lifetime to the people on low-paid jobs who are forced to use public transport.
"I hope he reflects on this as he is driven the 100 yards in his taxpayer-funded chauffeur-driven car on his way to the Commons on Wednesday.
"This man will stop at nothing to empty the pockets of every vulnerable person in this country."
Starmer: Mike Amesbury altercation footage is 'shocking'
Video footage that appears to show MP Mike Amesbury punching a man to the ground is “shocking”, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he defended Labour’s decision to suspend him.
The Prime Minister said the party had “moved very swiftly” to respond after the footage emerged.
Amesbury was suspended by the party and lost the Labour whip on Sunday after a clip was published by MailOnline in which he was apparently seen continuing to hit the man lying on the ground, while people nearby shouted “Stop it”.
Starmer then sidestepped a question about whether Amesbury should resign as an MP - but said: “I have seen the video footage... It’s shocking.
"We moved very swiftly to suspend him as a member and as a Member of Parliament.
"There is now a police investigation and in the circumstances you will appreciate there’s not much more I can say about that."
Labour PROTECTING Britain's most vulnerable, Starmer tells GB News - as PM commits to triple lock
Labour is protecting Britain's most vulnerable people, the Prime Minister has told GB News.
Sir Keir Starmer said he "genuinely understands the concerns people have" after The People's Channel posed him a question about pensioner Billy Pounder, who said he regretted voting for Labour over their Winter Fuel Payment cuts.
Starmer replied: "I do understand the concerns that people have.
"That is why we are protecting the most vulnerable with Pension Credit, and making sure that everybody is entitled to Pension Credit takes up that Pension Credit, which obviously guarantees the payment.
"But we are also fixing the foundations, stabilising the economy... And what that allows us to do is to commit absolutely to the triple lock."
Bus fare cap to be RAISED by 50 per cent until end of 2025
Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed the cap on bus fares will be raised from £2 to £3 in a fresh blow to public transport-using Britons.
Ahead of Wednesday's Budget, the PM defended the new Government's fiscal decision-making, and said "better days were ahead."
The bus fare cap hike is expected to remain in place until the end of 2025.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Starmer lashes out at Liz Truss as he defends upcoming tax rises - 'there are no short-cuts'
Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at predecessor Liz Truss as he defended Labour's looming Budget tax rises.
The PM said today that "better days are ahead", adding that "everyone can wake up on Thursday and see that a new future is being built - a better future."
He said: "Borrowing will drive long-term growth. Tax rises will prevent austerity and rebuild public services.
"We choose to protect working people. We choose to get the NHS back on its feet. We choose to fix the foundations, reject decline and rebuild our country with investment."
He added: "The time is long overdue for politicians in this country to level with you honestly about the trade-offs this country faces, to stop insulting your intelligence with the chicanery of easy answers.
"Working people know that hard choices are necessary. They lived through the Liz Truss episode. They lived through the cost-of-living crisis.
"So they know that the things they want from us – protecting their living standards, building our nation, fixing our public services – they know that this can only be achieved alongside economic stability. There are no short-cuts."
Starmer says that 'change must be felt' ahead of Budget
The Prime Minister told an audience in Birmingham: "Trust in my project to return Britain to the service of working people can only be earned through actions, not words.
“Change must be felt. But every decision that we have made, every decision that we will make in the future, will be made with working people in our mind’s eye, people who have been working harder and harder for years just to stand still.
“People doing the right thing, maybe still finding a little bit of money to put away, paying their way, even in the cost-of-living crisis. But who feel that this country no longer gives them or all their children, a fair chance.
“People stuck on an NHS waiting list, whose town centre is blighted by antisocial behaviour, who can’t afford to buy a place that they can call home, or can’t afford the home they have because of the mortgage bombshell.”
Sir Keir Starmer says populism 'preys on fears'
The Prime Minister said that people "will want to a country on a different path" adding that populism "preys on fears."
Sir Keir Starmer said: "People want a stable economy, they want their country to be safe, their borders secure. Economic security, national security, border security.
"Those are still the foundations everything rests upon.And then beyond that they want exactly what those national missions promise. A growing economy. Safer streets. Clean British energy in their home. Opportunities for their children.
"And an NHS that is there when they need it.I know populism preys on the fears people have that these things no longer belong to them. But I have never felt the right response is to ignore those concerns rather than showing that they can still be delivered.
"So I am never going to pick just one of these missions – and say that’s everything because every single one of them matters to working people. And for the same reason – I will never turn away from them either."
Rachel Reeves to announce £240 million in funding for services to get people back into work in the Budget
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce £240million in funding to get people back into work.
The Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer said in a speech: "Rebuilding Britain and delivering growth will take the skills and effort of all of us.“That’s why this Budget will also get Britain working. It will pave the way for reforms that tackle the root causes for economic inactivity and make sure that those who can work do work.
"As a Labour Government, we will always help those who cannot support themselves, but the UK is the only G7 country for whom inactivity is still higher than it was before Covid.
"And that’s not just bad for our economy, it’s also bad for all those who are locked out of opportunity. So the Chancellor will announce £240 million in funding to provide local services that can help people back into work."
Starmer rules out return to austerity - 'those days are done'
The Prime Minister said: "We will stick to our long-term plan. Run towards the tough decisions, rip-off the short-term sticking plasters, so we can lead our country finally but decisively out of this ‘pay-more, get less’ doom-loop -the low-growth Tory trap that for fourteen years - decimated public services. Destroyed our economic foundations and made working people pay the price.
"Mark my words – that era is now over, we are turning the page on Tory decline, closing the book on their austerity and chaos. Those days are done, they are behind us, change is here. Of course there will still be tough decisions.
"Rebuilding Britain and delivering growth, that will take the skills and effort of all of us.That is why this Budget will also Get Britain Working. It will pave the way for reforms that tackle the root causes of economic inactivity, make sure - that those who can work, do work.
Starmer - 'We are getting on with the job'
Sir Kier Starmer has said Labour are 'getting on with the job' since coming to power.
The Prime Minister said: "That’s why we reformed planning rules to get Britain building again - restore the dream of home ownership.It’s why we ended junior doctor strikes to lift the pressure on our NHS. Start cutting waiting lists.It’s why we stopped the riots with tough sentences for violent thugs.
"Launched a Border Security Command to smash the people-smugglers.Switched on Great British Energy to get Putin’s boot off our throat. Make our country more secure.
"Create good jobs – right across the country. And it’s also why we’ve started the work of changing our economy. Stabilising it. Fixing its foundations. But also – changing how it works for them. An employment bill that will finally make work pay."
Starmer takes to the stage in Birmingham - 'change must be felt'
The Prime Minister was welcomed on stage by Richard Parker, the mayor of the West Midlands.
Sir Keir Starmer said: "It’s always great to be here in Birmingham. A city that is at the heart, not just of our country but also - our plans for growth - as we announced two weeks ago £500m worth of new investment in battery storage.
"That will create the jobs of the future right here. A snapshot of the Britain we are building this week and beyond.
"Our economy – stabilised. The foundations – fixed.Hope in the future – restored. Another step taken on the long, difficult, but resolute pat that we will walk.Towards a Britain returned to the service of working people."
Starmer set to speak shortly ahead of Wednesday's budget
Sir Keir Starmer will soon start to lay the ground for Labour's first Budget for over a decade. The Prime Minister is expected to warn of “unprecedented” economic challenges.
He told The Mirror "We were told there was no money to invest in infrastructure or our public services. Our hospitals, roads, schools, and housing crumbled. And then we watched as the Tories happily doled out £15 billion in corrupt Covid contracts and spent £45 billion on unfunded tax cuts."
"They knew full well what they were doing. Take prisons. They knew the system was on the brink of collapse but still they refused to act. They knew our public services were broken."
WATCH THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH AND REACTION HERE.
Eamonn Holmes tears into Labour minister over Rachel Reeves’ ’strivers’ claim
GB News host Eamonn Holmes has demanded Labour define the term 'strivers' during a lively interview on GBN Breakfast.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in the Sunday papers that her budget aims to help so-called 'strivers', a term Eamonn feels is vague and does little to assure many.
Asked to give a definition, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden responded: "Somebody that goes out and tries hard every day is what I would say a striver is."
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Pubs warn of 'tough Christmas ahead' if taxes rise and business rates relief ends
Pubs and restaurants are warning of a difficult festive period if Rachel Reeves’s budget this week raises taxes and ends a Covid-era relief on business rates.
The Chancellor is expected to reveal a tax-raising budget later this week, to pay for improved public services, with Labour sources indicating the government is intending to raise taxes and cut spending by a combined £40bn.
However, hospitality businesses are particularly worried because of the scheduled end next spring of the business rates relief, which could mean the tax bills charged on their properties will quadruple.
In a joint statement, The British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and UKHospitality said: "Many cash-strapped pubs, brewers, bars, restaurants and cafes, to name a few, would simply be unable to survive their rates bills quadrupling.
"Not only does inaction risk half of businesses having to cut jobs and cancel investment, but it also means a quarter would have to consider closing at least one site, which might be their entire business."
Double whammy warning for Labour as Mike Amesbury's suspension to be felt 'in more ways than one'
Mike Amesbury's suspension will be felt "in more ways than one" for Labour according to Victoria Atkins,
The Shadow Secretary of State for Health. spoke to GB News about the Labour MP after a shocking incident was caught on film.
Speaking on GB News, Atkins said, "We have all seen the video, it looks very, very shocking".
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McFadden - Wednesday's budget will be the 'most honest' in 'some years'
A Cabinet minister has said that he thinks Wednesday’s Budget will be the "most honest" in "some years."
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that the Government “levelled with people” before the Budget.
He told Times Radio: "There’s no point in telling people everything’s absolutely fine when the prison system is in a state of collapse, when NHS waiting lists are at a record high, when we’ve got crumbling schools. There’s so much that’s wrong that we’ve got to fix and it’s important to set that out honestly and candidly for the public."
The MP for Wolverhampton South East added: "I think we’ll have the most honest Budget on Wednesday that we’ve had for some years."
European ambassadors urge Reeves to scrap VAT on international schools
European ambassadors have warned that imposing VAT on international schools in the UK could lead to hundreds of pupils leaving. German ambassador Miguel Berger and French ambassador Helene Duchene told The Times they wanted international schools excluded from plans to impose 20 per cent VAT on private schools.
From January, the Government plans to remove the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools to enable funding for 6,500 new teachers in state schools. Currently, independent schools do not have to charge 20 per cent VAT on their fees because there is an exemption for the supply of education.
Berger said Deutsche Schule London, based in Richmond, had around 900 pupils and “between 20 and 25 per cent might be obliged to leave the school” if the change was introduced.
He said: "The German state covers 30 per cent of the costs of the school and 50 per cent of the investment, so there is a lot of state funding that goes into the school. For expats coming here for two, three or four years wanting their children to go back to the national system, their only option is to go to these schools.
"We would really like to see the British government recognise the importance of these schools — not only for our political and cultural relations but also for the people this will affect."
Jeremy Hunt accuses OBR of political bias
Jeremy Hunt has accused the government’s official budget watchdog of "political bias" ahead of this week's budget.
It comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) agreed to publish a review that is likely to be critical of the former Conservative government.
He said the failure to consult him before its publication amounted to an inappropriate “political intervention...I do not believe publishing a review with criticisms of the main opposition party on the day of a budget is consistent with political impartiality."
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