A cost-of-living tsar has told Andy Burnham to stop acting like Father Christmas and start making hard choices.
Lord Walker of Broxton, Iceland’s executive chair, said Mr Burnham should gear up to make “unpopular decisions” to slash spending taxpayers’ cash.
The Iceland boss was appointed to his Government role in February.
He stepped down after Sir Keir Starmer resigned as Prime Minister earlier in the summer.
“Andy Burnham has been Father Christmas so far, and it would be great if he’d start to get a bit more unpopular,” he told LBC.
“For the last 50 years, chancellors on the Left or the Right haven’t been too dramatic on raising taxes or reducing spending because they’ve been able to borrow a little bit more.
“Borrowing, increasing borrowing, is now off the table as an option. The bond markets are teaching us that lesson. Therefore, tough choices are now needed.”
Defence Secretary shares statement after meeting with Irish Foreign Minister to ‘keep people safe’
The Defence Secretary has shared a statement after meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee today.
Mr Streeting said: “Great to speak with my Irish counterpart Helen McEntee.
“We discussed how the UK and Ireland can work even more closely together to support Ukraine, protect critical undersea infrastructure, tackle shared threats and keep our people safe.”
Zack Polanski under fire for missing key Jewish event while campaigning to become MP in Urdu
Zack Polanski has come under fire after skipping an important meeting about London’s Jewish community to campaign to be the MP for Holborn & St Pancras.
The Green Party leader was instead out campaigning in Urdu as he challenges Labour to win the seat vacated by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The fire committee, which includes Mr Polanski as a member, examined the response to the arson attacks against the Jewish community in London.
Mr Polanski’s decision to campaign rather than attend such a key meeting on issues affecting London’s Jewish community has prompted questions about his priorities as he seeks to become an MP while continuing to collect his taxpayer-funded £66,000 salary from City Hall.
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Andy Burnham faces mounting pressure to satiate Nato chief’s defence demand
Andy Burnham is facing mounting pressure to satiate Mark Rutte’s defence demands.
The Nato chief said that the UK needs a credible path of annual hikes to hit the defence spending goal.
He said the defence alliance states must “stick to that path” towards allocating 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product – a measure of the size of the economy – for core defence spending by 2035.
Mr Rutte said they should also set out “yearly increments”.
Andrew Griffith takes savage swipe at John Healey ahead of ‘challenging’ autumn Budget
Andrew Griffith has taken a swipe at John Healey in his first speech as Shadow Chancellor after Labour warned that the UK should brace for a “really challenging” autumn Budget.
He began by saying: “I’m afraid we meet in difficult times. Britain today faces many problems. It has a debt problem. It has a growth problem, and it has now a Healey problem.
“Labour inherited the first two, but immediately made them worse. They chose to add £260billion of debt over the course of this parliament.
“They chose to impose the highest tax burden since records began. And in just 40 days’ time, on October 28, we fear it is about to get worse because, rather than change, we have another chancellor who’s out of his depth.”
He added: “Markets smell weakness and as a result, today government borrowing costs to be paid by all of us are at a 28-year high, higher than Italy, higher than Greece.
“And our interest bill is now more than twice what we spend on defence. Kemi and I have set out our plan for how we would fund the difficult decisions to fund defence, but John Healey prefers to continue out-of-control welfare spending.”
Calling on Mr Healey to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget, Mr Griffith said: “Businesses are already suffering enough. The Chancellor must end the uncertainty today and rule out any new taxes.
“He must rule out increasing taxes on small businesses and the self-employed. And he must rule out an exit tax, the mere rumours of which are already causing Britain’s wealth creators to flee the country.”
The criticism comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham claims the fallout from the world conflicts, including the Middle East and Ukraine, would make for a “challenging” Budget.
Sadiq Khan pokes fun at Zack Polanski by responding to question in Urdu
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has poked fun at Zack Polanski by responding to a question in Urdu, a language the Green Party leader recently used in a campaign video for his bid to become an MP.
Mr Polanski spoke Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, in a video as part of his campaign to become the next MP for Holborn and St Pancras, the constituency where ex-prime minister Sir Keir Starmer stood down.
The Green Party leader is standing against a field of 14 other candidates, including Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council.
Making his first appearance at Mayor’s Question Time in the London Assembly since he was confirmed at the Green candidate in the by-election, Mr Polanski asked Lord Khan a question about data centres.
The Labour mayor then replied in Urdu in a nod to the Green Party campaign video.
According to a translation provided by Lord Khan’s office, he said: “Peace be upon you. I was worried that you would ask the question in Urdu, but you asked your question in English. I’ll be spending time in Holborn and St Pancras this week and I’m going to be there. Maybe we will meet there.”
Civil servants in Angela Rayner’s department revolt after being told to come into office more often
Civil servants within Angela Rayner’s Government department are set to stage a series of strikes over office closures and workplace attendance requirements that prevent them from working from home.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are due to take industrial action later this month and throughout October.
Staff attendance targets at the MHCLG generally require civil servants in offices outside London to attend for 50 per cent of their working time over a three-month period, with an “ongoing departmental ambition to move toward 60 per cent”, a department spokesman said.
PCS said staff in the department’s finance directorate will strike for 13 days from September 24, while members in the resilience, emergencies and recovery directorate are scheduled to take eight days of strike action from October 1.
The union said the dispute centres on plans to close regional offices, along with targets for staff attendance at work.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our members are being asked to pay the price for decisions that make little sense for staff, communities or the effective delivery of public services.
“We need MHCLG to stop closing regional offices, rethink its rigid approach to attendance and get back around the table with PCS to find a fair solution.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Planned council spending rises at highest rate in recent years
Planned spending by all councils on frontline services has increased this year at the highest rate in recent years, official figures show.
Allocations to budgets for 2026-27 totalled £148.8 billion, a 5.2 per cent increase on 2025-26 and a 14 per cent uplift since 2022-23.
Figures published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show net spending on some of the most high-profile services has increased by at least 5 per cent compared to last year.
Housing services have received the biggest annual increase, with net expenditure budgeted at £3.7 billion – £466 million (14.3 per cent) higher than 2025-26.
The department said this was driven by a £302million (14.7 per cent) increase in spending to tackle homelessness, excluding the costs of temporary accommodation that are reclaimed from the Government.
Councils budgeted £2.93 billion on temporary accommodation, an increase of 88 per cent in five years and the equivalent of £8.04 million every day.
Children’s social care expenditure has risen by 7.4 per cent to £17 billion this year.
This increase is largely due to a £929million (+10.8 per cent) rise in services supporting looked-after children, while budgets for family support services also rose by £247 million (13 per cent).
Budgets for adult social care total £28.7 billion this year, up 5.2 per cent from 2025-26.
Within this allocation, physical support for older people has risen 7.3 per cent to £483 million, and learning disability support for adults has risen five per cent to £414 million.
Net expenditure on education services in 2026-27 is set at £49.1 billion, £2.4 billion higher than last year.
Bank of England holds base rate at 3.75% despite spike in inflation
The Bank of England has confirmed it will keep the base rate at its current level despite rising inflation concerns and expected hikes in energy prices.
Earlier today, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to keep the cost of borrowing at 3.75 per cent; having been at this level since December 2025.
The base rate sets how much individuals and businesses can borrow, dictates savings interest rates and mortgage deals, and influences inflation.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank raised the base rate to as high as 5.25 per cent to control the consumer price index (CPI) rate.
Across the pond, the US Federal Reserve raised its base rate for the first time in three years to a range of 3.75 per cent to four per cent.
Analysts are already pricing in around four interest-rate hikes over the next 12 months, which would return borrowing costs to five per cent.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Andrew Griffith suggests Tories would stop appointing the head of the Trades Union Congress to the Bank of England’s board
The shadow chancellor has indicated that he would break with convention and stop appointing the head of the Trades Union Congress to the Bank of England’s board.
Andrew Griffith told reporters at an event in London that he thought the practice, which has been in place for decades, was”pretty 1970s”.
It follows Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, being appointed to a non-executive director position for a four-year term on Wednesday.
Previous Conservative governments have appointed other TUC chairs to the board as non-executive directors.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch posted on X that the appointment of Mr Nowak was a sign of “trade union control” over the country.
Asked about the appointment and Mrs Badenoch’s comments by reporters, Mr Griffith said: “Paul Nowak said some very unfortunate comments in the past about, for example, the City of London, one of the financial powerhouses that helps our economy grow.
“There is a tradition of putting union bosses on the Bank of England board.
“If I’m honest, that feels pretty 1970s, it wouldn’t be the first place that I would go to bolster the reputation for financial discipline of an important financial institution.”
Tories pledge to replace the IR35 rules around tax for self-employed workers
The Conservative Party has said it will replace the IR35 rules around tax for self-employed workers, the shadow chancellor has said.
Andrew Griffith told an event in London that they were among a series of tax rules that make tax “torture” for workers.
IR35 are rules that are designed to work out whether a contractor is genuinely self-employed, rather than in reality being an employee for tax purposes. The rules are to ensure that a self-employed worker pays the same income tax and national insurance as an employee would.
Mr Griffith said: “For the self-employed, many of whom will have started out in colleges such as this, there is this special torture of making tax digital. Making tax difficult, as it’s often known. Instead of getting on with the job, they’re forced to spend time and money being tracked and traced by HMRC, filling four extra reports a year before they’ve even started their tax return.
“Then there’s IR35, a regime which crushed the dreams of so many self-employed people to be able to work for themselves and regulate their own affairs. Freedom, responsibility, hard work, these are Conservative values. And yet I know that many felt badly let down by IR35 policies.
He added: “When the Conservative Party returns to government, I want to be a chancellor for small businesses and the self-employed, that is why I’m here.
“What will that look like? Well, I’m committing today that the next Conservative government will replace IR35, not reform it, not review it, but replace it with a new system that respects the right of the self-employed to choose their status and only prevents actual abuse.”
Former top civil servant Sir Chris Wormald takes House of Lords seat after £860 pay-off
Former top civil servant Sir Chris Wormald has taken his seat in the House of Lords.
The ex-Whitehall chief led the civil service for 14 months during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, having previously headed up the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.
He received a £859,496 severance package when his time as Cabinet secretary came to an end, according to the Cabinet Office’s annual report and accounts released earlier this week.
Lord Wormald will sit on the red benches as an independent crossbencher peer.
He wore traditional scarlet robes during his short introduction ceremony on Thursday morning.
“I, Christopher, Lord Wormald, do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law.” he said, making the solemn affirmation.
Labour should not make ‘difficult time in the wider world’ worse by raising taxes, says Andrew Griffith
Andrew Griffith has warned it is “a difficult time in the wider world” and Labour should not make it worse by raising taxes.
The shadow chancellor told the BBC: “We’ve had two budgets under previous Labour administrations now that have raised the burden of tax to its all-time recorded high; they were based on a lot of extra public spending that has itself caused all those difficulties you heard about in the economy.
“It’s a difficult time in the wider world but the Government shouldn’t be making it any worse.
“The thing that they could do right now is take off the table the fears of ordinary small businesses, the self-employed, who are getting up now, going to work, and allow them to get on with their lives with confidence that the taxes are not going to go up.”
Andy Burnham accused of having ‘no backbone’ amid plans to ‘reset’ EU relations: ‘Out of his depth!’
Richard Fuller has launched a scathing attack on Andy Burnham, accusing him of having “no backbone” over plans to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the European Union.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury urged the PM to “get a grip” and stop pointing the country in the “wrong direction”.
Asked whether Canada’s new ties to the EU are a “blueprint” for the UK to follow, Mr Fuller was quick to disagree.
He told the People’s Channel: “No, and in fact, I think he, the Prime Minister, is pointing us in the wrong direction.
“The British people want a Prime Minister who can get a grip on the economy and get a grip on the pressures they have on their budgets. We need a Prime Minister who can get a grip on the taxes on our businesses.”
The Conservative MP accused the Prime Minister of being “out of his depth” in his handling of the country.
He said: “Today, we’re saying that the Chancellor should rule out even more tax increases on business, and instead we have a Prime Minister who seems to be a little bit out of his depth.
“Now he’s got the top job and thinks that the right answer for the British people is to get the European Union to make the decisions for us once again, that’s the wrong approach.
“We need a Prime Minister who is strong on principle, who’s got a backbone and is going to lead this country so that we can prosper as a nation state. That’s what we need.”
WATCH THE FULL CLIP HERE
Labour urged to scrap phrase net zero as it has become ‘toxic’
The phrase net zero should be scrapped by Labour as it has become toxic to the public, an influential group of MPs has recommended.
A cross-party Commons committee, which itself has the phrase in its name, the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, warned that the term has now “lost much of its significant positive association” amid increasing misinformation.
Energy price shocks, which have triggered a cost-of-living crisis in Britain, have led to the breakdown of a consensus about tackling climate change by reducing the country’s emissions, the committee warned in its latest report.
Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have broken with the net-zero consensus and have called for Britain to get more of its energy from tapping fossil fuel reserves in the North Sea.
The report said: “The term net zero has lost much of its significant positive association. It increasingly acts as a distraction from the broader aims of the energy transition and as a lightning rod for opposition to climate action.
“As part of efforts to communicate the energy transition effectively, the term net zero should be dropped from the department’s name and its key communications.”
British taxpayers forced to pay ‘second mortgage’ just to cover UK’s ballooning debt
British taxpayers have been forced to pay the equivalent of a “second mortgage” just to cover its ballooning national debt.
Now, the annual bill is set to rise by as much as £450 per person per year due to existing debts being “rolled over” at high interest rates.
Concerns over the national debt have been raised before Andy Burnham and John Healey’s first autumn budget.
A new report from Facts4EU, in collaboration with Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK.Org), has illustrated how much the national debt has cost taxpayers in two simple but startling charts.
GB NEWS MEMBERS CAN READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Labour MP forced to apologise after calling for British ‘military action’ against Israel
A Labour MP has been forced to apologise after calling for British “military action” against Israel in the Commons.
On Monday, during a debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Tahir Ali called for Israel to be disarmed over “atrocities that have been committed” in Gaza.
He told the Commons: “Previous governments have intervened in the Middle East to take action on human rights abuses and protect international trade routes. Is it not about time that military action was taken against Israel as well?”
The MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley’s remarks were condemned by his own party.
Mr Ali has now said he apologises “unreservedly” for the staggering intervention – though only received a formal warning by the Chief Whip.
A Labour spokesman told the Jewish Chronicle: “Tahir Ali’s comments were unacceptable, and he has issued an unreserved public apology. The Chief Whip has formally warned him and reminded him of the standards of conduct expected of Labour MPs.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Reform UK’s first police and crime commissioner cancels plans for a national theatre tour following backlash
Reform UK’s first police and crime commissioner (PCC) has cancelled plans for a national theatre tour with more than 100 dates next year after criticism.
Colin Sutton, who was elected as Norfolk’s PCC in July, was due to tour the UK next year with a live show called The Makings Of A Murderer – Double Jeopardy.
Promoters for the show had listed 130 dates online across 11 months of next year and Mr Sutton initially defended his decision, saying: “Am I not entitled to spend my spare time as I wish?”
Former Metropolitan Police detective Mr Sutton had said he would only be “incommunicado” for two-hour slots while he was on stage and it “would not impinge on my duties as PCC”.
But, on Wednesday, he told a meeting of North Norfolk District Council’s scrutiny committee that he had decided not to go ahead with the tour, telling councillors: “What surprised me and what made me reflect and think again was the reaction that I got personally from a number of residents.
“I’m not sure I could do 127 dates because it was ridiculous, but I could have done some. What I don’t want to do is to give the impression to anybody that I don’t take this role seriously and I’m not going to do a good job on this. So, that’s why my decision has been: ‘OK, I’m not legally obliged to do this, I’m not going to do it’.”
Britain pleads with Donald Trump’s America for help on how to fight ‘radical right’
British officials have asked the White House for help in how to combat the “radical right” in the UK, it has emerged.
In July, shortly before Andy Burnham was handed the keys to No10, Britain’s ambassador in Washington, Sir Christian Turner, held talks with State Department officials over the new Prime Minister’s plans for governing.
During the talks, officials asked State Department official Sarah Rogers for advice on how to fight the “radical right” in Britain, sources familiar with the meeting told PoliticsHome.
The diplomats cited speeches delivered by Ms Rogers at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) conference in London in June.
At the event, Ms Rogers issued warnings over “tyrannical” free speech infringements and “open border” policies as she urged Britons to “reject helplessness and reject decline”.
However, the staunch Trump ally assured that the British national character would prevail and predicted that the UK will have its own political revolution akin to the one seen in the US in 2016.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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