“Lee Anderson has the backing of the majority of Tory members, new polling suggests. A survey by the Conservative Home website found 64% said the party was wrong to suspend the Ashfield MP in an Islamophobia row. Some 31% of respondents in the poll of 751 Tory members said it was the right move, while 5% were unsure. The former Tory deputy chairman lost the whip last weekend after refusing to apologise for claiming London Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists. Mr Anderson has since admitted the remarks which come after months of tensions over pro-Palestine protests were “clumsy” but denied they were racist. It comes after the Express revealed the former Labour councillor…was given a standing ovation at a Conservative fundraiser…” – Sunday Express
>Today:
“Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are this weekend battling to find the money to slash personal taxes by 2p in the budget. The chancellor is to launch a £300 million tax raid on second-home owners who make money from holiday lets in an attempt to make the sums add up. He will abolish a series of tax perks for landlords who rent out their properties to short-term holidaymakers rather than long-term tenants. Although it represents another tax grab by the Conservatives, Hunt will argue it will help tackle the housing shortage in coastal areas and holiday hotspots, such as Cornwall and the Lake District, where landlords are converting to holiday lets to benefit from generous tax perks, depriving local people of housing.” – The Sunday Times
“Jeremy Hunt is plotting a war on “immoral” Whitehall waste to fund tax cuts, The Telegraph can disclose. In an exclusive interview, the Chancellor revealed that he will unveil plans in this week’s Budget to crack down on bureaucracy in the public sector and to slash tens of thousands of civil service jobs. He has vowed to cut red tape that forces doctors, nurses and police officers to spend hours filling out forms and he criticised Whitehall departments that spend public money on “woke” initiatives that he finds “very hard to defend”. The Chancellor also disclosed that the economic forecasts he received this week from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have “gone against us”, leaving him with less fiscal headroom than he hoped.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to set out plans in next week’s Budget for a regime to allow UK private companies to have their shares bought and sold on exchanges, with the aim of launching the system before the end of the year. The Treasury is planning to start a consultation on Wednesday on the regulation of the initiative, which would give investors an opportunity to sell down part of their stakes in private companies on a limited number of days each year, an official told the Financial Times. The idea for an “intermittent trading venue” was part of measures set out by Hunt in his Edinburgh reforms package in 2022 in an effort to boost the UK’s position as a global financial centre. Ministers have been battling to shore up the UK’s capital markets…” – The Financial Times
“Politics is about giving voters what they want. And what they want, more than anything, is to own a home. Poll after poll shows that getting on the property ladder is seen as central to a happy, secure and comfortable life. Under Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives were the party of home ownership, giving millions of grateful council tenants the chance to own a home. But that has gone into reverse. In 1989, more than half of those aged 25 to 34 had homes of their own. By 2019, that figure was just 28 per cent. The most common mode of living, if you are aged 18 to 34, is now with your parents. Young people have turned against the Tories not simply because of housing, but it certainly has not helped.” – The Sunday Times
“Hate preachers will be blocked from entering the UK under new plans being drawn up by the Government amid a “shocking increase” in extremist activity. Officials will identify the most dangerous extremists from countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, so they can be added to visa warning lists. Under the plans, those on the list will be automatically refused entry to the UK. Ministers also believe they can use existing national security powers to boost efforts to bar people from entering the UK who are deemed to be “non-conducive to the public good”. This could include blocking individuals who have a track record of preaching racism, incitement, or using intimidation or violence to undermine the democratic process.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Michael Gove has accused the Scottish National party government of running down Scotland because of its “devastating” obsession with independence, as he tried to rally Conservative activists in Aberdeen. Gove, an Aberdonian who is now the most prominent Scot in the UK government, said Scotland’s institutions had been neglected by the SNP because it had focused so heavily on the constitution at the expense of public services. “We have to look at their record, their stewardship of the essential elements of Scottish civic and public life. And it is a devastatingly depressing story,” he told delegates at a Scottish Conservative party fringe meeting… His speech…came as fresh polling evidence emerged about the significant electoral challenge the Scottish Tories face…” – The Observer
“The Government is preparing to ditch the so-called boiler tax in an announcement which could come as soon as this week, The Sunday Telegraph understands. Claire Coutinho, the Energy Secretary, will not be proceeding with the policy, which had been blamed for pushing up gas boiler prices and criticised as a form of “government coercion”. Under the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, manufacturers would be required to match, or substitute, 4 per cent of their boiler sales with heat pumps or face a fine of £3,000 for every installation they fell short by. The scheme was due to start in April…Home heating companies had warned that the plans would force them to increase the price of their boilers by up to £120 – a move criticised by Ms Coutinho.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“MPs and peers have accused the Health Secretary of withholding data that could link the Covid vaccine to excess deaths and criticised a “wall of silence”…A cross-party group has written to Victoria Atkins to sound alarm about the “growing public and professional concerns” at the UK’s rates of excess deaths…Ministers have blamed the rise in excess deaths on record NHS waiting lists and the pandemic backlog. But the parliamentarians are demanding to be shown the underlying data to support the…assertion that there is “no evidence” linking excess deaths to the vaccines for Covid-19. “If those data do indeed exist, please share them; if thorough investigations have already ruled out such a link, please share the relevant reports,” their letter says.” – The Sunday Telegraph
“Ministers should hand all 30-year-olds a £10,000 “citizens inheritance” amid fears a £1.5tn wealth transfer to millennials will deepen inequalities, a Conservative peer has urged. David Willetts, who leads the Intergenerational Centre thinktank, called for the next government to implement a major new policy to spread wealth in Britain. It comes as research showed parents whose assets have been boosted by soaring property prices and final salary pensions are poised to bequeath millennial children about £150,000 each on average. While annual inheritance transfers are forecast to rise by a third to £145bn by 2033, one in 10 millennials are still set to get nothing. By contrast, the top 10% will get more than £500,000 each and many much more…” – The Observer
“Last Tuesday Sir Keir Starmer led a delegation to 70 Whitehall for private talks with the cabinet secretary Simon Case. The objective was not to discuss the plans of an incoming Labour administration. Rather Starmer, flanked by his chief of staff Sue Gray, the deputy leader Angela Rayner, and the shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper among others, was invited into the Cabinet Office for a briefing on the topic of MPs’ security after weeks of ferocious, and in some instances threatening, protests against the party’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war. Those present included Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, and officers from the Joint Intelligence Committee, comprised of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.” – The Sunday Times
“Labour has pledged to overhaul the “woefully inadequate” way indecent exposure is treated in the criminal justice system after an inquiry concluded that victims were being failed. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the party would oversee a “fundamental review” of the handling of the crime, which would aim to tackle its image as a low-level offence, improve police processes and bring more perpetrators to justice. A package of measures, including specialist training for officers, commissioning research into the link between indecent exposure and “contact offending”, and a public information campaign to encourage victims to come forward, would also be implemented, the Observer understands.” – The Observer