“Business taxes that have existed since Tudor times could be scrapped. … Chancellor George Osborne will today put reform of despised business rates – and more cheap loans for small firms – at the centre of his plans to secure the recovery. … In an unashamedly pro-enterprise Autumn Statement, the Chancellor will reveal that the tax on commercial property in the UK is to be reviewed, paving the way for a fundamental overhaul.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“George Osborne will target the White Van Man in his mini budget – with new help on petrol prices, cash for small businesses and a tax cut for family holidays. … The Sun can reveal that the Chancellor will scrap the feared ‘Fair Fuel Stabiliser’ that would have slapped 1p a litre on fuel duty next March. … The mechanism was due to kick in to maintain Government revenue streams when international oil prices drop below $75 a barrel – which happened last week.” – The Sun (£)
And comment:
“George Osborne’s huge lead over Labour on the economy is slipping as pessimism over the economy returns, a poll has revealed. … The exclusive YouGov survey for The Sun shows the Chancellor’s personal ratings in the job have slipped five points in the last nine months. … After big improvements, he is now back down to a -8 approval rating, having posted -3 in March.” – The Sun (£)
“A quango will plan, build and sell tens of thousands of family homes across Britain, under radical plans being considered by the Treasury. … Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said ministers were examining the case for ‘direct government commissioning of housing’ to bypass the private sector. … Under the scheme – which is already being trialled in Cambridgeshire – taxpayers would fund the construction of tens of thousands of homes, which would then be put up for sale on the open market.” – Daily Mail
> Today:
> Yesterday: ToryDiary – The roads announcement and the battle for ownership
“With an election only five months away, Mr Osborne is also expected to use his Autumn Statement to announce one big crowd pleaser, against the backdrop of speculation in Whitehall of a big reform to stamp duty on house purchases. … One option being considered by ministers this week was to make the tax on house sales more progressive, easing the bill for people at the bottom of the ladder but with much heavier charges on those buying expensive homes.” – Financial Times
“Search and Rescue and air ambulance charities are to get VAT refunds and more Government cash following lobbying from Prince William. … The Chancellor will announce in today’s autumn statement VAT breaks for the sector from next April, alongside £7.5 million extra support for air ambulances. The tax refunds will be worth £25 million over five years.” – Daily Mail
“…as today’s Autumn Statement is unveiled, with a gaping hole in income tax receipts, the Chancellor can be thankful that at least the financial sector is still paying its way, even if Starbucks, Google, Amazon et al are not. … A new study for the Corporation of London by PwC shows that as a producer of revenues for the exchequer the City is almost back to where it was before the Great Recession.” – Alex Brummer, Daily Mail
“Millions of pounds in fines from sinning bankers are to be spent helping Gurkha warriors who have fallen on hard times, The Sun can reveal. … A total of £5million will be made available from penalties imposed on bankers involved in the Libor rate-fixing scandal.” – The Sun (£)
“The chancellor is expected to have to concede that net borrowing for the year will reach about £90bn – greater than the £86.5bn predicted at the time of the last budget – but in a statement shaped by the continued constraints on the public finances, Osborne will try to highlight plans to take urgent action to clamp down on tax loopholes exploited by technology firms such as Amazon and Google, even though the most effective action requires international agreement.” – The Guardian
And comment:
> Yesterday: Nida Broughton on Comment – The Autumn Statement. A target missed so far. And no clear plan to hit it.
“A rising star of the Conservative right has been secretly recorded suggesting David Cameron may have to renege on his pledge to protect NHS spending if the Tories win next May’s general election. … Kwasi Kwarteng, a senior figure in the Conservative Free Enterprise Group, was taped suggesting that a future Conservative government would have to consider cutting all areas of public spending – including health, schools and international aid, which are currently ring-fenced – to clear the deficit.” – The Independent
“Up to 4,000 Europeans living here for a year or more will be assessed on whether they have the genuine prospect of finding work. … Those who fail will lose their right to Jobseeker’s Allowance. … The measures are in addition to David Cameron’s detailed plans to ban EU migrants from claiming benefits including lucrative tax credits until they have worked in this country for four years.” – Daily Mail
“Attacking immigration from European Union countries is betraying the record of Margaret Thatcher, nearly 100 Liberal Democrats, including the party president Tim Farron and Lord Ashdown, a former leader, have said. … In a letter to The Telegraph, they accuse Mr Cameron of forgetting her famous 1988 Bruges speech. … They say: ‘Margaret Thatcher said: “Britain does not dream of some cosy, isolated existence on the fringes of the European Community. Our destiny is in Europe, as part of the community.”‘” – Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday: Stephen Tall’s column – A spectre haunts the Lib Dems. Actually, scratch that. At least five spectres haunt the Lib Dems.
“The government’s A-level reforms ran into trouble on Tuesday when four subjects were suddenly scrapped, other courses delayed and some schools were left complaining about ‘last-minute, piecemeal’ changes. … ‘It’s chaotic,’ said one headteacher. ‘I wake up every morning and wonder what’s coming next.'” – The Guardian
And comment:
> Today: Interview – Nicky Morgan: “As a Christian Secretary of State for Education, I will oppose secular, politically correct dogma”
“Spanking and caning are among acts banned from online porn videos filmed in the UK, the Government has said. … A list of sex acts, some featured in the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, are now on a list of ‘harmful’ content that has been prohibited. … A quiet change in legislation has ruled that paid-for online porn videos must now adhere to the same rules as content produced for sex shop-type videos.” – Daily Mail
“Ex-Tory chairman Baroness Warsi has blasted the way women are portrayed in Westminster. … The peer – who quit over the conflict in Gaza – said it was time women hit back against the male-dominated world. … She said: ‘Men resign, women “flounce”. Men have an opinion, women are “bitchy”. Men are forceful, women are “awkward”. It’s time we started pushing back against that kind of language.'” – The Sun (£)
> Today: ToryDiary – Do women Conservative MPs get a raw deal?
“Women have ‘unrealistic expectations’ when it comes to believing that they can combine a successful career, motherhood and beauty according to new research due to be published later today. … Liberal Democrat minister for women Jo Swinson wrote the foreword for the report which she said ‘shines a welcome light’ on the pressures that young women face.” – Daily Mail
And comment:
“I like to be generous about people. It’s near the top of my short list of principles. And this is a moment for generosity. Gordon Brown is retiring from parliament after 32 years. Yet try as I might, I am having difficulty being generous. … The truth is that Gordon Brown’s behaviour during his years at the top was appalling. An outrage.” – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times (£)
“Ed Miliband is ‘reluctant’ to acknowledge letting Scottish MPs vote on English-only laws is unjust, a former cabinet minister and close adviser to the Labour leader has said. … John Denham suggested Labour has failed to accept the seriousness of the West Lothian Question and must prove it ‘trusts’ English people to take their own decisions. … The former Communities Secretary urged the party to show it is ‘comfortable’ with ensuring that ‘England lives under laws supported by the English people’ before the end of the year.” – Daily Telegraph
> Today: Henry Hill’s column – Scottish Tories lead resistance to SNP land grab
“Michael Meacher, an ex-environment minister, claimed that Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms had left claimants ‘forced to steal to survive’. … In an inflammatory newspaper article, he said … it would be ‘perfectly reasonable’ for jurors to follow the example set by those in the 19th century, who refused to convict desperate food thieves to save them from being hanged.” – Daily Mail
“Nigel Farage was humiliated after admitting no knowledge of a sex education policy announced by his deputy leader. … In a live web debate, the Ukip chief said he had ‘never advocated’ a ban on sex and relationship education for primary age school children. … But the policy was announced by Paul Nuttall, his deputy, at the Ukip conference in Doncaster in September.” – The Sun (£)
“Ukip is ‘very, very short of money’ and has failed to build up a war chest for the general election yet has still granted Nigel Farage a £60,000 annual chauffeur allowance, The Times can reveal. … Stuart Wheeler, the spread-betting millionaire who has bankrolled the party for years and who served as treasurer until July this year, said Ukip ‘desperately needs more money’.” – The Times (£)
> Today: Syed Kamall MEP’s column – How Juncker wriggled off the hook – thanks to UKIP and its allies
“One of Britain’s biggest unions is poised to throw its weight behind the Government’s fracking blitz – claiming opponents are ‘crazy’. … The Sun can reveal senior figures in the GMB are pressing the union to pledge its support in a huge boost to Ministers. … The move threatens a split with Unite and its chief, ‘Red Len’ McCluskey, who has urged Labour to ditch its support for the Tory-led shale gas revolution.” – The Sun (£)
“The British and Irish governments will clash in the European Court of Human Rights over one of the Troubles’ most harrowing torture cases involving the degrading treatment of Irish prisoners at the hands of the British Army. … Dublin has asked the ECHR to revisit its judgment in the ‘hooded men’ case of the 1970s, when 14 suspects were arrested in 1971 after Edward Heath introduced internment without trial in a bid to quell violence in Northern Ireland.” – The Independent
“Iranian fighter jets have bombed Islamic State militants in eastern Iraq in recent days, the Pentagon has said, in a development that confirms Tehran’s determination to confront the jihadists. … The air raids mark an escalation in Iran’s role in a conflict where Tehran and Washington have no formal partnership but share a common enemy in the Isis group, which both governments view as a dangerous threat.” – The Guardian
“Gobby millionaire revolutionary Russell Brand is paying a tax-avoiding landlord £76,200 a year for a luxury home — while ranting against sky-high rents and tax dodgers. … A Sun investigation discovered the comic’s landlord is based in the British Virgin Islands, where there are virtually no tax laws.” – The Sun (£)
> Yesterday: WATCH – Russell Brand dislikes being questioned about the value of the house he lives in