Richard Partington

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Jessica Elgot |Richard Partington

Rachel Reeves has pledged billions to be invested in energy, housing, transport and infrastructure, promising that the effects would be felt in all corners of the country and decrying austerity as a “destructive choice”. Announcing the government’s spending review, the chancellor made a high-stakes promises to cut spending on controversial issues such as asylum hotels by the end of the parliament, which she said would save £1bn. “We are renewing Britain,” Reeves said.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

Rachel Reeves will announce her highly awaited spending review on Wednesday amid pressure on the government to invest in national security and public services and to reboot the UK economy. In what will be a defining policy announcement of the current parliament, the chancellor’s address to the Commons will outline Labour’s day-to-day spending plans for the next three years up to the next general election.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

Unemployment in the UK rose in April to the highest level in almost four years, official figures showed, as tax increases introduced by Rachel Reeves added to a broader slowdown in the jobs market. In a blow for the chancellor before Wednesday’s spending review, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate increased to 4.6% in the three months to the end of April, up from 4.5% on the previous three-month period to hit the highest level since summer 2021.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

Nigel Farage is the closest to a “tribune for the working class”, the former Bank of England chief economist has said in a stark warning for Keir Starmer’s Labour party. Andy Haldane said the surge in support for Reform UK in the opinion polls suggested there had been “something of a moral rupture” between the government and many voters, which should spur Starmer to take action with a “radical reset” of its growth plans.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Richard Partington

For a politician who has done more than most to shape modern Britain, nothing seems to stick to Nigel Farage. Not the chaos of the post-Brexit referendum years; or the contradiction of his closed-border English nationalism combined with a fondness for courting nomad capitalists from Malaysia to Mar-a-Lago. This is, of course, because the Reform UK leader is the agitator-in-chief. He has prodded successive prime ministers into action, but has not been in the driving seat himself.