Rachel Reeves has refused to repeat a promise made to business leaders just a week ago not to raise taxes again. Meanwhile, talks between Keir Starmer and the Greek PM have reignited debate over the future of the Elgin Marbles.
Tuesday 3 December 2024 16:29, UK
The government has defended a new crackdown on TV junk food advertising that includes types of porridge.
Sweetened varieties of the oaty breakfast staple, like those with syrup and fruity flavours, have been caught up in the measure, said The Sun, along with some yoghurts and granola.
Such product ads are earmarked for removal from TV screens before the 9pm watershed, while a total online ban would follow in 2025.
‘We cannot let this continue’
Asked about the inclusion of some porridge in the crackdown, the prime minister’s spokesperson said the action was designed to tackle heightened obesity and tooth decay among children.
The latter was an issue often brought up by Keir Starmer during the election campaign.
“We cannot let this situation continue,” said Number 10.
“We are taking action to prevent these issues in the first place.”
They pointed to “deeply concerning” figures suggesting one in 10 reception children are obese.
Downing Street has told British nationals to keep an eye on UK and local travel advice for South Korea after martial law was declared.
The president in Seoul made the surprise announcement in a live TV address, accusing the opposition of controlling the parliament and sympathising with North Korea.
The country’s parliament has since voted to block the move, while police clash with protesters and helicopters are deployed overhead.
Downing Street said it was a “fast-moving situation”.
“We are closely monitoring the event,” said a spokesperson.
“We advise British nationals to monitor UK and local travel advice.”
By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter
To mark the international day of persons with disabilities, Labour MP Liam Conlon is highlighting how blue badge theft is on the rise.
Blue badges allow people with disabilities or health issues to park closer to where they need to be.
Thieves are ‘stealing independence’
Data compiled by Mr Conlon, who is registered disabled and holds a blue badge himself, shows theft of blue badges in London has quadrupled in the last decade.
London Councils, which represents local authorities across the capital, has calculated the cost of losing a blue badge to a disabled person is at least £6,000 in increased parking charges – plus the cost of reporting and replacing the badge.
Mr Conlon is now calling on councils to use their powers to clamp down on those who steal these “lifelines” for disabled people.
He described the rise in thefts as “shocking”, and said he knew it had a “devastating impact” on disabled people.
“When someone steals a blue badge, they’re stealing someone’s independence – limiting the ability of disabled people and their families to socialise, go to work, and live a normal life,” he said.
‘Clampdown’ needed
He added: “I’m calling on local authorities across Britain to use their existing powers to prioritise checking blue badges.
“And where they are stolen, to issue fines and bring the perpetrators to court so we can clamp down on this.”
Mr Conlon was just 13 when he shattered his right hip in an accident, leaving him unable to walk for four years.
He is one of the youngest people in Britain to have a hip replacement.
A Labour candidate who was suspended just nine days before the election after betting on the result in the constituency he was contesting has been exonerated by the Gambling Commission.
Kevin Craig was running in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, but it emerged ahead of polling day on 5 July that he’d bet against himself.
It ended up being won by the Tories.
Mr Craig, a businessman and long-time Labour donor, said the investigation into him had “caused a huge amount of pain”.
Labour membership reinstated
He has put forward a suggested bill to the prime minister that would outlaw political candidates and their staff from betting on elections that they’re involved in.
“I don’t wish what happened to me to happen to any political candidate of any party,” said Mr Craig, who’s had his Labour membership reinstated.
News of his flutter came amid a flurry of revelations about bets on the election date, prompting a wider Gambling Commission investigation.
Sky News revealed last month up to five people, including a politician, could face prosecution over the scandal.
The last government spent £50m on Rwanda deportation flights that never took off, new figures reveal.
This included the cost of securing the flights, escorts to force migrants onto the planes and preparing and securing the airfields, Home Office documents show.
Spending on the asylum scheme overall reached £715m before it was scrapped by Labour after the general election in July.
Other costs outlined include £290m paid to Rwanda’s government, £95m on detention and reception centres and £280m on IT, staffing and legal fees.
The figures were published as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper gave a statement on migration in the House of Commons.
She said 84,000 people made small boat journeys from the day the Rwanda deal was signed to the day it was axed.
The chancellor appeared at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference last Monday, where she sought to reassure business leaders who were spooked by her budget.
Having spent months wooing them, Rachel Reeves left plenty of companies big and small aghast with her announcement that employers would have to start paying more national insurance contributions.
She told the event it was a one-off budget to put the public finances on firmer footing, adding: “I’m really clear – I’m not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes.”
But Keir Starmer refused to repeat that pledge just two days later at PMQs, and now Ms Reeves herself has failed to do so.
Did chancellor speak ‘without thinking’?
Pressed repeatedly during Treasury questions in the Commons today, she’d only say she’d not have to “repeat a budget like that” – the biggest tax-raising fiscal event in decades.
She told shadow chancellor Mel Stride: “We have wiped the slate clean and drawn a line under the mess created by the last government.”
Mr Stride suggested Ms Reeves may have “spoke without thinking” during the CBI conference.
In response, she repeated what Sir Keir said at PMQs last week, that “no chancellor is going to write five years worth of budget”.
Sir Keir Starmer today joined the King to welcome the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wife Sheikha Jawaher to London.
The ceremony took place at Horse Guards Parade, and Sir Keir arrived with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Also in attendance was William, the Prince of Wales, while the Princess of Wales was photographed participating in her first state visit since her cancer diagnosis.
The Queen – who is recovering from a chest infection – was not in attendance, but was spotted arriving at Buckingham Palace this afternoon.
US president-elect Donald Trump is heading to Paris this weekend to witness the reopening of Notre Dame.
In his first foreign trip since winning last month’s US election, he’ll join other world leaders for the poignant event – five years after the historic cathedral was destroyed in a devastating fire.
Mr Trump said French President Emmanuel Macron “has done a wonderful job” with the restoration.
“It will be a very special day for all,” he posted on social media.
‘An excellent dinner’
Of course, let’s not pretend it will be as special as that dinner he had with Keir Starmer and David Lammy a few months ago, which they and Number 10 can’t stop going on about.
The Labour duo were hosted at Trump Tower in New York in September, and both have brought it up several times since as they look to ensure warm relations with the incoming US government.
Asked why Sir Keir wasn’t attending the Notre Dame event, and why the president-elect was meeting Mr Macron before the PM, Downing Street again raised the dinner.
“The prime minister had an excellent dinner with Trump in New York several months ago,” said a spokesperson, touting a “productive discussion” about “shared priorities”.
Who needs a lavish cathedral ceremony when you’ve had a tasty American chicken dinner?
The Elgin Marbles may not have been on the agenda for Keir Starmer’s meeting with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis today, but they’re front of mind for the one and only Stephen Fry.
He’s long campaigned for the British Museum to return what he calls the Parthenon Marbles, which date back 2,500 years to a temple in Athens.
‘They belong in Athens’
British diplomat Lord Elgin removed the sculptures in the early 19th century and that’s how they got their name over here.
Speaking to Sky News, Fry described him as a “piratical earl” who “probably doesn’t deserve to have his name connected to them”.
The marbles “belong in Athens”, and he insists that would be a win-win for both countries involved.
‘It would be rather classy’
“Pride on both sides will be increased,” he tells Kay Burley.
“Obviously for the Greeks to have the unification of these fantastically sacred pieces, and for Britain our reputation – it will enhance it.
“We’ll be seen to have done something rather classy.”
Keir Starmer has said it’s a matter for the British Museum, and a possible loan has been touted – though critics argue this would end up with the marbles never returning to London.
‘These things are not impossible’
Fry says the idea the museum might “lend” them to Greece is “not an acceptable word”.
“It’s not accepting they belong to Athens and the Greek people.”
But there is precedent to suggest Britain can and should return them eventually, with Fry pointing to a previous act of parliament that saw the Australian constitution returned from the British Museum.
“These things are not impossible,” he says, and he hopes the British government will eventually find a way to get there.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Number 10 today, to discuss the UK-Greece relationship – and illegal migration.
Downing Street previously said the matter of returning the Elgin Marbles was not “on the agenda”, and it appears this is the case.
A read-out said the prime minister “began by underlining the importance of the UK-Greece relationship and reiterated his ambition for closer working with partners across Europe”.
A Number 10 spokesperson said they discussed collaboration on “trade, investment, education, and defence”.
They also agreed to “double down” on “joint action” to tackle illegal migration, “underlined their unwavering support for Ukraine”, and reiterated the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Downing Street has since said the Elgin Marbles are a matter for the British Museum, suggesting the government won’t intervene.
An act of parliament from 1963 prevents the museum from disposing of their artefacts, apart from in exceptional circumstances.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free