Sir Keir Starmer has hailed the “significant” arrest of an alleged supplier of small boats used to cross the Channel, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves tries to woo the financial world – talking points that have drawn comparisons with the US election.
Thursday 14 November 2024 20:59, UK
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The Politics Hub is signing off for the evening.
It’s been a day of “Trumpian themes” in the government’s messaging, says our chief political correspondent Jon Craig, after the prime minister heralded the arrest of a suspect in the small boats crisis and the chancellor wooed the world of finance in the City.
You can catch up on the main things you need to know via the bullet points above – and watch the chancellor’s speech to bankers in London via the stream below.
We’ll see you in the morning.
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has criticised post-financial crash regulation, saying it has “gone too far” – setting a course for cutting red tape in her first speech to Britain’s most important gathering of financiers and business leaders.
Increased rules on lenders that followed the 2008 crisis have had “unintended consequences”, Ms Reeves will say in her Mansion House address to industry and the City of London’s lord mayor.
“The UK has been regulating for risk, but not regulating for growth,” she will say.
It cannot be taken for granted that the UK will remain a global financial centre, she is expected to add.
It’s anticipated Ms Reeves will on Thursday announce “growth-focused remits” for financial regulators and next year publish the first strategy for financial services growth and competitiveness.
Watch the speech live across Sky News platforms from 9pm.
Ahead of tonight’s Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall revealed she will be voting for the assisted dying bill.
She is the latest senior Labour figure to make her views known, after Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood voiced their objections to the legislation.
MPs are being given a free vote on the issue later this month, meaning they can vote with their conscience and not along party lines, and the government is supposed to be taking a neutral stance.
Ms Kendall told the BBC: “I will be voting for the bill. I’ve always believed in giving people as much choice and control as possible, and with all the right safeguards which this bill has, I believe it’s a really important step forward on such a difficult issue, giving people that choice and control.”
Asked if the yes camp is being drowned out by the no camp, given Mr Streeting’s frequent interventions, Ms Kendall added: “This is something people have very strong views about, but I am a lifelong champion of giving people power and control.”
The farmer’s inheritance tax row “is a good issue for the Tories to latch on to”, according to ex-Conservative special adviser James Starkie.
He told Politics Hub With Sophie Ridge there seems to have been a “comms issue” with the policy being explained properly, and if he was in Labour’s top team he’d be asking if the £750m savings it is making is “really worth the hassle”.
The budget last month introduced a tax of 20% on inherited farming assets above £1m.
Ministers say it will only affect the richest farmers, but farming groups dispute that and plan to march on Westminster next week.
Could Labour change course?
Mr Starkie said: “If I was in the Conservative Party, I’d be all over this.”
He says the Tories lost the support of farmers at the election, while Labour were courting them, so this gives the opposition an opportunity to try to win back their favour.
He added: “I have listened to Labour commentators who still think there could be movement on this…that in itself is a problem.”
Have we seen a relaunch by Sir Keir Starmer this week? Our chief political correspondent Jon Craig thinks so.
He says “Trumpian themes” of border security and the economy are starting to emerge in government messaging.
Pointing to the prime minister’s welcoming of the arrest connected to the supply of small boats, Jon says: “Here we have Sir Keir trying to own the battle against small boats.”
And on the same day, Jon has noticed “the chancellor’s talking about economic growth”.
“The same issues Trump has talked about.”
Goodbye ‘wokery’?
Immigration and the economy are widely seen as the issues which took the president-elect to victory against Kamala Harris.
Jon says some insiders are suggesting the Trump victory is “a blessing in disguise” for Labour, as “they might get back to the core issues of the economy and immigration”.
“And perhaps chuck out some of that wokery, as critics call it,” says Jon.
He adds Labour’s five missions they campaigned on during the election appear to have gone – and notes they had never really been clear, even for Labour MPs, some of whom “really struggled” to explain what they were.
Our second guest on Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is here to talk about the chancellor’s speech in the City tonight.
Ex-boss of the British Bankers’ Association Angela Knight is hoping to see her loosen regulation on banks to make the UK economy more competitive with other countries.
Referring to regulation put in place after the 2008 financial crash, she says: “Our banks now have to hold much capital than any other bank in other countries – and you can’t hold the capital and lend at the same time.
“If we want growth, you need to get a balance for how much you need for stability and how much you can lend.”
Ms Knight says nobody should “walk away from the fact we had a very difficult time during the banking crisis”, and acknowledges “some of the actions of banks were wrong”.
But she says the crash happened in other countries too, and they have recovered more strongly than the UK – partly due to the degree of regulation upon British banks.
“Because something was wrong then, and actions were taken to put it right, doesn’t mean you then make rules tighter and tighter,” she says – because that only makes the economy weaker.
Home Office minister Angela Eagle has insisted the Labour government can take credit for the arrest of a man suspected of supplying small boats for Channel crossings.
She told the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that since coming into office the government has “reset international relations” and put more money and funding into dealing with cross border co-operation.
It was put to her that this was a long-running investigation by crime agencies, and ministers are taking credit for something they aren’t responsible for.
Ms Eagle said: “I think that’s unfair, if you look at what we have done since we got into government, we’ve paid a lot of attention to this, put more money into strengthening our presence with Europol who were very involved in issuing this notice which led to the arrest.
“We’ve got personal relations now…that is beginning to bear fruit.”
Our weeknight politics show Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live now on Sky News.
The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insight, and analysis – bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.
We’re joined by Home Office minister Angela Eagle and ex-boss of the British Bankers’ Association Angela Knight.
On the panel are Labour MP Mike Tapp and former Conservative adviser James Starkie.
Watch live on Sky News, in the stream below, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.
Watch Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge from Monday to Thursday on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on the Sky News website and app or on YouTube.
As just reported by our business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey is urging the government to “rebuild relations” with the EU as he offers a frank assessment of the UK’s economic status.
Mr Bailey is speaking in the City of London at Mansion House, the scene of a major speech by the chancellor on Thursday night.
It’s an annual event and marks Rachel Reeves’s first go at it, and thus the first time for a female chancellor.
But what has Mr Bailey got to say?
He’s warning UK’s growth potential is “not a good story”, and describes the labour market as “running against us” due to the country’s ageing population.
He says investment was “particularly weak by G7 standards”.
All of that will likely go down quite well with the chancellor given the narrative she’s been telling since the budget – that the economy’s been left in a rotten state and more investment is needed.
But he’s far more frank about Brexit than any ministers have been.
He believes leaving the EU has slowed the UK’s potential for growth, and the government should “welcome opportunities to rebuild relations”.
Will Labour bite?
By Paul Kelso, business and economics correspondent
When Gordon Brown delivered his first Mansion House speech as chancellor, he caused a stir by doing so in a lounge suit, rather than the white tie and tails demanded by convention.
Some 27 years later, Rachel Reeves is the first chancellor who would have not drawn a second glance had they addressed the City establishment in a dress.
Bucking convention
As the first woman in the 800-year history of her office, Ms Reeves’s tenure will be littered with reminders of her significance, but few as symbolic as at a dinner that is a fixture of the financial calendar.
Her host at Mansion House, asset manager Alastair King, is the 694th man out of 696 Lord Mayors of London.
The other guest speaker, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, leads an institution that is yet to be entrusted to a woman.
Reeves’s speech indicated she wants to lean away from convention in policy as well as in person.
By committing to tilting financial regulation in favour of growth rather than risk-aversion, she is going against the grain of the post-financial crash environment.
“This sector is the crown jewel in our economy,” she told the audience, including many who will have been central players in the 2007-08 collapse.
Sending a message that they will be less tightly-bound in future is not natural territory for a Labour chancellor.
Her motivation may be more practical than political. A tax-and-spend budget that hit business harder than forewarned has put her economic program on notice, and she badly needs the growth elements to deliver.
Watch: Budget explained in 60 seconds
Her plans to consolidate local authority pension schemes so they might match the investing power of their Canadian and Australian counterparts is part of the same theme.
Infrastructure investment is central to Reeves’s plan and these steps, universally welcomed, could unlock the private sector funding required to make it happen.
Some home truths – with a blunt take on Brexit
If the jury is out in a business financial community absorbing £25bn in tax rises, she had welcome support from Bailey, who delivered some home truths about the economic inheritance in plainer language than central bankers sometimes manage.
Britain’s growth potential, he said, “is not a good story”, and he described the labour market as “running against us” in the face of an ageing population.
With investment levels “particularly weak by G7 standards”, he thanked the chancellor for the pension reforms intended to unlock capital investment.
He was frank about Brexit too, more so than the chancellor has dared. While studiously offering no view on the central issue, Bailey said leaving the EU had slowed the UK’s potential for growth, and that the government should “welcome opportunities to rebuild relations”.
There was a more coded warning too about the risks of protectionism, perhaps more likely with Donald Trump in the White House: “Amid threats to economic security, let’s please remember the importance of openness.”
All that will have been welcome listening to Reeves. Already a groundbreaking chancellor, aiming for a political and economic legacy that extends beyond her gender and the dress code.
Watch: Will UK be spared Trump’s tariffs?
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