Sir Keir Starmer has received letters from some of his top team expressing alarm over the scale of spending cuts being demanded ahead of the budget. They’ve gone over the head of the chancellor, taking their concerns straight to the PM. Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s as you scroll.
Thursday 17 October 2024 11:43, UK
We are now less than two weeks away from the budget and there’s no sign things are getting any easier for the chancellor.
Rachel Reeves is enduring plenty of pushback from her cabinet colleagues over the scale of spending cuts she wants to make when she delivers her plan for the country on 30 October.
Here are the main things you need to know:
That’s all for now – stay with us for more updates and analysis through the afternoon.
There is a battle going on at the heart of government as several cabinet ministers push back on the scale of spending cuts they’re being asked to make ahead of this month’s budget.
We’ve reported the Treasury missed a deadline for agreeing upon the major measures last night, when it was due to submit its plans to the Office for Budget Responsibility for checking.
Our deputy political editor Sam Coates says it’s a sign of the “hard negotiating stance” some of the PM’s top team are taking.
There are those who feel big cuts will be “politically unpalatable” after more than a decade of spending squeezes under the Tories
While Treasury officials say pushback from ministers is normal, Sam says the scale this time is more unusual.
And as the budget “needs to be wrapped up pretty quickly” before the chancellor delivers it on 30 October, we may just be heading for a stalemate that leaves us unsure of who’s won the battle until then.
Rachel Reeves believes in “difficult decisions in the short term for longer term gain”, others think major cuts are “just too much” right now.
“If the budget goes well,” says Sam – landing well with the public, the markets, and the party – those who “kicked up a fuss” could find themselves with a “black mark” against their name in government.
But if it goes badly, they’ll instead feel vindicated.
It all depends on if Ms Reeves is “making the right call” – something we may not ultimately know for months to come.
The budget, Sam says, is “the single most important thing this government needs to land” after a rough first few months.
In just two weeks time, Rachel Reeves will stand up at the despatch box and deliver Labour’s first budget in 15 years.
But getting to that point is not proving to be smooth sailing, with cabinet ministers openly briefing the media about their unhappiness at the vast cuts the chancellor is proposing.
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard give their analysis of yet another bumpy episode for the new government.
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Several government departments failed to agree their spending settlement by yesterday’s deadline in a sign of ongoing turbulence over the budget, Sky News can reveal.
A number of departments have still been unable to agree with the Treasury the scale of cuts they will be expected to deliver in the next two years, despite discussions stretching back to July.
Close of play on Wednesday was meant to be the deadline for all major measures agreed for the budget to be sent to the spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility.
After this moment, only small changes are meant to be possible in the budget and spending review for the financial year beginning next April.
At least one department which has not settled had been expecting to strike an agreement with the Treasury as recently as Wednesday evening, suggesting last minute turbulence.
The Treasury is playing down the significance of the delay, saying that it is not unusual – but there is still deep concern in parts of government at how the budget will land.
The department rejects any suggestions that settlements are being “imposed” on departments who have failed to agree their budgets ahead of the chancellor’s statement on 30 October.
However, the delay – and the briefing that has accompanied this – seems to be a mark of the difficulty Chancellor Rachel Reeves and PM Sir Keir Starmer are having in getting the support of their top team for this budget.
At least three cabinet ministers are understood to have appealed directly to the prime minister, over the head of the chancellor, over the budget.
The Treasury believes it has never made a secret of the scale of the tough decisions necessary, and says there should be no surprise at the decisions needed to be made in this budget.
Lord Cameron revealed this week he was planning to sanction far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir over comments they’ve made about the war in Gaza.
Both men are part of ultranationalist parties in the coalition government and have a hardline approach to the conflict, dismissing calls from Western allies for a ceasefire.
Lord Cameron said he was laying the groundwork for possible sanctions while foreign secretary, hoping it might apply some “pressure” to Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the military campaign.
The former prime minister has now spoken to Kay Burley about his concerns and the UK’s relationship with Israel – watch below.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was asked if he would follow through with sanctioning the pair.
He was asked specifically about comments by Mr Smotrich in which he said starving two million Gazans might be justified, and Mr Ben-Gvir calling settlers who killed a 19-year-old in the West Bank “heroes”.
Sir Keir replied: “We are looking at that because they’re obviously abhorrent comments.”
Defence Secretary John Healey has arrived in the last few moments at the NATO defence ministers’ summit in Brussels, and he spoke briefly to camera on his way in.
This meeting, which is the first he is attending, “comes at a time when the UK’s unshakeable commitment to NATO can never be more important”.
At the meeting today, the foreign ministers will “make the commitment to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank with a new plan alongside Estonia for our forces there”.
This plan involves putting thousands of troops at a high level of readiness so they can respond rapidly if Russia invades Estonia on their border.
The defence secretary went on to day that the UK will “make a commitment to bolstering the future of Europe’s defences, leading a new initiative to knit together the European air defence systems”, and to work with allies to develop long-range missiles.
“This is part of the UK’s new determination to work more closely with other European allies on security for the future,” he added.
By Faye Brown, political reporter
A £15m funding pot to allow primary schools to deliver hundreds of nursery places has been launched.
It forms the first stage of the government’s plan to open an additional 3,000 nurseries in England through “upgrading space” in primary schools, as Labour stated in its manifesto.
Schools can apply for up to £150,000 to help deliver the 300 new or expanded nurseries under this phase of the plan, the Department for Education (DfE) said.
The announcement also vowed to take action against reported instances of parents facing “very high additional charges” in order to access government-funded childcare.
Parents whose children are between nine months and two years old have had access to 15 hours of free childcare since August, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September 2025.
The foreign secretary will travel to China for the first time in his new role, it has been announced.
China’s foreign ministry has confirmed that David Lammy will visit on Friday and Saturday.
He will hold in-depth talks on enhancing strategic mutual trust and strengthening dialogue and cooperation in various fields, the Chinese foreign ministry said today.
“China is willing to work with the UK to uphold partnership orientation and adhere to open cooperation,” said Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, at a regular press briefing.
We have been reporting here at Sky News that some cabinet minister have expressed serious concerns at the scale of the cuts the chancellor wants to impose at the budget later this month.
We asked the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, how concerned she is for her department, and she replied: “There are some difficult choices that we’re all having to confront.
“The last Conservative government left a terrible mess around the public finances, a big black hole, and we need to fix the foundations of our economy.”
The latest inflation data is “encouraging”, she said, but added that there is “a lot more that we need to do”.
Asked if she has written to the prime minister asking him to intervene to lessen the cuts, she replied: “We’ve all had conversations, meetings, correspondence as part of the usual budget process.”
But she declined to get into any detail.
“You don’t have long to wait for the budget. It’s in under a fortnight,” Ms Phillipson said.
“As part of that process, we as cabinet ministers have conversations with the Treasury, with others, in order to get to a good settlement on all of that.
“That’s absolutely as it should be. That’s all part of the normal way of doing things.”
The education secretary provoked controversy earlier this month with a defence of the government’s plan to make private school fees liable for VAT.
In response to a news story about cuts in some private schools to absorb the additional cost, Bridget Phillipson posted on X: “Our state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery.
“Our children need mental health support more than private schools need new pools. Our students need careers advice more than private schools need AstroTurf pitches.”
Asked if she could see why that would be “divisive”, Ms Phillipson replied: “My priority as education secretary is how I deliver high and rising standards in our state schools.”
“And in order to do that, in the very tough environment that we have at the moment, where it comes to the public finances, we need to raise additional funds to do it.
“So we are ending the tax breaks that private schools enjoy and will invest money in our public services to make sure that children get a great start in life.”
She said private schools “can adjust” in order to “manage” following the imposition of VAT, due to start from January.
Asked if she stands by her original tweet, she replied: “Yeah.”
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