The prime minister has ignored calls to provide further details on Louise Haigh’s resignation. Sir Keir is also facing pressure from rural MPs over controversial inheritance tax changes for farmers. Meanwhile, the Tory leader is visiting the US. Follow for live updates.
Wednesday 4 December 2024 19:37, UK
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Next with Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, we take a look at the polling showing the policies that the public like – and those they really don’t…
Asked if there might be some back-peddling on the hated policies, he says: “We always knew that there was going to be a difficult inheritance. We didn’t know quite how difficult, frankly, until we actually became the government.
“So of course we’ve had to take very tough decisions, there’s no doubt about that. And I think that is what that research [shows].”
The aim of the budget was to “wipe the slate clean”, and now they want to “build upon those foundations”.
The minister points out that public priorities like improving the NHS are not part of the polling above (although the pay rise for junior doctors is).
The budget, he argues, is “absolutely delivering” on those priorities.
We are now speaking to Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s reset-that-isn’t-a-reset tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s speech, the minister tells Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, that the speech is about taking the missions that were announced previously and “putting some milestones in place” and targets “against which the public can judge us over the course of this parliament”.
Asked if it is a reset, he says: “No, it is not a reset. It is building on what is already there. It’s building upon the foundations of the budget.”
Sophy asks the minister is defence is an omission from those missions, given that a defence minister has said today that the entire British Army would be destroyed in “six months to a year” in a major war (more on that story here).
He insists that there “certainly isn’t a hole in defence”, adding: “The first duty of any government is to keep the people safe. And the missions are based on that foundation stone.
“So, of course, is the foundation stone that underpins everything else.”
Sophy puts to him that it’s an “invisible stone”, and he replies: “No, it’s certainly not invisible, it is a very visible stone.”
He notes that at the budget, the government invested £2.9bn in defence, and the Strategic Defence Review is under way, with a “roadmap” to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence being set out in the spring.
We are now speaking to Luke Tryl, director of polling firm More in Common, who has some insights about how the public is receiving the policies of the new government so far.
See below the chart showing which policies the public has heard about, which they haven’t, which they like, and which they really don’t..
Mr Tryl tells Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that the government perhaps hasn’t told “the story of the budget well enough”.
“What we often hear in focus groups is – why have they gone after pensioners, why have they gone after farmers, and why have they gone after small businesses?” he says.
“It seems like Labour perhaps should have thought more about how they spread the pain, rather than going after those three groups that we know can attract a lot of public sympathy.”
There is a big group of policies that are “very popular”, but “the fact that people haven’t heard about them […] suggests that it’s not just an issue of policy with this [big speech] tomorrow, but actually how they communicate”.
We are now hearing from our deputy political editor Sam Coates, who is looking ahead to the prime minister’s big speech tomorrow.
He explains that Sir Keir Starmer says he is going to “refine some of those promises – what he called ‘missions’ during the election campaign”.
The aim is to “give people something a bit more tangible to hold on to” as the missions are a bit “vague”.
“But there is a question about actually whether he’s moving away from some of the things he promised,” Sam says.
He points to the election pledge to have the highest sustained growth of anywhere in the G7.
But “a different promise” will be revealed tomorrow – it will be about raising disposable income.
“There is a sense that some things are shifting,” Sam says, which is what Kemi Badenoch picked up on today at PMQs.
“That goes to the heart of this question – is he changing the promises upon which he was elected, or just sort of adding to them and giving more specifics?
“From PMQs I thought today, he actually seemed like he might be doing more of the former.”
Tomorrow is Keir Starmer’s reset speech that’s definitely not a reset speech.
It’s just a speech. A big speech. A speech designed to get on back the front foot.
It’s not a reset – it’s a “new phase they’ve been planning since the summer”.
I think it’s fair to say, that Labour are probably keen to start this new phase as quickly as possible.
Keir Starmer wants to look forward, to move on – so he doesn’t have to keep talking about things like the Louise Haigh resignation, the Sue Gray saga, the freebie scandal that took so long to shake off…
These aren’t about policy – they’re about judgement and political management.
But there are other things that seem even more fundamental.
When I spoke to chef Tom Kerridge this week, who backed Labour at the election, he said the impact of the rise in employers’ national insurance contributions will be “catastrophic”.
This was ALSO brought up by Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
Watch the full exchange here…
Now, this IS about policy. And it’s about the budget – the biggest policy decision the new government has made.
We’ve got polling on the show today that shows Labour policies ARE cutting through – and not in the way they want.
Our weeknight politics show Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live now on Sky News.
The programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews and analysis – bringing you into the corridors of power.
After a busy day in Westminster, Sophy will be joined by:
On Sophy’s panel will be:
You can watch live in the stream at the top of this page or below:
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 we reported earlier, Sir Keir Starmer has held a meeting in Downing Street with the Emir of Qatar, who is in the UK for a state visit.
We’ve had a readout of the meeting from Downing Street.
A spokesperson said the PM “began by welcoming a significant milestone in the UK and Qatar’s new clean energy partnership, and the initial £1bn commitment made by Qatar”.
On defence, Sir Keir “reflected on the UK’s close cooperation with Qatar and the leaders discussed their ambition to go further to strengthen their unique partnership”.
“Finally, the prime minister commended Qatar’s leadership in mediation in the Middle East, including their role in securing the release of hostages from Gaza,” the spokesperson said.
“He added that we must continue to push for all hostages to be released, including British national Emily Damari.”
In 1993, then Conservative Prime Minister John Major did something even his predecessor Margaret Thatcher considered a step too far – privatised the railways.
Some 30 years later, the decision is regarded by unions as the root cause of problems facing commuters: Rising costs, frequent delays, cuts to services and timetable chaos.
The new Labour government has vowed to return rail journeys to public ownership within five years – naming the first three companies to be nationalised.
But what does that mean for passengers – and crucially – will it reduce fares?
Our political reporter Faye Brown explores those questions, with the help of some expert voices from the industry:
Kemi Badenoch is heading to Washington DC in order to “build relations with the Republican party”.
The Tory leader is reportedly set to have several meetings on Capitol Hill (at the US Congress).
A Conservative Party source would not comment in advance on her schedule, so it is unclear if she will meet Donald Trump or other Republicans.
A Conservative Party motion to scrap the changes to inheritance tax that farmers will pay has been defeated comfortably by Labour.
The result was:
That means there was a majority of 158 against the motion.
If you missed the debate and want to catch up, you can watch it back in full here:
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