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Boris Johnson has denied his Conservative Party are neglecting southern parts of England in favour of its new northern seats as he blamed “particular circumstances” for a surprise by-election loss.

The Tories have been dealt a humiliating defeat after the Liberal Democrats won Thursday’s Chesham and Amersham by-election.

The Buckinghamshire constituency had been a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1974 – but the Lib Dems overturned the Tories’ 16,000-vote majority to deliver a shock result.

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Davey takes hammer to ‘Tory blue wall’

The prime minister admitted his party had suffered what was “certainly a disappointing result”, but he pointed to “particular circumstances” in the constituency.

He also dismissed “peculiar” and “bizarre” suggestions that Conservative victories in Labour’s former “red wall” heartlands in the Midlands and the north at the last general election had seen the Tories lose their focus on their own traditional strongholds.

“We are getting on with delivering our agenda for the whole country, that’s what one nation Conservatism is all about,” Mr Johnson said.

“We believe in uniting and levelling up within regions and across the country.”

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The prime minister also pointed to his own previous election as London mayor on two occasions, his past election as an MP for Henley, as well as last month’s council election successes for the Tories.

“Just last month we had gains in Basildon and Maidstone and Basingstoke and all over the place,” he added.

“We are a great one nation party and we will continue with our mission to unite and level up, because that is the best way to deliver jobs and prosperity across the whole country.”

Some Tories have blamed the Chesham defeat on the government’s proposed reforms of planning rules.

But Mr Johnson said there had been “some misunderstanding about the planning reforms, perhaps even some wilful misunderstanding on behalf of our opponents”.

“What we want are sensible plans to allow development on brownfield sites, we’re not going to build on greenbelt sites, we’re not going to build all over the countryside,” he added.

“But I do think that young people growing up in this country should have the chance of home ownership and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

The Chesham and Amersham contest was triggered by the death of former Tory cabinet minister Dame Cheryl Gillan.

The constituency will now be represented by victorious Lib Dem candidate Sarah Green.

The Lib Dems' new MP for Chesham and Amersham, Sarah Green, and party leader Sir Ed Davey
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The Lib Dems’ new MP for Chesham and Amersham, Sarah Green, and party leader Sir Ed Davey

The 25-point swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems was the third-highest since two by-elections in 1993.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told Sky News the result would “send shockwaves through the British political system”.

“This Liberal Democrat victory was one of our best ever by-election victories,” he said.

“And, if it was repeated across the south of England, literally dozens of Conservative MPs would lose their seats to the Liberal Democrats.”

The result has also brought fresh scrutiny of the performance of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who saw his party gain the smallest share of the vote (1.6%) in any by-election since the Second World War.

Labour came fourth in the by-election with just 622 votes – trailing the third-placed Green Party – and losing the party’s deposit in the process.

Last month, Sir Keir saw his party lose the Hartlepool by-election to the Conservatives – a seat that had been under Labour’s control since it was created in the 1970s.

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Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

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Chancellor admits tax rises and spending cuts considered for budget

Rachel Reeves has told Sky News she is looking at both tax rises and spending cuts in the budget, in her first interview since being briefed on the scale of the fiscal black hole she faces.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well,” the chancellor said when asked how she would deal with the country’s economic challenges in her 26 November statement.

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Ms Reeves was shown the first draft of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, revealing the size of the black hole she must fill next month, on Friday 3 October.

She has never previously publicly confirmed tax rises are on the cards in the budget, going out of her way to avoid mentioning tax in interviews two weeks ago.

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Chancellor pledges not to raise VAT

Cabinet ministers had previously indicated they did not expect future spending cuts would be used to ensure the chancellor met her fiscal rules.

Ms Reeves also responded to questions about whether the economy was in a “doom loop” of annual tax rises to fill annual black holes. She appeared to concede she is trapped in such a loop.

Asked if she could promise she won’t allow the economy to get stuck in a doom loop cycle, Ms Reeves replied: “Nobody wants that cycle to end more than I do.”

She said that is why she is trying to grow the economy, and only when pushed a third time did she suggest she “would not use those (doom loop) words” because the UK had the strongest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year.

What’s facing Reeves?

Ms Reeves is expected to have to find up to £30bn at the budget to balance the books, after a U-turn on winter fuel and welfare reforms and a big productivity downgrade by the OBR, which means Britain is expected to earn less in future than previously predicted.

Yesterday, the IMF upgraded UK growth projections by 0.1 percentage points to 1.3% of GDP this year – but also trimmed its forecast by 0.1% next year, also putting it at 1.3%.

The UK growth prospects are 0.4 percentage points worse off than the IMF’s projects last autumn. The 1.3% GDP growth would be the second-fastest in the G7, behind the US.

Last night, the chancellor arrived in Washington for the annual IMF and World Bank conference.

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The big issues facing the UK economy

‘I won’t duck challenges’

In her Sky News interview, Ms Reeves said multiple challenges meant there was a fresh need to balance the books.

“I was really clear during the general election campaign – and we discussed this many times – that I would always make sure the numbers add up,” she said.

“Challenges are being thrown our way – whether that is the geopolitical uncertainties, the conflicts around the world, the increased tariffs and barriers to trade. And now this (OBR) review is looking at how productive our economy has been in the past and then projecting that forward.”

She was clear that relaxing the fiscal rules (the main one being that from 2029-30, the government’s day-to-day spending needs to rely on taxation alone, not borrowing) was not an option, making tax rises all but inevitable.

“I won’t duck those challenges,” she said.

“Of course, we’re looking at tax and spending as well, but the numbers will always add up with me as chancellor because we saw just three years ago what happens when a government, where the Conservatives, lost control of the public finances: inflation and interest rates went through the roof.”

Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

Blame it on the B word?

Ms Reeves also lay responsibility for the scale of the black hole she’s facing at Brexit, along with austerity and the mini-budget.

This could risk a confrontation with the party’s own voters – one in five (19%) Leave voters backed Labour at the last election, playing a big role in assuring the party’s landslide victory.

The chancellor said: “Austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy.

“Already, people thought that the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit.

“Now, of course, we are undoing some of that damage by the deal that we did with the EU earlier this year on food and farming, goods moving between us and the continent, on energy and electricity trading, on an ambitious youth mobility scheme, but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting.”

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Crypto maturity demands systematic discipline over speculation

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