Kwasi Kwarteng promises ‘relentlessly upbeat’ economic plan as Tories warn him not to burden the poorest

Published

3 years ago

October 11, 2022

admin

Kwasi Kwarteng has promised his upcoming economic plan will be “relentlessly upbeat” as some of his own MPs seemed doubtful of his direction.

Speaking in the Commons for the first time since unveiling his mini-budget, the chancellor would not reveal more detail of his next financial announcement, set for Halloween.

But he promised it would include “an absolute iron commitment to fiscal responsibility”, with accompanying forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Politics latest: ‘Ominous warning’ for chancellor as Kwasi Kwarteng faces MPs’ questions

While Mr Kwarteng had some support from his backbenchers, he was issued warnings too – including from former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith, asking him to ensure he will “not balance the forthcoming tax cuts on the back of the poorest people in the country”.

And chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Mel Stride, told the chancellor to make sure he “reaches out as much as he can” to all sides of the Commons to get his measures through, adding: “Any failure to do so will unsettle the markets.”

Last month’s mini-budget from the new government – released without OBR forecasts alongside it – sent the markets into turmoil, with the pound dropping, mortgage products being withdrawn and the Bank of England having to step in to save some pension funds.

Prime Minister Liz Truss and Mr Kwarteng were forced into a U-turn over their plan to scrap the 45p tax rate for the highest earners, and to bring forward the medium-term announcement that had been set for the end of November.

But the economic warnings keep coming, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) saying the chancellor would have to cut spending or raise taxes by £62bn if he is to stabilise or reduce the national debt, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saying the government needed to work with the Bank of England to prevent any further troubles.

Speaking during Treasury questions after shouts from some MPs to “resign”, the chancellor insisted he would “canvass opinion widely ahead of the publication of the plan” and that the OBR’s independence was “absolutely sacrosanct”.

But Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves called on Mr Kwarteng to “put aside his pride, do the right thing for our country, end this trickle-down nonsense and reverse the budget”.

She added: “The chancellor is in a dangerous state of denial but the cost of these mistakes are all too real for everyone else – borrowing costs up, growth down, mortgage payments set to increase by £500 a month.

“Now they scrabble around looking for cuts, hitting the most vulnerable and hitting our public services. It does not need to be this way.”

Mr Kwarteng was also pushed by a number of MPs to reveal whether the government would be raising benefits in line with inflation as Boris Johnson’s government promised to do, which has led to rows within the Tory Party.

Liberal Democrat Jamie Stone told the chancellor it was the “only fair way forward” and it would be “immoral to do otherwise”.

But the chancellor would not reveal the decision, saying he will not “prejudge any measures” to be announced on Halloween.

World

Katy Perry floats in space as part of star-studded all-female Blue Origin mission

Published

10 hours ago

April 14, 2025

admin

Katy Perry floats in space as part of star-studded all-female Blue Origin mission

Katy Perry has blasted off to space along with five other women in the first all-female space crew in over sixty years.

The Firework singer lifted off from West Texas on a Blue Origin rocket before becoming the first artist to sing in space.

Flying alongside Perry were author Lauren Sanchez, the fiancee of Blue Origin owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, journalist and TV presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.

The star-studded crew were supported on the ground by family and friends including Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey, who said she had “never been more proud” of her friend, King.

“There’s only one time all the women are going up for the first time,” Oprah said she told her friend when urging her to go on the flight, telling her she’d regret turning down the opportunity.

Weightlessness

The crew were weightless for just four minutes after passing the Karman line, a 62-mile-high boundary that is internationally recognised as the boundary of space.

They could be heard screaming as they began to feel weightless, and told each other to look at the incredible views of the moon.

As the crew were leaving space, Perry started to sing What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

Asked why she chose that song, she said: “It’s not about me or about me singing my songs, it was about a collective energy in there.

“It’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it.”

She confirmed she will be writing a song about the experience.

Space missions don’t get any weirder than this

A sassy crew, a billionaire and a celebrity circus in the desert. Space missions don’t get any weirder.

But this is the new world of Blue Origin and its publicity machine.

It brought together six women – all at the top of their game – and dressed them in designer flight suits. One of them, singer Katy Perry, said they “put the ass into astronauts”.

They launched in a rocket called New Shepard, rising to 65 miles above the Earth, where they unbuckled and floated.

Back on planet Earth there was a star-studded gathering. There were a couple of Kardashians. And Oprah Winfrey was there too, covering her eyes, barely able to look.

It was all a little surreal, and maybe it will have attracted an audience who wouldn’t normally watch a space launch.

It’s remarkable that this was the first all-female space mission in more than 60 years.

Read Thomas Moore’s full analysis here.

The descent

Three parachutes on their capsule opened up to bring them safely back down to Earth and just before they landed, an air cushion blew a cloud of dust up in the west Texas desert, giving a dramatic-looking touchdown.

“Excited as I am, I’ll be very glad when we come back down,” said self-confessed nervous flier King before liftoff.

When she exited the shuttle, the presenter kissed the floor and said: “Thank you, Jesus”.

She said it was “oddly quiet” in space, and it reminded her that people needed to “do better and be better” on Earth.

“It was the most incredible experience of my life to be up there and see such vast darkness in space and look down on our planet,” said Flynn, through tears.

“The moon was so beautiful and I feel like that was a special gift just for me,” she said.

World

British father and son drown off Australian coast – reports

Published

10 hours ago

April 14, 2025

admin

British father and son drown off Australian coast - reports

A British father and son have reportedly drowned after they were swept out to sea off the coast of a popular Australian tourist town.

The 46-year-old man and his 17-year-old son reportedly got into difficulty while swimming at a beach in Seventeen Seventy – named after the year Captain James Cook landed in Queensland.

They were declared dead at the scene after being pulled from the water by a rescue helicopter.

A third man, an Australian who is believed to have tried to rescue the pair, was taken to hospital after suffering head injuries, according to local media.

CapRescue, the emergency service that conducted the operation on Sunday, said it “was a difficult one”.

“At 2.17pm, emergency services were called to 1770 after reports three people had been swept out into the ocean,” they said in a statement on Facebook.

“Multiple crews were tasked to the scene, including CapRescue. Despite the best efforts of all involved, two people tragically lost their lives.

“One patient was transported by air to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a life-threatening condition.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this heartbreaking incident.”

Police confirmed the pair were visiting from the UK and said a report would be prepared for the coroner, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), while 7News reported they were father and son.

The town, at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, draws visitors from around the world and is busy with tourists in the school holidays before Easter.

Surf Life Saving Queensland’s regional operations manager, Darren Everard, told ABC the deaths were “an absolute tragedy”.

“Around any of our creeks and headlands… especially on a high tide when there’s a big swell, it’s chaos in the water and… sadly, that’s where we have coastal fatalities in Australia,” he said.

“I think everyone should just take that little bit of time when they go on holidays, and it doesn’t matter where you are around Australia, seek local knowledge… but you also need to go to where those flags are.”

A foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British nationals who have died in Australia and are in contact with the local authorities.”

World

Donald Trump says the US could deport ‘homegrown criminals’ to El Salvador jail

Published

10 hours ago

April 14, 2025

admin

Donald Trump says the US could deport 'homegrown criminals' to El Salvador jail

Donald Trump has suggested “homegrown criminals” in the US could be deported to jails in El Salvador – saying the US attorney general is “studying the laws right now”.

He made the comment while speaking alongside the Central American nation’s president, Nayib Bukele, in the White House.

The Trump administration has sent hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, since March.

When asked about the deportations – which were briefly blocked by a US court last month – Mr Trump said: “I’d like to go a step further.

“We also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, hit elderly ladies on the back of the head when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters.

“I’d like to include them in people to get out of the country.”

When pressed on the matter by a reporter, he replied: “They’re as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too. I’m all for it.”

US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was present at the meeting, is “studying the laws right now”, the US president added.

“If we can do that, that’s good,” he said. “I’m talking about violent people, really bad people.

“We can do things with the president [of El Salvador] for less money and have great security. He does a great job with that. We have other we’re negotiating with too.”

The ‘world’s coolest dictator’ said all the right things for Trump

Nayib Bukele is a master of optics.

His look was slick – a black suit and long-sleeve black t-shirt beneath – fitting for the man who’s dubbed himself “the world’s coolest dictator”.

And the Salvadorian president said all the right things, aligning his few chosen words with US priorities.

“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” he replied, when asked if he’d be returning a prisoner deported by mistake.

That will have gone down well in the White House.

The Oval Office has become a diplomatic minefield since Donald Trump returned to power.

Sir Keir Starmer’s letter from the King was considered a masterstroke. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s scrutinising of foreign policy, quite the opposite.

Others, like Ireland’s premier Micheal Martin, said as little as possible while seated next to Trump.

Bukele didn’t say much either, opting for a touch of deference to “the leader of the free world”.

He wants to position El Salvador as a key player in the region, not just a small country in Latin America.

His authoritarian leanings back home may appeal to the US president.

And Bukele is savvy enough to milk that for all it’s worth.

The Trump administration has been deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to the El Salvador jail since mid-March, when the US president signed the Alien Enemies Act.

The law from 1798 has been invoked just three times before, in wartime. It allows the president to detain and deport immigrants living in the US legally if they are from countries seen as “enemies” of the government.

👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈

Lawyers and immigrant rights groups have been unable to contact the men sent to the 40,000 capacity CECOT prison – the largest detention facility in Latin America.

A judge issued a temporary block on the deportations on 17 March, but this was lifted by the Supreme Court last week.