Connect with us

Published

on

Liz Truss has said publicly what Downing Street has said privately for some time: that there will “absolutely” be no public spending cuts.

The prime minister wants to be seen sticking to the promise she made during the Tory leadership campaign. It drew gasps in the chamber and sounds like a big deal: but it’s complicated and some caution is required.

This is a more wide-ranging commitment than the line from the Treasury for the last couple of weeks that the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, would stick to the three-year spending plans set out under Boris Johnson’s government in 2021.

However there is much public spending outside of Whitehall departmental totals presumed to be in the firing line, as this government works out how to credibly fill the black hole created by the mini-budget with its tax cuts and energy price plan. And post-2025 spending settlements are clearly under fire.

Politics latest: PM pledges not to cut public spending and says ‘last thing’ country needs is a general election

This does represent another, tougher self-imposed limit to her options. But how significant is it?

It’s very important to remember that much of the debate is not necessarily about cuts in absolute terms, but about growing more slowly.

More on Liz Truss

That’s the nub of the very public debate the cabinet has been having about whether to uprate – or increase – benefits by wages or inflation.

In either scenario, the budget grows, just more slowly by the former than the latter.

The challenge is that inflation – at recent record highs – will eat into these increasing budgets, in a way that will feel like public spending cuts. Often spending review settlements are presented once inflation is taken into account.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Truss ‘absolutely’ won’t reduce spending

This government can keep the absolute figure of spending level for years, but each pound available will go less far.

It’s also unclear how you make the tens of billions needed to cover the additional borrowing that Ms Truss’s mini-budget created.

But there’s much we don’t know about what Mr Kwarteng will need to do on 31 October: we don’t know the actual size of the black hole (could it be materially less than the £60bn+ forecast by the IFS?), could the renewable energy “windfall tax”-style deal raise tens of billions, could other Treasury “tricks” – like raising the state pension age and increasing future migration programmes – also flatter the public finances?

There’s an awful lot we don’t know.

It’s also important to remember that if you’ve just spent £200bn more on public spending in the first month of the Truss government it’s actually quite easy to say public spending won’t dip below the starting baseline – presumably the day she came to government – in future.

So the PM may well be telling people that the government isn’t shrinking spending but it might not feel like that to voters.

Continue Reading

World

UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

Published

on

By

UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council has passed a US resolution which endorses Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote.

The resolution endorses the US president’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Mr Trump would head.

Read more: What does Trump’s Gaza peace plan look like?

US ambassador Mike Waltz said the resolution was “historic and constructive”, but it was “just the beginning”.

“Today’s resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security,” he added.

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

The proposal gives no timeline or guarantee for an independent Palestinian state, only saying “the conditions may finally be in place” after advances in the reconstruction of Gaza and reforms of the Palestinian Authority – now governing parts of the West Bank.

More from World

It also says that the US “will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence”.

The language on statehood was strengthened after Arab nations and Palestinians pressured the US over nearly two weeks of negotiations, but it has also angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, and on Sunday pledged to demilitarise Gaza “the easy way or the hard way”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

From October: How will peace plan unfold?

Hamas: International force is ‘in favour of’ Israel

In a statement rejecting the resolutions’ passing, a Hamas spokesperson said that it “falls far short of the political and humanitarian demands and rights of our Palestinian people”.

“The effects and repercussions of this war continue to this day, despite the declared end of the war according to President Trump’s plan,” they added.

“The resolution imposes an international trusteeship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people, their forces, and factions reject.”

The spokesperson then said that “assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation”.

Read more:
Trump asks Israeli president to ‘fully pardon’ Netanyahu
Inside Jordan warehouse holding Gaza aid ‘refused entry by Israel’

The Palestinian Authority, however, issued a statement welcoming the resolution and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the latest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news

Continue Reading

World

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Published

on

By

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death.

It comes after the 78-year-old was found guilty of ordering lethal force in a crackdown on a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

The former leader, who is now exiled in India, was tried in absentia by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in last year’s violence.

Bangladesh‘s health adviser in the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

Following a months-long trial, Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

“I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising.

She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

The ICT, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital, delivered its four-hour verdict on Monday amid tight security.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What was behind the protests?

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations.

India’s foreign ministry said it had noted the verdict concerning Hasina and “remained committed” to the people of Bangladesh.

“We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the ministry added in a statement.

During the verdict, protesters had gathered outside the former home-turned-museum of Hasina’s late father demanding the building be demolished.

Read more from Sky News:
Hundreds of tonnes of ‘revolting’ waste dumped next to river
Arctic air to bring risk of ice and snow to the UK this week

Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina's late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP
Image:
Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP

Police used batons and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown in protest at the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Continue Reading

World

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity

Published

on

By

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

It follows a months-long trial in the country that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The former leader, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence.

Bangladesh’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising, ending 15 years of rule.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation

The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight security.

Hasina received a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What was behind the protests?

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations. India has not yet made any response.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

It comes after Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown as part of a protest against the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Read more from Sky News:
Hundreds of tonnes of ‘revolting’ waste dumped next to river
Arctic air to bring risk of ice and snow to the UK this week

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

Continue Reading

Trending