Jeremy Hunt warns of making ‘difficult decisions’ on spending and tax – as he admits government went ‘too far, too fast’

Published

3 years ago

October 16, 2022

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Jeremy Hunt has admitted the government went “too far, too fast” and that he will have to take some “very difficult decisions” on spending and tax to get the economy back up and running.

Earlier, the new chancellor admitted there “were mistakes” in Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget in an interview with Sky News.

But in an apparent bid to restore trust in the government’s handling of the economy, Mr Hunt released a statement on Saturday night saying his focus is on “growth underpinned by stability”.

“The drive on growing the economy is right – it means more people can get good jobs, new businesses can thrive and we can secure world-class public services. But we went too far, too fast,” he said.

He appeared to warn the public it won’t be an easy road, saying the government has to “be honest with people”.

“We are going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax to get debt falling but the top of our minds when making these decisions will be how to protect and help struggling families, businesses and people,” he said.

“I will set out clear and robust plans to make sure government spending is as efficient as possible, ensure taxpayer money is well spent and that we have rigorous control over our public finances.”

Mr Hunt was appointed as the new chancellor on Friday, following Mr Kwarteng’s sacking after just 38 days in the job.

While some Tory MPs welcomed the new appointment as “an experienced pair of hands”, others questioned why Mr Kwarteng was the one who had to go when he was pursuing policies Ms Truss espoused in her leadership campaign.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times is reporting that Mr Hunt will delay a planned 1p reduction to the basic rate of income tax by one year after the country’s fiscal watchdog warned that the public finances were in a worse state than expected.

Soaring interest rates

It comes as the Bank of England (BoE) said interest rates will have to be raised higher than initially hoped in the face of inflationary pressure.

In August, the Bank said it expected the rate of inflation to peak at 13% this year – and remain above 10% for a few months before falling.

But now, BoE governor Andrew Bailey says the realities of inflation might require a stronger interest rates response from the central bank.

Mr Bailey said he spoke to Mr Hunt on Friday and had a “meeting of minds” on the issue of “fiscal sustainability”.

Taking questions in Washington, he said: “I can tell you that I spoke to Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor, yesterday. I can tell you that there was a very clear and immediate meeting of minds between us about the importance of fiscal sustainability and the importance of taking measures to do that.”

He continued: “It’s not appropriate for me to constrain the choices he makes but the very clear message I would give and it is a clear message for everybody, including a clear message for markets.

“I can tell you there is a very clear and immediate meeting of minds on the importance of stability and sustainability.”

‘Mistakes’ in mini-budget

Reflecting on the government’s recent mini-budget, Mr Hunt told Sky News that “it was a mistake when we were going to be asking for difficult decisions across the board on tax and spending to cut the rate of tax paid by the very wealthiest”.

He added that it was also an error to “fly blind” by not accompanying the “fiscal event” with an economic forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, which many argue sent the financial markets into turmoil.

On tax cuts, he said: “We won’t have the speed of tax cuts we were hoping for and some taxes will go up.”

Asked if this would mean a return to austerity, he replied: “I don’t think we’re talking about austerity in the way we had it in 2010. But we’re going to have to take tough decisions on both spending and tax.”

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Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protest so busy it was ‘perilous’, police chief says

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2 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protest so busy it was 'perilous', police chief says

Tens of thousands of Sydney residents marched across the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge to support Palestinians in Gaza and call for an end to the war.

The decision to centre the protest on such an iconic landmark was controversial. The bridge is considered a symbol of unity in the city.

However, the Israel-Hamas war has been deeply divisive in Australia and increased tension between the country’s Jewish and Muslim communities.

On Sunday there were pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

In Sydney organisers hoped 50,000 people would attend, despite heavy rain.

In the end, the bridge and the central business district were so packed – and the weather so bad – that police and organisers called the march off mid-way, fearing there would be a crush in the crowd.

Police said the crowd numbers in the Sydney Harbour Bridge march were “far greater” than expected, creating the risk of a crowd crush.

“It was perilous,” said senior officer Peter McKenna, adding his force was “very lucky the crowd was well-behaved”.

The final figures for the number of people who attended haven’t been released. But it was an impressive turnout in the tens of thousands.

Some of those attending the march, called by its organisers the March for Humanity, carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger in the besieged enclave of Gaza.

There was also a surprise guest, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

He has largely kept a low profile since his release from a British prison last year. He didn’t speak to the crowd, but he was among those leading the march.

However, the demonstration almost didn’t happen after New South Wales police tried to stop it from taking place on the Harbour Bridge.

On Saturday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled it could go ahead.

Despite the rain, there were families with children and seniors as well. It was a true cross-section of Australian society.

One of the protesters, Sarah, drove up from the Blue Mountains outside Sydney to attend.

She said, “enough is enough” and the Australian government should take “stronger action”.

Sarah also said Australians want people to know they care about what’s happening in the world.

Australia has not joined France, the UK and Canada is announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September.

The government here says recognition is a matter of “when not if”. But it has not committed to any timeline.

Public pressure is growing on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take a stronger stand against the war. So far, he has largely resisted that pressure.

But the government’s language towards Israel is becoming more critical.

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Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim – short of 600 needed

Published

8 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim - short of 600 needed

Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday – despite the humanitarian situation in the enclave worsening, Palestinian officials have warned.

According to the Gazan government’s media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen – “as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates”.

Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: “The needs of the population are worsening.”

A statement released late last night called for “the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities” – and “condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation”.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this – and accused Hamas of “stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel”.

He said: “The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.

“The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid.”

It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.

Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.

Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group’s repeated statements that it would not do so.

In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.

After Mr Witkoff’s meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.

The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.

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Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David released by Hamas

Published

8 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David released by Hamas

Two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, have been released by Hamas, after US special envoy Steve Witkoff this week met with the families of the hostages.

The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back, and says he has not eaten for three days.

The distressing videos show him apparently digging his own grave.

He worked in a restaurant, according to a video posted by Labour Friends of Israel, before he was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.

Since then, he has been held in captivity in Gaza, and the videos suggest he is being kept in dark tunnels and surviving on scarce portions of lentils and beans.

Gaza itself is suffering “man-made mass starvation” because of Israel’s blockade on aid to the enclave, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said.

In the second video, released on Saturday, Mr David – according to the English subtitles – says: “I haven’t eaten for three days.”

The captions continue as he speaks while in an underground tunnel: “There’s no [sic] enough food. I barely get drinking water.”

The video shows him talking through what he ate in July, which has been recorded on a handmade calendar hung up on the side of an underground Gaza tunnel.

Speaking while under captivity and under duress, he adds: “They give me what they can get.”

At the end of the video, he is digging a hole. The subtitle reads: “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”

He then appears to break down, crouching on the floor and leaning his head on his arm while still clinging to the shovel.

In a statement, his family said: “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton, buried alive.

“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition.”

They added: “Israel and the international community must oppose Hamas’s cruelty and ensure that our Evyatar immediately receives proper nutrition.

“The intentional starvation, torture, and abuse of Evyatar for propaganda purposes violate even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency.”

‘Famine’ looms in Gaza

On Friday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited a site where the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing food in Gaza.

The controversial GHF scheme has been widely condemned, including by the UK government, after fatal shootings ever since it was set up earlier this year.

According to the United Nations’ human rights office, at least 859 people have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF aid sites since late May.

The Israel Defence Forces has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) this week said a “worst-case scenario of famine” was sinking in across the besieged enclave.

It has also said more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition since April.

Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are concerned they are also starving, and blame Hamas.

On Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said a further seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours, including a child.