Jeremy Hunt has said everyone is going to be paying higher taxes but those who earn the most will have to make larger sacrifices.
The chancellor told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme during Thursday’s autumn statement he “will be asking everyone for sacrifices” but recognises there is “only so much we can ask” from people on the lowest incomes.
“That will be reflected in the decisions that I take, that’s important because Britain is a decent country, a fair country, a compassionate country,” Mr Hunt said.
“We’re all going to be paying a bit more tax, I’m afraid.”
Ministers are understood to be considering lowering the threshold at which employees pay the highest 45p rate of income tax from £150,000 to £125,000, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
Nurses across the UK this week voted to go on strike for the first time, likely next month, as they demand a 17% pay rise.
More on Jeremy Hunt
Related Topics:
Mr Hunt, who was health secretary when junior doctors went on strike for the first time in 2015, said he was “very conscious” of nurses’ concerns and understands they are asking for that above-inflation increase because of the impact of inflation on their pay packet.
But he said: “I think we have to recognise a difficult truth that if we gave everyone inflation-proof pay rises, inflation would stay. We wouldn’t bring down inflation.
Advertisement
“And that’s why, you know, I’m not pretending there aren’t some difficult decisions.
“The way through this is to bring down inflation as quickly as possible, because that is the root cause of your concern, your anger, your frustration, that your pay isn’t going as far as it might.”
Mr Hunt promised the autumn statement will “not just be bad news” but said he believes the public recognises “if you want to give people confidence about the future you have to be honest about the present”.
He said his plan will be both short and long-term and will bring down inflation, control high energy prices and “get our way back to growing, healthily”.
The chancellor said his plan will help get the UK out of a recession as quickly and with as little pain as possible as he also promised help for energy bills not just this winter, but next.
But he also said spending cuts from government departments will be needed and hinted no more funding will be given to the NHS.
He said the health service’s funding is already going up but the government needs to do “everything we can to find efficiencies” within the NHS.
Mr Hunt, asked if the NHS is on the brink of collapse, admitted doctors and nurses “on the frontline are frankly under unbearable pressure so I do recognise the picture”.
Jeremy Hunt’s gloomy outlook will worry people – including Tory MPs
The government is zig zagging at speed with its economic policy and borrowing to invest one week while cutting our cloth to our means the next.
It’s no surprise that people’s heads are spinning.
That was a very depressing, gloomy interview with Jeremy Hunt in which he emphasised the world has changed so he has to bring in a lot of pain.
I think that will worry people, including Tory MPs.
Liz Truss wanted to borrow too much in order to promote growth and I wonder whether or not the conversation after Thursday is whether or not Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt haven’t done the same thing but in the other direction.
Whether the eye-watering pain they’re going to initiate on Thursday doesn’t go too far. Whether it’s commensurate with the size of the problem that we’ve got.
He added that public services need a strong economy but that applies the other way around as well.
And he said the NHS can help get the UK out of the current economic difficulties, such as helping the growing number of people out of work due to long-term sickness.
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary under Liz Truss, told Sophy Ridge on Sunday he would rather see public spending cuts than tax rises in the fiscal statement.
He said: “I would strongly urge that the great balance of this statement should come from spending reductions because I really do think that there is an issue with our raising the burden of taxation on Britain at this time.”
Mr Clarke added that government spending has risen “substantially” over the past decade so there is “potential” to make savings that “did not damage public services”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:04
Minister hints at windfall tax expansion
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the chancellor could still make “fair choices” in the autumn statement that do not place the burden on the public by closing tax loopholes and backdating the windfall tax on energy companies’ profits to January and extending it by two years.
She said the windfall tax extension could raise an additional £50bn.
Ms Reeves also called for a general election as she said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has “no mandate for the cuts and tax increases” because he was not voted in by the country, but by Conservative MPs.
A man has died and 10 people, including five children, have been rescued after a landslide as Storm Bert batters the UK.
A “multi-hazard event” of snow, rain and strong winds caused chaos and disruption on Saturday, with several weather warnings set to remain in place all weekend.
Separate yellow weather warnings for wind are expected to come into force from 11am on Sunday across Northern Ireland and from midday across the Scottish Highlands, with the Met Office warning delays to rail, air and ferry transport are likely.
Hampshire Police said a man in his 60s died after a tree fell on to a car on the A34 southbound near Winchester on Saturday morning.
The force said it was investigating whether the incident was linked to the weather. A yellow warning for rain and wind was in place across the area.
In North Wales, five adults and five children were rescued from a house after a landslide.
A spokesman from the North Wales Fire and Rescue Services said all 10 people were being assessed by ambulance crews away from the scene in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen.
Advertisement
A further landslide was reported in the area, but it is understood no one else was affected.
In Ireland, at least 11,000 properties were without power going into the evening due to the impact of the storm.
Electricity company ESB Networks said earlier on Saturday at least 60,000 homes, farms, and businesses had been left without power due to the weather.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:17
Severe flooding in Irish street
“Crews will continue working late into the evening to restore power to most customers currently without supply,” it said.
“While we are doing everything we can, it is anticipated that some customers will be without supply overnight.”
The National Grid’s Electricity Distribution network which connects directly to homes and businesses in the Midlands, South West England and South Wales, confirmed there were 4,345 properties without power.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said his department would be “keeping in close touch with the energy companies”.
A Met Office spokesperson said winds of up to 82mph were recorded in Wales and 13cm of snow fell in Staffordshire on the first day of the weekend.
Two areas in Ireland were issued a rare red warning for heavy rain, which expired at 10am.
London, East Anglia, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and swathes of the Midlands are the only parts of the UK with no current weather warnings in place.
The weather also brought significant disruption to attractions and events, with Edinburgh Zoo and Glasgow Christmas Market closed on Saturday.
Also in Scotland, Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.
Blackburn Rovers postponed their Championship match against Portsmouth due to “torrential rain” which made the pitch “unplayable”.
A ‘multiple-hazard event’
Met Office meteorologist Jason Kelly described Storm Bert as a “multiple-hazard event”. Looking towards Sunday, he said rain is expected to become “particularly heavy and persistent”.
Accumulations of 50-75mm are expected to fall across the UK, with some places experiencing up to 100-150mm, Mr Kelly said.
He added: “Rapid melting of lying snow over the weekend may bring flooding for some. Multiple National Severe Weather Warnings are in place and will be added to and amended over the weekend.”
Going into next week, the Met Office predicts sunny spells and showers.
The forecaster says rain and strong winds may reappear on Wednesday, spreading northeast across England and Wales.
Where the warnings are and when
South coast – A yellow warning for wind is in place for the entire south coast of England from 9am until 9pm on Sunday, with a slight chance of damage to buildings and power cuts.
South West – From 6am, a yellow warning for rain is in place in the southwest of England, from Cornwall up to Oxford and stretching to Portsmouth. This is in place until 11.45pm.
Wales – Heavy rain is likely to cause some travel disruption, particularly in South Wales, with a yellow warning across the country lasting 24 hours from 6am this morning.
Midlands, north and Scotland – A yellow warning for rain and snow reaching from Stoke and Nottingham up to all of Scotland started at 4am and stays in place until 9am on Sunday. Manchester, Liverpool and Hull are not affected.
Northern Ireland – A yellow warning for wind comes into force from 11am on Sunday until 6pm, bringing with it the potential of travel disruption.
Scottish Highlands – A second warning will last from midday to midnight on Sunday.
What the weather warnings mean
• Yellow – people are advised to check the details of the forecast and consider extra steps to minimise any impact, while disruption is likely, particularly for travel
• Amber – disruption is more likely and more widespread and people are advised to change plans impacted by weather
• Red – reserved for very dangerous weather that can pose a danger to life and cause substantial travel disruption
The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.
In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.
“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.
“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.
“The state should never offer death as a service.”
On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
14:46
Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill
Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.
Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.
Advertisement
“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”
Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.
“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.
“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.
“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.
“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.
“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”
In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.
“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.
In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.
In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the Prime Minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.
“Immediate action” is being taken after blueprints of jail layouts were shared online.
The maps detailing the layouts of prisons in England and Wales were leaked on the dark web over the past fortnight, according to The Times.
The detailed information is said to include the locations of cameras and sensors, prompting fears they could be used to smuggle drugs or weapons into prisons or help inmates plan escapes.
Security officials are now working to identify the source of the leak and who might benefit from the details.
The Ministry of Justice did not disclose which prisons were involved in the breach.
A government spokesperson said in a statement: “We are not going to comment on the specific detail of security matters of this kind, but we are aware of a breach of data to the prison estate and, like with all potential breaches, have taken immediate action to ensure prisons remain secure.”
The leak comes amid a chronic prison overcrowding crisis, which has led to early release schemes and the re-categorising of the security risks of some offenders to ease capacity pressures.