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The Department for Levelling Up is having to ask the Treasury to sign off on big projects, a minister has confirmed.

The Financial Times had reported the Treasury had banned capital spending by Michael Gove’s department amid doubts regarding its ability to deliver its flagship policy to reduce regional economic divides.

The agenda was a key part of the Conservative Party’s election-winning manifesto in 2019.

Capital spending is the money used to buy, upgrade or maintain physical things like buildings and equipment.

Answering a question on the matter in the Commons, Levelling Up minister Lee Rowley emphasised the change would not have an impact on the department’s agenda or ambitions.

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‘No change’ to budget or objectives, minister insists

“It is absolutely the case that processes change and they also may apply at times in different ways,” Mr Rowley told MPs.

“We are working within a new delegation approach with Treasury which involves sign off with Treasury on capital spend.

“We will always work closely with Treasury, we value their value-for-money focus, they value our mission and they share our mission to level up the country as a whole, and we will continue to do that.”

He added: “There has been no change to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities budget whether capital or revenue, no change to our policy objective, no dilution of our ambition and there are no implications for the government’s policy agenda.”

‘Absurd’ if Gove can’t ‘sign off on a park bench’

Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said “rogue” spending commitments made by Mr Gove to sort out poor social housing conditions may have led to the decision by the Treasury.

Referring to the Financial Times report, she told MPs: “If this report is true, we are in the absurd situation of having a secretary of state for levelling up who doesn’t even have the authority to sign off on a park bench.”

The report said Treasury chief secretary, John Glen, has stepped in to prevent the department from signing off spending on any new capital projects because of concerns about whether the department is delivering value for money.

Ms Nandy asked Mr Rowley: “Is it true that this decision by the Treasury was prompted by unauthorised spending commitments made by the secretary of state at the Convention for the North to spend money on improving appalling housing standards after the desperate death of a two-year-old boy in Rochdale?”

“I understand the secretary of state is in Rochdale today. How can he possibly tell housing associations to sort themselves out if he can’t sort out his own department?”

Read more from Sky News:
Labour demands report on Levelling Up progress

She added: “We deserve to know whether the chancellor of the exchequer believes that a secretary of state who is finally, belatedly, spending money on housing standards is a secretary of state who has gone rogue because that would be a very serious thing indeed.”

Responding to the Financial Times report, a Treasury spokesperson denied Mr Gove’s speech at the Convention for the North prompted the spending ban.

A government spokesperson said: “The government’s central mission is to level up every part of the United Kingdom by spreading opportunity, empowering local leaders and improving public services.

“DLUHC will continue to deliver its existing programme of capital projects as planned.”

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs - in worst day for indexes since COVID

Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.

While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years

All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.

The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.

Read more: What’s a bear market?

Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.

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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.

The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.

And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.

Pic: Reuters
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US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters

Trump holds trade deal talks – reports

It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.

The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.

Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.

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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?

Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
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China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.

Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.

Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they're also battling with another problem

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

Read more:
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Trade war sparks ‘$2.2trn’ global market sell-off

These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.

His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.

The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.

Demonstrators who stayed overnight near the constitutional court wait for the start of a rally calling for the president to step down. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP

Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.

The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.

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The Constitutional Court is under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement of the impeachment trial. Pic: AP
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP

After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.

He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.

The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.

South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.

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