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Jeremy Hunt will claim the economy is “back on track” in an autumn statement that is expected to prioritise tax cuts and economic growth.

The chancellor is expected to say the government’s plan for the economy is “working” but “the work is not done” as he unveils measures to boost business investment by £20bn a year, cut tax and get more people into work.

Mr Hunt will also set out decisions to grow the economy, reduce debt and return inflation to the Bank of England target of 2% – building further on Mr Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation by the end of the year.

Politics news – latest: Tories ‘running out of time’ – so expect tax cuts

After keeping coy about the prospect of tax cuts, they now appear to be firmly on the table as Mr Hunt vows to “reject big government, high spending and high tax because we know that leads to less growth, not more”.

But Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed the Tories were the party of “high tax”, adding: “Nothing the chancellor says or does in his autumn statement can change their appalling record.”

The hint of tax cuts comes after a Sky News poll of polls put the Tories 20 points behind Labour,

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This is a worse margin than where Rishi Sunak was at the start of the autumn, when the Conservatives were an average of 18 points behind.

National insurance expected to be cut and national living wage increased

Among the key measures expected to be announced is a possible cut to national insurance contributions.

The government is also hoping to incentivise work by shaking up the welfare system and increasing the national living wage, which will rise from £10.42 to £11.44 from April and will benefit workers aged 21 and over, rather than 23 and over.

It will mean an £1,800 annual pay rise next year for a full-time worker on the living wage, while 18 to 20-year-olds will receive a £1.11 hourly rise to £8.60.

Mr Hunt is expected to say in his statement: “After a global pandemic and energy crisis, we have taken difficult decisions to put our economy back on track.

“We have supported families with rising bills, cut borrowing and halved inflation.

“The economy has grown. Real incomes have risen.

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Ahead of Wednesday’s autumn statement, Sky News’ Ed Conway says the chancellor needs to get the national debt falling.

“Our plan for the British economy is working. But the work is not done.

“Conservatives know that a dynamic economy depends less on the decisions and diktats of ministers than on the energy and enterprise of the British people.”

In total the chancellor is expected to announce 110 different growth measures for businesses, including plans to cut tax, remove planning red tape and speed up access to the national grid.

Meanwhile, there will also be support for entrepreneurs to raise capital policies to unlock foreign direct investment and to boost productivity.

“Taken together we will increase business investment in the UK economy by around £20bn a year over the next decade and get Britain growing,” Mr Hunt will say.

The chancellor is expected to take advantage of headroom in the public finances – created as a result of higher wages and the freeze in income tax thresholds – to reduce taxes while also sticking to his fiscal rules.

They dictate that the government should have debt falling in the fifth year of the economic forecast and that borrowing should be less than 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).

In an interview with Sky News, former home secretary Dame Priti Patel expressed her desire to see tax cuts.

“This government has got the highest tax take in 70 years,” she said.

“I am an absolute advocate of making sure that hard-pressed taxpayers can keep more of their money. And you know, that is through tax cuts.

“And there are ways in which that can be achieved through targeted tax cuts, such as addressing the conundrum of fiscal drag where so many more people get dragged into the higher tax.”

Mr Hunt will also pledge to “reform welfare” in the autumn statement after already confirming a £2.5bn Back to Work plan, which aims to bring 1.1 million people back in the workforce.

Read more:
Autumn statement: Public have ‘duty’ to work, says minister – as benefits shake-up looms
A look at the polls might explain the Tories’ new zeal for tax cuts | Beth Rigby

Measures in the plan including removing benefits such as free prescriptions and legal aid from job seekers who are judged not to be looking for work.

Ms Reeves said: “After 13 years of economic failure under the Conservatives, working people are worse off.

“Prices are still rising in the shops, energy bills are up and mortgage payments are higher after the Conservatives crashed the economy.

“The 25 Tory tax rises since 2019 are the clearest sign of economic failure, with households paying £4,000 more in tax each year than they did in 2010.

“The Conservatives have become the party of high tax because they are the party of low growth. Nothing the chancellor says or does in his autumn statement can change their appalling record.”

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Millionaire former Tory donor defects to Reform

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Millionaire former Tory donor defects to Reform

Millionaire Tory donor Malcolm Offord has defected to Reform UK, saying he would be campaigning “tirelessly” to “remove this rotten SNP government”.

Nigel Farage announced the former Conservative life peer’s defection during a rally in the Scottish town of Falkirk, where regular anti-immigration protests have taken place outside the Cladhan Hotel – which is being used to house asylum seekers.

Mr Farage, Reform UK’s leader, said he was “delighted” to welcome Greenock-born Lord Offord to Reform, describing his defection as “a brave and historic act”.

He added: “He will take Reform UK Scotland to a new level.”

During a speech, Lord Offord, who previously donated nearly £150,000 to the Tories, said he would be quitting the Conservative Party and giving up his place in the House of Lords as he prepares to campaign for a seat in Holyrood in May.

The 61-year-old said he wanted to restore Scotland to a “prosperous, happy, healthy country”.

“Scotland needs Reform and Reform is coming to Scotland,” he told the rally.

Read more:
Nigel Farage dismisses school racism claims as ‘banter in a playground’
Farage allegations are deeply shocking – but will they deter voters?

“Today I can announce that I am resigning from the Conservative Party. Today I am joining Reform UK and today I announce my intention to stand for Reform in the Holyrood election in May next year.

“And that means that from today, for the next five months, day and night, I shall be campaigning with all of you tirelessly for two objectives.

“The first objective is to remove this rotten SNP government after 18 years, and the second is to present a positive vision for Scotland inside the UK, to restore Scotland to being a prosperous, proud, healthy and happy country.”

The latest defection comes as Mr Farage finds himself at the centre of allegations of racism dating back to his time in school.

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Claims made against Nigel Farage

Sky News reported on Saturday that a former schoolfriend of Mr Farage claimed he sang antisemitic songs to Jewish schoolmates – and had a “big issue with anyone called Patel”.

Jean-Pierre Lihou, 61, was initially friends with the Reform UK leader when he arrived at Dulwich College in the 1970s, at the time when Mr Farage is accused of saying antisemitic and other racist remarks by more than a dozen pupils.

Mr Farage has said he “never directly racially abused anybody” at Dulwich and said there is a “strong political element” to the allegations coming out 49 years later.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has called the ex-classmates “liars”.

A Reform UK spokesman accused Sky News of “scraping the barrel” and being “desperate to stop us winning the next election”.

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‘European SEC’ proposal sparks licensing concerns, institutional ambitions

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‘European SEC’ proposal sparks licensing concerns, institutional ambitions

The European Commission’s proposal to expand the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is raising concerns about the centralization of the bloc’s licensing regime, despite signaling deeper institutional ambitions for its capital markets structure.

On Thursday, the Commission published a package proposing to “direct supervisory competences” for key pieces of market infrastructure, including crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), trading venues and central counterparties to ESMA, Cointelegraph reported.

Concerningly, the ESMA’s jurisdiction would extend to both the supervision and licensing of all European crypto and financial technology (fintech) firms, potentially leading to slower licensing regimes and hindering startup development, according to Faustine Fleuret, head of public affairs at decentralized lending protocol Morpho.

“I am even more concerned that the proposal makes ESMA responsible for both the authorisation and the supervision of CASPs, not only the supervision,” she told Cointelegraph.

The proposal still requires approval from the European Parliament and the Council, which are currently under negotiation. 

If adopted, ESMA’s role in overseeing EU capital markets would more closely resemble the centralized framework of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a concept first proposed by European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde in 2023.

Related: Bank of America backs 1%–4% crypto allocation, opens door to Bitcoin ETFs

EU plan to centralize licensing under ESMA creates crypto and fintech slowdown concerns

The proposal to “centralize” this oversight under a single regulatory body seeks to address the differences in national supervisory practices and uneven licensing regimes, but risks slowing down overall crypto industry development, Elisenda Fabrega, general counsel at Brickken asset tokenization platform, told Cointelegraph.

“Without adequate resources, this mandate may become unmanageable, leading to delays or overly cautious assessments that could disproportionately affect smaller or innovative firms.”

“Ultimately, the effectiveness of this reform will depend less on its legal form and more on its institutional execution,” including ESMA’s operational capacity, independence and cooperation “channels” with member states, she said.

Related: Grayscale Chainlink ETF draws $41M on debut, but not ‘blockbuster’

Global stock market value by country. Source: Visual Capitalist

The broader package aims to boost wealth creation for EU citizens by making the bloc’s capital markets more competitive with those of the US.

The US stock market is worth approximately $62 trillion, or 48% of the global equity market, while the EU stock market’s cumulative value sits around $11 trillion, representing 9% of the global share, according to data from Visual Capitalist.

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