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The Conservatives will promise a tax cut for parents on Friday by raising the threshold for when families have to pay a levy on their child benefit.

The current system means if either parents or a parent’s partner earns more than £60,000, they begin paying the high income child benefit tax charge, and lose the benefit altogether when a salary hits £80,000.

But if the Tories win the election on 4 July, they have promised to increase the threshold to £120,000 before any tax is paid, and to £160,000 before the benefit is withdrawn, as well as base it on a household income, rather than an individual.

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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt claimed the policy would lead to an average tax cut of £1,500 for around 700,000 families, and in turn “boost families’ financial security and give them more money to spend on the things that matter most”.

But Labour called it “another chaotic scattergun announcement from Rishi Sunak, adding to his list of desperate and unfunded policies that he knows can’t be delivered”.

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This latest move by the government follows its decision in April to raise the threshold for when the high income child benefit tax charge kicks in from £50,000 to £60,000.

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The party said the new £120,000 policy would cost £1.3bn by 2029 and be paid for by “clamping down on tax avoidance” – a measure it has promised to use throughout the campaign that it estimates will raise £6bn.

The Tories said the change would “end the unfairness that means single-earner households can start paying the tax charge when a household with two working parents and a much higher total income can keep the child benefit in full”.

But it would not come into force until autumn 2025 due to the “significant reform” to HMRC procedures that would need to take place first.

Jeremy Hunt meets staff during a visit to a builders merchant in south east London
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will unveil his new plan on Friday. Pic: PA

Mr Hunt said: “Raising the next generation is the most important job any of us can do so it’s right that, as part of our clear plan to bring taxes down, we are reducing the burden on working families.”

But a Labour spokesperson said: “Rishi Sunak clearly wants to pretend the last 14 years didn’t happen, because almost all his policies reverse decisions his own party has taken.

“The choice at this election is five more years of Conservative chaos or stability with a changed Labour Party.”

The SNP’s David Linden attacked the plan, saying: “The Tories’ time is up – and no amount of desperate, last-minute policy announcements will stop the democratic drubbing that is coming their way.

“The Scottish people can see right through the Tories’ empty election promises because they know the only thing that Westminster has delivered is austerity cuts, Brexit and a cost-of-living crisis.

And the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesperson, Sarah Olney, also said her rivals’ policies weren’t “worth the paper they are written on, after years of hiking taxes on hardworking families”.

She added: “Conservative ministers have had years to help parents with the cost of living but have done absolutely nothing apart from hiking taxes. It begs the question, what have they been doing all this time?”

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Her party will also be focusing on parents with their election announcement, promising to double statutory maternity pay to £350 a month, and introduce a “dad month” of paid leave for new dads.

They will also make paid parental rights available from day one of a job and extend them to self-employed parents.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the proposals would “give new parents the choice and flexibility they need, backed up by a package of proper support”.

Meanwhile, Labour will talk about their housing strategy – including making the mortgage guarantee scheme permanent and promising to build 1.5 million homes over the next parliament.

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‘Shameful’ that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

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'Shameful' that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

It is “shameful” that black boys growing up in London are “far more likely” to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News.

The commissioner told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that relations with minority communities “is difficult for us”.

Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK’s largest police force in 2022, said: “We can’t pretend otherwise that we’ve got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.

“And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That’s not in doubt. I’m being as relentless in that as it can be.”

He said the “vast majority” of the force are “good people”.

However, he added: “But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern.”

Sir Mark, who also leads the UK’s counter-terrorism policing, said it is “not right” that black boys growing up in London “are far more likely to be dead by the time they’re 18” than white boys.

“That’s, I think, shameful for the city,” he admitted.

The Met Police chief’s admission comes two years after an official report found the force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

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Police chase suspected phone thief

Baroness Casey was commissioned in 2021 to look into the Met Police after serving police officer Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

She pinned the primary blame for the Met’s culture on its past leadership and found that stop and search and the use of force against black people was excessive.

At the time, Sir Mark, who had been commissioner for six months when the report was published, said he would not use the labels of institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic, which Casey insisted the Met deserved.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who helped hire Sir Mark – and could fire him – made it clear the commissioner agreed with Baroness Casey’s verdict.

After the report was released, Sir Mark said “institutional” was political language so he was not going to use it, but he accepted “we have racists, misogynists…systematic failings, management failings, cultural failings”.

A few months after the report, Sir Mark launched a two-year £366m plan to overhaul the Met, including increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing to rebuild public trust and plans to recruit 500 more community support officers and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic violence, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.

Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.

They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.

There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.

But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.

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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.

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Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.

The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.

Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.

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Rat catcher tackling Birmingham’s bins problem

Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.

‘Missing in action’

General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”

She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.

“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.

“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”

SN pics from 10/04/25 Tyseley Lane, Tyseley, Birmingham showing some rubbish piling up because of bin strikes
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Piles of rubbish built up around Birmingham because of the strike over pay

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.

He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.

“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.

A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance co-founder CZ has dismissed a Bloomberg report linking him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, threatening legal action over alleged defamation.

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