Sir Keir Starmer denies waging ‘war against middle Britain’ with budget
Sir Keir Starmer has denied misleading the public in the general election after hinting at tax rises for those who own shares and assets.
Labour’s election-winning manifesto promised it would not “increase taxes on working people” – but it was not made clear who exactly who is considered a “working person”.
Asked by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby last week whether he would classify a working person as someone whose income derived from assets such as shares or property, the prime minister said: “Well, they wouldn’t come within my definition.”
It has led some critics to accuse the prime minister of targeting the middle class ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget next week through potential hikes to capital gains tax, national insurance raised for employers, or inheritance tax.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her budget on Wednesday
Quizzed by Rigby at a news conference in Samoa for the Commonwealth summit on Saturday, Sir Keir denied “plotting a war against middle Britain”.
“What we’re doing is two things in the budget,” he said.
“The first is fixing the foundations, which is dealing with the inheritance that we’ve got, including the £22bn black hole.”
The prime minister was referencing Ms Reeves’ repeated claim that the Conservatives left the new government with a £22bn shortfall, requiring them to make “tough decisions”.
“In the past, the last 14 years, leaders have walked past those problems, created fictions and I’m not prepared to do that,” he added.
“And having fixed the foundations, we’re going to rebuild our country.”
Read more:
Analysis: Labour’s muddle with messaging
Are Starmer and Reeves on the same page with budget?
He said doing so entailed “a very clear plan” to ensure people across the UK “are better off”, that their “living standards go up” and to ensure people have the public services they are “entitled to and deserve”.
He said part of the last pledge was to “make sure that our NHS is not just back on its feet, but fit for the future”.
Asked if he had misled the public during his campaign by not revealing there would be significant tax rises in Labour’s first budget, Sir Keir said: “No – we were very clear about the tax rises that we would necessarily have to make up.
“We were really clear in the manifesto and in the campaign that we wouldn’t be increasing taxes on working people and spelt out what we meant by that in terms of income tax, in terms of NICs [national insurance contributions] and in terms of VAT, and we intend to keep the promises that we made in our manifesto.”
Sir Keir and Ms Reeves have both regularly warned the public that Labour’s first budget in 14 years will be “painful” and include “tough decisions” – rhetoric the prime minister repeated on Saturday.
Rigby has predicted taxes will be going up beyond what the prime minister said in the Labour manifesto.
But after interviewing him this week, a Number 10 spokesperson clarified that those with a small amount of savings in stocks, shares or an ISA are still considered by the prime minister to be a “working person”.
Rather, Sir Keir was talking about people who “primarily get their income from assets,” they said.
Rigby said: “What does it all mean? Well, I think that it could be that raises in capital gains tax are on the cards now.”
The budget is set to take place at 12.30pm on Wednesday 30 October.
NHS England has warned the health service is facing a “worst case scenario” December with a surge of “super flu”.
The warning comes as new figures revealed the number of people in hospital with flu have increased by more than half in just one week.
Catch up as it happened: NHS warns of ‘worst-case scenario’ as ‘super flu’ surges
Latest figures show:
• An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital per day with flu last week
• This is the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on last week
• At this point last year the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402
Health service bosses are warning the number of flu patients in hospital has already increased sharply since the week covered by this data – with no peak in sight.
Read more: Why is flu season worse this year?
Virus outbreaks coincide with doctors’ strikes
Weekly flu numbers in England peaked at 5,408 patients last winter and reached 5,441 over the winter of 2022/23, the highest level since the pandemic.
Alongside rocketing flu, the number of norovirus patients in hospital has also risen by 35%.
The NHS is now warning winter viruses are starting to “engulf hospitals”.
Demand for A&Es and ambulance services is also soaring.
New monthly figures show A&E attendances were a record for November at 2.35 million – more than 30,000 higher than November 2024.
In addition, there were 48,814 more ambulance incidents (802,525) compared with last year (753,711).
Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status due to the high number of people attending A&E.
The record-breaking demand on the NHS coincides with a resident doctors’ strike from 17 to 22 December over pay and jobs – sparking fears of major disruption for patients in the run up to Christmas.
People are being advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.
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Will doctors accept late deal to avoid strikes?
Flu vaccinations on the up… who can get one?
The NHS is urging anyone eligible to get their flu vaccination to help prevent them getting seriously ill.
Latest figures show more than 17.4 million people have been vaccinated so far this year, more than 381,000 higher than last year.
You can get it if you:
• Are 65 or over in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Are pregnant
• Live in a care home
• Are the main carer for an older or disabled person, or receive carer’s allowance
• Live with someone who has a weakened immune system
• Are a frontline health and social care worker
• Are of school age
• Have certain medical conditions (the NHS has a full list)
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, warned of a “tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals”.
“We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible,” he said.
Warning ‘extremely challenging few weeks ahead’
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, warned the health service faces “an extremely challenging few weeks ahead” with “staff being pushed to the limit”.
She said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors’ strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.
“The numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year. Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.”
She added: “We have prepared earlier for winter than ever before, and stress-tested services to ensure people have a range of ways to get the help they need and avoid needing to go to A&E.
“For non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place, and use A&E and 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.”
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Mr Streeting has offered the British Medical Association (BMA) a last-minute deal in the hope doctors will call off the walkout, which starts next Wednesday.
The doctors’ union has agreed to put the offer to members over the coming day, and is expected to announced a decision on Monday, just two days before the planned strike.
The offer includes a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees, but does not include extra pay.
The spread of subclade K, the super flu, is picking up – and it’s not looking good for the NHS.
An average of just under 2,700 hospital beds a day in England were occupied by patients with flu last week.
There are fears that could jump to somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 by the end of this week.
That’s on top of COVID and RSV.
And with the possibility of a five-day strike by resident (junior) doctors next week, it’s a perfect storm for hospitals.
An NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Pic: PA
Christmas flu
Children are the super-spreaders of flu. It races around classrooms and some schools have temporarily shut because of the impact.
The Christmas holidays aren’t far off. They are likely to put the brakes on children passing around the virus.
But it’s also a time of year when families mix with elderly relatives, who are more likely to be hit hard by the infection – perhaps even needing hospital care.
So while the holidays may temporarily slow the overall rise in infections, the impact on hospitals could get much worse.
File pic: PA
Subclade K
Flu is spreading so rapidly at the moment because immunity to subclade K from previous infections and vaccinations is low.
The virus – a variant of the H3N2 flu strain – suddenly acquired seven new mutations in late summer.
Every 100 people infected with seasonal flu would typically pass the virus on to 120 others.
With subclade K, it’s 140.
And that’s why cases are rising so quickly on the charts.
At the moment, 18 in every 100,000 patients in England are consulting their GP with flu-like symptoms. That’s still well short of the peak of around 50 in every 100,000 in 2017/18, the worst flu outbreak in recent years.
File pic: PA
The grim reality of flu
Flu is a really unpleasant disease, nothing like a cold. I’ve had it twice in my life and it physically hurt to get out of bed. It’s grim.
Most people get over it with a few days’ rest and paracetamol to take the edge off the fever.
But vulnerable people can become seriously ill. In the outbreak of 2017/18, around 22,000 died.
Read more:
Nurses ‘deeply concerned about what lies ahead’
NHS braced for ‘toughest winter’ after record-breaking month
That’s why the NHS is urging people in certain groups – the over 65s, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, carers and children – to get the jab.
The vaccine isn’t a great match for subclade K, but still reduces the chance of hospital admission by 30-40% in adults.
It’s impossible to say when the spread will peak, but the latest figures suggest the outbreak is far from over.
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