Starmer says he can’t rule out further tax rises before next election
Sir Keir Starmer has said it is not his “plan” to increase any more taxes before the next election – but he cannot categorically rule them out if “unforeseen circumstances” strike the government.
The prime minister told the BBC he did not “want to suggest we’re going to keep coming back for more because that isn’t the plan”.
However, he said the war in Ukraine and the COVID pandemic were examples of events “we can’t see now” that might necessitate further tax hikes.
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The prime minister’s words come after Rachel Reeves, his chancellor, initially ruled out further tax rises in a speech to business earlier this month – only to fail to repeat the pledge just days later.
Some of the tax rises announced in the October budget – including an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions and changes in inheritance tax for some farmers – have proved to be unpopular with the public, with the latter group staging protests to highlight their unhappiness with the measure.
Asked why he believed his popularity had dropped since the election, the prime minister said it was because he had taken “tough decisions” early on in his premiership.
“I just don’t want to do what politicians have done in the past which is to get in the warm bath of empty promises,” he told the BBC.
“I’m prepared to roll up my sleeves and tell people it’s tough – we’re going to do it but you’re going to be better off.”
He added: “You’ll have a better health service, you’ll have better houses, you’ll have better energy bills at the end of this and I’ll be judged, quite rightly, at the end of the parliamentary term whether I’ve delivered on what I said I would deliver on.”
In response, Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said: “Keir Starmer has already raised taxes to historic levels. Now he claims he wants to give business certainty but he can’t answer a very basic question – will he or won’t he raise more taxes.
“We can see clearly the impact of his and Rachel Reeves’ first budget already – yesterday the Bank of England reported that the majority of businesses planned to put up prices and reduce jobs while the CBI is cutting growth projections.
“It’s no wonder he’s been forced to drop his commitment to grow the economy.”
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Starmer reveals new ‘milestones’
On Thursday the prime minister gave a major speech in which he promised change with six new “milestones” he said would be reached by the end of this parliament – including raising living standards in every part of the UK, building 1.5m homes in England and fast-tracking planning decisions on at least 150 major infrastructure projects.
He said they would “drive forward” his party’s missions and allow the public to “hold our feet to the fire” – but he was challenged on why bringing down migration had failed to make the list.
The prime minister said in response: “It is our duty to do it [bring migration down]. And we will do it.”
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UK has ‘acute’ housing crisis
Speaking to Sky News this morning, housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the UK needed to invest in training and apprenticeships for its “ageing construction workforce” to meet the prime minister’s milestone for housing and infrastructure.
For this, he said “some overseas workers will be required”.
“The previous government added construction to the shortage occupation list – it’s made a bit of a difference, but not enough,” he said.
Pressed on whether bringing more workers would be good for Labour’s plans to reduce migration, Mr Pennycook said it was the last government that made it easier for builders and tradespeople to get visas.
UK
Lucy Letby: Defence calls for miscarriage of justice investigation as medics give alternative causes of death
A panel of international medical experts has given alternative causes of death in several cases against child serial killer Lucy Letby.
It comes as her defence lawyers announced they have asked for her case to be investigated as a miscarriage of justice.
Letby, 35, the UK’s most prolific child killer of modern times, is serving fifteen whole life terms in prison after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.
Various methods were used to attack the babies while Letby worked as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
One method was air being injected into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism, blocking the bloody supply and leading to sudden and unexpected collapses.
On Tuesday, retired neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored an academic paper on air embolisms (bubbles) in babies in 1989 which featured prominently during her trial, chaired a panel of 14 experts to compile an “impartial evidence-based report”.
Dr Lee said he believed his findings on skin mottling were misinterpreted by the prosecution. He said in a new paper he published in December 2024 that there were no cases of skin discolouration when air was injected into the veins.
At her trial in 2023, prosecutors pointed to skin discolouration in several of the victims as evidence that air had been injected into their veins by Letby.
“The notion that these cases are air embolism because they collapsed and because there were skin rashes has no basis in evidence. Let’s be clear about that,” Dr Lee said.
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Professor Neena Modi, Letby’s barrister Mark McDonald, David Davis MP and Dr Shoo Lee. Pic: PA
The panel laid out alternative causes of death in many of the cases, including natural causes and poor medical care at Countess of Chester Hospital.
“We did not find any murders,” Dr Lee said. “In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care.”
Asked about the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Lee, a retired medic from Canada, said: “I would say if this was a hospital in Canada, it would be shut down. It would not be happening.”
A spokesperson at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Due to the Thirlwall Inquiry and the ongoing police investigations, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will now review all the evidence after an application from the defence to determine if the case should be referred back to the courts.
A CCRC spokesperson said: “We are aware that there has been a great deal of speculation and commentary surrounding Lucy Letby’s case, much of it from parties with only a partial view of the evidence.
“We ask that everyone remembers the families affected by events at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
“We have received a preliminary application in relation to Ms Letby’s case, and work has begun to assess the application.”
Opening the press conference, MP Sir David Davis described Letby’s convictions as “one of the major injustices of modern times”.
Last year Letby lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal – in May for seven murders and seven attempted murders, and in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl, which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial.
In December, the former nurse’s barrister, Mark McDonald, said he would seek permission from the Court of Appeal to re-open her case on the grounds Dr Dewi Evans, the lead prosecution medical expert at her trial, was “not reliable”.
Dr Evans, a retired consultant paediatrician, said concerns regarding his evidence were “unsubstantiated, unfounded, inaccurate”.
In September a public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes began hearing evidence. Closing legal submissions are expected in March and the findings are expected to be published this autumn.
Detectives from Cheshire Constabulary are also continuing their review of the care of some 4,000 babies admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016, while Letby worked as a neonatal nurse, there. It also includes two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.
Letby has been interviewed under caution at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, in relation to the ongoing investigation into baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.
She maintains her innocence.
At the gates of All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, the tributes to Harvey Willgoose continue to arrive.
Flowers bearing notes from friends and former teachers, balloons and cards, one woman even arrived with a shirt of his beloved Sheffield United.
The school remains closed but some youngsters were allowed through the locked gates by police to lay flowers at a small garden bed outside the main entrance.
Harvey Willgoose. Pic: Facebook
Those coming to lay flowers all spoke of their shock at Harvey’s death.
Luisa Meco’s daughter knew Harvey from when they were both in nursery school and also attended All Saints.
She said: “It’s just shocking, really sad, heartbreaking.”
Luisa Meco.
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Her thoughts were with Harvey’s family. She said: “Obviously we’re all putting ourselves in their shoes and thinking ‘What on earth?’. It is hard to describe, it is just unreal.”
Luisa was also concerned with how her daughter would feel returning to school when it reopens.
“I will wait and see what she says and if she’s not comfortable, I will just have to keep her off for a couple of days,” she said.
She added: “It’s not something that’s easy to get over, it’s not an easy thing even as an adult to understand, how it could happen at school, so for 14 and 15-year-olds it’s even harder.”
Flowers have also been placed at the Bramall Lane home of Sheffield United.
The club said it was aware discussions were taking place about how best to pay tribute to Harvey.
A line of flowers had also appeared outside Harvey’s family home, on a quiet housing estate five miles from All Saints.
Harvey Willgoose and his sister Sophie.
Pic: Sophie Willgoose
Harvey Willgoose.
Pic: Sophie Willgoose
Not far from the home, a family friend, who saw Harvey on his way to school on the tram on Monday morning, said she was “in shock” at the death of a boy she considered to be “like a brother” to her.
The 17-year-old told Sky News that Harvey was “funny, he’s cheeky, he’s caring, just a lovely boy, he’d never hurt anyone. He’s never been nasty, he’s just not a nasty person at all”.
The girl and Harvey’s family went on numerous holidays together.
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“We’re just so close. I can’t believe he has gone,” she said.
At the gates of All Saints, some families came to look at the tributes and reflect.
Brenda Bartholomew’s granddaughter witnessed the incident on Monday lunchtime.
“This should just not be happening,” she said.
Actor and comedian Brian Murphy has died aged 92.
He was known for his role in the 1970s sitcoms Man About The House and George And Mildred.
News of his passing was shared by his wife Hi-de-Hi! actress Linda Regan.
Posting a picture of her kissing her husband, she said: “My love for you will never die. RIP sweetheart.”
Brian Murphy. Pic:Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock
He died on Sunday morning at his home in Kent, with his wife of 35 years by his side.
In a statement, she said: “I was lucky to have in my lifetime found my soulmate. Brian who I will love forever!”
Agent and friend Thomas Bowington described Murphy as a “truly joyful and profoundly good-hearted man”.
Murphy first came to prominence playing landlord George Roper in Man About The House, starring alongside the late Yootha Joyce.
The show began in 1973 and was considered controversial for the time because it featured two single women living with a man.
When it ended in 1976, Murphy and Joyce starred in the spin-off, George And Mildred, which ran for five series until 1979.
He also starred as Alvin Smedley in Last Of The Summer Wine.
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Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce at Heathrow Airport leaving for New Zealand for a ten-week tour of the stage version of their show.
Pic: PA
Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce in George And Mildred.
Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Born on the Isle of Wight, Murphy was a member of the Theatre Workshop, founded by Joan Littlewood, and was a jobbing actor before appearing in TV shows including Z-Cars.
In 1993, he starred in the first major stage version of the HG Wells science fiction classic The Invisible Man.
More recently, Murphy appeared in TV shows including the BBC’s Holby City and ITV’s Benidorm.
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
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