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Labour will pursue tax avoiders to fund its commitments on schools and the NHS after the government stole its revenue-raising plan to abolish the non-dom tax status.

The party had long pledged to scrap the rule – that allows wealthy individuals to live in the UK but not pay domestic rates of tax on their overseas income and wealth – if they came into power, giving them billions to pay for their own policy agenda.

But in his last Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt lifted the policy for the Tories – despite their long-held opposition to the move – in order to fund cuts to national insurance, and leaving a gap in Labour’s spending plans.

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Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is today set to announce that Labour now plans to raise £5bn a year by the end of the next parliament, which will fund its polices on breakfast clubs for primary school children and additional appointments in the NHS.

However, it is understood that only £2bn of the £5bn raised per year will fund the two policies, with the rest of the money being kept back for other uses.

Labour has said it will also raise £2.6bn over the next parliament by closing “loopholes” in the government’s plans to abolish exemptions for non-doms – a move Ms Reeves branded an “utter humiliation” for the Conservatives.

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As well as the non-dom tax status, the government also adopted Labour’s plans to extend the windfall tax on oil and gas companies, which also would have been used to fund the breakfast clubs and NHS appointments.

Ms Reeves is expected to say: “I have been clear that everything in our manifesto will be fully costed and fully funded. There will be no exceptions.

“That is why last month I promised to go through all the government documents in an orderly way to identify the funding streams to honour our commitments to the NHS and schools.

“That process is now complete and the funding a future Labour government will raise from taking on the tax dodgers will fund more appointments in NHS hospitals, new scanners, extra dentist appointments and free breakfast clubs for all primary school pupils.”

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Labour HQ painted red in protest at the sale of weapons to Israel

Labour said the “tax gap” – the difference between the amount of money HMRC is owed and the amount it receives – had widened to £36bn in 2021/22 – £5bn more than it had been the previous year.

To close the gap, Labour said it would invest up to £555m a year in boosting the number of compliance officers at HMRC, increasing productivity and improving the organisation’s “dire” customer service.

It will also consider requiring more tax schemes to be registered with HMRC to ensure they are legitimate, and renew the focus on offshore tax compliance.

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Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott said: “After a month of searching for a plan to pay for Labour’s unfunded spending, the shadow chancellor still cannot say how she will fill the enormous black hole in their promises. And that means one thing – more taxes.

“The Labour Party hasn’t changed. They remain committed to unfunded spending, including their £28bn a year decarbonisation promise, meaning they will have to raise taxes on working families – taking us back to square one.

“The Conservatives have introduced over 200 measures to clamp down on tax non-compliance and we are sticking to the plan to strengthen the economy so we can cut taxes, putting £900 in the pockets of the average worker and helping families to build a brighter future.”

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US charges 2 men over $650M OmegaPro crypto scam

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US charges 2 men over 0M OmegaPro crypto scam

US charges 2 men over 0M OmegaPro crypto scam

US prosecutors charged two men for allegedly running the crypto fraud scheme OmegaPro, which promised 300% returns to investors.

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US sanctions North Korean tech worker crew over crypto thefts

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US sanctions North Korean tech worker crew over crypto thefts

US sanctions North Korean tech worker crew over crypto thefts

TRM Labs said North Korea is moving away from hacks to focus more on deception-based revenue generation, such as planting IT workers in US companies.

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UK and France have ‘shared responsibility’ to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says

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UK and France have 'shared responsibility' to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says

Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France have a “shared responsibility” to tackle the “burden” of illegal migration, as he urged co-operation between London and Paris ahead of a crunch summit later this week.

Addressing parliament in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday, the French president said the UK-France summit would bring “cooperation and tangible results” regarding the small boats crisis in the Channel.

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King Charles III at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA
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King Charles III at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA

Mr Macron – who is the first European leader to make a state visit to the UK since Brexit – told the audience that while migrants’ “hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate”, “we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life”.

“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness,” he added.

Looking ahead to the UK-France summit on Thursday, he promised the “best ever cooperation” between France and the UK “to fix today what is a burden for our two countries”.

Sir Keir Starmer will hope to reach a deal with his French counterpart on a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal at the key summit on Thursday.

King Charles also addressed the delegations at a state banquet in Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening, saying the summit would “deepen our alliance and broaden our partnerships still further”.

King Charles speaking at state banquet welcoming Macron.
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King Charles speaking at state banquet welcoming Macron.

Sitting next to President Macron, the monarch said: “Our armed forces will cooperate even more closely across the world, including to support Ukraine as we join together in leading a coalition of the willing in defence of liberty and freedom from oppression. In other words, in defence of our shared values.”

In April, British officials confirmed a pilot scheme was being considered to deport migrants who cross the English Channel in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in France with legitimate claims.

The two countries have engaged in talks about a one-for-one swap, enabling undocumented asylum seekers who have reached the UK by small boat to be returned to France.

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Britain would then receive migrants from France who would have a right to be in the UK, like those who already have family settled here.

The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks at the Palace of Westminster during a state visit to the UK
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President Macron greets Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle at his address to parliament in Westminster.

Elsewhere in his speech, the French president addressed Brexit, and said the UK could not “stay on the sidelines” despite its departure from the European Union.

He said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China.

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“Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe, and sovereignty means a lot to both of us, and everything I referred to was about sovereignty, deciding for ourselves, choosing our technologies, our economy, deciding our diplomacy, and deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share, and the controversies we want to share.

“Even though it is not part of the European Union, the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines because defence and security, competitiveness, democracy – the very core of our identity – are connected across Europe as a continent.”

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