UK election: Sunak waiting to call vote ‘gives us time to show plan working’, says Cameron

Published

1 year ago

May 12, 2024

admin

Rishi Sunak is “absolutely right” to hold off calling an election because it gives voters time to see “the plan is working”, the foreign secretary has said.

Lord Cameron told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the prime minister is a “good man, doing a great job at a difficult time” after a bruising set of results at the local elections.

Asked what advice he’d give Mr Sunak to close the 20-point gap in the polls with Labour, the former Tory leader said he’d tell him to “stick to the plan” – pointing to inflation coming down and the economy exiting recession.

Cameron warns Israel against Rafah invasion – politics latest

He added: “The longer actually we have between now and the election, the more you’re going to see the plan is working.”

The next election must be held by 28 January 2025.

Mr Sunak has previously said he intends to call it in the second half of this year, but that has not stopped speculation he could go earlier, possibly holding it in the summer.

Lord Cameron stressed he is “not in charge of election timing”.

But, he added, Mr Sunak “said the second half of the year and I think that’s absolutely right, because you can see the economic plan is working”.

He claimed Labour is “desperate for the election now because the longer we have between now and the election, the more you’re going to see the plan is working”.

He also insisted Mr Sunak is “definitely” the right person to be leading the party – as he ruled out a possible return to Downing Street to help the Conservatives reverse their electoral fortunes.

Asked about the prospect of going for the top job again, the former prime minister said: “No, no. I am now foreign secretary. I sit in the House of Lords. I’m not in the House of Commons. I’m part of Rishi’s team.

“That is what I’m interested in doing. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

If Labour wins the next election, it would end 14 years of Conservative governments under five prime ministers, including Lord Cameron – who stepped down after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

Mr Sunak last week admitted he might not win when the nation goes to the polls, but suggested the UK is on course for a hung parliament. He later insisted the outcome of the election is “not a forgone conclusion”.

Most polls predict Labour is heading for a landslide victory like that secured by Tony Blair in 1997.

In the local elections, Labour won 1,158 seats in the 107 councils in England that held ballots on 2 May, an increase of more than 232.

The Liberal Democrats won 552 seats, up nearly 100, while the Tories came in third place on 515 seats, down nearly 500.

Politics

Rachel Reeves ‘a gnat’s whisker’ from having to raise taxes, says IFS

Published

2 hours ago

June 12, 2025

admin

Rachel Reeves 'a gnat's whisker' from having to raise taxes, says IFS

Rachel Reeves is a “gnat’s whisker” away from having to raise taxes in the autumn budget, a leading economist has warned – despite the chancellor insisting her plans are “fully funded”.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said “any move in the wrong direction” for the economy before the next fiscal event would “almost certainly spark more tax rises”.

‘Sting in the tail’ in chancellor’s plans – politics latest

Speaking the morning after she delivered her spending review, which sets government budgets until 2029, Ms Reeves told Wilfred Frost hiking taxes wasn’t inevitable.

“Everything I set out yesterday was fully costed and fully funded,” she told Sky News Breakfast.

Her plans – which include £29bn for day-to-day NHS spending, £39bn for affordable and social housing, and boosts for defence and transport – are based on what she set out in October’s budget.

That budget, her first as chancellor, included controversial tax hikes on employers and increased borrowing to help public services.

Chancellor won’t rule out tax rises

The Labour government has long vowed not to raise taxes on “working people” – specifically income tax, national insurance for employees, and VAT.

Ms Reeves refused to completely rule out tax rises in her next budget, saying the world is “very uncertain”.

The Conservatives have claimed she will almost certainly have to put taxes up, with shadow chancellor Mel Stride accusing her of mismanaging the economy.

Taxes on businesses had “destroyed growth” and increased spending had been “inflationary”, he told Sky News.

New official figures showed the economy contracted in April by 0.3% – more than expected. It coincided with Donald Trump imposing tariffs across the world.

Ms Reeves admitted the figures were “disappointing” but pointed to more positive figures from previous months.

‘Sting in the tail’

She is hoping Labour’s plans will provide more jobs and boost growth, with major infrastructure projects “spread” across the country – from the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk, to a rail line connecting Liverpool and Manchester.

But the IFS said further contractions in the economy, and poor forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, would likely require the chancellor to increase the national tax take once again.

It said her spending review already accounted for a 5% rise in council tax to help local authorities, labelling it a “sting in the tail” after she told Sky’s Beth Rigby that it wouldn’t have to go up.

Politics

Trump addresses Coinbase summit to discuss crypto plans

Published

4 hours ago

June 12, 2025

admin

Trump addresses Coinbase summit to discuss crypto plans

The US president has spoken in person at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville and released a video message for the Digital Asset Summit in New York City.