Therese Coffey says Britons should ‘be assured’ by UK’s finances – as Bank of England makes second intervention in two days
Therese Coffey has said Britons should “be assured” by the UK’s finances – as the Bank of England made its second intervention in the markets in two days.
The deputy prime minister and health secretary told Sky News the UK has “the second lowest debt to GDP ratio in the G7” and that the actions the government has taken in an attempt to stabilise the economy amid the energy crisis have already led to “an impact in the reduction of inflation forecasts”.
But as she spoke to Kay Burley, the Bank of England announced it would increase the amount of bonds it can buy in the final week of a scheme it launched in response to turbulence in the gilt market.
The Bank warned an ongoing rout in the gilts market poses a “material risk to UK financial stability”.
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It is the second day in a row that the Bank has taken fresh action following a rise in UK government borrowing costs yesterday.
This morning, in line with its financial stability objective, the Bank announced it will widen its gilt purchase operations to include index-linked gilts.
Ms Coffey was not aware of the Bank of England’s fresh action but told Sky News that the country is in “a good state” and that MPs will be able to discuss the economy in more detail “in the days and weeks ahead”.
Shadow chief secretary to the treasury, Pat McFadden, said: “That the Bank of England has been forced to step in for a second day running to reassure markets shows the government’s approach is not working, and creates renewed pressure for the chancellor to reverse his budget.”
Meanwhile, a leading think tank has warned that Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will have to find spending cuts of more than £60 billion if he is to meet his target to get the public finances back under control.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said it was not possible to deliver cuts on that scale through efficiency savings and “trimming the fat” and that it would require major cuts to public services.
It added that failure to come up with a credible plan that convinces the markets the government is committed to reducing debt could result in a worse crisis than 1976, when the Labour government was forced to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Asked whether there would be enough fat to trim in governmental departments if needed, Ms Coffey said: “Well, I’m just not going to get into hypothetical.”
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Is the UK facing a financial crisis?
On Monday, the chancellor announced that his debt-cutting plan will be published on 31 October – three weeks earlier than planned – alongside an independent economic forecast.
Both the publication of the medium-term financial plan and the forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had been due on 23 November, but Mr Kwarteng has bowed to pressure to bring this date forward to Halloween.
Financial markets responded badly to the chancellor’s mini-budget last month, with the pound falling to a record low.
Mr Kwarteng has been facing growing calls to produce his fiscal statement which will outline how the government intends to pay for the £43bn worth of tax cuts in the mini-budget and how it plans to reduce debt.
Yesterday, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said the chancellor wants to set out his commitment to debt falling over the medium term “as soon as possible” and the new date “is the right time to do that”.
There will be more details about the government’s debt reduction plan announced ahead of then for the fiscal event, the spokesman added.
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Will the lights go out on Britain?
Ms Coffey denied that the chancellor brought his medium-term fiscal plan forward because the markets were spooked.
She said Mr Kwarteng’s decision to bring forward the date shows that he “wanted to get on and show our plans and make sure people have confidence that they can get on and start delivering them”.
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Elsewhere this morning, official figures have shown that the UK’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest for almost half a decade as more Britons left the labour market completely.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% over the three months to August – the lowest since February 1974.
The ONS also said real wages had fallen by 4% for the period June to August, compared to the year before.
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Responding to the data, the Trades Union Congress urged the government to “stabilise the economy and get pay rising”.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said “pay packets continue to be eaten up by inflation” and that the government should be “lifting the minimum wage to £15 an hour as soon as possible” and “funding decent pay rises for all public sector workers”.
Meanwhile, Parliament returns today after party conference recess and Labour is calling on Mr Kwarteng to come before the Commons and turn his back on his tax-cutting mini-budget.
The chancellor is likely to be pressed on his fiscal plans at Treasury questions this afternoon.
A woman who accused Conor McGregor of raping her has said “justice has been served” after she won her civil case against the Irish mixed martial arts fighter.
Nikita Hand has been awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
McGregor, 36, made no comment as he swiftly left court following the decision on Friday evening.
He had previously told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in December 2018.
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the weeks of her civil case against the fighter have been a “nightmare” and has impacted not only her life but her daughter’s, friends and loved ones.
“I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody,” the mother-of-one said.
Ms Hand said the civil case had been a ‘nightmare’. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.
“Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.”
Addressing other victims of sexual assault, Ms Hand continued: “I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be: Speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice.
“You can stand up for yourself if something happens to you – no matter who the person is – and justice will be served.”
McGregor and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA
Ms Hand told the court McGregor pinned her to a bed, choked her three times and “brutally raped and battered” her.
The civil court jury was told she was left with extensive injuries, including purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch to her breast and tenderness to her neck.
But lawyers for the fighter contested the lawsuit and accused her of attempted “extortion”.
They pointed to CCTV footage of Ms Hand arriving at and leaving the hotel with McGregor and a second man, James Lawrence, whom she also accused of sexual assault.
Both McGregor and Lawrence denied any wrongdoing. While Ms Hand won her case against McGregor, she lost her claim against Lawrence.
On Monday, McGregor’s legal team told jurors it did not matter if they did not like or even loathed the famous fighter, urging them to look at the evidence and not his character.
McGregor and Ms Hand knew each other and had occasionally been in contact on social media, the civil trial heard.
Before the assault, Ms Hand had contacted the fighter, who picked up her and a friend in his car.
McGregor “came on to her”, but she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period, the court heard.
World
Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes
Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The warrants against the senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that Israel launched following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks. It is unclear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding “whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The court originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and today announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
The new UK Labour government said in the summer it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters
Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Netanyahu previously spoke of his “disgust” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
“The court has minimised how Hamas fights – deliberately from within civilian infrastructure and cruelly using Palestinian civilians as human shields, tragically leading to many casualties,” the board said.
“Democratic governments, and people around the world, should consider how they would have responded to an October 7th perpetrated against their country, involving mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking.
“We should all be focused on defeating the Hamas terrorists, liberating the hostages, ensuring that civilians in Gaza receive all necessary aid and working towards a sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent these horrible conflicts in the future.
“The decision of the ICC is counter-productive in all these respects.”
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A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP
Warrant for Hamas leader
The ICC also said it has issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that he is responsible for crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes including taking hostages.
Discussing the 7 October attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings of members of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it therefore concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”
In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was not in a position to determine whether Al Masri is dead or alive, so was issuing the arrest warrant.
The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas who was subsequently killed in July.
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