A number of Thursday’s papers lead with the “shock” result of the Conservative leadership contest. The Metro reports: “Tory fight veers to the right”, as “favourite” James Cleverly is knocked out of the contest in what it calls a “surprise twist”. The paper says the Conservative party’s next leader will be between “hardliners” Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick.
The budget also dominates many of Thursday’s papers. The Guardian reports that the Institute of Fiscal Studies says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to end austerity will need “£25bn of tax rises”. The IFS says Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a challenge of finding the tax increases, given Labour’s election manifesto which said it would not raise income tax, VAT and employees’ national insurance contributions.
The Financial Times splashes with a potential increase in employers’ national insurance contributions, after Sir Keir “ducked the question” put to him by opposition leader Rishi Sunak. The paper quotes the PM saying he will not be drawn on specific taxes. The FT adds that Labour’s election manifesto ruled out an increase.
The I headlines with workers getting the “right to flexible working under new Rayner law” and says employers must give one of eight reasons for refusing. The paper reports that flexible working can include starting later for childcare reasons and says this type of working will be the default where “practical”.
“Business fury at Labour’s revolution for workers” is the splash on the Daily Mail, referring to the party’s employment reforms. It reports bosses as saying the reforms will be “bad for jobs” and “inject fear” into the workplace. The reforms include default flexible working where possible, and will give workers the right to “sue for unfair dismissal” from their first day, the paper adds.
The Daily Telegraph goes with the warning from the Institute for Fiscal Studies to the chancellor that she must raise taxes by £25bn for Britain not to return to austerity. In its manifesto, Labour outlined plans for £9bn in tax rises, which the thinktank says is not enough. The paper reports the IFS as saying that even if Reeves carries out all the tax-raising polices outlined during elections, meeting her pledge to only borrow to invest, would rest on a “knife edge”.
“Swiftgate” reads the Sun’s front page, after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper received free Taylor Swift concert tickets. The paper says she and her husband Ed Balls attended the concert “days after” asking the police to give Swift “an unprecedented VIP police escort”. It adds that Cooper informed the Cabinet Office of her attendance on Wednesday.
The Times warns of the “£25bn tax bomb” needed if the chancellor is to honour the government’s pledge to not return to austerity. It says the IFS estimates Reeves will need to raise taxes by twice as much as the austerity budget in 2010, to ensure public spending rises. Details are expected to come in this month’s Budget. Also on the front page is the face-off between Badenoch and Jenrick as the Tory leadership race takes a “new twist”.
“Unmasked” is the headline for the Daily Mirror, after a judge ordered that the 17-year-old boy who killed his ex-girlfriend must be named. Logan MacPhail stabbed 15-year-old Holly Newton 36 times. The paper says the restriction on identifying him because of his age was lifted because of “public concern” over knife crime.
The Daily Express leads with pensioners hit with the winter fuel cuts now facing a “tax raid”. It says a freeze to tax-excluded income means more pensioners will have to “pay up” after the state pension increases.
The Daily Star spills the tea on what it calls “Britain’s biggest office skivers”. It claims that colleagues who offer to make you a cup of tea are not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts, but as an excuse to not work, and “accruing an extra eight days of holidays” in the process.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned by a leading thinktank that taxes will need to raised by £25bn to prevent a return to austerity
Several papers lead on the estimate by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that taxes will need to rise by up to £25bn in the budget if Labour is to meet its pledge to protect public spending.
A number of papers note the prime minister’s refusal in the Commons on Wednesday to rule out putting up employers’ national insurance. The Financial Times says Sir Keir Starmer has “opened the door” to a multi-billion pound rise, which could involve levying national insurance on employer pension contributions.
The Guardian reports that Treasury officials are examining the move, which could raise up to £17bn annually, while a pensions specialist at the consultants PWC tells the FT there could be implications for employee salary sacrifice schemes.
The Federation of Small Businesses is quoted warning that new protections from unfair dismissal will deter bosses from taking on new recruits, in case they end up facing a tribunal when someone simply isn’t suited to the role. Writing in the Daily Mirror, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner says the reforms are “personal” for her – and show the government is delivering for working people.
In other news, the Daily Telegraph proposes five possible explanations for the shock elimination of James Cleverly from the Conservative leadership contest. By far the most complex of these involves supporters of Robert Jenrick backing Cleverly in previous rounds, lulling his team into a false sense of security, the paper explains. The Telegraph’s leader column says the Conservatives “never cease to surprise” when it comes to selecting a leader. The paper points out that neither Robert Jenrick nor Kemi Badenoch have the backing of the majority of Tory MPs, something it says “may yet prove problematic”.
The Daily Star leads on a study that claims office tea-makers are in effect accruing an extra eight days’ holiday a year, through repeated trips to put the kettle on. Smokers gained six days while habitual latecomers built up three. The Tea Advisory Panel, which promotes the benefits of tea, insists to the Star that having a brew at work raises morale, and allows for reflection.
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