'Rachel Reeves has cast aside the gloom - but not everyone wins'
Rachel Reeves has splashed the cash in a Spending Review designed to draw a line under a tricky first year in power.
The Chancellor cast aside the gloom of her early months in office and instead pledged to put billions of pounds into public services and to get spades in the ground across Britain.
She alluded to Labour's biggest problem - that voters who handed them a landslide victory don't yet feel the change they were promised. This impatience for change is fuelling a rise in support for Nigel Farage and his crew of snake oil salesmen.
Ms Reeves made it clear that she's getting on with it, with a flurry of announcements for big ticket projects such as public transport, nuclear power and affordable homes. She also had a message for Labour supporters, who feel let down by some of the decisions the Government has made.
Pointing to her long list of announcements, she hammered home the point that these are "Labour choices" - and they are. Pouring cash into boosting the NHS, fixing crumbling school buildings, firing up public transport projects and getting Britain building is definitely back in Labour territory.
Let's not forget free school meals for more children and restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.
But while there are winners, there are also losers. Police chiefs are warning they may have to make cuts due to a squeeze on Home Office funding.
Schools face a real-terms freeze in budgets once cash for free school meals expansion is stripped away, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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Some departments, including Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Culture, Media and Sport, are facing outright cuts.
It's also not clear how the UK will get to its ambition of spending 3% of GDP on defence, which is already miles behind the 5% NATO chief Mark Rutte wants allies to sign up to.
And swingeing welfare cuts have been factored in, despite fury from Labour MPs at plans to cut disability benefits.
All this spending has already been accounted for in the Budget and the Spring Statement. But with the finances so tight, Ms Reeves will continue to face questions over whether she may be forced to put up taxes again in the autumn.
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Glasgow Times
19 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Badenoch to call for end to oil and gas windfall tax and ban on new licences
The energy profits levy was put in place under the previous Conservative government but extended when Labour entered power. Designed to fund interventions to bring down household bills, the policy has been criticised by those in the industry. Speaking at the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh on Friday, Mrs Badenoch is expected to tout the oil and gas sector, accusing the UK Government of 'killing' it, claiming 'renewing our party and our country means standing up for our oil and gas industry'. She will add: 'When the oil and gas windfall tax, the energy profits levy, was brought in, the oil price was near a historic high, at the exact time as energy bills for the British people were sky-rocketing. 'But there is no longer a windfall to tax. It has long gone. And the longer this regressive tax on one of our most successful industries remains, the more damaging it becomes. 'Labour have extended and increased this tax. They are killing this industry.' If the measure remains in place to 2030 as intended, Mrs Badenoch will say 'there will be no industry left to tax'. She will add: 'So, today, I say enough. Labour must remove the energy profits levy. Labour must speed up the process of replacing it with a system that rewards success and incentivises investment. 'Because we shouldn't have this energy profits levy at all. 'We must scrap the ban on new licences. 'We must overturn the ban on supporting oil and gas technology exports. Kemi Badenoch will say the energy profits levy should end (PA) 'And we must champion our own industry. 'We must let this great British, great Scottish industry thrive, grow and create jobs – ensuring our energy security for generations to come, driving growth and making this country richer in the process.' Mrs Badenoch will address her first Scottish party conference as leader on Friday while her counterpart north of the border Russell Findlay will deliver his inaugural address on Saturday. Responding to Mrs Badenoch, Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said her comments were 'out of touch', adding: 'Even with the windfall tax in place, the energy industry made over £115 billion in profits in 2024 alone. 'Meanwhile, average household energy bills remain hundreds and hundreds of pounds higher than they were before the energy crisis started. 'While the Government is right to be consulting on reform of the windfall tax, maintaining a profits levy could help fund home upgrades and a social tariff which would bring down energy bills for the most vulnerable in society.' SNP MSP Kevin Stewart said: 'The Tories wrecked our economy, presided over soaring household bills and ripped Scotland from the EU against our will. 'And now they're lurching further to the right as they haemorrhage votes to Nigel Farage. 'This weekend will be an important reminder of how Westminster has failed Scotland. Only the SNP is offering hope and a brighter future as an independent nation.' Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'While the Tories and SNP let energy workers down by failing to plan for the future, Scottish Labour is committed to taking action towards reaching net zero, creating jobs and cutting energy bills. 'The Tories are on the side of oil and gas giants rather than working Scots, but Scottish Labour will work with the UK Government and use devolved powers to deliver a just transition for the industry. 'With Kemi Badenoch desperately attempting to rally the few remaining Scottish Tories, it seems like it won't be long until they can fit all of their MSPs in a single taxi.'
Western Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Badenoch to call for end to oil and gas windfall tax and ban on new licences
The energy profits levy was put in place under the previous Conservative government but extended when Labour entered power. Designed to fund interventions to bring down household bills, the policy has been criticised by those in the industry. Speaking at the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh on Friday, Mrs Badenoch is expected to tout the oil and gas sector, accusing the UK Government of 'killing' it, claiming 'renewing our party and our country means standing up for our oil and gas industry'. She will add: 'When the oil and gas windfall tax, the energy profits levy, was brought in, the oil price was near a historic high, at the exact time as energy bills for the British people were sky-rocketing. 'But there is no longer a windfall to tax. It has long gone. And the longer this regressive tax on one of our most successful industries remains, the more damaging it becomes. 'Labour have extended and increased this tax. They are killing this industry.' If the measure remains in place to 2030 as intended, Mrs Badenoch will say 'there will be no industry left to tax'. She will add: 'So, today, I say enough. Labour must remove the energy profits levy. Labour must speed up the process of replacing it with a system that rewards success and incentivises investment. 'Because we shouldn't have this energy profits levy at all. 'We must scrap the ban on new licences. 'We must overturn the ban on supporting oil and gas technology exports. Kemi Badenoch will say the energy profits levy should end (PA) 'And we must champion our own industry. 'We must let this great British, great Scottish industry thrive, grow and create jobs – ensuring our energy security for generations to come, driving growth and making this country richer in the process.' Mrs Badenoch will address her first Scottish party conference as leader on Friday while her counterpart north of the border Russell Findlay will deliver his inaugural address on Saturday. Responding to Mrs Badenoch, Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said her comments were 'out of touch', adding: 'Even with the windfall tax in place, the energy industry made over £115 billion in profits in 2024 alone. 'Meanwhile, average household energy bills remain hundreds and hundreds of pounds higher than they were before the energy crisis started. 'While the Government is right to be consulting on reform of the windfall tax, maintaining a profits levy could help fund home upgrades and a social tariff which would bring down energy bills for the most vulnerable in society.' SNP MSP Kevin Stewart said: 'The Tories wrecked our economy, presided over soaring household bills and ripped Scotland from the EU against our will. 'And now they're lurching further to the right as they haemorrhage votes to Nigel Farage. 'This weekend will be an important reminder of how Westminster has failed Scotland. Only the SNP is offering hope and a brighter future as an independent nation.' Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'While the Tories and SNP let energy workers down by failing to plan for the future, Scottish Labour is committed to taking action towards reaching net zero, creating jobs and cutting energy bills. 'The Tories are on the side of oil and gas giants rather than working Scots, but Scottish Labour will work with the UK Government and use devolved powers to deliver a just transition for the industry. 'With Kemi Badenoch desperately attempting to rally the few remaining Scottish Tories, it seems like it won't be long until they can fit all of their MSPs in a single taxi.'
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Badenoch: Scrap net zero windfall tax on oil companies
Kemi Badenoch will call for the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas to be scrapped. The Conservative leader will say that the energy profits levy (EPL) on oil and gas profits could no longer be justified, and there would be nothing 'left to tax' if it continued. In her keynote speech to the Scottish Tory conference in Edinburgh, Mrs Badenoch will accuse Labour of ' killing' the industry. She will also warn that thousands of North Sea workers will be made unemployed under Government plans to keep the levy in place until 2030. Mrs Badenoch will say in her speech that this would also mean importing more oil and gas from overseas, before concluding: ' Labour must remove the energy profits levy.' She is also expected to repeat her demand for Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to lift his ban on issuing new exploration licences, amid warnings that 1.5 billion barrels of oil could be left under the seabed. Her intervention comes ahead of next year's Holyrood election, with the Tories trying to woo thousands of North Sea workers based workers in Aberdeen, the oil capital of Europe. They are facing a strong challenge from Reform UK, which has lambasted Labour's green energy agenda. Nigel Farage visited the city last week, and said that efforts to achieve net zero were 'complete and utter madness'. The windfall tax was first proposed by Labour in opposition, but was adopted by the Conservative government under Rishi Sunak in 2022 in response to the surge in oil and gas prices caused by the Ukraine conflict. Mr Sunak initially said it would only remain in place while the windfalls lasted. However, he – and then Labour – subsequently decided to retain it, even though oil prices have fallen from a peak of $139 a barrel to about $70 now. The EPL is currently a 38 per cent levy on top of existing taxes, bringing the effective headline rate for oil and gas producers to 78 per cent. The North Sea transition taskforce, backed by the British Chambers of Commerce, warned in March that this was ' throttling' investment. Analysts Stifel estimated that the 'self-defeating' tax will cost the Treasury £3 billion in tax receipts between 2025 and 2030. Harbour Energy, the UK's largest independent oil and gas producer, announced 250 job cuts in Aberdeen last month. The firm blamed regulation and the Chancellor's 'punitive fiscal position'. Mrs Badenoch admitted during last year's Tory leadership contest that her party's decision to extend the tax had been a ' mistake '. However, she is expected to go further during her first speech to the Scottish Tory conference as UK leader by calling for the EPL to be scrapped immediately. She will say: 'When the oil and gas windfall tax, the energy profits levy, was brought in, the oil price was near a historic high, at the exact time as energy bills for the British people were sky-rocketing. 'But there is no longer a windfall to tax. It has long gone. And the longer this regressive tax on one of our most successful industries remains, the more damaging it becomes. 'Labour have extended and increased this tax. They are killing this industry. And, frankly, if it is allowed to remain in place until 2030, as is Labour's current plan, there will be no industry left to tax.' She is expected to conclude: 'Thousands will have been made unemployed, and all while we import more gas from overseas – from the very same basin in which we are banned from drilling. So today I say enough.' Mrs Badenoch said Labour must 'speed up the process of replacing it with a system that rewards success and incentivises investment.' The Tory leader will argue that the Government should instead 'champion our own industry' by overturning bans on further exploration, and supporting oil and gas technology exports. 'We must let this great British, great Scottish, industry thrive, grow and create jobs – ensuring our energy security for generations to come, driving growth and making this country richer in the process,' she is to say. 'Scotland at the heart of our energy future for the next generation as it has for the last.' 'A just transition' Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, said: 'The Tories are on the side of oil and gas giants rather than working Scots, but Scottish Labour will work with the UK Government and use devolved powers to deliver a just transition for the industry. 'With Kemi Badenoch desperately attempting to rally the few remaining Scottish Tories, it seems like it won't be long until they can fit all of their MSPs in a single taxi.' Gillian Martin, the SNP Energy Secretary, said: 'The Scottish Government is clear in our support for a just transition for Scotland's valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with climate change commitments and energy security. 'We are deeply concerned at recent announcements of planned job losses in the North East and have called on the UK Government for the earliest possible end to the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) – which was supposed to be a temporary measure. 'We also continue to call on the UK Government to approach decisions on licensing and consenting for North Sea oil and gas projects on a rigorously evidence-led, case by case, basis – with climate compatibility and energy security as key considerations.'
