Reeves says rulings on tax must wait for Budget amid inheritance tax speculation
Government U-turns over winter fuel payments and welfare reform have left Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a multibillion-pound spending gap to fill.Asked about the reports on Thursday, Ms Reeves said: 'Any decision around taxation is a … decision for the Budget, and I'll make those announcements.
'We haven't even set the date yet for the Budget, but the key focus of the Budget is going to be to build on numbers that we've seen today to boost productivity and growth and prosperity all across the country.
'That is my number one priority as Chancellor, to get our economy firing off all cylinders so that working people in all parts of the country will feel the benefits of that economic growth.'
Pushed on whether taxes will have to increase in the autumn, Ms Reeves added: 'We'll wait for the official forecast from the Office of Budget Responsibility, and we'll make those decisions in the round.'
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said decisions on taxes, including inheritance tax, will have to wait for the autumn Budget (Matthew Hornwood/PA)
Among the reported inheritance tax measures under consideration is a potential cap on lifetime gifts, part of a broader review into how assets can be transferred before death to minimise inheritance tax liabilities.
Under current UK rules, gifts made more than seven years before a person's death are exempt from inheritance tax.
Gifts made between three and seven years prior are taxed on a sliding scale, depending on their value and the total estate.
The Chancellor was speaking as new official figures show that the UK economy slowed in the second quarter of this year amid pressure from tariff uncertainty and tax increases.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.3% for the quarter after 0.7% growth in the first three months of the year.
However, the figure was stronger than the 0.1% level widely expected by economists after an uptick in activity in June and revised data for earlier in the quarter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Microsoft launches inquiry into claims Israel used its tech for mass surveillance of Palestinians
Microsoft has launched an 'urgent' external inquiry into allegations Israel's military surveillance agency has used the company's technology to facilitate the mass surveillance of Palestinians. The company said on Friday the formal review was in response to a Guardian investigation that revealed how the Unit 8200 spy agency has relied on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to store a vast collection of everyday Palestinian mobile phone calls. The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found Unit 8200 made use of a customised and segregated area within Azure to store recordings of millions of calls made daily in Gaza and the West Bank. In a statement, Microsoft said 'using Azure for the storage of data files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank' would be prohibited by its terms of service. The inquiry, to be overseen by lawyers at the US firm Covington & Burling, is the second external review commissioned by Microsoft into the use of its technology by the Israeli military. The first was launched this year amid dissent within the company and reports by the Guardian and others about Israel's reliance on the company's technology during its offensive in Gaza. Announcing the review's findings in May, Microsoft said it had 'found no evidence to date' the Israeli military had failed to comply with its terms of service or used Azure 'to target or harm people' in Gaza. However, the recent Guardian investigation prompted concerns among senior Microsoft executives about whether some of its Israel-based employees may have concealed information about how Unit 8200 uses Azure when questioned as part of the review. Microsoft said on Friday the new inquiry would expand on the earlier one, adding: 'Microsoft appreciates that the Guardian's recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.' The company is also facing pressure from a worker-led campaign group, No Azure for Apartheid, which has accused it of 'complicity in genocide and apartheid' and demanded it cut off 'all ties to the Israeli military' and make them publicly known. Since the Guardian and its partners, +972 and Local Call, revealed Unit 8200's sweeping surveillance project last week, Microsoft has been scrambling to assess what data the unit holds in Azure. Several Microsoft sources familiar with internal deliberations said the company's leadership was concerned by information from Unit 8200 sources interviewed for the article, including claims that intelligence drawn from repositories of phone calls held in Azure had been used to research and identify bombing targets in Gaza. Israel's 22-month bombardment of the territory, launched after the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, has killed more than 60,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health authority in the territory, though the actual death toll is likely to be significantly higher. Senior Microsoft executives had in recent days considered an awkward scenario in which Unit 8200, an important and sensitive customer, could be in breach of the company's terms of service and human rights commitments, sources said. If you have something to share about this story, you can contact Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham using one of the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. To send a message to Harry and Yuval please choose the 'UK Investigations' team. Signal Messenger You can message Harry using the Signal Messenger app. Use the 'find by username' option and type hfd.32 Email (not secure) If you don't need a high level of security or confidentiality you can email SecureDrop and other secure methods If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform. Finally, our guide at lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each. According to leaked files reviewed by the Guardian, the company was aware as early as late 2021 that Unit 8200 planned to move large volumes of sensitive and classified intelligence data into Azure. At Microsoft's headquarters in November that year, senior executives – including its chief executive, Satya Nadella – attended a meeting during which Unit 8200's commander discussed a plan to move as much as 70% of its data into the cloud platform. The company has said its executives, including Nadella, were not aware Unit 8200 planned to use or ultimately used Azure to store the content of intercepted Palestinian calls. 'We have no information related to the data stored in the customer's cloud environment,' a spokesperson said last week. An Israeli military spokesperson has previously said its work with companies such as Microsoft is 'conducted based on regulated and legally supervised agreements' and the military 'operates in accordance with international law'. The new inquiry will examine the military's commercial agreements with Microsoft. Once completed, the company will 'share with the public the factual findings that result from this review', its statement said.
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Kingsmill and Hovis agree £70m merger in competition test for Reeves
Kingsmill and Hovis have agreed to a £70m merger to create Britain's biggest bakery, testing the competition watchdog's resolve after pressure from Rachel Reeves to approve more deals. Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns Kingsmill through its Allied Bakeries division, on Friday said it planned to purchase rival baker Hovis from its private equity owner, Endless. The deal will create the UK's biggest bread company, overtaking the current market leader, Warburton's. It comes as both Hovis and Kingsmill have struggled with profitability amid falling demand for sliced loaves in recent years. ABF's tie-up must be approved by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is under pressure from the Government to wave through more mergers. Clive Black, of Shore Capital, said: 'If [Ms Reeves] is interested in protecting jobs, then absolutely this is going to be a very good test case, because I severely question the viability of these two businesses in the long run if they don't merge. 'I think it could be quite dangerous, from a practical perspective in terms of jobs and supply chains, if the CMA took a very simplistic view of things, because both businesses are loss-making.' In an unprecedented intervention this year, Marcus Bokkerink, the CMA chairman, was ousted by ministers following warnings from the Chancellor that it needed to rip up red tape to boost growth. He was replaced on an interim basis by Doug Gurr, the former Amazon UK boss, with the intervention widely interpreted as signalling that Britain would be open to approving more takeovers. ABF owns Kingsmill through Allied Bakeries, which was founded in 1935. Hovis has been owned by the private equity firm Endless since 2020. It was formerly owned by Premier Foods, the owner of Mr Kipling. Demand for sliced loaves and traditional bakery products has fallen amid rising worries over excess carbohydrate consumption and concerns around so-called ultra-processed foods (UPF). Soaring costs in the wake of the pandemic have heaped further pressure on bakeries. The price of wheat, which surged due to the Ukraine war, has proved particularly burdensome. Kingsmill and Hovis have faced steep competition from Warburtons in recent years, which has pivoted away from traditional loaves towards other baked goods like crumpets, bagels and flatbreads. George Weston, the chief executive of ABF, said: 'This transaction will create a UK bakeries business that is both profitable and sustainable over the long term.'
Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Thousands could be due car insurance compensation over ‘unfair' claims as Admiral sets aside £50m
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THOUSANDS of drivers could be owed compensation after being underpaid by their car insurer, as Admiral has set aside £50m to cover claims. A review of the 12 biggest car insurers by the City watchdog last March found some customers were being offered settlements worth less than their car's value when making a claim on stolen or written-off vehicles. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Admiral has set aside £50million to compensate customers who may have been affected by the overpayments Credit: Alamy Admiral has now become the first insurer to set aside cash to compensate customers who may have been impacted. In its half-year results on Thursday, the company admitted to failing to respond quickly enough to rising used car prices when settling claims. Admiral customers who made a claim on a stolen or written-off vehicle between 2019 and 2025 will be contacted by the company if they're owed compensation, the FCA said. It's expected that other insurance firms will follow suit in announcing their redress plans. When drivers claim on their car insurance where their vehicle is written off or stolen, they should be offered a payout equivalent to the fair market value of their car. This is the amount their car should have been worth at the time it was stolen or damaged. The FCA looked at the 12 biggest car insurers, which it said make up around 70% of the total market. The watchdog said it had since set clearer expectations for how these sorts of claims should be handled in the future. An FCA spokesperson said: 'We're pleased that Admiral is acting on our findings to put things right for its customers. 'Customers should wait to be contacted by Admiral and we're working with the firm to make sure that those affected get compensation if they're due it.' Supreme Court blow for finance compensation Admiral boss Milena Mondini de Focatiis said just 3% of motor loss claimants had been affected, adding that it was of "paramount importance" for the claims to be handled fairly. The company said it would begin contacting impacted customers during H2 2025. Admiral, which has 9.3million customers in the UK, reported strong first-half results this week. This was led by growth in its motor insurance business, where profits leapt 56 per cent year-on-year. The FTSE 100-listing said pre-tax profit rose 67% to £516.1 million in the six months to June 30 from £309.8 million the year prior. It comes after the Supreme Court ruled last month that millions fewer drivers will be entitled to compensation over "hidden commission" payments in a landmark case. The decision avoided a major headache for chancellor Rachel Reeves, as a major financial redress scheme for victims is no longer needed. However, millions of drivers are still in line to get up to £950 in compensation for car finance loans. The City watchdog is set to launch a refund scheme for motorists stung by 'hidden' commission payments, with up to £18billion expected to be paid out as early as next year. In 2023, Direct Line was forced to pay out £30million in compensation to customers after they were overcharged. The redress involved home and car policyholders who were charged more than new customers after renewing their policies, which broke rules introduced by the FCA in 2022. Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@ Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
