Latest news with #JohnMajor
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ailbhe Rea: Rachel Reeves Boxes Herself In on Tax, Again
Back in opposition, Rachel Reeves was warned by Labour officials that if she ruled out increasing the three main revenue-raisers, so tight were the public finances that she would be storing up an enormous political headache for herself in government. But to Reeves, the trade-off was simple. She had seen Labour snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in 1992 when John Major attacked 'Labour's tax bombshell', and she had been in Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet on the crushing election night of 2015, when they realised that, despite polling to the contrary, Labour had lost again. Being boxed in on tax after winning an election? 'That would be a nice problem to have,' I'm told she said to colleagues.
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Princess Diana's lab coat sold by Newcastle auctioneer for £4,500
An "unwashed" lab coat worn by Princess Diana on the day it was announced her marriage had ended has been sold at Princess of Wales wore the coat during her visit to the Interconnections Systems factory, in South Shields, on 9 December, 1992. This was on the same day the then Prime Minister John Major, announced she and Prince Charles, now King Charles III, had coat, auctioned by Anderson & Garland, was bought by Graham Greeves of Gateshead for £4,500, who said he wanted a "little bit of history". The coat, which has been kept in a wardrobe ever since, had been expected to fetch between £800 and £1, Greeves, who had never been to an auction, bid for the coat online. He said: "I think Diana's story was very intriguing, this coat is a little tale of when she came to the North East and it's very nice to have a bit of history."It's something you can look back on and I hope it becomes a family heirloom in years to come - in my era we liked Diana." The coat, made by Scottish firm Alexandra, features the embroidered text H.R.H. The Princess of Wales on the pocket and is labelled Euro size coat's seller, who worked as a team leader at the factory, said it was left behind on a hanger after the visit and she was given permission to keep said she had never washed the coat in the last three decades.A spokesperson for the auctioneer said: "The fascination with Diana's legacy continues around the globe."This simple lab coat, worn on one of the most pivotal days of her life, offers collectors a poignant and tangible connection to the People's Princess." Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Novak Djokovic remains in the hunt for record-breaking 25th Grand Slam
Novak Djokovic celebrates his victory over Flavio Cobolli following their Gentlemen's Singles match on day ten of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London. Picture date: Wednesday July 9, 2025. (Image: PA) Novak Djokovic kept his hunt for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam alive as he overcame an early scare from Flavio Cobolli to triumph 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 7-5 6-4. With Her Majesty the Queen in attendance, Djokovic continued his quest for history as he neared a step closer to overtaking Margaret Court in the all-time list of singles Grand Slam winners. Advertisement As the opening set reached its crescendo, Love Actually star Hugh Grant – sat behind Queen Camilla – took a short nap in the Royal Box. With former Prime Minister John Major also in attendance, one must wonder whether it was small talk with the 86-year-old about Downing Street dances that sent him to sleep. Grant's nap, however, was not an indictment of the entertainment, as Cobolli and Djokovic were locked in an enthralling first set. (Image: PA) Djokovic had played the cleaner tennis – only eight unforced errors in contrast to the Italian's 17. Albeit Cobolli was hitting winners for fun (22 in the first set), having particular joy when seeking the corners cross-court. Advertisement The seven-time Wimbledon champion did offer Cobolli quite a few opportunities at the net, though. Cobolli caught Djokovic rooted with mammoth shots into space on three occasions. Djokovic went close to sealing the first set when he broke to lead 5-3, but he could not consolidate as a wicked forehand winner, down-the-line winner and Djokovic's unforced error brought up three break points for Cobolli. A fault from Djokovic was met with a strong second serve, albeit Cobolli came out on top in the exchanges. Two holds followed to force a tie-break. In a set where there was just one point splitting the pair, it was all about moments. Cobolli found winners when he needed them most, while errors crept in at the worst time for Djokovic. Advertisement Serving first in the tie-break, Djokovic handed Cobolli the perfect start, going well deep to concede a mini-break. A pair of 134mph serves from Cobolli kept his nose in front, but a pinpoint Djokovic drop shot at the net brought the tie-break back on serve at 5-5. However, a cross-court winner and a 137mph ace allowed the World No.24 to sweep up the first set 7-6 (8-6). Djokovic dropped his third set of the Championships. (Image: PA) Although tidy in the first, Djokovic was unrewarded for his efforts. But he kept the level of his polished display and began to make inroads. Losing only four points on serve in the second set, Djokovic drew level in some style, making two unforced errors as he took the set 6-2 in 25 minutes. Advertisement He meant business with punishing tennis after earlier frustration. Cobolli could not buy a return. Djokovic carried the momentum into the third, breaking in the first game before consolidating when Cobolli went on the offensive. Attacking tennis, though, is exactly what Cobolli required to compete with the Serb. After a hold to keep the set tight, he soon earned a break of his own, capitalising on a deep forehand before finding a stunning return. There was frustration from Djokovic, who went from winning seven successive games to losing three in a row. He could not disguise his discontent either, tossing his racket in the air after an arduous game. Cobolli edged 4-3 ahead, although the set was still on serve. Advertisement At 5-5, a double fault from Cobolli gave Djokovic a sniff. The crowd attempted to get the underdog through the set, chanting his name. But a deep shot when seeking a down-the-line winner followed; however, a cross-court forehand dragged well wide, handing Djokovic a late break. With the Serb 30-0 up on serve and nearing his second set, Cobolli defended two big returns, but Djokovic employed the most stunning of drop shots to earn three set points. A 116mph ace was enough to wrap it up. Cobolli knew he had to win the fourth and he was hanging in there. It was competitive and attritional. Eight games in a row went to serve. Advertisement A fatigued backhand from Cobolli caught the net and set up the break point for Djokovic. The Italian looked like he was going to come out on top until he faltered with a volley at the net which he should have dispatched. The attention turned to Djokovic to serve for the match. After losing the first two points, Cobolli set up well to smash away. Djokovic, attempting to reach his 14th Wimbledon semi-final – the most of any man – found a stunning ace down the T to earn two match points. Yet there was room for more drama. A massive forehand winner from the Djokovic serve kept Cobolli alive. (Image: PA) Advertisement He followed it up by pushing the Serbian deep. Djokovic made the return but slipped flat on his face and Cobolli was able to put away a huge shot at the net with a slice of fortune from the net. After Djokovic required some attention, with the referee and his opponent going to support him, he reached the semi-final soon after his blunder with a volley at the net. 'I'm feeling very fresh,' Djokovic laughs. It was a great battle today – huge congratulations to Flavio. He played on a high level; his serve surprised me a lot. He's such a talented and skilful player, we will be seeing him much more in the future. 'Wimbledon will always be the most special tournament we have in our sport. It means the world to me that I'm still able to play in the final stages at 38 years old.' Djokovic will face World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semi-final after he knocked out 10th seed Ben Shelton in straight sets.
Daily Mirror
04-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
One year in power - charts show how Labour have lived up to election promises
Twelve months on from the General Election on July 4, 2024, we have examined Keir Starmer's record against key pledges made by Labour before it went into Government Keir Starmer celebrates his first full year in No10 tomorrow, but has he delivered on the promises which won Labour a landslide victory? Twelve months on from the General Election on July 4, 2024, we have examined the Government's record against key pledges in the Labour manifesto. Surveys show that the Government's approval ratings have fallen more in the first year than any other since John Major 's in 1992/93. Opinion polls have even put Labour behind Reform UK, which has just five MPs. The prime minister insists that Labour is on track to deliver its manifesto, here we show what the official data shows to some of the pledges in the manifesto and the 'first steps to change'. Only the pledges that can be tested against publicly available data have been included. NHS During the 2024 general election, Keir Starmer revealed his 'first steps for change' - six key promises alongside a picture of him with his shirt sleeves rolled up. The first of those was to 'deliver economic stability', while the second was to 'cut NHS waiting times'. The health service had fallen into a state of permanent crisis under the Conservative government. Every month there were 10s of thousands of patients waiting in A&E for over 12 hours to be treated, while waiting lists repeatedly reached record highs. So how are things 12 months on? A&E waiting times Back in June 2024, the last month of the Tory government, only 60.5% of attendances at Type 1 major A&Es in England waited less than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. That was up from 59.7% in May. In May of this year - the latest for which figures are available - 61.2% of attendances at major A&Es were seen within four hours. A small improvement over the course of the year but still a long way short of the 79.1% in May of 2019 (the last May before the pandemic), and even further behind the 91.4% of May 2015 when the Conservative government came to power. Waiting lists NHS waiting lists have been steadily falling under the Labour government. There were a total of 7.62 million on the waiting list when Keir Starmer came to power. That's since fallen to 7.39 million. The waiting list had reached as high as 7.76 million under the Tories in September 2023. That's compared to 4.45 million just before the pandemic, and 3.37 million in May 2015 when the Conservative government came to power. Verdict NHS waiting times have fallen. However, whether they've fallen by enough for voters to feel the benefit is another matter. The government will no doubt be hoping to see more improvements before the next election. VAT on private school fees Labour's pledge to put VAT on private school fees came into effect in January 2025. There were a total of 582,477 pupils in private schools in England during the 2024/25 academic year, according to the Department for Education's annual census. That's 11,000 fewer than a year earlier. That's higher than the government's prediction of 3,000 pupils in the first year. The number of pupils attending private schools is now higher than before the pandemic though. A total of 576,857 attended independent schools in the 2019/20 academic year. Private school pupils now make up 6.4% of the total school population, a slightly lower proportion than last year, when it was 6.5%. This is the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic that independent school pupil numbers have fallen, however they had been steadily falling in the years leading up to the pandemic. The number of pupils in independent schools fell by 6,411 between 2017/18 and 2019/20 academic years. Verdict Pledge met House building Labour pledged to build 1.5 million new homes over the course of the parliament. That works out at around 300,000 a year, or 25,000 a month. The latest official house building data shows that a total of 86,000 new homes have begun to be built during the first three quarters of the Labour government, which covers from July 2024 to March 2025. That works out at an average of 9,555 a month, less than half the rate required to meet the target. The number of houses that have started to be built under the Labour government is much higher than in the same period of 2023/24 under the Conservatives. Between July 2023 and March 2024, just 62,860 new homes were started. Verdict Some progress but improvement needed Small boats Another of Labour's 'first steps for change' was to launch a new Border Security Command with hundreds of new specialist investigators and use counter-terror powers to smash criminal boat gangs. There's no public data available for these staff numbers, or the number of gangs being 'smashed', but we can see how the number of people crossing the Channel has changed compared to previous years. Data on small boat crossings suggests all is not going to plan, however. There have been 19,982 arrivals by small boats as of July 2 this year. That's more than at the same point of any of the previous seven years for which we have data. By 26 June 2024, a total of 13,195 people had made the perilous journey across the Channel, which had been the previous record. At the same point in 2023 the total was 11,278, and in 2022 it was 12,206. Verdict Needs improvement Reduce backlog of rape cases Labour said during the campaign that they would 'fast-track rape cases, with specialist courts at every Crown Court location in England and Wales.' Despite this though, the number of rape cases in the Crown Court backlog has continued to grow. There were a total of 1,294 cases of rape in the Crown Court backlog in England and Wales before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country. That shot up during lockdown, doubling to 2,580 cases by March 2022. It has only continued to rise ever since. By the time Labour came to power there were 4,686 outstanding Crown Court cases in England and Wales. That has since increased to 5,486 cases at the end of March, the latest month for which figures are available. It's a similar story too for all offences, not just rape. There were a total of 40,903 cases in the Crown Court backlog in March 2020. By the time Labour came to power there were 70,978 outstanding Crown Court cases, and a total of 76,957 as of March 2025. Verdict Needs improvement 2030 ban on petrol and diesel car sales There were almost 1.3 million fully electric cars registered on UK roads at the end of December 2024. That's almost 200,000 more than before the general election. However, the number of electric cars on our roads has been steadily increasing for some time. Back in January 2022 there were just 441,200 on our roads, three times fewer than today. The availability of public charging points could become an issue, with some parts of the country far better served than others. There were a total of 193,098 public electric vehicle charging points across the UK in January, according to figures from the Department of Transport. Just 49 public electric vehicle charging points in the whole of the East Hampshire local authority, which works out as 33 vehicles per charging point. That's a higher rate than in any local authority in the UK. Meanwhile, Melton in Leicestershire has 29 per charging point, as do North Kesteven and St Albans. Meanwhile, London has the most electric car-friendly infrastructure in the country. Three of the capital's boroughs have more than one public charging point for every electric car registered there. Hammersmith and Fulham has more public electric charging points than any local authority in the UK - 2,668 - which works out at 0.6 cars per charger. Southwark has 0.8 cars per charger, as does Hackney. Coventry is the most electric car-friendly council outside of the capital. The city's 2,272 public charging points works out as 0.6 cars per charger, the joint lowest rate in the country. Verdict Making progress
The Journal
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Labour sees biggest first-year poll drop for governing party since 1990s
LABOUR HAS SEEN a double-digit drop in support in opinion polls since the general election a year ago – the first fall of its kind since John Major's Conservative government of the 1990s. Keir Starmer's party has averaged 24% in polls in the past month, down 10 points from 34% in the weeks following the 2024 election. It is common for political parties to experience a slide in the polls after taking power – it has happened to every UK government bar one in the past 40 years – but a drop of this size is unusual. The last time it was in double digits was 1992-93, when the Tory administration led by Major saw its poll numbers fall 12 points, from an average of 43% in the weeks after the April 1992 election to 31% a year later. The findings have been compiled by the PA news agency, using its own archive of national poll data combined with figures published in the long-running British General Election academic studies. Polls measuring voting intention do not always appear in the immediate aftermath of an election – for instance, the first polls of this parliament were not carried out until the start of August 2024, one month after Labour's victory on 4 July. To compare Labour's poll performance fairly with that of previous governments, the average poll numbers in the weeks after a general election have been compared with those for the month leading up to the first anniversary of that election. Almost every government in the past four decades has seen their poll standings slip over this period, but mostly by single digits – and often from a much higher starting point than Labour's 34% in 2024. For example, the Labour government led by Tony Blair saw its vote share in the polls drop by an average of six points during its first year in office in 1997-98, though from the lofty heights of 59% to 53%, still well ahead of all other parties. Labour's second term under Blair saw a larger poll drop of seven points, but from 49% to 42% – again, comfortably ahead of its rivals. The Conservative government led by Boris Johnson elected in 2019 saw its first-year poll ratings also slip by seven points, but from 46% to 39%. There were smaller drops at the start of Labour's third term in 2005-06 (down five points in 12 months) and at the start of Conservative leader David Cameron's first term as PM in 2010 (down three points), though Cameron's second win in 2015 was followed by a larger six-point fall. The one recent exception to this trend was the Conservative minority government led by Theresa May that was elected in 2017, with Tory support in the polls increasing by two points over 12 months, from 40% to 42%. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer shakes hands with his supporters at the Tate Modern in London, Friday, 5 July, 2024, as exit polls pointed to his party's landslide win. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo A first-year drop in the polls for a governing party is typically accompanied by a rise in support for the main opposition in Parliament. Advertisement But the past 12 months have seen something different and new in UK politics: a simultaneous and large fall in support for both the government and the opposition, with the Conservatives slipping from an average of 25% in the aftermath of the 2024 election to 18% over the past month. And while Labour and the Tories have both slid in the polls, smaller parties have risen – notably Reform, which has climbed from third place on 17% to first place on 29%. The Liberal Democrats have also edged up, from 12% to 14%, while the Greens have increased from 6% to 9%. Opinion polls are snapshots of the prevailing public mood, not projections or forecasts – and they do not predict what could happen at the next general election. But the amount of movement in recent polls, in particular the fall in support for both Labour and the Conservatives, points to an unsettled mood among voters and a volatile political landscape. Starmer's personal approval ratings make similarly challenging reading for the Prime Minister. Polling company Ipsos has measured public satisfaction with prime ministers since the late 1970s. Its data tracks the proportion of adults in Britain who say they are either satisfied or dissatisfied with how the PM is doing their job. The difference between these two numbers represents the approval score. The most recent Ipsos survey, completed in early June – not quite a full year since the general election – suggests 19% of adults are satisfied with Starmer's performance and 73% are dissatisfied, giving him a net approval score of minus 54. This is lower than any other score recorded by Ipsos for a prime minister roughly 12 months after taking office. The next lowest score is minus 48, for Labour's Gordon Brown in June 2008, and minus 37 for the Conservatives' Rishi Sunak in October 2023. The highest approval ratings were for Blair in May 1998 (a plus score of 44) and Major in November 1991 (plus 15). The other scores are minus 3 for Cameron (May 2011); minus 7 for Conservative PM Margaret Thatcher (June 1980) and minus 25 for May (July 2017), while Johnson had a net approval rating of zero a year into office in July 2020, with the same proportion of people saying they were satisfied and dissatisfied. Starmer's current score of minus 54 is not quite the worst ever approval rating for a prime minister reported by Ipsos, however. Thatcher dropped as low as minus 56 in March 1990, while both Major and Sunak sank as far as minus 59, in August 1994 and April 2024 respectively.
