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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
No 10 blocked nature concessions in planning bill amid Labour rebellion, sources say
Downing Street and the Treasury intervened to stop any concessions in the planning bill, after pro-housing MPs voiced anger over a Labour rebel amendment that attempted to strengthen nature protections. The Guardian has been told that ministers drew up amendments to the bill last week in an attempt to head off the anger of wildlife charities and rebel Labour MPs amid a backlash against the bill. Two sources with knowledge of the discussions said they were expecting the amendments to be put in the Commons this week. But the amendments never appeared, after No 10 and the Treasury intervened. Fifteen Labour MPs rebelled against the government on Monday night to back an amendment by Labour's Chris Hinchliff to the planning and infrastructure bill which would have imposed new environmental obligations, including a rigid timetable, on developers. MPs from the Labour Growth Group (LGG) – a large caucus of pro-housing MPs – had raised the alarm with the Treasury and No 10. The LGG had criticised the amendments on X on Monday, saying its members were 'against these wrecking-ball amendments, and for getting Britain BUILDING'. Hinchliff then hit back at his Labour colleagues in a post, saying he was 'not joining them in doubling down on 20 years of failed deregulation that delivers under 2% social housing a year'. Senior sources suggested there had been strong opposition from the Treasury and No 10 on any new amendments or making any firmer commitments to look at adopting any of the proposals. The housing secretary, Matt Pennycook, declined to comment, but an ally said he had not been minded to accept Hinchliff's amendments in any case. The LGG had argued strongly that mitigations in the bill would mean further delays to new housing and threaten the government's 1.5m new homes target. 'For years voters have been telling politicians what they desperately need: lower my bills, get my wages rising, breathe life back into my local area, give my kids a shot at owning a decent home,' a Labour Growth Group source said. 'Under the Tories, time and again they were ignored. 'This bill is a cornerstone in the government's strategy to show them we are on their side and will deliver those things – we're very clear that demands from pressure groups must not be allowed to derail it.' Leading environmental groups are warning the government that verbal promises over part 3 of the bill – which is focused on environmental obligations – were not enough and the legislation needed to include solid guarantees of environmental results with scientific assurances. Beccy Speight, chief executive of the RSPB, said that without amendments the bill was a regression in environmental protection. 'Until we see actual amendments tabled that address the concerns held by us, many other organisations including the independent environmental watchdog, and thousands of people, we will continue to call for Part 3 to be scrapped.' Speaking at the dispatch box on Monday night, Pennycook said the government would be looking at strengthening national planning policy – rather than directly legislating – on some key environmental policies such as introducing swift bricks for new houses for nesting birds. Pennycook denied the plans would allow developers to damage habitats if they contributed to a nature restoration fund, which campaigners have called 'cash to trash'. He said some of the bill's critics had 'flagrant misconceptions' of what the changes would do. Hinchliff said the nature restoration fund was a 'kernel of a good idea', and said his amendment would give 'ministers the opportunity to rescue something positive from the wreckage of this legislation, ensuring environmental delivery plans serve their purpose without allowing developers to pay cash to destroy nature'. MPs voted to reject the amendment, which was backed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats – but not by Reform UK. Pennycook told MPs he was giving serious consideration to the OEP's concerns, particularly that part 3 of the bill rolled back environmental laws and left protected sites vulnerable to development. Richard Benwell, the CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said the government needed to go beyond verbal assurances and ensure the legislation contained rock solid guarantees of environmental results, scientific assurances that new approaches could work, and transparent delivery plans for nature benefits. 'Fixing the serious risks posed by part 3 will need more than cosmetic change,' he said. Nigel Farage's party had backed an amendment to install swift bricks in new homes, which Pennycook said the government would look at doing through guidance. Pennycook said he would continue to take advice and give 'serious consideration' on what more could be done for environmental protection, with further challenges to the bill expected in the Lords. Hinchliff said that his amendment had been an attempt at compromise. 'Britain's biggest nature charities are so concerned by this bill that they have been calling for the entirety of Part 3 to be removed. 'If we can't improve this bill in the Lords we won't just risk harming nature—there will be severe damage to our relationship with an electorate that cherishes green spaces. I was encouraged to hear that the minister was listening to concerns yesterday - my door remains open - I want to help the government get this right.'
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Reform holds on to five-point poll lead as dust settles after local elections - despite Keir Starmer's desperate attempt to woo back voters
Reform is holding on to a five-point lead despite Keir Starmer 's desperate efforts to win back voters, according to a poll today. YouGov research has put Nigel Farage 's party on 28 per cent - down one since last week. Labour has gained one to reach 23 per cent, with both changes within the margin of error. The Tories were languishing on just 18 per cent, having barely improved their standing. The survey was carried out on Sunday and Monday, partly before the PM formally unveiled his 'island of strangers' crackdown on immigration. However, the measures were widely trailed over the weekend. Panic has been mounting in Labour circles about the rising threat from Reform, which picked up 10 councils, two mayoralties and the previously safe Commons seat of Runcorn on May 1. Sir Keir has insisted he 'gets' the message from voters, and has been stepping up his rhetoric on immigration. He also hailed a trade deal with the US to help revive the stalling economy. The survey was carried out on Sunday and Monday, partly before Keir Starmer (pictured) formally unveiled his 'island of strangers' crackdown on immigration. However, the measures were widely trailed over the weekend. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told a behind closed-doors meeting of MPs last week that the party is facing the 'fight of our lives'. But factions are at odds over how to respond to the surge. The Labour Growth Group, an influential caucus of new MPs, has sounded the alarm that Mr Farage will become PM unless the UK gets out of an 'economic doom loop'. Chairman Chris Curtis told the Guardian: 'Britain is stuck in a complete economic doom loop. We've had low growth. 'That's led to pretty awful cuts. It's led to public services that are broken. And it's led to disillusionment and division among the country... 'Until we get out of that economic doom loop, Nigel Farage is going to become prime minister. I think the stakes are that high.' The Red Wall group of MPs have demanded a 'break away from Treasury orthodoxy'. Left-wingers have been calling for a 'wealth tax' to replace cuts to the winter fuel allowance and benefits. There has also been a push from so-called 'Blue Labour' faction for a stronger crackdown on immigration.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Keeping Farage from No 10 is ‘a battle for UK's future, heart and soul', Labour MPs told
Labour MPs have ramped up pressure on the Treasury, calling for an economic reset after the Reform UK surge in the local elections and saying that the economy is stuck in a 'doom loop'. The warning comes from the influential Labour Growth Group (LGG), a large caucus of loyalist new MPs who have lobbied the government to go further on planning and energy reforms. Its chair said that, without drastic action, the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was on course to become prime minister. On Tuesday evening, the cabinet office minister Pat McFadden told Labour MPs they were in 'the fight of our lives' to take on Farage and said it would be 'a battle for the very future and the heart and soul of our country'. 'This is the fight of our lives, this is the generational fight in this new political era,' he told a private meeting of MPs and peers. He said Labour would take on populist nationalism head on. 'A new fight is taking shape,' he said. 'It's a fight between our values and a nationalist politics of the right.' The intervention from the Labour Growth Group comes a day after criticism of the government from another faction, the Red Wall group of Northern and Midlands MPs, who called for a 'break away from Treasury orthodoxy' and a rethink of unpopular cuts such as the winter fuel allowance. Another group, Blue Labour, has also called for a stronger drive to reduce immigration, as well as economic reform. Chris Curtis, the Milton Keynes North MP who chairs the Labour Growth Group, said that the past nine months in power had seen cabinet ministers sometimes acting like 'caretakers of decline' and called for an acceleration of the government's ambition. Related: Tory extinction 'can't be ruled out', says Jeremy Hunt – as it happened 'Britain is stuck in a complete economic doom loop. We've had low growth. That's led to pretty awful cuts. It's led to public services that are broken. And it's led to disillusionment and division among the country,' he said. 'Until we get out of that economic doom loop, Nigel Farage is going to become prime minister. I think the stakes are that high.' He said that Whitehall was 'hooked on business as usual and will need shock therapy to get off it … No 10 talks about governing as insurgents, but we're often behaving like caretakers of decline. They have to be more forceful in driving that culture through the system. 'We should be treating the economy as an emergency on the scale of war or the pandemic. The heart of government meeting in the cabinet room every week to smash any obstacle.' His concerns were echoed by the Livingston MP, Gregor Poynton, also a member of LGG, who said that voters needed to see change was 'still possible'. He said: 'We cannot afford to let stale institutions, cautious regulators, pressure groups or vested interests stand in the way of that.' Joe Powell, the MP for Kenshington and Bayswater, said the government now needed to step up another gear. 'It's no surprise after years of flatlining wages and living standards people are impatient for change,' he said. 'If we lose the insurgent mindset of opposition the country will continue to decline, so we need to be brave and accelerate making tough but fair decisions, including massively speeding up housebuilding and agreeing new forms of financing, so people don't wait decades for new hospitals.' Curtis said low wage growth, cost of living pressures and huge funding gaps for schools, hospitals and police meant that people were seeing no real improvements in their towns or living standards. 'Unless we start to get the economy growing again, we are not going to get out of this crisis. Farage will rise if wages fall. It's as simple as that,' he said. Curtis said departments need to better stand up to 'vested interests' and to stand up to lobby groups. 'We are now going to have to make often very politically difficult decisions in order to break out of this cycle.' He said it was now clear that Labour had underestimated the scale of the challenge. 'I think that's probably a fair criticism. But that means that we've got no time to lose in ensuring we break out of this cycle.' But Curtis also said that while the government should tackle high immigration, it would not be the means to beat Farage. 'Anybody that thinks that bringing down net migration alone is a route to re-election is completely kidding themselves,' he said. Related: No 10 'completely tone deaf' on harm caused by winter fuel cut, critics say 'We could get migration down to zero by the time of the next election, but if people still can't get a GP appointment and they're feeling poorer, we're not going to win the next election.' Jake Richards, the Rother Valley MP who is a member of LGG and the Red Wall group, added: 'The only way we're going to beat Nigel Farage is by getting out of the doom loop we inherited of dire public finances leading to unpopular cuts and low wages. That means reversing over a decade of stagnant growth with ambitious reforms. 'We've had polling recently showing that Reform voters are by far the most financially insecure of all the major parties. Putting money in those people's pockets is just as essential as robust immigration policy in showing them Labour can deliver.' Key figures in the different Labour groups plan to increase their coordination in the coming weeks to find consensus on how to apply pressure on the government, with talks expected between the groups over the next few weeks. Top of the list is a renewed drive to pressure reforms to Treasury principles – known as the green book – to force investment outside the south-east of England. Maurice Glasman, the Labour peer and Blue Labour founder, told an event at Policy Exchange that the Conservative party had been destroyed and 'the same fate will befall this government unless it moves into the space the Conservatives vacated'. 'Reform is a working-class insurrection against the progressive ruling class, and the only way to counter it is for the Labour government to lead the insurrection, to celebrate the collapse of the era of globalisation, to embrace the space of Brexit, the renewal of the Commonwealth, the restoration of vocation, the primacy of parliament, the integrity of our peace, the effectiveness of our armed forces, the protection of our borders.'
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Labour warned of 'fight of our lives' against Nigel Farage as Rachel Reeves is battered by MPs over UK's 'economic doom loop' - with fears of more tax rises or spending cuts to fill '£60bn black hole'
Labour MPs have been warned they face the 'fight of our lives' against Nigel Farage in the wake of local elections. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden appealed for the party to pull together in 'a battle for the very future and the heart and soul of our country'. But the stark message, at a behind closed-doors meeting last night, comes amid evidence of deepening rifts on the government benches. The Labour Growth Group, an influential caucus of new MPs, has sounded the alarm that Mr Farage will become PM unless the UK gets out of an 'economic doom loop'. Pressure is mounting on Rachel Reeves as stalling growth wreaks havoc with her spending plans. The Niesr think-tank has become the latest forecaster to downgrade Britain's prospects, cautioning that the Chancellor might have to fill a black hole of more than £60billion in the government's books. Donald Trump's trade war has been blamed - although Ms Reeves' massive national insurance raid is also seen as helping to crush activity. Chris Curtis, chair of the Labour Growth Group, told the Guardian: 'Britain is stuck in a complete economic doom loop. We've had low growth. 'That's led to pretty awful cuts. It's led to public services that are broken. And it's led to disillusionment and division among the country... 'Until we get out of that economic doom loop, Nigel Farage is going to become prime minister. I think the stakes are that high.' Mr Curtis said Whitehall was 'hooked on business as usual and will need shock therapy to get off it … No 10 talks about governing as insurgents, but we're often behaving like caretakers of decline. They have to be more forceful in driving that culture through the system.' As panic spread following Reform's surge in the local elections - when Labour lost nearly 200 councillors and the previously safe Commons seat of Runcorn - the Red Wall group of MPs have demanded a 'break away from Treasury orthodoxy'. Left-wingers have been calling for a 'wealth tax' to replace cuts to the winter fuel allowance and benefits. There has also been a push from so-called 'Blue Labour' faction for a stronger crackdown on immigration. Niesr predicted that the UK economy will grow by 1.2 per cent this year 'amid low business confidence, high uncertainty and rising cost pressures'. In its previous forecasts in February, Niesr had pointed to 1.5 per cent growth in 2025. As a result, the think-tank said the Government is now expected to miss its fiscal rules requiring UK national debt as a share of the economy to fall and to be on course for a budget surplus. In the Government's spring statement, Ms Reeves said state finances were on track to give a headroom worth around £9.9billion by 2029-30. Niesr's forecasts suggest this could now be set for a shortfall of £62.9billion over this time frame, suggesting the Treasury could need to look at more spending cuts or tax increases to achieve a surplus. Stephen Millard, Niesr interim director, said: 'The Chancellor's self-imposed and arbitrary fiscal rules have led to a situation where twice a year the Chancellor has to either find further departmental savings or announce politically unpalatable tax rises. 'The uncertainty created by this leads to low investment and lower growth, the precise reverse of what the government wants to achieve. We have to rethink the fiscal framework.' It is the latest body to trim back the UK's economic growth contexts amid pressure from changes to US tariff policies on the global economy. Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its UK growth forecast by 0.5 percentage points to 1.1 per cent for this year. Adrian Pabst, deputy director for public policy at the organisation, said: 'The Government's ambition of boosting growth and living standards in every part of the United Kingdom requires a comprehensive, credible plan of economic transformation which is yet to emerge. 'While planning reform and infrastructure investments in London and the South East will add to GDP growth, we need higher public investment in second-tier cities and poorer regions to unlock greater business investment.' The Conservatives meanwhile accused Ms Reeves of 'playing fast and loose with the public finances'. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride added: 'She should have learned lessons after she was forced into an emergency budget in March. 'Now she is once again teetering on the edge of breaking her own fiscal rules. 'This inevitably means rising speculation about further painful tax rises come the autumn, all at a time when businesses are in desperate need of certainty, and households are worried about rising bills.'
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Keeping Farage from No 10 is ‘a battle for UK's future, heart and soul', Labour MPs told
Labour MPs have ramped up pressure on the Treasury, calling for an economic reset after the Reform UK surge in the local elections and saying that the economy is stuck in a 'doom loop'. The warning comes from the influential Labour Growth Group, a large caucus of loyalist new MPs who have lobbied the government to go further on planning and energy reforms. Its chair said that, without drastic action, the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was on course to become prime minister. On Tuesday evening, the cabinet office minister Pat McFadden told Labour MPs they were in 'the fight of our lives' to take on Farage and said it would be 'a battle for the very future and the heart and soul of our country'. 'This is the fight of our lives, this is the generational fight in this new political era,' he told a private meeting of MPs and peers. He said Labour would take on populist nationalism head on. 'A new fight is taking shape,' he said. 'It's a fight between our values and a nationalist politics of the right.' The intervention from the Labour Growth Group comes a day after criticism of the government from another faction, the Red Wall group of Northern and Midlands MPs, who called for a 'break away from Treasury orthodoxy' and a rethink of unpopular cuts such as the winter fuel allowance. Another group, Blue Labour, has also called for a stronger drive to reduce immigration, as well as economic reform. Chris Curtis, the Milton Keynes North MP who chairs the Labour Growth Group, said that the past nine months in power had seen cabinet ministers sometimes acting like 'caretakers of decline' and called for an acceleration of the government's ambition. 'Britain is stuck in a complete economic doom loop. We've had low growth. That's led to pretty awful cuts. It's led to public services that are broken. And it's led to disillusionment and division among the country,' he said. 'Until we get out of that economic doom loop, Nigel Farage is going to become prime minister. I think the stakes are that high.' He said that Whitehall was 'hooked on business as usual and will need shock therapy to get off it … No 10 talks about governing as insurgents, but we're often behaving like caretakers of decline. They have to be more forceful in driving that culture through the system. 'We should be treating the economy as an emergency on the scale of war or the pandemic. The heart of Government meeting in the Cabinet Room every week to smash any obstacle.' His concerns were echoed by Livingston MP Gregor Poynton, also a member of LGG, who said that voters needed to see change was 'still possible'. He said: 'We cannot afford to let stale institutions, cautious regulators, pressure groups or vested interests stand in the way of that.' Kensington and Bayswater MP Joe Powell said the government now needed to step up another gear. 'It's no surprise after years of flatlining wages and living standards people are impatient for change,' he said. 'If we lose the insurgent mindset of opposition the country will continue to decline, so we need to be brave and accelerate making tough but fair decisions, including massively speeding up housebuilding and agreeing new forms of financing, so people don't wait decades for new hospitals.' Curtis said low wage growth, cost of living pressures and huge funding gaps for schools, hospitals and police meant that people were seeing no real improvements in their towns or living standards. 'Unless we start to get the economy growing again, we are not going to get out of this crisis. Farage will rise if wages fall. It's as simple as that,' he said. Curtis said departments need to better stand up to 'vested interests' and to stand up to lobby groups. 'We are now going to have to make often very politically difficult decisions in order to break out of this cycle.' skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion He said it was now clear that Labour had underestimated the scale of the challenge. 'I think that's probably a fair criticism. But that means that we've got no time to lose in ensuring we break out of this cycle.' But Curtis also said that while the government should tackle high immigration, it would not be the means to beat Farage. 'Anybody that thinks that bringing down net migration alone is a route to re-election is completely kidding themselves,' he said. 'We could get migration down to zero by the time of the next election, but if people still can't get a GP appointment and they're feeling poorer, we're not going to win the next election.' Jake Richards, the Rother Valley MP who is a member of LGG and the Red Wall group, added: 'The only way we're going to beat Nigel Farage is by getting out of the doom loop we inherited of dire public finances leading to unpopular cuts and low wages. That means reversing over a decade of stagnant growth with ambitious reforms. 'We've had polling recently showing that Reform voters are by far the most financially insecure of all the major parties. Putting money in those people's pockets is just as essential as robust immigration policy in showing them Labour can deliver.' Key figures in the different Labour groups plan to increase their coordination in the coming weeks to find consensus on how to apply pressure on the government, with talks expected between the groups over the next few weeks. Top of the list is a renewed drive to pressure reforms to Treasury principles – known as the green book – to force investment outside the south-east of England. Maurice Glasman, the Labour peer and Blue Labour founder, told an event at Policy Exchange that the Conservative party had been destroyed and 'the same fate will befall this government unless it moves into the space the Conservatives vacated'. 'Reform is a working-class insurrection against the progressive ruling class, and the only way to counter it is for the Labour government to lead the insurrection, to celebrate the collapse of the era of globalisation, to embrace the space of Brexit, the renewal of the Commonwealth, the restoration of vocation, the primacy of parliament, the integrity of our peace, the effectiveness of our armed forces, the protection of our borders.'
