Latest news with #taxCuts
The Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Rachel Reeves told petrol prices would be near record highs without current fuel duty cuts
PETROL prices would be near record highs without the current fuel duty cuts, Rachel Reeves was warned today. The AA cheered the lowest pump costs since July 2021 - but says it is solely due to the 5p cut to the hated driving tax won by The Sun's Keep It Down campaign. A drop in the price of petrol saw service stations charge 132.3p a litre on Thursday – a fall from 135.5p in early April. Without the 5p cut, the cost of fuelling a car would now be an average 138.3p a litre, according to the AA. The Keep It Down tax break for drivers is safe until next year. But Ms Reeves is under huge pressure from Labour MPs to find more money to fund benefits, and that could result in an onslaught of tax hikes at the 2026 Spring Budget. Luke Bosdet, spokesperson for the AA said: 'The importance of the continuing 5p cut in fuel duty cannot be underestimated. 'Without the duty cut, petrol would still be uncomfortably close to the record level seen before the pandemic and Ukraine war economic shock. 'The Chancellor needs to consider this in upcoming tax deliberations.' The Sun's asks Rachel Reeves' constituents their thoughts on fuel duty rises 1
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Farage's Reform policies 'fantasy' economics, says Starmer
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has accused Nigel Farage of "fantasy" economics after the Reform UK leader set out a number of policies earlier this a speech later this morning, Sir Keir is expected to liken Farage to former PM Liz Truss and say that Reform's policies would lead to an increase in mortgage made big gains in the English local elections earlier this month, cementing it as a prime challenger to Britain's traditional main parties.A spokesperson for Reform dismissed the prime minister's comments as a "desperate attack" from a party "behind in the polls". Speaking at a business in the north-west of England later, Sir Keir, 62, will accuse the Reform leader of pledging unfunded tax cuts which, he will warn, could spark an economic meltdown."In opposition we said Liz Truss would crash the economy and leave you to pick up the bill," he is expected to say. "We were right. And we were elected to fix that mess."Now in government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy – this time from Nigel Farage."Farage is making the exact same bet Liz Truss did. That you can spend tens of billions on tax cuts without a proper way of paying for it. And just like Truss, he is using your family finances, your mortgage, your bills as a gambling chip on his mad experiment. The result will be the same."Thursday's speech is further evidence that right now the prime minister sees Farage as his principal political Tuesday, Farage pledged more generous benefits for pensioners and parents – but it was a commitment to raising the threshold at which someone starts to pay income tax from £12,570 to £20,000 that had some economists questioning whether his sums added Institute for Fiscal Studies said the policy could cost between £50bn and £80bn a year – and that Reform had not spelled out how they would raise the cash."Of course they don't have to do that yet – we're not at a general election," said IFS economist Stuart Adam. "But at some point, if they're going to be a party of government, they would have to make those numbers add up." In Farage's speech, the former Ukip leader, 61, said the Conservatives had become an "irrelevance", adding: "They've had a good 200 years."The local elections saw Reform make big gains at the expense of both Labour and the Conservatives – winning one by-election and two mayoral races, as well as gaining 677 new party won most votes, most seats and overall control of most councils. But, as politics professor Sir John Curtice highlighted, the party's share of the votes across all councils where elections took place was no more than 31% – so despite doing well, it secured far from a majority of those voting. A Reform spokesman said: "We will take no economic lectures from Keir Starmer."Labour's manifesto promised £10bn per year of increased spending."Their first budget raised spending by £70bn and they have added another £30bn since then for Chagos."The prime minister faces pressure from his own MPs on government spending decisions, including cuts to disability also said he would scrap the two-child benefit limit, which some Labour MPs also want to see abolished. The cap prevents most families from claiming means-tested benefits for any third or additional children born after April 2017.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chris Philp Has Criticised Liz Truss's Mini-Budget And People Are Making The Same Point
Chris Philp has criticised Liz Truss's disastrous mini-Budget – despite publicly backing it at the time. The Tory frontbencher took aim at his former boss as he slammed Nigel Farage'sunfunded spending plans. The Reform UK leader said his party would bring back winter fuel payments for every pensioner, scrap the two-child benefit cap and stop anyone earning less than £20,000 a year from paying tax. Experts said the spending spree could cost around £100 billion. On Time Radio, Philp said: 'What Nigel Farage is proposing to do, in terms of the tax cuts and spending increases he is proposing, is two-and-a-half or even three times the scale of what Liz Truss attempted back in September, 2022. 'I was at the time urging spending restraint to partially offset the proposed tax cuts because it was clear to me at the time you can't just have unfunded tax cuts on that scale. Unfortunately, the case I made internally wasn't listened to and we've all seen the results subsequently.' 'It's very irresponsible of Nigel Farage to be proposing these unfunded spending measures.'Reform's welfare vows are 'three times the scale' of what Liz Truss attempted when she was prime minister, says treasury minister under Truss Chris Philp.@CPhilpOfficial | @ — Times Radio (@TimesRadio) May 27, 2025 Philp was chief secretary to the Treasury during Truss's 49-day spell as prime minister. Just hours after the tax-slashing mini-Budget, when the value of the pound briefly went up, Philp tweeted: 'Great to see sterling strengthening on the back of the new UK Growth Plan.' Shortly afterwards, the pound plummeted amid market turmoil. Philp also gave the mini-Budget '9.5 out of 10', claiming it would boost economic growth. The shadow home secretary's stunning about-turn was not lost on social media users. If only Chris Philp had been in a position to have done something about Tories admit they crashed the economy and sent mortgages rocketing. Yet still no apology. They haven't listened and will never learn.@ — Labour Press (@labourpress) May 27, 2025 I'm old enough to remember you backing Truss 🤡 — (@JamesJamessowen) May 27, 2025 He was Liz Truss's biggest backer🤣 — David (@davidprice261) May 27, 2025 'Trussonomics On Steroids': Farage Compared To Failed Tory PM Over 'Unfunded' Reform Spending Spree Farage Mocked After Reform Leave Liz Truss Off List Of Tory Leaders Who 'Broke Britain' – Exclusive Liz Truss Prompts One Huge, Collective Eye Roll After Her Latest Attack On The PM
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MAGA showdown looming as conservative senators rage at parts of Trump bill: ‘It's immoral, it's wrong, it has to stop'
Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' passed the House of Representatives last week, but faces a still-uncertain future in the Senate. With the House Republican budget package now on its way to the upper chamber after a marathon journey through the Rules Committee and House floor this past week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is taking a look at what it will require to pass Trump's bill through the upper chamber, where it's already facing heavy resistance. On Sunday, two Republican senators hit the Sunday show circuit to voice objections from the conservative side — objections that House Speaker Mike Johnson is familiar with after last week's vote. Sens. Rand Paul and Ron Johnson derided the bill's deficit spending measures, which despite the GOP's $1.5trn cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and other programs are still set to increase the federal budget deficit by $3.8trn over a decade, thanks to one of the GOP's main priorities: the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts. The bill does that, and more — a late game deal between Johnson and the SALT caucus, a coalition of Republicans from blue states, secured a provision in the legislation that would raise the cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) from $10,000 to $40,000 for American households earning under $500,000 annually. Johnson, of Wisconsin, told CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union this Sunday that Republicans would be responsible for 'mortgaging our children's future' by adding so much to the federal debt, which currently sits at $36trn. "It's immoral. It's wrong. It has to stop,' Johnson said. 'This is our moment. We've witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending.' '58% since 2019,' the senator continued. 'This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable, pre-pandemic level of spending.' Paul, a staunch fiscal conservative and member of the party's libertarian wing, outlined similar concerns to Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday: "Somebody has to stand up and yell, 'the emperor has no clothes.'' 'Everybody is falling in lockstep on this,' said the Kentucky Republican senator. ''Pass the big beautiful bill. Don't question anything.' Well, conservatives do need to stand up ... if we don't stand up on it, I really fear the direction the country is going." The debt increase fears were raised repeatedly by conservatives on the House Freedom Caucus before the bill's final passage on Thursday. But every member of the caucus voted for the bill, save chairman Andy Harris, who voted 'present'. Two other Republican members of the House, Warren Davidson (who was expelled from the Freedom Caucus last year) and Thomas Massie, voted against the bill. But John Thune's troubles do not end there. The Hill separately reported last week that a group of roughly a half dozen Republican senators was privately meeting with the Senate majority leader to discuss a different angle of concern: the bill's plans to change Medicaid by limiting state provider taxes (which allow state governments to claw back some Medicaid funding). While the GOP 'big, beautiful' budget plan does impose new work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks on Medicaid recipients, it avoided some of the larger cuts to the program which conservatives were hoping to include. Even so, an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that it would still kick millions off of Medicaid and other health care plans obtained through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace system. 'There's probably five, six, seven of us who, if you do anything that cuts into benefits, you're going to have a real problem. The leader is aware of that,' one Republican senator, who was not named, told The Hill this past week. A number of other senators, including Republicans from states with large rural populations, are publicly skeptical about aspects of the plan that could endanger or financially ruin rural hospitals, which rely in large part on Medicaid funding to survive. By making too many changes to the bill, Thune risks leaving it in a state that cannot be re-passed by the House. But the Senate leader also has his own caucus to worry about, as well as Donald Trump's continued demand for the bill to remain in one piece, rather than be split up. The president (and many of his allies) believe that passage of one bill will be more politically achievable for the GOP caucuses in the House and Senate, where in both chambers the party has narrow margins over Democrats. The bill is a mish-mash of a number of the Trump administration's year-one priorities, including a surge in funding for border security measures, an extension of the president's signature tax plan, and a boost in military spending. Ron Johnson threw cold water on even that basic strategy on Thursday, in a gaggle with reporters. 'We have to split it up,' he said. 'Break it up. Break it up and focus on the areas of agreement.'
CNA
20-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Dollar trades sideways before tax vote, Aussie holds gain before RBA
TOKYO :The dollar traded sideways on Tuesday after having glided lower for a week, hemmed in by the Fed's caution over the economy and as U.S. lawmakers came closer to passing a bill expected to widen the nation's fiscal deficit. The greenback sold off broadly on Monday following last week's surprise downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating by Moody's on deficit concerns. Now attention turns to a critical vote in Washington over U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cuts. The Australian dollar held most of its gains ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision later Tuesday, when it is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC on Monday the central bank may only be able to cut interest rates by a quarter point over the rest of the year given concerns about rising inflation stoked by higher import taxes. Trump is expected to join the congressional debate over his tax bill on Tuesday. The vote comes after Moody's stripped the U.S. government of its top-tier credit rating, citing concerns over the nation's growing $36.2 trillion debt pile. "The Moody's U.S. sovereign downgrade was symbolic, and highlights what everyone already knew - that U.S. deficits and interest expenses are only going one way, and that Treasury coupon issuance will increase in 2026," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone. Trump's bill would add $3 trillion to $5 trillion to the debt, according to nonpartisan analysts. Trade-related uncertainties, ballooning fiscal debt and weakened confidence about enduring U.S. exceptionalism have weighed on U.S. assets. The U.S. dollar index has tumbled as much as 10.6 per cent from its January highs, one of the sharpest retreats for a three-month period. The greenback edged up 0.1 per cent to 144.99 yen, after touching 144.66 on Monday that was the weakest since May 8. The dollar index rose 0.1 per cent after sliding 0.6 per cent in the previous session. The Australian dollar was little changed $0.6449, preserving most of Monday's 0.8 per cent surge. Sterling traded at $1.3354, down 0.1 per cent. The euro stood at $1.1234, down 0.1 per cent. Sterling traded at $1.3359, down 0.03 per cent so far on the day.
