Sir Keir Starmer has been dealt a further blow with a new poll predicting Labour would lose its overall majority if an election was held now.
The poll by FindOutNowUK has put Reform level pegging with Labour on 25 per cent and the Tories five points behind on 20 per cent. According to the calculations, if the result was repeated in a general election Labour would lose 173 seats but remain the largest party on 238.
Reform would leap into second place from the five MPs to 170, taking deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel’s seats. The Tories would be left with just 89 seats and a viable government could only be formed with a deal between Labour and the Lib Dems on 70 seats and SNP on 42.
The poll, which comes after a survey by think tank More in Common that also found Labour would lose its majority, marks a fresh political blow for Sir Keir who has overseen a rocky start to his leadership of the country.
There are also fears over the economy with the pound plunging to its lowest level for over a year after a rout in the bond markets. And with government borrowing costs also increasing, Treasury minister Darren Jones has warned that “public services will have to live within their means”.
Recommended
- Keir Starmer skips grooming gang vote despite ordering his MPs to vote against it
- Lammy declares ‘Trump is right’ on defence spending as he warns post Cold War peace is over
- Angry farmers disrupt environment minister’s speech with loud tractor tax protest in Oxford
Key Points
- Lammy declares ‘post Cold War peace is well and truly over’ as he takes aim at Putin
- Markets functioning in ‘orderly way’, Treasury minister insists
- Truss sends cease and desist to Starmer
- Farmers will have profits ‘wiped out’ by IHT rises, association leader warns
- Winter flu figures to be revealed as ‘hospitals bursting’
Ed Davey calls on Reeves to cancel China trip to focus on cancelling NI hike and rebuild with EU
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the Chancellor to cancel her trip to China and instead make an emergency fiscal statement to Parliament cancelling the national insurance hike planned for April, to boost economic growth and bring interest rates down.
Mr Davey said: “Instead of jetting off to China, the Chancellor should urgently come before the House of Commons to cancel her counterproductive jobs tax and set out a real plan for growth.
“The country is paying an ever-higher price for the total mess the Conservative Party made of our economy, and the Chancellor needs to realise that she’ll never dig us out of this hole without a far more ambitious plan to grow our economy, including rebuilding trade with Europe.
“The Government’s misguided jobs tax is hurting businesses and hitting investment badly, meaning it will hold back growth while failing to raise the funding the Chancellor claims for the NHS.
“The Chancellor should look instead at our plans to raise revenue without hitting jobs and growth, by raising taxes on the profits of the big banks, social media giants and online gambling firms – all of which are making eye-watering profits while ordinary families struggle.”
Kate Devlin9 January 2025 14:14
Winston Churchill’s grandson warns Elon Musk to ‘come through me first’ in staunch defence of Jess Phillips
Our Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin reports:
Churchill’s grandson warns Elon Musk to ‘come through me’ in defence of Jess Phillips
Labour safeguarding minister was described as ‘a rape genocide apologist’ by the tycoon and Donald Trump ally
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 13:50
Watch: Angry farmers disrupt Minister’s speech with loud tractor tax protest in Oxford
Angry farmers disrupt Minister’s speech with loud tractor tax protest in OxfordJabed Ahmed9 January 2025 13:31
Former Tory minister accuses Reeves of fleeing to China
A Conservative former minister has accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of having “fled to China”, as MPs grilled the Government on its fiscal plans.
In the Commons, Dame Harriett Baldwin said: “In yesterday’s extraordinary emergency statement from the Treasury to try and calm the markets the Treasury statement paid tribute to the fact it inherited the second lowest debt in the G7.
“And is the reason that the frontbench is so empty today, the Chancellor has fled to China, that she has realised that her budget means that she now is the arsonist?”
Treasury minister Darren Jones replied: “The Chancellor is going on her trip to China, it has been well documented for many weeks, an important visit in terms of trade and investment in the economy here in the UK.
“And might I just say there was no emergency statement, or emergency intervention, these are make-belief words being propagated by members on the benches opposite. The Treasury responded to requests from journalists about headroom, as we might do in the normal way.”
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 13:08
Father of the House asks if Reeves will use her “sticky fingers” to increase borrowing or taxes
Senior Conservative MPs have pressed the Government on whether the Chancellor will increase taxes or borrowing.
In the Commons, former Treasury minister John Glen said: “This Government have either got to cut spending, increase taxes or borrow mor, and if the cost of borrowing is increasing, that moment is going to come sooner. Which of those choice is he inclined to make and when is he going to tell the British people honestly what this Government has done?”
Treasury minister Darren Jones replied: “The fiscal rules are non-negotiable, public services will have to live within their means, we’ve set the budget.”
“We have the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) forecast coming in March, those are the numbers departments are working to in this spending review, those are the numbers we will hold public services to when we conclude the spending review in June,” he added.
Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh asked if Chancellor Rachel Reeves would be using her “sticky fingers” to increase borrowing or taxes, adding: “Will the minister give an absolute assurance, no more tax increases or borrowing?”
Mr Jones said the spending review is “on the basis of the envelope that was set at the budget”, adding: “The OBR forecast will come in March which will then give us the latest set of information which we will work to with departments.”
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 12:49
Exclusive: Religion, police and education leaders unite with grooming survivors to demand immediate government action
Our Social Affairs Correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:
Religion, police, education leaders demand grooming action now
Exclusive: A coalition made up of 65 charities is pushing Yvette Cooper to act on key recommendations from child sexual abuse inquiry
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 12:31
Public will not have to change lives ‘radically’ for climate goal, MPs promised
Public will not have to change lives ‘radically’ for climate goal, MPs promised
Lifestyle change, such as diet and travel, are not in the scope of the 2035 goal
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 12:13
Lammy agrees with Trump that Europe must spend more on defence
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that president-elect Donald Trump is “simply right” to say that Europe needs to do more on defence.
In a speech on Thursday morning, Mr Lammy said: “Donald Trump and JD Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent.
“It’s myopia to pretend otherwise with Russia on the march. So this Government will lay out a clear pathway to reaching 2.5% of our GDP on defence.
“A figure, lest we forget that the last Labour government met and was never met by the Tories since David Cameron’s cuts. And with John Healey, we will lead and we will change, to convince all of our Nato allies that rising defence spending is a strategic necessity.”
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 12:00
Lammy warns ‘Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely’
Speaking in the Locano room in the Foreign Office on Thursday, the foreign secretary said that Russian aggression had ripped up the established world order from the 1990s.
Underlining his policy thrust of “progressive pragmatism” he also took aim at the previous Tory governments for undermining Britain’s place in the world. He tipped his hat to repairing some of the damaged relationships not just with the EU.
Mr Lammy told an invited audience: “We and our allies must relearn the Cold War manual, long-term thinking, not short-termism.
“Consistent deterrence, not constant distraction. Adapting as emerging technology reshapes the strategic environment. Securing strategic stability in an unstable world.”
And he warned: “Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely.“With Iranian drones fired at Ukrainian cities and North Korean troops now fighting against Ukraine.”
(Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 11:51
Tories ‘panicked and mothballed’ over HS2 leading to spiralling costs, committee chairwoman says
The Government has faced calls to ensure the HS2 route between London and Birmingham is connected to the wider rail network north of Birmingham.
Chairwoman of the Transport Select Committee Ruth Cadbury said: “The original vision for HS2 was to link London with the Midlands and the north and also to address the growing capacity challenge on the West Coast Main Line with a whole new rail line.
“The last government panicked and mothballed much of the project over cost overruns on phase one, thus incurring yet further costs. And I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to get a grip on the phase one cost overruns.
“But what I want to know is does the Government plan to deliver a rail solution linking phase one north of Birmingham to the rest of the country, and thus delivering the Government’s vision to drive growth for the whole country.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “I’m pleased that she raises the question of the mess that we inherited from the Conservative government on HS2 and rail connectivity in the north. When we entered government in July we did find that ragtag collection of half-baked, unfunded spending commitments for rail schemes up and down the country.”
She added: “We have started the hard work of identifying a realistic pipeline of schemes that is affordable and will deliver better connectivity in partnership with local leaders.”
Jabed Ahmed9 January 2025 11:47Newer1 / 5Older