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Tom Harris Starmer just proved he has no political strategy whatsoever

The sheer number of policy reversals reveal an extraordinarily weak Prime Minister Daily Telegraph 23/12/25 It would be churlish for anyone to demand repeatedly that the Government reverse its spiteful policy of levying inheritance tax on farmers and small businesses and then to castigate the same Government for doing so. Not that Keir Starmer has done exactly that, but today’s decision to more than double the threshold from the original £1 million to £2.5 million will be a relief for many families who had fretted about the impossibility of handing farms or firms on to the next generation as going concerns. So we should be thankful that the prime minister has shown some flexibility on this topic. One cheer for Starmer. Or perhaps one and a half. It is Christmas after all. There is a wider political problem in this, of course, and it is one that is vexing the brains of many Labour MPs as they cast a reluctant glance at what political events will develop in 2026. For performing U-t...
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Labour’s spending juggernaut is crushing the economy

There is always extra cash available for this Government’s favoured projects Daily Telegraph 20/12/25 Another £800m will be spent on re-joining the Erasmus scheme that allows students to study across Europe. Money has been found for the spiffy new livery for Great British Railways. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has even found some extra cash for vegan “fish free” supplements made from algae on the site of the former Grangemouth chemicals plant – which unfortunately couldn’t survive the crippling energy costs he imposed on it. With every week that passes, the Government embarks on yet more extravagant spending. There is just one catch. As yet another terrifying set of public borrowing figures made clear, Labour’s spending juggernaut is crushing the economy – and leaving it far weaker with every week that passes. The latest data on the public finances published on Friday made for sobering reading. According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK borrowed an extra £11...
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Reform UK takes aim at Labour’s plan to delay local elections

Farage’s party hopes to force Commons vote on bill ordering government to hold council ballots Daily Telegraph 20/12/25 Reform UK has drafted legislation aimed at scuppering Labour’s plans to delay local elections. The Right-wing party is hoping to garner cross-party support for its Local Election Guarantee Bill, which seeks to force ministers to hold local and mayoral elections in 2026. The Government has been accused of trying to subvert democracy after announcing that ministers were considering delaying ballots for millions of voters as part of its plans to reorganise local government. Nigel Farage has said the local election postponements were designed to prevent Reform UK winning a string of elections next May and shield Labour and the Tories from embarrassing results. Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy, told The Telegraph: “We are inviting every member of parliament in the House of Commons who believes in democracy to support this bill, including the Tories. Ultimately...
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Free TV licences for the benefits class will be the end of Labour and the BBC

It’s a ridiculous, unfair policy that will create a huge backlash, so of course Starmer will go for it Daily Telegraph 17/12/25 In the depths of the Second World War, economist William Beveridge drew up radical plans to tackle poverty. Among his recommendations, set out in the historic Beveridge Report, were a universal system of social insurance and the creation of a national health service. To the best of my knowledge, however, he did not add: “Oh, and one other thing. To banish Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness once and for all, the unemployed must be entitled to spend all day watching Homes Under the Hammer free of charge.” That, however, is the proposal apparently being considered by our current Government, as it weighs up potential reforms of the BBC licence fee. Obviously no Labour administration would abolish the licence fee altogether – that would be like Stalin abolishing Pravda. But ministers are at least thinking about changes to the funding system. And on...
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Labour "Minded" to Cancel More Local Elections

The government has admitted it is “minded” to cancel more local elections next year. That’s after cancelling four May Mayoral elections already… Guido Fawkes 18/12/25 Local government minister Alison McGovern told the Commons: “If a council voices genuine concerns, we’ll take these issues seriously, and would be minded to grant a delay in those areas.” The government is asking councils in 63 areas whether or not they would like to cancel elections in May. That’s 4.6 million votes. They will have until midnight on January 15 to apply for a delay. Communities minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said earlier this month that “local elections will go ahead in 2026”. Not so… Farage said “only dictators cancel elections” while Tory local government spokesman Paul Holmes said: “What does this Labour Government have against democracy?”. Meanwhile, Starmer is planning for a new king’s speech to be after the locals next year amid leadership speculation. Running scared…
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Migrants break benefits rules 200 times a day

Almost 200,000 penalties were imposed on foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit over two years Daily Telegraph 16/12/25 lihttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/16/migrants-break-benefits-rules-200-times-each-day/ Migrants are being sanctioned for breaking benefits rules more than 200 times a day, according to new data. Anyone who is receiving Universal Credit (UC) while out of work is required to enter into a claimant “commitment” with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This includes attending appointments with a work coach, updating their CV or searching for jobs. Claimants are “sanctioned” if they fail to demonstrate that they are honouring the terms of their “commitment”. Between January 2023 and April 2025, the DWP issued 198,771 “adverse sanctions” against migrants claiming UC, data obtained by think tank Centre for Migration Control (CMC) show. That is equivalent to just over 1,600 a week, or more than 200 a day. Over the same time period, 1,356,226 sanct...
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Rachael Reeves's Disgrace

Allister Heath Daily Telegraph 13/12/24 Politicians never create wealth, but they often destroy it. Rachel Reeves has only been Chancellor for 18 months, yet the costs that she has inflicted upon our beleaguered private sector are already unquantifiably large. Rarely has a chancellor squandered so much GDP in so little time, or failed to understand that, in economics as well as in war, careless talk costs livelihoods. GDP fell another 0.1 per cent in October, and has now shrunk for four months in a row. As the economist Julian Jessop points out, GDP has contracted in nine of the 16 months of the Labour Government for which we have data. The public sector is doing well: the private sector, which pays for everything and everyone, is shrinking. We may see a recession but, even if we don’t, it is quite possible that the economy will never catch up the squandered opportunities of the past 18 months. It is a calamity, and one made in Downing Street. Reeves’s horrendous tax increases ha...
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