Chancellor prepares to target lenders despite playing down fears of higher levies in the Budget Daily Telegraph 15/10/26 John Healey is poised to launch a tax raid on banks despite describing financial institutions as “the jewel in the British economic crown”. The Chancellor is preparing to target lenders in his Budget on Oct 28 as he faces pressure to repair Britain’s public finances. It comes despite Mr Healey praising banks on Thursday in comments that raised hopes that the City would be spared. Speaking in Bangkok at an International Monetary Fund (IMF) event on Thursday, the Chancellor said of banks: “They’re a big contributor to the economy. “They’re an important part of our business. They’re a part of the jewel, if you like, in the British economic crown.” The Chancellor is said to be considering raising a surcharge on bank profits above £100m from 3pc to 8pc. The move has been advocated by unions and Labour figures, including Angela Rayner, who argue it could raise £2bn for the...
The irony of the PM’s Brexit dog-whistle is that it’s progressives who fall for conspiracy theories and brainwashing Daily Telegraph 14/10/26 How low can you stoop? Who would have thought that, at the height of the Ukraine war, a British Prime Minister would wage psy-ops against his own side, spewing disinformation for the basest of electoral reasons, delighting and encouraging Russian trolls and bots? Andy Burnham’s flirtation with one of the most toxic conspiracy theories of our time, the false claim that Vladimir Putin manipulated us into voting for Brexit and that our entire democratic settlement is thus an illegitimate sham, is an unforgivable scandal, proof that he will do anything for power, including resort to agitprop and concocted narratives to mobilise Leftist flat-earthers. His timing was atrocious, coming in the midst of an unprecedented influence operation by totalitarian powers (including Russia, China, Iran and others) to discredit Western values and certainties,...