Liz Truss latest: Pound sinks to Thatcher-era low ahead of PM’s new energy plan
Liz Truss cabinet reshuffle: Who’s in and who’s out?
Just one day after Liz Truss assumed office, the pound’s value has sunk to a low not seen since 1985, knocked by the UK’s worsening economic outlook and the strength of the US dollar.
Financial markets have been rattled by the new prime minister’s plans to boost the economy through tax cuts while also potentially providing around £100bn to cap energy costs in a support package expected to be unveiled on Thursday.
At their first PMQs clash, Sir Keir Starmer has accused Liz Truss of seeking to “protect Shell’s profits and give Amazon a tax break” rather than help households and public services weather the cost of living crisis, after she ruled out a windfall tax on energy firms.
The Labour leader warned Ms Truss would force taxpayers to “foot the bill” for her reported plans to freeze rocketing energy bills, dubbed a decades-long “Truss tax” by the SNP’s Ian Blackford.
Despite fears she was ditching party unity in favour of a “cabinet of cronies” upon entering No 10, one incoming minister told The Times: “I doubt she’ll last two years.”
John McDonnell calls for UK to lead international food price audit
The Government should lead an international response to speculation on rising food prices, ministers have heard.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the Commons that increases in energy and food costs “have been exacerbated by speculation in the markets” and warned against removing EU regulations enshrined in UK law to prevent against this, as the Commons debated the Financial Services and Markets Bill.
He also likened the cost-of-living crisis to the response to the 2008 financial crash where Gordon Brown brought “the world together”, adding: “I actually do now believe that we need to look at a global response to food and energy speculation that is taking place at the moment, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis that our constituents are facing.
“In that way, I believe the government’s approach is lacking.”
He added: “If you look at what the UN has been saying at the moment, the UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter has said that what is happening now is people are betting on people’s hunger. That cannot be right.
“Anything that we do that undermines in any way our own national legislation which is against speculation in essential products like that, I think, is dangerous, but actually if we fail to ensure that we take up our international responsibilities, I believe that we will regret that for the future as people increasingly confront problems of hunger and starvation.”
Liam James7 September 2022 21:30
Brexit ‘opportunities’ role ditched with no replacement for Jacob Rees-Mogg
Liz Truss’s government has ditched the dedicated role of Brexit opportunities minister, confirming that Jacob Rees-Mogg would not be replaced in the job.
Mr Rees-Mogg, the former Brexit opportunities and efficiency minister, has been given a significant promotion to business secretary in the new prime minister’s first cabinet.
The PM’s official spokesperson said the mission of hunting out Brexit opportunities would now be “taken across departments”.
Handed the role by Boris Johnson in February, Mr Rees-Mogg spent six months trying to interest his colleagues in ditching EU regulations and launching attacks on the civil service over working from home.
His office listed scrapping Brussels-era regulations on vacuum cleaners as one of the “most interesting” ways to capitalise on the UK’s Brexit “freedoms” after asking tabloid readers for ideas.
Brexit ‘opportunities’ role ditched with no replacement for Jacob Rees-Mogg
Hunting down Brexit boons will be ‘taken across departments’ in Truss government
Liam James7 September 2022 21:03
Sending migrants to Rwanda not a ‘penalty’, says Home Office lawyer
Sending asylum seekers to Rwanda would not be “penalty” if it is considered to be a “safe third country”, the High Court has been told.
Lawyers representing the Home Office began outlining the government’s defence to a challenge against plans to deport some migrants to the east African country, at a hearing earlier.
Several asylum seekers, along with the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action, are bringing legal action against a policy first announced by former home secretary Priti Patel.
On Wednesday, Lord Pannick QC, representing the Home Office, said the home secretary had the legal “power” to certify that a country is safe for someone seeking asylum without it needing to be on a list of nations approved by parliament.
He said that “in all cases” of asylum claim the home secretary should form her view “about the general safety of the country itself and must also… consider the safety of the individual given their particular circumstances”.
He claimed that…
Read More: Liz Truss latest: Pound sinks to Thatcher-era low ahead of PM’s new energy plan