Rachel Reeves has been issued with a Budget revolt warning after the Chancellor vowed to make another attempt to reform welfare on November 26.
Ms Reeves, who is expected to slap higher taxes on millions of Britons to fill a £50billion black hole, risks facing a repeat of Sir Keir Starmer’s Commons climbdown earlier this year.
Despite putting forward measures to slash Britain’s ballooning benefits bill by £5billion, the Prime Minister was forced to make last-minute concessions to Labour rebels to prevent a humiliating defeat at the hands of his own MPs.
The Chancellor is already looking to charm left-wing Labour MPs by abolishing the two-child benefit cap to the tune of £3billion.
Reeves had wanted to introduce a taper system which would have seen eligible families receive reduced payments for third and subsequent children.
However, the Chancellor faced relentless pressure from backbench Labour MPs and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Ms Reeves also remains committed to introducing wider reforms to welfare.
She claimed the changes would change the welfare system from one “designed to punish, trapping millions of people on benefits rather than helping them into work, into a system designed to help people succeed”.
“She has to hint that something on cutting the bill is coming,” a Labour source added.
“There are so many other audiences out there, it’s not just the [Parliamentary Labour Party].
“They have to say to the PLP ‘we will give you this, but you have to back us on other things’.”
‘Last acts of desperation!’ Zia Yusuf lashes out at Kevin Hollinrake over Nazi-Reform jibe
Zia Yusuf fired back against Kevin Hollinrake
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Reform UK’s policy chief Zia Yusuf has lashed out at Kevin Hollinrake just hours after the top Tory appeared to liken Nigel Farage’s party to the Nazis.
In a social media post, Mr Hollinrake compared Reform UK’s limited edition football shirt to Adolf Hitler’s “Golden Party Badge”.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Yusuf said: “These are the last acts of desperation.”
Mr Yusuf went on to warn that the comments had “dangerous consequences” for the UK’s political discourse.
Tories double down on Reform Nazi jibe with Vladimir Putin attack
The Tories have doubled down on Kevin Hollinrake’s decision to compare Reform UK’s limited edition football jersey to the Nazi Party’s “Golden Party Badge”.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform are more interested in tweets than the shame of their leader in Wales being jailed for 10 years for being Putin’s stooge, or their plan to scrap the two-child benefit cap costing taxpayers more and more.
“Reform need to get off social media and explain why they’re so cozy with Russia and want more welfare.”
Ministers’ criminal records can stay secret, watchdog declares
The Government’s information watchdog has decided that the public is not entitled to know whether ministers have criminal convictions.
In a decision released on November 12, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) dismissed an appeal by The Times, which had sought to compel the Cabinet Office to reveal how many ministers had disclosed past criminal convictions before taking up their posts.
Officials declined to confirm or deny whether such records exist, and the regulator concluded that ministers’ privacy outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
RECAP: Nigel Farage demands answers after Tory chairman compares Reform UK to Nazi Party
Nigel Farage has demanded answers after Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake compared Reform UK to the Nazi Party.
Mr Farage had shared an image of a black and gold Reform badge to promote a “collector’s edition” party football shirt.
But in response, Mr Hollinrake shared an image of the “Golden Party Badge”, awarded to the first 100,000 people who joined Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.
The Tory chairman then proceeded to delete the image, before soon re-sharing a link to the Wikipedia page about the badge.
Top Tory swerves GB News grilling on Kevin Hollinrake’s Reform UK Nazi jibe
Andrew Griffith joined GB News to discuss the economic situation ahead of Rachel Reeves’s Budget
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Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has swerved a grilling on Kevin Hollinrake’s decision to compare Reform UK to the Nazis.
Mr Hollinrake, who serves as Conservative Party Chairman, appeared to suggest a special edition Reform UK football shirt was comparable to Adolf Hitler’s “Golden Party Badge”.
However, Mr Griffith claimed he was unaware of Mr Hollinrake’s social media post and stopped short of
“Goodness me,” Mr Griffith told GB News. “I haven’t seen the thing you’re talking about, it was a tweet or something.
“I was doing the media last night talking about this devastating Employment Rights Bill and I’ve been doing the same this morning.”
He added: “Forgive me, but I am sure that it isn’t quite as you say.”
Peter Kyle: Kemi Badenoch is trying to scare people over ‘anti-growth’ warning
Peter Kyle swipes at Kemi Badenoch in GB News grilling
| GB NEWS
Kemi Badenoch is trying to scare people by warning against Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, Business Secretary Peter Kyle has claimed.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Mr Kyle said: “What Kemi Badenoch is doing is what she always does, and that is she’s just trying to scare people.
“The fact is, when the legislation passes, because the Conservatives are blocking it in the House of Lords, we will then move to a period of intense consultation with business over those exact issues.”
The Business Secretary also revealed the Government would have 26 different consultations over the legislation, adding that Labour remains both pro-business and pro-worker.
However, Mrs Badenoch is today expected to blast the Employment Rights Bill.
“If the Chancellor had any sense, and any regard for business, she would use the Budget to say, ‘we got this one wrong’ and drop it,” the Tory leader is expected to say.
“It would be the cheapest pro-growth measure in the Red Book.
“If she does not, then I will make you this promise.
“At the first opportunity, a Conservative government under my leadership will repeal every job destroying, anti-business, anti-growth measure in this Bill.”
Rachel Reeves ‘to spend £15bn on BENEFITS in major Budget splurge’ – with working Britons to foot the bill
Rachel Reeves is set to unveil £15billion of benefits spending at Wednesday’s Budget – funded by a tax raid on “working people”.
The Chancellor opened the door to scrapping the two-child benefit cap last week, with reports she would commit to this emerging over the weekend.
She is set to frame the move – estimated to cost taxpayers £3billion per year – as a way to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
Ms Reeves is then set to boost payouts for “working-age benefits” like Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and child benefits up in line with inflation, or 3.8 per cent, from April.
EXPLAINED: What will happen when Labour scraps the two-child benefit cap?
Rachel Reeves is expected to announce the end of the two-child benefit cap in a bid to stave off fears from the left of the Labour Party.
Abolishing the cap, which was introduced by the Tories in 2017, would enable parents to claim child tax credits or universal credit for more than two children.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies believes abolishing the cap could take 630,000 children out of absolute poverty, with other estimates standing at 250,000.
Scrapping the two-child benefit cap would also cost £3billion, putting further pressure on Britain’s ballooning benefits bill.
