Rachel Reeves is set to tear up Britain’s debt rules in a bid to reassure nervous investors that she will not go on a borrowing binge.
The Chancellor confirmed she will change the debt target allowing her to borrow up to £50billion more to invest, and that she will set a fixed date to get debt down as a share of the economy.
In a change from the previous Government’s debt rules, the Chancellor said her fiscal rules would ensure that debt fell “during the course of this parliament.”
Speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings in Washington, Reeves said: “Debt as a share of our economy today is very high and we spend a very large chunk of taxpayers’ money every year servicing that debt. So it is important to get that debt on a downward trajectory, and we will do that during the course of this parliament.
“It is important to do that in the course of the parliament, because otherwise…it’s always in the future, and it never actually gets met. So the previous Government always had a plan to reduce it, but it never actually happened.”
Reeves also sought to tell investors that she will not embark on a borrowing binge as she seeks to fund a series of infrastructure investments.
She added: “I think it is really important to be clear about what this investment is for. It’s not to pay for day-to-day spending. It’s not to pay for tax giveaways. It’s to invest in things to get a long-term return for our country and for taxpayers.”
However, she vowed to plough on with a plan to borrow to invest, adding that it was important to “free up the money…to invest in things or get a return for taxpayers. Our growth performance has been very poor.”
MPs tell Sir Keir Starmer that considering reparations for slavery is the ‘right thing to do’
Considering reparations for slavery is the “right thing to do” according to black Labour MPs.
It comes as the issue could be included in a document due to be signed off at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this week, the UK has conceded despite opposition from the Prime Minister.
Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler told the Commons: “I understand that the Prime Minister has said that we have to look to the future, and he’s dealing with 14 years of corruption and mismanagement by Conservative government, but we do have to consider reparations because it’s the right thing to do.”
Battersea MP Marsha de Cordova said Butler was making a “vital point” with regard to reparations, adding: “It’s so important that we do open and have that discussion about reparations because like her, or myself, we are descendants of those that were enslaved.”
Home Office launches new charter in ‘crackdown’ on insurance fraud
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
PA
The Home Office has announced a new charter with the insurance sector to “crack down” on fraud. The department said the voluntary agreement would target fraudsters “seeking to manipulate the insurance market with bogus claims and duping innocent people into buying fake insurance policies”.
It added that the charter includes pledges to “identify and address loopholes, enhance collaboration and improve victim support”.
The Home Office said the charter covers the “vast majority of the insurance sector”, ranging from “general insurance firms to underwriters”.
It comes as fraudulent insurance claims detected by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) topped £1.1billion in 2023, a 16 per cent increase in the number of detected claims compared to the previous year.
