Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly preparing to implement cuts to public spending, impose tax increases, and delay some major infrastructure projects, according to The Guardian. The UK government is set to pause work on Boris Johnson’s 40 new hospitals plan and the proposed Stonehenge tunnel. The Times indicates that Reeves plans to sell off unused public buildings and cut external consultants to address the £20bn hole in government spending. Her proposal includes a ban on non-essential consultants.
Conservative shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt wrote in the Daily Express that Labour’s tax hikes based on “mistruths” about public finances would be “an ultimate betrayal,” as he warned against Ms Reeves’s intentions. The Daily Mail reports that GPs threatened to reduce appointments and potentially bring the NHS to a standstill, should the vote on industrial action, which closes on Monday, be successful. The Daily Mirror covers the same story and calls it a “bitter pill” to swallow.
The Financial Times front page highlights the funds raised by US Vice-President Kamala Harris, which totalled $200m in the first week of her campaign. Meanwhile, the paper reports that EU diplomats’ parties were cancelled as they went over their budgets. The Daily Telegraph states that the Chancellor will sell Ministry of Defence sites, unused NHS property, and Network Rail’s land to help fill the £20bn gap. In an editorial, the Daily Mail asserts that such a massacre of infrastructure projects and increased wealth taxes would destroy growth “in a heartbeat.”
Finally, the Financial Times and The Guardian focus on the US’s efforts to persuade Israel to exhibit restraint after a rocket attack killed twelve children in the Golan Heights, with the latter noting a notion of challenge posed by Hezbollah
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