As the UK Budget approaches, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is reportedly hoping to introduce a 2p cut in national insurance by finding £9bn worth of spending cuts and other tax rises. A Treasury source says, “With little room for manoeuvre, we are having to look at everything to make this work.” However, there are concerns that Mr. Hunt will not deliver significant tax cuts, with the chancellor warning of the need to be “prudent”, given the state of the country’s finances. The i newspaper reports that senior figures in the Conservative Party have urged Mr. Hunt to reduce taxes; however, the chancellor has stressed that the risks of doing so would be too high.
The Guardian reports that analysis by an anti-poverty charity, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, suggests that tax cuts would risk condemning Britain to a “lost decade” for living standards and leave working families £1,900 a year worse off. Meanwhile, polling found that tackling NHS waiting lists and fixing other public services are higher on voters’ priorities than current levels of taxation. Despite this, some Tory MPs are pushing for a big election sweetener.
In other news, the Daily Telegraph reports that the head of the German air force, Ingo Gerhartz, accidentally leaked British military intelligence during a call intercepted by Russia. The call reportedly discussed the operations of several NATO countries in Ukraine. Mr. Gerhartz made the call using an off-the-shelf video phone and was heard describing the different methods used to deliver missiles to Ukraine and saying that British troops were “on the ground” in the country. The paper also notes that English and Welsh police forces have failed to solve a single burglary in 48% of all neighbourhoods in the last three years.
The Daily Mail reports that rogue fixers are charging unqualified migrants up to £20k for work permits to fill vacancies in the care sector. The paper says that “scant checks in the desperate bid to fill huge vacancies mean untrained and over-worked staff” are left caring for vulnerable residents. Finally, the Metro reports that pregabalin, a highly addictive drug prescribed for anxiety, has been linked to almost 3,400 deaths in the last five years, making it the “fastest rising death toll of any medication in Britain
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