On Tuesday, there were various headlines leading the papers. The i disclosed there were tensions between Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Jeremy Hunt, adding that the Treasury is still “struggling to find the money to pay for major tax cuts”. Hunt is expected to extend a fuel duty cut of 5p a litre for another year and scrap an inflation-linked rise, an attempt that’s described as a “£5bn pre-election tax break” by the Financial Times. It notes that fuel duty has not increased since 2011.
According to The Guardian, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an influential think tank, has found that real-terms health spending in England is set to fall by 1.2%, equivalent to £2bn, in the next financial year. The paper says the NHS faces biggest cuts since the 1970s as a result, and without a government rethink, it will have to cut staffing, pay rates or services, or all three. It adds that the chancellor is facing growing pressure to prioritise public spending over tax cuts.
Conservatives are divided over a new definition of extremism set to be introduced as part of efforts to tackle Islamist and far-right extremism, according to the Times. Under proposals being considered officials in Whitehall, government bodies or quangos will be banned from engaging with or funding groups that meet the definition. The paper says concerns have been raised in the cabinet that the definition could inadvertently penalise other groups, such as feminists who oppose trans people’s access to women’s spaces or Christians opposed to gay marriage.
The Daily Mirror leads with the Tories’ “poll humiliation”. The paper says that a poll has put Conservative support at 20%, and they now trail Labour by 27% with an election looming
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