Ministers have discussed reducing the rate at which income tax relief is applied to Britain’s 5.5 million higher-rate taxpayers from 40p to a flat rate as low as 20p. Another option being considered is to increase the number of very high earners whose income tax relief is cut even further.
The total cost of pension tax relief to the Exchequer is £42.7 billion, of which £22.9 billion is relief on income tax and £19.8 billion is on National Insurance contributions.
It all paved the way for the Jeremy Hunt coup. That nerdy technocrat is hardly Pinochet. He’s an improbable usurper of power. Yet the political and strategic fragility of Trussism meant he could very easily sweep in and take control. He now runs the country. He has stuffed the Treasury with Osbornites and Hammondites and others who, like him, love ‘competence’ above all else. They want to steer the nation from the choppy waters of Brexit and Boris back to the safe shore of technocracy. Even though we didn’t vote for that, and don’t want it. That sappy Remainers could seize the reins of power was further proof of the infirmity of Trussism. One house of cards replaced with another.
On September 22 the Bank‘s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25%.
Speaking at the G30 annual international banking seminar, Mr Bailey said: ‚The UK Government has made a number of fiscal announcements and has set October 31 as the date for a further fiscal statement.‘
He said that the Bank‘s monetary policy committee ‚will respond to all this news at its next meeting in just under three weeks from now‘.
Under fierce fire from journalists, Ms Truss refused to apologise for ‚trashing‘ the Tories‘ reputation – before abruptly walking out after eight minutes and just four question.
Downing Street will now be waiting anxiously to see if the PM has done enough to cling on, but the early response was not promising, with one former Cabinet minister telling MailOnline the PM had been ‚robotic‘ and made the situation far worse.
– Boris Johnson launches mass clear out of Cabinet and sacks Jeremy Hunt
– Jeremy Hunt and Penny Mordaunt among those sacked in brutal two-hour cull
– Greg Clark and Liam Fox also leave the government as new PM wields the axe
– Damian Hinds, James Brokenshire, David Mundell and Karen Bradley ousted
– Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Rory Stewart all resigned earlier today
– Priti Patel makes a remarkable Cabinet return as the new Home Secretary
– Sajid Javid has been promoted to crucial role of Chancellor under Mr Johnson
– Brexiteer Dominic Raab was installed as Foreign Secretary replacing Mr Hunt
„A.f.D.“-Vorsitzender folgt Trump-Regierung und noch amtierendem britischen Außenminister: Bundeswehr-Flotte soll in den Persischen Golf, zum „Tanker-Schutz“.
– Foreign Secretary has gone head to head with Johnson to be next Prime Minister
– They were often at loggerheads during campaign, with Hunt branding his rival a ‚coward‘
– Now Johnson‘s allies say he will have ‚free hand‘ to fire Hunt if he wins by large margin
(22.07.2019)
„Wir haben darüber schon in den vergangenen zwei Tagen konstruktive Gespräche mit einer ganzen Reihe von Ländern geführt. Und wir werden später in der Woche besprechen, wie das am besten auf die neuesten US-Vorschläge für diese Gegend abgestimmt werden kann.“
(21.07.2019)
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt discussed the incident with Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas.
Großbritannien fordert eine europäische Schutzmission für die Schifffahrt im Persischen Golf. Das sagte der Außenminister Jeremy Hunt am Montag nach einer Dringlichkeitssitzung des Krisenkabinetts in London. Man habe in den vergangenen 48 Stunden „konstruktive Diskussionen“ mit mehreren Staaten geführt, erklärte Hunt.
BORIS Johnson will sack Jeremy Hunt as Foreign Secretary if he wins the Tory leadership on Tuesday by a big margin, allies believe.
Two of his close confidantes have told The Sun the No10 frontrunner is still furious with his rival for launching a series of personal attacks on him during the race – including branding him a coward for initially refusing TV debates.
Mr Hammond was seen loading an array of luggage including cases, bags and holdalls, into the boot of a black saloon outside his residence at Number 11.
It comes just one day after he threatened to back a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson if he tires to take Britain out of the EU without a deal in October.
It raises the prospect of him entering 10 Downing Street this week with a huge mandate to deliver Brexit by the end of October.
Mr Johnson has won the support of 73 per cent of those eligible to vote, according to an exclusive survey for The Sun on Sunday.
The figures even suggest his fan base has increased during the four-week campaign in which he was pitched head-to-head with rival Jeremy Hunt 17 times.
(20.07.2019)
Gibraltar said the Iranian vessel, seized by marines in a daring landing in darkness off the coast of the British territory on July 4, was suspected of smuggling oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce a range of measures targeting the Iranian regime following the seizure of the Stena Impero on Friday Afternoon.
Mr Hunt is expected to urge the European Union to support British calls for a host of diplomatic and economic sanctions to target Iran- including reimposing restrictions which were lifted after Tehran signed the 2016 nuclear deal.
„It is essential that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region,“ Hunt said late Friday, ahead of an emergency government meeting. He subsequently told British media that „we’re looking at a diplomatic way to resolve the situation, but we are very clear that it must be resolved.“
“It cannot conceivably be right that newspapers or any other media organisation publishing such material face prosecution,” he added.
“In my view there is no threat to national security implied in the release of this material. It is embarrassing, but it is not a threat to national security. It is the duty of media organisations to bring new and interesting facts into the public domain. That is what they are there for.”
he risk is that the president may be goaded into a war by those around him, particularly if things go wrong on the ground – and that Britain will be dragged in by a White House-appeasing prime minister.
Meanwhile the slow slog of diplomacy continues, with European foreign ministers due to meet again on Monday. The EU says that more members, and non-member states too, are buying into the Instex barter-style system created to enable trade. But it still needs proper funding.
We express deep concern that Iran is not meeting several of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran has stated that it wants to remain within the JCPoA.
It must act accordingly by reversing these activities and returning to full JCPoA compliance without delay.
These compliance issues must be addressed within the framework of the JCPoA, and a Joint Commission should be convened urgently.
– Police are investigating alleged leaking of ambassador Sir Kim Darroch‘s emails
– Scotland Yard say its counter-terrorism command is leading the investigation
– Met Police say ‚there has been damage caused to UK international relations‘
– They said there is clear public interest in bringing person responsible to justice
HMS Duncan is currently in the Mediterranean and is expected to join HMS Montrose in the region next week.
Die USA verzichteten Insidern zufolge indes vorerst auf Sanktionen gegen den iranischen Außenminister Mohammed Dschawad Sarif. Was genau die US-Regierung zu dem Schritt bewogen hat, sagten die beiden mit dem Vorgang vertrauten Personen nicht.
Last week, it showed the Boris Johnson on 67 per cent and Jeremy Hunt on 29 per cent.
A few days later, YouGov found Johnson on 74 per cent and Hunt on 26 per cent.
Today, our survey shows Johnson on 72 per cent and Hunt on 28 per cent.
We have varied the standard question and added one to ask whether or not respondents have already voted. Seventy-one per cent of respondents say that they have done so (see below).
Jeremy Hunt has said the Royal Navy has been “run down too much” as he cited a skirmish between Britain and Iran in the Persian Gulf as proof that more warships are needed.
The Foreign Secretary said the “deeply troubling” events in the Middle East showed that the Navy must be “expanded to meet the threats we face”.
After the ambassador submitted his resignation, explaining that he felt that speculation over his future was “making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like”, Johnson faced sharp criticism over his role in the affair, with one minister accusing him of throwing the ambassador “under the bus”.
And in language that will be viewed as an implicit criticism of Johnson’s failure to back Darroch, Theresa May told MPs: “I hope the house will reflect on the importance of defending our values and principles, particularly when they are under pressure.”
YouGov have conducted some remarkably speedy polling of the public’s attitude towards the Kim Darroch affair, although the fieldwork was conducted before his resignation.
(24.06.2019)
Mr Hunt, who is battling to become the next prime minister, earlier said he has been speaking to counterparts “regularly” about the Iran crisis which he called “extremely serious”.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that he was seeking to build a “global coalition” against Iran, branding Tehran “the world’s largest state sponsor of terror”.
He allegedly said the president’s assertion that he called off retaliatory missile strikes against the Iranian regime after a US drone was shot down because it risked killing 150 Iranians, “doesn’t stand up.”
“It’s more likely that he was never fully on board and that he was worried about how this apparent reversal of his 2016 campaign promises would look come 2020,” Darroch reportedly stated, referring to the next presidential election.
(01.07.2019)
The Tory leadership hopeful made the announcement after Tehran said it had amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted under its 2015 agreement with major powers. The Foreign Secretary told Sky News that Britain still supported the pact. He added: “We want to preserve that deal because we don’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons but if Iran breaks that deal then we are out of it as well.”
Analysis: UK officials say the aim is to calm the situation and not make it more incendiary – as some in Washington appear to be intent on doing
Overall that’s over £225,000 Hunt’s backers have donated to anti-Brexit campaigns, parties and politicians, before sticking their financial clout behind him. Tory members might well be wondering what he’s telling his hardline Remain donors that he isn’t telling them…
Boris Johnson is on course to enter Downing Street with a resounding victory this month, according to a poll of Conservative Party members.
Mr Johnson is backed by 74 per cent with Jeremy Hunt on 26 per cent, according to a YouGov/Times poll taken as Tories start to receive ballot papers.
The majority of replies on which this result is based came in on July 3 – the day on which at least some ballot papers were dispatched to the best part, we are told, of about 160,000 Conservative Party members. So a small minority of these survey responses will have been returned at the same time as real votes. CCHQ expects a high turnout.
Foreign secretary says UK will always put its principles first, as Hong Kong row escalates
Noting that the tanker was moving in the international waterways, he said that the UK has no right to exert its or EU‘s unilateral sanctions against other countries extraterritorially.
„This is the same US bullying policy that European states have always protested to it,“ he
According to Spanish officials, the Grace 1, Panamanian-flagged tanker carrying Iranian oil, was seized by British patrol ships off Gibralter and was detained on the US orders.
The pledges come two days before ballot papers are posted to the party members.
Voting closes on 22 July, with the winner expected to be announced the following day.
A diplomatic spat between the UK and China deepened Wednesday after London summoned the Chinese ambassador over what it said were „unacceptable and inaccurate“ comments made by Beijing regarding the UK‘s role in ongoing Hong Kong protests.
Was im kollektiven Gedächtnis der Chinesen und anderer Völker der Region bis heute unvergessen bleibt, sind die eingesetzten Mittel der europäischen Großmächte, mit denen die Öffnung Chinas erfolgte: mit militärischer Gewalt erzwungener Opiumimport zur Durchsetzung der kolonialen Wirtschaftsinteressen. Nach der Niederlage musste China den Drogenhandel wieder zulassen und Hongkong abtreten.
Der Botschafter bekräftigte erneut, dass Hongkong eine Sonderverwaltungszone Chinas und nicht mehr unter der kolonialen Herrschaft Großbritanniens sei. Die Hongkong-Angelegenheiten gehörten zu den inneren Angelegenheiten Chinas. Kein andere Land, Organisation oder Einzelperson sei rechtfertigt, sich in die Angelegenheiten einzumischen.
Die Entschlossenheit Chinas, eigene Souveränität, Sicherheit und Entwicklungsinteressen zu wahren, sei unbeirrt, betonte Liu weiter.
After demonstrators stormed and vandalized the Hong Kong Legislative Council, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt did not criticize violent protesters. Instead, he demanded that China abide by the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which has long since been fulfilled, and warned of „serious consequences“ if China neglects commitments. Hunt said, „We stand foursquare behind the people of Hong Kong“ and urged the Hong Kong regional government not to „repress“ its people.
China on Wednesday expressed strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the recent comments on Hong Kong made by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, urging him to stop wanton interference in Hong Kong affairs.
„He seems to be fantasizing in the faded glory of British colonialism and obsessed with the bad habit of criticizing and lecturing on other countries‘ affairs condescendingly,“ Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing.
(03.07.2019)
The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has warned China of “serious consequences” if it fails to honour its agreement over Hong Kong.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, Mr Hunt said China needs to honour a 1984 treaty that guarantees basic freedoms to the former British colony for 50 years.
Japan‘s Foreign Minister has warned that Britain leaving the EU without a trade deal could threaten the UK‘s automotive industry.
Tarō Kōno today said that a No Deal exit would have ‚very negative‘ consequences for more than 1,000 Japanese firms operating in the UK.
The candidates are set to clash again this evening as they take part in a digital hustings streamed live over Facebook and Twitter.