Government rejects minister’s idea that rich pensioners should lose winter fuel payments

From 53m ago

Good morning. After one of the most intense weeks for political news since Rishi Sunak became PM (Suella Braverman being sacked, David Cameron returning, the rest of the reshuffle, and the supreme court’s Rwanda judgment), we’ve got another news-packed five days starting now, mostly focused on the autumn statement on Wednesday. The Guardian doesn’t normally agree with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg on anything, but the former business secretary has summed up what’s at stake in this quote for the Daily Mail.

We’ve had the net zero relaunch, the party conference relaunch, the King’s Speech relaunch and the reshuffle relaunch, none of which has made a difference to the polls. We now need the autumn statement relaunch which will actually connect with voters.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, hinted yesterday that the announcement could include personal tax cuts and there is a lot of speculation in the papers today, particularly the pro-Tory ones, about what this might involve.

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MAIL: Are we finally on brink of a REAL tax cut? #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/moxM6b6ZZi

— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) November 19, 2023

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Most of the reporting is somewhat speculative, but this morning a junior Treasury minister, Gareth Davies, has been giving interviews and on at least one issue he was able to be categorical.

This morning the Daily Telegraph has a report based on what John Glen told Cambridge University Conservatives at a private meeting last month when he was chief secretary to the Treasury. (He was moved sideways to paymaster general in the Cabinet Office in the reshuffle.) Glen suggested rich pensioners should stop getting the winter fuel allowance. The money would be better spent on addressing child poverty, he said. In his story, Ben Riley-Smith quotes Glen as saying:

I think we also need to come to terms with the fact that the triple lock is very expensive and how sustainable is that going forward in terms of pensions and all the other benefits?

Because my mother, she’s not very rich but she’s perfectly comfortable. She just texted me today aged 75 to say ‘I’ve just heard about my £500 winter fuel payment’ and I’m just like ‘you don’t need that’.

But finding a mechanism to try and ration that [the winter fuel payment] is very difficult because our HMRC system will look at household incomes. These are the sorts of mechanics of government you’ve got to look at.

Is it better if we spent more of that money on child poverty? It probably is. But these are the sorts of things I think we need to look at.

Good idea, you might think. But it is not going to happen. Davies told Sky News this morning:

We are not going to be touching the winter fuel allowance … We will always stand by our pensioners to ensure they have a dignified retirement and security in retirement.

There will be more on the economy because Rishi Sunak is giving a speech on the subject this morning, and taking questions from journalists. I will also be focusing quite a lot on the Covid inquiry where Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, is giving evidence.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9am: Rishi Sunak speaks at the opening of a global food security summit where he is due to launch the international development white paper.

10.30am: Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, gives evidence to the Covid inquiry. His evidence is due to last all day.

Mid morning: Sunak gives a speech on the economy and holds a Q&A with journalists.

11.30am: No 10 holds a lobby briefing.

2.30pm: David Cameron is introduced as a peer in the House of Lords.

4.45pm: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, speaks at the County Councils Network conference.

Also, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, is on a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.

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Rishi Sunak is considering blocking a key human rights law to help force through plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda amid growing pressure from rightwing Conservative MPs, Rajeev Syal reports.

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The Times has more on the row that this plan has generated within cabinet. In his story Steven Swinford reports:

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Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, is pushing for emergency legislation to disapply the Human Rights Act and direct courts to ignore the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in asylum cases.

\n

However, cabinet ministers including James Cleverly, the home secretary, Victoria Prentis, the attorney general, and Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, are said to have reservations about a hardline approach. One senior government source described the strategy as “mad”, saying the courts would go “ballistic” and questioning whether Sunak would be willing to endorse it.

\n

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We’ve had the net zero relaunch, the party conference relaunch, the King’s Speech relaunch and the reshuffle relaunch, none of which has made a difference to the polls. We now need the autumn statement relaunch which will actually connect with voters.

\n

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MAIL: Are we finally on brink of a REAL tax cut? #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/moxM6b6ZZi

— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) November 19, 2023

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Most of the reporting is somewhat speculative, but this morning a junior Treasury minister, Gareth Davies, has been giving interviews and on at least one issue he was able to be categorical.

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\n

I think we also need to come to terms with the fact that the triple lock is very expensive and how sustainable is that going forward in terms of pensions and all the other benefits?

\n

Because my mother, she’s not very rich but she’s perfectly comfortable. She just texted me today aged 75 to say ‘I’ve just heard about my £500 winter fuel payment’ and I’m just like ‘you don’t need that’.

\n

But finding a mechanism to try and ration that [the winter fuel payment] is very difficult because our HMRC system will look at household incomes. These are the sorts of mechanics of government you’ve got to look at.

\n

Is it better if we spent more of that money on child poverty? It probably is. But these are the sorts of things I think we need to look at.

\n

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Good idea, you might think. But it is not going to happen. Davies told Sky News this morning:

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\n

We are not going to be touching the winter fuel allowance … We will always stand by our pensioners to ensure they have a dignified retirement and security in retirement.

\n

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Here is the agenda for the day.

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9am: Rishi Sunak speaks at the opening of a global food security summit where he is due to launch the international development white paper.

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10.30am: Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s former chief scientific adviser, gives evidence to the Covid inquiry. His evidence is due to last all day.

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Mid morning: Sunak gives a speech on the economy and holds a Q&A with journalists.

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11.30am: No 10 holds a lobby briefing.

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2.30pm: David Cameron is introduced as a peer in the House of Lords.

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4.45pm: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, speaks at the County Councils Network conference.

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Also, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, is on a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

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Key events

Filters BETA

Sunak could block Human Rights Act to force through Rwanda asylum plan

The Times has more on the row that this plan has generated within cabinet. In his story Steven Swinford reports:

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, is pushing for emergency legislation to disapply the Human Rights Act and direct courts to ignore the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in asylum cases.

However, cabinet ministers including James Cleverly, the home secretary, Victoria Prentis, the attorney general, and Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, are said to have reservations about a hardline approach. One senior government source described the strategy as “mad”, saying the courts would go “ballistic” and questioning whether Sunak would be willing to endorse it.

Here is a round-up of what the papers are saying about the autumn statement.

One government source said a cut in income tax was less likely than a cut in national insurance. There are concerns over the cost, £13 billion for a 2p cut, and because it would probably increase inflation as people had more money to spend. They suggested that Hunt was more likely to cut national insurance, particularly for self-employed workers, in an attempt to stimulate growth, because it would probably be cheaper and less inflationary.

The chancellor has been considering cutting inheritance tax and has assessed options including halving the rate from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. However, the issue became increasingly controversial after Labour attacked it as a tax cut for the wealthy during a cost of living crisis and some Tory MPs grew concerned. Inheritance tax cuts appear increasingly likely to be left until the budget in the spring.

The chancellor is expected to reduce business taxes. He is likely to extend “full expensing” — a tax relief allowing businesses to offset their investments against corporate tax — having concluded that the policy is less inflationary, and expensive, than previously thought.

The chancellor has shelved plans to cut inheritance tax until next year, raising Tories’ hopes that he could instead honour Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s promise to start cutting the 20p basic rate of income tax.

Sunak said last year that he wanted to lower the rate to 16 per cent by the end of the next parliament. A 1p cut from next April would be seen by MPs as a downpayment on that pledge. It would cost about £6bn, according to HMRC estimates.

Tory strategists had initially planned to hold back headline-grabbing income tax cuts until the spring Budget — closer to the likely date of the next election — but the party’s dire opinion poll ratings have put pressure on Hunt to act now …

A senior Tory insider said: “They’ve been looking at a 1p income tax cut. Number 10 needs a silver bullet. They need to do something to calm down the right of the party.” Hunt declined to rule out an income-tax cut.

Treasury officials have been examining how feasible a 1p or 2p cut would be ahead of Wednesday’s statement. They have ruled out relaxing the frozen thresholds around the levies.

Cutting income tax by 2p in the pound would cost £13 billion to £14 billion a year and save UK households around £450 annually on average. It would also give the Tories a much-needed boost ahead of the election, expected to be in autumn next year, as it trails Labour by 20-plus points in the polls.