Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce a £435 million crime-fighting package in this week’s combined Budget and Spending Review – with a particular emphasis on tackling violence against women.
In his statement to MPs on Wednesday, Mr Sunak is expected to say that he has earmarked £355 million for measures such as improved street lighting and better CCTV, with a further £80 million going to the Crown Prosecution Service.
In acknowledgment of national revulsion about the murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, serving Metropolitan Police officer, the Chancellor expects that the CPS will devote a substantial portion of the extra funds for improving its response to sexual violence cases.
It coincides with a rising alarm about the increasing number of women being drugged in the country after they have been given injections or their drinks altered in nightclubs.
Details of the funding were being worked out this weekend with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab. Mr Raab is understood to have been the last Cabinet Minister to reach an agreement with Chancellor over the final Spending Review settlement.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) will announce a £435 million crime-fighting package in this week’s combined Budget and Spending Review – with a particular emphasis on tackling violence against women
The most contentious part of the Budget has already been announced – the £12 billion rise in National Insurance to fund social care in England and help the NHS recover from the pandemic.
The 1.25p in the pound increase, which takes effect from April, has unsettled many Tory backbenchers who regard it as ‘unconservative’.
The NHS accounts for 8 percent of GDP, compared to 3 percent in the 1950s.
Former Tory Cabinet Minister David Davis today raises dire fears that Mr Sunak will drive the economy ‘onto the rocks’.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, opposite, Mr Davis casts doubt on the Chancellor’s ‘Thatcherite’ credentials and as a worthy successor to the Iron Lady’s ‘great Chancellor’ Nigel Lawson.
The ex-Brexit Secretary also says the Treasury under Mr Sunak is ‘too concerned with image over substance’, and that hiking taxes now to pay for Covid debt risks ‘stoking a cost-of-living crisis’ on a par with Labour’s ‘Winter of Discontent’ in the 1970s.
Mr Davis writes: ‘The way to dealing with such debt levels is to do exactly what we did after the war – issue the modern-day equivalent of “war bonds”, to be repaid over 50 years or more…
The Chancellor acknowledges that there is national revulsion over Sarah Everard’s murder (pictured), and expects the CPS will use a significant portion of the extra funds to improve its response to sexual violence cases.
‘Once we have dealt with the debt, we can set about balancing the books, but by tax cuts – not tax increases.’
Allies of Mr Sunak claim that his freedom of movement has been severely limited by the billions of pounds he borrowed to protect the economy during the pandemic and the inflationary pressures that have built up in the economy as a result of factors like higher energy prices.
The Bank of England has lowered its GDP forecasts in the third quarter by one percentage points to 2 percent. They now expect inflation to rise to above 4 percent.
With national debt running at almost 100 per cent of GDP, the highest since 1963, Mr Sunak is already paying £9 billion in interest every month on borrowing – a sum which will rocket if interest rates rise from their record low of 0.1 per cent.
Wayne Couzens, Metropolitan Police Officer
However he was given some extra wriggle room after Government borrowing fell to £21.8 billion in September, from £28.8 billion in the same month a year earlier, a larger fall than expected.
The new money to tackle crime will include a rise in funding to help victims to £185 million, which amounts to an 85 per cent increase since 2020, while £50 million will go towards the Safer Streets Fund for investment in CCTV, improved street lighting, intruder alarms and locked gates around alleyways.
The fund also assists local authorities and police to develop new strategies to prevent crime through programs that raise awareness and change behaviours.
The CPS will be expected to improve the way it deals with rape cases by increasing prosecution numbers, helping restore victims’ confidence, and improving their collaboration with the police.
The funding will also be used to help the CPS prosecute additional cases brought into the system by the Government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 extra police officers.
Last night, Labour demanded that VAT be removed from domestic energy bills in winter to alleviate a living crisis. (file photo)
Mr Sunak said: ‘We should all feel as safe, whether we’re walking our streets, staying at home or going out for the evening – but this is sometimes not the case, especially for young women.
‘That is why we’re committing hundreds of millions of pounds to change this, from boosting investment in better CCTV and street lighting, to better home security and support for repeat victims.’
Labour called last night for the removal of VAT on domestic energy bills over winter to ease a crisis in living costs.
Rishi Sunak will lower air passenger duty for UK flights as part of the Government’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda
Rishi Sunak is planning to cut air passenger duty for flights within the UK in the Budget, as part of the Government’s drive to ‘level up’ the country and cement closer ties within the Union.
The move will coincide with a hike in the rate for long-haul destinations such as Australia, South Africa and Japan as the Treasury tries to burnish its ‘jet zero’ environmental credentials ahead of next month’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
The duty, which is currently levied in two bands – under 2,000 miles and above 2,000 miles – is paid by airlines, but is usually passed on to their customers.
The move will coincide with a hike in the rate for long-haul destinations such as Australia, South Africa and Japan as the Treasury tries to burnish its ‘jet zero’ environmental credentials ahead of next month’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow
The maximum levied per passenger, which is already due to rise to £554 next April, is likely to go even higher for destinations more than 6,000 miles away.
The Chancellor is also planning to help ‘level up’ the country by spending £6.9 billion on improving rail, tram, bus and cycle networks in English big city regions.
To protect pubs and vineyards against the economic damage caused by Covid, Mr Sunak is considering reducing the tax on beer in kegs and sparkling English wines. He also proposes imposing a residential property tax on developers to pay for the removal flammable coating from high-rise buildings.
The Chancellor is also planning to help ‘level up’ the country by spending £6.9 billion on improving rail, tram, bus and cycle networks in English big city regions (file image)
The levy would be paid by housebuilders with profits of more than £25 million who hoard land.
Mr Sunak is also expected to announce £3 billion of investment in education, including the quadrupling of places on skills bootcamps and more classroom hours for up to 100,000 16- to 19-year-olds studying ‘T levels’.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss hires an ‘Instagram guru’ to project her image on social media – and combat the slick online efforts of rival Rishi Sunak
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is recruiting an ‘Instagram guru’ to project her image on social media – and combat the slick online efforts of leadership rival Rishi Sunak.
Ms Truss, who is already an enthusiastic poster of personal photos on the picture- and video-sharing app, has asked for permission from No 10 to add a ‘digital media special adviser’ to her team.
Mr Sunak is also the only Minister to hire an image expert.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is recruiting an ‘Instagram guru’ to project her image on social media – and combat the slick online efforts of leadership rival Rishi Sunak
Cass Horowitz, co-founder of The Clerkenwell Brothers, a creative studio specialising in ‘strategy, identity, advertising and social’, has been credited with overhauling the Chancellor’s digital profile and establishing the ‘dishy Rishi’ brand.
Anthony Horowitz’s son, Mr. Horowitz has replaced grainy head-and shoulders shots with stylised photoshoots and glossy infographics. Hollywood-style videos include the recent film of Chancellor hailing success of the furlough program, which was set to dramatic orchestral music.
Interviews were also conducted with non-traditional media outlets like Glamour magazine or the LadBible website.
It comes against a backdrop of unsubtle jockeying for the role of Boris Johnson’s heir apparent.
The promotion of Ms Truss to Foreign Secretary in the recent reshuffle has cemented her status as the Tory members’ favourite to succeed Mr Johnson as party leader.
Her Instagram photos range from Thatcher-esque shots of her bestriding on the world stage to photos of cakes she has made.
According to ConservativeHome’s latest monthly poll, the Chancellor dropped from second to fifth.
Although Mr Sunak remains the preferred choice of the wider electorate it is the Tory members that will ultimately decide his fate.
Former Brexit secretary DAVID DAVIS writes that high taxing Chancellor Rishi Sunak is going to send the UK economy crashing onto its feet.
David Davis Former Brexit Secretary to The Mail on Sunday
Rishi Sunak will deliver his Autumn Budget this week as the country faces its worst winter crisis in more than 40 years.
Rising fuel prices, tens or billions of dollars in tax increases, inflationary forces, and an environmental activist agenda to net zero are all contributing factors to the cost of living crisis facing ordinary families.
The ears of the nation will be hanging on the Chancellor’s every word to see how he proposes to avoid the impending storm. The Chancellor claims to be a Itcherite.
I knew Margaret Thatcher. I will be keeping an eye on him to see if he can match the brilliance of Thatcher and her great Chancellor Nigel Lawson.
DAVID DAVIS: Rising fuel prices, tens of billions of pounds of tax increases, inflationary pressures and an environmental activist agenda for net zero are fuelling a cost of living crisis for ordinary families
Sadly, every indication so far is that his current course will take us on to the rocks – not away from them.
Rishi may do this, I fear. He will continue to raise taxes as a solution to the ballooning Government debt.
As a matter of fact, increases in National Insurance premiums and Corporation Tax have already been announced.
Unless he changes course at the very last moment, the Chancellor will risk stoking a cost of living crisis that will ensure his legacy is more akin to Denis Healey’s Winter of Discontent than the Thatcherite Lawson boom.
Everyone agrees that there must be radical action to address the massive scale of post-pandemic government debt.
Driven by more than £400 billion of Covid borrowings, we have borrowed on a scale not seen since after each world war.
However, raising taxes is not the solution. The tax burden is at an all-time high, as it has been since the 1940s. An increase in the tax burden will only cause more damage to the economy and result in lower tax receipts.
NO, the way to deal with such debt levels is to do exactly what we did after the war – issue the modern-day equivalent of ‘war bonds’, to be repaid over 50 years or more.
We should have done it before inflation and expectations of higher interest rates.
Once we have dealt with the debt, we can set about balancing the books, but by tax cuts – not tax increases. Taxes can be a problem for the economy.
Together, high taxes combined with high inflation pose a threat to our recovery after a pandemic.
DAVID DAVIS : I was a friend of Margaret Thatcher and I will be keeping an eye on him to see if he can match the brilliance she and her great Chancellor Nigel Lawson brought into government
The worst is yet to arrive. According to the Bank, inflation could rise to 5% by the start of next year.
Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, recently said the central bank ‘will have to act’ to tackle inflationary pressure, which almost inevitably means interest rates rising.
Raising the Bank’s base rate from its historic low of 0.1 per cent will have dramatic and tangible impacts.
The Chancellor estimates that a one percentage point rise will cost the Treasury £25 billion annually – double the cost of the new Social Care Levy.
Inflation and rising interest rates will squeeze our vital infrastructure but it’s not just us. Rising costs are already putting pressure on millions of workers.
Ronald Reagan, Thatcher’s ideological soulmate, described inflation as ‘not just high prices; it’s a reduction in the value of our money’. Inflation can be described as a hidden tax.
People pay more for food, fuel, and their bills, so they have less money to spend elsewhere. This slows down economic growth.
This problem is amplified by the Government’s disastrous decision to freeze the income tax personal allowance rate until 2026, which will only make the poorest worse off.
Compounding all this is the decision to break with the Tory manifesto pledge and increase National Insurance by 1.25 percentage points to fund the Government’s social care reforms.
This is the worst of all worlds as it fails to fix the entrenched problems with the social care sector, while simultaneously sapping £12 billion from the economy annually.
The Chancellor is also incorrect in believing that Covid will be paid for by raising Corporation Tax rates to 19 to 25 percent.
We need to encourage businesses to succeed, not suppress them with tax rates that exceed 36% of national output.
Higher productivity is essential if we want to increase wages. This in turn will lead to higher investment. Increases in corporation tax will not lead to more investment.
We can’t attract the businesses that will create the jobs and capitalise on the benefits of Brexit without creating a dynamic and business-friendly economic environment.
Collectively, these naive and economically ineffective policies have political consequences – not least for the Chancellor.
His favourability rating has plummeted from 52 per cent in April 2013 to 31 per cent today. Opposition to the National Insurance increase is growing: from 43% to 48%
Sadly this Treasury all too often reaches for expedient decisions – prioritising short-term issues over long-term stability.
The government chose to fund the Social Care Levy via National Insurance over income tax, which is a classic example where it chooses what is easiest rather than what’s right.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that health spending would balloon ‘from 27 per cent of day-to-day public expenditure in 1999-2000 to a projected 44 per cent by 2024-25’.
Frankly, the Treasury is too cautious. They are too concerned with image and substance.
The Chancellor should govern by conservative principles and not opinion polls.
On Wednesday, he will be faced with a choice: To pursue the politics from the 1970s in a high tax, low-growth economy, which seeks to quickly repay the Covid Debt; or to pursue the politics for low-tax, high growth that takes a longer-view and allows for economic freedom.
Even now, in the eleventh hour, I urge him to accept the challenge and not to shy away.