In this issue

October 04, 2022

Tory MPs could block Truss cuts to welfare and services

Centrist Conservative MPs have vowed to block Liz Truss's plans for reduced spending on public services and welfare, after a humiliating U-turn on tax left the prime minister's authority deeply damaged.

5 mins

Spending freeze to put hole in public services' budgets

Schools and hospitals must find a whopping £11bn of cuts after the chancellor refused to protect their budgets from rampant inflation, experts say. Kwasi Kwarteng is being warned that his decision to stick to 2021 spending allocations - despite prices now rising by 10 per cent - spells bad news "for stretched public services".

2 mins

It's been a tough old day for Kwarteng's planet-sized ego

Before the chancellor's speech, the police put the Tory party conference on lockdown. There'd been a "potential security incident", apparently. Perhaps they'd been tipped off that a man was about to go on the main stage and not merely shit himself but then seek to scoop it all up and cram it back up his own arse in the hope that no one would notice.

4 mins

Younger voters will never back 'anti-EU and populist' Tories, ex-ministers warn

The Tories will never win back younger voters as an anti-Europe and populist party, former cabinet ministers have warned - as they called for trade links with the EU to be rebuilt.

2 mins

Labour polls 25-point lead after mini-Budget shambles

A new poll has given Labour a 25-point lead over the Conservatives, setting Liz Truss on track for a "wipe-out" at the next general election. The survey by Savanta ComRes is the latest in a string of polls showing a collapse in support for the Tories in the wake of Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget.

1 min

Will anyone own up to the 45p tax fiasco? Not likely

There is a quote, often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, that success has many fathers, but failure is always an orphan. This cannot help but spring to mind in the great additional tax rate imbroglio, and as top Tories grind through the blame game during their conference the policy of giving the biggest tax cuts to the richest people seems curiously friendless.

2 mins

Braverman considers precharge suspect anonymity

Home secretary Suella Braverman is considering a radical change to the criminal justice system to guarantee suspects anonymity before they are charged.

2 mins

Risk of winter gas supply emergency, Ofgem warns

The energy regulator has warned that the UK is facing a "significant risk" of gas shortages this winter. Ofgem said that, because of Russia's war with Ukraine, there was a possibility the UK would enter a "gas supply emergency".

2 mins

Water firms threatened with £250m sewage dump fines

The new environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, has said the government will act to clean up the UK's rivers and seas with considerable increases to maximum fines for polluting water companies.

2 mins

Secret of 'super-agers' with good memories in their 80s

People who retain sharp memories aged 80 years and older tend to have significantly larger nerve cells, or "super-neurons", in some parts of their brains, according to a new study.

2 mins

Read all stories from The Independent

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