UK interest rates are set to stay at 4.5%, with another cut to borrowing costs unlikely while the Bank of England assesses mounting global uncertainty, experts have said.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold when they make the announcement at midday.
It comes as reports suggest Rachel Reeves is set to announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity in her spring statement next week.
Certain departments could face reductions of up to seven per cent over the next four years as the chancellor looks to slash Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously thought, the Guardian reported.
Having reportedly ruled out tax rises, Ms Reeves is set to tell MPs her plans next Wednesday, with experts warning fresh cuts would hit vital public services, a week after her party slashed the welfare bill by around £5 billion.
Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch has warned that the upcoming local elections will be “extremely difficult” as she set a pessimistic tone during her party’s campaign launch.
The Conservative leader warned that they would lost “every single” council it won in 2021 if the general election results were mapped onto the coming local poll.
Lib Dems say voters ‘haven’t forgiven the Conservatives’ for damage caused
The Liberal Democrats described the Tory local election launch as a “desperate attempt to shore up the crumbling Conservative vote”.
Responding to the launch event, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “The first brick in the blue wall came tumbling down in Buckinghamshire in the Chesham and Amersham by-election. Now Kemi Badenoch is back there in a desperate attempt to shore up the crumbling Conservative vote as people in the home counties turn to the Liberal Democrats.
“Whilst Kemi’s Conservatives compete with Reform in their policy agenda, the Liberal Democrats are focused on delivering for residents on issues including the cost of living, sewage in our rivers and the emergency in our NHS and care. Voters in Buckinghamshire and across the country haven’t forgiven the Conservatives for all the damage they’ve done. Badenoch will hear the very same if she knocks on doors today.
“Voters have a clear choice in May, and across the country, including in Buckinghamshire, they are turning to the Liberal Democrats as community champions who will stand up for them.”
Council tax bills rise by 5% for third year in a row as cost pressures bite
Council tax bill rises will hit 5 per cent in April for the third year in a row, as almost all councils increase bills up to, or close to, the maximum permitted, Government figures confirm.
The average annual band D bill, the standard measure of council tax, will be £2,280 including all precepts this year, an increase of £109 on 2024-25 and 20 per cent rise on 2021-22, when the average bill was £1,898.
With 384 lower and upper tier councils subject to referendum principles, which allow them to raise the levy by 4.99 per cent without triggering a local referendum, 293 opted to hit the threshold and 56 chose to go close to the maximum.
This means 91 per cent of councils felt it necessary to impose significant increases, to cover growing cost pressures and rising demand for support services not provided by direct government grants and other revenue.
Council tax bills on average have increased by 5.1 per cent in the previous two years.
‘You will have to live with what you vote for’, Badenoch warns
The May local elections are not a “national referendum”, Kemi Badenoch said, urging voters to remember “you will have to live with what you vote for”.
Asked whether she had changed Tory policies, like scrapping net zero by 2050, in response to Reform UK, the Conservative leader said: “I talked about net zero in 2019, there was no Reform then, in 2022 when I first stood for leadership, when I was business secretary. What people can see with me is consistency. They know what they are getting.
“But these local elections aren’t about me. They are about the public. What is it that they want in terms of public services?”
She added: “It is about all of these local councillors who pound the pavements every day, fixing things, making life better for ordinary people. That is what we are doing this May.
“This is not a national referendum. People sometimes will vote for protest parties, but what I’m saying now is that you will have to live with what you vote for. It’s not just an opinion.
Badenoch takes thinly veiled swipe at Farage during speech
Politics is “not showbusiness”, Kemi Badenoch said in a veiled criticism of Nigel Farage.
Asked what the ideological difference between the Tories and Mr Farage’s Reform UK is, Mrs Badenoch told reporters: “One of the things which I’ve been saying quite frequently – and I did in my speech on Tuesday when I launched our policy renewal programme – was that we don’t just make announcements, we have a plan.”
The Tory leader said “people have lost trust in politics because politicians make promises and don’t deliver”.
She added: “We also fell foul of that from time to time, and what I’m saying now is the Conservative Party is under new leadership.
“This is not showbusiness. This is not a game. This is about people’s lives. This is not for us. It is for all those people out there who need credible politicians. That is what we’re offering.”
Badenoch: ‘If you vote Labour, you get trash’
Kemi Badenoch has issued a strong message to voters at her party’s local election launch in Buckinghamshire as the party scrambles to avoid another election wipeout, warning: “If you vote Labour, you get trash”.
As the Tories battle the threat from Reform UK and poor ratings in the polls, the Conservative leader put in a bid to keep traditional voters on side by painting a stark picture of what she argued was Labour’s impact on local councils.
“Labour councils always cost you more and deliver less”, she claimed. “I was in Birmingham at the weekend. Labour has run it into the ground. Bins not collected. Rubbish piling high everywhere.”
They have a £1bn black hole in their budget, now they’ve hiked council tax by 21 per cent over two years and cut services, all while Labour councillors gave themselves a pay rise.
“So I say to all of you watching, don’t let Labour do that to your council. If you vote labor, you get trash.”
Closing out her speech, she added: “If you want to stop Labour wrecking your area, vote Conservative. Don’t just hope for a great council, vote for one.”
Badenoch offers pessimistic vision for upcoming local elections
Kemi Badenoch has offered up pessimistic vision ahead of May’s local elections, saying she expects the party to do just “a bit better” than a total wipeout.
Speaking at her party’s local election launch in Buckinghamshire, the Tory leader said: “If you match the general election result of 2024 onto this coming May, then we don’t win the councils like we won in 2021 – we lose almost every single one.”
“But I think we’re going to do a bit better than that”, she added.
Mrs Badenoch continued: “We know that these elections will be extremely difficult, but we also know why they matter”.
Tory MP acknowledges local election campaign will not be ‘straightforward’
The Conservatives are not going to have a “straightforward” or “easy” local elections in May, the party’s shadow communities secretary has admitted.
Speaking at the launch of the Tories’ local election campaign, Kevin Hollinrake said: “Since the general election, we’ve won twice as many seats in terms of net gains compared to any other party. We know we can do this.
“We also know that May 1 is not going to be straightforward. It’s not going to be going to be easy. We have been judged against the high water mark of 2021.
“We’ve got to be realistic, but we can win. And, my god, do we need to win.”
Conservative MPs Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) and Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield), as well as former Peterborough MP Paul Bristow, were among those gathered at the event in Buckinghamshire.
Bank of England set to keep interest rates on hold as global uncertainty grows
UK interest rates are set to stay at 4.5 per cent, with another cut to borrowing costs unlikely while the Bank of England assesses mounting global uncertainty, experts have said.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold on Thursday when they make their announcement at midday.
The MPC has been gradually cutting borrowing costs since August, easing pressure on some borrowers who have been able to offer lower mortgage rates.
This has been possible while the rate of UK inflation has been steadily falling from the highs reached in 2023, at the peak of the cost-of-living crisis.
But the Bank’s governor Andrew Bailey has been keen to stress that the committee wants to take a “gradual and careful approach” to reducing rates while monitoring changes in the UK and global economy.
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3 per cent in January, with price pressure mainly being driven by energy prices, water bills and bus fares.
At the same time, the UK economy has been teetering on the edge of decline – with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.1 per cent over the final three months of the year but contracting by 0.1 per cent in January.
Car crushing and garrotting suggested as fly-tipping punishment
MPs have suggested car crushing and garrotting as punishments for fly tipping.
Paul Waugh, the Labour MP for Rochdale, told the Commons: “My council tells me there’s a real failure in the courts to issue consistent and tough enough fines, so does the minister agree with me it’s time to crack down harder on fly-tippers, for much tighter regulations on waste carriers, and treat the fly-tippers like the criminals they are by crushing their cars or putting points on their licence?”
Nature minister Mary Creagh replied: “I couldn’t agree more with (Mr Waugh).”
She described “enthusiasm from all sides of the House” when Mr Waugh asked his question, adding: “Our message to the waste criminals is clear – we are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill and we are going to track you down.”
Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne later said: “Alas, the last government did not take up my suggestion that the offenders be garrotted with their own intestines. The first problem, however, is to catch them.
“Is there any way that local authorities can be encouraged to take advantage of the collapse in price and improvement in quality of internet-connected cameras?”
Ms Creagh replied: “I think there’d be some human rights implications with the garrotting option, but I do share his passionate hatred for these environmental criminals.”
In a nod to Sir Desmond’s New Forest West constituency, Ms Creagh added it “really upsets me to see ancient woodland run by the Forestry Commission fly-tipped – these are precious, irreplicable areas”.
Starmer accused of waging new ‘war on countryside’ after axing grant that saves local pubs
The Community Ownership Fund, which launched 2021 with the aim of handing out £150m worth of grants by the end of 2025, was cancelled early with £135m having been allocated to date.
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Source: independent.co.uk
