Summary
As the debate on the bill to repeat the national insurance increase continues in a sparsely attended House of Commons, here’s a roundup of today’s news.
Labour’s Rachel Reeves has accused Kwasi Kwarteng of being in “dangerous state of denial” over the impact of the mini-budget, as mortgages could rise by £500 per month.
The International Monetary Fund has restated its criticism of the measures in the government’s mini-budget. It said his tax cuts and energy support package had made the Bank of England’s battle against inflation more difficult.
The chair of the Treasury select committee, Mel Stride, has said that rowing back on tax cuts “has to be on the table” for the chancellor in his fiscal statement on 31 October .
In the Commons, Stride told Kwarteng not to include measures in the fiscal update unless he is confident that he will be able to get them through parliament.
A parliamentary debate has begun on whether the government will reverse the 1.25% national insurance increase introduced by Boris Johnson. The chief secretary to the Treasury, Chris Philp, said it would make working more attractive.
People on benefits will find out at the end of October if their payments will rise in line with inflation or end up with a real-terms cut, Kwarteng has suggested.
Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister, has criticised the Scottish government’s decision to go to the supreme court today to seek permission to hold an independence referendum.
The government has not ruled out scrapping long-awaited reforms to protect private renters from so-called “no fault” evictions, a manifesto pledge, PA Media reports.
Conservative and Labour peers have called for a “pause” of the passage of the Northern Ireland protocol bill through the House of Lords while negotiations are under way to find a political settlement to the Brexit row.
Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has begun a restructuring of his office within the Labour party, with his chief of staff, Sam White departing. The party will also be leaving its Southside offices.
That’s all for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
Low-income households will have to wait until the end of October to find out if welfare payments will rise with inflation or be subject to a real-terms cut, the chancellor has suggested.
Kwasi Kwarteng sought to calm the markets by proclaiming that his Halloween growth plan would be “relentlessly upbeat”, but faced hostile questions from Tory MPs during the first Commons showdown over September’s mini-budget.
Amid a push by some cabinet ministers and Conservative backbenchers for welfare payments to rise in line with inflation, Treasury ministers sought to play down any suggestion they had made up their mind.
Kwarteng said that “no decisions have been made” and there was a “natural, usual statutory process that’s being taken”.
