Rabu, 05 Oktober 2022

Liz Truss speech: PM to say disruption will be worth it for growth - BBC

Liz TrussPA Media

Liz Truss will use her set-piece Tory conference speech to explain why she thinks the "disruption" caused by her economic policies will be worth it.

"Everyone will benefit" from the economic growth produced by her tax-cutting plan, the PM will claim.

After a bruising conference marked by U-turns and internal division, she will set out a long-term vision for the country under her leadership.

And she will attempt to reassure her party that she is on the right path.

The speech is due to get under way at 11:00 BST.

"Whenever there is change, there is disruption," she will tell party members.

"Not everyone will be in favour. But everyone will benefit from the result - a growing economy and a better future."

Asked what "disruption" there could be and whether higher mortgage interest payments were acceptable, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told BBC Breakfast: "There's almost an inevitability about an increase in interest rates because it's going on around the globe.

"What we need to do is make sure we find a way of offsetting that by having a growing economy, growing wages."

Major providers have already increased rates on mortgages, after the government's mini-budget led to a slump in the value of the pound and traders expected the Bank of England to raise interest rates more sharply than previously anticipated.

The four-day conference in Birmingham has been overshadowed by wrangling within the party over the future direction of the economy.

This week Ms Truss - who became prime minister a month ago after winning a Tory leadership contest - dramatically abandoned plans to scrap the top rate of income tax announced at the mini-budget on 23 September, after criticism from her own MPs.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was in favour of abolishing the 45p tax rate for higher earners and disappointed by the U-turn, said the policy had been overturned by a "coup" within the party.

Cabinet colleagues have also come out publicly against the suggestion that benefits could be linked to the rise in earnings rather than inflation.

Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons, said it "makes sense" for Universal Credit to continue to be linked to inflation, which has soared during the cost of living crisis.

Other senior Tories, including former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, have also said during the conference that an inflation-level rise should go ahead.

Asked whether Ms Mordaunt was right in her comments, Mr Cleverly said no policy had been made yet but it was better to "feed ideas directly into the centre" of government.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has faced pressure following financial turmoil in the wake of the mini-budget, after markets reacted badly to plans to borrow to fund £45bn in tax cuts.

The Conservatives have slumped in the polls since the mini-budget was unveiled, with Labour opening up wide leads.

In an interview with Times Radio, former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said MPs would "find a way to make change" if poll numbers against Ms Truss did not improve.

"I want Liz to succeed, so I'm hoping that she can turn us around," he said. "I think there is a window of opportunity for her to do it."

However, former Brexit Secretary David Davis, who has been a strong critic of Ms Truss, said the idea of getting rid of her before the next election was "fantasy".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it had been "a poor start" to her leadership but "you've got to make this work".

"If the party splits into pieces then we will lose the next election," he added.

Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss
Reuters

While there are no big policy announcements expected in her speech, BBC Political Editor Chris Mason said Ms Truss would use her platform to "attempt to pull this party together" following days of "open dysfunction".

"Governments function through the exercise of power and authority - and there've been two transparent examples in the last two days of this government lacking in both...

"This is a government that is nervous - with a lot to be nervous about."

Ms Truss will also say there has been too much focus on redistributing wealth within society, rather than on increasing the size of the economy.

"Instead, we need to grow the pie so that everyone gets a bigger slice," she will say.

"That is why I am determined to take a new approach and break us out of this high-tax, low-growth cycle.

"We have huge talent across the country. We're not making enough of it.

"To deliver this, we need to get Britain moving. We cannot have any more drift and delay at this vital time."

A No 10 source said Ms Truss would aim to spell out her long-term vision in her address, and was planning to speak to Tory MPs in Parliament next week to listen to concerns and explain her plans.

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2022-10-05 08:05:35Z
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Selasa, 04 Oktober 2022

Man held after woman killed by American bulldogs in Liverpool - BBC

Dog attack scene in Liverpool

A man has been arrested after a woman was mauled to death by dogs in a house.

The 65-year-old, named locally as Ann Dunn, was fatally attacked at a property which had been listed for dog breeding online on St Brigid's Crescent in Kirkdale, Liverpool, on Monday.

Five American bulldogs inside the house were handed over and have since been humanely destroyed.

Merseyside Police said a man, aged 31, had been held on suspicion of owning a dog dangerously out of control.

Dog attack scene in Liverpool

Det Insp Katie Coote said it was "clearly a very distressing incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the lady who died".

"Our inquiries remain ongoing as we seek to establish what has happened and I would urge anyone who could assist... to get in touch," she added.

The force said the woman had not yet been formally identified but her next of kin had been informed.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out to establish the cause of death.

American bulldogs are not one of the four breeds currently banned in the UK.

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2022-10-04 13:04:05Z
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Tory conference: Liz Truss declines to say she trusts Kwasi Kwarteng - BBC

The prime minister was asked several times if she trusted Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng with future policy decisions, but seemingly avoided saying that she did.

"I work very, very closely with my chancellor," Liz Truss said. The interviewer said viewers would note that Truss did not say she trusted her chancellor.

She was touring a construction site in Selly Oak when she spoke to the media.

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2022-10-04 13:15:49Z
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David Fuller: Killer hospital worker who abused bodies in morgues charged with 16 more offences - Sky News

A hospital worker who murdered two women and abused dead bodies in mortuaries has been charged with 16 further offences, police have said.

Warning: This story contains graphic content

David Fuller was given a whole life sentence last year for the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.

The electrician also filmed himself abusing corpses, including a nine-year-old girl and a 100-year-old woman, in hospital morgues over 12 years before his arrest in December 2020, a court heard.

Fuller, 67, had pleaded guilty to sexual offences against 78 deceased females at mortuaries in Tunbridge Wells Hospital and at the former Kent and Sussex Hospital between 2008 and 2020.

After an investigation led to evidence of 101 victims in the mortuaries, Fuller has been charged with further offences related to the 23 remaining victims, Kent Police said.

Thirteen of the 23 further victims - who were all adult women - have been formally identified but police have been unable to identity 10 women, the force added.

More on David Fuller

Fuller will appear via video link before Medway Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

He faces:

• 10 charges under the Sexual Offences Act relating to 10 identified victims

• Two further charges under the Sexual Offences Act relating to three unidentified victims

• Two charges relating to the possession of extreme pornography in connection with 13 identified victims

• Two further charges relating to the possession of extreme pornography in connection with 10 unidentified victims

Read more: How David Fuller was caught - and how he got away with his crimes for so long

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David Fuller: The murderer and the mortuary

An independent inquiry, led by Sir Jonathan Michael, is set to take place into Fuller's crimes.

Fuller's wife Mala, who lived with him for 20 years in Heathfield, East Sussex, left him after his arrest.

The killings of Ms Knell, 25, and 20-year-old Ms Pierce - known as "the bedsit murders" - had remained unsolved for more than three decades until advanced DNA techniques identified Fuller as the killer.

He had also sexually abused the two murder victims after their deaths.

Read more: 'She was violated' - Mother of woman abused by David Fuller speaks out

EMBARGOED UNTIL VERDICT
Wendy Knell
Image: Wendy Knell was murdered by Fuller in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987
EMBARGOED UNTIL VERDICT
Caroline Pierce
Image: Caroline Pierce was also murdered by Fuller

Fuller, who has a son and daughter, had initially admitted the hospital attacks and denied both murders - but he pleaded guilty to the killings on the sixth day of his trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

He also pleaded guilty to 51 other offences, including 44 charges relating to 78 victims in mortuaries between 2008 and November 2020.

They included the sexual penetration of a corpse, possessing an extreme pornographic image involving sexual interference with a corpse and taking indecent images of children.

Fuller was handed a whole life sentence for the murders with a concurrent 12-year term for his other crimes.

EMBARGOED UNTIL VERDICT
David Fuller
Image: Fuller admitted the two murders during his trial

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Moment David Fuller was arrested

During sentencing, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb QC told Fuller: "You became a vulture, picking your victims from among the dead from the hidden world of hospital mortuaries, which you were left free to inhabit simply because you had a swipe card."

Kent Police had to enlist more than 300 family liaison officers from more than half of the UK's forces to break the news to the relatives of the deceased.

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2022-10-04 12:45:00Z
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Scotland's papers: 'New Tory rebellion' after U-turn on tax cut - BBC

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2022-10-04 06:47:55Z
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Senin, 03 Oktober 2022

Slough murder inquiry: Man dies after being knocked off bike and attacked - BBC

Waterman CourtGoogle

A murder inquiry has been started after a man was fatally attacked by a group of men who had just knocked him off his bike in a car.

The 21-year-old was hit by a black Volkswagen Golf in Earls Lane, Slough, on Sunday night.

About four men got out of the vehicle and chased him to Waterman Court where he was attacked. The group then fled in the same car.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene just after 21:45 BST.

Earls Lane
Google

Senior investigating officer, Det Ch Insp Andy Howard said: "This is a tragic and shocking incident. Details at this very early stage are limited, including descriptions of the offenders.

"It is therefore incredibly important we hear from anyone who witnessed any part of this incident."

He added the car could be damaged as a result of the crash and urged anyone with dashcam, CCTV or doorbell footage which could be relevant to come forward.

Det Ch Insp Howard continued: "Our officers are at the scene and will remain so while our investigation continues.

"I appreciate that a serious incident such as this may create a lot of concern in the community, but... at this time there is no indication that there is any wider risk to the public."

Thames Valley Police confirmed the man's next of kin had been informed and were being supported by specially trained officers.

Waterman Court and Earls Lane
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2022-10-03 08:22:25Z
1588882658

Liz Truss backs down on 45p tax rate cut in major U-turn - Financial Times

Liz Truss has executed a major U-turn by scrapping plans to axe the 45p top rate of tax after facing a growing revolt from Tory MPs led by former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps.

Investors bought sterling and UK government bonds in response to the policy reversal. By Monday afternoon the pound had returned to the level it had been at before the government announced its tax-cutting plan last month.

After insisting on Sunday that the controversial plan to abolish the 45p rate would go ahead, Truss concluded after talks with her senior team that it stood no chance of getting through the House of Commons.

On Monday morning Kwasi Kwarteng, her chancellor, confirmed he was abandoning the plan laid out in his “mini” Budget 10 days ago to cut the taxes of Britain’s richest 1 per cent; the 45p rate applies to earnings of more than £150,000. In a statement, he said: “We get it, and we have listened.”

The chancellor added: “It is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country.”

By afternoon trading on Monday the pound had risen 0.5 per cent against the dollar to just over $1.12. This compared with sterling’s record low against the US currency a week ago after Kwarteng announced the debt-funded £45bn package of tax cuts on September 23.

The price of UK government debt rose following Monday’s announcement, pushing yields lower. The 10-year gilt yield fell 0.1 percentage points to 3.97 per cent, having reached a high of almost 4.6 per cent during last week’s market ructions.

The retreat comes on the day Kwarteng addresses the Conservative conference in Birmingham and will add to Tory concerns that he and Truss have lost a grip on the government and the economy.

Although scrapping the top rate of tax would have cost only between £2bn and £3bn a year, it was seen by some Tory MPs as totemic of a government that appeared to be losing touch with voters.

One cabinet minister close to Truss said: “It’s a very painful decision but we had no choice ultimately. There was no way we were going to get the Budget through.”

Truss and Kwarteng held emergency talks on Sunday in Birmingham, according to government insiders, after facing a growing rebellion from Tory MPs who publicly stated they would vote against the 45p measure.

Another senior minister said: “The politics of this were just awful and I am amazed the idea has lasted as long as it did.”

On Sunday Gove, a former cabinet minister, put himself at the forefront of the Tory mutiny over the tax cut, saying it was wrong at a time when “people are suffering”.

Shapps, former transport secretary, also denounced the plan, saying it would not survive a parliamentary vote.

Another Tory MP representing a working-class seat described as “deranged” the idea of slashing taxes for the rich while planning cuts to benefits and public services.

Kwarteng told BBC Breakfast on Monday that the government had scrapped the measure to focus on delivering its growth plan.

“What was clear talking to lots of people up and down the country, talking to MPs, talking to voters, talking to constituents, was that the 45p rate was becoming a distraction on what was a very strong plan,” he said.

Kwarteng said he had been in parliament for 12 years and it was normal for the government to listen to people and change its mind. He insisted that he had no plans to resign.

“We were talking to a whole range of stakeholders and we felt that the 45p issue . . . was drowning out a strong intervention on energy, tax cuts for people generally.”

Julian Smith, former chief whip, said he welcomed the U-turn. “Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss have listened. Fair taxation is key as the government gets on with its work,” he said.

Having retreated on the 45p tax rate plan, Kwarteng and Truss could now come under pressure to reverse other proposed unfunded tax cuts that have blown a hole in the public finances.

They include a £13bn reduction in national insurance, which gives the biggest benefit to better-off voters, and a £17bn plan to reverse a corporation tax rise — a policy that business leaders have said is not a priority.

Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor, said the Tories had “destroyed their economic credibility” and damaged trust in the British economy.

“The prime minister has been forced to abandon her unfunded tax cut for the richest 1 per cent — but it comes too late for the families who will pay higher mortgages and higher prices for years to come.”


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2022-10-03 12:38:21Z
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