Russia claims capture of Chasiv Yar after 16-month battle
category · July 31, 2025 · 10:16 AM UTC · ago
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Bishop Cherry Vann has been elected as archbishop of the Church in Wales, becoming the first woman and LGBTQ+ cleric appointed to lead any of Britain's Anglican churches.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Business confidence worse than during Covid
Business confidence has plunged to an all-time low to surpass the pandemic and Liz Truss's mini-Budget after Rachel Reeves unleashed record taxes on employers. Bosses said they were 'frustrated' that the Chancellor had hit businesses with a barrage of cost increases while failing to improve the economic backdrop. The survey published by the Institute of Directors (IoD) showed the share of business leaders reporting they were pessimistic about the economic outlook exceeded those who were optimistic by 72pc. It means bosses are at their most pessimistic since the monthly survey started running in 2016, to outstrip the Covid lockdowns, fraught Brexit negotiations and the aftermath of Ms Truss's disastrous mini-Budget. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, accused the Government of 'attacking private enterprise with the zeal of a Left-wing student union'. He added: 'Instead of the cuts in spending which are urgently needed, this socialist Government hits businesses with higher taxes, raised energy costs and more trade-union inspired red tape. 'A year ago businesses faced a summer of uncertainty followed by massive tax hikes. Like a bad horror move franchise, the Chancellor seems determined to release a sequel.' Businesses are slashing investment plans and expect to cut back the number of staff they employ, amid falling revenues and soaring costs. Anna Leach, the IoD's chief economist, urged the Chancellor to 'urgently quash rumours of further tax rises for business this autumn, and accelerate planning reforms and de-regulation to restore confidence and drive growth'. She added: 'Companies continue to battle cost increases – particularly arising from the national minimum wage and National Insurance contribution changes – and many are frustrated that while the Government has been quick to raise costs for business, it has been much slower to deliver improvements to the wider business environment. 'Last year, damaging speculation around tax rises in the lead-up to the 2024 Budget caused many firms to pause investment and hiring decisions – contributing to six months of near-zero economic growth. 'We're now living with the economic consequences of those tax hikes, even as uncertainty around future costs once again builds. With ripple effects through the economy from tax changes and signs of consumer retrenchment, many firms report that they are struggling to plan amid a cacophony of risk.' Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, urged Ms Reeves to 'heed the calls from the Institute of Directors and put to bed speculation about more damaging tax rises'. The economy shrank in April and May, while unemployment is rising and job vacancies are falling as companies cut back spending. October's £25bn raid on employers' National Insurance contributions shocked businesses. The tax rate was increased from 13.8pc to 15pc, and the earnings threshold at which it kicks in was reduced, taking in more part-time workers. The tax rise came into force in April, alongside a 6.7pc increase in the national living wage. Economists estimate that Ms Reeves will have to raise taxes or cut spending to the tune of £20bn or more in the Budget to maintain the buffer against her borrowing rules. But the Government has struggled to make even modest savings, performing about-turns on welfare reform and on the winter fuel payments to pensioners. Two thirds of businesses told the IoD they need action on taxes from the Government, with 64pc calling for help with the cost of employment. Half said they want less red tape, and 39pc said they need lower energy bills. An HM Treasury spokesman said: 'UK business confidence is the highest in 10 years, according to a Lloyds Bank survey published only this week. Since the election, we have struck three major trade deals with the EU, US and India, more than £1bn has been invested to fix our national infrastructure and the Bank of England has cut interest rates four times. 'And because of the tax decisions we took at the Budget last year, we have been able to deliver on the priorities of the British people, from investing in the NHS to cutting lists as we deliver on the Plan for Change.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Despite the chaos of its launch, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's new party has struck a nerve
Less than a month into its existence, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's new leftwing party is already widely seen as a mess. Its leadership, its launch schedule and even its name: all have caused inconclusive, semi-public rows. The opportunity provided by political novelty appears to be being wasted. For the many journalists and politicians who always see the left as incompetent and naive, the stop-start, seemingly uncoordinated first weeks of Your Party, as it may or may not eventually be named, have felt like a gift – a summer silly season story after months of grim political acrimony. 'Thank Christ Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana are here to give us a laugh,' wrote Sebastian Murphy in the Daily Express. 'Labour's loopy Left have bravely broken free of Starmer's stultification to bring us a political party that is easily the funniest thing since the anti-Brexit centrists Change UK.' Now largely forgotten, Change UK lasted 10 months after splitting from Labour in 2019. For left-leaning Britons who've had enough of Labour's rightward shifts and intolerance of dissent, and have been hoping for a viable alternative, the new party's launch has been depressing. Why, in times which so obviously require a radical fightback, can't the left agree a clear way forward? Why is it still so dependent on Corbyn, who after 42 years in parliament can hardly be presented as a fresh figure? And where are the nimble strategists that the immensely difficult task of establishing a successful leftwing party is going to need? Some of the answers to these questions, which British leftists often ask each other with despairing shrugs and eye-rolls, lie in socialism's struggles in this country since the 1980s. These have left the movement with gaps and imbalances, which are exposed whenever it tries to take the initiative. Yet as well as considering these weaknesses, it's also important to acknowledge that, despite all the confusion and ridicule, Corbyn and Sultana's new party has struck a nerve. It says that more than 600,000 people have signed up on its rudimentary website for updates and information about how to get involved – almost as many people as the memberships of Labour, the Tories and Reform UK combined. In some of the most hostile coverage of the new party, there is a revealing note of alarm. 'Something has actually gone seriously wrong with British society,' wrote Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph, 'if a party such as this could poll at 18 per cent' – the proportion who told YouGov they would 'consider' voting for a new Corbyn-led party. 'It's a rebellion against the broken status quo.' Superficially, this rebellion seems little different from the half dozen that have tried and failed to break Labour's left-of-centre monopoly over the past 30 years: Respect, Left Unity, the Workers party of Britain, the Socialist party, the Socialist Labour party, the London Socialist Alliance. Well-known leftists such as Arthur Scargill and George Galloway attempted to turn strong local power bases, personal charisma and leftwing credibility into something bigger, at times when Labour was alienating its more radical supporters. A few parliamentary and council seats were won, but rarely for long. The new parties were both too narrow – dominated by one person – and too broad – prone to ideological differences – to sustain their initial momentum. With their ageing figureheads and traditional leftwing sectarianism, the new parties did not seem new enough. This time, the involvement of Sultana, one of the most digitally fluent young MPs, sends a different signal. So does the involvement of innovative and ambitious political operators, such as Momentum co-founder James Schneider, who helped make Corbyn's Labour leadership, at times, surprisingly dynamic and popular– despite it being widely written off, as the new party is now. Six years on from Corbynism's defeat, there is finally a movement, largely undetected by the mainstream media, of bright, youngish leftwing activists back into the political game. And yet, as the frictions between Corbyn and Sultana have shown, it remains tricky to unite two leftwing generations, very different in age and levels of political patience – while also appealing more effectively to middle-aged Britons, who grew up under New Labour and often absorbed its centrist assumptions. These difficulties afflicted Corbyn's Labour leadership, and ultimately helped destroy it. The British left has so often been excluded from power over the past 40 years that it frequently lacks the skills that experience of power can bring: building and sustaining coalitions, maintaining message discipline, creating political organisations that are representative without being too fractious. Truly leftwing British parties, in short, tend to be a bit rickety, yet they must stand up against our conservative political culture's strongest winds. Then again, such deficiencies may matter less nowadays. The deep discontent and many crises left by 14 years of rightwing rule, impatience with Starmer's methodical but patchy reforms, and outrage at his government's Gaza evasions, mean that many voters are in an adventurous – or reckless – mood. A radical party with a highly divisive leader, thrown-together structure and frequent internal rows already exists, and it's called Reform. Its poll lead suggests that voters are less interested than journalists in party processes, and more interested in stories about what's wrong with Britain, compellingly told. Whether at rallies or on social media, Sultana and Corbyn are just as capable of this as Nigel Farage. A new poll shows that Reform voters strongly prefer Corbyn to Starmer, which suggests that the new party could take Reform votes. Reform has more media backing than the new party ever will. Yet it's likely that rightwing journalists will keep giving the leftwing party publicity, and even some favourable coverage, in order to hurt Labour. So the new party will need to pull off a balancing act: keeping its personalities and factions happy, developing populist but not fantastical policies, and wounding the government without helping Farage into Downing Street. Labour loyalists will say that a left divided is a left defeated. But if they truly believed that, Starmer's party and government would be much more pluralist. What these loyalists really think is that the left should only ever be divided on their terms. That entitled and coercive logic has now had consequences. A new leftwing party, risky and imperfect, could be here to stay. This time, it's possible that our politics will never be quite the same again. Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Taxpayer bill for public sector pensions jumps by record £47bn
Taxpayers were hit with a record £47bn bill to fund public sector pensions last year. Civil servants, doctors and teachers banked pots worth three times more than their private sector counterparts. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data showed contributions from public sector employers hit a record high in 2024, eclipsing those made by businesses in the private sector, which stood at £46.4bn. This is despite the private sector employing 27.9m people, four times more than the public sector, which has just over six million employees. Gold-plated public sector pensions offer members a guaranteed income in retirement, making them much more generous than the workplace pensions in the private sector, which provide no such guarantee and rely on stock market returns to grow their retirement pot. Contributions by schools and hospitals are ultimately met by the taxpayer once teachers, nurses and doctors retire. The data also showed the average employee in the public sector enjoyed an average increase of £9,320 on their future pension pots – or the equivalent of a quarter of their salary – compared with £3,230 in the private sector. The figures were released against the backdrop of a summer of strikes, with a five-day doctors' walkout ending this week and nurses threatening further industrial action unless the government boosts their pay. The British Medical Association (BMA) is asking for a 29pc pay rise on top of an uplift of almost 30pc since 2022-23, according to the Nuffield Foundation. Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, said: 'These figures are a reminder of the great value of public service pensions. The typical public sector worker gained pension rights worth over £9,000 last year, compared with not much more than £3,000 for the average private sector worker.' The data also show that total tax relief on pensions grew to £78.2bn in 2023-24, up from £72.1bn in the previous year. Labour has left the door open to a tax raid on pension pots as Rachel Reeves struggles to fill a yawning black hole. Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, refused to rule out a raid in the autumn Budget, suggesting that reliefs such as the 25pc tax-free lump sum currently available to retirees could be in the firing line, or salary sacrifice contributions, which enjoy National Insurance relief. However, a pensions raid could lower incomes in retirement. HMRC data showed individuals poured £14.6bn into their personal pensions in 2023-24, up from £12.9bn in the previous year. The Government has also paved the way for the state pension age to be raised and suggested millions of workers would have to sacrifice more of their pay to prevent a looming retirement crisis. Currently, workers who are auto-enrolled into a pension scheme give up 5pc of their salary in return for a minimum 3pc top-up from their employer. Retirement giants have suggested the split needs to be closer to 6pc each to avoid swathes of the population struggling financially in retirement. Public sector workers, including nurses, doctors and teachers, are currently in discussions about swapping lower pension contributions for higher pay today. The Telegraph revealed this month that Catherine Little, the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office, has been heading discussions within Whitehall about the changes.
