Latest news with #RedWallGroup
Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Red Wall MPs urge Starmer to rein in OBR
Dozens of Red Wall Labour MPs have urged Sir Keir Starmer to rein in the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The Red Wall Group, made up of about 35 backbenchers in Labour's northern and Midlands heartlands, said estimates by the government's fiscal watchdog must not be treated as a 'crystal ball'. It comes after a number of high-profile errors in OBR forecasts, which have included underestimating inflation shocks and overestimating the Government's borrowing room by tens of billions of pounds. Sir Keir attacked the watchdog in the spring for not factoring in the effects of Labour's back to work measures, forcing him to announce further controversial welfare cuts at the last minute. Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw and chairman of the Red Wall Group, urged the Prime Minister to acknowledge the OBR's 'limitations' and attach less significance to its twice-yearly forecasts. Ms White told Politico: 'Red Wall constituents are crying out for change and there is so much potential in what the government is doing, be it in our 10-year NHS plan, infrastructure investment or industrial strategy. 'But to deliver national renewal we need policy and fiscal stability and the OBR has a vitally important role to play in that. 'Fine tuning policy to fit a central estimate that we know will be inaccurate is not the way to do that. To recognise the value of the OBR, we must acknowledge their limitations.' Andy MacNae, the Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen, added that the OBR should produce one forecast a year instead of the current two. 'OBR forecasting is an invaluable tool that must be used properly,' Mr McNae said. 'It provides a rough guide – a well-informed guess – as to where the economy might be in four years' time. But the OBR has never claimed to have a crystal ball and we shouldn't treat it as if it does.' A Cabinet minister defended the role of the OBR on Monday when asked about the backbenchers' demands. Challenged on whether its numbers should be 'less prominent' in the government's thinking, Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told Times Radio: 'The Office [for] Budget Responsibility plays an important part in being the official forecaster for government. 'In the old days the Treasury would take its own internal view and then respond to its own internal view but this government's committed to that being an independent process done by independent experts.' Earlier this year, an independent review found the OBR was 'vulnerable to bias' because it relies on assumptions made by excessively optimistic politicians. Liz Truss, the former prime minister, blamed the forecaster in part for the unravelling of her mini-budget and has since called for it to be abolished. The Prime Minister criticised the OBR in April after it said his cuts to the benefits system would only save £3.4 billion – not the £5 billion the government had hoped. The watchdog's assessment meant that Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, had to announce extra welfare cuts the week after Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, announced cuts to sickness and disability benefits.
Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Sir Keir Starmer urged to reconnect with Red Wall voters after losses
Sir Keir Starmer's response to Reform UK's local election success has 'fallen on deaf ears', a group of more than 40 Labour MPs has said. The Red Wall Group called on the prime minister to 'show strong leadership' by responding to issues 'raised by our constituents, including on winter fuel'. Starmer has ruled out reversing cuts to winter fuel payments. He insisted he would go 'further and faster' on the party's plans for government and would not listen to 'noises off' urging him to change course. Labour's loss of about two thirds of the council seats it was defending in the local elections was significantly worse than expected by party strategists. Reform won the by-election in Runcorn & Helsby, gained full control of Doncaster and Durham councils, and came within 400 votes of winning the North Tyneside mayoralty.
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Red Wall MPs demand Starmer ‘acts now' to reverse winter fuel cuts as backlash grows
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged by his own MPs to 'act now' to reverse the cut to winter fuel payments as backlash over the move grows. There has been growing public anger over the policy after Labour suffered a disastrous result at last week's local elections, which saw Reform pick up 10 councils and more than 600 seats. The Red Wall group of Labour MPs, made up of around 45 MPs from Red Wall constituencies, warned that Sir Keir's response that he would "go further and faster" in delivering his plans had "fallen on deaf ears". They warned that voters across the UK had told the Labour Party 'loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". "Responding to the issues raised by our constituents, including on winter fuel, isn't weak it takes us to a position of strength," a statement added, urging the prime minister to 'break the disconnect between Westminster and the Red Wall areas'. The Red Wall is made up of areas in the Midlands and Northern England which have typically supported the Labour Party. On Tuesday, the prime minister acknowledged his government needed to 'explain the decisions that we've taken' after a 'disappointing' set of election results, but his press secretary said the government will not be 'blown off course'. While there were reports the government was considering whether to increase the £11,500 threshold over which pensioners are no longer eligible for the allowance, the prime minister's official spokesperson ruled out such a move - saying there will 'not be a change to the government's policy'. The spokesperson added that the decision 'was one that we had to take to ensure economic stability and repair the public finances following the £22bn black hole left by the previous government'. But there is mounting pressure from within his own party - and from the opposition benches - for Downing Street to U-turn on the issue. Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott urged the government to restore the winter fuel allowance in full, saying a review of the policy alone wouldn't be enough for pensioners, nor would it be enough to 'restore Labour's battered reputation'. Meanwhile, Labour peer and Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan warned she is 'losing patience' with UK Labour, urging the government to have a rethink. And former transport secretary Louise Haigh said Labour's 'unpopular decisions are overshadowing the good ones', calling for the party to explore a wealth tax to win back voters following Reform UK's success in the local elections. Speaking to BBC Newsnight, the MP for Sheffield Heeley said: 'I don't think we can underestimate how catastrophic those results were last week for the Labour Party… people don't really feel that we're taking the action to address the issues that matter, whether that be on the cost of living, the public services or on the economy more widely, and that's very frustrating. 'I think the unpopular decisions are overshadowing the good ones. I think this Labour government has a lot to offer, whether it be the Employment Rights Bill, the increase in the minimum wage, the massive investment in our NHS, but people have heard the winter fuel allowance and the welfare cuts overwhelmingly.' Labour MP for Leeds West, Richard Burgon, told Times Radio Labour cannot be "stubborn" on winter fuel payments, saying the policy was both 'deeply unpopular' and wrong. "If the government wants to show that it actually gets it, in the words of the prime minister, then the government must fully reinstate the winter fuel allowance, not just tinker around the edges. And we can't be dragged, kicking and screaming, into rethinking on this policy", he said. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper also piled in, saying the government's refusal to change course was 'a completely tone deaf' response to the local elections. 'The public are rightly furious at the government's decision to rip vital support from millions of the most vulnerable, yet ministers simply are not listening', she said. 'From winter fuel payments to the family farm tax, this government has turned a blind eye to millions of people who can feel the damage that these half-baked polices are doing. It is time to change course.' It comes as new polling from The Times and Sky News - conducted by YouGov - put Reform UK at its highest recorded vote share, sitting seven points ahead of Labour. Nigel Farage's party was on 29 points, while Labour was on 22. Lagging behind were the Tories on just 17 points, while the Liberal Democrats were on 16. The decision last July to restrict the winter fuel payment to the poorest pensioners was intended to save around £1.5bn a year, with more than nine million people who would have previously been eligible losing out. But Cabinet ministers acknowledged the winter fuel payment decision had hit the party at the ballot box. Asked whether the cut had been part of Labour's poor electoral performance, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: 'I think that has been a feature. I think the prime minister himself has said that and we're not sugar-coating those results, they're very challenging for us.' The government has been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chris Mason: Can Delhi deal mask Labour's problems at home?
Within moments of the briefing with the business secretary beginning, Jonathan Reynolds described it to us as a case study in the government's claim to be going further and faster in doing what it can to improve living standards. Little wonder ministers want to lean into this deal with Delhi, grappling as they are with political heat at home from their own side and their opponents. The latest intervention comes from a caucus of Labour MPs known as the Red Wall Group, primarily representing seats in the north of England and the Midlands. In response to last week's elections, they are publicly critical of the government, including its handling of the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment from millions of pensioners. Jonathan Reynolds wants to point to what he sees as the "tangible benefits" of making it easier for the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world to trade and made a point of claiming it would be the north of England, the Midlands and Scotland that would be the primary economic beneficiaries. But remember this is the "conclusion of talks moment," as it is described in government, not the conclusion of the deal. Thousands of pages of text still need to be pored over and vast amounts of detail scrutinised. And there will, in time, be a signature moment, hinted at by the prime minister in publicly accepting an invitation to visit India. It is thought it could be another year before this is done. The domestic political reaction to this deal has focused on one element of it: an agreement that India workers transferred to the UK and their employers won't have to pay national insurance in the UK in their first three years here. This, the Conservative leader and former business secretary Kemi Badenoch argued, is "lop sided" and why she didn't sign off on the deal when she was in government. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it was, simply, "taxing British workers more, taxing Indian workers less." British officials acknowledge this is an element of the deal India really wanted, but they argue it is worth it in the round and standard practice in deals like this. And, strikingly, the Conservative reaction isn't consistent: Sir Oliver Dowden, who sat around the same cabinet table as Kemi Badenoch as deputy prime minister, welcomed it. There are a few key bits of context to this deal and one final observation I would make. The context is this: the ongoing turbulence of President Trump's tariffs and the ongoing negotiations with both the United States and the European Union over improving trade deals with both. Progress on both is expected soon – a summit with the EU will take place in the UK later this month. And that one last thing. Sir Keir Starmer voted against Brexit and campaigned for another referendum in the hope of stopping it. And yet, in a twist of fate and timing, he is the first post-Brexit British prime minister to have the political space and time to grapple with the tools leaving the EU gave whoever occupies his office, with the trade-offs and arguments that brings.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Chris Mason: Can Delhi deal mask Labour's problems at home?
Chris Mason: Can Delhi deal mask Labour's problems at home? In response to last week's elections, they are publicly critical of the government, including its handling of the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment from millions of pensioners. The latest intervention comes from a caucus of Labour MPs known as the Red Wall Group , primarily representing seats in the north of England and the Midlands. Little wonder ministers want to lean into this deal with Delhi, grappling as they are with political heat at home from their own side and their opponents. Within moments of the briefing with the business secretary beginning, Jonathan Reynolds described it to us as a case study in the government's claim to be going further and faster in doing what it can to improve living standards. Jonathan Reynolds wants to point to what he sees as the "tangible benefits" of making it easier for the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world to trade and made a point of claiming it would be the north of England, the Midlands and Scotland that would be the primary economic beneficiaries. But remember this is the "conclusion of talks moment," as it is described in government, not the conclusion of the deal. Thousands of pages of text still need to be pored over and vast amounts of detail scrutinised. And there will, in time, be a signature moment, hinted at by the prime minister in publicly accepting an invitation to visit India. It is thought it could be another year before this is done. The domestic political reaction to this deal has focused on one element of it: an agreement that India workers transferred to the UK and their employers won't have to pay national insurance in the UK in their first three years here. This, the Conservative leader and former business secretary Kemi Badenoch argued, is "lop sided" and why she didn't sign off on the deal when she was in government. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it was, simply, "taxing British workers more, taxing Indian workers less." British officials acknowledge this is an element of the deal India really wanted, but they argue it is worth it in the round and standard practice in deals like this. And, strikingly, the Conservative reaction isn't consistent: Sir Oliver Dowden, who sat around the same cabinet table as Kemi Badenoch as deputy prime minister, welcomed it. There are a few key bits of context to this deal and one final observation I would make. The context is this: the ongoing turbulence of President Trump's tariffs and the ongoing negotiations with both the United States and the European Union over improving trade deals with both. Progress on both is expected soon – a summit with the EU will take place in the UK later this month. And that one last thing. Sir Keir Starmer voted against Brexit and campaigned for another referendum in the hope of stopping it. And yet, in a twist of fate and timing, he is the first post-Brexit British prime minister to have the political space and time to grapple with the tools leaving the EU gave whoever occupies his office, with the trade-offs and arguments that brings.
