Dear John,

In the week that saw Rachel Reeves deliver a bumper budget of tax raises and spending increases, setting the tone for years to come and giving the public a much better idea of the narrative this Government wants to convey, here is your Weekend Wire.

Pump-kin the money in

Rachel Reeves made history this week, as the first woman to ever deliver the budget. After weeks of briefing both the media and various financial institutions about her plans, the majority of her speech was expected. 

The headline rise in employer national insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15% was met with concerns by some industry leaders who warned it would suppress wage growth. But ultimately the rise of NIC for employers has opened up the funding that Britain desperately needs to repair broken public services after 14 years of Tory austerity, bringing government spending much more in line with levels commonly seen on the continent.

I’m an economist not an astronomer

Much of the lead up to the budget had centred around Labour’s claim that they have inherited a  £22 billion black hole from their Conservative predecessors. 

When the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report only identified a shortfall of £9.5 billion, there was a bit of confusion. But Reeves pointed out that the £11.8 billion in compensation for the infected blood scandal and the £1.8 billion for sub-post master compensation had not been incorporated into prior Government spending requirements.  For those of us with a phone calculator, that takes unaccounted public spending to £23.1 billion. 

With all this talk of black holes, Chair of the OBR Richard Hughes jokingly reminded the public that he was an economist and not an astronomer. It seems Brian Cox’s job is safe for another year.

Growth’s the ghoul

Labour’s primary mission for this Parliament is to achieve much-needed growth to drive further Government spending. This is no easy task, with Reeves’ inheritance as Chancellor, the worst in modern political history. Indeed, the sluggish growth rates and record levels of Government debt would be enough to give anyone a fright. 

Reeves has managed to overcome some of these constraints by changing the fiscal rules regarding borrowing for investment, freeing up billions and paving the way for a vast increase in spending. This was also achieved by new taxes on private schools, capital gains and private jets (Wouldn’t be surprised if Rishi was feeling a bit personally attacked by these). The Conservatives criticisms of these new taxes really bring into question what they define as a working person. But then again, Kemi Badenoch does think that working a part-time job at McDonalds makes you working class…the Conservatives out of touch…quelle surprise.

NH-Yes

The big winner from the budget was Wes Streeting, who saw his department awarded an extra £25.7 billion in spending over this year and the next. It would appear that fixing the NHS has become Labour’s main priority. Labour's manifesto promised to bring down waiting lists and provide 40,000 more appointments each week. A healthy population is imperative for achieving long-term sustainable growth and providing a better quality of life for all. The investment is much welcomed but experts have highlighted that reform as well as investment is where the real difference will be made.

Gory leadership contest comes to the end

By the time you are reading this you may well already know whether Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch will be the next leader of the opposition. The race to the bottom reached new depths this week as both candidates fretted about low turnout from their members. 

Revelations surrounding the heartbreaking Southport attack were shamelessly jumped on by both candidates who erroneously accused the police and Government of misleading the public in a nod to the kind of conspiracy theory which caused the violent riots this summer. Elsewhere, Jenrick also made the outlandish claim that Commonwealth countries owe a debt of ‘gratitude’ to Britain, in the kind of flawed historical analysis that would usually only be associated with the Empire-apologist Niall Ferguson.

American nightmare

Across the pond a lesser reported election is apparently happening!? And a lot of the discourse this week has focused on ‘garbage’ or what we in the UK might call ‘rubbish’. 

The week began with a comedian making a slew of racist comments during Trump’s Madison Square Rally, including calling Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of garbage’. Many Republicans (and all Democrats with a pulse) have lambasted the comments which are particularly ill informed given the 500,000 Puerto Ricans who live in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. 

Not to be outdone by a B-list comedian, President Biden then shifted the narrative back to the Democrats by appearing to refer to Trump supporters as ‘garbage’. In what has since dominated the American news-cycle, the President claimed he was only referring to the comedian, but it looks and sounds awfully like a repeat of Hillary Clinton’s ‘basket of deplorables’ faux pas…

This time next week we will know who the next President of the United States will be and with so little time to go, it seems that it is all still to play for, with  the latest polls having  both candidates neck and neck. A Trump Presidency is a very frightening prospect, so let’s keep our collective fingers crossed…

Brexit Cauldron

It will surprise none of you to know that Brexit has caused catastrophic damage to this country’s economy, putting less money in people’s pockets and raising costs for British businesses by increasing bureaucracy and erecting barriers to trade with our largest and closest market in the EU.

We want to see the UK’s economy growing, our businesses flourishing and our citizens able to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities of the past. That is why we continue to campaign for regulatory alignment with the EU to remove Brexit barriers , as well as  youth mobility and creative visa schemes to give British talent the opportunities to flourish abroad,whilst galvanising our domestic hospitality and creative industries.

Russian inter-fear-ance

Another week, another accusation of Russian meddling in Eastern Europe. This time over the election result in Georgia which saw Georgian Dream (GD) score a landslide victory amidst a host of electoral violations, causing international outrage.

The result is a real blow to the country's pro-European contingent and for those who hope the country might one day join the European Union. The victory for the pro-Russian GD party would appear to place the country even more under Moscow's orbit. 

In another election to keep an eye out for this weekend, the Moldovan Presidential run-off occurs on Sunday. Following accusations of Russian interference in the EU ascension referendum a fortnight ago - which saw Yes win by an unexpectedly razor-thin margin - keep an eye on a closer than expected result between pro-EU candidate Maia Sandu and pro-Russian candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo.

🫣 Cringe Column 😬

And Finally…

GB News received a nasty Halloween surprise from Ofcom when they were fined £100,000 for breaking impartiality rules. At least they have loads of profits to dig into…oh wait…

As today marks 269 years since the birth of Maire Antoinette, perhaps the most famous (Austrian) French woman of all time, here is a timely reminder to let yourself eat cake.

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to catching up again soon!

Joshua Edwicker
Best for Britain