“Britain must break the “vicious cycle of stagnation”, Kwasi Kwarteng will say today as he announces £50 billion of tax cuts to encourage economic growth. The Bank of England said yesterday it believed that the economy had already gone into recession as it raised interest rates to 2.25 per cent, the highest for 14 years…In his mini-budget this morning the chancellor will present 30 measures intended to drive economic growth. These include reversing the rise in national insurance payments, freezing corporation tax and cutting stamp duty. The announcement will also include plans for up to 40 investment zones with lower rates of tax, liberalised planning rules and streamlined environmental regulations.” – The Times

“Kwasi Kwarteng has issued a warning to the Governor of the Bank of England, as he vows in Friday’s mini-Budget to break the “cycle of stagnation”. The Chancellor told Andrew Bailey that claims that near double-digit inflation was mainly driven by the war in Ukraine were less credible now that the Government had taken action to hold down energy bills, a swipe at the Bank’s record on controlling inflation. In a letter to Mr Bailey that marked a change in tone compared with Rishi Sunak, Mr Kwarteng said: “Current high inflation is making it hard for households to pay their energy bills and meet their other living costs, whilst placing further costs on businesses and reducing the certainty they need to grow. “Inflationary pressures are becoming more domestically driven”.” – The Daily Telegraph

“The Bank of England has warned Kwasi Kwarteng the economy is in recession and it will…need to push interest rates higher after Friday’s tax-cutting mini-budget. On the eve of a major package of support from the chancellor…Threadneedle Street said the UK economy was heading for a second consecutive quarter of falling output, with gross domestic product set to shrink 0.1% in the three months to September. However, with energy and food bills still soaring, and inflation not expected to peak until October, the Bank of England raised the cost of borrowing for a seventh successive meeting of its monetary policy committee (MPC) and made clear the new government’s plans risked triggering more interest rate hikes.” – The Guardian

“Striking union barons will be forced to put employer pay deals to their members, rather than rejecting them out of hand. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will announce tough new legislation in his mini-budget which is designed to stop industrial action from dragging on and on. Ministers are increasingly concerned that pay packages are being rejected by hardline union bosses without the consent of their members. The new law which could be in place by next Spring will hopefully bring about an end to disagreements more easily, Ministers believe. The move comes after the RMT turned down an 8 per cent offer from Network Rail which led to chaotic strike action this summer.” – The Sun

“Liz Truss wants the British public to believe that she represents change. She and Kwasi Kwarteng even want you to believe they have a new plan…Just like Boris Johnson before her, the new prime minister and the chancellor are long-serving cabinet ministers. They are desperate to present themselves as agents of change, so must decry the growth plans they once supported — there have been six since the Conservatives took power in 2010, each announced with great fanfare but with little impact. Instead, the one constant over a decade of Tory government is low growth. Truss’s answer is trickle-down economics: dogmatic deregulation, a smaller state and cutting headline rates of tax on the richest individuals and the biggest companies.” – The Financial Times

“Liz Truss yesterday pushed forward with a ‘Brexit Freedoms Bill’ which will see all Brussels rules repealed or replaced by the end of 2023. It will mean ministers have the power to tear them up completely or replace them with whole new ones – if they see fit. Around £1billion of red tape rules is expected to be scrapped initially in a bid to help businesses and boost the economy. Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg hailed Sun readers last night for giving him a heap of ideas of which barmy EU rules to put in the bin. And he promised he would do all he could to make the lives of Brits easier and better. He told The Sun: “When the United Kingdom made the historic decision to leave the European Union in 2016, we voted to take back control of our borders, our money and our laws.”” – The Sun

“Therese Coffey has vowed to combat the NHS bed-blocking crisis with the launch of a £500million emergency fund. The Health and Social Care Secretary told MPs the money will help free up space in hospitals as she revealed her own nine-hour wait in A&E. Beleaguered ambulance services will also be supported by a new army of volunteer first aiders in a bid to cut delays. More than 13,000 beds in England – around one in seven – are occupied by patients who have been deemed medically fit to leave. But a shortage of carers means they face difficulty finding a place in care or home help. Care providers will be encouraged to use the fund to help plug 165,000 vacancies. Staff may be offered bonuses, pay rises or more generous overtime to prevent more leaving for better paid jobs in retail. – The Daily Mail

“Therese Coffey has promised to “drive up performance” by exposing variations in NHS standards as the new health secretary revealed she had shopped around for a shorter A&E wait. Pitching herself as the “patients’ champion”, Coffey said she would not “paper over the problems” in the NHS and warned of a difficult winter ahead. Alongside £500 million for social care to get patients out of hospital quicker, Coffey promised changes to pension tax to stop doctors turning down extra work and to make it easier for foreign staff to come to work in the NHS. However, her announcement was immediately criticised as little more than a rehash of existing NHS plans which would do little to deal with a workforce crisis widely seen as the most pressing problem in the health service.” – The Times

“Ministers are drawing up plans for the UK’s first grammar schools in almost a quarter of a century, the new Education Secretary said today. Kit Malthouse said that PM Liz Truss wanted her government to ‘address the strong desire in quite a lot of parents’ for more choice. There are more than 150 grammar schools which select pupils by ability in the UK but the opening of new ones was outlawed in 1998 by Tony Blair. The issue has become a cause célèbre for many Tory MPs but despite several attempts to reintroduce them in the past 12 years nothing has happened…Mr Malthouse said:  ‘We’re about parental choice, everybody needs to be able to make a choice for their kids.’” – The Daily Mail

“Residents will be given payments for the ‘inconvenience’ if they agree to fracking taking place locally. Business Secretary Jacob Rees Mogg finally lifted the 2019 ban on fracking yesterday. And he told MPs: “We should not be ashamed of paying people who are going to be the ones who don’t get the immediate benefit of the gas but have the disruption.” His comments triggered complaints from some Tories. MP Mark Fletcher said it appeared communities would be “bought off” to allow fracking. But Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Strengthening our energy security is an absolute priority – it’s right that we’ve lifted the pause to realise any potential sources of domestic gas.” Developers will need local permission and special licences to go ahead with their plans.” – The Sun

“Plans to block new North Sea oil and gas projects if they are incompatible with Britain’s climate goals have quietly been ditched, prompting accusations that ministers are watering down their climate change policies. Green campaigners said the changes to the proposed “climate compatibility checkpoint” rendered the scheme meaningless. It will now be much easier for Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, to approve more than 100 new oil and gas licences. The scheme was first floated in March last year, in the run-up to the COP26 climate summit, as a middle ground that stopped short of blocking new oil and gas licences entirely but reflected the need to curb carbon emissions from new production.” – The Times

“Boris Johnson inadvertently thanked Russia’s Vladimir Putin for his “inspirational leadership” instead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former prime minister’s slip-up came during his first major contribution as a backbench MP in a Commons debate. Mr Johnson paid tribute to the “heroism of the Ukrainian armed forces” and hailed the importance of the “weapons that we are proud to be offering.” He went on: “Thanks also, of course, to the inspirational leadership of Vladimir Putin.” Mr Johnson immediately corrected his mistake, adding: “The inspirational leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, forgive me.”… It came as reports emerged that Russia’s military is divided over how to proceed in the wake of recent Ukrainian gains on the battlefield.” – The Daily Telegraph

“Labour is considering abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an upper house of nations and regions, as well as handing sweeping new powers to local regions and devolved nations, a leaked report has revealed. The constitutional review by the former prime minister Gordon Brown, which has been seen by MPs and shadow cabinet ministers, recommends devolving new economic powers, including over taxation, and creating new independent councils of the nations and for England… Brown also recommends a crackdown on standards in central government and parliament, including a jury of ordinary citizens – selected by ballot – being able to rule on complaints against MPs and ministers via a new integrity and ethics commission.” – The Guardian