Labour to âmiss homes pledgeâ and âpension megafundsâ plan
The i says Labourâs pledge to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament has been âplunged into doubtâ by comments from the head of Homes England, the governmentâs housing agency. The paper says that, in an email to staff, Peter Denton said the target was ârealisticallyâ part of a âtwo parliamentary term approachâ.
The Times says the government is facing a growing âbusiness backlashâ over last monthâs Budget, which contained, among other things, a ÂŁ25bn increase in employersâ national insurance. The paper says the British Retail Consortium has drafted a letter telling Chancellor Rachel Reeves its members will not be able to absorb the additional cost of the measures. It quotes the letter as saying the âsheer scale of new costs⊠and the speed with which they occur, together with costs from a raft of other regulation, create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certaintyâ.
Councils will be allowed to increase council tax by 5% next year, meaning a ÂŁ110 jump in average bills, according to the Daily Mail. The paper says Downing Street will allow councils to do this in order to help them meet rising costs. It adds, though, that the news comes just a fortnight after some âeye-wateringâ tax rises in the Budget and despite previous attacks by Labour on the Conservatives over similar council tax hikes.
Reeves hopes to unlock ÂŁ80bn worth of investment by reforming local government retirement schemes to form eight pensions âmegafundsâ, the Financial Times reports. It comes as the chancellor is due to deliver her first Mansion House speech, an annual address delivered by the sitting chancellor in the City of London, on Thursday. Reeves tells the paper she also wants to reassure businesses the recent tax rises were part of a âonce in a parliament Budgetâ.
The Daily Telegraph says Essex Police has been accused of attacking free speech after launching an investigation into one of its columnists, Allison Pearson, for allegedly stirring up racial hatred in a social media post last year. Pearson has said two officers visited her to tell her about the investigation on Sunday, but they would not say which post it concerned or who had made the complaint. Former prime minister Boris Johnson is quoted calling the behaviour of the police âappallingâ, while shadow home secretary Chris Philp says he is âdeeply concerned this will have a chilling effect on free speech and free expressionâ.
A report by Human Right Watch has said Israel is using evacuation orders to pursue the âdeliberate and massive forced displacementâ of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the policy amounts to âcrimes against humanityâ, according to the Guardian. The paper says the report comes amid mounting evidence that Israel is âaccelerating efforts to cut the Gaza Strip in two with a buffer zoneâ and âbuilding infrastructure to support a prolonged military presenceâ in the territory.
The Metro leads with Donald Trumpâs âshock appointmentâ of a Fox News TV host and former soldier as the US defence secretary. The paper says that, despite having no government experience, Pete Hegseth, 44, will run the âworldâs largest military machine and its $800bn (ÂŁ627bn) budgetâ, with responsibility for 1.3 million active duty personnel, 1.4 million reservists, and civilian staff worldwide.
âWild west of cosmetic surgery in Britainâ, reads the headline in the Daily Mirror. The paper says an ITV investigation has found that potentially deadly operations, including liposuction, are being carried out by people with just hours of training. It adds Health Secretary Wes Streeting has pledged a crackdown on rogue operators.
And the Sun alleges a video taken at this summerâs Euros appears to show Premier League David Coote using a rolled-up US banknote to sniff a line of white powder in a clip he later sent to a friend on WhatsApp. The BBC has not independently verified the footage.
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