Defence spending plan delay undermines UK credibility, MPs say Politics The delay in publishing Keir Starmer’s long-awaited plan on defence spending has undermined the UK’s credibility and left the country less safe, a parliamentary committee has warned. In a new report critisising the long delay in publishing Starmer’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP), the Public Accounts Committee said this “has undermined the UK government’s credibility with [...]
HMRC doesn’t know how many billionaires are in Britain Business HMRC does not know how many billionaires pay tax in the UK or how much they contribute, a group of MPs have warned, despite the outsized share of tax revenues they contribute, piling yet more scrutiny on the feasibility of a blanket wealth tax. In a report examining how to tax wealthy individuals, the Public [...]
Absence of defence spending plan ‘entirely unsatisfactory’ Politics The government has been “entirely unsatisfactory” in failing to assess whether their defence spending plans are affordable, a group of senior MPs has said, in a damning assessment of ministers’ transparency. The row comes amid concerns spending on the nuclear deterrent would be higher than first assumed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government would [...]
Parliament warns against extending Premiership Rugby Covid-19 loans April 2, 2025 A top parliamentary committee has insisted Premiership Rugby clubs who are “financially unviable five years post-pandemic” should not have their Covid-19 loans extended. The damning report from the Public Accounts Committee – an influential group of backbench MPs who probe state spending – singled out the process in which £124m of loans funded by the [...]
Exclusive: Top transport civil servant who oversaw HS2 to step down March 19, 2025 Dame Bernadette Kelly, the top civil servant at the Department for Transport (DfT), is to step down after nearly eight years in the role. A Whitehall veteran with four decades of experience, Kelly was appointed permanent secretary in April 2017 following a stint as director general of the DfT’s rail group. She led work on [...]
HS2 is beyond saving and poses risk to UK’s reputation, MPs conclude February 28, 2025 HS2 is beyond saving and must be studied by future governments as a “cautionary tale” on how “not to run a major project,” a cross-party group of MPs has concluded. In one of its most damming-ever reports, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was “long past the point” of offering recommendations on how to [...]
Tax evasion likely ‘far higher’ than HMRC estimates February 12, 2025 The true scale of tax evasion is likely far higher than HMRC estimates, with the department “not sufficiently curious” about solving the problem, a government committee has said. The UK tax gap was £5.5bn in the 2022-23 financial year, equivalent to around 0.7 per cent of all taxes owed and considerably lower than similar economies. [...]
DCMS issue insolvency threat to rugby clubs over Covid-19 loans February 10, 2025 Rugby clubs have been warned after the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it “wouldn’t hesitate” to use “all financial levers” available to recover loan payments owed by sports organisations from the pandemic. Those powers could see the government department aid in forcing insolvency on sports clubs to ensure the taxpayer recoups the [...]