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| MPs debate cuts to tax credits – Politics Live | MPs debate cuts to tax credits – Politics Live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 3.08pm BST15:08 | |
| Damian Hinds says that when tax credits first came in “their aims were entirely noble”, but their cost quickly soared out of control. | |
| “We can kick a problem down the road or we can do something about it...our reforms don’t abolish tax credits or anything close,” he says. | |
| Owen Smith, shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, says that tax credits cost £22bn in the last parliament and have gone up to £30bn, so they have increased on the Tories’ watch. | |
| 3.01pm BST15:01 | |
| Sylvia Hermon, MP for North Down, says she feels ashamed to have voted with the government on tax credits. She says she did so because she had been reassured that there would be measures to mitigate the effects of the cuts. There have been no mitigating measures announced. She will be voting with the opposition this time, says says. | |
| 2.58pm BST14:58 | |
| Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh asks Hinds whether the Conservatives should tweak the proposals relating to child tax credits for reasons of compassion. He says he doesn’t expect Hinds to answer the question immediately. | |
| 2.56pm BST14:56 | |
| Damian Hinds, exchequer secretary to the treasury, is responding to Malhotra. “We believe in people being able to meet their potential, fulfil their aspirations, no matter where they come from in life,” he says. | |
| The tax credit cuts needs to be understood as one measure in a package of measures, which includes the ‘National Living Wage’, the increase in the personal allowance and the increase in jobs. He says the opposition likes to pretend we live in a world where there is unlimited money. | |
| Updated at 3.08pm BST | |
| 2.52pm BST14:52 | |
| Caroline Lucas, Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, says that 4,400 of her constituents will be affected by the tax credit cuts. She says that people in areas with “sky high private rent” will be hit the hardest. | |
| Malhotra agrees (she represents a London constituency). “These cuts are being made without any recognition of the increase in the cost of living,” she says. | |
| This decision is not just poor economics, but it is poor politics, concludes Malhotra. Tackling in-work poverty is crucial, but not in this way. | |
| 2.47pm BST14:47 | |
| Conservative MP Alan Mak asks Malhotra whether she knows that the tax credits system cost £4.4bn when it was first introduced and that it now costs £30bn. Will she acknowledge that “the only credible welfare system is an affordable one?” he says. | |
| She asks what Mak will say to the 4,500 families in his constituency who will suffer an average cut to their income of over £1,300. She asks him how they will keep a roof over their heads, how they will keep food on table or how they will buy clothes for children. | |
| Updated at 2.47pm BST | |
| 2.40pm BST14:40 | |
| Conservative MPs are repeatedly interrupting Malhotra’s opening argument to ask what else she would cut or where she would raise taxes if she didn’t bring down the tax credits bill. | |
| 2.37pm BST14:37 | |
| We all want a high wage and low welfare society, says Malhotra, but the chancellor has not been upfront on the effects of his policies. | |
| The IFS has shown that the welfare spending was barely reduced in the last parliament because government policies meant people needed to claim more, she says. | |
| “The chancellor chose not to do or not to publish an impact assessment” on these changes, she says. “Either they don’t want to know or they don’t want to tell.” | |
| 2.31pm BST14:31 | 2.31pm BST14:31 |
| MPs debate tax credit reforms | MPs debate tax credit reforms |
| The opposition day debate on tax credits is underway. | The opposition day debate on tax credits is underway. |
| Shadow chief secretary to the treasury, Seema Malhotra, is giving her opening statement. She highlights that the prime minister said he would not cut child tax credits in the run-up to May’s general election. “The government has not told the truth step-by-step-on this measure” since they announced it, she says. | |
| Updated at 2.47pm BST | |
| 2.27pm BST14:27 | 2.27pm BST14:27 |
| Work and pensions committee to hold urgent session on tax credits | Work and pensions committee to hold urgent session on tax credits |
| The commons work and pensions select committee has announced that it will hold an urgent session on the proposed reforms to the tax credit system on Monday 26th October at 3.30pm. | The commons work and pensions select committee has announced that it will hold an urgent session on the proposed reforms to the tax credit system on Monday 26th October at 3.30pm. |
| The committee will look at: | The committee will look at: |
| The session will hear evidence from Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, William Elming, research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation. | The session will hear evidence from Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, William Elming, research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation. |
| Frank Field MP, chair of the committee, said: | Frank Field MP, chair of the committee, said: |
| We hope to be in a position to help the Government reform the tax credit system on three fronts – to make it fairer, simpler and more affordable. Our reform blueprint will be built on suggestions that make tax credits a more effective anti-poverty benefit, so that work always pays a decent income, at no extra cost to the taxpayer. | We hope to be in a position to help the Government reform the tax credit system on three fronts – to make it fairer, simpler and more affordable. Our reform blueprint will be built on suggestions that make tax credits a more effective anti-poverty benefit, so that work always pays a decent income, at no extra cost to the taxpayer. |
| A crucial element of this blueprint will be to make it easier for future governments to make changes at the top end of the income spectrum that do not necessarily affect claimants at the very bottom of the pile. One of the flaws exposed by the current political debate on tax credits is the inability to remove relatively high earners from the welfare system without also clobbering the poorest workers and their families. We will aim to address such shortcomings and hope an announcement of mitigating measures will be forthcoming. | A crucial element of this blueprint will be to make it easier for future governments to make changes at the top end of the income spectrum that do not necessarily affect claimants at the very bottom of the pile. One of the flaws exposed by the current political debate on tax credits is the inability to remove relatively high earners from the welfare system without also clobbering the poorest workers and their families. We will aim to address such shortcomings and hope an announcement of mitigating measures will be forthcoming. |
| 1.42pm BST13:42 | 1.42pm BST13:42 |
| Lunchtime summary | Lunchtime summary |
| Here’s a quick lunchtime summary before the tax credits debate in parliament in about an hour. | Here’s a quick lunchtime summary before the tax credits debate in parliament in about an hour. |
| I think its very disappointing that Lord Warner has decided to leave the party at this time when we do have a new leadership that is now still bedding in. It’s only been a month since the leadership election and I think what we can say about Jeremy Corbyn is he has surprised every step of the way. | I think its very disappointing that Lord Warner has decided to leave the party at this time when we do have a new leadership that is now still bedding in. It’s only been a month since the leadership election and I think what we can say about Jeremy Corbyn is he has surprised every step of the way. |
| 1.23pm BST13:23 | 1.23pm BST13:23 |
| Oh dear. It seems business secretary Sajid Javid took up too much Commons’ time with his statement on the UK steel industry crisis. Speaker John Bercow has given him a very polite telling off. “It is, I’m afraid discourteous and incompetent, and it must not happen again.” | Oh dear. It seems business secretary Sajid Javid took up too much Commons’ time with his statement on the UK steel industry crisis. Speaker John Bercow has given him a very polite telling off. “It is, I’m afraid discourteous and incompetent, and it must not happen again.” |
| 1.15pm BST13:15 | 1.15pm BST13:15 |
| John McDonnell: Tories "face being the new Lib Dems" because of tax credits | John McDonnell: Tories "face being the new Lib Dems" because of tax credits |
| Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell has warned the Conservatives that they risk suffering the fate of the Liberal Democrats if they go ahead with their plans to cut tax credits. | Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell has warned the Conservatives that they risk suffering the fate of the Liberal Democrats if they go ahead with their plans to cut tax credits. |
| Writing in the Huffington Post, McDonnell said: | Writing in the Huffington Post, McDonnell said: |
| In May, the Lib Dems were not forgiven by voters for the false promises that they gave before the 2010 election on tuition fees. And rightly so, the public want politicians who will be honest with them. The Tories need to keep their promises on tax credits or face being the new Lib Dems. | In May, the Lib Dems were not forgiven by voters for the false promises that they gave before the 2010 election on tuition fees. And rightly so, the public want politicians who will be honest with them. The Tories need to keep their promises on tax credits or face being the new Lib Dems. |
| The Tories might arrogantly hope that voters will forget, but decisions like this define governments. And the three million people who have been lied to certainly won’t forgive the Tories for the false promises they made on tax credits in May at the next election. | The Tories might arrogantly hope that voters will forget, but decisions like this define governments. And the three million people who have been lied to certainly won’t forgive the Tories for the false promises they made on tax credits in May at the next election. |
| 1.05pm BST13:05 | 1.05pm BST13:05 |
| Stephen McPartland, Conservative MP for Stevenage, has been on the Daily Politics speaking about his decision to oppose the government’s plans to cut tax credits. | Stephen McPartland, Conservative MP for Stevenage, has been on the Daily Politics speaking about his decision to oppose the government’s plans to cut tax credits. |
| I totally agree that we need to reform tax credits – we’re spending £30bn per year on them – but I just don’t agree with what this reform is actually doing ... when you look at the original change to the threshold from £6,420 to £3,850, that’s going to be a £1,200 cut to a range of families, so if you’re a teaching assistant £11,000 per year, that’s about a 10% loss in your income and for me that’s punishing people who get up and go out to work, trying to work their way out of poverty that we should be rewarding. | I totally agree that we need to reform tax credits – we’re spending £30bn per year on them – but I just don’t agree with what this reform is actually doing ... when you look at the original change to the threshold from £6,420 to £3,850, that’s going to be a £1,200 cut to a range of families, so if you’re a teaching assistant £11,000 per year, that’s about a 10% loss in your income and for me that’s punishing people who get up and go out to work, trying to work their way out of poverty that we should be rewarding. |
| Asked how he would vote in today’s debate, McPartland wouldn’t say, arguing that he had to keep the Treasury on its toes so that the chancellor was more likely to announce measures to mitigate the cuts. | Asked how he would vote in today’s debate, McPartland wouldn’t say, arguing that he had to keep the Treasury on its toes so that the chancellor was more likely to announce measures to mitigate the cuts. |
| Updated at 1.08pm BST | Updated at 1.08pm BST |
| 12.40pm BST12:40 | 12.40pm BST12:40 |
| Business secretary Sajid Javid is giving a statement to MPs on the redundancies at Tata Steel. You can follow the developments on our business live blog. | Business secretary Sajid Javid is giving a statement to MPs on the redundancies at Tata Steel. You can follow the developments on our business live blog. |
| 12.36pm BST12:36 | 12.36pm BST12:36 |
| The Liberal Democrats will vote against tax credits in the Lords | The Liberal Democrats will vote against tax credits in the Lords |
| Linking to my last post, the Lords will be voting on the government’s tax credits proposals next week. John Pienaar, BBC Radio 5 live’s chief political correspondent, reports that the Liberal Democrats have instructed their peers to vote against the tax credits cuts. | Linking to my last post, the Lords will be voting on the government’s tax credits proposals next week. John Pienaar, BBC Radio 5 live’s chief political correspondent, reports that the Liberal Democrats have instructed their peers to vote against the tax credits cuts. |
| I'm told Lib Dems in the House of Lords will be formally instructed to vote down the Government's plans to cut tax credits... (1/2) | I'm told Lib Dems in the House of Lords will be formally instructed to vote down the Government's plans to cut tax credits... (1/2) |
| despite fears among senior peers that a veto could provoke a Government backlash and even constitutional retaliation against the Lords.(2/2) | despite fears among senior peers that a veto could provoke a Government backlash and even constitutional retaliation against the Lords.(2/2) |
| Unlike their team of eight MPs in the commons, the Liberal Democrats are a powerful force in the Lords, where they have 108 peers. The Conservative party does not have a majority in the Lords, but the Salisbury convention dictates that peers shouldn’t vote down legislation that was in a governing party’s manifesto. But Labour and the Lib Dems argue that the Conservative tax credit plans were not in their manifesto – in fact, David Cameron said he wouldn’t cut tax credits in the run-up to May’s general election. | Unlike their team of eight MPs in the commons, the Liberal Democrats are a powerful force in the Lords, where they have 108 peers. The Conservative party does not have a majority in the Lords, but the Salisbury convention dictates that peers shouldn’t vote down legislation that was in a governing party’s manifesto. But Labour and the Lib Dems argue that the Conservative tax credit plans were not in their manifesto – in fact, David Cameron said he wouldn’t cut tax credits in the run-up to May’s general election. |
| Updated at 1.09pm BST | Updated at 1.09pm BST |
| 12.20pm BST12:20 | 12.20pm BST12:20 |
| Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has released a statement on this afternoon’s opposition day debate on tax credits: | Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has released a statement on this afternoon’s opposition day debate on tax credits: |
| This is George’s Poll Tax. George Osborne’s attack on working families is an aggressive assault on millions of people in Britain. | This is George’s Poll Tax. George Osborne’s attack on working families is an aggressive assault on millions of people in Britain. |
| Saying you are listening is cold comfort to hard working people who face losing a large part of their pay packet. | Saying you are listening is cold comfort to hard working people who face losing a large part of their pay packet. |
| The Tories promised tax credits were safe during the election but this was completely untrue. It is time for the Chancellor to show the leadership he so badly craves and scrap this disastrous policy. | The Tories promised tax credits were safe during the election but this was completely untrue. It is time for the Chancellor to show the leadership he so badly craves and scrap this disastrous policy. |
| George Osborne should learn from his own party’s history, and change his mind on tax credits, or give up on any desire he has to be Prime Minister. | George Osborne should learn from his own party’s history, and change his mind on tax credits, or give up on any desire he has to be Prime Minister. |
| 11.55am BST11:55 | 11.55am BST11:55 |
| Labour’s Frank Field – who chairs the work and pensions select committee – is tabling a cross-party motion this afternoon to try and secure a backbench debate on the tax credit cuts. | Labour’s Frank Field – who chairs the work and pensions select committee – is tabling a cross-party motion this afternoon to try and secure a backbench debate on the tax credit cuts. |
| The Sun’s Steve Hawkes reports that Zac Goldsmith will be among the three Tories signing it. | The Sun’s Steve Hawkes reports that Zac Goldsmith will be among the three Tories signing it. |
| Confirmed: Zac Goldsmith, David Davis and Stephen McPartland signing Frank Field's call for a Commons motion forcing rethink on tax credits | Confirmed: Zac Goldsmith, David Davis and Stephen McPartland signing Frank Field's call for a Commons motion forcing rethink on tax credits |
| This is the wording of Field’s motion – | This is the wording of Field’s motion – |
| That this House calls on the Government to bring forward proposals that protect at nil cost the lowest paid workers from the proposed lowering of the earnings threshold and increasing of the taper rate for tax credits. | That this House calls on the Government to bring forward proposals that protect at nil cost the lowest paid workers from the proposed lowering of the earnings threshold and increasing of the taper rate for tax credits. |
| Field writes about his proposal at LabourList. “George Osborne may unwittingly have gifted Labour a detonator with which it can blow up the Tories’ 2020 election strategy,” he writes, adding that his motion has received backing from backbenchers from the Tory party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, DUP and Plaid Cymru. Here’s a key extract: | Field writes about his proposal at LabourList. “George Osborne may unwittingly have gifted Labour a detonator with which it can blow up the Tories’ 2020 election strategy,” he writes, adding that his motion has received backing from backbenchers from the Tory party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, DUP and Plaid Cymru. Here’s a key extract: |
| This crucial cross-party backing will give us a better chance of winning concessions from Osborne that could protect the poorest workers and their families. Remember, we’ve been here before. | This crucial cross-party backing will give us a better chance of winning concessions from Osborne that could protect the poorest workers and their families. Remember, we’ve been here before. |
| When I helped organise a backbench revolt in 2008 against Gordon Brown’s daft decision to scrap the 10p rate of tax – another all-out assault on low paid workers – Gordon bizarrely decided the best way to compensate the poor was to give tax cuts to the whole population. | When I helped organise a backbench revolt in 2008 against Gordon Brown’s daft decision to scrap the 10p rate of tax – another all-out assault on low paid workers – Gordon bizarrely decided the best way to compensate the poor was to give tax cuts to the whole population. |
| Some MPs are suggesting that Osborne might follow a similar tax-cutting strategy. But he mustn’t. Such a strategy again would compensate everybody – including the whole Cabinet – for a cut being made to the poorest workers’ incomes. | Some MPs are suggesting that Osborne might follow a similar tax-cutting strategy. But he mustn’t. Such a strategy again would compensate everybody – including the whole Cabinet – for a cut being made to the poorest workers’ incomes. |
| 11.33am BST11:33 | 11.33am BST11:33 |
| While we wait for the tax credits debate to start in the Commons, here is a live stream of the policy launch event of the Women’s Equality Party. | While we wait for the tax credits debate to start in the Commons, here is a live stream of the policy launch event of the Women’s Equality Party. |
| Here is the party’s first policy document. | Here is the party’s first policy document. |
| They are calling for parliament to be put into ‘special measures’ for two general elections in order to achieve equal representation by 2025. | They are calling for parliament to be put into ‘special measures’ for two general elections in order to achieve equal representation by 2025. |
| The party was founded in March, but now has 45,000 members and supporters across 65 branches, compared with Ukip’s most recent claim to have “more than 40,000” members and the Green party’s 65,000. | The party was founded in March, but now has 45,000 members and supporters across 65 branches, compared with Ukip’s most recent claim to have “more than 40,000” members and the Green party’s 65,000. |
| 11.05am BST11:05 | 11.05am BST11:05 |
| Labour’s Kevin Brennan, MP for Cardiff West and shadow business minister, has been granted an urgent question on the crisis in the steel industry today at 12.30. | Labour’s Kevin Brennan, MP for Cardiff West and shadow business minister, has been granted an urgent question on the crisis in the steel industry today at 12.30. |
| UQ granted at 12.30 to @KevinBrennanMP to ask @sajidjavid for statement on action Govt is taking to secure the future of the Steel Industry | UQ granted at 12.30 to @KevinBrennanMP to ask @sajidjavid for statement on action Govt is taking to secure the future of the Steel Industry |
| Updated at 11.16am BST | Updated at 11.16am BST |
| 10.57am BST10:57 | 10.57am BST10:57 |
| Ahead of this afternoon’s debate, here is an explainer on tax credits. | Ahead of this afternoon’s debate, here is an explainer on tax credits. |
| And here is Owen Jones on the government’s plans. | And here is Owen Jones on the government’s plans. |
| 10.27am BST10:27 | 10.27am BST10:27 |
| Tata confirms 1,170 job losses | Tata confirms 1,170 job losses |
| Tata steel has officially announced that it will cut 1,170 jobs. It is being reported that 170 roles will be lost at its plants in Dalzell and Clydebridge and 900 will be lost in Scunthorpe. | Tata steel has officially announced that it will cut 1,170 jobs. It is being reported that 170 roles will be lost at its plants in Dalzell and Clydebridge and 900 will be lost in Scunthorpe. |
| You can follow the story in depth on our business live blog, but I’ll bring you key political reaction here. | You can follow the story in depth on our business live blog, but I’ll bring you key political reaction here. |
| 10.21am BST10:21 | 10.21am BST10:21 |
| Lord Warner, a Labour health minister between 2003 and 2007 who has become the first Jeremy Corbyn-era Labour parliamentarian to resign the whip, has been doing the broadcast rounds to justify his decision. Speaking to the BBC News channel, he said: | Lord Warner, a Labour health minister between 2003 and 2007 who has become the first Jeremy Corbyn-era Labour parliamentarian to resign the whip, has been doing the broadcast rounds to justify his decision. Speaking to the BBC News channel, he said: |
| We look nothing like a government-in-waiting at the moment and we show no signs of being able to learn the lessons of the 7th May decision of the British people to desert the Labour party for four other parties. Under Jeremy Corbyn there doesn’t seem to be the willingness to scrutinise what we were doing wrong, to change our policies and adapt so that we can convince the British people that we are a suitable government... | We look nothing like a government-in-waiting at the moment and we show no signs of being able to learn the lessons of the 7th May decision of the British people to desert the Labour party for four other parties. Under Jeremy Corbyn there doesn’t seem to be the willingness to scrutinise what we were doing wrong, to change our policies and adapt so that we can convince the British people that we are a suitable government... |
| [Corbyn] was chosen by a rather bizarre process which means that he doesn’t really have the support of the majority of Labour MPs who were actually democratically elected. He’s got a set of polices which I find it hard to support and I suspect those of us who are of a centre left democratic disposition will find it difficult to support. He shows every willingness to actually allow activists to take over the party’s apparatus. | [Corbyn] was chosen by a rather bizarre process which means that he doesn’t really have the support of the majority of Labour MPs who were actually democratically elected. He’s got a set of polices which I find it hard to support and I suspect those of us who are of a centre left democratic disposition will find it difficult to support. He shows every willingness to actually allow activists to take over the party’s apparatus. |
| Asked why he wasn’t staying to try and help the Labour party succeed, he said: | Asked why he wasn’t staying to try and help the Labour party succeed, he said: |
| I think that what has happened now, partly as a result of the changes Ed Miliband introduced, is it’s become very difficult to change the party’s processes... | I think that what has happened now, partly as a result of the changes Ed Miliband introduced, is it’s become very difficult to change the party’s processes... |
| Warner was asked about comments by John Prescott that his departure was “no great loss”. | Warner was asked about comments by John Prescott that his departure was “no great loss”. |
| I’ve never been on John Prescott’s Christmas card list and I don’t expect to be on that list. It’s not driven by ego. I think it’s ethically wrong for me to be part of a party which I strongly oppose their polices and I strongly oppose their approach to opposition in this country. | I’ve never been on John Prescott’s Christmas card list and I don’t expect to be on that list. It’s not driven by ego. I think it’s ethically wrong for me to be part of a party which I strongly oppose their polices and I strongly oppose their approach to opposition in this country. |
| 9.39am BST09:39 | 9.39am BST09:39 |
| Speaking on the Today programme earlier, Philip Hammond also made some interesting comments on Cameron’s attempts to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership. He said the UK would be looking for “bankable promises” that were legally binding. | Speaking on the Today programme earlier, Philip Hammond also made some interesting comments on Cameron’s attempts to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership. He said the UK would be looking for “bankable promises” that were legally binding. |
| What we will be looking for is bankable promises, commitments that are legally binding, because we can have international agreements made between the member states which are registered as international agreements, legally binding, to be taken into account by courts in making decisions that will then be incorporated into the treaties at the next opportunity when the treaties are next open. | What we will be looking for is bankable promises, commitments that are legally binding, because we can have international agreements made between the member states which are registered as international agreements, legally binding, to be taken into account by courts in making decisions that will then be incorporated into the treaties at the next opportunity when the treaties are next open. |
| The consensus seems to be that Cameron will not secure treaty change in his renegotiations and Hammond’s comments sound almost like a direct response to something Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said on Friday. | The consensus seems to be that Cameron will not secure treaty change in his renegotiations and Hammond’s comments sound almost like a direct response to something Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said on Friday. |
| ...whatever [Cameron] gets is probably going to be unbankable. It’s not a treaty change, it will be a promise of a treaty change. | ...whatever [Cameron] gets is probably going to be unbankable. It’s not a treaty change, it will be a promise of a treaty change. |
| 9.28am BST09:28 | 9.28am BST09:28 |
| The Mirror’s front page today calls on the prime minister not to “kowtow to the Chinese president today” and launches their Save Our Steel campaign. | The Mirror’s front page today calls on the prime minister not to “kowtow to the Chinese president today” and launches their Save Our Steel campaign. |
| MIRROR: Show us some steel, Mr Cameron #tomorrowspaperstoday #BBCPapers pic.twitter.com/I6BeQGORCc | MIRROR: Show us some steel, Mr Cameron #tomorrowspaperstoday #BBCPapers pic.twitter.com/I6BeQGORCc |
| Up to 15,000 workers risk losing their jobs as our steel industry fights for survival. Today the Mirror launches a Save Our Steel campaign and we call on David Cameron to take decisive action. When he meets President Xi he must tackle the issue of cut-price Chinese imports that are flooding our market. Then he must put real measures in place to protect and revive our own plants – before it’s too late. | Up to 15,000 workers risk losing their jobs as our steel industry fights for survival. Today the Mirror launches a Save Our Steel campaign and we call on David Cameron to take decisive action. When he meets President Xi he must tackle the issue of cut-price Chinese imports that are flooding our market. Then he must put real measures in place to protect and revive our own plants – before it’s too late. |
| 9.18am BST09:18 | 9.18am BST09:18 |
| Here’s a round-up of some of this morning’s political stories which you may have missed: | Here’s a round-up of some of this morning’s political stories which you may have missed: |
| Welcome to the launch of Call Me Dave and I’m sorry that I cannot be with you this evening. As you will have just seen, I have been a little preoccupied for the last four weeks. I haven’t of course set foot in the UK since my illness, but I am reliably informed that my book has caused a bit of a stir. | Welcome to the launch of Call Me Dave and I’m sorry that I cannot be with you this evening. As you will have just seen, I have been a little preoccupied for the last four weeks. I haven’t of course set foot in the UK since my illness, but I am reliably informed that my book has caused a bit of a stir. |
| The BoE’s intervention has been encouraged by Downing Street and is designed to set the scene for the referendum debate over the coming months as David Cameron seeks to renegotiate Britain’s terms of membership. | The BoE’s intervention has been encouraged by Downing Street and is designed to set the scene for the referendum debate over the coming months as David Cameron seeks to renegotiate Britain’s terms of membership. |
| Updated at 9.39am BST | Updated at 9.39am BST |
| 8.50am BST08:50 | 8.50am BST08:50 |
| Good Morning. | Good Morning. |
| The Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived at Heathrow last night for the first official visit by a Chinese head of state since Hu Jintao in 2005. They were greeted on behalf of the Queen by Viscount Hood and by foreign secretary Philip Hammond. | The Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived at Heathrow last night for the first official visit by a Chinese head of state since Hu Jintao in 2005. They were greeted on behalf of the Queen by Viscount Hood and by foreign secretary Philip Hammond. |
| Today president Xi will receive a ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade – which has been adorned with large red flags along side the union jack – before travelling in a carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace. | Today president Xi will receive a ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade – which has been adorned with large red flags along side the union jack – before travelling in a carriage procession along The Mall to Buckingham Palace. |
| Xi is also expected to address members of parliament and will meet Jeremy Corbyn this afternoon. He will then be welcomed at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace this evening. | Xi is also expected to address members of parliament and will meet Jeremy Corbyn this afternoon. He will then be welcomed at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace this evening. |
| Hammond has just been speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, defending the government against criticism for the seeming warmth of the UK’s developing relationship with China. | Hammond has just been speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, defending the government against criticism for the seeming warmth of the UK’s developing relationship with China. |
| I don’t think we’re naive, we go into all relationships with our eyes wide open and we have to make judgements and balances of the different advantages and disadvantages of any relationship that we go into. | I don’t think we’re naive, we go into all relationships with our eyes wide open and we have to make judgements and balances of the different advantages and disadvantages of any relationship that we go into. |
| ...Let’s be clear, the United States is out closest ally and will remain our closest ally. We have a strong strategic partnership with the United States but that does not prevent us from engaging with a country like China, which has an increasingly important economy, which has been emerging into the international community, playing an increasing role and we want to be able to work with the Chinese to be able to shape the way they engage with the world, to be able to carry out activities with them that are in the mutual interest... | ...Let’s be clear, the United States is out closest ally and will remain our closest ally. We have a strong strategic partnership with the United States but that does not prevent us from engaging with a country like China, which has an increasingly important economy, which has been emerging into the international community, playing an increasing role and we want to be able to work with the Chinese to be able to shape the way they engage with the world, to be able to carry out activities with them that are in the mutual interest... |
| I think we are developing a mature relationship with the Chinese, they know that we are looking, not just to China, but to many other countries for infrastructure investments in the UK. Chinese investors are very keen to have a piece of this action. There aren’t many stable, mature economies around the world that are open to large scale infrastructure investment and we are one of them. | I think we are developing a mature relationship with the Chinese, they know that we are looking, not just to China, but to many other countries for infrastructure investments in the UK. Chinese investors are very keen to have a piece of this action. There aren’t many stable, mature economies around the world that are open to large scale infrastructure investment and we are one of them. |
| We have a separate live blog on the Chinese state visit here, but I’ll bring you some of the more political developments from the story. | We have a separate live blog on the Chinese state visit here, but I’ll bring you some of the more political developments from the story. |
| This afternoon in the commons there will be an opposition day debate on the government’s tax credits plans. Paul Johnson, head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies – which served the government a blow when it announced after the budget that “unequivocally, tax credit recipients in work will be made worse off” – was speaking on the Today programme earlier. | This afternoon in the commons there will be an opposition day debate on the government’s tax credits plans. Paul Johnson, head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies – which served the government a blow when it announced after the budget that “unequivocally, tax credit recipients in work will be made worse off” – was speaking on the Today programme earlier. |
| [Work incentives] are an important part of the whole tax credit system and in the end that is part of the reason why tax credits were introduced in the first place and it’s probably important to be clear that, wherever we end up in 2017, it’s still going to be a much more generous system than we had back in 1997, the total level of spending back to around 2003 levels, not back to a world before tax credits. | [Work incentives] are an important part of the whole tax credit system and in the end that is part of the reason why tax credits were introduced in the first place and it’s probably important to be clear that, wherever we end up in 2017, it’s still going to be a much more generous system than we had back in 1997, the total level of spending back to around 2003 levels, not back to a world before tax credits. |
| But, he said: | But, he said: |
| Actually these changes, they’re certainly hitting people further down the income distribution than the changes that were made under the last parliament but the Chancellor made quite a big choice in the Budget, he’s decided actually to hit people in work rather harder than people out of work. | Actually these changes, they’re certainly hitting people further down the income distribution than the changes that were made under the last parliament but the Chancellor made quite a big choice in the Budget, he’s decided actually to hit people in work rather harder than people out of work. |
| In this morning’s papers, George Osborne has claimed that if he had not acted to slash the tax credits bill then £15bn worth of spending cuts would have had to be found elsewhere. He made the comments to coincide with a meeting of the party’s 1922 backbench committee, many of whom are said to be anxious about the effect the cuts to tax credits (the first round of which will come in before Christmas) will have on their constituents. | In this morning’s papers, George Osborne has claimed that if he had not acted to slash the tax credits bill then £15bn worth of spending cuts would have had to be found elsewhere. He made the comments to coincide with a meeting of the party’s 1922 backbench committee, many of whom are said to be anxious about the effect the cuts to tax credits (the first round of which will come in before Christmas) will have on their constituents. |
| I’ll be covering for Andrew this week, bringing you breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. | I’ll be covering for Andrew this week, bringing you breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @fperraudin. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @fperraudin. |
| Updated at 9.41am BST | Updated at 9.41am BST |