“,”elementId”:”a7ef2cde-a2d8-4675-a64f-bb9dbfa56f75″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Frank Hester donated further £5m to Tories in January, figures show”,”elementId”:”c27fcf77-be6b-4062-a591-0e29666037fa”,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/06/frank-hester-donated-further-5m-to-tories-in-january-figures-show”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1717664502000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”05.01 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1717664542000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”05.02 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1717664542000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”05.02 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”05.02″,”title”:”Frank Hester donated another £5 million to the Conservative Party in January, figures show”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thursday, June 6, 2024 05:02 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First Published Thursday, June 6, 2024 04:28 EDT”},{“id”:”666176418f08be0974537982″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, has announced that he will stand as a candidate in the UK election, reversing his earlier commitment to focus on his duties at Holyrood.
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Douglas Ross holding his press conference where he’ll announce a surprise bid to get re-elected to Westminster. Starts by paying tribute to David Duguid, who the party dropped as a candidate last night on health grounds (though Mr Duguid wanted to stay) pic.twitter.com/P2dTVoaesD
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) June 6, 2024
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Ross said he had decided to “to lead from the front” after former Scotland office minister David Duguid, the anticipated candidate for the new seat of Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, developed “serious health issues”.
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Ross, who until the general election was called served both as MP for Moray and an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, confirmed his decision at a hastily arranged press conference in Edinburgh this morning, after Duguid claimed last night that he had been barred from standing by the party due to ill health.
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Duguid, the former MP for Banff and Buchan whose constituency was taken in to the new seat for which Ross has put himself forward, revealed on social media that he had not been selected to stand despite being adopted by his local party.
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Duguid has been unwell since May and is being cared for by the spinal injury unit in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hosptial.
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Sepaking this morning, Ross said:
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\n
Unfortunately, with real regret, the party management board concluded that David could not proceed as our candidate for the new seat of Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.
\n I want to personally thank him for the significant role he has played and there will always be a place for him in the Scottish Conservatives.
\n
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Explaining that the new seat includes part of his old Moray constituency, which he held since his surprise ousting of SNP veteran Angus Robertson in 2017, and which has been abolished in the boundary review, Ross went on:
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\n
I know how to beat the SNP and I know how important it is to local voters that we do so.
\n ”I know how damaging it would be for constituents, including many I’ve already represented as MP for Moray, to have an SNP MP who only focuses on independence at the expense of all the issues that really matter to local people.
\n
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Good morning. The government raises more than £1 trillion in tax every year, and more than half of that money comes from just three sources: income tax, national insurance and VAT. The Conservatives and Labour have both promised not to raise the rates of any of those taxes (although, with VAT, Labour was initially reluctant to give a cast-iron pledge, implying Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, wanted, at least a bit, to keep her options open.)
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But there are plenty of other taxes available to a chancellor, and it seems the Conservative party now plans to spend the remaining four weeks until polling day challenging Labour to rule out raising any of them. Today Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has written an article for the Daily Telegraph in which he promises that his party won’t increase stamp duty, that it will continue to ensure main homes are exempt from capital gains tax, and that it won’t hold a council tax revaluation, or increase the number of council tax bands. The final promise is particular significant because the current council tax arrangements for England are egregiously unfair, and mainstream economists argue (eg here and here) the case for reform is overwhelming.
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Hunt says:
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\n
That is why today we are announcing the family home tax guarantee.
\n
This guarantee is a commitment not to increase the number of council tax bands, undertake an expensive council tax revaluation, or cut council tax discounts. It is a commitment to maintain private residence relief, so that people’s main homes are protected from capital gains tax. And it is a commitment not to increase the rate or level of stamp duty.
\n
I am throwing down the gauntlet to Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer to join us in this pledge. This isn’t party political point-scoring. I actually want to see the Labour party say they will put families first and higher taxes second.
\n
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When politicians declare they are not engaged in “party political point-scoring”, that’s often a clear sign that are and Hunt’s article suggests that the Tories have decided that tax is the strongest card they’ve got to play in the campaign. Normally parties are reluctant to rule out too many tax increases in advance of an election because they want to retain room for manoeuvre if economic circumstances get tricky. But if a party is expecting to lose, it feels less constrained when it comes to making promises.
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So far Hunt does not seem to have succeeded in tempting Labour to play his game. Last night a party spokersperson just said:
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\n
We will not be raising taxes on working people … These are more desperate claims from Rishi Sunak who lied to the British people before and is lying to them again.
\n
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The Institute for Fiscal Studies is in despair at the honesty of the debate about taxation during the campaign. It says both main parties are refusing to be honest about the need for tax rises or deep spending cuts after polling day.
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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9.30am: Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, is holding a press conference.
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Morning: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and other leaders are attending the D-Day Commemorations at the British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer. Starmer will also be at the afternoon event at Omaha beach.
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10am: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Wiltshire. In the afternoon he will be campaigning in Oxfordshire.
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11am: Adrian Ramsay, the Green party co-leader, and Dr Pallavi Devulapalli, the party’s health spokesperson, hold a press conference on the party’s health plans.
“,”elementId”:”8d743125-ee96-47e4-969f-eba30e85a18a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line (BTL) or message me on X (Twitter). I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use X; I’ll see something addressed to @AndrewSparrow very quickly. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos (no error is too small to correct). And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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Important Events
Frank Hester donated a further £5m to the Conservative Party in January, figures show
Businessman Frank Hester, who is at the centre of a furor over comments accused of being racist and misogynistic, donated a further £5 million to the Conservative party in January, figures released by the Electoral Commission have revealed. Henry Dyer and Rowena Mason There is a story.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross announces surprise decision to stand in general election
Libby Brooks
Douglas RossScottish Conservative leader James McClellan has announced he will stand in the UK elections, backing away from an earlier promise to focus on his role at Holyrood.
Douglas Ross holds a press conference to announce his surprise run for re-election to Westminster, beginning with paying tribute to David Duguid, who the party withdrew last night from the running for health reasons (he wanted to stay on). pic.twitter.com/P2dTVoaesD
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) June 6, 2024
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Douglas Ross holds a press conference to announce his surprise run for re-election to Westminster, beginning with paying tribute to David Duguid, who the party withdrew last night from the running for health reasons (he wanted to stay on). pic.twitter.com/P2dTVoaesD
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) June 6, 2024
Mr Ross said he had decided to “step up to lead” after former Scottish Secretary of State David Duguid, who was the leading candidate for the new Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency, developed “serious health issues”.
Mr Ross, who served as MP for Moray and the Highlands and Islands until the general election, confirmed the decision at a hastily called press conference in Edinburgh after Mr Duguid had voted in his constituency. Insisted last night He was barred from running for office by his party for health reasons.
Ms Duguid, a former member of parliament for Banff Buchan, whose constituency falls within the new seat for Mr Ross, took to social media to reveal that she was not selected to run despite being recruited by a local party.
Ms Duguid has been ill since May and is receiving treatment in the spinal cord injury unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
On Sepaking this morning, Ross said:
Unfortunately, and with great regret, the party executive has concluded that David cannot proceed as our candidate in the new Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency.
I would like to personally thank him for the vital role he has played and there will always be a place for him in the Scottish Conservative party.
Mr Ross explained that his new seat includes part of his old Moray constituency, which he has held since shockingly ousting veteran SNP MP Angus Robertson in 2017, and which was abolished in the boundary review.
I know how to win against the SNP and I know how important that is to local voters.
“I know how damaging it is for my constituents, including many of those I have represented as Moray constituency MP, to have SNP councillors who are solely focused on independence at the expense of all the issues that really matter to local people.
The Conservatives are calling on Labour to reject council tax reforms they call the “Family Home Tax Guarantee”.
Good morning. The government Over £1 trillion in taxes every yearAnd more than half of that funding comes from three sources: income tax, national insurance and VAT. Both the Conservatives and Labour have pledged not to raise the rates of these taxes (although on the latter, Labour was initially reluctant to make any commitments, suggesting that Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves wanted to keep her options open at least a little).
But there are plenty of other taxes the Chancellor could use, and the Conservatives appear intent on spending the remaining four weeks until polling day demanding that Labour reject those tax increases. Today, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt wrote: Daily Telegraph article He promises that the party will not increase stamp duty, will ensure that principal homes continue to be exempt from capital gains tax, there will be no council tax reassessment, and the number of council tax bands will not be increased. The last promise is particularly important, because England’s current council tax arrangements are deeply unfair and mainstream economists (e.g. here and here) The need for reform is overwhelming.
Hunt says:
That’s why today we’re announcing the Family Housing Tax Guarantee.
This guarantee is a promise not to increase the number of council tax brackets, not to have costly council tax reassessments or to cut council tax discounts, a promise to maintain personal home allowance and ensure that people’s main residences are protected from capital gains tax, and a promise not to increase the rate or level of stamp duty.
I am challenging Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer to join this pledge. This is not party political point-scoring. I actually want to see Labour say it will put families first and tax increases second.
When politicians declare that they’re not “scoring party politics”, it’s often a clear sign that they are, and Hunt’s article suggests that the Conservatives have decided that taxes are the most powerful card they can play in the election. Normally parties are reluctant to rule out too many tax increases before an election because they want to reserve some maneuvering space in case economic times worsen. But when parties expect to lose, they feel less constrained in making promises.
So far, Hunt has not been successful in his seduction efforts. Labor To join his game, a party spokesman said last night.
We are not going to raise taxes on workers… this is the desperate claim of Rishi Sunak, who has lied to the British people before and is lying again.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has despaired of honesty in the debate over tax during the election, saying both major parties have refused to talk honestly about the need for tax increases or deep spending cuts since polling day.
Today’s agenda includes:
9:30 AM: Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross holds a press conference.
morning: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and other leaders will attend D-Day commemorations at the British Normandy Memorial in Vers-sur-Mer, with Starmer due to attend an afternoon ceremony at Omaha Beach.
10 am: Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey is campaigning in Wiltshire and is due to campaign in Oxfordshire this afternoon.
11am: Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay and the party’s health spokesperson, Dr Pallavi Devlapalli, held a press conference to set out the party’s health plan.
If you want to contact me, post on BTL (message on the line below) or message me on X (Twitter). I can’t read every message on BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message to me, I’ll search for posts with that word and have a better chance of seeing it. X is the best way to flag something urgently. Messages to @AndrewSparrow are seen immediately. I really appreciate readers pointing out mistakes, even small typos (no mistake is too small to fix). I’m also really interested in your questions. I can’t promise to reply to every question, but I’ll try to reply to as many as I can on BTL or on the blog.
