Removing tariffs on more than 100 products, including gherkins and baked beans, was one of five measures announced this morning before tomorrow’s budget
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has suggested that someone would not be banned from standing as a candidate for his party just for liking a social media post from the far-right activist and provocateur Tommy Robinson.
In his Today programme interview, Nick Robinson, the presenter, asked about the recent ITV News undercover exposé of Reform UK, which included footage of a potential candidate who flagged up pro-Robinson social media posts as a potential problem being told he should just delete his social media account.
[It] wouldn’t be my cup of tea, but I wouldn’t ban anybody from doing so … I don’t want us to get into a world of cancel culture.
I’m not going to have run a party where we say you can’t talk about that person or that person. We have to be sensible about vetting. And we are.
I’ve long believed that self-employed dads deserve the same chance as everyone else to be there for their families when a new baby arrives, so I’m delighted that this is becoming a reality. It’s about time self-employed fathers got the support they deserve.
Self-employed tradies build our homes, fix our heating and keep our lights on, so ensuring they can access paternity leave is a proper mark of respect for the people who keep our country going. This will make a real difference to tens of thousands of dads each year, giving them the chance to welcome their children into the world and be present fathers without facing financial ruin. I’m especially pleased that self-employed dads in my home city of Portsmouth will benefit.
Paternity leave is a cost of living lifeline for new families. This decision gives self-employed dads breathing space and a chance to show up for their loved ones when they’re needed the most.
We’re pleased to see the chancellor recognise cost of living pressures on families and carers in his package of pre-announced measures. The lack of statutory paternity pay for self-employed fathers was a massive gap in parental leave …
We hope the chancellor will go further in his cost of living budget and increase statutory maternity pay as well. State support for new mum’s still sits at less than half of minimum wage beyond the first six weeks. Our cost benefit analysis of extending this to 12 weeks and raising pay to the national living wage found it was a net positive to the exchequer and would make the world of difference to families in the first nine months of their children’s lives.
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