Starmer confronts slavery reparations and says future should not be ‘in shadow of past’ – UK politics live | UK news

The continuing row over ministers’ definition of working people came as the chancellor signalled she would rewrite the way government debt is measured in her first budget.

During a round of broadcast interviews while attending the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington DC, Rachel Reeves said she faced difficult choices but insisted her budget would “begin to fix the NHS and start to rebuild our economy”, reports the PA news agency.

The cost of government borrowing increased in response to speculation the chancellor would change debt rules to spend billions more on investments.

Tory former chancellor Jeremy Hunt said increased borrowing could increase the cost of mortgages for hundreds of thousands of households.

Reeves confirmed a technical change in the way she would measure progress against the target of managing debt. Writing in the Financial Times, Reeves said her fiscal rules would be “the rock of stability at the core of my budget”.

Labour’s 2024 election manifesto said Reeves would follow two rules: the current budget would be in balance so that day-to-day costs are met by revenues; the second rule is that debt must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the economic forecast.

On Thursday she confirmed that the way debt is measured as part of that target would be changed to allow greater flexibility.

According to the PA news agency, Reeves said:

My fiscal rules will do two things. The first and most important: my stability rule will mean that day-to-day spending will be matched by revenues. Given the state of the public finances and the need to invest in our public services, this rule will bite hardest.

Alongside tough decisions on spending and welfare, that means taxes will need to rise to ensure this rule is met. I will always protect working people when I make these choices, while taking a balanced approach.

Crucially, my stability rule will also cover the interest on our national debt and unlike the previous government I won’t cut capital budgets to make up for shortfalls in the day-to-day running costs of departments.

My second fiscal rule, the investment rule, will get debt falling as a proportion of our economy. That will make space for increased investment in the fabric of our economy, and ensure we don’t see the falls in public sector investment that were planned under the last government.”

Reeves is expected to target public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL) as her new benchmark for government debt rather than the current measure of underlying public sector net debt, reports the PA news agency.

Eleni Courea reporting from Apia:

Keir Starmer has said he understands the “strength of feeling” in the Commonwealth about reparatory justice but that countries should work together to ensure their future is “not in the shadow of the past, but is illuminated by it”.

Speaking in an executive session of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) hosted in Samoa, the prime minister conceded that the Commonwealth had to “acknowledge our shared history – especially when it’s hard”.

Downing Street has firmly ruled out paying reparations to its former colonies and said it’s not on the agenda for the summit, but Caribbean countries have been pushing for them to be mentioned in the communique.

“I understand the strength of feeling here and that there are some calls to face up to the harms and injustices of the past through reparatory justice,” Starmer told leaders.

“The UK believes the most effective way to maintain a spirit of respect and dignity is by working together to make sure the future is not in the shadow of the past, but is illuminated by it.”

The Guardian reported this week that the UK was open to discussing non-cash forms of reparatory justice such as reforming financial institutions

Starmer had been due to hold a bilateral meeting on Friday with the president of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, who has spoken in favour of reparations in the past, but it was called off because of timing constraints.

Keir Starmer has confronted calls for the UK to pay reparations for its historical part in the slave trade while surrounded by Commonwealth leaders.

Speaking at an executive session of a Commonwealth summit in Samoa, the prime minister said it was important to acknowledge a “hard” shared history, and that he understood the “strength of feeling” about reparations, reports the PA news agency.

Flanked by leaders from Uganda and Tanzania, Starmer said he wanted to work “together to make sure the future is not in the shadow of the past”, and promised to host a UK-Caribbean forum with leaders of the nations most affected by slavery’s legacy.

The prime minister has insisted reparations are not on the table for the Commonwealth summit, even as leaders from Caribbean and African member states have called for discussions on the issue.

The UK has conceded that the issue of reparations could be included in a document due to be signed off at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting this week.

The PA news agency reports that sources accept that there could be a reference to reparatory justice in the communique, but officials stressed that this would not necessarily mean any change in the UK’s policy position.

More on that in a moment, but first, here is an update of the latest developments in UK politics:

• Keir Starmer does not think all owners of stocks and shares fall outside his definition of “working people”, Downing Street has signalled. The prime minister had suggested asset owners would not fall within his conception of what a working person is. The government has been asked repeatedly to define this term, in a bid to establish which taxes may rise in the budget.

• Downing Street is blocking moves to include a ban on smoking outdoors in the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes bill amid fierce opposition by the hospitality trade. No 10 officials privately believe that banning people from lighting up in pub gardens is “an unserious” policy and is not backed by good evidence showing that it harms non-smokers.

• A Treasury minister has said he does not accept the idea that changes to the fiscal rules could “punish families with mortgages”, as was suggested by former chancellor Jeremy Hunt. When asked on Times Radio whether he accepted that, James Murray, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury said “well, no.”

• Rachel Reeves will pledge to reverse huge cuts in public investment in her budget next week after she confirmed that rules limiting her spending power will be overhauled to enable the government to release as much as £50bn for infrastructure spending.

• Businesses that import critical minerals to the UK will be given access to state-backed loans in a move to counter China’s dominance in the market. The chancellor is expected to announce extra government support to encourage the import of critical minerals such as lithium, graphite and cobalt in her budget next week.

• The value of the UK’s private healthcare market rose to a record £12.4bn last year as long NHS waiting lists fuelled demand from individuals and the health service paid for nearly £3.5bn of procedures to help ease the care backlog.

• A group that emerged out of a faction of the Conservative party has become a forum for Britain’s splintered far right. A private conference hosted earlier this month by the Traditional Britain Group (TBG) was attended by figures from the Homeland party, an extreme nationalist group, as well as rivals from other groups such as Patriotic Alternative.