British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a rare pre-budget speech Tuesday at her official residence at No. 9 Downing Street, London, in which she suggested tax hikes were unavoidable. Photo by Andy Rain/Pool/EPA
Nov. 4 (UPI) — British Chancellor Rachel Reeves signaled Tuesday that she was likely to raise taxes on ordinary people in her upcoming budget this month in spite of an election pledge by the Labour government it would not do so.
In a speech in Downing Street, Reeves said she would make “the choices necessary” to ensure the foundation of the economy was sufficiently strong for the government to deliver on its mandate to protect the NHS, get down the national debt and rebuild the economy.
Notably, she did not repeat the manifesto pledge the party ran on in the 2024 general election, in which it swept to power to leave untouched the three main taxes — income tax, National Insurance and VAT.
Instead, seeking to explain her actions in advance of her watershed budget, which she will deliver to Parliament on Nov. 26, she said people needed to “understand the circumstances we are facing” and that everyone needed to do their bit to rectify the situation.
“As I take my decisions on both tax and spend I will do what is necessary to protect families from high inflation and interest rates, to protect our public services from a return to austerity and to ensure that the economy that we hand down to future generations is secure, with debt under control.
“If we are to build the future of Britain together, we will all have to contribute to that effort. Each of us must do our bit for the security of our country and the brightness of its future.”
Reeves dangled the prospect of rewards down the line, stating that getting it right now would yield more resilient public finances with the headroom to withstand global shocks, which in turn would provide businesses with the confidence to invest.
She said that would in turn leave the government with more leeway to act when necessary, investing in infrastructure and industry to build a stronger economy and get down the cost of government debt, spending less on interest and more and schools and the NHS.
Reeves is betting on the budget, her second, to win the endorsement of the market for her management of the country’s finances by showing she can stick to the fiscal rules she set for herself in October 2024.
Those rules state she must balance spending with revenue — within a plus or minus margin of 0.5% of GDP — within five years, meaning no borrowing for everyday spending from the 2029-30 financial year onward. In addition, the ratio of government debt to GDP must begin falling within the same timeframe.
To do that, however, she must demonstrate how she plans to plug a fiscal hole of as much as $40 billion and boost lackluster economic growth.
The only options to close the gap and balance the books are a return to austerity — which the government has categorically ruled out — or boost the amount of money flowing into government coffers.
Reeves raised some taxes on business in her first budget in November 2024 and to come back for more after promising she would not do so, particulary when it comes to raising the basic rate of income tax — currently 20% — is very high risk, politically.
It hasn’t been done for 50 years and it didn’t work out well for then-Labour government with the country plunged into a currency crisis and forced to seek a bailout loan from the IMF.
Reeves mostly laid blame at the feet of the previous Conservative administration’s policies, including Brexit, austerity and cuts to infrastructure spending, all of which she said had led to falling productivity.
She also cited high inflation globally and economic uncertainty created by the trade tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in recent months.
Conservative shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, said it was now certain tax hikes for families and businesses were on the way.
He said that if Reeves proceeded to go back on her word, she should quit.
Daisy Cooper, Treasury spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said the government could no longer dodge responsibility.
“It’s clear that this budget will be a bitter pill to swallow as the government seems to have run out of excuses,” she said.
A large group of former UCLA football players sent a letter to chancellor Julio Frenk earlier this month asking for besieged athletic director Martin Jarmond to be replaced “to reestablish the university’s commitment to excellence, both on and off the field.”
The 64 players, who represent multiple eras of UCLA football spanning coaches Bob Toledo to Chip Kelly and include several who went on to play in the NFL, wrote to “express deep concern with the current direction of UCLA Athletics under Martin Jarmond. Despite the resources, history, and opportunities at his disposal, Mr. Jarmond has not demonstrated the level of leadership or vision consistent with UCLA’s proud legacy. Rather than building on the foundations of greatness established by those before him, his tenure has fallen short of advancing UCLA to its rightful place among the nation’s premier programs.
“UCLA deserves an athletic director who understands that this role is not merely about administration, but about stewardship of a legacy — one rooted in excellence, historic achievement, and national leadership. Unfortunately, Mr. Jarmond has not embodied these values, nor has he positioned UCLA Athletics to rise to the standard its history demands.”
The letter went on to call for new leadership, saying it was part of a movement “bigger than any one of us. Former players have joined forces — through countless calls, texts, and meetings — to push this cause forward. We are united in our commitment to protecting the proud legacy of UCLA football and athletics.”
A UCLA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jarmond has come under fire since the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster after only 15 games illuminated the athletic director’s stewardship of the football program. Jarmond’s refusal to fire Kelly before Kelly abruptly left in February 2024 to take a job as offensive coordinator at Ohio State led to the whirlwind hiring of Foster, a position coach whose deficiencies as a head coach were on full display while posting a 5-10 record that included an 0-3 start this season.
Others have since criticized Jarmond for a broad range of shortcomings, including an insufficient response to leaked donor data, lowered expectations for success involving a once-proud football program and carte blanch spending that has led to staggering athletic department deficits.
A petition seeking Jarmond’s removal or resignation garnered 1,462 signatures and a mobile billboard truck circled Westwood with messages such as “UCLA Football Deserves Better Fire AD Martin Jarmond” and “$7 Million Buyout for UCLA’s AD? Failure Never Paid So Well.”
Some have questioned why Jarmond was granted a contract extension in May 2024, at a time when UCLA was transitioning from outgoing chancellor Gene Block to Frenk. According to the terms of that extension, Jarmond would be owed roughly $7.1 million, or the full amount of a contract that runs through June 30, 2029, if he was terminated without cause.
Many appear to want him gone before then. Before each of the football team’s last two home games at the Rose Bowl, an airplane has flown over the stadium pulling a banner calling for his dismissal.
The voyages of the starship Enterprise will include a 5½-mile stretch in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
The iconic “Star Trek” flagship will be prominently featured on the franchise’s 2026 Rose Parade float, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the storied sci-fi franchise. The design for the Star Trek 60 “Space for Everybody” entry was revealed on Monday.
In addition to the USS Enterprise and its bridge — where yet-to-be-announced actors will be stationed — the float will feature an homage to Vasquez Rocks, the local landmark where “Star Trek” has filmed, as well as the franchise’s future version of San Francisco, where Starfleet is headquartered. The design also incorporates planets and transporters.
As previously announced, the float’s design is meant to reflect values that “Star Trek” champions: hope, inclusivity, exploration and unity. It was designed by artist John Ramirez and will be built by the team at Artistic Entertainment Services.
The float will also promote the upcoming Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” which stars Holly Hunter as a starship captain and chancellor leading the academy’s first new crop of cadets in more than 100 years. The show will premiere next year.
The theme for the 2026 Rose Parade is “The Magic in Teamwork,” which is meant to celebrate “the sense of accomplishment in knowing that by working together, we can collectively achieve outcomes so much richer than we can ever experience as individuals,” according to the Tournament of Roses website.
The Rose Parade float will kick off “Star Trek’s” yearlong celebration of its 60th anniversary, which will also include additional new shows, Lego sets and even a cruise.
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg•@bbclaurak
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The next few days are vital – “one of the last moments to weave it all together – to look politically credible to the people Labour has lost”, one senior figure reckons.
There have been huge fights inside government about the looming Spending Review.
As I write, the home secretary and deputy prime minister are both still in dispute with the mighty Treasury over the amount of cash they’ll have to spend.
But the Treasury’s already trying to convince the public the review is about significant investment.
On Wednesday Rachel Reeves boasted of funnelling billions more taxpayers’ cash to big transport projects outside the wealthier south east of England, having tweaked the Treasury rules to do it.
Now, with five days still to go, I’ve been passed some of the information that’ll be in the pages of Wednesday’s review.
It’s one crucial chart that will be in the huge bundle of documents heading to the printing presses on Tuesday night that shows what’s called TDEL – the Total Departmental Expenditure Limit.
In other words, the total that government spends, including the day-to-day costs of running public services and long-term spending on big projects.
A Treasury document shared with the BBC
The chart spans 2010 to 2030, so takes in the coalition years, where you can see the total sliding down, then the Conservative years when spending starts rising after the Brexit referendum, then leaps up during Covid.
And then, when Labour took charge, the red line going up steeply at first, then more slowly towards the end of this parliamentary term.
The total real terms spending by 2029-30? More than £650bn – roughly £100bn more than when Labour took office.
The pale blue line is what would have happened to spending if the Conservatives had managed to hang on to power last year.
The government now is allergic to accusations that any cuts they make will be a return to austerity. And this chart shows that overall spending is going up considerably, compared to those lean years.
The political argument around spending will rage but the chancellor did – to use the ghastly technical term – set out the “spending envelope” in her autumn Budget, indicating rises were coming.
You can bet they’ll want to use every chance they have to say they are spending significantly more than the Tories planned to under Rishi Sunak.
The government’s political opponents on the other hand, may look at that red line as it climbs steeply upwards and say: “See, public spending is ballooning out of control”.
This chart does illustrate very significant rises in public spending. But be careful. What this chart doesn’t give us is any idea of how those massive totals break down. Massive chunks will go to favoured departments, suggestions of an extra £30bn for the NHS today.
And a very significant part of that steep rise will be allocated to long-term projects, not running public services, some of which are struggling.
The overall total may be enormous, but a couple of parts of government greedily suck in billions – others will still feel the pain.
Reuters
Chancellor Reeves will present the Spending Review on Wednesday, 11 June
A case in point – as I write on Saturday morning, the Home Office is still arguing over its settlement, believing there isn’t enough cash to provide the number of police the government has promised, while the front pages are full of stories about the NHS receiving another bumper deal.
So observe this big health warning. The chart gives us a sense of the political argument the chancellor will make.
But it doesn’t tell the full story or give the crucial totals, department by department, decision by decision.
It’s worth saying it’s incredibly unusual to see any of this before the day itself, hinting perhaps at jitters in No 11 about how the review will be received.
Until we hear the chancellor’s speech, and then see all of the documents in full on Wednesday, the story of the Spending Review won’t be clear.
There will be reams of statistics, produced by government, and the official number crunchers, the OBR, and then days of analysis by think tanks and experts in the aftermath.
But bear in mind these three core facts. Rachel Reeves will put a huge amount of cash, tens and tens of billions, towards long term projects. Short-term spending money will be tight, with no spare cash for sweeteners. And the government is not popular, so there’s huge pressure to tell a convincing story to try to change that, not least because of what went wrong the last time.
PA Media
New figures show the UK economy is picking up, growing by 0.7% from January to March – better than many expected
“We can’t ever do it like this again.” After Labour’s first Budget, government insiders concluded next time, it had to be different.
A source recalls: “It was a very brutal exercise – it was literally just making the sums add up, there was no collective approach to what the priorities were.”
Alongside a lot of extra cash for the NHS, there was a big tax rise for business that came out of the blue. No one wants a repeat of that experience.
The “next time” is now – and a Labour source warns the review might be as “painful as hell” .
So the task for a government struggling in the polls is to make this moment more than just a gruesome arithmetic problem, instead, to use the power of the state’s cheque book to make, and go on to win an argument.
Stick a fiver on Rachel Reeves referring back to that first Budget as “fixing the foundations” of the economy and public services, this week then being the moment to start, “rebuilding Britain”.
Sources suggest she has three aspects in mind: security for the country (which will explain all those billions for defence), the health of the nation – that does what it says on the tin, and “investing”, all that cash for long-term projects.
Next week’s decisions will be followed soon after by the government’s industrial strategy which will promise support for business, possibly including cash to help with sky-high energy costs.
And it comes after several big staging posts – the immigration white paper, trade deals, the defence review.
In government circles there’s hope of denting some of the criticisms that they have been slow to get moving in office, that, frankly, Sir Keir Starmer arrived in government without having worked out what he really wanted to do.
One Whitehall insider tells me, “Now the buses are all arriving at once – maybe the idea of this lacklustre government that didn’t have a plan will be blown away by July?”
This Wednesday’s Spending Review will outline everyday government spending for the next three years, and investment plans for the next four
Another Labour source suggests the threat from Nigel Farage has actually forced the government to get moving, visibly, and decisively: “Reform gives us the impetus to actually shake this stuff down.”
That’s the rosy view of how the chancellor might be able to play a difficult hand. It might not be reality. It is profoundly uncomfortable for a Labour government to make cuts.
There is already a whiff of rebellion in the air over ministers’ welfare plans. Expanding free school meals for kids in England seems designed to placate some of those critics in advance, but there could be more to make them mutinous.
Don’t forget Reeves has several different audiences – not just the public and her party, but the financial bigwigs too.
This time last year all Labour’s schmoozing was paying off, and she enjoyed good reviews in the City.
One year on, that mood has shifted, in part because of the autumn budget.
According to one city source, it “damaged her. People saw it as an about turn on her promises. Raising National Insurance, however they want to present it, went against the spirit of the manifesto… confidence in her in the City is diminished and diminishing”, not least because there is chatter about more tax hikes in the autumn budget.
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You probably don’t need me to remind you that the level of taxes collected by government are historically sky high.
So too, at the other end, is the amount of government debt. A former Treasury minister told me this morning, “debt is the central issue of our time, nationally and globally”.
“There is a real risk our debt becomes unsustainable this Parliament, unless we make tough choices about what the state does. We can’t keep on muddling through.”
Add in the twists, tariffs and tantrums of the man in the White House, that make the global economic situation uncertain and the picture’s not pretty.
But politics hinges on finding advantage in adversity. Polling suggests much of the country reckons Labour inherited a bad hand and has played it badly.
This week, the chancellor has a chance to change the game. No 11 is determined to prove that she has made decisions only a Labour chancellor would make.
And Reeves is gambling that her decisions to shovel massive amounts of money into long term spending helps the economy turn, and translates into political support well before the next general election.
A senior Labour source said, Wednesday will be “the moment, this government clicks into gear, or it won’t”. There’s no guarantee.
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Julio Frenk does not appear to be a university administrator content to watch his school’s athletic program from the sidelines.
In his last stop before becoming UCLA’s chancellor, Frenk led an overhaul of the University of Miami’s athletic department, bringing in a new athletic director and football coach after the Hurricanes were criticized for not making football a priority under Frenk’s leadership.
That shakeup resulted in coach Mario Cristobal leading his team to a 10-3 season in 2024 that represented the Hurricanes’ best finish in nearly a decade.
Can UCLA fans expect a similar level of involvement in athletics from their new chancellor?
In a word, yes.
During a recent interview with The Times, Frenk indicated that he would be hands-on with UCLA athletics because of its importance to the university as a whole.
“I am [going to be involved] because I think athletics plays a very central role,” Frenk said. “It is, first, an avenue for recruiting very talented students. Secondly, it benefits the other students. It enriches the student experience of everyone. But let me tell you, when we talk about the contribution to society, part of the reason many universities have a deficit, it’s not because of football. Football actually has a positive cash flow for the university.
“What we do in the United States that no other country that I know of does, is that universities are the place where we train Olympians, Olympic competitors, competitors who go to the Olympic Games. That function — just like the research function — has been delegated to universities and we are investing in having Olympic athletes. In most of the other countries, it’s government-run high-performance centers.
“But here the federal government doesn’t have to worry about that because universities do that and they fund that. And when we have the Olympics every four years, everyone is very proud to see the United States top the medal chart. That work starts in universities and that’s why we also fund that. It’s an intrinsic part of education. It enriches everyone’s experience. It builds community. It also produces the best performing Olympic teams in the world.”
Frenk’s comments would seem to suggest that he is not considering any cuts to UCLA’s Olympic sports even at a time when the school’s athletic department has run up a $219.5-million deficit over the last six fiscal years. That deficit would be even higher had the university not agreed to provide $30 million to its athletic department as part of its most recent fiscal budget.
Frenk also said that federal legislation was needed “to create a much more predictable model” for football and men’s basketball, controlling expenses while propping up the rest of an athletic department.
UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk speaks during his inauguration ceremony at Royce Hall on June 5.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
“I acknowledge this costs money,” Frenk said of allocating resources to the revenue sports, “but the money goes to be able to have all the other disciplines that do not generate money. The most direct way to do that would be to find other sources of funding. Right now, we use the revenue from football and that requires investments to fund the entire athletic operation.
“It is time to have a conversation and create a legal framework that doesn’t leave it to each institution or each state to find their own way in this. We’re part of an ecosystem. I think the move to the Big Ten has been very positive in that respect. And those are the conversations we are having. How do we generate other sources of revenue — mostly to be able not just to maintain the excellence of the sports that are widely followed by the public, but also all the other sports, including, very importantly, the Olympic sports, which are such a source of pride?”
Frenk has shown he will not tolerate failure in high-profile sports — or the perception that he is not doing everything he can to help his teams.
As Miami’s president, he led an upheaval of the school’s athletic department after ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit criticized the Hurricanes during a September 2021 broadcast, mentioning a Miami Herald article stating that football was not a priority for Frenk. Herbstreit went on to say that Miami’s athletic director, football coach and president were not in alignment about team needs like other powerhouse programs.
Five days later, Frenk issued a statement saying that he wanted “to make clear that the board of trustees and I, as president, recognize the essential part of our brand and reputation derived from athletics and we are fully committed to building championship-caliber teams at the U.” Frenk added that he would have his chief of staff and senior advisor engage with the athletic department to enhance his own commitment to sustain winning teams.
With the football team headed for a 7-5 finish that fell far short of preseason expectations, athletic director James Blake was fired before the end of the season and football coach Manny Diaz was dismissed a little more than a week after the final game. The Hurricanes then gave Cristobal a 10-year, $80-million contract, with Frenk attending the introductory news conference and calling his new coach’s selection “a bold vision for the future.”
UCLA football went 5-7 last season under first-year coach DeShaun Foster.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Last month, while making his first public remarks about UCLA athletics at a UC regents meeting, Frenk referenced the role athletics played in the school’s institutional identity, mentioning legendary basketball coach John Wooden and the Bruins’ dominance in Olympic sports with the school set to host the athlete village for the 2028 Olympics.
Frenk also mentioned how UCLA’s recent move to the Big Ten Conference was made with “the goal of stabilizing the program and positioning it for long-term success.” The chancellor referenced the school’s national championship in men’s water polo, a Final Four appearance in women’s basketball and a national runner-up finish in women’s gymnastics as part of a haul that also included six team and four individual conference titles, the most of any Big Ten team.
Ultimately, an athletic department is only as healthy as its highest-profile sports. UCLA’s football team needs to fully capitalize on the recent buzz created by the arrival of transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava after finishing 5-7 in coach DeShaun Foster‘s debut season. The men’s basketball team must maximize the ability of transfer point guard Donovan Dent to make everyone around him better if it hopes to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2023.
Going forward, every UCLA team seems assured of one thing: Their new chancellor will be watching.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday. Photo by Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE
May 31 (UPI) — President Trump plans to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz next week in Washington, D.C..
Merz, who was elected May 6 in a parliamentary election, is scheduled to visit with Trump on Thursday in the White House, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in a news release Saturday.
Merz, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, replaced Olaf Scholz, who served since 2021 with the Social Democratic Party. Merz was first elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and was leader of the opposition since February 2022.
He will travel to the U.S. capital one day ahead, according to broadcaster n-tv.
They will focus on bilateral relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East and trade policy, which includes tariffs, according to Kornelius.
A White House official confirmed the meeting to The Hill.
Like Trump, Merz wants a cease-fire in the war between Ukraine and Russia that began in February 2022.
Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyin Berlin on Wednesday.
The chancellor said that Germany will increase financial support for Ukraine as part of a more than $5.5 billion agreement. That includes sending over more military equipment and increasing weapons manufacturing in Kyiv.
Members of the Trump administration have criticized Germany’s designation of the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party as an “extremist” political entity.
“We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,” Merz said in an interview with Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which is part of Politico, that was published on May 7.
Last Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul traveled to Washington and met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump spoke on the phone with Merz during his visit on May 10 with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv.
Macron, Starmer and Zelensky have already met with Trump in the White House.
Other foreign leaders who met with Trump since he took office again on Jan. 20 include Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irish Prime Minister Micheel Martin, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Many heads of state, including Trump, went to the funeral for Francis on April 26 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Merz wasn’t one of them.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday. Photo by Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE
May 31 (UPI) — President Trump plans to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz next week in Washington, D.C., in the meeting between the two leaders.
Merz, who was elected May 6 in a parliamentary election, is scheduled to visit with Trump on Thursday in the White House, Germany government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Saturday in a news release to The Hill and Politico Europe.
Merz, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, replaced Olaf Scholz, who served since 2021 with the Social Democratic Party. Merz was first elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and was leader of the opposition since February 2022.
He will travel to the U.S. capital one day ahead, according to broadcaster n-tv.
They will focus on bilateral relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East and trade policy, which includes tariffs, according to Kornelius.
A White House official confirmed the meeting to The Hill.
Like Trump, Merz wants a cease-fire in the war between Ukraine and Russia that began in February 2022.
Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyin Berlin on Wednesday.
The chancellor said that Germany will increase financial support for Ukraine as part of a more than $5.5 billion agreement. That includes sending over more military equipment and increasing weapons manufacturing in Kyiv.
Members of the Trump administration have criticized Germany designating the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party as an “extremist” political entity.
“We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,” Merz said in an interview with Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which is part of Politico, that was published on May 7.
Last Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul traveled to Washington and met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump spoke on the phone with Merz during his visit on May 10 with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv.
Macron, Starmer and Zelensky have already met with Trump in the White House.
Other foreign leaders who met with Trump since he took office again on Jan. 20 include Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irish Prime Minister Micheel Martin, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Many heads of state, including Trump, went to the funeral for Francis on April 26 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Merz wasn’t one of them.
