During a press conference in India, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new Gaza ceasefire deal marks “a moment of profound relief that will be felt around the world”.
Published On 9 Oct 20259 Oct 2025
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ROBERT Jenrick should stop lecturing the public on integration, Sir Keir Starmer has blasted.
The PM hit out at the Shadow Justice Secretary after he claimed he “didn’t see another white face” during a visit to Birmingham.
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Sir Keir slammed the comment on Thursday night, saying “it’s quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seriously.”
He accused the senior Tory of “running a leadership campaign” instead of making serious political arguments.
Speaking on a flight to Mumbai, where he will meet Indian President Narendra Modi, Sir Keir said: “We’re working hard on questions of integration, but we need no lessons or lectures from Robert Jenrick on any of this.
“He’s clearly just engaging in a leadership campaign.”
The row erupted after senior Conservatives rallied behind Mr Jenrick’s claim that Britain must confront “ghettoised communities” and a “dangerous” lack of social cohesion.
Labour figures branded the comments “racist”, but Tory leader Kemi Badenoch defended her colleague, saying there was “nothing wrong with making observations.”
Shadow Cabinet Minister Claire Coutinho also backed him, saying: “If you walk through an area and don’t see a single white face, it is a sign that integration has failed.”
The controversy broke out during the Tory party conference in Manchester after The Guardian obtained a secret recording of Mr Jenrick describing a 90-minute visit to Handsworth earlier this year.
He told members at an Aldridge-Brownhills dinner: “I went to Handsworth in Birmingham the other day to do a video on Twitter and it was absolutely appalling.
“It’s as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country.
“But the other thing I noticed there was that it was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to.
“In fact, in the hour and a half I was filming news there I didn’t see another white face.”
Just nine per cent of Handsworth’s population is white, with most residents of Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi heritage, official data shows.
Asked if he regretted his comments, Mr Jenrick told the BBC: “No, not at all and I won’t shy away from these issues.”
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He said he mentioned skin colour “because it’s incredibly important that we have a fully integrated society regardless of the colour of their skin or the faith that they abide by.”
He also linked the terror attack in north Manchester last week to a lack of integration.
Ms Badenoch again backed her shadow minister, saying she would take The Guardian report “with a pinch of salt.”
The Tory leader said: “What he and I both agree with is that there are not enough people integrating.
“There are many people who are creating separate communities.”
Labour last night pounced on the remarks, saying Mr Jenrick had “crossed a red line.”
Labour PM’s conference speech comes amid right-wing surge and the left’s plunge in ratings.
A year after his huge election win, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday faced the daunting task of trying to rally his party amid dismal ratings.
His most serious challenge comes from the right-wing Reform UK Party, helmed by Nigel Farage. Its hardline stance on immigration is adding pressure for more border security from Labour.
Starmer’s address at the Labour Party conference showed energy and passion — things he’s been criticized for lacking in recent months.
But will it be enough to help Starmer overcome his challenges, or are his days in office numbered?
Presenter: Nick Clark
Guests:
Patrick Diamond – Professor in public policy at Queen Mary University of London, former policy adviser to Labour governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown
Jennifer Nadel – Political communications strategist and co-founder of Compassion in Politics, a cross-party think tank that works towards legislative change and ethical governance
Michael Walker – Contributing editor at Novara Media, an independent outlet, a former Labour Party member who left in 2020
Published On 1 Oct 20251 Oct 2025
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PA MediaSir Keir Starmer sought to rally his party and set out his vision for the country in his keynote speech at Labour’s conference in Liverpool.
So, what were the standout moments? Let’s look at five of them.
The central theme of the Labour conference is taking the fight to Reform UK, which is leading in UK-wide opinion polls.
Throughout the conference, Labour ministers and MPs have attacked Reform and framed its fight with the party in existential terms.
In his speech, the prime minister reinforced that message, telling the party faithful the country faced a stark choice between “renewal or decline”.
“It is a test,” Sir Keir said. “A fight for the soul of our country, every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war, and we must all rise to this challenge.”
Calling out the Reform UK leader by name, Sir Keir asked: “When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future?
“He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain. Doesn’t believe in Britain.”
In these spiky comments, Sir Keir was pointedly naming Farage as the principal opponent in the “fight”, rather than Labour’s traditional competitor for power, the Conservatives.
The Tories were barely mentioned, and there was a chorus of laughter when Sir Keir quipped: “The Tories – remember them?”
PA MediaThere has been some discomfort among Labour MPs over the home secretary’s plans to make it harder for migrants to gain permanent settlement status in the UK.
Sir Keir acknowledged this in his speech, but argued the government would have to take “decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party”.
In a departure from the New Labour years, he said the party had placed too much faith in globalisation and the idea that “immigration is all we need to give us the workers”.
He talked about meeting a woman in Oldham, shortly after becoming an MP in 2015.
Sir Keir said the woman complained about “a group of men from Eastern Europe” who had recently moved into her street, “didn’t put the rubbish out at the right time and spat on the ground”.
The prime minister said the woman “felt she had to prove to a Labour politician that she wasn’t racist”.
Sir Keir said at that time, Labour “had become a party that patronised working people” and “that’s why we changed the party”.
The speech blended the personal and the political.
But the prime minister did announce one new policy. Sir Keir said the UK government would scrap a commitment to get 50% of England’s young people into university.
Tony Blair set the target over 20 years ago to boost social mobility when he was prime minister, and the symbolic 50% mark was passed for the first time in 2019.
Sir Keir said the target would be changed to two-thirds of young people going to university or “gold standard apprenticeships”.
He said the government would invest in new technical excellence colleges and skills training.
Personal and political were entwined here: he reminded the conference about his father’s job as a toolmaker who worked with his hands – and said that further education colleges had been “ignored – because politicians’ kids don’t go there”.
PA MediaThere’s been a lot of debate about patriotism and national flags – and what they represent – ahead of and during the conference.
A few weeks ago, following a march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson in London, the prime minister said the UK would never “surrender” its flag to those who wish to use it as “a symbol of violence, fear and division.”
To a waving sea of flags in the conference hall, Sir Keir elaborated on that argument.
“Labour is the party of national renewal. Labour is the patriotic party.”
He said the flags of the UK “belong to all of us and we will never surrender them”.
Patriotism, the prime minister said, was about serving the “common good” – and disputing the idea that Britain was “broken”, Sir Keir praised the work of ordinary people, including a woman named Melanie who organises meet-ups for people in care in Yorkshire.
He also mentioned Kaitlyn, a 15-year-old sitting in the audience, who set up her own girls football team at school in Barnet, and George, who delivers food parcels in Telford.
“Mere politics cannot break Britain, conference,” Sir Keir said.
The upcoming Budget has loomed over the conference, fuelling speculation of tax rises, which most economists think are likely.
In his speech, the prime minister reflected on the last Budget, which saw the chancellor unveil £40bn in tax rises – the biggest increase in a generation – to raise money to pay for the NHS and other public services.
“We asked a lot at the last Budget – I know that,” Sir Keir said. “And the tough decisions they will keep on coming.”
Rejecting calls for a wealth tax and increases in borrowing to fund government spending, Sir Keir said he would not “cast off the constraints and indulge in ideological fantasy”.
Sir Keir said losing control of the economy means “working people pay the price” and promised “I will never let that happen again”.
THE Hillsborough Law will leave a legacy for future generations, one of the campaigners at the heart of the battle for justice said after meeting the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
The new Public Office (Accountability) Bill is intended to make sure the authorities will face criminal sanctions if they attempt to cover up the facts behind disasters such as the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy or the Grenfell Tower fire.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously pledged to bring in the law by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy, which was on April 15, but Downing Street then said more time was needed to redraft it.
At a meeting with some of the families of those killed at Hillsborough, Sir Keir acknowledged it had been a battle, with “frank” discussions continuing as his deadline passed.
Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, died at Hillsborough, said she is hopeful the new law “will mean no one will ever have to suffer like we did”.
Speaking alongside Sir Keir in No 10, she said: “I thought this is a day that was not going to happen.”
“This is not just about a legacy for the 97,” she said, in reference to the number of Liverpool fans who died in the tragedy.
“This is a legacy for the people of this country and I think that is the most important thing.”
Some campaigners raised fears the Bill’s contents had been diluted and would not include a legal duty of candour.
But the Government has confirmed a new professional and legal duty of candour will be part of the Bill, meaning public officials must act with honesty and integrity at all times and could face criminal sanctions if they breach it.
The Hillsborough disaster led to the deaths of 97 football fans during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the football ground in Sheffield.
The Government said the new legislation will “end the culture of cover-ups” and learn lessons from wider disasters including the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Horizon and infected blood scandals.
Sir Keir said the new legislation can change “the balance of power in Britain” to ensure the state “can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve”.
He added: “Make no mistake, this a law for the 97, but it is also a law for the subpostmasters who suffered because of the Horizon scandal, the victims of infected blood, and those who died in the terrible Grenfell Tower fire. This is change only this Government can deliver.”
Sue Roberts, whose brother Graham was unlawfully killed at Hillsborough, described the Bill’s introduction as “a huge step in the right direction” but said the families will be “watching closely to ensure this Bill is passed in its entirety and enacted in full”.
She added: “The Government must resist any pressure from those who don’t believe the public deserves to know the truth about when the state fails.”
Among what the Government has described as the “seismic changes” as part of the Bill are the biggest expansion of legal aid in a decade for bereaved families, with non-means tested help and support for inquests.
There will also be a new offence for misleading the public, which the Government said will mean criminal sanctions for the most serious breaches.
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EPABritain will not surrender its flag to those that wish to use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The prime minister said the flag represents “our diverse country” and he will not allow people to feel intimidated on “our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin”.
His comments came after more than 150,000 people took to the streets of central London for a “Unite the Kingdom” march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and about 5,000 took part in a counter-protest, co-ordinated by Stand Up To Racism.
Earlier, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said marchers were “demonstrating freedom of association and freedom of speech”.
The prime minister said: “People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country’s values.
“But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin.
“Britain is nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.”
Police say 26 officers were injured on the day – including four who were seriously hurt – with 24 people arrested.
Speaking about Saturday’s protests on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Kyle said moments like these were “klaxon calls” for those in power to redouble their efforts to address the big concerns people have, including on immigration.
“What worries me most is the divisions in our society and other societies and other democratic societies … it’s not even the left and the right at the moment, ” he told the programme.
“There are figures such as Tommy Robinson that are able to touch into a sense of disquiet and grievance in the community in our society,” he said.
The “small minority” who had committed violence would be held accountable, he told the programme.
Kyle criticised Elon Musk’s comments after he appeared at Saturday’s rally via video link telling protesters to “fight back” or “die”.
“I thought that they were slightly incomprehensible comments that were totally inappropriate”, the minister said.
The tech billionaire also referred to massive uncontrolled migration and called for a change of government in the UK.
Central London saw a huge policing operation for the protests this weekend, with around 1,000 officers deployed.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers said: “There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence.”
The protest was largely peaceful on Saturday lunchtime but as the afternoon continued tensions flared.
The Met said some officers had been attacked while trying to keep the two groups apart and dozens of officers were injured, including four who were seriously hurt.
Protesters joining the march, organised by Robinson, became too big to fit into Whitehall, police said, and confrontation happened when officers tried to stop them encircling counter-protesters.
Mounted police officers used batons to push back the crowds and officers were kicked and punched, said the Met.
Three of the 24 people arrested were women and the rest were men, while the youngest and oldest people detained at the protest were aged 19 and 58 respectively, the Met said on Sunday.
Several people were arrested for more than one offence.
The force added officers were working to identify other people involved in disorder with a view to making further arrests “in the coming days and weeks
The Met said on Saturday morning that they were not going to use live facial recognition cameras during the day.
Previously called a “game-changing tool” by Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, the technology is used by the force in “hotspot policing” and major events like the Notting Hill Carnival.
CUTTING Angela Rayner loose will not end the trouble she has caused Sir Keir Starmer – in fact it could get a whole lot worse.
Millions of appalled voters will rightly expect her to scurry sheepishly off into the deep freeze along with any future ambitions.
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But to her legions of militant supporters, she is far from a busted flush – she is a martyr, and soon quite possibly their Red Queen over the water.
It is no secret Rayner is far to the left of Starmer, and that theirs has always been a tricky forced political marriage.
Remember when Sir Keir tried to clip her wings in 2021 only to end up giving her a promotion after she kicked off big time?
Now outside the Cabinet tent – and with no real sense of loyalty to the PM – she could turn from his right-hand woman into a right old headache.
Many in the Labour tribe are already furious with Starmer for turning his back on the left-wing causes he once championed.
From welfare, to taxes, to migration, there is no shortage of issues on which soft-left MPs are ready to scrap with No10.
As the PM tries to stem the bleeding to Reform with more hardline policies, those rows will only intensify.
Especially given Jeremy Corbyn’s new rabble and the Greens threaten to sap voters from Labour’s leftward flank.
In this looming battle for the soul of the party, it is easy to see Rayner emerging as the socialists’ standard bearer.
With the might of the unions and members also on her side, Rayner could quickly accumulate a large powerbase.
Maybe one even big enough to mobilise against her old boss.
Think of the grief Boris Johnson or Nigel Lawson caused Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher from the backbenches, leading to their downfalls.
Starmer had no choice but to push Rayner out.
Her fate was set as soon as Sir Laurie Magnus threw the book at her for breaking the ministerial code.
In this looming battle for the soul of the party, it is easy to see Rayner emerging as the socialists’ standard bearer
His gushing, personal, hand-written goodbye note is as clear a sign as any that he wanted to give her the heave-ho in as gentle a way as possible.
But it might not stay friendly for long.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) gives a very warm welcome to President Volodymyr Zelensky outside 10 Downing Street in London on Thursday morning as the Ukrainian leader arrived for talks ahead of a landmark U.S.-Russia summit that could decide his country’s fate. Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA
Aug. 14 (UPI) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street on Thursday to maintain the momentum of a European push to influence a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The high-profile meeting between the British and Ukrainian leaders, reported by the BBC, Sky News and The Telegraph, was described as a carefully choreographed display of support timed for just hours before the historic U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, which Zelensky was left out of.
Neither man commented nor provided any details of their discussion when the pair emerged from No. 10 after around 60 minutes.
The London talks came as the Kremlin confirmed “resolving the Ukraine crisis” would be the main focus of the summit and that the delegation headed by Putin would include top aide Yuri Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Russian sovereign wealth fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev.
Co-chairing a meeting of European leaders, Zelensky and Trump on Wednesday, Starmer said a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine was a “viable” outcome from what he called Friday’s “hugely important” meeting, but stressed Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” must be defended and international borders “must not be changed by force”.
“As I’ve said personally to President Trump for the three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on, we haven’t got anywhere near a prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire,” said Starmer.
“And now we do have that chance, because of the work the president has put in.”
However, Starmer said any cease-fire would have to be lasting and therefore needed “robust and credible security guarantees” and that European allies had established “this Coalition of the Willing” to back a post-war Ukraine militarily, with troops if necessary, to preempt Russia from breaking any peace agreement.
The bloc backed Zelensky’s demand that no decisions be made without Ukraine at the table.
Trump emerged from the meeting to put Putin on notice he would face “severe consequences” if he did not agree to a cease-fire when the pair meet in Anchorage on Friday. Trump said that, provided the meeting went well, he would also seek a second meeting between Putin and Zelensky to hammer out the details of a peace deal.
CONGRATULATIONS, Sir Keir! The number of people arriving here in small boats from France has reached 50,000 since your magnificent government took office.
That’s something to be proud of, isn’t it? The way things are going, you might make it 100,000 by the end of the year.
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Smashing the gangs was the plan you announced upon taking office.
It was about as much use as howling at the moon. And although you deny it, the policy seems to have been quietly shelved.
Nor will the one-in, one-out deal work. A pilot scheme which was only ever going to deal with one in 20 of the illegal migrants.
You scrapped the Rwanda plan. That at least provided SOME deterrent.
And so, like almost every other thing you turn your hand to, you’ve made things worse and worse.
So here’s my ten-point plan to stop what seems to be an unstoppable tide. It’s not really unstoppable, if you really want to do it.
1: Let it be known that anyone arriving here illegally automatically loses their right to live in the UK, in perpetuity. Cost of this? Nil.
Deterrence effect? Very high. No place to live, no permit to work, no schooling, no health care.
2: No more hotels. As Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has suggested, house the migrants who arrive in tents.
Empty every hotel which has migrants in them, immediately. Cost of this? Rather less than the hotels, I would reckon.
3: No grants for swimming lessons, gym workouts and hair extensions. No grants for anything except a ticket home.
4: Withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and all other supranational jurisdiction which stops us from solving our own problems in our own ways. They are well past their sell-by dates, anyway.
5: Abolish the immigration tribunals, immediately. They are all presided over by judges who spend most of their lives advocating the causes of asylum seekers. The legal issue is clear: Arriving illegally means no entry.
6: In complex cases, where it is either not clear where the migrant comes from, or the country of origin refuses to have them back, send them for processing at a place under British jurisdiction.
Such as St Helena — a windswept island in the middle of the Atlantic. Or South Georgia. Or, for the really devious ones, Rockall.
7. For those who have already arrived and are currently going through the appeals process, let it be made clear that by arriving illegally they have automatically lost their right to stay here. Also, abolish all legal aid for those who have arrived.
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8: Offer those who have been here for some time £1,000 to leave the country, never to return. You could throw in some free bags of Monster Munch, and one of those neck cushions, for the flight.
9: Strike a deal with the French to allow British policemen or soldiers to puncture the boats before they leave France.
Or otherwise hole them below the waterline. It is obvious we can’t trust the French to do this.
10: Start taking things seriously, Starmer. Begin with the conviction that all who arrive illegally must go. Including those who have already arrived. And if the Left moans, so be it.
I SPOKE to Rob Davies a few days ago. He’s the shopkeeper from Wrexham who was visited by the police for having put up a sign describing shoplifters as “scumbags”.
He was ticked off and warned he might have offended people.
Who, shoplifters? We mustn’t offend THEM now?
Totally bizarre. And you can see where this policy is getting us.
There is now one case of shoplifting every minute in the UK.
Businesses are closing down because their losses are unsustainable.
And when a hard-working shop owner complains about it, he then gets a visit from the Old Bill.
Before the last election Sir Keir Starmer warned he was going to get tough on shoplifters. What happened, Keir?
Meanwhile the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, has said the public must help in fighting shoplifting.
Really? And risk being charged by the Old Bill for being nasty to a vulnerable person?
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GOT your pre-order in for the new Taylor Swift album?
Nope, me neither. But I suppose million upon million will.
Her music is bloodless and boring, written by a committee. The lyrics are naff. But she is a consummate saleswoman.
She’s already been giving teasing hints as to what’s on the new album.
It includes a cover of a George Michael song, for example. Which is, for me, another reason to stay well away from it.
Ah well, she’s what a certain section of the kids want now and I suppose I am not necessarily her target audience.
But couldn’t the kids fall in love with something a little more exciting, and dangerous, and full of adventure?
THE Metropolitan Police is considering prosecuting the vigilantes who stopped a bloke waving his b*****s around after he dropped his trousers and pants on the Tube in front of women and children.
A few blokes on board remonstrated with him and then, when he got aggressive, wrestled him to the ground and handed him over to an off-duty copper.
In other words, they did the right thing.
And the response of the idiots at the Met is why the public is reluctant to get itself involved when a crime takes place.
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WHEN friends make constructive criticisms, we should listen.
The US State Department has just investigated human rights in the UK – something the Vice President JD Vance has been banging on about.
It says our human rights worsened last year. And it claimed there were “credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression”, as well as “crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by antisemitism”.
That seems to me pretty much bang on.
Over the last 15 years our freedom to express ourselves has diminished and diminished.
And that trend hastened last year with the advent of a Labour government which really hates the idea that people should express themselves freely.
THE UK has just broken a much-cherished record.
There are now, officially, eight million people claiming Universal Credit.
And well done, Sir Keir – that’s an increase of more than a million on the figure for last July.
Soon, everybody will be on Universal Credit. Sitting on their fat arses watching reruns of Deal Or No Deal.
And there will be nobody left to pay for it all.
GOOD luck to all our readers who are about to open their A-level results today.
It’s always a fun time of year, isn’t it?
But it doesn’t really matter in the end, believe me.
And here’s a bit of advice to anyone who got lower than As and Bs.
Don’t go to university. It’s not worth the bother.
Instead, get yourself an apprenticeship and learn something useful which will keep you in work.
Soon you will be earning a decent income while the debt-laden students slum it on awful courses.
NOW I really have heard it all. A trolley dolly has just won a discrimination case against British Airways.
Jennifer Clifford said she was too scared to fly. Being up in the air in one of those planes made her kind of stressy, you see. So she shouldn’t have been given the boot.
Do you ever get the impression that, much as the Fun Boy Three suggested all those years ago, the lunatics really have taken over the asylum?
BRITAIN’S Chagos Islands handover will cost taxpayers ten times more than Sir Keir Starmer let on, newly unearthed figures claim.
Official estimates reveal the bill for giving the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius is not £3.4billion as promised, but actually close to £35billion.
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The figure, which was released to the Conservative Party under Freedom of Information laws, is far higher than the £3.4 billion figure the Prime Minister had previously stated in public, according to The Telegraph.
Ministers are now facing allegations that they misled Parliament with a controversial “accountancy trick” to hide the size of the bill from taxpayers.
Britain is to hand over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory while paying billions of pounds to continue using the Diego Garcia base, a key military facility used by Britain and the United States.
Negotiations for a deal to hand over sovereignty of the island began under the Conservatives and was concluded by the new Labour government.
Back in February, Sir Keir Starmer dismissed Tory warnings of a £30billion cost and branded a £9bn to £18bn estimate “absolutely wide of the mark”.
But an official document produced by the Government Actuary’s Department shows the cost of the deal was first estimated at ten times the stated figure, at £34.7 billion, in nominal terms.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Add that to their £50bn black hole, and it’s clear – when Labour negotiates, Britain loses.”
A government spokesman said: “The deal is supported by our closest allies, including the US, Canada, Australia and Nato.
“The costs compare favourably with other international base agreements, and the UK-US base on Diego Garcia is larger, in a more strategic location.”
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KEMI Badenoch has thrown down the gauntlet to Keir Starmer on the economy demanding no stealth taxes on Brits.
The Tory leader has written to the Prime Minister saying “tax rises are a choice”.
She has challenged him to repeat Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ promise at the Budget last year not to extend the freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds.
Failing to end the freeze as planned in 2028 would mean millions more Brits are forced into paying a higher rate of tax under fiscal drag.
This is when people are pulled into higher income tax brackets as inflation pushes their wages up.
It comes after a bombshell report said the Chancellor must find £50billion in her autumn Budget to keep the country’s finances in check.
She will have to raise taxes or cut spending to maintain her stated financial cushion of £9.9billion by the end of the decade, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
At the Budget, Ms Reeves said: “Extending the threshold freeze would hurt working people.
“It would take more money out of their payslips.
“I am keeping every single promise on tax that I made in our manifesto, so there will be no extension of the freeze in income tax and national insurance thresholds.”
Ms Badenoch asked the PM: “I am writing to you to ask: does this remain government policy?”
A Labour spokesperson said: “We’ll take no lectures from this failed Tory Party.
“They crashed the economy which sent bills and mortgages rocketing, and left a £22 billion blackhole.
“Kemi Badenoch’s next letter should be an apology to hard-pressed households for the Conservatives’ role in hammering their family finances.
“Labour is the only party focused on creating a fairer Britain.”
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