leaks

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has denied leaks ahead of the Budget have damaged the economy, following criticism the speculation has “caused paralysis among businesses and consumers”.

Recent months have been dominated by media reports about which taxes could increase, with multiple potential measures floated by the government.

Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this was “the single biggest reason why [economic] growth has flatlined”.

In response, Alexander said there was always speculation in the run-up to Budgets but the chancellor had been clear about her priorities.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is widely expected to increase taxes in her Budget on Wednesday to help fill a multibillion-pound gap in her spending plans.

Ministers had given strong indications the government was planning to increase income tax rates.

Anonymous briefings to the media from government sources had also suggested Reeves was considering the move – which would have been a clear breach of Labour’s election promise not to raise “the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax”.

However, last week government sources said Reeves had decided against this after better-than-expected economic forecasts.

Governments sometimes choose to leak aspects of their Budget plans to the media, either to test public reaction or prepare the ground for measures so they do not come as a shock to financial markets or voters.

Haldane branded the months of speculation about potential Budget measures a “fiscal fandango”.

“That’s been costly for the economy,” he told the programme.

“It’s caused paralysis among businesses and consumers.”

He said the Budget process was “too lengthy, too leaky, with real costs”.

Haldane acknowledged this “pantomime” had also happened under previous governments, adding that the “budgetary process has been degraded over many years”.

Challenged over whether the leaks had damaged the economy, Alexander told the programme: “People always speculate in advance of a Budget and we have always said ‘wait until the Budget’.”

Defending the government’s approach, she said the Budget process had taken place “on shifting sands”, with a downgrade to productivity forecasts and “a very challenging global economic environment”.

The Conservatives have called for an investigation into pre-Budget leaks, saying they have “real world consequences including for financial markets”.

In a letter to the Treasury’s most senior civil servant, shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: “Either ministers have approved the widespread briefing of confidential information surrounding the Budget, or serious unauthorised leaks have occurred within your department.”

The chancellor is expected to set out a range of smaller tax rises in her Budget, after backing away from increasing income tax rates.

However, the government has not ruled out extending the freeze on income tax thresholds – the level people start paying tax or have to pay higher rates.

The freeze means any pay rise would see people paying more tax, with more people dragged into a higher tax band, or having to pay tax on their income for the first time.

Reeves has also said there will be a focus on cutting the cost-of-living, with the government announcing that rail fares in England will be frozen next year for the first time in decades.

Other priorities set out by the chancellor include reducing NHS waiting lists and the national debt.

Meanwhile, she is also expected to scrap the two-child benefit cap, a limit that means parents can only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children.

There has been pressure from Labour MPs to remove the cap, which was introduced under the Conservatives – a move that could cost more than £3bn, according to estimates by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank.

While she refused to confirm the cap would be scrapped, Alexander said tackling child poverty was “in the DNA of the Labour Party”.

“One of the defining elements of this government for me is about what we can do to ensure that children’s chances in life aren’t determined by the size of their parents’ bank balance,” she added.

The Conservatives have argued against removing the cap, with Stride telling the BBC it was “a matter of fairness” that parents who are on benefits should have to make the same choices about whether they can afford a bigger family as those who are not.

The shadow chancellor told Kuenssberg: “The big choice at this Budget now is does the chancellor have the backbone to control government spending, particularly in the area of welfare where some of those costs are spiralling out of control, take those tough choices and therefore not have to start putting up taxes again in areas that are going to damage the economy.”

However, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said scrapping the cap would be a “victory” and it was “outrageous that it’s taken the Labour government so long to do it”.

He called for the government to “tax the rich”, rather than hit “people out of work or working people who are working really hard while their wages aren’t going up”.

John McDonnell, the former Labour Shadow Chancellor, said he hoped Reeves would announce a “redistributive Budget”.

“That does mean that the heaviest weight should fall on the broadest shoulders,” he told The Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4.

“That means tax rises for the wealthiest and for the corporations, and for those who are making massive profits at the moment.”

Asked about divisions within Labour, McDonnell said: “What people want is, they want a sense of direction.”

He said Labour has a “massive majority”.

“We can do what we want in terms of getting stuff through Parliament,” he said.

“Yet we seem to be hindered by a lack of direction and some elements of competence as well.”

Mystery swirls around the Strictly results show as the couple eliminated is leaked during the show’s taping, despite audience members handing in their phones

Questions are being raised about how spoilers are leaked about the Strictly Results show, as the couple eliminated was revealed while the results show was still being filmed.

Every Saturday, the Strictly main show airs live, but the Sunday results shows are filmed immediately after the live show is screened with the same audience sitting in for both. As such, the audience are aware of who has gone home almost a full day before the wider public are.

To prevent the result leaking, audience members are not allowed to have their mobile phones in the studio and those that bring phones with them are required to hand them over to security.

They can collect them from when they leave. However, the celebrities, their family and friends, pro dancers and production crew are all allowed to keep their mobile phones.

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Despite the tight control on communication from the audience to the outside world, spoilers for the results show have continued to leak as it is filmed, making some wonder how this is possible.

Spoilers have long been an issue on the show, but this is the first year where they have leaked as filming is still underway. A source told the Sun that spoilers “plague” the show.

“Spoilers have plagued Strictly for years with fans struggling to avoid finding out who leaves before the Sunday results show airs. Now, results are ending up online while the cameras are still rolling.”

There are multiple ways that spoilers from the show are leaked, but those dropping during the show’s filming appear to be leaked to a TikTok user called Shirleigh Humphreys.

Shirleigh, who goes by Shirleighshirlz, consistently streams her live reaction to finding out who has been eliminated around 10:30pm on a Saturday, a time when filming sometimes has not wrapped on Strictly Come Dancing.

In one video, she revealed that she gets her information during the show’s filming: “I have my own moles and this particular mole was fantastic for giving us live coverage of the Strictly Results while it was taping.”

Last week, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey found himself in the dance off with La Voix, and the judges ultimately decided to save the Drag Race star, sending Harry home.

With Vicky and the bottom of the dance-off, there is some fear that the Geordie Shore star will be heading home. This week is an important one for celebs to make it through, as next week, they head to Blackpool for the one of the series’ biggest shows.

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The latest series of Strictly Come Dancing is off to a brilliant start and plenty of celebrity faces have been taking to the dancefloor to impress the judges

The Strictly Come Dancing results show could be axed due to ongoing leaks, it has been reported. The results show has been a Sunday staple for years but it could be coming to an end.

Despite the results show airing the day after the main programme, it is all actually filmed on the same night. However, this means that the person who has been dumped from the show tends to be leaked.

Many viewers are fed up with the Saturday night leaking and are calling for both episodes to be aired on a Saturday instead. Strictly bosses are now under pressure to make a change due to the undercover mole ruining the results for thousands of fans.

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The Daily Mail has reported that some BBC bosses think that the hit show needs to go back to its original format. This included the viewers voting after the Saturday main episode while The National Lottery was aired.

The live results programme then followed afterwards and the contestant with the least public support left the show.

There was no dance-off like there is now which meant that the judges didn’t have the opportunity to save anyone. However, with the current format, within just an hour of filming finishing at Elstree Studios, the Strictly mole leaks the results online which means that thousands of people know the results before the Sunday episode airs.

The current Sunday show brings in more than seven million viewers but these views would most likely be transferred over to Saturday evening if it was to be moved.

It was reported that a source said: “It’s become a complete farce, everyone watching knows that it was filmed the night before – but more significant than that, the result is out on the internet almost immediately.

“It’s fair to say that this mole is a thorn in the BBC’s side. You can find out by 11.30pm on a Saturday night what happened.

“A full readout appears on social media and they have no way of stopping it. Fans have to spend all day Sunday trying to avoid the spoiler online or hearing who went in the dance-off over their Sunday lunch. With Tess and Claudia (Strictly’s hosts, who are leaving at the end of this series) going, it is the ideal time to change things.”

Strictly Come Dancing is broadcast live on BBC1 on a Saturday night then after a break, where the judges and presenters change their outfits, they start pre-recording the Sunday night results show.

The presenters, judges, celebrities and professional dancers all refer to what happened “last night” as it is revealed who is in the bottom two and will face the dreaded dance-off despite it actually being on the same night.

This isn’t the only potential Strictly shake-up as presenters Claudia and Tess also revealed that they wouldn’t be back next year. They announced via Instagram that they would be leaving the show despite being fan favourites.

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Strictly Come Dancing fans have reacted to news of the latest elimination after a spoiler leaked online following an eventful Halloween Week on the BBC competition

Strictly Come Dancing fans have been left ‘heartbroken’ after a spoiler revealed who has been eliminated from the BBC dance competition. Fans will know that the results show traditionally airs on Sundays but is pre-recorded immediately after the live show on a Saturday evening, and news is often leaked online.

This time around, it was Halloween Week on Strictly, and it was eventful from start to finish. With judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse all dressed up in spectacular spooky gear, and the contestants all embodying creepy and kooky personas for the evening, it was Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope who topped the leader board with a perfect score of 40, a first for this series.

Vicky Pattison burst into tears after Motsi predicted she would make it all the way to the final, and fans also started demanding that La Voix be made the new host after he momentarily stood in for Tess Daly.

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Just before the result was confirmed, rumours had already started to swirl and one fan wrote: “Genuinely worried this will come true again. Why are my faves always in danger?” Another said: “ffs I hope this is wrong,” and one fan admitted: “I ain’t sleeping until that spoiler drops, I’m on EDGE”

Another admitted: “got strictly spoiled for me last week bc someone updated the wikipedia page by like midnight based on the leaked spoiler while me and my sister were in depth examining the judges evil scoring HOWEVER this week im looking intentionally bc im getting nervous.”

A fourth fan said: “I wish there was a poll on X where we can see a live accurate version of what the votes look like cause waiting for the strictly spoiler poll is painful.”

At the end of Saturday’s show, it was revealed that Shirley would have the deciding vote when it came to deciding who would survive the dreaded dance off.

While the Mirror have decided not to leak the spoiler, fans have already been reacting online to the leaked elimination news. One simply wrote: “Noooooo,” and left a sad emoji and a broken heart with their tweet.

Another said: “the strictly spoiler. omg,” whilst a third admitted: “I had a feeling this was going to be the result. Devastated for the parson who left but it was the correct result sadly. Heartbroken for the other person too but I hope this means they’ll come back fighting next week.”

Last week, footballer Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley were sent home following a tense dance-off with musical theatre star Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.

Speaking after the elimination, Jimmy said he never expected to enjoy the show so much. “I can only say thank you very much for letting me have this experience and to my daughters for pushing me to come here and do this.

“I never expected that I would enjoy it this much. The people behind the scenes, from the wardrobe people to the hairdressers to the make-up people, are absolutely magnificent – thank you very much.

“This experience is going to live with me forever. Most importantly, [to Lauren] this girl, she is just absolutely incredible. She has been absolutely amazing with me. You are a diamond,” he told Lauren.

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