Revelations. Resignations. From BBC bias to Cabinet scandals, read the stories that get the world talking – from the journalists that break them. |  | Tony Diver Associate Political Editor | Rachel Reeves is faced with an impossible choice at next week’s Budget. Put up taxes and face a backlash from the public or risk upsetting the markets.
Today, Nigel Farage will attempt to give her a hand by suggesting a third way – although not one the Chancellor is likely to choose.
He and Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, will set out £25bn in spending cuts they say will fill the fiscal hole without any tax rises for working people.
Their plans include almost completely eradicating the foreign aid budget with a cut of more than 90 per cent, and much higher NHS surcharges for foreigners.
Those policies alone would raise £15bn, they say, with the remainder coming from plans to scrap Universal Credit for foreigners, deport foreign criminals and reform disability payments.
Mr Yusuf told me these cuts were “unfair” aspects of the welfare state that prioritise people from other countries over Britons.
“Britain has been turned into a global food bank, funded by taxpayers who can barely keep up with their own mortgages and energy bills,” he writes for The Telegraph.
Reform’s pre-Budget intervention is a signalling exercise for voters, intended to show the remaining Labour and Tory supporters that Mr Farage would do things quite differently.
Next week, Labour is expected to announce a raft of tax increases, perhaps stopping short of raising income tax, but nonetheless hitting some “working people”.
When that happens, Reform can once again point to ludicrous foreign aid schemes, benefits for migrants and the crumbling NHS and ask: whose side are you on?
Read the full story here ➤ |  | Mattie Brignal Senior Money Reporter | A six-figure salary used to be an achievement to aim for – a sure marker that hard work leads to success.
Yet harsh cut-offs that kick in at the £100k barrier can mean earning a penny above it loses you thousands in tax breaks and benefits.
The threshold has been frozen since 2010, and maintaining this status quo – something Rachel Reeves is widely expected to do in her Budget next week – drags more people into higher tax bands and generates more revenue for the Treasury without the Chancellor having to do something as politically unpalatable as raising taxes. We’ve calculated that, had the £100k threshold risen with inflation, today you would need to earn £154,000 before you’d start to lose your personal allowance. Here, we reveal how much getting that pay rise might have cost you, or how much a promotion might hurt your pocket.
Continue reading ➤ | | Sam Ashworth-Hayes We are stuck in a compassion trap where the productive are forced to provide for the rest of society Continue reading ➤ Hamish de Bretton-Gordon Putin is eating his own supporters. This is how dictators fall Continue reading ➤ James Jeffrey The Islamisation of Germany reveals an uncomfortable truth Continue reading ➤ | Make your voice heard. Join our journalists in conversation on today’s biggest topics. | | The release of 23,000 files from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein sparked more headlines about Donald Trump and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. But the papers also revealed an unexpected side to the financier. Hidden in the emails are previously undisclosed links to global Right-wing political movements, raising further questions about the paedophile’s influence and interests. Cameron Henderson has the latest. Continue reading ➤ | | | It hasn’t been a good fortnight for the BBC. And now arrives Andy Webb’s extraordinary new book, Dianarama, which takes us behind the scenes of Martin Bashir’s infamous Panorama interview with the Princess of Wales in 1995. As he reveals in shocking detail, had it never happened, the royal may never have died as she did. Continue reading ➤ | | | It’s something that most of us have dreamed of doing from time to time: leave the rat race behind and escape to a simple life surrounded by nature. But a British man and his Australian wife who did just that in the rolling hills of Italy now face the ultimate nightmare. Italian social services are threatening to take away their three young children, saying they are living in unsanitary conditions and should be at school. As the family awaits a crucial court decision, Nick Squires went to visit them – and asked what propelled them to go off grid. Continue reading ➤ | | | It has always been a byword for wealth and privilege. In its 333-year history, Coutts’s customers have included the Duke of Wellington, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and every king and queen since the late 18th century. But a string of scandals and customer complaints has tarnished the private bank’s reputation. Melissa Twigg reports. Continue reading ➤ | | | Wembley and Twickenham – sorry, the Allianz Stadium – have both hosted big England internationals in the last week. Simon Briggs attended both as a sort of mystery shopper, weighing up the matchday experience to determine which sport – football or rugby – offers the better facilities. He found a clear winner. Continue reading ➤ | | | According to researchers from UC San Francisco, it’s not your fault that you eat more as soon as the temperature drops. It can be partly attributed to a biological response to the shorter days and colder weather. But if you are wanting to shift the winter pounds, Telegraph Health is on hand to help. Continue reading ➤ Below are two more helpful articles for you this morning: | | Ambika Mod stars in Porn Play as a young academic with an uncontrollable addiction to violent porn | Porn Play, a new work by Sophia Chetin-Leuner, is currently running at the Royal Court Theatre in London, and stars Ambika Mod as an award-winning academic with a distressing addiction to hardcore pornography. This is not some far-fetched fantasy, but an expression of a very serious epidemic.
Ofcom, the media regulator, estimates that 14 million people in the UK watch explicit content and it’s only getting worse. Here, Lucy Denyer investigates the effects of what it really means to use pornography compulsively.
There is Hayley, who would spend hours scrolling through pornography sites every single night. Meanwhile, Catherine*, who saw pornographic material for the first time at the age of nine, used to believe her compulsion would end only if she died.
It’s a complex situation, sometimes aggravated by an over-diagnosis of addiction in evangelical Christian circles, while the rise of the smartphone is exacerbating a very serious social dilemma.
Continue reading ➤
*Not her real name | A New York State of Mind Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Forgive the flagrant egotism, but I’ve enjoyed the responses to my article on New York City, which I visited with my wife and one-year-old daughter last month. New York hasn’t had the best press of late, with visitors (and indeed residents) complaining that, as well as being wildly expensive, it’s now less safe than it was. A foolish place to go for a family holiday, then?
I beg to differ. During our trip we discovered a more wholesome, less financially punishing side to the city, and in its most maligned borough: the Bronx. Our daughter loved the zoo there, and was received with much fanfare on Arthur Avenue, the borough’s Little Italy (and the place to go if you’re in the mood for eating your body weight in chicken parmigiana).
I promise I won’t just quote readers who agree with me, but I was pleased to hear that John Bartley had a similar experience: “Just back from NYC. We had a wonderful time – felt safe when using the subway, and found people friendly and helpful.”
Sandra Weber sang the Bronx’s praises, but drew attention to another attraction: “I can’t believe this article missed the New York Botanical Garden – 250 acres of gardens and ancient woodland adjacent to the Bronx Zoo. It is beautifully tended, with a stunning glass house, native garden, restaurants and cafes, along with a library, a bookshop, exhibitions and trails.” Next time!
Not everyone was convinced. “Sorry,” wrote Charles Bennett, a New Yorker. “Case not made for the ‘charms’ of the Bronx.” Another reader wrote: “I could never relax in New York when there is that constant threat of being sneered at because you have strayed from their tipping code.” That moment at the end of a meal can indeed be fraught, especially if you’ve forgotten to say “check” rather than “bill”.
James Thomson added: “I first visited NYC in the summer of 1972. It was obviously rather squalid, and the heat was unbearable. But it was exciting, so I kept going back. The last holiday was in 2016. Unfortunately, that will probably be my final visit. Why? I’ve been put off by one consideration only: tourists are taxed to the hilt.” Fan of New York? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here. | |
Sabrina Carpenter, the notoriously risqué pop singer, will produce and star in a new musical film adaptation of which classic tale? | plan your day with the telegraph | Set your alarm to catch up with journalists on the Your Say page and listen to their analysis on our latest podcasts.
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The solution to yesterday’s clue was AFTERMATH. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
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