Minister hints at tax hikes for middle class – but rules out rises for people on ‘modest incomes’

Labour has left the door open to higher taxes on the middle classes in Rachel Reeves’s crunch Budget later this year.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander would not rule out tax rises in a series of interviews on Sunday morning, but said the government had pledged not to hike them for “people on modest incomes”.

Asked if the public should expect taxes to go up in the autumn, she said ministers would be guided by “fairness”.

She also told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme that cabinet ministers did not “directly” talk about the idea of a wealth tax – being pushed by unions and former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock – during an away day at the prime minister’s Chequers country estate this week.

The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said her comments “sound to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn”.

It comes as Ms Reeves’s strategy for economic growth appears in tatters after the Federation of Small Businesses said that for the first time, more small firms expect to shrink than grow.

The FSB found 27 per cent expected their firm to become smaller or close over the next 12 months, while just 25 per cent predicted it would expand.

The chancellor has refused to rule out tax rises at the Budget since Labour MPs forced ministers to make a U-turn on welfare reforms, losing the government an estimated £5bn a year in savings.

She is under intense pressure to find more money after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) this week warned that the UK’s finances are on an “unsustainable” path that the government “cannot afford” in the longer term.

On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer failed to rule out extending “stealth taxes” – as well as the introduction of a wealth tax – as his government struggles to balance the books.

The prime minister reiterated that Labour would stick to its manifesto pledge and ruled out increases to income tax, VAT and national insurance, but he did not confirm whether the government was planning to lift the freeze on income tax thresholds in 2028.

The freezes mean more and more people are dragged into paying higher rates of income tax every year as the thresholds fail to keep pace with inflation.

Lord Kinnock last week suggested a wealth tax would bolster the public finances without breaking Labour’s pledges.

Union leaders, including Sharon Graham of Unite, are also pressuring ministers to consider the move.

Asked by Sky News if such a tax had been discussed at the cabinet away day on Friday, Ms Alexander said: “Not directly at the away day.”

Pressed on what she meant by not directly, the senior minister replied: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that, at the Budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her, and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.

“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”

Asked again if this meant there will be tax rises in the Budget, Ms Alexander replied: “So, the chancellor will set her Budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that Budget might be.

“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”

Russian spies tracked down and killed after Kyiv assassination

Ukraine’s security agency says it has tracked down and killed Russian agents who assassinated a Ukrainian intelligence officer during the week.

The SBU said in a statement said the Russian agents were killed after resisting arrest. Earlier, the agency said a man and a woman were suspected of being involved in Thursday’s assassination of Ivan Voronych, an SBU colonel, in a bold daylight attack that was caught on surveillance cameras.

The killings come after Kim Jong Un has told Russia’s top diplomat that North Korea is ready to “unconditionally support” all of Moscow’s actions to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

The promise came during a high-level meeting between Kim and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, after Russia launched a fresh barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine, which killed at least six people.

Donald Trump is expected to send weapons to Kyiv, after promising to make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday as he grows frustrated with Vladimir Putin amid intensified attacks on Ukraine.

England thrash Wales before an unspoken boost ignites Euro 2025 hopes

“I think we’re in a good place,” Sarina Wiegman said of this 6-1 win over Wales. That might not just apply to the performance.

Although this was the biggest win of Euro 2025 so far, the victory that might have been most significant for England on the night was perhaps in Basel. France’s 5-2 comeback win against the Netherlands ensured Wiegman’s team finished second, to go into what looks like the more forgiving side of the draw.

Sweden of course offer a very tough quarter-final – especially after their own statement display against Germany – but there’s no Spain there. It’s much less open. The cheers that greeted the announcement of second place said enough.

Wiegman wouldn’t be drawn on any of that, refusing to speak on the luck of the draw. “In tournaments, it’s really tricky to think we want to go that way… you just try to win every game.”

England’s win pretty much emphasised that she doesn’t allow that kind of thinking.

Although it was seen as an almost foregone conclusion that they would claim the victory that would put them through the group, there was no hint of complacency. There was only a side that seemed intent on laying another marker, making a huge stride after downing Netherlands 4-0.

England were ahead after just 13 minutes, Georgia Stanway scoring a penalty after she was brought down by Carrie Jones. It could have been even earlier, too, except the decision went through a lengthy VAR check.

After that, the night was pretty much over as any kind of tension-filled sporting contest, but not as an occasion.

One of the loudest moments of the match was when substitute Hannah Cain smashed in that 75th-minute strike, to give Wales the one thing their fans wanted out of the game: a goal. Before the match, many had been happily talking about how their tournament debut had been a hugely enjoyable learning experience, with their executives satisfied that it had already had a significant impact on women’s football in the country.

“They are groundbreaking in what they’re doing,” Wales manager Rhian Wilkinson stated, although she added: “there’s a fitness gap”.

They pretty much all said they would just love that one goal against England – especially if they couldn’t quite dream of knocking them out – to really cap it off.

They got it, but it was also one of the goals of the tournament. Team star Jess Fishlock surged forward before slipping through a fine through ball, the elegance of the pass contrasting exquisitely with the way Cain drove it into the top corner first-time.

It was a cheer that became louder than the stirring singing of ‘The Land of My Fathers’ before the game.

As they celebrated, the English players looked properly aggravated at conceding the goal. There was certainly no sense of this just being nice for their defeated neighbours.

It speaks to the attitude Wiegman has distilled in them since that opening defeat to the French. “We didn’t have a good start against France but that gave us the urgency to do things better,” she said.” They immediately went about trying to make it the actual biggest win of the tournament, by seeking to score the sixth.

Aggie Beever-Jones eventually got it with a close-range header, to also ensure that there were six different scorers for England. Such variety was one of many satisfying elements to the game, even allowing for the forgiving nature of the opposition.

Of those goals, Alessia Russo’s felt the most meaningful, given that England’s tireless number-nine finally opened her account. That will only help a tournament where she has put in some selfless displays.

Stanway, meanwhile, looked so much sharper than she did even a week ago. Beside her, Keira Walsh was imperious. It became all the more obvious that, to stop England, you stop Walsh. That is a thought for Thursday, though, and that quarter-final against Sweden.

Sweden will themselves have to think about Lauren James, who Wiegman said was “much more relaxed”. It told. She was enjoying herself.

Around it, Ella Toone scored from a slightly different tactical position to the Dutch match, with the ousted Beth Mead coming on to score the fifth. Lauren Hemp had made it four, another close-range goal that only spoke to England’s dominance.

When it was announced after the game that France had won 5-2, and Wiegman’s side consequently finished second, there were almost cheers from the England end to match Wales’ goals.

The manager won’t say it, but everyone knows how important it is. Even before you get to Spain, that side of the draw is seen as more congested, with more quality.

England don’t have to worry about that for now. They just have to worry about Sweden, which is a big test of its own.

They at least go there with the biggest win of the tournament so far – one thing that they do have over Spain.

Most people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain want UK to rejoin EU, poll finds – but on new terms

Most people in the four largest countries in the European Union would welcome the UK back into the bloc, a new poll has found – but not on the same terms it had before.

At the same time most Britons are in favour of rejoining the EU, the YouGov survey of six western European nations found, but only if they can keep the opt-outs the UK previously had, such as remaining outside the Schengen zone and keeping its own currency.

The results come just days after Sir Keir Starmer welcomed French president Emmanuel Macron to the UK for the first state visit from an EU leader since Brexit.

The Labour leader has said he wants to fix Britain’s damaged relationship with the European Union for the benefit of “generations to come”.

Now, 10 years after MPs voted to hold the referendum that led to Britain leaving the EU, the poll found that at least half of people asked in France, Germany Italy and Spain, supported the UK being allowed to rejoin, a range that spanned from 51 per cent support in Italy to 63 per cent in Germany.

But the pollster said the results revealed a “public opinion impasse”.

Asked if Britain should be allowed to return on the same conditions as when it left, support fell.

Just one in five across the four countries, from 19 per cent in Italy and France to 21 per cent in Spain and 22 per cent in Germany, agreed, with more than half, 58 to 62 per cent, saying the UK must be part of all of the EU’s main policy areas.

In the UK, 54 per cent supported rejoining the EU, but that number fell to 36 per cent if it meant giving up previous opt-outs. If that was the case, 45 per cent said they opposed returning to the EU.

The final European country polled, Denmark, one of three member states to hold significant opt-outs itself, was more enthusiastic about allowing UK to keep its previous opt-outs, a stance 43 per cent of people said they backed.

The official Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that the size of the UK economy will be four per cent smaller over the long term than it would have been without Brexit.

The Independent also revealed earlier this year that Brexit has created a “mind-blowing” nearly two billion extra pieces of paperwork for businesses – enough to wrap around the world 15 times.

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Mental health care ‘being rationed’ over failure to cut waiting list

Mental health care is being rationed because the government is failing to tackle the spiralling waiting list, the UK’s top psychiatrist has warned, with 48,000 people facing delays of more than two years for treatment to start.

Nearly 1.7 million people were waiting for community care, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist appointment, for treatments including everything from severe depression to serious personality disorders at the end of December 2024.

That is up from 1.3 million in March 2024 and is in addition to the 7.4 million people on the countrywide NHS waiting list, which only counts patients with physical health problems.

Dr Lade Smith, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the figures proved that mental health care was being downgraded in favour of other services.

She said: “It’s very clear that there has been a prioritisation of services; mental health care is not one of those services. As far as I’m concerned, it’s been rationed for years. It’s not been prioritised, full stop. I say that because we’ve got 1.7 million people who were waiting for mental health services.

“They are not being prioritised and so there is rationing of mental health care, full stop.”

Last week, the government launched its 10-year plan for the future of the NHS, which recommits to previous promises to expand mental health teams in schools and create specialist mental health A&Es across the country. However, it does not make commitments to reduce the number of people already waiting to be seen.

It comes as the latest figures reveal:

The Labour government was recently criticised for dropping the previous Tory government’s commitment to grow mental health funding at the same rate or more than the overall NHS budget to tackle the inequality in investment.

Dr Smith said it was “simply illogical” not to invest in good mental health care, as it drives productivity and economic growth.

Meanwhile, the NHS’s director for mental health, Claire Murdoch, said the lack of sufficient care in the community was driving more people to A&E, by which time, patients have often been in crisis for weeks or months without help.

She added: “[That] I think is a bigger scandal than a slightly long A&E wait – if people are losing weeks or months of their lives because we don’t have housing or community packages.”

Addressing the lack of equality in mental health waiting lists compared to physical health, Ms Murdoch said: “Our waiting lists are as important as any waiting list … When waiting lists are at the same level as any other, parity will have been achieved.”

Sarah, 52, a single mother of three, told The Independent of the “horrific” experience of seeing her autistic teenage daughter, Bay, forced to live on a mental health ward for almost two months because there was no community care for her.

Bay, who has autism, was first admitted to a children’s mental health unit in London when she was 16 years old. Her mental health declined, her mother said, and her behaviour became “increasingly unpredictable” during the pandemic after the family moved to London from South Africa.

Despite numerous appointments with child and adolescent mental health services in the community, Bay’s care was “fragmented and inadequate”, Sarah said.

In 2023, as her mental health began to seriously deteriorate, Bay was taken to A&E after she threatened to harm herself. She spent 24 hours there before being admitted to an inpatient unit where she remained for 46 days.

Her mother said she was held in the hospital as they could not find an appropriate residential placement for her, and it was not safe for her to return home. Two months later, a place was eventually found for her in supported accommodation.

She said, “It was horrific. I felt helpless. I’m not a psychiatrist or therapist, and autistic children with mental health issues are often just contained, not supported, and this needs to change.”

“Autistic children are special. We need a different approach – using creativity, understanding sensory needs, offering proper support, not just containment. One positive was that when Bay was in the hospital, it was the first time in a long, long time that I felt that she was safe and that I could breathe. Before that, I had needed to watch her and keep us safe 24 hours a day.”

Sarah Wakeling, CEO at Positive Support Group, which supported Bay at home, said: “Our new analysis underlines the growing pressure on NHS mental health services and the urgent need to rethink how we provide support for these people. The NHS has recently committed to opening new mental health A&Es. But just as important is addressing gaps in early intervention, specialist education, and community-based mental health care – so that we can help people before they need urgent care.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our commitment to improving this through our Plan for Change is clear. We have announced £26m to open new mental health crisis centres, are recruiting an extra 8,500 mental health staff, and expanding mental health support teams in schools across England to cover all pupils by 2029-30.

“We are also funding the expansion of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support schemes, and modernising the Mental Health Act to ensure people with the most severe conditions receive better, more personalised treatment.”

Amazon delivery driver dies after train hits van at level crossing

An Amazon delivery driver has died after their van was hit by a train at a level crossing in Kent.

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the crash off Lower Road in Teynham, near Sittingbourne, this afternoon.

Police confirmed a person was pronounced dead at the scene as shocking footage posted on social media appears to show the vehicle in flames.

The railway line between Newington and Faversham is blocked in both directions as officers investigate the tragedy.

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) told The Independent: “Officers were called to the line in Tonge just after 12.45pm today (13 July) following reports of a train striking a van.

“Paramedics also attended, however sadly a person was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident is currently being investigated.”

First responders from South East Coast Ambulance Service and Kent Fire and Rescue Service also attended the incident, along with officers from Kent Police who are assisting BTP.

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement: “This is a terrible incident and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the delivery driver’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.

“We will work with police and the delivery service provider as they investigate.”

It is understood the victim was delivering Amazon parcels when the incident happened.

The cause of the collision is under investigation.

David Davidson, chief operating officer at Southeastern Railway, said: “A train was involved in a collision with a van at a level crossing near Teynham earlier this afternoon.

“We are working with the emergency services and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) following this incident.”