Royal Lodge lease ‘was redacted to conceal that Prince Andrew paid no rent’

Prince Andrew’s “peppercorn” rent on his Royal Lodge home was concealed in a redacted lease, it has been claimed, as pressure continues to grow on the royal.

The allegations emerged as the King’s brother faces increasing calls to vacate the 30-room mansion amid the continuing furore over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and the publication of the posthumous memoirs by his sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre. Andrew strenuously denies all accusations.

The Times reported that a redacted version of Andrew’s lease on the Crown Estate property in Windsor Great Park was submitted to the Land Registry in 2003.

The newspaper said the decision not to reveal such details was legal. But the move raises questions as to why how much Andrew was paying was seemingly hidden from the public.

The powerful Public Accounts Committee has already confirmed it is writing to the Crown Estate and the Treasury asking for further information about the prince’s lease.

Sir Keir Starmer has backed calls for Andrew to be hauled in front of MPs to give evidence in parliament, saying it is “important” there is “proper scrutiny” in relation to all Crown properties.

But Downing Street said MPs will not be given time in the House of Commons to discuss Andrew’s conduct – because the royal family wants parliament to focus on “important issues”.

Streeting blasts doctors’ strike as ‘slap in the face’ for NHS

Wes Streeting has hit out at the doctors’ union after it announced a fresh round of strikes, warning it is a “slap in the face” for NHS staff and will play directly into the hands of Nigel Farage.

The health secretary accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of trying to “wreck” the NHS recovery with a “rush to industrial action” after it announced resident doctors in England would strike on five consecutive days next month in an ongoing row over jobs and pay.

The association claims doctors are left unemployed and struggling to find jobs, while shifts in

But Mr Streeting, writing exclusively in The Independent, said the strike “flies in the face of the wishes of their patients who have consistently opposed these disruptive walkouts”.

Resident doctors have been in a pay dispute since March 2023, and next month’s industrial action will be the 13th strike since it began. They were awarded a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the last three years, but the BMA says wages are still around 20 per cent lower in real terms than in 2008.

The BMA argues the value of resident doctors’ pay has been eroded by inflation since 2008-09 and has published hourly pay figures showing what the pay “restoration” it is asking for would look like.

However, Mr Streeting described the move as “preposterous” and accused the BMA of “blocking a better deal for doctors” while most “want to get on with their jobs”.

“It is a slap in the face for the rest of the NHS workforce who will be left picking up the pieces, and most of all their patients who will see treatment cancelled,” he wrote.

“There is not a more pro-NHS, pro-resident doctor government waiting in the wings. If the BMA try to wreck the NHS’s recovery, the only person who benefits is Nigel Farage.”

The health secretary, who said he had met with the BMA’s new leadership last week for “respectful, constructive and hopeful” talks, stressed “it’s not too late” to call off the “needless strikes and return to meaningful dialogue”.

He said he agreed with the BMA that parts of the training and employment for resident doctors are “grossly unfair” and claimed he was trying to improve their lives.

“Instead of fighting the battles of the past, let’s together build an NHS fit for the future,” he added.

Doctors are set to strike from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November. It comes after resident doctors went on strike in July.

Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, make up around half of all doctors in the NHS, and the BMA is arguing that better pay will stop them leaving.

“This is not where we wanted to be,” Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee (RDC), said when announcing the strikes.

“We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed,” Dr Fletcher added.

“We know from our own survey half of second year doctors in England are struggling to find jobs, their skills going to waste whilst millions of patients wait endlessly for treatment, and shifts in hospitals go unfilled. This is a situation which cannot go on.

“While we want to get a deal done, the government seemingly does not, leaving us with little option but to call for strike action.”

NHS Providers, which represents trusts, also warned patients will “pay the price” of doctors walking out for five days.

Chief executive of NHS Providers Daniel Elkeles said: “Another strike by resident doctors is the last thing the NHS needs, particularly as we head into what’s going to be another challenging winter for the health service.

“Trust leaders will do everything they can to prepare for this five-day walkout, but once again, it’ll be patients that will be left paying the price.”

The strikes are expected to cause significant disruption, particularly in hospitals, coming as it does during the health service’s busiest time of the year.

Flu cases are already on the rise, particularly in children, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned.

Dr Conall Watson, consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said the “data is showing a rise in positive tests for flu, particularly in children and younger adults, as well as an increase in GP and A&E attendances”.

Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said doctors “should not be going on strike”.

“Conservative policy is to ban strikes by doctors in the same way the police and the army cannot go on strike,” she said. “We need to have adequate levels of healthcare. We had legislation that would provide minimum service levels, Labour scrapped it.”

Resident doctors have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

Lily Allen’s West End Girl is a brutal, tell-all masterpiece

There is one question in my mind as I listen to Lily Allen’s West End Girl for the first time: how many people – lawyers, friends, that tremulous voice of self-preservation at four in the morning – told her to reconsider releasing this divorce album? It’s not just confessional pop, it’s obliterative; an emotional post-mortem performed without anaesthesia, a death-by-a-million-cuts account of a thoroughly modern marriage breakdown. According to the album’s press release, it’s part fact, part fiction, and it’s impossible to know where one ends and the other begins. Naturally, listeners will focus entirely on the context – her already public, acrimonious divorce from actor David Harbour – and, given the album’s intense specificity, barely squint for the seams between truth and invention. Whatever happens next is inevitable: the blood feels real, and that’s the point.

Songs about cheating (“I can’t shake the image of her naked/ On top of you and I’m dissociated”), open relationships (“I don’t wanna f*** with anyone else/ Now that’s all you wanna do”) and sex addiction (“hundreds of Trojans, you’re so f***ing broken”) are best experienced raw, on their own terms. Inevitable comparisons to classic heartbreak pop albums written by thirtysomethings will seem wrong. Beyoncé’s Lemonade, after all, is mediated by marital reconciliation; Kacey Musgraves’s Star-Crossed made measured by the lack of betrayal; Adele’s 30 tempered by a few years of reflection. But the bewildered and wounded Allen wrote West End Girl in 10 days. It shows, in the best way.

This musical of deceit and suffering puts her in the starring role, seizing control of her narrative and holding little back. Those distinctive, creamy vocals sound sad and deflated, as if she’s processing in real time. Seven years since her last album, this intense story-driven format lets her sound sharper, smarter, and more clear-eyed than before.

The show opens with the jaunty title track – an unnervingly sunny bit of scene-setting. Allen’s narrator got her happy ever after, moved to New York for him, hesitated, then conceded when he talked her into a house that was too expensive. But all is not well. In real life, Allen starred in 2:22: A Ghost Story, playing a woman who suspects her new home, bought with her husband, is haunted. The irony is acute: art imitating life, or perhaps life catching up with art. Allen misses nothing, which is part of the problem for her narrator’s marriage.

Across the early, easy-breezy songs, a narrative begins to take shape: the husband proposes an open relationship, and she agrees… reluctantly. “I tried to be your modern wife/ But the child in me protests,” could be the finest lyric in pop this year, lamented through Auto-Tune over a mournful dubstep beat. The humour grows darker as he takes liberties with the rules of their arrangement. On “Tennis” Allen repeatedly demands, “Who the f***’s Madeline?” over Stepford Wives–style “dinner’s ready” production. Madeline – the “Becky with the good hair” of West End Girl – doesn’t escape unscathed. The next track, named after the pseudonym under which she’s saved in the husband’s phone, is a flamenco-meets-spaghetti-western showdown: a direct address, an interrogation over text, gunshots echoing behind each plea for truth. A Valley Girl voice cuts in, assuring Allen it’s “only sex” and signing off with a cloying “love and light”.

Sitting squarely at the heart of the album – track seven of 14 – “Pussy Palace” serves as the point of no return. Allen describes throwing her husband out of their marital home in New York, sending him to his separate West Village apartment. When she goes there to drop something off, she’d assumed it was a dojo (one of many eyebrow-raising moments, considering Harbour is trained in jiu-jitsu). Instead, she discovers what she says is his base for frequent sex. “So am I looking at a sex addict (sex addict, sex addict, sex addict)?” she asks, her voice hollow.

The listener has barely recovered when, over the old-Hollywood strings and delicate finger-plucking of the following ballad, “Just Enough”, Allen wonders whether her husband has fathered a child with someone else. Again and again, she pecks at herself in songs where she feels too old, too exhausted to be desirable. She even books a facelift in her late thirties to win his love (“I just want to meet your needs/ And for some reason I revert to people pleasing,” she admits breathily on “Nonmonogamummy”).

Allen has said she drew from personal experience to write songs that feel universal, though that relatability only really lands in the final two tracks – and they’re two of her best. On the quietly triumphant“Let You W-in,” she lays out the album’s aim: “I can walk out with my dignity if I lay my truth out on the table.” What’s eerily universal is how easy it is, in love, to drown in someone else’s shame and mistake it for your own. On the bittersweet closing ballad “Fruityloop”, she serves herself a slice of responsibility: “I’m just a little girl/ Looking for her daddy.”

After two albums that defined mid-2000s British pop, Allen lost her grip on the pop star version of herself that once felt effortless. Sheezus and No Shame had the same attitude but lacked focus. The pain of this real-life breakup has given her something solid to attack with all her might, and West End Girl feels like the clarity she’s been writing toward for years. In 2025, Allen sounds newly alive in the contradictions we loved her for: acid-tongued and soft-hearted, ironic and sincere, broken again but alright, still.

Jackie Kennedy’s grandson slams Trump for paving over her garden

Jackie Kennedy’s grandson has torn into Donald Trump over his decision to bulldoze her Rose Garden at the White House.

Jack Schlossberg said that the president “poured concrete” on the White House’s historic lawn in a fiery social media post on Instagram.

The political commentator accused Trump of seeing America in “black and white,” unlike the former First Lady.

“My grandmother saw America in full color — Trump sees black and white. Where she planted flowers, he poured concrete,” he wrote. “She brought life to the White House, because our landmarks should inspire and grow with our country.

“Her Rose Garden is gone, but the spirit of the Kennedy White House lives on — in the young at heart, the strong in spirit, and in a new generation answering the call to service.”

He included a picture of John F. Kennedy Jr as a child in the post, dressed in a pale blue suit and marvelling at his mother’s garden. The other picture he included showed the lawn being carved up and resurfaced to create Trump’s “Rose Garden Club.”

Schlossberg’s post comes as the president pushes ahead with plans to remake the White House in his own image.

After bulldozing and paving over Kennedy’s rose garden, Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House in an effort to make space for his $300 million ballroom. The 90,000 square foot entertainment space will dwarf the White House, which is 55,000 square feet, in size.

However, according to Reuters, Trump still needs to submit his plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, the body that approves construction projects at the White House, despite having already blitzed the East Wing.

Now, Schlossberg, who rocketed to fame with his off-the-wall social media posts, is calling on Americans to use their votes to “stop” Trump at the midterms.

“A year from now, we’ll get our last chance to stop Trump,” he wrote. “History is watching. We need leaders with courage, conviction and who actually care.”

Trump has previously expressed concern about his party’s prospects in the midterms, telling One America News Network that “the person that wins the presidency always seems to lose the midterms.”

Although this is often true, the Democrats bucked the trend in 2022 by retaining control of the Senate and only narrowly losing the House while Joe Biden was in office.

Early polls have put the Democrats slightly ahead for the 2026 midterms, with a major YouGov/The Economist survey, conducted in August, suggesting that 43.7 percent of voters plan to cast their ballots for the Democratic Party.

Conversely, 38.4 percent of people plan to vote for the Republicans, although that number plunges to 26 percent when independents are included in the poll.

Rising Tory star’s anti-immigrant rhetoric sounds a lot like the 1930s

It doesn’t take much these days to be marked out as a “rising star” in the Conservative Party, or what remains of it. But in recent weeks, the hitherto unknown MP for the Weald of Kent, Katie Lam, has surged from the distant shadows into the spotlight, chiefly because of her robust views on immigration.

Given all that is going on in the world today, she seems slightly obsessed with the issue. Most notably, she gave an interview to The Sunday Times in which she spoke menacingly of “a large number of people in this country who came here legally, but in effect shouldn’t have been able to do so. It’s not the fault of the individuals who came here; they just shouldn’t have been able to do so. They will also need to go home.”

The reporter did not press her on who these people are, how many “a large number” is, and where their real “home” might be. But she was confident that, once this group had been forcibly repatriated, “what that will leave is a mostly, but not entirely, culturally coherent group of people”. The reporter did not ask her to explain what that meant. But she was clear about where she stood: “We don’t owe anybody access to our country other than people that we choose for our own benefit.”

She had written something similar in The Telegraph last month: “Britain,” she argued, “does not exist simply to offer those from abroad a better life, and the point of the British state isn’t to take care of global welfare. Its primary purpose – indeed, its only purpose – is to advance and protect the interests of the British people.”

And here she is again, last month, in a Westminster Hall debate, arguing that the UK has no responsibility to foreigners, only to British people: “It is our sacred duty to put them first, and to act in their interests and their interests alone.”

Such talk plays well to the modern Tory party, and perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that, when George Osborne recently dropped in on vice-president JD Vance on his Cotswolds holiday, he took with him the 34-year-old Lam. They seem like they could be soulmates.

Now let me introduce you to Katie Lam’s ancestors, and the reason why Lam lives in the UK and is able to represent the good people of Kent.

On the maternal side, her grandmother came to Britain in 1937, aged 13, as a refugee from Nazi Germany. Lam’s great-great-grandfather was a remarkable social democratic politician, Paul Heide, who was imprisoned by Hitler in 1933, escaped, and fled to Czechoslovakia before finding refuge in England.

Lam’s paternal side were not so lucky: her grandfather’s family were Jews from Amsterdam, and almost all of them were murdered in Sobibor and Auschwitz, though a few survivors did eventually come to the UK.

Lam frequently references these origin stories. In her maiden speech, she recognised Britain as a country that “saved my family and saved the free world”. Elsewhere, she has said: “I stand here only because this country offered them hope when tyranny had taken everything else.”

To my ears, it feels like there’s a jarring disconnect here between praise for the country that gave refuge to her family in the moment of their greatest need, and the disparaging way in which she sometimes talks about others who may be fleeing persecution and seeking sanctuary.

She has acknowledged this paradox, telling The Spectator’s Katie Balls of a conversation she’d had with her 90-year old grandfather, who was much more pro-immigration than his then teenage descendant. But I wonder if she has fully reflected on the similarity between her words, and the political positions she now strikes, and those of the people in the 1930s who would gladly have turned away her own family from these shores.

Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists talked about the death of the “true” national culture, with Mosley himself lamenting the disappearance of “the Britain we knew and loved”. With Jews very much in mind, he warned of how the “entry of alien standards and alien life … is going to change the whole character of English life and English people … destroy[ing] the things that were noble and the things that were beautiful”.

This is not exactly the same as Lam warning that – even after forcibly repatriating people with a legal right to live here – we would be left with “a mostly, but not entirely, culturally coherent group of people”. But nor is it so very different.

As desperate Jews sought to reach the safety of Britain in the 1930s, it was not only the Mosleyites who were agitating against their admittance. The Daily Express demanded in March 1938: “Shall All Come In? We need to ask, for there is a powerful agitation here to admit all Jewish refugees without question or discrimination. It would be unwise to overload the basket like that.”

The Daily Mail regularly railed against German Jews “pouring into this country”. Like the Express, it warned: “To be ruled by the misguided sentimentalism … would be disastrous … once it was known that Britain offered sanctuary to all who cared to come, the floodgates would be opened, and we should be inundated by thousands seeking a home.”

GK Chesterton’s England was a place for the English – in his view, Jews could be treated kindly, but never quite belong. They were, as he put it, “a nation within a nation, an ancient people whose faith and habits made them forever alien to the English spirit”.

Britain was, indeed, a haven for around 80,000 Jews fleeing antisemitism and fascism between 1933 and 1939 – including Lam’s relatives – but it was also a hostile environment for people from an apparently different culture who were frantically seeking sanctuary.

Lam is worried about numbers today: so were the anti-immigration warriors in the 1930s. In interviews, she draws a distinction between families like her own – which she insists became “totally assimilated into British life” – and others. But in the 1930s, there were similar sentiments about Jews: that they would never truly blend in. They were, as Chesterton wrote, considered alien.

Fears of people’s inability to assimilate, or integrate, were very much on Enoch Powell’s mind in his notorious “rivers of blood” speech in April 1968. That speech got him fired from Edward Heath’s shadow cabinet. Today, Lam’s rhetoric has her earmarked by some for future greatness.

In many ways Lam seems energetic, clever and likeable. But perhaps she could reflect on the way that she talks about desperate people trying to find a better life for themselves and their families. Is it so very different from the language of those who would gladly have prevented her own family from building a new life in safety?

History offers echoes, not exact parallels. But I can’t help wondering what Heide, who died in 1973, would have made of his great-great-granddaughter and her dog-whistle remarks. My guess: not much.

Epic adventures: Trips that follow history’s most intrepid explorers

They say travel broadens the mind – and throughout history that has been the case for some of the world’s pre-eminent scientists, geographers and explorers, whose globetrotting adventures have led to medical breakthroughs, new scientific theories, spectacular art and, above all, a greater understanding of the world we live in.

In celebration of that adventurous spirit, specialist tour operator Travelsphere – who for over 60 years has created extraordinary itineraries to incredible destinations around the world – has partnered with the Royal Geographical Society to encourage people to follow in the footsteps of these pioneering explorers.

With a shared commitment to purposeful and inspiring travel, the Royal Geographical Society have selected a collection of Travelsphere itineraries that have significance to the society and its near 200-year history. Each one explores areas, regions or countries represented within their archives, immersing travellers in a country’s cultural heritage and enabling their own unforgettable journey – while working with, and in support of, the communities and environments visited.

Travelsphere’s escorted tours have everything you need for an enriching adventure. Besides return flights, overseas transfers, handpicked accommodation and many meals, there’s also a range of authentic experiences and excursions included and an expert Holiday Director on hand to guide you through your trip. You’ll get insights into local cultures and see sites you won’t find in a guidebook – with plenty of free time to explore on your own, too. On each tour you’ll share the experience with a group of like-minded travellers.

From the wonders of South America to the historical romance of the Silk Road, iconic India to incredible Indonesia, here’s five examples of the epic adventures awaiting you….

The Silk Road – a network of ancient trade routes connecting East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe – is primed for monumental voyages. In the mid 19th century, explorers Thomas and Lucy Atkinson travelled 40,000 miles, mostly on horseback, through the region. Ella Christie, a pioneering Scottish explorer and one of the first female fellows of the Royal Geographical Society, journeyed by train and carriage along the Silk Road, publishing a book, Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand, about her travels. Keeping the spirit of these intrepid voyagers alive, Travelsphere’s Silk Road Adventure: The Five Stans spends 21 days visiting fascinating and off-the beaten track destinations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Weaving through ancient Silk Road cities, breathtaking mountain landscapes and remote desert wonders, highlights include visits to UNESCO World Heritage sites in Samarkand and Bukhara, eagle hunting demonstrations in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and the magnificent Charyn Canyon. You’ll also dine with Dungan families, learn how to make regional dishes and visit a traditional tea house on a trip that’s as immersive as it is exciting.

Indonesia offers an irresistible blend of fascinating cultural heritage, dramatic natural wonders and idyllic islands. Naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of the theory of natural selection, collected 126,500 natural history specimens from the islands of Indonesia, East Malaysia, New Guinea and Brunei – a sign of just how much there is to discover in this corner of the world. Travelsphere’s 16-day Spirit of Indonesia adventure engulfs you in the history and landscapes of the country. You’ll follow in the footsteps of prolific globetrotter, photographer and Royal Geographical Society fellow Edith Beatrice Gibbes, who spent several months on the island of Java. Like her, you’ll want your camera ready at sites like Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and the volcanic crater of Mount Bromo, where you’ll witness the sunrise slowly illuminating the landscape. You’ll also explore the bustling cities of Jakarta and Bandung, delve into the fascinating cultural heritage of Yogyakarta, learn traditional batik methods, search for Komodo dragons in Komodo National Park and relax on the island paradise of Bali.

Peru has long attracted explorers intrigued by its history, architecture and landscapes. Modern day voyagers follow the likes of Victor Coverley-Price, an artist who joined a Royal Geographical Society expedition in 1932, documenting Peruvian landscapes in a series of watercolour paintings. Or Clements Markham who, on a trip to Cuzco in the mid 19th century, discovered the benefits of the cinchona plant to treat malaria – and co-led a later mission to transplant and cultivate it in India. On Travelsphere’s Wonders of Peru tour, expert guides will help you uncover the history of capital city Lima and Cuzco, with its captivating fusion of Inca heritage and Spanish colonial architecture. Other highlights include a stay deep in the Amazon rainforest, with a twilight walk through the jungle and wildlife spotting at Lake Sandoval. You’ll also experience the natural wonders of Lake Titicaca and the Uros and Tequile islands. And no trip to Peru is complete without a visit to the “lost city” of Machu Picchu. Rediscovered in the early 20th century, the 15th century Inca settlement high up in the Andes is every bit as magical as you’d imagine.

In 1893, Fanny Bullock Workman – explorer, travel writer, mountaineer and campaigner for women’s rights – embarked on a two year, 14,000 mile cycling tour of India, Burma, Java and Ceylon with her husband. The couple later published an account of their adventure, ‘Through Town and Jungle’, detailing the architectural marvels they discovered during their trip. At 15 days, the Wonders of India and the Tiger Trail tour is a more manageable itinerary – but still packed with plenty to explore. A journey of contrasts, you’ll enjoy the vibrant streets of Mumbai, get up close with incredible wildlife in the Indian wilderness and discover historic temples, including the Ram Raja in Orchha and the impressive western temple complex at Khajuraho. The trip takes in three national parks, including Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, where you’ll observe tigers in their natural habitat. You’ll hear from a naturalist about how India’s national parks inspired Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and visit a local village to hear about conservation efforts. This unforgettable Indian adventure is rounded off with a sunrise visit to the iconic Taj Mahal to witness one of the world’s most magnificent sites at its most glorious.

If you share the adventurous spirit that led countless explorers, artists and scientists to embark on epic expeditions through South America, then Travelsphere’s Latin Wonders of the World is for you. A packed 18-day itinerary takes you across four countries and countless iconic sites. In Peru you’ll tour the ‘City of Kings’ Lima, as well as the one time capital of the Inca Empire, Cuzco – plus visit the breathtaking “lost city” of Machu Picchu. Take in the snow-capped Andes before heading into Bolivia, where you’ll rub shoulders with locals at bustling markets in La Paz and visit the spectacular Moon Valley, a lunar landscape of canyons and spires. From there, it’s onto Argentina’s irresistible capital, Buenos Aires where you might choose to visit a gauche ranch or take in a tango show, before heading to the awe-inspiring Iguaçu Falls, one of the world’s largest natural wonders, which you’ll witness from both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides. Last but not least, you’ll head to Rio de Janeiro, a city bursting with energy and excitement, for a stay right on the famous Copacabana Beach.

For more information or to book visit travelsphere.co.uk

Reeves ‘considering breaking manifesto pledge with income tax raid’

Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering raising income tax in her Budget next month in what would be a major break of one of Labour’s main manifesto pledges.

Sources have told The Guardian that she may raise income tax to fill a hole in the public finances estimated at between £30bn and £50bn.

The paper reported the Chancellor is “nervous” about breaking such a major pledge, but some advisers in the Treasury and No 10 believe it may be the only way to raise enough money to make sure she does not have to raise taxes again this parliament.

Before the election, Labour’s pledged no tax rises on working people.

But one source said the Treasury is considering adding 1p to the basic rate, which would raise more than £8 billion. Another believes she will likely raise higher or additional rates, which would bring smaller sums of £2bn and £230m at rates beginning at roughly £50,000 and £125,000 a year.

A senior official said there have been discussions about how much headroom Ms Reeves wanted to give herself, with some saying she wants more than the £10bn she accounted for at the spring statement.

“There is a very live debate going on right now among those planning the budget about how bold we want to be on the headroom,” the source told The Guardian.

“No one wants it to be £10bn again but there is an argument we go much higher, which will mean we don’t have to come back and do this again and might have space to cut taxes before the budget.

“If we go down that route however, it makes it more likely that we have to raise income tax – that is the discussion that is going on at the moment.”

A Treasury spokesperson told The Independent: “We do not comment on speculation around changes to tax.”

When asked over the possibility of raising income tax earlier this month, Ms Reeves said she stood by the “commitments that we made in the manifesto and for a reason”.

“Because working people experienced in the last Parliament the worst-ever living standards in any Parliament. But worse than that, living standards were actually lower at the end of the last Parliament than they were at the beginning,” she said.

On Wednesday, it was reported that lawyers, GPs and accountants will face higher taxes, with a charge on workers who use limited liability partnerships (LLP) to raise £2bn.

The UK has 355,760 partnerships, with 86,030 of them having employees, according to money.co.uk. Partnerships do not pay employer’s national insurance of 15 per cent because partners are treated as self-employed. Partners also pay a lower rate of employee national insurance.

Ms Reeves is also expected to announce a “mansion tax”, imposing capital gains tax on the sale of the most expensive homes.

On Tuesday, as she appeared to pave the way for tax rises, Ms Reeves said that Brexit and austerity had had a bigger effect on the public finances than expected.

Scientists on cusp of ‘early’ dementia diagnosis after breakthrough

Science minister Lord Vallance has voiced significant optimism for the future of dementia care, suggesting the UK is nearing a period where early diagnosis and impactful treatments could revolutionise patient outcomes.

Following a visit to the UK Dementia Research Institute in Cambridge, he conveyed he was “super excited” by the advancements, describing it as “a real feeling of hope.”

This positive outlook accompanies a new £5 million funding allocation designed to accelerate dementia diagnosis and improve the quality of life for those living with the condition, including through the creation of “AI-powered daily routine assistants.”

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) anticipates this research challenge funding will ensure that by 2029, over 92% of patients receive a diagnosis within 18 weeks of a doctor’s referral, a substantial increase from current rates.

Lord Vallance said: “I think we’re on the cusp of an era where we are going to be able to diagnose very early, that will allow people to get the care and help they need.

“I also think we’re on the cusp of an era where we’re going to see interventions, treatments that really, really do make a difference.

“You put those two things together and you start to dream that actually we’ll be able to diagnose early, we’ll be able to get some treatment in early and that will delay or prevent the progression of the disease.”

He said scientists from other areas of research were coming together, applying their knowledge to dementia and “really beginning to see things that look like opportunities to get interventions that might stop the disease, prevent the disease, one day maybe even cure the disease”.

“That I think is very different from a decade ago,” he said.

Solutions could include “ramping up work on blood tests that spot the build-up of proteins associated with dementia” or “saliva analysis that notices hormone changes at the early stages of a fading memory, or even before symptoms have begun to show”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.

Such breakthroughs would mark a shift from traditional tests relying on noticeable signs of decline and could allow early treatment to help manage symptoms and slow progression through lifestyle changes.

DSIT said other solutions could involve the “development of AI-powered daily routine assistants” which work through smart speakers or tablet devices and learn the activities someone enjoys and their cognitive abilities.

The assistants could then help people by “suggesting brain-training exercises, offering reminders for daily tasks, helping with simple cooking instructions or facilitating video calls with family”.

One million people in the UK live with dementia and this number is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040 – with one in four acute hospital beds currently occupied by a person with dementia in England.

DSIT said the Dementia Patient Flow R&I Challenge is the third of five to be announced as part of the Research and Development Missions Accelerator Programme – backed by £500m in the Spending Review.

Hilary Evans-Newton, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the funding was a “welcome boost to UK dementia research”.

Ms Evans-Newton added: “Right now, hundreds of thousands of people living with dementia miss out on a diagnosis – and the answers, care and support that one can bring.

“That’s not just a crisis, it’s wrong. But innovations like blood tests, digital assessments and retinal scans are offering real hope, and they will soon be here.

“We are in an era of truly exciting science driving new dementia tests and treatments. To make sure people can access them, NHS dementia services must be fit for the future too, backed up by long-term investment and new clinical pathways.”

Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It’s promising to see the Government taking steps to tackle the deep-rooted challenges in diagnosis.

“By harnessing cutting-edge technology, research and innovation can lead us toward a brighter future where everyone has access to an early and accurate diagnosis and promising new treatments.”