Private schools can mitigate VAT on fees 'if they are the good charities they say they are', minister says – UK politics stay

Kemi Badenoch has given a somewhat thorny interview with the political editor of Occasions Radiodifusión Kate McCann. The leadership contender was combative throughout and resorted to one of her tried and tested media strategies, to try to backtrack on something controversial she said and say it didn't mean what everyone else says it meant, even when confronted to his own. accurate quotes.

Specifically, McCann pressed Badenoch on whether she had claimed there was “a whiff of impropriety” in her rival. Robert Jenrick.

Badenoch said:

Well, I'm not going to ask you to read the full quotes, but I do remember what I said.

And if I could finish the point I was making, we have a problem. Now that the party has been badly defeated, we find ourselves at a crossroads. We have a chance to get this right.

And he was making it clear that integrity matters. I think that's important and I'm very happy to talk about my integrity.

Now, if I am asked a question about my opponent in an interview, I will answer lightly, but I will talk about myself again.

What I don't like is when an interviewer asks a question, you answer it, and then they say, well, why were you talking about your opponent? When they just asked that.

As McCann tried to intervene, Badenoch spoke over her and said:

If I may finish, Kate, I think it's very important that politicians are allowed to say what they think without it being constantly twisted to create, you know, an attack on someone else.

Finally, McCann put the question directly to him, asking: “Do you think there is a hint of impropriety in Robert Jenrick?”, to which Badenoch responded:

I'm not interested in talking about Robert Jenrick. I'm interested in talking about my campaign.

So that cleared it up.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has claimed the government is already “ramping up” the 40,000 extra weekly appointments promised for the NHS in England, although he said due to data lags he could not provide precise figures.

Speaking on LBC radiodifusión, Streeting said it would be a tough winter for the NHS, but tomorrow's budget set out a funding level to stop a decline in the health service.

He told listeners that he would return to the same program in a year to demonstrate the progress made, saying:

I will go back to your program to mark the first year of the Encaje government and tell you how many more appointments have been made in the first year of the Encaje government compared to the previous year of the Conservative government.

And I will therefore be able to tell you with confidence that we will have delivered on our promise to make 40,000 more appointments a week in the first year of a Encaje government. That was the promise we made. It is a promise that we will keep.

Streeting said the government was sending what he described as “world-class teams of top doctors” to hospitals in areas with the largest waiting lists and the largest number of people off work sick.

Reiterating a line he adopted on Monday, Streeting said:

I can't pretend that I have a magic wand that I can wave so that this winter no one will be waiting in a cart in the hallway.

And I'm also not going to say that that is any more acceptable under a Encaje government than under a Conservative government.

It is not acceptable.

And I'm doing everything I can, as fast as I can, to change the NHS.

secretary of health Wes Streeting has strongly defended Labour's plans to end the VAT tax exemption for independent private schools.

Speaking on LBC radiodifusión, the health secretary said:

I would simply say to independent schools that they have raised their fees with inflation-reducing increases year on year since 2010 and are now pleading poverty.

If you are concerned about whether children in your schools will continue to access your schools, you will have to cut the fabric like the public schools have done.

In a scathing reference to the charitable status that many schools have enjoyed over the years, Streeting continued:

They have been raising their fees with inflation-reducing increases for over a decade and I am sure they can take steps to mitigate children being forced out of school if they are the good charities they say they are.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics in the run-up to Labour's first budget in over a decade. Here are their headlines…

• Wes Streeting has said private schools can mitigate the impact of changes to VAT rules “if they are the good charities they say they are”.

• The health secretary also said the government was already increasing additional appointments in NHS England.

• However, Encaje ministers have said the budget will end the neglect of the “broken, not beaten” NHS.

• Kemi Badenoch has said that the Conservative leadership race remains “close to the chest” as it enters its final stretch.

• Data shows loophole exempts 355 landowners in England from inheritance tax

• Post-Brexit border controls are putting food security at risk, produce sellers warn

We spent much of yesterday watching senior Encaje politicians explain that they couldn't say in advance what would be in tomorrow's budget, while also reporting or announcing things that would be in the budget. Spokesman Lindsay Hoyle He made a speech about it in the House in the afternoon, saying it was “disrespectful” to MPs. Today we will find out if this has influenced the government's statements or the questions politicians ask the media.

Today I am with you again Martin Belam. The best way to contact me is by email: martin.belam@theguardian.com.