Hunt accuses Budget watchdog of political bias
Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has accused the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) of shielding the Labour Party from scrutiny as it prepares to announce tax hikes.In a letter to OBR chair Richard Hughes, Mr Hunt criticises the organisation for preparing to release a report timed with his successor Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, which addresses a £22bn financial gap attributed to Tory policies. The report is likely to be critical of the last government.In the letter, Mr Hunt described the timing of the report alongside the Budget as suggesting “political intervention”.“I do not believe publishing a review with criticisms of...
Angela Rayner issues defiant response to Trump’s Labour election interference claim
Angela Rayner issued a defiant response after Donald Trump’s campaign accused the Labour Party of interfering in the US election.Responding to the claim on Wednesday (23 October), the deputy prime minister said political staff campaigning in the US ahead of the upcoming presidential election is something that happens within all parties.Ms Rayner’s response came after the leader of the Scottish National Party, Stephen Flynn, asked her to join him in applauding the “brave Labour staff members who travelled across the Atlantic to campaign against Trump”.She said: “People in their own time often go and campaign, and that’s what we’ve seen.“It happens in all political parties, people go and campaign and they do what they want to do with their own time, with their own money.”
Why FEMA’s disaster relief gets political − especially when hurricane season and election season collide
Disaster relief requires cooperative, healthy relationships between the president, federal agencies and state, local and tribal governments. But with politicians in the mix, trouble can happen.