Government
Commonwealth Heads of Government:
Keir Starmer has met with Commonwealth leaders in Samoa this week. Although most leaders did turn up for the summit, India and South Africa's heads of state chose to attend a BRICS summit being held in Russia. Key headlines from the summit have been around an apology and reparations for Britain's role in slavery - while the UK Government has ruled out any payments, the draft communique text does include calls to begin discussions on the subject. (LINK)
Budget:
Unusually, there has been significant pre-briefing of the budget's content in the run up to the Chancellor's speech next week in order to prepare the markets. Headlines include;
- Prime Minister was asked to clarify if 'no taxes rises for working people' includes “someone who works but gets their income from assets as well, such as shares and property.” He replied: “Well, they wouldn’t come within my definition.”
- The government will change its self-imposed debt rules in order to free up billions for infrastructure spending, the chancellor has told the BBC.
Other