Labour chair claims pub business rates rethink not a U-turn, but ‘sign of confident government’ – UK politics live | Politics

Keir Starmer has been warned by Britain’s top military chief that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) could face a £28bn funding shortfall over the next four years, PA Media reports. PA says:

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton reportedly told the prime minister that a Ministry of Defense assessment last year showed a deficit of £28bn between now and 2030.

Chancellor and defense As first reported, the secretary was also in the meeting in the run-up to Christmas by Times And Sun newspapers.

The news is thought to have prompted Starmer to order an overhaul of the vehicle defense The investment plan (Dip), which was first expected in the fall, was postponed.

Dip will reveal how to make a strategic plan defense The review will be delivered.

A government source said the UK was “on the right track” to meet commitments set out in the review.

Knighton takes over as chief defense Responsible for staffing and strategic delivery in September. defense Review published in June as UK vows to increase defense spending to reach 2.5% of GDP by 2027.

The review also set out a target of increasing spending to 3 percent in the next parliament “when fiscal and economic conditions permit”.

An MoD spokesman said: “The UK defense While this government provides the biggest support, the budget rises to record levels defense A total of £270 billion has been spent in this parliament alone since the Cold War.

“Demands defense Increasing Russian aggression increases with increasing operational requirements and preparations for deployment in Ukraine.

“We are working intensively on this issue” defense investment plan to correct outdated, overcommitted, and underfunded problems defense program we inherited.”

Good morning. Yesterday it was revealed that the government will significantly revise some budget plans with a financial support package to help the pub industry. Pubs say without extra help they will face extra business rates costs built into their budget. Inside his speech to MPs in November Rachel ReevesThe Chancellor has hinted that he is reducing business rate costs for this sector. He told the House of Commons:

For business rates, I will impose permanently lower tax rates on more than 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties – the lowest tax rates since 1991… paid through higher rates for properties valued at £500,000 or more, such as warehouses used by online giants.

But the gains made by pubs from the fall in headline rates have been more than wiped out by the reduction in Covid-era benefits and the impact of the three-year revaluation, which came into force in April 2026 and has led to huge increases in the rateable value of many pubs. Like Kiran Stacey, Peter Walker And Rob Davies According to the report, Reeves is responding to weeks of protests from the pub industry by revising his business rates plans.

Details were not disclosed, but government sources confirmed that a significant bailout package was coming soon.

Almost all media outlets described this as a U-turn, which is consistent with the general meaning of the word. While Reeves isn’t doing a 180-degree reversal of what he announced on business rates in November, it appears to be more than a minor change and a significant shift from the policy he announced in his annual keynote speech just six weeks ago.

But ministers don’t like the word, partly because it’s derogatory, partly because the government has now developed a reputation for regularly making U-turns on big, headline policy issues such as cutting winter fuel payments, cutting disability benefits and subjecting farms to inheritance tax. Anna TurleyThe Labor leader is doing an interview this morning and claims this is not a U-turn. He told Sky News:

I don’t believe this is a U-turn. It’s really about listening. I think that’s a sign of a government that is actually in touch with people, listening to people and responding.

I think listening to voters doesn’t mean bullying or lobbying; that’s what we’re here to do.

We’re here to represent the people we live with, and if a policy isn’t right, I think it’s ‘you know what?’ It is a sign of a self-confident government. ‘We’ll step in, get it done, make sure it works’.

This is a perfectly reasonable argument, but it might make more sense for Turley to argue that U-turns can be positive because responding to public concerns is a good thing, and this is a good example. All governments make U-turns, and normally the pain resulting from short-term political embarrassment is offset by the gain from long-term elimination of a political problem.

But Keir Starmer is vulnerable to accusations that he frequently U-turns and looks weak.

There isn’t much on the agenda today. The House of Commons is not sitting. But colleagues are debating the assisted dying bill again (more on that soon) and there is a lobby briefing in Downing Street at 11.30am.

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