As noted above, the government has announced that regulated rail price lists in England will increase by up to 4. 9% next year (see Article 11. 18).
The increase, which will take effect on March 3, is lower than last year’s 9% increase, prompting Transport Secretary Mark Harper to welcome “the significant government intervention to limit rail fare increases from last year. “
However, the general secretary of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) accused the company of “presiding over the organized decline of the railways”.
Mick Lynch also claimed that ministers were making “significant cuts to spending on safety-critical infrastructure on the one hand, while, on the other, allowing privatized rail operators to pay huge dividends to shareholders. “
“Meanwhile, passengers are once again affected by fare increases, proving once again that the fragmented privatized formula is a categorical failure,” he added.
By Paul Kelso, Commercial Correspondent
The British economy is looking more and more like those sepia-toned videos of early American aeronauts hunting and failing to take off.
Usually, those unfortunate pioneers run along a harbor wall, attached to a homemade device, animated more by a spirit of optimism than by realistic physics.
With the click of powered mechanical wings, they race to the edge and leap into the void, as hope emerges as gravity sets in, pushing them and their creations to the edge.
The data that informs economic and political decision-making in the UK has just done likewise.
In a year of stagnant performance, there is little consolation that the economy will at least grow, even marginally.
No more.
Revisions to expansion data, carried out through the Office for National Statistics, have brought GDP back down to earth and to the edge of its own metaphorical wall, under which recession lurks.
Read Paul’s full research here:
Christmas has begun and MPs are returning to their constituencies for this period.
But while the latest opinion polls are likely to be a source of festive cheer for Labour, Conservative MPs will feel a glaring lack of goodwill.
Sky News’ live ballot tracking formula, compiled and updated through our insights and research team, aggregates polls to give an indication of how the electorate feels about other political parties.
Labour has 42. 7 per cent to the Conservatives’ 25. 7 per cent, a lead of around 17 points.
In third are the Lib Dems on 10.8%, followed by Reform on around 8.9% and the Greens on 5.8% – with the SNP on 3.0%.
Check out the most recent update below and you can read more about the tracker method here.
Rishi Sunak was discovered via our correspondent Mollie Malone picking up boxes of cakes at King’s Cross station in London.
The Prime Minister went straight to Marks and Spencer to collect six boxes of festive gifts (to hand out to key staff) before returning to his constituency in Richmond, Yorkshire.
Mollie submits this report. . .
It comes though as people here are digesting the news of ticket rail fares next year.
“The price hike is clearly coming at the worst time imaginable,” said one traveler.
“This year has been a little complicated. It’s the icing on the cake. “
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we turn back time,” he added, of his plans to return home to Southampton for Christmas.
“It’s going to be a challenge to get us to understand why [train fares are going up],” she tells me.
“It’s already expensive, it will be much more expensive now.”
The government says it wants to adapt to turn rail behaviour, like many others, into working from home after the pandemic.
“The pandemic is a long time ago. They keep using this excuse,” he said.
“They’ll have some explanation to give as to why. “
As if the government’s “stop the boats” policy wasn’t already in disarray, now James Cleverly’s crackdown on legal migration is already unravelling.
In a cynically timed move to avoid a backlash from MPs, he admitted that he had particularly reduced the number of employees bringing in family members from the UK.
When he announced plans in early December to cut legal migration by 300,000, he boasted it was “a crackdown on those who jump the queue to exploit our immigration system”.
One of his most controversial proposals was that from next spring only people earning more than £38,700 would be able to bring a family member from overseas, more than double the current £18,600.
You can read Jon’s analysis in full below:
The Home Office has not yet started negotiating with airlines about flights taking asylum seekers to Rwanda, Home Secretary James Cleverly has said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Mr Cleverly have made clear they are keen for flights to take off by the spring, but neither have given a specific date for when this will happen.
In a verbal exchange with LBC, the interior minister said that no airline has yet been found to carry out such deportation flights.
He said: “This kind of contract negotiation will be part of the bill, of course we will talk to the airlines.
“We’re still at the level where we can have those industrial negotiations. “
Mr Cleverly went on to say that the government will “fight tooth and nail against any parliamentarians who try to kill” off the Rwanda policy.
They survived the vote on the emergency law last week, but there are still opportunities to reach a stalemate in the House of Lords.
“I think it will be a success,” the minister added.
We have just heard from the shadow leader of the Labour Party, Treasury Secretary, with his reaction to the news that the economy grew by 0. 1% in the three months from September to July.
This means that the UK economy has performed worse than in the past and has raised fears of a technical recession (see article in 7. 05).
Speaking to broadcasters, James Murray said the figures were “further evidence of Rishi Sunak’s failure”.
The Labour MP then mentioned more of the PM’s five priorities: “He’s already failed to cut [NHS] waiting lists, he’s failed to stop the boats, and now it’s been confirmed he’s failed to grow the economy too.
“And indeed, this is just the latest in a series of thirteen years of Conservative economic failure that have worsened the scenario for citizens across Britain. “
Asked how worried he is about a potential recession, Mr Murray replied: “I’m very worried about the economic forecasts for this country.”
He noted that the Office of Fiscal Responsibility had revised downwards its expansion forecasts for the next 3 years.
“I’m very involved in what’s going on,” he said, “that’s why we want the Labour plan to revive the economy and the stage for British citizens. “
He rejected the government’s claim that the medium-term outlook looks more optimistic.
He clarified today that carers already in the UK will not have to send their dependents home when they renew their visas under the new legal migration rules.
Gavin Edwards, head of social care at Unison, said the new “partial relegation” is a government in chaos.
“This partial break from visa regulations will bring some relief to immigrants who are already here with their families,” he said.
“But ministers should have been clear from the start. Overseas care staff could have been spared weeks of worry.
“This chaotic technique portends panic within the government. The fact is that ministers’ reckless adjustments to immigration policy are a crisis for social services.
“Immigrant social workers are now more likely to turn to the UK in favour of parts of the world where their skills and their families will be more welcome.
“This is not smart for a social cover formula that now depends on your support. Ministers are now backtracking and continuing to allow social workers to bring their dependents here. “
In the first week of January 2023, as the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak gave a speech to lay out his five most sensible priorities.
As 2023 draws to a close, one of those priorities has started to dominate the Commons – and could become a significant threat to his leadership in 2024.
The “stop the boats” policy is one of the big political stories of the year, which host Niall Paterson shares with politician Beth Rigby.
They also talk about how Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is preparing for next year’s general election.
Also in this series, Niall will take a look at affairs, economics, science and technology, and the royal family.
As we reported earlier (see 7:05am article), the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy grew by 0. 1% in the 3 months from July to September.
The review jeopardizes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s commitment to developing the economy as we approach the end of 2023.
Reacting to the news, liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney said it was further evidence that the economy is “stagnant due to conservative mismanagement” and “leaving families suffering while their wages continue to be under pressure. “
And he added: “The fault lies with the Conservative government, which has failed to generate any expansion in a suffering economy. “