The governing body of English football’s referees has apologised to Liverpool after officials wrongly ruled out a goal in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday.
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted a “significant human error” was made when a goal by Liverpool’s Luis Diaz was disallowed because of offside in the Premier League game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
At the time the score was 0-0, Tottenham went on to win 2-1 thanks to a Liverpool own goal in the dying seconds.
Match referee Simon Hooper, who sent off two Liverpool players, also ruled out Diaz’s 34th-minute effort.
The assistant’s offside flag was raised and a quick VAR check by Darren England at Stockley Park showed the Liverpool attacker was offside.
But still images of the incident appeared to show Tottenham defender Cristian Romero playing Diaz onside and Spurs took the lead two minutes later.
The referees’ body said in a statement: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool.
Read more: Club condemns ‘deplorable behaviour’ as fans appear to mock child who died from cancer
“The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.
“This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.
“PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error”, and “will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”
Cody Gakpo equalised before half-time, but Joel Matip’s last-gasp own-goal inflicted a first Premier League defeat of the season on Jurgen Klopp’s team.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, criticised the “unfair” and “crazy” decisions made by the officials.
He said: “That is not offside when you see it,” and dismissed the PGMOL apology, saying: “Who does that help? We won’t get points for it. We all thought that when VAR came in it would make things easier.
“The decision was made really quick for that decision. It changed the momentum of the game.”
Grassroots Conservative supporters are saying they want to oust Rishi Sunak and “go to war” with the liberal wing of the party in leaked WhatsApp messages obtained by Sky News.
We have obtained the discussions amongst members of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), founded in December 2022 by donor and Johnson-backer Lord Peter Cruddas after the ousting of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
The group has had high profile support from senior figures on the right of the Conservative Party. Its conference in May featured speeches from Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries.
The leaked WhatsApps show the vitriol among some of its members aimed at Mr Sunak, little expectation of victory in the general election and a desire to take back control of the Tory party for the right, post-election.
A Tory source said that it was wrong to characterise Mr Sunak as being on the liberal wing of the party, saying he is “significantly more Conservative than Boris Johnson”.
Some of the screenshots suggest a handful of members believe in conspiracies, referring to “globalists” and a WEF government – a reference to the World Economic Forum held in Davos – which some conspiracy theorists believe to be home of a secretive world government which benefits elites.
Sky News has not named any of the activists involved, and not published the screenshots, since the participants in these conversations are not nationally significantly figures.
Several of the messages show the anger felt towards other wings of the Conservative party.
One activist said: “It’s time to go to war … unfortunately it’s with the liberals in our party. Needs to be done we need the party back.”
They go on: “Listening to my local party’s WhatsApp broadcast it’s like the last days of Rome… carrying on with the same old policies that have lost year after year. Ignoring actual conservatives and a conservative message… preferring to appear liberal to appease the middle class liberal climate guilt voters…. Personally I can’t see past the cowardice…. I’m pretty sure that’s all the public see too.”
Image: Some people want to see a return of Boris Johnson
Read more: What are the different factions in the Conservative Party? Ten conference moments that made headlines
The WhatsApp messages, almost all this year and some from the last few weeks, show:
• Members of the group mocking Mr Sunak, one saying he has the charisma of a “doorknob”. Another says he is “uninspiring” and saying the “govt can’t get anything right”, and characterise it as a party of “globalists”.
• Members of the CDO believe that Sunak, who voted for Brexit, is governing like a “remainer”. “CDO needs to rethink Rishi and pals, remainers have a firm hold on the party”, says an activist. Another says: “It’s no longer a conservative government I would vote for.”
• Some calling on them to remove Mr Sunak before the election, others hoping for a return of Boris Johnson. Others think an election will help Conservatives “find out who their voters are and rebuild from there”.
• Many rail about the way he was chosen to be leader, saying he “trampled democracy underfoot”. He became prime minister unopposed after Tory MPs ousted Ms Truss. Another said: “He staged a coup”.
• Many have given up winning the next election, with one saying “we’re gunna (sic) be out of power for a lot longer than 4 years and giving (sic) the cultural shift we may never get back in”.
• Others tout alternative leaders. An activist asks: “Is Tom Harwood a Conservative. If he is, he would make an ideal prime minister”. Mr Harwood is a political journalist at GB News.
• The group also criticises Mr Sunak’s cabinet. During the reshuffle earlier this month, one queried Grant Shapps’ appointment to the defence brief. “I just don’t find Shapps credible. Certainly not to take over the mantle from Wallace who was beyond excellent.” Another calls him a “crony appointment; Jack of all trades, master of none.”
Some CDO WhatsApp members see a conspiracy behind the poor performance from the Tories.
One says: “No party can be this incompetent on purpose. It’s got to be by design. And the only conclusion I can come to of why they would do this, is that they are all bought and paid for, same for Labour and the other cretins in parliament.
“Someone is pulling the strings to turn our country into a third world s**thole”.
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However, other members rejected the conspiracy theories.
One member of the Yorkshire CDO group said: “Infighting is what they’re best at. Who can stop that? Factions have formed and need breaking up. Who can do that? We can help if we’re not amongst them.
“They all need to see sense – immediately. But we need to know who’s in which faction in order to set targets to break them up.”
The majority of the group appears to have clear boundaries. When one commenter talks about Londistan and makes a link to Sadiq Khan, others jump in to condemn them, saying the CDO does not tolerate racism and that “true Conservatives are inclusive”.
Claire Bullivant, co-founder and chief executive of the CDO, said: “The CDO is a place for everyone who cares about democracy, and we certainly aren’t made up of just Conservative Party members.
“In fact, we have a lot of members who belong to Reform and other parties who all hold different views on various politicians. Some love Rishi, some don’t. Some want Boris back, some don’t.
“It’s normal… it’s by the by. What we care about is democracy and bringing a voice back to the people.
She added: “I personally follow the Ronald Reagan principle as I am a Conservative and I don’t really like bashing fellow Tories.
“But you’re showing me WhatsApp messages that could have been written by anyone who has joined some of our WhatsApp groups.”
She went on to welcome the publication of the leaks by Sky News.
“Of course the media will try and make a story about it. Go for it. Thank you for the publicity,” she said.
“It’s great that more people will hear about us. More and more people are joining CDO everyday.
“Like us they want democracy, and they want a centre right party that believes in free people, free markets, free speech, small governments and low taxes.
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“The fact is no-one wants Starmer, no-one wants 20mph limits, no-one wants unions running the show, no-one wants wokery, no-one wants ULEZ expansions and big government breathing down your neck every second. The average man on the street does not want Labour.
“I’m proud of what the CDO has achieved in such a short time and this is just the start. We have a great relationship with CCHQ and are excited to work with the Conservative Party moving forward.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has vowed to tackle the “vicious circle of ever-rising taxes” by revamping public services and the welfare system.
The cabinet minister argued the state needed to become “more productive”, not bigger, as he pointed to the use of artificial intelligence to realise frontline efficiencies and reduce the burden on the public purse.
He also said the government was looking at welfare changes, with 100,000 people a year moving off work on to benefits “without any obligation” to look for a job.
Mr Hunt made his comments as the Conservative Party annual conference gets under way in Manchester this weekend, with some senior party figures demanding tax cuts.
It follows a report published this week that said the Tories will have overseen, between the 2019 election and the next general election, the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War.
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank said taxes will have increased to around 37% of national income, equivalent to around £3,500 more per household.
But despite the growing pressure, Mr Hunt told The Times newspaper: “We’re not in a position to talk about tax cuts at all.”
He added: “We need a more productive state, not a bigger state.”
“We need a state that doesn’t just deliver the services it currently delivers, but actually improves the services it delivers and recognises that there’s going to be more calls on those services with an ageing population,” he said.
“But we need to find a formula that doesn’t mean that we’re on a vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.”
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0:50
Truss ‘tried to fatten and slaughter the pig’
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More than 30 Tory MPs, including Liz Truss, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s short-lived predecessor, and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel, have vowed not to back further tax hikes.
Ms Truss, whose mini-budget 12 months ago triggered market turmoil in response to unfunded tax cuts and ultimately forced her from office, tweeted on Friday: “We should always seek to reduce the tax burden, especially when there’s so much pressure on family budgets.”
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In his Times interview, Mr Hunt also called for a more upbeat tone about the economy and said people needed to “shrug off a bit of the pessimism”.
Mr Hunt, who took over from Ms Truss’s sacked chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “When I started the job there was a lot of doom and gloom about Britain, our prospects.
“What I have realised now nearly a year on is that there is just far too much declinism.
“If you look at the fundamentals of the British economy we have had our setbacks like everyone else, we are the fastest-growing large European country, not just since the pandemic but since Brexit, since 2010.
“That’s a period when we’ve had a once-in-a-century pandemic, a global financial crisis that we were particularly exposed to, and a 1970s-style energy shock. Despite all of that the British economy has been very resilient.”
His remarks came after it was revealed the UK economy grew faster than had first been thought between January and March this year.
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Data published by the Office for National Statistics shows UK economic growth was 0.3% from January to March, better than the 0.1% first announced.
The revision put the country’s economy ahead of both Germany and France in terms of post-pandemic performance but behind allies such as the United States, Canada, Japan and Italy.
As Rishi Sunak prepares to launch his re-election pitch from the stage in Manchester this week, it’s worth remembering that this time last year, the now prime minister – and many of his supporters – were put out to pasture and didn’t even bother to turn up for the annual Tory jamboree.
Those who did looked on with widening eyes at the accelerating car crash of the Liz Truss premiership, as her mini-budget began to unravel in real time at party conference (remember the panicked decision to U-turn on cutting the top rate tax no sooner than conference kicked off), with her administration’s complete collapse coming less than three weeks later.
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1:33
Truss’ time as PM, one year on
It is a chapter of Conservative history that Rishi Sunak has sought to put right – spending his first year as PM trying to steady the ship and bring an air of competence and professionalism to government. There is no doubt that the tenor and tone of what could well be the final party conference before a general election will be a world away from the last.
But when it comes to the fundamentals, has that much changed? If you measure politics in its most brutal sense as victory at the ballot box, the answer is not much. The Conservatives were experiencing their worst polling since the last 1990s this time last year. Look at our Sky News poll tracker now, and you can see average support for the party is pretty much the same – about 26%. It’s barely shifted at all.
To make matters worse, Mr Sunak – who will look in his leader’s speech to the country to cast himself as the heir of Thatcher – goes to conference as the Conservative prime minister who is presiding over anything but a Thatcherite economy.
The tax burden is on course to rise by more in this Conservative parliament than during any other since the Second World War, according to analysis released by the Institute of Fiscal Studies on the eve of conference. It will rise from 33% of national income to 37% by next year. A record leap that sees families and businesses paying more than £100bn extra in tax by next year compared with the last election, it has left many Tory MPs in despair and angry at the Sunak approach to the economy.
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2:27
Taxes are rising to near historic highs
The Sunak message will be that, during the pandemic, he had to do things and spend public money in a way that didn’t come naturally to him. He will argue he is a Thatcherite in both his personal work ethic and philosophy – an instinctive tax cutter and small-state Conservative, but is doing the hard work now – growing the economy, halving inflation – to reap the rewards later.
But his detractors are quietly fulminating. As one put it to me this week: “This heir to Thatcher business, it’s concocted vacuous stuff he’s come up with – ‘she grew up in a small shop, I [Sunak] grew up in a pharmacy’. Why didn’t he do that last year in a leadership campaign?”
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0:50
Truss ‘tried to fatten and slaughter the pig’
And if the message is stick to the plan and reap the rewards, there are some who have missed the memo. Divisions will surface on “economy day” as Liz Truss, Dame Priti Patel and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg appear at the Great British Growth rally on Monday.
“The tax burden is now a 70-year high. That is unsustainable. And the people that pay the taxes are hard pressed Brits around the country,” former home secretary Dame Priti Patel told GB News on Friday as she insisted taxes had to come down. “As Conservatives, we believe in lower taxes. As Conservatives, we believe being on the side of hard-working households and families. As Conservatives, we believe in hope and aspiration.”
Poor polling and anxiety over the tax burden make for a tricky backdrop. Team Rishi insist that they can turn it around in the coming months, and the contour of that plan is taking shape.
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1:14
‘Not right to impose costs on people’
On net zero, the PM is trying to drill dividing lines between the Conservatives and Labour over environmental policies. He will use conference to position himself on the side of the motorist as he looks to further mine the advantage he gained in the Uxbridge by-election over taxing polluting diesel cars.
The fanning of the immigration flames – with Home Secretary Suella Braverman threatening to withdraw from the ECHR last week – is helpful to a prime minister who is looking to win back lapsed 2019 Conservative voters and regroup on the right.
His team see a narrow path to victory with all pivots on economic recovery, coupled with the message “we’re back on track, don’t risk Labour” and winning back voters over core issues – environment, immigration – to narrow the polls (someone told me that 14% of lapsed Conservative 2019 voters have moved to Reform, get a chunk back and the gap begins to close).
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0:53
‘Being gay isn’t enough to claim asylum’
“I wouldn’t bet against us to turn it around in the coming months,” said one No 10 insider. “Rishi genuinely believes he can make it better for the country and get into the best possible position for an election next year. Seeing how politics has changed over the past one, two years, I wouldn’t bet against us being able to turn it around. We have got to be the party of change.”
But the huge problem for Mr Sunak is that voters seem to have tuned out. He has been in No 10 for a year, and still the polls are unchanged. This conference, likely the last before an election, is his final chance to capture attention and start to regain voters’ ears.
But he has a problem too with a party that is in despair. While No 10 were pleased that the net zero announcements didn’t spark at backlash from pro-green One Nation Conservatives, the right of the party is restive over economy and waiting for the prime minister to placate them on spending and tax cuts. One figure suggested to me this weekend that Mr Sunak might use the cancellation of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 as a way of finding room for manoeuvre when it comes to promises on tax.
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7:43
Labour: ‘We want HS2 to go ahead’
Closing the gap with Labour is the goal for now as speculation grows around whether it will be a May or October election. (If it’s May you can run it with the local elections and not risk a small boats summer crisis or a vote in the autumn after a local election wipeout – but the PM might just want to hold out.)
But away from the No 10 bunker, and even his most ardent backers think the best Mr Sunak can achieve is holding Labour back from an outright majority.
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As for some of his more seasoned MPs, they are resigned to what they see is their fate: “Instinctively, I don’t feel that we can win. This feels like a damage limitation project.”
Manchester will be the acid test as to whether Mr Sunak can shift the momentum.
Two people have been taken to hospital after a crash involving the Flying Scotsman.
The crash happened at Aviemore Railway Station, in the Cairngorms, northern Scotland, at 7.10pm on Friday.
The National Railway Museum confirmed the steam locomotive had been involved in what it described as a “shunting incident”.
“We will provide further information once more details are known,” the museum said.
Carriages for the Royal Scotsman – a luxury sleeper train which travels on rail tracks around the Scottish Highlands – were also involved in the collision.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said two people had been taken to Raigmore Hospital following the crash but their injuries are not believed to be serious.
“A number of other passengers are being treated at the scene and enquiries are ongoing,” the force said.
Image: Police at the scene of the crash. Pic: Peter Jolly
Three people had also been treated at the scene, but did not require hospital treatment, according to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).
“Three appliances remain at the scene,” a spokesperson for the service said.
The crash happened on Strathspey Railway, a heritage line, and involved a stationary carriage and another train which was in the station.
Read more from Sky News: Woman dies after collision with cyclist near Scottish Parliament Police reveal DNA breakthrough in 1983 cheese wire murder
Scottish Greens transport spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said: “It is too early to know what has caused this incident, but clearly a full investigation will have to take place.
“From reports it appears this has been on the heritage track, the Strathspey Railway line, involving the Flying Scotsman and that nearby services on the main line have been temporarily impacted to allow emergency efforts to continue.
“We are thinking of all those involved at this challenging time and thanks all those who have taken part in the emergency response.”
Image: Aviemore Station, Scotland. Google Street View
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “It’s on a heritage railway line, it’s not our infrastructure. The main line is shut while emergency services respond.
“We are saying to passengers to check before travelling.”
Flying Scotsman – the steam locomotive which made history in 1934 by becoming the first to officially reach 100mph – was scheduled to be running trips this weekend.
The locomotive, built in Doncaster in 1923, is due to return to the south Yorkshire city on Monday as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations.
The designer who refurbished Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat has spoken out about the “missed opportunity” to promote British craftwork after being caught up in ‘Partygate’ and the scandal around how the work was funded.
Lulu Lytle, founder of design and manufacturing firm Soane Britain, has also said in an interview that the reported £840-per-roll cost of gold leaf wallpaper is not accurate, insisting it was nowhere near that expensive – and nor was it made of gold leaf.
She has said the now infamous wallpaper for the flat above Number 11 Downing Street housing then-prime minister Boris Johnson and his then fiance Carrie Symonds cost £120 per roll – the industry standard – and it was yellow, not gold.
Ms Lytle – who became known as “Carrie’s interior designer” – said she had never met Mr Johnson or his fiance before she received a cold call from Ms Symonds one day asking her to oversee the refurbishment of the Downing Street residence, commissioned in early 2020 and funded by the official grant of £30,000 given to all prime ministers to revamp their living space.
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“Carrie had seen some fabrics of ours that had been commissioned for the state bedrooms at Chequers and liked them very much,” Ms Lytle told the Wall Street Journal of the prime minister’s official country residence in Buckinghamshire.
“She asked me to help with their Downing Street flat, not only because she liked the Soane aesthetic, but because our supply chains are so transparently English.”
Image: Decorator Lulu Lytle
When the bill for the requested work overshot the official grant, Ms Lytle said she was assured a trust would make up the gap, as had been the case for Chequers.
“I was totally reassured it was being set up, but it was taking time,” she said, but a year later it emerged in press reports that not only had the refurbishment cost over six times the official allowance but it had also been funded by Tory party donor Lord David Brownlow.
Read more: What was Boris Johnson’s flat refurb like? Sunak and Johnson have overseen largest tax rises since Second World War What are the different factions in the Conservative Party?
The scandal erupted at the same time as it emerged parties had been taking place in Downing Street – and Ms Lytle herself was even investigated for allegedly attending Mr Johnson’s birthday party in Downing Street, for which the ex-PM was later fined.
However, after speaking to investigating officers, she was not fined, having been in Downing Street for work.
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2:31
Boris Johnson said that he was ‘very, very surprised; to receive a fine after the events of ‘Partygate’
As for Mr Johnson, although he was referred to the Electoral Commission over the saga of the redecoration and the Tory party was fined, his ethics advisor, Lord Christopher Geidt, concluded that he did not break the ministerial code, and he settled the bill for the work privately.
Nonetheless, she recounted the ordeal as having a very difficult impact on herself, her family, and her business.
She says that what upset her the most was the “missed opportunity” to highlight British craftwork.
“Downing Street could, and in my opinion should, be the most fantastic showcase for British makers – I hoped and believed it would provide a springboard for conversations about UK manufacturing, or honest and transparent supply chains,” she said.
“It was such a missed opportunity,” she added.
Ms Lytle is now launching a flagship outlet on New York’s Upper East Side, expanding properly into the US for the first time.
There are “a number of casualties” and a major incident has been declared after a school bus overturned in a crash on a motorway in Merseyside, emergency services have said.
Calday Grange Grammar School confirmed one of its coaches was involved in the incident on the M53.
A statement posted by the school on X, formerly Twitter, said: “We are aware of a situation involving one of our school buses on the motorway earlier today.
“We’re actively gathering details and assisting affected students and their families.”
Merseyside Fire and Rescue said crews arrived at the scene at 8.16am “to find an overturned bus with a number of casualties”, according to local media.
The North West Ambulance Service said it had “declared a major incident” following the crash.
One female was taken to hospital after suffering major trauma-related injuries, it said, while nearly 50 others were being assessed at the scene.
“We are working closely with our incident partners to convey people away from the scene as quickly as possible,” the service said.
An air ambulance was at the scene.
The motorway has been closed in both directions between junction 5 at Ellesmere Port and junction 4 at Bebbington.
Merseyside Police said it was called just after 8am to reports a bus had struck a reservation at junction 5 of the motorway.
The force said: “Junctions 3-5 of the M53 are closed in both directions. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is currently ensuring the safe removal of passengers and the driver, and North West Ambulance Service are at the scene attending to anyone requiring treatment.
“Motorists are advised to avoid the area and find alternative routes, and we advise people to remain patient while the incident is ongoing.”
National Highways North West said: “The incident occurred shortly after 8am this morning.
“All emergency services are on scene along with North West Air Ambulance Services.
“National Highways Traffic Officers are on scene providing assistance with traffic management.”
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Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson have overseen the largest set of tax rises since the Second World War, according to economic analysis.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that – by the time of the next general election – the tax burden will have risen to around 37% of national income.
This equates to roughly £3,500 extra per household – although the increase is not shared evenly.
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Records began in 1950 for the figures, and no parliament has seen a larger hike.
The size of the tax burden and the lack of cuts to tariffs have been the subject of the ire of many Conservatives.
The headroom for tax cuts has suffered as interest rates rose and the cost to service debt has risen. High inflation has led the government to be cautious of cutting taxes and leaving people with more cash to spend.
Last week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it would be “virtually impossible” to cut taxes at the moment.
“I really, really wish it was true but unfortunately, it just isn’t,” he told LBC.
“If you look at what we are having to pay for our long-term debt, it is higher now than it was at the spring budget.
“I wish it wasn’t, it makes life extremely difficult, it makes tax cuts virtually impossible, and it means that I will have another set of frankly very difficult decisions.
“All I would say is, if we do want those long-term debt costs to come down, then we need to really stick to this plan to get inflation down, get interest rates down.
“I don’t know when that’s going to happen. But I don’t think it’s going to happen before the autumn statement on November 22, alas.”
Read more: Inheritance tax ‘punitive and unfair’ Truss to urge government to cut taxes Sunak refuses to answer questions on HS2’s future
There will likely be pressure for Mr Hunt and Mr Sunak to cut taxes – with some eyeing up cuts to sizeable projects like HS2 as a way to free up cash, and others calling for a relaxation of inheritance tax.
The economy is an area that Mr Sunak wants to make his strength – with three of his five pledges made at the start of this year relating to them.
Ben Zaranko, senior research economist at the IFS, said the pandemic could not be blamed for rising tax levels and predicted a high-tax approach was here to stay regardless of who wins the next general election.
“It is inconceivable that this parliament will turn out to be anything other than a tax-raising one – and it looks nailed on to be the biggest tax-raising parliament since at least the Second World War,” he said.
“This is not, for the most part, a direct consequence of the pandemic. Rather, it reflects decisions to increase government spending, in part driven by demographic change, pressures on the health service, and some unwinding of austerity.
“It is likely that this parliament will mark a decisive and permanent shift to a higher-tax economy.”
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0:51
‘The plan is working’
This was echoed by Mark Franks, the director of welfare at the Nuffield Foundation.
He said: “There will be strong pressure in coming parliaments to raise taxes further to meet growing demand for public services such as healthcare.
“Future governments must not only have a credible and robust strategy for the economy and the public finances, but should also be forthright and transparent about the difficult trade-offs they will face.”
Opposition parties seized on the findings, as Labour said that the Tories had “clobbered” the public.
Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: “Successive Tory governments have overseen 13 years of low growth and stagnant wages. Their response in the face of this bankrupt legacy is always to load their failure onto working people. And what are we getting back? Crumbling public services.
“Brits are working hard but getting clobbered with 25 Tory tax rises and a continuing Conservative premium on their household budgets.”
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A Treasury spokesperson said: “Despite needing to take the difficult decisions to restore public finances in the face of the dual shocks of the pandemic and Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the latest data shows our tax burden will remain lower than any major European economy.
“Driving down inflation is the most effective tax cut we can deliver right now, which is why we are sticking to our plan to halve it, rather than making it worse by borrowing money to fund tax cuts.
“We have also taken 3 million people out of paying tax altogether since 2010 through raising personal thresholds, and the chancellor has said he wants to lower the tax burden further – but has been clear that sound money must come first.”
Laurence Fox has apologised to journalist Ava Evans over his comments on GB News.
In a 15-minute mea culpa, the actor-turned-political-activist said his comments were “demeaning” and “not representative of who I am”.
However, Fox said he maintained “the sentiment” of his comments, saying he was angry about what he said was Ms Evans demeaning male suicide.
During those comments about Ms Evans – a journalist for the website PoliticsJOE – he asked host Dan Wootton: “Who would want to shag that?”
In the video, posted on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: “I could have and should have expressed it better.
“It’s not right, it’s demeaning to Ava, so I’m sorry for demeaning you in that way, however angry I am with you still for doing that, and it demeans me because it’s not representative of who I am.
“I’m not saying any of this stuff because I know I’m going to get sacked tomorrow. I’m saying it to clear my own conscience.”
He added: “I express my apology to Ava for the language used, but I maintain the sentiment.”
Image: Ava Evans
It comes after media regulator Ofcom launched a formal investigation into GB News after it received thousands of complaints about Fox’s comments on Wootton’s show on Tuesday.
Fox was suspendedby GB News following the remarks about Ms Evans, which have been described as “unacceptable, unjustifiable and indefensible”.
Wootton’s contract as a columnist for MailOnline was also terminated on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for the news website’s parent company, DMG Media.
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11:05
Ofcom: Misogyny a ‘real issue’
Read more: Reaction and what Fox said – in full Who is Laurence Fox? Ofcom chief says there are ‘real issues around misogyny’
As Fox’s comments drew widespread condemnation, Wootton offered an apology to Ms Evans in a public post on X, in which he described the reporter as “brilliant”.
He apologised “unreservedly” for what was said during the show and conceded he should have done this immediately on air.
Wootton, who could be seen laughing as Fox made his remarks, reiterated his “regret” over the incident in another social media post on Wednesday morning “having looked at the footage” of what he described as a “bizarre exchange”.
“I should have intervened immediately,” he said, adding: “I know I should have done better. I’m devastated…”
In his video, Fox accused Wootton of throwing him “under the bus” with the comments.
Fox also said he was “99.999% sure” that both he and Wootton were going to be “sacked” by GB News on Friday, adding: “Or certainly they are going to sack me.”
Image: Dan Wootton
The row started after Fox said on GB News: “Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman, ever, ever, who wasn’t an incel?”
“That little woman has been fed… spoon-fed oppression day after day after day… starting with the lie of the gender wage gap, and she’s sat there and I’m going, if I met you in a bar and that was like sentence three, chances of me just walking away are just huge,” Fox added.
“We need powerful, strong, amazing women who make great points for themselves, we don’t need these sort of feminist 4.0… they’re pathetic and embarrassing. Who would want to shag that?”
The comments were aired live on GB News following Ms Evans’s appearance on the BBC’s Politics Live show, where she discussed topics including mental health.
Fox was asked about Ms Evans’ critical comments about suggestions there should be a minister for men to address mental health.
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1:30
‘I object to what Laurence Fox said, but he should be allowed to say it’
After the incident, Ms Evans said she was “really hurt” by Fox’s comments, which were about her “body rather than her work”.
She later said her remarks on the BBC were “a little rash” and said she was “actually very interested in a brief for a minister on young men’s mental health”.
Ofcom announced on Thursday that it was launching an investigation into Fox’s comments.
The regulator said in a statement: “We have launched an investigation into GB News under our rules on offence, after receiving around 7,300 complaints about Tuesday’s episode of Tonight with Dan Wootton.”
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s chief executive, said the regulator’s rules were “designed to protect audiences from offensive and harmful material, and to uphold the integrity of broadcast news and current affairs programming, while always ensuring that freedom of expression is front and centre in every decision we take”.
“This is highly valued by audiences and central to our democracy,” she added.
“The decisions we take, always based on facts and evidence once a programme has aired, are vital if we are to protect our vibrant media landscape. We continue to apply and enforce these rules without fear or favour.”
Up to 20% of new cars on Britain’s roads could still be petrol and diesel models in 2030, after the government published guidelines for phasing out new internal combustion engine cars and vans by its new extended deadline of 2035.
Under the terms of the so-called zero-emissions mandate published by the Department for Transport, 22% of new cars will have to be zero-emission from January next year.
This figure will rise gradually to 52% in 2028, 80% in 2030 when the original total ban was due to apply, and 100% by 2035.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a five-year delay to the ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans earlier this month, calling it a “pragmatic” approach to achieving the UK’s net zero goals.
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3:05
Net Zero: Sunak lowers ambitions
The mandate has been anticipated by industry for two years, with some manufacturers privately frustrated that it has only been published three months before it applies.
The target of 22% for next year is the same as originally planned however and industry is confident it can be achieved, with 20% of new cars sold last year classified as zero emission.
Despite the relaxation of the deadline, many manufacturers remain committed to producing only fully electric vehicles from 2030 or earlier, with Nissan the latest to confirm that deadline.
The timetable for introducing electric vans has been watered down, however, with fines for missing the 10% target reduced next year.
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1:05
Motorists on petrol vehicle ban delay
If companies exceed the mandate levels they can bank, trade or sell their allowance, while those that miss the targets can buy allowances to offset fines.
Even after 2035 there will be no outright ban on owning a petrol or diesel car and there are likely to be millions still on the road for years afterwards.
Read more: Carmakers’ anger over 2030 U-turn is not just hot air How will PM’s delay to car and boiler changes affect me?
The car industry still faces uncertainty over EU rules due to apply from next year governing how much of a vehicle has to be produced in Europe or the UK to avoid 10% tariffs.
The “rules of origin” require 45% of a vehicle’s total value must be derived from home-produced components from 1 January, a target that is harder to achieve for electric vehicles because the battery comprises so much of the value.
Most manufacturers in the UK and EU rely on batteries produced in Asia, putting the entire European industry under pressure. The UK is pushing for a relaxation of the rules, with backing from Germany.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of industry group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “The automotive industry is investing billions in decarbonisation and recognises the importance of the zero-emission vehicle mandate as the single most important measure to deliver net zero.
“We welcome the clarity the mandate’s publication provides for the next 6 years and the flexibilities it contains to support pragmatic, equitable delivery across this diverse sector.”
Ford, which was highly critical of the delay to 2035, saying it undermined confidence in British industry, welcomed the mandate, which it said it had helped inform.
“Alongside the SMMT, Ford has provided input to the Department for Transport to help shape the mandate in the early years and it is very welcome to see some of those ideas reflected.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “The path to zero-emission vehicles announced today makes sure the route to get there is proportionate, pragmatic and realistic for families.”
