The countdown to the Budget is now firmly underway, with just nine days to go, and the political pressures on Number 10 continue to mount as cracks appear from inside and out.
It comes as the Prime Minister's team identified Health Secretary Wes Streeting as a significant rival to his leadership. Insisting this was not the case, Streeting - who was already doing the media rounds on behalf of the Government on Wednesday - argued the move was "self-defeating nonsense" and urged Sir Keir Starmer to sack whoever was briefing the media.
Several media outlets continued to praise Streeting, and the conversation surrounding the PM's leadership hasn't died down. With the latest political polling showing Labour on 17% - 10% behind Reform, one minister told the FT “this week has brought MPs closer together, uniting people against the PM who were previously mutually suspicious”.
Desperately trying to move the conversation forward, there has been fresh attention from the government on its immigration policy. The Home Secretary will announce a new migration policy in Parliament today, which will mean refugees who enter the UK illegally will have to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement. Alongside this, countries that refuse to take back illegal migrants from Britain will face visa bans.
Drawing inspiration from President Trump's Homeland Security chief, Kristi Noem, the Home Secretary will also unveil plans to block people from travelling to the UK from Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless there is a rapid improvement in the number of returned migrants they accept.
But with backbenchers invigorated by events of the previous week, several have raised their heads above the parapet against the move. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, claimed the plans for refugees to be granted only temporary status were “performative cruelty”.
Another told the Telegraph the Home Secretary was “competing for the hard-Right vote” by pursuing the reforms and the party was “abandoning millions of tolerant voters”.
What will come as welcome relief, however, is the announcement from the Chancellor she will not raise income tax as part of her budget plans. As a key election pledge, in its place the Chancellor is now considering smaller savings to create the much-needed economic headroom.
This includes committing to a new milkshake tax, which would end the exemption currently in place for milk-based drinks from being taxed. Alongside this, Reeves announced she would be raising £7.5 billion from millions of workers by freezing tax thresholds.
Entering the week battered and bruised, the government can only hope the next few days brings a sense of calm - before the inevitable storm comes next week.
Headlines
- Mahmood: Take back migrants or face visa ban – The Telegraph
- Trump calls on Republicans to vote for release of Epstein files - The Times
- Bangladesh sentences former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death – The FT
What’s on in Parliament
Monday 17th November
House of Commons
- Oral questions: Home Office
- Legislation: Committee of the Whole House and Remaining Stages of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
House of Lords
- Oral questions: Recognising dyscalculia as a learning difficulty
- Legislation: Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill - third reading
- Legislation: Crime and Policing Bill - committee stage (Day 2)
- Legislation: Employment Rights Bill (Day 2)
Tuesday 18th November
House of Commons
- Oral questions: Energy Security and Net Zero
- Ten Minute Rule Motion, Sonia Kumar MP
- Westminster Hall Debate: 80th anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
- Westminster Hall Debate: Impact of land use change on food security
House of Lords
- Oral questions: Publication of the final report of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance overpayments
- Oral questions: Commencing work on the consolidation of election law
- Legislation: Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill - committee stage (day 1)
Wednesday 19th November
House of Commons
- Oral questions: Northern Ireland
- Prime Minister's Question Time
- Ten Minute Rule Bill: Peter Swallow MP
House of Lords
- Oral questions: Discussions with the United States government on measures to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine
- Oral questions: Annual number of serious injuries and deaths on the roads
- Legislation: Crime and Policing Bill - committee stage (day 3)
Thursday 20th November
House of Commons
- Oral questions: Transport
- Business Statement: Business Questions to the Leader of the House
- Westminster Hall Debate: Inequalities faced by unpaid carers
House of Lords
- Oral questions: Water and sewerage companies as consultees on nationally significant infrastructure projects
- Oral questions: South Western Railway: performance since nationalisation
- Legislation: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill - second reading
Consultations
- Building control: charges, notices and certificates – closes 25th January
- Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Supervision Reform – closes 24th December
Statistics
- Imported malaria in the UK: statistics – published 17th November
- Dry weather and drought in England: summary reports – published 14th November
- Life under occupation in the Russo-Ukrainian war: Insights from activist networks – published 14th November