8 h. ago Canada’s Liberal party says budget of ‘sacrifice’ needed to avoid recession

Country set to unveil PM Mark Carney’s spending plan as it battles trade war with US and protracted cost of living crisisCanada’s ruling Liberal party has said a budget of “sacrifice” is required to confront both a trade war with the US and a protracted cost of living crisis that threatens to push the country into a recession. But with opposition parties signalling they won’t support the fiscal plans of the prime minister, Mark Carney, a failed parliamentary vote on the budget could plunge the country into another federal election in the coming weeks.The country’s finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, will on Tuesday unveil a spending plan his government has signalled will include both steep deficits and spending cuts. Few details have leaked ahead of the announcement, which will mark the first substantive look at how Carney plans to avoid a recession while locked in a trade war with the US, Canada’s biggest economic partner. Continue reading...

Economics

8 d. ago Furious battle over Budget inside government as Starmer urged to stop mansion tax plan

Rachel Reeves is said to be seriously considering a mansion tax to fill an estimated £40 billion budget black hole and appease the left of the Labour Party

Politics

2 w. ago Green MSPs banned from backing budget until action seen on bus public ownership

A motion has been passed by Scottish Green Party members ahead of talks at Holyrood over the budget for next year.

Events

2 w. ago French Socialist party to fight for wealth tax as it seeks to capitalise on crisis

Party has promised to stand back as weakened prime minister prepares for crucial no-confidence voteThe French Socialist party says it will fight to introduce a flagship wealth tax to raise revenue by targeting France’s richest people, as the divided parliament prepares to begin debating next year’s budget.Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist party grouping in parliament, said on Wednesday that taxing very high-wealth individuals in France was “one of our principal battles and we’re going to put all our energy into it”. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Lucy Powell calls on Labour not to ‘write off’ May local elections

Exclusive: deputy leadership favourite says budget can revive party’s appeal, while Bridget Phillipson pitches to channel grassroots views to cabinetLabour should not “write off” next May’s elections as a likely moment for big losses but use the budget as a way to seize back voters’ attention, Lucy Powell has said as the battle to be the party’s deputy leadership entered its final period.With voting among party members under way, Bridget Phillipson, Powell’s rival for the post, said if she won she would set up a formal system to reflect the views of members and unions to the cabinet on a regular basis. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Outgoing French PM hopeful for concessions to avoid snap elections

Sébastien Lecornu continues meetings with party leaders in effort to pass budget and avoid further political instability• Europe live – latest updatesFrance’s caretaker prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has said his talks with various party leaders had revealed a “willingness” to pass a budget by the end of the year and that snap parliamentary elections were now looking less likely.“This willingness creates a momentum and a convergence, obviously, which make the possibilities of a dissolution more remote,” he said in a brief address on Wednesday from the courtyard of Matignon Palace, the prime minister’s residence, in Paris. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Macron appoints new French government in attempt to end political deadlock

Rivals say president’s latest cabinet represents unwelcome continuity and hard-left party vows to file no-confidence motion amid fraught budget talksFrench president Emmanuel Macron has named a new government as he struggles to pull the country out of a political crisis, while rivals threatened to topple the lineup quickly if it failed to break with Macron’s past policies.The new cabinet was unveiled nearly a month after the appointment of prime minister Sebastien Lecornu, who sought to obtain cross-party support in a deeply divided parliament. Continue reading...

Politics