The i Paper, external says Andy Burnham is “actively considering” replacing stamp duty and council tax. It says the options being mooted as replacements are a land value tax and a proportional property tax, which would be 0.48% of a home’s value each year. The paper says the chancellor will make a decision in the run-up to the budget.
The Daily Telegraph, external also claims it has a glimpse into the new thinking in Downing Street. It says young people will be stripped of their benefits unless they agree to do training or voluntary work, as part of a government plan to reduce the benefits bill. The paper says the aim is to find savings to fund defence spending.
The Daily Mail, external focuses on Wes Streeting’s comment that he would hypothetically resign as defence secretary, at some point in the future, if he felt that his department wasn’t sufficiently funded. The paper’s editorial questions whether defence funding is above social care in Number 10’s priorities.
The Guardian’s, external lead is that the new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, will be taking up a role on the board of the World Bank, usually given to a junior minister, which would place international aid as a foreign policy priority.
The Financial Times, external says the world’s biggest defence companies are investing billions of pounds into small start-ups in the sector. It says it is to benefit from tech advancements in the face of increased government spending on defence.
The Daily Mirror, external says finance campaigners are lobbying Number 10 to impose new taxes on banks. It comes as half-year results are to be declared in the next fortnight and are likely to show record profits.
The Daily Star, external has found that almost 800 people a day, on average, are driving away from petrol stations without paying. It says the figure has doubled over a 12-month period and is based on a freedom of information (FOI) request from the paper. The FOI response shows the DVLA was contacted 290,000 times for the registered keeper of a vehicle, in the 2025-26 financial year.
The Sun, external splashes with an exclusive that Cristiano Ronaldo is producing, and will appear in, a drama about football that is partly being filmed in Barnet, in north London. The series is called “Day Ones” and depicts the fictional life of a football agent. An insider tells the Sun it’s a “prestige project”.
