Comments like Lee Anderson's 'despairingly racist', says civil rights leader

Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton has labelled comments such as those by MP Lee Anderson made about Sadiq Khan as "despairingly racist".

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Everton points saga 'proves Premier League can't regulate football'

The mayor of Greater Manchester has said the Premier League's treatment of Everton FC has proved "it can't properly regulate football".

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'Words matter' - Lee Anderson, heightened tension and MPs' safety

The former Tory deputy chair, Lee Anderson, has refused to apologise for comments that saw him suspended from the party.

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The Week... Politics gets even more toxic

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News's Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide us through their predictions of how British politics will play out over the next seven days.

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Joe Biden gaffe as President mixes up China and Russia in speech

Joe Biden was caught making another public blunder when he accidentally mixed up China and Russia.

The US President was giving a speech at the Annual National Governors’ Association when he slipped up as he recalled an anecdote from his time as Vice President to Barack Obama.

Addressing the elected representatives in the room, Biden said that Obama had warned him of the need to get close to Xi because he would one day be in charge of Russia.

"He wanted me to get to know Xi Jinping," the President recalled.

"It was clear he was going to be the head of Russia... uuuh China... and we were having problems with Russia at the time and other countries as well."

The gaffe comes after Biden has made a number of similar errors, repeatedly confusing world leaders while giving speeches.

Earlier this month he confused Emmanuel Macron, the current French president, with François Mitterrand, who led France from 1981 to 1995 and died in 1996.

Just days later he then twice mixed up Angela Merkel with late German leader Helmut Kohl.

In February he has also accidentally referred to Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the "president of Mexico".

The latest mistake will do little to quell concerns of Democrats who are said to be considering whether to replace Biden as their candidate for the 2024 Presidential election.

Biden's mental fitness has been questioned following the release of a Department of Justice report which claimed that the president has "diminished faculties" and a "poor memory".

The report, authored by Special Counsel Robert Hur, who spoke with the President regarding classified documents, described the 81-year-old as a "well-meaning, elderly man."

In his Annual National Governors’ Association speech, Biden also repeated his debunked claim that he had travelled 17,000 miles with Xi Jinping.

He stated: "What he [Obama] said was get to know him [Jinping], he is going to be there.

"He [Obama] couldn't because he was the President, so I travelled 17,000 miles with him throughout the country, in our country and in China as well.

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"We were in the Tibet plateau and he turned to me and said: Can you define America for me? And I looked at him and suggested that I can in one word: Possibilities…"

Biden has repeated his story about travelling with Xi on multiple occasions, despite the White House admitting the claim is "inaccurate".

Saying that the 1,700 miles figure was untrue, a White House official said: "This was a reference to the total travel back and forth — both internally in the US and China, and as well as internationally — for meetings they held together.

"Some travel was in parallel, some was separately to joint destinations."

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MPs set to debate Gaza ceasefire again after Commons chaos

MPs are set to hold another debate on a ceasefire in Gaza after the SNP said it would take up the Speaker's offer following last week's chaotic scenes in parliament.

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Hunt under ‘pressure’ to slash inheritance tax as households dragged into paying 40% charge

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is under “pressure” to introduce a cut to inheritance tax (IHT) in next month’s Spring Budget.

Experts are urging the Government to reverse its decision to freeze the levy’s allowance until April 2028 due to the impact of fiscal drag.

This is the term used to describe when households end up paying more to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) due to inflation and wages rising but tax thresholds remaining the same.

IHT receipts for April 2023 to January 2024 came to £6.3billion, which is £0.4billion higher than the same period last year, according to Government figures.

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Based on these statistics, more families in the UK are finding themselves falling foul of the controversial tax.

Inheritance tax is charged on the estates of those who have passed away, which includes their money, possessions and property.

It is usually levied at 40 per cent on estates which are worth more than the £325,000 threshold, however if the deceased leaves 10 per cent or more to charity this amount is slashed to 36 per cent and there are ways people may be able to increase their threshold.

Around one in 25 families in the UK, the equivalent of four per cent, are estimated to have to pay inheritance tax.

Due to house prices rising while allowances remain frozen, households are being dragged into paying IHT on estates.

Earlier this week, HMRC reported total tax bills for April 2023 to January 2024 came to a staggering £695.1billion.

This is £33.6billion higher than the same period in 2022 and early 2023 which experts believe could be an incentive for Mr Hunt to introduce tax cuts.

Edward Grant, the director of Tax and Technical Services at St. James's Place, suggested an inheritance tax cut could be on the cards.

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He said: “Income tax self-assessment receipts are £0.9billion lower than the same period last year.

“However, monthly income tax, NICs and CGT receipts continue to show year on year tax rises, giving the Chancellor potential headroom for future tax cuts in the Spring Budget March 6, 2024.

“In the long term, we continue to see the impact on receipts from the freezing of IHT thresholds at 2020 /21 levels.

“This continues to keep the pressure on for the Chancellor looking for votes to cut IHT.”

Last month, the Government cut the rate of National Insurance contributions from 12 per cent to 10 per cent with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak floating further tax cuts later in the year.

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