NewsBeat
Six Trump executive orders to watch
Getty ImagesDonald Trump has signed sweeping executive orders on his return to the US presidency, vowing swift action on some of his top campaign issues.
Among the directives that have gained the most publicity are an immigration crackdown and rollbacks of some climate-friendly policies.
But even presidential powers have their limits – and in some cases, he faces hurdles before his plans can become reality.
Declaring drug cartels as ‘foreign terrorist organisations’
By Bernd Debusmann Jr, at the White House
What does the order say?
The order argues that cartels have “engaged in a campaign of violence and terror” throughout the hemisphere, and flooded the US with crime, posing a national security risk to the US.
Additionally, the order specifies that the US policy is to “ensure the total elimination” of these groups in the US. It gives US agencies 14 days to provide recommendations on which groups are to be designated and be ready to expedite the removal of individuals from the US.
What are the roadblocks?
Designating a cartel as a terrorist group could open the door to prosecuting US citizens or even legitimate businesses found to be somehow tied to those groups. The designation could also strain relations with countries including Mexico, which has vocally called for its sovereignty to be respected.
What is the potential impact?
For one, the designation of these groups as foreign terrorist organisations could ultimately be used to justify military action against targets in Mexico or other countries in which similar groups operate.
The designation could also see the US federal government dedicate more resources and enhanced legal tools to fight cartels and other gangs, and go after their business and financial interests on both sides of the border.
While it would make “material support” of these groups a crime, it remains unclear what that could mean. In theory, that could mean that drug dealers and users, including US citizens, could be charged with aiding terrorists – as could US citizens or businesses on the border that are extorted to pay them.
Pulling out of Paris climate accord
By Nadine Yousif, Toronto
What does the order say?
The executive order asks the US ambassador to the UN to “immediately” submit a formal written request to withdraw from the Paris agreement.
It says the accord does not reflect the country’s values or its economic and environmental objectives.
What are the roadblocks?
Any country can withdraw from the global climate pact, but UN regulations mean the process of removing a country can be drawn out.
Trump announced his intent to withdraw during his last term in 2017, but it was not formally finalised until 2020. We can expect another waiting period this time of at least one year.
President Joe Biden rejoined it shortly after taking office in 2021
What is the potential impact?
The US is responsible for around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second biggest polluter behind China. This damages the global effort to limit emissions.
Its withdrawal in the past has raised issues of trust on climate leadership, and questions about whether the agreement itself has been effective.
The withdrawal is also in line with Trump’s goal to boost domestic oil and gas production, though the US is already the number one producer of both in the world. It is one of several of Trump’s reversals of environmental protections that were enacted by the Biden administration.
Ending birthright citizenship
By Jake Horton, BBC Verify
What does the order say?
This order aims to end birth right citizenship for children born in the US to immigrant parents who are in the country illegally, as well as those born to parents who are in the country on a temporary basis.
There have been reports that the administration will enforce the order by withholding documents, such as passports, from people it deems ineligible for citizenship.
What are the roadblocks?
The principle of birthright citizenship is established in the US Constitution. The 14th Amendment says that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens of the United States.
The legal challenges are already under way – one claims the order is “unconstitutional, and flouts fundamental American values”.
“Ultimately this will be decided by the courts. This is not something [Trump] can decide on his own,” Saikrishna Prakash, a constitutional expert, told the BBC.
What is the potential impact?
Trump has threatened mass deportations, which could include those whose birthright citizenship is revoked if Trump is successful in enforcing this executive action.
Legal cases could ultimately have to be decided by the US Supreme Court, which could take a long time.
Withdrawing from World Health Organization (WHO)
By Dominic Hughes, health correspondent
What does the order say?
The order says the US was withdrawing “due to the organization’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Trump’s longheld antipathy towards the WHO is rooted in a perception that it was dominated by – and so soft on – China, which the president has long believed was responsible for the spread of the virus.
It also mentions “unfairly onerous payments” the US made to the WHO.
What are the roadblocks?
It is the second time Trump has ordered the US be pulled out of the WHO. He began the process and Biden later reversed the decision after taking office.
The US exit won’t take effect until 2026 at the earliest, but leaving will require the approval of Congress.
On paper, the Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress. But their numerical advantage is slim, and it would only take a few Republican defectors to potentially block the move.
What is the potential impact?
“Catastrophic”, “disastrous”, “damaging” is how some global public health experts are describing it.
Of the 196 member states, the US is by far the largest individual funder, contributing almost a fifth of the total WHO budget.
It’s possible that funding could disappear almost overnight and that could have an impact on the ability of the WHO to respond to emergencies.
There is also concern among some scientists that this would leave the US isolated when it comes to access to programmes such as pandemic preparedness and seasonal influenza strain sequencing, which is used to develop annual flu jabs.
That could ultimately harm the health of Americans, and the US national interest.
Some argue US withdrawal could prompt further reforms of how the WHO works, making it a body that better serves the public health needs of people around the globe.
Renaming Gulf of Mexico
By Jake Horton, BBC Verify
What does the order say?
The order calls for the Gulf of Mexico to “officially be renamed the Gulf of America”.
Trump can change the name of the Gulf on official US government documents.
This has happened on some documents already – including a weather update from Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, which refers to “an area of low pressure moving across the Gulf of America”.
What are the roadblocks?
Trump can’t force other countries or companies to change the name.
For example, it’s currently still labelled as the Gulf of Mexico on Google Maps.
What is the potential impact?
There’s no formal international agreement for the naming of maritime areas – although there is a body that seeks to resolve disputes if raised.
So Mexico could raise an official dispute, and allies of the US and Mexico could be caught up in a diplomatic spat between the two countries.
In response to the order, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said the US can call it the “Gulf of America”, but this won’t change what Mexico and the rest of the world call it.
The US recognises two sexes, male and female
By Ben Chu and Lucy Gilder, BBC Verify
What does the order say?
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” it says, adding that the federal government will use the term sex, not gender.
President Trump’s team argues that requirements to refer to transgender people in government facilities and workplaces by pronouns that match their gender identity violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment on freedom of speech and religion.
States like Kansas and Montana have already legislated to enshrine a biological definition of sex into law.
What are the roadblocks?
There are likely to be legal challenges.
The Human Rights Campaign, which represents LGBTQ+ people, stated that “we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything we’ve got”.
These challenges could work their way up to the US Supreme Court which, with its conservative majority, could rule in Trump’s favour.
What is the potential impact?
Prisons and settings such as shelters for migrants and rape victims would be segregated by sex under the plans, which campaigners say will help safeguard women. But transgender rights groups say trans women could be put at a heightened risk of violence.
Official identification documents, including passports and visas, would have to state whether the individual was “male” or female”. US citizens would no longer be able to select “X” as a third option.
NewsBeat
Storm Eowyn map: Where and when snow and 90mph winds will hit UK after Met Office weather warnings issued
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Storm Eowyn is set to bring strong winds across the entire country, potentially putting lives at risk, the Met Office has warned.
Gusts of more than 90mph could cause power cuts, travel disruption and damage to buildings as Storm Eowyn threatens the UK.
There could also be a danger to life caused by flying debris.
The UK can expect the arrival of unsettled conditions on Thursday, which will see strengthening winds and heavy rainfall in western parts of the country overnight, the forecaster said.
It follows the “benign” grey, cloudy weather and outbreaks of rain seen by much of the country earlier in the week.
The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning from midnight on Friday across most of the UK, including the south-west of England, the Midlands, northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as the storm sweeps through the country.
The disruption is not expected to affect inland areas in the south-east of the country, including London, but will hit the coast, with the warning extending to Brighton and Dover.
The forecaster issued an additional warning from midnight on Saturday to late afternoon that day across Scotland and the far north of England.
Met Office spokeswoman Andrea Bishop said: “Storm Eowyn will bring a period of very unsettled, potentially disruptive, weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.
“Pronounced ‘Ay-oh-win’, the system will begin to influence the UK’s weather on Friday, with strengthening winds initially in north-western parts of the UK with accompanying heavy rainfall.”
Storm Eowyn will bring a spell of strong south-easterly to south-westerly winds, with gusts reaching 50-60 mph inland and 70-90 mph along coasts.
The wind strength is expected to ease gradually through Saturday from the south.
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mike Silverstone said: “The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, north-western Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.
“There will also be some heavy rain, bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.”
The change to conditions is being caused by a powerful jet stream pushing low pressure across the Atlantic and towards the UK, following a recent cold spell over North America, the Met Office said.
The forecaster advised securing loose items outside homes, including bins, garden furniture, trampolines and sheds, and gathering torches and batteries in case of any power cut.
Those travelling in this “disruptive spell of weather” are urged to be cautious, as road, rail, airports and ferries are likely to be affected.
Another area of low pressure could bring further wet and very windy weather across the UK by Sunday.
There is the potential for further weather warnings over the weekend and throughout next week, the Met Office added.
Just hours into his second presidency, Donald Trump was already bulldozing congressional Republicans.
He granted clemency to some 1,500 Jan. 6 offenders, some of them convicted of violent assaults. He flouted a bipartisan TikTok ban, ordering it to remain unenforced. And he moved to cancel some of his predecessor’s energy programs over the pleadings of some in the GOP who wanted him to wait — to name just a few of the ways he undercut members of his own party.
A day later, it was as if a switch had been flipped.
In a meeting Tuesday with top GOP leaders, he didn’t move to settle key strategic disputes over raising the debt limit and passing the party’s big domestic policy package. Top leaders from the House and Senate left the White House and gave reporters completely contradictory accounts of how his agenda would be passed.
In other words, Trump is already showing his split-screen approach to congressional relations — one that, so far, is more concerned with using his political muscle to perform acts of dominance than to settle the intramural disputes that are holding up his agenda.
The past two days underscore how Trump and his team view Capitol Hill, informed by his previous four years in office, and the four subsequent years he spent climbing back: Republicans will eventually fall in line with whatever he wants, they believe, so why hold back?
“The sooner these guys recognize that it’s the president that kept their House majority and their Senate majority, and the sooner they realize it’s the president that has the will of the people — not them — the sooner they will be able to live a productive life,” one Trump insider granted anonymity to discuss relations with Congress told me recently.
“At the end of the day, he’s the one with the mandate, and they know it,” said another.
There was immediate evidence that such a read is absolutely correct.
Faced with questions about Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons, most GOP lawmakers opted for a delicate tap dance. Many deflected attention to predecessor Joe Biden’s pardons of family members. Others quickly dusted off the old first-term playbook: I didn’t see the tweet/comment/executive order.
“I haven’t seen the list,“ Speaker Mike Johnson told my colleague Meredith Lee Hill. “I haven’t had a chance to evaluate it.”
And when Trump essentially flipped them the bird on TikTok — putting off dealing with something they’ve described for years as a major national security issue — nary a squawk was heard. Johnson and Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) spoke out Sunday to reiterate their support for the nine-month-old ban, only to be neutered a day later.
Same goes for Trump’s first-day decision to gut Biden’s electric vehicle mandates. Hill leaders wanted to repeal it themselves so they could book the savings and use them to offset the cost of tax cuts. Trump bullied forward anyway.
He even burned political capital on a molehill of a mountain: re-renaming Denali to Mount McKinley over the objections of Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
A more traditional politician might consider it risky to wildly alienate members of your own party (especially a known swing vote like Murkowski) when much of your agenda requires congressional approval — doubly so when you have a House majority even narrower than in the Senate.
Not so for Trump, obviously. Yet the alpha-male power plays suddenly evaporate when it comes to settling disputes among Republicans about his own agenda.
The chambers remain on diverging paths when it comes to passing border, energy and tax measures, with the House pushing one vote on one massive bill while the Senate wants to split it in two. Same for the debt limit: Include it in a party-line budget reconciliation bill? Or cut a deal with Democrats?
Some Republicans were hoping Trump would use his audience with Hill leaders at the White House on Tuesday to crack the whip on those questions and others. That doesn’t seem to have happened: One senior Republican aide we spoke to afterward couldn’t hide his disappointment; Trump continued to waffle rather than provide clarity.
That’s despite complaining in the meeting, as he often does, about how Democrats always stick together and Republicans instead bicker and fracture. He insisted on unity but didn’t do much to facilitate it.
Which is partly why Trump’s whatever-I-want posture early on is raising so many eyebrows among some Republicans. The president, they believe, will have to spend some of the political capital he seems intent on burning now to get his agenda passed later.
A key test is at hand, with some of Trump’s most controversial nominees headed toward confirmation votes that will force some Senate Republicans to eat a “shit sandwich,” as one Republican aide told me on Inauguration Day.
Pete Hegseth, his pick for Pentagon chief, is teed up for a vote within days despite a late-breaking report that he’d made an ex-wife “fear for her safety.” (The woman denied she’d been physically abused.) And many senators remain uncomfortable with his choice of Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, with her isolationist views and policy flipflops.
They haven’t even gotten yet to his plans for tariffs — not only on China but allies like Mexico and Canada — potential levies that have given traditional pro-business Republicans heartburn for months.
If Republicans fall in line behind Hegseth, Gabbard and tariffs — as most now expect — it will be proof positive that Trump’s steamroller approach is working.
“From his end, he’s doing what he said he would do, so this notion that we’re going to have any ability to stop him from doing what he feels is right is laughable,” said one senior GOP aide. “It’s just not happening.”
So who cares if he isn’t sweating the small stuff?
BBC/PAWarning: This article contains spoilers for series three of The Traitors.
A contestant has said appearing on TV show The Traitors was “mentally exhausting”.
Reverend Lisa Coupland, 62, from Truro in Cornwall has been in Series 3 of the BBC One programme, where contestants known as “faithfuls” work to identify a group of imposters, or “traitors”, within their ranks.
Those traitors attempt to secretly “kill off” the others while remaining undetected and directing suspicion elsewhere.
Mrs Coupland, who did not reveal her profession until episode five, said she saw herself as being “undercover” rather than lying when she took off her dog collar and kept quiet about her faith.
BBC/STUDIO LAMBERTShe said it was “quite a strange experience” to keep her faith “under wraps”.
“I like to think about it more as going undercover rather than actually lying – I mean, [crime-solving TV priest] Father Brown can do it, so why can’t I?”, she said.
The Anglican priest was eliminated in episode nine – or murdered in the language of the show.
Mrs Coupland, a fan of murder mysteries and whodunits, said: “It was a game and I think we have to put that into context, really.”
Talking to BBC Radio Cornwall, she said playing the game was “relentless”, adding: “Your brain is being pulled in so many different directions.
“You’re looking at people for the slightest nuance and changes in their behaviour.
“Mentally, it’s exhausting because all the time you’re trying to work things out.”
Mrs Coupland, who was a guest at a fellow contestant’s wedding last year, said she did have moments where she sat back and “just enjoyed the experience… otherwise you just don’t have a moment’s peace”.
She said she was “shattered” after long filming days, so “sleeping wasn’t a problem for me”.
She said she used the evenings, at a private lodge, to catch up with church admin and “come down, relax, and hold everything up to God”.
“I’m probably more adaptable than I thought I was, but probably not as fit as I thought I was.”
Episodes of The Traitors are now on BBC iPlayer, and the series airs on BBC One at 21:00 GMT on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
NewsBeat
‘I only have two bills and get a pension after 12 years’: Soldier reveals financial benefits of army | Money News
Each Monday, our Money team speaks to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like.
Today we’re chatting to Lance Bombardier Olivia O’Malley, 35, who specialises in communications with the Royal Artillery.
People think it’s all about combat… but the army has over 120 different jobs. I’m not actually on the frontline, but I can aid the frontline. I work with the Watchkeeper, which is a type of drone – it’s pretty cool – and do surveillance and communications.
You start on just over £25k… when you finish basic training. Specialist roles will pay extra, and as you move up the ranks you will get paid more. For example, as Lance Corporal you are looking at around £30k.
Read all the latest Money news here
But… the army also offers subsidised living. You can get breakfast for £1.95, lunch for £2.60 and so on. You’ll probably find yourself living in a block of flats, a bit like a Premier Inn, with a room and an en-suite and you will be paying maybe £100 a month. The rooms aren’t bad and you have other people living on your corridor, so you aren’t isolated, which makes a difference because you can be living miles from home.
All you have to pay for is a mobile phone and internet… and the rest of the money is yours. So there is plenty of opportunity to save for your future.
The time off is pretty good… I get two weeks at Easter, three weeks of summer leave, two weeks at Christmas and then all of the bank holidays as well, so you can get into a really nice routine.
I would recommend the army to women… You can get a lot out of it, and people don’t always realise what is available. It is not quite as male-dominated an organisation, there are lots of female soldiers.
Some army jobs require no GCSEs… while some require the standard two (English and maths), and some you may need five. If you’re thinking of going down the officer route you will need 72 UCAS and 35 ALIS points, including a C/4 or above in some subjects.
You go from being a civilian to a soldier during basic training… It’s a 13-week course and you’re firing weapons, you are working on your fitness and learning how to act.
Read more of this series:
What it’s really like to be a… publican
What it’s really like to be a… novelist
The most important skill… is being a team player. In my department, we have seven people, and if you are high ranking you need leadership skills, which the army teaches you, but you also need to be a team player because it is still just a small team.
Some of the hardest days… are being sent on a promotion course. They include going out into the field because you are a soldier first. Both of mine have been in November, and it’s cold and miserable but you have to have the mental resilience to push through it. If you fall into the negative, things don’t work.
You get pension benefits after 12 years… so that was my first goal. Now I can see myself staying for my whole career – the army is a big place and it offers a lot of roles. I want to work as an army welfare officer… so if I do ever retire from the army I can retrain in that sort of field.
You get loads of qualifications for free… when civilians would have to pay. I’ve passed my summer mountaineering, I’ve done my army boxing coach level one course, adventure training. You really appreciate all the opportunities you get. I also took part in Project Convergence 2022, which took place in Death Valley in the USA, testing new technologies. Being deployed out in the desert, watching Elon Musk launch a satellite, hiring a car and going to Vegas for $20 – all of these wouldn’t be possible in a normal civilian job.
NewsBeat
Reeves risks Cabinet row as she says growth must trump green concerns over Heathrow third runway
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Rachel Reeves has thrown down the gauntlet to cabinet colleagues, warning them that pro-growth measures must trump other priorities.
The chancellor is gearing up for a possible row over her support for a third runway at Heathrow as part of a major expansion of London’s airports to boost growth.
And, asked about potential opposition to the move from net zero secretary Ed Miliband, Ms Reeves said: “The answer can’t always be no.”
In her strongest attack yet on nimbys (Not in My Back Yard) holding the economy to ransom, she said: “This was the problem in the last government. There was always someone that said ‘oh yes of course we want to grow the economy but we don’t like investment, we don’t like that wind farm, we don’t like those pylons, we don’t like that airport, we don’t want that housing near us’.
“The answer can’t always be no. And that’s been the problem in Britain for a long time: that when there was a choice between something that would grow the economy and sort of anything else, ‘anything else’ always won.”
Ms Reeves is expected to back plans for a third runway at Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, as early as next week, opening a major split in Labour’s ranks.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has said he would not hesitate to launch a legal challenge against the development, while Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the development would concentrate growth in London.
Meanwhile cabinet colleague Mr Miliband has long been opposed to a third runway at Heathrow, while Sir Keir Starmer himself voted against the airport’s expansion in 2020.
But Ms Reeves is braced for the cabinet bust up, with a series of dire warnings about the state of Britain’s economy only furthering her determination to get the economy moving.
In the latest blow for Ms Reeves, official figures showed a bigger-than-expected surge in government borrowing last month to nearly £18 billion – the highest level for four years.
It was £10.1 billion higher than the same month last year, and far higher than economists had forecast.
That followed volatility in the UK government bond market which sent public sector borrowing costs soaring and led to fears that Ms Reeves is on track to miss her fiscal rules.
She is expected to announce a series of deep cuts in an upcoming spending review.
EasyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis backed the expected announcement from the chancellor, telling reporters: “We welcome the decisive action by the Government to grow the economy.
“We’ve always said that aviation, the industry, is an enabler of economic growth.
“When it comes to Heathrow, I’ve always thought Heathrow would fit our network of primary airports with great catchment areas.
“It would be a unique opportunity to operate from Heathrow at scale – because obviously right now it’s slot-constrained – and give us an opportunity to provide lower fares for UK consumers that currently at Heathrow just have the option of flag carriers.
“It fits with our network, we’re present at all the other major European airports like Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Geneva etc.”
Opponents of airport expansion claim boosting flights would be damaging for the environment.
Alethea Warrington, head of aviation at climate charity Possible, said: “Approving airport expansions would be a catastrophic misstep for a Government which claims to be a climate leader.
“This huge increase in emissions won’t help our economy, and would just encourage the small group of frequent flyers who take most of the flights, further worsening the UK’s huge tourism deficit.”
She added that the Government should focus on supporting “affordable and low-carbon trains and buses”.
Jenny Bates, transport campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “A decision to green-light another runway at Heathrow would be hugely irresponsible in the midst of a climate emergency and given 2024 was the first year to surpass the all-important 1.5 degrees threshold.
“It would also fly in the face of the Prime Minister’s promise to show international leadership on climate change.”
Heathrow’s third runway project secured parliamentary approval in June 2018 but has been delayed by legal challenges over the environmental impact, and the coronavirus pandemic.
There is currently no Development Consent Order application for the scheme, and it is up to Heathrow if it submits one.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has a deadline of February 27 to make a decision on whether to allow Gatwick to bring its existing emergency northern runway into routine use.
She has a deadline of April 3 to decide on Luton Airport’s bid to raise its cap on passenger numbers.
There is also speculation that Ms Reeves will support the Lower Thames Crossing – a proposed new road crossing between Kent and Essex – and a Universal Studios theme park in Bedford.
The government has ordered offshore energy firms to avoid “noisy” detonations when disposing of unexploded bombs on the seabed, in a bid to protect vulnerable marine life.
There are still more than 300,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance from the First and Second World Wars dotted around UK waters, which must be cleared for wind projects to go ahead.
Marine minister Emma Hardy said “high-order” detonations of the dormant weapons should be a last resort and the industry must adopt quieter alternatives instead.
Large explosive blasts can kill off whales, dolphins and other sea creatures, and the noise can disrupt their behaviour, experts say.
The government is working with the Crown Estate and staff from the explosives and offshore wind industries to test and develop new, quieter technologies for bomb clearance.
Hardy said the rules will allow more offshore wind farms to be built while protecting vulnerable animals.
“These new measures support the construction of offshore wind that the UK needs, while making sensible changes to stop needless harm to underwater life,” she added.
Stop Sea Blasts campaigner Joanna Lumley said she was “thrilled to the core” at the decision to protect the UK’s “unbelievably precious seas”.
“This is a magnificent example of government and industry coming together to embrace technology and challenge the old way of doing things,” she said.
“This announcement should ensure that high-order detonation, and the damage it wreaks, is consigned to the history books.”
Offshore wind is key to the government’s plans to decarbonise the UK’s energy grid by 2030 under its Plan for Growth.
Politics
UK borrowing rises unexpectedly as Rachel Reeves claims ‘country’s finances are in order’ following Budget
UK borrowing costs rose unexpectedly to £17.8billion in December, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves remains confident in the country’s financial health following the October budget.
This figure was around 25 per cent higher than what economists had predicted and was £10.1billion more than the same time last year, making it the highest borrowing in December for four years.
The unexpected rise puts pressure on Reeves to make tough decisions on budget cuts before the upcoming spending review in the summer.
The UK’s budget deficit was larger than expected in December, largely due to high debt interest costs and a one-off military housing purchase, according to new data released on Wednesday.
Public sector net borrowing reached £17.8billion ($21.93billion) in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported. Economists had predicted borrowing would be around £14.1billion.
The UK’s budget deficit was larger than expected in December
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The ONS said that a significant part of the borrowing came from an £8.3billion debt interest bill, which was the third-highest December total ever. Additionally, a £1.7billion payment for repurchasing military homes added to the overall borrowing.
Reeves acknowledged the headroom to meet those targets in the final year of the economic forecast is “tight” but added “those fiscal rules are important to us because they are the bedrock, the foundation of that stability that I’ve spoken about”.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she insisted the country’s finances “were now in order” following her October budget.
She said: “Now we have wiped the slate clean, my instinct is to have lower taxes, less regulation, make it easier for businesses to do business.”
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She defended her approach to the public finances with her two fiscal rules of paying for day-to-day spending through tax receipts and bringing debt down as a share of gross domestic product.
“We will continue to make decisions to ensure that we meet those fiscal rules,” she said.
UK government borrowing in the current financial year has reached £129.9bn, £8.9 billion higher than the same period last year and a record outside the pandemic’s peak.
This borrowing is also £4bn above the £125.9 in forecast by the OBR. The increase follows volatility in the UK bond market, driving up borrowing costs and raising concerns about the Government’s ability to meet fiscal rules.
Higher bond yields, weaker growth, and rising inflation are expected to reduce the financial headroom, threatening fiscal stability.
The yield on UK 30-year bonds reached its highest level since 1998 before dropping back down when inflation data showed it had fallen to 2.5 per cent in December. The pound also dropped to a 14-month low of $1.22 in early January but has since risen slightly. This drop marked a sharp fall from the $1.34 level in September.
In response to the borrowing rise, Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “Economic stability is vital for our number one mission of delivering growth.
“That’s why our fiscal rules are non-negotiable and why we will have an iron grip on public finances. Through our Spending Review, we will examine every line of government spending for the first time in 17 years, rooting out waste to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.”
The next financial statement will be on March 26 and a budget in the autumn.
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The OBR will conclude whether the Government is set to miss its fiscal rules when it publishes its updated forecasts at the spring statement on March 26.
Jones said the Government will “interrogate every line of government spending for the first time in 17 years” to “root out waste to ensure every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent productively and helps deliver our plan for change”.
Elliott Jordan-Doak, a senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the Government will have to take action to ensure it meets its fiscal rules.
He said: “We expect the Government to outline spending reductions – backloaded towards the end of the forecast year – at the next fiscal event in March. Further tax increases at the next Budget in October is also a good bet.”
NewsBeat
Netflix to raise prices for some subscribers as it reports 18.9 million new customers in three months | Ents & Arts News
Netflix is raising prices for some subscribers as it reported 18.9 million new customers in the last three months of 2024.
Prices will rise for users in the United States, Canada, Portugal and Argentina. Netflix has not confirmed if the UK will see any similar price increases.
In the United States a standard monthly plan with adverts will rise to $7.99 (£6.49), a standard plan without ads will increase to $17.99 (£14.60) and a premium plan has gone up to $22.99 (£18.66).
The price in the UK currently stands at £4.99 for a standard monthly plan with adverts, £10.99 for standard without ads, and £17.99 for a premium account.
Netflix ended last year with more than 300 million subscribers – an increase of 41 million from 2023. This eclipsed its previous best year, 2020, which saw it add 36.6 million subscribers as pandemic lockdowns saw people turn to the streaming giant for entertainment.
After it announced the increase in users, Netflix’s shares surged by 14%.
The increase in numbers is widely credited to Netflix’s streaming of a fight between YouTube sensation Jake Paul and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, as well as two National Football League games on Christmas Day.
Forrester Research analyst Mike Proulx says live programming is quickly becoming Netflix’s “secret ingredient” that is helping to widen its lead over its streaming rivals.
“With more choice in programming than ever before, streaming services need to differentiate,” Proulx said. “FOMO (fear of missing out) is a powerful tool in piquing interest and creating stickiness.”
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Paul beats Tyson by unanimous decision
In the final three months of 2024, Netflix earned $1.9bn, or $4.27 per share, nearly doubling from the same time in 2023.
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Netflix appears confident the price increases will not trigger a backlash resulting in mass cancellations.
“When you’re going to ask for a price increase, you better make sure you have the goods and the engagement to back it up,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during a conference call with analysts.
Netflix has been contacted for comment.
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RZSSVictoria is the oldest of four polar bears kept at the Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms National Park.
At the grand old age of 28 her keepers say she has reached the stage in her life when she needs geriatric care.
Rebecca Amos, one of the park’s vets, says a special diet and some exercise will be key to looking after Victoria in her dotage.
RZSSVictoria, born in 1996 at Rostock Zoo in Germany, arrived at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park in March 2015.
Three years later she was a media star after giving birth to Hamish – the first polar bear cub to be born in the UK in 25 years.
Visitor numbers to the park soared and its gift shop was stuffed with Hamish cuddly toys and postcards and cards featuring him and his mum.
Hamish was moved to Doncaster’s Yorkshire Wildlife Park in 2020 and shares a 10-acre enclosure with five other male bears – Nobby, Luka, Indiana, Yuma and Sisu.
Victoria gave birth to another male cub – Brodie – in December 2021.
They continue to share an enclosure, but recently keepers noticed she was struggling to keep up with Brodie, who is now three.
He is Victoria’s last cub and she is no longer part of RZSS breeding programme.
The park’s two other bears are males Arktos, 17, and 16-year-old Walker.
They are middle aged in bear terms.
Polar bears can live into their early 30s, but an average of 15 to 18 years in the wild.
Rebecca says there is an effort at RZSS to prioritise later life care of its animals.
She says the bears already benefited from being kept in grassy enclosures, which have ponds for swimming in.
“The bears are on a pretty good substrate (surface),” she says.
“They don’t spend any time on concrete or tiled surfaces.
“Ultimately, if you were to spend 30 years on that – particularly for the boys who weigh 700 to 800 kilos – it takes a toll on even the best designed joints.
“Joint care is something we are looking at for the bears.”
RZSS
RZSSDiet is another way the park is trying to keep Victoria, Arktos and Walker’s joints supple.
Rebecca says: “In the wild they eat seals.
“We cannot feed them seals, but we do try to emulate that the best we can so it’s a very high fat diet.
“They get huge volumes of cod liver oil, lard, salmon oil and get oily fish like sardines, mackerel and salmon.”
To help keep Victoria mobile, food is often scattered around her enclosure to encourage her to forage.
Rebecca says: “We are very fortunate we have such a huge amount of space and the enclosures are very large and they (the bears) tend to use all the space.”
RZSSRZSS has drawn on the experiences of other zoos and studies of polar bear skeletal remains to help understand wear and tear on the animals’ bodies.
Healthcare provided to domestic cats and dogs has also helped guide the care of Victoria.
And the Highland Wildlife Park has had an elderly polar bear before.
Mercedes died at the park in April 2011 at the age of 30.
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