Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the UK Government potentially raising taxes

Taxes must rise in the coming months in order to reach financial targets, according to one UK-based economic think tank.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research recommends 'a moderate but sustained increase in taxes' to cover a £41.2 billion gap.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey explains further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Devin Gray are UK correspondents with us even in Gevin.
Hither what are the chances Rachel Reeves actually does what
she's told to do and raises taxes.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
So Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, the money in person in
the government, will give out her budget, her plans for
the economy in October, and as the days come closer,
it really really does look like she's going to have
to raise taxes. And that is because now another very
well respected economic think tank here in the UK, the

(00:32):
National Institute of Economic and Social Research, not the most
catchy title, says we've got a black hole of some
eighty five billion New Zealand dollars, maybe even a bit
more actually on that exchange, but something very very large
black hole to fill. And Rachel Reeves has set out
two rules for government borrowing. The first is that day

(00:53):
to day spending will be paid for with government revenue
that's taxes, and borrowing can only be for investment. And
the second rule is that debt must be falling as
a share of national income by the end of the parliament. Well,
these now are said to be non negotia left by
raising taxes, so it looks like that's probably going to

(01:14):
have to happen. But this is a massive, massive shortfall
and massive gap to fill, and the think tank says
that living standards are the poorest ten percent of the
population and now ten percent lower than pre COVID levels,
so it says they should be protected from these tax rises.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
What's going to happen with the kafuffle over whether the
police give out the ethnicity of people who they've charged.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, I think it's going to have to happen. So
at the moment, the rules regarding what police unveil at
the time of charging a suspect, questioning a suspect and
going to court are really very very strict and they
give very little information out. What people are calling for
is that they should give out more information about the
ethnicity and background of those who have been charged, particularly

(02:01):
whether or not they are asylum seekers. Now this has
all come to the foe because two men have been
charged with the rape of a twelve year old girl
in Warwickshire in the Midlands in England, and it's reported
they are Afghan asylum seekers. Now the situation here has
been very tense, with a number of protests, some turning
a little violent outside hotels where asylum seekers are being housed.

(02:23):
There are roughly two hundred hotels being used for this
purposes and the daily cost for housing asylum seekers and
looking after them is a staggering ten million New Zealand
dollars per day and people are getting fed up with it.
And so what now It's interesting is that the Prime
Minister and his government are saying, do you know what, Actually,

(02:45):
maybe we should be slackening the rules and regulations about
what can and can't be said in order to avert
potential flare ups over misinformation, which incidentally is really what
happened way back. You're but last summer a year ago
when Axel Ruder Bicana murdered three young girls at a

(03:07):
dance class, a summer dance class in Southport, which led
to riots. It was said at the time he was
an illegal migrant. He wasn't. He was here legally with
his parents having come from Africa. So that's what they're
looking at. And I think there's a great deal of
pressure now as they realize this. Even though the general
election could be years away, this could be the defining

(03:27):
issue for that election.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Ah yeah, fair point. Now, so there was no bullying
at Prince Harry's charity.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
No, So the charity regulator has found there was no bullying,
harassment or misogyny at Center Balley. That's the charity that
Prince Harry set up but has since resigned along with
several other trustees earlier this year following a very very
bitter boardroom dispute and whistleblower allegations. Now the Charity Commissions
has imposed no sanctions. The current leadership will remain at

(03:58):
the charity. Arity supports young people in Southern Africa, very
very close to Prince Harry's heart, but he's now gone.
And this is a bittersweet outcome for Prince Harry, which
is obviously being deeply personal to him. But both sides
of this argument are to blame for the toxicity and
the damage that has been caused to the charity. According

(04:21):
to the Charity Commission, the row had seen Prince Harry
being labeled as a toxic brand by the charity's chair
and he'd stepped down, saying he and his trustees relationship
with the chair had broken beyond repair, saying their had
faced latant lives. So Prince Harry not entirely happy with
the ruling, but at least, it doesn't point to any

(04:42):
of those things bullying, harassment, misogyny, which is what that
charity was accused of.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Gavin, thanks so much, always appreciate your time. We'll check
to you in on Friday. That's Kevin Gray, are UK correspondent.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
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