Labour to ‘miss homes pledge’ and ‘pension megafunds’ plan

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Labour to ‘miss homes pledge’ and ‘pension megafunds’ plan

The i says Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament has been “plunged into doubt” by comments from the head of Homes England, the government’s housing agency. The paper says that, in an email to staff, Peter Denton said the target was “realistically” part of a “two parliamentary term approach”.

The Times says the government is facing a growing “business backlash” over last month’s Budget, which contained, among other things, a £25bn increase in employers’ national insurance. The paper says the British Retail Consortium has drafted a letter telling Chancellor Rachel Reeves its members will not be able to absorb the additional cost of the measures. It quotes the letter as saying the “sheer scale of new costs… and the speed with which they occur, together with costs from a raft of other regulation, create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty”.

Councils will be allowed to increase council tax by 5% next year, meaning a £110 jump in average bills, according to the Daily Mail. The paper says Downing Street will allow councils to do this in order to help them meet rising costs. It adds, though, that the news comes just a fortnight after some “eye-watering” tax rises in the Budget and despite previous attacks by Labour on the Conservatives over similar council tax hikes.

Reeves hopes to unlock £80bn worth of investment by reforming local government retirement schemes to form eight pensions “megafunds”, the Financial Times reports. It comes as the chancellor is due to deliver her first Mansion House speech, an annual address delivered by the sitting chancellor in the City of London, on Thursday. Reeves tells the paper she also wants to reassure businesses the recent tax rises were part of a “once in a parliament Budget”.

The Daily Telegraph says Essex Police has been accused of attacking free speech after launching an investigation into one of its columnists, Allison Pearson, for allegedly stirring up ******* hatred in a social media post last year. Pearson has said two officers visited her to tell her about the investigation on Sunday, but they would not say which post it concerned or who had made the complaint. Former prime minister Boris Johnson is quoted calling the behaviour of the police “appalling”, while shadow home secretary Chris Philp says he is “deeply concerned this will have a chilling effect on free speech and free expression”.

A report by Human Right Watch has said ******* is using evacuation orders to pursue the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of ************ civilians in Gaza and the policy amounts to “******* against humanity”, according to the Guardian. The paper says the report comes amid mounting evidence that ******* is “accelerating efforts to cut the Gaza Strip in two with a buffer zone” and “building infrastructure to support a prolonged military presence” in the territory.

The Metro leads with Donald Trump’s “shock appointment” of a Fox News TV host and former soldier as the US defence secretary. The paper says that, despite having no government experience, Pete Hegseth, 44, will run the “world’s largest military machine and its $800bn (£627bn) budget”, with responsibility for 1.3 million active duty personnel, 1.4 million reservists, and civilian staff worldwide.

“Wild west of cosmetic surgery in Britain”, reads the headline in the Daily Mirror. The paper says an ITV investigation has found that potentially deadly operations, including liposuction, are being carried out by people with just hours of training. It adds Health Secretary Wes Streeting has pledged a crackdown on rogue operators.

And the Sun alleges a video taken at this summer’s Euros appears to show Premier League David Coote using a rolled-up US banknote to sniff a line of white powder in a clip he later sent to a friend on WhatsApp. The BBC has not independently verified the footage.

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