UK politics – latest news: Labour accuses government of leaving £17bn loophole in windfall tax

It seems to surprise people that David Miliband, fresh faced and energetic, is 57 years of age – one year younger than Nigel Farage, whose prolific intake of English ale and Rothmans fags is written all over his prematurely-aged frogface.

Talk of comebacks swirl around both these political veterans, with only the flimsiest of denials. Mr Miliband quit parliament in 2013, a couple of years after he lost the Labour leadership race to his brother.

Asked on Andrew Marr’s LBC show about a return, he merely replied: “That’s not been decided yet. That’s not done.” He’s available, in other words.

Our associate editor Sean O’ Grady argues that while Keir Starmer’s party has moved on from Brexit, Mr Miliband clearly hasn’t.

The government has been accused of “extreme foolishness” by an economist as the House of Lords debated the autumn statement.

The statement, announced by chancellor Jeremy Hunt on 17 November, increased the tax burden but put off public spending cuts until 2025.

Labour peer and economist Lord Eatwell said: “Over the past three months, the government has subjected the British economy to two episodes of extreme foolishness.

“First, the Truss-Kwarteng episode, going for growth without a coherent strategy, just throwing money at the wealthy.

“Unfortunately for Britain, the ideology and economic reality didn’t mix – the result: all Britain is worse off and the poorest suffer most.

“Then, the Sunak-Hunt episode, described by financial market experts as a massive over-reaction.

“This time, political intent was dressed up as technical economics, again no coherent growth strategy, raising taxes to an all-time high and declaring there will be massive expenditure cuts in 2024 and ‘25.”

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Fox accused the government of “cynical politics” for choosing to borrow now and make spending cuts later – after the next general election.

He said: “I would judge Chancellor Hunt has either adopted a Micawber strategy – ‘something might turn up’ – or something I would call the advanced Liam Byrne strategy. Hunt has already left a note for the next incoming chancellor that says ‘there’s no money left’.”

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has urged Britain to become a global leader in helping her country achieve “justice” against Russia, as she addressed an audience of MPs and peers that included Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer.

The speech, in a parliamentary committee room, came as part of a visit to London by Ms Zelenska as she urged the UK and other allies to seek justice against alleged Russian war crimes.

Her visit focused on the use of sexual violence and rape by Russian forces in the months-long war, which is now heading into a long winter.

More about her speech in this report:

The British car industry is warning government that “rapid action” is needed to secure the long term future of what is still a major part of the economy, and a major employer and exporter.

The industry has had to contend with the demands of Brexit and the pandemic in recent years, as well as the war in Ukraine and its knock-on economic impact on disposable incomes.

Lately, the severe shortage of semi-conductors from China and Taiwan, which has stymied recoveries in production levels, has begun to ease, and sales and revenues have picked up.

However, the industry now faces fresh challenges, reports our associate editor Sean O’Grady:

Ambulance workers across England are set to strike before Christmas after voting in favour of industrial action over pay and staffing levels.

Unison said thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West ​are to be called out on strike.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The decision to ​take action and lose a day’s pay is always a tough call. It’s especially challenging for those whose jobs involve caring and saving lives.

“But thousands of ambulance staff and their NHS colleagues know delays won’t lessen, nor waiting times reduce, until the government acts on wages. That’s why they’ve taken the difficult decision to strike.”

Britain’s international standing in a turbulent world has been severely tarnished through delusions, hubris and a cavalier attitude to the rule of law, former foreign secretary David Miliband has warned.

The actions of successive British governments since Brexit and assumptions of superiority have left the country with the task of rebuilding trust and credibility with the European Union and wider afield, he said.

Where has Britain’s geopolitical strategy gone awry, our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta reports:

England’s poorest students will lose £1,000 because the government botched inflation forecasts, experts say, plunging them into “significant hardship”.

It means students who rely on the loans to live while studying will be “left in the cold”, even as other groups receive extra financial help, the Institute for Fiscal Studies is warning.

Deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports:

The former head of UK counter-terror policing has called Suella Braverman’s language on migrants “inexplicable” and compared it to Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, who is the country’s most senior non-white police officer, said the racist and anti-immigration address in 1968 had made his parents’ lives “hell” as a mixed-race couple.

In an interview with Channel 4 News before his departure from Scotland Yard, he was asked about Ms Braverman’s statement that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was her “dream”.

Read the details in this report from our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden:

Labour today accused the government of “botching” its windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies by leaving loopholes which the party calculates will cost the public finances £17bn.

In a challenge to Jeremy Hunt, Labour is today tabling an amendment to the bill enacting the chancellor’s autumn statement, demanding that he spell out the full cost of windfall tax allowances for fossil fuel firms.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports: