secretary

Trump allies, including Howard Lutnick, a Wall Street executive he tapped for commerce secretary, have acknowledged that tariffs could cause short-term pain for consumers but will be worth the eventual gains for U.S. manufacturers.

Yesterday, environment secretary Steve Reed, who was appearing before MPs, once again ruled out the nationalisation of Thames.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp told MPs it came as "no surprise" that Labour was doing "the precise opposite of what they promised in their manifesto".

Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake accused the government of "pulling up the drawbridge on home ownership and limiting aspiration and social mobility".

Responding to the announcement, Conservative shadow secretary of defence James Cartlidge criticised it as "cuts, instead of a pathway to 2.5%".