Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
RECENTLY APPOINTED FINANCE Minister Jack Chambers is in London today to meet with his UK counterpart, who herself became Britain’s chief finance minister after Labour’s landslide election win in July.
Rachel Reeves meanwhile became Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer on 5 July, the day after the UK General Election.
The two spoke via phone in mid-July, when they decided to schedule an in-person meeting.
A Department of Finance spokesperson said that today’s meeting “offers an excellent opportunity to discuss issues of common bilateral interest”.
They added that the Government is “fully committed to a strong Irish-British relationship in all its various dimensions”.
While the Department spokesperson acknowledged that the “relationship has seen significant challenges in the years since Brexit”, they added that “there is now positive momentum” following Labour’s election win in July.
Ahead of the meeting, Chambers said that both he and Reeves “share a common determination to play our full part in the reset of Irish-British relations which is now well underway”.
Chambers added that these “relations are of deep consequence” and that they have many strands, including “human, cultural, sporting and business”.
He continued: “As well as being co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, we are also very significant trading partners with important economic and strategic links.
“Two-way bilateral trade in goods and services between Ireland and the UK was worth over €122 billion in 2022—or about €2.4 billion per week.
“With Ireland now ranking as the UK’s fourth-largest export partner, such figures confirm the significance of bilateral trade to both our economies.”
Chambers added that a “close and constructive relationship between the EU and UK is very much in Ireland’s interests” and that he looks forward to “hearing from the Chancellor on the new UK government’s priorities in this area”.
The meeting comes as Reeves warned that the UK could have faced an economic crash has it not axed winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners to fill a black hold in public finances.
Reeves and Labour leader and British prime minister Keir Starmer have faced criticism from opponents, campaigners and some of their own MPs over the decision to means-test the payments worth up to £300 (€350).
From this winter, the fuel payments will be restricted to the poorest pensioners, those who are on pension credit.
The UK Government has launched a campaign to encourage those eligible for the benefit to claim it.
Labour has blamed a “huge legacy of overspend” by the Conservatives for the problem.
Speaking today, the leader of the House of Commons, Labour’s Lucy Powell, said there was “no alternative” and the decision was needed to avoid an economic catastrophe.
The main role of the leader of the House of Commons is to organise government business in the House of Commons.
On LBC radio, Powell said: “What we’ve been left with is a huge legacy of overspend.
“They’ve overspent on the asylum system to the tune of nearly £7 billion, they knew that the public sector pay deals that were sitting on their desk before the election would be honoured by them or any incoming government, and they hadn’t set aside any money.
“The reserves have gone to nothing, so we’re having to add up the current year that we’re in and the forthcoming years, that is very different from making a big choice to reduce the size of the state by billions and billions of pounds as that previous government did.
“The £22 billion black hole inherited from the previous governments means we are having to take tough decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy – including making the winter fuel payments available to those most at need.”
-With additional reporting from Press Association
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I don’t see the issue here. Giving back to society after being jailed for taking something from it. Better than sitting in a cell playing the PlayStation.
@Luke Littler: I should’ve clarified, that part of my comment was inferring to the scr0tes in Irish prisons.
@Padhraic McLaughlin: Take it easy Padraic – you will have the Irish Council for civil liberties for prisoners and law breakers and that outfit penal reform on ranting for the evening.
Prisoners being useful to the community that the committed crimes against. A good idea.
They are trained and when released have new skills to help them stay on the straight and narrow.
Yu cannot pay them the same but they could be insured in case of serious accidents or worse.
A lot better than making coffee tables and cake stands like our lot do!
Cheap prison labour is economically important in the USA and it is not about Rehabilation or Giving Back to the Community. That is PR. It is a big part of why the USA has such a high imcarceration rate.
@Des Hanrahan: the so called ‘Land of the Free’
@Dave G Doe: Prison is about rehab, not revenge..
Now this might seem harsh, but I honestly don’t think that they should be getting paid at all. We don’t pay people for community service, why should taxpayers foot the bill for people who have committed even more heinous crimes which required incarceration? The fact that some inmates are getting $30 per day despite possibly being serial abusers or violent murders/robbers just doesn’t sit right with me. Incarceration is not meant to be a reward but a consequence of their actions. Taxpayers are already funding their housing, food, healthcare, and security, why add a paycheque on top of that for work that’s part of their restitution? Work in prison should be seen as part of paying their debt, not as an opportunity to draw a salary funded by the very people they’ve wronged.
A morally bankrupt country
@Fergus O’Donnell: should help with the DEI inclusion targets also !
Activity is part of helping people In institutions cope with waiting to get back on track. Laundries were a standard activity for girls gardening for boys but firefighting is another level.
The 13th amendment to the US Constitution is widely taught to have ‘ended’ slavery, but it merely converted it into “convict leasing”, and US prisons need a steady supply of prison labour so the US has one of the highest proportions of its population incarcerated, and all of the work they do is for profit, not for rehabilitation: https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-alabama-3b2c7e414c681ba545dc1d0ad30bfaf5 Of course, work placement can be an essential part of prisoner rehabilitation, but that’s not what’s happening in the US.
@Stephen Wallis: All work is for profit. Anyone who works for nothing will never be out of work.
Bodie will get the gal, it’s all gonna be just fine! Don’t look up!
some things never changed.
This is what you get when you prioritise paying for wars in foreign lands
have your say