Labour has finally moved to back Britain’s churches in what marks the party’s 15th U-turn in power.
Under the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, churches could claim back just £25,000 per year in VAT on renovation works.
GB News shone a light on how the “stealth tax” could accelerate the number of British churches crumbling into disrepair just days ago, amid fears 2,000 could shut in the next five years alone.
But now, the Government has set aside more than £200million to protect heritage buildings, which includes churches.
That sum includes £75million for “at risk” heritage, which provides grants towards the repair and conservation of historic buildings, including churches.
A £92million fund, the Places of Worship Renewal Fund, will replace the controversial £23million Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Tory MP Nigel Huddleston said last night that by cutting funding and placing a cap on grants for repairs and maintenance, the Government’s previous policy “had put many historic religious buildings at risk”.
“They play a vital role in our communities and our nation’s heritage,” he said. “I welcome the U-turn announced this evening.”
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IN-DEPTH: How devastating ‘stealth tax’ risks RECORD church closures with Britain’s historic places of worship at risk
Just two weeks ago, GB News revealed how Britain’s holy places of worship face a new peril from Rachel Reeves – the now-scrapped Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
There were concerns that the Treasury could permanently end the scheme at the time.
The National Churches Trust (NCT) is still spearheading a campaign to keep churches open across the UK – and its head of public policy and affairs, Ben Sims, revealed just how badly they were faring.
“Churches have been able to rely on the scheme since 2001 and every Government until now had believed it is important to refund the VAT on churches because of all the charity work they do,” he told GB News.
“We know there are certain churches that have been doing very big projects and when they found out they could only claim £25,000 this year have actually cancelled their projects.
“There are about 200 churches which are going to be affected by the cap this year.”
Beyond serving as a place of worship, many churches operate food banks, serve as warm spaces and run groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and toddler groups.
Mr Sims said a spike in church closures could have a “knock-on effect” on the National Health Service, claiming they save the taxpayer £8.5billion each year.
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RECAP: Keir Starmer to visit CHINA just days after approving ‘spy hub’ embassy – ‘Desperate to kowtow!’
Sir Keir Starmer is set to visit Beijing next week – just days after Labour green-lit China’s mega-embassy in central London.
The PM is expected to head east in a bid to revive a “golden era” of relations, which tailed off after a series of Chinese espionage, technology, and influence operations, alongside disagreements on human rights.
The visit was largely contingent on approval for the embassy, and after it was given the go-ahead, talks between the two countries “begun in earnest”, Reuters revealed.
It emerged on Wednesday that five UK allies – the US, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and Switzerland – had all raised fears about the site, and urged No10 not to “open Pandora’s Box”.
Labour has now been accused of “kowtowing” over the visit by senior Tories, though Sir Keir will not even get the chance to meet President Xi Jinping – instead, he is set to shake hands with second-in-command Li Qiang.
Sources said Donald Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland could derail the trip, and cautioned that elements of the visit were still being finalised.
But things may now be more settled after the President struck a “draft framework agreement” with Nato, which may see a number of US military bases set up in the Arctic.
The British embassy in Beijing said the PM’s travel arrangements would be announced in the usual way.
Kemi Badenoch calls emergency Tory assembly after Robert Jenrick defection
Last night Kemi Badenoch brought together the 1922 Committee, the assembly of all Tory MPs, for its first meeting since Robert Jenrick and Andrew Rosindell defected.
She told her party how it had lost Mr Jenrick to Reform UK “not on ideology, but personal ambition”.
Mrs Badenoch went on to challenge some Reform’s narrative about the defections from her party – and raged at Nigel Farage’s vow that his party represented the “genuine centre-right of this country”.
“We are not moving leftwards, we are the party of the right and will always be a party of the right,” she declared.
Tories launch major attack on PM after details of China visit emerge
‘Keir Starmer is now getting ready to jet off to Beijing and toast it all with Xi Jinping,’ Dame Priti Patel raged
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DOWNING STREET
Responding to reports of a potential visit to China, Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Having surrendered to China over their plan for a spy hub super-embassy in the heart of our capital, Keir Starmer is now getting ready to jet off to Beijing and toast it all with Xi Jinping.
“Meanwhile Labour are handing British sovereign territory and £35billion of taxpayers’ money to Mauritius, an ally of China, despite the clear threat to national security.
“When he is in Beijing, Starmer must not make any further concessions to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Labour are desperate to kowtow to Beijing in the hope of winning some crumbs of investment into the tanking economy they are presiding over.
“Only the Conservatives can be trusted to put Britain first.”
Sir Keir is pushing to revive a business dialogue forum known as the “UK-China CEO Council” that was established by none other than the Conservatives in 2018, with Theresa May being the last British PM to visit the country.
Writing in The Telegraph earlier this week, Shadow National Security Minister accused the PM of green-lighting the embassy “in return for a vanity visit later this month”.
“It is an open secret in Westminster that Keir Starmer is planning on visiting Beijing within weeks. It is also widely understood this visit is contingent on the embassy being approved beforehand,” she said.
“This is little more than diplomatic blackmail. What message does this send?”
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