5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today, Monday (20 October 2025).

Miliband hints at cutting VAT on energy bills: The government is looking at the possibility of cutting the rate of VAT on energy bills, Ed Miliband has suggested. The energy secretary said he would not speculate ahead of the chancellor’s Budget in November. But asked if the government would consider scrapping the 5% rate, he told the BBC the country was facing a “cost-of-living crisis that we need to address as a government” and “we’re looking at all of these issues”. [BBC]

UK to introduce new V-levels at schools: Young people will be able to take new qualifications called V-levels as part of major plans to shake up teenagers’ education . Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said vocational education has been seen as an “afterthought for too long” as she announced the new qualification. She will on Monday publish the post-16 education and skills white paper, which will set out proposals for V-levels to replace some 900 vocational qualifications to streamline the “confusing landscape” currently on offer. They will be made available alongside T Levels and A levels. [Mirror]

Concerns over plans to cut London’s affordable housing quotas: Labour MPs are urging ministers and the London mayor to drop controversial plans to reduce affordable housing quotas in the capital in order to boost homebuilding. MPs have said they are concerned about the proposals being drawn up by the housing secretary, Steve Reed, and the mayor, Sadiq Khan, in response to a sudden drop in new development in the capital. [Guardian]

Britain slips down tax ranking after Reeves raid: Britain has tumbled down the global rankings of personal tax competitiveness in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s £25 billion raid on employers last year. The UK has dropped five places to 25th in the rankings of 38 OECD nations in just a year, according to the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS). The Chancellor’s levy on National Insurance contributions paid by employers, widely considered a jobs tax, combined with the increase in capital gains tax, was to blame for the fall, according to the CPS. [Telegraph]