You are watching the Press Preview, a first look at what's on the front pages as they arrive. In the next half hour, we'll see what's making the headlines with the Chief Political Correspondent at the Times, Aubrey Allegretti, and political editor at the spectator, Katie Balls. So let's see what's on some of those front pages for you now. Well, the front of The Telegraph reports that is Israel may be on the brink of an agreement to pause fighting in Gaza in return for the release of up to 50 hostages. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says tax cuts are his top priority as he prepares to announce his autumn budget. That's on the front of the eye. The front of the daily mail asks, Are we finally on the brink of a real tax cut? But the mirror says that's rich, claiming while Jeremy Hunt is urging the public to show restraint on pay rises, he's increased the rent on flats he owns by 18 %. Moves to reinstate, Ousted OpenAI Chief Executive, Sam Altman, after he was fired on Friday, is the main story in The Financial Times. The Metro leads with reports that comedian Russell Brand has been questioned by police over alleged sexual assaults.

And a reminder that by scanning the QR code you'll see on screen during the program. You can check out the front pages of tomorrow's newspapers while you watch us. And we are joined tonight by the Chief Political Correspondent at the Times, Aubrey Allegretti and the political editor at The Spectator, Katie Balls. Welcome to both of you. Let's start with the front page of The I, and looking head to that autumn statement, Tax cuts for business are my priority, says Jeremy Hunt.

Yes, well, he's been talking the talk for a long time, and I think he's feeling the pressure from conservative MPs to start walking the walk. They have been left, I think it's fair to say, rather underwhelmed with the major moments that the government's had over the last few months to really try and reset the agenda and get those polls moving in the opposite direction. We had party conference where there were some quite meaty announcements, but potentially less punter-friendly. We then had a fairly tepid king speech, the reshuffle last week, and this is really the moment that a lot of MPs are putting all their eggs in the basket for, waiting, trying to put pressure on the Chancellor to deliver for them finally. He's obviously inherited a very difficult fiscal situation when he was brought in to steady the ship. We're in the immediate aftermath of the mini budget last year. And so there's been a lot of emphasis on caution in the last 12 months. In the March budget, there was supposed to be this fiscal headroom of about £6.5 billion. That was the spare money that the government had to play with within its own fiscal rules.

There's been a lot of talk since the Office for Buncher responsibility handed its forecasts to the government about what that could increase to. Some people are saying today it could be up to 26.5 billion, so lots more money. The Treasury seeming to be quite content letting lots of rumors and speculation run. We've heard about inheritance tax quite a lot over the last week or so. There are reports in the papers today that potentially that's not being at this moment potentially being held back for the spring budget, the final moment potentially before the next election. So we're told instead that there'll be a focus on lower and middle-income families and also one trying to boost growth by supporting businesses. So that is the main speculation from today's papers.

Yes, all speculation, Katie. Nothing is categorically laid out, is it?

Exactly. And we can expect a few more days of this for everyone to look forward to. But I do think what we can see is a change in tone from Jeremy Hunt when it comes to tax cuts and particularly personal tax cuts. And that is because Jeremy Hunt, along with Rishie Sunak, has used multiple media appearances to say, Now is not the time for tax cuts over the past few weeks and months, and to suggest that actually, if you are going to get tax cuts, the spring budget before an election is more likely. I think the fact that in the media round this morning, you have the Chancellor not saying, Yes, you're definitely getting a personal tax cut, but allowing the there in a way that he has not previously does suggest I think that that, combined with the fact that there is more headroom than the Chancellor of previously, dead, hopeful, suggests there could be something. As ever, how substantial will it really be? And I think that you could start to see a bit of a backlash over the weekend when inheritance tax is really being talked about. Lots of MPs thinking, I actually, as a conservative MP, could be someone who supports a cut to inheritance tax.

But what are the optics if that is one of the first tax cuts you do? And it clearly wouldn't affect most people and particularly most working people. So I think you can also see with some kite-flying happening of testing out few ideas, seeing what they said both with the public but also with a quite restive parliamentary party.

Yes, I was going to ask why they allow the speculation to continue for so long. Is it that at this late stage, they're still testing the waters as to whether they want to go ahead with a certain policy? It seems very late in the day.

Though, to be doing that. Sometimes governments are very quick to shoot things down. They don't want to let a story or potential criticism or backlash run away with people. But there has been a lot of leniency and space given to newspapers that for a number of weeks have been writing stories about what could potentially be in this. Part of it, I'm sure, is kite flying. So the government is trying to slowly test the waters on things, putting its feelers out, seeing how people respond and react. We have absolutely seen that with inheritance tax in the last few days. Jonathan Gullis, obviously a backbench MP, but somebody who is semi-symbolic of the Red Wall, the conservative new seats that they were taking, he was very, very vocal in suggesting that while he would support a tax cut in principle, it was not the priority at this stage. It was not what people who are really at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis are going to need or feel immediately in order to feel like they've got more money in their pockets, they're being supported by the government to help close that polling gap.

I think another reason for the idea—you have so many different potential ideas coming out at the moment—is there isn't actually that long if you think about it between the autumn statement and the spring budget. Lots of the discussions going on in the Treasury and between number 10 right now are not so much about will we ever do this thing, which is so much as the timing and the choreography and their full measures. They've all been priced, they're all thinking about them, but it can be quite a last-minute decision whether to do it now or to wait to the spring. And I think on the personal tax cuts, it does reflect that things have got politically quite tricky for Rishie Sunak. He's got MPs who want some good news, and I think that probably is a factor in their decision-making.

So according to the Financial Times, Jeremy Hunt, what he has said in quotes is that he wants to put Britain on a path to a lower tax economy. So that's specifically what he said. How much can we read into that? I suppose there's no timing in that.

As Katie was saying, he's been very happy to try and calm the horses before. So the fact that he was coming out today, quite so ebullient about the direction of travel, very much suggests he wants to almost start embarking on his victory lap. He's been waiting, taking all this pain and pressure for 12 months, conservative MPs, breathing against him and getting increasingly more frustrated. You feel as though now, there's going to be a small chink that he feels that he can relent and offer some finally good news. Now the problem is that the backdrop to this is very low growth. Official statistics in the last few days suggesting it's basically been flatlining over the last three months at just hovering around zero %. So if the government's aim is to grow the economy and yet it doesn't show very many green shoots in that regard, then how do these measures help that? Obviously, there has been a lot of discussion between the Treasury in number 10 about any tax cuts that are implemented need not to be inflationary. Now, economists argue over which are and which aren't. But Jeremy Hunt will again need to signal that he is, on the one hand, helping people whilst on the other hand, still sticking to the government's plan because while they have halved inflation, it's still a lot higher, substantially higher than the Bank of England's two % base rate.

But he has said that his priority is business. So presumably, tax cuts will definitely be going in that direction to encourage the growth.

Exactly. I think the two themes are always the case when it comes to the autumn statement. It's business investment, and that can include tax breaks for businesses, tax cuts, and also trying to solve issues surrounding the number currently out of work on-to-work benefits. Therefore, I think the staples of it, should I don't think will be rabbits and hats, what we're expecting, and measures to ultimately try and clamp down to encourage people, or encourage might be a two-kind of word, in order to some people back into the workplace. I think you're seeing a bit of a carrot and stick approach from the government in some of the things they're discussing. And then also to look at things like full expensing for businesses, ways that you get investment. But the complaint from MPs is full expensing, which is something Richie's seen it quite likes, is not really... I think there's a quote from a tour MP of the weekend saying, It's not particularly sexy as a policy, by which point they didn't they can go around knocking on doors being like, This is really going to be there, this is this deduction. So I think that will be a key part of it.

It just will be the case that I think what the focus, just as you're seeing on all these front pages and the focus amongst MPs and the public will be, I think, the things that most immediately affect them. And it could be if there's a 1(p) income tax, let me look at that, a pathway to... Jeremy Hunk can say in his comments, This is a pathway. Stick with me, stick with Richie's new neck, and just wait till the spring, and we'll go even further. But I think they're at a point where they need to give their party a bit of hope given the polling for the Tory party seems pretty bad right now.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail is asking, Are we finally on the brink of a real tax cut, an underlined real? What do they mean by real? What is a real tax cut, Aubrey?

Is it the one you feel?

Well, Well, yes. They clearly... I think part of what's going on here is they're partly trying to pile the pressure on Jeremy Hunt as well. The Daily Mail has a agenda and it feels like it's representing its readers. Now, I think they feel, again, like the Chancellor's talk the talk, and now it's time for him to walk the walk. They say that he is weighing up whether to cut income tax, national insurance. That's not being heavily speculated about the personal allowance and income taxes too heavily in the papers just yet, although it's been pointed out in the FT that Richie soon acted say he wanted to lower the 20 % basic rate of income tax to 16 % by the end of the next Parliament, so very much a long-term goal. So you potentially have some discussions happening very deep inside number 10 about whether or not a move like that is best to come as a big rabbit out of the hat this week when, again, expectations have been relatively low over the last few months, or whether you want to save it up and do something big and barnstorming come March.

Katie, just take us to The Daily Telegraph and this story about wealthy pensioners who may not need the winter fuel allowance that's sent out to all pensioners, regardless of their financial situation.

Situation. Yes, this is an interesting story, and obviously the backdrop is the autumn statement, but it's going to comments made by John Glenn, formerly a very senior Treasury Minister. He's just moved jobs in the reshuffle. But these comments, the papers in just were at the time, he was Chief Secretary of the Treasury. He was speaking at Cambridge University Conservatives event, and this was last month. And he suggested that the money, when it came to the fuel payments for pensioners, could be better targeted and could be better spent tackling child poverty. Now, this is interesting because it's definitely not the script of the government. And when there were previously stories about where the number of them was looking at a more focused approach when it came to these payments for pensioners, they were denied by Number 10, even in this piece they're saying, We're not looking at that. But I think what it points to is difference of opinions behind the scenes on the optics of some of these payments, whether the government should be more intergenerational, whether they should be looking more for the poorest society, rather than perhaps pensioners and their core vote in some of those areas.

And I think another thing it probably points to is just how when you are doing these measures, it's really tricky to make the system targeted. But I think probably what people take away from this more is the fact that not all of British ministers are seeing from the same hymn sheet.

Yes, there are divisions potentially. Katie and Aubrey, thanks very much for the moment. We're going to take a break. Coming up, The Daily Telegraph reports on the Israeli hostage situation with some hope of a release deal. Stay with us. Welcome back. You are watching the Press Preview and still with me, Chief Political Correspondent at the Times, Aubrey Allegretti, and the political editor at the spectator, Katie Balls. Let's have a look at the daily telegraph and the news tonight that Israel could be on the brink of a hostage agreement, hostage release with Hamas potentially up to as many as 50 hostages. Aubrey.

Yeah, so negotiations have obviously been taking place in Qatar, certainly for the last few days, and there is hope seemingly on all sides that there can be some humanitarian pause, has been talked about for the last few weeks, lasting up to about five days. And this is possibly in return for around 50 hostages who were obviously taken by Hamas from Israel on October the seventh. There's understandably not lots of nerves about securing a deal like this, and it would be in return for a end to Israel's retaliation in Gaza and Palestine ever since. We're looking at, I suppose, the international community being lined up to try and get behind this cease-fire as well to make sure that everybody is agreed so that a cease-fire is respected, but then there will naturally be questions about what happened to the remaining hostages because we're told that the vast majority of them are still believed by Israel to be alive.

But it is positive noises coming out of the region tonight. The Prime Minister of Qatar, where the talks are being held, is saying that only minor details remain to be resolved, so it looks imminent.

Yeah, it suggests that the most difficult parts of this agreement have been reached, and therefore, it's technicality, some of things, and there seems to be cautious optimism that they can get it over the line. I think it calls these things until that happens, it hasn't happened. And there was talk over the weekend, the US side saying, despite reports saying this deal had been made, slow down, we're not there yet. Of course, if you do have hostages released, I think it'd be a huge success. There's only been a handful of releases so far. But there's also some signs, for example, if you look at the premature babies leaving Gaza today, going to Egypt to receive hospital treatment. I think in a very grim and difficult situation. There are some small pieces or rays of light that potentially there could be some improvement. Of course, though, if this is a five-day pause, what happens after that? Because humanitarian pause is very different than a ceasefire in a long-form way. And I think that if you look at the Israeli leader, he is under pressure from his own side, from his own people about these hostages, but also from the diplomatic community.

I think the longer this bombardment goes on, there's more questions about... You're seeing some voices across Europe saying, Have they now overreached? Where are you there? And therefore, would a five-day pause lead to pressure to extend that? I think once you enter that period, you could start to see some saying, Well, look, what have we done with this pause? Can you go further? So it could potentially mark a new phase in terms of the conflict.

And Aubrey, me and Marl, tonight we've seen the release from the IDF of the video material of the tunnels, which they say that Hamas has dug underneath Al-Shifah Hospital and potentially is keeping hostages there as well.

Yeah, absolutely. There's been pressure growing on Israel to substantiate some of the claims about why they had targeted that hospital. And the Daily Telegraph has a few more details. It says that the Israeli military has obviously released the CCTV footage, which shows allegedly Hamas bringing hostages to the hospital when they were taken on October seventh, and parking vehicles used in the terror attack at the hospital site. So that's the justification. Obviously, people will not just be looking for the claims, they'll be looking for the evidence as well. The video material will be heavily scrutinized for.

Its veracity. Absolutely. Let's change gear completely and talk about, I'm a celebrity. Get me out of here. The main picture of Jamie Lynn Spears, the little sister of Brittany Spears from Zoe 101, and obviously the name that everybody recognizes, Nigel Farage, their center.

Yeah, it's an eclectic crew this year, I think it's fair to say. And obviously, it begins now. I think Nigel Farage, due to some injuries, cannot do all the challenges on offer. Those wanting to vote for him to do challenges, some want to vote to just keep him in there, and might have to contend themselves to just bushtuck at trials and so forth in terms of those. But I think it's interesting because if you look back to Matt Hancock, and I'm a celebrity, get me out of here. Actually, everyone said he's going to do awfully. This is a disaster after being in trouble as Health Secretary breaking COVID guidelines. And briefly at least, it seemed to be okay for his reputation. So could it do quite well for Nigel Faraj? Of course the problem Matt Hancock had was there are lots of things that came out after that appearance.

We shall see whether it bodes well for Nigel Faraj. That's all we've got time for. We'll see you in the next hour. Let's have a look at the weather for you now.